Thoughts on Cape Buffalo under 40"

revturbo9967 said:

The reality is that very few hunters can accurately judge a bull's age in the field, especially in thick, wild country where you rarely get a perfect look. I try to target mature animals too, but that's why I rely on my PH. If he tells me it's a mature, fully developed bull, I'm comfortable taking the shot.

Click to expand...

I can’t either. I shoot what PH tells me. However, I do think I can judge a photo pretty well. A lot of 8 year old bulls are referred to as “old” bulls because they are hard bossed. Nothing wrong with that as long as part of a sustainable quota, but I see no reason to call it 10 or 12 to fit the age narrative.

358 Norma said:

For myself I like the Cape Buffalo that has everything width, drops, and big Bosses. View attachment 774618View attachment 774619

Click to expand...

You lucky dog.....

375Fox said:

This is my other frustration with the age narrative. Maybe in certain areas and certain times of the year dugga boys are 100% on their own away from herds, but they do move in and out of herds. I think the age discussion is good, but I think it’s gone too far where hunters are unrealistic at times.

Click to expand...

Zach, I agree with you on this. Depending on the area, very old bulls will move in & out of herds. I’ll use my last two buffalo hunts, both with Alan Vincent, as a good example…

In 2023, my son and I were hunting in the Selous. Alan said they don’t hunt herds there, only small bachelor groups of bulls. We saw a couple large herds in the first few days but never did anything beyond admire them from the truck. Then on the 4th or 5th day we found the tracks of 3 bulls that had recently left a waterhole, so we followed them. A few hours later we caught up to them and shot 2 of the 3 bulls. As the hunt went on, the only buffalo we followed were loners or small groups of 2-6, just bulls,

In 2025, I hunted with Alan again, but this time on Hammond in the Savé Valley Conservancy. Alan told me up-front that we’d be hunting herds, but only targeting old bulls in the herds. As it was, we were in and among herds of buffalo both mornings & afternoons each day. Hammond is full of buffalo. I shot my bull out of a good sized herd and he was probably the oldest bull I’ve ever shot. I don’t recall ever seeing any buffalo that were not in herds on Hammond.

My own view on the age focus is that it’s a good thing that counteracts shooting younger, soft-bossed bulls that score well by SCI’s scoring method. SCI’s method favors bulls that are younger as total length is a measurement and long tips add greatly to score. The bulls with the longest tips are those that are younger who haven’t yet started brooming their tips down. Many of those bulls are soft bossed and really should be allowed to get older as they’re sometimes not even breeders yet… but they ‘make the book’. So I think the focus on shooting older bulls is a good thing. Personally, I don’t care if I ever shoot a scrum cap or not but I’d happily shoot one is the opportunity presents itself. I’m just not going to pass up an older, broomed bull to look for one.

Buffalo hunt. I insisted on a spot and stalk hunt even though using a bow. It took five days including several "Almost". I refused to shoot over 25 yards which made life both more interesting and difficult. Eventually got a shot at 20 yards.....single arrow through heart........150 yard recovery. Great hunt with wonderful memories. Oh....did I mention.......hard boss bull estimated at 10-12 years old and "Only" 38 inches which is probably the least memorable part of the experience.

4 bulls from Greater Krueger Area. Biggest was over 40 (44.5”) the rest were under 40 and very old and trophy bulls in my eyes.

DLSJR said:

I just got the shipment from my Selous hunt in 2023 (SSI screwed the pooch on CITES permit, so it took forever) and thought it might be of interest to see the skulls from 4 different Tanzania bulls, all of which are older bulls ranging from estimated 10 to 13/14 years old. All mature Dugga Boy bulls. All these fully mature bulls were as big as they were going to get and ALL of them have a gap between their fully developed bosses.

View attachment 774371
The bull on far left came from Mlele, in SW Tanzania. The next bull came from Maswa North, in NW Tanzania. The 3rd & 4th bulls were from the Selous in SE Tanzania. The actual skulls (not horns, skulls) of the Selous bulls are noticeably larger than the other bulls. I didn’t expect that and find it interesting.

Click to expand...

Amateur question, is the size of gap between the bosses correlate with age?

Inkgardener said:

Amateur question, is the size of gap between the bosses correlate with age?

Click to expand...

No, it can be, but it’s primarily genetics. There are bulls that will never fuse together.

rafter3 said:

4 bulls from Greater Krueger Area. Biggest was over 40 (44.5”) the rest were under 40 and very old and trophy bulls in my eyes. View attachment 774728View attachment 774729

Click to expand...

