If your client had been practicing with a 90# bow all summer he would have been able to pull it back on the hunt. On any guided bowhunt and expecially for dangerous game make sure before you take a client into the bush that he is very acomplished with the bow that he brought to hunt with and if he is not advise him that you will not take him unless he hunts with a rifle and even then I would make sure that he can shoot. A hunt is nowhere to start learning to shoot what ever you plan to hunt with. It's not only unfair to the game but the guide. Above all as a hunter you should be completely honest about you abilities with your guide.

Much as I hate to say it, the shakes can be rather debilitating, and it is tough to cure them with reason.

I hope the tracker got a good tip for having the presence of mind to shove a rifle into the hunters hands.

I suspect this was a recurve, but if was an adjustable bow the first time a problem like this happens I would have backed off the weight about 15 pounds. Otherwise you end up with the old bugaboo about accuracy VS energy you get with firearms. Of course, the bolting at the elephant charge is not age or performance related, but I've never been there myself so I cannot judge another person in that situation.

I cannot fault him for trying to do something that he had obviously thought and planned a lot for, but also think he should have gone with a lighter bow when he first realized he was having a problem, no matter what the actual cause of the problem was.

Don't get me wrong on this story as it is not meant to be degrading at all towards my client or bow hunting. I just thought it was a good story and wondered what some of you would have done. This client is a very good client and is an experienced bow hunter and has hunted DG before. I think that when it really came down to it though, his past hunts were not as exciting and he was not as close to the animals. When hunting a client with a bow, you really have to get within the danger zone of the animals in order to get a nice close shot, and that is what I admire about bow hunters, is that they do have to work harder and get closer to the animals before they can shoot one. We had a good time throughout the safari and a lot of laughs, so everything was fine and he had a hunt of a lifetime.

You can practice all you want and shoot as many plains game as you want, but when you are 5-20 yards from a buffalo, lion or elephant, it is a different story and will make anyone pucker up. I have had rifle hunters also start to shake so bad, that I had to take the shooting sticks out from them and tell them to breath and then set them back up again for the shot and still wound the buffalo. So, I think it can happen to anyone who is not used to hunting the dangerous game that much.