BOTSWANA: NG 13 Elephant Hunt

[Jerycmeach]

I am excitedly looking forward to my upcoming elephant hunt in Botswana’s NG 13 with Leon Kachelhoffer. If you want to become infuriated at the way the fake media portrays hunters and hunting in Africa just google NG 13 elephant or Leon Kachelhoffer and read one of the many “hit pieces” written in the national and international media in April and May of 2022. We all can remember the way Corey Knowlton was treated. The Texan that hunted the Rhino in Namibia to benefit conservation. Corey was attacked with death threats and phone messages saying things like I am going to rape your wife to death and make you watch and burn your house down with your kids inside! Lovely people, aren’t they? These kind hearted, caring, anti-hunters. Leon was treated the very same way for his crime of investing years of effort and a huge amount of money to develop this hunting concession which will benefit all the wildlife and the area tribes. I am so passionate about the conservation aspect of “funding conservation through hunting in Africa” that I had to book with Leon and do this same hunt on the “one year anniversary” of him being crucified for harvesting the hundred pounder. I will be able to interview Leon and the local tribes and council and get the story first hand on how they were falsely accused. I will see the benefits first hand and hopefully someday be able to spread the truth about how beneficial “tourist hunting” is to conservation in Africa.

Leon came to my hunting Lodge in Kansas this winter and we planned our hunt. I cannot believe the hunt is only about a month away. I feel so unprepared.

I want to thank everyone on AH for being so helpful! Through the wonderful friends I have made on AH I was able find guidance to wonderful outfitters and discern which companies I would like to hunt with. If this hunt goes as I hope I will have been blessed to go on three hunts to Africa in just 22 months. I have harvested several leopards and three cape buffalo and fantastic wild lion and 26 plains game animals. I have been in Tanzania for 28 days and in Botswana for over 30. All this is beyond my wildest dreams. I definitely feel like Cinderella! What I mean is that my paygrade and education I was never meant to go on all these fantastic adventures! God has blessed me and I am thankful! Covid stole my Alaska fishing business because it was largely based on cruise ship clientele. This nightmare of my losing my business caused me to have the time off to go to Africa.

This October I floated the Snake River for twenty days and hunted with a recurve bow made for me 40 years ago by Jim Brackenbury. I took no supplies and lived entirely off the land. I slept on the gravel under the stars and called in 18 bull moose. I used a kayak I made myself about 30 years ago. In the end I shot a bull at 8 feet away with an arrow that was 60 years old. A browning micro flight and a vintage fred bear broadhead. I have an article about this adventure that will come out this next month I believe in a western hunting magazine.

The reason I mention this Idaho moose hunt is that by using Old and Vintage equipment I was able to make this hunt one of the most amazing adventures of my life! I knew the unit had produced an average size shiras bull of only 28 inches. I did not care about the size of the antlers I cared about the “size of the adventure”! Think about those words for a minute!

Today I spent the day with George of Champlin Firearms in Enid Oklahoma. What a gentleman! He opened his shop on a Saturday just for me and he spent hours and hours teaching me about double rifles! I have hunted all of my life and had never touched or seen let alone fired a double rifle! So now you see why I told the story about the moose hunt this oct with vintage archery gear! I am only 30 days or so away from my Elephant hunt and I am just now discovering the romance and history of the double rifle! It is all I think about! I am so afraid that I do not have the time to do justice to acquiring a double, learn to shoot it well, and be ready for this elephant hunt. On the other hand I am afraid that if I take the elephant with a borrowed camp gun I will forever regret that I did not hunt the elephant with a mor classic and historic firearm. Oh well! Ha!

Thanks again everyone on AH for your help in my journey to support conservation in Africa through hunting!
Below a picture of George and I at his Champlin firearms shop in Enid Oklahoma taken today.

above a recent scouting picture of an elephant on NG 13 taken by Leon and sent to me.

above a picture of me four decades ago with the same bow that I used on the moose hunt this past October.

above a picture of Leon Kachelhoffer and I at my lodge in Kansas this winter.

above floating the snake river in Idaho for 20 days this past october with the 40 year old bow and 30 year old kayak I built myself

My wild lion from Tanzania this past August.

Me with the same bow I carried above the artic circle In Alaska 40 years ago as seen in the previous picture I used this past Oct on the snake river in Idaho. Makes me want to use a double rifle on the elephant hunt to make it more historic and romantic.

