Common Duiker is a small antelope, usually weighing no more than 25 kg (55 lb). Males carry horns that are so tiny, that the minimum size of the SCI club trophy measurement, that in the case of Duiker is the sum of the lengths and circumferences of both horns, is only 11”. If you engage in Duiker hunting, you’ll soon realize it’s not the size of the trophy that counts but the challenge in hunting the animal. In fact, people who tried both claim that a “Tiny Ten” – ten small antelope species including a few kinds of Duikers – is by far a greater challenge than the “Big Five”!
DUIKER HUNTING METHODS
Duikers can be surprisingly difficult animals to hunt, in spite of their small size, large numbers and wide distribution. They don’t depend on water sources, being able to extract enough moisture from the plants they graze on, so it’s hard to connect with them from a blind over a waterhole, and their preference of habitat with dense undercover, where they can detect the presence of hunters before hunters can see them, makes spot-and-stalk hunting complicated. Most Common Duikers are harvested when an opportunity presents itself in the course of a hunt for some other animals. For a trophy hunter, the biggest challenge of Duiker hunting is estimating the size of the horn, which is difficult both because the horns are small and lie almost level with the animal’s back, and because you typically get only a fleeting glance of the Duiker.
WHEN TO HUNT COMMON DUIKER IN SOUTH AFRICA
Common Duiker can be hunted year round in South Africa. There isn’t a time of year that is necessarily better or worse for Common Duiker hunting, but most hunters prefer to schedule their plains game hunts to May to September, when the South Hemisphere has the winter. Dedicated Duiker hunters should bear in mind the different hunting seasons in Cameroon, with the season in the savannah part of the country, the habitat of Common Duiker, running from January 1 to April 30.
WHAT IS THE COST TO HUNT COMMON DUIKER IN SOUTH AFRICA?
Common Duiker are rarely the main species a hunter targets on a safari. However, it is often included into the trophy list of a plains game hunt, or thrown in for good measure in package deals. The shooting fees for Common Duiker range from as low as $200-$300 in Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, to $500-$700 in Tanzania and Mozambique.