The fact is EVERYONE wants a true trophy.... an animal that is mature and an excellent represntative of its species. NO ONE finds an immature animal an acceptable trophy. The PH is responsible to his client to ensure the client knows what he is shooting. Very unfortunately, most hunters find out when back home that they had been deceived by the PH. Immature animals ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THE TRUE TROPHY HUNTER!

We have a guy in my deer lease that likes to come and perform a post mortem on every deer we shoot. His typical statement is, "That would have been a really good deer in one more year." This drives me f%$&*%$ crazy!

My reply, "The deer is dead and it ain't coming back. Might as well be happy for the hunter and his trophy."

Same applies here. The hunter had a good hunt and a good time. The buffalo is dead and ain't coming back. Good for the hunter, good for the hunted. Congrats to all.

Plus, don't forget RAC is on his first buffalo hunt AND he's shooting two buff in seven days. One good buff in seven days is not a gimme. Two is plain hard work. He got it done with two good, respectable bulls. My hat is off to the hunter. Well done, welcome home.

Worst part of this whole discussion is having your hunting peers detract from your hunting experience. Eyedoc went through this recently with his leopard. My feelings about that fiasco do not need to be repeated word for word, but are found here:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...501008511#1501008511

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but come on, there are times where you say something nice or you say nothing at all.

RAC,

Well done on your buff, the hell with negative comment, if you enjoyed it and are happy, then that is all that matters. I would really like to know more about that great double hanging on the rack, please, tell.

Again I appologize for my previous comments. Regardless of personal trophy preference it's in EXTREMELY poor tast to rip on someone here. I'm not sure why I didn't see that earlier (you were right Charles), but perhaps it's the internet getting the best of me. As Will stated the animal is dead so let's congratulate a fellow hunter on his success and drop this infighting.

Brett

I have learned a few things from this post.
The first being that you must be a true trophy hunter to post. Second, you must check the definition of a trophy before you post. Third, some folks just can't let you enjoy yourself. The obvious result is that many will not post hunting reports.
Me, I sure hope Nixon posts some of those cheap two buff hunts next year, I am going to go and put bullet holes in them and I will not post the pics.

Congrats RAC on a great and enjoyable hunt. Congrats also to those who have appologized.

quote:

Originally posted by BEGNO:
The obvious result is that many will not post hunting reports.
Me, I sure hope Nixon posts some of those cheap two buff hunts next year, I am going to go and put bullet holes in them and I will not post the pics.

I would urge you to still post the pics. Who cares what some jackass on the Internet thinks about you. Over in the American forum I just posted a pic of a little meat buck I shot. Obviously immature, definetly could have become a bigger buck if I hadn't popped him. True? Yes. Do I care? Not really. Bottom line, I just wanted to fill the freezer with a deer off my own place before hunting a big deer out of state. I know this in no way compares to a safari for a buff, but the point is I posted the pic so my friends here could see it we could talk bullet performance etc. If I was concerned that some IDIOT would beat me up about it, then that would be one less conversation for us to have. This is an amazing site, don't allow these detractors to diminish it.

quote:

Originally posted by Brett Adam Barringer:
Again I appologize for my previous comments. Regardless of personal trophy preference it's in EXTREMELY poor tast to rip on someone here. I'm not sure why I didn't see that earlier (you were right Charles), but perhaps it's the internet getting the best of me. As Will stated the animal is dead so let's congratulate a fellow hunter on his success and drop this infighting.

Brett

Sounds good to me.
BTW, you might be the first person I have ever heard of who the internet got the best of.....

Some of you are pissing on a man's dream hunt all because of an inch or 2 of softer tissue between the horn boss?? Who gives 2 shits about that? I, for one, certainly would never judge an entire safari halfway around the world by an inch or 2 of not COMPLETELY hardened boss.. What about the hunt itself, the shot, the gun, the sights and smells, the camfires, the skinners and trackers, the packing and plane rides, etc??

While we'd ALL love to take 50" bulls wih a helmet of boss every single time we hunt them, that just isnt going to happen.. If that bull doesn't suit your standards, fine, but dont piss on someone else's parade and then tell 'em it's raining.

And you wonder why so many other good folks refuse to partake in sharing their trophy pics with all of us..

The hypocrisy of some on this site is that I've seen many others post pics of their bulls with MUCH softer boss than this bull and get NOTHING but praise and hail on their "trophy"..some very recently. I've also seen lions that were shot and posted on here with manes so damn big and thick that you'd think they were the MGM lion himself with the same results.. "Great cat, buddy", "super cat, sir", "congrats on the cat of a lifetime, amigo," etc. etc. when we ALL know that cat was pot shot in a fenced pen.. So why the critisim of this bull? Personal agenda? Not in the "clique" on AR and thus open to "below the belt" shots? Please enlighten us.

RAC,
I'd bust both of the bulls you were fotunate enough to take with no hesitation on my end.. And to do so with a DR, all the better!! Congrats, amigo.
I plan on taking a buff next May in Moz with mine as well..

Brett, well said..

quote:

Sounds good to me.
BTW, you might be the first person I have ever heard of who the internet got the best of.....

Yeah just ask Dave Fulson and Frostbit (?) about that!!!!

Brett

packer, any word on the exact age of your bull?

Trophy... IMO isn`t just about the size or age of an animal, its about the being there,the work put into the hunt,the companionship the sounds, sights, smells and of the memories.

While many have commented about whether or not these are "good bulls", whatever that means, only one response even came close to answering the original questions.
How old are these bulls?
How much of these bosses will boil away?

I don't know the age of the buffalo I shot in the picture posted. As this buff was shot in a government concession in Zim, there was no ear tag and no data on the bull. I suspect the comment was tounge in cheek, but who knows. In my opinion, the buff is very young. Overall body condition, few signs of breeding dominance, and teeth all point to a young bull, but the PH insisted otherwise. I fondly remember many aspects of this particular hunt, but his lack of hard bosses did not make him a great trophy from my perspective. A significant amount of the boss boiled away, leaving a very large gap between the horns, as well as greatly reducing the boss size.. Any good taxidermist can fill this back in of course, but I'm not so concerned about the tape I want to start "adding inches" to my mounts. I'll enjoy my memories of that hunt for what they were, but look for true trophies (in my eyes) before I put them on the wall.

So, how old was my bull? How are you aging buffalo on the hoof? Does a buff with good genetics achieve a 40 inch spread, with still soft bosses at 4 years old? 5? 3?
Do the bosses grow as close together as that particular genetics allow at 7 years? 9 years? older? It is clear that not all bosses will grow so close together that they become one solid, massive helmet. When does a bull reach his potential?

I've seen some really great boiled skulls with well formed, rock solid bosses and well broomed horns that don't stretch the tape much, but are clearly from very ancient bulls. In my eyes, these are the truly great trophies. To each his own..

Bill