This is the air traffic controller he patrols the grass airstrip...Close up at 35 yds..


Do any of you believe in luck??? Well, let me tell you a little story, but it is factual and true as God is my witness...
I hunted in Zim in July 2004, for a bull ele and buf...On the way back one evening a tracker says something and the Ph stops the truck and we get out and go up to this strange animal I have never seen before in my life...But being a librarian I have seen many animals and books, and it is a pangolin..I get pics and even hold it gently and find out it is a sacred animal to Zim natives and supposed to be lucky...Well in June of 2005 I win the AR buf hunt!!! WOW!!! But it does not end there...
I am in Tanzania and on the buf hunt and one evening riding back to camp the tracker yells and the truck stops and he runs off and points to something in the grass..We, my wife, Pierre and myself and the rest of the staff on the truck come to see what is so interesting..You guessed right... a pangolin... A real big one close to 30 lbs..I have my wife touch it to see how gentle they are and I pick it up and she takes my picture holding it...

Let me say here that after I shot the croc, and my wife and I assessed the impending taxidermy fees, we realized we may not have enough money to shoot both an ele and a lion. I say to her 'I came for a 50 lb ele and let's raise it 60 pounds per tusk or nothing'...She agrees...Pierre says 'Mike, you really raised the bar when it comes to taking an ele that big'
But, I have not given up the hunt for simba. 4 days left in the hunt and I shoot a kongoni for lion bait one morning and we are on our way to hang it...We are driving on a road directly behind Mseguni mountain and we pass over a little valley with open savannah and enter another. Pierre's tracker says tembo and points...We look and I can see multiple eles bulls and cows...One cow looked like she had six feet of ivory out of her lip and thin like a little league bat, beautiful and sweeping arc of ivory...
I load up the 375 and give it to Hamilton and I am carrying the 450#2 Champlin Famars...I stoke it with two Woodleigh solids...My level of excitement is off the chart...We are on an intercept course with eles and destiny...Pierre tells me, he thought he saw a big one in the trees behind the leading bulls..My mind is racing...are these a protective ring of young bull eles?...We are into over an hour chasing these guys and they have no idea we are there...The ever present wind is directly in our faces..A good wind and not swirling as the heat of the day is coming fast...
We enter the other valley and I am oblivious to it..My eyes are on the bulls and cows..We are playing chess with them...Move forward, look, and back away...No sign of the big guy, where is he??? Now we are in open savannah and you won't believe... here comes a bull directly at us, walking without a worry in his mind..He is 30 yards away and I nudge Pierre who is glassing the trees looking for the one in the back...The bull is now 25 yds from us, Pierre, Dominic, game scout, Hamilton, and me. I again poke Pierre and he whispers back up and all of us move in unison and I am hanging on to Pierre's shirt as he never takes his eyes off of the close bull..Like magic the ele never even acted like we were there..
It is now 2 hours into the hunt we have covered miles but they seem like just yards...At 50 yds a bull stops and turns and looks at us...We freeze and just stare at each other..That close bull is headed directly to where that bull is looking at us..Then the two young bulls start to spar with each other, you should hear the ivory cracking together...What a sound, heads held high, dust flying as they push each other in friendly combat...Pierre leans up to me 'where are the damn cameras now?'...
As this was going on I glanced to the left and I caught some movement.. I poked Pierre's arm and pointed to where I saw someting..I could see sun reflecting off something, and then it started moving forward with a slow lumbering gait..I about passed out when I saw the ivory..NO words exchanged yet...Pierre was looking and measuring in his head and figuring out length and circumference to get the weight...We played cat and mouse with this guy for another 45 minutes and hundreds of yards.. I am asking Pierre how big and he is saying 60 pounds and I think he is saying 50 lbs..My damn hearing aid is on the fritz from sweating..I am not getting the whole story..He is saying, you know Mike, you shoot this elephant, both you and I are going to be in a world of shit with mama chop chop...Now this goes on for 15 to 20 minutes and we, the two of us are walking up to it... shoot it... and I say no and we back up and walk away...Look at it some more and repeat the process again and again...
Finally I say to Pierre 'let's do it..I look at the boys' eyes and they are as big as pie plates staring at the huge elephant standing behind me...
Now is the time... and in 'slow motion' Pierre and I advance on the trophy of a lifetime...Slowly we close the distance..from 45 yards to 30 yards...I wanted to get closer but we ran out of cover..So we made our move... checkmate...I expected the ele to make a few more yards, but he just stood there and stared to our right and past us...Suddenly he turns his head sharply to the right, our left and Pierre says to shoot him.. It will be a frontal head shot except I have to send it in at an angle..Now for the past year I have read ele hunting books, watched videos, and DVD's to get it down and right...That is, where to put the bullet...Now there is a branch of an acacia tree hiding the bulls right eye but I unconsciously use the left eye as my marker and see the right ear hole and I am ready to let it fly...I have to tell you how high the grass and cover is... many times over our heads.. to 8 to 10 feet. so I told Pierre to let one fly after I fire...For I do not want to risk the trackers lives nor am I into a bravery thing...What is right for such a noble animal like a bull ele is a quick clean death...
Smoothly and deliberately the shells are between my fingers and I slide off the safety and raise the rifle...boom!!! my double goes off... the ele is going down, I see and Pierre fires his shot as the head comes back down and I have automatically opened and replaced the spent shell as it ejects over my shoulder..Loaded fully and two back in my fingers, I run up to the bull.. Wham Wham, I give him two in the front of the chest...I open and the empties shoot over my shoulder and I slip in two more, and wham wham two I fire into the chest from behind the shoulder...I then run around to its back and am going to give him one in the spine and that majestic bull gives one final breath and it is over...

