Hi, thanks for the reply..It was my first trip with the PH, he was fine I think. 40LB was an estimate by him.. The length of the picture from the filed is 57 centimeters . I have uploaded more photos ...
I am sorry, i do not remember your AH hunting report outlining your elephant safari. Plus the day by day story/journal on number of elephants spotted and tracked. How many elephants you approached and turned down for various reasons, only known to you and your PH. With these stalks you were becoming comfortable with being close to a massive animal. I am sure you had a 10 to 14 day elephant safari booked.
I have been close to a few elephants in different countries and my PH would go over where to shoot and what the estimated size of tusks the elephant would have or not have if it was a tusk-less elephant. I have seen longer tusks than yours in the bush that would not make 25 lbs according to my PH. That is why i asked about your PH elephant hunting experience.
With the lip circumstance and the (Length) 22.4 inches. you can estimate the weight of the tusks and be very close.
I am not sure what day that you shot this elephant on your _____ day safari. However i do hope for you that it was at the waning days of your safari.
One wants to remember the events as they unfolded in the field and when your PH told you it was a 40 LB. That is what stuck in your mind, you were probably told that was a good elephant for the area and if you passed on this one you may not find a better one.
An inexperienced PH may make the mistake in estimating the 40 lbs, however an experienced PH would error on the lighter side. As explained by a few PH's to me, it is better to be on the lighter side when making a field estimate on trophy size, and when the weight and measurements come in above the field estimates you will have a very happy client, what the PH's stressed is that they did not want the reverse happen.
You were probably hunting an area where an elephant above 25 LBS was considered a trophy elephant. And that is what you got. I looked at a few areas and i was told that a 25 lbs elephant would be the expected trophy size for the area. Again cost of the hunt was less than other areas that grow larger ivory.
57 CM is 22.4 inches and the tusks are probably your.
plus the 28 pounds sounds about right for the length of the tusks.