Been discussed before I guess, but what is 'best practice' for cow elephant hunting? ie best way to practice for a brain shot on a cow elephant?

The brain is a small football sized target, but the real trick is the angle and the "x-ray" vision needed to place the shot. When looking at a deer or buffalo I can "see" the heart but not the brain on a elephant.

So what's the best way to train for an elephant brain shot?

Get the Buzz Carlton DVD, it's a great explaination.

I think the best way to train for ele brain shots is to place a football inside of a refrigerator, then use a pully system to lift the refrigerator 12 feet in the air. Stand back at 15 yards, visualize where the football is and shoot the refrigerator. Then open the refrigerator door to see if you hit the football.

John,

With all kidding aside one must know where the ear hole is..Case in point, now how is she holding her head??? High, neutral and low???
Then imaging a broom handle sticking out and your bullet must slide all the way to break the broom handle...
I would pratice at small targets like clay birds at 20yds and closer...Precise shooting...


Mike

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
I think the best way to train for ele brain shots is to place a football inside of a refrigerator, then use a pully system to lift the refrigerator 12 feet in the air. Stand back at 15 yards, visualize where the football is and shoot the refrigerator. Then open the refrigerator door to see if you hit the football.

I'm trying to picture rolling up at the shooting range with my pulley-mounted refrigerator...

Buy my book!

Negative on the refrigerator. It is way too small. I suggest a large horse trailer placed on a medium sized hill.

In addition to Will's book, Ron Thompson's book Mahohbo gives a good decription of brain shots.

465H&H

Let's see, I have The Perfect Shot, Mahohboh, Hunting Africa's Dangerous Game (by Will), and Hunting the African Elephant (Buzz's DVD). The only problem is that I am not sure that they all agree on where to shoot the elephant!

Edited: And I asked my wife to get me Ndlovu for Father's Day...

Put Will's book in a refrigerator...............

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
Put Will's book in a refrigerator...............

and put that refrigerator in a large horse trailer placed on a medium sized hill!

....being verrrryyy careful NOT to dislodge the horsesh*t in the trailer....

Yea, put my book on the frig.

I do not disagree with shot placement with Ron Thomson, it is just that I don't agree on how to get there. Buzz's video and Thomson's book talk about using the cheek bones as a reference point for the frontal shot. On cows you can't really see the cheekbones very easily, if at all, and cheekbones can be above or below the brain on frontal shots depending upon the attitude of their heads.

When that cow is acomin' and she has her head down getting to rub you out, if you aim for the cheekbones you're going to shoot her in one of her hind feet. And then she'll use her front feet to f*** you over.

Well let me show my ignorance here. Is the ear hole in front of or behind the ear "flap" for want of a better term. If behind, then aiming for the ear hole is useless, if in front then that makes more sense, but how visible is it from the front? I have the same issues that some others do.. the stick through the ear holes is fine but where are they? There are a couple of protuberances which are visible from the front, otherwise shooting at the refigerator makes more sense!
Peter.

I shall share my purely laymen's ideation with the learned crowd, knowing full well that this is only my personal idea - but maybe somebody agrees and is helped.
There is nothing better than practice, alas most of us - even if we had the time- dont have the money.
I read most of the truly old expert books and their recommendations.
If any good ,they describe where the brain is situated in the head and how to get there,given the various angles.
In preparing meself to a hopefull ele hunt ,I begun by focusing on these given landmarks and considering the angles.

Seeing a few charging ele clips - I have changed my theory.

I think in a moving ele one either doesnt have time or fortitude to seek the landmarks memorized,then adjust for all angles in 3 dimension and pull off a shot.
Just my thinking.
I therefore believe the best answer to the leading question is :

"Let the force be with you ."

By that I mean: dont focus on landmarks ,then adjust for angles,that might be to slow,too many variables,often difficult to see.

Study now elephants at rest and at all angles, place yourself above,below,in front and behind.

Determine for study purposes the afor mentioned landmarks and superficial guidance stated

then defocus your eyes, visualize the whole moving head as a large 3 dimensional object, without visible landmarks and allow your brain to stick a rod , a bullet into the brain, so to speak by X-ray vision.

One has to think 3 dimensional- and in a hurtranslate that into .one has to "know" where the brain is.

This is achieved by experience, train your brain to "know".
The old hunters had the opportunity to do it in the bush, but they also analysed, not just shot into the big mass.

What I can do is do this over and over again, view an ele head, moving if can be
defocus - let the force be with me -
and "know how to find that brain- instinctively so to speak.

Sorry if a total layman offended the experts.
I dont claim anything,just sharing what I came up with understanding the problem.

I shot between eye and ear on my ele cow from 9 paces. She continued to turn away from me and I shot in front of her brain.

For a side or quartering away shot I should have shot much farther back.

Hard for me to get used to after having killed so many domestic animals that way.

Will, what would you have done, aim between must glad and ear???

I am at a disadvantage, not owning your book yet!

Andy

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
I think the best way to train for ele brain shots is to place a football inside of a refrigerator, then use a pully system to lift the refrigerator 12 feet in the air. Stand back at 15 yards, visualize where the football is and shoot the refrigerator. Then open the refrigerator door to see if you hit the football.

OK I don't have a spare refridgerator, but do have several freezers. What is better, upright or chest freezer?

If mounted on wheels and rolled downhill towards me it can simulate a charge. Would a brain shot stop a freezer?

A problem, are there any white tuskless cow elephants in Zim? This is getting confusing.

The broomstick visualisation sounds like a good idea. For mental practice I am going to try some sour melons on a broom stick or bamboo as targets. Why a broomstick/bamboo? To try to develop the "x-ray" picture automatically.

