Anyone shooting forked horns as trophies

Jeff Garcia

AH senior member
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
Messages
53
Reaction score
143
Media
11
Hunting reports
Africa
1
75FADD92-3E53-45F3-BD03-63A2DF03C2FA.jpeg
 
I love big forks!
I'm in Klamath, I can get there quick... two hours? Three hours?
 
I love big fork horns. I shot one years ago in Idaho.

I was hunting one a couple years ago on public land in New Mexico. As I was getting ready to shoot, another buck I couldn’t see while he was bedded stood up a few minutes after him and headed my way. As you can see, I changed my mind about the big forky.

IMG_6842.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Some of the forked antlered coastal blacktails I saw in the area around Petaluma back in the late 80’s would definitely be trophies but I got an above average for the area 3x3 with brow tines. 8 point to us southern boys.
 
September ’89 blacktail. Picture of a picture wi a goose wing shadow.

648D867D-35C6-46BC-BE64-78CA4B1C1AD3.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I’ve never seen anything like that on 10 Safaris.
 
Mulies are amazing animals. However, being a whitetail hunter makes me rethink how to judge a good buck. Since a nice mule deer will typically not have much in the way of brow tines. They certainly make up for it in width and frame. Then, judging the depth of forks is another difference. I’m so used to a basic check of width and number of points that it makes me second guess what counts as a stellar mule deer.
 
@Firebird , you say obliged to pass on, if you can’t shoot the big 4x4 or the forkies what can you shoot? Giant 6x6’s? Just curious.
 
The 4x4 I included in response to sfranger7gp ‘s comment, would definitely not pass on that buck. The two x two bucks definitely pass on, wait for something more exciting. All those pix were taken while on a scouting trip
 
The finest mule deer "trophy" I have ever seen was on a buck that was illegal to shoot in BC. It was during the rut and this aged swaybacked animal drifted past us at sixty-yards. Bases were much bigger than my wrist and pearling went half way up each antler. With eye-guards and forks he was illegal in BC where one can shoot a spindly two-year-old 4x3 (must have four points on one side), but not this six or seven year old pensioner. He looked like a gigantic roebuck. With his mass and only six points, he would have still hit 170-175. Amazing animal that almost certainly ended up a mountain lion meal that winter.
 
IMG_9978.jpeg

I did a report here on this buck/hunt, not a forked but over 31 inches and grossed 170 p&y, 6 or 7 years old as I remember it. 2019 archery hunt, which made it easier to pass up the smaller/younger bucks we saw
While scouting
 

Forum statistics

Threads
61,706
Messages
1,352,621
Members
116,690
Latest member
HoustonAlb
 

 

 

Latest profile posts

Cooper65 wrote on Rockwall205's profile.
I saw where you hunted elephant with backcountry safaris in Zimbabwe.
Was looking to book an elephant hunt and wanted to know how your hunt went
and if you would recommend them.

Thanks
Mike
hi, do you know about lions hunters, leopard hunters, and crocodiles hunters of years 1930s-1950s
I'm new to Africa Hunting. I would like to purchase a Heym 450-400 double rifle. I'm left-handed but would prefer a non-canted gun. Is anyone in the community considering parting with theirs?
Limpopo Bushbuck
Elite Hunting Outfitters
 
Top