Field Aging Buffalo Bulls
The recent Rigby competition and numerous comments at the trade shows, has led me to believe that very few clients know how to judge the age of a buffalo bull in the field. As we at Ndumo Safaris really go out of our way to target older than 12-year buffs, I thought some of you may find my pointers interesting.
First off, let me just say that the only way to determine a buffalo’s age with approaching 100% accuracy, is to measure wear on the back molars. People like Kevin Robertson has done great work in developing a graph that can be used to accurately plot a bull’s age against the wear on his back molars. Since this is difficult to do on a wild buffalo, here’s what I consider for when looking over a potential bull. (Like in anything else, there are some exceptions, and I will handle them under each pointer.)
Hard bosses
A fully mature bull obviously has a completely hard boss. And here I have to digress for a moment, as even this is not as clear cut as it seems. When talking to potential hunters at the trade show, it becomes clear that there is a general misconception to the definition of what a completely hard and solid boss is. Quite a few thinks that for a buffalo to have a solid boss, the two bosses must be fused together without any gap between them. Not so at all. Most mature bulls with completely hard and solid bosses have a split between the 2 bosses. Very few develop completely hard bosses that fuse when they are fully mature. What you should rather be looking for is soft tissue that has not yet developed into a hard, solid boss, especially on the front edges of the bosses. Also, between the bosses, while the bosses are still developing, there tend to be a lot of hair. Bulls younger that around 5 years, are just starting to become hard, and at around 7 to 8 years, most of the boss tissue becomes hard, with just the edges remaining soft. Thus, a fused boss is no indicator of age.
Here is a bull in the 12 years plus bracket with a “fused “boss, and a bull that looks like there is no gap between the horns, but in fact is only 6 to 7 years old. This bull was shot many moons ago in my uninformed days.
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An example of an old bull with a clear gap between the bosses:
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Exampes of an immature bulls, note the slight white between the bosses, and the front edges of the second buffalo's bosses, indicating a bull that's around 7 years old.
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So now we can at least determine when a bull is older than 8 years old, but is that old enough?
Body mass and dewlap
At the age of around 7 to 9 years old, bulls become breeding bulls and in an ideal world should be left to breed. They start developing big, muscular necks and bodies from around 10 years old, especially in the early season with plenty of green grass available. They are easily distinguishable from the younger 7 to 8-year-old bulls, just by sheer size and muscular looks, the older bulls, around 12 years and older, also develop a distinct dewlap and a curved “Roman” nose. They stop breeding at around the age of 12 years, so tend to hang more with bachelor groups or prefer their own company. This is not to say that all bulls in a bachelor group are mature or old, as younger bulls also join these groups. Also, real old bulls may not be in a herd, but they may satellite a breeding herd for the added security. In dry areas, that they may have to walk far for grazing and water, they slim down quite a lot towards the end of the dry season. As they approach the age of around 15 years in such areas, they start losing body condition and are either killed by predators or just die of old age and general wear and tear. In wetter areas, they may live longer.
Example of Roman nose and dew lap clearly visible on these bulls:
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Horn shape and wear
Horn tips that sweep back, horns that has not yet dropped at the bottom curve and sharp horn tips are all indications of younger bulls. Old, past breeding bulls tend to have blunt horn tips, the drop of the curve tend to be lower, the horn tips tend to not point above the bosses. This is not cast in stone, as genetics also play a role, and may be used as an indication only. At the age of around 12 years and older, they also start wearing their bosses smooth. You can clearly see the shine on the bosses as they become more and more polished and less and less of the grooves on the bosses becomes visible. This happens more in wooded areas than swamp areas, as the bulls wear their bosses smoother if there are more trees and shrubs in an area.
Examples of older worn horn bulls. Look at the blunt tips, and the smooth bosses:
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Examples of bulls that are too young, note the sweeping horns, the high tips and the rough bosses. (Last 2 were shot as management buffalo).
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Facial hair and ears
Really old bulls start losing facial hair, especially around the eyes and boss bases. Some areas (like again the swampy areas typical,) this is not so pronounced. I have seen bulls lose their facial hair at a younger age in Uganda, making it easier to make a mistake. Older bulls also tend to have more tattered ears.
Examples of facial hair loss:
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Here's a bull from Uganda, that I aged at under 10 years old, note the amount of hair loss already seen on him:
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As I mentioned, there are exceptions to all of the above. For instance, I have seen buffalo hunted by my colleague’s on South Africa’s ranch land that was aged at 16 years plus, which had rough bosses, sweeping horns, and no hair loss, making them look a lot younger. Remember that a lot of ranch buffalo are micro chipped when released, so the owners have a very good indication of how old they are without having to look at the molars of a dead bull. I contribute this to the fact that they obviously have a much easier life, having feed and water always available, and within short distance, plus no predators to speak of.
I know that these old bulls are not everyone's cup of tea, and when you are paying for the hunt, you do have a choice in what you want to hunt, but I really believe that all of us should target these old real dagga boys exclusively as trophies. They are not only cool looking, they are wiser, more difficult to hunt, and more cantankerous.
If you consider all of the above, and again, this is slightly area specific, you should be able to at least be able to determine that a bull is over 12 years old. Which, again, is the type of bulls we should all strive to hunt.
