The recent trip report on stalking eland got me curious. I just got back from Cabelas in Ft. Worth and took a good look at the full sized eland in the Africa room. They remind me a lot of our Alaska-Yukon moose except they are supposed to be a bit tougher to kill right?

Would anyone care to comment on the toughness, elusiveness, etc. of the eland compared to other game? My elephant PH (Alan Shearing) told a story about chasing a wounded eland for 30 km in one day. They ended up recovering it but he said it was a hike and a half.

Who has gone after them specifically instead of incidentally? I know that some of you have plans for the Lord Derby as well. Shazam...that's a big critter.

It sounds like the trophy is in the chase similar to the tuskless elephant I just hunted. Any comments on that? Obviously the body size is impressive and the chase can be long...similar again to the tuskless. I'm just curious as a long chase and tracking job is more appealing to me now (after the elephant) than before. I must be a glutton for punishment. For some reason, tracking eland for a week and shooting a big giraffe sounds fun.

You were in one of the top locations for Livingstone eland when you hunted the Save with Shangaan. When I hunted the Save with Brooklands in Nov 05 we were covered up with them. Not to say that they were easy hunting by any means! We tracked them specifically for two days, and did short sorties some other days after spotting them from the boundary roads.

I can't think of a place that I'd rather hunt them than the Save. I ended up with a 39"'er that I'm most proud of. His body size was as big, or maybe bigger, than my buff.

The tracking itself is quite interesting and demanding. One of the biggest factors is the investment of time you can make in deliberately hunting eland. Once those puppies start moving and they know you're there, you'd better be sure the trackers are carrying lots of water!

A dedicated eland hunt would be, to me, the most "bang for the buck" you could have on a pg safari. I wouldn't recommend it for a first-timer, but it can be a wild time! Oh, and a .375 is certainly not too much gun. The first day we hunted them by tracking I was carrying my .300WSM. After we returned to the truck that evening and I moved my .375 from the front seat, the PH looked at me and said "Don't tell me you were carrying that little rifle! Man, we could have been in for a long walk if you'd actually hit one with that" . Not that it won't do the job, but then buffs can be killed with a .300, but it certainly isn't recommended.

That wasn't me in the Save.

I agree with you on the 375. That's my favorite caliber anyway and I have several to choose from. Something tells me that if you're on a long chase you probably should let the tracker carry your rifle until you get closer. That would require swallowing some pride as I do prefer to carry my gun. The only time I let the tracker carry it on the ele hunt was when we were sliding down a mountain.

Bryan,

I'm not an eland expert but I have taken 3 different varieties of eland including the Lord Derby.

I think what makes eland interesting is that they are great wanderers and often the only way to get one is to get out and track them down. My experience in Cameroon called for some day long tracking over some of the roughest ground in Africa.They also are very wary making the hunt quite challenging. Of course they are the biggest of African antelope and that in itself makes them an attractive trophy.

I'm sure a gut shot eland can go forever but PH's have told me a wounded eland often does not have the tenacity of other animals and can be found quite easily. Particulary a broken leg is debilitating. A buffalo might drag the broken leg for days but not an eland.

I'm sure the Lord Derby would be very interesting to you.

