Not that I could ever afford it but if I could who are some of the proven producers?

Buzz Charlton of www.cmasafaris.com gets my vote. Probably tied with Ivan Carter.

Rich

PS: when I grow up I want to be just like Ivan Carter...but better looking!

Johan Calitz (Johan Calitz Safaris) and John Abraham (Madubula Safaris) both have produced lots of big tuskers. There are lots of great PH's, but I, personally, would call one of these guys first.

Johan has over 100 ele permits this year with about 20 not yet sold. Greg Brownlee w/Jeff Neal has posted Johan's discounted ele's on this site. Now may be the time to go.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Buzz Charlton of www.cmasafaris.com gets my vote. Probably tied with Ivan Carter.

Rich

PS: when I grow up I want to be just like Ivan Carter...but better looking!

Sorry, but I am calling bullshit on that. You haven't a clue what you are talking about.

Buzz and Ivan are fine PHs in their own right and if you want to shoot cow elephant or buy videos they are your guys, and there is nothing wrong with that and I hope they don't take offense, but the original question was regarding PHs who specialize in producing big ivory. If one wants a really big jumbo he would be much better off with the likes of Peter Holbrow, Jeff Rann, Thys DeVries, or Ronnie Blackbeard. These guys have been busting their asses to get huge ivory for their clients for years instead of concentrating on selling books and videos to blokes like the residents of AR.

gentlemen ,
big ivory is more about the area than the ph , while it takes a great ph to judge the ivory correctly and get the client in for a shot , its all about the area , put a great ph in a marginal area and he will take a marginal elephant .

as far as where the biggest ivory is coming from , obviously its consistently botswana so the people who guide bots will take the best ivory in a season , as far as other areas there are some key areas in tanzania where one can hope for elephant in the 60+ range and each year some in the 70+ range are taken aswel. very few elephants over 60 come out of zimbabwe , those that do are in the concessions in the south east and in the west.

Leo van Rooyen (Northern Zululand Safaris) has taken quite a few big bulls last season. 2 that were in the 90-100lbs class and quite a few that were not far off.
He hunts some great areas in Moz and TZ.
I know that one of the biggest ones was taken with a bow by one of his clients in the US. A real monster of a bull, body and tusk wise.

quote:

Originally posted by ivan carter:
gentlemen ,
big ivory is more about the area than the ph , while it takes a great ph to judge the ivory correctly and get the client in for a shot , its all about the area , put a great ph in a marginal area and he will take a marginal elephant .

as far as where the biggest ivory is coming from , obviously its consistently botswana so the people who guide bots will take the best ivory in a season , as far as other areas there are some key areas in tanzania where one can hope for elephant in the 60+ range and each year some in the 70+ range are taken aswel. very few elephants over 60 come out of zimbabwe , those that do are in the concessions in the south east and in the west.

Great points. It is also worth noting that Kai Uwe-Denker, who hunts in Northern Namibia, has a track record for taking the type of ivory that most believe no longer exists.

quote:

Great points. It is also worth noting that Kai Uwe-Denker, who hunts in Northern Namibia, has a track record for taking the type of ivory that most believe no longer exists.

i agree jason and not only does he have an excellentr area but also an incredible work ethic - he is one of the hardest hunting ph out there troday , couiple that with a great area and you have a winner - to my point , puit him in the zambezi valley and his average woiuld be not much higher than that of the other valley PHs.

Ivan

I agree 100%.

I believe it is more important to pick a PH who hunts the right way, rather than a PH who produces great trophies.

BTW Ivan, is it true that you have been known to hunt barefoot?

Folks

Like Ivan said it all about area rather then PH. Your priority should be booking the best area and then getting the best PH and TEAM that has hunted there before.

Further to what Ivan says even if you have the best PH in the best area and bad trackers you are dead in the water- certainly in Zim which as a whole is not "spot and stalk hunting" but rather a tracking game.

Mozambique, especially the North is producing some wonderful elephant. Joe Wright, Guy Whittal and Pete Wood have all shot 80lbs plus eles in the last couple of years- however the common denominator,apart from area, on these hunts was Magara, Roger Whittals tracker who has the uncanny ability to read tracks and know which bull to follow.

Other Zim Phs who have regularily taken big eles are Thys , Doug Hidden (sadly passed away lately) and the Butchers to mention a few.

You want to know what makes a good Elephant PH?

Put a guy into a marginal area producing numerous tuskers in the 40/50lb category,and get the PH to constantly take those specimens in the upper weight limit. Check out the average over a period of time.

