Blesbok Hunting in South Africa

Blesbok hunting is the perfect trophy for the first-time hunter in Africa. Shooting distances are longer on the open plains for blesbok hunting. Once near-extinct, this antelope has been reintroduced. Southern Africa’s game farms boast a population in the hundreds of thousands.

There are no seasonal restrictions on hunting in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Nick Bowker Hunting offers blesbok trophy hunts year-round.

• The name “blesbok” comes from the Afrikaans word “bles,” which means “blaze,” which refers to the white-colored marking on the face of the blesbok.

• In English, they are called blesbuck, alternatively common or white blesbuck. Blesbok is plentiful in both national parks and private land.

• Blesbok has a medium-sized body and short tail, which ends with a black tuft.

• Males and females have S-shaped, spiral horns that can reach 14 to 20 inches in length, but females have more slender horns.

• Blesbok can run 43 miles per hour to avoid predators, including cheetahs, leopards, lions, jackals, wild dogs, pythons, and eagles.

• Blesbok lives in small herds that consist of 10 to 100 animals. Mature males protect females and young animals within the group, and the herd usually inhabits a territory of 2.5 to 6 acres.

• Blesbok hunts are always done on the open plains, especially in the Free State. Male blesbok use piles of dung to mark their territory. The mating season of blesbok takes place from March to May.

• Blesbok can interbreed with a closely related antelope species called bontebok and create hybrids known as “bontebles.”

• Female pregnancy lasts about 7.5 to 8 months, after which a single calf is born.

• Females give birth within the herd, and the young immediately become part of the herd, which is different from many other antelope.

• Blesbok is born during November and December, the rainy season when food is abundant. The calf is beige-colored, and the “blaze” is dark-colored.

• Sexual maturity is at the age of 2.5 years, and can survive around 17 years in the wild.

Found in the open veld or plains of South Africa, Blesbok’s preferred habitat is open grassland with water.

Physically, rams and ewes are remarkably similar, with a mass of as much as 150 pounds.

The Blesbok has a prominent white blaze on the face and a white patch on the forehead between the horns.

The body is brown with a lighter-colored saddle on the back and the rump an even lighter shade.

The legs are brown with a white patch behind the top part of the front legs, and the lower legs are whitish.

The difference from other antelopes of the Blesbok is the distinct white face and forehead. Both males and females carry horns ringed almost to the tip.

The Blesbok shares a common behavioral characteristic with his cousin, the bontebok, standing together with heads facing the sun and down towards the ground. He sometimes shakes his head violently, stamps, and runs in a complete circle, only to take up his original place.

Your blesbuck ram trophy should have an average shoulder height of around 35 inches, weigh 130 pounds, and have a Horn Length of approximately 13 – 15 inches.

The Safari Club International minimum score for a common blesbok is 40, and a white blesbok is 39. Measure the length of each horn and the circumference of the bases and sum the measurements to get your SCI score.

This once near-extinct antelope has been reintroduced across South Africa and boasts hundreds of thousands.

Blesbok live on the open plains of South Africa and are primarily grazers. They form a herd consisting of females (ewes) and juveniles. Males (rams) tend to be solitary.

This changes when single males are disturbed during hunting. As a result, ensure that you take the animal of choice.

As available water is essential to this species, hunting near the approaches to water holes can prove productive.

The best time for Blesbok is when they are grazing in the morning or late afternoon.

Like many other species, Blesbok lays up during the hottest afternoon.

Nick Bowker Hunting has two large herds of Blesbok, well over a hundred strong, including white Blesbok mixed with common Blesbok.

The Blesbok is very wary and difficult to approach. Longer shots will, therefore, be required. This may be one of the few times you will shoot prone.

Blesbok, however, bunch together, and shooting the right one requires careful communication with your professional hunter, Nick Bowker. Hunting is done by setting up ambushes, looking down valleys, and spotting and stalking.

Distances are longer on the open plains, the Blesbok’s home, and we recommend the flat shooting 7mm magnums or even the 300 magnums. 

For those hunters who do not wish to go through the red tape of bringing a rifle into South Africa, Nick Bowker has a 300 Sako magnum fitted with a suppressor.

Mounted on the rifle is a Swarovski Z8 tactical scope. We have hand-loaded Hornady ELD-X ammunition. The rifle, including ammunition, is available as part of all hunting packages free of charge.

The Blesbok is one of the fastest breeding plains game species in Southern Africa. Seen by many as the perfect trophy for the first-time hunter to Africa.

When judging the trophy quality of Common Blesbok, it’s essential to look at the width of the boss, the color of the horn, and the overall length.

Mature males will likely have a whitish tinge about two-thirds of the way up the horn, While females and younger rams have much darker horns.

The neck should be pronounced and stand out against females and young rams.

Also, mature rams will stand out in the herd and be more visible in horn length and shoulder height. The difficulty comes when approaching solitary rams, where you will rely on your professional hunter.

The white Blesbok is a color variant of the common Blesbok and not a subspecies such as the common reedbuck.

It’s a great trophy to hunt while on safari. It is a must for any collector interested in the Blesbok color variations.

Although the white gene has proved to be the recessive gene, significant numbers of white Blesbok have been bred throughout South Africa.

The price difference between a common blesbok and a white blesbok is relatively small.

Many hunters opt to shoot the white Blesbok rather than the common Blesbok as their first blesbok trophy.

The method of hunting the white Blesbok is no different from pursuing a normal blesbok.