Posted: 10/5/2012 1:54:38 PM EDT
|
This was the high point of my hunting career. It was my 8th safari. Hunted in Zimbabwe near the town of Hwange. Shot the bull at 28 paces out of a mixed herd. My original intent was to be real cool and do a brain shot. But when it came time for the shot I decided that I did not want to be one of the many people who fuck up an elephant hunt by missing a brain shot. So I aimed for the heart and fired. Expecting the bull to run off a little way and bleed out, I was surprised when he stagered after the bullet impact and then just fell over.
The rifle is a Butch Searcy, PH Model, left handed action, double rifle in .470 Nitro Express. Ammo was Hornady FMJ 500 grain, DGS ammo. 
|
|
Brian,
The meat stays in Africa. We watched a crew of about 12 guys butcher the animal. Resulting in three pick up trucks full of meat. It was distributed to 83 families of parks department workers. We did roast some of it at the kill site and it was a bit tough but edible. Nothing gets wasted in Zimbabwe. |
|
Quoted:
how much did the tusks weigh per side? what else did you hunt? how's the economic situation and the attitude towards hunters in Zimbabwe? About 30 lb. per side. Nothing. It was just an elephant hunt. But we went bird shooting for three days after the elephant hunt. Things are better every time I go there. Things are really starting to pop. People have jobs, there is food in the stores, fuel is easy to find, but the infrastructure is still run down. They don't have a word in their vocabulary for "maintenance" and nothing has been fixed since they ran all the white people out. They love tourists and US $$$, they are very friendly. Always have been. Most black Zimbabwians are honest, hard working people. Just very poor. |
|
Quoted:
That is awesome. Congrats. 
Is that tree scraped up by elephants? Yes, elephant damage. They are starting to eat the Baobab trees. We saw several that were eaten down to the stumps. The carrying capacity of the unit is 20,000 elephants and there are 55,000 elephants there. I was told that the animal rights people have stopped the culling by Parks Department and the result is severe overpopulation. |
|
Quoted:
Brian, The meat stays in Africa. We watched a crew of about 12 guys butcher the animal. Resulting in three pick up trucks full of meat. It was distributed to 83 families of parks department workers. We did roast some of it at the kill site and it was a bit tough but edible. Nothing gets wasted in Zimbabwe. Does the taste compare to anything that we could relate to back here? eta: Never mind, I am slow.  Already answered above.
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Brian, The meat stays in Africa. We watched a crew of about 12 guys butcher the animal. Resulting in three pick up trucks full of meat. It was distributed to 83 families of parks department workers. We did roast some of it at the kill site and it was a bit tough but edible. Nothing gets wasted in Zimbabwe. Does the taste compare to anything that we could relate to back here? eta: Never mind, I am slow. Already answered above.
Brisket |
|
Awesome!!! i guess you have answered the question, what round for bull elephant. .470 nitro express.
I have a couple of questions if you don't mind? How was the "hunt" part of the hunt? Was it easy to find the herd? or was it a hard hunt? How many days hunting? Did you drive close and then get in position or did you have to trail the herd until a shot was avialable? How do you like the Searcy? Thanks! |
|
firedog51d, It took about two days of dealing with government buracracy to get paperwork done, and another day of driving. Then once at the hunting area we got settled in and got a good night's sleep. Early the next morning we drove for about two hours down a two track and parked the truck and started walking. Four hours later the old bull with the non-trophy tusks was located and we started stalking. The stalk lasted about an hour. It had to be done slowly and methodically to get within shooting distance of an iron sighted double rifle. That is 25 yards more or less. If you want to snipe an elephant form a distance with a scoped rifle, the stalk would not take as long. But I wanted it to be up close and personal. |