Go to Buzz's website, www.cmsafaris.com. Click on Filming at the top and try connecting from that location.

Absolutely fantastic, a couple heart pounding moments.

That was awesome to watch. Does not help though as I have wanted to get back to Africa for an elephant the minute my plane left Beira airport.

I think I identified a critical flaw in Buzz's shouting though. He needs to shout "go away" when an elephant charges as, clearly, they seem to be listening when he shouts "come on."

WOW What balls those guys have.
Amazingly close on most of the shots.
I see now why so many use The Hammer of Thor to hunt DG.
Thanks for sharing this vid.
George

Thanks, Mike!
Seven months and counting.....

quote:

Originally posted by Wendell Reich:
You are my hero.

quote:

Originally posted by dande_jack:
On thinking about it all afternoon, I just have to comment on the client running away with his rifle in his hand ,leaving the PH to face the charge alone. Quite a legacy to live with,not on that I want. He better stick to tamer endeavors.

I have to agree. It must feel good to be Mike. He stands shoulder to shoulder with Buzz and fires into the charging elephant, delivering the shot that stops the charge no less.

OTOH there are two "goats" who turn to run. One even has the PH yelling, "don't run! SHOOT! SHOOT!" and the client never fires a shot.

When I think of these two "runners" along with the "runner" in the Ivan/Boddington video I am struck with the fact that these guys turned and ran while holding bigbore rifles while the camera men continued to stand the charge and roll film.

Remind me not to invite a camera man on any of my hunts.

quote:

Remind me not to invite a camera man on any of my hunts.

Nonsense, just make sure you don't run. Everyone has that split second fight or flight reaction. While I can't say what I would do in that situation, I would hope I wouldn't run. I think one needs to prepare themselves for a charge and practice quick shots as well as have a mental plan for how to handle that situation. I have a feeling those that turned and fled didn't actually expect they would be charged (The "that only happens in stories and the internet" mindset).

COOL STUFF. Thanks Mikey!

I saw this video over and over again and cant say that anyone did run from a charging ele.It is difficult to respond to such a situation with instinct and take orders or follow instructions at the same time.
In other words it is difficult to concentrate on what the ele is doing and setting yourself up and on what the PH is yelling out.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Go to Buzz's website, www.cmsafaris.com. Click on Filming at the top and try connecting from that location.

Thanks, Mike.

quote:

Originally posted by Sevens:

quote:

Remind me not to invite a camera man on any of my hunts.

Nonsense, just make sure you don't run.

Sevens, that was tongue and cheek. I have been in situations with elephants, buffalo, lions(one of which was wounded/dying) and poachers. Each time I have felt far safer facing the danger with my rifle at the ready than I would have had I turned my back on the danger and ran. When facing the danger you are able to see how things are unfolding and can shoot things escalate to that point.

If you turn and run you leave yourself totally defenseless.

And in defense of the "runners"(yes two guys in this video did run at 5:55 and 9:25, you need to watch again Shootaway) I have seen many times where a PH tells a hunter or a group of hunters to run. It has always struck me as a dangerous thing to do. Further, I wonder if telling a client to run might condition the client to run the next time a charge happens.

I meant to mention before: Buzz is the most unique PH I have seen. He looks like he would be an absolute blast to hunt with.

When you are told to get back one usually looks back to see if there are any obstacles in the way and quickly moves in that direction.That is not running for your life.

This reminds me of a time when we were after some meat for the trackers and ranger and whenever something was spotted from the truck we would stop and the ph would start with the instructions etc... and we were unsuccesfull at coming close and getting a shot.Finally I went after the game by myself,right from the truck and returned with their dinner in my hand.

Hey Mike talk softly and carry a big double gun. Works all the time.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
This reminds me of a time when we were after some meat for the trackers and ranger and whenever something was spotted from the truck we would stop and the ph would start with the instructions etc... and we were unsuccesfull at coming close and getting a shot.Finally I went after the game by myself,right from the truck and returned with their dinner in my hand.

Was that when you shot the cow instead of the bull? You are an ass.

You shot a cow because (1) you cannot follow instructions, (2) you cannot tell a cow from a bull, and (3) you do not have good shooting presence in the field. You want to pretend to be something that you are not. Like I said, you are an ass . . . and what's worse, I am not sure you appreciate that you are an ass.

You are very adept at posting video footage, why don't you post the clip of you shooting the buffalo bull . . . I mean cow?

Interesting clips.

Although I must confess that I find "kill shots" - especially when viewed one after the other, in a lengthy series - to be rather melancholy viewing.

So much of the hunt is omitted, and the kill is made to seem all important.

One cannot hunt, at least successfully, without killing, yet killing is a tiny fraction of the hunting experience.

Still, every hunter needs to kill quickly and cleanly, and these clips show that being done, no doubt.

And shootaway, please goaway, okayaway?

I have this as the wallpaper on my computer. It keeps my head "in the game". The photo was taken at about 12 feet on a hunt in the Caprivi with Karl Stumpfe. We stood eye-to-eye for 2-3 minutes, then he just walked off. :-)

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
You shot a cow because (1) you cannot follow instructions, (2) you cannot tell a cow from a bull, and (3) you do not have good shooting presence in the field. You want to pretend to be something that you are not. Like I said, you are an ass . . . and what's worse, I am not sure you appreciate that you are an ass.

You are very adept at posting video footage, why don't you post the clip of you shooting the buffalo bull . . . I mean cow?

