Hunting Texas Black Buck Facts

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Blackbuck Antelope are native to India but have found a comfortable home in Texas where they seem to thrive. Giving hunters a unique opportunity to hunt a non native species that are thriving here in the US. Blackbuck hunting has become a popular activity in the state of Texas, with the animals numbering around 20,000 animals. The Blackbuck was introduced into Edwards Plateau located in West Central Texas back in 1932. The Blackbuck deer species began to thrive and accepted the land like no other animal before it. The deer only have one real threat, winter. Once winter roles in, the deer sometimes die of starvation due to the thick blanket of snow covering their main food sources. Nevertheless, the species preservers and continues to thrive. 

Blackbuck are a odd colored dear compared to native species, they appear with blackish to sometimes brown upper body hair, the underside of its stomach is snow white which makes it’s upper body really contrast against the snowy background during the time of year when it’s legal to hunt, the white coloration also appears on the chin, eyes, ears, and around the inside of the legs, while the rest of the animals is coated with the dark brown to black hair. The females of the species are considerably lighter than the males, this occurs because as the males age, their fur tends to darker in color while the females do not. Only the males of the species carry horns, the horns extend upwards in a sort of spiral V formation, this is different than white tail and mule deer as they do not have any points that branch off from the main horn. The horns on a Blackbuck typically only grow anywhere from 18-24 inches in length, some specimens have been documented to reach nearly 30 in but this is a rare occurrence. A blackbuck antelope hunting trip can yield male species that weigh in at roughly 85 pounds but have been known to reach an excess of 125 pounds. Females typically weigh in at 60 pounds and can reach a top weight of 75 pounds, much smaller than the typical male. The main predatory threat to these animals is native coyotes, these canines are generally not able to take down a full grown Blackbuck but have been recorded picking off the smaller fawns or newborns. Blackbucks can be found on many game ranches in Texas, since coyotes are generally incapable of tackling a big blackbuck this has lead to the species growing to trophy sizes on the ranches. 

One ranch has an excess of several hundreds of blackbuck roaming its multi thousand acres. Since Blackbuck are native to India where the summers can be brutally warm, they are able to withstand the hottest of Texas days with ease, they do require a lot of water to keep themselves hydrated so they are most often found at watering holes. Like many deer species, Blackbuck Antelope typically feed on native grasses as they are grazers. Blackbucks are more commonly hunted from ground blinds as it provides the best chance to avoid detection.