Back in January during the Atlanta Safari show I spoke with John Wombach, owner of Pro Guide Safaris about a non exportable elephant hunt he was selling in Botswana. He has a PH friend in Bots who offers these in NG-27. Not known for big or heavy ivory this unit is a communal area and these are considered problem animals.
I booked the hunt for July 2012.
I arrived in Windhoek a few days before we were to leave for the roadtrip across Botswana. John picked me up at my Friend's house in Windhoek and my adventure was on. We drove 2 days to get to Selebi Phikwe, Botswana where we met up with PH Abraham Steinberg. Abraham would be directly conducting the hunt while John would be filming the adventure. We drove to the shore of a fairly new dam/lake outside of Madinare and set up a basic but comfortable camp. All night we were treated to elephants across the lake breaking trees down and feeding not 250 yards from our camp. Early the next morning we set out to locate a suitable elephant bull. There are many 2 track roads throughout this hunting area. We drove many miles looking for fresh tracks only to return that evening tired and hungry. The next few days consisted of finding fresh tracks and following them until they crossed out of our area. I walked many a kilometer only to return to the truck wore out. Finally 5 days into the hunt we found a set of 4 bull tracks with turds that where still smoking. We followed them for 4-5 miles and found they were with a cow/calf herd. The bulls were there surrounded by females. I counted at least 6 small calves. Both John and Simon expressed their concern about this many elephants around the bulls. The largest bull we could see was the target we chose to close in on. We came within about 25 yards of the bull with Simon standing to my left with his hand on my shoulder. I leaned over to whisper to him and noticed a smaller bull about 20 yards to our left. He appeared to be curious what we were as he was slowly moving in our direction. I pointed him out to Simon who immediately looked a little concerned. I think Simon was worried he was going to blow the stalk or possibly allert the other elephants. We decided this was now our target animal (remember this is a non-trophy problem animal hunt) and he instructed me to shoot in which I did. I fired 2 to the chest as the head was not a steady target plus this is what we normally shoot at here in the US. I guess you could chalk it up to doing what comes by instinct. The elephant fell over on his right side but was still moving. I reloaded and shot him 2 more times at which he quit moving. The PH instructed me to hit him once between the ears in which I did, but he was already dead. No bullets were recovered. CEB 570gr solids from a Merkel 500 nitro performed without a hitch. After the customary pictures and hand shakes we returned to camp to get assistance for recovery. I didn't ask how much the ivory weighed as it was not the important part. I had a great time, a fair hunt, and made a few new friends. I would recommend Pro Guide Safaris and John Wombach to anyone that is interested in a real hunt. John and Simon are knowledgable PH's and both are great hosts. The coffee was hot, the Cokes were cold, and again I didn't loose any weight.

Brian:

Great report..sounded like quite an adventure.

With all of the talk regarding a hunting closure in Botswana was there any talk regarding the future of this hunt in 2013 and beyond?

I cant imagine they would stop this type of a hunt with the elephant overpopulation they have.

I asked that same question while in Botswana. It may just be this was a BS deal designed to get people to book a hunt. The hunt I did will be availible 2013 and may be a better hunt. I was involved in an exploratory type hunt. John had been there before but are trying to figure out a way to make it a regular deal.

Congrats on a wonderful hunt!!!

Would enjoy to see some pics of your safari, i.e., the type of terrain, camp, etc, if you're able to post.

Also, a question... Why were these eles considered problem animals...were they crop raiders or something... I'm just trying to learn what distinguishes a PAC vs. Herd MGMT/culling...

I dunno anything about ele hunting and thought I'd ask...only been on one PG hunt a few years ago... Thanks!

Brian, we need pics. Show us the pics. Cannot wait to see them. Congrats. How are things going with Henk in Namibia this year?

Brian,

Thanks for posting the pics...enjoyed them

Henk is doing as good as can be expected. I put pressure on him as did his wife for him to quit smoking or at least cut way back. It's a touchy subject right now but we have his best interests at heart. Business has been good this year but we still have some slots left that we would like to fill. Several great trophies have been taken so far. The rain didn't come this year and we are worried about the zebras as they are not smart enough to move distances to find new water. Torra has a huge population of mountain zebra so if we loose a few it won't have much affect on the overall numbers, but I don't like to loose them this way.

Those 500's are great thumpers.

Mike

Sounds like a proper ele hunt. Lots of walking and a close up and personal shot. Congradulations !