Here is a nice buff that was shot in the lowveld yesterday.

nice congratulations

Awesome bull!
Give us some details.

They don't get much better than that! Very nice!

I really don't have any, they hadn't put a tape on it yet, but felt it would go 46+? I have buff hunted the same area a few times and have never seen anything remotely close to that. Ben, on the other hand has killed a couple of 42's, a huge 46, and now this. The Save will compete with any other location on the continent for big buff, IMHO.

That is as good as it gets!

Looks so good someone might think it has been getting groomed regularly.
Were his hooves shiny and polished too?

W---I---D---E

Congrats to the hunter

Nice, real nice.

Some say the next 50 inch buff in Zim will come from the Save. I think they are correct.

quote:

Looks so good someone might think it has been getting groomed regularly.
Were his hooves shiny and polished too?

505:

Someone has obviously never been to the Save. None of that kind of thing going on there.

Looks a little soft and young to me......Not trying to piss anyone off, and I am by no means an expert. Just an opinion.

quote:

Looks a little soft and young to me......Not trying to piss anyone off, and I am by no means an expert. Just an opinion.

he is, but he is dead now, so no need crying over spilled milk. Congrats to Ben & Leon on a big buff. I also just heard that the other guy in camp killed a big 42" buff and a big ele (for the Save). I will post if Judy sends me pics.

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:
Looks a little soft and young to me......Not trying to piss anyone off, and I am by no means an expert. Just an opinion.

My take as well.

Too bad he was not passed...I would have loved to have seen his picture in a couple of years.....would have lost a little spread but the drop would have been awesome.....

I agree, not many would pass up that opportunity though he is not an old buff. My finger would be itching too.....
I wonder though, if it was a 37inch bull if it would have been taken. Size does matter

Tough crowd.

Four posts for "soft, too young" and one inference he was raised on a bottle and housed in a boma.

The Buffalo is DEAD. He's as big and old as he's going to get. Might as well try to be happy for the hunter and the hunted.

My $.02.

He won't be soft after Ben gets him mounted.

Great job Ben and Leon, there are some great Buff genes in the Save.

I love the armchair quarterbacking, not a single person talking about what they "would" have done know a single thing about what actually happened on this hunt. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. By the way, here's the ele that was shot by Cater on the same hunt. They said it had VERY thick ivory and thought it would go close to 50#, not bad for the Save, eh? Congrats Paul, not bad for a virgin, must have been the rifle.

I am certainly a arm chair quarter back on African game. Hopefully not for long!
When I hunt I always like to have a video camera or a good still camera along to get a documented visual while the quarry is still alive. I know this may be a unrealistic expectation for all encounters due to how fast the encounter may occur.
I have noted on practically all TV programs on Buffalo hunting as to the massive size of the neck and shoulders on a old Dugga boy as the neck and shoulders on a younger wide spread bull are lean and skinney.
If I am correct in my assumption, it would not be to difficult to tell a mature bull by features other than just the boss.
Never the less, I would have got a itchy finger on this bull as well.

EZ

Hell, I'd have shot him, in a heartbeat

and been mighty happy.....


Mad Dog

I for one say to the hunter, CONGRATULATIONS!

He is a great bull and one to be proud of. I would have shot him in a heartbeat and never thought another thing about it. He ain't that soft and Jerry is right-Once you get him back from the taxidermist he won't be. I've only shot three buffalo but I've seen others take a whole lot softer bulls than this one, and not nearly as wide. Once again, congratulations on your Buff.

quote:

Originally posted by safari-lawyer:
Nice, real nice.

Some say the next 50 inch buff in Zim will come from the Save. I think they are correct.

Maybe this September by ME!!!

Or October by me!

I saw many massive old bulls last year. I saw a cow that was super wide. Perhaps over 50.

505 please tell us more of the details on this buff hunt since it sounds like there are some other circumstances? Awesome ele....congrats to the hunter.
Mac

Howdy,

I am the hunter in the picture with the buffalo at the beginning of the page. Buffalo hunting is my favorite hunting and I have killed many big buffalo. I try to shoot hard bossed buffalo and in all honesty this bull needed about 3/4 of an inch on his boss fronts to be totally hard. I actually had a small window at about 110 meters that I spotted this bull in and when I looked I actually thought he was all the way developed in his bosses. I, (in about 1 second) made the decision to shoot. Everything happened so quickly I did not even have time for shooting sticks and I took the shot freehand. Everything worked out and I am still happy with the buff I got this year. He was not in very good health. I believe the results of surviving a severe lion mauling but it looked like most of his wounds had healed and he would have survived if he had not run into my .458. This was probably the best buff hunt I have ever had. I saw no less than 7 forty plus inch buff on this hunt including one monsterous 46+ that we let go because he was too green. Maybe in two more years I will catch up to him again.

