elephant in 1 shot!!

[The one 8,479]

Christ he was close enough to pet it it looked tame im not impressed

[Aaron Proffitt 142]

Christ he was close enough to pet it it looked tame im not impressed

 

 

Their is a PH out there by the name of Ivan Carter . His MO is to get his clients as close to the elephants as possible , say 10-15 yards . The reasons are multiple. While an elephants head is huge, the skull is a massive ,spongy armored helmet . Essentially a bullet has to pass through an area the size of dollar bill in order for the shot to instantaneous. Best way to do that is to get close.

 

The second reason is that for many of his clients, that elephant hunt is the hunt of a lifetime . Sniping it from the bush isn't how to do it .

 

 

Now, I have a friend who recently returned from a successful elephant hunt . It took him 14 days to fill his permit. 14 days of hunting all day everyday . And then his bull was taken in the last hour of the hunt. According to him , he didn't kill his elephant with his rifle; he killed it with his feet . In other words , they would cut a bull's spoor first thing of a morning and track it all day . Sometimes they'd catch up to it, sometimes not. Sometimes they would catch up to it,only to find that it was an immature bull.Or they would start to maneuver in on it only to discover that a herd of cows and calves had moved in around them and were putting them into a very dangerous spot . For two weeks it was always something . Until the last day when it all came together.

 

Mark has hunted all over North America. Mountain goats and bighorn sheep, high country elk, and spot and stalk black bears in British Columbia. He repeatedly states that he underestimated the physical aspect of elephant hunting , the hiking from first light to last through bush land ,forests and swamps. I consider Mark to be an honorable man, so if he said that hunt kicked his ass...then I believe it did just that.

 

 

Mark's Namibian bull.....

 

 

Edited October 20, 2009 by Aaron Proffitt

[Effortless 0]

Christ he was close enough to pet it it looked tame im not impressed

 

What would you have preferred he do??? Walk backwards 300yds and shoot it over open sights, with a round that has a trajectory like a rainbow???

 

Perhaps get a game ranger to whack it on the arse so he could get a running shot at it???

 

Shoot it from the hip???

 

Provoke it into a charge and shoot it off the muzzle as it would look more exciting on video???

 

 

Some strange opinions on here I think. The point of the stalk in big game shooting is to get as close as possible to be SURE of your shot. And if you're stalking is so good that the animal is unaware that you are there, so much the better. He could have followed that elephant on foot for 40 miles over 3 days, and missed loads of chances before he got his successful shot. Those big doubles are heavy, especially so in 40 celsius. And for those that missed it, the guy can shoot. Classic brain shot... head thrown up and hindquarters collapsed. The PH was confidant enough to leave him to it, and didn't have to shoot at the same time as the client, or clear up the mess after a clients crap shot. You'll be amazed how many men's legs turn to jelly when they get that close to big game.

 

And don't forget that the licence for that elephant could have been in the region of $40,000, with the majority of that staying in Botswana to fund wildlife preservation.

 

Just my thoughts,

Effortless.

Edited October 31, 2009 by Effortless