Ivan,
I appreciate the behind-the-scenes story about what actually happened. You just can't get that in a 20 minute show where only 5 minutes is devoted to the actual hunt! And a second or third on the well-done and outstanding shot under pressure...

Well done, my friend; excellent shooting. Exceptional video work by Doug. Stay well.

Great story and well told Ivan! Thanks for taking the time to share it.

Unfortunately, this just makes it harder on us Canadians that aren't able to watch the damn show! Hopefully it will be available on DVD sooner than later.

Cheers
Canuck

Wow!
I would new pants or a new body after that.

Too bad you were not using the bow and arrow the guy had on his post here recently.

quote:

how we got into this Obama crap!

Bill,

I am an about as "far-right-winged-conservative-REPUBLICAN-Obama-disliking-person" as anyone on this list-serv I assure you.

Just had a question. Legitimate in my mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:

I would assume Ivan knows I was just kidding. Sometimes I over do the subtle thing!

...........YA think?

Will I think most here know your sense of humor, and don't find it a bad thing! Don't change because if you did I'd be the only one left to cuss!

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:

quote:

Now that is up close and personal. Ivan, in hindsight would you have preferred to been carrying your .577?

mike , i am very very familiar with my .450 , and i truly believe its all about shot placement , even if the first shot had dropped the bul it was a fraction of a second before the second shot and so i am not sure that it would have made a difference , as anton points out the extra recoil could have made the second shot take longer !

Now folks here is a man with some true big game experience, and who understands the use of double rifles, both their value, and some of their draw-backs! There are times when bigger is not always better, it's knowing how to use what you have.

By the way Ivan that was a very close call, and though I didn't see the film, your description was very clear, and makes me wish I had been there! GOOD SHOW Bwana!

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:

quote:

Now that is up close and personal. Ivan, in hindsight would you have preferred to been carrying your .577?

mike , i am very very familiar with my .450 , and i truly believe its all about shot placement , even if the first shot had dropped the bul it was a fraction of a second before the second shot and so i am not sure that it would have made a difference , as anton points out the extra recoil could have made the second shot take longer !

Ivan, neglected to ask, what ammo were you using in the .450? Thanks.

mike ,
i was using hornady DGS bullets

ledvm ,
by the way i am not offended by your question at all ..

you will notice as you watch any footage of me approaching elephants , its always done with a lot of explanation of brain position , early in the hunt , i will approach as many elephants as it takes to make a guy comfortable and seeing as the frontal brain shot is likely to be the shot , there is no way to present this shot without the elephant knowing of obnes prescence ...what is not seen generally on the shows is the COUNTLESS approaches where we look from a distance and completely leave the elephants alone ...on average it usually takes between 100 to 300 bulls seen before we shoot and of those i perhaps approach five to te with any given client...

most of the time as soon as i am close enough to see that the bulls are not worth takimg , we back off and leave them completely unaware that we were even there ..unfortunatel this does not make great footage and so although its all filmed , not much makes the final ct ..

i agree wholeheartedly its not good to disturb an animal without reason and as soon as we have done a few approaches and a guy is comfortable, we look from a lot further back ..

while i have recently had very bad luck with people making perfect frontal brain shots , i believe it would be even worse if the first elephant a guy ever got close to was the one he was going to shoot.

people ,
thank you very much for the positive comments. I appreciate it.

Will , i am hurt and confused... and psychologically scarred

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:

i was using hornady DGS bullets

Ivan,

Any idea what velocity you get with them in your rifle? I shot some in my .450 NE this morning and was getting around 2050 fps.

It doesn't get much closer to disaster than that--Great Pict and "Well Done!"

Ivan: As they say: "A picture is worth ONE THOUSAND WORDS!" In this case, let's change that to TEN THOUSAND!!

Good show Ivan!!

mike i havent chronographed them ,2050 is exactly what they should be... i will do some and let you know ...it will have to be later in the year as i have left my rifle in africa this time ...

Us poor folk don't have cable or them satellites but in that photo I can't tell whether you are aiming or running.

Mighty lucky shot as there was a heap of elephant trunk and assorted stuff to go through to reach the brain.

It's all fun and games, after the fact, but I suspect you are lucky to be alive.

That's the most increadible hunting picture I ever saw....

Honestly, I am speechless, it needs to be a real pro to manage a situation like that

And for the chap that it's taping side by side with you..well, he deserves also an award for his job commitment (sp?).

My hat off to all those pro making us possible to live our dreams.

L

quote:

Originally posted by Lorenzo:
That's the most increadible hunting picture I ever saw....

Honestly, I am speechless, it needs to be a real pro to manage a situation like that

And for the chap that it's taping side by side with you..well, he deserves also an award for his job commitment (sp?).

My hat off to all those pro making us possible to live our dreams.

L

I second every word that Lorenzo said. Then I'll add: "Look, he is a lefty!"

Sue wish someone will make that show available on a DVD! Any such hope?

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

I would bet it will be featured in Boddington's next elephant hunting DVD.

465H&H

Ivan,
Thanks for the dialog! Hope to meet you in person some day. Again, that was damn good shooting!

IVAN I am shocked and amazed by what I see in that picture. I didn't know that you were left handed.

Ivan, Any chance you could put a strip of that film on your website so those of us that do not have access to Tracks Across Africa could see it?

Ivan, amazing story and photo, thanks.

Ivan, that my friend as we say in Naval Aviation, are BALLS OF BRASS! jorge

Wow, you are one cool dude under pressure Ivan!

And lucky too, not many of us get to have our moments-of-glory captured for all the world to see! Well, I guess there is always Photoshop for the rest of us. And ditto on the positive comments about the cameraman, not only did he stand his ground but he must be pretty darn fast! [note to self, if/when hunting elephant with Ivan, to avoid making my-elephant our-elephant, either (a) don't blow the first shot, or (b) work on my 800-meter times]

Thanks for posting, much can be learned from your experiences, and I appreciate you sharing the stories and pictures.

Very sexy Ivan! When you write your books we will all know there was no embellishment in the stories.

quote:

Mighty lucky shot as there was a heap of elephant trunk and assorted stuff to go through to reach the brain.

will , i looked carefully , as you can imagine after the shot and found that my first shot went over the brain by about an inch ...( i pushed a cleaning rod in there) , the second shot went through the brain and made a hole in the back of the brain case , it travelled through about 2 feet of meat , and close to a foot of bone, about 9 inches of brain matter and then ten inches of muscle in the neck . we took the bullet out of the neck muscle above the third vertebrae.

I was just about to ask in a PM if you guys traced the first one. I didn't want to embarrass you publicly if it had missed the brain by more than an inch!!

I figured maybe it had been on the right trajectory but got stopped along the way. Penetration was good enough, eh?

Good morning.

quote:

Good morning.

why the unusual niceties ...what happenend last night or shouldnt i ask !!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Very sexy Ivan!

Ivan,

I figger Good Morning is good enough. I ain't going as far as Ann.

And I'm still betrothed to Buzzer, or at least that's what he professes.

Ivan,
As said previously. Thank you for the great video and taking the time to share.
You are the Man!
Jim

Awesome story and picture! Is there a video of this that I can watch online somewhere? I missed it on the TV!

Ivan, you are simply the best PH in modern African hunting history! Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge with those of us that will never have the opportunity to share a camp with you.