Giraffe Hunting in South Africa

Giraffe Trophy hunting can make for a challenging and exciting stalk. Hunting is often done by spot and stalk or tracking his very distinctive spoor.

There are no seasonal restrictions on trophy Giraffes in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Nick Bowker Hunting offers a Giraffe hunting safari year-round.

Giraffe drinking. Giraffe hunting makes for a very exciting stalk.
Giraffe hunt with Nick Bowker

Table of Contents

  1. Giraffe Hunting Cost
  2. Interesting Facts About Giraffe
  3. Difference between Male and Female
  4. About the Giraffe
  5. Giraffe Trophies in South Africa
  6. Trophy Judgement and Rifle Calibre
Giraffe hunting with Nick Bowker

Giraffe Hunting Cost

A Giraffe trophy will cost around $4000. A giraffe can be added to any of our African hunting trip packages.

The Giraffe trophy includes a licensed hunting guide a hunting license, and all permits.

Giraffe in Pictures

Giraffe herd on the plains. Giraffe herd sizes vary from 4 - 25.
Giraffe trophy hunt. The Giraffes major predator is the lion.
Giraffe distribution across Africa.
Giraffe mother and calf. The gestation period is 15 months.
Giraffe hunting in South Africa. Giraffe have a prehensile tounge.
Giraffe size and anatomy.
Giraffe horn development.
Distribution through South Africa
Habitat is large and includes dry and semi arid regions.
Names in local African languages.

Interesting facts about the Giraffe for hunters

Giraffe hunted safari style
  • The giraffe is the tallest mammal on Earth. With their legs alone being more elevated than many humans—about 6 feet.
  • A giraffe’s neck is too short to reach the ground. As a result, it has to spread its front legs or kneel to reach the ground to drink water.
  • Giraffe spends most of their lives standing up; they even sleep and give birth standing up.
  • Giraffe young can stand up and walk after an hour, and within a week, it starts to eat some vegetation.
  • Calves are often killed in their first few months, despite the females’ attempts to stand over their calves during attacks by lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, and African wild dogs.
  • A giraffe’s spots are much like human fingerprints. As a result, no two individual giraffes have the same pattern.
Giraffe trophy hunting in South Africa.
  • Giraffe only needs 5 to 30 minutes of sleep in 24 hours. Achieved in quick naps that can last only a minute.
  • It was thought that giraffes do not make any sound. But this is untrue, as giraffe makes low-pitched noises beyond the range of human hearing.
  • To protect the giraffe’s brain from sudden changes in blood pressure when it lowers its head to drink, it has valves to stop the backflow of blood.
  • A female giraffe gives birth standing up. As a result, their young fall about 2m to the ground and can stand up within an hour of birth. The newborn giraffe is taller than most humans.
  • Giraffes are plentiful and available throughout much of South Africa and are not considered endangered. Giraffe hunting takes place throughout South Africa.
Africa giraffe hunting with Nick Bowker.

The difference between a male and female giraffe

Males and females have a type of horn called ossicones, made of cartilage covered in skin. The Giraffe bull has larger ossicones used for fighting and causing the fur to rub off, exposing a bald spot on top of them. As a result, mature males will nearly always have these gray bald spots on the top of the ossicones.

Giraffe male.The male has larger ossicones used for fighting and causes the fur to rub off.
Giraffe male
Female with tufts of hair on her ossicones.
Giraffe female

About the Giraffe

Description of Giraffe

Giraffe hunting in Africa.

Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and open woodlands. Also, they feed on shrubs, grass, and fruit and eat around 75 pounds of foliage daily.

Fully grown giraffes stand 14.1 – 18.7 feet tall, with males taller than females.

The tallest recorded male was 19.3 feet, and the tallest recorded female was 17 feet tall.

The average weight is 2,628 pounds for an adult male and 1,825 pounds for an adult female. Despite its long neck and legs, the giraffe’s body is short in comparison.

Located at both sides of the head, the giraffe’s large, bulging eyes give it an excellent all-around vision from its great height.

A Giraffe has a perfect sense of hearing and smell and can close its muscular nostrils to protect against sandstorms and ants.

Giraffe hunting, while unusual, is well worthwhile.

Male giraffes become darker as they age.

Hunting Information for Giraffes

Bull shot with Nick Bowker.

