KUDU, THE CHARISMATIC KING
As trophy or biltong, the kudu reigns supreme
IGREW up in Dordabis, a tiny village about 60 miles southeast of Windhoek. The surrounding mountains teemed with kudu and my father regularly hunted them. As a young boy, I accompanied my father on one such hunt. We followed a small herd of kudu and I suppose I must have made too much noise because Dad asked me to stay put under a big thorn tree while he pursued the animals. It was late afternoon, that special time of day when the sun bathes the veld in a golden hue. I waited impatiently. There was silence for many long minutes and then suddenly a deep, hoarse bark echoed through the broken veld between the koppies. A kudu somewhere close by had sensed my presence. Startled, I sat down. That bark touched something deep in my soul. I knew then, that when I was old enough, I would pursue kudu at every opportunity – to hunt them yes, but also just to stalk them and enjoy watching them.
The kudu is my all-time favourite animal. My first mature kudu bull fell to a 165gr bullet from a Mauser in .308 Winchester. I shot this old bull high on a rocky mountain near Dordabis. His horns measured almost 53". My biggest bull fell to a 150gr Nosler Accubond bullet from my Remington .30-06, almost 34 years later at the foot of a rocky outcrop, after I had spent ten days looking for a trophy bull.
A big southern greater kudu bull has an aura that sets him apart from the other antelope species. Regal, charismatic, shy, secretive, and elusive, are just some of the words that describe the majestic kudu. Due to their elusive nature, many call them the grey ghosts of Africa.
Its English name comes from the Khoisan word ku::du (koedoe in Afrikaans). In setswana and sesotho it is called tholo, while the Namas in Namibia call it Xaib. The kudu’s scientific name is Tragelaphus strepsiceros; Tragos being the Greek word for he-goat and elaphus meaning deer. Strepsiceros combines the Greek words strephis meaning twisting and keras meaning animal horn.
Kudu occur in parts of Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozam
bique, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and a few other countries. Four or five subspecies are recognized (depending which literature you read) but in South Africa, only the southern greater kudu, and its somewhat smaller Eastern Cape variant, are important.
Favouring broken savannah, hills and mountains, kudu are found all over South Africa and their distribution range is growing, probably due to the proliferation of bore-holes and an abundance of food in the form of crops (maize, sunflowers, etc). These big animals are very adaptable and can survive in close proximity to man. Today we have more kudu in South Africa than during the 1800s.
Kudu have six to nine (sometimes up to 13) vertical white stripes on the body. The Eastern Cape kudu is a little darker in colour than those occurring elsewhere in southern Africa. In general, the southern greater kudu is darker than his brethren up north. Older bulls’ coats turn greyish-blue, especially in the neck area, due to hair loss and hair colour fading, hence the description ‘blue bulls’. As a bull gets older, the shape of his hooves also changes slightly – their imprints appear less pointed and more rounded. Their front hooves are bigger than their back hooves.
According to Mammals of the Southern African Subregion (JD Skinner and RHN Smithers) adult males stand about 1.4m at the shoulder and weigh up to 250kg, but some bulls can weigh well over 300kg. Kudu in the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape are slightly smaller. Cows stand about 135cm tall at the shoulder and can weigh up to 220kg on the hoof. The average weight for cows is around 155kg. Carcass weight is 54 to 57% of their live weight.
Only the males carry long spiral horns varying in length from 40" to 60" – average is 45" to 48" for mature bulls (50" to 58" is regarded as a very good trophy, and a 60-incher is the kudu holy grail). The Rowland Ward minimum is 54"; a kudu with ‘good horn genes’ reaches this length at about seven years old.
Life expectancy is 14 years; in the wild kudu bulls are seldom older than 11 years, cows normally reach 8 or 9 years. In older animals, the major cause of fatality is loss of condition combined with hypothermia and pneumonia during cold spells.
Kudu are normally diurnal and, when undisturbed, will move freely during daylight hours. However, they are sensitive to humans and will become nocturnal, especially on open farms where some (by no means all) farmers adopt a ‘year-round open season’ approach.
