Dates: 7 Oct- 20 Oct
Outfitter/PH- Ndumo Safaris/Karl Stumpfe
Rifle: Win. 70- 416 Rem.with 1.5-4 Schmidt& Bender( camp rifle)
Area- Sobbe Conservancy- see report
Day 1-2 long haul to Namibia- why bore you with the details?- arrived in camp about 1700 hrs after 50 hours of travel. checked the rifle, had a nice dinner, and off to bed.
Day 3- Karl figured we would drive around the immediate area of the camp today and look for for tracks but he warned that he didn't really expect to see much. we were a fair ways from the river(Zambezi), it was very dry, and the elephants were probably closer to water. saw some nice roan and tesessbe and elephant cow /calf tracks but nothing else. basically a pleasant way to get back into safari mode.
Day4. we headed out early ( about 0600) for another conservancy where Karl had some quota. arrived there after a 2 hour drive, picked up the game scouts and off we went. about 3 hours later and after cruising around over a lot of dry Zambezi flood plain we saw some young cattle herders and asked them if they had seen any elephants. EUREKA!! a few hours before a small herd had come by and harassed them. with general directions, the hunt was on. within about 20 minutes we found the tracks in the road and figured there were 8-10 with probably 1-2 management bulls in the herd. we were able to track them from the cruiser for a while as they stayed near the 2 track. suddenly the trackers pounded on the cab roof and pointed. about 3/4 mile away the tail end end of the herd was disappearing onto a dry island out on the flood plain. we dismounted and headed out. on arrival at the dry island we crawled into the brush and tried to sort out the situation. it quickly became apparent that another herd was already there when the first herd arrived. we were soon surrounded by about 50 elephants on 3 sides. we were crouched behind a 7-8 foot diameter thorn at the island's edge and at 1 point an elephant was feeding on the other side of the same bush...i could have almost touched his trunk with my gun barrel. luckily the wind was perfect and he(she??) never knew we were there. after about 30 minutes of really nerve wracking suspense, the herd started to move off to the next island a few hundred yards away. we stepped out into the open hoping to see a management bull in the parade and get a shot. no such luck- the wind shifted and suddenly the entire herd was aware of our presence. much screaming/ trumpeting, a few bluff charges from the cows and young bulls and they were off! we were able to get a good look at the entire herd and found 6-7 management bulls, a huge tusk less cow, and 4-5 trophy bulls in the 45-55 lb. range. 1 bull had a worn down/broken left tusk and even though both tusk were big, our conservancy game scouts( who were very young and new to the job) said we could take him if the opportunity arose. Karl and i both knew that he was beyond management class but never argue when Diana gives you a gift. we took off running toward the next island to try and get ahead of the herd and still keep the wind in our favor. got there about the same time as the herd but in a favorable wind position. same as before- elephants all around-impossible to pick out anything. again we waited for the herd to move off and perhaps get a shot or the wind to shift and all hell to break loose. wind shift occurred first and herd bolted for the next island with much fanfare and a few anxious moments.. same scenario but this time with a difference. we could see the "broken " tusk management bull feeding at the edge of the island and waited , hoping for an open shot if they buggered off again. luckily after a short wait the herd decided it was time for a change of scenery and proceeded to head out. i wanted to take a side brain shot but with the bull walking quickly at 35-40 yards, decided on a slightly quartering away heart/lung shot, offhand. at the shot, dust flew in what looked like a perfect location, the bull rocked forward, then backward, then immediately wheeled around into the herd before a follow-up could be made( i only had a quick window of opportunity for the first shot to avoid other elephants). NOW THE RODEO BEGINS! half the herd went right- half the herd went left, including the wounded bull. next stop an island about 1/2 mile away. we get there soon after the herd and the elephants smell us( small wonder the way i was sweating). they head to the next island. bear in mind all this time we can see the bugger in the middle of the herd and expect him to drop any time. this time we swing around to the far side of wait for the herd to come out and hopefully give us a finishing shot, which they finally do. after a number of close calls/ bluff(?) charges i had already told Karl that if he got an opening, shoot him- things were getting too dicey and it was obvious that i had missed his heart. a few minutes later the herd exited the island and Karl had a quick opening for a side brain shot. BOOM! hind legs drop, head flies up. elephant collapses. then the real fun starts. from about 35 yards away a real management bull charges. we wave our rifles and scream- bull keeps coming. at about 20 yards Karl puts a round over his head, we shout some more, bull stops, then resumes his charge. at 12-15 yards, Karl puts another round over his head. bull stops, then resumes. at about 6-7 yards, Karl puts a third round over his head and its obvious that if he continues, time for lower shots. luckily he stops at about 5-6 yards, screams a bit, kicks sand on us and calmly turns around and walks off. all this probably took less than 30 seconds but seemed like a lifetime. meanwhile we start to approach the " brained" bull- low and behold, HE STARTS TO TRY TO STAND Up AND IN FACT GETS HIS LEGS UNDERNEATH HIM. it sounded like World War 111 as KARL AND I BOTH OPENED UP ON HIM. thank God he finally realized he was dead. we circled around him, i put another round through the top of his skull, Karl put one between his shoulder blade which exited his brisket and kicked up a huge dust cloud beyond( impressive penetration from his 450 Rigby) and the deed was done. when we examined the body, Karls' shot looked perfect for a side brain shot- about 3-4 inches in front of the ear hole and blood poring out of the ear. we figuered maybe he didn't really have a brain-LOL. later post mortem showed my first shot double lunged him but missed the heart by a few inches. Karl then told me that the last elephant a client double lunged took two days of tracking to finish off. i was just glad that about 2 hours of "fun and games" finished the deal.. it was pretty obvious throughout the tracking that he was hard hit but a .416 hole in the lungs of an elephant doesn't really cause a huge amount of damage when a major blood vessel is missed. he stayed in the middle of the herd the whole time and even though we could see him( because he was obviously taller than the surrounding cows/younger bulls), we just couldn't get a clear shot. no excuses- basically poor shooting on my part with the first shot... looked good but it wasn't!!
a call on the cell phone and the recovery crew and local villagers were on their way






