The topic on the lawsuit made me think about this;
How many 100 lbs tuskers are there left in Africa?

Maybe someone can keep track as members state the numbers that they "know" or "have seen" on this thread. +- 100lbs will do as we know that it is difficult to be exact on a live animal. I think that amongst all members we pretty much cover the whole continent and we may get some interesting figures.

As they are no doubt rare, i would say we include tuskers seen in any area Parks included.

In Tanzania, i have seen only 1, in the Ngorongoro crater.

A PH friend who hunted Mozambique along the Ruvuma between '02 and '03 said they counted 17 different bulls in a 2 year period with tusks "estimated" at 100 lbs. I have no reason to not believe him.

What about you guys?

Michel,

an interesting subject. I think the problem is that many people overestimate tusk weights. I know the Crater Bull you're talking about and I showed his photograph to a friend of mine who used to be one of the biggest ivory dealers in Africa and is still called on as an expert witness here regarding ivory and he estimated that bull (about 3 years ago) at just under the 100 lbs per side........but I'd bet that most people would judge him at around 110 lbs.

I've also seen Mozambican bulls that I would estimate at over the hundred......but only occasionally and it's only my estimate.

Why are these 100lb ele still rare today? Has the over hunting and excessive poaching meant the genes for big ele has been lost/depleted?

Is it that ele populations have never really recovered from the poaching of the 1970's and 80's?

I am also curious as to how long it takes an ele to grow 100lb tusks??

Regards,

Pete

I´m fascinated with this subject. By the way, did ever was a better pair than the current world record?. Some very obscure references from the XVIII Century seem to indicate this. Even Capstick quotes the possibility of fabulous tusks cut in two or three pieces during the great killing which begun in 1850. These tusks may have been eventually sold in Zanzibar. Somebuddy knows something about this?

Im no expert but as people keep shooting young #60 bulls they eliminate another potential #100 bull.

But then again I am new what do I know

Would be interesting to see if they could re-introduce the genes of some of the larger elephants they have in captivity. Perhaps give the current gene pool a boost.

I know an outfit that is breeding cape buffalo using the Gene Pool from buff that have been bred in the Prague zoo for over 70 years.

Just a thought.

Ropes has it correct. I big tusk is grown over many, many years. Genes are one factor, but genes cannot speed up time.

Good point...

The only one I've seen is the before mentioned elphant in the Crater. In my limited experience I would say finding a 100 pounder in a hunting area would be less likely than hitting the Mega Bucks.

Regards,

Mark

Would you shoot a 100lb elephant if you had the chance???I couldnt- they are just to special...

Coincidentally, I went to Lifeform Taxidermy today to measure some trophies for a client and I was shown a full mount Elephant they've just finished for a Chinese museum. The elephant is the tallest I've ever seen at 3.8 Metres and I was told the tusks were just over the hundred..........a magnificent animal and a magnificent piece of taxidermy.

I was told the animal was taken near Hoedspruit in RSA, so it must have been a Kruger Bull.

It took me a fair number of years shooting deer - white tails & muleys - to "mature" into the concept of "the only way to shoot big ones is to not shoot small ones". I think there would be a big difference between being selective on a "deer hunt", since I am fortunate to have lived where they were quite plentiful & have certainly shot my "fill" & a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.
I for one would be shaking like a bird dog crapping peach seeds, at passing up a 60 pounder to let him grow. It might be the correct thing to do but it sure would test your resolve!!

Mike

There are several shot each year in botswana that do or come close to the reveled 100 lbs. and there are some bulls like that in Mozambique..Given time and money I can kill a 100 pounder in Africa, and if anyone would supply the money then I would supply the time, hire Johan Calitz and get after it..

Ocassionally a 100 pounder comes out of Kruger on private land in RSA and can be shot as I recall I had one for sale a few years ago but the owner backed out and that bull is still alive I have been told...

