Kalahari Springbok hunting
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Where to hunt Kalahari Springbok
Kalahari, or western, springbok is one of the subspecies of springbok, a small, graceful antelope with lyre-shaped antlers, which is one of the symbols of South Africa. It is somewhat bigger than the common springbok and has different face markings. Free-ranging herds of Kalahari springbok roam the wide open spaces of the desert of the same name, and Kalahari Springbok hunting opportunities exist in South Africa and Namibia.
Price distribution
The shooting fee for a Kalahari springbok can be as low as $250, although most outfitters charge between $350 and $500. Few hunters are willing to travel all the way to Africa after just one antelope, though, and would like to target a few other plains game species such as impala, warthog, and kudu, too. Plains game packages that include springbok with a few other species usually cost in the $4,000-$5,000 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 Kalahari 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 (11)
Springbok are the creatures of open plains, and spot-and-stalk is the method of choice for springbok hunting. The hunt begins with the hunter and PH cruising the concession in search of the springbok. Springboks are social animals who live in large herds, and identifying the right trophy may be tricky. Look for a smaller animals with horns that are bigger and thick at the bases. Fortunately, hunters are accompanied by a PH, who can notice such details. Get ready for long shots at a small target, and carry a tack-driving rifle for a flat-shooting round.
Why hunt Kalahari Springbok?
“As I rode along in the intense and maddening excitement of the chase, I felt a glad feeling of unrestrained freedom” - wrote about springbok hunting Roualeyn Gordon-Cumming, one of the first British hunters in South Africa. It might sound like madness for a modern city dweller now to make a journey to the other side of the world, only to harvest a 50-pound creature with little, lyre-shaped, horns. But most of the hunters who followed the tracks of Gordon-Cumming, although by airplane and 4wd truck rather than sailboat and ox-drawn wagon, will subscribe to his other statement: “I shall ever refer to those times as by far the brightest and happiest of my life”
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