SquirrellyDan said:

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Googled "elephant in African brushland" and this popped up.

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I see one.

375...

Success....details later...hellava morning...hellava 9 days

Congrats! Will try to wait patiently for details and pictures.

japantiger said:

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Success....details later...hellava morning...hellava 9 days

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Can't wait to read about this

He's ~48-50 years old...probably 11k+ pounds. The exposed tusks are ~40 inches...full tusks likely 6ft.

It took 2 hours to get him loaded on the trailer. We had to dig out to get the bed flat with the ground, wench him on and then fill in to get enough traction for the tractor to pull him out. We did not use a truck to pull him as I had thought...it was an old Ford TW-20 tractor with a massive wench.

This is the same bull that got away across the Kaudhum/Botswana border 2 days ago.

I mean….Where do you go from here for hunting adventures?

Awesome.

Can't wait to read the full stalk and shot story. Six foot tusks. Look really thick. Any idea of pounds?

Congrats - your are the man Bwana!

Daddy-O5 said:

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I mean….Where do you go from here for hunting adventures?

Awesome.

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There was a book about this… "The Most Dangerous Game"

We had been within 10 yds of two shooters except for their tusks, passed 3 other times @~60 yds due to tusks and had watched the monster stroll across the border about 50 yds ahead of us. So we'd been having plenty of opportunities. But like the big one 2 days ago, we were seeing a lot of tracks into and out of the 1st waterhole and going back across one of the borders before we would get there each morning.

This morning we went out 1.5 hours earlier just as the sky was beginning to glow red. We had been there about 45 minutes and picked up two groups, one moving SE towards the Kaudhum/Botswana corner and the other moving more SW. Max judged the SE tracks more promising and he and Bogani moved to trace that group. We backtracked to the truck and took the wide W loop to the the cutoff that runs diagonally towards the SE so we didn't get the vehicle too close. We hit the Kaudhum border road and took it E to the Botswana border and then N a few hundred yds but didn't see anything. We turned around and headed back to the Kaudhum trail and went up it just past the N-S trail entrance when Max was in the rear view mirror jumping up and down and waiving his arms about 300 yds behind us. He was just jumping up and down and windmilling for John to get the truck back there. When we got to him he was sweat soaked and he said "The big bull" is over here. He'd covered a lot of ground in a short period and we had to get in there quickly or he would escape again across the Kaudhum border.

Top loaded a 4th round and our caravan hit the woods. Max in the lead, my PH, then me, then the Dad and other trackers behind. We moved in quickly about 200 yds and saw them to our right at about 100 yds. They had stopped and were eating.

We backed about 20 yds and then moved right to get to a clear line of site and closed about 30 yds. At this point the big bull was about 30 yds in front of the other 2 and paused in a small clearing. We still needed to get to the right to get a clear line of fire. The PH passed in front of me and Max put the sticks up @70 yds and stood there. I guess he was as impressed as I was by the site of the big animal. I moved him out of the way with my right hand and lowered the sticks to my height and got on them. The PH said shoot. I was magnification dialed for a closer shot...so I adjusted for some more power and it took a couple of seconds for my eyes to make out enough detail on the head to make a confident shot. The elephant was backlit, facing W with a rising sun at his back, so there was no light highlighting his face facing me.

Eyes adjusted I fired and he dropped in his tracks. I reloaded and the PH said run. The elephant was down and not moving. We sprinted the distance and the PH said kneel down and put another here. He was pointing to the top of the head over his ear holes. Kneel down so it would go straight thru the brain and not an angle out the wrong direction. I was 3 ft away. I emptied the mag on a line about 6" long, reloaded, safed the weapon and then breathed. His back leg spasmed like a Croc will do on the 1st finishing shot.

Unlike other animals an elephant will lay still if stunned/knocked-out and not move. So not moving doesn't mean dead. You have to be sure. And if he does move, he will either get away quickly or make thing rough for anything close.

We were about 200 yds from the Kaudhum border and 600 yds from the Botswana border. I was pretty relieved when he dropped in his tracks.

