Gentleman,
When I see a big Eland bull, it does something to me. It's certainly not my favorite animal, which I will probably give that honor to a Bushbuck ram, but there's just something when you see the aura of these magnificent bulls.
Have a look at this one taken by one of our hunters, Preston Van Deusen from Illinois. Please feel free to post yours and pay tribute to some of these great beasts that have fallen by the rifles/bows of our members.

What did that bull weigh? Looks like a whopper. By far my favorite animal to hunt so far. I loved the tracking style of hunting we used. Walked down and passed on several bulls, before taking this tick ridden old timer. He had a nasty wound just below his right eye, that you can see in the photo. Awesome hunt, and glad to have put such a magnificent animal out of it's misery.

Jeff

Jeff,
If my memory serves me right, this bull went around 1700lbs. It took 3 shots from a .416 Rem. I'm really pleased to hear that you enjoyed your Eland hunt. I hear too many hunters say that they don't want to hunt one as they remind them too much of cattle, which is a real shame.
They are just such an impressive animal, which will give you the same challenge as any other plains game animal.
Thanks for sharing your bull. Hell of a trophy you got there! Congratulations.

Take Care,
Marius

Marius, that is a great eland. Nothing like an old blue jean bull.

Marius, that is a Beast of a bull Eland!

I was very impressed with the athleticism of these huge animals the first time I was in their presence. They run and jump like you'd only expect to see a much smaller animal do. I personally found them quite challenging to hunt. I hunted for a big bull for well over a week with my bow in a very target rich environment without ever getting a shot. You cannot depend on waterholes as you can with many other animals.

This is my first bull but I hope it won't be my last.

Nice eland's

The best one i ever came across was while hunting Cape Buffalo and Eland was not on my license. We came with 30 yards of the Bull before it knew we were there.

Some day i will return and put this at the top of my list...

Never really thought about hunting eland before.....saw some on my trip, and they way they ran was somewhat comical; don't know quite how to describe it, but it was almost as if they didn't have any knee joints....almost like a "fast shuffle", for lack of a better term.
My P.H. and his wife seem to think that this is the BEST meat of all the wild game; after trying wildebeest, kudu, and gemsbok, I'm thinking I might have to go for one some day....just to try a taste! They other venision was out of this world!
You said it took 3 shots from a 416 to bring it down....would it be possible to take one of these animals humanely with a .30-06 or .338 Win. mag and premium bullets? Would rather put any "extra" monies towards game animals, airfare, or whatever instead of a new rifle.

I was very fortunate to see one clear a 7ft fence a couple of years ago. One of the most impressive sights nature has ever given me.

From a long time ago. Man child running loose in the bush�




And one JB got with me in 1999, his first IIRC�.

I sat down to Eland steaks just a couple of weeks ago during my most recent safari in South Africa, and they were as good as ever. It is my favorite wild game meat.

My Eland was taken with a 30.06 using 180 grain Norma Oryx factory ammo. I think I hit him 2 or 3 times, but my first well placed shot was enough to do the job. They are definitely big hardy beasts, but any projectile that enters the vitals will put them down given a bit of time. You certainly do not have to have a special rifle for them.

Nice bulls by all. I hope to add one to the skinning shed at some point. I've got the smallest duiker in a blue duiker, and i might as well add the largest antelope in an eland.

Mine , from Namibia last year. If the photo shows up.
One shot from .338WM.

That is one heck on an eland trophy sir! Mine was an old bull with well-groomed horns. It was a great classic eland hunt though, we tracked a pair of them for over four hours, took him at 175 yards with my 375.

Awesome pics. Gotta try that some day.

Some serious meat on the hoof there, Marius!

I really enjoyed hunting eland. Beautiful(and tasty!) animal. But it was how we hunted them, that I enjoyed the most. Cut a likely looking track, and walk them down. It was wonderful, and really glad that we got to do it several times before succeeding. Will do it again, for sure!

Regards,

Jeff

That's what I want to hear Jeff! Pleased to hear that you had a good hunt.

Had to cape him on the ground and quarter that bad boy to get him loaded onto the truck.

And a world famous PH also.....wow

John Sharpe is looking older these days and you are much thinner! I still wouldn't cross John, don't let the grey in his hair fool you.

Eland steaks are very tasty. I've had Cape Eland and Lord Derby eland, and both are worthy of Ruth's Chris. Eland, like beef, has fat marbled in the meat that adds to the flavor. I'd love to have a T-bone dry aged from one.

