Waterbuck - South Africa

[Frederik]

It is probarbly my 4th year I am going to try and see if I can find a waterbuck bull in my crosshairs.
Luck has not been on my side but I'm sure the bull of my dreams will finaly come into my sights.

They are robust regal animals and do not form part of the glory animals like Kudu and sable but are absoluut special to me.
As far as I know no one has managed and hope ist stays that way to get a different colour phase in them.

Waterbuck is also one of the animals that I have not hunted much with clients way back when I was a full time PH and I have not shot one myself also.
So except for slowly working on the tiny ten I stillk keep hammering on my species list.
Last year was my first giraffe and hopefully I will get chance at my first waterbuck and hoefully a good bull.

I am planning to either use my 375 H&H with 300gr SBC bullets or my 7x57 with 160gr bullets.
My son will be hunting with me and we will carry both he will be after a kudu cow or a zebra both he has not shot before also so trying for a new specie himself.
Otherwise I will shoot blue wildebeest cow for the fridge.

We are gouig way up north in Limpopo north of a small town called Waterpoort on a fram I do not know but will be a mix of Mopane and Acacia and somey rocky outcrops koppies. Cannot wait. Area is also know for some good warties and if I bump into one you know how it goes??

So show me your waterbuck trophies please to get me pumped up.

 

[MATTANJA HUNTING SAFARIS]

Shot this bull with a client in the Waterpoort Area about 6 years ago. Measured 32" or 32.5" if I remember correctly. I took a couple of 30" bulls on this specific ranch but this one was the biggest.
Which farm are you going to hunt @Frederik?

 

[Frederik]

Shot this bull with a client in the Waterpoort Area about 6 years ago. Measured 32" or 32.5" if I remember correctly. I took a couple of 30" bulls on this specific ranch but this one was the biggest.
Which farm are you going to hunt @Frederik?
View attachment 669310

Farm HASTINGS, H&H Outfitters, Francois Hoffman.

 

[kdenn]

My Namibian waterbuck. Have no idea of measurements, not so important to me. Love how they look.

 

[Hunt anything]

Game 4 Africa Safaris, Eastern Cape, September 2018. 7mm REM mag, 154gr hornady, 287 yards.

 

[Green Chile]

In the Waterbergs last year...nice mass...28+

 

[Fryeguy]

My Namibian waterbuck. Have no idea of measurements, not so important to me. Love how they look.

I really like the way this picture is set up. Stars in the background. Must have had a great photographer with you!

 

[CEO]

Waterbuck are my favorite PG. Is there a consensus on the number one place to go after a trophy Waterbuck?

 

[Pirkan]

This one is admittedly not much of a trophy but it was a fun hunt. When I hunted with Tally-Ho in rsa we saw a large group of waterbucks at a waterhole near the butchery where we dropped of other animals I shot multiple evenings in a row so we decided to go to said waterhole the next evening and wait for them. The first night I shot a warthog just as it was starting to get too dark and when we had left it in the butchery and went back to camp we passed a large group of waterbucks at the same waterhole. We went back the next night and this time I shot a duiker that came out and just like the night before the waterbucks were there and taunting us on the way back. On the third day, after being accused of just messing around and threatened with not being allowed any beer if we didn't get one, we tried again. Just as it was getting too dark and we were ready to quit we saw the group come out of the bush and I managed to shoot this one. The shot is honestly the best shot I've ever taken on an animal, it was absolutely perfect on the centimeter. It ran a 50-100 meters or so before dying and we were all very happy and relieved. The beer i drank afterwards has to be in the top 5 of beers I've ever drunk.

 

[Fryeguy]

I know how you feel with waterbuck. I took one on my first safari. It took a bit to get one, but it was well worth it!

 

[Firebird]

My most recent one-one of my favorite things to hunt. The east cape and game4africa have been good to me. We were hunting a bigger one that gave us the slip and I took this one instead-I like to pull the trigger! I was surprised how good waterbuck meat tasted

 

[Fryeguy]

On my second trip over I had narrowed down my list to Eland as my #1 animal, and I was contemplating several other species (blue wildebeest, gemsbok, nyala). First morning out we were going after Eland, and we stopped looking at some zebra and smaller waterbuck females and a couple small males feeding out in a field. I decided against zebra, my wife loves horses and thinks they are too similar. Then I turned the other direction, two zebras parted and I saw a huge waterbuck behind them in bush. I threw up my 9.3x62 and shot it rather quickly without hesitation. The PH laughed asked me “did you like that waterbuck? I thought we were after eland?” We all had some laughs about it, I think he and I were the only ones to see it before I pulled the trigger, so it scared my wife and kids when I shot. It didn’t go but maybe 20 yards. We took pics and then went after an eland….
I will never top this one, but but it doesn’t mean I won’t stop shooting them!! The guys with Adansonia Safaris will probably just assume waterbuck is on the list from now on

 

[Flipper Dude]

I don’t have an “in the field” pic of this one on my pad or phone, but I do have this pic. Won the ZPGA award for my PH for that year as Top Plains Game trophy. 34 x 33. Had my safety off on 3 different occasions on this same bull on 3 different days before we could close the deal.

 

[Green Chile]

Wow...that's a huge waterbuck. Fantastic. Congrats to you and the PH.

 

[USN]

My first Africa critters, East Cape with Nick Bowker Safaris. Started the dreaded addiction, 3 trips planning number 4.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

@Frederik Focus on the bases. Make sure that they are solid.

 

[Nomsag]

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

In 2018, while hunting with @GAME 4 AFRICA SAFARIS , my daughter took a really nice waterbuck. 30-1/4"

 

[Hunt anything]

Waterbuck are my favorite PG. Is there a consensus on the number one place to go after a trophy Waterbuck?

The biggest ones I’ve seen were in the Zambezi River delta of Mozambique, I saw several that were probably over 30” but I didn’t have one on quota!

 

[IvW]