Judge my trophy scores

As some of you already know. My trophies from my first trip to Africa have arrived. I'm waiting for some wood that I ordered to build the pedestals and the back wall I'm creating. Once I have that I'll be hanging these trophies. It's got to be perfect.

But my trophy room floor has trophy's all over the place. And I can't help myself and keep pestering them. So I decided to whip out the flexible tape and measure all my trophy's from Hunters Hill. I know my kudu is small but it's ok that trophy is in the hunt. And that one was by far my favorite hunt. But I am not sure what the standards are for "trophy" specimen of the other species. I know what a 150" white tail buck means. But I have no idea on these African animals. So here we go. Please feel free to tell me big or small. You won't offend me I promise. All measurements are length x base mass.

Sable - Left 43 x 10. Right 42.75 x 10



Kudu - Left 41 x 9. Right 41.25 x 9



Nyala - left 30 x 8.5. Right 30 x 8.5



Impala. Left 24 x 5.75. Right 24.5 x 5.75



Blesbuck - left 16.5 x 6.5. Right 17 x 6.5



Gemsbuck. Left - 34.75 x 8. Right 34.5 x 8.




And the zebra and blue beast obviously don't get scored.

Let me know how I did. Thanks

They’re all magnificent animals and great memories of your adventure and your role in conservation, the inches don’t matter.

Sable, Nyala, Impala, Blesbuck are all Rowland Ward. The Blue does get scored.

Rowland ward I'm assuming is like the Boone and Crockett of Africa? I'll look up their score minimums. Are African animals purely scored on length or does the mass even matter? I wasn't sure I just measured it assuming it did like white tail deer.

This is a 28 inch nyala. Think you might want to measure yours again. Fine trophies all.

Chago said:

Rowland ward I'm assuming is like the Boone and Crockett of Africa? I'll look up their score minimums. Are African animals purely scored on length or does the mass even matter? I wasn't sure I just measured it assuming it did like white tail deer.

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Yes, minimums and instructions are on line. All require a minimum drying period, no green scores. Most are also SCI too.

BenKK said:

They’re all magnificent animals and great memories of your adventure and your role in conservation, the inches don’t matter.

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I agree, reading your post and hearing "trophy" mentioned so many times is what gives hunting a bad name and anti's ammunition. You have excellent animals and experiences don't pollute that with some inch cut off.

North American 36 said:

I agree, reading your post and hearing "trophy" mentioned so many times is what gives hunting a bad name and anti's ammunition. You have excellent animals and experiences don't pollute that with some inch cut off.

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I hear that. And totally appreciate what your saying.

sestoppelman said:

This is a 28 inch nyala. Think you might want to measure yours again. Fine trophies all.

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It's a spiral horn so it's measured like a kudu right? Where you follow the swirl. I just measured it again. I can literally video it if needed. The score was the same. Here is another pic from another angle if it looks bigger from this angle.

I would urge you not to get too caught up in the inch thing. You will find a lot of people who hunt Africa are more interested in where their animals were hunted or their age than their size. The same is true here. For instance, a 180 inch free range whitetail is the trophy of the lifetime. The same size protein-laced animal from behind a game fence is just a place holder on a game ranch’s bracket list that likely will go well north of 200. A 38-inch free range sable from Mozambique may represent days of sweating through mile after mile of tropical forest and savannah. A 42-inch from behind a fence may represent an afternoon drive about the game farm. The horns that you take home are the memories you associate with them. The story is what interests me.

As I mentioned in the OP. The kudu is the smallest of the animals I shot in regards to the species. And I had said it was my most treasured trophy from the trip. And in my review on that hunt. I had said I most excited about the Sable as it was a long time dream. And yet I was let down because the hunt was not very fun or difficult. (just what I experienced). So trust me I totally appreciate what all of you are saying. I'm all about the hunt.

But again being a Africa noob. I just wanted to know did I shoot a bunch of young animals. Or are they nice mature specimens. Again I have never seen these animals before that trip. I took my guides word on every animal. And looking at other people's pics on here. Judging size is so difficult for me as again it's not a animal I have spent my entire life looking at through Binos like a deer or a elk. It was more of just a education for me. I don't plan on going back to Africa to improve my "score" perse. I am going after a bigger kudu but that's only because my first one was a eastern cape kudu. And my next one is a southern kudu which I know are giants. And that's a hunt I want to do.

Either way I can appreciate the sensitivity of the subject especially since the anti cry trophy. So if it's in bad tasted by all means mods you can delete the thread. I won't be offended.

https://www.africahunting.com/threa...-on-a-hunt-in-south-africa.29192/#post-272738
Scroll down to the Rowland Ward minimums and records. Anything that meets RW minimums is a great trophy. That Nyala is a real stud. Congrats
Bruce

This is a good conversation to have. The basis of the question might be trying to verify if what the PH says is a “good” or “great” animal is in fact a large/old/big member of a species. Were you sold an idea, or an actual high scoring animal?
My first day seeing African game was surprising in that I immediately realized that I could not judge and animals age or size. It was nothing like NA animals I had hunted. So I relied on the PH to be honest and to guide me. That was a fantastic relief because I got to enjoy the hunt and not care about being certain that I was shooting a Rowland Ward animal or not. Focusing on the tape measure takes the joy out of hunting and the blessing that happens when you get an animal. My most prized hunts were the hardest ones, the hunt that was earned through patience, skill, preparation and sometimes just simply luck. But, as I have come to lean with hunting, the good Lord has more Involvement in luck that we think. We learn a lot more about ourselves when we are not lucky, and many times tagging out on day one isn’t what your really wanted in a hunt.

