The Hardest Trophy To Judge Is The.....?

27 April 2010, 03:12

Oryx.

Impossible for me to judge male from female at a distance. Impossible to tell a 36" from a 40" unless they were mounted side by side on a wall. I get frustrated trying to judge them.

A herd of mature oryx look like clones to me unless they are obviously immature or have some horn anomoly.

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27 April 2010, 07:53

L. David Keith

When looking at average Oryx/Gemsbok, it takes patience; it they give you any time at all. But when you see an old bull, he'll stand out rather quickly. Those massive bases are a good starting point. He may have worn down horns, and that adds to the overall mass of length. An old Cow usually will have those long, thin looking horns. Good optics are the best if you have them in the clear (belly not obstructed by brush). That small "teat" (penis sheath) on the belly is what will give the bull away. And, I find they have the gait of an old whitetail buck, with the same nervous attitude.
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27 April 2010, 08:40

Steve Ahrenberg

quote:
Originally posted by Honkey:
How about Elephant??? For weight of ivory, not the maturity or age.

They are tough to judge accurately under the best conditions, let alone when you get fleeting glimpses through thick bush.

Honkey,
The several Elephant hunt's I've done the PH's if they are in "their" element, can get within a pound or two. I think the small duikers are the toughest, usually being called, running, low light.

Nganga

27 April 2010, 12:12

Anders

When estimating oryx my understanding is that some PH's use the length of the face.. I can't remember how long the average face length is. But when in Namibia I think my PH said that if the horns exceeds 3x of the face length he's a shooter.

Anyone with similar experience?

Just to be perfectly honest this didn't help me much. They all looked the same.. But my PH was almost spot on.

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27 April 2010, 19:34

Bwana Moja

For me it's the little guys. I've only shot a Sharpes greysbok. Never have got a steenbok, duiker etc.

All the bigger game seems fairly easy to field judge...eland, kudu, waterbuck, sable etc. Of course the more you see em', the easier it gets. Gemsbok seem fairly easy to field judge, once you've seen a ton of them.

I screwed up on a buffalo once in Tanz. He was standing perfectly broadside pointing to the left, had a great left horn that curled back. I flattened him with the shot, and walked up to him and do you know what? He was missing the right side horn!

Talk about ground shrinkage!

But I can't seem to get a read on the little guys. I gotta start collecting them one day. Is there a way to field judge a trophy duiker?

27 April 2010, 19:57

safari-lawyer

quote:
Originally posted by SableTrail:
Is there a way to field judge a trophy duiker?

The PHs that I've hunted with use the ears as a reference on the duikers, kilps, oribi, steeboks, etc with "long" horns.

The really "short" horned, of which I have only shot the red flanked duiker, the PH glassed the bases of the horns before he allowed me to shoot.

Another issue with duikers (and maybe others) is whether you are looking at a male or a horned female.

27 April 2010, 20:22

MARK H. YOUNG

Kensco

I agree initially that gemsbok are mind boggling to judge as even the litte ones look exactly like the adults. As others have said eventually you get on to judging them once you've seen a lot. I was fortunate on my first safari to Namibia to hunt a property that was loaded with gemsbok. About day five I could pick out a big one but I never got to the point where I could judge 37" from 40". That's for the PH.

I don't even try to look at the horns on the litte guys. If the PH says shoot I just try to hit them. I've shot 9 of the these little fellas and I didn't have any idea of their size when I shot. I just left it completely up to the PH. Actually I think any mature animal when it comes to these smallest of antelope is a good trophy.

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27 April 2010, 21:32

billrquimby

A sable antelope is tough to judge because they often won't give you enough time to study their horns from the side.

The last one I shot stared at us for at least ten minutes from 80 yards away without ever turning its head, and when it did it was starting to move away.

I had only a couple of seconds to decide whether or not to shoot.

Bill Quimby

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29 April 2010, 06:59

Matt Norman

several come to mind, certainly oryx. But the little guys (steinbok, duiker, and such) where it's just a matter of less than a fraction of an inch that I can't begin to get into.

For that matter, care about. It's the quality of the experience that counts. I will gladly take a good stalk and shot over a fraction of an inch!!!!

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29 April 2010, 20:27

kukhama

Gemsbok must surely be one of the toughest to judge! A good way of determining a bull from a female is that a female's horns are thinner and often have kinks at the top of the horns, whereas a bull's horns are evenly matched, straight without kinks, and often have a bell shape. However, this method is not fool proof!! With regards to trophy judgement, not many bull gemsbok cross the 40 mark and I'm of the opinion that if he has thick bases and is a mature specimen, SHOOT!

30 April 2010, 00:11

BrettAKSCI

Politicians!!! Of course everyone knows they are scored on the weight of their bare skull. This of course much like the nerve in an elephant tusk leaves the trophy score subject to brain size. Those politicians with big heads that are relatively brainless/thick skulled (read liberal) tend to score better. The problem of course is "judging" the trophy properly before taking a shot. With elephants it's reccomended to see the ivory from several angles. With politicials it's best to listen to them speak for 10-15 minutes. If they aren't speaking they're smart enough to keep their mouth shut and therefore an unsuitable trophy. If they blather on uncontrolably like most it is important to listen to their banter. If it makes no sense or they try to get money from you or God help you booth shoot imediately you have a worthy trophy.

Good hunting!!!

Brett

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30 April 2010, 00:28

BrettAKSCI

quote:
Originally posted by Scottyboy:
Hardest to judge?? The elusive AR approved black nosed 6yr+ lion.. You have to wrestle him down by the balls, fish hook him by his jowls and take a peak at his rear molars and then get the A-OK from the peanut gallery. Only then are you are allowed to shoot..

Wow! So do you fish hook him and grab his balls with the same hand while the other takes photos, downloads them to your computer, then downloads them to photobucket, and then posts them on AR? Wow! Now that's hunting!

Brett

30 April 2010, 01:21

fairgame

quote:
Originally posted by Scottyboy:
Hardest to judge?? The elusive AR approved black nosed 6yr+ lion.. You have to wrestle him down by the balls, fish hook him by his jowls and take a peak at his rear molars and then get the A-OK from the peanut gallery. Only then are you are allowed to shoot..

Quite right. Lions between 4 - 6 are difficult to judge and disregard the black nose theory, besides it is normally covered in gore.

One of the largest and most impressive lions I ever took (with a client) was aged by tooth as a young five. I can get someone to post an image of this brute? and subsequently I have no faith in any of the so called ageing methods.