Thanks to all of you who pm'ed me about the kudu thread I posted a week or so ago...

One question I was consistently asked was "are kudu my favorite plainsgame animal to hunt"? And I am sure alot of you were shocked to hear that "no, my favorite plainsgame animal to hunt was in fact, eland"! Why? Well I enjoy tracking...and eland are a species made for this kind of hunting. While you may bump a big eland bull, it has been rare for me. All of my eland bulls have come at the culmination of a long walk over varied terrain, from mopane scrublands in Zimbabwe to high mountains more fit for Vhaal Rhebuck than Cape eland in the East Cape of South Africa. My eland have cost me some boot leather and match that with their well developed senses and tough to put down stamina and you have a hunt that rivals stalks for some of the dangerous game species!

Here are my three eland bulls and a quick description of the hunts and rifles used....





This is my first eland, a Livingstone bull taken in Zimbabwe and one of my favorite hunts of all times. I wanted a big eland bad and lady luck just wasn't smiling on us. On day 9 of a 14 day safari we cut good tracks at a half dry pan in Lemco. Mondewane and Phineas moved out and John Greeff and I shed clothes and followed...three hours and 6 miles later John had me crawl up to a tree and told me to "stand up and take him". What him? Hell I hadn't even seen the bull. John then told me to stand up slowly look thru the fork of the tree and he was broadside at 150 yards. I stood, raised the .375 and he was looking at me...a 285 grain Grand Slam in the shoulder put him in overdrive. We followed up and I was amazed to see him still standing as we closed the gap to 75 yards...a bullet to the neck finished him and I still remember the feeling of awe as I walked up on the biggest animal I had ever killed up to that point in my life!






This is the Cape eland bull I had to climb for! I was hunting with Russell Lovemore when he still PHed for Frontier Safaris. We were on a big ranch called Sante Sana hunting for EC kudu, nyala and eland. I had my kudu but the big nyala had put the pants on us! We had one day left and Russell spotted a big eland bull way up the mountain with a group of kudu. A long climb and we finally found them...the old bull was using the kudu cows as his eyes and ears and the cows were on to us. I guessed the range at 300 yards and let fly with my .30-.338 shooting 180 grain Swift A-Frames. Never touched a hair. The bull ran a few steps forward and stopped, confused where the sound was coming from in the mountains...when asked how far the bull was, Russell just looked at me and said "damn far" I held at the top of his horns in line with his shoulder and hit him. He ran and fell in a rivine and I finished him there. I will never forget that smart old bull either. The recovery crew was sent out to get him and it took a truckload of those guys three hours to get him down to the truck!





The last bull I took was in 2001 with Numzaan Safaris hunting on Atherton. I was hunting with Eugene Visagie and an excellent little bushman tracker called "Bushman". Imagine that. Late in the hunt we got on this bull and I made a less that spectacular shot with my .338 shooting 210 grain Nosler Partitions. We followed him for a while but had to give up as darkness fell. I was sick having to go back to camp without him! Those of you who have spent a night worrying about a lost animal in the bush know what I mean. The next morning we were on the tracks early and I witnessed the most amazing tracking job I had ever seen. Bushaman stayed on those tracks, unraveling everything the bull did after I wounded him. He even worked the track out after the bull mixed with a herd of eland cow. At 11:00 that morning we found him lying up, very sick from a shot too far back and we put him down. Thank heavens for trackers like Bushman...You can see relief instead of a smile on my face...also those of you who have taken eland know the fun begins when you have a bull on the ground. I have loaded bulls in two pieces but with out a doubt...it'd always nice when your PH has a truck with a winch!

Last year I hunted eland on the Save Conservancy and never got a bull...oh I saw them a couple of times but they had seen us and were hauling ass in that peculiar trotting gait that carries them miles and miles...

All of my hunts for them have definitely not been successful...maybe that is why I like to hunt them and curse them...they are fun and are pure hunting at it's finest!

I have yet to hunt them, but my son hunted them in Lemco last year for a couple of days before getting a chance. He made a great shot in thick jess at 50 yds and the bull took off. Seven shots later, he was down with 5 connecting. Two shots passed through the lungs and one nicked the heart, one broke a front shoulder. Very tough and very much fun...

Next hunt, he wants to go after them again.

Your stories are great and your trophies are great as well...

bwanamrm, I'm another one who loves Eland hunting. They are not only very large, but are very smart, and can run like the wind, jump obsitcles ten feet high, and take a very large bullet from a very large rifle, and keep on keeping on! Besides that, they taste good, and are, in my eyes a beautiful animal. Of course I'd much rather hunt Cape Buffalo, which is smaller than Eland, but dangerous. Both are fun to hunt with NE double rifles, to add spice!The Eland is a great animal IMO! Your three are very nice trophies! Congratulations!

