Elephant, In search of 80+ pounds

eyedok said:

Got lucky and took this single tusker 88.6 in Moz w Tsala, my goal was 55+

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50Gunner said:

Just in from three wees in Zimbabwe, they say the bull may go 80lbs, no scales available at camp.

i contacted Michael458 about Elephant last Winter, asked about Andrew Schoeman with Baobab Safaris about big bulls, he done the legwork and much more then booked with Guav Johnson, we hunted the Kazuma Pan on the Botswana border, saw near 20 bulls per day.

At the pre-dawn firepit I said, day Seven, must be Heaven, we partly saw the dark ivory bull the evening before at a water hole, he was over 100 yards away huddled in with other bulls, Andrew called him a shooter and a fine, fine trophy, the wind shifted and they thundered away, we were very lucky to find him again the next morning with six other bulls.

As we moved with the wind another young bull cut our tracks, he gave that signal no human can detect, the bulls again thundered away, magnificent creatures, the wind improved to a more steady direction, we again found the bulls in very thick cover, plenty of leaves still left as this was a wet year there.

At 15 yards I could not see the bulls head for a side brain, did see his right front leg tilted forward at the ankle, he was listening, made out his shoulder in the heavy cover, gave him a 450gr North Fork flat nosed solid on the right side lungs from my Holland 500-450 double, he thundered away like a runaway locomotive, the excellent trackers found him a short time later.

I found the side brain, placed the bead of the double a hand width in front of the ear hole on his left side, as I was breaking the trigger he swung his massive head to the right, the shot landed just behind the ear hole hitting the spine, he dropped then swung his head left back towards me, that again opened up the side brain, one quick second shot and it was all over, he threw up his great trunk and crashed fully to the ground.

The lung shot and side brain exited the bull, the spine shot did not.

For the pros here that may have info on what he may weigh I'll throw out the measurements we got.

20 and 20.5 inches diameter at the lip.

40 and 42 inches tusk length from lip to tips.

69 and 71 inch total tusk lengths.

They are very heavy and stained the most beautiful black I have ever seen.

He was a very old bull, extremely happy and grateful to have taken such a magnificent animal.

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Adam Stevens said:

I saw photos on guavs socials. what a bull! and I agree, the dark stain sure does add to it!

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50Gunner said:

Just in from three wees in Zimbabwe, they say the bull may go 80lbs, no scales available at camp.

i contacted Michael458 about Elephant last Winter, asked about Andrew Schoeman with Baobab Safaris about big bulls, he done the legwork and much more then booked with Guav Johnson, we hunted the Kazuma Pan on the Botswana border, saw near 20 bulls per day.

At the pre-dawn firepit I said, day Seven, must be Heaven, we partly saw the dark ivory bull the evening before at a water hole, he was over 100 yards away huddled in with other bulls, Andrew called him a shooter and a fine, fine trophy, the wind shifted and they thundered away, we were very lucky to find him again the next morning with six other bulls.

As we moved with the wind another young bull cut our tracks, he gave that signal no human can detect, the bulls again thundered away, magnificent creatures, the wind improved to a more steady direction, we again found the bulls in very thick cover, plenty of leaves still left as this was a wet year there.

At 15 yards I could not see the bulls head for a side brain, did see his right front leg tilted forward at the ankle, he was listening, made out his shoulder in the heavy cover, gave him a 450gr North Fork flat nosed solid on the right side lungs from my Holland 500-450 double, he thundered away like a runaway locomotive, the excellent trackers found him a short time later.

I found the side brain, placed the bead of the double a hand width in front of the ear hole on his left side, as I was breaking the trigger he swung his massive head to the right, the shot landed just behind the ear hole hitting the spine, he dropped then swung his head left back towards me, that again opened up the side brain, one quick second shot and it was all over, he threw up his great trunk and crashed fully to the ground.

The lung shot and side brain exited the bull, the spine shot did not.

For the pros here that may have info on what he may weigh I'll throw out the measurements we got.

20 and 20.5 inches diameter at the lip.

40 and 42 inches tusk length from lip to tips.

69 and 71 inch total tusk lengths.

They are very heavy and stained the most beautiful black I have ever seen.

He was a very old bull, extremely happy and grateful to have taken such a magnificent animal.

Click to expand...

degoins said:

Here's Jerry's magnificent bull.....

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