Rell,

I respectfully disagree with you. I've met and talked with Kevin Robertson at length and I know that he is sincere in the expression of his convictions.

What he's trying to stop is all the (primarily South African outfitters in my experience) individuals that market "trophy" hunts to people so rabid for the taste of an African buffalo that they might not realize the importance of the differences at the time.

I agree with his efforts 100%.

I saw a post on the web just yesterday where some poor schmuck had blogged about his "trophy" buffalo bull. He posted pictures and all. And the sad part was that while it was clearly more than 40 inches wide, it had a completely soft boss that looked like a great big, grey, baby's ass.

The same goes for those hunting shows where they shoot a breeder bull out of a herd, then carefully edit the film so all you see at the end of the show is side or rear views of the kill, because what they don't want you to see is that mushy grey triangle above the eyes.

Hunting an old loner is hard work, and that's what makes for a great hunt. Think about it - very few people would brag about shooting a herd bull from behind a fence. By comparison tracking a herd is easy, and don't be fooled by those who arguer that all those eyes make it more difficult - if you're shooting from over 100 yards away it doesn't mean that much.

A true trophy doesn't equate to inches. If the animal is old [beyond just "mature"], he'll present a much more difficult prospect for closing the gap. After that, if it turns out that his horns are large, so much the better.

Hunt Zimbabwe. (while we still can) The trophy fee only comes if you kill an animal. Then it's up to the hunter to decide whether or not to pull the trigger. In that sense you are correct about unscrupulous outfitters, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you can only go to Africa once or twice in your life {like most of us}, then by all means don't ruin it by shooting the big baby of the herd.

Best from Texas.

E