+1

Actually Mike, I think his problem is that he's too busy doing ballet pirouettes with his rifle to be a hunter!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
...I find "kill shots"...to be rather melancholy viewing.
... the kill is made to seem all important.

So very true Mike!

quote:

Originally posted by PD999:

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
...I find "kill shots"...to be rather melancholy viewing.
... the kill is made to seem all important.

So very true Mike!

To be clear, this is from the CMS website and is the show clip loop that plays on the television in their booth at DSC and SCI. So it is intended to simply catch the attention of show attendees walking by, not tell a story like the DVDs CMS has produced. I think most of us agree that "whack 'em and stack 'em" DVDs are much less appealing than those that tell the story of a hunt. I just wanted to make sure that everyone realized this was just the show loop.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
This reminds me of a time when we were after some meat for the trackers and ranger and whenever something was spotted from the truck we would stop and the ph would start with the instructions etc... and we were unsuccesfull at coming close and getting a shot.Finally I went after the game by myself,right from the truck and returned with their dinner in my hand.

and i am sure they enjoyed the nice tender COW you shot! as Mike said, you are an ass with good video posting skills- although your cow hunt isn't exactly the stuff dreams are made of. i think you need to go enjoy your crepes/foi gras/escargot- and STFU

Awesome. May be I'll add a tuskless to my buffalo next year. That should be way more fun than PG!

Eye to knee.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I have this as the wallpaper on my computer. It keeps my head "in the game". The photo was taken at about 12 feet on a hunt in the Caprivi with Karl Stumpfe. We stood eye-to-eye for 2-3 minutes, then he just walked off. :-)

Hi Guys

The "loop" is a dvd that we designed to "stop" clients at the shows. By doing this it gives us a chance to chat to them as before, when we did not have a dvd playing and clients were walking past, it bordered on almost been "rude" trying to stop them to chat.

I ,like alot of you, am not a fan of what I call "BANG BANG" DVds and I do think it is fair to say the the 3 commercial DVDs I have produced have had more then their fair share of instructional information to them. That has infact been the back bone to all the dvds so far!

Regards the fellows running-I probably did a mis-justice to the two fellows here by not telling the facts of the hunt and the reason for the retreat. I must say are both very accomplished hunters.

The one fellow made the mistake of having his scope turned up to the max as he was on a "one gun safari" and just prior to that he was trying to shoot a grysbok and as a result had his scope on full magnification and forgot to turn it down. When the ele charged he could not see a darn thing and did what I would have done- got the heck out of there! The second fellow was clearly told by Al to move back and get out of there which is precisely what he did! Cheers Buzz

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Go to Buzz's website, www.cmsafaris.com. Click on Filming at the top and try connecting from that location.

Mike it still doesn't work! It is quite evident that AVG security does not like that film!
...................................................................

Understood, Mike and Buzz.

Biebs, I would swear that I saw that same elephant a few years ago when hunting the Caprivi - it was Kasika Conservancy - with Vaughan Fulton.

We were in a boat, near the Namibian shore of the Chobe, and he came right to the shoreline, a few feet away, and just stood there staring at us.

I note that several people have noticed the double discharge that Mike made by accident in one of the sequences, I believe that this bad habit is the result of an unfortunate event in his youth when a rather larger father accidentally burst into his daughters room while Mike was instigating the final moments of some meaningful carnal instruction.

Exciting stuff! Hats off to CMS PH's and hunters who can stand their ground in some seriously tense moments!

I am the video editor for Charlton McCallum Safaris and have the unique perspective of seeing the whole story behind these clips. Buzz has already commented and he is the obvious expert, but I want to make a couple of comments as well.

I am not a PH, but I do know the rules.  Rule number one - do what your PH tells you to do. In these scenarios your PH can tell you several different things - run, get back or shoot. If he tells you to run or get back, you damn well better get busy moving. If you turn and shoot instead I'll guarantee your PH is going to be pissed. Even if he is shooting, if he tells YOU to get back, you do it.

I have seen Buzz tell a client that there may be a charge and to be ready. He then instructs them to NOT shoot until he says to and then sometimes he will tell them to only shoot over the ele's head.

Watch Mike's charge where the ele almost rolls over after the shot.  After getting the hell out of the thick bush, Buzz tells Mike to "come here".  Buzz and Mike line up on the ele while stepping backward and what you can't hear very well is Mike pleading with Buzz saying "Shoot, Buzz?". Finally, Buzz says, "okay, shoot". You notice Mike did not fire until Buzz gave the signal, even when it seemed imminent that they would be squashed. 

Buzz pointed out the back story to the two clips everyone is talking about. If you are interested in the whole story they are featured on Buzz's DVDs. The clip of Myles telling the client not to run is on "The Essence of Elephant Hunting" (chapter 20 - 2:02:08). The clip of the client running away from the charge with Alan is on "Zambezi Extreme" (chapter 26 - 2:02:08).

I have almost 700 hours of video footage from CMS hunts and have watched every minute of it. I have also had the opportunity to sit with Buzz and watch it together and discuss all the details - the approach, the client's reaction, the accuracy of the shot and what went wrong if the ele did not drop right away. We played the clips in slow motion, step by step and in reverse to observe every detail. What I learned is that every situation is different and has its own details that effect how the PH reacts and wants the client to react. Most problems occurred when the client did not listen or react quickly enough.

Give these guys a break. They experienced something that would make most of us return to camp and change our pants. Neither of these hunters are cowards.


David

Very well said Dave and welcome to AR.
Regards
Rob

Awesome!