Judging Kudu

Magnificent, old bull. I don’t believe either horn will make 50 though, width at the first curl isn’t wide enough. Love that shape though, would shoot that over an ugly 55 any day.
 
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As much as anything, a great trip w/ my daughter... success was icing on the cake!
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I would say 49 left 52 maybe 53 right...(I am not an expert by any means on EC kudu...)
Great EC bull and the thickness and neck shows it is a very old bull...
Well done...
The memories and hunt experience is what it is about not the tape.....average kudu taken are smaller than this....
This is a dagga boy kudu....

Magnificent, old bull. I don’t believe either horn will make 50 though, width at the first curl isn’t wide enough. Love that shape though, would shoot that over an ugly 55 any day.

Thanks for you guesses :)

Yes Iam very happy with this Bull. It was an awsome Hunt with great memories and a beautiful Bull (nice shape, old,…)

My PH‘s guess was 49-50“, so i good size for an EC Kudu
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Gerhard...........yes, field judging is always an interesting topic isn't it? With animals that are unlikely to hang around and give you a long time to pick the horns apart, like kudu or free range whitetail, you need to have the knowledge base so that you can form an almost instantaneous 'overall impression' of the horns/antlers.

I think there is a desire on the part of most hunters to have some knowledge on field judging the trophy quality and age class of the animals they are traveling a long ways to hunt. It ads to the hunt, as long as it is not all consuming................I get really irritated when I walk up to a recently expired big game animal with a hunter I am guiding and the first thing out of his mouth is, "What will it score?" or "Do you think it will make gold medal?"

Ah, but that is just me and some of my quirky ideas..........:rolleyes:
Old post, but yes...

I certainly do not have the experience that many of you do, but I could not agree with you more. In my mind, there is no harm whatsoever in the score of an animal, in and of itself. I too, get irritated, when the first thing a hunter asks is what the animal will score. Almost as if the taking of that animal is less of an accomplishment if the horns do not tape out at a certain length.

For me, at least, score is at the bottom of the list. Is it a mature animal? Past their prime? How was the hunt itself? I've been just as thrilled with animals that won't make it into any record books as I have been with very good scoring heads.

"Trophy" is in the eye of the beholder, and for me, that word means so much more than just inches.
 
Old post, but yes...

I certainly do not have the experience that many of you do, but I could not agree with you more. In my mind, there is no harm whatsoever in the score of an animal, in and of itself. I too, get irritated, when the first thing a hunter asks is what the animal will score. Almost as if the taking of that animal is less of an accomplishment if the horns do not tape out at a certain length.

For me, at least, score is at the bottom of the list. Is it a mature animal? Past their prime? How was the hunt itself? I've been just as thrilled with animals that won't make it into any record books as I have been with very good scoring heads.

"Trophy" is in the eye of the beholder, and for me, that word means so much more than just inches.
+1 ... agree totally.
 
RW not Sci....
 
If you say you have a 50“ Kudu, what does that mean:
- 50“ Horn length?
Or
- 50“ SCI (length + base)?

Length of horn by following the ridge in the curl as measured in inches.
 
Most common for reference is Roland Ward (RW) method. It takes at least three hands to do it properly with a tape measure. :)

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