Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Anybody hunt the 'Tiny Ten'?

Everyone who goes to Africa is usually focused on taking the bigger stuff- kudu, gemsbok, eland, Cape buffalo, etc. etc.- I know I did, on my last two hunts.

I'm thinking it might be fun to plan a safari exclusively for the small antelopes- steenbok, several subspecies of duiker, klipspringer, dik dik, etc.

A small caliber centerfire, for say, .22 centerfire, .243, or a .25, where legal, would be a lot of fun, and I expect quite a challenge, as many of these little guys are quite secretive.

Do any outfitters in Africa specialize in hunting the small guys, that you know of? Or is all the money in the bigger game?

You mean "rats and mice"? That's what I've heard PH's call the small stuff.

There are some PH's who specialize in the little guys.

I'm with you Bighorn. I shot a steenbok in South Africa and now I want to go back on a hunt just to focus on the little ones. Funny you should post this question - I'm actually headed over to the taxidermist this afternoon to pick out a full body steenbok form for this little guy.

They are a helluva challenge and there are just so many cool looking ones. However, I don't personally know of any "mini antelope specilaists" as far as outfitter go. Keep in mind that only a handful of speciaies may overlap your hunting region, so this pursuit may take a few trips, or at least a few moves around various African countries.

OK, now you've got my attention!

I can't wait to see the results. I've always wondered about the "other" animals in Africa. I love small game hunting.

Thanks for starting this!

Ed

Kinda funny. When I saw the subject line, I thought this was going to be a thread on a new .40 cal. that I hadn't heard of.

You need to ask around; but you can find PH's who will put a good effort forth on the small stuff.

Sometimes quotas are tight.

Next trip I'm working on is Dik-Dik in Namibia and Blue Duiker,Klipspringer and Vaal Rrhebok in SA (Only "big" stuff will be 2 Hartmanns in Namibia, a Bushbuck in SA)

Yep, they are fun to hunt. I think RSA is the place to go to get the most bang for your buck on a single trip for these little guys. I've only got a steenbok that was a target of opportunity while I was hunting buff, but the various duikers and Vall Rhebok are some that I'd like to spend some time chasing. I'm not sure if bushbuck count in the Tiny Ten, but they are fun little guys to hunt as well.

I've seen a few small changes to this in different places;

Common Duiker
Red Duiker
Blue Duiker
Oribi
Suni
Cape Gyrsbok
Sharpes Gyrsbok
Steenbok
Klipspringer
Damara Dik Dik

not my cup of tea if i ever make it over but my wife has seen a duiker a friend of ours shot and if we head over one of the lil guys is on her list, higher than most anything else if we ever make it over......

Poodleopes

I have hunted for blue duiker and oribi in Zambia. The oribi was not much of a challenge in this area as they tended to bed in open areas on the floodplains resulting in a relatively easy stalk and shot. However,Oribi are excellent to eat! The blue duiker were coming into eat wild figs and were hunted from a ground blind. Dry leaves made stalking them very difficult. I have jumped suni,common duiker, and steenbok while walking hunting other game. Usually see them briefly as they bound away into the cover with a split second window on a small moving target. Specifically targeting the tiny ten would in my opinion be more challenging hunting than most realize. Dinsdale is correct that in safari areas in Zim,Zambia,and Tanzania quotas may be an issue. Hunting for forest duikers like the yellow backed by mouthcalling and stalk appeals to me.

What you need for that hunt is a double in 218 Bee or some other rimmed, small caliber rifle. Now that would be cool.



Landrum

I'm trying to get a hunt lined up for August, in the eastern Cape.

Species available will be:

Mountain reedbuck
Steenbok
Vaal rheebok
Red lechwe
Springbok (common and white)
Blesbok (common and white)


As you can see, not exactly the 'tiny ten', but mostly small species, on a 10-day hunt. Should be a lot of fun!

I haven't done a hunt specifically for the Tiny Ten, but on my last two trips to South Africa I got a full list of the animals that were available in the Outfitters area and tried to get as many different ones as I could. On my last hunt, I hunted on 7 different properties from Kimberley to Port Alfred to find the various animals.

The only rifle that I took on my last hunt was a .375 Ultra mag shooting 270 gr TSX bullets at 3043 fps. One Steenbok and a Jackal that I shot with that combination were just about blown apart. For my Cape Grysbok, I borrowed a .308 Win and 150 gr FMJ (military) bullets from my PH. That combination worked great.

I've shot these "small" animals that were as challenging or more challenging than the primary large animals that I was hunting.

Mountain Reedbuck
Steenbok
Vaal Rhebok
Red lechwe
Springbok (common and black)
Common Blesbok
Southern Bush Duiker
Jackal
Cape Grysbok
Bontebok
Limpopo, Chobe, and Cape Bushbucks

I shot my Cape Grysbok with Wolf's Crag Safaris near Port Alfred, RSA. They had a "wall shoulder mount" of a Common Duiker that I really liked, so I had my taxidermist make a similar mount of mine:

Bighorn,

You will have a ball hunting the little guys.....as Buffbyr said they can be more challenging than the big stuff.

For instance, shooting a really good common duiker is bloody hard to do......I know lots of Aussies who have never got a good one. And Mountain Reedbuck and Vaal Rhebok can be a challenge.....a good flat shooting rifle is really necessary. I used a custom 257Wby with 90XBT's and took my Klippie at nearly 400 yards....as well as Mountain reedbuck at well over 300.....

That looks like a nice list you have there; if they have common reedbuck, put that on your list too!

Just walking around the African wilderness with a rifle would be an adventure. Hunting the small stuff would be enjoyable, and exciting, because even if you are not seeking dangerous game, it's still out there. Kind of like hunting deer in bear country. Just knowing there's something in the area with a desire to kill you and eat you adds spice to any hunt.

Looks like I will also be able to add blue and black wildebeest to the list, in the Karoo.