I am reading From Rhodesia to Mugabe's Zimbabwe, Chronicles of a Game Ranger by Nick Tredger (a very enjoyable book by the way). In the book, Mr. Tredger writes the following with regard to brain shots:

"We had been taught to visualize an elephant's head as a round ball (which it is, in a way, apart from tusks, trunk, ears and such), and no matter what angle the head was facing if you shot at the middle of the ball it was almost guaranteed to find the brain."

Did a quick check of various shot placement books, this actually appears to be a useful visualization technique. Curious what others, particularly PHs that hunt elephant, think of this approach for visualizing the proper placement for a frontal brain shot.

mike ,
from the front , the brain is actually way back and low so if it were a ball the brain would occupy about 10% at the lower back , a bullet passing through the middle of that ball would go over the brain - just my 2c

I came to the same conclusion as Ivan, before I read his reply.

The best way to know here teh brain is on an elephant is to look at live elephants.

Look for the ear holes, draw a straight line between them, and in teh center of that line is the brain.

Bells pics in Bell of Africs showing a head cut in half show exactly where the brain is. These pics give a placement.

Having studied in the Ivan Carter school, he's spot on. Geoff Broom's "put a broomstick through the earholes, and shoot to break the broomstick" is a good way to explain it. But however you explain it or visualize it, the frontal brain shot is damn difficult...I don't know how many times you have to try it to get it right with any consistency, but I know I won't live long enough or hunt enough to get there!

That ain't no shit. Getting it done is a lot tougher than expounding about it as if with some authority.

I have seen in real life only one PH try the frontal brain shot and he missed by a mile. IN A REAL CHARGE I have only seen a few in the movies/vid actually pull it off - supposedly!

With the ability of a big gun to knock out an elephant if only temporarily it is pretty much assured that a frontal "brain shot" elephant was only knocked out, otherwise why the need for a "follow-up finishing shot?"

And I've seen vids of the PH telling the client that he had brained an elephant when it was only knocked out ... does the tip enter into the equation here?

quote:

Originally posted by Will:

With the ability of a big gun to knock out an elephant if only temporarily it is pretty much assured that a frontal "brain shot" elephant was only knocked out, otherwise why the need for a "follow-up finishing shot?"

And I've seen vids of the PH telling the client that he had brained an elephant when it was only knocked out ... does the tip enter into the equation here?

I wish I had the experience to argue this, but unfortunately I do not and never will have.

With that thought in mind I would say that even very experienced "CLIENT HUNTERS" will likely kill no more than four or five elephant in their lives and at the most 10% of those may kill 20 or so. In those that take even 20 Elephant in their lives I doubt that more than three or four of those actually found the brain with the first shot! As Will says most are knocked unconscious and actually killed with the finisher.
The opinion that there is a “SUREFIRE” formula for an easy brain shot on an elephant seems to be shared by PeTA, with their, “How much skill does it take to kill and elephant with a high powered rifle?” I would love to watch some of those dummies try it!

Now this post is the opinion of a person who has fired exactly two back-up shots at someone else’s elephant, and then not at the brain, but the heart/lung, so take this post with a grain of salt!
...........................................................................

Exactly what do you mean by a successful brain shot? Does it just mean that you hit the brain or does it mean that the elephant was instantly killed from the attempted brain shot? Don Heath and Ganyana both believe that you can hit the brain of an elephant and not kill it. I subscribe to that position. In fact last year I put a Woodleigh Hydro through the rear portion of the brain of a big cow and 15 minutes later although she was apparently knocked out, she was still groaning and moving her front leg. Different parts of the brain control different parts of the body and destroying some parts will not kill. Remember that Drs used to perform frontal lobotomies on humans and they survived. Many people have survived various traumatic head injuries from bullets, knives nails etc and survived.

In my opinion, I successful brain shot is one that kills or knocks down an elephant and that elephant can not get back up. It gives you enough time for a finishing shot. In a charge it is successful if it at least turns the elephant and stops the charge.

In the same light not all frontal shots are as difficult as others. The least difficult in my opinion is during a charge. In that case the head is well down and the shot needs to be placed well up on the fore head. It is a relatively short distance to the brain and you are actually shooting at the whole top of the head rather than just the front as you will be if the head is well up. A much larger target. The most difficult is the frontal shot when the elephant raises its head to look at you and is looking down its nose at you. Now you have several feet of head to penetrate to reach the brain and you are actually shooting at the underside of the brain.

Given that hitting the brain can have dramatic differences in how the elephant reacts, I think it is too much to expect an instant kill to be the only outcome of a successful brain shot.

465H&H

Sorry 465H&H, but I can't agree.
I believe that the reverse is true.
When approaching an elephant that is unaware of your presence you have the time to ensure that you choose the correct shot placement, and when approaching for a frontal you should be prepared for him to lift his head and adjust your aim point accordingly. When in a charge situation you dont have time for considerations and revert to reflex.
After two consecutive one shot frontal brain kills I thought that I knew what it was about until the third was an unexpected charge which although stopped wasn't the neat despatch that I would have liked.
Practice and being around elephants is the only answer.

R.Jolly,

Obviously, you have some experience with elephants so I take your points seriously. In retrospect your points are probably valid for a new elephant hunter. It takes much more time for an inexperienced elephant hunter to feel comfortable that he has the correct line for the brain. A more experienced hunter doesn't have that constraint. Ron Thompson, Chief Warden retired of Hawange NP in Zim tells the same tale as I do. He had to wait until the elephant dropped its head in the charge before trying to stop it with his FN FAL 308 because the bullet could not be counted on to penetrate far enough when the head was up. He too felt it was easier on a charge. When the head is down the line to the brain is shorter, there is much less bone to traverse so the bullet is going much faster, thereby causing much more damage to the brain.

465H&H
With respect, if I was holding a 308 I wouldnt be hunting elephant.

quote:

Originally posted by R.Jolly:
465H&H
With respect, if I was holding a 308 I wouldnt be hunting elephant.

Neither would I but we don't do much culling do we?

465H&H

And it's another thing to have someone telling you where to shoot for the frontal brain shot on a quietly standing elephant.

That is irrelevant once you do it as prescribed as now you knew how to pull off the front brain shot an elephant since your birth!