The Blackbuck antelope is one of the most popular exotic animals hunted in Texas. Introduced in the Edwards Plateau region of Texas in 1932, they were one of the first of the “Texotics” that were stocked for hunting on the Farrell Ranch in the late 1970’s. Originally, from the Indian subcontinent, the animals have flourished on private exotic game hunting ranches throughout Texas with numbers now approaching 35,000. The Blackbuck males are born brown with white highlighting the eyes, ears, muzzle, underbelly and rump but they darken to black as they begin to mature at 2-1/2 years.

Interestingly, the blackbuck reverts back to the brown/mottled black coloring in late March, only to begin darkening back to black again in late September. The males are usually 29-33 inches tall at the shoulder and weigh an average of 83 pounds on the hoof. The beautiful, long, v shaped ringed horns can grow up to 30” but for Blackbuck Hunters in Texas, anything over 18” is a true trophy and anything over 20” is considered very exceptional. The main limiter in growing longer horns in Texas is the winterkill, which unfortunately seems to affect primarily the older, longer horned Blackbucks.

The antelope’s diet includes mainly grasses but as summer conditions dry this vegetation, they turn to consuming more browse. Few bucks live past 12 years especially in the northern and western parts of Texas. The females are tan with white highlights like the males but never darken. Usually hornless, the females stand 28 inches tall and weigh around 55-60 pounds when they reach maturity at about 18 months. The usual time between births is six months with a gestation period of 5 months with births occurring at any time of the year.

Social units of Blackbuck consist of female groups, mixed groups of both sexes, bachelor groups, and territorial (mature) bucks. The mature bucks will dominate prime grazing areas in a specific territory consisting of up to 40-45 acres. The bucks tend to stay in their territories with the female groups “visiting” the bucks in each territory as they also seek prime grazing areas.

The meat of the blackbuck antelope is fine-grained, excellent with fruit and wine sauces and has a delicate and mild flavor. Being all natural with no added hormones or antibiotics, it is lower in cholesterol than chicken, 1/3 the calories of beef and has less than 3% fat.