August 19th. Up early again and on the road in the dark. We get to the veterinary fence they is the northern border it the concession and turn west on a two track as it is getting light enough to see. We are looking for tracks, feeding sign, pushed down fence, anything that will indicate the presence of an elephant. Well, about an hour and a half down this road I look to the right and see what looks to be a couple of broken limbs that could have been an elephant feeding and before it registers for me to point it out there comes an urgent tapping and shouting from the tracker and game scout on the back. They are saying “go, go, go” and the PH, not being sure what they are saying stops and the guys on the back are frantically pointing the the elephant that is walking directly away from us at a 100 yards.
This has now gone from a mind numbing, bone rattling, ride on a road that appears to be endless to “I can’t believe there is an elephant and he is right there!!” Well, it turns into an exercise of how fast can we bail out of the truck and get in pursuit of this elephant. There is this notion that under stressful situations that people will “rise to the occasion.” which I believe to be absolutely false. I believe that people sink/falter to their highest level of preparation and that is what happened here. I was able to quickly un-case my rifle, load it and be ready to go in a matter of seconds because I had practiced doing so many, many times before hand.
We have a right to left wind, so we start to circle to the left to try and get a favorable wind while also trying to close the distance. Well, closing the distance isn’t going to be an issue because the elephant heads, smells or senses something and he decides to come see us and he’s not really happy about the situation. Ears flared, raised trunk and trumpeting at us. He is coming at about a 45 degree angle to us, so I don’t really have a good shot when he stops at 15 yards and kicks dirt on us, plus there is some brush in my way of a clear shot.
The elephant then turns and starts walking away again, so again no shot. We start pursuing again and here he comes again, same deal, he isn’t happy about it and he is letting us know. He is still coming at a 45 degree angle so I am waiting for him to turn full on for a frontal brain shot but he stops short again at 12 yards and starts to turn again.
I am ready for that this time and just as he pass broadside in his turn, I send the 400 grain Barnes flatnosed solid just behind his ear hole and it exits out the opposite side, just forward of that ear hole and the bull crumples to the ground. He is dead before his back end hits the ground. We quickly approach and I pay the insurance with another solid to the back of the head and it is done.
It takes me a few seconds to start to realize I’ve just accomplished a goal I have had for a long time and to be honest it is a bit overwhelming. There are the typically hand shakes of congratulations from everybody and a definite sense of excitement and relief after the previous 5 days of tuff hunting but there is something else I am feeling and even now I find it difficult to put into words.
I do not regret hunting this elephant in the slightest and hope to hunt another one at some point in the future but there is an emotional weight I feel having taken his life that I have never felt with any other animal I have ever hunted. I take a few minutes to gather myself and then the process of pictures and the documenting of the elephant starts and that is obviously quite a process with such a large animal.
This isn’t the biggest bull by any stretch. I was after a non trophy elephant and he is the right bull for what we were looking for. I wouldn’t be prouder of him if he was a 100 pounder. While the actual killing of this elephant was a quick and frantic affair, I do feel like we earned this elephant over the previous 5 days.
Sure, it would be awesome if this elephant was taken after a 10 mile stalk but that is not what the African bush offered on this day and I was grateful to accept this elephant just as it was presented to me. Plus, we are very close to the two track which will make the recovery much easier.
We spend some time beginning the butchering process by removing the trunk and the fore legs on the side that is accessible. Apparently these are highly sought after pieces and will be taken the to leaders of the local tribe/village. Then we cover the elephant in branches and head back to camp. The rest of the recovery and meat distribution will take place tomorrow. We keep up with the odometer on the way out and where the elephant lays is 57 miles due west from where we turned at the checkpoint/gate.
Once back at camp, the regular routine is followed and as we sit around the fire after dinner and re-tell the story of the hunt, I imagine that this is the same type of thing hunters have been doing since there have been hunters and I count myself very fortunate to be part of that history and culture around this African camp fire.
This has now gone from a mind numbing, bone rattling, ride on a road that appears to be endless to “I can’t believe there is an elephant and he is right there!!” Well, it turns into an exercise of how fast can we bail out of the truck and get in pursuit of this elephant. There is this notion that under stressful situations that people will “rise to the occasion.” which I believe to be absolutely false. I believe that people sink/falter to their highest level of preparation and that is what happened here. I was able to quickly un-case my rifle, load it and be ready to go in a matter of seconds because I had practiced doing so many, many times before hand.
We have a right to left wind, so we start to circle to the left to try and get a favorable wind while also trying to close the distance. Well, closing the distance isn’t going to be an issue because the elephant heads, smells or senses something and he decides to come see us and he’s not really happy about the situation. Ears flared, raised trunk and trumpeting at us. He is coming at about a 45 degree angle to us, so I don’t really have a good shot when he stops at 15 yards and kicks dirt on us, plus there is some brush in my way of a clear shot.
The elephant then turns and starts walking away again, so again no shot. We start pursuing again and here he comes again, same deal, he isn’t happy about it and he is letting us know. He is still coming at a 45 degree angle so I am waiting for him to turn full on for a frontal brain shot but he stops short again at 12 yards and starts to turn again.
I am ready for that this time and just as he pass broadside in his turn, I send the 400 grain Barnes flatnosed solid just behind his ear hole and it exits out the opposite side, just forward of that ear hole and the bull crumples to the ground. He is dead before his back end hits the ground. We quickly approach and I pay the insurance with another solid to the back of the head and it is done.
It takes me a few seconds to start to realize I’ve just accomplished a goal I have had for a long time and to be honest it is a bit overwhelming. There are the typically hand shakes of congratulations from everybody and a definite sense of excitement and relief after the previous 5 days of tuff hunting but there is something else I am feeling and even now I find it difficult to put into words.
I do not regret hunting this elephant in the slightest and hope to hunt another one at some point in the future but there is an emotional weight I feel having taken his life that I have never felt with any other animal I have ever hunted. I take a few minutes to gather myself and then the process of pictures and the documenting of the elephant starts and that is obviously quite a process with such a large animal.
This isn’t the biggest bull by any stretch. I was after a non trophy elephant and he is the right bull for what we were looking for. I wouldn’t be prouder of him if he was a 100 pounder. While the actual killing of this elephant was a quick and frantic affair, I do feel like we earned this elephant over the previous 5 days.
Sure, it would be awesome if this elephant was taken after a 10 mile stalk but that is not what the African bush offered on this day and I was grateful to accept this elephant just as it was presented to me. Plus, we are very close to the two track which will make the recovery much easier.
We spend some time beginning the butchering process by removing the trunk and the fore legs on the side that is accessible. Apparently these are highly sought after pieces and will be taken the to leaders of the local tribe/village. Then we cover the elephant in branches and head back to camp. The rest of the recovery and meat distribution will take place tomorrow. We keep up with the odometer on the way out and where the elephant lays is 57 miles due west from where we turned at the checkpoint/gate.
Once back at camp, the regular routine is followed and as we sit around the fire after dinner and re-tell the story of the hunt, I imagine that this is the same type of thing hunters have been doing since there have been hunters and I count myself very fortunate to be part of that history and culture around this African camp fire.
