G'day all,

I'm interested in hearing from any disabled hunters who have hunted elephant. I'm booked for an ele hunt next year and am a little limted, physically, as a result of a motor bike accident ( 19 y.o. guy lost control, came onto my side of the road etc). I can walk a bit, using crutches, have had a suitable scabarb made so I can carry my 470NE DR while on crutches, have practiced a lot (350+ rounds to date and can hit sitting or off hand - have even had a double and stayed upright).

I am not in doubt about my ability to cope in an emergency ( my house caught fire last week and I put it out and my boat caught fire two days ago nd I put it out too). But, I thought after this much going wrong in a week, I'd better get advice re the hunt.

I used to believe that the person with the most experiences, when they died had won, but now I am beginning to think that you can have too many experiences.

All input gratefully received, especially if you have hunted ele with health problems.

mike

AussieMike,

I have an artificial leg and have been able to kill 2 bull elephants. The way we have done it has been to have the trackers locate the elephants and radio back to us. We then take the vehicle as close as we can get and I walk the rest of the way.

I have hunted in ZIM both times and the walking is actually not that bad. In both cases the walking was only a few miles and one of the trackers can carry your rifle if you like. I like to carry mine when close.

I also could have shot elephants right off of the road on all 3 of my trips to Zim but they were not that large. The last one I shot which was almost 50 pounds.

My hunts were with Russ Broom Safaris - the PH was Gavin Rorke.

Go to Zim and shoot an elephant, it is great fun.

The Ph will figure a way to get it done.

BigB

Mike,
Go for it. I have only been on one elephant hunt so do not consider me an expert but here is my suggestion. Go with a reputable PH and be very upfront with your limitations. Give him honest info on your ability to cover ground. I think that if they know up front what your limits are they will give you some idea of what to expect. It only took 2 days for me to kill a bull. Much of that time was spend locating them and we were on foot. I can't say it will be easy for you but I do think you have a great chance at success provided you do your homework.

i've been with 3 different PH's that have taken disabled hunters out in wheelchairs and they have all done well.

It's truly amazing how innovative these PH's can be in getting physically challeged folks in on even the most difficult game. I would encouraged anybody with the desire to investigate hunting any type of African game.

I applaud you for going for what you want to do.

There was a website about a safari company that used a light weight chair with poles attached to carry differently abled hunters. Damned if I can find it now. A crew if trackers carried the hunter over any type of terrain. There were also photos of their bakkies equipped with lift gates for loading chair bound hunters into the back.

Hunting for the blind is also possible. A scope can be fitted to the sight impaired hunter's rifle in such a manner so that someone standing behind the hunter can sight through it and give corrections to hunter to enable them to fire on game.

Life is not over untill they throw the dirt on top of you. Good luck on your hunt.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. I'm not that disabled - I get about on crutches quite well and am in physical training (such as it is - not much distance, less than 1 mile a day, but the steepest hills I can find).

I shot a couple of camels on a self guided hunt earlier this year and gave myself a bit of a scare. I knocked one bull down with a spine shot at 220 yards and then finished it with a shot to the back of the head - 9.3x64. Set the camera up on the tripod and was getting myself into position for the photos. I was standing between its legs, quite close to the body, to try to make it look bigger in the photo when it lifted one of its legs. Just one of those agonal movements but I thought I might have stuffed up the shots and just stunned it. Moving as fast as you can on crutches is nowhere fast enough.

Mike

Hats off to BigB for having overcome his disadvantage; and to AussieMike for the gumption to give it a go.

Best of luck.

I would sugest that you let your PH know your limitations now if you haven't already, so that he can make a plan. Some of the elephant country in Zim I have seens is billaird table flat, some rolling hills, some steep and mountaious. Definitely let the tracker carry your rifle til you get close. With prior arrangement, maybe an extra tracker just to carry your rifle and extra gear and to be at your shoulder with your rifle or a helping hand, which ever is needed.