Hunting Story: Red Hartebeest in Namibia

Namibia was proving to be a revelation to me, not only for the superbly beautiful countryside you hunt in, the plentiful supply of trophy animals but really good PH’s that had us in stitches every day. It was more of a hunting stag do than a trophy hunt, but that was good, fun in-between hunts and serious ethical hunting on point, a great combination which made the SMJ safari week truly memorable.

One such animal that three of our intrepid Chutney puff hunters were keen to stalk was the Red Hartebeest. An odd looking animal and large thick set by English deer standards this antelope was a tough and hard to shoot proposition but by the end of the first three days we all had a Hartebeest under our belt and big smiles.

NATURE BIT

Red Hartebeest or Alcelaphus spp. like the Black Wildebeest is an ugly bugger! Mind you I wouldn’t win any beauty pageants either. It’s typically African (odd design), they look like all the bits left over, like a Frankenstein antelope. They are closely related to the Topi, Tsessebe, Bontebok and Blesbok; they have very long narrow heads, goat like yellow eyes and an almost bulbous nose. They wear a sad look rather like a moose but don’t let that fool you as those small pointed ears can suss out any poor hunter.

Commonly known as the Harley Davidson antelope due to the horn formation that look like a set of bike handle bars, although they do not eat well either, they still remain a nice trophy on any hunt! They are primarily grazing animals in small herds of 20 -30 on open grass lands and semi-desert areas with diurnal eating cycles being more active at the cooler parts of the day, then laying up in the shade when it gets hot.

Again just to trick us Brits, both sexes wear horns and so this is where a good PH can determine sex and age of your chosen trophy. Older bulls have a more heavy ridged lower section to the horns and the hide is a lovely reddish sand colour that makes a good rug!

Due to the earlier morning late evening stalks their eye sight is less good, helping approach downwind to evaluate the beast. With regard to calibre we were advised that any 270, 7mm or 30 cal is more than adequate for Hartebeest and so Bruce’s 7mm-08 and Derek’s .308 Win were perfect and I was using Jacobs .300 Win mag anyway. I liked this rifle which ensured a bit of insurance as I have heard if not hit correctly a Hartebeest has a lot of stamina and can run a long way into thick cover.

For this reason due to the humped back nature of the Red Hartebeest it is essential to place the shot along the mid line and shoulder or spinal shots need to be slightly higher up and further forward than you would think, again a good PH will advise.

EARLY BIRD AND ALL THAT

Despite an early 5.00am start and even being May, the beginning of winter in these climes the temperatures were still 30° during the day and after a morning stalk at 6.00 to 12.00am and afternoon stalk 3.00pm to dark (7.00pm) you feel it.

It is sound advice to eat a hearty breakfast as you will burn it off during the day and take plenty of fluids and pause frequently when appropriate, usually in the shade to avoid over exposure.

Typical stalking here at SMJ Safaris is two hunters with two PH’s where possible, this being Julian Savory and myself teamed with Jacob van der Merwe and Douw Schoonbee with Oskar our Bushman tracker.

We picked up Oskar from his traditional hut near the abattoir and set out in Jacobs fully equipped Toyota Hilux. After a short drive we dismounted and loaded up for a stalk into an open scrub area.

I was carrying Jacobs Ruger Hawkeye stainless synthetic rifle chambered in 300 Win Mag, scoped with a Swarovski Z3 4-12x50mmm and moderated with a TMM4 A-TEC Sound suppressor.

1.5 INCHES AT 100 YARDS

We had sighted the rifle 1.5 inches high at 100 yards with Barnes VOR-TX factory loads shooting 180 grain Tipped bullets at 2960 fps for 3502 ft/lbs energy, perfect for deep penetration on big African game. We slowly inched through the soft sand soil and ever present Acacia bushes that are unforgiving on your clothes or skin with spikes and hooks that want to retard your every step. I tore up several shirts on this trip! This means stalking along game trails is your best bet, using the gaps made by the animals to move quietly with less thorn issues.

