Elephant with a bow?

[Russ16]

We had this debate earlier in the summer. A member here killed an elephant with a bow and did an amazing write up of it.

It can certainly be done. But there is very little margin for error.

There are several videos of it being done on YouTube.

 

[mrpoindexter]

I did it just 2 months ago with a bow. 82 pound draw weight. I used to be shooting 90lbs but stopped shooting it during COVID and adding draw weight at my age gets tougher and tougher.

I shot the elephant with a single arrow. It dropped in 7 minutes, dead in 15 minutes and only moved 99 yards from where it was shot before collapsing and dying and I didn't even hit the heart. Had I shot the heart, I suspect it would have died in one fifth the time or less and would have gone even less distance.

On that same safari, I also shot and killed a hippo and a croc with a single arrow each. If you think it cannot be done or need video to have it proven for you, for starters you know fuck all about archery, and second, I do have video. I am just not going to post mine up on YouTube for obvious reasons.

You can read the writeup here:

Thread 'Finally getting a shot at an elephant with a bow!!'

Mar 31, 2025

I know there are several bow hunters here who have wanted to get their elephant with a bow. Sadly, it hasn't been allowed in South Africa, and Namibia for a long time and more recently Botswana and Zimbabwe took them off the list for bow hunters. Most recently, I heard Mozambique has also stopped allowing bow hunts on elephants. This leaves just Zambia and Tanzania as options, as well as Cameroon.

I am headed out to Zambia in July to finally get a chance to take an elephant with a bow. While there, I will also be going for hippo and croc, to bring me to 5/7 of the D7 with a bow. Time to...

• mrpoindexter
• Replies: 260
• Forum: Bowhunting Africa

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With any luck, in the not to distant future you can get it in hard cover form...

 

[joker2400]

I did it just 2 months ago with a bow. 82 pound draw eight. I used to be shooting 90lbs but stopped shooting it during COVID and adding draw weight at my age gets tougher and tougher.

I shot the elephant with a single arrow. It dropped in 7 minutes, dead in 15 minutes and only moved 99 yards from where it was shot before collapsing and dying and I didn't even hit the heart. Had I shot the heart, I suspect it would have died in one fifth the time or less and would have gone even less distance.

On that same safari, I also shot and killed a hippo and a croc with a single arrow each. If you think it cannot be done or need video to have it proven for you, for starters you know fuck all about archery, ...

Exactly!

 

[mrpoindexter]

That story sounds like BS. Yeah, Fred Bear did it decades ago, but it was a legendary shot with custom gear. A 100lb bow just doesn't have the punch to ethically take an elephant by today's standards. Any reputable PH would know it's a terrible idea and most countries probably wouldn't even allow it. Your friend likely met a guy telling tall tales.

I actually had a shooting opportunity on a bull that would have passed Fred Bear's in the record books, but it was on a Saturday and the parks office was closed so I could not upgrade my permit from a tuskless to an exportable trophy bull. If a PH is both reputable and knowledgeable about archery, then they would know it is very doable to take an elephant with a bow. What is more telling is when a professional, like in the example from the original post, is telling somebody and they don't believe him even though they have no real knowledge about elephant hunting and archery.

Could probably do a tuskless cow once.

Death wish

Isn't any tuskless cow hunt, archery or rifle, bordering on death wish?

 

[Leadwood]

I met Tink Nathan in the early nineties when he was living in SA....ended up spending a lot of time with him as I was then new into archery and bowhunting.
He gave me a video copy of his Tanzania bowhunt in the Selous in which he took 2 big buffalo bulls and an elephant bull.
He was using his Oneida, set at 100 pounds, 1000 grain arrows with Howard Hill broadheads.
1st buffalo...full frontal....penetration up to the nock.
Bull went 10 yards.
Second bull....side-on....complete penetration.
Bull went 30 yards.
Elephant was a top-of-heart shot....went less than 100 yards.
Can be done....has been done....not easy to get it done.
Best left to a very select group with high skill levels and proper equipment.
Personally, I feel rifle is the way to go for hippo and elephant.