I have multiple copies of Buzz's DVD and Will's books as I am selling both of them in Oz .

Andy,

Difficult to say without being there! Have to go next time as your consultant.

A cow's head isn't very big but if she was close and up hill, you have to shoot low, etc., etc. And a going away shot would be difficult in any case. Better buy the book!

Nitro,

I think the broom stick through the ear idea is to enable you imagine the axis of the brain inside the head...From what i gather the external aiming points on the front head vary considerably depending whether the ele has its head up or down ect, where as by aiming to break that broom stick and almost ignoring the outside of the head, you should hit the brain..

Thats the theory any way...like others have mentioned, having never seen a dead ele on the ground, I am not 100% sure exactly where the earholes are or how to reference them when looking at an ele head on...

Regards,

Pete

how about this idea:

I was thinking of bending some wire roughly in the shape and size of an ele head--- then hanging gallon plastic bag or something like that in the location of the brain. finally, hang the contraption from a pole for shooting. you could vary the angle of the head to help visualize the needed shot placement. I haven't tried it yet but thinking of doing something like this for practice myself.

don't know if it is worth the effort or not--jest -a crazy idea--fridges are to heavy to hang from a pole

If you look into the ear slit of a dead ele you will see that the ear hole is approxiamtely 11/2 to 2 inches in front of the ear slit and about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the slit. On a level shot at 12 to 15 yds., a shot placed 2 to 3 inches in front of the ear slit and 1/3 of the way up will do the trick. The front of the brain ends just before where the external opening of the musth gland is located. You are much better off to hit the rear portion of the brain then the front portion. Also about 1/3 of the brain is located behind the ear hole.

I don't think Ron Thompson ever recommended shooting for a point between the visible front edges of the cheek bones. He recommended using the check bones and the attached zygomatic arches to help locate the ear holes. He said to aim for the intersection of the line between the ear holes and a line running from the rear top of the head down through the ear hole line.

If the head is in the normal walking position with the elephant looking down the zugomatic arches are sloping up at a small angle and the ear holes are then above the them. As he said for this shot "The ear hole is at the rear of the cheek bone, the width of the cheek bone above the cheek bone. Obviously when the elephant raises or lowers it's head the bullet entrance location will change.
Usually I agree with Will but in this case I have to say I have found Thompson's brain ahot descriptions to be right on.

Picture of ear slit of elephant. The ear hole shows up here as a small flap about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the ear slit.


465H&H

quote:

Get the Buzz Carlton DVD, it's a great explaination.

I have to agree, I watch the video on my PC, as he shows the Elephant I put my curser on where I'd shoot. Then he shows the brain.

It really works well, You get to see the Elephant's shot placement at all angles!

Try it!

465H&H,

It is not that I disagree with Thomson, it is that the cheekbones are not that prominent from the front. It obviously works for him, just not for me.

I think the bottom line in all of this is that one has to decide what works for them. Especially early on, I thought about the frontal shot almost 24 hours every day, even dreaming about it.

And the brain isn't very large and easily missed. And then there is the charge....holy sh*t, I hope this shot works!

465H&H. Thnaks very much! Now I'm going to take your description back to my copy of "The Perfect Shot" and figure it all out again. I am thinking that while elephant stalking, these thoughts are going through your mind so that, when faced with the shot opportunity you don't start figuring it all out from scratch.
Peter.

Peter,

You don't have time to think about all that as often the head is continually changing position. See the broomstick and cut it with your bullet half way between the ear holes.

465H&H

Here are some photos to practice on.









This shows the ear slit.

BTT ..I want to see some answers!

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
BTT ..I want to see some answers!

Answers or opinions...

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
BTT ..I want to see some answers!

You get answers when you buy my book!

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
You get answers when you buy my book!

Finished it yesterday...

If you are looking at a bull from the front with your eyes on the same level as his (which would obviously require you being on a rise), where is the earhole(normally) in relation to the bulls eyes?

BullDog,

There is no correct answer to your Q since it will depend entirely on how the elephant is holding its head, even if you were to remain level with the eyes while he moved his head up and down.

JPK

OK, point taken. How about in this picture?



Can anyone give me a rough estimate?

On that photo, I would aim at the middle of the top wrinkle between the eyes. You can clearly see the arches as a point of reference.

quote:

that photo, I would aim at the middle of the top wrinkle between the eyes. You can clearly see the arches as a point of reference.

Me too! Maybe just a couple of inches higher that the top wrinkle

Yes, you can see the front of the arches, but not the rear. I think this is Will's point about the arches being difficult to use.

The arches will "tilt" up or down according to how the elephant is holding its head, so you need a rear reference point. Ron Thomson in Mahohboh, "The ear hole is at the back of the arch, the width of the arch above the arch."

Get Will's book for his lesson, but it doesn't help too much here since the ear detail is lost and a large portion of this elephant's ear tops are folded over.

On this elephant you are below his eye level, at least that's how I see it. When in doubt, go lower...I would shoot for the 2nd crease, and thank God I had a double.

JPK

quote:

Originally posted by Widowmaker416:
[ Maybe just a couple of inches higher that the top wrinkle

Bingo!

Shit, I gotta read Will's book again.

JPK

Damn, I would have said the second wrinkle also. Guess I need to read Wills book.

Hey Will my birthday is comimg up real soon and even though I keep dropping hints LaRita is being pretty tight lipid. You haven't cashed any checks from Alabama have you??????????

So, if somebody hit the second wrinkle down, would that miss the brain?