Buffalo boss pre and post taxidermy

analog_peninsula

AH enthusiast
Joined
Dec 13, 2022
Messages
424
Reaction score
1,039
Location
Republic of Texas
Media
4
Member of
DSC, NRA, SCI, HSCF
Hunted
South Africa, Namibia, Wyoming, Texas, Idaho, Mexico
Here are pictures of my buff pre and post taxi. I’m puzzled by the difference in the boss gap between the two pictures. Is this a common thing?

Before
IMG_4931.jpeg


After
IMG_4932.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's common enough. Some of that semi-hard material between the bosses comes away with boiling, there's also some shrinkage as the horn dries.
Taxidermist fills the gap with epoxy then paints to suit.
 
Yes, it is normal.
It happens when young Buffalo with "soft" boss are collected prematurity.
A classic sign of prematurity on a live Buff is sharp tipped horns, they tend to be broomed off on mature bulls.
 
It looks like the taxidermist rotated the horns outward a bit too much to give more droop to the overall profile. This may have been done for a number of reasons, but you would need to ask them for exactly why. Any comment on my part would be pure speculation. If you want a TRUE representation of what you had, it's best to provide them with pictures of the animal from the day of the harvest.

It's evident from the hair between the bosses and condition of the tips that this was a young bull.
 
Your bull looks like it was young and had soft bosses - the soft tissue comes away in the skull cleaning process.
 
The boss on that buffalo is still soft. It got boiled away and cleaned. You can see the hair and spongy appearance near the gap in your trophy photo. You need to provide photos to taxidermist so they can build it up like original.
Even with older fully hard bossed bulls you should take pictures of face, boss, any scars so they can paint it and recreate it exactly as you got it.

You can trace out the spongy soft line on the bosses. It lines up to your taxidermy mount. The bosses are only clear indication of age using the horns. Sharp or worn horn tips can be an indicator but it’s more dependent on individual buffalo and the area. If you can find a copy “Africa’s most dangerous” by Kevin Robertson goes into very good detail about aging buffalo.
IMG_9251.jpeg
 
Last edited:
If you want a TRUE representation of what you had, it's best to provide them with pictures of the animal from the day of the harvest
This a really a good advice. I've just gotten my first taxidermy delivery and saw that they are my trophies but not quite the same. This is what I said to myself, take pictures and facial measurements and give them to the taxidermist.

This would solved the problem of the OP as well.
 
That is not a too old bull, but you can also seen that by older buffalo, not as pronounced. I have several old buffalos that all had a closed boss, but after boiling, a noticeable gap appeared. I only have European mounts, so it does not bother me.
 
Definitely not a soft Boss and still lost some to boiling!View attachment 736452View attachment 736453View attachment 736454
It’s still a little soft, but a very nice bull. You can see in the photos old bulls by grand veneur and revturbo their bosses separated some during drying but no horn mass was lost. Yours is probably a 7/8 year old bull (if same bull as in your profile photo) where boss is just getting hard and appears hard but some will be lost. My first (and best bull) was similar. You just provide good photos to taxidermy to rebuild. Your taxidermy did a really nice job.
 
It’s still a little soft, but a very nice bull. You can see in the photos old bulls by grand veneur and revturbo their bosses separated some during drying but no horn mass was lost. Yours is probably a 7/8 year old bull (if same bull as in your profile photo) where boss is just getting hard and appears hard but some will be lost. My first (and best bull) was similar. You just provide good photos to taxidermy to rebuild. Your taxidermy did a really nice job.
It's the same bull.
1000001859.jpg
1000001204.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: cmk
Begs the question, are all skulls boiled as common practice ? Stateside I do everything possible to avoid boiling skulls, I take them and get beetles to clean them. Is that not done in Africa ? I am about to finally receive my buffalo as a euro skull from 2024, I am hoping it wasn't boiled. It was a hard boss bull but I don't want to lose any of it.
 
Begs the question, are all skulls boiled as common practice ? Stateside I do everything possible to avoid boiling skulls, I take them and get beetles to clean them. Is that not done in Africa ? I am about to finally receive my buffalo as a euro skull from 2024, I am hoping it wasn't boiled. It was a hard boss bull but I don't want to lose any of it.
I’ve never heard of any other way coming out of Africa.
 
Begs the question, are all skulls boiled as common practice ? Stateside I do everything possible to avoid boiling skulls, I take them and get beetles to clean them. Is that not done in Africa ? I am about to finally receive my buffalo as a euro skull from 2024, I am hoping it wasn't boiled. It was a hard boss bull but I don't want to lose any of it.
They are sometimes rotted instead of boiled, but if it’s still a little soft you’ll lose that portion either way. The increased separation like in the two old bulls posted is from drying.
 
Begs the question, are all skulls boiled as common practice ? Stateside I do everything possible to avoid boiling skulls, I take them and get beetles to clean them. Is that not done in Africa ? I am about to finally receive my buffalo as a euro skull from 2024, I am hoping it wasn't boiled. It was a hard boss bull but I don't want to lose any of it.
It’s really the only way in most areas of Africa. If there were any spots that were soft, it will be lost. A good taxidermist will fix it though.

It’s a great way to confirm an age of a bull.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
65,394
Messages
1,443,183
Members
135,833
Latest member
Anneke@JKOSafaris
 

 

 

Latest profile posts

'68boy wrote on Rare Breed's profile.
Wife and I will attend ah dinner in Nashville Friday night. Jay Sheets and wife Chris
crossfire3006 wrote on Hornedfrogbbq's profile.
An excellent AH member right here! I had a fantastic transaction with Hornedfrogbbq (I was the seller). His communication was first rate, payment was extremely fast, and I would have absolutely no reservations at all dealing with him again. Thank you, F!
Here we are, the last day of the show in Denver, it's been a good show but expecting a quiet day today. I will be back for-sure to do this show next year and maybe also do the one in Sacramento California.

On Monday I will be hitting the road driving from Denver and eventually make it down to Atlanta for the flight home.

its going to be a good year!
CraigV wrote on Rem280's profile.
Hi Rem280, Saw your post on getting selected for Idaho Elk. Do you have a zone(s) selected? I live in N Idaho, might be able to offer some ideas.

Cheers,

Craig
ghay wrote on Konrad.inc's profile.
Do you still have the Ruger 9.3x62?
 
Top