This excellent article was written by Jim Heffelfinger and published in the spring issue of Fair Chase. (B & C) After carefully reading and considering the points made in the article I seriously question whether hunters are REALLY impacting Cape Buffalo horn evolution?

Many of the African hunting industry's finest PH's, hunters and writers are preaching that we as hunters must shoot only the old, past prime buffalo bulls to protect the species and to insure that superior breeding bulls are not removed from the herd. NO ONE has any opinion on this subject at this site? I expected many opinions from this very experienced group. What do you think? I will be hunting Namibia in 2011 for leopard/PG but buffalo is on my "life time" list.

Well, that's basically the theme of Boddington on Buffalo II. You might want to give that dvd a look.

I'm no buffalo expert but their arguments seem to be reasonable. But, as with everything else in life, I'm sure that the point could be taken to extremes.

Landrum

1BigDeer

Perhaps the real problem is just that we are shooting too many buffalo. I don't know if that is a solution to the long term health of the buffalo herds but it might be. I think there are a lot of variables and what is good for the buffalo in the Selous may not be good for the buffalo in the Zambesi valley etc. etc.

I do think that it is the responsibilty of the PH to educate the client about what is a real trophy and not let them think that a wide soft bossed bull is a trophy but instead a baby. Now if the safari operator goes along with that it is fine but they might not. Results pay the bills so it would be very tempting to let a client shoot an immature buffalo as long as he was happy with it.

Personally I would not want to shoot a soft bossed bull but I would have a hard time passing on a mature bull of enormous proportions because he might possibly be relevant in the breeding. Maybe others could do it but I think it would be difficult to convince a client that it was a good idea.

I don't think there is one strict answer that applies to all buffalo hunting but I can say that if policing is to be done it has to start with the safari operators.

Mark

I feel that I must preface the following with the fact that I haven't hunted cape buffalo yet, but have given the subject some thought.

I think that in some ways, the reduction in size of cape buffalo might be compared to the whitetail hunting here in the U.S.

Yes, smaller buff are being shot, and there's not as many big buff are available. But is this a matter of genetics or is it instead a lack of maturity in the bulls available to the hunters?

In one of the areas I used to deer hunt, everyone complained that the size of the bucks being shot were getting smaller. We convinced the majority of the guys hunting to pass on any buck unless it was at least four points on a side and as wide as the ears. In three short years, it was amazing how big the bucks were in an area where no good deer were previously available.

The genetics were there, but the bucks never had a chance to fully mature. Most of the bucks shot were 1.5 - 2.5 years old, where it takes 4 - 5 years for a whitetail to reach his potential.

Could this be a problem with the buffalo too, shooting too many before they reach their potential?

I do understand that outfitters and PH's need hunters to fill their camps to earn a living, but might they be better served by reducing the number of hunters for a couple years to bring back the maturity level of the bulls?

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
1BigDeer

Perhaps the real problem is just that we are shooting too many buffalo. I don't know if that is a solution to the long term health of the buffalo herds but it might be. I think there are a lot of variables and what is good for the buffalo in the Selous may not be good for the buffalo in the Zambesi valley etc. etc.

I do think that it is the responsibilty of the PH to educate the client about what is a real trophy and not let them think that a wide soft bossed bull is a trophy but instead a baby. Now if the safari operator goes along with that it is fine but they might not. Results pay the bills so it would be very tempting to let a client shoot an immature buffalo as long as he was happy with it.

Personally I would not want to shoot a soft bossed bull but I would have a hard time passing on a mature bull of enormous proportions because he might possibly be relevant in the breeding. Maybe others could do it but I think it would be difficult to convince a client that it was a good idea.

I don't think there is one strict answer that applies to all buffalo hunting but I can say that if policing is to be done it has to start with the safari operators.

Mark

I think Mark has hit the nail on the head in many ways! One thing however is, everyone seems to be forgetting that if you shoot a breeding bull while he is in his prime, you have taken him out, but you haven't taken his genes from the pool, because he has progeny on the ground already coming up for the next generation.

Additionally, anyone who has been around Cape buffalo long knows that some bulls die of old age, without the bosses growing together. So! What I'm saying is, there is more to judging age of a cape buffalo than whether his bosses have grown together. A bull with a separation between his bosses is not necessarily young, and a better indication is the lack of hair on that separation, and the face around the eyes, along with the wrinkles around the eyes, and along the cheeks of his face.

All I’m saying is, folks who down grade someone’s trophy because of nothing more than a separation between the bosses, is doing the hunter an injustice, in some cases!

There are some real good thoughts on this post, and I agree Mark has it right. Our Boddington On Buffalo 2 is our attempt to cover this very important subject in deep detail. WWW. CRAIGBODDINGTON.COM I think you would enjoy it and it got a lot of support from the AR boys.
Thanks
Dave