Russell,

Thanks for sharing. Your Zim bull was excellent, but that second bull really puts their size in perspective. That picture of the bull being loaded in the Landcruiser is incredible! I have as yet not been able to bag one, but this thread certainly puts the desire in me. Thanks.

I had a great time hunting my one eland bull. I did not try for one on my last trip but will surely try again on my next safari. We tracked a pair of bulls for over three hours until he offered a shot at the edge of a woodline across an open field at 175 yards. He was in and out of the shadows so I gooned it up and shot him in the pelvic girdle, mistaking his ham for the shoulder. Fortunately he went right down and I was able to finish him with a neck shot off hand. If you look close at the ham you can see the streak of blood from the first shot. Thank providence for Swift A Frames that punched clear through his pelvis. jorge

Nice stuff guys. I love eland, only shot one (EA in Masailand), and only after a short stalk. A great trophy, but one day I hope to do a tracking hunt just for an old bull or two.

There were some nice pict's posted previously on the forum when this topic came up, at: https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/.../140100133#140100133

...including this ancient/old bull shot by a PH/outfitter from Namibia (Helgaard) who posts here from time to time. This is what I have my sights set on:

Thanks for the photos guys. I leave in about 5 days to try for one myself.

Brent

Here's my East African Eland:

It's funny, when I took my first trip to Africa, the pre night of the safari my Ph asked if anyone was intreseted in taking a Eland, we all said no, I even commented that "I don't want to shoot a cow!"

Well, the 3rd day of the safari I caught a glimps of a cow Eland running through the brush, I couldn't believe the size of it! Commented to the PH about it, he replied, "You think that's big, that was a cow, wait till you see a Bull!"
I think I need to take a better look at one of these critters. the 9th day of a 10 day safari I took a 34 inch bull with one shot from my 270 Interarms, loaded with Federal factory loads. And I'll tell you right now, that was one exciting hunt!




Couldn't get enough of Eland hunting, I took this Bull - - 28 inches - - with my Remington 416 using iron sights.

Thanks for sharing the info about your eland guys. I have not hunted them yet but plan to in the future. I do know that they are among the best meat to eat in Africa though.

quote:

I do know that they are among the best meat to eat in Africa though.

thornell

No they are not one of the best meats to eat in Africa,

"They are the Best Meat in Africa!"

Nice bulls, gentlemen! Thanks for the link to the older thread, Bill I missed it. I agree that eland is delicious! The only game meat I am aware of that marbles like beef. Actually led to some herds being domesticated and raised in different parts of Africa.

quote:

Thanks for the photos guys. I leave in about 5 days to try for one myself.

Brent

Brent

Best of luck Brent!

That's true, eland are fun to hunt and even better to eat.

My wife doesn't think she'll mind me hanging the head on the wall. I don't think its dawned on her how big they are, but I'm not going to rock the boat.



Kyler

Ive been to Africa four times and tracked and hunted eland four times. I have yet to fire a shot as they were always to fast,to far or to smart. One of these trips I hope to get to lucky.

Widowmaker416, I stand corrected.

After chasing 3 bulls on the fourth day of my hunt for 7 hours, and not getting a shot, I felt very lucky to spy this one after about a half an hour. Rookie luck, I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Kyler Hamann:
My wife doesn't think she'll mind me hanging the head on the wall. I don't think its dawned on her how big they are, but I'm not going to rock the boat.

Kyler

Kyler, you should have seen me trying to hang an Eland bull shoulder mount, 9 feet up my den wall, on a 6 ft ladder, by myself! Damn that thing was heavy, and awkward for a 65 yr old fat man to hang, holding the mount with both hands, and walking up that ladder! That was five years ago, and you can bet it hasn't been down for cleaning since it was hung.

bwanamrm,

That Cape Eland is bloody beautiful......and a nice shot to boot. What a ripper!

Yes, hanging a big eland bull shoulder mount on the wall of the house is quite a job!! And in our trophy room, that's one of the first trophies that guests immediately comment on as to the size. It is definitely a conversation piece!

Here's an eland bull shot by a client of mine, same day that he shot a 42 inch buffalo. (check the smile!) He used his .416 Remington with 400gr A-Frames for both.

This bull was taken in March this year by one of my clients (also an AR member). My client used his Sako .375H&H and it went about 30 yards before expiring.

