I've had this photo for about ten years. The other post reminded me of it. Anyone recognize where it came from?

... and wouldn't a knee or hip shot be better in this situation?

I think it's from Karamoja Bell's first book.

An extremely difficult shot to make, almost impossible for even todays experienced Elephant hunters, IMO. An Ele doesn't move with its head stationery. Might have happened frequently in the days of the ivory hunters, but I doubt even well known Ele PHs could make it with regularity today, given how few Ele are actually killed on an annual basis today.

I'd take the left hip, followed by the spine shot, and have done.

I have to agree with Mike that this is a tough shot. I killed my 2nd bull with that shot, but don't really know how I pulled it off when I think back about the circumstances. The bull was watching us at about 25 yards, and I couldn't shoot because of a large mopani tree that was squarely between his eyes. We had a standoff for a rather long time, and suddenly the bull spun to his left (counter clockwise from my view) to flee. I tracked what I thought was the right line and snapped a shot off and dumped the bull in his tracks.

At the time, I never thought twice about the shot, but looking back years later, I doubt I'd take that shot again.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
I think it's from Karamoja Bell's first book.

Looks like a copy of Bell's sketch?

That's not a shot I would try for...when things get to that stage the hip or spine are a much surer target. That said, I did see Andy Dawson make exactly that shot. I was impressed!!!!!!
Cheers, Craig

There are a lot of reasons to take a brain shot and not having to shoot an elephant in the knee or hip is one of them! I liken that to a sucker punch and not that assured either.

Taking the quartering away shot is no more difficult than a frontal shot. It is highly difficult too. I wouldn't take it as a first choice but did once when a wounded cow was fleeing.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
There are a lot of reasons to take a brain shot and not having to shoot an elephant in the knee or hip is one of them! I liken that to a sucker punch and not that assured either.

Having spent at least as much time in the boxing ring as the hunting field (more actually), I'd have to argue that it's more akin to a low blow ... though I appreciate the analogy. Hunting and Boxing have much in common.

While not as difficult a shot as portrayed in that drawing, I was faced with something similar in Khaudum, Namibia this past November. Of course as I squeezed the trigger he turned to the left thus narrowing the angle just a bit more.
I missed the brain but he went down on the spot and stayed down allowing me and my dad to finish the job.

Thanks Pop for, unbeknownst to me taking these photos.

Decision time - Botswana just a few hundred yards beyond the treeline ...



Moments before the shot, just before he turned slightly farther to the left ...



Close-up of the photo above ...

I used that shot in Botswana but on a sleeping bull. Because of the bush the only real clear shot without risking disturbing the ele was this quartering from the rear shot. I was apprehensive but the PH explained that the shot gave you two opportunities at a kill. There are huge blood vessels at the root of the ear and if you sever one of those the ele bleeds out quickly and of course if the bullet hits the brain the bull is instantly dead. I did hit one of the big vessels and shot close enough to the brain to flatten the bull in a pretty dramatic fashion. With a couple of quick follow ups the bull hardly moved.

Mark

Unless its wounded I wouldn't even think about taking the shot.

I have used it twice on elephants that were down but not dead. Once from around 50 yards. They both worked. I also used it to take one last year that was standing around 15 yards from us and quartering away again it worked. I have never tried one on a running elephant, a much more difficult shot. The old time elephant hunters considered an elephant hunter that could make this shot as having a Phd in elephant hunting.

465H&H

Assuming we're talking about the initial shot at the elephant, I see the options as (1) heart/lung if you've just been busted and the elephant is moving away and getting out of dodge OR (2) if he's not disturbed and not getting away, just wait for him to swing his big head to the left and slip one in his ear hole. Like so:

IMHO, hip and knee are not an option if he has not already been shot.

Do they have photoshop for videos?

quote:

Originally posted by SteveGl:


I've had this photo for about ten years. The other post reminded me of it. Anyone recognize where it came from?

... and wouldn't a knee or hip shot be better in this situation?

Bell of Africa?

Nice shot Will ... and nice ivory.

It wouldn't surprise me if the sketch is originally from one of Karamoja Bell's books, but the photo is of a poster hanging in one of the camps in KNP. Can't remember which one.

Jesus Will!!!

Drawing is in Bell of Africa, page 48, but my copy is only in B&W.

quote:

Originally posted by whelenite:
Drawing is in Bell of Africa, page 48, but my copy is only in B&W.

Is the sketch attributed to Bell? Just curious.

Bell of Africa was published in 1960, so it's possible that the Kruger poster was there before that.

