Taylor says a head shot with 600 or a 577 will knock and elephant out even if the brain is missed. Anybody ever see such a thing?

Dave, all three of my elephant have had a close miss to the brain with the 500NE. All three fell in their tracks and were out cold. All three required a follow up shot. Yes, a close CNS miss with a large bore rifle will knock them out, most of the time, not always. According to Buzz, and hopefully I'm not putting words in his mouth but he stated on his first elephant hunting DVD, that there is more room to miss on Cows than on Bulls. My experience to date has been 1 Bull and 2 Cows. Looking to at least double that in the next 9 months.

A little more on your original question Dave, I think I remember Taylor stating the ultra bores would knock an elephant out for 30 minutes with a missed brain shot.

NOPE! That ain't going to work. It might knock them down temporarily, long enough to stop a charge and let you move away, but they'll be trying to get up pretty quickly.

Dave, if you were to shoot an Elephant with a 577, it would be a race to see who regained consciousness first, you or the Elephant :-)

I know...."Damn you, Biebs" !!!

:-)

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
... it would be a race to see who regained consciousness first, you or the Elephant

Dave - my experience was down but not out.

Biebs - I keep telling you that the buttstock goes on your shoulder, not your forehead.

My wife suggested the forehead hold...she said the stock should be held firmly against the point of greatest resistance...smart girl :-)

A hit in the head with a 460 Weatherby with 7,504 ft lbs ought to be the equal of a strong sleeping pill in the ele world, and it's lighter to carry than the ultra heavies...but watch that muzzle break.

..yeah, I know, it's supposed to be double rifles..

Never used the muzzle brake on no.e except on the bench but your right about being lighter. Never found the weight to be a problem either, though regardless of the miles trekked through the African sands.

quote:

..yeah, I know, it's supposed to be double rifles..

Shack, no problem there; you could save the day. Dave would still be knocked out, Doc would be on the ground after doubling his 600 (again!!!), and with your 460 bee bolt rifle, you'd still be able to hit the Elephant when he got outside 50 yards :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:

quote:

..yeah, I know, it's supposed to be double rifles..

Shack, no problem there; you could save the day. Dave would still be knocked out, Doc would be on the ground after doubling his 600 (again!!!), and with your 460 bee bolt rifle, you'd still be able to hit the Elephant when he got outside 50 yards :-)

That's why I strap a coil spring to my back and practice reloading in the supine position. By the time I rebound upright I'm recharged and doing it all over again.

With the 460 I wouldn't wait to 50 yds. I'd order a broadsides as soon as fire control radar says we got ele on the horizon...

..somebody once wrote what happens on three shots with the 460, maybe Capstick, I don't know...first shot, a bloody nose, another shot, you throw up, and I forget the third..

While it's been spoken to above, I would think that near miss brain shot would knock an elephant down or out. I am curious though how often it would actualy be a fatal shot. While it's apples and oranges and different body parts, I've toasted both an elk and a gemsbok with neck shots that missed the spine by 4 inches. The elk with a 7.62x54R and the gemsok with a .270. And they were glorious moments forever etched into my mind, and my kids as well as they were in tow.

quote:

Originally posted by Fo Fiddy NE:
While it's been spoken to above, I would think that near miss brain shot would knock an elephant down or out. I am curious though how often it would actualy be a fatal shot.

Good question. From my limited experience stated above, 1 would have been fatal (cow) and the other 2 (Bull and Cow) would have gotten up without follow up shots.

The important point however, with elephant, that close CNS miss is LIKELY, not guaranteed, to knock it down or out, stopping the charge and thereby removing the immediate threat. Then you can move away from the action or into position to pay the insurance.

This applies to elephant only. On buffalo, I'm not convinced a close CNS miss with anything short of a 16" gun off a battleship will stop a charge. Totally different constitutions between those two animals.

I think Taylor recommended the 600 and 577 for elephant and rhino only. Does that sound reasonable?

And has anyone here shot a rhino? Are they tougher to knock out than buffalo?

I don't think anything is tougher to kill than an alert or angry Cape Buffalo.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I don't think anything is tougher to kill than an alert or angry Cape Buffalo.

The past few months as posted in the African Big Game Hunting forum sure as heck support that.

I suppose not enough rhino action goes on to know..