Very nice bulls.

curt672 said:

I read this string and think about the differences in Philosophies. If you went to Alaska moose hunting would most of you shoot an old, on the decline old bull or a proud 65 to 70 in monster. Yet In Africa many of you say its age age age. If you can get the age ALONG with the size you desire, great. Or for those that have already taken a number of bulls, so be it --take the scull cap, but Most American hunters on there first few Buffalo hunts want some width and some boss, Just my opinion of course.

Click to expand...

Well said!!! On my first buff hunt you bet width of horns and depth of boss!!! If people are honest I would bet 90% agree with you. Having taken 4 buff it is easy to say I would enjoy taking a scrum cap given I have a 43 3/8 bull on my wall

Inkgardener said:

Amateur question, is the size of gap between the bosses correlate with age?

Click to expand...

Nope. Very few buffalo have horns that actually grow together. Once the skin is peeled off the skull nearly all buffalo have some degree of separation between their bosses. The bosses do grow closer on older bulls but most never grow together. I just checked 9 different heads I’ve got in the house or garag, every single one is a fully mature bull AND every single one has a gap between the bosses.

DLSJR said:

Nope. Very few buffalo have horns that actually grow together. Once the skin is peeled off the skull nearly all buffalo have some degree of separation between their bosses. The bosses do grow closer on older bulls but most never grow together. I just checked 9 different heads I’ve got in the house or garag, every single one is a fully mature bull AND every single one has a gap between the bosses.

Click to expand...

So grown together bosses is not necessarily better, but rare?

Inkgardener said:

So grown together bosses is not necessarily better, but rare?

Click to expand...

Uncommon.

DLSJR said:

Uncommon.

Click to expand...

Depends where you are too. I think much more common in South Africa where they’ve developed the genetics and Kruger bulls. My Kruger bull was fused together but none of my other buffalo.

@rafter3 your buffalo look tremendous. I will be with Ernest on the 8th of August. Three buffalo tags in APNR. Can’t wait

Worn bosses and tips under 40, to me, are better trophies. Also, what makes the trophy is the stalk and other memories of the hunt.

Tucketed said:

@rafter3 your buffalo look tremendous. I will be with Ernest on the 8th of August. Three buffalo tags in APNR. Can’t wait

Click to expand...

you're going to love it!! I am meeting up with him in Zimbabwe @Aug 23 for almost 4 weeks!!

Every buff is unique. Some have the front of the boss grow more leaving a gap at the back of the boss…and some fuse from the back going forward.

I will add something that no one talks about online…the cow genetics are much more relevant than people think to how a bull develops horn. I just left an African campfire with PHs and buffalo breeders discussing this.

Art Lambart II said:

This Buffalo was just over 38", during the follow-up he charged us at 7 yards. That was far more excitment than I wanted on my first Buffalo hunt. I just booked a buff hunt for 2027 and I'll be looking for something a little older.

View attachment 750796

Click to expand...

A charge with a Ruger No1, there is a story there!

Art Lambart II said:

For everyone wondering about my Ruger #1. It's a 416 Rigby and weighs 11-1/2 pounds. When the buff charged us I had hit him with three rounds, one soft and two solids, he was mad but hurt badly. Just after the charge we where run of by a bull elephant, like I said more excitement than I wanted.

Would I use my #1 for buffalo again, yes I would, but since that hunt I was gifted a CZ 550 Safari Magnum in 375 H&H and a Zastava L70 in 9.3x62.

If I could change a rifle for that hunt it would be my PHs rifle not mine. My PH carried a Blaser 93 in 375 H&H, not what I would call a stopper.

In 2027 I plan on taking my 375 and my #1 on my buff hunt, I'll let the terrain decide what rifle i use. If it's more open I'll use the #1, in close quarters I'll use the 375.

Click to expand...

A few points of interest to me here Art, I love No1's and took my first buff with a 375 and messed it up resulting in a next-day followup. If I were to ever repeat a No1 buff it would be with a 470 special. The other point is a PH with a 375, hmmmm, that is asking a lot of stars to align.

Kevin Peacocke said:

A few points of interest to me here Art, I love No1's and took my first buff with a 375 and messed it up resulting in a next-day followup. If I were to ever repeat a No1 buff it would be with a 470 special. The other point is a PH with a 375, hmmmm, that is asking a lot of stars to align.

Click to expand...

That was my first Buff, and I did make a few mistakes. My first shot broke his near-side shoulder, but missed the heart and lungs. Because I was shooting at 60 yards across a valley, I probably should have loaded softs for my two follow-up shots rather than two solids, but I was following my PH's instructions and would do so again if that was his recommendation. As for my PH backing me up with a 375 H&H, that will never happen again. My PH will carry a proper stopping rifle, or he won't be my PH. I'm returning to South Africa in 2027, and my PH is carrying a proper stopping round a 458 Lott.