Mac,
Great to see photos!

That looks like a lot of girth on those tusks!

Many Thanks

Brett

Great pictures Mac. Looks like an awesome time to be afield there with it completely green. It will be quite different when I get there in December!

Very nice ele bull; sable as well.

The CMS star continues to shine bright!

Your more man than I Todd....those temps are a no go for me. We topped out at 95-100 everyday. Can't imagine wanting to go at it when hotter.

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:
Your more man than I Todd ....those temps are a no go for me. We topped out at 95-100 everyday. Can't imagine wanting to go at it when hotter.

No man. Not at all. Truth be told, I was scheduled to go in April but my finances this year dictated that I push the trip later into the season. December worked for both Buzz and me. I could have gone in October again but not with Buzz. I really wanted to get a hunt in with him this time.

But I cannot take cold weather at all. Makes me miserable when the temp goes below about 50 or so. If it's wet on top of that, all the worse. Growing up in Texas, and living in Texas or Florida for most of my life, the heat, while certainly an issue, is just something I can tolerate more so than cold. I don't know how much hotter December will be than Oct/Nov in Zim when it was 115 - 120+. I've hunted those temps 3 times and really don't mind it so much, except in the absolute top of the day heat. I'm hoping Dec. will be a bit cooler than that.

Your pictures sure do show a nice and pretty landscape for hunting in. Late season is dead looking with all the leaves gone and grass is yellow/brown or bare dirt.

Again Mac, that is an exceptional bull ele you got there. Congrats to you. I can only hope to do so well also but yours is well above the average. Cheers!

Wonderful trophies!

Fantastic, you did very very well. I'm jealous and thank you for sharing the pictures of a truly beautiful trophy bull elephant!!!!

Very nice Elephant. I hope to repeat your good fortune in the same location, time and cast of characters in 2015.

Mac, Good on you and Buzz. Allen and I did that hunt last year and I rather enjoy the early season. Did you see any other bulls? Was Bongo still the camp manager?

quote:

Originally posted by gunny:
Mac, Good on you and Buzz. Allen and I did that hunt last year and I rather enjoy the early season. Did you see any other bulls? Was Bongo still the camp manager?

Yes we passed a couple of bulls on day one. Never caught up to the bull I shot on day two after tracking all day. And then passed up on 3 bulls about an hour or so before I shot this bull.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
First photo is a classic.

I agree....Very nice photo.

Congrats on the Bull.

I really think folks should shoot their elephants so they land upright so I wouldn't have to turn my head sideways when looking at the pictures...

Great pics.

Is it my screen resolution or is that elephant very dark skinned??

K

Put pics here for more viewing.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
McKay's bull ele two more pics to follow.

What a fantastic bull!

Nice Bull Mac. He looks a lot like a bull I have from Bots with that one chipped tooth. I think I mentioned that I shot my first bull in Dande East in 2005 and I love that area for elephant. I talked to a couple of guys lately and one of them was Keith Wall who had appyd that area a lot with Ingwe before Buzz and told me how much improvement has been made by Buzz and Myles with anti-poaching, infrastructure, etc. It is great to hear that it is just getting better. this is definately one of those places I want to hunt elephant again. Maybe I can "make a plan" with Buzz someday. Buzz? I am always open to an email if you get a cancellation.

By the way, forgot to mention, that is one big assed bodied bull. Looks very big for the valley particularly.

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Great pics.

Is it my screen resolution or is that elephant very dark skinned??

K

he was very dark....been raining the night before.

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:

awesome trophy and one of the best elephant trophy photos I've ever seen. I love it.

Congrats Mac on a great hunt! Would like to hear more details when you have some time. That sable is fantastic! The bull is outstanding. What an experience! Looking forward to seeing more pics: Please!

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:

quote:

Originally posted by gunny:
Mac, Good on you and Buzz. Allen and I did that hunt last year and I rather enjoy the early season. Did you see any other bulls? Was Bongo still the camp manager?

Yes we passed a couple of bulls on day one. Never caught up to the bull I shot on day two after tracking all day. And then passed up on 3 bulls about an hour or so before I shot this bull.

You shot a bull the second day that wasn't recovered?

jdollar
I think Mac meant that he followed the bull on day two without success that he eventually shot on day three.
See the hunt summary that Buzz put on the CM website.

quote:

Originally posted by R.Jolly:
jdollar
I think Mac meant that he followed the bull on day two without success that he eventually shot on day three.
See the hunt summary that Buzz put on the CM website.

Correct

Mac, congrats. Dande East is a special place and is just getting better. I hunted there in May/June 2012 and was amazed at the number of elephants and PGs there. Buzz,Myles and partiuclarly Bongi have done wonders there with the anti-poaching program. I have video footage of a herd of 100 hundred elephants, 60 sable, a herd of roan, African wild dogs, etc. Outstanding. Stnading by for Mike Jines report.

Rick

Very nice. Two trophies I dream of. Congrats.

quote:

Originally posted by BigBBear:
Nice Bull Mac. He looks a lot like a bull I have from Bots with that one chipped tooth. I think I mentioned that I shot my first bull in Dande East in 2005 and I love that area for elephant. I talked to a couple of guys lately and one of them was Keith Wall who had appyd that area a lot with Ingwe before Buzz and told me how much improvement has been made by Buzz and Myles with anti-poaching, infrastructure, etc. It is great to hear that it is just getting better. this is definately one of those places I want to hunt elephant again. Maybe I can "make a plan" with Buzz someday. Buzz? I am always open to an email if you get a cancellation.

Your old Army Navy 450 NE will be making a trip there in 2015.

Very nice bull.... congrats!

