Cape Springbok hunting
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Where to hunt Cape Springbok
Cape springbok is a small, graceful antelope, whose annual migrations, known as “trek-bokken”, once made such an impression on European settlers that springbok has become one of the symbols of South Africa. Cape springbok is not a subspecies but a type of springbok that SCI trophy record books have a special entry for. Cape Springbok hunts are offered by outfitters located all over South Africa, mainly in the Eastern Cape province.
Price distribution
The trophy fee for a Cape springbok can be as low as $250, although most outfitters charge between $350 and $500. Cape springbok is often included in various plains game packages, including springbok slam, a combination hunt with an opportunity to harvest all color phase variants. Such hunts are usually priced in the $5,000-$7,000 range.
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Learn more from our blog story
“I beheld the boundless plains, and even the hill sides which stretched away on every side of me, thickly covered, not with" herds," but with " one vast herd" of springboks; far as the eye could strain the landscape was alive with them, until they softened down into a dim red mass of living creatures.” wrote Rouaelyn Gordon-Cumming of the springbok “trek-bokken”, or migration, he witnessed in 1843. How did they hunt springbok back then, and how have things changed since?
24 Mar 2019 Good Times, Bad Times: Springbok hunting in Gordon-Cumming’s “Five Years in South Africa” and todayWhen to hunt Cape Springbok?
It’s not easy to pinpoint the best times for springbok hunting. In many areas of South Africa hunting opportunities exist year round, and in Namibia from February to November. Springbok is one of the animals that don’t have a specific time for the rut, so this is not a factor either. If you have to pick a few months, that would probably be the end of the dry season.
Hunting methods All hunting methods (5)
Springbok are the creatures of open plains, and spot-and-stalk is the method of choice for springbok hunting. Both sexes carry horns, and the springbok have an unusual in the mammal world case of sexual dimorphism, with females larger than males, so it may not be easy to identify a good trophy in a large herds the springbok stick to. Help from the PH is invaluable here. Both the approach across open plains and the shot itself can be quite a challenge, as you’ll have to connect with tiny vitals from a considerable distance. Both your rifle and yourself must be ready for long-range shooting.
Why hunt Cape Springbok?
In the XIX century hunting was often the means to “clear the land” for cattle and farms. Today, the situation is totally opposite. Hunting concessions and game farms often use the land that formerly housed pastures and fields, rewilding it to the ecosystem that existed before European colonization. Some hunters pursue springbok for their meat, which is prized in Africa above all other antelopes’, and others are seeking to collect a “slam” of all color phases of springbok. But one of the major reasons to hunt Africa is “glad feeling of unrestrained freedom”, that, according to Roualeyn Gordon-Cumming, one of the first British hunters in South Africa, one feels every day when out there.
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