Oskar was up front using his Bushman talents to good use distinguishing old and new slots and spoor of the Hartebeest with Jacob scanning the forward bush for movement then me, Julian and Douw at the rear with his keen eyesight to check we have not missed anything. Soon a good fresh trail was established and Jacob guided us in ahead twisting and turning through the bush and thorns as the trail went hot then cold. Jacob as a tracker was superb; we often doubled back but always approached down wind, a mark of a good PH until we came to an edge of cover where there lay out a wide open savanna area dotted with camel thorn acacia trees but the sun just peeking over the horizon.

300 yards to the left of us were a small group of Oryx feeding quietly, beautiful animals and on my list but Jacobs keen eye aged each beast and gestured to move slowly right back under cover to avoid disturbing them. Jacobs hand suddenly went flat down, indicating to us to stay put.

There about 180 yards out on the grassland was a mature bull Red Hartebeest feeding next to a sekel bush. While his head was down Jacob indicted to move up to him and in one movement he had set the Quad shooting sticks and the Ruger was nestled securely in their crux.

He confirmed he was a very good mature bull with really thick ribbed horns and thick set uppers and as he raised his head he stood directly looking at us. I thought they had bad eyesight!

A light tap on the shoulder was all I needed from Jacob as the Swarovski’s reticule lined up on the bulls brisket and I sent a Barnes VOR-TX round on its way. Whop! The meat shot resonated in the early morning air, he took a few short and stumbling steps and was down and I had a superb trophy.

As we set up the photos the sun streaks it rays across us and picked up the coat colour from the Red Hartebeest that gives it its name. It actually turned out to be a gold medal, more than I could have dreamed for and would be a superb trophy back home in Potts Mausoleum, I mean Towers.

BRUCE AND DEREK’S GO

Bruce Coyle and Derek Clifford also both wanted a hartebeest this trip and there were plenty there, believe me, but that does not make it easy and you have to earn every trophy here in Namibia.

Bruce had a trusty Mannlicher chambered in 7mm-08 cal that shot factory Hornady Light magnum 140-grain loads into small groups and was ideally suited for Hartebeest at 200 yards max. Derek was using his Mauser M03 Extreme in .308 Win that Stephan Jacobs, chief at SMJ Safari’s rates as a great allrounder, the .308 not Derek!
They were assigned CJ Steenkamp as their PH, yet another quality hunter who knows his stuff, getting you in close on trophy animals, although his driving skills had our hearts in our mouths, literally. Bruce’s beasty was first and as a hill farmer himself and although the oldest on the trip was fitter than all of us, so walking through the brush and long stalks were a breeze. CJ spotted a group of Red Hartebeest grazing peacefully on an open plain area with a wooded edge that Bruce and CJ stealthy stalked along to get in range. Bruce’s Mannlicher was on the shoulder of a superb trophy bull but another was behind it so it was a long agonising wait until the herd rearranged themselves and that Light Magnum load barked and a perfect heart lung shot earned Bruce another Gold medal Hartebeest.

Derek had already bagged a whopper of a Water Buck and Eland and so a cull animal was sorted and again CJ managed a close in stalk through the usual unforgiving thorn bushes to place Derek 120 yards from a group of suitable beasts. Derek’s Swarovski Z6I lined up on a broadside shoulder shot and a 150-grain Lapua Mega over a load of 41.0 grains of Vit N130 powder grassed the cull animal in a single shot. Sometimes it’s not all about trophies, cull animal’s still deserve respect and can be just as difficult to stalk.

CONCLUSION

Yes Red Hartebeest may look very odd but they are a must have species if you come to Namibia and with a long nose cut on a dark trophy board they make an unusual addition amongst the Roe heads. All those that wanted a trophy Hartebeest got one and they were good specimens, again testament to SMJ Safaris hard working team. With the northern Territories sorted we were now all off south to SMJ’S Kalahari concessions for Oryx, Springbok, mountain Zebra, Klipspringer and duiker.

Hey ho, more Chutney Puffs on route and bullets to launch but so little time.