7 days hunted of a 14 day hunt.

Day 8

Cobus was right, we could do better. Tracker Richard spotted a bull on an island from the boat. A stalk was made and he was the bull.

Unfortunately he fell in knee deep water so his right side (tusk) is under knee deep water. His left tusk is 41 inches lip to tip with an 18 1/2 circumference. His back foot is 24 inches and front foot is 22 inches. Once we get him out of the water I will post the tusk weights. The right tusk looked about as long as the left with possibly more circumference.


Tomorrow the village is coming out for the meat and tusk removal by camp staff.

He is a really big bull and the success of this hunt belongs to Cobus, trackers Richard and Lets, boat driver Case, Camp Manager and PH Christo who was always on the look out for big bulls and tracker Ollie.

Next is Red Lechwe.

Congrats Rick on a great elephant. We can't wait to hear all the details. Good luck on the Lechwe.
Mike & Linda

Sounds like a really nice bull.Want more details ASAP! Really appreciating these updates.

Outstanding! Congratulations to Rick on a great trophy. Kathi, thank you for sharing the "blow-by-blow" of the hunt with us all. I look forward to further updates and wish Rick success with the Lechwe!

Congrats to Rick and Kathy. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Congratulations,looking forward to the complete report and pictures.

Congrats Rick & Kathi! Looking forward to the pics & report! Have a great flight home!

Wow! Can't wait for pics and more details. Congratulations! Hope Rick gets a nice Red Lechwe as well!

Most excellent!

Kathi......I'M JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to you and Rick!!!!!

By the way....who's watching the pit?

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

getting a lechwe should be a slam dunk. when i was there 5 years ago, i saw more lechwe than ANY other animal.good luck but i doubt you will need it!!

Congrats to all involved on your trophy.

quote:

A stalk was made and he was the bull.

Well done!!!

Today was elephant recovery day. Case picked up a large group of villagers and transported them to the site. Professional Hunters are a unique breed of people. The elephant was in water and after one side was stripped of meat,hide, and head, a plan had to be developed to "turn the elephant over".

PH Christo and Cobus used a jack with a strap and attached it to a tree. Ever so slowly the elephants legs were raised until it reached the tipping point and was turned over. The process of turning the elephant over took six hours.

Great to see everything utilized from these magnificent animals.

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
We made it!!! The Delta flight from Atlanta to
Joburg went smoothly. Spent the night at Afton's Guesthouse and met Ozhunter and DoubleDon.

When we arrived at Maun, we took the helicopter option to access camp. The Delta is incredible.
I would strongly suggest anyone coming to the Delta to take the helicopter into camp.

We are in the Ivory camp and it is set right on the banks of the Delta. The camp is really beautiful in a truly wild area. Cobus Calitz is the PH.

Spent the afternoon in the boat, looking over some elephant bulls. Saw some very big kudu. The place has an unreal amount of game.


Johan has loaned his 470 Nitro Express Double rifle for Rick to use. He is really excited about hunting an elephant with this rifle.


September 1 will be the first day of hunting.

Hey ?? Talk to me my friends. I am still here but loosing touch with you two. I am jealous of friend Rick, hunting ele in Bots with Johan. WISH I could be there. !

Huge congrats!

Wonderful news Kathi - so glad it was a successful trip Look forward to pics and a report when you return.

Kathi,

You are killing me slowly !!!

Please post a picture of the elephant !!

Congrats for such a great adventure

L

WELL DONE Rick !! I am DARK green with envy !! AND good fishing to boot !
Maybe next year, for me ??

Can't wait to see the ivory. Congratulations Rick!

Mike

Looking forward to the pictures and rest of the story........

Hope you guys find the one you're looking for!

Rick got the red lechwe today. A beautiful old ram after a long stalk through chest deep water. He could not be happier with how the hunt turned out. I will get pictures posted after we get home on Thursday.

Now it is nothing but fishing for the next few days.

Congrats to the hunter. Very WELL DONE!

Come on Kathi, You gotta shoot something!!!

Congrats on a great hunt/ Hope the trip back is pleasant and I look forward to pictures and a full report.

Glad to hear of all the success you are having. Look forward to hearing all the details upon your return. Have a safe trip home.

Congratulations! Can't wait to see the pictures.

Kathi, Congratulations to you and Rick, can't wait for the pics.

Always nice when a plan comes together.

Mike

Can't wait to see your pics Kathi. Sounds like you and Rick had quite the adventure!
Regards,
David

Outfitter: Johan Calitz Safaris
Location: NG32 Okavango Delta Botswana
Ivory Camp
Booking Agent: The Hunting Consortium
Airline: Delta-Chicago to Atlanta to Joburg
Air Botswana-Joburg to Maun

Professional Hunter- Cobus Calitz
Rifles used- Johan's Searcy 470 Nitro Express (elephant) and Cobus' 416 Rigby for (Red Lechwe)

We left Chicago on August 29th for Atlanta and then onto Joburg via Delta. After arriving in Joburg we spent the night at Afton's Guesthouse. August 31 we were on our way to Maun via Air Botswana.

