sureshot375
AH fanatic
Well, I should probably do legit hunt reports, but I overthink them and don’t have the time to put together a product I would be proud of. Maybe one day.
Until then I thought you all might enjoy my self filmed go pro elephant hunt from last year.
I was hunting an area that wasn’t really big enough to hold elephant. We would ride around and look for tracks each day to see what had moved in or out overnight. If no ele tracks were found we spent our days chasing dagga boys in nearly impossible conditions. Leaves were dry and crunchy. Bush was thick. The damn wind swirled all the time, but I still loved every second of it.
On this day we lucked up and cut the tracks of a sizable elephant heard that had moved in our area. We looped around to the next cross road to see if they were still in that block before tracking.
We stopped to take a look at some tracks. The trackers went behind the vehicle to take a look at the tracks they saw. The PH had grabbed the clippers to cut some offending limbs out of the road way. I wondered off in front of the truck looking for tracks sans rifle. Before the hunt I had a PH friend of mine warn me to always take my rifle when I left the truck, even if just to check tracks around a waterhole or something. Well, I had gotten lax. I’m about 60 yards in front on the truck and I catch some movement to my right. I think to myself, “How the hell did those trackers loop around that fast?” About that time I realized it was not the trackers, but an elephant about 50 yards away.
I drop down out of sight and speed sneak back to the truck. The PH and I scrambled to grab rifles and ammo belts. We round up the guys behind the truck and begin to moving to flank this elephant.
The first elephant we came upon was a young bull. We bypass him and try to get a look at the rest of the herd. The brush was thick enough to make getting a clear look difficult We could see movement and squat down to see legs, but there was no way to tell what we are looking at.
At some point the herd seemed to semi spook. I think they got a little of our wind but not enough to totally bust us. They scurried off a bit.
We gave things a little time to calm down and eased forward. The herd had not gone far and were bunched up in a rather alert state.
There was a bit of a lane through the brush that gave us a clear line of sight. We moved in to about 35 yards and assessed the herd. My permit was for a tusked cow. There was a large tusked cow standing on the edge of the group. The PH called for the game scout to come up from the rear and make sure we had the green light. The game scout game the OK and this is where the video picks up.
This is not my first rodeo with dangerous game. I’ve stopped a legit buff charge in the long grass, shared a tree with a leopard, been spit on by a cobra who didn’t like my rapid exit out the blind window upon his entrance, and hunted bull elephants before.
This was the most intense thing I have ever done. Sneaking in close to a big group of elephants knowing you are about to kick the hornet’s nest is a unique feeling. I don’t think this fully comes across on video.
The shot was difficult with iron sights. The way the elephant was standing I couldn’t make out her exact head angle in the shadows. A scoped bolt gun would have been ideal. Eventually she turns her head and I can see what’s going on to make the shot.
Now before any of you keyboard Capsticks go talking too much trash about my shaking, I would invite you to strap a go pro to your head and shoot an elephant. I would also point out that I have a neurological condition which causes a tremor. My main hunting buddy also shakes. It’s good fun to watch the PHs eyes get big when they watch us shoot for the first time.
In the excitement of things we managed to leave the truck without the shooting sticks. They would have been helpful, but I didn’t think about it in the moment.
I would like to point out something about the shot. Take a look at the shot in slow motion. I control the recoil and get back on target before the elephant has hit the ground. This is the benefit to shooting a rifle you can control. There are differing views about proper form in shooting a double. I prefer to get over the gun and have the weight of my upper body eat the recoil rather than allowing it a rock me back and off target.
After the shot things got a little sporty. We immediately pulled back. I could see and hear that the herd hadn’t gone far. After waiting a bit we looked at option for an insurance shot, but I wasn’t all that gung ho about alerting the pissed off pachyderms about our location. We go back up to just ahead of where I took the shot, and I can see the herd moving in the background and hear their rumbling. We retreat again and wait a bit.
There is a cut in the video while we wait 10 min or so. We approach the downed cow. I can still hear the rest of the herd. Just as we reach the cow we hear shouting and shooting. It appears as though the herd found the truck and the very green 16 year old unofficial apprentice who was left there. He acted valiantly and defended the Land Cruiser with warning shots. The concern was that he would spook them back our way. We made a quick retreat to higher more open ground where we waited for things to clear. There is another cut In the video before we finally approach the downed cow.
