A successful lion hunt, a roan hunt, a lost buffalo, hanging out with Bengo and Biebs in Burkina Faso is all dominated by a single event.

Day Nine into a Burkina Faso lion hunt I was angry and frustrated. The hunt was not turning out as I had expected. For the afternoon hunt, I went to the truck and was joined by Ishmael the PH, Larry the translator, the driver and a new tracker. I was told that my tracker’s father had passed away and he would not be hunting with us and that there would be a new tracker. We were headed to wait on a dead buffalo we had found and on which a lion was feeding earlier. As we drove towards the dead buffalo we ran into my original tracker, who with a few other fellows was fishing for catfish. He seemed jovial and my mood turned for frustrated to raging with anger. I thought the tracker who was all jovial fishing for catfish had just given up on the hunt and wanted to go do something else and the whole story of his father passing away was a scam. It turned out that his father had actually died and he was fishing for catfish to use in a burial ceremony. I still can’t figure out why the hell he was so jovial.

We drive towards the rotting buffalo carcass and I am just seething with anger. My translator, Larry, can see that I am about to blow a gasket and tries to explain why my tracker was fishing for catfish but I am in no mood to listen. I just stick my earphones in and listen to some Johnny Cash, actually in Joaquin Phoenix singing Johnny Cash.

Along the way the PH decides to walk a riverbed to try and bump a resting lion. The riverbeds in Burkina are different than the riverbeds in the Save Conservancy. They are not sandy but have clay like mud texture and have growth of trees with exposed roots. You have to walk thru the exposed root structure at times.

This are pictures of what a Burkina dry river bed looks like. This is not a picture of the actual river red.





We are walking the riverbank for 10-15 minutes with the PH in the lead, me behind him, the translator behind me and the tracker at the back. I have grown frustrated with the hunt and have don’t carry a rifle with a live round in the chamber as I don’t anticipated shooting a lion in a riverbed. The PH also does not carry a loaded chamber.

As we walk we hear some grunting. I turn to Larry the translator and say elephant? We took to the PH and ask via silent lip movement ask – elephant? He shrugs as if he has heard nothing. I hear another grunt and its close and I load my rifle – 300 grain swift a-frames in 375H&H. We take a few more steps and in the reloading process the order becomes the PH, the translator and then me. We are at an exposed tree root structure in the riverbed. The roots have an arch structure and the PH and tracker are to the left and I am where the arch ends. Suddenly there is a lot of noise and movement in the bush to my right. I hear the translator shout Lion Lion twice in English and its seems like all hell has broken lose. My mind runs to us either bumping a pride of lions eating or catching a lion and lioness in a private moment.

Picture of what a river bed root structure and riverbed embankment looks like. This is not pictures of the actual river red.





I run to the left but there is an 8-10 foot high near ninety-degree riverbed embankment. There is no chance in hell my slightly overweight then 42-year-old body can scale the 8-10 foot riverbed embankment in the next five to ten seconds. And there is a snowball chance in hell I can outrun and out climb a lion over a riverbed embankment. So I turn around with the riverbed embankment to my back and get into a kneeling position and aim at the arch in the tree root structure. I am anticipating a lion or lioness charging thru that arch opening coming straight at me.

As I settle into my kneeling shooting position I see my PH climb out of the riverbed to my left. He has found an opening in the riverbed embankment and climbed out. This is like 35-45 feet from where I am kneeled and aimed, anticipating a lion charge. For a flash I think why is my PH who has fought hand to hand with a lion running away and then go back to steadying my aim at the root arch opening. The noise is incredibly loud – I cannot remember the sounds made just that the noise is deafeningly loud.

A few seconds have passed and no lion charge has occurred. I turn and look left to where my PH climbed out of the riverbed and there I see this large elephant charging and headed straight for me. The whole elephant herd has exploded in the riverbed. In hindsight, we did not bump into a pride of lions but a herd of elephants and the whole herd is running amok in the riverbed. There are elephant all around me with one headed straight to me.

I shoot left handed as I am left eye dominant, but I am a very right handed person. I am in rigid kneeling position anticipating to shoot a lion 10-12 feet straight in front of me, when there is a elephant 30-45 feet to my left headed straight for me. I cannot run to my right, as there are other elephants there. I cannot run in front as there is this root structure 10-12 feet out. My back is to an 8-10 foot riverbed embankment.

