Summary
Grey Duiker hunting or common Duiker is often opportunistic while glassing for other trophies. As one of the small antelope species, the grey duiker is also known as a little antelope, prized for its small size and making for a rewarding hunting experience.
Hunting these little antelopes can be a great side activity, especially when guided by a professional. Hunting grey duiker is extremely difficult due to their elusive nature and the challenging habitat they occupy. Many hunters report that grey duikers have extremely refined senses, making them challenging to hunt.
Hunting these little antelopes can be a great side activity, especially when guided by a professional. Hunting grey duiker is extremely difficult due to their elusive nature and the challenging habitat they occupy.
Consequently, they can make for a bonus while looking for your bigger game animals.
A Duiker requires a stalk through thick terrain similar to a bushbuck. Grey duikers have extremely refined senses, making them hard to approach even in dense cover. They prefer habitats including savannas, woodlands, bush lands, and grasslands, which provide them with ample cover and resources.
As a result, shots will often be quite close when hunting the grey duiker.
There are no seasonal restrictions on the Grey Duiker trophy in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Bowker Hunting offers Trophy Duiker game hunting in Africa year-round.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Duiker Hunts
Duiker hunting is a thrilling pursuit for hunters seeking a unique challenge in South Africa. The grey duiker, also known as the common duiker, is one of Africa’s most elusive antelopes and a prized addition to any trophy collection. As a small antelope species widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, the grey duiker presents a distinct set of challenges due to its solitary habits and secretive nature. Hunting purposely duiker requires different strategies and preparation compared to opportunistic encounters, as it involves targeting this elusive species with intent.
Duiker hunts are often combined with other trophy hunts, giving hunters the opportunity to encounter this remarkable species while in pursuit of bigger game. Grey Duiker hunting is often done in conjunction with a 7-10 day African Safari, providing a comprehensive and adventurous experience. Hunting grey duikers requires patience, sharp observation skills, and a deep understanding of their habits and habitats. Purposely duiker hunting involves specific techniques, careful planning, and the right equipment to increase the chances of success. For those passionate about hunting small antelope in Africa, the grey duiker offers an exciting and rewarding experience that tests both skill and perseverance.
When compared to other duikers, such as forest duikers, the grey duiker stands out for its adaptability to open habitats and its unique behavioral traits, making it a distinct challenge for hunters and wildlife enthusiasts alike.
Habitat and Distribution of Grey Duikers
Grey duikers are highly adaptable and can be found in a range of habitats throughout southern Africa. These elusive antelopes thrive in areas with dense vegetation, such as thickets, woodlands, and bushveld, where they can easily hide from predators and hunters alike. In South Africa, their range extends from the Eastern Cape to the Limpopo Province, which is the premier destination in the world to hunt the Grey Duiker, making them accessible to hunters across various regions.
The common duiker’s preference for thick cover and its ability to blend into the underbrush make it a particularly challenging target during a duiker hunt. Understanding the specific habitat and distribution of grey duikers is essential for hunters, as these animals typically remain close to dense vegetation and are rarely seen in open areas. Knowledge of their favored habitats and daily habits can greatly increase a hunter’s chances of a successful hunt, as it allows for more effective tracking and strategic planning in the field.
Behavior and Characteristics of the Grey Duiker
The grey duiker is a small antelope species known for its distinctive grey-brown coat, subtle facial markings, and short, sharply pointed horns carried only by the male. These solitary animals are most active during the early mornings and late afternoons, often venturing out to browse on leaves, fruits, and seeds. Their grayish-brown to reddish-brown fur provides them with protective camouflage in their habitat. A single calf is usually born to Grey Duikers, hidden by the mother in vegetation to protect it from predators. Their ability to obtain sufficient moisture from their diet allows them to thrive in areas where water is scarce. Grey duikers also stand fairly upright, which distinguishes them from some other duiker species.
