When hunting species like zebra or gemsbuck does the sex of the animal matter to hunters?

[Tundra Tiger]

Ya that bull in your profile picture is heavy!

Well done my friend

Thank you mind sir. He was my favorite thing from my last trip - I can't wait to see him on my wall. We hiked a lot of freaking miles targeting him specifically.

 

[K-man]

I have often found the best looking females show up when i am far from home on a hunting trip....Oh, wait, that wasn't the question. On the real topic, I have taken females when requested by the game manager/P.H. in that area. My Kodiak bear was a female over 9ft and 18 yrs old. perfect to take off the mountain. On our local property, if you want to hunt a buck, you must first take a doe. Our numbers need that.

 

[Andrew62]

On oryx I prefer males of the species, on zebras, just say 'when' and I'll shoot whichever one you want taken. lol Over the past two years I have mixed in a couple of cull/management hunts with trophy hunts, I have taken at least 15 zebras. It's been great humor hunting them.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I may be past my prime, but I ain't dead....yet!.....so yes I find sex to be more fun than important. Just not as important as in my younger carefree years.

Since females are the only ones I hunt. I prefer to hunt at night at local waterholes between 11pm and 2am. Although I have been lucky a few times during mid morning and mid afternoon.

Oh, OOPS, my bad, your wanting opinions on hunting female vs male critters.

As for hunting in NA and predominantly after meat for the freezer, I generally go for the more tender female whitetails.

In Africa I prefer to hunt quality representatives of the species. Which usually means hunting rams/bulls.

However, on my last trip to Africa the outfitter/PH in Zimbabwe internationally or mistakening identified a young(?) female hippo as a bull and had me shoot her, she had a calf in the weeds on the other side of the river.

In RSA gemsbok was on my list and the gemsbok I was fixated on was a female from the first time I saw her.
Since the gemsbok was a female we passed on her; I never insisted on hunting her even though my PH knew she was the one I wanted. She has long symmetrical horns and big body.

We continued to hunt for a good bull. As time was growing short and no really good bulls were being spotted my PH checked with the concession owner. Since the gemsbok was an older female, the concession owner gave his approval for me to take her.

What was or might have been an easier hunt on day one, by day four it was a much more challenging hunt. Seems when she knew she wasn't on the list, she pranced around, modeling for the camera. Now she knew she was on the list and became more cunning and difficult to hunt.

Our focus was on her and she knew it. She kept along side or in thick brush, and inside and along side the rest of the herd preventing a clean clear shot. We hunted her from early mid morning till late afternoon. Finally as we started to give up for the day she gave me the opportunity for a broadside shot at around 250+ yards. Another 2 shots into her later and she was down.

 

[Ryan]

Gembok, yes. I and the outfitters I've hunted with focussed on the males with heavy horns, not females with long thin ones. Zebra, it depends. My one and only zebra my PH was very particular. He wanted only bachelor group stallions taken out of their herds if at all possible. Not the dominant stallion in a mixed herd. He claimed taking the dominant stallion out threw off the herd dynamics, with the bachelors fighting over dominance of the family herds and possibly killing foals to get mares into heat again. So we were very particular and I did get a fine bachelor stallion. Now in places with larger herds my other PHs didn't seem as concerned when we talked about it. So it depends.

 

[375Fox]

As a trophy I only want a bull or a stallion. For meat or bait I have no problems hunting either though. Something about a cow gemsbok just isn’t the same trophy to me. I think the mass of the bulls makes a better trophy as well over the thinner horns if the cows even if they might be longer. For a zebra, I want the biggest stallion we can find. The bite marks make it more of a trophy too me, but many want the mares because they have much nicer skins because they haven’t fought like the stallions.

 

[cash_tx]

Wait... what? I missed the original title! Darn it all!

Females of the species... I had no qualms filling deer doe tags, back in the day. For a good hide of good color I have no issue with mature sows (brown bears) being hunted. I have shot a lot of cow caribou in my years up here. I will happily take a nanny on my goat hunt this fall. Our hunting unit has a cow moose winter hunt; harvesting one some year is a goal.

Africa? I have killed 2 cow buffalo (cost was the factor) and they were incredibly fun hunts. Both of my zebras were stallions, at the guidance of my PH. And my gemsbok? I requested an old bull. Horn length be damned, I wanted mass - and got it.

Where legal, female or male? Personal choice, IMHO. Oh, and DEFINITELY another vote for "sex is good."

The original title was "Does sex matter?", or something to that effect. I thought it was genius.

 

[Hunter4752001]

Sometime ago I read about a game management system called Quality Deer Management. I believe it was developed in the US. Basically the theory ran that by concentrating on hunting bucks, a surplus of females was created. That in turn led to a higher percentage of females mating with poor quality males and thus reducing herd quality. As a result game managers encouraged hunters to take larger numbers of females to restore the situation where only dominate males were breeding.

Do any of the African game managers practise this or hasn't it been found necessary?

 

[Troubleshooter]

As a rule, I do not inquire into the sexual proclivities of an individual game animal. So long as they keep it to themselves, I feel that it is simply none of my business.

