White-Bearded Wildebeest hunting

Who hasn’t seen, at least on TV or in an illustrated magazine, the breathtaking scene of an uncountable herds of Wildebeest during their annual migration? If these scenes are filmed in Tanzania, the animal in question is most likely to be a subspecies of Blue Wildebeest: Eastern or Western White-Bearded Wildebeest. The Eastern variety is said to differ from the Western by somewhat lighter color and longer horns, however, the differences are minimal and it would take an expert to tell one from the other. Some trophy books list both subspecies in the same category. Both can be hunted in Tanzania, to the East and West of the Gregory Rift Valley.

Typically for the denizens of savannah, by far the most popular way of White-Bearded Wildebeest hunting it is the traditional spot-and-stalk. The hunter and the PH cruising the area in a vehicle or on foot, and stop to glass for a herd with a good bull in it. This part is the easiest, even though the abundance might pose a problem for a dedicated trophy hunter who is after record-book class horns. The big one may be hard to identify in a big herd, and harder to keep track on as the herd moves about. Fooling a thousand eyes and ears in the herd to stalk in range is also a challenge, and so is shooting. Wildebeest’s hump on the shoulder makes unaccustomed hunters miss high. The antelope is hard to bring down, too; most PHs advise a rifle of the 7 mm - .300 Magnum class for it.