My Botswana Leopard was mounted by Robert Vitro and was displayed at SCI in Nashville. I have not seen it in person yet. Alan Porter of Colorado is providing trucking of the mount from the show back to my lodge in Kansas. It was just loaded on the truck this evening after the close of SCI Convention and I should see the mount soon.

 

[Mark Audino]

Great story. Botswana is magical for elephant hunting. And you are so right about George Caswell at Champlins. He knows guns inside and out, and he especially knows how to evaluate a used double like no other. The very best to you!

 

[AZDAVE]

George is a fine man to deal with. Get your double and shoot it as much as possible in the short time you have before Botswana. Snap caps and practice will be your friend. Love your description of the past advenyures and those to come. Already looking forward to you report.

 

[Jerycmeach]

Great story. Botswana is magical for elephant hunting. And you are so right about George Caswell at Champlins. He knows guns inside and out, and he especially knows how to evaluate a used double like no other. The very best to you!

Thank you! I’m excited about a double rifle!

 

[Jerycmeach]

George is a fine man to deal with. Get your double and shoot it as much as possible in the short time you have before Botswana. Snap caps and practice will be your friend. Love your description of the past advenyures and those to come. Already looking forward to you report.

Thanks so much! Yea I am hung on lately on how to make the hunt as rewarding as possible. Using vintage gear and reliving the way it was done in the past has me excited to explore the double rifle! Thanks

 

[rinehart0050]

Looking forward to hearing all about how Botswana goes!

 

[TKessel]

Looking forward to the hunt report. Enjoy your hunt.

 

[PeteG]

Leon is a great guy and you’ll enjoy your hunt with him.
He is a big fan of big bores…
Looking forward to hearing more

 

[Jerycmeach]

Thank you! I hope it goes well. I talked to the PH today.

 

[WillMFerguson]

That is so cool. I'd wish you luck, but with God on your side, you don't need luck. I hope you do a hunt report after.

 

[Jerycmeach]

Thanks. I have been so blessed and I’m looking forward to what this adventure has in store! Take care!

 

[Scott CWO]

I am excitedly looking forward to my upcoming elephant hunt in Botswana’s NG 13 with Leon Kachelhoffer. If you want to become infuriated at the way the fake media portrays hunters and hunting in Africa just google NG 13 elephant or Leon Kachelhoffer and read one of the many “hit pieces” written in the national and international media in April and May of 2022. We all can remember the way Corey Knowlton was treated. The Texan that hunted the Rhino in Namibia to benefit conservation. Corey was attacked with death threats and phone messages saying things like I am going to rape your wife to death and make you watch and burn your house down with your kids inside! Lovely people, aren’t they? These kind hearted, caring, anti-hunters. Leon was treated the very same way for his crime of investing years of effort and a huge amount of money to develop this hunting concession which will benefit all the wildlife and the area tribes. I am so passionate about the conservation aspect of “funding conservation through hunting in Africa” that I had to book with Leon and do this same hunt on the “one year anniversary” of him being crucified for harvesting the hundred pounder. I will be able to interview Leon and the local tribes and council and get the story first hand on how they were falsely accused. I will see the benefits first hand and hopefully someday be able to spread the truth about how beneficial “tourist hunting” is to conservation in Africa.

Leon came to my hunting Lodge in Kansas this winter and we planned our hunt. I cannot believe the hunt is only about a month away. I feel so unprepared.

I want to thank everyone on AH for being so helpful! Through the wonderful friends I have made on AH I was able find guidance to wonderful outfitters and discern which companies I would like to hunt with. If this hunt goes as I hope I will have been blessed to go on three hunts to Africa in just 22 months. I have harvested several leopards and three cape buffalo and fantastic wild lion and 26 plains game animals. I have been in Tanzania for 28 days and in Botswana for over 30. All this is beyond my wildest dreams. I definitely feel like Cinderella! What I mean is that my paygrade and education I was never meant to go on all these fantastic adventures! God has blessed me and I am thankful! Covid stole my Alaska fishing business because it was largely based on cruise ship clientele. This nightmare of my losing my business caused me to have the time off to go to Africa.

This October I floated the Snake River for twenty days and hunted with a recurve bow made for me 40 years ago by Jim Brackenbury. I took no supplies and lived entirely off the land. I slept on the gravel under the stars and called in 18 bull moose. I used a kayak I made myself about 30 years ago. In the end I shot a bull at 8 feet away with an arrow that was 60 years old. A browning micro flight and a vintage fred bear broadhead. I have an article about this adventure that will come out this next month I believe in a western hunting magazine.

