In the winter of 1988 I was lucky enough to get to spend 2 months in Ethiopia exploring our elephant areas and also taking a client down to the Omo Valley. The first month was spent hunting elephant out of our Teppi area. I had come up with the bright idea that since we were now ranging farther and farther to find a good elephant, that I would rent some mules and go in to the mountains that surrounded our area by way of the town of Sheko. This in itself was quite an adventure. We took the old mule trails up into the mountains into villages that were quite startled to see a “farengi†( foreigner) come riding in on a mule accompanied by 5 Ethiopians. The villages were a good source of info on elephant movement. After a couple of weeks of touring that area, spending the nights in villages or on the trail, and covering a lot to territory, we elected to return to the main camp at Teppi. Elephants were getting hard to find…especially elephants with over 50 pounds of ivory to the side. After re uniting with our compatriots ( and my wife) I was ready to again look for elephant tracks so we headed back up the road north of Teppi for Sheko. We stooped at a small village that was just off the road and inquired if there had been any elephant movement. With grate expostulating and excitement one of the natives took us back behind the village to two sets of tracks made by elephants two evenings previous. The tracks looked good so we started following them. I asked Franco Morrescahalchi, my good friend and one of the company’s Professional Hunters if he really though we could catch up to a pair of elephants on tracks that were 36 hours old. He thought it worth a try so off we went.
For the next 7 hours we learned every where that the elephants had been. We saw where they spent the night and where they tore down a hut in an old deserted village. We saw where they had enjoyed a mud wallow and the depth of one to the tusk holes was very encouraging. It was March and quite a dry period in SW Ethiopia. Consequently, it was impossible to follow quietly. We knew when the elephants had heard us as we could hear them go crashing off. I was skeptical (again) about the likelihood of catching up to them but Franko wanted to pursue so off we went again. Here I have to tell you a bit about the terrain we were operating in. It was hilly and it was dense, thick rain forest. Almost unpenetrable except for the fact that two elephants tore a pretty good hole through that foliage. It was hot, wet and sticky. The flies and biting ants never let up and you are wet from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head for the duration of the hunt. We were understandably fatigued and our spirits at a low ebb when from above and slightly to our right we heard HIM coming. The elephant must have been 25 yards away and bearing down hard when we first heard him. It was twelve yards away when we could see to shoot. I put a 500 grain Hornady Solid from my .458 Win. Mag. jut inside his right eye. Franko put a 300-Grain Solid from his .375H&H in his chest and our Game Scout, Hussein, who had my .375 H&H did likewise. As far as I could tell the elephant didn’t even flinch but came right for me. I was younger and a bit more flexible then than now (thank God). There was a 12-inch tree just a bit in front of me and a bit to the right. I rolled through some brush to the base of the tree while chambering another round. The elephant tusked the tree. The guys said his trunk wrapped around the tree and just missed my head but I didn’t see it. He came around the side of the tree looking for me. I remember pulling my feet up under me in and almost fetal position while I saw those monstrous feet come down where my feet had been an instant ago. Now between his legs I threw the .458 up and fired point blank into his chest. At that instant, Franko (bless his heart) came up to the side and put one through his shoulder. Flinching from the impact of Franco’s bullet, the bull teetered over to my left and crashed to the ground my feet touching his.

The bull had tusks that went exactly 50 pounds per side. Most likely his buddy was the bigger, older bull who had sent this “askari†to rid him of the pests that had been following them. Of course we’ll never know. It took about 20 minutes before the shakes set in. I too became aware of a pain in my chest and at first worried about a heart flare up. Then I realized that it was the bruise from the recoil pad of the .458 that had hammered me in the breastbone when I through the rifle up and shot between the elephant’s legs. Would a better hit with that 500 solid have stopped him? Maybe but I will say that as soon as I was back in the States I had the rifle chambered out to .458 Lott and a reamer sent over to do the same to the company rifles.
Turns out that this was one of the last great elephants taken in Teppi as Nassos acquired Gura Farda , an area out of Mizan Tefari just past the Bebeka Coffee Plantation where we hunted until the revolution and consequent cessation of elephant hunting in 1992.




We cut brush for 30 minutes to get this picture. Perhaps some one who knows what the hell they are doing can blow it up a bit?

Rich Elliott

Rich,

I couldn't see the picture, so I copied it to this post.

Amazing story!

Thanks Erik,

Notice the gray duct tape gaiters? Kept the little biting ants off of the more sesitive areas

Rich Elliott

Rich,

Thanks for telling the story, good stuff...

Best regards;
Brett

Very nice recounting of your experience. Still no pic, just a red x.

That's an amazing story, but I can't see the picture.

That was a close scrape. Thanks for posting.

The problem with the picture is Imagestation. It just doesn't work anymore for posting stored photos on other sites.

Photobucket is better.

Rich,

Thank you. That is an amazing story. I have never had the desire to hunt elephant. Your story just confirms my lack of desire.

The picture has been reduced too much. Enlarging it doesn't help, I tried.

Rich,
Great story.
Add this to the one where you go for a ride on the elephant's leg and you have a great chapter to entitle "Close Encounters of the Elephant Kind" for your book, which we hope to see soon.

For a while I could see the thumbnail size photo from Imagestation, but it is gone to "red X" now. Erik recopied the properties and left off the ".thumb" but that one doesn't come through for me.

Imagestation has indeed become very peculiar.

If you could email the photo to me, I could post it through http://www.hunt101.com and get it to show up in all its glory here.

Somebody needs to get those duct tape gaiters to show up well.

Thanks for the post.

Rich,
Great story and beatiful picture!!!
Thanks for sharing it.
L

Great! I refreshed the screen a few times and I got Erik's post of the photo. I will see if I can copy it and put it up alternatively to see if it stays put. Imagestation comes and goes.

Here is http://www.hunt101.com:

RIP,
I still get Erik's but now I get yours too.
Now that "leg riding" thing is something Ray got started. Next thing you know it'll be about taking a leak on the elephant's leg
Thanks,

Rich Elliott

Thanks for posting Rich - this is exactly the type of story I want to read 2 weeks before an elephant hunt !

Is that you on top of the ele?

Thanks for the great accounting Rich. I'm glad to get the real story direct from you. I think it was Harry who told me that you went to take a leak against a tree, but it turned out to be an elephant's leg. That really pissed him off and that is how it all started.

Great story.

The sneaky upwards between the legs shot.

Bill C
Yes, That's me. The pose is called utter exhaustion (with a bit of relief mixed in).

Nitrox,

That "sneaky" shot is only recommended as a last resort!

Rich Elliott

Rich-
GREAT story!
Check your PM, I've sent a couple of ?s
KN