 

[mrpoindexter]

Frontal on Cape buffalo? Big balls on that shooter!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Watch enough elephant hunts on YouTube and You’ll realize there are a lot of, putting it politely. Rodeos using rifles so I don’t think it’s as much of the weapon as shot placement.

you see a much less stressed animal and herd with the sound of a bow. compared to a volley of two rifles emptying their ammo belts.

 

[Leadwood]

In the same video Tink shoots a hippo bull.....quartering shot...double lungs.
However, penetration was not comparable to the elephant and buffalo due to the extraordinary thick skin.

 

[DieJager]

With any luck, in the not to distant future you can get it in hard cover form..

When this happens let us know. Definitely want to buy a copy.

 

[mrpoindexter]

In the same video Tink shoots a hippo bull.....quartering shot...double lungs.
However, penetration was not comparable to the elephant and buffalo due to the extraordinary thick skin.

If there isn't complete penetration with the proper gear, it usually isn't the skin that stops it. Generally when doing a quartering shot on a buffalo, you end up hitting the far side leg bone and that will stop the arrow, especially given how much energy was consumed just getting that far in. I did an insurance shot on my elephant once it was down, putting an arrow in it from the top of the back down towards its leg getting the lung and making sure it was dead, which it was. It buried to the fletch and even then had enough force to completely break the front of the arrow when it hit the elephant's femur. I have had similar things happen on Cape buffalo when taking the quartering away shot that I generally prefer, while straight up broadside shots have generally been complete pass throughs.

My money is on the hippo quartering shot being stopped by the front far side femur more than anything else, especially if he had gotten full penetration on an elephant with the same gear.

 

[Leadwood]

I agree....most probably stopped by the femur.
His equipment....arrow set-up, shot placement and ability was top drawer.
To see him take the frontal on the buffalo bull within seconds of the opportunity presenting itself, then trusting his equipment and skill to make the the shot was phenomenal.
Also just an all-round down-to-earth nice guy.

 

[LucasK]

Tink also shot two elephants in the 1960's (1966 I think) with a 91 pound draw weight Howatt Recurve. I think Nathan is only a little over five feet tall!

 

[RR 314]

Tink also shot two elephants in the 1960's (1966 I think) with a 91 pound draw weight Howatt Recurve. I think Nathan is only a little over five feet tall!

Haven't seen him in years, but seems closer to 4'. . Crazy he used to be able to pull 90-100 pounds! I had a Mathews Monster set at 85 years ago with 31" DL and it was a beast. I know guys that still shoot 80+ pounds, and can shoot dozens upon dozens of arrows a day, but I would struggle to do that with 65-70 now. Tink must have had a 26" DL or so, put still crazy impressive.

 

[mrpoindexter]

The drawback of being short for archery - less power cycle due to a shorter draw length. The only way to make up for it is with more draw weight. This is a real challenge for women on the upper scale of animals - Giraffe, hippo, elephant. They typically don't have the draw length or draw weight of average men looking for the same animals. If I had a 30" draw length, I could probably drop 7 pounds off my bow and still hit just as hard.

 

[Altitude sickness]

RR314, Man a 31” draw gives amazing amount of generated power

 

[RR 314]

RR314, Man a 31” draw gives amazing amount of generated power

It did. . Those days are long (pun intended) behind me. Certainly at 85 pounds.

 

[hoytcanon]

That story sounds like BS. Yeah, Fred Bear did it decades ago, but it was a legendary shot with custom gear. A 100lb bow just doesn't have the punch to ethically take an elephant by today's standards. Any reputable PH would know it's a terrible idea and most countries probably wouldn't even allow it. Your friend likely met a guy telling tall tales.

What the hell are you talking about??? A 100 pound draw weight bow will kill anything that walks on planet earth. You clearly know nothing about bowhunting.