I am not thinking or strategizing at this time. I am just reacting. Somehow I transition the rifle from my left shoulder to my right hand. I am holding the rifle like a pistol – I am a relatively big guy. The length of pull on the rifle is less than the distance from my wrist to my elbow. I hold the 375H&H like a pistol in my right hand and shoot it at the elephant. I MAY HAVE HIT IT or I may have missed. As one cannot shoot or hunt elephants in Burkina Faso let my capitalization guide you.

I probably shot the elephant at 10-15 feet as I was getting up and trying to head in the same direction as the elephant - toward opening in the riverbed. There is a lot of movement to my right and I don’t want to run in a riverbed with elephants chasing me in a gauntlet. Somehow I had made the decision to head towards the opening I had seen my PH use regardless of the elephant heading towards me. I still don’t know how I made this decision, but it was a decision and direction I had chosen.

My shot changed the direction of the elephant. Instead of heading straight for me, the elephant turned to the right (my right – elephant’s left) and was now running in the riverbed. I got up and ran in the opposite direction to the opening. The elephant crossed me running parallel (but in opposite directions) and I was a little more than an arms length from the elephant. With my rifle I could easily have touched the elephant. I see this wall of grey to my right as I run towards the opening. The elephant running in the riverbed in hindsight also acted like a blocking cover preventing any elephants on my right or in the riverbed from getting to me.

I get to the opening and climbed out of the riverbed. I used my rifle barrel as a support to climb out of the riverbed kind of like a walking or climbing stick; I distinctly remember that, using the barrel tip to get traction to climb out of the riverbed. There are elephants following and charging and I remember turning around and seeing an elephant with ears extended on my tail. I see my PH running, he is like 50 feet ahead and to the right of me. I see him running and shooting a round towards the elephants. In a few steps I do the same. Turn 180 degrees and shoot on the run with the gun barely aimed at anything but in the general direction of elephants.

I ran like crazy for next few minutes in dry grass on a slight incline. The grass was 4-6 feet and I was running like a mad man. While running, fear set in, I was thinking of elephants and getting killed and trying to run as fast as possible. I was not thinking back in the riverbed, just reacting. I could see my PH was like 20-30 feet to my right and running like crazy. But for both of us the reality of our physical limitation was setting in. I was out of breath and out of physical strength.

We came to line of fire in the grass and as we crossed it I dropped my rifle and had my hand of my knees and back bent. I thought I was about to either cough my lungs out or collapse. I was out of breath and exhausted.

The new tracker whose nickname unbeknownst to me is “Elephant” cause he is dreadfully scared of elephants had taken off when we heard the first grunt in the riverbed and he had seen elephants. He just took off and managed to climb out of the riverbed and had run and then started a fire line in the dry grass to keep away the elephants. I saw my translator lying on the ground on the other side of the fire line. He has both his hands on his heart and was saying “lord I am coming.” I somehow thought of Red Foxx and his “I am coming, Elizabeth” line, I don’t know why. Larry the translator had lost his glasses and cap in the mealy.

We set the fire line and fast walked/slow ran to the truck. We did not talk much till we got on the truck and everyone was thankful to be alive. We drove straight back to camp. I did ask the translator why he screamed Lion Lion and he could not explain it. It just came out of his mouth. I thought Mother, God, Jesus, Mohammad, Yahweh or a scream in French or his native dialect would be more likely than Lion Lion in English but that is what came out.

These are pictures of the actual fire line.







The drive back to camp was quite. I got back walked straight to the bar and got a beer and bought beers for everyone on the truck. Biebs and his buddy had just got into camp and they were having a beer with Butch. I told them what had happened and had a few more beers. I told Arjun I MAY HAVE HIT or I may have missed and that he could go and confirm if an elephant was wounded or killed and I would deal with consequences. I told the game warden who was at the camp bar the same thing - I MAY HAVE HIT IT or I may have missed. He did not seemed at all concerned about a elephant being shot and definitely had zero interest in going to check out a shot elephant in a riverbed with his trusty AK.

I had a few more beers and spoke with Biebs, his buddy and Butch. Ate some dinner and when to my room and threw some clothes in the backpack. We were going to camp out for a few days at the other end of the hunting concession and were supposed to drive out at 3:30-4 am.

