hello every one i just got back last night from my very first elephant hunt in botwana my ph was gevin wich was one of grame polloks hunters.

any ways i had a absolutly great time the weather was also good and i seen alot of game

zebra,impala,kudu,gemsbok,steenbok,giraffe,duiker

and a few more as well i also seen a number of honey badgers too.

i seen alot of elephant and i acutally passed on a 65 pounder on the first day and the first hour of the hunt i ended up taking a 70-66 pounder on the 9th day of the hunt
the 700 nitro hit the elephant like the fist of thor and i droped his ass like a sack of hammers. at a paced off 18 yards.

i saw 2 elephant thet would push the 80-90# mark but unfortunatly both bulls were out side of my hunting area in the national park bordering ng-43 wich is moremi national park.

i also took a grey duiker,steenbok,zebra,wildabeest.with my 500 nitro.

i am having my pictures developed today so i will try and post pictures asap.

we were charged a few times by the ellie's but luckfully i didnt have to shoot one in self defence. but came dam close a few times.

safaris botswana bound runs a awsome outfit and i would highly recommend them to any one looking to shoot a nice elephant or a real huge buffalo. PS i am now able to book hunts for anyone wanting to hunt with them.

i seen alot of buffalo i seen a few bulls that had to go at least 45-48" and we saw 1 that hit the 50" mark unfortunatly i didnt have a buffalo on licence so they were safe from the 700.

in 14 days i saw at least 200-350+ buffalo. the high grass and all the ran they have had this years have drawn alot of buffalo to there area for some reason but hey lets not complain. the more buff the better.

the whole trip i was there i never saw any snakes though.

there was no tetse flys and the mosqitos were so few you didnt even know they were they unless you were acutually looking for them.

any ways im glad im home but cant wait to go back again.

Congratulations and I am glad you had a successful hunt.



Some questions:



1. Did the ellie take only 1 shot? If not, please relate the details.



2. Were there any hangfires in BOTS?



3. Did you recover your 700 NE bullet? If so, how deep did it penetrate?



4. How far did you typically track ellie each day, and was there any disadvantage in carrying an 18 pound rifle? If you had been carrying a lighter rifle could you have moved faster?



5. On the plains game with the .500, did you use softs or solids? How quickly did the .500 kill plains game?



6. What brand of .470 was the PH using?



7. Now that you have hunted elephant, what rifle and cartridge would you recommend to someone new to the sport?



8. Did your 700 NE get any scratches?

Good going. More than can be expected nowadays.

Congratulations on you Elephant! No snakes? Major dissapointment

1. 1 shot only and 1 to make shure



2.no hangfires(have to make shre there is zero air space found this out at the range)commpression is my friend.



3. yes and 52"-54" of penetraion it was a frontal brain shot.

the enshurance shot was into the lower chest on the ellie's side it penetrated the full width of the elleiand came to rest just in side the skin on the back.



4.the weight of the rifle didnt bother me at all and it wouldnt matter if i had a lighter rifle i wouldnt move any faster or slower i just had to get used to the heat.



the distance to each ellie varyed widly from 1-16-18 km's to seeing them from the road most walk however were about 2-4 miles.





5.the 500 nitro i used softs on the zebra and wilda beest and solids on the duiker and steen bok and it killed them like lightning.



6. for elephant hunting i would highly recommend a double rifle and a 470/500 nitro as starting point. and of course the bigger the better.



7. a few small scratches but nothing to cry over. it gives the gun character.

oops almost forgot the ph was using a william douglas 470 very nice looking rifle bluing was worn quite a bit at the muzzel end. rifle was at least 7 years old.

Congrats 700! That's so cool that you nailed an elephant. I can't believe you shot a little steenbok with a 500!

I am anxious to see your photos dude.

700 NE

Great ele, these days anything over 65 lbs is fantastic hunt.

Did you ever chrony your hunting loads? For the frontal shot, did you shoot from the sticks or did you handle that 18lb monster off hand? If you needed a second shot, was the recoil managed enough to get back on target quickly?