Krieghoff .500/.416 with Hornady DGS. Complete pass through.
Until then I thought you all might enjoy my self filmed go pro elephant hunt from last year.
I was hunting an area that wasn’t really big enough to hold elephant. We would ride around and look for tracks each day to see what had moved in or out overnight. If no ele tracks were found we spent our days chasing dagga boys in nearly impossible conditions. Leaves were dry and crunchy. Bush was thick. The damn wind swirled all the time, but I still loved every second of it.
On this day we lucked up and cut the tracks of a sizable elephant heard that had moved in our area. We looped around to the next cross road to see if they were still in that block before tracking.
We stopped to take a look at some tracks. The trackers went behind the vehicle to take a look at the tracks they saw. The PH had grabbed the clippers to cut some offending limbs out of the road way. I wondered off in front of the truck looking for tracks sans rifle. Before the hunt I had a PH friend of mine warn me to always take my rifle when I left the truck, even if just to check tracks around a waterhole or something. Well, I had gotten lax. I’m about 60 yards in front on the truck and I catch some movement to my right. I think to myself, “How the hell did those trackers loop around that fast?” About that time I realized it was not the trackers, but an elephant about 50 yards away.
I drop down out of sight and speed sneak back to the truck. The PH and I scrambled to grab rifles and ammo belts. We round up the guys behind the truck and begin to moving to flank this elephant.
The first elephant we came upon was a young bull. We bypass him and try to get a look at the rest of the herd. The brush was thick enough to make getting a clear look difficult We could see movement and squat down to see legs, but there was no way to tell what we are looking at.
At some point the herd seemed to semi spook. I think they got a little of our wind but not enough to totally bust us. They scurried off a bit.
We gave things a little time to calm down and eased forward. The herd had not gone far and were bunched up in a rather alert state.
There was a bit of a lane through the brush that gave us a clear line of sight. We moved in to about 35 yards and assessed the herd. My permit was for a tusked cow. There was a large tusked cow standing on the edge of the group. The PH called for the game scout to come up from the rear and make sure we had the green light. The game scout game the OK and this is where the video picks up.
This is not my first rodeo with dangerous game. I’ve stopped a legit buff charge in the long grass, shared a tree with a leopard, been spit on by a cobra who didn’t like my rapid exit out the blind window upon his entrance, and hunted bull elephants before.
This was the most intense thing I have ever done. Sneaking in close to a big group of elephants knowing you are about to kick the hornet’s nest is a unique feeling. I don’t think this fully comes across on video.
The shot was difficult with iron sights. The way the elephant was standing I couldn’t make out her exact head angle in the shadows. A scoped bolt gun would have been ideal. Eventually she turns her head and I can see what’s going on to make the shot.
Now before any of you keyboard Capsticks go talking too much trash about my shaking, I would invite you to strap a go pro to your head and shoot an elephant. I would also point out that I have a neurological condition which causes a tremor. My main hunting buddy also shakes. It’s good fun to watch the PHs eyes get big when they watch us shoot for the first time.
In the excitement of things we managed to leave the truck without the shooting sticks. They would have been helpful, but I didn’t think about it in the moment.
I would like to point out something about the shot. Take a look at the shot in slow motion. I control the recoil and get back on target before the elephant has hit the ground. This is the benefit to shooting a rifle you can control. There are differing views about proper form in shooting a double. I prefer to get over the gun and have the weight of my upper body eat the recoil rather than allowing it a rock me back and off target.
After the shot things got a little sporty. We immediately pulled back. I could see and hear that the herd hadn’t gone far. After waiting a bit we looked at option for an insurance shot, but I wasn’t all that gung ho about alerting the pissed off pachyderms about our location. We go back up to just ahead of where I took the shot, and I can see the herd moving in the background and hear their rumbling. We retreat again and wait a bit.
There is a cut in the video while we wait 10 min or so. We approach the downed cow. I can still hear the rest of the herd. Just as we reach the cow we hear shouting and shooting. It appears as though the herd found the truck and the very green 16 year old unofficial apprentice who was left there. He acted valiantly and defended the Land Cruiser with warning shots. The concern was that he would spook them back our way. We made a quick retreat to higher more open ground where we waited for things to clear. There is another cut In the video before we finally approach the downed cow.
Krieghoff .500/.416 with Hornady DGS. Complete pass through.
Last edited by a moderator:
