Looking at Saeed's buffalo photo brought something to mind. If you notcie the buff on the left and the one 2nd from the right have a different "shape" to their boss than do the others...kind of a one-piece effect compared to the two-bump look of the other two.

Does anything cause this or is it genetic?

My preference is for the one-piece look like the one 2nd from right and the one on the left....what kind, if any, do you prefer?

DB,
The are all two piece as you put it..Some soft tissue is present in the two you are talking about, but Buff horns never grow closed...Once boiled there will be a gap of white skull...Look at the photo 35 or 40 preped skulls on my web page, get the picture (sorry, thats a pretty corny pun)

A lot of what you see is ages of dirt, an almost Adobie substance, between the dirt and soft tissue it gives the appearence of a WW2 German helmet....

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

DB and All,

I might add that a lot of the frontal tissue that comes down around the forehead is also soft it too is boiled away.

This is why it is a good idea to take close up photos of the bull at angles, so the Taxidermist can rebuild all that soft tissue and crap and give the bull his original look...It will make you and the taxidermist a happy couple...Lots of Taxidermist don't know about that soft stuff and can really mess up a mount unless you bring it to their attention, particularly in the USA....

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

I know what you mean Ray but you can see my point...the two types do look different and I assume they would still look different after field-prep for home.

DB Bill,
If I had two to select from and both were equal except for the distinction you are alluding to, I would choose the more bulbous, thicker looking helmut. Speaking in very general terms, I have seen a great number of photos of Tanzania bulls that have a sameness about them, meaning nice sloping drop and sweeping curls but with low profile, smooth looking bosses. Again, in very general terms, I see a lot of Botswana bulls with fabulously heavy bosses but oftentimes the hooks are quite high, making for great skull mounts but not the look I would prefer. It is not so easy to find a pleasing configuration of well shaped bosses, an attractive drop with good hooks that sweep back a bit near the tips. I find them all very ominous and businesslike in there own way but I hope for the variety I described, when afield. IMHO, much like with a great Muley buck, spread is not everything when it comes to buffalo.

I like the knurled up bosses. If I had to choose one out of the four in Saeed's picture it would definately be the second from the left (their right). I don't know if its the widest, but it has a nice curl, knurled boss and a bald face. It looks like a classic dagha-boy (well, they all look mature, it just appears the oldest). This is not to say that I wouldn't be overjoyed to take a poke at any single one of the bunch though!!

Canuck

Found this old post. Nick's comments are timeless!