Mark

On my second Eland I wanted an old 'Blue' bull. We found one one morning about 8am. The shot was quarterin from the rear on the left side. Range about 70 yds. Shot was from a rest with a 375H&H with 260gr Nosler Partition. The bullet cut a 3/4" mopane about 3ft from the left rear. Shot was intended to be behind the ribs thru the Lungs. Actual hit was lefthip about half way down. Penetration was more than adequate as it penetrated thru and broke the left hip bone. Eland took off. We tracked Eland all day until dark. This was thru all types of terrain and actually THRU two herds of Eland and Wildebeest. Finest tracking I have ever seen. Only an occaisonal drop of blood to follow. When we could actually SEE the track we would know it was the correct animal as the left rear hoof print was almost at right angles. Initially got within sight of Eland once but too far for a shot. We stopped at complete dark after traveling an easy 20K. We came back the next morning and picked up the track hoping that he had stiffened up over night and we would catch up to him. This was true and after about 2 hours we caught him laying up under a tree. Took the shot and put him down. I have seen many animals both healthy and wounded tracked and this was the most amazing display of skill I have ever seen displayed. Sometimes we would track on a bent blade of grass and find a single drop of blood on a leaf after NOTHING for a hundred yards. The trackers were a father /son team on Ndebeles. This occurred in Zimbabwe around West Nicholson. He WAS a fine old Blue Bull and actually had decent horns although worn down. The steaks tasted ok that night and I couldn't even tell if they were tough. My two favorite plains game animals to hunt are Kudu and Eland.The physical strength of the large Eland combined with his remarkable agility is absolutely amazing to me.

Eland are without a doubt my favorite plainsgame animal to hunt. I really enjoy tracking big game and Mark was right when he said they are great wanderers so the tracking can take some time. They are also as tuned in as any animal I have hunted in the bush. I have rarely driven up on an old bull and caught him unaware. I've been lucky enough to shoot three eland in eleven safaris - 2 Cape and a Livingstone but in two of my last three safaris - in the Save and in Chewore North... we got on tracks and saw glimpses of bulls but never got a shot! They are cagey and elusive and that makes them great fun... and sometimes frustrating.

It is my opinion that hunting Eland, by tracking, is more difficult than hunting Buffalo. You can see hear and sometimes smell the Buffalo. There is no doubt when you get close to a herd of Buffalo that you are close.

I have stalked into the middle of a herd of Eland and not known we were even close until one that we had passed spooked. This does not ususlly happen with a herd of Buffalo.

A big Eland on the ground looks big. A big Eland standing up is enormous. I came around a bush chasing a wounded Eland once and came face to butt with the big Bull. I quickly ran around beside him to put in the 4th and final round and was amazed at how tall an Eland is.

That is one unbelieavable animal.

I am with everyone else that ranks the Eland as their favorite of all the plainsgame to hunt.

Interesting comments from you guys. You hear alot about these "blue" bulls. How about some photos of them? To me, the old ones have the most character. I've never been one for inches but the character and age is what interests me...combine that with a difficult hunt and that is where the memories are formed.

Save Conservancy, Arda Camp, 05


We walked more miles for Eland than anything else. I hadn't really decided to take one...till I saw a good bull on day one.
troy

yukon,

That's a lovely blue bull of DTala's, real blue jeans color.

I have a 38" Cape Eland that went down to a 225gr' X from a 358STA.......on the run, hit him through the lungs and exited. He ran 100 yards and dropped.

Best venison in Africa.

Eland can be more difficult than a kudubull but always look out for the oxpecker bird they are always close to eland

Eland are one of Africa's finest quarries for real hunters. In almost all cases you EARN your eland.

They are wary elusive, impressive, smart and can cover ground. They are very track-able however - which adds to the thrill of the hunt.

They can be very tough - I followed one from mid afternoon, throughout the whole next day and finally shot it at 10 a.m. on day 3. I estimate distance covered at 50 miles or 80km. It was paunch shot with a .375 H & H, no damage to vital organs but still it would have made most game sicker faster.

Without doubt one of Africa's premier species - I reiterate - for REAL hunters.

P.S.

Mark Young is correct above, that generally they don't go far on a broken limb - especially if they are big, old, blue bulls - their weight is just too much.

Shoot one in the withers, or brisket at your peril......

Also .375 is a good choice with a penetrating bullet, you very often have to take the shot on offer, and quartering thru such a big animal needs a special load.

No very blue, but very BIG!

Here's one 'turning blue', along with me and the PH's Jack Russell going for a short ride. I love the ruff on the eland's head.

Save Conservancy, Msaise Ranch, Dec 2005

You can really see the character in Dtala's bull...dark face, worn horns, dark coat...pretty cool. How about some more blue bull photos or any other interesting eland photos? Also, more tracking stories?

