Author Topic: Watusi cattle? (Read 1695 times)

bigbore442001 · « **on:** May 16, 2004, 05:56:31 AM »

I have noticed that a number of game ranches offer watusi cattle. I was wondering what is so great about these animals. Are they sporting to hunt? Are they wary? Or is it just to have an odd head on the wall and say, look what I got?

Any opinions would be appreicated.

smoky · « **Reply #1 on:** May 16, 2004, 06:30:15 AM »

It is my understanding that they are generally domesticated animals. I know that in the rodeo circles they are crossing them with other beef breeds to make superior roping and wrestling steers. I would have no interest in taking one. But for that matter, bison, zebras, etc doesn't interest me either.

My 2 cents,

Smoky

drdougrx · « **Reply #2 on:** May 16, 2004, 02:36:55 PM »

Just another head to me. Not much in the way of sporting. I may take a bison later this fall, but really, I'd like the meat and will mount the head. It is what it is.....a big cow with a lot of hair. I guess if you plan to eat it and don't lie about the "hunt." I'm fine with it.

2 more cents.

Doug

bigbore442001 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 17, 2004, 02:09:57 AM »

More than a decade ago I read a Petersen's Hunting article about a hunt for feral cattle in the brushlands of South Texas. I want to say it was written by either John Wooters or Murray Burnham.

To sum it up, the feral cattle were very wary and could be dangerous when cornered. I got the impression it was a pretty interesting hunt. I was wondering if these creatures were in the same catagory.

Graybeard · « **Reply #4 on:** May 17, 2004, 02:15:29 PM »

It is my understanding that watusi is a true wild bovine and there are folks who make it their goal to take as many of the various wild bovines of the world as possible. But generally here in the US they are just stocked barnyard types which likely will be brought in especially for you after you commit to a hunt for them. Now if you found them running wild on a large tract of land where they had lived a significant part of their lives that might be a whole nuther matter.

GB

jhm · « **Reply #5 on:** June 14, 2004, 12:56:32 PM »

I would tend to agree with all that has been said about them, however all of the domestic cattle, hogs, horses, and even the laying hen who laid your eggs for breakfast were ( wild ) until we started keeping them and they have calmed down, but have you ever got on someone elses property and had a domestic bull get after you, you never went back for seconds did you. :-D

JIM

bigbore442001 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 15, 2004, 03:26:07 AM »

I will agree on that. As a teenager, my friends and I were chased by a small herd of dairy cows for some reason. We ran like crazy and shot up into the air. They put the breaks on and we managed to get out of the area. Someone told me that they were reacting out of fear. Hmm. We were the ones in the state of fear.

As I look back it was humorous and no one hurt.

smoky · « **Reply #7 on:** June 15, 2004, 01:49:03 PM »

This is getting a little off the subject, in response to the post above, Cattle and other animals for that matter, will react to environment and positive or negative interactions with other beings and/or objects. Having a beef cattle operation myself, I can tell you that cattle will run around feeling frisky upon temperature changes, weather front movements, etc., with no intention of inflicting harm to others.

As I just stated, how an animal is trated can have a direct response on its behavior. For instance, in parts of South America, some cattle that are raised for beef production are so wild from the environment they are in (jungles) and the lack of human interaction, that they probably would provide quite a challenging "hunt". Yet, they are considered to be domesiticated creatures. But when it comes time for round up, helicopters, air boats, mean dogs, etc, must be employeed to corral them.

My 2 cents,

Smoky