Mac,
Congrats on your great trophies. I really love the elephant pics. Big
Ivory laying in the thick jesse with a nice double is pretty much perfect!
Well done
Jim

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:
I was shooting a 470 with CEB solids. Buzz a 500 with Hornady factory's. Will need to get a photo. We recovered one solid out of the elephant. Don't know from where as the guys gave me the bullet a couple of days later they found in the meat. Front end of the bullet deformed more than I expected from what I have seen from others photos. Did not bend but the front end did expand. I will have to measure it but I bet it is probably .525" or greater now on the front end with a slight dish. Was shooting them at roughly 2260fps.

I haven't been around this part of AR in quite a while and just came across your thread. Congratulations Mac on a very big bull with nice heavy ivory also on the beautiful sable.

I didn't think your hunt was coming up this soon when you mentioned it on the RL-15 thread.

Evidently the 470 with the CEB at 2260 did a very fine job. I am trying to understand something hear, did the CEB expanded and developed a dish as you described it, or was it a DGS Hornady bullet from Buzz’s 500 that expanded to .525? Very interesting, looking forward to the complete hunt report, hopefully you will write in detail about the performance of the 470 with them 500 CEBs especially at that high velocity, very intriguing indeed.


Best regards

Malek
Good shooting/hunting and God's best.

Congrats on a terrific hunt, majestic Bull and some great photos. Will be in the same area in 31 days, completely different seeing the country so green and lush compared to later season time slots ,
Scott

quote:

Originally posted by malek:

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:
I was shooting a 470 with CEB solids. Buzz a 500 with Hornady factory's. Will need to get a photo. We recovered one solid out of the elephant. Don't know from where as the guys gave me the bullet a couple of days later they found in the meat. Front end of the bullet deformed more than I expected from what I have seen from others photos. Did not bend but the front end did expand. I will have to measure it but I bet it is probably .525" or greater now on the front end with a slight dish. Was shooting them at roughly 2260fps.

I haven't been around this part of AR in quite a while and just came across your thread. Congratulations Mac on a very big bull with nice heavy ivory also on the beautiful sable.

I didn't think your hunt was coming up this soon when you mentioned it on the RL-15 thread.

Evidently the 470 with the CEB at 2260 did a very fine job. I am trying to understand something hear, did the CEB expanded and developed a dish as you described it, or was it a DGS Hornady bullet from Buzz’s 500 that expanded to .525? Very interesting, looking forward to the complete hunt report, hopefully you will write in detail about the performance of the 470 with them 500 CEBs especially at that high velocity, very intriguing indeed.


Best regards

Malek
Good shooting/hunting and God's best.

No I was using their standard BBW #13 500 grain solid with a few dimensions they changed for me. (Moved some bands forward and increased the diameter of the bullet shank between the bands to match the diameter of the front of the bullet to make it shorter. Still a borerider though.) I need to measure the bullet to know for sure. But it is very easy to see with the naked eye that it is dished and expanded some. And maybe the .525 as my quess is way to much. I will try and measure tonight as well as take some pics. I will use them again. It did not bend at all and from what we could see we had nice straight penetration. I have only ever before this shot Woody solids on game and every single one I have recovered is bent, fishtailed, of the steel casing cracked on the side. I am by no means calling this solid a failure. I will for sure be using in the future.

Thanks

Well done Mac! Congratulations.

Hello Mac:

Thanks for your reply. I am still amazed at the slamming power that the 470 exhibited with the 500gr BBW #13 bullet travelling at the impressive speed of 2260f/s which caused the nose of the solid brass bullet to be enlarged and expanded coming close to the 500 NE diameter if not larger.

Proof in the putting indeed, that is exactly the thing that I was talking about and the point I was trying to make on my other thread the RL-15 for the 470.

Can’t wait to see the pixs and read of the new dimensions of the recovered bullet, by the way was this a frontal brain shot and if not it must have hit some massive bone?


Best regards

Malek
Good shooting/hunting and God's best.

Hi Mac!

Our measurements of your tusks were on my wonky scale here at home and as Parks did not have the tags needed for the official registering of the tusks they were not weighing them.

Well the tags have just arrived and so we weighed yours plus 5 other sets of tusks that our clients have shot this year and yours were slightly better then we thought!

Official weights LEFT TUSK 66lbs and RIGHT TUSK 62 LBS!! Definitely in the running for the biggest of the season for the Zambezi Valley ! Well done indeed! Cheers Buzz

I know virtually nothing about elephants but your photos really struck me as classic safari photos. I think what really caught my attention were the old boy's (the elephant) feet. I had to wonder how many thousands of miles he had walked over his lifetime, the challenges in his life, and how quick the death had come rather than starving when his last set of molars wore out.

Really excellent photo. Congrats on your elephant and sable.

(no offense on not commenting on the sable, it was beautiful)

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Hi Mac!

Our measurements of your tusks were on my wonky scale here at home and as Parks did not have the tags needed for the official registering of the tusks they were not weighing them.

Well the tags have just arrived and so we weighed yours plus 5 other sets of tusks that our clients have shot this year and yours were slightly better then we thought!

Official weights LEFT TUSK 66lbs and RIGHT TUSK 62 LBS!! Definitely in the running for the biggest of the season for the Zambezi Valley ! Well done indeed! Cheers Buzz

Wow Buzz that is cool news. Can't wait to get back over there. Should be there in just over a month. I will send you an email to see if you are going to be around at all when I am coming through Harare and hopefully I can catch up on some of your recent hunts over a Beer. Thanks a ton Buzz!

Outstanding! Great sable as well! What did the Sable measure?

The Sable measured 40".

A well earned trophy sable bull!