Where in South Africa for bushbuck?

24 February 2013, 03:50

Fallow Buck

Limpopo turns up some great rams and has traditionally been the destination for hunting bush buck along the riverine bush, however since I started hunting in Mpumalanga I have been amazed at the quality of the bushbuck I have seen.

I love bushbuck and as I'm planning to hunt for a big ram this year I'm heading to the lodge we use in Mpumalanga in April and again in May.

K

24 February 2013, 09:55

BenKK

Thank you, all.

25 February 2013, 08:45

Pieter Kriel

Limpopo.

25 February 2013, 09:29

fairgame

Some very fine Bushbuck indeed.

25 February 2013, 13:08

lal

Along the coast from Humansdorp to Port Alfred.
Contact Bowker Safaris.

25 February 2013, 15:20

David Culpepper

Limimpopo is the place, I have seen many bushbuck there and have taken 3. The place where I saw the most in one day was along the Limipopo River with Botswana on the other side. The place was a farm and had a fence but it was not a game fence so animals came over from Botswana. Of course the river was closer to being a creek at that time and with all the rain they have had this year I am sure the river is up and may prevent the animals from coming over from Botswana.

25 February 2013, 15:52

kallie404

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Scriptus:
Have a look here, the Fords have been building quite a reputation.

www.lynxsafaris.weebly.com

I must agree with Scriptus here. I have hunted with Jeff Ford for blue duiker and bushbuck. There is a lot of bushbuck ( although smaller horn size than Limpopo bushbuck) but the whole experience and scenery makes it magical.

26 February 2013, 04:07

buffybr

I shot my Limpopo Bushbuck in 2000 along the Limpopo river in the Limpopo Province...

And my Cape Bushbuck in 2007 in the Kat River Conservancy in the Southern Cape...

26 February 2013, 10:44

BenKK

I'm not a very good shot at distance. Are shots closer in Limpopo than in Eastern Cape?

26 February 2013, 11:11

Matt Graham

What about Natal when it is nice and green and lush?

26 February 2013, 12:06

BenKK

That sounds great, Matt! Do you think the shots are closer there than in the Eastern Cape (I found them quite daunting)?

26 February 2013, 12:53

ozhunter

Ben,
You could also talk to MadalaZim (Brent) of AR who manages a good area just over the Limpopo in Zim. Or stalk them in the swamps of Mozambique?

26 February 2013, 14:04

Matt Graham

quote:
Originally posted by BenKK:
That sounds great, Matt! Do you think the shots are closer there than in the Eastern Cape (I found them quite daunting)?

Well I haven't been to the East Cape but from what I saw if you walked the creeklines, grazing flats and orchards you would bump them pretty close. I jumped mine (although I knew roughly where it was) and shot it at about 20' - a bit like shooting an agile wallaby jumping out of the long grass!! I was there in March though - when it was hot and wet and the grass long and green.

I see there is another Umkomaas outfitter in the Outfitters Specials forum... really cool country!!

26 February 2013, 14:53

David Culpepper

quote:
Originally posted by BenKK:
I'm not a very good shot at distance. Are shots closer in Limpopo than in Eastern Cape?

I have taken all 3 of my bushbuck in Limpopo with the longest shot being 75 yards.

26 February 2013, 15:59

BenKK

Thank you, gents. So many bloody good options! Also, I must admit that I would love to take a nice little 112 year old .275 Rigby with me, so shots would need to be closer for the irons.

26 February 2013, 17:01

lal

I have shot many Bushbuck along the Eastern Cape coast and my longest shot was 67m.

26 February 2013, 18:47

Bockhunter

Try IAN GOSS in KwaZuluNatal.
One of the best areas and one of the world best PH.

26 February 2013, 21:21

LittleJoe

Myself and my buddy both shot really good Bushbuck with Blaauwkrantz. They have them both at the main lodge area and up at the Springvale lodge as well. Mine was an ancient old ram and Jef's was a great ram.

27 February 2013, 00:31

Pieter Kriel

quote:
Originally posted by BenKK:
I'm not a very good shot at distance. Are shots closer in Limpopo than in Eastern Cape?

No, shots are closer in the Eastern Cape. I heard they use 410 shotguns down there

27 February 2013, 00:35

Pieter Kriel

quote:
Originally posted by Matt Graham:
What about Natal when it is nice and green and lush?

No. Limpopo.

Natal is the last British Outpost of the Empire where scouts chase bushbuck on horseback, then foot soldiers take over and finally they end up with non-trophy Nguni cattle

27 February 2013, 00:41

ndorobo1

Have shot three. 60 yards in the cape and the other 2 were in zim around 75 yards.

27 February 2013, 01:37

buffybr

quote:
Originally posted by BenKK:
I'm not a very good shot at distance. Are shots closer in Limpopo than in Eastern Cape?

I found them a lot like hunting whitetail deer. They like thick cover.

I shot my first one when he came out of the brush to drink in the Limpopo river about 100 yds from where we had stopped for lunch.

I shot my Chobe bushbuck at about 25-30 yds when we spooked him in the brush along the Gwaai river in Zimbabwe.

When I hunted Cape bushbuck in the Eastern Cape, I was sitting behind a bush by one pond and a ram walked around that bush about 2 yds from me. I wasn't quick enough for him. I later killed the one I posted when he came out of the bush at about 100 yds across another pond that we were hiding by.

27 February 2013, 01:42

BenKK

Thanks again, all. It sounds like it can be quite a close game, which suits me.

