Got my Buffalo skull back and on the office wall...

ArmyBrat · Post by **ArmyBrat** » Fri May 25, 2007 11:46 am

Here is the Euro mounted buffalo skull that I shot with my .40 cal spaghetti Sharps back in February of this year. Still eating a LOT of tasty buffalo steaks, ribs, burgers, jerky. License plate to the left can give you some sense of scale.

Tip to tip horn width is 26", girth at the bosses is 13.25".

mannyspd1 · Post by **mannyspd1** » Mon May 28, 2007 9:22 pm

AB,

I can see why that .40 gave the bull a headache. Are you having the hide done? Also, if you get a chance, measure from the base of the horn along the longest (outside) portion of the curve, to the point of the horn. Add your base measurements together, 13.5 + 13.5, along with each horn measurement, to get a total approx. gross score. So if the horns are each 16" long, (32" for both) you would have 27 + 32 for a total of 59 gross points. Let me know what you get.
Manny

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Mon May 28, 2007 9:54 pm

Very nice! He is a lot nicer than a cow buff skull that I found some years ago.

I'm guessing from the looks of that skull that the bull was a young one. Is that right?

Brent

pete · Post by **pete** » Tue May 29, 2007 10:57 am

Looks good. Buffalo skulls are distinctive aren't they? They are definately a very recognizable symbol of the old west. It does appear to be a younger bull as the bones around the eye socket continue to grow and get pronounced as a bull gets older.

ArmyBrat · Post by **ArmyBrat** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:13 am

Pete- this bull was around 2 and a half years old ...so right you are. The 4-5 yr old bulls were another grand per shot and were the Trophy critters....mine was just for meat. Though the skull is a dandy and the robe is due in August.

Brent- yep a young bull, the 4-5 year olds were just MASSIVE...around 6 feet at the hump and quite intimidating in appearance....no import vehicles would do well with a run in with one of those bruisers.

Manny- believe it or not the horns are dead on 16"...so that twice plus the 13.5 girth gives me what you deduced....59 points....is this good or just average?

mannyspd1 · Post by **mannyspd1** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:41 am

AB-

For a 2 1/2 year old bull it is decent, and makes a great trophy for your room. The older they get though, base diameter increases as does horn length. My bull scored just under 68 SCI points, and a bull taken earlier in the year from the same ranch green scored in the low 70's, which will put in the top 10 ten I believe, if current posted scores are correct.

Judging score on these bulls in the field was pretty hard for me. It was my first time, and if a bull was alone, I didn't have anything to compare it to. If several bulls were together, then you could see which was bigger. Even then, with the length of their hair around the bases of the horns, you really couldn't tell how good the bases were, or really how long the horns were. You just had to long for good diameter and length, past the head hair; or in other words, judge what you can see and hope for the best. The guide was a great help here.

Manny

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:45 am

There are several ways to judge age and I'm not an expert in any of them. But one way that is relatively easy is to look at the sutures where the main crainial bones come together. Particularly the one that runs right down the middle. The more convoluted the suture, the older the beast.

Brent

mannyspd1 · Post by **mannyspd1** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:54 am

AB-

I mean't to say "You just had to LOOK for good diameter and length...

I should add that shot the bull that I did because he had a great amount of hair length on his head and shoulders. Since I was going to do a shoulder mount, the long shaggy hair looked more attractive to me. The back hide (from the shoulders back and not used in the shoulder mount) I am also having tanned, and that will go over a couch in the same room where the head will be displayed.

So even though I am interested in things like horn length and scores, I ended up taking a bull for his hide, not horn score. I knew the bull was mid-60's score wise, and that was good enough for me. But his physical size, and hair length on his hide is what made me pick that particular bull.
I have found the meat is great as well.

Manny

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:00 pm

I'd love to have a full tanned buffalo robe. Sounds like you got a great one. Must have cost you a sizable chunk of change to have it tanned.

Brent

mannyspd1 · Post by **mannyspd1** » Thu May 31, 2007 5:38 pm

Brent,

The full shoulder mount was $1500 complete, with shipping to my home extra. For the tanning of the hide, it was $14 a sq. ft., so the cost is depending on how big that back hide measures out to.

I will probably never get another full shoulder mount done, one is enough for me, but I wouldn't mind having additional hides done. I've got elk, mule deer, whitetail, bear, and axis deer hides at various locations in the house. I've got a couch already picked out for the bison hide.

I had heard these animals called "Woolys" before, but until I actually shot mine, I had no idea how much the heavy hair resembles sheeps wool. My daughters raised sheep for 4H and FFA for years, and the resemblance is remarkable.

Manny

Old Doe Shooter · Post by **Old Doe Shooter** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:58 am

When I got mine the robe was more $$ than the shoulder mount.
At 7 they REALLY get impressive! Way to go AB!!!!
Does this work here?
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/davee4570/p ... 2900475/20
ODS

mannyspd1 · Post by **mannyspd1** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 3:09 pm

ODS,

I got mine at the Durham Ranch as well. Did you hunt with Marion Scott?

Manny

Old Doe Shooter · Post by **Old Doe Shooter** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:07 am

Yes Sir Senator! The Boss is THE MAN on bison.

Oregon Bill · Post by **Oregon Bill** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:36 am

Armybrat:
I am just loving your European mount. I don't think I would want a bull any older than the one you shot as the meat is really important to me, too. I am having the same thing done with the kudu, gemsbok and warthog I recently took in Namibia (with a smokeless bolt gun, alas), but my wall won't be complete without a bison skull.
Very cool.

dm3280 · Post by **dm3280** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:47 am

The one I shot was about 9 years old, impressive animal but the meat was as tough as old shoe leather. The ground meat was great but any steaks regardless of where on the animal it came from was so tough I had to grind it into burger. We did find one way to cook the meat that made it tender but I did not care for the flavor. Soak it in Coke and water overnight with some seasoning. Place it in a pressure cooker for about 30 minutes. Meat fell apart and the flavor was OK but not good enough to make me want to keep cooking the steaks that way. Next one I go after will be a 2 - 3 year old cow. Got the shoulder mount and skull now want good meat.

The skulls do make an impressive mount. Photos do not do them justice, you have to see one to get an idea of size