Male vs. Female Oryx

[Lrntolive]

The gemsbok is number one on my list when I go to Namibia in May. I'd rather take a male, just because I'd rather take a large bodied male with decent horns.

I'll be hunting with bow, so I'll need to be happy with what I'm presented. Any of the ones above are fine with me.

 

[kathy]

Your outfitter should be able to tell you what to expect in Bulls and cow oryx . Forrest

 

[lwaters]

I myself am a sucker for heavy horns.

 

[Adrian]

A female cull animal and a male trophy.

 

[petrusg]

I prefer a Male with thick 40" horns over a female with thin 43" horns

 

[cls]

I prefer the heavier horned bull, the trophy size doesn't much matter to me.

Gemsbok bull my first African animal on safari Limpopo

 

[lwaters]

With my low basement ceilings my short heavy horned oryx looks better. A 40 jncher would be to low on the wall

 

[Mike Wachtel]

My father and I have our first Safari booked. 10 days we will be split up hunting 1 on 1 for the majority. I may sneak in and watch him attempt to shoot a Nyala and we are hoping to lay about 15-20 animals in the salt. We are so excited. We have been watching videos and looking at all sorts of pictures. Females typically have longer but skinnier horns. However, the males having shorter but thicker horns. In your oryx dreams, what are you pulling the trigger on. A crazy long female or a thick male. Post any pictures if you can. I can not decide what to go after.

 

[Mike Wachtel]

My father and I have our first Safari booked. 10 days we will be split up hunting 1 on 1 for the majority. I may sneak in and watch him attempt to shoot a Nyala and we are hoping to lay about 15-20 animals in the salt. We are so excited. We have been watching videos and looking at all sorts of pictures. Females typically have longer but skinnier horns. However, the males having shorter but thicker horns. In your oryx dreams, what are you pulling the trigger on. A crazy long female or a thick male. Post any pictures if you can. I can not decide what to go after.

I have just booked my first safari, with Ozondjahe in Namibia. Thinking female Gemsbock; longest horns possible; no one who visits my Iowa trophy room will question if it's a male! Mike Wachtel

 

[Ridgewalker]

Male, female, long, heavy, unique, lots of options, but the only thing that truly counts is the joy of the hunt…IMO. Make your hunt special however you chose.

 

[PARA45]

The Oryx on my avatar is a female, and had very long horns, 47+ inches long. It was my first African animal taken, and truthfully, I didn't care if it was a male or a female. I also didn't know how big she was until I got back to camp, and the owner was super excited (actually more excited than me) and came to congratulate me.

The hunt was magnificent, we stalked this animal to like 50 yds, so I can't even brag about the shot. LOL!!!!! But, I was very happy with how it all came to. I still remember that moment, I was actually hunting in Africa, a dream come true. When I hugged my wife, emotions took over.

 

[crs]

It has been so many years that I do not remember the trophy size, just the 150 yard shot at the moving Oryx in Limpopo. My .338 Win Mag took out both shoulders PDQ.
Booked to shoot a meat Oryx with broken horn here in Texas next weekend. I have read that the meat is excellent. Maybe I will use my .405 DR as it is feeling neglected of late.

 

[rookhawk]

The great thing about Oryx is they are truly a unisex trophy. A male has bigger horn circumference and shorter length. They also fight so their horns are more often broomed down and also damaged from sparring. A female has less circumference but can have longer length.

I believe the top ten world records are all female?

Shoot a quality animal under good conditions while having fun. It's one of those animals where you can obsess needlessly over sex when your emphasis should really be on quality.

 

[CBH Australia]

Umm, all I can say is that I think some of the species that have straight horns look cool.
I like Fallow Deer type anthlers for the Moose like palms . I also like the straight horns on some species.

 

[Philip Glass]

My father and I have our first Safari booked. 10 days we will be split up hunting 1 on 1 for the majority. I may sneak in and watch him attempt to shoot a Nyala and we are hoping to lay about 15-20 animals in the salt. We are so excited. We have been watching videos and looking at all sorts of pictures. Females typically have longer but skinnier horns. However, the males having shorter but thicker horns. In your oryx dreams, what are you pulling the trigger on. A crazy long female or a thick male. Post any pictures if you can. I can not decide what to go after.