I just lay in my bed for the rest of the night. I did not change my clothes, shoes or even take off my gaiters. I just lay there for the whole night staring at the thatched straw roof not sleeping at all.

Got up next morning and went to the truck at 3:45 am without brushing my teeth, washing my face or anything – I was dressed for hunting from the day before. The guys just kept saying we were lucky to be alive and that it was a sign from god. The crescent moon had a star in it and the guys took it as a good omen

After the elephant incident I had stopped caring about the lion hunt, my frustration with it or why I was in Burkina Faso. I was glad to just be alive and physically unscathed by the elephants less than 12 hrs before. We shot the lion at 6:05 that morning but the lion hunt pales in comparison to what happen in the riverbed.

Looking back these things stand out

How I behaved in the riverbed was pure reaction. I just reacted with little anticipation, thought or strategy. It all happened in 30-45 seconds but its feels like forever and remember it all happening in like slow motion.

I did not panic – I was not scared in the riverbed. Fright and fear did not settle in till the run in the dry grass. I am now dreadfully frighten and scared of what happen.

I did not soil myself. The only physical reaction was absolute exhaustion and shortness of breath at the end of the run. When we stopped at the fire line I thought I was going to die or cough my lungs out from being out of breath.

I did not drop my rifle or lose my cap. Everything came out whole.

We went back to where the incident took place but no one really wanted to go back in the riverbed to take pictures. We just stay in the truck for 30-45 seconds.

If my shot had brained the elephant, the elephant would have collapsed on me. I don’t think I could have anyway brained the elephant with a swift a-frame.

The elephants in the Arly national park area have gotten unhinged. Poaching and lion predication on very young elephant is unsettled herds of elephants. Burkina Faso is the only place where you get charged by the whole herd. Every elephant comes straight at you.

This incident is going to affect my hunting in Africa. I am scared of Elephants – I don’t like being around them. I don’t like being in dry riverbeds either.

Maybe I will get around to writing about the rest of the hunt. But it feels kind of irrelevant after the run in the riverbed.

Mike

WOW

Glad your okay.

Hope you feel like finishing the report and adding more photos some time....especially about the lion. I am interested in a Burkina lion.

YIKES!!!!

Kind of changes a fellow's perspective. Glad you made it out OK.

Mike,
That's a
.375 feels pretty comfortable until you run into 3 to 6 tons of gray, doesn't it. Sorry you had such a terrifying experience. Now you just might have to go and kill one to get even. Sounds exciting to say the least.
I had a similar experience with lioness's in Zim 3 years ago. They smelled breakfast after I killed my buffalo and it was tense for about 15 minutes.
Hope your hunt report will continue and we get some more pictures and the report continues.
Rick

They scare me too. That is why I have not hunted them. My gun looks very small compared to one.

Great story.

Tell the lion story when you can remember it.

Welcome home.

Mike:

I am glad you are alive. I have to say the behavior of the PH and the tracker is not acceptable to me. I am glad their unprofessional behavior did not result in injury or death to you.

I am sorry that happened to you. Please tell about the lion hunt . I believe those who want to hunt a lion in BF need to understand .

The importance of hunting with the right outfitter and the right PH cannot be overemphasized. A good lesson for all of us.

That is scary.

+1 on that being unprofessional behavior on the part of the PH/tracker.

Good you made it back in a vertical position!

Larry you know I have been thinking of this incident a fair bit.

One thing is clear - I came out without any physical harm. But the situation was such that if there would have been any physical contact it would have been fatal. That is the no room for error when there is physical contact with an elephant. There is "no 100 stitches a second" out for physical contact with a animal 25-50 times your size.

I think everything that happen once we bumped into the herd of elephants was driven by pure randomness. My survival/escape/second life was driven by pure randomness or for someone with strong religious convictions divine acts.

If the translator did not shout Lion Lion - I would have tired to find my PH or any human motion and go to it. I probably would have run straight into the elephant.

If I had a bigger gun or solids or better shooting position - I would have probably brained an elephant that would most likely have fallen on me.

If I had run right into the river bed I would most likely be run over or pounded to death by elephants. The riverbeds are covered in potholes caused by elephants stepping in wet soil/clay - they seem like designed to break legs.

