Am I Weird Or Something About Horn Size & Shape

[Norwegianwoods]

My choice would also be the same and I would be more interested in the age of them than how many inches they measure

 

[BRICKBURN]

Good questions Billc, kudu unlike ringed or straight horned antipope are one of the tougher ones to judge, generally, one would look at the following, mind you these are in no particular order as prospective animals present themselves in different ways and situations, this is exactly why I usually spend much time in discussion with my clients, on trophies...

I study horn base it is (with good optics) not that difficult to detect soft horn pulp at the very base of the horn, this can be picked up, as an almost white powdery substance in the base, which will sometimes in itself almost look pink... (Once again you need good optics, and need to be relatively close)

Horn tip... The old long ivory tip myth is exactly that, bulls post prime would have worked down some ivory giving the tip an almost dull, rounded look, often with no "ivory" present.

Body full volume, and often even a considerable loss in volume could possibly indicate age. Keeping in mind that during rut actively rutting bulls will have extremely full (swollen ) necks.

Hair, older bulls will show noticeable amounts of hair loss on they're necks

Hair, older bulls... Not so much different from Eland but not close to as much.... Will have a Tuft of hair on the fore heads this is extremely difficult to detect but under ideal conditions more than possible.

General body and demeanour

We should keep in mind that an ENTIRE picture often provides a judgement and looking at an animal as a whole is required to judge age, this is no easy task hence my comments in my earlier posts.

In many ways the more you see and closely study the more accurate you will get with it... One truly needs to dedicate time to this..

Other species, such as wildebeest, impala, oryx, waterbuck, buff and Sable are easier to detect as they will all show a degree of good boss growth for one or secondary base growth/ring compression.

Noted that there are many other signs, but I am not about to write a zoology thesis..

IMO the most difficult are the cats, but here we often have the advantage of trail cams, and the opportunity to closely study a multitude of pictures...

Please know that it's an overall impression that is generated by a multitude of factors all contributing to a final decision..

It takes much time and a concerted effort to get to know and fully understand it all...
The above being something I am constantly striving and devoting time to with the hope if mastering it.

My very best always

Great topic.

For the entertainment and joy of this thread I'll throw some pictures in for discussion in another thread with this set of criteria to help people out.
Just the faces, so we skip the inches.

Although I can share the full frame of the pictures after the fact.

 

[billc]

What if I was to say that all 3 bulls were within 2 inches of one another so from the largest to the smallest there is no more than a two" difference....

My best always

dam i had 4" between the biggest and smallest.Those dam curls make it hard.I need to know how close I was in size though and age class.

 

[billc]

Great topic.

For the entertainment and joy of this thread I'll throw some pictures in for discussion in another thread with this set of criteria to help people out.
Just the faces, so we skip the inches.

Although I can share the full frame of the pictures after the fact.

Need more then face though to judge .Body in pic's would help to for aging to

 

[Royal27]

What if I was to say that all 3 bulls were within 2 inches of one another so from the largest to the smallest there is no more than a two" difference....

My best always

Then I'd feel better about wanting the first one regardless. I like the shape so much better and Kudu are one of the few animals that I don't like a "wide" rack on.

 

[gi jane]

I think my choice would be A or C, but not B if the order is A B C
As said earlier, I don't care about inches, so I am not bothered to guess about that
I like the shape of the horns of the first(A) the most
The third(C) looks like the oldest most worn down animal and the second(B) looks like it is rather young even if the horns are long with ivory tips, but I am far from being a Kudu expert and don't really have much of a clue other than what impression I get when looking at the pics

+1 Agree with NW,
Definitely picture one would be the one I would choose.

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Cool, the heavy deep curl narrower bull was 58" the slightly wider bull with the shallow curl but long horns was 57"

The very/extremely wide bull was 56" long with an incredible 52" spread.
This bull the third was most definitely the oldest and was struggling through the winter as is also clearly visible in noticeable weight loss and by the way the horns had been worked.

The narrow bull was the second oldest, yet not over the wall

With the middle bull the youngest. Obviously visible...

To be quite honest if I was a first time hunter I would be ecstatic with any of these 3.

Regardless of horn shape.

My best always

 

[sestoppelman]

I was about to post my thoughts but Jaco beat me to it. I was going to say that A was the longest and B the shortest, so wrong on that one. My personal pick would have been A or B, not C.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Need more then face though to judge .Body in pic's would help to for aging to

Sorry buddy, I made the test down right mean. Not impossible though.

http://www.africahunting.com/hunting-africa/14005-judging-kudu-conservation-not-inches.html

 

[billc]

Well at least i would have been happy with all as I under estimate them all.I did not think the 3rd one had the curl to get that length just looked awesome because of the spread.Jaco after you took each one were they better then what you thought when they hit the dirt

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

The wide bull was, I had taken a narrow 58" with Brett the previous season and he wanted a 54" + if possible wide bull,

We harvested this bull in the last hour of a 10 day safari, after looking a 100's of kudu, I figured him to be around 54" for sure, while he might not have had the deepest curl he had good 12" + basis and carried mass most of the way up the horn all bumping it in length.