After arriving at Maun airport we cleared Immigration and Customs (very easy entry) and were met by Cobus Calitz and the representative from the helicopter charter company. We were taken to the helicopter (4 seater Bell Jet Ranger 206) for the flight to camp. To view the Okavango Delta from above is truly an amazing experience. The channels, islands, and marshes seem to go on forever. Unfortunately, the flight had to come to an end and Cobus, Rick and I were dropped off at the Ivory camp.

Christo and Anelia are the camp managers and do a fantastic job. The accomodations, meals, and staff were fantastic.

Christo is also a PH, so the plan was he and Ollie (a tracker) would take the "GO DEVIL" boat and scout for elephant while we would be in another boat scouting and walking the islands for elephants. We would meet at a predetermined location for lunch to discuss elephants seen. A Botswana Game Scout (Agnes)was required to travel with Christo and Ollie.

Our boat had Case (the boat driver) Cobus' tracker Richard, Tracker Lets, Game Scout Collin, Cobus, Rick and me.

The one thing about hunting here is you will be wet almost the entire day. The temperature was very warm so it was not an issue.


Nothing is accessible by vehicle, in fact there are no vehicles. They said years ago some islands and camp could be reached by vehicle, but not anymore. The heavy rains over the last few years and the water not dissipating have left this unit a watery paradise. On one island were old vehicle tiretracks that Cobus said were from about 5 years ago, the last time a vehicle could reach this island.

Elephants are either spotted from the boat and a stalk to get an up close look at his ivory or you just walk these huge islands hoping to find one that is not visible from the water. Everyday you see numerous big bulls along with a host of other game.


Several beautiful bulls were seen and on some occasions the 'GO DEVIL" boat was used to access some remeote reed choked island.
We knicknamed the 'GO DEVIL" the "spiderboat" because as it hit the reeds, hundreds of spiders and frogs would land in the boat. When you spoke, you covered your mouth with your hand so insects and seeds would not enter.

Rick wanted to shoot several of the bulls we saw but was voted down. You cannot appreciate the body size of a Botswana elephant until you see one up close.


At dinner one night Christo told Rick whatever you do " don't let the elephant fall in the water as it is a nightmare to get him turned over for butchering". Rick did not listen.

Richard spotted a bull on an island and Cobus, Rick, Lets, and Richard worked their way to him.
Cobus gave Rick the go ahead and the bull spun giving Rick a frontal brain shot. Rick shot too high and the bull staggered but did not go down. A running away shot was fired and the bull collapsed right in the water.

After much celebrating, the bull was butchered the next day with the great ingenuity of Christo and Cobus to get the bull turned over so every scrap of meat could be salvaged.

The red lechwe hunt proved to be far more challenging than expected. Cobus gave Rick his 416 Rigby with iron sights. The first Lechwe Rick attempted to shoot was at 130 yards. After the miss, Rick said with shooting iron sights he would prefer to get much closer.

Ollie who knows every inch of NG32 knew an island with Lechwe but wading through chest deep water would be required so as not to alarm the Lechwe. After a long and wet stalk a Lechwe was in range and taken.

We saw numerous species of game from hippo, crocs, ostrich, roan, zebra, reedbuck, giraffe,and at night the hyena would really put on a show. The fishing was phenominal and we ate our catch on four nights.

I am extremely grateful for having been given the opportunity to visit the Delta before NG32 closes in 2012. This is a great loss to the hunting world as this is a truly unique type of hunting.

I have sent photos to Saeed for posting.

I bet you could write a book on that adventure Kathi. Congrats to you and Rick on a great hunt. Can't wait to see the pics. I hope you included some of the fish
Kind Regards,
David

Great pictures of a great hunt.... what an amazing place. Thanks for the daily updates and the report and pictures. It has been fun to follow along.

Mike & Linda

Fish pictures please!! What was the weight of the ivory?

What a fantastic hunt !
Great photos... love the pic carrying the ivory out of the water while keeping the double dry.
Congratulations !
Andy

Kathi;

Congratulations on the ele and red lechwe. Great trophies and excellent reporting. It was fun to be able to follow your adventure via the AR Forum.

It's sad that Okavango Delta hunting will be changing. We hunted there 4 times and consider it to be the gold standard of hunting locations.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Kathi,

Great bull ele and lechwe. Tell Rick I am jealous and can't wait to see the ivory one of these days.

Byron

Congratulations, Rick and Kathi!

Great bull!!!