How difficult is it to find one of the older bulls on average? Are they as "common" as dugga boys or fairly scarce like old elephant?

Thanks PD. We posted the same minute so I didn't see yours before. Thanks to DBB for his photo also.

It seems to me that giraffe would be a natural addition to an eland hunt. Is there anywhere to hunt (in the style we are talking about) eland and giraffe without paying 3k for the stink bull? Botswana sounds interesting but 3k is more than I want to pay. All of this is hypothetical of course. Everyone knows you can go to Africa one time and get rid of the itch

My PH, Jim Mackie, was quite excited about the bull in my picture. The bull was laying in the shade under a tree in an open pan. We approached to within one hundred yards, with the bull laying hard quartering away, leaning over towards us.

Jim asked if I could make the shot? I studied the bull thru the scope for a couple of minutes, imagining where the off shoulder was, considering the lean angle. I was using a Sako 375H&H, 300gr TBBC bullets. I hit the bull well back in the ribs and over halfway up the body.

The bull went from sound asleep to racehorse rocket in two strides. No second shot. Jim asked how the shot felt. I said it was good, but the Eland didn't think much of it!

We tracked for maybe two hundred yards before finding a small spot of blood. A hundred yards later we found the bull where he had died running. The skinner found the bullet in the lower front of the off shoulder. Very glad I didn't take a friends advise and use a 30-06 on Eland!!!!
troy

DT, how did you find the eland to begin with? Were you hunting one or did you happen to find it while busy for something else?

Funny that you mention the Sako...I've got a nice one in 375 that needs to go to Africa to honor the friend that gave it to me. Just couldn't make myself use it on the ele.

I'm getting some pricing info on the giraffe. It doesn't sound like you can hunt one cheaply in addition to the eland...at least, not if you want to hunt a particular way.

Yukon, we were moving to a new area in the Toyota when Jim's tracker spotted him...from nearly four hundred yards. We drove on a ways and eased back to make the stalk. We actually earned him the day before when Jim walked me to death on a big bull we never quite caught up with in a herd of fifty Eland...and ONE Cape Buffalo bull. We probably walked/ran/crawled eight miles.

The Sako belonged to my buddy who was off getting/hanging Leopard baits. MY Sako 375H&H was still in the Jo'berg airport basement....
troy

I haven't noticed any acceptional tennacity for sucking up lead with eland. I have never seen one lost and I have never seen one travel more than 150 meters after shot. However the hunt itself is one of my favorite hunts in Africa. Long tracking and thick bush have marked every eland hunt I have been on. Unfortunately I have never taken a really giant eland. Everytime I have seen one of those monster bluebulls they were chance encounters while tracking something else. Saw one last year while tracking a lion. He was the bull I always dreamed of. I didn't shoot him for fear of wrecking lion hunt. I never got either one. Next time.

That's interesting. I keep hearing stories from PH's of nightmare recoveries that took miles and miles. However, your comments on not encountering them on purpose is what I expected to hear. That's kind of what makes them so interesting...and the manner in which you can chase them with Bushmen, etc.

Since the giraffe isn't shaping up quite the way I thought, maybe a combo eland and mtn. zebra hunt would be compatible. Any comments on that? The other zebras don't interest me that much but the mountain "zay-bra" is pretty elusive.

If you are thinking giraffe along with Eland, quite a few of the Namibian outfitters have a reasonable rate on Giraffe. I am thinking of a giraffee as well. When you are out with the giraffe cows and calves, they are definitely un-interesting. If you are after an old stink bull they can be a whole different critter.
I started a thread on eland bulls a few weeks ago and had some great photos sent to me. You may want to search that thread to see some other nice trophies.

