Yes..what is it with these animals that make us nuts about hunting them...size, appearance..intellect...??

I must confess to be addicted, to the extent that I (well almost..) don't care so much about other hunting..buy too many large bore rifles and spend too much time reading about the subject and shooting and testing rifles..boy oh boy...what a fun, albeit expensive hobby...

Wife says I am deranged..

Hunting elephant is one of those things that if you have not experienced it...you will not understand.

Agreed Lane...now I understand why the (ivory)hunters of yesteryear were so obsessed by hunting them..

quote:

Originally posted by Pondoro:
Agreed Lane...now I understand why the (ivory)hunters of yesteryear were so obsessed by hunting them..

100%

It is the purest form of hunting not to mention dangerous as hell.

Might be a slight hope of Botswana opening on buffalo and ele...seems the new president cares more about people, their crops etc. than wildlife..

Botswana now have some 230.000 elephant...madness..!

If I may ask, by way of small diversion, how do you guys who have done both rate elephant hunting against buff hunting ? I have never contemplated ele hunting but have hunted buff which is in my top tier of hunts I would, and am doing again.

I get asked this question many times.

And the only answer I found that seems satisfactory to non hunters is the fact that both elephants and buffalo are so big, it very hard to miss them.

I would only hunt ele's the rest of my life if I could afford it. Addicting is not quite enough word or explanation.

+100

I think they are different in that elephant is more physical- you walk further usually. Buffalo are more predictable IMO than elephant, and I think the elephant is probably more dangerous.

That said, stalking a elephant and a dagga boy is quite similar.

I enjoy both. Can’t say one or the other is always preferred.

Oh Boy, I miss it, Andre and Lane, I hear you
I’m due to go again
Larry is right as well
No one can understand Elephant hunting until they do it

During my more active days of hunting, mainly in Tanzania, I would always ask my PH (George Angelides, Nicky Blunt, Gerard Ambrose, Mike Branham, Andre de Kock, Ronnie McFarlane):

If you had to pick one animal to hunt in Africa, what would it be? Not one of them even hesitated in their answer: Elephant.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Hunting elephant is one of those things that if you have not experienced it...you will not understand.

Will probably make me bankrupt one day but...elephants cannot compare with any other hunting! The better part of 250 days after them and never get tired.

To me elephant hunting is a unique experience and can't really be compared to buffalo or anything else. Joe Coogan who apprenticed with Harry Selby, spent many years hunting Botswana and as a gun scribe told me that approaching an elephant with rifle in hand intending on killing that elephant was a very special thing. For me truer word were never spoken.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
To me elephant hunting is a unique experience and can't really be compared to buffalo or anything else. Joe Coogan who apprenticed with Harry Selby, spent many years hunting Botswana and as a gun scribe told me that approaching an elephant with rifle in hand intending on killing that elephant was a very special thing. For me truer word were never spoken.

Mark

I have said that exact thing to many people over the years. There is nothing else like hunting elephants. The only downside to elephant hunting is that, it has ruined me for most other hunting. I enjoy hunting plainsgame or deer here in North America, but after elephant hunting they don't get my heart rate going like they did in the past.

That being said, I still love hunting buffalo. Stalking in close to dagga boys in thick bush, now that still gets the heart rate up.

quote:

Originally posted by 30.06king:
If I may ask, by way of small diversion, how do you guys who have done both rate elephant hunting against buff hunting ? I have never contemplated ele hunting but have hunted buff which is in my top tier of hunts I would, and am doing again.

I have done a lot of both. Those are my two favorites to hunt in Africa. I prefer the elephant personally. To me, it is for several reasons.


First and foremost is that it is the truest form of hunting in the sense that we are tracking/hunting a single animal. We do that by following his unique track. Granted there may be others around but we are on that unique track. We are not following a herd or group like one often does with buffalo.

We often have to get far closer to an elephant to even make a determination which is the right animal, far closer than one ever would with a buffalo. I have been within 10 yards of elephants just trying to determine if he was the right one. This greatly increases the element of danger. Slipping in and out of the elephants without them knowing that you are there is very exciting.


I love the physical aspects of elephant hunting. The further we walk the better. Generally, I walk much further elephant hunting than buff hunting. The most I have ever done was getting on tracks just after daylight. We followed them all day. We caught them about sunset. I turned the bull down. How far did we walk? A long damn way! Certainly at least 25 miles.

The word I would use to try to best describe my elephant hunting experience is fulfilling.At its best it involves tracking a single, very large,intriguing and wonderful animal over many miles.The area covering all kinds of terrain, villages,etc...this I believe due in part to its large foot print or spoor.One gets a feeling of having an immense territory exclusively reserved for your hunting experience.Once the elephant is down the adventure does not end and is quite an experience in itself.That said, after going 20 days without seeing a shootable bull I doubt that I would do it again.In Moz I hunted with Rich in an area that was new to him and that made the hunt even more challenging and thus rewarding.I feel we were very lucky to get that bull.IMO there are just not that many around and I am not that crazy about the idea of hunting ele in areas bordering national parks or ele that have been identified and hanging around to be shot-if that be the case.If we could go 10 or 15 years back I would do it again.It might not have cost as much and I would not be worried about coming back empty handed.Tuskless hunts have never interested me but I might consider one in the future.

In 2014 we followed the same elephant for four days. Never did see him.
Elephant for me.
I don’t know if I will ever spend what it takes for another Trophy bull, but there are tuskless in my future. You lose the aspect of tracking a particular animal, but sorting out a shooter without a dependent calf in a herd in thick Jesse is really intense.

Stop already....now you guys just make me want to go elephant hunting again! I can't take all this temptation.

For those of you who haven't tried it...try hunting them at night...that really gets the adrenaline flowing..

Richard Harland wrote a chapter about it in his splendid book Ndlovu..

I have only hunted elephant once. Shot my bull on Day 13 of a 14 Day hunt. By Day 10 I honestly felt, for the first time on any hunt in my life, that if I went home without pulling the trigger I would not have any regrets, as I had truly hunted elephant. I will echo the others-until you have done it, it is very hard to understand the difference.

quote:

Originally posted by Marty:
In 2014 we followed the same elephant for four days. Never did see him.

Deep Crack

Ele hunting has left me with little desire to hunt other species. I don't know that I can put it into words as to why. It's the pinnacle.

My last ele hunt was for a trophy bull in Dec. 2013 with CMS. That's the last animal I've pulled the trigger on. I've hunted a little for whitetail deer locally since but I haven't shot anything since that last trip to Zim. And no, I've not gone soft or had any great change of heart towards hunting. I guess the best way of saying it is that all else pales in comparison and I've lost interest, at least temporarily.

That said, my oldest son and I are planning on doing a buff hunt with Buzz next summer. Maybe that'll get the juices flowing again. If not, I suppose another ele will have to be scheduled at some point. Like most, I just haven't figured out a way to pay for hunting eles as much as I'd like to ... at least so far.

I have not read a post from an ele hunter above that I disagree with.

Hunting buff is great. The best I can describe it is this: Take everything you like about buffalo hunting and multiply it by 10.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
Ele hunting has left me with little desire to hunt other species. I don't know that I can put it into words as to why. It's the pinnacle.

My last ele hunt was for a trophy bull in Dec. 2013 with CMS. That's the last animal I've pulled the trigger on. I've hunted a little for whitetail deer locally since but I haven't shot anything since that last trip to Zim. And no, I've not gone soft or had any great change of heart towards hunting. I guess the best way of saying it is that all else pales in comparison and I've lost interest, at least temporarily.

That said, my oldest son and I are planning on doing a buff hunt with Buzz next summer. Maybe that'll get the juices flowing again. If not, I suppose another ele will have to be scheduled at some point. Like most, I just haven't figured out a way to pay for hunting eles as much as I'd like to ... at least so far.

Well, you're pretty good on mule deer with a muzzleloader too buddy!

