I got the call from Coppersmith on Monday that my shipment was finally in from my 2004 elephant hunt with Buzz. At the time Buzz was using Taxidermy Enterprises to ship back to the States for him so I had them tan my bull's belly panel and made two guncases out of that. I also had them tan one of the ears and Craig Barber painted a very unique scene of a Shona village on it. It's really cool!

I saved myself $500 by driving to Houston and picking it up myself. Final tare for shipping $1450 for the tusks, cases, painting, warthog skull, duiker skull mount, grysbok mount and bushpig mount. To hold those tusks again and run my hands across them brought back a wave of memories...

One bit of bad news however! I paid for a set of teak bases for displaying the tusks and they were a no show. Guess I will be e-mailing Tax Ent and seeing what happened to them. The taxidermy quality on the grysbok and bushpig is so-so but the other stuff is "thumbs up".

I will post pictures of the tusks soon, mainly because the shorter tusk had an injury from an old bullet at the base that calcified over and is kinda neat...also will post pictures of the painting. I am glad I had it done but it will probably cost me a freaking fortune to frame. Oh well, just glad it is here! Makes me want to elephant hunt again very soon!

But off to Zambia with John E who posts here and a couple of other hunters to chase buff, croc and hippo in the Luangwa Valley in late August...ain't life grand!

Excellent! Pictures Please!

Great news, but



Get the camera going!

Great to hear Russell, I look forward to seeing the photos. I look forward to the day when I have my own set (ivory that is.)

B,

Looking forward to photos and still waiting for my ele..but was notified by shipper that they have it and waiting for OK from whoever in Zim..

Mike

Russell,

Congratulations on getting your stuff back, takes forever doesn't it. Will look forward to your pics. I will be going to Botswana for ele next year so I'm interested to see how you handled your ele.

CFA

Thanks, gentlemen, I appreciate all of your kind comments.

Here are the tusks...


The larger tusk is stamped 16.5 kgs and measures 59" the smaller 11.5 kgs and 46". So around 35 and 25 pounds, certainly not the largest elephant bull in the Zambezi Valley but an old boy well over 50 years of age and well-hunted. Shot him on the last day at 1:30 in the afternoon. Passed up 8 bulls and the usual story...should've shot the bull I saw on day one. He was a perfectly matched 35 pounder but...hindsight is always 20-20 and I wouldn't have had all the wonderful treks through the bush and approaches on elephant if I would have done that. I also would not cherish these tusks near as much if Buzz and the trackers and I wouldn't have walked 120 kms. in search of this particular elephant.





The smaller tusk Buzz later discovered had an old bullet wound in it at the base. You can see the bullet path on the outside of the tusk and the calcification over the bullet on the inside. Must have caused the boy quite abit of pain over his lifetime. Buzz told me the nerve was damaged badly. We originally thought this a working tusk and worn down but it appears the wound caused the tusks' growth to stunt. Interestingly enough this tusk is very solid for it's size since there is very little nerve cavity there!



Last but not least, this is the old boys ear, tanned and painted by Craig Barber. The subject is a scene from a village in the typical Zambezi Valley setting. I wanted something different than the usual Big 5 or Charging Elephant scene. I thought it quite unique but don't know how I will frame it! Probably cost a fortune but what the hell. I've got room for it!

Hearty Congratulations! They're home at last.

Nicely done! those should make nice conversation pieces.

Very nice Russell, and that smaller tusk has tremendous character. How are you going to mount them?

There really is something intoxicating about ivory.

Well done, sir! The painting is awesome!

Excellent!!!!

Those tusks certainly have a great deal of character. Interesting story on the bullet wound to the tusk and brings up a heck of a mental picture. He must have been one tough old bull.

The one-of-a-kind artwork will look great in the trophy room.

Phil

A buddy of mine in Zim has his ears glued on thin plywood and hung on wall. No framing required. He has the big 5 ,one on each ear. Look great. The right ear makes an excellant map of Africa. I have my tusks on the coffee table in a rack like they sometimes display Samurai swords. I had 4" long caps made of copper edged with silver to cover the hollow ends. Had a small copper plate engraved with all the pertinent info,who,where,when,what gun,PH,etc. Look nice with a Zebra rug on floor.

Thanks again guys...I ordered teakwood bases from Taxidermy Enterprises to display my tusks but they were not in my shipment. E-mailed them but no response yet...guess they are off for Cinco de Mayo!

I copied Charlton McCallum on the e-mail and Myles replied they would chase them down if need be. By the way, Myles said they had taken a very good bull in the Chewore...50 to 55 pounds. They are off to a good start by the looks of it!

Well done.
There is NOTHING, NO GREATER TROPHY, than your own Ivory.

Congrats! Not just tusks, but with character! Very nice!

Thanks for the pictures -- nice tusks and a unique painting. A great way to remember your hunt!

what wonderful reminders of your hunt. Thanks for sharing them with us

Very nice! Really like the ear painting. Definately unique. I am leaving in a month to hunt ele, leopard and buff in Gokwe North - hope I have a similar outcome.

bwanamrm,

Why dont you put the ear under a glass top on a coffee table or side table? This would be something different and sort of unique.

Congratulations on those nice looking tusks!

Please remind me - did this ele rush you or was that another one?

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Passed up 8 bulls and the usual story...should've shot the bull I saw on day one. He was a perfectly matched 35 pounder but...hindsight is always 20-20 and I wouldn't have had all the wonderful treks through the bush and approaches on elephant if I would have done that. I also would not cherish these tusks near as much if Buzz and the trackers and I wouldn't have walked 120 kms. in search of this particular elephant.

Sounds like you got a much better deal. Lots of more enjoyable hunting and experience only for 10lbs of ivory.

Like the painting too. Would look nice mounted on a wooden board.

Like the idea of putting the tusks on a coffee table in sword-style holder.

Very nice! I've already got hunts planned for '07 and '08; I think '09 will be the year I go after elephant.

Russell,

Thanks for sharing. I really like the original painting, If I can find room I will do something similar. IMHO a regular frame would take away from the ear, perhaps just mounted on wood as suggested.

Fred

Very nice !! Congratulations !!

Thought you might like these presentations of a painted Elephant Ear and a coffee table stand for tusks.

VERY NICE!

Nice tophy!! Lots of character in those tusks..
Congrats.

Great tusks with character. I would love to have such a pair in my trophy room.. That paiting is really something.. Thanks!

Quite a haul of unusual trophies. Very nice. I've never seen a tusk like that one before.

Awesome, my friend, and great memories in the tusks and in the ele ear painting.

quote:

Please remind me - did this ele rush you or was that another one?

My cow charged me on the first day of elephant hunting! I was lucky and dropped her at 16 feet. Heck of an introduction to elephant hunting! My bull was shot at 13 yards in jess so thick we could only see pieces of elephant instead of the entire bull. But we had bumped them twice before that morning. They were nervous and we didn't risk moving too much in that damn swirling wind that picks up as the day warms. A heartshot and 60 yards later we finished him.

quote:

Well done.
There is NOTHING, NO GREATER TROPHY, than your own Ivory

I could not agree more. In fact I love the line by Ruark that says "There are worse memorials to a life well-lived than a pair of elephant tusks." Amen Mr. Ruark, amen.