In 2005, hearing Vaughan Fulton speak of tracking eland sparked my interest. I just returned from tracking eland with him and I will just say that it was an excellent hunt. This was a dedicated eland hunt and really no other game mattered until I got my blue bull. It took 7 full days, shooting my bull in the last few moments of light of the 7th day. In the time it took me to get my eland, I had shot five animals on my previous plains game hunt and could have probably shot more. Vaughan had earlier told me that on average it takes about 6 days to be successful on eland when tracking them.

I would go back and hunt eland in a heartbeat.

Bryan

A Mountain zeb-ra and a Cape eland would make a real hunt. Both will take some serious walking if hunted in the right enviroment. I think you may be disappointed in the degree of difficulty in stalking a giraffe. I've driven right up to them in several places wild or fenced.

Mark

Thanks Mark. I have heard the same about giraffe but also that they ruin a lot of stalks on other game too...kind of like that go away bird that plagued me in Zim.

The mtn zebra is quite a nice trophy and I'm not big on trophies. I'm just wondering about what could make an eland specific hunt more interesting without driving up the cost much. Much of the plainsgame doesn't interest me and I can only afford so much at one time.

Going back through some old topics, I found this old boy. That's what I'm talking about! I would go back for a shot at him. That's the old man of the woods.

Here's another old bull to look at. It sure is a load for a truck!



My wife actually had a ball on all our eland tracking trips. I think she enjoyed them more than me. The PH, tracker, and I would take off for hours, trying to walk them down and judge horns. She would stay at the Land Cruiser with the PH's young brother-in-law, and enjoy the shade and conversation. She is really quite good as a four wheel driver here in Idaho. She couldn't speak Afrikans on the radio, and he couldn't drive a truck!!!! As a pair, they made a good team and managed to find us each time with very little difficulty tho.

That's a nice one. Where did you hunt it?

On Erindi Ranch, between Otjiwarongo and Omaruru, when I was leopard hunting a month ago. They have quite a few really nice ones we couldn't close on, and lots of herds of cows/calves/young bulls. Never set out on an eland track without good boots and plenty of water!

quote:

Originally posted by Blank:
Never set out on an eland track without good boots and plenty of water!

No kidding!

That sounds a lot like elephant tracking which is partly why I am interested. We didn't even eat lunch 1/2 the time which is fine because we were too hot to eat much.

My friend took this Cape Eland 10 days ago in RSA, Eastern Cape using a .300 RUM. Tough is true, and they can give you fits not only with tracking them, but other game. They always run as the norm, taking everything in the next county with them. LDK

Some very nice eland gentlemen, mine was an old gent as well and it was arguably the most fun, as it was a classic follow-the-spoor exercise for about three hours, culminating is a 180 yard "ish" shot with a 375 H&H and 300gr Swifts.

So it begs the question; eland are every big as big as a buffalo, sometimes bigger and no doubt a well placed ANYTHING will handily take it down, but given your choice would you choose a 300, 33, or 375 for this quarry. jorge

A .375 seems like the logical round to me...and works well for a giraffe and mtn zebra too like I am considering. Really, the 375 is a great all around African/Alaskan round.

375H&H, given that on my one Eland the bullet had to penetrate probably four feet of meat/bone. I would not of tried that shot with a 30 cal. bullet.
troy

I hunted eland as the chief goal of the trip last summer in Namibia. They are really fun to track and stalk. We spent several hours stalking one small herd one night and got very close but there was no animal that was old enough to be a nice trophy.

The next day we tracked another small group of bulls, I think there were 5, for a long time and finally came upon them suddenly when babboon up ahead spotted us and started barking. Apparently the Eland go worried and doubled back on their tracks. They were in our laps before we knew they were their. It was several tense minutes while Claude and I tried to sort out which bull was the best, while the animals started to get suspicious.

One shot at about 50 yds was sufficient. I would not say that they are especially hard to bring down. They are just big.

Brent

quote:

Originally posted by PostDriver:
Here's one 'turning blue', along with me and the PH's Jack Russell going for a short ride. I love the ruff on the eland's head.

Save Conservancy, Msaise Ranch, Dec 2005

Nice bull, PostDriver