quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
HUNT REPORT 2005


I shot a running baboon in a crop field, hitting him in the hind end. 30 minutes of tracking produced the baboon. Rifle used was 9.3 x 62 with North Fork 286 grain softs.

Logistics:

Camp facilities and camp food were very nice and definitely exceeded my expectations. Zim safari operators have ways of getting all of the supplies that they need, and nothing was missing for this hunt.

Great hunting and superb photos!

Dan,

Very well done! Judging by the hunt photos it looks like all involved had a great time. Buzz and crew make quite a team.

I also experienced the high heat, the guys told me Africa did not expereince a proper winter. Perhaps that is why there are so many bad hurricanes this year?

Norbert,

I know we hunted near the Angwa and Kamasoro rivers. We also got one ele in the steep mountains of the extreme southwest part of the concession. Sorry I cannot be more precise than that.

Dude

Looks like you had a very good hunt, you done good. Thanks for the report and pics.

Dan, looks like a good time, good show and welcome back. What airline did you use this time, and how is the situation in Zim now.

Kino,

I used the Delta red-eye to ATL then SAA to JoBerg. It was not as bad as last time, but there were 9 airport security guys who ripped my bags apart at the SLC airport.

The situation in Zim is calm and fine. Not much traffic due to fuel shortages, but the safari cos. have fuel. That and there are a lot of Merrcedes Benz on the road. Two grocery stores that I visited had plenty of bread, meat, canned food and grain. There was ample fruit and vegs, but limited variety.

Zim is about out of ammo except for 7.62 x 39 and 7.62 x 51. That is due to the forex crunch. And the only tires available are the crap local ones.

The people are calm and not about to revolt. The warvets I saw were friendly and talkative. The biggest hassle I ran into was a Zim immigration official at a remote border post who got it into his head that he wanted a wrist watch. So I gave him beef jerky instead.

Word is that there is starvation in the south of Zim where the Matabele tribe is. Apparently the big Bob is withholding food aid from that region because they vote for the opposition. I was hunting in the north and the people I saw were strong and healthy. Some of the ladies were even fat.

Great report !!!!!!!!!
It seems you have had a fantastic hunt...congrats !!!

Any other pictures are welcome!

L

Great job Dan!

Dan,

As you know I am just back and only now catching up on things here at AR.

Congrats on enough hunting, and successful hunting, and elephant hunting at that, for five safaris, much less one!

Nice going!

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
The biggest hassle I ran into was a Zim immigration official at a remote border post who got it into his head that he wanted a wrist watch. So I gave him beef jerky instead.

Great line 500.

Congrats on your hunt, sounds fantastic. I can't even imagine what a thrill a hunt like that would be.

thanks for all the reports.....more than interesting.....I really enjoyed your report.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
HUNT REPORT 2005

(.......)


A Tusked Cow:

While hunting tuskless cow elephant, we came across a tusked cow elephant with a broken front leg. The communal game warden gave permission to shoot her, and in the 2 days it took to get permission the cow moved only 100 yards, and she did not drink any water in that 2 day period. She was still able to hobble but would not be able to feed and water properly so she would not have survived.

When the tusked cow saw us approaching the attempted to flee, but we moved in quickly and she came for us as best she could. At 7 yards she dropped to a frontal brain shot.



(.....)

.

I liked this most

Excellent report, thanks for share it !!

Congratulations !

Thi picture show how the PH is trusting Dan. His hands are covering his ears, the rifle is not poised at all.

Dan, You are the best

God! That hunt really looked fun. Wish I had the time and $$ to do the same!

500grains,


Nice photos and a great hunting trip.


Bunduki458

500grains,

Congratulations on your hunt and i hope one day i will be able to hunt elephants like you.
Very nice report and photos.


hamdeni

quote:

Although the hunt did not wear out my rifle, the butt stock got a new chip behind the receiver (it already had one chip missing from a couple of years ago), and the stock split at the tang just before the hunt. Butch made a repair to the tang split on very short notice just before the hunt, allowing me to take the rifle hunting. But now the gun will have to go in for restocking, probably with a wood upgrade and pancake cheekpiece. .

Dan,
Thanks for the great hunt report and photos. Who took the photo of the charging ele while you were busy? Great shot.

I am intrerested in what you wrote about the split at the tang and chip behind the receiver in the stock on your rifle. Do you know if these stock problems were recoil induced, or did they have another cause? Good to hear Searcy took care of you.

- stu

Stu,

Butch says that wood, being a natural material, is unpredictable. There was no apparent looseness or gap prior to the split, so I really cannot explain why. However, it is a problem I have not heard of in any other Searcy rifles, so it could just be random chance that caused me to end up with a weak buttstock.

500grains!

I don't know about you but it sure gives me a good feeling to be able to end the misery of an animal that I respect as much as I do elephant. Although I do feel sad about their plight. I actually get more satisfaction from that kind of hunt then a pure trophy hunt.

465H&H

500, do you have another pic of that scrum cap buff, its really hard to see him very well,

I also found it strange with an elephant that close, the PH wasn't in ready posistion, awesome pic BTW thumbs up to the one taking the pic on that one

465,

We had a bit of a problem getting permission to kill that injured cow. Although her leg was broken and she was not able to feed or water, it actually took 2 days plus a hundred mile drive to get proper permission. When we butchered her, we found that her entire leg from the foot all the way up through the shoulder was made of purple, puffy marshmallow-like meat, in addition to the bone being broken. The locals would not eat the meat from that leg.