A treat that might surprise you is liver from eland (or kudu). Cooked in butter with a little salt and pepper, it is a delightful delicacy that in no respect will remind you of calf's liver.

I lived on Eland biltong during my recent safari. Man was it good!!! The marbling was fantastic.

Eric

John's still working out and still pretty hard. As for me, yeah, just about 50lb (still have to fight it hard and I'm running five days/week now and hopefully my soon to be 60 year old legs won't quit on me). I'm also back to lifting a bit. Anyhow, hunting with John is a hell of an experience. In Zim, I just won't hunt with anyone else!

Yeah, John's not too bad either...

Here are a couple I shot in Zimbabwe the past few years.

I love hunting eland, can't wait to hunt the Lord Derby eland in '15!

From RSA in 2008. Can't believe its been that long ago. Need to get back.

KMG, that is a awesome bull! Here is a picture of my best eland and one of my favorite trophies.

Wow, some nice bulls here! And wow, that guy in the picture sure is handsome! I recommend going after one of these big guys for sure. As others mentioned, the spot and stalk method of hunting these is worth it. I was shaking so bad from excitement when I saw this guy I threw my first shot into his lungs. Luckily I hit him again when he turned to run, the bullet went a**hole to brisket and put him down.

Thanks to KMG for a great hunt and a great eland.

I always thought I shot a pretty nice Eland, but there are some whoppers posted on this thread!

Zim 2001


Mike

My only eland so far, from the Eastern Cape a couple years ago. I found them very interesting to hunt. The one my brother got was quite a bit older and a bit bigger. Would love to hunt them again.

Found this photo. Now this is what I'm talking about. Steroids?

Holy Crap!


I'll bet that one weighs as much as most hunters claim theirs weigh!

^^^^hahaha^^^^^


Looks like Elvis with that mop on his head.

Buddy had a huge one come from a game ranch that butts up against his lease. He killed it with a heck of second shot from a 270 Win with 150 grain factory ammo. Gets his mount this week but it sticks out over three feet from the wall. No idea where he is planning on putting it.

I felt glad because I helped outfit him with the rifle and scope. That thing would have scared the hell out me and weighed more than one of his heifers. One of my first thoughts was dang, something out there actually eats these!

I got this one a few years ago. it is a Cape Eland and it was a little over 39" on one horn and a little over 40" on the other. He was a little unusual since his horns didn't have much in the way of tip to tip spread and not much of a topnot.



He remains the biggest one I've seen in the field over the course of 5 safaris. My father got this one about 2 hrs after I got mine hunting in a different part of the concession. It was wild taking 2 eland bulls on the same day.

All great trophies and on my list for 2015!!!

Bow kill Livingstone Eland.

THAT was a bull to take, for sure. He's an ancient old bull with well worn tips, a true trophy eland IMO!

I hunted this one on Coutada 9 in Mozambique with Mokore Safaris. Extremely good hunt. Did not see him for the first three or four hours of tracking.

Outstanding Mike!

Thanks Bruce! Taking him with a drilling(9.3x74/12ga), was icing on the cake. Can't wait to do it again!

Hope that arm/shoulder heals up for you, so you can get back out there!

Regards,

Jeff

Wow....very nice bull!!

Jeff

Holy crap! Im gonna have to go back and delete my post! You guys are putting my little dink to shame!

Dan�YOU SUCK!

You could get that one a new 'do' and he could pass for a Lord derby...

couldn't you guys wait for a big one?

OK, well , here is a question. Long horns or big mop? What's your choice?

Neither, really. For me, it's an old timer with heavy but tip worn horn's. No preference on the mop. Above all that, hunted via following tracks on foot.

Jeff

^^^^


This. Exactly.

Not part of the question, gentleman. We all advocate fair chase hunting.
What part of the Eland do you consider a bigger part of the trophy. The horn length, or the mop?
Would you rather take a 40" bull or a 30" worn down bull that looks like Elvis?

Worn down with a dark thick mop.

OK�I like the worn down old stuff.

30" worn down Elvis.

Jeff

I can't decide. I love the look of both horn length and mop. Looking at the photos, it looks as though some have both. Really nice mop and great horn length. I once saw a pic of Eva Shocky with an old, massive "blue bull" that looked like the horns were only about 18" out of the head and worn down like the end of a baseball bat. I think that's beautiful also.