One of each of course!

 

[outwestidaho]

I didn't care in Namibia. I wanted long, symmetrical and wide . Mine happened to be a cow at 40"
I would have gave up the long but not the symmetrical or wide part. My personal feelings, but I don't like crooked or narrow Oryx horns.

 

[Cam Moon]

@chiefdale
What did you and your father end up getting? It would be nice to hear how things turned out, and if you have some pictures to share we would love to see them! It's interesting how some older threads resurface, and how they can bring back memories.
I had wanted a male (no real valid reason for that, I just did), but we had spent a couple of extra days in the Stormberg-Drakensberg Mountain Range searching for a free range Barbary Sheep, and that cut into our time a bit too much. Where we had planned to go hunting in hopes of a monster male Gemsbok was going to take up another couple of days, and so I decided to not be too fussy. As I said, I really had no real "reason" for wanting a male over a female, and so I was fairly open. Like others have said, sometimes it's best to just take what Africa gives you!

I ended up with a nice cow, and figured that with all the amazing animals that Africa has, I will probably not ever shoot another Gemsbok, but if I do, I can be more selective at that time and make sure I get a male. Then the idea of having one of each started to appeal to me fairly quickly! LOL
But definitely not another female. As beautiful as they are, my list of other species that I wanted was growing longer and longer every time I would dream of returning to Africa.
But I'm also a sucker for something unique or different, and I simply HAD to have this beauty when I saw her on my following trip.

Maybe another trip will find a male Oryx in my sights.....

Happy hunting to all!

 

[Mike Wachtel]

Unique and interesting trophy! Congrats. Hope my first safari next summer will produce difficult choices...that seems to be a big part of the fun. I will be hunting Namibia, and am thinking I'll take the longest Gemsbock horns I see, but will let my PH influence my go/no go decision. For Kudu, I want tight curls, not concerned about width...we all have pictures in our minds of what we're looking for, but opportunity may change the picture in an instant! Mike Wachtel

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

My father and I have our first Safari booked. 10 days we will be split up hunting 1 on 1 for the majority. I may sneak in and watch him attempt to shoot a Nyala and we are hoping to lay about 15-20 animals in the salt. We are so excited. We have been watching videos and looking at all sorts of pictures. Females typically have longer but skinnier horns. However, the males having shorter but thicker horns. In your oryx dreams, what are you pulling the trigger on. A crazy long female or a thick male. Post any pictures if you can. I can not decide what to go after.

@chiefdale
My son was lucky enough to shoot a cull female oryx for free. It was old, past it's prime and had a wonky horn. This made an excellent trophy for my son as it was different and went very close to 40 inches.

My was a male that was almost 39 inches with a nice thickness to them. To me my son's is the better of the 2 as it has character.

Only you can decide what you want.
We were very fortunate as our PH was also the property owner so was able to do this wonderful thing for my son for which he was very greatful

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@chiefdale
What did you and your father end up getting? It would be nice to hear how things turned out, and if you have some pictures to share we would love to see them! It's interesting how some older threads resurface, and how they can bring back memories.
I had wanted a male (no real valid reason for that, I just did), but we had spent a couple of extra days in the Stormberg-Drakensberg Mountain Range searching for a free range Barbary Sheep, and that cut into our time a bit too much. Where we had planned to go hunting in hopes of a monster male Gemsbok was going to take up another couple of days, and so I decided to not be too fussy. As I said, I really had no real "reason" for wanting a male over a female, and so I was fairly open. Like others have said, sometimes it's best to just take what Africa gives you!
View attachment 432642
I ended up with a nice cow, and figured that with all the amazing animals that Africa has, I will probably not ever shoot another Gemsbok, but if I do, I can be more selective at that time and make sure I get a male. Then the idea of having one of each started to appeal to me fairly quickly! LOL
But definitely not another female. As beautiful as they are, my list of other species that I wanted was growing longer and longer every time I would dream of returning to Africa.
But I'm also a sucker for something unique or different, and I simply HAD to have this beauty when I saw her on my following trip.
View attachment 432643
Maybe another trip will find a male Oryx in my sights.....

Happy hunting to all!

@Cam Moon
I do like the strange and unusual they make for great conversations.