Thoughts on Cape Buffalo under 40"

a cow will kill you just as dead as a bull and at a much lower price. my cow last April took 4 shots from my 458 and 3 from the PH's 416. she charged at 30 feet and dropped in front of me at 8 feet, now that is exciting!

Hunted a non-trophy, non exportable dugga boy once with Mokore. Took 8 full days. It seems that trophy dugga boy tracks look just like non-trophy dugga boy tracks. Gotta follow them to the end to find out.

migrabill said:

I am making plans for my 2nd trek to South Africa. It will not occur until 2028 (I'm a planner). On my first trip, I took 10 heads of Plains Game. On my return trip I will also be mainly Plains Game hunting, but I have a pretty good price available on a "Male Cape Buffalo less than 40". Here is my question- is a buff under 40 still considered a formidable specimen? Will it look smallish when shoulder mounted? As stated, I am new to Dangerous Game hunting and just want to get an idea if that is too small or not.

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In 30 years of buffalo hunting, I have never bagged one over 40 inches. Nevertheless, I have some nice buffalo trophies. The 40-inch limit is intended for truly oversized record trophies that can then be marketed more effectively. Understandable, I would do the same when I had a managed buffalo herd.

Yes, a Cape buffalo < 40” is a formidable specimen. Based on mount design I doubt very much he would look smallish. There are different perspectives on trophy buff one being age and another being SCI Score. My good friend’s pair of trophy Dagga Boys and my Son’s
Cape Buffalo: SCI score 119 1/8"

• SCI gold class (entry score 112.5)
• 119.5" total horn growth
• 42.5" spread

I would consider the greatest trophy buffalo to be something barely 30 inches wide and horns worn down to the curls if not down or broken to the bosses. Would take that 10 times over any Buffalo over 40 inches. That’s a BS arbitrary number for collectors and braggers in my opinion.

South Africa is different business model than other areas. Ask outfitter how many buff on property and if only bulls it is put and take operation but still can offer exciting experience if budget conscious. Asks lots of questions. When I first started shopping several told me I would shoot first hard bossed bull we see even if on day 1 no negotiation that was a put off for me. As far as trophy its all about personal preference some want width some want the deep curls.

In the very near future. Broken horned , worn horns, scrum caps, will cost more and most likely a lot more.

Like others have said. It’s age, boss size and the hunt itself. My first Buff and proud of him for the work it took to get.

I have shot four cape buffalo and only one was over forty-inches, one was forty, one was thirty-eight, and the other a rather ancient 35. Each was a great hunt and each was a great trophy for the trophy room. Were to have had the opportunity to have taken only one, I would have been thrilled with any of the four.

42" Caprivi


40" Zambezi Delta Mozambique


38" Limpopo RSA


35" Zambezi Delta Mozambique

FIRST TRIP TO BUBYE, ON THE FIRST DAY GOING TO SIGHT IN WE FOUND A BULL ALONG THE ROAD PH SAID WOULD GO 42, DO I WANT HIM?, YES I WANT HIM BUT NOT LIKE THIS, HUNTED 8 DAYS FOR A 38" BULL THAT LOOKS REAL GOOD ON THE WALL.

SETH RINGER said:

FIRST TRIP TO BUBYE, ON THE FIRST DAY GOING TO SIGHT IN WE FOUND A BULL ALONG THE ROAD PH SAID WOULD GO 42, DO I WANT HIM?, YES I WANT HIM BUT NOT LIKE THIS, HUNTED 8 DAYS FOR A 38" BULL THAT LOOKS REAL GOOD ON THE WALL.

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You chose well!

Velo Dog said:

Greetings migrabill,

In my admittedly “not-main-stream” opinion, the best looking buffalo shoulder mounts are as 50Gunner described.
I love looking at old bulls showing the obvious signs of battle, horn bosses chipped, scraped and rubbed down, scars on the face and neck, torn ears plus my very favorite of all time is —> one horn broken off.

Also worth considering is the fact that you can sometimes find deals / offers so affordable for cow buffalo that hunting two cows is actually less expensive than one bull.
Female buffaloes when angry can sometimes be exceedingly dangerous.
If I ever go for buffalo again, it will be for cows (plural) instead of a bull (singular).

Moving right along …… When applied to hunting and fishing, I strongly dislike the tape measure, record book, competition and contest culture.
1.
It gives children and other malleable souls the wrong impression of hunter-fisher type people.
2.
The very few times (3) some competition minded person has been in camp with myself and fellow, just basic hunter-gatherers, when the competition guy crowed too loud and too often about the size of whatever they bagged or worse yet, they pouted about the size of whatever someone else bagged, it somewhat spoiled the happy times in camp for the rest of us.

Anyway, after bagging your buffalo you no doubt will have fond memories of it for the rest of your life.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

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A 2nd for your line of thinking.
I collected 14 fine animals in Zim and had them all scored. Nine were "book" specimens with two scoring very high
( an old blue 36 in Livingstone

Velo Dog said:

Greetings migrabill,

In my admittedly “not-main-stream” opinion, the best looking buffalo shoulder mounts are as 50Gunner described.
I love looking at old bulls showing the obvious signs of battle, horn bosses chipped, scraped and rubbed down, scars on the face and neck, torn ears plus my very favorite of all time is —> one horn broken off.