[IMG]http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r6/jdollar_photo/DSC00398.jpg[/IMG

we hung around for 4-5 hours to watch the skinning, then head back to camp for some serious sundowners/celebrations
Day 4- slept late( curing a hangover?). got up with no particular plans as my hunt was basically over on Day 2 of actual hunting. about mid morning, Karl got a call from another nearby conservancy wanting to know if he had a client who wanted to shoot a management elephant. he asked me and i declined. he then asked if i minded if he made a few calls and found another "local" hunter who might take it. long story short the hunt was sold to a guy from Pretoria who could arrive on Sunday(48 hours).
Day 5. went fishing on the Zambezi for tiger fish- no luck- river was low- wrong time of the year
Day 6- drive to Kasane to pick up Ronald N( BTW a new AR member)- back to camp.
Day 7- ronald's first day of elephant hunting. he had never hunted ANY dangerous game before. i went along as the designated cameraman- although i also carried a 9.3x64 Mauser. we found several small elephant herd but no management bulls. i did get some nice hi-def video of he and Karl working the herds.
Day8 started out slow but things picked up quickly. long story short we got into a herd of about 25 else with 3-4 management bulls in the bunch. i hung back slightly during the final approach and was able to get both Ronald and the bull well into the frame. he made a perfect frontal brain shot at 6 paces and dropped him in his tracks. a lot of shouting and waving convinced the herd to bugger off. just like me- day 2 of hunting- elephant dead. it just doesn't get much better. back to camp, more celebration....
Day 9 Ronald asked Karl if he had anymore hippo on quota. answer no, but maybe i can find one. a few phone calls( cell phone reception in the bush can be a real benefit) and a hippo hunt was lined up. we head to a conservancy bordering the Chobe River. Karl and Ronald got in a mokoro and headed for the papyrus swamp. i stayed behind and fought the flies at the local fisherman's camp. long story short Ronald got 1 snap shot at a hippo that surfaced about 10 feet away but missed him. hunt over for both of us. we headed into Kasane to spend the night before flying out the next day.




Day10 we took an early morning boat ride on the Zambezi/Chobe confluence into Chobe Ntional Park. elephants were everywhere. we beached the boat and the elphants would walk up to the boat and run their trunk over the canvas sunshade- literally touching distances. also saw a lot of buffalo, sable, lechwe, warthogs, etc.- all coming down to the river for a drink. flew out in the afternoon. i overnighted at African Sky Guesthouse. can't say enough about this place. the staff was fantastic and the facility was the same- all less than 10 minutes from the airport. i have always stayed at Afton but not anymore.
Day 11-12- homeward bound. a point of interest. i flew Etihad Airways from JNB to Abu Dhabi to London, then AA from London to LAX. I HAD NEVER EVEN HEARD OF Etihad Airways until i booked this trip with AA frq flyer miles. their businees elite/first class service puts BA/AA to shame( that's who i flew out bound). from Abu Dhabi i had my own compartment with a sliding door and individual 27" TV, plus of course the usual sleeper seat, table, and companion seat. the flight from Joburg was almost as nice but a slightly scaled down. i have flown first class with AA, BA, Air France, and Quantas and i have never seen anything to match this. you gotta love freq. flyer miles.
just some miscellaneous pictures







final thoughts: (1)i had never hunted elephants but i have to say, it is ADDICTING!! if someone wants to have an EXCELLENT chance at a bull ( i would even go so far as to say, damn near quaranteed chance) then Karl's Caprivi area is the place to go. in addition he is "tuned" in with other conservancies when late season opportunities arise. the last night i was in country Karl got a call during dinner about a lion that had killed 4 cows and needed to killed ASAP. if Ronald or myself had been able to stay around 1-2 more days, we could have shot a lion for VERY little money...
(2). African Sky Guesthouse
(3) Etihad Airways

FYI, the very last picture is the walk in humidor- cigar smoking room in the first class departure lounge in Abu Dhabi. a nice young lady helps you select your cigar, prepares it, and lights it- then brings you a nice snifter of Cognac to enjoy with it. afterward you can go to the spa and have a nice massage while your clothes are pressed and your shoes shined.