I dont think a bigger gun or a double rifles or anything would have helped in that situation. I don't think the best elephant hunting PH could have stood their ground in a narrow debris covered riverbed with a charge from unknown number of elephants all happening at same time.

I don't think the elephant or elephants that were following us once we got out riverbed could be outrun. I ran as fast as I physically could but the end decision was made by the elephant or elephants to turn back. Not my swift speed.

As a hunting unit we broke and ran in the riverbed. The PH as the leader ran. I personally like the PH - I think he is as solid and driven a single purpose lion hunter as you can get. He is not a elephant guy. In the riverbed it became a free for fall. I think a Zim PH would have run too but he would have come and got me and tried to run together. In that riverbed on that day running trying to find one another or anything else would have been fatal. I think a proper Zim PH would not likely have got in the situation - that is the key.

I think you need to hunt animals to understand them. There is a reason Buzz, Leon Duplessis, Mike Payne, Ivan Carter know elephants - they hunts them. My PH in Burkina knew lions - he hunted lions but never hunted elephants. Also the recents movement of elephants has been driven by poaching in the parks.

The key again is we should have never been in the spot.

The tracker - "Tracker Elephant" is a whole other can of worms. He is petrified of elephants. He makes me look like Buzz when compared to him. Last day we were taking pictures - got mock charged by elephants. We were in the truck and the PH used a shotgun blast to the ground to stop the charge. Not the end of the world situation - not fun but not being in the riverbed. "Tracker Elephant" grabbed hold of PH rifle and held it pointed at the herd.

"Tracker Elephant" should have warned us when he saw the elephants in the riverbed. He just took off.

He also started the fire line on his own. I was told in camp by people that the fire line was started cause they know elephants and how to keep them away ect. That as BS. The fire line was started and burning when the PH and me crossed it. I was the last person to cross it. The PH crossed it 20-30 seconds before I did. The tracker continued to burn it additional parts. But it was started by him not the PH telling him to start it. It was for his protection first and the group was a distant second thought.

Also if the wind speed was a little higher the fire line would have blocked us. As we left the wind picked up and the fire line picked up - was a wall of over 10 feet.

The fire line and resulting fire burned everything to the riverbed. Hell if it had caught on with me on the other side I would be running to the elephants. I rather be killed by elephants than burned alive.

My revenge on "Tracker Elephant" was the last day. I did tip him even for this questionable professional services. But as we were headed back to camp the last afternoon/evening and had the mock charge in which my PH used a shotgun blast and I fired a few 375H&H rounds over the elephants heads and "Tracker Elephant" held the PH rifle for protection. My luck Chevy cap fell off - this was the cap from the riverbed and the lion kill. I told them I wanted it and we had to turn the truck and go back near the herd to get it. The tracker was furious we were going back, held on to the PH rifle and refused to get down and get the cap - it was on his side. Finally the driver got out and got it - he was on the same side. "Tracker Elephant" was not happy till we got back to camp.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Mike:

I am glad you are alive. I have to say the behavior of the PH and the tracker is not acceptable to me. I am glad their unprofessional behavior did not result in injury or death to you.

I am sorry that happened to you. Please tell about the lion hunt . I believe those who want to hunt a lion in BF need to understand .

Thanks for the report and glad your home safe. I had a similar incident 3 years ago while lion hunting in Burkina. It was the first day of the hunt, and I have the stomach flu two days prior and was severely dehydrated not to mention it was 128 degrees and humid. We ran into a herd of eles in a river bed and the PH said not to move. Some of the trackers start to get nervous and move backwards. The elephants detected the movement and start to charge, so we all start to run backwards and the trackers start burning the grass when we run into another herd behind us. I had such an adrenaline rush that I couldn't run anymore and yelled at the tracker to give me my .470. I was at a point that I couldn't back off any more and I was going to try to shoot my way out of this situation. The fire finally pushed the eles away from our position. I recovered in the shade for the next half hour and had to call it for the day. We had many more incidents, but that was the worst.

Terrifying ordeal and sounds like you were abandoned to your own fate.

The PH should have been at your side and should of helped you out with this nonsense.

That was a whole lot excitement than you paid for. Wow!
May need to rethink Burkina Faso.

What a story!
I have to admit that the elephant in the Complexe WAP are very nervous and do charge without provocation. The pressure from poaching might be one of the reasons.

