HUNTING Wildebeest

[G Skinner]

Great video ! .... When I arrowed my Black he too kicked over the water trough ...it was all 3 of us could do to pick it back up .
Glen

 

[Timbo]

Blue wildebeest are not called the poor man's buffalo for nothing.

We have a joke about a Blue wildebeest in Africa.

"a Blue wildebeest is born sick and every time you give it a lead pill it feels stronger and runs further...."

This joke is told after a wounded animal has been tracked for hours before finding it.

They are very tough animals and dont give up easily and can and will charge the hunter after its been quartered.

The Blue wildebeest has a very deep chest and hunters normally wound by shooting too high.

Make sure of the vital triangle on the animal and shoot for the middle of the triangle and you should have an trophy on the ground with in 200 meters.

I agree! I got mine with my .30/06. The PH let me take a tracker for the afternoon and "go find something to shoot!" We did. A nice blue wildebeest. After an exciting hunt and chase - during which I got in 2 broadside shots - one behind each shoulder - this wildebeest angrily stopped running and faced me at 50m. I remember seeing the tracker turn towards me with an: "Oh, f*#k!" look in his eyes! As the wildebeest squared up to (I suppose) charge I dropped him through the chest. Three 220gr PMP RNSPs went into his vitals during this chase/stalk before he succumbed! A very, very tenacious animal indeed!!

 

[Steve Bosang]

Great hunt story and stalk..I agree they are tough and tenacious...My PH told me to GROUND my Blue so he couldn't disappear.(shooting at sunset)..on the first shot I broke his leg to avoid that chase,but I still had to pump another 200 gr AFrame into him to end his condition.They are magnificently beautiful and stubborn and comical at times.

 

[Timbo]

Great hunt story and stalk..I agree they are tough and tenacious...My PH told me to GROUND my Blue so he couldn't disappear.(shooting at sunset)..on the first shot I broke his leg to avoid that chase,but I still had to pump another 200 gr AFrame into him to end his condition.They are magnificently beautiful and stubborn and comical at times.

Yes they are! To finish the story in my case, after checking for any eye reflex the tracker ran all the way back to camp to get the PH. My girlfriend later said all hell broke loose in camp when he got back! I think the PH thought I would go and find something innocuous to bag!! Anyway he drove like a bat out of hell back to the spot, at times shoving my girlfriend's head out of the way to avoid bushes and acacia thorns. I'll never forget the look on his face when he saw me sitting there happily waiting! He later told me they were a pretty tough and tenacious animal, on which he preferred using a .375HH.
The folly of just being a 19 year old client - and blissful ignorance!!

 

[Rikus savhs]

They tough animals shot one in the hart ones and still ran for 60 metres .Is always a pleasure hunting these animals cause you never know what to expect from them.

 

[Daga Boy]

My son got a decent wildebeest with the 308 this morning. The 180gr normal oryx did a great job (again)

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Nice tropy. Congrats.

 

[Ragman]

I was fortunate to be able to hunt a Blue a few weeks ago. Their reputation for toughness had me very nervous, but one shot in the right spot using a .300 WM had him down inside 100 yards. Truly awesome animals!

 

[lwaters]

Nice trophy. I like hunting them and have everytime I have been to Africa.

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

I was fortunate to be able to hunt a Blue a few weeks ago. Their reputation for toughness had me very nervous, but one shot in the right spot using a .300 WM had him down inside 100 yards. Truly awesome animals!

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I agree wite you.

 

[Dr Ray]

Great bullet performance
Congratulations

 

[G Skinner]

Congrats. Guys ! Nice trophies !
Glen

 

[Hunter Mickey]

My first Golden Wildebeest, ( mutation from a blue)

Shot him dead on through the chest hitting the heart with my Sako 85 30-06. Norma Oryx 180gr.

He ran flat out for a few meters then dropped.

 

[Ridge Runner]

2018 Black and Blue Wildebeests.
30-06, 165 grain TTSX bullets.
Kubusi Safaris, East Cape South Africa

Okay, decide for yourselves: Charge or Not a Charge? Black Wildebeest.

Piet, my PH, and I waited for 75 minutes, standing in the open, as you can tell by the photo, my rifle on the sticks, range guesstimated at 200-250 yards: before I could get a clean (clear) shot on him as he was protected by 1 standing and 1 laying down be behind him, 3 standing and 2 laying down front off to the right of him, and 5 standing off his hind end making any attempt at a better angle impossible in my shooters option.

After 30 minutes, Piet wanted us to relocate, I disapproved of the idea and he accepted my decision because we had a full broadside shot opportunity and any way we moved could spook the animals and there would be a less desirable shot angle, and more wildebeests blocling a shot.