27 February 2013, 02:17

Scriptus

quote:
Originally posted by Pieter Kriel:
quote:
Originally posted by BenKK:
I'm not a very good shot at distance. Are shots closer in Limpopo than in Eastern Cape?

No, shots are closer in the Eastern Cape. I heard they use 410 shotguns down there

Yup, after downing a liter of turks-vy mampoer.

27 February 2013, 02:31

shakari

quote:
Originally posted by buffybr:
I shot my first one when he came out of the brush to drink in the Limpopo river about 100 yds from where we had stopped for lunch.

When I hunted Cape bushbuck in the Eastern Cape, I was sitting behind a bush by one pond and a ram walked around that bush about 2 yds from me. I wasn't quick enough for him. I later killed the one I posted when he came out of the bush at about 100 yds across another pond that we were hiding by.

Therein lies the key.

The average hunter will shoot a lot more bushbuck by lying in wait for them than by stalking them.

My friend Scriptus stalks them but I understand he's not average.

27 February 2013, 05:10

K Evans

Ben: You were at a great place to stalk bushbuck last summer...

Karl

27 February 2013, 15:07

BenKK

That was winter, Karl, and bloody cold! You're disoriented!

I never really caught more than a glimpse of a ewe and lamb. What kind of distances have you rolled them at, Karl? Neville and Philip tried to point-out a ram to me, but for the life of me I couldn't see it. Cheers, mate.

27 February 2013, 16:20

Scriptus

Oh dear, memories. Once had a client who in spite of having seven snorters pointed out to him, in a morning, never saw one, then informed me that I was delusional and probably had spent the night smoking mountain cabbage, pips and all. My tracker, Thembinkosi, after the fifth one, had to be told that attaching his belt, one end to a jacket plum, and the other end around his neck, was never going to improve the client's vision. [ I think that he was play acting. ]
That client, in spite of having the direction, starting almost at his feet, pointed out with aid of a stick, bush to bush to tree to bush, never saw a bushbuck and also had the longest, drawn out, negative Yyyyeeesssssssss... that I have ever heard.

27 February 2013, 16:55

BenKK

Scriptus, too funny! Bloody visitors...

Yeah, that Eastern Cape bush is thicker and greener than what I'm used-to. Over here, I pride myself on being a bit of an eagle-eye, spotting pigs or buffalo or donkeys through the thickest, greyest scrub - almost sensing them. Towards the end of my trip your way I was starting to come good and made the occasional clever spot.

27 February 2013, 17:27

Matt Graham

quote:
Originally posted by Scriptus:
Oh dear, memories. Once had a client who in spite of having seven snorters pointed out to him, in a morning, never saw one, then informed me that I was delusional and probably had spent the night smoking mountain cabbage, pips and all. My tracker, Thembinkosi, after the fifth one, had to be told that attaching his belt, one end to a jacket plum, and the other end around his neck, was never going to improve the client's vision. [ I think that he was play acting. ]
That client, in spite of having the direction, starting almost at his feet, pointed out with aid of a stick, bush to bush to tree to bush, never saw a bushbuck and also had the longest, drawn out, negative Yyyyeeesssssssss... that I have ever heard.

Was that a condescending YES or a dumb-arse YES?

27 February 2013, 18:26

Scriptus

quote:
Originally posted by Matt Graham:
quote:
Originally posted by Scriptus:
Oh dear, memories. Once had a client who in spite of having seven snorters pointed out to him, in a morning, never saw one, then informed me that I was delusional and probably had spent the night smoking mountain cabbage, pips and all. My tracker, Thembinkosi, after the fifth one, had to be told that attaching his belt, one end to a jacket plum, and the other end around his neck, was never going to improve the client's vision. [ I think that he was play acting. ]
That client, in spite of having the direction, starting almost at his feet, pointed out with aid of a stick, bush to bush to tree to bush, never saw a bushbuck and also had the longest, drawn out, negative Yyyyeeesssssssss... that I have ever heard.
Was that a condescending YES or a dumb-arse YES?

I think that the only way to describe that "yes," would that the utterer was hoping that by the time he had finished with the last 's,' he would have seen a bushbuck.

The Austrian / German accent, together with a variety of Teutonic mutterings made the situation a little more comical.

27 February 2013, 21:15

Pieter Kriel

Trackers sometimes suggest things that have been milling in my mind for several very long and tense moments. I can however just hear the last ssss in typical accent.

These stories are always funnier after the fact.

28 February 2013, 10:41

AFRICAN LEADWOOD

KZN (Natal), Limpopo or the Eastern Cape (and not only the coastal areas, although they seem preferred).

I have hunted bushbuck in KZN. I didn't take a great one, but a friend shot a top 5 RW monster in that area a few years ago. He said as he walked up he panicked as he could only see the horns and thought he may have shot a Nyala. I think it was 20" or close to.

Another friend took a 17" in Somerset East in the Eastern Cape. The animals in the Eastern Cape coastal areas seem to be darker in colour and some almost black.

Limpopo is also known to have good bushbuck.

I would choose the area based on what else I wanted to take on the hunt. If it's Nyala then I'd hunt KZN, for example.

Either way I hope you have a great hunt.

05 March 2013, 05:19

s goldsmith

I have had an interest in hunting bushbuck for the last several years, but just now coming around to focusing in on where and when. I am, in fact, only a longbow hunter and have done well with the other plains game. I had hoped to stay our of RSA and restrict my future hunts to Namibia, but bushbuck may be the teaser that takes me back. Would anyone who has had experience with operations that are experienced with bowhunters, and whom they think have superior hunting grounds for bushbuck let me know about them.

Thanks

Steve