Yeah Woods, I agree. Worn down animal like that for me thanks, absolutely. No chance you could find that photo and post it here?

Here's another one I just found in my past photos:

I'm looking Marius. I can't find it right now. I'm gonna keep looking.that one you just posted is gorgeous!! Thanks, Kevin

Eland with Leopards Valley Safari's. What a great hunt!

rnovi, Dave runs a class operation!
If I look at the background in your photo, I'm just glad I was not part of the recovery team that day!
Is that the shot high on the shoulder shoulder? Weapon?

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Marius,

Yes indeed, Dave puts on a FINE hunt!

Let's see, the Weapon: Merkel K1 in 7mm RMag. 6.5# scoped and slinger. The load was a 150gr. Nosler E-tip over 72.5gr. of Ramshot Magnum for about 3,000 fps.



You are right about the terrain! What you can't see is the elevation. We parked down low in the vale and put on a solid 90 minute stalk before we could get into shooting range. Thick brush, about 500' of elevation gain, acacia thorn - it was nasty.

When we finally got into position we were after a group of Eland some 400 yards away. As we were looking for a way up to the a second group appeared out of nowhere at 200 yards - with the bull we wanted behind a female, feeding head down in a cluster of either. We must have waited there on the sticks for over 20 minutes for them to move.



Can you count the critters in the pic?

I think we counted nearly 18 Eland and a solid dozen Blue Wildebeest on the side of the mountain above us. We kept wondering if they'd wind us the way the wind was swirling but we had parked so far away (*and they hadn't seen our approach) that they just milled about.

Right around the 20 minute mark they decided they didn't want to face to the left anymore and turned 180 degrees, starting a very, very slow walk out of this little thicket. My Bull stopped, perfectly silhouetted between two shrubs with his shoulder gleaming in the light.

I accepted the brace from Craig Done (My PH, great guy there), settled down and let fly.

That impact was right on the right side, lower shoulder and made the most incredible SCHMACK! The bullet impacted dead center on the big arm bone completely shattering the leg before punching through the ribs. That bull reared up and leapt a good 8 feet in the air and crashed straight down.

I get a second round into the rifle and sit there on the sticks. The Bull was down in the middle of the brush with only his head sticking up. He had this look about him like "What the heck just hit me???". And he just kept looking around.

The other Eland maybe walked off 20 yards and then just stood around. A few kept looking back, others were looking around to find us. The Wildebeest just stood there chewing their cud.

We had no approach with the Bull and no second shot the way he was down. All we could do was sit back a bit and wait. And Wait. And Wait.

Time gets all weird like that. I think we were there for 15 minutes, just waiting for him to put his head down. We pulled the camera out, took picture from the distance, started glassing the Blue's (they were on the dance card as well) and waited some more.

Finally the bull started to get up. I was locked in on the sticks and started saying "he's getting up! he's up! He's UP!" - I saw the left shoulder this time barely above the brush and decided to let fly on a high shoulder. It wasn't my ideal shot but it was the shot I had and I figured the real answer was to get some more lead in him as quick as possible. I did NOT want to chase a wounded Eland.

The second shot hit (that's the shot in the Pic) and the Bull went straight down. I can still remember the dust exploding off the high shoulder. With the running gear shattered on both sides he wasn't going anywhere. Still, I put another round in the chamber and stayed on the sticks another five minutes to see if there was any movement.

It was as perfect a first shot as could have been made. Except the 150gr. E-Tip just plain didn't have enough oomph to get to the heart. Trajectory was right and angle was right, just plain not enough penetration.

It took us another 30+ minutes to actually get up to the Bull. Yes, the conditions were just that tough to walk through. I really, really felt bad for the Eland Recovery Team.

This guy was a Grand old warrior! Battle scars, busted horn (the right spiral is busted off at the base), lots of blue in the hide.

He was exactly what I wanted and it was the type of hunt I long for. Another few months and he will be back to me to hang proudly on my wall!

Oh, I really like the Merkel K1. Sexy rifle, for sure. Light and easy to carry. I can't tell you how close I've come 3 or 4 times to buying one. Can't come close to justifying adding to my Arsenal of Democracy when I have multiples that do the same job.

Looks kinda like Cody Lundin.

How much on average do Eland weigh?

1750-2000#. They're big.