Dumb question, how do you measure a cape buffalo, I can look at a white tail deer and get pretty close, but I have never seen a cape in the wild. Going to Tanzenia August 5 this year to try for my first with me new 470 NE that people on this thread guided me to
Thanks

Hi gi

I presume you meant "how do you judge the measurements of cape buff". When he is looking at you, his ears are about 32-33 inches wide. see how much is sticking out from that. Also, look for nice hard boss, and depth of curl, which will also add to SCI score. Hope this helps somewhat.

IMO however, any matured bull with really nice hard bosses is a trophy, even a 35" one. i personally prefer to hunt these old guys, some prefer the wider spreads.

It might help to check out Nikudu's thread where he posts all of the Cape buffalo AR members sent photos of. There are some pretty awesome ones there. AR Buffalo

A great buffalo is in the eyes of the beholder. Personal preferences range from the widest spread, the longest horns, the deepest curl, and the widest bosses. Record book is kind of secondary to being pleased with the adventure.

If you can get a chance to watch the DVD "Boddington on Buffalo", he has a section on field judging buffalo. I could never really get it until I watched this.

gi:

Don't worry too much about looking at horn spread. You will find (as I did on my first and only buff hunt) that you will be so awed by a buff at close quarters (In the old joke - he looks at you like you owe him money -and he just found out that you don't intend to pay) you will only notice his sheer size.

The other posters more experienced than me are right. I shot a quite large buff in terms of weight. He made the SCI record book only because of the deep curl of the horns. (9th Ed, Africa, p.89) I assure you I never noticed the curl of the horns when I fired at about 35 yards!

All above posts are good. You will find that when you are in the field or talking to other hunters they will say things like "that one went 42 or 43" They are talking about the width, outside of the curl to outside of curl. For scoring purpose, there are two scoring systems SCI and Roland Ward. I think it is measured along the curl for one, and along the curl added to the width of the boss using the other system. So it depends on who you are talking to and where you are as to what number you would assign to any given buffalo head. As said above beauty, ugly and trophy quality is in the eye of the beholder. Good hunting. D