Limpopo Buffalo

[Nyati]

@ActionBob , unfortunately, some people buy trophies, I have witnessed this with two sables and one buffalo.

I still remember the smile on my PH´s face when he told me, " the crate with x´s sable has arrived this morning, fantastic animal".

 

[375er]

I would not hunt any place that sent sent me a picture of a buffalo bull with a structure and a bucket in the background.

 

[coreydb]

I am sorry sir but i compmetely disagree with your statement here on a few points

1- the larger the boss the older the bull- completely wrong, its all genetics some have big bosses and other have small bosses no matter the age
2- adult male cape buffalos fuse in the middle-also compmetely false some never fuse no matter how old as seen in some pics on this very thread

I am sorry if you have been misinformed in the past

Regards

Thanks for the correction!

 

[BWH]

Wow!!! What a thread. As they say… when it’s all said and done, more is said than done. I had the opportunity to take an ancient old bull. There were a few left on this old mountainous place in RSA. Literally, the week before he was taken/wounded by accident by another hunter. So that left me with options. I ended up taking a much larger & younger bull (40+). It was not my plan or the way I had drawn up. I promise I would have rather scaled mountains for that old dagga boy. However, I had to improvise given the circumstances. Nevertheless, to each their own and as they go into the hunt, I wish them the very best & safe passage. Especially with DG, as they are all very much dangerous game. Peace be with you all!

 

[steve white]

At the end of the day, the OP is wise to get on with hunting before future conflicts curtail hunting in certain areas of an Africa which is becoming more conflict oriented than since 1946. I wish I were he in preparing imminently to go over.

 

[ActionBob]

Let me just say it’s been fun. Any of you snobby elitists or any of you great unwashed are welcome at my bar anytime. I got Blanton’s and Whistle Pig Rye and Kentucky Owl. Also got Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam for you rubes.

Of course it’s Dry January right now

Oh damn! I'm sitting in a waiting room at the dentist office and laughed out load!

 

[roklok]

At the end of the day, the OP is wise to get on with hunting before future conflicts curtail hunting in certain areas of an Africa which is becoming more conflict oriented than since 1946. I wish I were he in preparing imminently to go over.

Can you elaborate ? I am kicking around booking my second trip over possibly in 2026. I haven't heard of much in the way of conflicts or unrest.

 

[steve white]

Can you elaborate ? I am kicking around booking my second trip over possibly in 2026. I haven't heard of much in the way of conflicts or unrest.

several days back on the Politics forum there was a video on "the most conflicts in Africa since 1946" I would not take anything for granted. Go while you can. After all, I "used" to go to Mexico...

 

[grand veneur]

Can you elaborate ? I am kicking around booking my second trip over possibly in 2026. I haven't heard of much in the way of conflicts or unrest.

In the countries that are mainly talked about here in the Forum, meaning the southeast and South Africa, you don't need to worry about conflicts at the moment, although things can happen very quickly in Africa and can therefore surprise you during your short stay. Ruanda in the nineties is a good example of this. Hunters were there during the massacres that started without warning. Unrest is always possible, it does not take much to trigger something like that in Africa.

But things are different in other African countries when it comes to the loss of hunting areas due to conflicts. Burkina Faso, where I hunted regularly for years, is a good example of this. You should also avoid the hunting areas of North Benin. This means that because of conflicts you can no longer hunt in West Africa. As far as other areas are concerned, such as Chad, the north of Cameroun and the Central African Republic, great caution is also required. Terrorists from Nigeria, for example, know no borders. Some recent events have confirmed this, especially when it comes to Cameroon. The best thing to do is to find out more by asking the relevant foreign authorities and follow their recommendations. They certainly exaggerate the danger at times, but they want to stay on the safe side and they have informations that the normal people don't have. The fact that the various hunting outfitters and other trip organizers have different opinions and suppress some things is understandable for many reasons. That is but dangerous and unfortunately, things happen from time to time, like recently in southern Algeria and Niger where hostage-taking took place again.

 

[30-06Ken]

Wow - as the OP I never expected this to blow up as it has. I haven't been back here in a bit since its my busy work season and I didn't expect to see 11 pages of response - LOL. Obviously, it struck a sensitive nerve with quite a few of you.

1. I only asked for advice on judging the animals. As stated I dont have the experience in judging Buffalo. Several of you offered helpful advice and I am grateful to you for that.

2. The pictures as far as I know are from a trail camera. I see nothing wrong with using modern technology to assist a hunter in knowing what animals are in a particular area. If you feel that way don't bother coming to the US to hunt trophy whitetails. Free range public property or private farms everyone uses trail cams. I run 20-30 on public (free range) state forest property that encompasses 50 square miles (13,000 Hectares) does that make me a bad guy or unethical ?

3. I am actually leaning toward hunting in Zimbabwe or Mozambique - I replied that I dont want to shoot a bull over a feed station. I want a true hunt and would rather hunt 7 days and not shoot something than sit in a blind and wait for the 5 o'clock feed truck.

4. I am not offended by the snide comments - If you're in enough forums you know to expect this. I was just hoping for some advice on the bulls.

Thank you for all who offered solid advice.

Ken