Chase,
First of all congrats on going and hunting Africa it is an unreal experience. Sadly though I have to warn you IT IS ADDICTIVE!!! The dark continent will leave you always wanting to return. Also just a thought for you if you were thinking of mounting your animals. The taxidermy cost is close to or sometimes more than the hunt trust me I know
so if you were thinking of hunting there again or another country etc. its just something to think about.
Now back to the subject, some good advice posted earlier ive taken all the species you mentioned and top of the list for toughness is definitely the blue wildebeest next the red hartebeest and gemsbok. Breaking the shoulder is a very desirable thing but as stated earlier shoot to high and it will be a long tracking job and possibly even losing the animal which is never desirable. Although in my experience the trackers are unbelievable Id rather not have to track game leaves more time for hunting
. I would recommend "On the shoulder" shots this will serve you well as it has served me well it breaks the animal down and the vitals are usually pretty messed up. Also the classic 1/3 to 1/2 straight up the frt leg from the bottom of the chest is also a good guide to follow as it will put you in the vitals every time. Although its not as dramatic as the DRT shoulder shots they wont get too far when hit squarely in the vitals like any other game animal.
Bullet performance and placement is key, when we went we were actually mocked by one PH for using HP bullets and he didnt want to guide us because he felt that we would only wound game and spend more time tracking than hunting due to the higher toughness of the african game so he arrainged for another PH to guide us which ended up being a blessing in disguise. After 38+ one shot kills he didnt know what to say!
One thing I would like to ask, Is your outfitter OK with longrange shots? the only reason I ask this is as most outfitters will tell you horror stories etc of longrange shots gone bad and will not let you shoot longrange. This happened to us when we first went but after a long stalk got busted due to other animals and the only shot was on the "long" side in this case 400 yds. He allowed us to try that red hartebeest dropped in his tracks never knew what hit him. After that he would let us do longer shots. Before that shot on the hartebeest he wouldnt even let us attempt 200 yd shots.
I hunted Namibia as well you will love it!!!
You can PM me if you have questions!
Aloha!!!