Nice pics and narrative!

Well done, JDollar. Like i said in a previous post that Ronald Nel posted his hunt report but unfortunately it is in afrikaans, so it wont be much help to you.

Since Ronalds Ele hunt with Carl he hunted another Ele bull and sable in Mozambique
Lucky Guy !! All within about a months time !!

jdollar: p.m. sent. Thanks.

Thanks for an excellent post jdollar!

Well done Jerry. Looked like a great trip!

Congrats on your successful safari. Thanks for sharing.

Best regards, D. Nelson

Looks like a great hunt! Job well done!

Good job Jerry, great "management bull"!

Nice,
Too bad you didn't enjoy yourself more!

as a point of interest we pulled the tusks before i left and they went 45 and 42 lbs. not bad for a management bull. God bless a pair of inexperienced game scouts. another point of interest. the picture showing the free condom dispenser was a real hoot. it was located in the Ngoma border post in Bots- right next to the counter where you had your passport stamped on entry from Namibia. everywhere you went in Kasane, you saw free condom dispensers. too bad the locals are apparently not using them...

quote:

Originally posted by kallie404:
Well done, JDollar. Like i said in a previous post that Ronald Nel posted his hunt report but unfortunately it is in afrikaans, so it wont be much help to you.

Since Ronalds Ele hunt with Carl he hunted another Ele bull and sable in Mozambique
Lucky Guy !! All within about a months time !!

i knew Ronald was leaving the next week after our hunt for a late season sable hunt in Moz that he just about stole. i won't quote the price but it was way less than $5000. when we talked he thought the hunt was only for sable and maybe some small stuff on left over quota. i guess it turned out there was a left over elephant too at a similar bargain price. i know Karl gave him a really good deal to come on 48 hr notice. ah, the beauty of living in RSA, close to the action.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
as a point of interest we pulled the tusks before i left and they went 45 and 42 lbs. not bad for a management bull. God bless a pair of inexperienced game scouts. another point of interest. the picture showing the free condom dispenser was a real hoot. it was located in the Ngoma border post in Bots- right next to the counter where you had your passport stamped on entry from Namibia. everywhere you went in Kasane, you saw free condom dispensers. too bad the locals are apparently not using them...

As my Dad used to say... "Spend a nickle, save your pickle"

Jerry,

Wonderful read, and I like your comments. See you in January.

Mike

quote:

As my Dad used to say... "Spend a nickle, save your pickle"

Very Nice

Jerry....Nice "management" Bull!

Great safari! PM inbound to you.

Jerry,

Great hunt report! I was waiting to read about your experience hunting with Karl.
Sounds like you had a great time, three warning shots over the head of a charging
bull would be a bit much for me though!
He certainly has no fear getting in close amongst them. I also ,was able
to get a very nice "management" bull/crop raider this March with Karl.
My buddy & I are already trying to figure out when to go back (if he'll have us?)

I see you ended up using his 416 Rigby, great choice although I would have
taken his 404 Jeffery. He really has a nice selection of "camp guns"
to choose from.

Once again, congrats & well done!

Jerry, congrats on another great hunt. Hope you got a haircut when you got home.

Jerry:

Glad you made it back ok. Enjoyed our conversation in the Africa Sky your last night. We had a good trip and made it home ok.

joe c

hey, Joe, how did your Moz hunt go?? hope both of you scored and hope to see a report soon!

A heck of a hunt, Jerry! Enjoyed a few days & a few beers with you in Martin's Ume camp in balmy Oct. 2010. Hope to run into you again at DSC in Dallas...

Jerry
Great hunt I have done this hunt with Karl a few times what a ball.
Karl Is the elphant GURU
Where are those guy's that say they would never hunt with Karl!!!!
Good Job Karl
see you in January
Larry

to my huge and everlasting regret i will not be able to be in Dallas!! thought i had the time off all arranged but no such luck. Karl and you guys will just have to carry on without me.

Wonderful hunt and report.

If that's a "management" bull, I wanna see one of the trophy bulls!

they are there in numbers and bigger. after all, they simply wade across the river from Chobe National Park.

Jerry,

Well done on all. Heck of a non-trophy trophy.

Congrats!

Mark

Great report and congrats. on a wonderful elephant.