The final kicker was the ridge on the horn that followed the tip very well almost (not all the way) but almost to the end...

While I have been fortunate enough to experience and hunt several larger bulls with hunters, this particular bull has a special signed picture spot in my heroes gallery in my house.

To be honest probably the best kudu I have ever had the honor of hunting, due to its unique shape matched with length, and probably one that will be impossible to match especially when taking the overall look, length and character into consideration.

My best always

 

[rnovi]

Horns are just so subjective. It's like asking "blondes...or brunettes"...when the real answer is "YES!"

In my perfect world I want old, character laden and Large. I want that old warrior, scarred, he's lived an age or two and he's still in there. Fighting. Sure, there might be some young stud out there in his prime but you darn well know that crafty old bastard is still getting the ladies when Jr. isn't looking.

Those old guys, they mean more to me. They didn't get old by being stupid. They got there by being smart. And mean. And probably more than just a little tough. Thick bases, horns that tell a story. Yeah.

I remember my blesbok. That crafty old bastard. We chased that herd for hours, spooked and re spooked them all afternoon. We were done..sweat in our eyes, twisted ankles, shoulders sore and thorns in our hands. He'd won. And then the herd made a mistake.

I can still see them filing out from behind that brush, 70 yards out. A single doe...she stared at us for at least five minutes. We were completely exposed, just my PH and I frozen in the shade of a tree behind us. The 4pm winter sun low and streaming in from behind. That doe, she just kept staring right into my eyes...into my soul. My breathing was shallow, the rifle on sticks...my head buried into the scope but looking just over the top of it...and she put her head down and took a step.

Craig whispering over my shoulder as they began to file out...one...two...three...each doe or youngling stopping and staring at us. And then they started walking right toward us in a straight line. Thirty of them...still filing out from behind the brush. All of them looking right at us.

I remember when that Bull stepped out. Craig never needed to whisper "MALE!" Into my ear. I knew it the moment I saw him. Thick bases...tips were heavy and worn down...his neck was thick and he was tall, so tall in the shoulder. A young buck walked out behind him. He might have had a better rack but...he just looked skinny. He looked young. I never looked at his horns twice.

He was mine...and he was coming to deliver himself to me. I squeezed the round off at 30 yards when he turned broadside and watched him collapse after a short run.

My buddy had whacked a near 17" blesbok three hours earlier. I think mine ended up around 13-14". I never measured, still haven't. And I wouldn't have traded his bok for mine. It's just not always about the inches.

That Bok is one of the greatest memories of my first hunt in Africa. He hangs proudly as a euro mount on the wall in my home and he retells his story every time I walk by him.

I can't help but drink a nice scotch with him every now and again.

 

[Royal27]

^^^^

And THAT'S why it is about more than just horn size!

 

[bluey]

Horns are just so subjective. It's like asking "blondes...or brunettes"...when the real answer is "YES!"

In my perfect world I want old, character laden and Large. I want that old warrior, scarred, he's lived an age or two and he's still in there. Fighting. Sure, there might be some young stud out there in his prime but you darn well know that crafty old bastard is still getting the ladies when Jr. isn't looking.

Those old guys, they mean more to me. They didn't get old by being stupid. They got there by being smart. And mean. And probably more than just a little tough. Thick bases, horns that tell a story. Yeah.

I remember my blesbok. That crafty old bastard. We chased that herd for hours, spooked and re spooked them all afternoon. We were done..sweat in our eyes, twisted ankles, shoulders sore and thorns in our hands. He'd won. And then the herd made a mistake.

I can still see them filing out from behind that brush, 70 yards out. A single doe...she stared at us for at least five minutes. We were completely exposed, just my PH and I frozen in the shade of a tree behind us. The 4pm winter sun low and streaming in from behind. That doe, she just kept staring right into my eyes...into my soul. My breathing was shallow, the rifle on sticks...my head buried into the scope but looking just over the top of it...and she put her head down and took a step.

Craig whispering over my shoulder as they began to file out...one...two...three...each doe or youngling stopping and staring at us. And then they started walking right toward us in a straight line. Thirty of them...still filing out from behind the brush. All of them looking right at us.

I remember when that Bull stepped out. Craig never needed to whisper "MALE!" Into my ear. I knew it the moment I saw him. Thick bases...tips were heavy and worn down...his neck was thick and he was tall, so tall in the shoulder. A young buck walked out behind him. He might have had a better rack but...he just looked skinny. He looked young. I never looked at his horns twice.

He was mine...and he was coming to deliver himself to me. I squeezed the round off at 30 yards when he turned broadside and watched him collapse after a short run.

My buddy had whacked a near 17" blesbok three hours earlier. I think mine ended up around 13-14". I never measured, still haven't. And I wouldn't have traded his bok for mine. It's just not always about the inches.

That Bok is one of the greatest memories of my first hunt in Africa. He hangs proudly as a euro mount on the wall in my home and he retells his story every time I walk by him.

I can't help but drink a nice scotch with him every now and again.

I share a memory as unique as your with all my trophies at our house and the ones l keep at a mates place ,rnovi .
you just put it in words a whole lot better than l ever will be able to ..........:thumb: