Elephants tend to command respect, make you awe and force intense emotion once a person is exposed to their presence, especially in a hunting situation. Face to face as it comes for you. With nothing but some brush, a bullet and dust seperating who is who. That's when it sinks in you are on their turf, not yours.

My hunt was close, fascinating and perfect. The wind was perfect, the bush was perfect, the elephants were perfect, the staff was perfect and my shot was perfect. Here is a run down of how it went.

I got into Harare at 2100 hours August 15th and was greeted by Buzz, his apprentice Shawn who was also our videographer and our fellow A-R poster and Zimbabwe insider, Ganaya.

After a bit of chat I was whisked off to Buzz's for the night. I had absolutely no travel problems or troubles from Zim Customs. I was the only traveler with a firearm and everyone was real friendly.

Early the next morning we packed up and left Harare for a long drive over the Zambezi Escarpment to the Zam Valley into Chewore North.

Getting ready to go:



Shawn on the cruiser and Royal's wife assisting.

We drove in to Chewore North with Buzz Charlton and our crew which consisted of the two of us, Shawn and Buzz's talented and dedicated staff consisting of Royal, Critchton, Tino and later the game scout. An amazing amount of people and gear were carried on the lone Land Cruiser. It was a long but beautiful ride through the Zim countryside and up the Escarpment on the way to the Zambezi Valley.

First sighting of elephants on the way to camp, they were drinking from a pool in the Chewore River bed. There were also baboons and impala here.



We would be hunting out of one of the spike camps away from the Big 5 main lodge. This camp was along the Chewore River and set up on the high bank overlooking a small pool in the mostly sand river. The opposite bank belonged to the Sapi Safari Area. There was a beautiful gorge cutting through the rock just down river from the camp. This was the scenic Mariatsoro Gorge which held an abundance of large and small game. We saw a group of three nice old dugga boys one evening there.

We settled in for the night with great anticipation on hunting for a tuskless ele cow. Discussions of shot placement and elephants took place over dinner.

Early the next morning we set out on the cruiser to look for fresh elephant spoor crossing the track. About twenty minutes out of camp we reached the high edge of a ridge and in the valley below we spotted a herd of cows. They did not see us so we backed off and began to look them over. There were two tuskless cows in the bunch. A tusked female was scraping bark off the large baobab on the left side of the road. The herd proceded past the tree and went on feeding, crunching in thickening jesse as they went along.



The large tree at the bottom of the hill is the baobab. Here is another view of it and you can see the scraped bark which extended about 10 feet up the trunk.



Spoor of our elephant herd on top of our tire tracks from the day before.



We follwed the herd through very thick jesse keeping on their down wind side. Of the two tuskless, one had a young calf. We had to make sure she was not mistakenly shot. The other one did not have a calf. This was difficult in the thicket but with patience and skill, Buzz made the call. Once we singled our target out it was time to close the distance.

Buzz had me follow closely and we approached the cow as she stood broadside to us with her body in the open pathway of a game trail. A trail no doubt made by elephants. The area is heavily over grazed with a short level of brush and over shadowed by tall trees. There was no intermediate tree growth.

Unbelieveably the winds stayed steady with us, strong into our faces. Buzz set his shooting sticks up for me while the cow was busy, it's head not visible due to the thick brush. It looked like I was going to get a side brain shot.

As I put my rifle up I asked Buzz to put the sticks higher. It was then the cow backed up and quickly turned, she started coming....

So now head on with ears spread and her focus upon me she came. I lined up on the level of the eyes and fired. As soon as the resulting smoke cleared I could see the cow's head up in the air and then she fell from the rear quarters forward, collapsing on the ground. I readied the rifle for a second shot but the .375H&H found it's mark and Buzz pulled me off saying she was finsihed. We retreated as the rest of the herd was now alerted. Shawn got the whole thing on video. I never sensed him just over my right shoulder.

The cow was dead but Buzz thought I should put an insurance shot into the front of the chest. I moved a few yards forward to do so when a tusked cow came from behind the dead cow. We backed off again and took to a high termite mound, still remaining down wind. The rest of the herd amazingly went back to feeding quietly, as they had and moved off in short order.

I shot the cow at thirteen yards and used a handload of 300 grain Woodleigh Solids. Below you can see her as we waited on the mound for the rest of the elephants to leave. If you look very carefully you can see some of the other elephants in the jesse.



We were able to approach in short order. I could not believe the size of the animal. Even in death they command respect.