When threatened, grey duikers are quick to disappear into thick brush, using their agility and knowledge of the terrain to evade predators and hunters. They often escape using a scooting style of running—low, quick, and agile—which helps them move swiftly through dense cover. Their solitary nature and preference for dense cover make them a challenging quarry, requiring hunters to be both patient and observant. Understanding the behavior and characteristics of grey duikers—such as their feeding patterns, activity times, and escape tactics—can provide hunters with valuable insights for planning a successful hunt and appreciating the unique qualities of this remarkable African antelope. They are known for their secretive behavior and hide in dense vegetation from predators such as leopards and wild dogs.
Grey Duiker Trophy Fees in South Africa – 2025
The average price of a duiker is around $200. The Grey Duiker can be added to our hunt packages and is one of the cheapest hunts in South Africa.
Our 2025 Grey Duiker price is $200.
The Grey Duiker trophy hunting package includes a licensed hunting guide, a hunting license, and all permits.
Grey Duiker Hunting in South Africa
Shot placement for duiker hunting must be in the bottom third of the animal, directly above the front shoulder, and just below the animal’s midline when aiming at a side on target. This ensures a heart or lung shot, which is crucial for a clean and humane kill. Avoid head and neck shots, which are high-risk. The ideal shot for a duiker is broadside, targeting the heart and lungs for a humane kill.
A spinal hit can also ensure a quick, humane kill.
Your Duiker trophy should have an average shoulder height of around 17 inches, weigh about 25 pounds, and have a Horn length of approximately 4 inches. Adult grey duikers can weigh from 22 to 55 pounds.
The minimum Safari Club International score for a Duiker is 11. They are measured by adding the length of each horn as well as the circumference of the bases.
Duikers are solitary animals and often shot opportunistically while glassing for big game trophies.
They can make for a bonus while looking for your bigger game animals.
Duiker hunts require a stalk through thick habitat and terrain. As a result, shots will often be quite close when hunting grey duikers. Most shots at duiker are taken at short range due to their elusive nature.
Shooting Duikers is usually done in the early morning, late afternoon, or by spotlight at night. Hunting grey duikers in Africa is usually done in the early morning or late afternoon when they are most active.
Duikers move quickly and often present as a running target, making quick reflexes essential.
The Duiker forms part of the Tiny 10, a group of small antelope species highly sought after by hunters wishing to complete their selection of the small antelope species. The grey duiker, also known as the Common Duiker, is a notable member of this group, making it a prized addition to any trophy collection. The gestation period for grey duikers is around 6 to 7.5 months, typically resulting in a single calf.
The duiker is primarily a browser and is most active during the late afternoon and early evening.
This member of the pygmy antelope clan can survive close to man.
He is independent of water as he can get sufficient moisture from browsing.
When hunting methods are discussed, it is worth noting that a shotgun can be effective for close-range, moving targets like the duiker.
For ammunition, quick expanding bullets are recommended for effective and humane kills.
Common Duiker Hunting makes a cheap add-on to our seven animal hunting packages, including trophies as kudu and blesbok as standard.
A more expensive addition would, say, be a common reedbuck.
Trophy Judgement and Rifle Caliber for Hunting Duiker
Trophy hunting of grey duikers supports sustainable wildlife management and habitat conservation, ensuring the preservation of their natural environments while providing hunters with a rewarding experience.
Trophy evaluation of grey duiker can be difficult when hunting a duiker, as only fleeting glances will be offered. Grey duikers are characterized by their short horns, which is a key feature for hunters to recognize.
A key part of trophy evaluation is checking the horn tips level with the ears. Horn tips that are level with the top of the ears are about 4 inches long; if the horns extend beyond the ear tips by an inch or more, you are looking at a fairly high scoring trophy.
Duiker hunting can be challenging; this mini-antelope has remarkably refined senses, small size, camouflaged coloring, and a habit of staying in or close to the long grass and thick brush.
Most hunting calibers are used to take the duiker as it is often opportunistic. However, if targeting – hunt Duiker with a 243.
For those hunters who do not wish to go through the red tape of bringing a rifle into South Africa, Nick Bowker has a Sako carbon light 243 fitted with a Swarovski Z8 tactical scope.
Also, we use Sako factory ammunition for duiker hunting.