The reason I mention this Idaho moose hunt is that by using Old and Vintage equipment I was able to make this hunt one of the most amazing adventures of my life! I knew the unit had produced an average size shiras bull of only 28 inches. I did not care about the size of the antlers I cared about the “size of the adventure”! Think about those words for a minute!

Today I spent the day with George of Champlin Firearms in Enid Oklahoma. What a gentleman! He opened his shop on a Saturday just for me and he spent hours and hours teaching me about double rifles! I have hunted all of my life and had never touched or seen let alone fired a double rifle! So now you see why I told the story about the moose hunt this oct with vintage archery gear! I am only 30 days or so away from my Elephant hunt and I am just now discovering the romance and history of the double rifle! It is all I think about! I am so afraid that I do not have the time to do justice to acquiring a double, learn to shoot it well, and be ready for this elephant hunt. On the other hand I am afraid that if I take the elephant with a borrowed camp gun I will forever regret that I did not hunt the elephant with a mor classic and historic firearm. Oh well! Ha!

Thanks again everyone on AH for your help in my journey to support conservation in Africa through hunting!
Below a picture of George and I at his Champlin firearms shop in Enid Oklahoma taken today.

View attachment 519809
View attachment 519811
above a recent scouting picture of an elephant on NG 13 taken by Leon and sent to me.
View attachment 519824
above a picture of me four decades ago with the same bow that I used on the moose hunt this past October.
View attachment 519813
above a picture of Leon Kachelhoffer and I at my lodge in Kansas this winter.

above floating the snake river in Idaho for 20 days this past october with the 40 year old bow and 30 year old kayak I built myself

My wild lion from Tanzania this past August.

Me with the same bow I carried above the artic circle In Alaska 40 years ago as seen in the previous picture I used this past Oct on the snake river in Idaho. Makes me want to use a double rifle on the elephant hunt to make it more historic and romantic.View attachment 519823
My Botswana Leopard was mounted by Robert Vitro and was displayed at SCI in Nashville. I have not seen it in person yet. Alan Porter of Colorado is providing trucking of the mount from the show back to my lodge in Kansas. It was just loaded on the truck this evening after the close of SCI Convention and I should see the mount soon.

Hello Jery. I’m sure you will enjoy your hunt with Leon, just as two other friends of mine did last year. It was good talking with you on the phone before you decided what to do and I don’t think you will regret going to Botswana! I saw Leon on Friday and he’s excited about your hunt. Good luck!

 

[Wheels]

Hope your first hunt of the season in Botswana gets you a duplicate of the bull Leon took first hunt of the season last year!!! Camp rifle BRNO or H&H Royal Double, you will have another fabulous adventure!

Wish I could have been in Enid yesterday if only to swing the vault door shut with you and George inside.

 

[Jerycmeach]

I will do a hunt report after the hunt! I hope all goes well on this adventures!

 

[Jerycmeach]

Leon is a great guy and you’ll enjoy your hunt with him.
He is a big fan of big bores…
Looking forward to hearing more

Yes! We spoke at length today. Sounds as if he would his old .577 to a friend and is awaiting delivery of a new double. I failed to ask the make and model. I will know more after the hunt. Take care!

 

[Jerycmeach]

You

Hope your first hunt of the season in Botswana gets you a duplicate of the bull Leon took first hunt of the season last year!!! Camp rifle BRNO or H&H Royal Double, you will have another fabulous adventure!

Wish I could have been in Enid yesterday if only to swing the vault door shut with you and George inside.

have been such great help on these plans! Thanks Bob! It was so fun to learn about doubles visiting with George nearly all afternoon yesterday! It has only made me want a double more than ever! Deep down I know I don’t have time foe this hunt though to obtain and get ready with a new gun. Take care Bob! We shall talk soon!

 

[Jerycmeach]

Hello Jery. I’m sure you will enjoy your hunt with Leon, just as two other friends of mine did last year. It was good talking with you on the phone before you decided what to do and I don’t think you will regret going to Botswana! I saw Leon on Friday and he’s excited about your hunt. Good luck!

Thanks for talking to me prior to my booking Scott. I had known if you for years and as you know you and I share some deer hunting clients. So when you vouched for leon and told me how your friends elephant hunts had gone with him it was just that much more reassurance that I wanted to book with him. All the best to you! Hope the knee surgery recovery went well!

