Steenbok Hunting in South Africa

• Steenbok form mating pairs that share a defended territory. However, they forage and rest away from one another.

• This is probably because it is less conspicuous in their open habitat.

• The steenbok will scrape the ground before, during, and after defecating and urinating and sometimes bury their dung.

• This action is to demarcate territory and is done by both males and females.

• Steenbok have glands below their eyes, but they do not like other antelope and use them for scent marking.

• Instead, they will use glands between their hooves for this purpose.

• They will browse and graze depending on what is available due to their location and the season.

• When grazing, they can rapidly increase the micro-organisms in their stomach to break down the fiber.

• Steenbok hides in old aardvark holes when the cover is sparse.

• The steenbok name is derived from the Afrikaans word “Steen,” meaning brick due to its brick-red coloration.

• Steenbok hunting – all hunters should take a steenbok if the opportunity presents itself.

Description of steenbok

Steenbok resembles a small Oribi, standing 18-24 inches at the shoulder.

Their pelage (coat) is any shade from fawn to rufous.

The Steenbok’s underside and the chin and throat are white, as is the ring around the eye. Their ears are large and have “finger marks” on the inside.

Males have straight, smooth, parallel horns of around 4 inches.

The tail is not usually visible, only an inch or so long.

Steenbok is active during the day and the night; however, during hotter periods, they rest under shade during the day’s heat.

Steenbok typically lies low in the vegetation at the first sign of trouble.

If a predator approaches, a steenbok will leap away and follow a zigzag path to shake off the attacker.

Escaping, Steenbok frequently stops to look back.

They are known to take refuge in the burrows of Aardvarks.

Known predators include:

1. Southern African wildcat
2. Caracal
3. Jackals
4. leopards
5. Martial eagles
6. Pythons.

Information for steenbok hunting

Steenbok is typically solitary, except for when a pair comes together to mate.

A pair occupies consistent territories while living independently, staying in contact through scent markings to determine their partner’s whereabouts.

The Steenbok is a browser and is very selective of greens such as flowers, fruits, shoot tips, new leaves, and various plants.

Its selective feeding habits enable the Steenbok not to be dependent on open water sources.

It rakes and digs for tubers, roots, and bulbs that contain moisture and are high in nutrients during dry months.

A single lamb weighing 1 kg is born after a gestation period of about seven months.

The mother steenbok hides her young for the first 3 to 4 months after birth and only feeds her lamb in the early morning and late afternoon.

During her visits, she eats her young’s dung and drinks its urine to eliminate odors that make it detectable to predators.

Your steenbok ram trophy should have an average shoulder height of around 22 inches, weigh about 25 pounds, and have a Horn Length of approximately 4 inches.

The Safari Club International minimum score for a steenbok is 8. This is measured by adding the length of each horn as well as the circumference of the bases.

They are underrated trophies, mainly due to their size or that they are rarely noticed before they disappear over the horizon during a plains game hunt.

Hunting areas for steenbok are on the open plains and can be taken opportunistically while game hunting other trophies.

The Steenbok gets its name from the Dutch settlers who traveled to Africa.

The word “Steen” means brick – as you can well imagine, the color of the Steenbok resembled that of a red building brick and thereby got the name steenbok.

It’s a magnificent trophy to add to any trophy room.

An ideal and cheap trophy to add to our seven animal packages, which include big game trophies such as Kudu, blesbok, waterbuck, and black wildebeest.

Juveniles take flight when adults approach. When hunting Steenbok, he will lie flat in the grass to avoid detection and flatten his ears.

He will only flush at the last moment, running away with astonishing speed.

It is a challenging hunt and quarry to approach on the open plains. The Steenbok often pauses to look back before continuing his flight; the hunter should be ready to take the shot.

As a caliber, we would recommend the 243 for this small antelope.

For those hunters who do not wish to go through the red tape of bringing a rifle into South Africa, Nick Bowker Hunting has a Sako carbon light 243 fitted with a Swarovski Z8 tactical scope.

We use Sako factory ammunition.

Mainly a browser, the Steenbok will occasionally graze on newly sprouted grass.