Also worth considering is the fact that you can sometimes find deals / offers so affordable for cow buffalo that hunting two cows is actually less expensive than one bull.
Female buffaloes when angry can sometimes be exceedingly dangerous.
If I ever go for buffalo again, it will be for cows (plural) instead of a bull (singular).

Moving right along …… When applied to hunting and fishing, I strongly dislike the tape measure, record book, competition and contest culture.
1.
It gives children and other malleable souls the wrong impression of hunter-fisher type people.
2.
The very few times (3) some competition minded person has been in camp with myself and fellow, just basic hunter-gatherers, when the competition guy crowed too loud and too often about the size of whatever they bagged or worse yet, they pouted about the size of whatever someone else bagged, it somewhat spoiled the happy times in camp for the rest of us.

Anyway, after bagging your buffalo you no doubt will have fond memories of it for the rest of your life.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

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A 2nd for your line of thinking.
I collected 14 fine animals in Zim and had them all scored by another SCI director. Nine made the "book", with two of them placing very high...an old blue 36" Livingstone Eland and a 6" bushpig.
None are entered.
I scored them for the sole purpose of answering the inevitable question... "What Did it Score"... honestly.
That said, I have not a single critique of anyone who hunts for inches...there is not a thing wrong with that, unless it becomes obsessive....and negatively impacts the experiences.
Best
Spike

When I hunt my first Buff I want him to be an old deep-curled, double bromed, hard-boss, white-faced, lion-scarred old man that will probably not tape >40”. I am willing to walk from one end of the concession to the other again and again just to find him. When I do, I will cherish and drink in the moment to remember it for as long as I remain alive.

And then, that will probably be enough for me. Just one good shot at an old boss man using my .470 NE Chapuis Elan in tight with him.

Then, I’ll be obliged to enter him in the Dagga-boy contest sponsored by @RIGBY . And I desperately want that Rigby .416 Big Game

My first was a cow I culled on a breeding station. Only about 3700 acres. It turned out to be a far more interesting hunt than I anticipated. The herd was extremely wary. In the thick stuff we suddenly found ourselves surrounded on three sides by the herd on their late afternoon walkabout. No shot and we were retiring for the day when caught them crossing an opening at a hundred yards. The bull stopped to stare us down and I shot the designated cow through the heart. Then the bull came for us three times. It was hairy. Fortunately we were a hundred yards from them and the dying cow brought them back with death bellows. It was an exciting affair ... and very economical. Don't know if she's +40" but she rated a spot on the wall. And she hangs as is (taxidermists can build bosses for cows). She deserved better than having a sex change post-mortem.

I have measured my bull shot durng the next safari. He scored minimum SCI (exactly) which isn't saying much actually (I have an elk rack that is way above SCI gold medal but 4 points short of B&C). We had spent all day dodging rhinos and I missed getting a shot at him twice. Then spotted the two bulls on the way back to the farmhouse. They were bedded in a thicket at 300+ yards. After a long difficult stalk we were finally in range when they busted. I drilled him through both lungs on the run. A fine trophy and memorable hunt. Maybe not 40" but I don't care.

+/- 38” is a very nice bull. Just keep in mind South Africa is a different model than other countries with wild buffalo. South Africa is highly managed. Some farms will be very wild. Some farms will not. Many will be somewhere in the middle. A lot of the responses about age are from wild areas. There are a lot of farms supplementing bulls from breeding operations and harvesting the majority as a crop at 8 years old as soon as hard bossed. Make sure you are getting a proper hunt. Under 40” is a very nice bull on a proper hunt, but it might hurt taking the 36” bull standing next to five 40”+ bulls on a highly supplemented property on first day. If the hunt matters to you ask a lot of questions about the hunt and how the properties are managed.

Red Leg said:

I have shot four cape buffalo and only one was over forty-inches, one was forty, one was thirty-eight, and the other a rather ancient 35. Each was a great hunt and each was a great trophy for the trophy room. Were to have had the opportunity to have taken only one, I would have been thrilled with any of the four.

42" Caprivi

40" Zambezi Delta Mozambique

38" Limpopo RSA

35" Zambezi Delta Mozambique

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This proves the point that people get too caught up in the tape measure sometimes. They are all amazing buffalo for many different reasons.

That 35" is ancient like you said. Warrior right there. Are those cataracts/fog in his eyes? Or just the camera?

I'd take a wild, scrum crap, broken/worn horns, grey in the face and muzzle over a 40"+ farmed bull any day.

The 42" and that 40" have some really nice shape though.

NO tape measures in the bush!

IMO, the spread of the horns has little to do with the quality of the trophy.

Find pictures of 40" and under buffalo to estimate. They're still big and a worthy trophy.