Two Early Season Caprivi Elephant Bulls with Karl Stumpfe

DATES:
- March 25 - April 11, 2012

LOCATION:
- Namibia, Caprivi Strip, Sobbe Conservancy

PH:
- Karl Stumpfe (Ndumo Safaris)

ANIMALS SOUGHT:
- One Trophy Bull Elephant & One Management Bull Elephant

ANIMALS TAKEN:
- One Trophy & One Management Bull Elephant

BOOKING AGENT:
- None, booked direct with Karl @ 2011 SCI Convention

HUNTERS:
- Myself (Jim aka Jungleboy) - Management Bull
- my hunting buddy, Kent - Trophy Bull

ARSENAL/AMMUNITION:
- Kent: 375 H&H Dakota bolt action open sights
- Factory Federal ammo with Trophybonded Sledgehammer solids

- Jim: 500/465 NE Holland & Holland Royal Double Rifle (circa 1908)
- Handloads - H&H Brass, 480 gr Woodleigh Solids

TRAVEL/LODGING:
- Delta (Business Class Upgrade), Air Botswana, British Airways

-Africa Sky Guest House (Joburg)
-Aerabush Guest Lodge (Windhoek)

This was my 7th African Safari (Zim x4, Moz, Tanz) but my first to Namibia. My hunting
companion, Kent, has been on 4 of these earlier safaris with me. I had previously taken two nice elephant bulls & Kent decided he was ready to
go after one.

We started reviewing our options at the 2011 SCI Convention in Reno. We both are in pretty good
physical shape & felt that long tracking hikes shouldn't be a problem. We ended up booking
two elephant with Karl Stumpfe, a managment bull for me & a trophy bull for Kent.

We also decided to go early season, Mar/April, partially because Karl felt there would be
numerous elephant in the area & also because Wyoming isn't the greatest area to be during that
time period! We knew it would be thick & hot in the Caprivi then.

With our gear packed, we flew Delta (First & Business upgrades via Amer Express!) to
Joburg. Everything arrived without a hitch! We overnighted at the Africa Sky Guest House, they
also helped with the firearm clearance. It is a great place to stay, excellent meals & service.



I use a Hardigg Storm "short" case, with cutouts for my takedown rifle, knife, surefire,...




I also use MTM cases for my ammo. I only took 30 rounds (3 boxes), which fit nicely in a Plano
lockable ammo case.




Then next morning we flew Air Botswana to Kasane, Botswana. Karl picked us up there & we
drove across the border into Namibia & to our camp in the Caprivi (2-3 hour drive).

We sighted in our weapons & started hunting the next day. Our routine was to drive the roads
to check for tracks, we also would check local pans, crossings for any good tracks. The first
day or two is was light rain & 95deg F. We ended up tracking bulls everyday. We got charged by
cows 3-4 times, once Karl had to shoot over a charging cow to convince her to turn. It is pretty
exciting to have charging elephant in thick jesse!
Did I mention how thick the foliage is in March.




One nice thing about the Caprivi, they actually put up signs to help us.




The Sobbe Conversancy concession actually goes up to the main road, but the majority of
driving is on classic sandy two track roads. I learned a great deal from Karl & the trackers on
how to read a track, herd dynamics,...

We had tracked some bulls for 5-6 hours only to have them go into the neighboring protected
National Park area. Other times they were young bulls, older bulls with smallish ivory,...

Day 8 our luck changed. We got on a 22" track & followed it about 2-3 miles. The wind was
perfect & we spotted a very nice lone bull with good ivory. Kent was able to get a shot in at
around 25 yards. He ended up being a great bull, Karl thought he would go around 60 lbs. Kent
was ecstatic!
Karl & Kent with the trophy bull



A local village was contacted & the carcass was processed within 24 hours.

The very next day while driving the roads, our tracker spotted a lone bull off in the bush. Once
again, the wind was great so we made the stalk. This time we only had to go under a mile. I was
able to get a side brain shot @ 20 yards, which was perfect for me & my double. It truly is a
great sight to see this giant animal go down without taking a step. At least it is a memory that
I will always have. This was a management bull, but still was very respectable (40+ lbs). The
ivory in this area is more like Botswana (thick), totally different to my Tanzania Bull.




Once again, a village was notified & they eagerly appeared. Biltong for everyone!

Now that our two bulls were down, Karl recommended that we explore Namibia. We
did a two day drive from the Caprivi, all the way to Damaraland (40 km from the ocean). The
terrain is more sparse/desert like. It reminded me of parts of New Mexico. Kent decided he would
like a Springbok & ended up shooting a nice old ram!




My only real regret for the whole trip happened in Damaraland. While out hunting for the
Springbok, we came across a monster Kudu. Karl swears he was over 60", both Kent & I had
shot 4-5 Kudu before (mid-50's), so we politely declined. For the rest of trip I regretted that
decision!

We then drove the Skeleton Coast to Swakopmund. A very interesting area, hundreds
of miles of desert along the ocean. I think we saw two other vehicles during a 4 hour stretch.




Swakopmund is a swanky resort city on the ocean, we had great sushi & enjoyed civilization!
The next day we drove to Windhoek, stopping at Craft Markets/Vendors along the way.
Here is a really cool carving of a leopard, all one piece about 7' tall. Wouldn't fit in my carry-on!




We stayed at the Aerabush Guest Lodge, had Jagermeister/Beer @ Joe's Beerhouse in
Windhoek (a must when in Windhoek). We then flew British Airways back to Joburg for
connecting Delta flights home.

Overall impression: a great safari, we worked hard (lots of walking, tracking) for our bulls.
I will probably consider changing to North Forks, CEB's, or another flat nose solid after reading
the lengthy post by michael458, & after talking with Karl (a gun nut & self proclaimed ballistic
expert!).

http://forums.accuratereloadin...0101804/m/1201069141

Another thing to know is that Karl has great firearms to loan in case yours don't show up
or you choose not to travel with one! However, it would be hard to replace my personal favorite!




