Hunting wild cattle/bovines...

[Green Chile]

Who has hunted all of the buffalo sub-species in Africa? Have any of you gone on to hunt most of the world's wild cattle/bovine/buffalo? I don't remember what all of the species are but you have the African buffalo and sub-species, banteng and water buffalo in Oz, water buffalo in South America...bison in North America and/or Europe...just for discussion you can include muskoxen in the north...what about gaur in Asia? I'm thinking of wild species not those found in small parks/ranches. Just curious who is working on hunting all of these? What have I forgotten? Yak don't seem interesting but maybe they are part of the list.

 

[Inline6]

Cape buffalo and Watusi are all I have taken. I like where you are going with this. I thought about it myself. Then I looked at the cost and my checking account and realized as expensive as shooting matches are this endeavor with eclipse that 10X. So shooting matches is it for me.

 

[Green Chile]

Cape buffalo are a love of course! I will do 2-3 this year but it has me thinking...what other sub-species should I try for...and I haven't hunted Oz yet...or muskox. Is there any gaur hunting left in the world? Just thinking out loud. I'm not big into registering animals but there is probably a bovine slam or something on wild cattle. I will ask Boddington about it at DSC this weekend.

 

[Inline6]

Cape buffalo are a love of course! I will do 2-3 this year but it has me thinking...what other sub-species should I try for...and I haven't hunted Oz yet...or muskox. Is there any gaur hunting left in the world? Just thinking out loud. I'm not big into registering animals but there is probably a bovine slam or something on wild cattle. I will ask Boddington about it at DSC this weekend.

Gaur is something I have looked for. I'm not sure it is possible, it being the largest. Would love a go at one!

 

[ACM]

I don’t know him personally, but it seems @Hunter-Habib may have some insight.

 

[Green Chile]

Yes I was thinking he might reply when he sees this.

 

[Inline6]

I don’t know him personally, but it seems @Hunter-Habib may have some insight.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

On my third trip I was allowed to sit on a ridgetop and watch for a kudu bull I wounded the evening before while PH and tracker were trying to push it out of a long valley to me. Suddenly something white moved in the brush below. Then I saw it looking right at me! A Charlais cow. What in blazes? We were hunting at the end of the earth in rugged mountain country. Almost instantly the bossy buggered off. When reunited with my PH later I told him about it. "Oh damn! You should have shot her. She and two speckled girlfriends showed up five years ago and I've been trying to kill them. But they are wilder than any kudu. Smart buggers. If you see them again, shoot." Well, okay but how does SCI measure polled cattle with no horns? He said he'd check into it. I didn't see them again. We did get the kudu the following morning, my last day hunting before flying out.

 

[Green Chile]

That reminds me...I've gotten curious about these wild cattle in Hawaii too. That could be a lot of fun with a double rifle in the thick cover.

 

[mark-hunter]

Gaur is something I have looked for. I'm not sure it is possible, it being the largest. Would love a go at one!

To my knowledge, and as per my research, it is not possible to hunt gaur anywhere legally.

I have discussed this with few Bangladesh forum members in the past.

Moreover, in his book about Buffalo, Boddington, basically states the same - adding that this is a shame because gaur is not threatened.
There is occasional legal kill, in the countries of its natural range, as problematic animal, by local hunter.
Thats it.
There was a possibility to hunt gaur on some ranches in Texas, but I don't see this anymore.

 

[Green Chile]

Was that the book where Craig discusses shooting a water buffalo in the Philippines with a service M14? I remember him saying it was kind of sketchy...FMJ's and old ammo in thick cover.

 

[mark-hunter]

Was that the book where Craig discusses shooting a water buffalo in the Philippines with a service M14? I remember him saying it was kind of sketchy...FMJ's and old ammo in thick cover.

I think, yes.
I have both of his books about buffalo hunting. "Buffalo" and "Buffalo II"

 

[Green Chile]

I have those and his DVDs...and also Peter Flack has some good books on buffalo...and of course Kevin Robertson. Also the mountain hunting DVDs on buffalo are very good by that German PH...name escapes me. There are 4 of those.

 

[Red Leg]

I have those and his DVDs...and also Peter Flack has some good books on buffalo...and of course Kevin Robertson. Also the mountain hunting DVDs on buffalo are very good by that German PH...name escapes me. There are 4 of those.

Rainer Josch is who you are thinking of and his DVD's are extraordinary - proving it is possible to create informative art. I find Boddington lecturing me pretty much unwatchable.

 

[pilar]

Hunting wild Zebu crossbreed cattle that run wild in the Cain breaks on the Rio Grande is a major sporting challenge, those cattle have been running wild since the 1600’s
they carry some serious diseases spread by the ticks they carry.
I used to love to hunt them when I had access to them, major fun with deer rifle
and profitable hunting when you kill one or find a dead head to sell .
its to bad there’s guys with machine guns smuggling methamphemins and human trafficking slaves
i would love to hunt All know wild bovine at some point

 

[Green Chile]

Rainer Josch is who you are thinking of and his DVD's are extraordinary - proving it is possible to create informative art. I find Boddington lecturing me pretty much unwatchable.

I don't know anyone who has hunted with Josch. I've sent a few emails that didn't get a reply. Perhaps he is retired now.

 

[bwanamrm]

I have the Southern Cape buffalo, the Nile buffalo, Western Savannah buffalo and Central Savannah buffalo... just need a Dwarf Forest buff I think to finish out the African bovine. Shot buff and banteng in Oz. Just didn't have the heart to shoot buff in Argentina, just stood and looked at me. And did get a muskox in Greenland... love hunting the wild bovine!

 

[mark-hunter]

I have the Southern Cape buffalo, the Nile buffalo, Western Savannah buffalo and Central Savannah buffalo...

This is awesome!
What is the trophy type you have chosen? Scull mounts or shoulder mounts?

 

[Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy]

Great thread - I thought about starting something similar a while back during the Chinese year of the Ox. Seemed fitting.

@Green Chile have you read Horned Giants by Brandt? I recently picked up a copy I have yet to read. He attempts to cover the topic exhaustively.

I have no real experience to speak with bovines, but that's something I hope to change soon. Intrigued by them all categorically.

Chasing wild bulls in Hawaii sounds really cool (very unique and a real pest/threat to the island ecosystems). Same for scrubbers in Oz. I think there was (is?) opportunity in Texas at some point to hunt San Mateo (i.e., Toro Bravo, Spanish Fighting bulls). Lots of unique opportunities out there in small pockets.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I absolutely love hunting the wild bovines. My modest bag over the years (so far) includes

A few Cape buffalo

A few Asiatic water buffalo

A Seladang in Chiangmai, Northern Thailand

In the false ceiling above my study room, I also have a few more albums with photographs my hunts for:
-A few more Cape buffalo
-An American bison
-A South Bengal Gaur (this one wasn't a hunt but had ambushed our unit during nighttime patrol in the Chittagong Hill Tracts during the 1971 Indo-Pak war and was shot by several of us during a random encounter)
- An Argentine buffalo
- An Australian Banteng

Please remind me on the 28th of this month. My son and daughter-in-law will return to the country and will help me find those albums. Then, I'll upload those pictures too.

I dream of someday hunting:
- An European bison
- An Australian scrub bull
- A West African forest buffalo (dwarf buffalo)

Among the wild bovine species which I've hunted so far, Seladang would have to be the most cunning. And unfortunately the largest and heaviest. To make matters worse, I was only armed with a .30-06 Springfield at that time.

P.S: If any of you gents would really like to hunt problem Gaur animals (seriously), do drop me a line sometime.