Springbuck culling - RSA

[Bushwack]

Springbuck occur naturally in drier zones like: Namibia, Botswana and the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Body sizes vary quite widely according to the region. Those in the more Northern region of Namibia, South Africa / Botswana are noticeably larger (55 – 65kg / 143lbs) than those in the Southern areas of Namibia and South Africa (25 – 35kg / 77lbs) – This species seems always to do better in the Desert / Kalahari habitat than in the more wooden / bushveld areas. Both ram and ewe's carries horns.
 
Knowing the hunting area's of Namibia, Botswana and the Northern Cape / Kalahari well, I did a lot of hunting as a young hunter on springbuck in these areas, and in a curtain regions different hunting tactics must be used to hunt springbuck and other species.
 
· Namibia/ Botswana – Walk & Stalk, Bakkie (Truck) hunting, "Voorsit" hunting (Sit on a special made bench, while natives herds the springbuck your way).
 
· Eastern/ Western/ Northern Cape – "Voorsit", Bakkie (Truck) hunting.
 
· Northwest/ Limpopo province – Walk & Stalk.
 
Here you can see a culling operation in the Karoo/ Northern Cape area. You can also see the bench we use to do the "Voorsit" hunting with...
 




 

 
Meat:
Springbuck venison is excellent with mutton (Lamb). The meat is tasty, especially making stews or "Potjie kos" (Meat cooked with vegetables in a cast iron pot on an open fire).
 
Prime areas:
Good trophies all over S.A, but for meat the prime areas are Namibia and South Africa's Kalahari region.
 
Rifle / Calibre:
22-250 up to 300WM, but mostly used are the .243 and the.270. Long distances shooting are required up to 250m (273 yards). Variable and fixed power scopes can be used - min. fixed power must be by x 6.

[bowhunter 51]

Well now that is interesting, Bushwack.....I always thought they went
about 50 to 65 lbs................wonder, why the need to cull in such open
country?................I like the little chair idea, ....with the prop.....great
write-up....and, pics.............................................................................BH51....

[Bushwack]

Yes, in the southern part of South Africa the weight is in the region of 50 to 65 lbs - live mass, dess mass ±30lbs, because they are not indigenous to those area's. Springbuck as to Gembuck (Oryx) and Eland do like the more Desert and Kalahari regions. This is why South Africa is the hunting 'Mecca' of the world, we have 9 provinces and each province has it's unique huntable game specie/s. Bushveld area for Kudu, Freestate area for Blesbuck, Kalahari area for Springbuck...and so on.

[Noyb72]

I know this is old, Navys had me away for a while. But, coming from someone who married a South African and has been there, I thinkthe very best Sprinbuck is Billtong Sprinbuck!!! :D
 
Ron

[Paul Hoskins]

I like biltong made from our whitetails. I still have a couple pounds from a few years back. I doubt many on THL knows much about biltong.    ..........Paul H

[Noyb72]

My absolute favorite thing to snack on or pack is wildebeast biltong.

Ron

[Paul Hoskins]

Noyb72, I would love to try some African biltong made from some of the animals there. Especially buffalo. If things go good for me this fall, I want to make some elk biltong. In the meantime I have to settle for what's available, deer. Moose should make wonderful biltong.    ..........Paul H

[Noyb72]

Paul
 
I actually prefer jerked mule deer and elk. Biltong seems to leave a stronger "game" flavor that works well with African venison. Mulie and Elk aren't as complex and so the jerky texture (wich I prefer over biltong, except for stringy meat like wildebeast) is a plus for me. All of this is purely personal, in reallity I will eat it all, often and happilly (as my waist line demonstrates :) )
 
Ron

[Bushwack]

Ron / Paul,

One of the oldest and common way to make biltong especially on African game is to use:

1) Brown vinegar
2) Brown sugar
3) Coarse salt
4) Black pepper
5) Worcestershire sauce

place the meat in a bucket and use ingredients, place a second layer and once again use ingredients until all meat and ingredients are finished. Leave it in the bucket for approx. 2-3 days before hanging it to dry. Use a fan if its to hot. In South Africa the perfect condition to dry biltong is in the region of 2-6 degrees and the colder the area the faster the biltong comes of the hanging racks...

[Noyb72]

A friend of my wife's still lives in the farm area East od Durbahn. They make biltong on the porch every year. Usually out of impala if merory serves.

Ron