The giraffe’s prehensile tongue is about 18 inches long. for getting at the most challenging foliage. Also, the tongue is purplish-black, perhaps to protect against sunburn, and helps grasp foliage, as well as for grooming and cleaning the animal’s nose.

The giraffe’s upper lip is also prehensile and useful for foraging and covered in hair to protect against thorns.

Also, the tongue and inside of the mouth have papillae.

The coat has dark patches, which can be orange, chestnut, brown, or nearly black, separated by light hair, usually white or cream.

The skin color and pattern serve as camouflage in the light and shade patterns of savannah woodlands.

Giraffe calves inherit pattern traits from their mothers.

The skin underneath the dark areas helps with thermoregulation.

African Giraffe hunt.

Giraffe Hunting in South Africa

Vital organs showing the position of the heart and lungs
Vital organs for giraffe hunting

Shot placement must be in the bottom third of the animal directly above the front shoulder. This will ensure a heart or lung shot. Avoid head and neck shots, which are high-risk.

Your giraffe trophy should weigh about 2,500 pounds and be 8 feet tall.

This stately beast inhabits various plant habitats, from the dry woodlands to the reasonably dense low shrub veld.

But always present will be the thorn trees he feeds throughout the year.

A giraffe’s heart weighs approximately 25 pounds and is the biggest of any land mammal, and is used to pump 60 liters of blood around its body every minute at a blood pressure twice that of an average human.

The giraffe is not territorial and tends to avoid the very dense bush.

He feeds on a 6-foot band of browse, not accessible to all other animals except the elephant, with browsing being mainly during the day.

They can run as fast as 35 miles an hour over short distances or cruise at ten mph over longer distances.

Giraffe only needs to drink once every few days because most of their water comes from all the plants they eat.

Giraffe hunting can make for an extremely interesting and exciting stalk on a plains game hunt for the trophy hunter.

Africa giraffe hunting with Nick Bowker.

Trophy Judgement and Rifle Caliber for Giraffe Hunting

Giraffe trophy hunted in South Africa with Nick Bowker.

Hunting will most often be done by spot and stalk or tracking his very distinctive spoor.

We would recommend a 375 to hunt the South African giraffe.

Nick Bowker has a 375 and ammunition for hunters not wishing to go through the red tape of bringing a rifle to South Africa.

Also, the rifle and ammunition are free of charge in your package.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service may treat giraffes as endangered. This could result in a ban on importing taxidermy products.

Giraffe trophy hunting with Nick Bowker.

Any ban will achieve the exact opposite impact. Landowners will be forced to shoot out giraffe herds and replace the giraffe with domestic livestock.

A giraffe’s lungs are positioned well forward and high in the chest cavity. At the same time, the brain is tiny and set just below and between the horns.

If you make a spine shot, place it in the center of the neck, where the neck joins the body.

A quartering frontal shot should be aimed to break the prominent shoulder joint; avoid the quartering-away shot; take it only as a last resort! It’s an exciting addition to your game animals in the trophy room.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to hunt a Giraffe in South Africa?

Giraffe hunt

The trophy fee as a standalone Giraffe hunt is between $3,000 $4,000. Daily rates vary between $250 and $500 per day.

Included in the Giraffe trophy fee is a licensed guide. As well as a hunting license and all permits.

How to hunt giraffes in South Africa?

Giraffe hunt with Nick Bowker

Giraffes are hunted by spot and stalkor tracking their very distinctive spoor.

Where do you shoot a Giraffe?

Client with a giraffe trophy on an African big game hunting safari.

Shot placement must be in the bottom third of the animal directly above the front shoulder. This will ensure a heart or lung shot. Avoid head and neck shots, which are high-risk.

When can you hunt Giraffe in South Africa?

Giraffe hunted safari style

There are no seasonal restrictions on trophy Giraffe hunting in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

References

Smithers, RHN, 1983. The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion, 1st edn. University of Pretoria, CTP

Book Printers, Cape Town.

Andy Tutchings, Andri Marais, Julian Fennessy, Jeanetta Selier, Claire Relton, Matthew Child. Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa – South African Giraffe – Giraffe Conservation International, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Endangered Wildlife Trust.

Deon Furstenburg, June 2013. GEO WILD Consult (Pty) Ltd. Focus on the Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Wiki – Giraffe

Kruger Park – Africa Giraffe

Visit Africa – The Giraffe

Africanskyehunting – The African Giraffe