Searching for less expensive Buffalo hunt

[375Fox]

On a cow hunt you’re going to be tracking a herd. You have more eyes and noses to contend with and having to select a past prime cow out of the herd makes it difficult. Not the same experience as a bull hunt though where you are tracking lone or small groups of dugga boys.

A cow hunt could be different from a bull for this reason, but there are a lot of bulls taken from herds as well.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I have two cow hunts under my belt.
Both were done to be able to afford to hunt other things too.
I was freaking tickled with both hunts.
We hiked a lot of miles trying to find the herd.
Perhaps when I have a bull hunt I'll have a different perspective but...

Zero regrets on my two cow hunts. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Oh... also, I don't remember the exact price. Something just slightly more than 3500 maybe?

 

[Osama Mahdi]

During my Buffalo hunt, the cows possess the threat more than the bull before the gun fire.

 

[flatwater bill]

@Tanks .....I had mine mounted with the ear tags......everybody seems to like it...sets it apart......... to the OP's question, however, can a cheaper South Africa hunt be a good hunt? They certainly could be a bad hunt......but are they always? Is a day on the track of a bull sooo much better in Tanzania than elsewhere? Am also wrestling with this question as I try to plan a hunt......FWB

 

[TERMINATOR]

Are buffalo with orange ear tags on CITES appendix 1 or 2? LOL

That is a CITES Permit all filled out and ready to go

 

[Doubleplay]

@Tanks .....I had mine mounted with the ear tags......everybody seems to like it...sets it apart......... to the OP's question, however, can a cheaper South Africa hunt be a good hunt? They certainly could be a bad hunt......but are they always? Is a day on the track of a bull sooo much better in Tanzania than elsewhere? Am also wrestling with this question as I try to plan a hunt......FWB

Thanks. This made me laugh.
On a serious note.
Hunting is something you don't know the exact outcome, rest is just shooting.
Shooting can be fun sometimes but it's never same as hunting.

 

[Arctic97]

I saw this before and I know at least one member would be hunting there but couldn't find any reports about this hunt.

Just back from this hunt a few weeks now. Great experience. Here is our hunt report...

https://www.africahunting.com/threa...buffalo-hunt-with-bayly-sippel-safaris.76961/

 

[Doubleplay]

Thanks, very nicely told.

 

[Vintageguy]

I personally wouldn’t want a cow hunt or anything else if my dream was a buffalo bull. One thing that is important that I haven’t seen mentioned is taxidermy or shipping. These can easily double your costs and represent opportunities for savings too. Another thing is costs getting to Johannesburg and being within driving distance as opposed to additional flights from there to other locations. Great Buffalo hunting can be had not far from Johannesburg, you just need to set what you want in a hunt and do your homework. Getting your dream bull, a skull and great pictures and memories don’t have to break the bank.

 

[mark-hunter]

I think you could get those in South African game farms.

View attachment 554382

Looks like ready for milking on dairy farm!

 

[Sika98k]

Looks like ready for milking on dairy farm!

I think you’d be a brave man to hook one of those up in the milking parlour.

 

[Rare Breed]

I personally wouldn’t want a cow hunt or anything else if my dream was a buffalo bull. One thing that is important that I haven’t seen mentioned is taxidermy or shipping. These can easily double your costs and represent opportunities for savings too. Another thing is costs getting to Johannesburg and being within driving distance as opposed to additional flights from there to other locations. Great Buffalo hunting can be had not far from Johannesburg, you just need to set what you want in a hunt and do your homework. Getting your dream bull, a skull and great pictures and memories don’t have to break the bank.

TSALA 1.5 hour good road drive from JNB. Got my 43 inches there. Awesome family!!!

 

[fourfive8]

I would love to hunt Buffalo but the typical price is out of my price range. Is it possible to hunt “non-trophy” or those with a busted set of horns etc at a lesser price. I’m more after the adventure than the trophy itself I’d that makes sense.

Any thoughts would be appreciated and offers as well.

Still don't know what your price threshold is or what type of hunt or hunt area you are really looking for. There are a lot of broken horn or non-trophy bulls out there. It is fairly common for the outfitter or operator to offer trophy fee discounts for those bulls. In reality, those bulls are every bit the trophy, often more so, than any younger, soft 40 incher whose smooth bosses look more like a baby's butt. And old, beat up, non-trophy dagga boys are what many hunters search for. If I were looking for a less expensive buffalo hunt I'd be burning a lot of phone and message time kicking the tires about discounted trophy fees for non-trophy dagga boys and the relative numbers estimated of these type bulls in the areas under control of the operator/outfitter your are talking to.

 

[Tanks]

...It is fairly common for the outfitter or operator to offer trophy fee discounts for those bulls. In reality, those bulls are every bit the trophy, often more so, than any younger, soft 40 incher whose smooth bosses look more like a baby's butt. And old, beat up, non-trophy dagga boys are what many hunters search for. ...

Yep, I have been looking for one of these for years.