In the photo above you can see the entry point on her trunk. That's how high she held her head as she came. It was an instantanious death, over almost as quickly as it started.

Buzz and I with the cow, she was very old.



Another view with Tino.




Pointing out the entry



The group:



Getting ready to claim the elephant:





This was an exciting hunt, I would certainly encourage anyone considering such a hunt to do so. We ran into many tuskless during my short 7 days. There are many.

Impressive was Buzz and his staff, I can't say enough good about them all. They were very dedicated and highly motivated. All were a pleasure to be hunting with.

Good story and pictures -- thanks for posting.

Ann,

I always enjoy your contributions ... this one especially. Glad you had a great hunt and chose to share it with us this way!

Thank you.

Great report! NICE SHOT!!

Mark

Great story and pictures Ann, and congrat's on the shot - way to go!!!

Anne!

Great story. Thanks! Your picture of the entry wound is particularly interesting to me as many hunters have scoffed when I have told them how low a bullet must be placed in the trunk to reach the brain when the head is held high. Imagine the distance a bullet must travel when it is a big bull and he is standing slightly up hill from you with his head raised high looking at you.

465H&H

Wonderful Trip, Ann! Nicely told and the pics are great!

Excellent description and photos.A fine hunt .The 375 works better for elephant than the bow !!

465H&H, we too were amazed at the position when all was said and done. She really held her head high plus the fact they are so tall already. I clearly remember the sight picture, finding the eyes and aiming ever so slightly below....

BTW - All, yes, I hunted with a scope, I found no hinderance to it, at low power 3X, I was able to pint point my "spot" very quickly and with steady hold.

Great story, well told!

Great report Ann! I'm amazed at the entry point of your bullet, she must have had her head extremly high, and close to you!

Excellent!!!!!!

Good going Ann! And I'm glad to see that you enjoyed CN as much as I. It's a great area for tuskless ele.

Thanks for the pics and the story.....well done.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Excellent description and photos.A fine hunt .The 375 works better for elephant than the bow !!

Mete,

She was at a great archery distance, Buzz and I discussed this at length. He's looking for someone to do such a hunt . They do need to be broadside for an arrow. If I could pull 80 pounds we would be doing it for sure.

BTW- This was DAY 1 of my hunt with Buzz and Chewore North. Truly an amazing spot on earth.

Ann:
I loved the story and photos. Great job, but I do have one question. I recognized Buzz in the hero shot photo, but who is the drop-dead gorgeous blond? Just kidding, good lookin'.

Great story and pictures.

Wow! Ann, great story and pics. Thanks Allen

Thanks for sharing!! Lots of memories there for you, I'm sure.

Congratulations Ann!
Well done and nicely told!

Great shot, Ann. 13 yards!!!

Is Buzz looking for someone to do the archery elephant free??????

Put me down for it!

Don

You need about 24 to 26" of penetration for that shot. The Penetration Index confirms the good penetration of the .375!

Come on, was this a called shot or a lucky one?

Hard to tell if it was old, but pretty emasciated looking, with that prominent spine showing.

Good job.

Ann,

A great story and well writen.

Hog Killer

Ann,

Great story and the photos between the words.. Great job...They are intimidating aren't they...

You know you have to bring the video to Dallas..

Mike

Congrats Ann! Awesome story and photos!

Cheers,
Canuck

Ann,

Excellent, well done another great story.

BigB

Congrats Ann, you got your moneys worth.
Shooting a charging ele at close distance - with 1 shot,in difficult position.
What a story and experience to have lived thru.

Congrats Ann, and thankyou for a great story! looking foreward to the next pictures and story.

Ann Congratulations on a great hunt. That shot positioning would be a challenge for most of us. Obviously it didn't bother you! Nice shot.

Dak

Good going, Ann. Very nice tale of your hunt, Memsahib!

Waidmannsheil Ann. Thanks for sharing your story and the great photos, well done to a Michigander, Dom.

Congrats on a great exiting hunt and ele.

Congratulations on a great hunt!

And thanks for a great story.

Congratulations on a great hunt Ann. There is nothing like hunting elephant in my opinion. The absolute pinnacle of big game hunting! Sounds like you did it right and took her on her ground and on her terms. Good shooting.

500 ol' buddy, you're next!

Congratulations on a great hunt well done.

Ann,
Great shooting, with Rifle and Bow. I look foward to meeting hyou at this years DSC, I hope you can make it. Be sure adn book your room aththe Mariot Suites. Yhat is where most of the DRSS folks stay.

I'll do my best to be there, hoping I am not on call for work!