Why you dont want to hunt elephant..?

[BJH65]

Different strokes for different folks I guess. The cost seems central to most conversations.

If you can afford a Cape buffalo bull hunt then you can afford to hunt elephant. It may be for tuskless in Zim. Some non exportable bull elephant hunts in Zim are comparable in price to trophy buffalo hunts in SA, perhaps 2-3k more for exportable non trophy bulls. Non exportable bull elephant in the Greater Kruger, 25-30 lb range are similar in cost as well, 16k-18k.

All of the above I’ve seen go between 10k-18.5k. Of course cancellations, deals, etc, may vary the price lower and more hunt days and travel can add to the cost. If one is seeking an exportable trophy bull you’re obviously going to pay a lot but elephant hunting is now within reach for many.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

That’s great to hear!!! That is just one thing that makes our forum so great sharing hunts and cost ranges so people can build their own personal vision and have fun trying to obtain it!!!

I would love hear a report on that hunt my friend!!! I bet there would be learnings for all of us!

@Rare Breed

It was in 2006. I was armed with a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum pre ‘64 Winchester Model 70 (loaded with 300Gr Prvi Partizan round nosed copper jacketed FMJ solid factory ammunition). My white hunter was armed with a .505 Gibbs that was built on a South African Vecktor action (loaded with hand loaded 600Gr DZOMBO MK. 6 flat nosed brass monometal solids).

I shot the bull elephant behind the shoulder. He turned and charged. I attempted three frontal brain shots. It didn’t even stagger the bull. He would have got me if my white hunter didn’t fire & brain the tusker. Later, a postmortem revealed that those Serbian copper jacketed FMJ solids had all disintegrated upon impact. Their jackets were made of too brittle a material. It was quite a terrifying experience. I never felt so powerless and weak in my life. 52 years of hunting in Africa (and counting !) and that’s the only time my white hunter ever needed to step in to save my life.

I swore off Prvi Particularly .375 Holland & Holland Magnum ammunition after that. There was an ill omen earlier that day in the Safari camp. Half the box of Prvi Partizan solids weren’t allowing the bolt of the Winchester Model 70 to close over them. I should have taken a clue, then & there.

 

[358 Norma]

I want to hunt Elephant someday, but i don't know if I will ever be able too!

If I'm ever able to hunt Elephant it will be a tuskless cow. I will use my Chapuis 470 double with my own handloaded solids. I will take it with a brain shot and then that night sitting at the camp fire I will celebrate it's life with a fine cigar and a bourbon! Then I will never hunt Elephant again! But when it's done I will know what it's like to have truly lived a hunters life!

 

[Rifleman97]

My ph and I had a looooooong conversation about such things.

He put forth the concept of a spectrum where animals of different types fall between "pets and food" for different people.
I thought it was brilliant.

My wife gives me a hard time because I want to hunt crocodile and she says "Are you going to eat it?!"

I ask her about cockroaches when she kills them. "Are you going to eat it?"

"That's different".
Right. Naturally

I think everyone has a different spectrum of appreciation for various critters. I have no desire to hunt bears because I have no interest in eating them. Same with cats. But moose, hippo, and caribou are on the list.

Elephant? I have no issues with people hunting them but it's not for me. Too much Disney Jungle Book cartoons as a kid I guess.

I have a friend that has pet spiders.
For me, there's not enough napalm in the world for 8 legs and teeth. Pure concentrated evil.

I won’t hunt bears because I grew up next to a man who had a bear as a pet (it was given to him by the government after it was saved from a circus who had him illegally). As I got older and the owner became elderly I became Teddy’s caretaker and he definitely was more pet than wild animal to me.

Such a sweet, intelligent animal.

Here’s me giving Teddy a mint tic tac, one of his favorite treats. He passed away 2 days ago at 28 years old. Gentle giant, loved head scratches, apples, tic tacs, and MilkBone biscuits. I’ve been in enclosure with him countless times and he never did anything ill mannered, although I never had my phone out to take a pic while I was in with him as I wanted my full attention in case he did something by accident, as he was a bit clumsy.

Here’s Teddy with a 12” subway bread loaf lol, the local subway donated end of day throw outs to feed him. This was in his winter (much smaller) enclosure in the fall as he was bulking for hibernation.

