The Bastardization Of The Term Dagga Boy

[grand veneur]

You should re-read the post. He clearly states solitary bulls or in small groups.

For everyone who wants to understand something about this highly scientific dispute:

Dagga boys’ is a term used to describe old and usually solitary buffalo bulls who have been forced out of the herd by young virile bulls, or have fallen behind the herd due to their need for softer vegetation.

This definition is not mine but was repeated in the various articles that, due to the circumstances, I was forced to read in the last times. I have known this definition for more than 30 years, but since it is a vague term that was not defined by a congress of a scientific society, it is quite possible that it is used nowadays from many people for something else. I don't care in the meantime and I don't know how that could affect buffalo hunting. Anyone who wants to hunt a buffalo according to the classic definition quoted above, has to track only solitary buffaloes, but otherwise everyone can organize the hunt according to their personal definition of a Dagga-boy. Waidmannsheil !

 

[IvW]

Worse than OH.......

 

[375Fox]

Worse than OH.......

Crazy old man or an internet PH persona, not sure which is worse? Here’s your article to finish to re-establish your PH persona credentials. Details and specifics always seem very difficult for you to provide . . .

I

Thread 'Dealing with wounded Cape buffalo'

Feb 10, 2023

The Cape Buffalo is the DG animal that is hunted the most. It is not the most dangerous of the big 5 yet it accounts for many injuries and death to even Professional Hunters....
What are your opinions with regards to dealing with a wounded Cape Buffalo?
In particular rifle, bullet and caliber choice for the follow up...
I will post mine after some responses.

• IvW
• Replies: 182
• Forum: Hunting Africa

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[Nyati]

I´ll be the contrarian here regarding "scrum caps".

I will not hunt deer with broken antlers, or goat/sheep with broken horns, why should I consider a buff with broken horns an exceptional trophy ?

Sorry, doesn´t make any sense to me, I´ll take a mature one with the largest set of horns as possible.

I did shoot a very old gemsbok with broken horns at my outfitter´s request, but of course did not pay for it. Neither kept the head.

 

[grand veneur]

A very old Koba (Roan) from Burkina Faso. I shot another Roan in Burkina Faso, but I not have paid anything for that either.

 

[grand veneur]

To return to the topic of the buffalo trophy with broken horns, I also would not specifically hunt for it either.

Harvesting trophies should be left to chance. What counts is the buffalo hunt and everything that comes with it. I am satisfied when I have shot one, regardless of whether it was a solitary one, one from a small group or one from a herd.

Booking something particular is hunting tourism and requires that everything is no longer left to chance, meaning you have to manage the herds. Hunting buffalo in open areas can be very easy or very difficult. You can shoot one 20 minutes after the beginning of the hunt on the first day, but it can also take over 2 weeks with a lot of repeated and very long approach's. Ultimately what was shot, whether it is a Dagga-boy according to some definition or not, is incidental.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

A proper Dagha Boy may always be somewhat subjective just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To me, a Dagha Boy is old, tattered, scared cantankerous, cheeky, aggressive, past his prime, but still able to mess you up if you give him a chance. Sly, sneaky, even evil perhaps. He lives a mostly solitary life or with one or two other mean ole bastids. If you surprise him, he is as likely to charge as run away. If you follow him, he may circle back and attack you from the side or behind. He follows the old saying, "Never pick a fight with an old man, he may be to old and tired to fight and too slow to run away, so he will just kill you." That is a proper old Dagha Boy, IMO. I can relate.

Also, a Dagha bull has that look in his eye and communicates without words, FAFO. It was what I saw in the face of the first two Cape Buffalo trophies that I ever saw. As for scrum caps? They may be the holy grail of some hunters. But to me, they are just old beat up bulls that are worn out and have been beat up so many times that they have little left. You can have em.

 

[sureshot375]

To return to the topic of the buffalo trophy with broken horns, I also would not specifically hunt for it either.

Harvesting trophies should be left to chance. What counts is the buffalo hunt and everything that comes with it. I am satisfied when I have shot one, regardless of whether it was a solitary one, one from a small group or one from a herd.

Booking something particular is hunting tourism and requires that everything is no longer left to chance, meaning you have to manage the herds. Hunting buffalo in open areas can be very easy or very difficult. You can shoot one 20 minutes after the beginning of the hunt on the first day, but it can also take over 2 weeks with a lot of repeated and very long approach's. Ultimately what was shot, whether it is a Dagga-boy according to some definition or not, is incidental.

I already have 3 buffalo mounts, and don’t have much interest in getting another one mounted unless it’s something really exceptional.

I’m totally cool with scrum caps and broken horns. While I can appreciate a magnificent buff trophy, to me it’s not an animal you hunt for horn size. I hunt buffalo to hunt buffalo.

Give me an old warrior bull any day.