A good old buffalo

[matt85]

A fine old buff!

 

[Berettaco]

Great buff!! Would love to find one like that

 

[meigsbucks]

That’s an old warrior.

 

[steve white]

Lots of character all the way around. His ears are rags. If client doesn't decide to shoulder mount, you should save the cape. Someone would pay good money for it!

Very true! There must be some who previously chose a euro mount who wish they had done a shoulder mount. That could surely accommodate IF he doesn't want to mount it himself.
Great buff!

 

[RR 314]

I see his hips sticking out. It was time for that old fella to go. Good work. My first buffalo was a cow ... 25 years old! Still had impressive horns (because she was a cow) and she was still keeping up with the herd but in very poor condition.

Hard to tell without seeing him on his feet, but still looks fairly thick to me. Awesome bull!

 

[AZDAVE]

Proper old buffalo!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Hard to tell without seeing him on his feet, but still looks fairly thick to me. Awesome bull!

Yes, it could just be the way he's posed that's sticking the hip up. Compared to this old cow, he does seem in better condition.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Our hunter successfully harvested this beauty of a buffalo yesterday. After seeing a few buffalo in the previous days he asked for something unique.

I told him i have seen this one bull a few weeks ago. That I think it is what he is looking for. Let’s go see if we can find him. We ended up finding him and there was no hesitation. This bull was aged on his 1st molars to be 14 years.
Congratulations to the hunter.
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View attachment 614894

Holy crap. That’s magnificent!!

 

[Zinz]

Wow... I'd take that Scrumcap bull in a heartbeat. Very nice.

Ed Z

 

[Jonathan Field]

Fantastic old warrior, well done to all involved.

 

[Altitude sickness]

There is a large increase in first time Buffalo hunters stating to PH’s that they only want an old broomed bull or scrum cap bull.

This is great for Buffalo herd health and genetics. But it’s not realistic to expect to find one in most common Buffalo hunting areas. So as long as the novice Buffalo hunter is good with hunting many times to find one.

Hopefully experts can weigh in on how many bulls of this type you can expect to find during a hunt. Or in a lifetime of hunting.

 

[bwanamrm]

Absolutely love scrum caps... I've seen six in 30 safaris! Passed one in 2017 in Aswa Lolim, Uganda and immediately regretted it but I was hunting my first Nile buff and wanted a good one. Went back to Uganda, this time in Karamoja and I took one in 2020. Myself and three good friends went there and took 12 buffalo between us, three of which were scrum caps! You can see the video on Youtube, look up Tim Herald Hunting. You can stumble across one anywhere but if I really wanted one, I would head back to Karamoja. Nothing is guaranteed but I would give it the best odds considering the number of buff you will look at...

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Absolutely love scrum caps... I've seen six in 30 safaris! Passed one in 2017 in Aswa Lolim, Uganda and immediately regretted it but I was hunting my first Nile buff and wanted a good one. Went back to Uganda, this time in Karamoja and I took one in 2020. Myself and three good friends went there and took 12 buffalo between us, three of which were scrum caps! You can see the video on Youtube, look up Tim Herald Hunting. You can stumble across one anywhere but if I really wanted one, I would head back to Karamoja. Nothing is guaranteed but I would give it the best odds considering the number of buff you will look at...

I think I've seen that video. I've been told that European hunters have long coveted the beat up buffalo bulls, whereas North Americans have been hooked on length and drop to the point of preferring soft boss young bulls which are actually best left for herd vitality. Good to see attitudes reversing on this side of the pond.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

There is a large increase in first time Buffalo hunters stating to PH’s that they only want an old broomed bull or scrum cap bull.

This is great for Buffalo herd health and genetics. But it’s not realistic to expect to find one in most common Buffalo hunting areas. So as long as the novice Buffalo hunter is good with hunting many times to find one.

Hopefully experts can weigh in on how many bulls of this type you can expect to find during a hunt. Or in a lifetime of hunting.

I would be very interested to know the answer to this too.

 

[375Fox]

Was this shot as an exportable trophy bull or an own use buffalo?

 

[chase0109]

A wonderful old bull to remove from the population. Congratulations to the hunter for taking the exact type of trophy he was looking for!

I keep hearing people talk about only taking post breeding 12-year-old plus bulls to help with conservation and herd vitality. I can see this improving Trophy quality genetically, but I find it hard to believe that the quotas are high enough that filling an entire concessions quota with soft-bulls or breeding age bulls would affect the Buffalo population or calf recruitment through breeding in any way. Only age class and possibly trophy potential.
What am I missing? Is there a biological reason otherwise?

We see this all the time in the US with elk populations. Extremely limiting quotas creates better trophies by allowing the age class to improve. But even in areas with high quota or OTC tags it doesn’t affect calf recruitment. it’s just younger bulls doing the breeding. Say 3-5 year olds instead of 6-10 year olds.

Another good example would be in Utah’s trophy bull elk units. Extremely limited quota for branch antler bulls. Keeping the age class high and creating better trophy potential. But they found the bull ratios were getting too high, so they have a very high quota of spike only bull tags (yearling bulls). Only way Utah could manage the bull population while keeping age class and trophy potential where they want it in those units.

Is there an age that Buffalo Bulls reach their maximum spread? Will a bull that is 37” wide at 6 years old have the potential to be a 43” bull at 9/10 years old?

As a follow-up to the above question. What is the width cut off, and at what age to decide if those genetics should be kept in the herd or not?
Example 40” at 7 years old. Anything below 40” at 7 years old would be considered non desirable genetically? (Just throwing out random numbers)

I am all for any hunter taking whatever animal floats their boat as long as it’s legal, and sustainable.

I’m probably the lone voice of descent, but the only way I’d shoot an old worn down or scrum cap bull would be on the final day of my Hunt. Or as a second Buffalo with a heavy discount for non-trophy/management status. Absolutely nothing wrong with them, just doesn’t float my boat.

Chase

 

[grand veneur]

I think I've seen that video. I've been told that European hunters have long coveted the beat up buffalo bulls, whereas North Americans have been hooked on length and drop to the point of preferring soft boss young bulls which are actually best left for herd vitality. Good to see attitudes reversing on this side of the pond.

It's true, but on average a buffalo hunting often only go on a maximum of 10 days, so you should not be too picky when it comes to the buffalo trophy. I also prefer old beat up buffaloes, but the first buffalo that roughly fits will be shot. I have already experienced situations where one saw a lot of buffalos in the first days, could not decide which one to choose and in the days after that, there were nothing more. I myself also already returned home without a buffalo, what can happen if you hunt often and in the so-called open areas. Things certainly look different when hunting in areas with heavy managed buffalos herds.

 

[etsonaut]

The perfect bull.. Congratulations!

 

[BryceM]

Wow, character!!! I won’t weight in on the discussion of what a hunter should do (because I’m of two minds), but this one would always bring a smile every time I looked at it.

 

[ZANA BOTES SAFARI]

And this just makes it even better. Connected on a few beautiful tigers