Wildebeest Grand Slam?
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How many have the Grand slam? All 4 Wildebeests. Black,Blue,Golden and the King.
Be a cool slam to have i have been in camp when all have been shot but not same hunter
Didn’t know there was such a thing. Any photos of all four
Do they habitat the same areas or are they specific to regions
Do they habitat the same areas or are they specific to regions
Just the black and blue for me. Actually was not aware of the others.
I have two Blues was curious what is the difference between the Golden and the King I haven't heard of the King before but just saw Goldens at Limcroma last month.
Well it's been awhile but I only remember three. Blue Black and King
King is from Botswana
Golden is nothing but a color phase of blue that was developed by I think, if I remember right, by the York family from Zimbabwe that relocated to South Africa for obvious reasons. He caught a golden colored blue in Zimbabwe and through breeding eventually got one bull and some F1 stock to start consistently producing golden
The Kings I'm not positive on but think Botswana I'll have to go back and research that
Does not matter Cool colors just like black impala etc.
Kind of like here with all the color phases of Corsican sheep engineered for the exotic market
There are 5 wildebeest species recognized by SCI: Blue, Black, Cookson, Nyasa and White-bearded.
Don't know why the Golden or King species are not recognized.
Greg that's right. Don't know either on why the other two are not listed. Thanks for jogging the memory
Spiral horn ?? What are you talking about?
Greg that's right. Don't know either on why the other two are not listed. Thanks for jogging the memory
Spiral horn ?? What are you talking about?
Cool, not on my list, but cool.
Be careful with the term “Grand Slam” Some folks are very touchy and possessive of the term.
To bad Grand slam , Grand slam , Grand slam .......
The Blue, Black, Cookson’s, Nyasa, and White-bearded are all naturally-occurring separate subspecies of Wildebeest. The latter three have a very narrow natural distribution (Cookson’s is only naturally found in Luangwa Valley, Zambia).
The Golden and King are not separate sub-species. They are a color phase of the Blue Wildebeest created through the practice of selective breeding, mostly on South African Game Ranches. SCI does not currently recognize a separate record book category for either; and there is no Wildebeest Slam.
The term “SLAM” is a term-of-art in the hunting world copyrighted by Grand Slam Club Ovis. That’s where folks register their “Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep”, “Capra World Slam”, “Ovis World Slam”, “Super Slam”. In fact, SCI had to change all of their previous “Grand Slam” categories to “Milestone Awards” due to GSCO’s objections to SCI coopting the term.
So, not saying the Golden and King Wildebeest aren’t beautiful or worth Hunting. Its just that the “Wildebeest Slam” is a made-up term for animals not all currently categorized by anyone as separate subspecies. A few years back some of my friends euphemistically made up and had fun with the term “Ham-Slam” to describe taking the pigs of the world.
We had a hunter this year that finished his wildebeest slam with a king and a golden. He did his blue and black last year with us as well. Beautiful animals.
Spiral Horn's explanation is spot on. Why someone would pursue a man-made (well, altered) color of an animal is beyond me. There is nothing natural about a "golden" wildebeest and you will only find them behind high fences. Might want to add Black Angus and Holstein to your list while you're at it.
“Like” on Spiral Horn’s post. I’m still shooting for the Like button Shug....
Many animals in African safaris are 'high fence'. Doesn't mean they aren't wild and tough to get shots on. Some of those areas are huge and/or basically open free range due to poor fencing. And genetics are altered on many things. Doesn't make them off limits to hunt, harvest, ingest, or own. Do you own a dog? Do you restrict your diet to non gmo products? Would you shoot a color phase bear? Piebald deer? Wild boar, brought here by 'man'? Exotics in New Zealand, Hawaii? Exotics in Texas? Sure they may be genetic variations naturally, or artificially introduced, but last time I checked, humans were 'part of nature'. I personally think these animals are all fair game.
Always an overland in every crowd, hasnt been and wont ever go to many places but will always dump his opinion squarely on our heads. You have no clue...
Spiral Horn's interpretation is what I always thought as well. The color phases are interesting and certainly create further demand for hunters who might otherwise only want to take one representative trophy of a Blue Wildebeest. In the Southern habitats of Africa Hunters can now take three differing color phases of the blue plus a black. Same thing with Springbok...now with 4 color phases. Gemsbok has 2-3 color phases, Impala 3-4 depending. It's all good for the safari operators wanting to offer more species/variants on their hunts.
Snuffer,
Nice job assuming. You know what that does... I have been. I enjoyed it a lot. I also absolutely have a clue.
TrapperKayak, there is a huge difference between hunting a naturally occurring variation (piebald, color phase bear) than hunting something that has been specifically altered to appeal to hunters. Your argument regarding feral hogs is flawed in that they are an invasive specie. I shoot carp. I would also shoot feral hogs.
I have absolutely no problem with the hunting of high-fence SA game ranches. I voiced my opinion on hunting an animal that was specifically modified for the sole purpose of marketing it to hunters. Game ranches serve an important function. They create an affordable African experience for many hunters. They also sometimes help with the breeding of certain rarer animals for release into the wild. A golden wildebeest just seems wrong on so many levels. To create an animal specifically for the sole purpose of marketing it to hunters rubs me the wrong way.
Overland, likewise, the comparison of adding black Angus and Holstein to fhe list holds little significance to this assessment... if you are going to say that, dont make it a negative slam on those who wish to shoot color variation wildebeest.
I think some of the new colors are beautiful, particularly the black impala. However, it does concern me that turning these artificial hybrids loose across South Africa will permanently contaminate the genetics of the original natural colors. For example, I think the common Gemsbok is beautiful, and the dark black markings in contrast with the white face is striking. I don't think so much of the new muted brown colors which look like a faded animal (like a mount that had been kept under fluorescent lights for too many years). I'm afraid we will lose the nice dark black natural colored animals over time and they eventually will all be some variation of faded and washed out looking due to years of cross breeding?
That's a good point Maybe best to keep color variations separated from 'wild' ones for the most part. Isolate them to 'high fence', and just let the Holstein hunters go after them.