This was my third year in a row hunting PAC elephant in the Omay area of Northern Zimbabwe. Needless to say that the hunt was all I expected or I wouldn't be returning so often. The hunt was booked through Graham Hingston of HHK Safaris. The Omay Communal Campfire area is leased by Joe Wright of National Safaris which is a partner with HHK.

My PH this year was George Hallamore. His crew consisted of Shangan trackers Absent and Soloman along with car gaurd Abel. The Nyaminyami Disrict Council supplied us with a very hard working and switched on young game scout named Enoch. To make a long story short the camp crew, food and accommodations were excellent.

I was scheduled for a 15 day hunt that ran from March 11 to March 25. I had two PAC bulls and one cow on quota. I arrived in Bullawayo on the afternoon of the 9th and got a rude shock when my rifle case didn't show up. Somewhere between Boise, Idaho and Bullawayo my Bieson 375 and new Searcy 470 were lost. We expected them to arrive the next day so we stayed an extra day in Bullawayo waiting for them to show up. When they didn't show the next day we had to make another plan. George offered me the use of his 375, but after facing two charging cow eles I wanted something with a little more horse power than a 375. George's father Lou Hallamore offered me the use of his back up 458 Ruger. Which I used during the first part of the hunt. The next day we made the 6 1/2 hour drive to the Chifudzi camp I had used the past two years. In affect, I lost one hunting day waiting for my rifles to show up. George put his wife Justine on the trail of my lost rifles and she was like a Jack Russel terrier after a rat. I can't thank her enough for all she did to locate my rifles.

On the long drive, George and I set the ground rules for our hunt. First of all any elephant we tracked had to be a proven crop raider. We had to see evidence that they were actually eating crops and not just wandering through the fields. We passed up following several groups of elephants because we couldn't see any evidence that they were actually eating crops. In addition we would not take a cow with a calf by her side, that was not fully grown or was the matriarch of the herd. There is a concern by some knowledgeable elephant experts that taking out the matriarch of a herd upsts the social structure of the herd and we wanted to avoid any problems in this area. We also agreed that if we followed a group of crop raiding bulls we would take one of the smaller bulls and leave the bigger bulls for the trophy hunters paying the big bucks. You may wonder about the restrictions we placed on ourselves, but there is currently a bit of concern in Zim NP circles because some PH's/clients are shooting any big bull they can find. This kind of behavior could cause Parks to stop PAC hunts. This will be a very big loss to us as hunters and a large monetary loss to the Communal Councils. It will end up with the crop raiders still being shot by the council game scouts, but no monetary return to the council.

I was a little uncomfortable using a borrowed rifle, since it was a 458 Win with a 4 power scope. But one must make do with what one has in an emergency. On the bright side, the Ruger shot to the scope cross hair intersection at 30 yds. The 500 grn Trophy Bondede Sledge Hammer solids that Lou supplied with it gave me a little more confidence.

This was a good year for rain in the Omay and the crops looked to be doing well compared to the past two years. The grass in the bush was waist high in most areas. The amount of raiding was also lower than what I saw the past two years. We spent the first day on a recon of the area to get a handle on where raiding was occurring.

The next day we followed a group of cows from a field into the bush and found them in a deep donga after about 4 hours of tracking. We couldn't see them but could hear them. From our high lookout cliff we could see two bulls about 3/4 of a mile away in a vlei of tall grass. The bulls were of no interest to us as we had no reason to believe that they were crop raiders. The cows finally got our wind and moved out and we were able to see that it was a large cow with a calf and three other half grown cows. So back to the cruiser we treked.

The next day we again followed a group of cows from a field near the previous day's hunt and after a hour or so realized that it was the same group of cows we saw the day before. We turned around and quit the track.

We located the track of a single bull that was raiding some maize fields way down in the south west corner of the Omay near the Gokwe Communal lands border. There was also a large group of cows raiding the same fields. We decided to come back early the next morning and follow the bull if he again raided the fields. We awoke at 4:30 am (that was our normal wake up call) and headed for the far end of Omay. A little after dawn we found his track again leaving the field. A quick check showed that he had indeed been eating maize and we were off on the track. We started the track at 6:30 am and followed him until around 11:30 am. The tracking was difficult as he circled, ran several times and his track got mixed with the cow herd on at least three occasions. The trackers did a wonderful job and kept on him. We really wanted to see this bull as the track was very large (23"), had heavy lugs and a well worn heels. All of these are the signs of an old bull. We expected that he would be too large to take as a PAC bull, but we just had to see him. We finally gave up on the teack when we lost it in some long grass and the heat was getting to us. We started back to the cruiser when we heard a loud crack on the ridge about 150 yds. above us. The top of a large tree could be seen swaying violently. We made a quick approach and closed to 25 yds to see this large bodied old mud cacked bull feeding from the top of the pushed over tree. I asked George if he was too large and he thought he would weigh in the mid 30's so it was a go. I lined the 458 up for a side brain shot. My first ele with a scoped rifle. The 500 grn Sledge Hammer solid took him just below and slightly in front of the ear slit. The low shot placement was necessary because he was sharply up hill from us. The result was an instanr kill. We were both surprised when we weighed the tusks from this bull. Instead of the 35 lbs or so we expected they weighed 41 and 45 lbs. They were thick at the bases, carried the diamter out well and being an old bull had very short nerves.

