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Hi buffalo fans,

We spent 5 nights in Balule beginning May, saw no buff in Balule - Bango area, only one smallish heard of 30 or 40 animals about 10 km South of Bango on the open grassy plains with one fine bull with tightly curled horns of approx 44".

We saw 6 much bigger heards further afield but none with particularly good bulls.

My question - have no-one else encountered big buffalo bulls over last few months ?

Come-on - surely some big buffs must have been seen, lets see your photos!

Hi 100ponder, I stayed at Satara for a week in May this year and did not see too many buffalos on our visit to Bangu and Balule area. However this is not usually the case when I travel that area.
In March 2010 I came across a nice herd of buffalo just north of Bangu. Here is a pic of one of the bulls of the herd.



This next bull was also seen in March 2010 on the S90 south of Bangu


I will be staying at Balule and Satara in Sept this year and hope to come across some more fine buffalo bulls. I will let you know if I am successful.

Nice buff you saw !

42 - 45 incher I would say.

Also, look right above his hump, there is a you bull in the back ground with LOTS of potential !
[ Deep sweeping curl already hanging low down the sides of his head ]


Gerrie.

PS :- You 2nd bull has a HUGE boss.

Gerrie, nobody else has responded to your request so I thought I would post another photo. This bull was photographed near Talamati in November 2010. This herd had several nice looking bulls but this one stood out for his shear body size. His horns are not the largest but he was big. Unfortunately he was standing on his own and therefor not possible to compare size with another bull.

Amazing ADW
I love bif impressive Buffs
Don't have my photobucket open now, but will post sometime
Have you seen the picture at the satara reception? A buff with the longest horns I've ever seen
Perhaps buffs with extremely long horns should have a similar status to tuskers??

Thanks Cheetah2111. Yes I have seen the photo of the Buffalo in Satara reception. Amazing set of horns but not a classic set but rather a freak set!
I have come across a few bulls with impressive horns that I have seen a couple of times, but I do not know how practical it will be to keep a record of and naming of individual bulls with impressive horns.
Like this bull below, I have seen him a couple of times in the Satara area. His boss is not very thick but his horns are loooong.

Carramba, adw!
The record!


My effort at Baobab Hill this July!

Exceptional pictures adw!!!

Nice attempt too Richprins....!

Thanks RP, Cheetah2111 and G@mespotter. I enjoy watching Buffalo, particularly the large herds as they interact with one another. Powerful animals who are often able to hold their own against a pride of Lions. Their bellowing is one of my favourite sounds of the wild.

How about a new profile pic with the your last buffalo pic cropped on the big one...? One helluva pic

It would appear 100ponder has passed out!

G@mespotter, I will work on your suggestion but I am no expert on photoshop!

Aahh ! - Just woken up with a regmaker from Telkom on my land line, now I have internet again !

When I called for buffalo submissions to this thread I actually hoped for real big buffalo horns - like 50" over-all width.

Now, the "adw" flat horn is in this class. Not the prettiest to me, I like the deep horn curls as that of the earlier "adw" buff but end of the day, it is only over-all distance between outer horn curls that count.

A massive horn boss is a pretty horn but still just a massive horn boss and a big horn is a “wide” horn.

Since we are hunting with cameras, it does not matter much that some big (wide) horns belong to cows – it is only the “bullet hunters” that worry about that !

Any-case, the following photo shows a buff cow found close to the Shavo 2 wind mill in May of 2009. I estimate her horns in the 50” – 53” class – now that is really BIG.



The next photo show a buff bull from the same herd at Shavo 2, I estimate his horns in the 44” – 47” class – big but still on their way to become exceptional although the deep curl is already wonderful.



The next photo show yet another buff bull from the same heard at Shavo 2, this bull is already exceptional although, should the lions leave him alone, he will still grow a few inches before expiring. I estimate him in the 46” – 50” class.



A way to identify a big horned buff is by the horn width compared to the spread of that buff's ears. The horns should exceed the ear by at least half an ear length on each side.

Thanks 100Ponder. I will go through my collection to see if I can meet your requirements.

I spot a yellow billed oxpecker 100Pounder.

And on previous buffalo pics I spot some photoshopping. Not on yours 100Pounder.
Please keep it reel.