I'm going to Namibia next year and of course am after an oryx among other species. How do you tell the difference between a bull and a cow?

You'll probably get a lot of responses from old hands on this one. But besides looking for the obvious, bull horns tend to have much larger bases. Cow horns tend to be thin but very long as can have much higher scores. After a certain age, a bull's horns tend to wear down from fighting. So they can look very squat. Not great for scores. But there is something special about an old warhorse bull with big, fat worn down horns . . . lots of character.

Wait till you try judging trophy quality. I always have to try hard not to shoot the first gemsbok that appears because all look so great!

Hope this helps.

Telling the difference is difficult which is why both sexes are considered trophy animals. As mentioned above, if you can see the penis sheath, you are home free, otherwise, you have to make the determination based upon assessment of the horns. As mentioned, females tend to have long, slender horns, and males have bigger bases and less length. The SCI #1, by the way, is/was a cow! Kudude

It can be tough and takes a practiced eye. You can't really go by length as often cows will have the longer horns.

Bulls have thicker bases and horns are a bit more bowed. Plus you might be able to spot the bull's "button"; their penis shroud on their belly. A mature bull has less "white" on the base of their horns too.

Stevie, there are pleanty of the Gemsbok right near you to look at! White sands, and many ranches around have them.

I lived in El Paso for 45 years, off and on, till 1982! Are you in the service, or are you local? I have a sister there who owns 5 SUBWAY shops there's one on Viscount, one on Yarbrough, one on edgemere, and one in Horrizon City, and another one that I'm not sure where it is!

Good luck on your hunt in Namibia, you'll feel right at home there!

I have hunted Gemsbok three times, but all three hunts have taken place in the same area in central Namibia. From what I have seen, and this goes against what some very experienced hunter have wrote, bull and cows are very easy to tell apart. Other areas may be different, but from what I have seen bulls look much more stout. Even at a glance you will notice:
1) Their necks are much thicker.
2) They are much thicker(deeper) throught the chest/shoulders.
3) Their horns "look" like they are close together at the base due to the thicker bases, the cows appear to have a huge space between their horns due to the thinner bases.
4) The horrns are further apart at the tips and have a sweeping curve, as opposed to the cows, which have more "wavy" horns which never are very far apart.
5) The penis shelth is almost always easy to see. On cows you will often see the two teets between the legs.

On bulls the horns will look too thick to encircle with one hand even a foot or so above the base. Cow's horns look thin, almost fragile, all the way down to the base.

Bull's horns look like a sword. Cows horns look like a needle.

All areas must be different, but I can't imagine a PH having trouble telling a bull from a cow. It is nearly as easy as sexing an elephant.

Jason

I had my PH point him out, and stay on him. After a few days hunting them, herds moving, and animals mingling in grass that was over belly high, none of the five points above were obvious. I knew I'd shot the right one when we rolled him over.

Easy as pie just look at the bottom line of his belly. Then look to see if the horns are straight or curved backward on a broadside animal.
I have a male 38"male from northern Namibia at the taxidermist as I type.

This is a picture of an old bull warrior I took on the banks of Limpopo River in May.
The horns are just 30", but heavy at the base. This one was kicked out of the herd and you can see a spot on his belly where he has been hit by an other bull. For me he is a great trophy and a truly beautifull animal.

quote:

Originally posted by stevie:
[
I'm local. I grew up in the general area of your sister's restaurants. I assume the Army brought you to El Paso?

NO, I came to El Paso when I was in the 8th grade, with my parents! I attended the 8th grade in Canutillo, and went to High school at Yesleta High, back in the early 50s when it was a cowboy school, and the No 2 school in Texas! My four kids all gratuated from Burgess, and Eastwood high schools. My son is a regestered Nurse at a surgical Hospital near Providencs Hospital on Mesa st. When I left El Paso, I was liveing in Pebble hills, off Yarbrough!

I miss being able to go out in the deasert and shoot any time I want! Here if you cross a fence sombody will shoot you!

Mac, I went to Eastwood. Graduated in 1989.

Thanks to all for the advice on sexing oryx. I'll be trying to do just that when looking at pictures from now on. Only 10 months to go...

Wonderful trophy, Mr. Iversen!

thought you guys might enjoy this photo( i hope i did this right- i am not very computer literate) shot this guy last year in the Kalahari. 45" horns, 9" bases there was NO doubt in my mind that he was a bull as soon as i saw him

OOPS!!!!! I guess the picture didn't come through- don't know what to do now. HELP!!!!!!

Sexing a gemsbok is quite easy when there are mature animals of both sexes in a group. The points mentioned by Jason Brown are then quite evident. It is when you se a single lone animal that the sexing becomes difficult.

I arranged and was personally present [but NOT as the PH] when a former client, a very experienced hunter, with literally thousands of kills and one who at that time shot at least 20 gemsbok, was going after a real trophy: One with long and thick horns. He was after a group that, as seen from a great distance with binoculars, had several very promising bulls. Diana was kind to him, a light and constant blowing wind and sufficient camelthorn trees made for an unnoticed approach up to about 200 meters from the group.

Enter Mr. Murphy and his dammed laws: A single female half-grown calf steps clearly into view amongst the trees. Now, to a German hunter with lots of experience, including a lot of gemsbok hunting experience it should be obvious that it is a half-grown female calf with horns of some 22 inches? No, not so! The small female calf is so exactly proportional to a big bull that he thought he was shooting at an animal twice the size with horns of about 44 inches!

I will admit that to date I've just been lucky, or good? But the same has happened to some very experienced South African biltong hunters, and I assume a few PH's who had clients shoot a half-grown calf as a "trophy"?

Be warned that it is extremely difficult to see the difference between a single half-grown calf standing away from anything that will assist in judging it's size, and a real trophy bull also standing alone!

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren.

sorry to change the subject a bit.
MacD37:
I sent you an email, or, at least I think that I did. My cousin, Sam H. McVay lived in and attended the Ysleta School system. did you know him?

Send Picts of that 45.....PLEASE!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Cowboy:
Send Picts of that 45.....PLEASE!!!

the image is on my hard drive and stored on snapfish.com but i can't figure how to attach it to a reply- if you know how to do this, send info and i will try again

one more try-hope thi s works jerry

What a toad!

Congratulations! First time I have ever seen a 45' bull.

This is amazing Jerry.
Mine looks like toothpicks in comparison....
Congratulation !!

Magnificent bull!!

Or in Australian..........bloody hell mate

arild and jdollar.
what rifles/calibers did you guys use to take those stout fellers ?do tell.

quote:

Originally posted by boet:
arild and jdollar.
what rifles/calibers did you guys use to take those stout fellers ?do tell.

mine was taken with a 375 H&H borrowed from the outfitter, using Federal ammo. i also borrowed a 12 gauge shotgun to take a nice leopard the day before i shot the gemsbok-but that's another story jerry

quote:

Originally posted by boet:
arild and jdollar.
what rifles/calibers did you guys use to take those stout fellers ?do tell.

Mine was taken with my M70 375 H&H, loaded with 270 gr Swift A-frame. The bull was wounded in a fight with another bull in the herd ( the wound is in the belly right below my rifle ). He was in dense bush close to the Limpopo River, and was shot from approx. 30 meters in the neck as he stood partly covered in the heavy bush.

I also had wildebeest, warthog, blesbuck, impala and stenbuck taken with the same rifle at the same safari. A great adventure for an old man