BOTSWANA: Elephant Hunt With Johan Calitz Safaris In June 2021

This was a very enjoyable read of a hunt story! Congrats on a great trophy! Thank you for posting!
 
Great hunt Scott and great write up. I love the look of that fly camp, prefer that to a lodge any day. I dont know if I missed it, but how old was that bull? Only improvement to this great story would be a map, even hand drawn, with all the loop arounds and the final ele spot on it so we can read it again and follow along.
 
Great hunt Scott and great write up. I love the look of that fly camp, prefer that to a lodge any day. I dont know if I missed it, but how old was that bull? Only improvement to this great story would be a map, even hand drawn, with all the loop arounds and the final ele spot on it so we can read it again and follow along.
Thanks Kevin!

I’m not sure of the exact age but was told 60+. I was told that the bull was on his last set of molars and that they have six sets of molars for their lifetime.

We spent most of our time in the western two thirds of NG41 and also hunted along the northern and southern boundaries. I never saw the eastern boundary but might have had we hunted longer. Most of the elephants are along the Khwai River and the depression wetlands that the river disappears into in the western part of the unit and also near the Seven Pans area in the central part of the unit. However, the elephants travel many miles to feed and new elephants come in from the Okavango Delta to the west and Chobe NP to the north. Except for the depression, the cover and trees are quite thick everywhere else so it’s impossible to see every elephant.

I got the bull close to the western boundary but had seen him further east two days earlier.
 
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Just WOW and congratulations!

I didn’t properly close one of the four locks on my gun case in JNB last Monday, the policeman in attendance pointed it out to me! The Pelican case wouldn’t have come open with 3 other locks but I was impressed he caught it.
 
Thank you for the report. What an experience. Congratulations.
 
What a fantastic hunt and write up! Congrats on your fine bull!
 
Got some news from Ronnie/Johan on WhatsApp. Since I left, they have taken four elephants weighing 62, 70, 72 and 82 pounds. Wow!
 
Got some news from Ronnie/Johan on WhatsApp. Since I left, they have taken four elephants weighing 62, 70, 72 and 82 pounds. Wow!

Hearing similar things from my friends. Great time to be in Botswana !
 
Great report, stuff of dreams. Congrats !
 
Outstanding, congratulations! Thanks for the great report! I will go to Botswana in September, hope to get the chance as well.
 
Day 5 - We drove west from camp along the depression. Didn’t see much. Drove all the way to the west boundary road of the hunting area and then turned south for about 5km and did a looping track to the SE into the thick mopane forest. Then we drove across country to a couple of pans holding water and saw some small bulls and cows. We worked our way back to the boundary road.

We turned south on the road before turning off and doing another loop to the SE into appleleaf forest. Then cut across country back to the boundary road once again. This time, we turned north on the boundary road. Found a fresh track crossing the road and followed on foot. The trackers lost the track. While they were sorting it out, I spotted the bull up ahead but after getting close, we discovered it was big bodied but tusks broke off short. Walked back to the truck and then drove north on the boundary road for 2-3km when trackers spotted two bulls to the east of the road on our legal side of the road. We drove a short way and then got out to glass them before hiking to them. One looked promising so we hiked to them. Once we got close, Ronnie and I both thought it was the 65 pound bull from day 3. I wanted to shoot him and we started jogging to cut off the bull before he got to the road. He knew something was up. These elephants haven’t been hunted for seven years but this old bull had a long memory. Ronnie got a better look at the circumference at the lip. Now he said 18”!

The trackers were disappointed that we didn’t shoot this bull on day 3. This time, I said, “I like this bull and I’m shooting him!” The bull was still headed to the boundary road. After one last look, Ronnie agreed and said, “This is your elephant! I think he’s bigger now that I’ve had a better look.”

We half jogged up along side the bull to about 35 yards. He stopped for a second and made a bluff head shake at us and started walking again. I took a walking side brain shot with the .458 Lott. The bull went down immediately but something wasn’t quite right. His legs weren’t completely paralyzed. Turns out I hit the zygomatic arch and the 500gr bullet slightly deflected and passed just under the football size brain. Ronnie said he’s seen this before and that the arch is rock hard. Anyway, as the bull was now getting up slowly, I shot him in the left hip because elephant cannot run on three legs. I didn’t have the angle for another attempt at a brain shot at the time and the bull was now facing away from me. The bull slouched down in the back end after the shot. I ran around his left side and made a proper side brain shot and he was dead! Wow, what a relief! He fell about 200 yards from the boundary!

Crazy lucky to find the bull several kilometers from where we last saw him and still inside the area. Here’s some pictures.View attachment 407267View attachment 407269
Really nice bull! Weights right where you wanted. Shame you didn’t get one of those buff permits!
 
I was using Federal factory loads with Woodleigh 500gr monolithic solids. I believe Ronnie said the bullet hit the arch and then went just under the brain. It dropped the bull immediately but was still moving a bit. Definitely heavily stunned and moving slow. Ronnie never shot because I was right there with 5 more rounds down in the magazine and a .458 Lott. I told him earlier he was welcome to follow me up if the ele wasn’t dead but he told me he wouldn’t if I was getting the job done. He said he doesn’t like shooting someone else’s ele unless absolutely necessary. The bull didn’t pop right back up on it’s feet like how you sometimes see them act on videos, which gave me enough time to move around and keep shooting. I don’t want to start any big debates here but after experiencing what I did, I’m definitely glad I had the Lott with five more rounds down over a .375 with the boundary 200 yards away. In this case, I still felt undergunned and grateful that it wasn’t too thick of vegetation to move around. There were other really thick areas where it would have been more difficult to make follow up shots.
I don't think you were undergunned. I doubt a bigger gun would have made the first shot magically perfect, you would have had the same results I am sure. Sometimes things go wrong. You did your best to fix it and you were successful. Don't over analyze.
 
Recently spoke to Ronnie on WhatsApp. Now that the season is over, they are busy drilling several boreholes (wells) in an effort to hold more elephants that come in from the bordering national parks and reserves. They sold all their hunts/quotas in 2021 and are looking forward to 2022.
 
Late reading this, what a hunt and adventure, congratulations
 
I'm heading over in August this year with Calitz for my 1st elephant experience. Thanks for your report.
 
I'm heading over in August this year with Calitz for my 1st elephant experience. Thanks for your report.
You’re welcome. Good luck on your safari and I hope it goes very well. Let us know how it goes.
 
Great News! I just got the USFWS Import Permit for my elephant! I am very excited to get the ivory and other parts.

Special thanks to John Jackson and his staff at Conservation Force, Johan Calitz and Debbie Peake. Without CF, imports would be a thing of the past.
 
That is awesome!

Great report on a dream hunt. Congratulations.

I believe I saw that lion charge with Ronnie many years ago at SCI in Vegas, that was an incredible video capture and shot.
 
Congratulations Scott! Great elephant and great to hear you have the Import Permit!!!
 

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I plan to visit MT next Sept.
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Start in Billings, Then visit little big horn battlefield,
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Hi Jay,

Hope you're well.

I'm headed your way in January.

Attending SHOT Show has been a long time bucket list item for me.

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