Chago said:

It's a spiral horn so it's measured like a kudu right? Where you follow the swirl. I just measured it again. I can literally video it if needed. The score was the same. Here is another pic from another angle if it looks bigger from this angle. View attachment 323546

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Yes, around the ridge or keel as some call it. Spiral horns get a lot of their inches from curl, your has very little curl or tip out which is why I question it being 30 inches which would place it very high in SCI's record book. I don't know how you measure and don't like to be or sound contentious, but I just don't see 30" there.
Here is one that also says to be 30" Looks somewhat longer than yours no? Note the amount of curl. Just like with kudu, big curl makes inches.

But RedLeg is right, sometimes we get a little caught up in the book thing. None of your animals look like juniors, but I think you knew that.

sestoppelman said:

Yes, around the ridge or keel as some call it. Spiral horns get a lot of their inches from curl, your has very little curl or tip out which is why I question it being 30 inches which would place it very high in SCI's record book. I don't know how you measure and don't like to be or sound contentious, but I just don't see 30" there.
Here is one that also says to be 30" Looks somewhat longer than yours no? Note the amount of curl. Just like with kudu, big curl makes inches.

But RedLeg is right, sometimes we get a little caught up in the book thing. None of your animals look like juniors, but I think you knew that.

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Yes but that one is very narrow. Mine shoots very wide which would add inches. Either way
My wife and kids went to sleep. So I have no one to hold the camera. I'll gladly make a video tomorrow morning. If it's off by more then a 1/4". I'll give you my house lol. Unless I'm doing something very wrong. At the base there is like a point of the horn that creeps into the forehead. I'm assuming like all animals you get the hunters advantage and start from the tip of that very point. And not where the average would be or the shortest spot.

I'll make a video tomorrow. If it's outside 29 3/4 - 30 1/4 I'll give you my house lol. Because now that you gave me a complex about it. I have measured it 39.5 times. And it's coming in at 30".

I agree with Chago's thought process here and offer the following analogy.

In sports, we compete for a championship trophy and to compare our stats against others. There are winners and losers and evaluations of better or worse. Some are praised for "doing it the right way" and others are shamed as cheaters.

Hunting is a sport. There are trophies animals, and we judge them as better or worse based on tangible assets (age and size in inches and mass). We praise hunters that embrace the idea of the sport to fair chase their dream animal. We despise poachers or those who give hunting a bad name for any variety of reasons.

There is no shame in asking what defines above or below average, nor in wanting to learn how an animal stacks up. I am also an Africa novice, and have no idea if my animals were "big or small." I trust my PH did me right, and I enjoyed the hunt of each and every animal I took, with no regrets or disappointment. But you can bet that I will absolutely take my own tape measure to them when I pick them up from the taxidermist and get them home. My blesbuck was one of the greatest hunts of my life (read about it in my hunt review thread), and that wont change if he is considered small.

In summary, wanting to know what the inches mean, and using the word trophy, does not mean a hunter should be looked down upon.

sestoppelman said:

Yes, around the ridge or keel as some call it. Spiral horns get a lot of their inches from curl, your has very little curl or tip out which is why I question it being 30 inches which would place it very high in SCI's record book. I don't know how you measure and don't like to be or sound contentious, but I just don't see 30" there.
Here is one that also says to be 30" Looks somewhat longer than yours no? Note the amount of curl. Just like with kudu, big curl makes inches.

But RedLeg is right, sometimes we get a little caught up in the book thing. None of your animals look like juniors, but I think you knew that.

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Ok I made a video alone. Harder then I thought. I used a piece of scotch tape so no one would say that while going around the spiral with a measuring tape. That maybe my hand slipped or whatever. So I used a piece of tape. It didn't stick very well, but enough to hold for me to maneuver the horn in the cameras view. So based on that measurement were at 29 15/16. But I think we can agree I left a 16th at the forehead end. So I think we are closer to 30 then not. So I can't explain why it's 30. I can't explain where the inches come from. But I've now measured it more times then I would like to admit. I'm 6'4. So maybe in the field pictures your not giving the overall length enough credit because I'm tall. Video attached.

https://amico.box.com/s/1degd0lgw3lkfe8s72bboq3362923zln

Well. It doesn't look like 30 to me but you done proved it. I stand corrected. Excellent nyala!

I'm glad you are happy with your trophies.
You have some nice trophies.

If you want to, compare the scores with Rowland Ward scores.
(Compare that with your 150 Whitetail vs 180 Whitetail.)

Great animals, whatever they measure