If only the recovery was as easy - We shot the bull at around 5:30pm, couldn't get it onto the back of the truck in spite of using a 9,000 pound winch and battled until 3am the following morning getting it to the skinning shed and finishing the skinning process.

This eland was taken in October of 2005 in the Limpopo province. PH was Jaco Human of AR.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:
.

If the colors came out right, that is the most unusual, and, IMO,most beautifull Eland Bull I've ever seen!

There are some fantastic bulls being posted here!

How far south do Livingstone's eland range in RSA? I am assuming there is a degree of hybridisation with Cape Eland in some places.

Chris, are the white tips on that bull a common occurence? Although ivory tips are common on kudu/nyala, I haven't seen them on eland before.

Also, I like the blue bulls with incredibly worn down horns. Hell the record books reward younger animals when it comes to this particular species...

Here is a pic of the current world record.

http://www.holstein-namibia.com/e_jagdfarm.htm

Given the strange morphology of eland, does anyone have any drawings of the kill zone on these beasts. I presume it is low and forward compared to what we might normally expect.

Brent

quote:

Originally posted by kamaatu:
Here is a pic of the current world record.

Here's the pict, says he is 46 inches!

Here's a pic of the bull I took last December in the Save at Msaise Ranch, PH Paul Wellock.



We chased eland bulls for several days, along with buffalo. This one and another smaller bull came out early in the morning as we were walking; the smaller bull left . He's 39 1/4" x 38 3/4".

This part of the Save has some really nice eland, and lots of them; they've taken a few over 40" in the recent past. They've had to cull eland, in fact. We saw a number of trophy bulls crossing roads, at water points, and in the bush. I've only hunted in RSA and here, but it sure appears that this is a really good place to hunt eland.

quote:

Originally posted by Boghossian:

Chris, are the white tips on that bull a common occurence? Although ivory tips are common on kudu/nyala, I haven't seen them on eland before.

Also, I like the blue bulls with incredibly worn down horns. Hell the record books reward younger animals when it comes to this particular species...

White tips are relatively common on older bulls as is the case with most spiralled horned species I've come across. This is the one species that makes an impressive trophy - even if the horns don't make the book lengthwise. The tuff of hair on the forehead and large dewlap is what really makes it count as far as I'm concerned and I agree: I like the "blue" bulls with worn-down horns!

Thanks, Bwana, for this eland fix, I mean thread.

I have so far been unsuccessful hunting eland. For me, hunting them has been extremely frustrating. I've seen and then spooked one or more bull eland several times in two different African countries, in each case, without being able to fire a shot.

Because of the circumstances, all we could do was watch them run out of sight. Of course, we chased them every time. I have walked untold miles through thickets and thorns, over hills, through dales and across dry river beds for hours and hours and all to no avail, all while chasing eland.

Maybe some day my luck will turn . . .

quote:

Originally posted by PostDriver:
Here's a pic of the bull I took last December in the Save at Msaise Ranch, PH Paul Wellock.

Awsome! He looks like a Lord Derby!

- mike

Taken with a 300 Win Mag, 180 grain Swift A Frame.

Great thread! Hopefully a year from now I will be able to contribute to it.

Here's my Cape Eland from last year. Taken in Namibia using a 30.06 and 180 grain Barnes TSX bullets.http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/30ott6/th_Eland-2005.jpg

Well, that didn't work. Will try again.

John

Trying again.

They are huge & fun to hunt.

Unbelievable pics guys!! I wanted an eland so badly on this last trip , but didn't shoot one just so I would have a reason to go back ASAP!! They are awesome animals.. I just flew back in today from our safari and after looking at these pics, I'm ready to jump right back onto that plane and make the journy all over again!!

I love hunting them as well.

This one fell to a 400 grain Barnes TSX at 2,400 fps. Fell over and didn't even take a step. Mine had the tip broken off of its right horn, but still a great trophy to me.

Chewore North, August 2004.

Hoping to get back there in 2007 and will be sure to put eland on the list again.

Tim

Taken in RSA last August with 308 and 168grain TSX. It took 4 shots from me, two of which went right through the lungs, and the first cut the top of the heart. The last shot was freehand necked at about 25m (if the memory serves!!) The PH also put in a 300g ballistic silvertip in 375 during the follow up whhichh put the brakes on him.

One thing that struck me about these animals is how they can soak up punishment without flinching. Liuke someone said earlier they are the same size or bigger than Cape Buff so it should not be a biog surprise really!!

Anyway, it was the most exciting hunt of my life so far, and he'll be coning home in a few weeks.... that's whenthe real lfun begins trying to persuade the missus that it needs to go on the wall!!