Trophy Hunting Blesbok

The Blesbok lives on the open plains of the South African highveld.  Primarily grazers, they form herds consisting of females (ewes) and juveniles, while the males (rams) tend to be solitary.  The neck and top of the back is brown, darker on the flanks with a white belly. A small white blaze above the eyes and a larger blaze below is usually divided between the eyes.  With both sexes carrying horns, care must be taken when hunting Blesbok to insure you take the animal of choice.  Best time for hunting Blesbok is while they are grazing in the morning or late afternoon.  Like many other species, they tend to lay-up during the hottest part of the afternoon.

Hunting Blesbok on the plains of the Free State can be challenging, as your shots can be quite long.  The Blesbok shares a common behavioral characteristic with his cousin the Bontebok, that of standing together with heads facing toward the sun and faces low to the ground.  He sometimes shakes his head violently, stamps and runs in a complete circle only to resume his original place.  As available water is essential to this specie, hunting Blesbok near the approaches to water holes can prove productive.

This once, near-extinct antelope has been reintroduced on the game farms of southern Africa and boasts a population somewhere in the hundreds of thousands.  American hunters can rely on their favorite whitetail deer rifle when hunting Blesbok.  Calibers like the .270 or .300 magnums with bullets of 130 to 150 grains give excellent results for longer shots out on the plains; while hunting Blesbok in the bush, you may want to choose a heavy for caliber round nose bullet. As always, the aim point is critical; place your shot by following the rear line of the fore-leg about one third up into the body which will strike the top of the heart and the lungs.  If he doesn't go down, he won't go far.

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Facts

• Name: Blesbok
• Scientific: Damaliscus dorcas phillipsi
• Weight Male: 70 Kg
• Weight Female: 61 kg
• Shoulder Height Male: 95 cm
• Shoulder Height Female: 95 cm
• Mating Season: April / may

Weights & shoulder heights are averages