Zero for Elephant

[Tucketed]

Thank you everyone. It is great to have a fourm with so many members with so much experience.

 

[Scott CWO]

Well i guess I should have you as my PH next time because the PH I did have insisted on a brain shot. I shot my elephant within 100 yards of the river that is the International border.

I used 400 grain Woodliegh Solids and the elephant went straight down on the first shot so it seemed to work quite well.

And to me shooting an elephant is just different than other animals. It is a highly intelligent and social animal. After being in amoungst them for 9 days (we saw elephant every day of the hunt and got very close most days) I felt the elephant deserves a fast clean death. I understand a heart shot can be considered fast and clean. But a brain shot is just flipping the switch off. Instant.

Not saying I condemn or would refuse to take a heart lung shot in the right situation... But on my hunt with that PH it was a decision he was making in each instant. He had two reasons 1. As mentioned regarding the border. 2. In his experience when an elephant dropped instantly, it's companions quickly moved off. When a heart/lung shot was taken and the beast died more slowly, any herd mates would stay around trying to get their fallen comrade back up. His experience was that it was an emotional and very dangerous situation.

Agree 100%. We first saw my Botswana bull a couple days earlier in the middle of the concession but didn’t get a great look at him. We found him again two days later just 200 yards from the border with the Moremi Game Reserve (basically a national park with no hunting) and a brain shot was the only option. One of the other boundaries of the concession is with Chobe National Park and a shot taken anywhere close to that boundary would also have been a brain shot.

 

[Safari Dave]

I would use a 100 yard zero, and just "know the dope."

 

[Jefferry404]

for my iron sighted 404 Jeffery, i use 75yd zero, gives a 2nd zero at 30yds and down -0.9" at 100yd.

 

[DLSJR]

50 yards is a good option, but ultimately zeroing has to be made dependent on the external ballistics of the bullet. If after a zeroing at 50 yards the bullet drops 10 feet or more at 100 yards, there can be problems if you have to shoot further than 50 yards on an elephant, what can happened.

If you’re shooting a cartridge that drops 10 FEET from 50 yards to 100, you need a better/flatter shooting cartridge!!!

 

[DLSJR]

I’ve only shot 2 elephant bulls, at 9 yards and 25 yards. The next time I hunt elephants I will sight my 416 at 25 yards and check it at 50, 75, 100, all of which will be fairly close to my zero. My 416 is presently zeroed at 100 yards, so probably wouldn’t have to move my sights much, if at all.