PH George Hallamore and 465H&H with first bull.



We then spent several days looking over the crop raiding scene, but held off hoping that my rifles would show up. We received the good news that they were found at the Joberg Airport and that Lou Hallamore would bring them to camp as he was coming in to pre-bait for an upcoming leopard hunt. They finally arrived on the 7th day of the hunt courtesy of the hard work and persistence of Justine Hallamore.

We had been following the track of a single crop raiding bull for several days, but kept losing him to the wind or his tracks mixing with cow herds. His tracks were also large with heavy lugs, but no noticeable heel wear. We suspected that he was a mature bull. We finally caught up with him after a very short track of no more than an hour and a half. He was moving through some very thick conbretum jess where visibility was very limited. We caught up with him at about 25 yds. He was uphill from us and facing us. All I could see was his face through the jess. It was cloudy, the sun was just coming up and I had difficulty in making out the location of the ear holes. I thought I had them pegged and fired for a frontal brain shot. As it turned out the 500 grn 470 bullet from my new Searcy hit him about 3 inches too high. The bullet rocked him back but he did not go down. He turned before I could get the left barrel off and as prearranged George fired his Ruger 416 Rigby as he turned, aiming for a lung shot. Brush was in the way and I couldn't get a second shot into him but George had a better view as he ran away and was able to place a second bullet into his left hip. In hind sight, I probably should have waited for a better initial shot, but he saw us and I assumed he would soon turn and run.

Now I was regretting not waiting for a better shot. We had a wounded bull to folow through some really thick jess. The follow up was tense as we could seldom see more than 20 or 30 feet. We only found small spots of blood, but it looked bright red and foamy indicating that George's shot had hit the lungs. After tracking him for 300 or 400 yds., we found him down and dead. George's shoulder shot had indeed done the trick.

The stick shows the entrance hole of my frontal shot. Three inches lower and it would have pierced the brain.


This brings up the subject of when your PH should join in the shooting. My instructions to my PHs has always been that if I go for a brain shot and the elephant does not immediately go down he should put in a lung shot or hip shot as needed. It is nice to want to do it by yourself without any help, but in this case if George had not fired we would have probably lost this elephant as "wounded and lost". My ego isn't so big that I will risk letting a wounded animal get away.

From left to right. Tracker Soloman, game scout Enoch, 465H&H and tracker Absent with second bull.


Two local tribesmen chopping out the tusks of the second bull. The tusks weighed 31 and 32 lbs.


We now were on the hunt for a crop raiding cow, although technically we were not required to take a crop raiding cow and any cow would do. Since cows were raiding, why not help the locals out by chasing crop raiders. We cut the tracks of a group of raiding cows not far from the base camp and were on them as soon as it was light enough to see the tracks. They didn't move far and in a short time we found the herd of 8 cows and calves feeding on some mopani. We determined that the adult cow closest to us was mature, didn't have a calf and was probably not the matriarch of the herd. We approached to 22 yds. and I decided to take a heart/lung shot on her. Although I usually like to take brain shots, I had been rethinking the wisdom of a brain shot in this situation. With a brain shot the cow drops instantly and the herd stays around getting really upset. I have been charged twice in this type of situation and both times it probably resulted in the death of the matriarch of the herd as she is the one most likely to charge to protect her herd. With a heart/lung shot the target cow runs off and the herd follows creating a space between you and them which reduces the chance of a charge. Since the cow was below me and quartering away the bullet impacted high and well behind the shoulder to range forward to the heart area. She took off at a full run on the shot and I placed the left barrel in a similar position. I neglected to tell George that I was going to take the shoulder shot and following my instructions he attempted to hip her as he thought I had tried a brain shot that missed. His shot did not stop her, but my shots both went through the large arteries above the heart and she only ran 30 yds., stopped and went down. The herd stayed around her for a few minutes until a couple of shots from my 375 over their heads sent them off.

The two shots shown were from the 470 Searcy and ranged forward through the arteries above the heart.


George Hallamore and 465H&H with crop raiding cow elephant.


The ivory taken on this hunt.


All I can say is that it was another great learning experience with a super PH.

465H&H

Congratulations on a successful hunt!! I really enjoyed the report and pictures.

Great report and thanks.

How was Francois. He had some kind of bug when I was there the prior week?

Great story and super pictures. I love the one with the guys and ivory!

We made sure that the animal I took was tearing up fields, too. They just made a big loop during the day and back into the fields at night.

Ernest

Thanks for the report and I like the Ivory photo
as well.

Thanks -- I also really enjoyed the report and pictures. It sounds like a very successful and busy hunt.

Well Done 465!! Thanks for sharing. I too love the photo of the ivory being transported. Looks like the old days!

John

Excellent report and a great hunt for PAC elephant. Well done!