CC,

I did not shoot the cow in the position you see in the picture. If you look between the cow and I you will see a dark clod of dirt. I let her come to within one step of that clod and then shot her. Although Buzz the PH was caught by an elephant once and injured, his ears receive muzzle blast injury several times each hunt. I think he is used to assessing what poses a bigger danger, and in this instance it was the muzzle blast from the .500 NE rather than the elephant. Also, I don't really have a better pic of the scrum cap. Unfortunately it was in an area of mottled shade due to the sun being partially blocked by tree leaves when I took the photo, which makes it hard to see.

It looks to me like you had a very good hunt .

Maybe next time you will be able to drag the old 9.3x62 out and try out some "New Bullets"


Well done 500Grains Well Done

Thanks for a very fine report, I think your island hunt was Grand!! , Congratulations a trip of a lifetime. Ben (Rug)

Dan,

Great report, I was talking to Aleko about the use of double rifles. Both he and I feel (with our pigeon shit worth of experience compared to you) that the Kreighoff double with a low powered scope would be the idea ele gun.

We both are Blaser whores and like the decocker.

What do you think about that?

Seth,

Dan might have other thoughts, but I can tell you that my PH when I hunted ele in Zim last year; Myles McCallum, likes the Kreighoff a lot.

He considers them especially good for clients, since the Kreighoff can be carried uncocked, and thus Myles doesn't have to fear getting shot in the back by mistake by a sloppy client.

There is 2 kind of doubles.

PH doubles

and

Clients' doubles

Krieghoff are considered : Clients' doubles.

I am guessing the S-2 is in the same boat. Put me down for clients doubles, I'll take one each.

Seth, I hunted ele with a scope once and will never do it again. If hunted properly, the ele will be so close that a scope is a liability, not an advantage.

As for Krieghoff, as I have posted elsewhere I find their cocking thingie to be slow and sometimes hard to push. This introduces delay in getting the rifle into action compared to the traditional safety on a double. Therefore I would opt for a traditional safety instead of the Krieghoff cocking thingie.

Dan, thanks. My blind ass would want an aimpoint to concentrate my fire through.

Isn't hunting baboons the most fun you can have?

I am thinking about trying to find someplace in Namibia I can take 5 days and hunt baboons at again in July or August.

quote:

Originally posted by jbderunz:
There is 2 kind of doubles.

PH doubles

and

Clients' doubles

Krieghoff are considered : Clients' doubles.

Really? I have hunted with a PH who's "stopper" was a Krieghoff Would not want to challenge his status

Thanks for the great story and pics!

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
Dan,

Great report, thanks. I'm interested in learning more about the side brain shot and your second tuskless cow photo might help. It appears the entrance wound is between the eye and the ear, along a bulge. Is that bulge the cheek bone? Is the hole secreting fluid closest to the ear the ear hole or some type of gland? If that is not the ear hole, where is it located, I'm assuming behind the ear and not visible?

Thanks.

SBT,

Buzz Charlton just made an instructional DVD that goes into great detail on all elephant shots including the side brain. You can get it off his website at www.cmsafaris.com I got mine at the Dallas Safari Club convention and have wathced it 3 times. It's excellent. Looks like there is a lot of Dan's shots in it as well.

Gentlemen,
I have shot double rifles with 500grains, and I can testify he is a great shot... Still ears be damned, when an elephant is running in my direction I would want my rifle ready to shoot.

Well done 500grains.

The Charlton DVD on elephant Hunting is compelling viewing, Dan sent me a copy to the U.K and I am now on my 5th viewing and it is over 2 hours long.

Well worth the time though and very informative

500grains, love the ele charge photo. Your PH must have great faith in your shooting ability, because I see he has his fingers in his ears instead of on the trigger of his gun! I will hopefully be doing a ele/buff/lion hunt in about 5 years if everything goes as planned (either in Tanania or Zim) and I'll be buying a double. I'm debating on whether to buy either a Krieghoff or like a Searcy or Heym. Whatever it is, it will be in .470 NE for sure. I think it is a great all around caliber for DG. But lets slow down a bit, I'm going on my first safari next summer with my parents to Namibia for 14 days for Plains Game. Can't wait to get a taste of Africa!

quote:

I'm debating on whether to buy either a Krieghoff or like a Searcy or Heym.

There have been a lot of discussion on AR recently about the very topic, and it is my opinion to go with the Searcy.

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
I'm debating on whether to buy either a Krieghoff or like a Searcy or Heym. Whatever it is, it will be in .470 NE for sure.

In some ways I wish I had bought a .470 instead of a .500. Ammo is much more available for a .470, and it kicks noticeably less. But I found that the .500 is pretty good at knocking ele down hard even if the brain is missed.

As for Krieghoff, Searcy or Heym, I was faced with the same decision about 5 years ago. Krieghoff did not work well for me because I found the cocking piece/safety to be slow due to its long travel, hard resistance, and because my thumb joint has been broken. However, the Krieghoffs I have seen recently have had a much smoother and easier cocking piece. Comparing Searcy and Heym, the Heym was certainly slim and light, but that scared me a bit in the 500 NE caliber as I thought it would beat me up. There was also $5K difference in price between the two back then. Now the difference is about $8K. As the Searcy fit me well, was very solid, and had an excellent reputation for accuracy I went with it. No regrets.

Thank you for the report my son of 9 years old and myself enjoyed it a lot ,its nigth now and we are leaving for a fox hunt.Juan

Great report!! Glad you had such a rewarding hunt. Thanks for sharing the pics. How does El backstrap tast??

Purple, puffy marshmallow meat...that's nasty. She must have been in a lot of pain. Glad you were able to end that for her.

Buzz is enroute to the SCI shows. I'm supposed to talk to him this week. He emailed about almost getting snuffed by a hippo last week?