Elephant, In search of 80+ pounds

wildwilderness said:

Out of curiosity how old were you in 2010? You look 16 yo in your pictures now!

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eyedok said:

Thanks guys, was the hunt of a lifetime, Brandon from Tsala pushed my old butt hard, he is gonna put hunters on some big bulls over the coming yearsView attachment 746843

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wildwilderness said:

Out of curiosity how old were you in 2010? You look 16 yo in your pictures now!

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Wyfox said:

I'm sure Mckenzie won't mind that I share his video, I highly recommend his YT channel.

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eyedok said:

Thanks guys, was the hunt of a lifetime, Brandon from Tsala pushed my old butt hard, he is gonna put hunters on some big bulls over the coming yearsView attachment 746843

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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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50Gunner said:

Many Thanks everyone, it was indeed a very special hunt, don't know about nerve length, will report when the weights come in.

Went in hellbent on 80lbs, it's the reason this thread was started sometime back, passed on several 50-55 and 60+lb estimated weight bulls, after the intensity died down and the real reasons and everything that happened on this hunt, I don't care if he weighs 20lbs.

Have only been home a few days, can't keep another thought in my head for too long ; ]

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