Finally!! The other animals started feeding, giving me a clean-clear shot.

The first shot, according to Piet, was exellant, as the beast started to go down....then he decided to keep on his hooves and turned at a run straight toward us, as he neared us, the BW veered away to our left.

Not wanting to make a foolish from the hip, running shot at the animal as he was about 20- 25 yards passing by us. The second shot hit him in the right rear hip and he went down, third shot was in the spine....just in case he thought about getting back up. Fourth shot, at 25 yards, I took, as per Piet's instructions before he left to get the bakki: "....if he moves or tries to get up shoot him again,...."; he (BW) moved...that second to last exhale.

Soil your pants moment.... (Lucky I didn't feel the need)....At merely inches away from his body....I poked him with the muzzle of my rifle: first 3 inches away at his hind end, second poke was at his chest, and third at his nose...this is when his head came up knocking the muzzle of my rifle away from his head, an d he exhaled the last bit of air left in his lungs; his head returned to rest on the ground.

As Piet topped the hill in his bakki, I quickly blessed him (the black wildebeest) for the opportunity to and the memory of the hunt.

 

[jeff]

Congrats on two great wildebeest ! I hunted a few days from the Kubusi lodge some years back.

 

[Rider717]

My black wildebeest from my first safari. Hit him with a high neck shot and dropped him. Much smaller animal than I was expecting when I got up close. Old loner bull covered in ticks and had rubbed all the hair off between his bosses. My first African trophy.

I also shot a blue on this safari. Facing slightly quartering shot. I aimed low in the chest but hit him slightly too low. He took off and we tracked and spotted him for the next 3 hours. At one point we watched him get pushed away from the herd by another bull. As we glassed him we could see a large pool of blood under him and a big spot on his chest. Then he disappeared into cover. Over night we had torrential rains and all blood and tracks got washed away. Searched all morning then gave up making me feel sick. About 8 days after I got home I get a message from my PH that they had found him. They were able to salvage the horns and skull and get a cape so I ended up with a nice shoulder mount. Here is the skull.

Here is my blue from this year. One shot in nthe vital triangle dropped him for a minute but he struggled up and I missed with a follow up shot. We watched him stagger for about 1 minute before he fell over dead.

Tough animals. But like anything else, if you shoot them in the right spot you can drop them with a single shot!

 

[Daga Boy]

Blue Wildebeest are the most wounded animals in the region I hunt - as in shot and not recovered.
In fact one which was taken last year was found to have 7 bullets in it, and it was still walking around apparently healthy!
The main problem is shot placement - typically too high and/or too far back. Alternatively a failed neck shot.
If the animal is looking at you (which is often the case) the frontal brain shot is more often than not a better option than chest shot. The head is quite large and half decent a head shot will generally at least knock the animal down and render it unconscious long enough to get another shot in - if that seems necessary. Conversely, frontal chest shots frequently result in lost animals.
As a rule the best shot placements are either on the point of the shoulder (if the animal is quarter on) or pretty much on the shoulder but in the lower half of the body (1/3 of the way up is perfect) if the animal is broadside.
I absolutely do not recommend neck shots on these animals (save for experts) as it is difficult to tell exactly where the spine is and the target area is pretty small. If the shot is placed too high the animal will typically fall over and then get up and run off . If too low it will just run away. Either way you will have your work cut out to find it and there is a good chance that you wont.
Another bit of advice is to use enough gun (blacks are soft but blues are not). Any normal calibre can do the job but larger calibres do a better job. In a bush environment I would recommend 7x57 or .308Win as the minimum in bush country and 7mm rem mag or one of the 300 magnums as minimum in open country requiring shots in excess of 250m.

 

[archerman]

Daga boy,

I agree with u that blue wildebeest are tuff. I shoot s 30.06 springfield and prefer that over a .308.. both are formidable calibers...

Shot placement is of prime importance!!!

Bob

 

[jeff]

I've shot 6 blues with my bow and 3 have dropped in sight, 2 others went between 80-100 yards the other one was hit to far back and went a long ways and had to be followed up with a rifle, shot placement is everything !

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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There is clean bullet hole straight through the Blue Wildebeests ear and a chunk taken out underneath the horn from where someone had shot at him years ago. I'm hoping the taxidermist show that up really well, I think it makes him an even more interesting trophy.

Richelle
Beautiful wildebeest, they are a crazy animal.
Face and mane of a horse, short back legs and horns of a buffalo.
Go girl well done.
Cheers
Bob