Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa A Last Minute Elephant Hunt

It’s a damn shame is has come to this:

Warning - This is for those who are interested in African hunting, interested in sharing experiences, have been there and enjoy reliving the unique experiences vicariously or for those who dream of someday going. All of the Never-been-there/Never-done-it and Have ZERO desire do anything but troll because you have a lonely miserable existence, just GFY right now as you exit this thread. Those of you that love Africa and or desire to go one day, I write of my experiences for you/us to enjoy. Bring a sense of humor, leave any Woke sensitivities or overblown delusions of self-importance at the door. Thank you. Used with permission. Thank you, Jeff.



It was this time a week ago today that we were loading up at the camp to head to Katima for our flight to Windhoek and the trip back to the states. Tomorrow morning will be two weeks since the first elephant was taken, a week since I've been back, and this past Friday was a couple of days over a week since the last elephant. It seems like a lifetime ago.

To be clear, elephant hunting was never on my things-to-do bucket list. Or on any other list for that matter. If I had the $100k+ for a 90 lb plus unit, I still wouldn't do it. I've seen the beasts walkabout on African soil more than once and find them rather majestic creatures that require respect, but I never had any desire to take one on a hunt. That said, a last-minute deal came for a couple of drought relief elephants, culls of sorts, that brought me once again to The Caprivi for just that purpose.

Booking a couple of flights only 6 days ahead of doesn’t allow for much shopping for cheap fares. Having dealt with SA last year and the import/export permits, and given the last-minute booking, I asked Steve with TWG to avoid SA completely if at all possible. He was able to find flights directly into Windhoek from Frankfurt, so we chose that route, although we had to pay an additional $280 per gun in both coming and going to do so, and well worth it to me.

The change here (The Caprivi) is incredible. When I was here ten years ago, there was water all over. Just coming into camp meant driving through a half meter of water for 150 meters before coming back up onto dry land. Much of the hunting we did then required a lot of walking, as often as not wading sometimes waist deep through water. A branch of a much larger river flowed only 100 yards past the camp.

Last year the water was gone, no wading or driving through any at all. The river branch by the camp still had as much as 10-12' of water in places, with hippo and croc still in place although the flow of water was no longer.

This time, one year later, there is no water to be seen anywhere, save a bit of a puddle by the camp, but only because the PH has a line from his well to keep at least some of the animals hydrated. Local cattle being no exception, they are routinely run off as soon as they arrive. Elephant are quite vocal during the night when they arrive to get their share.


We left camp just at daylight the first day (around 06:30) and began to see elephants right off the bat, just as it was last year while hunting buffalo. Elephant can be moody, and this morning was no exception, when we invaded the space of a couple of cows. They announced their displeasure with great fanfare, what with the flapping of ears and trumpeting, and a feign charge toward the bakkie that could turn real had we not been moving.

By 07:30 my son, Tyler, had a young bull down. Tyler placed a shot to the heart (Merkel, .470NE) that put the bull to flight, with another raking round toward the boiler room. I followed up with a shot (.416 Taylor, Selby Custom Guns on a CZ BRNO) at the left hip with no immediate effect. The bull ran out of sight up a slight hill covered in vegetation, but the dust trail showed the location. We walked round to the left of the hill to the see where the dust was headed and saw the bull had made about 150 yards and had stopped, so we watched him briefly before we saw him stagger around some, go down, recover and stand up a moment before going down for the count. There was a great deal of noise made during this time, more than I had ever imagined. I just never thought of an elephant making any noise in death like this (yes, I’ve heard them trumpet and scream in the bush), as this was the first time to experience such an event. Most of the videos I’ve seen are brain shots, where all is mostly quiet after the shot is fired, notwithstanding the hoots and hollers, and heart shots were well after the fact.
Given the racket the bull made, the PH, Dawid, mentioned we needed to watch for those that may come to his aid. At this point we were in the open, so had a good, long, field of vision. Seems the other elephants had moved on to quieter locations, as none bothered to show. Insurance shots to the head were administered, a couple from the .470NE from the front, and a .416 Taylor round through the top of the head.

After photos, measurements, GPS coords, and tail removal, the recovery vehicle arrived with the camp skinners. Shortly after the crew arrived, Dawid said it was time to head back to camp, but I wanted a necropsy to see what happened, so Tyler and I stayed to watch the butchering process. It wasn’t long before the village skinning party showed up. In all, there were about 8-9 guys hacking and slashing. It was quite the eye-opener to see how an elephant is field dressed and butchered, and I’m glad we stayed.



There’s more to the story that I will post about bullet placement, performance, and recovery for those that may be interested.

Congratulations to you and your son on a successful hunt! While I hadn’t considered elephant hunting previously due to cost, I’m actually quite surprised on some of the deals that crop up in Zimbabwe and Namibia exportable elephant hunts, definitely within my range. Enjoyed your story and photos, thanks for sharing!

Thank you.

Unfortunately, these are not exportable. One must get the trophy permits for that, and they are considerably more expensive, as is the daily rate.

While I don't care to hunt elephant again, I would encourage you to do so. You may find it's right up your ally. I would do it again under the right circumstances, but I don't care to pay to do it again.

Thanks again for taking the time to post your story. I’m very much interested in your follow up regarding bullet placement, performance and recovery. That is a very handsome 416 Taylor rifle you have from Mr Selby. In truth, I would be okay with a non exportable elephant hunt, the older I get the less important for me to bring back trophies. Regarding elephant hunting, it is not something I would take lightly. I completely understand that hunting is a vital tool to maintain balance and a healthy population and not a scrap of meat is wasted, yet there is some reluctance, they are an awe inspiring animal due to their intelligence and tremendous size and I suspect one would simultaneously feel both elated and sad at the same time upon successfully hunting one.

I leave for Limpopo in a few days for Buffalo after a 27 year hiatus from Africa and I very much look forward to the experience but the seed has been planted for elephant. Look forward to your follow up.

Brendon

Wuparo?

Yep

Long time no see, Pladin, but thanks for a great report. Must have been a wonderful experience to share the hunt with your son.

Congratulations to both you and Tyler. miles

Congrats Paladin!

Guess I'm the oddball as I would love to hunt elephant.

went to zambia in 22..first time...going to Zimbabwe in nov 25....kazuma...to hunt elephant...bob

Good luck Bob_mt!

Congratulations! There is nothing better than sharing a safari with your kids and building special memories that’ll last a lifetime.

Thanks.....hopefully I beat the rains. You only live once ..

Hopefully you get a chance to go.....bob

Dawid is on my short list to hunt with in Namibia. Buff rather than Ele, but since a problem elephant killed a friend of mine earlier this year my attitude is changing.

congratulations! sounds like an awesome trip

That one is in musth, even worse

I’ve taken 3 non exportable bulls in the Caprivi in the last dozen years- all total, the cost was less than 1 trophy bull would have been. Great fun!

Great story to recount. Thank you for sharing!💪

Nice recap.

Awsome David.