As to the time it takes to grow those big tusks, many elephants will go through life with 60 to 70 pound tusks, then in the last year or two of their life they get a "growth spurt" and add an additional 30 or so pounds to their tusks as their body dwindles in the last couple of years of their life....That is why they keep showing up from time to time without explanation in places they shouldn't be...

If everyone turned down 60 to 70 lb. elephants, then only a precious few would ever kill and elephant, and at $50,000 or more a pop, you would have a lot of unhappy campers on your hand, thats just unreasonable to suggest..What if someone told you that you could only shoot 200 plus B&C whitetail or Muledeer, ain't gonna happen...

Bwana 1
If I ever shoot another elephant it will be a 100 pounder or very close to it, and thats not likely to happen, but given the opertunity I will certainly take advantagr of it...They are near to death and will die a horrible lengering death if I don't shoot them, I see nothing special about that, better a clean kill with a bullet...Bambi ain't fact, life is fact..at least thats the other side of the conversation...

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana1:
Would you shoot a 100lb elephant if you had the chance???

Yes. Twice.

I have never seen one except maybe the ones in the museum in Kruger but...I would still bet that just because we don't see many it is still like guessing how many beans are in the jar at the county fair. It may be a small jar but....

I have a few friends & Aquaintances that are rangers in the Kruger National Park . The one in particular , who used to work from the Crocodile river down south up to the Limpopo in the north , tells me he knows of 20 that will definitely make 100 lbs ( One in particular he says is around 170 lbs ) , along with countless others that exceed 80 lbs .
Unfortunately , no hunting there .

Brad

Darrel Mitchell killed a couple of big bulls in Tanzania with Geoff Broom and as they were wandering park bulls there is now a buffer zone around the Kenya border parks. If your in the right place at the right time I say wack em. The big bull taken in Zimbabwe a few years back was written up in sci magazine. Shot off the road with a game scouts rifle by a hunter who had already killed his bull??? I guess hundred pounders are where you find em.

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Extremely well protected . Was hunting elephant in Chikwarakwara a few years ago . Watched a Bell Jetranger chase a 90 + lb bull back over the Limpopo . Completely ruined everyone's sense of humor

Gunny,
If I am not mistaken, that bull was shot by AJ Van Heerdens hunter and he went 105 and 103..I have photographs of that bull at SCI on display..The hunter was a doctor but I cannot remember his name...

Ray, you are quite confident in Johan's ability to turn up a 100 pounder!

It seems to me that the secret of getting a 100 pounder is to hunt elephants where a 100 pounder is known to live. Other than Kruger and some of the vast wilderness of Mozambique, are there any locations where 100 pounders are KNOWN to be located?

Can anyone tell me where AJ VanHeerdens is hunting now?

Ok so it is quite obvious that there are very few 100 pounders left! I suspect form talking to people in the know that there are several left in the Tsavo parks and the NFD of Kenya. Must be some left in the Kruger by all accounts (Alf do you have annumbers?). Met a guy back in 2000 that run a ranch on the Tana river and said he had twice seen a big tusker whilst flying to Lamu that he estimated in that range. Not sure if it is still alive....

quote:

Originally posted by gunny:
Darrel Mitchell killed a couple of big bulls in Tanzania with Geoff Broom and as they were wandering park bulls there is now a buffer zone around the Kenya border parks.

That caused an outcry in the hunting fraternity!!! That incident pretty much "closed" the hunting of elephants in Northern Tanzania/Masaailand. Those bulls were practically tame bulls form the Amboseli Park in kenya and one could easily walk up to them to within 20-30 yards in the open - a bit like the ele's in Botswana photo areas.

I have also heard - but yet to confirm - that another PH, Ralf Rowher (the guy that tried sueing the ammo co when he got wounded by a lion) took a 90 pounder in Talamai (Southern Tarangire)last year! As the Game Dpt do not issue ele permits in Northern Tanzania, he got permission on the "excuse" it was a crop raider and the villages had "requested" he helps them out....Again, t.b.c. but my source is pretty reliable.

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