Why did the hunt "not turning out as I had expected" ?
Could you post a picture of your lion, pls?

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Terrifying ordeal and sounds like you were abandoned to your own fate.

The PH should have been at your side and should of helped you out with this nonsense.

+1

I can feel the frustration in the post, it sounds like the hunt wasn't going as planned. It takes a lot to control the emotions and anger in these situations, but on the positive side, and a very big positive is that you are still hear to live life and perhaps you will experience each day with a renewed enthusiasm and more balanced outlook when things don't go as planned. I basically think that is life in general!

Look forward to seeing the other pictures and hearing about the buffalo and the hunt if you have time or feel like you want to share.

Thanks for the straightforward post Beretta. Dam!! That was sure touch and go.
I am glad you made it out of that cluster alive.

Eesh! What a great story - glad it turned our ok for you Mike. I hunted in Dande a few years back with a game scout who was also deathly afraid of elephants. We got charged by the herd after I shot a tuskless, and this guy cowered behind Mike Payne at the charge yelling "shoot her, shoot her, I'll write the report". Fortunately, Mike's string of profanities directed at the matriarch eventually turned her and the herd, and we did not have to shoot any nzo in self defense.

The camp staffer that was assigned to wash Mike's clothes each day demanded a $100 tip after that encounter :-)

Biebs,

I think it was $200 but payable in euros converted to swiss swapped to short yen barrier converted back to US dollars without the encounter so I think I got a discount.

Mike

Mike, Jon and Butch,

I cannot help but feel that there is much more to this whole Bukina Faso story than has been told to date. Any time you see information coming out in tidbits it makes you wonder what the rest of the story is. As you have seen from a number of posters, many are considering Bukina Faso as a possible hunting alternative given the closing of Botswana, the trophy fee increases in Zim, etc. Perhaps I am off base here, but I would hope that if there is more to the story -- good, bad or indifferent -- that the whole story will be told so that folks considering hunts in Bukina Faso have the benefit of the perspectives of some experienced hunters.

Mike:

Will write up my experiences - the good and the bad. Will also give my 2 cents on advice on hunting Burkina.

Just need a few days to catch up on work stuff.

Thanks,

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Mike, Jon and Butch,

I cannot help but feel that there is much more to this whole Bukina Faso story than has been told to date. Any time you see information coming out in tidbits it makes you wonder what the rest of the story is. As you have seen from a number of posters, many are considering Bukina Faso as a possible hunting alternative given the closing of Botswana, the trophy fee increases in Zim, etc. Perhaps I am off base here, but I would hope that if there is more to the story -- good, bad or indifferent -- that the whole story will be told so that folks considering hunts in Bukina Faso have the benefit of the perspectives of some experienced hunters.

Thanks Mike, I know that folks will welcome such a report since hunting alternatives in Africa seem to be dwindling in some respects.

I also would like to read the unabridged version. I do not mind craziness but if craziness happens because of the guys I am paying to help me, I want to be prepared.

Well I am booked and paid for my Burkina Lion hunt in 2016 so would love to hear all the points both good and Bad,

sounds like it might turn into a Lion Elephant hunt

JK

Elephants are scary, my "bad" encounter with eles were a few years ago, to make a long story short when I came back to the car after 20 minutes with tuskless eles around us (no one had rifles)I couldnt open my hand, I had squeezed it so hard it took probably one hour before it could open. Never had that happen before or after that encounter.

Of interest to lion hunters headed for BF is that I am hearing from the grapevine that BF is planning to adopt an aged base program soon modelled around the TZ & Niassa program.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
Of interest to lion hunters headed for BF is that I am hearing from the grapevine that BF is planning to adopt an aged base program soon modelled around the TZ & Niassa program.

Yes they plan to do it and if they do it like they plan this will have a great effect on lion hunting. However I am very interested how they want to implement this it will be difficult....

My lion hunt is in 2016 so that will give them time to sort out what ever system they want t o put in place,

This will be a new learning curve for all as i am sure that this type of Lion will be difficult to age with out knowing what the population dynamics in an area are.

JK

I don't see any way in which you can require lions to be a certain age (6+) before they are harvested and hunt them without bait.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Caracal:

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
Of interest to lion hunters headed for BF is that I am hearing from the grapevine that BF is planning to adopt an aged base program soon modelled around the TZ & Niassa program.