Here’s him in spring when he was starting to perk up and have more energy

There’s no way I could hunt a black bear after owning Teddy. Too far into the pet category on the food/pet scale for me. I could shoot a bear in self defense, but I could not hunt one intentionally.

With elephants, I think they’re too intelligent for me to hunt personally. I don’t eat octopus for the same reason. I think it’s a personal thing, and I don’t mind that other people hunt them. Those hunters deserve happiness and if hunting them gives them joy then more power to them. Just not for me.

 

[Hunt anything]

After the disaster that occurred on my third African elephant hunt (in which I nearly got killed), I subconsciously grew terrified of African elephants for many years and put off many opportunities to hunt them. That fear is now fortunately gone and you can expect to see me out after the great pachyderms again real soon !

Now that is an elephant hunt I would love to be on!
Go get em @Hunter-Habib !

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Now that is an elephant hunt I would love to be on!
Go get em @Hunter-Habib !

You own a .505 Gibbs, don’t you ? Bring it and you’re on Team Habib !

 

[Aiden204]

Most elephant hunts are not like that, fortunately.

yeah true enough. Im not after elephant but I know they have to be managed. Not my cup of tea but props to the fellas who hunt them

 

[Nyati]

Elephant, my dream hunt.

But it would have to be a good one, around 100 lbs. in Botswana, and I just cannot justify spending this serious amount of cash in it.

 

[Pondoro]

100 pounders are extremely few and far between..the stuff dreams are made of..

 

[skydiver386]

Elephant, my dream hunt.

But it would have to be a good one, around 100 lbs. in Botswana, and I just cannot justify spending this serious amount of cash in it.

I think this is something that really makes the decision a difficult one. I'd love a huge tusker, but can I, or should I sink that kind of money into such a hunt? I really only want an older male, but the cost might cover 3 hunts for other game species.

I didn't know I needed a Lord Derby Eland until I started hanging around this bunch, but when I do hunt one, I'll only pull the trigger on the MACHO GRANDE of LDE. Putting the effort into a small one just doesn't seem worth the while.

 

[cwpayton]

It was extremely emotional for me even though the PAC elephant I took had killed someone. It was raiding crops and the poor old lady tried to scare it off by banging pans together, sad story all the way around. It had been shot in the left tusk socket and was full of puss.

I would love to do a tracking hunt for a bull but I don’t know if I ever will.

@Datchew , your missing out by not eating a berry fattened black bear.

Ive eaten about everything Ive killed ,except ground squirrels. Actually backstrap from a mountain lion or bob cat is pretty good, rattle snake is ok but I hate them so dont make a habit of eating them.

 

[375Fox]

I think this is something that really makes the decision a difficult one. I'd love a huge tusker, but can I, or should I sink that kind of money into such a hunt? I really only want an older male, but the cost might cover 3 hunts for other game species.

I didn't know I needed a Lord Derby Eland until I started hanging around this bunch, but when I do hunt one, I'll only pull the trigger on the MACHO GRANDE of LDE. Putting the effort into a small one just doesn't seem worth the while.

If you ever do hunt LDE I think you’ll rethink that decision after about a week. It’s the most difficult hunt I’ve done. Any mature old bull is a great trophy. There are a few very good areas but they really come at a premium. I think the opportunity to hunt elephant will exist a lot longer than the opportunity to hunt LDE. Lord derby eland is the pinnacle of African hunting to me, but I think the window is closing fast.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

It's just not for me. I'm not into bear hunting either. Been pretty much exclusively birds and split hooves since I started hunting in 1964. Have shot a few coyotes in recent years at request of landowners but only incidental contact. I generally do not purposely hunt varmints. Mind you, I have no issues with anyone who wants to hunt or shoot elephants, bears, predators, or varmints. It's not my thing. I would much rather spend my time hunting birds. Is what it is ... or isn't.