Shoot straight up for the leg, as with all African mammals, for the heart-lung shot.
The Duiker or bush Duiker makes for a very underrated plains game hunting. Duiker hunting is a favorite pastime amongst local South Africans during hunting season. Hunting methods amongst the locals mainly involve driven hunts.
The Difference between a Male and Female Grey Duiker for the Hunter
Grey Duiker males have horns, while females do not. The female and the male have a tuft of hair growing on their heads.
Interesting facts About the Duiker for Hunts
- The common duiker will stand on its hind feet to reach high into fruiting bushes.
- There are eight different races of common duiker. This varied coloration may enable them to match the habitats specific to their location.
- Some African rock pythons have died when the horns of male duikers have pierced their stomachs after they have swallowed them whole.
- When they flee danger, Duikers run with a distinctive darting and diving style. This gives rise to its common name, the Afrikaans for diver.
- Not a lot is known about the common duikers’ social life, so more research is needed before we can say whether they are monogamous and territorial.
- While duikers predominantly eat leaves, some unusual items have been found in their diet, including baby birds and small rodents.
- It’s not known whether these are eaten by accident or as a protein supplement.
- The common duiker uses a pair of glands under its eyes for scent marking.
- Duiker hunting often occurs while glassing for other trophies and can make for a bonus while hunting larger trophies.
About the Grey Duiker Antelope
Duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Found in heavily wooded areas.
Duikers are shy, elusive creatures and live in dense cover; those that tend to live in more open areas, for example, quickly disappear into thickets for protection. Grey duikers are solitary creatures, preferring to remain hidden in dense vegetation, which makes them difficult to spot in their natural habitat. However, they may occasionally form small family groups, adding to their unique behavioral patterns.
Duikers are shy, elusive creatures and live in dense cover; those that tend to live in more open areas, for example, quickly disappear into thickets for protection.
Duiker hunting is often underestimated mainly because of the size of the animal.
Since the common grey duiker lives in more open areas, like the savanna, it has longer legs and vertical horns, which allows it to run faster and for longer distances; only the males, who are more aggressive and territorial, exhibit horns.
Also, duikers have well-developed periorbital glands, which resemble slits under their eyes or, in the cases of blue duikers, pedal glands on their hooves.
Males use secretions from these glands to mark their territory.
Frequently Asked Questions About Trophy Duiker Hunting
How much does it cost to hunt a Grey Duiker?
The trophy fee for a standalone Grey Duiker hunt is between $250 and $300.
Daily rates vary between $250 and $500 per day.
Included in the Grey Duiker trophy fee is a licensed guide. As well as a hunting license and all permits.
How to hunt a Grey Duiker?
Grey Duiker hunting is in the early mornings and late evenings and spotted from an elevated vantage point in the thick brush and then stalked. Alternatively, hunters use ambush techniques at watering holes or as they move back to cover from feeding.
Grey Duiker are often hunted by sitting in a vantage point in the late evening and waiting for the Grey Duiker to step into small fields and begin grazing.
Where do you shoot a Grey Duiker?
Shot placement must be in the bottom third of the animal directly above the front shoulder. This will ensure a heart or lung shot. Avoid head and neck shots, which are high-risk.
What is a trophy, Grey Duiker?
Grey Duiker trophies have a Horn Length of approximately 4 inches. The minimum qualification score under Safari Club International for a Grey Duiker is 11. Add the length of each horn and the circumference of the bases to get your SCI score.
How do you judge a Grey Duiker trophy?
Horn tips that are level with the top of the ears are about 4 inches long; if the horns extend beyond the ear tips by an inch or more, you are looking at a high-scoring trophy.
Seasonal Restrictions for Duiker Hunting
When can you hunt Grey Duiker in South Africa?
There are no seasonal restrictions on Grey Duiker hunting in designated conservancies in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
What Caliber is Recommended for Grey Duiker hunts?
Most hunting calibers are used to take the duiker as it is often opportunistic. However, if targeting a Duiker, we would recommend a 243.
The Common Duiker in Pictures for Game Hunting