On open farms (sans game fences) kudu become shy, secretive and elusive. I can vouch for this, having spent many
years hunting them on open farms in the Northern Cape. During daylight they take refuge in bush thickets or whatever cover is available, then emerge in the late afternoon. Kudu are more active in the early morning and late afternoon, but I’d say the most productive time to hunt them is late afternoon.
When hunting kudu, first look for suitable habitat and then for their bullet-shaped spoor. They are browsers, hence will not be found on open grassland. They favour broken, hilly terrain. In the late afternoon they come down from the mountains to feed in the valleys. During mid-winter just before sunrise, the temperature drops sharply in these low areas and, after spending the night there, the kudu move to higher ground to warm themselves in the first rays of sunlight. So start early and get to an elevated vantage point from where you can glass the surrounding bush for emerging kudu.
Kudu drink daily, so a good place to look for spoor is at a waterhole. Establish their routes to and from water and make a plan to intercept them before they reach the water or after they have left. It is unethical to ambush game at waterholes.
Still-hunting or walk-andspot in dense bush or broken savannah is another potentially successful method but you must move at the pace of a geriatric snail and be very patient. Stop often to look and listen and carry your rifle ready in your hands. In dense bush you should walk with a loaded rifle because you will often encounter kudu at ranges well under 100m and quick shooting will be required.
Mature bulls often seem to vanish during the summer and reappear at the start of the rut. In SA, this is roughly from April to early July, with the duration depending on available browse, rainfall, human disturbance, etc. Outside of the rut, kudu bulls often form bachelor herds; the biggest I’ve seen comprised 18 bulls on a property near Pongola.
Kudu normally move in family groups of four to eight animals, though at times larger groups are common. From late March or April, a mature bull, sometimes even two, will accompany such a group. When the group moves, the bull will always be at the back. If they sense danger, the cows bark and then run but the wise old bulls will not utter a sound. When the cows take off, the bull will sneak away silently in another direction, or, if he thinks you haven’t spotted him, he’ll stand dead still in thick cover, relying on camouflage to remain unnoticed.
When shooting for the pot, go for a young bull or a cow, the latter’s meat being better than that of an old bull. If trophy hunting, look for horns with wide, deep curls. Horns with shallow curls may appear longer but the depth of curl is what provides length. The biggest trophies are the post-breeding bulls aged 9 to 14.
Kudu are not as tough as gemsbuck or blue wildebeest but they are big and heavyboned so always err on the side of caution and use enough gun. I would suggest the 7x57 loaded with 175gr bullets or a .308/.30-06 loaded with 180 grainers as the minimum for bushveld hunting. In open country, a .270 Win with 150gr bullets
loaded to 2 850fps, a .30-06 with 165gr bullets or any of the .300 magnums with 165 to 200gr bullets will work. I think a 6.5x55 loaded with at least a 140gr bullet is the absolute minimum for kudu. I know thousands of kudu have been hunted with various 6mm calibres but I still maintain that you should not use such light calibres on heavy antelope.
Ihave shot many kudu over the last 40 years. One of my most intense kudu hunts took place near Steytlerville. I spotted a mature bull about 1.2km away, high on a mountain and watched him disappear into some dense trees at the foot of a krantz. Taking a wide detour to get the wind in my favour and to stalk him from above, it took me well over two hours to get into position. I did not know whether the bull would still be resting under the trees but he was, and a painfully slow stalk brought me within 40m of him. The bull noticed me at the last moment when I raised my rifle. As he looked up, I shot him beneath his left eye, killing him instantly.
Another good hunt was at Otterskloof. Late one afternoon, I followed five kudu bulls heading for a waterhole. I caught up with them before they reached the water but by then it was too dark to shoot. Returning to the same place the next morning I glassed the area and eventually spotted four bulls about 800m away in a valley at the foot of a mountain. Between me and the kudu were a herd of zebra, so once again I had to climb a high mountain and take a detour to get to the kudu. When I eventually got within shooting range, I saw there were actually seven bulls. By then they had moved halfway up the mountain slope but were unaware of my presence. I took a good rest over a big rock with my CZ .308 and dropped one of the bulls from almost 180m.
Kudu hunting is in my blood and I will pursue them on foot for as long as I am mobile – not always to shoot them, sometimes just to wander with them to enjoy their beauty and so that my soul can breathe freely.