I wouldn't have missed it! I just wish everyone could see it at least once........our supermarkets are much more appreciated now!

I have been in on around thirty elephant recoveries in Zimbabwe. I have never seen the mass carcass attacks mentioned on here. In Zim, the PH and crew are responsible for the recovery of the skin and tusks from ele killed on communal lands and is delivered to the Communal game ranger office. The meat is given out to the locals in the area. Commonly, the trunk is taken to the local Chief. On NP Park's Safari Areas the PH is responsible for recovery and delivery of management elephant to the Park's office or in the case of animals on quota, to the Safari operators skinning shed. I have never seen the bedlam reported here. In all cases the PH or the Game scout organized the locals when they arrived on scene. The women were told to sit in the shade and wait. six or seven men who had knives were selected to aid in the skinning and meat recovery. Several local men with axes were sent out to cut leafy branches on which to place the meat. One side of the elephant was skinned first and then the meat was cut in ten to 12 lb. chunks and placed on the branches or into the back of the vehicle if on NP lands. The elephant was then turned over and the operation was repeated on the off side.

The trackers and meat cutters were given first selection of meat pieces. The women then formed a line and were each given a chunk of meat. The game scout was assigned to make sure no one hid their meat in the bush and came back for a second ration.

It all was done in a very organized way. My biggest problem on recovery came when the men treated the inevitable trail along dogs inhumanely. In one case, I just about cold cocked one gentleman of African decent for kicking an obviously staving dog that was trying to lick a small pool of blood. He also wasn't very happy when I gave that dog a healthy cut of the best elephant meat.

In my opinion if you have seen bedlam on a recovery, your PH probably hasn't been doing his job properly.

465H&H

It's your daily rate

On my last safari I took a trophy Elephant, the first two were not export animals. I shot it just before full dark and we actually could not find it in the ensuing darkness. Got up at daylight next morning and trackers found it with the first hour of looking. No roads even close so big problem was cutting a road then got a nearby village men to skin and butcher. This was probably the most unusual harvest as it was attended by a baby Elephant that was a pet of the property owner and his full time caretaker. We became close friends. The absolute first thing the workers did was to select one person to build and maintain a fire upon which meat was constantly being roasted after being cut from the elephant. It is amazing to me to see the animal being skinned and the use of the bale hooks to assist. The meat was cut off into big chunks and placed in one of the Land Cruisers and when full transported to a concrete pad in the village. In Zim the property owners got the meat at that time,may be different now. This went on most of the day and when completely skinned the women of the village were allowed to take anything that remained. They took it all and I do mean all. When we left at dusk there was only one single hipbone left. Everything and I do mean everything was gone. Turned out the property owners refrigeration unit was down so the villagers took all the meat. Talk about a celebration and thanks from the villagers it was something to see. I got the skin,skull w/tusks,Ears and tail. The previous was a non export and I got nothing, the property owner got it all and he had responsibility for harvesting it. He would not even give me the tail but one of my tracker friends presented me with all the tail hair later. He snuck back in and shaved the tail. He made me bracelets for all my children and grandchildren. That's my personal experience with Elephant harvesting, most impressive. Was not overly impressed with the roasted meat. I WAS very impressed with the baby elephant. He was a little over waist high and really loved oranges and would search you thoroughly for them. One of the most pleasant days I have spent on safari.

its a pity all these anti hunting people wernt made to watch the shareing out of the meat from the hunting of elephants as these locals would be crying out for protein and to see all of it used by local people to me as well as money spent on local jobs in outlying areas makes this hunting all the more defenceable

Adrian

I can't speak about the DG, as I'm a plainsgame hunter.
My father passed away in 2000. He trapped as a hobby and had a jackknife that he used to skin his furs with. I still use it every year for whitetail here at home and when I go to elsewhere. It's been used on everything from Moose to Springbuck. It's one of my ways to "keep him hunting".

Ive witnessed the processing of two elephants. It is absolutely amazing how people appear out of nowhere--the bush telegraph is an amazing. I grew up on a farm where butchering livestock was a part of life--so was not shocked by the dismemberment of these magnificent creatures. In my way of thinking it is the circle of life. These elephants provided much needed protein for nourishment to locals. The money generated from the hunt --is truly conservation through hunting.

Watching an elephant being butchered was honestly the best hunting experience I have ever had. To me it was the culmination of everything that I had prepared for and it was immensely satisfying.

Last year I hunted in Zim for a tuskless elephant because it reflected everything that I believe about hunting as a conservation tool. I enjoyed every moment of the preparation, the endless walking in the hot Zambezi valley and learning to shoot a double rifle. When the time came I executed a perfect brain shot and the elephant felt nothing at all.

At first I felt a little sad at the death of such a magnificent animal but when I saw the excitement of the local people I felt elated. A lot of people were going to have something to eat because of me.

My experience was similar to what 465 H&H describes and I was very surprised how orderly the process was. The division of meat was fair and women with children were put first in line.
The only time there was disorder was at the very end when everyone was allowed to grab whatever scraps of meat remained.

Interestingly enough my stories about locals butchering the elephant made my coworkers understand the realities of life in rural Africa. When they saw the pictures of the happy people carrying off meat and how not a morsel was wasted they finally understood. In fact I got a voice mail one day from a woman that works for the same company. She is very liberal and even has a "Save the Elephants" screensaver on her computer. She said "At first I was mad at you for shooting that elephant but when everyone told me how you fed starving people...well that's pretty cool"

I found the processing of my elephant bull to be very interesting indeed ... there was no pandemonium ... at times they were singing as they cut it up .. fed a lot of folks including a bit for me ... I liked it, too .. my lady and son were not as sophisticated in the ol' palate as me, however ..