 

[Frederik]

Will be looking out for the fine hunt report coming soon.
Must have been magic 20 days living of the land.

 

[Houston Bill]

I am excitedly looking forward to my upcoming elephant hunt in Botswana’s NG 13 with Leon Kachelhoffer. If you want to become infuriated at the way the fake media portrays hunters and hunting in Africa just google NG 13 elephant or Leon Kachelhoffer and read one of the many “hit pieces” written in the national and international media in April and May of 2022. We all can remember the way Corey Knowlton was treated. The Texan that hunted the Rhino in Namibia to benefit conservation. Corey was attacked with death threats and phone messages saying things like I am going to rape your wife to death and make you watch and burn your house down with your kids inside! Lovely people, aren’t they? These kind hearted, caring, anti-hunters. Leon was treated the very same way for his crime of investing years of effort and a huge amount of money to develop this hunting concession which will benefit all the wildlife and the area tribes. I am so passionate about the conservation aspect of “funding conservation through hunting in Africa” that I had to book with Leon and do this same hunt on the “one year anniversary” of him being crucified for harvesting the hundred pounder. I will be able to interview Leon and the local tribes and council and get the story first hand on how they were falsely accused. I will see the benefits first hand and hopefully someday be able to spread the truth about how beneficial “tourist hunting” is to conservation in Africa.

Leon came to my hunting Lodge in Kansas this winter and we planned our hunt. I cannot believe the hunt is only about a month away. I feel so unprepared.

I want to thank everyone on AH for being so helpful! Through the wonderful friends I have made on AH I was able find guidance to wonderful outfitters and discern which companies I would like to hunt with. If this hunt goes as I hope I will have been blessed to go on three hunts to Africa in just 22 months. I have harvested several leopards and three cape buffalo and fantastic wild lion and 26 plains game animals. I have been in Tanzania for 28 days and in Botswana for over 30. All this is beyond my wildest dreams. I definitely feel like Cinderella! What I mean is that my paygrade and education I was never meant to go on all these fantastic adventures! God has blessed me and I am thankful! Covid stole my Alaska fishing business because it was largely based on cruise ship clientele. This nightmare of my losing my business caused me to have the time off to go to Africa.

This October I floated the Snake River for twenty days and hunted with a recurve bow made for me 40 years ago by Jim Brackenbury. I took no supplies and lived entirely off the land. I slept on the gravel under the stars and called in 18 bull moose. I used a kayak I made myself about 30 years ago. In the end I shot a bull at 8 feet away with an arrow that was 60 years old. A browning micro flight and a vintage fred bear broadhead. I have an article about this adventure that will come out this next month I believe in a western hunting magazine.

The reason I mention this Idaho moose hunt is that by using Old and Vintage equipment I was able to make this hunt one of the most amazing adventures of my life! I knew the unit had produced an average size shiras bull of only 28 inches. I did not care about the size of the antlers I cared about the “size of the adventure”! Think about those words for a minute!

Today I spent the day with George of Champlin Firearms in Enid Oklahoma. What a gentleman! He opened his shop on a Saturday just for me and he spent hours and hours teaching me about double rifles! I have hunted all of my life and had never touched or seen let alone fired a double rifle! So now you see why I told the story about the moose hunt this oct with vintage archery gear! I am only 30 days or so away from my Elephant hunt and I am just now discovering the romance and history of the double rifle! It is all I think about! I am so afraid that I do not have the time to do justice to acquiring a double, learn to shoot it well, and be ready for this elephant hunt. On the other hand I am afraid that if I take the elephant with a borrowed camp gun I will forever regret that I did not hunt the elephant with a mor classic and historic firearm. Oh well! Ha!

Thanks again everyone on AH for your help in my journey to support conservation in Africa through hunting!
Below a picture of George and I at his Champlin firearms shop in Enid Oklahoma taken today.

View attachment 519809
View attachment 519811
above a recent scouting picture of an elephant on NG 13 taken by Leon and sent to me.
View attachment 519824
above a picture of me four decades ago with the same bow that I used on the moose hunt this past October.
View attachment 519813
above a picture of Leon Kachelhoffer and I at my lodge in Kansas this winter.

above floating the snake river in Idaho for 20 days this past october with the 40 year old bow and 30 year old kayak I built myself

My wild lion from Tanzania this past August.