I'm quessing your PH must have been real confident with your ability with the 700 to let you take a frontal shot. Good hunting!

Dak

Congratulations on a great bull! Look forward to your pictures!

700,

Good show! I can only hope to do nearly that well with Calitz in August.

Congratulations!

Mark

i refused to use the shooting sticks cause i figure if i cant hit a soft ball off hand at 25-30 yards i have no place hunting elephant.



recoil recovery time is fast the recoil isnt as bad as one would think



i shot all of my animals free handed. from 18 yards to 150.



mark the arial i hunted boarders on 1 of johans calitz areas not only that but my hunt is close to 10,000 cheaper.



calitz charges you on a sliding scale where as grame dosnt he charges 5000 for the licence and 5000 trophy fee and it dosnt matter how big of a elephant you shoot the price stays the same.



i payed 26,000 toatle thats daily rate trophy fees pick and drive back to the airportall your meals and laundry service and more i will post more details when i find my fee list.

Congrats to you!

Get us those pics as soon as you can, can't wait to see them

Off-hand shots,huh? That ol' cowboy from Ideehoe would be tickled pink that you didn't use sticks and made all your shots off-hand. Looking forward to your pics and more details. My hat's off to you.

700,

Congrats and welcone home and I know you want to go back...I was wondering how you handled the weight of the big double...YOu answered that...Glad you had a trip with some excitement...

Mike

ok i got the pics now i will have my sister(computer wiz)in stall soft ware and set up our new scanner.

i should have pics tomorro or monday at the latest. as my sister wont be available to help me till tomorro afternoon.

ps i got really lucky the nearve on my elephant was extreamly small and that is what caused my ivory to go up in weight youd think at first glace it was a 60-65 pounder but the nerve being so small incresed my weight.

700
Sounds like your trip was a good way to break in your new .500 NE Searcy
I also think shooting off-hand is grand sport and the right way to do it.
I look forward to the pictures
You need a digital camera so that we can get the pictures faster

Cheers,

Andr�

I agree with 700 about shooting offhand. Part of the challenge and thus the enjoyment of the hunt is lost by artificial rests that make things easier. In particular I cannot imagine shooting at DG under 50 yards with shooting sticks.

Nice elephant. Not a bad first hunt for your .700.

ok here are a few pics more to come soon.

Real nice elephant, good shooting and congratulations!

VERY NICE & CONGRATS!

Congratulations.

Hope for some more pictures


Cheers
/ JOHAN

I am rarely so blunt and I hope you all excuse my language but that is FUCKING SWEET! Good for you! Now, where are all the folks who accused 700 of being a fake? Conspicuously silent.

I am, however, a bit disappointed in you Steve for not using a single shot black powder rifle.



Best,



JohnTheGreek

Good Job. Looks like you had a fun time. Now all we need is for dinosaurs to walk the earth so you can have something worthy to test your 700 on.

Sevens

700
Congratulations on your hunt!

Quote:

---

I agree with 700 about shooting offhand. Part of the challenge and thus the enjoyment of the hunt is lost by artificial rests that make things easier. In particular I cannot imagine shooting at DG under 50 yards with shooting sticks.

---

It is a fact that "buck fever" can make you completely miss a buffalo at 18 paces so listen to the PH if he insists you use a rest of sorts when shooting DG, especially if its your first time...

Thank you--although using a rest isn't just a hedge against "buck fever"--it's more like basic common sense.



I have shot a lot of game from the standing, or off hand, position. But only when I had to in order to get any shot at all. No one shoots better without a rest than with one.



For that simple reason, one should ALWAYS use a rest--and that includes shooting sticks--if one is available and time permits.



BTW, 700, congratulations on a nice tusker.

700 Nitro

What a way to break in your new double! That's a nice elephant. Be interesting to see what the 700 does on buffalo.

Dak

my guess would be fold it up like japanese paper origamie.