The elephant went immediately to the local chiefs village. The parts that I keep will be separated and brought back to camp here.
The main village is about 5km N of this camp There are 4 small villages. He's being butchered today, supervised by the Conservancy Warden (he was in the hunt with us), and the meat will go fresh today to each of the 4 villages. Very little is eaten fresh (the heart is considered a delicacy but that's about it). It is all smoked and dried in varying forms. Apparently it just tastes better that way and it keeps better, of course, in areas with little refrigeration. There was quite the celebration when we rolled up.

Guess this redefines all those post on 40 lb piggies and 8 or 10 point whitetail post going forward. This is the best post I have ever read on texags by far.

WOW!!!! I'm sure y'all are super busy the rest of today handling it, but we are hungry for more pics of that old boy when you get a minute. Pretty please.

MAROON said:

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Can't wait to read the full stalk and shot story. Six foot tusks. Look really thick. Any idea of pounds?

Congrats - your are the man Bwana!

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Should be a little over 60 pounds. There's a rough formula that says take circumference at the lip and multiply by length in feet...so it was roughly 19" at the lip and 3.25 visible length...that yields a little over 61 pounds. But we didn't have a tape measure. We used our hand measures.

But there are other variables like nerve size, etc. An old bull will have a smaller nerve and this tusk will weigh more...a younger will have a bigger nerve and this tusk will weigh less for same length and circumference.

japantiger said:

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The elephant went immediately to the local chiefs village. The parts that I keep will be separated and brought back to camp here.
The main village is about 5km N of this camp There are 4 small villages. He's being butchered today, supervised by the Conservancy Warden (he was in the hunt with us), and the meat will go fresh today to each of the 4 villages. Very little is eaten fresh (the heart is considered a delicacy but that's about it). It is all smoked and dried in varying forms. Apparently it just tastes better that way and it keeps better, of course, in areas with little refrigeration. There was quite the celebration when we rolled up.

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Dang, how big is an elephant tenderloin haha.

japantiger said:

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Started North of Pretoria near Botswana border. ...15 ft.

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Nice dinosaur.

I really hope you are enjoying posting on this thread as much as I am enjoying following along.

Nine days of stalking, close calls with elephants too close, lots of cat and mouse…That's what you call a hunt! Just awesome. Congrats!

Now on to some cats!

sonnysixkiller said:

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Guess this redefines all those post on 40 lb piggies and 8 or 10 point whitetail post going forward. This is the best post I have ever read on texags by far.

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Nothing will ever top coolest thing ever shot thread

"Nazis"

That is fantastic. Congratulations on the successful stalk and shot.

I'm now excited to hear about your upcoming hunts for lions and leopards.

As already posted, thank you for sharing this hunt with us. An all time great thread on the OB.

We will be here until Wed. Gonna hunt Kudu the next couple of days. Can't get charter back to Windhoek early, so gonna take advantage of the time.

The initial shot recovered from the far side hide. Penetrated thru skull. The only deformaties are the rifling.

He was mostly a lefty...the left tusk end was a little more worn than the right one.

japantiger said:

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He's ~48-50 years old...probably 11k+ pounds. The exposed tusks are ~40 inches...full tusks likely 6ft.

It took 2 hours to get him loaded on the trailer. We had to dig out to get the bed flat with the ground, wench him on and then fill in to get enough traction for the tractor to pull him out. We did not use a truck to pull him as I had thought...it was an old Ford TW-20 tractor with a massive wench.

This is the same bull that got away across the Kaudhum/Botswana border 2 days ago.

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Slight derail but how can ANYONE look at an unbelievable, majestic beast like this and still conclude "there is no God"?

Such an awesome thread. Keep em coming japantiger. I was in Namibia three weeks ago hunting just south of the Waterburg Plateau National Park. Enjoyed the hunts and the Windhoek beer. You can actually find Windhoek at Total Wine in the Houston area, but will cost you $11.99 for a six pack!

After some steady progress and getting out of hospital 2 days ago, they readmitted my Mom to the hospital last night. This was all happening in the middle of the night Namibia time, so I'm in the dark on what all was going on and new concerns. Would just appreciate any prayers her way.

Prayers sent, awesome thread!