Mountain Reedbuck

[Safa]

Young ram shot in August. My favourite buck to stalk in the hills.Was one of four,left the mature ram to continue siring progeny with his missus and a younger ewe

Rifle Tikka .308

 

Craig

[dogfox]

nice job m8

[Gonna Shoot a Wabbit]

well done

[Trussman]

Good job

[jcbruno]

beautiful country you got down there hope it stays that way for you good folks and well done to the little one

[Safa]

Thanks Chaps,

 

For those interested and I suppose I should have put this in the original post a bit more info on the Reedbuck;

In South Africa we get two species of Reedbuck, the Mountain as depicted in the snaps and the Common

The Common occurs in the Eastern half of the country preferring areas with a higher rainfall and is larger

Both species have forward curving horns

Mountain Reedbuck weighs in at about 30Kgs-not dressed,is found in the drier central to eastern part of South Africa and is found in hilly or mountainous terrain as can be seen in the background of the photos above

Usually found in family groups of anything from 3 to 7 ,most I saw in one group was 13

Have an unusual rocking horseaction when running away

When disturbed always try and flee into the wind and have a high pitched whistle blown through the nose when alarmed

Stalking usually done from first light (about 06h45) until about 09h00 then again in the afternoon from about 15h00 to sundown when they are active-in winter during hunting season temps are well below zero -2 to -8 Celsius so they are often found in sheltered spots where the sun first makes its appearance .During the rest of the day they lie up in the shelter of vegetation suddenly jumping up unexpectedly when you are almost on top of them

The hair is a lot longer than other species found in the same area such as Springbuck, Blesbuck,Hartebeest and Gemsbuckand seems to fall out a lot easier, possibly a defence mechanism for predators

Although snow white under the browny upper body with a reddish neck make them extremely camoflaged in their terrain-whenalarmed the also flick their bushy tails upwards exposing the white underside to warn fellow members of the group.

Make excellent eating, in fact a fillet of one will be enjoyed on the barbie tonight along with a bev or two.

 

Cheers