I have a (signed) first edition of 'the wanderings of an elephant hunter'- the drawing is in there. Don't have karamojo safari

It's not in Karamojo Safari but is in "Wanderings."

Remember that Bell always shot for the brain because, in those days, the elephant would just drop and this would not alarm other elephants that he wanted to shoot nearby. If he shot anywhere else, the elephant would possibly bellow and scare off the others. Bell was trying for a large bag,, not one trophy.

My last two elephant, taken in Tanzania, in the Selous, were both taken with that shot. I didn't think much about it at the time. Both went down as though pole axed, and both got a second shot (unnecessary, as it turned out) through the heart.

Both were at very close (25-40 yards) range. The first was taken from atop a termite mound which I had impulsively climbed up to get a better angle.

quote:

Originally posted by CCMDoc:
Close-up of the photo above ...

Using a .600, the ele is going to drop even with a near miss (on the brain) ! But fine shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:

quote:

Originally posted by CCMDoc:
Close-up of the photo above ...

Using a .600, the ele is going to drop even with a near miss (on the brain) ! But fine shooting.

Thanks John

The posted drawing is a colorized version of a sketch by Bell that appears in the illustrations between pages 48 and 49 of my copy of BELL of AFRICA.

Someone has erased his original caption hand written on the bottom of the drawing.
Bell's original caption at the bottom of his sketch:
"Elephant in act of falling to brain shot from behind."
The caption on the drawing above was originally set in type, below the drawing at the bottom of the page of the book.

Another drawing from The Wanderings of an ELEPHANT HUNTER authored by Bell appears in the illustrations between pages 6 and 7:
(Review of the book: An excellent read.)



This is an easier shot than the frontal or side brain shot if the elephant is standing still.
Bobbing and weaving makes it trickier.

This should be called the FORAMEN MAGNUM SHOT.
If offers a bigger target area for instant death.
It might get the hind brain or any of several cervical vertebrae which should produce a drop-at-the-shot effect,
if hit such that spinal cord or brain are involved.

The foramen magnum is the hole at the back of the skull where brainstem turns into spinal cord and exits the skull.

It is not merely a brain shot.

I was in a camp in Botswana in 2001 where the hunter's first shot at the big bull elephant was touched off at the foramen magnum,
after he had to wait too long to fire, as the elephant passed by within 25 yards in a mopane thicket.
When he finally could pull the trigger(s), clear of brush, he double-fired his bespoke H&H Royal 500 NE 3".
The elephant died instantly.
That was his first shot(s) at game with that new double rifle of his.

Not a shot to be taken on the first shot for sure. I would wager a fair bit of money that the majority of eles that were downed with this shot were actually spined and "coup de grace" was required. It is an impressive shot when pulled off.

Slightly off topic- I watched Sten Cedegren drop a charging ele bull and he did it by shooting it in the front shoulder breaking its front leg. It was a shot that he said he preferred in open bush!

quote:

Slightly off topic- I watched Sten Cedegren drop a charging ele bull and he did it by shooting it in the front shoulder breaking its front leg. It was a shot that he said he preferred in open bush!

Hi Buzz,

Thanks for mentioning Sten's shoulder shot on Ele. Although seldom discussed on this forum, the shoulder shot on Elephant is a very effective tactic.

I used it in September to great effect when in heavy cover. Ele took one step and went down. PH Len Taylor, who you know, favors it on follow-up to anchor or slow an Ele to allow the client to finish the job. He used it on Carl's bull after Carl's first brain shot went low and it slowed the charge thereby allowing Carl's second frontal brain shot to put an end to it.

Unfortunately, with so much discussion of the brain v. heart/lung shot today, it seems the shoulder shot is rarely considered as a possibility by todays Ele hunters. It beats the hell out of chasing a wounded Ele through the bush.

Yes it is definitely one of the diagrams contained in Bell's book on where to find the brain of an elephant.
Remember that Bell from a young age when he could just lift a shotgun, spent many hours in the marshlands duck and snipe shooting and then had a stint in the Yukon shooting elk and moose with rifle and revolver to feed the gold rush miner's insatiable apetite for meat. Off to the Boer war where a good grounding in African warfare rounded off his early youth years.

Once in Africa on big game he soon put his skills to good use and quickly learned where to place his small bore 6.5. 7mm , 318 and 303 bullets to mostly brain the animals he was after. By all accounts he was an exceptionally cool and skilled shot, he must have been to shoot over 1100 elephants and other countless numbers of animals during his career, mostly all with the small bore.

To my great disappointment while I share his surname and some of his Scottish roots, alas we are not related, that I know of anyway!!! He died close to the time I was born. He would have been a great grandad to have.