Yes they plan to do it and if they do it like they plan this will have a great effect on lion hunting. However I am very interested how they want to implement this it will be difficult....

Bwanamich:

How much observation time is required on average or in general to observe and approximately judge a lion to be of harvesting age?

Can this observation on wild lions occur any where other than on bait?

Thanks,

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:
Of interest to lion hunters headed for BF is that I am hearing from the grapevine that BF is planning to adopt an aged base program soon modelled around the TZ & Niassa program.

Yes the 3 seconds before you pull the trigger

@Beretta
Just out of interest, how many lions did you see on your trip?
You hunted the Zone "Arly" is that right?

Aging a lion while hunting on foot is extremly difficult.

Dennis

One lioness

One lion - lion was killed

Lots of lion activity - tracks, bedding and scat but all confined to roads.

Lion roaring twice.

No shortage of lions - but they don't tend to hang around during daylight hours

quote:

Originally posted by Caracal:
@Beretta
Just out of interest, how many lions did you see on your trip?
You hunted the Zone "Arly" is that right?

Aging a lion while hunting on foot is extremly difficult.

Dennis

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Mike:

I am glad you are alive. I have to say the behavior of the PH and the tracker is not acceptable to me. I am glad their unprofessional behavior did not result in injury or death to you.

I am sorry that happened to you. Please tell about the lion hunt . I believe those who want to hunt a lion in BF need to understand .

Glad you are ok Mike. The PH and I would have had a chat.

Jeff

Jeff, the "PHs" there weren't trained professional hunters, just guys from the local village who knew the area and had hunted it before.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Mike:

I am glad you are alive. I have to say the behavior of the PH and the tracker is not acceptable to me. I am glad their unprofessional behavior did not result in injury or death to you.

I am sorry that happened to you. Please tell about the lion hunt . I believe those who want to hunt a lion in BF need to understand .

Glad you are ok Mike. The PH and I would have had a chat.

Jeff

Jeff - I should have but there was kind of this universal understanding lets get back to lion hunting, stay away from elephants and leave riverbeds alone.

I think the recent movement of the elephants from the park, the indiscriminate poaching and the lion predation of young elephants has changed the risk reward equation for hunting riverbeds. Also the PH and the trackers did not hunt elephants. With regard to elephants they were no different that photo guides and Tom Seibel can tell anyone how good a photo guide is against a angry elephant. Let alone a herd of elephants in a narrow debris filled riverbed.

Beibs is right about the quality of the PHs. I can say that my PH was a driven dedicated lion hunting machine motivate by things other than money. He was also the best and most experienced PH there. He wanted to kill more lions than his dad - everything else was secondary. I am pretty certain he was more excited/happy/satisfied about his 15th lion than I was about my first and last. But he is not a PH in the ZIM DG PH model. He does very little but focus on the lion hunt - pictures ect.

The key issue is we should not have been in the riverbed (that was a decision) and the tracker should not have run when he saw the elephants and he should have notified us when he decided to run and start the fire line.

Should the PH have come back for me or run when all hell break lose. I don't know, in a ideal world yes. When all hell broke lose it become each man to himself. I am not happy to be in the situation being in the river bed in the first place. But after all hell broke lose if he had come for me - we would both been running from a herd of elephants in the opposite direction to where we went and running in a narrow riverbed and debris and with potholes the size of elephant feet. I doubt we could have gone 50 ft in the riverbed in the opposite direction. And for me getting hit by a baby elephant is the same as swimming in the large body of water that is 8 feet deep. Its still two feet deeper than my head.

I am glad i was not touched by a elephant. All the stuff that happen in the riverbed was pure chance or fate or whatever other terminology one has for unplanned actions, unknown events with a rather quaint outcome (everyone came out alive and fine except Larry the translator's glasses and cap)

Mike

Mike,

I will respectfully disagree about the every man for himself comment. The PH has a responsibility to protect me and I have a responsibility to protect him. I wouldn't have left the PH in your predicament without trying to help/shoot or whatever. It's just the way I feel it should be. Everyone can pile on me now.

Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:
Mike,

I will respectfully disagree about the every man for himself comment. The PH has a responsibility to protect me and I have a responsibility to protect him. I wouldn't have left the PH in your predicament without trying to help/shoot or whatever. It's just the way I feel it should be. Everyone can pile on me now.

Jeff

I get your point Jeff but the reality was once we got in the herd of elephants they were on the other side of the root structure like 20 feet away. We were in like a narrow alley way with a herd of elephants going thru it.

I only know what I saw - I don't know what the PH saw. Maybe he saw an elephants or elephants coming at him and decided to climb out of the riverbed. I know for sure he saw an elephant cause in a few second the elephant was near where he was standing.

No one called for me - only words I heard were lion lion in this whole debacle at the start.

I shot the elephant with a 375H&H CZ - 11 pound gun held as a pistol. I was transition from a left hand kneeling position to running run 30-45 feet to my left. The only way I can move left from a left hand kneeling position is I have to sit back on my butt. Sitting on my butt with my left handing giving me support to get up and both my legs arched in front of me. This was no great aimed shot but the best I could muster. The shot was not aimed at anything other than keeping the elephant off me.

I don't know how to shoot or where to shoot a herd of elephants in a riverbed. I have never hunted elephant before. I have seen some footage of culls in the Save and it is highly structured. They take down herds in 10-15 seconds but they have a helicopter, and professional hunters Leon Duplessis and Peter Fleck doing the core shooting. And they don't do it in a narrow dry riverbed.

I mention this because in this whole mess I always through the tracker as behind me. I know the PH and the translator were ahead of me - I saw the PH get out. I had no idea where the translator was.

Once I saw the elephant coming towards me and the other activity on my right. I had already decided to head towards where my PH got out of the riverbed. I had only one thought in my mind – I did not want to get touched by an elephant. I never thought about the tracker or where he could be once I saw the elephant. Before that I as thinking he was behind or more correctly to my right as my back was to the riverbed and I was expecting lion/lions coming towards me. The tracker or the translator never crossed my mind and I don’t think I crossed theirs.

The only thing I was thinking was I don’t want to be touched by the elephant. Outside the riverbed there were also elephants. When I was running in the grass it was from these elephants. Running in the grass I was scared of the elephants. In the riverbed it was just I don’t want to be touched by the elephants.

I never thought about the tracker or the translator till I saw them. The PH was running with me or more correctly a little ahead of me and too my right and I was catching up with him.

I don’t think the tracker for a second thought of anyone when he ran and started the fire line. The translator was shouting the first words on his tongue Lion Lion. All the shooting was kind of akin to us throwing stuff at the elephants just to keep them away from us. It wasn’t in anyway planned.

Each man on this own in this case is that the first order of business was not to be touched by the elephant. I don’t see the tracker in any great immediate danger he could have warned us when he ran.

I had no bearing in the riverbed to do anything other than I knew the exit was to my left and I saw my PH go thru it. Once I got out it was not like I had the higher ground and the elephants in the riverbed. There were elephants in the riverbed as well as outside. What I saw, probably the PH saw – I don’t know for sure.

I know that at least for me I did not have mental composition to think about duties or responsibilities. In this whole time frame I just that one thought/purpose that was don’t get touched by a elephant – running in the grass I add the additional element of I was scared of elephants.

I think when we all reconvened at the fire line and everybody was there the thought moved to lets get out of here. If someone was not there I think once people stopped running or more correctly reconvened the notion of duty and responsibility would come back. Also physically I don’t think we would have gone much more than the fire line. I was physically done. I may have reached a point at which I decided to just stop turn around and face what ever came. Glad I did not have to make the decision.

All in all your are 100% correct - we had responsibilities to each other. I just think we were in this crappy situation where one did not have the cognitive and mental abilities to manage or fulfill these responsibilities. Sorry if it sounds like a lame excuse but at least for the tracker and translator I never thought about them and the PH only mattered cause I saw him leave (his exit was a point to get to) and I saw him running as I was running (he was reference figure). The only thought in my head was don’t get touched by an elephant.

Frankly, I think BF going to an age based system is a very good idea, but it must be coupled with the legalization of baiting or even calling. Whatever allows hunters/PHs to get the best look at a cat and accurately estimate age.

Hey Mike, someone here wants to talk to you! :-)

Biebs

www.stopcyberbulling.org

Mike