Okay, I am trying to understand the hard boss vs the soft boss on a cape buffalo. I have seen T.Carr's pictures and I wonder where the skull was boiled and there is a gap if that is the difference between a hard and soft portions of the boss? The soft portion gets boiled away.

I looked at about 10 or 12 different cape buffalo mounts yesterday at Brush Country Studio's in Houston, TX. How much do the shoulder mounts weigh (they were heavy)?? How do you anchor a shoulder mount to the wall? I noticed that 80% were pedestal mounts and were really cool looking.

Having never been up close to a cape buffalo, the mounts are very impressive - just the shear size of head and thickness of the horns.

Hard boss:





Soft boss:

No matter how hard a bulls boss is, there will always be some gap after boiling. The more soft tissue on the boss, the more of a gap.

As far as I know, there is no such thing as bosses that touch after boiling, on a normal Buffalo. I am sure there might be some examples of freakish bosses that do actually touch, but I challenge anyone to show me a Buff skull with bosses that actually touch after boiling. There will be about 1.5" of space between the horns.

As they matuere the boss will grow as close together at the back as it will ever get, after this, the boss closes the gap from the back to the front, with the very front being the final part of the boss that turns hard.

And I've been told that upon instructions a taxidermist has on occasion "puttied" the gap closed to make it look as though it was noxexistant.

There will almost always be a gap between the horns. Just look at these two dugga boys compared to my buffalo of this season(the one in the center), they both have gaps between the bosses - but both were fully mature buffalo. Based on the 2 following photos, would you call the the one in the middle soft-bossed?





Honestly, the bull I took this season is probably 1 or 2 years away from full maturity. But even in a couple of years, he will still have some soft element to his bosses (in the middle and above his eyes).



But compare it to last season's buffalo. A mature buffalo which will always have a partially soft boss. Some mature bulls will get almost completely hard, some will always carry a bit of a soft boss.





In the two photos above, see how soft he is above he eyes and between the bosses. He is going to have a bigger gap between the bosses than this season's buffalo. But he is a fully mature bull. Note how his bosses are more smooth and his hooks are not as sharp as this season's buffalo.

It is not purely a soft v. hard issue, it is really an immature v. mature issue. So a mature buffalo (regardless of whether he has some soft to his boss) is a trophy.

We often say that one shoudn't shoot a soft boss bull, what we really should say is that one shouldn't shoot an immature buffalo.

If you hunt buffalo enough, you can tell by just looking at a buffalo whether he is young or old, without ever seeing his his bosses.

Regards,

Terry

500 grains...master of the obvious.

I busted out laughing.

All horns will shrink after boiling. The key is to have skinners, who will do their job correctly and clean the skull and horns as much as possible, rather than over boiling.

Most Taxidermist use a putty, mostly Bondo to build the boss back up. I'm sure there are those who have been instructed to make them even larger than life.
I hung my Buffalo with a 5/16 lag bolt, it was about 4- 4 1/2 ". Drill a pilot hole into a stud and sink the bolt with about 1" to hang the bracket on. My shoulder mount is about 110 lbs. It took three of us to get it hung and straight.

Fuzzy bosses= soft.

The second bull in the pics that 500 grains posted has honestly frightend me off buffalo hunting for another year!
I don't think I have what it takes to stand my ground and shoot at that yet!!

I think the third buff in 500gr's post is a cow. Other than being humorous, it does demonstrate one thing that also shows up in young bulls, hair between the horn bosses. That is a sure sign of immaturity.

Brett

hard bossed bulls..


and a soft bossed bull..


and a whole group of soft bossed bulls...

This is an immature soft-bossed bull.


I would like to hear peoples' opinions on whether you think this bull is mature.


He appears to be a relatively young bull, but honestly I can't tell if his bosses have stopped developing. Clearly he is soft in the front and between his bosses, but I can't tell if he is one of those bulls that will never close up and become completely hard. This may be as hard as his bosses will ever get.

What about this bull?


I think he is a mature bull, he just has small bosses which make him appear to be immature.

If one is lucky enough to see a bull with his head down, then you will have a better view of the top of his bosses. But one doesn't always get that opportunity, so one must judge the hardness of the bosses just based on a frontal view.

Regards,

Terry

Lots of horned animals that are mounted require a bit of rebuilding of the horn bases because the fatty base and new growth is often boiled away. Some lots more than others. Kudu and buffalo are two that will almost always be "rebuilt" like this. If this repair is done well, it will look natural and you should not be able to tell what is real horn and what is not. Also sometimes the skinners cape an animal leaving some skin around the horns that is lost also. Then there is a little shrinkage after they dry as well. So, It is not unusual to have to rebuild a portion of the base of the horn. Horn is easier to reproduce than skin.

Terry,

I think I'd pass on the bottom two bulls. They may have reached maturity (especially the bottom one), but they are still of breeding age and not retired or ready-to-retire. I'd prefer to shoot "over-mature" bulls, even though their horns are often worn and drooping.

I'll know in a month what I'd REALLY shoot!

The surest indication of a soft bossed, and therefore immature, bull is hair between his horns.

On an immature bull, the hair is longer in front of the horn boss, but it also often grows thickly between the horns, right where there ought to be a hardened boss.

Also, there are many other indices of age, such as:

1. A grey face.
2. Broomed horn tips.
3. Smooth, and even thin, bosses.
4. Lack of a tail.
5. Ragged ears.
6. A bony, old and scarred body.

PH's who are any good can add other factors too, I am sure, but these are the main ones. Judging trophies is an art, but science enters into it.

How about this one?
wvfred

I will reserve judgement until I have had the opportunity to inspect a few in person, but I think many people expect too much or are un-realistically particular about what constitutes a hard boss. I have caped enough sheep, goat and bison to have a pretty good idea how horns grow. From what I have read, and from the thousands of cape buff pictures I have pored over, I think I know what to look for in a mature "hard bossed bull", and quite a few of the comments I read on this forum just don't jive. I'll let you know if I still feel the same way after I have had a chance to inspect a few in the flesh.

Cheers,
Canuck

Sounds like we're splitting hairs here.

I like Don_G's version.

I also like Boddington's comment in "Buffalo!"; "...a buffalo that has a very wide spread and perfect configuration - but still has soft, hair-covered bosses - is not a trophy at all."

I liked my PH's comment this year also. "We don't hunt herd bulls. We hunt dagga-boys."

WVfred- nice hard boss-- nice looking rifle.

I have shot a soft bossed bull (last day of my first African hunt). What appeared to be horn on the boss was actually soft tissue that you could indent with your thumb. It had fine hair on the boss, and that soft tissue would , of course, rot or boil away. He had good width and lots of mass and would have made a good bull someday if given the chance. The hard part of the horn started about 1 1/2 inch from the midline.

In my opinion the first buffalo below is mature and would forever have hair BETWEEN his horn bosses.
Buffalo in the second picture appears to be joined at the boss, but I do not think he is as old as buffalo in the third picture, which does not join in the middle. Just my opinion.

Steve,

I agree on the bottom two, and I think you might be right on the top one. Hard to say.

I would have shot either of the bottom two in a heartbeat as the rough boss/worn horns just make the trophy for me.

Do you have pics of the bottom two after boiling?

Below is my friend Greg's buffalo. It is real old and is a great trophy. The boss doesn't meet, but no one would doubt is a dagga-boy:



Here is my Zimbabwe buffalo. It's not as old. It has a hard boss, grown together. It's a mature trophy.

Don, when I get the skulls back, I will post some photos for you. Thanks for the (partial at least) agreement.

Nice hard boss, will improve on the overall size in the Selous October, 2007