Can You Judge These For Me?

[channelkat]

I have been going back and forth, ruminating on my trip, the shots I took and those I chose not to take. Looking back at some of the photos (not great ones) I was wondering if some of you with more experience and better developed eyes might offer some approximate inches for the below? Particularly interested in the Sharpes Grysbok I took, but didn’t measure.

1.

2.

3.

4.

 

[IvW]

Kudu 1 is the better of the two age wise but wont measure well. Kudu 2 is a youngster. Bushbuck is still young. Very nice Sharpie.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

Neither of those kudu will measure very well
Both around 50”
Bushbuck not great…yet
Sharpie is nice
Ask taxidermist to measure

 

[flatwater bill]

You put the correct critter on the ground.............FWB

 

[Philip Glass]

Sharpe's is most difficult to get.

 

[Greenhorn]

I would have to agree with the consensus of near 50" for both the Kudu. I really like that wide first curl the first bull has, but the curl lacks depth. This is where the curls add a pretty major contribution to overall length. However, Kudu with a wide horn shape like that are very impressive looking. The second Kudu has good potential with a more classic horn shape and fuller curls but you can see that the left horn does not flare outwards at the tip (not all kudu will flare out when mature) but in combination with body size I definitely think the first bull is more mature. I'm not yet proficient in guesstimating age, I need a few more trips, but I would have leaned towards shooting the first bull from an age perspective if I had to choose between them. I think Kudu is one of those animals where the horn shape and age probably matter more to the hunter than overall inches in most cases because they can be so different even though all Kudu horns are relatively uniform.

Congratulations on your Grysbok they are pretty hard to come by, to say the least! I have these on the list but don't know anything about them let alone have laid my eyes on one. Maybe someone else here can give you a better idea about it.

The Bushbuck is still young. Being part of the spiral horn family, you are looking for it to have a noticeable twist in the horn that would flare the tips outward or even just straight. This bushbuck's tips seem to still point inward but with the noise in the picture, it is difficult to accurately judge the length and mass on him.

Hopefully, there is someone more experienced on here to give their opinion as I am still learning and getting better at judging and aging African Game. Although those are my two cents on the subject.

 

[channelkat]

Thanks folks, I feel like I am already forgetting much of what I learned. I saw one Kudu which had curls obvious enough to my eye to be special. PH said he would have been around the 60” mark. I felt ok about judging the relative maturity (young – old) but some of the other bulls he said were shootable didn’t seem too much bigger to me horn wise. I didn’t get to inspect enough bush buck to really judge them either, but length wise I wasn’t sure I noticed anything much longer.

I wasn’t targeting either species, but now kind of wondering about the ones he said were good that I passed up. I am trying to sort of calibrate so I know better on my next trip, if that makes any sense…

 

[BRICKBURN]

Pass, Pass, Bang, Pass.

 

[fourfive8]

Agree with consensus on the kudu. #1 is 50-52. #2 is younger with less length. A little confusing because the second pic of kudu #2 almost doesn't look like the same bull as first pic of #2. If they are the same bull, then yes, this bull is quite a bit younger and smaller than #1, especially when looking at first pic of #2.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Pass, Pass, Bang, Pass.

Brickburn sums it up well and quickly! Very nice Grysbuck, hopefully being done in a full body mount.

 

[channelkat]

I had all of the little ones skinned for full mounts, but started thinking the Grysbock and common Duiker were a little on the small side, started having second thoughts about full mounts. But even if you all are just being polite, I am leaning back towards a full mount.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I had all of the little ones skinned for full mounts, but started thinking the Grysbock and common Duiker were a little on the small side, started having second thoughts about full mounts. But even if you all are just being polite, I am leaning back towards a full mount.

Full body mounts on the "tiny's" look great and don't take up much space. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

 

[channelkat]

Full body mounts on the "tiny's" look great and don't take up much space. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

Now I have been debating on trying to go back to MOZ to find Niassa Wildebeest and Eland or aiming for Namibia &/or SA to try for the rest of the "tiny's". I would like to have them all full mounted special somehow,

 

[sestoppelman]

I think you guys are selling the bushbuck short. Zoom in on it, its shootable. Probably 12-14"

 

[channelkat]

So again I know this is sort of a loaded question, but remember I am trying to sort of calibrate so that I can recognize a rare opportunity the next time I see it...
Assuming an animal is mature enough, at about what inch does a kudu or bush buck become good? If I understand correctly, a 60" kudu is like the equivalent of a 100lb tusker right? What is a 100lb tusker of a bush buck? And at what point should I really not pass up a mature animal?

 

[fourfive8]

I had all of the little ones skinned for full mounts, but started thinking the Grysbock and common Duiker were a little on the small side, started having second thoughts about full mounts. But even if you all are just being polite, I am leaning back towards a full mount.

Yes, good plan to think twice about it. Either simple skull mount or full body. No in-betweens IMO for the tiny antelopes. Like any mounting and trophy decision, 100% up to you. Reminds me though... I had a pretty good grysbok (don't hunt them but IMO a decent one with spikes IIRC in the 3 inch range?) walk up to me, within inches of brushing my leg while hunting in a woodland area of Mozambique. I think it was being hunted by either a serval or caracal and thought I was just a large antelope (for protection perhaps?)- a roan or hartebeest or something similar. I saw what likely has hunting it but at dusk didn't get a good look. Very fast! smallish catlike critter flying over and through deadfall trees. I just slowly waked away from the grysbok and it never spooked. Some stories are stranger than fiction

 

[sestoppelman]

So again I know this is sort of a loaded question, but remember I am trying to sort of calibrate so that I can recognize a rare opportunity the next time I see it...
Assuming an animal is mature enough, at about what inch does a kudu or bush buck become good? If I understand correctly, a 60" kudu is like the equivalent of a 100lb tusker right? What is a 100lb tusker of a bush buck? And at what point should I really not pass up a mature animal?

Best way to judge that is in the books, SCI or Rowland Wards. I always hope to get something that might make SCI. Some have some dont.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I think you guys are selling the bushbuck short. Zoom in on it, its shootable. Probably 12-14"

Those tops are not turning out yet. So, still a pass in my books.

 

[sestoppelman]

Those tops are not turning out yet. So, still a pass in my books.

Not turning out yet, but do show some twist and on length alone its shootable in my view. I have one just like it on the wall and tickled pink with it. Taped at 13" from RSA 2009. Makes SCI easily.

 

[channelkat]

So bush buck ears about 6 inches, like a pronghorn? I kind of regret not taking one, but I prioritzed the tiny and Wildebeest. Needed a few more days there!