Watch the Deer... and Blackbuck?

Nope, but now that you’ve shown me it exists, I probably will often thanks.

That's a nice blackbuck. I'll have to tune in from now on.

Is this on a high-fenced ranch?

Last July, we saw this blackbuck in Bosque County, Texas, while hunting hogs. This is not a high fence ranch. We had been told it was hanging around, but that we were not to shoot it. We saw him several times during the course of the evening.

That blackbuck is back right now. 4/14/19 @6:12 EDT

He's there almost every evening. Lately a flock of turkeys have joined in as your photo shows. They strut and show off.

I wonder if other breeds mate and can conceive? I know a Whitetail Buck will try and mate with a mule if he could.

Neat! When I was a kid our family ranch in Texas bordered a high-fence ranch (the Red Top Ranch) that brought over exotics. They would get through their fence and wander every once in a while.

We had a small herd of about 25-30 Mouflon rams-ewes for many years, and in the last few years my Grandfather owned the ranch we had 3-4 Blackbuck bucks (rams, bulls?) and about the same number of does ( ewes?). These mingled in with the native whitetails, turkey, bobwhites and mourning doves.

The BB were really skittish and would hit the afterburners when they spotted us walking or driving around. (I did sneak up to about 30 feet away from on one once. He was head-down feeding and I crept right up to him. The little guy jumped about six feet straight up and hit the ground at a full sprint when he finally saw me) I guess the sheep were a bit more used to us as they wouldn’t bolt on sight like the BB....they just ambled away. We never hunted any of them, my Grandfather just let them roam.

Great pictures, brings back a few memories! Stay safe.

Have you noticed his color change?

I raised blackbucks for about 5 years and the bucks would get black during mating season which varied quite a bit. After breeding time they would turn tan again. They all caught malignant catarrhal fever from the mouflon sheep I had and died.

Riomouse911 said:

The BB were really skittish and would hit the afterburners when they spotted us walking or driving around.

Click to expand...

I've been truly blessed to have had a deer lease on a large ranch (20-some thousand acres, all in) for the past 15 years which has all sorts of exotics in addition to the native game. Haven't hunted deer in at least 6 years as my passion has shifted to helping with their predator control. Calling predators provides time/opportunity for my next favorite pass time of watching and photographing wildlife. A few of my favorite photos:

The black buck are extremely skittish, as Riomouse observed.

Springbok are another favored prey for not only coyotes, but bobcat, as well. Springbok usually hang out in small herds, but caught this ram hanging out with the wildebeest near a water hole one evening.

Wildebeest are also usually found in herds, mixed or bachelor groups:

Scimitar Horned Oryx, also herd animals, are seldom seen alone.

Roan and Sable tend to prefer the same habitat

As do Kudu and Eland

A herd of Blesbok, not far from this Gemsbok cow w/twin calves

Here a pair of Waterbuck settle a dispute . Nyala

The Addax, native of the Sahara desert, is critically endangered in the wild but approximately 2000 are doing well in zoos and on ranches.
Addax cow w/calf.

Lechwe ram. Lechwe prefer the wetlands.

Mama coaxes this little oryx to the safety of the brush only minutes after it was born. Almost forgot the Zebra.


Regards,
hps