Me with the same bow I carried above the artic circle In Alaska 40 years ago as seen in the previous picture I used this past Oct on the snake river in Idaho. Makes me want to use a double rifle on the elephant hunt to make it more historic and romantic.View attachment 519823
My Botswana Leopard was mounted by Robert Vitro and was displayed at SCI in Nashville. I have not seen it in person yet. Alan Porter of Colorado is providing trucking of the mount from the show back to my lodge in Kansas. It was just loaded on the truck this evening after the close of SCI Convention and I should see the mount soon.

Hi Jery,

Great story! In 2020 I was in the nearly the same position you are today. A last minute opportunity to hunt elephant in Namibia and I wanted to do it with a double but had never shot one, only held them at DSC a few times over the years. So I had to acquire a double rifle ASAP and then practice as much as I could before the trip which was in about 40 days. Luckily I had a friend who had a friend that had a ranch here in Texas that I was able to go to one weekend and shoot offhand 20 rounds at balloons I blew up to the size of an elephant brain. I varied the shots distance between 20 and 40 yards and practice firing the right barrel and then as quick as I could fire the left barrel at a different balloons. I figured if I could hit the brain I could esaily hit the heart/lung if that was the shot offered. I hit 19 out out 20 and then practiced a lot at my house in the back yard with snap caps. Now obviously I had no feedback if the "shots" in my backyard actually hit what I was aiming at but I got even more comfortable shouldering the rifle and shooting both barrels quickly. My point for telling you this is, Given your love of using "vintage gear" you MUST hunt the elephant with a double and I am sure you can get in the practice you need. Champlin use to have a beautiful Heym double in 470 NE for under $20,000. If they still have it buy that double and don't look back. If after the hunt you don't want a double you will be able to sell it on AH or GI for close to what you paid for it. Have a great trip and I look forward to the hunt report!

BTW, the practice paid off and I got my elephant on the 3rd day of the hunt.

Bill

 

[Jerycmeach]

Hi Jery,

Great story! In 2020 I was in the nearly the same position you are today. A last minute opportunity to hunt elephant in Namibia and I wanted to do it with a double but had never shot one, only held them at DSC a few times over the years. So I had to acquire a double rifle ASAP and then practice as much as I could before the trip which was in about 40 days. Luckily I had a friend who had a friend that had a ranch here in Texas that I was able to go to one weekend and shoot offhand 20 rounds at balloons I blew up to the size of an elephant brain. I varied the shots distance between 20 and 40 yards and practice firing the right barrel and then as quick as I could fire the left barrel at a different balloons. I figured if I could hit the brain I could esaily hit the heart/lung if that was the shot offered. I hit 19 out out 20 and then practiced a lot at my house in the back yard with snap caps. Now obviously I had no feedback if the "shots" in my backyard actually hit what I was aiming at but I got even more comfortable shouldering the rifle and shooting both barrels quickly. My point for telling you this is, Given your love of using "vintage gear" you MUST hunt the elephant with a double and I am sure you can get in the practice you need. Champlin use to have a beautiful Heym double in 470 NE for under $20,000. If they still have it buy that double and don't look back. If after the hunt you don't want a double you will be able to sell it on AH or GI for close to what you paid for it. Have a great trip and I look forward to the hunt report!

BTW, the practice paid off and I got my elephant on the 3rd day of the hunt.

Bill

Bill thank you so much for taking the time to write this thoughtful response. I really want to do what you said and jump on a double rifle and never look back and go hunt this elephant with a double. There is one thing that I left out of my story I’ve always been in great health! I’ve never really had an injury in my life! I was a professional firefighter in my youth and even certified as an astronaut dive rescuer for the Kennedy space Center NASA. One of very view chosen for that job, but now at sixty years old for the first time in my life I have a rotator cuff injury to my right arm and it is severely limiting well I think I can do. I don’t have any time to get this injury fixed before the hunt. Yesterday I shot a rifle for the first time since I hurt my shoulder. I shot a 300 win mag an average weight rifle with 150 grain bullet off hand and was able to tolerate the recoil no problem and I even killed the armadillo I was shooting at which surprised me. What I’m wondering is just how significant the recoil is on a double rifle the biggest rifle I own is a 300 Remington ultra mag and a course on these past safaris I’ve used camp guns in the 375 and 458 lott caliber. The only gun Champlin has right now that would work for me is a 500 nitro in Krieghoff what do you think about the recoil of that gun thanks again so much for helping me