Cheers,

Ben

Thanks Ben and congratulations on a fine buff.

Did you hunt anything else? If so, more pictures!

Ben,

That's a great buffalo and no he is not an old Dugga Boy but he is not a totally soft 3 year old either. I will tell you since a big buffalo has eluded me I would have whacked him in a minute. Congrats on a very nice trophy.

Bob,

Were you implying that the buffalo in question might have been taken in some manner other than fair chase?

Mark

Ben,

Nice Buff. I'd have pulled the trigger too. You can't always take 5 minutes to study the horn development on Buff, as some here apparently assume.

I would have killed that one twice!!!
Great buff.

My philosophy is generally to say nothing in cases like this.

But it's getting pretty deep around here.

If only for the sake of education, someone has to speak the hard truth.

I find it amazing that, for all but a very few of us, the bottom line in this matter seems to be roughly as follows:

Nice buff.

Why?

Because he's wide. Who cares if he's young and soft, and at least three years away from being an excellent trophy bull?

In that kind of thinking, inches matter more than age.

And that kind of thinking is 180 degrees wrong as far as Cape buffalo hunting is concerned.

What of conservation? What ever happened to taking only the old bulls?

Then, after McKay pointed it out, and others, including me, chimed in, it is admitted that this bull was young and soft.

But - we are led to believe that we don't know the whole story. It's implied that there were exigent circumstances.

I'm sorry to have to say it, but it's a lame excuse for the hunter to claim that he was somehow or other forced to shoot in haste under the conditions he described.

He wasn't being charged. He was apparently more than 100 yards away.

Under those conditions, it's okay to shoot before knowing for certain that the buff is a mature animal?

It's okay to take the shot, after a second's deliberation, instead of deciding to hold off, get closer and make sure that the bull is mature before blasting away?

Not in my book. That's nothing more than a mistake posing as a justification.

This young bull was just coming into his own. He should have been left to breed, and pass along his excellent genes to later generations.

In a few years down the road, he would have made a great trophy.

Ben,
post the pics after he was boiled out that you emailed me last week.
ps post Pauls Eland as well (hunt pic)

Howdy,

I will try and post pics of the boiled skull. Been a while since I hve done that so I need to look into process.

Thanks guys for all the kind words.

Mr. Robinson, if you would have read the post I admitted that I believed when I looked at the buffalo I thought he was finished in his bosses. I also admitted He only had 3/4 of an inch left to grow to be all the way hard. Can you recognize 3/4 of an inch difference in bosses over a 100 meter distance? There was no possible way of closing the distance to the buffalo or we would have been busted. He was at one brushline and I was at the edge of another. Maybe one day I will attain omniscience but until then I do the best I can and when Mr.458 barks all sales are final. As for passing his genes, chances are good he did some of that allready and I am not sure how many more chances he would have had considering his failing health. I also like to look on the bright side. This will all be more girls for the bigger 46+ buffalo that I passed within 1 mile of where this boy fell. There will be plenty of big buff waiting there for you when you finally book your trip with Save Safaris and take your chances with some of the biggest buffalo in Africa.

Cheers,

Ben

Congrats Ben...

I am of the philosophy that if the hunter is happy and it is legal, all is good. It is his/her hunt.

Buff hunting is about the hunt to me...Ben had a good hunt...don't get me wrong, I would love to kill an all hard 45incher, but honestly, buff hunting is about buff hunting...just my lame opinion...

Congrat's on your trophy.
It does not matter if anyone posting here or anywhere else is happy/satisfied with your choice. The only thing that matters is that you are.
I'm not saying this as a buff hunter (have not done this yet), but as a sportsman and paying client. If a PH can find what I'm happy with and it is legal I will pop a cap every time.

Not all animals taken make the (published)record books.

If an animal makes "your record book" (either due to some measuring process or quality of the hunt) it is exactly that "Your Record Book", who cares about the rest of the guys!

Here are the requested pics of boiled skull and Paul's eland. This is the best eland I have ever personaly seen.

Love those elands and the buff looks just fine to me.

quote:

Originally posted by smarterthanu:
Here are the requested pics of boiled skull and Paul's eland. This is the best eland I have ever personaly seen.

Looks like old DTS is back!