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When Hunting Red Hartebeest
By: Pieter Stofberg, PH

The Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus camaa) occur widely throughout South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The face appears elongated due to a unique extension of the skull, known as a pedicel, which is a bone growth joining the skull to the horns. The facial markings are distinctive, with the top of the muzzle and the forehead being black. Very prominent pre-orbital glands give the animal two black spots just below the eyes. General color is a rich reddish brown, varying to a pale fawn. The top of the back is darker than the rest of the body, and black markings occur on the front of the shoulders and on high on the hind legs. The rump will be white or pale yellow.

With the forequarters being higher than the hind, the animal has a sloped appearance, with a humped back. The legs are very slender, as it should be, for this animal is one of the best runners in Africa. Ungainly as they look, Hartebeest is fast and can run incredible distances.

Males of the specie are larger than the females, with an average height of 1,3 to 1,5 meters. (Females average 1,2 to 1,3 meters). Average weight in the male would be around 150kg and females 125kg. 

Hartebeest are almost exclusively grazers, but will browse where grass is in short supply. They prefer the open grassland of semi-desert savannah. Like most antelope, they will feed during the cooler hours of the day, laying up during the hot mid day hours. They will drink regularly where water is readily available, but can go for as long as a week without. Having a high basic-element requirement, the animals can often be found in mineralized areas.

The rut is adjusted to the rainy season and calves are dropped just before the rains start. Males will harem herds of up to 30 animals and will fight ruthlessly to defend their territories. It is not uncommon to find males, horns jammed together in the fight, both dead.

The gestation period of the Hartebeest is 240 to 248 days. The single calf will be on its feet within 20 minutes and able to run within two hours. After around two weeks, the calf will start grazing, but will stay with its mother for around eight months. Females will reach sexual maturity after three years (males, two years).

Where not hemmed in by fences, the Hartebeest range over incredibly large areas. They will wander over areas as large as 300 to 350 square kilometers and, during bad years, this can go up to over 1000 square kilometers.

The Hunt:

Both sexes carry horns, which can be confusing when trying to spot your trophy. The sure way of making sure is to spot the penis sheath, which appears as a button on the stomach of the animal. This is difficult, though, given the animal’s preference for grasslands. The horns on the male are distinctively heavier than that of the female and, after a little practice, becomes readily recognizable. Mature males will also be darker in color than juveniles and females. Solitary animals will, 90% of the time, be mature males.

Hartebeest are scored according to Safari Club International method 1, with a minimum total score of 62 inches for the Red Hartebeest and 53 inches for the Lichtenstein needed for entry in the record books.

1.          Face length:

2.    Horn width:

Although not essential to good measurement, having a reasonable spread between the two top turns will enhance both measurement and looks.

This is one of the most important areas to consider. Keep in mind that the pedicel will already make the horns appear high, but will add nothing to measurement. What you need is good height above the hairline, before the horns bend forward. Personally, I look for height of at least as high as the forehead is wide.

4.      Base weight:

As with most of our antelope, the SCI scoring method takes the circumference of both horns into account. It therefore follows that, the heavier the bases, the better the measurement.

5.        Length after turn back:

Here is where you differentiate between a good and an outstanding Hartebeest. When the horns bend back towards the animal’s rump, look for good length from the top of the turn to the horn tip. A minimum of six inches will put you in good territory, while seven to nine inches will almost always result in a total length of over twenty-two inches. In older animals, the exaggerated weight of the bases will sometimes make up for lack of tip length, but, if you are looking for numbers, pick the animal with the longest turn-to-tip horns.

As with most grazers, Hartebeest prefers the open grasslands. This means that, more likely than not, you will be presented with a longer shot. The scarcity of cover on the grasslands will make it necessary to crawl quite a bit! Long pants and long sleeved shirts (to protect knees and elbows) and a pair of gloves are indicated. Make sure to have some form of shooting sticks (more often for the sitting position) available.
Hartebeest have outstanding smell and hearing, but their sight is not so good. Make use of this by stalking as silently as possible and always having the wind on your side. If the animals do spot you, they will invariably face you directly, making a snorting sound. This does not mean that they are going to spook, though, and if you keep still for a while, they will calm down and continue grazing. Be very sure, though, that they will have one or two animals keeping an eye on the general area. A second alert will have them out of there!
If the animals do spook, have a good look at the way they run. If they run flat out (they can reach speeds of up to 70km/h) give it up and go hunt something else. If they go into their distinctive zig-zag stotting, chances are that you will have a second opportunity for a shot. This stotting is more of an indication of uneasiness than spooking and the herd will not run far.
Here is a neat trick to sometimes make things a little easier. Hartebeest is one of the most curious of antelope and, as with the cat, curiosity sometimes kills them. If you find yourself in a situation where distance is to great for a good shot, but you cannot get closer for lack of cover, draw the herd’s attention without showing yourself. Various methods, such as shaking the bush you are hiding behind, etc. will work. My preferred method is to put my hat in a stick and wave it slowly in the air. The Hartebeest will spot this and, being curious, will approach closer and closer to try and determine what it is that is causing the movement. Don’t make any sound and they will, like as not, come close enough for a shot. Recently, during some slack time in our hunting program, I went out to the bush just for fun. Spotting a herd of around thirty Hartebeest, I decided to play with them a little and stalked up to within 150 meters. I then hid myself behind a bush and started waving my hat. Damned if they didn’t walk right up to me! When they finally spotted me and got out of there, the closest animal was no more than 10 to 15 meters away.

As with most plains game, I prefer a fast, flat shooting caliber. Something in the 300 Magnum range will allow you to carry only one rifle and be ready for anything the bush might present. You never know when you might walk into the Gemsbok of a lifetime!!
Shot placement requires some thinking. The animal carries its heart low in the chest cavity, almost directly behind the elbow. With the square-on shot, place the vertical line of your ‘scope right up and down the foreleg. As for the horizontal line, mind the hump on the animals back!!! With most of the antelope species, simply lining the horizontal line up in the middle of the chest cavity will result in a double lung shot. Not so with these animals! The hump on the back is formed by very long “fingers” growing out of the spine and this will account for fully one third of the animal’s forequarters, placing the heart and lungs much lower down than you would expect. So, line up your horizontal line in the lower half of the animal’s forequarters.
It is important that the vertical line in the ‘scope goes up and down the foreleg, as the animal carries its lungs quite far forward, directly below the hump on its back. Fully half of the rib cage extends over its stomach cavity and shooting behind the shoulder will often result in a gut shot. Be careful!!
Because the animals are so curious, they will often present the full frontal shot. This is fine placement for shorter shots, provided you place your bullet in the V shape at the bottom of the neck. Be very careful with longer shots, though. Apart from the smaller target being presented, Hartebeest has a habit of dropping their heads just before they move. This covers the target and can often result in an animal with its jaw shot off.
One last tip. Because of their preference for open spaces, Hartebeest often occur in areas with very little shade. I already told you that they like to lay up during the hot hours of the day, so have a good look at any shady spots in the area. More likely than not, that is where you will find your Hartebeest.

Good hunting!

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