 

[kpoynter]

Great Topic that generated lots of constructive dialogue

For me… I can say I have been fortunate to hunt 4 Elephant thus far over a 18 year period (2 in the last two years however)
I view the Elephant as a “Pinnacle Species”… a Grand and incredible animal to be around and ultimately immersed with as part of the Elephant Hunting experience
What greater animal is there? I love the tracking and the experience of the hunt, but I think the reason (or a big reason) we hunt anything is to ultimately become part of the true Natural Cycle. We respect these great animals tremendously. I think we feel this way when we pick up a bird we have shot…a deer we have harvested….
But being up close and personal with the Greatest Land Animal on Earth????
For me….
I’ll do it again and again still I believe…I also can related to and respect the opinions and perspectives reflected putting certain animals like Elephant or Giraffe (and some say Zebra or whatever) into a “different category” mentally
I felt that way early in my career about Giraffe and Zebra and then later wanted them badly, but because I admired them greatly
I’d like to hang up my boots someday having taken some great Tuskers….all up close and personal
As many as I can while the fire still burns

 

[cwpayton]

I’m much the same…

I don’t disparage anyone that chooses to hunt elephant.. I firmly believe God gave man dominion over all animals… but it’s just not of interest to me..

They are a very special animal to my wife.. you’ll find elephant paintings and statues and other things scattered around our house.. she’s been fascinated by them literally since the day I met her (decades before we ever hunted in Africa)..

By the same token I also have no desire to hunt any of the legal species of whales. Again I dont disparage anyone that does (the legal species such as greys or fins).. its just not of interest..

But ill hunt buffalo every day of the week if given the opportunity.. blue wildebeest and buffalo are far and away my favorite African hunts..

I was in a invitation only sniper style shoot 3 yrs ago ,and was paired up with a seal vet. Trying to strike up a conversation ,I said something about hunting , he turn to me and chillingly said Id rather kill people than animals ,It took me by surprise ,and I said I get it and dropped the subject. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[cwpayton]

I had the opposite experience than a few mentioned here. I hadn’t cared to hunt Elephant until I ran into a herd while on a Buffalo hunt in the Save Zimbabwe.



The sheer size of them, the vocalizations, the sense of danger being around them was incredible. My rifle definitely felt small. I was able to go back to Zim with a 470 NE and successfully kill a Bull. Now that I’ve done it, would love to go again!


The main hang up is the cost- I definitely feel the Zim budget route is a great entry point on exportable Ele. But if I go again I would have to go for a more trophy route and that gets pricey quick!View attachment 737687

looks tropy enough to me !!

 

[BruceS]

I register on this and other hunting forums that some decline to hunt elephant..though they gladly hunt cape buffalo etc.

To me, ele hunting is the pinnacle..just curious to why some hunters won't hunt them..?

On my 1st safari in 1983 i passed on a last minute cow. I hadn't practiced enough to feel prepared. Next few trips centered around Buff and plainsgame. A bull or tuskless cow is definitely on wish list.

 

[Tanks]

I was in a invitation only sniper style shoot 3 yrs ago ,and was paired up with a seal vet. Trying to strike up a conversation ,I said something about hunting , he turn to me and chillingly said Id rather kill people than animals …

When people ask me why I shoot defenseless elephants, my reply, with an evil grin, is that I am not allowed to shoot people. That usually shuts them up.

 

[meigsbucks]

My views of hunting elephants are varied. On the one hand, I watch the videos of elephants kicking dirt at hunters at 15yds. That looks like the ultimate adventure and adrenaline rush. As others have shared, I didn’t know how “affordable” elephant hunting could be until I came to this site. Still I look at elephant as a special animal. Interesting, intelligent and social. My mind might change at some point, but hunting them is not for me. I laud and envy those who do though as I think it is the ultimate hunt.
There are a few other species I have no or little interest in hunting, but that’s for another day.

 

[Russ16]

My views of hunting elephants are varied. On the one hand, I watch the videos of elephants kicking dirt at hunters at 15yds. That looks like the ultimate adventure and adrenaline rush. As others have shared, I didn’t know how “affordable” elephant hunting could be until I came to this site. Still I look at elephant as a special animal. Interesting, intelligent and social. My mind might change at some point, but hunting them is not for me. I laud and envy those who do though as I think it is the ultimate hunt.
There are a few other species I have no or little interest in hunting, but that’s for another day.

I should say some of the more affordable hunts I really feel I need more information. I've seen hunts that are just for crop raiders or at night. I'm sure those are exciting and fun, but not what I'm looking for in an elephant hunt. I care more about the hunt than the tusk size. I want a good hard tracking hunt.