Educate me, please.
Am I mistaken or is shooting a Puku sorta like shooting a Francolin? I notice in the hunting reports that most folks report shooting them as an after thought. "Oh yea, I shot a Puku on the way back to camp, after shooting a magnificent 25" Impala."
Are they so numerous and easy to shoot that no one takes them seriously? Are they good to eat?
You hardly ever see them in a trophy room collection.
Any insite would be appreciated.
Thanks

There are not many places where you find puku. But where they are there are lots. They are one of the creatures that you wonder why they have not been lifted out of the gene pool eons ago. They kind of just stand there until you drive up to hand shaking distance, get out and take your time setting up your shooting sticks, make tea, drink it, find your rifle and bullets, load it, have a discussion with your PH about proper bullet placement, and finally shoot it. It will likely be still standing looking at you like he thinks your momma was a bit odd. At least it is the way it was when I was where they were. They ate really well though. A bit on the chewy side but very tasty meat.

Wow - I found the Puku to be very elusive, yes once you do find him he is a lot easier to stalk than say Kudu or Impala. But finding him is a bugger. IMO. They are not wide spread found mainly in swamp areas. Their meat is ok I found it to be fairly course, I would rather take Impala.

My experience was much like D's. I shot one at about 75 yards, his companions ran off, then stopped and stood around about a hundred yards away as if wondering if their buddy was going to get up and rejoin them. Ten minutes later, my wife shot another one. There were thousands of them along the Luangua river. Not a challenging hunt at all.

I've never hunted them and while they may not be challenging to hunt I think they look pretty cool

TJ

Puku definitely are not the most wary animal in the bush. They are attractive to me because their overall range is limited and they are very beautiful. Anyone going on safari along the Luangwa or other areas were they occur should try to pick one up.

Mark

I agree they are not Sitatunga, and are much easier to find along the Luangwa, than say a 55" Kudu, or a 28" to 30" hippo. but "thousands"?

I don't think so, anyplace, and definetly not on the Luangwa. Like impala, if all you want is a 17" impala you can shoot 50 per day,on the Luangwa, but if you want a 28" impala, then the hunt is going to be a long drawn out affair. The same holds for the Puku! If you just want a PUKU, then he is not hard to find in most of the riverene areas of Zambia. If however, what you want is 25" Puku. Then batten down the hatches, because you gonna do some huntin, hoss, on the Luangwa, or any of the VERY FEW places where he is available! IMO, one should not hunt the Luangwa and not at least, try to get a good Puku!

They are good eating, the trophy fee is low, and they make a stunning trophy mount as they have a nicer coat (more hair) then most plainsgame. I recently got mine from the taxidermist and it is among my favorite shoulder mounts.

However, as has been said including by me in my report, they are not the sharpest tool in the shed especially where not poached or hunted hard. And as with bushbucks and other plainsgame, they tend to hang out in the same area, so they are easy for a PH to target and work into an afternoon's drive. I have read the same applies to their close relative, the Cob found in Cameroon.

This does not diminish their value IMO, as this is their natural tendencies unlike say some park animal acclimated to people or vehicles. If you go to their natural range, you should take one.

"I have read the same applies to their close relative, the Cob found in Cameroon. "

Now that you mention it, I recall the White Earred Kob being pretty much the same.

Rich Elliott

i thought they were simple too, that is until we found a 17" one and tried to hunt him down. They can be wary and disappear in the tall grass in the blink of an eye. I did get that guy, but it took 3 days. the color on a puku is quite vivid and the hair is soft. We drove by a log and there was a baby one hiding, staying as still as it could on the other side of the log, cute as hell - made nice pictures

For those that don't know what a Puku is here's one and here's a link to more data.

There were supposed to be 56,000 puku in the Kilombero Valley where my old hunting block was. They are very territorial and as a result easy to shoot. The males are so busy keeping other males away from their females that they have difficulty concentrating on danger. But they are very good to eat. I prefer them to impala. They have bars of orange colored fat in the meat that more or less matches their coat color. They complicate lion baiting a bit because they are so common and so easy for lions to kill. All a lion has to do is sleep in the grass in puku country and several times a day puku will come within striking distance.

But they are good for keeping old lions alive. I have found several very old male lions in Puku country that had lost both bottom fangs (from biting bucking buffalo in the back) that were still in very good condition. One male was missing two lower fangs and one eye and was still in top form.

If puku have been in an area for a long time and suddenly disappear it means there are lions about. If they are looking at something other than yourself it means they are watching a lion. They will follow lions about as long as they can keep them in sight and they whistle when they detect danger thus passing the warning on to other puku who keep doing the same thing. If you are in a lion blind and you hear them whistling it often means the lion is coming to the bait. Poachers hunt them at night with flashlights. In places where they are heavily poached they get quite spooky. In some cases they act inconsistently. They will let motor boats pass quite close and in other cases, in the exact same area, they will run when the boat is 1,000 yards away.

They make an attractive orange colored trophy and closely resemble both Uganda Kob and Buffon's Kob. I am sure they are much the same animals and that all three could interbreed.

Crocodiles sometimes just kill them for fun and then let the carcasses drift on down the river.
They are good jumpers and good swimmers and do not mind living in 12 foot high grass. If you scare them in tall grass them jump high as they flee so they can get a good loook at you.



VBR,



Ted Gorsline