If you’re looking for a new and exotic trophy animal, why not try one of our blackbuck antelope hunts? Squaw Mountain Ranch offers some of the best trophy hunting for whitetails, elk, red stags, and other exotic animals in all of Texas! Our ranch prides itself on bringing hunters together no matter their skill level to take part in the experience of a lifetime. Whether you’re new to hunting or have a large collection in your trophy room, we guarantee you’ll find animals on our ranch you’ve never seen before. One of our favorite animals that we have is the Blackbuck antelope.
Blackbuck Antelope Hunts: What Is a Blackbuck Antelope?
Alongside many of our other exotic animal hunts, SMR offers Blackbuck antelope hunts. You may have heard a Blackbuck antelope also called the Indian antelope. This is because the Blackbuck antelope is native to India. It’s also native to other parts of South Asia, including Nepal and Pakistan.
Like the name would suggest, the Blackbuck antelope is in the same family as the common antelope. However, they have totally different appearances. Blackbuck antelopes’ fur range from a dark, almost black brown color to a lighter brown coat that is usually seen in females. Male blackbucks can weigh up to 125 pounds and stand at about 3 feet high at their shoulder.
Females, on the other hand, can weigh up to 80 pounds. They typically stand at around 2 and a half feet high at their shoulder. Male blackbucks are prized by trophy hunters around the world due to their unique set of horns.
Unlike the females, males have a set of long, ringed horns that can measure up to 30 inches! Male Blackbuck horns grow in a “v” shape, and blackbucks use their horns in the wild to spar with other males and fend off predators.
Learning the Habitat of the Blackbuck
What makes our ranch so great for Blackbuck antelope hunts is our attention to the natural environment our exotic game lives in. Blackbucks, being native to South Asia, enjoy grassy plains as well as light coverage from sparse forests. They also enjoy the scrublands of South Asia, which means our ranch is great for them. Blackbucks also enjoy the access to a perennial water source, which our ranch has plenty of.
In grassy plains, the Blackbuck enjoys grazing on grass. However, they often retreat to either a scrubland or sparse forest during the night to take cover from the elements as well as predators. Besides the grass of the plains, blackbucks can often be seen enjoying leafy shrubbery and bark from live oaks. This dual access of food means that the blackbucks on SMR are some of the biggest around.
Their main predators in the wild are cheetahs and wolves. However, in the early 20th century they faced extinction due to habitat destruction, deforestation, and over hunting. The good news is the Blackbuck population has made a recovery from that time. They currently host over a population of 50,000 just in India! While you now know a little about the Blackbuck antelope, knowing its mating season and activity will help you track them down while you’re on our ranch.
Mating Season and Activity of the Blackbuck
While on one of our Blackbuck antelope hunts, it’s important to take note of the blackbucks mating season and daily activity. It differs somewhat from other animals in the antelope family. Blackbuck antelopes are diurnal in cooler weather, meaning they’re active for most of the day and sleep at night like most animals in the antelope family, however, blackbucks tend to slow down after noon when it becomes hot.
During warmer seasons, blackbucks usually only come out to graze in the early to late morning and typically spent the rest of their time staying in shaded areas together. Blackbuck are unique in that they form three types of herds, compared to the typical two found in most other animals. The first herd is a herd of females, however, the males split up into two separate groups. Males will split up into a group of territorial males and a group of bachelor males. Unlike many other animals, blackbucks mate year-round, but their main rut peaks sometime during February.
The territorial group of males tries to protect an area from 3 acres to 30 acres depending on their herd size of the group of bachelor males. When trying to mate, territorial males will engage in a tactic called lekking. Lekking in blackbucks is simply just a call to females and a display of masculinity. The territorial males lek in order to entice potential mates to come in their territory.
Why Squaw Mountain Ranch is the Best Location for Blackbuck Antelope Hunts
While many ranches may tout that they are the best ranch for Blackbuck antelope hunts, we can safely say that SMR is actually the best place. Because of our attention to the natural habitat, mating season, and activity of all our animals, we provide the best location for our animals to live. This means our ranch is not only suited to our animals, but also our ranch gives our animals a fair chance.
Hunters of all experience levels will find their time at SMR as engaging and fun as possible. Because of our close attention to the environment we provide, our animals grow to be some of the largest in Texas, but don’t worry, we also have some of the most competitive prices in all of Texas. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to compete in a trophy hunt of their choice. That’s why it’s our mission to be as knowledgeable and helpful to all of our patrons as possible.
Guided Tours for Blackbuck Antelope Hunts
We also provide guided tours for Blackbuck antelope hunts to any patron interested. Our guided tours can be beneficial to both experienced and non-experienced trophy hunters. We believe in spreading the joy of trophy hunting with anyone interested in doing so. That’s why we make it a point to offer our services to everyone and offer accommodations for our disabled patrons. On our guided tours, we can help you spot the animal you’re after, and we’ll be more than happy to share our knowledge with you.