Regarding the taking of game, it depends. On gembsbok/oryx I'm more interested in mass than length, which dictates a male, but would not be opposed to collecting a female. My most recent zebra was a mare; the PH had been in contact with the outfitter and asked me if I would be comfortable harvesting one, so we did. Closer to home, I tend to harvest more does and young bucks for meat. But I am open to either, depending on the circumstances and objectives of that particular hunt (e.g., game management, trophies, etc.)

 

[HankBuck]

They changed my title! I hope I didn't offend someone....Lord knows everyone gets their undies in a bunch over stupid shit these days.

@btheis13 - well that is too bad…because your Title was more interesting then your Post - and now (with No Sex) it’s even more boring.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

I’ve shot both male and female zebras. If I’m hunting for bait and the PH says take that one, I’m not asking if it’s a Stallion or Mare. When hunting (regardless of location) I prefer to target males over females but I’ve shot does/cows here in the states and cows/ewes in Africa. If the PH puts the sticks up and it’s something I want to kill I’ll pull the trigger regardless if it’s male or female. To date I think I’ve shot female Zebras, Impala, Warthogs, and Wildebeest.

 

[DLSJR]

The first Zebra I ever shot was a Mare In Zimbabwe. My PH asked if I minded shooting a mare and explained I’d get a better quality hide than a stallion. So, I shot a mare. I’ve shot a couple more Zebras and they’ve all been stallions. When I hunted Botswana, I shot 2 Gemsbok, a bull and a cow. 39” bull but the cow was 45”. I mounted the cow but never got around to mounting the bull. I’d like to hunt for a 40” bull and will mount it if I get one that large. I know, a 40” bull is a tall order.

 

[mdwest]

I actually prefer doe whitetail for eating.. and our property is overrun with them.. so it doesnt bother me to take them at all.. Dont get me wrong.. if some monster sized buck walks out of the wood line Im going to get excited about it and definitely going to fill my buck tag that day... but if I have a choice between a nice 3-5 year old doe and an average/legal buck.. I'll take the doe every time..

specific to Africa, I suppose it depends.. for trophies Ive never taken anything other than males.. but specific to gemsbok or zebra, if a PH told me "that one is huge! take it".. I'm game for it.. I dont know that I would go out specifically looking for a female for a trophy, but Im not opposed to it..

My wife took a cape buff cow last year and actually is having it euro mounted.. she's very proud of her hunt.. shes also having the hide tanned so she can have some leather goods made from it.. she's also taken a female warthog (was particularly large for a female.. about 10".. the PH told her that it was exceptional for a female, and the property had way too many pigs on it and they wanted them thinned out.. so she has happy to oblige..

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I take what they want shot. My first trip I took a sow warthog the first morning. We came on it as we were headed to the farmhouse for lunch. PH says there's one with good tusks, better take it. During the prolonged drought it was difficult finding good tusks as they broke off in hard ground and old pigs died off. They are a nuisance anyway. Next day I shot a fine cow gemsbuck that had escaped to the wrong property. May as well take her. She's doing no good there. Turned out to be a very old cow who was probably past making calves even if she could get to a bull. It was an exciting hunt when it almost ran us over. Shot in self defense. The following day I culled a very fine cow buff. That old gal was definitely on the way out. I helped her along with a heart shot at 100 meters. Also some exciting moments after she was down when the herd bull came for us with the rest in tow. The price was very good and I suppose the right taxidermist could have built some bosses. Her skull is up on the wall for clients to compare to the bull I shot the following year.

Not sure about zebra but I understand gemsbuck will drop calves year round (they are desert animals) so when picking a female for client to shoot the PH must take care that it's not carrying a calf. Pretty hard to tell I would think.

 

[dogcat1]

To me it matters. For instance, in zebras, the females dominate the breeding and the leading of the herd/family unit. The dominant female is a big part of who gets bred and does not. So, I prefer to only shoot stallions.

In gemsbok, the females have long slender horns. I prefer the shorter stouter horns of the males. The females also can breed every month of the year so I do not think shooting females hurts the overall herd as does shooting female zebra.

 

[Puddle]

Sometime ago I read about a game management system called Quality Deer Management. I believe it was developed in the US. Basically the theory ran that by concentrating on hunting bucks, a surplus of females was created. That in turn led to a higher percentage of females mating with poor quality males and thus reducing herd quality. As a result game managers encouraged hunters to take larger numbers of females to restore the situation where only dominate males were breeding.

Do any of the African game managers practise this or hasn't it been found necessary?

On the ranch where I grew up that approach was certainly practiced with the Mule Deer herd that roamed the hills.

 

[Safari Dave]

In Africa, I only want to shoot males, since you can't take meat home.

This zebra was male, but had no test-ta-clease...

My hunting buddy poked fun at me saying that his castrated mine!


I would hunt females, but would expect a significant trophy fee reduction.

 

[Milo]

I have a buddy that is one animal away from shooting the North America Super 10 in female. Plans to enter it if he does.

 

[PARA45]

This is my Gemsbuck, and it was a female. The PH told me it's a monster, and we are going after it, then he said shoot, and I shot. He never said it was a female, and I found out when they took it to the skinning shed. I'm still very happy with this animal, regardless of sex.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Many most likely want a

female Gemsbok for their first one. Then slowly move towards age instead of inches.
I agree a female zebra makes a nicer rug or mount. But for herd management they more often wants stallions killed.