I consider myself a relaxed cool calm hunter but getting close to Elephant makes me tremble with excitement and fear

What bullets do you gentlemen prefer on elephant..? Personally I have use Woodleigh, Hornady DGS and Rhino brass bullets...all worked well.

I plan on trying 500 grain Barnes banded next time in my .470..if I can get them to regulate in the Krieghoff..

Cutting Edge Bullets Safari Solids or North Fork Solids.

Elephant hunting is good but if money was no object I would still like my next hunts to be buff or leopard or lion.If you don't think cat hunting can be exciting just read Corbett.I am not a gambler-at least I think so but I believe a little risk or challenge has big pay back.If a hunt is made easy it is not much fun.Things like hunting buff out of large herds, pre baiting cats and locating ele bulls before a hunter arrives don't make a great hunt. Hunting in an area that is known not to contain game doesn't either.

I second the choice of CEB solids for Ele ( Lane). I have taken my last 3 with their bullets in 458Lott, 458B&M and 500NE; all 3 required only the insurance to close the deal. I prefer the frontal brain as I have found nothing to compare with tracking up on an Ele intending to use that particular shot.

I had Ele on quota with Buzz for this past April-May but had to cancel when I experienced my first ever Migraine w/Aura and the Docs said NO GO. My SIL went alone and took another Ele and another Hippo. He had a second Ele on quota. Spent the next 6 days searching but they couldn't find another one without a dependent calf. Apparently a great calf survival rate the past two years due to good rains. Should make Ele hunting good for some years in Dande.

If I could do anything all of the time, it would be on the track of an elephant. Of all the hunting I have done, elephant hunting has been the most exhilarating, emotional and challenging.

quote:

Originally posted by Pondoro:
What bullets do you gentlemen prefer on elephant..? Personally I have use Woodleigh, Hornady DGS and Rhino brass bullets...all worked well.

I plan on trying 500 grain Barnes banded next time in my .470..if I can get them to regulate in the Krieghoff..

WOODLEIGH Hydros from a double and plain FMJs for a bolt action rifle.

Ivan Carter once wrote that hunting tuskless cows in the Zambezi Valley jesse was as dangerous as hunting gets. After one such hunt with Ian Gibson, I heartily agree. Wish I could afford a dozen more.

I must say, I am in agreement that ele hunting is my numero uno!,,

Very fortunate to have done quite a few hunts and taken multiple cows as well as bulls, all
Up close with open sighted double rifles.

There just isn’t anything quite like it!!

Buff is in second place, but a big gap...

I book at least one ele hunt per year, sometimes 2. I am booked in annually till 2021 so far.."..

I guess you could say I am addicted!!!!!

In my book, it is the pinnacle of dangerous game hunting...

As to projectiles, I’ve taken them with Hornady DGS solids, Woodleigh conventional FMJ, woodleigh HYdros
and also CEB 13 solids.

All did the job adequately , preference is for the last 2 mentioned mono metals though.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Cutting Edge Bullets Safari Solids or North Fork Solids.

Yes - the CEB impressed me on the one elephant I have shot. I will use them again !

Morten

Go back about a dozen posts. Todd Williams nailed it!!
Nailed it!! Nailed it!!

quote:

Originally posted by 2PIPE:
I must say, I am in agreement that ele hunting is my numero uno!,,

Very fortunate to have done quite a few hunts and taken multiple cows as well as bulls, all
Up close with open sighted double rifles.

There just isn’t anything quite like it!!

Buff is in second place, but a big gap...

I book at least one ele hunt per year, sometimes 2. I am booked in annually till 2021 so far.."..

I guess you could say I am addicted!!!!!

In my book, it is the pinnacle of dangerous game hunting...

As to projectiles, I’ve taken them with Hornady DGS solids, Woodleigh conventional FMJ, woodleigh HYdros
and also CEB 13 solids.

All did the job adequately , preference is for the last 2 mentioned mono metals though.

I am curious to know what rifles and calibres you use on elephant..?

.500 NE and .458 WM