THE bushbuck holds a certain aura in the minds of many, of whom I am one. Reasons include his elusiveness and secretive habits, dwelling in the shadowy world of deep forests and dense thickets. His dark colouration with white patches forms the perfect cryptic camouflage amid the dappled shadows, and his favourite defensive tactic of freezing on sensing danger lets him disappear as if by magic.
It’s baffling how, every once in a while, a ram of extraordinary trophy size will be shot in an area that has been heavily hunted for years. Bushbuck remain within a limited home range. How does a ram hide for ten to twelve years to attain such trophy size without being shot by one of the many hunters searching for just such as he?
From my early teens, I attended beater-driven bushbuck hunts in the New Hanover-Greytown district of Natal. This method produces far more bushbuck sightings than walk-and-stalk hunting does. I attended many such hunts into my early twenties, yet never saw a ram that measured over 14 inches. I then moved to SWA, but regular driven hunts continued to be held in that area. On my return, aged 41, for