This is the one I shot..


I am in utter awe of the size of the ivory...I set the double at the ele's lip on the ivory...the gun is 3 feet long and there are still almost two feet not measured, to the tips...I walk around in amazement and shock staring at the elephant..I come back to his head and all the boys are congratulating me with smiles a mile wide.. Pierre says Mike, " I believe this is my biggest elephant I have ever killed... when it comes to length, it's massive"...
I cannot sit down I am bouncing around, Dominic is returning with the cooler and lunch..I try to eat a half of a sandwich and cannnot, but force down a coke...
I finally ask Pierre how big is the ivory and he says 60lbs...I damn near had a heart attack....I now sit down and try to fathom what a lifetime trophy this ancient warrior is...sadness, respect, elation, what a privilege to have achieved a lifetime dream!!!

This is Cherie now.....I had stayed in camp, as I thought they were checking lion baits for the 13th day in a row, and it was a 3 hour trip in one direction!! Around 2:00 I heard a truck come tearing into camp. I called out to Anneli 'who is it?'? She replied 'Hamilton, by himself'. Well, Hamilton is our driver, and being the worrier that I am, I'm thinking something has gone horribly wrong. For what seemed an hour, Anneli and Hamilton conversed in Swahili, then she turned and walked up to me, cool as a cucumber, deadpan and said 'Cherie.....it appears that Mike has shot an elephant. Hamilton has come to fetch us!!' My response, after I closed my mouth was 'no shit!!! it must be HUGE!!'


And off we went.....It tooks us an hour and a half to get there... After hugs, tears and pictures with Mike, and hearing Pierre say 25 times 'Mike, we're going to be in deep sh** with Mama Chop Chop', we loaded up the truck and headed back to camp. For this kabubi, I got to film it as we made our way into camp....what an experience.

If no pics showing this link will take you to the Tan test pics..go to the bottom and the last four pics from left to right are the order of the story...
http://picasaweb.google.com/retreever/TanzTest


Mike

Great story! Wish I could see the pix.

Congratulations! Might be one of those times when forgiveness is easier to get than permission.

Retreever you need to take the "?" out of your picture URL's. Otherwise a great adventure!

Guys cannot see what you are asking but the link works also..My apologies...


Mike

Pics came through ok Mike. Great teeth!

Very nice bull. Congratulations.

Glad you had such a terrific safari.

(The only way I can see the photos is to individually past them into the browser).

Kyler

Mike,

That is a great elephant and story!! Congratulations again.

I wonder if there are any pangolin in Arizona...

You're a lucky shit. That is a great elephant. Congratulations.

Michael,

You tell a lovely tale! Thank you.

Glad you had such great luck and such a wonderful time.

Fantastic pictures. Congratulations on a great hunt. More than the Elephant, the Croc looks huge, was it shot with the .375, too? The head looks as if slashed open by a machete. Doesn’t look like a Sako that bolt rifle.

Best- Locksley,R.

I had to go through an extra step to see these pictures. Here's what to do:

Left Click the missing picture box, then right click View Image

It will bring up the missing image, and when I clicked back to the thread the picture was there. I had to go through this with every picture to get them to show.

This worked for me although I have no idea why it was necessary. Also, some member's avatar pictures don't appear and this trick does not work for them.

Hope this helps.

Alan

None of the pictures show now matter what I try.

RETREEVER, question, what is the make and caliber of the bolt action rifle leaning next to your double in one of your elephant pics.

prewar it is an Italian made 500Jeffery..the exact name I forget..

Did you try the link at the end of the story for pics...

Mike

Thanks Mike. The link works fine, but the pics in your post do not.

The 500 Jeffery looks like a tough workin' rifle.

Mike,

Thanks for taking us on safari with you(sort of)and the ele is huge. Matter of fact, all of the game animals you posted are very nice. I don't know you like some others here but it appears that this experience you shared with us was well deserved.

Woody

Great elephant Mike!!!

Great elephant! Congrats!

JPK

Mike
That is some great looking ivory.

That's a good looking elephant Retreever! It'll be intersting to find out what the offical weight is when the tusks leave the Selous.

Cherie and Mike, thanks for a great story.

Congratulations on that ele Mike

Just went through the slide show of your pictures -- simply terrific!

Excellent Mike, Excellent.
I know your mind is not at work with you, it is a long ways away!

FOR these times that is an awesome jumbo. Congrats, you lucky so and so!

465H&H

Great story and a great trophy!

TerryR

We've all been "winners" with your Safari, and have been very fortunate to share in it with you and your lovely wife. What an excellent hunt and a once in a lifetime experience. Thanks Mike, Cherie and AR!

Stories like your's make my days lighter, thanks for a great read!
SFC E77