Bushbuck, one of the members of the spiral horn family that is found almost throughout the entire continent of Africa making it the most diverse and widespread spiral horn antelope. SCI record book has 8 subspecies of bushbuck registered while upwards of 10+ subspecies have been talked about in the early years of travels and hunters first exploring the dark continent.
The 8 SCI recognizes are as followed from South upwards into East, Central and West Africa.
Cape Bushbuck: South Africa, Eastern Cape to Kwazulu-Natal, dark brown to almost black in color.
Limpopo Bushbuck: The Limpopo River drainage in eastern Botswana; the Limpopo and Sabi river drainages in southern and southeastern Zimbabwe; adjacent parts of southern Mozambique; and the Transvaal lowveld and northeastern Zululand in South Africa, brownish gray in color, without stripes and with fewer spots
Chobe Bushbuck: Hunted in Namibia including the Caprivi Strip; northern Botswana; Zambia; Zambezi River drainage in northern and northwestern Zimbabwe; and adjacent parts of northern Mozambique, reddish brown in color.
East African Bushbuck: Hunted in Tanzania, and Uganda. brown in color, with spots rather than stripes.
Menelik’s: Only hunted and found in the high-altitude forests of the Chercher, Din Din, Arussi and Bale mountains, the mountains of western Shoa Province, and high areas in Illubabor Province of Ethiopia.
rather long coat of very dark brown (sometimes almost black) hair
Abyssinian: Found throughout Ethiopia, with the exception of the Gambella region in the extreme west, the montane habitat of the Menelik bushbuck. Fawn-colored with a black dorsal crest
Harnessed: The smallest race of bushbuck, with the smallest horns. Currently hunted in CAR, Cameroon, Chad other countries over the years that have been open on again off again.
Hunting this small antelope species will put you to the test whether it’s in the mountain terrain or along the thick riverine habitat they call home. Trying to scrounge out a monster ram can be a lifelong journey. The southern varieties such as the Cape Bushbuck, Limpopo Bushbuck and Chobe Bushbuck have a higher average in horn length but that does not mean that really big East African, Nile and Menelik’s bushbuck do not exist, they are out there. The Harnessed of central and western Africa and the Abyssinian of Ethiopia are the two smallest horn sized of the Bushbuck family but are the hardest two to get with the Abyssinian being the most challenging. Regardless of subspecies trying to find a big ram is a very challenging task. Pursuing all of the Bushbuck varieties will take you to many countries and into many different types of habitat they call home giving you a vast experience of the country.
I’m not much on ranking animals but if I had to, I would place the bushbuck in the top 5 of my most favorite African antelope to hunt.
I have shared photos of my Menelik’s from Ethiopia, Limpopo from South Africa, and my Cape from South Africa. I still have many subspecies to hunt but without a doubt will always be on the lookout from a truly monster ram wherever I go that bushbuck call home.