Also, make sure you have really good, broken-in boots when elephant hunting. Kent & I both
hunt with Courtneys which were great. I also bring a light pair of canvas boots as back-up.
These dry quickly & can be a life saver if conditions are really wet!



Can't wait to do it again! Hopefully, Karl will have us back?

Very nice time to be in the bush. Congratulations to both of you.

Great Elephants, congratulations!

Nice bulls. How do they determine what constitutes a management bull?

Wonderful report.

Congratulations to you both.

quote:

Nice bulls. How do they determine what constitutes a management bull?

It all depends on how much Karl thinks you're going to tip :-)

Thanks for the report,glad you guys had a good time.

this report really gets me fired up as i will be hunting a management bull with Karl in Oct. also glad to hear about the camp guns as i intend to use his .416 Rigby. also will be flying in an out of Kasane( reservation made today!!). Karl had told me at DSC in Jan. that it is quicker to fly into Kasane as opposed to Katima, then driving to camp. i figure if i get lucky and score early, i will go to the fishing lodge nearby and try to catch a few tigers before flying home. no matter what, this report gets the juices flowing- and a 40lb ele( even when non-exportable as in my case) is a damn nice elephant.

Good for you my friend!

I bet that H&H Royal costs more than your entire hunt!

a forty pounder is definitely a good elephant.

Congrats Jim. Beautiful Elephants and your Holland ain't bad either.

Outstanding! Great report and beautiful pics! Love your double!

Congrat's on both Ele's, some very nice ivory. Love the pics on the carvings,especially the Leopard.
What brand are the canvas boots in the photo?

Thanks for positive comments guys! It really was a fun two weeks

jdollar: You will have a great time this OCT, Karl has a very nice arsenal to choose
from, my favorite is his 404 Jeffery on a Mauser action, but I'm sure the 416 Rigby
will work just fine.

sjb: The boots are Palladium from Orvis, I will try to post a link:

http://www.orvis.com/store/pro...2019&subcat_id=12020

I also really liked the leopard carving, he carved every rosette, the pics don't do it justice

Two fine bulls and an excellent hunting report! Well done!

Well done.

Very nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Jungleboy:
Thanks for positive comments guys! It really was a fun two weeks

jdollar: You will have a great time this OCT, Karl has a very nice arsenal to choose
from, my favorite is his 404 Jeffery on a Mauser action, but I'm sure the 416 Rigby
will work just fine.

sjb: The boots are Palladium from Orvis, I will try to post a link:

http://www.orvis.com/store/pro...2019&subcat_id=12020

I also really liked the leopard carving, he carved every rosette, the pics don't do it justice

thanks for the info. Karl told me he had a 404 and a 416 and i could use either. might have to rethink my choice after perhaps shooting both. after all, ammo is the cheapest part of any hunt!

That sure looked fun!!

I was in the Caprivi (Dzoti) this past October for pretty much the same hunt (1 trophy ele bull and 1 non-export bull). I had so much fun, I'm going back next year.

I also saw some really big buffalo in the Caprivi. So, I'm hunting buffalo also. I can't wait!!

Great report. Karl sure looks like he's having fun.

quote:

Originally posted by gunny:
Nice bulls. How do they determine what constitutes a management bull?

gunny, normally we try and shoot bulls under 35lbs, or a broken tusk bull of extreme age, but in this case we shot a bull that was chasing some villagers and raiding crops around every night. It is not clear from Jim's post, but we followed his and some of his buddies tracks, while I send my driver around to where I expected them to cross. He radiod us around 20min later, saying he has seen a bull from the road. He then came back to fetch us, and we went to where he saw the bull, which we then shot.

Congratulations on the Bulls,Very nice

Thanks for sharing!!

I use the palladium pampas canvas boots, too, love them!

Good place to hunt, Namibia and you two took great advantage of it. Very nicely done.

Regards, Tim

Great report and photos. Congratulations on your elephants...always an exhilating hunt!

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by Karl S:

quote:

Originally posted by gunny:
Nice bulls. How do they determine what constitutes a management bull?

gunny, normally we try and shoot bulls under 35lbs, or a broken tusk bull of extreme age, but in this case we shot a bull that was chasing some villagers and raiding crops around every night. It is not clear from Jim's post, but we followed his and some of his buddies tracks, while I send my driver around to where I expected them to cross. He radiod us around 20min later, saying he has seen a bull from the road. He then came back to fetch us, and we went to where he saw the bull, which we then shot.

Karl, check your email. i sent some info concerning arrival/ flight info for my Oct hunt.

Great job, and I really like the double too!!

quote:

Great job, and I really like the double too!!

A little light in caliber, isn't it, He-Man? :-)

Congrats on a super safari. Thanks for sharing.
I might have to put this on my bucket list.

Fantastic hunt...appreciate you sharing

Just caught this report.
Outstanding!
Congratulations on a successful safari with Karl. My dad and I had a great time with him - great guy, worked very hard for us and was excellent company.
Well done!

Well like I have said many times!!!!!!
"Karl the Lord of the Jumbos"
I would never consider anybody else to hunt the big boys with.
He is a good friend, a great PH and has the best area I have ever seen in 13 trips over. And 2 jumbos with Karl what a great time will be back I. June 2013
Also the above was a great hunt report and I have no doubt there will be many more.
Larry

Congratulations on an amazing hunt! Super elephant!

Congrats on your successful Safari guys.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bwanajay:
Congrats on your successful Safari guys.[/QUOTE

Weel done and a great hunt!!!!

Jeff

5 weeks from today and counting down- all reservations locked in