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N'gagi, Sadie my long time companion and hunting partner was able video our whole elephant hunt this year in Botswana. I guess I must not be human because the video shows nothing but a very elated hunter. I have experienced a bit of sadness when taking some other animals but I experienced none of that with this elephant. Don't get me wrong taking and elephant is a very emotional event but for me it was all a monster adrenaline rush. Of course like any junkie now I'm trying to figure out where my next fix is coming from.  Regards, Mark Regards | ||
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Mark, Reading the Judges post about feelings and emotions..One has to experience it at least once in a life time...To stand up and take an ele on his terms..Mine was 30 feet and towering above me in the jess and looking straight at me...I found it humbling... Six days before I saw you and Shumba in Harare... Mike | |||
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Mark, After I shot my elephant I didn't have time for any immediate reflection. The young askari that had been accompanying the old guy took exception to my having shot his mentor, and kept making what turned out to be bluff charges from pretty close range (while my PH was busy pulling the back of my shirt, and saying "we must get back now" ).By the time this was all over more than five minutes had passed, and I can tell you that reflection or remorse were not in my thoughts while the youngster was still screaming and bluff charging us! Afterward I was thankful for the opportunity to hunt this great animsl, and the gift of being able to take such a magnificant and unique creature. There was a bit of melancholy, but it was offset by the elation of the moment and the ensuing events. Hunting elephant is a very personal decision, and it is not for every hunter. Some very experienced humters decide not to hunt elephant, and I respect their belief and decision. Only you can decide whether you want to do it, but if you do shoot an elephant you will never forget it. Embrace the moment and take in all the details that you can etch into your memory. Give thanks for a remarkable animal, but don't allow your experience to be spoiled by guilt and remorse. An elephant doesn't have to have huge tusks to make for a never to be forgotten hunt. The chances are that you will walk more than you ever have for a hunt, probably in very high temperatures (unless you get pretty lucky). There is a big difference between a wild elephant that has been hunted before and a park elephant that is used to putting on a show for the tourists!!!! The only "proper" way to take an elephant is to "earn it". If you do this there should be no reason for remorse. Jim  | |||
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I think it was Rourke or perhaps Hemmingway that said an elephant was an awesome amount of death, I think that about says it all.... | |||
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Mark, I've often pondered taking an elephant... And I realized that I could not willingly hunt and kill a fellow creature that is older, probably wiser, definately smarter, universally kinder to it's kind and who's species shares far more empathy which each other than even the closest small town of humans. I realize my views an trembo are from my small venue experiences with them. I have interacted with them in zoo, carnivals, and ren-fairs.... and every time, thier eyes find and lock with mine, and we both stomp the ground together... invariably, if allowed, i am "trucked" on the shoulders, chest and face.. not the searching for peanuts, but like a sight disabled person touching me to "know" me. Now, deep down in my heart, I am just a big ole country boy, who doesn't actualy mean any harm.... and taking a deer or a pig or blackbuck has never much bothered me, though the first deer was a heart breaker. Part of the reason I shot big bores is to try an make the passing as clean as possible. Yes, my STC brothers, I realize I am also a bloodthrist SOB, but what can I say? Unless truely charged, with no possible means of escape, I am certain that I could not drop the hammer on the longest lived land mammal. An animal that DEFINETLY has "ESP"... of, not the mental kind that fictional writers speak, rather than can "hear" through their feet for AT LEAST 30 miles, and the sounds of a trumpeting one can been heard by other ones AT LEAST 7 miles. It's rumored that the sound of a matriarch falling in death, and the stompings and trumpeting of her herd can be heard by ALL of the matriarch decendants. Certainly the later bit is bunch, but combined stompings of a herd can register much further than the 30 miles on a seismograph... In effect, then, you aren't just killing an animal, nor just a member of that pod or herd, but that is a death that will be shared with hundreds of other elephants, each knowing what it means "to die" As for how do scientists KNOW about the ELF (extremely low freq)-like communications.... they've had groups of oberservers with seismographs scattered aroudn parks, and "molested" an ele... and the animals that were 30+ miles away, standing about placidly, suddenly go on alert/danger readiness, and the seismographs SHOW the mattern from far away. Sorry lads.. must be a little moody this morning.... Now, let's talk about blasting HIPPOS on the ground, like sullivan!!! jeffe | |||
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I guess I haven't been known for keeping my mouth shut when I ought to, but I know this woman in her thirties that complains about men of her own age at work being whimps, that need reassuring at every turn, longing for group hugs, get their feelings hurt, and are basically emasculated. Who knows, they may cry at work, too. I have to admit that it was rather matter-of-fact when I shot my first elephant. I greatly respect elephants and the danger that present, but cry I didn't, nor had any desire to wear thongs!  To each their own, but I don't want any criers when a charge come along.  | |||
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The only thought I had in my mind as we approached my first elephant was how fast to reload and put more bullets in him! The elephant was about 20 yards away, broadside, and I told my PH I was going to take a brain shot. I had a Remington Safari 375 H&H with 300 grain Winchester solids - cannot get any more common or garden than that can you?? We had a small bush betwee us and the elephant, and I went to one side of it to get a clear shot. As I put the rifle to my shoulder, I was only thinking of where to aim, pull the trigger, load, and keep pulling the trigger. The bloody thing looked ginormous! And VERY close too. It was a major anti-climax, as the bull dropped in his tracks, as if a bolt of lightning hit him. Shooting an elephant has become no different than shooting any other animal. | |||
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The emotional reaction is maybe connected to the expectations of the hunt and not only to the species. Then we have factors like being physically tired etc. I�ve yet to hunt elephant so I can�t speak on that, but I did choke a bit on my kudu. The kudu was a dream come true and I hunted it with my legs...they were more firmly attached then. | |||
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Quote: WOW!! EXACTLY HOW I FEEL. Walked around a corner one day to be within trunk range of an old asian female. If she was like us, I'd be dead. I got to pet her, and she did likewise to us, with her trunk. Marineworld Vallejo uses African female elephants for rides. Did it with visions of "Zoo animals gone wild" playing in my head. Both elephants inspected us with the most tender care, and concern, with their trunks, and I mean touching, and sniffing us. Later, that same old asian elephant didn't like the way a stack of telephone poles was stacked, and she picked them up, and moved them around like tooth picks. She also took at least 2 seconds to out tug about 100 of us, in a tug of war. We all tugged as hard as we could, and it made her rock a little backwards, as soon as she got the tension, she pulled forward, and we were helpless. She later took treats from all of us, with that amazing trunk, with the most gentle of grips. That anything so huge, and so powerful, could be so gentle, well, I'm crying right now thinking about it... I've been around WAY too many animals that could have killed me, easily, with a flip of a tail, a jump of a fence, and a chomp, a six story wall breaching, a 1/4 mile away, killer whales playing in the surf, etc. to kill them for fun. I love to shoot, but, it's in preperation for self-defense. Sorry, I'm old, my mother is in the hospital with a broken hip, and killing is not high on my priorities... s | |||
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