Raises an interesting question though...do you attribute your one shot kill on your first bull vs. the other brained ele shot with your Searcy to the BA rifle with the scope or the somewhat easier side brain shot? Thanks for your reply.

bwanamrm

I think brain shots whether side or frontal are more difficult than most people believe. In this case the bullet landed exactly where I intended as can be seen in the photo. The problem was the elephant was uphill from me, he was back lighted by the rising sun and the ears were largely covered by brush. I remember having trouble seeing where the ear holes would be because the ears were in deep shadows. I should have held off shooting until I got a better estimate of where the ear holes were located. The jess here was so thick that a scope would have been a real hinderance, IMHO.

465H&H

Great report and great photos. I hate to hear of lost rifles because it terrifies me, but looks like you had a spectacular trip regardless. Thanks for sharing.

Very nice Pics ,Wow what an grand adventure,The photo with the rifle lying on the cow really gives a different size preception,Amazing. Thanks for posting

Great report and an interesting hunt! I also like your hunting ethics, meaning that you find it more important to dispatch a wounded animal quickly, than to get to do all shooting by yourself.

quote:

bwanamrm

I think brain shots whether side or frontal are more difficult than most people believe. In this case the bullet landed exactly where I intended as can be seen in the photo. The problem was the elephant was uphill from me, he was back lighted by the rising sun and the ears were largely covered by brush. I remember having trouble seeing where the ear holes would be because the ears were in deep shadows. I should have held off shooting until I got a better estimate of where the ear holes were located. The jess here was so thick that a scope would have been a real hinderance, IMHO.

465H&H

465 H&H,
Thanks for your honest reply. I agree that brain shots are difficult, especially, the frontal. I am currently having a .458 Lott built and am debating whether to scope or not. My previous (and only) two elephant were shot with a scoped rifle. Hence the reason for my question. Most people would answer that a scope is a hindrance...but from my personal experience and what I see and read I don't know if that is always the case or not. Thanks again and damn nice elephants!!!!

quote:

This brings up the subject of when your PH should join in the shooting. My instructions to my PHs has always been that if I go for a brain shot and the elephant does not immediately go down he should put in a lung shot or hip shot as needed. It is nice to want to do it by yourself without any help but in this case if George had not fired we would have probably lost this elephant as wounded and lost. My ego isn't so big that I will risk letting a wounded animal get away.

Kudos for checking your ego at the door.

Thanks for sharing a great hunt and excellent report.

Great report and photos...makes me so envious! Congratulations, D. Nelson

Thanks for the report and pictures.

Congratulations on a great hunt! Was the jesse thicker than usual due to the heavy rains this year?

500grns

As you have experienced the river bottom jess is always thick. Conbretum and terminalia, the main species, seem to always thrive. Where I noticed the difference was in the bush veld and brachastegia woodlands. The grass was knee, waist or over your head. The vleis all had water for the first time in my experience.

465H&H

Sounds like a great hunt. Definitely a great report.

Thanks

JPK

Great Report. Are you going to get Repro's of the tusks made?

Congratulations and thanks for posting such a detailed and thoughtful report.

Hello 465...WOW, what a great hunt...and even better hunt report...Thank You!!
Who have you done these with in past years if other than HHK??...interested in doing one of these again, but wonder about the HHK alignment with ZIM officials that might make it risky for US hunters, ie the Exec Order?? Can you shead any light on this?

All five of my elephant hunts have been booked through HHK. I do not recommend them to anyone. The more of you that want to go on these hunts with HHK the higher the price gets. Please book with someone else!


465H&H

Hello 465...Good Thought...just like telling anybody about your secret fishin hole!! Hunt prices are going ballistic these days...sky is the limit in many Outfitters brain...it will get to a steel wall one of these days...anybody thinks tipping is sensitive territory...look at hunt prices in the last5 years!! ...costs haven't changed that much...and when these boys go bidding at auction they best understand there is a limit that most of "us Yanks" will pay...gets ridulous and we do something else!! That's the way I see it...470 Eddy.

465H&H: Great report and pictures, thank you. Regarding the picture od the bullert hole with the stick in it, that seemed like a good shot. Was it the angle that you say made it miss the brain? It seems like 3" lower was well into the trunk, which from what I've read, only happens when the angle is very acute. thanks, jorge

jorge!

Most experienced elephant hunters consider the frontal brain shot the most difficult to make successfuly and as you mentioned it is because of the varying angles that the head can appear to you. In this case the shot would have worked if the ele was on my level, 12 to 15 yds away and had it it's head raised in the normal position. In fact the bull was around 25 yds. His hind legs were higher then his front legs which meant that even though he was uphill from me and standing on a slope across a small draw from me the angle was more of an even nature. He was looking at my PH who was a couple of paces to my right.
As I said 3" lower and the brain would have been hit.

465H&H

465H&H:

Better hurry up and re-book! I sent my deposit by wire this week. March 1 again. I hope to have a fellow AR member with me this time to shoot his first elephant and share videoing!

JudgeG

Done that three weeks ago!


465H&H

When and what camp? Maybe we'll run into each other and maybe share a charter?

Great report. As you know, I am looking at the Omay for elephant the first two weeks of June '07. Do you have other photos of the location you were in? Feel free to email me at bpettet@gci.net. Thanks.