I WAS hunting on Fairfield estate in the Overberg. Although covered with a patchwork of cultivated fields, the region is rich in wildlife. Game birds such as guineafowl, Cape francolin, spurwing and Egyptian geese thrive there, as well as fallow deer, duiker and vaal rhebuck.
Wedged between the canola, wheat and other fields, are pockets of natural fynbos. Fairfield, which is 8 000ha, has large areas of mountainous fynbos but my focus was on the rolling hills of cultivated farmland and my quarry the elusive vaal rhebuck, an antelope endemic to South Africa.
Vaal rhebuck are mostly found on the high, grassy slopes of the Drakensberg, in the Moordenaarskaroo and the Western and Eastern Cape mountains. They are, however, also present at lower altitudes in the Riversdale area and the hills of the Overberg.
Rhebuck live in groups of up to 12 animals, but most groups are smaller, consisting of a dominant territorial ram accompanied by two or three ewes. The grey fur covering their bodies is like that of a rabbit’s and blends in perfectly with a variety of natural veld types, often making them look like a
