NZ Hunter – August 2019

AGE THE

Bull

This is the 23

rd

in our series

of guess the age of the bull.

We are asking for anyone who has

a good photo or series of photos

of a Wapiti bull to email them in

to us. Our 'expert' panel of Roy

Sloan, Cam Speedy, Jeremy 'Jere'

Deardon and the Editor will be

giving their age estimates and

reasoning.

THIS IS ONE OF THE PHOTOS OF

LAST ISSUE'S BULL AND THESE

ARE THE PANEL'S OPINIONS:

>Cam

A good selection of images that

provide some different angles

and views of posture, head and

body characteristics. This guy is a

beast! His body is hugely developed,

all chest and neck. His very large

head, with its Roman-nose, hangs

low in both the lake shot and head-

to-the-left side on image – and these

give a good view of his near absent

pedicles. Even if he does have the

look of ‘youthful inquisitiveness’ in

the front on shots standing on the

scrub edge, I’m gonna guess this is an

older fella that is mature and possibly

going back antler-wise, but he is still

in really good nick! How cool that

this level of maturity is developing

again in the Fiordland Wapiti Area.

Jere

A big lump of a bull here with a

bit of maturity about him. Prime

condition indicates he's been in a

good paddock and has had every

opportunity to express his genetic

potential. His antlers are poor and

lacking bay tines. He's weak in the

tops and his best feature is his brow

tines. I have recently witnessed a

helicopter cull on private land by

some very experienced deer men and

I can comfortably say this animal

would be a prime candidate for the

chiller/to be culled. There's not much

to like about this bull's antlers. I

estimate his age is about 7 years

>Roy

What a lump of an animal; big,

mature head, low coronets, gut

sagging, solid body front and

back. Looking at the full body photo

his head looks too small for his body.

I would say he's 7 and mature. These

photos are interesting. If you look

at him in one photo he looks very

Red deer-ish but in the other he

looks very Wapiti type. What is he?

Million dollar question with a simple

solution. Is he a trophy or is he not

a trophy? That's the only question

you should ask yourself. Too many

hunters think they know what the

genetic make-up of these animals

are and shoot bulls similar to this

saying it was a Red deer. The FWF

doesn't fully understand this yet and

are trying to solve this very difficult

problem. Leave the culling to the

FWF. Again, we have had animals

shot in the ballot with people saying

they are culling Red deer when they

have turned out to be 2 year old

Wapiti.

Heads up to hunters - for the 2020

Wapiti bugle, if you win a ballot

ensure you fully understand the

terms and conditions that have been

set. More info coming soon.

When you pay your acceptance fee

there will be a section included that

you must first read. As party leader

you are responsible for all of your

party’s actions.

>Greg

As the others have said, a

mature bull with pretty poor

antler potential. If you are

absolutely sure you have aged him

correctly at 7 years plus, and want to

carry his antlers out, then I wouldn’t

have an issue with you shooting him.

If in any doubt, leave the culling to

the Foundation. But as Roy says, do

not do any culling on Red/Wapiti

type evaluation – absolutely leave

that to the Foundation!

70 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ August / September 2019

How

To

AGE THE

Bull

This is the 23

rd

in our series

of guess the age of the bull.

We are asking for anyone who has

a good photo or series of photos

of a Wapiti bull to email them in

to us. Our 'expert' panel of Roy

Sloan, Cam Speedy, Jeremy 'Jere'

Deardon and the Editor will be

giving their age estimates and

reasoning.

THIS IS ONE OF THE PHOTOS OF

LAST ISSUE'S BULL AND THESE

ARE THE PANEL'S OPINIONS:

>Cam

A good selection of images that

provide some different angles

and views of posture, head and

body characteristics. This guy is a

beast! His body is hugely developed,

all chest and neck. His very large

head, with its Roman-nose, hangs

low in both the lake shot and head-

to-the-left side on image – and these

give a good view of his near absent

pedicles. Even if he does have the

look of ‘youthful inquisitiveness’ in

the front on shots standing on the

scrub edge, I’m gonna guess this is an

older fella that is mature and possibly

going back antler-wise, but he is still

in really good nick! How cool that

this level of maturity is developing

again in the Fiordland Wapiti Area.

Jere

A big lump of a bull here with a

bit of maturity about him. Prime

condition indicates he's been in a

good paddock and has had every

opportunity to express his genetic

potential. His antlers are poor and

lacking bay tines. He's weak in the

tops and his best feature is his brow

tines. I have recently witnessed a

helicopter cull on private land by

some very experienced deer men and

I can comfortably say this animal

would be a prime candidate for the

chiller/to be culled. There's not much

to like about this bull's antlers. I

estimate his age is about 7 years

>Roy

What a lump of an animal; big,

mature head, low coronets, gut

sagging, solid body front and

back. Looking at the full body photo

his head looks too small for his body.

I would say he's 7 and mature. These

photos are interesting. If you look

at him in one photo he looks very

Red deer-ish but in the other he

looks very Wapiti type. What is he?

Million dollar question with a simple

solution. Is he a trophy or is he not

a trophy? That's the only question

you should ask yourself. Too many

hunters think they know what the

genetic make-up of these animals

are and shoot bulls similar to this

saying it was a Red deer. The FWF

doesn't fully understand this yet and

are trying to solve this very difficult

problem. Leave the culling to the

FWF. Again, we have had animals

shot in the ballot with people saying

they are culling Red deer when they

have turned out to be 2 year old

Wapiti.

Heads up to hunters - for the 2020

Wapiti bugle, if you win a ballot

ensure you fully understand the

terms and conditions that have been

set. More info coming soon.

When you pay your acceptance fee

there will be a section included that

you must first read. As party leader

you are responsible for all of your

party’s actions.

>Greg

As the others have said, a

mature bull with pretty poor

antler potential. If you are

absolutely sure you have aged him

correctly at 7 years plus, and want to

carry his antlers out, then I wouldn’t

have an issue with you shooting him.

If in any doubt, leave the culling to

the Foundation. But as Roy says, do

not do any culling on Red/Wapiti

type evaluation – absolutely leave

that to the Foundation!

70 NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE ~ August / September 2019

How

To