Trophy Hunting Common Reedbuck in Africa

Overview of this species and the hunt

This is a medium sized antelope and it is normally found living in areas close to water sources such as floodplains. The reedbuck is a powerful animal with a long neck, and males are easily distinguished from the females. Only the males have horns. The buck has a grey chest, a belly that is almost white and a yellowish body, and along with the short curved horns, they are easily identified. The buck lacks the three black stripes commonly seen on Impala or mountain reedbuck and are much bigger than these two similar antelope. Although they prefer living near water, this is not their only habitat.

The only reason the common reedbuck is often hunted near to water is that they need to drink on a daily basis, so you can be sure that at some time of the day, they will be there. Normally, they live in pairs rather than on their own and in winter they tend to live in herds.

You will find the reedbuck grazing when the day is cool, that is late afternoon and early morning, but they are also known to graze at night. When the day gets too hot, they retreat to reed beds where they are sheltered from the heat as well as from sight. Should they sense danger, they run with their tails pointing up, another characteristic of this species. The ideal weapon to use when trophy hunting common reedbuck in South Africa is the 7mm or the .270 rifle and we recommend that you always use a good quality bullet. Aiming up the foreleg, around a third of the way up the body should get your bullet straight to the heart and bring down the animal.