Cape Buffalo Cow or Bull Giraffe?

[HSands]

Here's a fun little exercise for an upcoming hunt in South Africa that some friends and I have booked. Besides the usual bag of plains game for the first timers (gemsbok, zebra, wildebeest, blesbok, impala, springbok, etc), I'm looking to add something "different" to my list. I'll be focusing on trophy waterbuck and red hartebeest (which have either escaped me or were not available on previous trips), but have the opportunity to add either a cow cape buffalo or a bull giraffe to my plains game package.
I'd be interested in the opinions of the group as to what you would choose and why? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[PARA45]

IMHO. I would go with the cow Buffalo. Why? Well, you'll have to get close to the heard to pick up an old dry out cow, and they are not the friendliest in the bunch especially if there any calves in the heard. A Giraffe, well you have to make a good shot or you in for a long walk. Nothing dangerous about it, besides a beautiful skin. My 2 cents. But at the end of the day, it's what fills you as a hunter, not what we think.

Oh, and a wounded cow buffalo can still put a hurting on you if she decides to charge.

 

[CBH Australia]

Buffalo

 

[Hunt anything]

Buffalo hands down, the giraffe I’ve seen in South Africa have been way to trusting, that being said I wasn’t hunting them and game seems to have another sense when being pursued. The giraffe that I’ve seen in wild parts of Africa were a different story. But I wasn’t hunting on that trip.

 

[BJH65]

Hunting a barren cow buffalo can be a very exciting and sometimes challenging hunt. Other than the trophy horns, I can distinguish no difference as far as hunting goes between a Cape buffalo bull and cow. Same excitement, same potential danger, same hunting tactics. Go with the cow buffalo! To me, much more exciting than bull giraffe.

 

[375Fox]

Given those two options I’d take the buffalo cow especially if you haven’t hunted buffalo before. I’d just make sure you are getting the right cow buffalo hunt. The intensity of game farming varies from farm to farm. Hunting from a herd with ear tags in a small area would ruin the entire hunt for me. Make sure you are getting a hunt from a self sustaining herd living mostly wild on the property.
I’ve taken two giraffe, one in a wilderness concession and one in a national park. They are unique trophies especially if you are in an area where you can look over a lot of bulls and choose a old dark bull with lots of battle scars (or a pretty bull to use the skin). However, most game farms don’t have the huge selection and there are only a couple or one suitable bull to take. Giraffe also take up a good part of day once on the ground. They also become very expensive (much more than trophy fee) if you’d like to take them home as a trophy such as a neck mount, leather items, carved leg bones, etc. A cow buffalo skull would be a much better way to go.

If you are looking for something different to add to your hunt, I’d take a bushpig. It’s a unique hunt and unique trophy. The usual method is baited at night but I’ve taken them a few different ways.

 

[Lumaberpat]

I fell in love with the idea of going on safari when I saw a Mark Sullivan video, so I’d pick the buffalo.

My wife became ok with the idea when she saw a picture of someone’s trophy room, because they had a chair made of giraffe skin. (I think the European giraffe mounts are awesome)

So I guess it comes down to personal preference.

 

[Firebird]

I have not taken either-yet. But to my way of thinking, hunting a specific bull giraffe is very exciting. I have a neck/head mount already in mind and the remainder of the skin has many possibilities.

 

[Tanks]

Giraffe, if you are going to hunt a buffalo hunt a bull in a free range hunting country.

 

[Red Leg]

Depending on the game farm, you can hunt a buffalo, but you will shoot a giraffe.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I would find an old Bull Giraffe, past its prime, and take him. Then save the Buffalo hunt for an opportunity to take a Dugga Boy under the right conditions…

 

[sgt_zim]

Oh, and a wounded cow buffalo can still put a hurting on you if she decides to charge.

Exactly this.

@HSands - buffalo all the way.

The unusual aspect of the buff (Cape Buffalo) is that, of the three really big dangerous species, he has no weak spots in his natural defenses. He has the eyesight of a cheetah, the hearing of a hypersensitive elephant, and the smelling ability of a bird dog on a damp morning. In the bush, he can do anything that you can, including running four times your speed through cover so dense that it would make a mole claustrophobic.

I lurched up and looked at Mbogo, and Mbogo looked at me. He was 50 to 60 yards off, his head low, his eyes staring right down my soul. He looked at me as if he hated my guts. He looked as if I had despoiled his fiancee, murdered his mother, and burned down his house. He looked at me as if I owed him money. I never saw such malevolence in the eyes of any animal or human being, before or since. So I shot him.

I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so. Lions and leopards and rhinos excite me but don't frighten me. But that buff is so big and mean and ugly and hard to stop, and vindictive and cruel and surly and ornery. He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money. He looks like he is hunting you...He makes me sick in the stomach, and he makes my hands sweat, and he dries out my throat and my lips.

My old cow from my hunt with @Limcroma Safaris back in August of this year.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Buff cow hands down. Thrilling hunt if done right! I hunted two buff cows on my last trip, both were intense hunts trying get in close and look thru the herd of 25-40 for the right cow to take.

 

[poco]

Buffalo probably cheaper to ship and still usable for leather and knife handles
Giraffe skin and bones are very good also but shipping
I wouldn’t want to kill a giraffe just to do it on a rsa enclosure

 

[375Fox]

Buffalo probably cheaper to ship and still usable for leather and knife handles
Giraffe skin and bones are very good also but shipping
I wouldn’t want to kill a giraffe just to do it on a rsa enclosure

The difference in shipping I’d actually expect pretty negligible. The leg bones aren’t as long as you’d think compared to a normal trophy crate size and the dip and packed hide for a shoulder mount packs surprisingly small. Finding someone to tan giraffe in the US you’d run into difficulties though. I’d have any leather products made in South Africa where it’s done regularly. It’s really the finished products that add the cost.

 

[HSands]

I appreciate everyone feedback and unique points of view. I'll update the group with some photos and a hunt review and we'll see which choice was made!

 

[sgt_zim]

If you take a buff, a cool gift for friends/family is a rifle case made from buffalo hide. Wildebeest and zebra are also suitable for rifle cases. Might be worth it if you shoot up a scarred up old stallion, but a pretty mare without any scarring needs to be a rug.

 

[Tra3]

The giraffe hide is beautiful and absolutely huge. Expect the cost to tan the hide commensurate with its substantial increase in size from other PG.

In a wilderness area, it can be difficult to hunt a giraffe. Their elevated POV makes it much more difficult to sneak up on them. For community meat, a giraffe is substantially larger than a buffalo.

But, I would pick Buffalo for complications of the hunting experience.

Really, I’d say don’t buy another gun and withhold some dinners out, then do both hunts.

 

[Creigh]

I have an appointment with a Buffalo somewhere in my future. I visited a reserve and the first time I saw a Buffalo herd I had a visceral reaction to it. They are such an uncompromising animal. I knew then that I would have to hunt that fella to complete my life's journey. Dramatic I know but I really feel that.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

An unexpected deal on a buffalo cow came up during my first safari. I didn't expect much but it was actually quite exciting. Found ourselves in the middle of the herd in very thick stuff and busted. Then on the way back to the vehicle I got a long shot at 110 yards and took her through the heart.
Then they came for us three times. Crabby herd bull.