Any PH can go into an area producing big tuskers and take a big bull. Bull hunting can be a simple task.

quote:

Originally posted by Dark Continent:
Not that I could ever afford it but if I could who are some of the proven producers?

Jamie Wilson, Derek Littlton and Johnny Johnson are three guy that often get client onto 80+lbs tuskers from blocks A, B and C of the Niassa reserve hunting ares, Mozambique.

IVAN How important is customers personallity to you as a pH????

No reason for it to be different from any other hunting. Put the best whitetail hunter in the world in an overhunted area where everyone meat hunts, shoots yearlings from the road and he won't kill anything with trophy quality. The first thing you have to do to kill an exceptional trophy of any species is hunt where there are exceptional animals. Otherwise it is impossible.

Area and luck , PH comes third. Oh yes and your ability to walk miles if you need to.....

quote:

IVAN How important is customers personallity to you as a pH????

we are all different but to be honest the bush is a great equalizer and if you are working hard and doing your job there are very few people who dont treat you with respect ...just takes a couple of days ..

What set me free was when i realised it wasnt about me !!! no matter what a guy wants if i try and make him want what I want we wont get on, if i accept what he wants and work hard to try and provide that - almost any personality is easy to get on with !!

That said ,i get on very well with most of the people and personalities i hunt with and we have an incredible time out there.

does anyone know if kai-uwe Denker has a website? Id like to check out the photo gallery.

http://www.sudanwlsaf.com/gallery/southsudan-pa.htm

Now here is some BIG ivory!!!

Doesn't Federico Gellini bring in some big ivory every year?

Chuck

Chuck,
I hope Federico Gellini has good Ivory because I scheduled a 21 day hunt with them this Sept-Oct,
partially for that reason. I looked at quite a few options & they seemed to have everything I
was after. Will let you know this fall,
JB

What an amazing series of posts! You have the incredible class of Ivan and Buzz contrasted against the incredible lack of class shown by CB. Thanks Ivan and Buzz for suffering the few a-holes to represent what the rest of us enjoy about african hunting.

Best of luck on your hunt JB, please post pictures when you come back and a full report!

Regards,

Chuck

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
http://www.sudanwlsaf.com/gallery/southsudan-pa.htm

Now here is some BIG ivory!!!

I agree with Buzz on Northern Moz. Jumbo Elliot's crew is regularly taking 70# plus bulls. However non-importable to the US, but non the less great bulls.

I forgot to mention PH. OZhunter mentioned Johnny Johnson, I hunted with him in 2008 and even though he's in his 70's he still likes elephant hunting the best. Why, because it requires the most walking. This guy is really something and he can walk with the best of them.
Johnny and I were primarily after lion.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
http://www.sudanwlsaf.com/gallery/southsudan-pa.htm

Now here is some BIG ivory!!!

Holy Damn!! Those pics are to die for. Picture #3 has to be some of the prettiest Ivory I have ever seen. I just love that dark stainded Ivory. Wow, to have a time machine!

In Botswana both Peter Hollbrow and Johan Calitz have been taking heavy Ivory but the record since re-opening is held by Chris Collins with his 99 pound official weight and 103 wet weight in the NG 32 area.
In Mozambique George Brown shot a 112 pound elephant with Jamie Wilson/ Dereck Littleton in the Block C Niassa area. Jumbo Moore of Kambako also takes regular 80 pounders in his Block B ( old block numbers ).
In Tanzanaia Miombo Safaris have taken great ivory in the Southern areas as has Gelleni ,
Raul Romani has taken a lot of excellent elephant in Tanzania as well.
Uwe Denke in Namibia has a good record on big bulls.

On our concession our best was 83 x 68 pounds with Charles Berk from ocala, Fl . and 78x 75 with Larry Carlson , this was in the NG 47 concession.

However I support the notion that elephant hunting is all about area - in Botswana in any area you have a chance at a 80 pound bull as every concession has produced an 80 pound bull - and the elephants are all migratory - here today next door tomorrow. we turned down a bull of 70 pounds last year and it was shot on our mutual boundary by our neighbour. Elephants move so any where in Botswana is a good oportuinity.

I agree with Ivan, Buzz and Graham - true PH's and gentlemen! They responded in a professional manner, when their integrity was questioned !
It all boils down to the area - if you are in a good area, with abundant trophy quality then you will continuously shoot top class trophies.
A good team, and the ability to walk and hunt with a hard working PH, who knows his clients capabilities will produce what is realistically available in an area.

Arnaud Mermet