BLESBUCK: POPULAR PLAINS DWELLER
Distinctive looking head nodders
THE blesbuck is a medium-sized antelope, once endemic to South Africa but now also found in some of our neighbouring countries due to relocation by game farmers.
Like springbuck and impala, blesbuck are popular with local hunters. In some parts of our country, it is the animal on which many young hunters cut their teeth as they affordable and can be fairly easy to hunt.
Due to the blesbuck’s preference for open, grassy terrain, which makes stalking them on foot difficult, they are often shot from vehicles rather than hunted. And the circumstances under which this takes place, strengthens the belief that blesbuck are dumb and easy to hunt. On many properties blesbuck are kept in fenced-in areas of 200 to 500 hectares. In these ‘hunting camps’ the animals are easy to find and you can keep an eye on them from afar – making it easy to plan your approach. Vehicles equipped with special shooting chairs or shooting benches are often used to ‘diesel stalk’ the blesbuck. Needless to say, the blesbuck try their best to avoid vehicles which often necessitates long-range shooting.
Another popular way of ‘hunting’ blesbuck is to ambush them using the so-called voorsit method where shooters are strategically placed out in the veld after which farm workers on horseback and/or motorbikes are used to ‘stir’ the animals i.e. move them around in the camp and within range of the shooters. Special, purpose-built shooting chairs providing solid rests are often used by these hunters.
Rifles chambered for flat-shooting calibres, equipped with high-magnification telescopes, laser rangefinders and dead-rest shooting positions, guarantee fairly easy shooting. The blesbuck’s size also makes it easier to hit than a springbuck or vaal rhebuck and people seem more prepared to try long shots. If the shooter is a skilled shot and his equipment is appropriate for that kind of shooting, I don’t have a problem if he stretches distances.
The two-tone blesbuck (Damaliscus pygarus phillipsi) looks similar to its halfbrother the bontebok, a species originally endemic to the southern Cape. Blesbuck and bontebok will cross-breed and the hybrids are fertile. These two species should never be kept together where they can mix freely.
In the past, blesbuck were almost as abundant as our ubiquitous springbuck (some believe they occurred in greater numbers) but they were hunted mercilessly for their meat and skins, and to ‘clean’ the land for stock farming. The north-eastern Free State is known as the Riemland due to the fact that the hides of the blesbuck shot there, were used for the cutting of rieme or thongs. For a number of years, tens of thousands of blesbuck hides were even exported annually through the port of Durban.
This indiscriminate hunting decimated the blesbuck numbers but fortunately, due to the work of conservationists, the blesbuck was declared a protected species. Today blesbuck numbers are healthy again and they are an important source of income for many game farmers.
Adult animals stand 80 to 95cm at the shoulder and live weight is 65 to 100kg (rams are heavier than ewes). Carcass weights vary from 32 to 48kg with an average of about 40kg for rams.
Mature rams measure about 16" (40 to 45cm) deep at the chest and the heads are usually 10½ to 12" (26.7 to 30cm) long from the base of the horns to the tip of the nose. I have measured a number of their hooves and the average length was 8cm. The front feet are slightly bigger than the hind feet.
Blesbuck are predominantly grazers, preferring short to medium-length grass but are adaptable and will survive on both sweet and sour veld. They need to drink daily or at least every second day. Strongly territorial, they occupy home ranges of 150 to 400ha. Blesbuck are diurnal and habitually spend long hours in the sun, often during the heat of the day.
They have a peculiar habit of nodding their heads up and down. One scientist claims that blesbuck do this when they are happy or nervous or when the rams court the ewes; others claim it is due to an irritation caused by nasal worms. I disagree. I have dissected blesbuck heads and watched these animals for many hours under a wide variety of climatic and other conditions, and think that most of the explanations given for the nodding are pure speculation – although I can offer no explanation myself.
Rams form bachelor groups but before the start of the rut will chase each other around to determine social status and ranking for the breeding season. During the rut (March to May) rams try to gather a harem and will defend their ewes against other suitors.
Gestation is about 240 days after which a single lamb is born. I once watched an ewe give birth. The lamb was able to stand after only seven minutes and when the wind changed 14 minutes later, and gave me away, the small herd took off at speed with the lamb in tow. They ran about 300m before stopping and the lamb kept up all the way. When the adults stopped, the lamb flopped down but got up after three minutes and sauntered off with the rest of the animals when they moved off again.
Beginner hunters often find it difficult to distinguish between male and female blesbuck because they are similar in size and both sexes carry horns. The rams’ horns are longer, thicker and are more heavily ridged with the front of the ridges being straw-coloured. The ewes’ horns are a uniform dark/black colour. Rams have thicker necks and their penis sheaths are easily visible when you can see the belly line. Ewes that have lambed have a slightly pot-bellied appearance. When a herd moves away after being spooked, the ram will often be at the rear, and stop several times to look back.
Blesbuck are fairly easy to get into the record books. The minimum length for Rowland Ward qualification is 16.5" or 41.91cm and many rams carry horns of that length. In fact, horns of 17.5" are common. Look for horns that appear to be one-and-a-half times the length of the head – such an animal will qualify for Rowland Ward. The ears are about six inches long, so horns that appear to be 2½ times the length of the ears will measure 15 to 16".
Blesbuck can be hunted successfully on foot. Except for the open plains of the Free State, they are common in the undulating areas of the Eastern and Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-natal where you can easily stalk them. I prefer the challenge of the walk-and-stalk method.
Probably the easiest way to hunt blesbuck on foot is to use high ground (where available) and search for them using binoculars. In the Northern Cape ‘bushveld’ I have often climbed wild olive trees for a better lookout.
Mature rams are sometimes found alone and it is always easier to stalk a single animal than a herd. Blesbuck are creatures of habit – they often use the same routes to and from water and grazing so, once you have established their pattern of movement, it is easy to ambush them. I did just that in March 2020 and dropped a good ram from 109m with a brain shot from my Savage rifle in .223 Rem.
Another technique that works in open country is to approach the animals at an oblique angle by pretending to walk past them. That way you can often get to within 250m.
If you don’t mind working hard, you can also crawl on all fours, but again, approach at an oblique angle and wear knee pads and gloves for protection. Once the animals have spotted you, be patient, stop often and pretend to ‘graze’. This technique has twice enabled me to get close enough to take blesbuck with my .44 Blackhawk revolver (I’ve had success with this method on gemsbuck and springbuck too).
In the Daniëlskuil area of the Northern Cape, the numerous limestone pans (kalkpanne) are favourite hangouts for
many game species. About an hour or two after sunrise, blesbuck and springbuck will visit these pans to bask in the sun. Get to the pan (or any other resting spot the blesbuck favour) before sunrise, find a suitable ambush spot and wait patiently.
Shots beyond 250m are often the norm. The .243 Win loaded with 90 or 100gr bullets or the .25-06 with 100 or 115/120gr bullets are popular in South Africa and, for those who reload, the .243 Ackley Improved is a terrific choice. The .223 Remington and .22-250 Rem are also popular, but I feel the .223 should be restricted to distances of no more than 200m. I often use my .223 Rem loaded with 65gr bullets which, I have found, penetrate better than the 55-grainers. Any calibre that launches bullets of 90gr or heavier, at 3 000fps or faster, will do. However, those who are thoroughly familiar with their calibres’ trajectories and who use rangefinders to determine the exact distance to the animal, will do fine with slower calibres such as the .308 Win or .30-06.
When hunting on foot I often attach an extendable bipod to my rifle. Remember to zero your rifle with the bipod attached as fitting a bipod afterwards might result in the rifle shooting low due to the added weight.
Blesbuck meat has a gamey flavour which some people don’t like however, the meat of blesbuck I shot in the Verkykerskop area and parts of Mpumalanga was very good. We often mince blesbuck meat and mix it with beef, or make wors and biltong. I believe that the way in which you hunt an animal determines the quality of the meat. We do not cook the meat of animals that have been running around trying to avoid voorsit hunters or a hunting vehicle.
I have a soft spot for this beautifully ugly animal. Hunt them on foot and they will provide an excellent challenge.