First Springbuck ever

[Titus]

Shot this little ewe two weeks ago. First springbuck ever, and I got it with my .50 GPH. :grin:

Dont have the traditional outfit yet, but the gun was traditional nonetheless. :hatsoff:

 

[blueridger]

Congrats on the springbuck!

 

[Little Wattsy]

Outstanding!!! :hatsoff:

 

[rabjr]

Nice grats! :thumbsup:

Can you tell us about their meat, how do they taste, what are they similar to?

 

[agill]

Congratulations! The picture turned out nice. Now tell us the story.

 

[chance]

Congrats great job!!!

 

[Titus]

In short, the meat is excellent. My wife and I had the fillets on the barbeque last Saturday and it was more tender than liver. Ive never had anything like it. Its hard to explain the taste, but if I have to compare it to something it reminds me a bit of lamb, except its not nearly as fatty and a very slight gamey taste.


The story is as follows.

Its basically our annual hunt and after our last hunt in the Limpopo provice left a sour taste in our mouths due to a bad experience, we decided to find a new piece of land for our hunt. We selected a farm in the Karoo in the Eastern Cape Province. Close between Middelburg and Cradock, about 650km away from Bethlehem in the Free State where I live. After a 7 hour drive we arrived 07:00 the Saturday morning, unpacked the Toyota Pickup and trailer, checked the zeros on the rifles and were picked up by the famr owner to be taken to the first camp some 5 km away from our lodging.

This was a vast piece of flat open terrain. with little cover to use for stalking. The typical kind which is favoured by these animals. They are usually shot over very long distances (250m plus) with modern flatshooting calibers, but I was determined to shoot my first one with a muzzle loader, specificly my Lyman GPH. Johan, dropped each of us off at specific points and showed us each our range and directions in which we are allowed to shoot.

I got a nice spinney of bushes where I found that I can use this in my advantage to ambush my prey as I wouldnt have any other option. Stalking within distance certainly was out of the question.

At around 12:00 after almost 4 hours of waiting, I saw a small group of buck running up along the border fence coming in my direction. I took aim on the leading ewe and waited for her to come within range. The 406gr conical struck her low in the chest and exited on the other side through its right hind leg.

The same day I shot two blesbuck as well, but I am not allowed to show you the pics because I shot them with a .22-250

 

[PreglerD]

Congrats and Waidmanns Heil to this nice deer. It is nearly roedeer sized. The GPR is also a fine looking rifle! :thumbsup:

And not to forget your wife, very pretty! :wink:

Regards

Kirrmeister

 

[Supercracker]

That's cool.

How far of a shot was it?

 

[BillinOregon]

Nice, Titus! Were you using Sannadex?

 

[paulvallandigham]

I obviously am not standing next to you watching how the animal was cleaned, and then the meat cut from the animal. However, most "gamey" flavor is the result of people not being used to the taste of bloody meat, which gives the meat a bit of bitter taste, like old liver, or over-cooked liver.

The secret to getting the " gamey " taste out is to of course cool the meat quickly, to keep it from actually spoiling( bacterial growth), but then soak the chops, steaks, medallions,roasts, etc. in cold water with some salt added to draw the blood out. The meat should be a dull pink in color before cooking, rather than a dark purple, or maroon color. I soak the meat in salted water, and then soak the meat in clean, fresh, cold water for an equal amount of time to draw out the salt, and more blood. An hour each usually is enough. Then the meat can be cooked, refrigerated for a couple of days, or wrapped and frozen.

Also, remove all "white" tissues, including fat, sinew, and tendons surrounding muscle groups. These contain enzymes that also can give the meat a "gamey" taste. If you want to make venison burgers, and need fat for a binder, use beef or pork fat, or a combination of both(pork fat is sweeter), rather than the fat from the animal. ( Springbok is a member of the deer family, and therefore its correct to refer to its meat as "Venison".)

I also bone out the meat, as the bones also contribute to a 'gamey " taste. I love fresh liver, because its as sweet, and as tender as Prime Rib WHEN FRESH, but most of my dinner guests are not used to it, and don't like the taste of blood. Bones cooked with the meat don't add flavor only bitter tastes, from the enzymes they hold, very similar to the taste of blood.

Domestic Lamb is as close a texture and flavor as I can find to compare to that of venison, also. :thumbsup:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Nice story and photo.

Good for you and your wife :hatsoff:

Brits.

 

[Titus]

Kirrmeister, thanks for the compliment. I'll be sure to let her know. :thumbsup: :grin:

Supercracker, it was around 60m which I prefer for my comfortable maximum when hunting with ML.

Bill, no it wasnt SDX this time around, I was lucky enough to stumble on some Wano from Wilsa. He had 1kg available which I promply grabbed. :haha:

Paul, thanks for the advice. :bow: I think I should have asked it earlier, :haha: :redface: but I will be sure to apply it to the harvest coming August as the taste is the only thing which is still putting my wife a bitt off the taste of venison.

 

[longcruise]

Your springbuck looks a bit like our Pronghorn of the American western plains. Maybe a bit smaller (and therefore a more difficult shot :thumbsup: )

Would love to hunt your country some day. It's the one "exotic" destination I can probably persuade my wife to since she has relatives there.

Congratualtions on your success. A fine example of intelligent planning working out.

 

[Rolfkt]

Nice springbock.I went hunting in south africa summer 2003. Springbock was high on my wish list, but i never got close enough for a shot. I did get a nice kudu and a gnu.

A springbock is a small antilope and all antilopes are members of the cattle famly, not the the deer famly. Members of the deer famly have antlers that they shed each year.
Members of the cattle famly do not shed their horns. The horns have a boney core that is part of the animals skull.

Best regards
Rolf

 

[longcruise]

A springbock is a small antilope and all antilopes are members of the cattle famly, not the the deer famly. Members of the deer famly have antlers that they shed each year.
Members of the cattle famly do not shed their horns. The horns have a boney core that is part of the animals skull.

And then, there is our American Pronhorn. Sort of a tweener species not really belonging to any other group except that it is an ungulate.

The pronghorn male sheds it's outer horn sheath each year and re-grows a new one. It is actually more closely related to goats and is commonly called a prairie goat in the west. Except in Wyoming, where it is commonly called a "range maggot" :shocked2:

Then, there is the Rocky Mountain Goat which is more closely reltated to antelope.

Go figger!

 

[rkmeyer]

Titus,
Very good story and photo of you, your wife and the Springbuck. :applause:
Thank You,
Dusty :wink:

 

[hawk]

good show!

CHEERS!