I know there are no absolutes in hunting. However I have found some serious "ground Shrinkage" from my last hunt on just about every animal taken. I expect this once in awhile but not on every animal. What do you guys think about this?

happens almost all the time. worst I can think of is a 46" sable i shot. I was sure it was at least the size of an elephant when I shot.

Some PH's are more excitable than others.

Live and learn. You'll learn what a 40" buff looks like. Until then....

Mike,

What country did that happen in?

How old was the PH?

How many years had the PH been hunting?

After the animal was down, did the PH admit he had misjudged it, or did he continue to float the myth that it measured more than it actually did?

Just curious.

If you hunt tuskless elephant, you will not have a problem with ground shrinkage.

I must be lucky in that most every thing I shoot seems to end up bigger than expected. My experience if pretty much limited to Southern whitetails. I think I make a quick determination that I'm going to shoot and then never really look at the horns again until they're on the gound. Then they always just seem bigger for some reason.

I'm going to Namibia this year for my first Safari and hope the same holds true.

The pitfalls of living in the age of the pushup waterbra!

butchloc,
Are you pulling our leg about the sable? I can't imagine "ground shrinkage associated with a 46" sable. Were you told it was 56" !?!?!? I'd be tickled with a 36" sable, much less ANYthing over 40".

ibexebi,
That is a terrific answer on so many levels.


Kyler

With a 46 inch Sable you got a lot of room for shrinkage and still make the book..BTW there hasn't been a 56 inch Sable shot since the Ice Age...

quote:

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Originally posted by 500grains:
Mike,

What country did that happen in?

How old was the PH?

How many years had the PH been hunting?

After the animal was down, did the PH admit he had misjudged it, or did he continue to float the myth that it measured more than it actually did?

Just curious.

If you hunt tuskless elephant, you will not have a problem with ground shrinkage.

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You are right about the tuskless ele for sure.
It was RSA for the animals in question.
PH fairly young but old enough and experienced enough to know better
Perpetuated the myth even when I could see otherwise.
I am not talking about who it was as I dont want to trash anyone.
The funny thing was the one animal that had little or no shrinkage was the sable. Only off by about 1/2 inch. Scored 100 1/8 Estimated at 41 1/2 was 40 7/8 and 41 Obviously no complaints there. No complaints on the other animals as well except for the "enhancement".
I took some good representative animals and am happy with them. I would have shot them either way.
I just dont like it when someone tries to bullshit me. I see no purpose in inflating things. In the past I have taken good trophies with the same people. I understand not estimating an animal accurately when it is alive and running around and have no quarrel with that. However once it is down what is the point?

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike Smith:

I just dont like it when someone tries to bullshit me. I see no purpose in inflating things. In the past I have taken good trophies with the same people. I understand not estimating an animal accurately when it is alive and running around and have no quarrel with that. However once it is down what is the point?

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Inflating things loosens the trigger finger and shortens the hunt . Been there, done that, got a couple of small animals to prove it .

Usually it is just an honest mistake on the part of the PH, but on a couple of occassions I wasn't quite so sure (especially when I was telling the PH that it wasn't the size that he was estimating as he was saying shoot, and it turned out that I was right on actually measuring the animal on the ground). It all comes down to a choice as to whether you are going to trust someone else's judgment or your own. You pay your money and you take your chance sometimes, but it usually evens out eventually.

Jim