DonPablo
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I've heard the above info about shooting them in the lungs but thought Mtn_infantry had another method in mind.
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Finally getting a shot at an elephant with a bow!!
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I've heard the above info about shooting them in the lungs but thought Mtn_infantry had another method in mind.
mrpoindexter
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I made it to camp safely. We head out in the morning to start on hippo. I am dead tired. Will have a good write up tomorrow. Nothing much to report now anyway aside from how hard it was to sleep in the car on the way to camp
looking forward to it !!
Steve Kobrine talked about this manner to hunt crocodile and he is one of the legends. Hitting them through the lungs.
Huntforever
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It can be down. Mine would have died with 1 arrow but it came up the the bank to breath and i place another in him.
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Huntforever
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Your basing your knowledge off others so called experience. I know a PH that has killed a number of elephants with a bow and had them die within 150 yards.
Huntforever
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That’s one the funniest comments I’ve heard to date. So Precise, so articulate too bad it’s not worth the paper is written on. lol
Huntforever
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Can’t wait for the reports !!!!
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Congratulations on the croc with a bow!
HH
HH
JES Adventures
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Good work on the Croc, Congrats! Can’t wait to see the Ele
John Ed
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Good luck Mr P! Looking forward to reading about your adventures.
mrpoindexter
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I lay in bed and am awoken by the sound of hippos.
We were supposed to cross the river before dawn and wait for the hippos to come in. The plan was to get up at 4am and be in a blind at the tip of an outcropping of land by 4:30. Apparently the hippos were a bit restless and decided to come in early. I look at my watch. It is 2am. Nothing I can do now but rest and listen. Lots of hippo noise and eventually I hear some hyenas.
4am comes slowly but I am already wide awake. I get ready and am ready to go by 4:10am. I head down to the fire by the river and see Steven and Wessel there. We are all ready to start the hunt.
Getting into a small boat in the dark is a bit of a challenge but we manage to climb in without capsizing it. 3 full grown men, one cooler with some food and one skinny tracker manning the boat. We sink low and slowly cross the river, trying not to draw the attention of the hippos we can see but not really see under the moonlight.
Eventually we make it to the other side of the river. Steven had tied some toilet paper along a footpath previously to help us navigate in the dark. He is in front and I am right behind. We move slowly, deliberately and most of all quietly. There are hippos on both sides of us and in front as well. I can see their shapes shimmer in the river basked by the moonlight. A dark slimy shape with speckles of silver moonlight reflected off parts of their head, giving a good clue they are there but not enough to make out where they are looking or if they are alerted to our presence.
From the left, I hear a snort. Looking over, a hippo has seen us and decides to head towards the water instead of towards us. He was less than 40 yards away but more than 20. In this low light, that is the best I can guess. Only one gun in the group and even my bow isn’t readied as I have it in a soft case to hide the glow in the dark spots I put in it to help me find it in the dark of the blind.
I have hunted dangerous game before, but this is another level and we have not even gotten to the elephants yet.
With so much to prepare for on this hunt, I realize I did not make a video for my family should tragedy strike. I did pay up my life insurance though, with the check clearing about a week before I left.
Lots of noise in the quiet of the night. There are far too many roosters in Africa now for my liking, but that it the inevitable creep of civilization pushing further and further into the previously untamed wilds of Africa.
As the sun comes up just past six, I can now make out the hippos and we can start to assess the group. We look for big humps by their nostrils as an indicator of the tusks that lie beneath. It is a slow process but Steven tells me there is a lifetime hippo out here. He hints that if I don’t shoot it, he might and I don’t get the sense that he is joking. Rather, there may be a world record hippo in the area.
We get some good looks at the pod and the big hippo is there, but a bow shot does not present itself. He is 38 yards out - certainly within range but quartering towards and his vitals underneath the water. Finally, around 7am they suspect something is amiss and move out from their position. They do not leave, but they are further away. All we can do is wait and hope they get comfortable and come back close.
I hear the din of the locals in the distance. It is somewhat quiet as they are quite a distance off but sound travels far over water. I still hear the hippos and that keeps my interest. When I hear them come up for air, I glance back to see if they are moving closer or farther away. They are close enough that we must be wary of our sounds and movements, but not so close that I need to reach for my bow.
We sneak out to the back side of the island to see another hippo but he is not exposed enough. By 10am, we call it quits and head back to camp for breakfast and then plan to move on to elephants.
After breakfast, we send the trackers over to the elephant area with supplies. I look back and see the hippos are now out of the water enough for a bow shot. Sadly, the trackers have the boat so we cannot cross the river for the hippo. 261 yards away from where I am sitting. I could close maybe 30 yards until I would be in the water myself - still leaving a 230 yard shot. Tomorrow, I suppose.
The boat gets back and ferries Wessel and I up the river where the guides are. We are dropped off as Forget goes back to get Steven. While waiting, we spot a troupe of baboons and a lone female bushbuck. No sign of a male, but I have a permit for one and will keep my eyes peeled.
Off in the distance, about a mile away, we see some elephants. One is tuskless, but one of the trackers inform me it is a female with a calf. They start walking towards us.
We make our way up the hillside and behind the elephants when one of the trackers spots a hippo on land with the elephants between it and the water, effectively trapping it in the tall grass.
As we don’t see any good elephants that fit the bill for my permit, we decide to try and find the hippo in the tall grass while there are elephants on two and eventually 3 sides of us.
After half an hour of searching, we give up on the hippo and start working our way through the elephant herd. There are perhaps 20 to 30 elephants. It is hard to judge as the herd is very spread out and we cannot see them all at one time.
There are several tuskless ones in the group but every time we get close enough to see the details, they are female. About half of them have calves with them.
I can shoot a female tuskless and discuss the gameplan with Steven. He tells me we have time to get a better specimen. I explain to him again that I don’t really care about that. It isn’t exportable and has no tusks so it doesn’t really matter if it is a 10,000 pound elephant or a 13,000 pound elephant. I don’t want to spend days trying to get a larger tuskless and not have enough time to get the rest of the animals I am looking for. I want a monster of a crocodile and a good sized or better hippo. Any old elephant will do.
We circle around the back of the herd and start working our way forward to get into range of a tuskless at the back of the group. They are all headed back downstream. The wind is in our favor, but it takes time to catch up to elephants on the move.
We catch up to them several times but cannot get a good angle for a shot. Finally, we get a good chance and as luck would have it, another female bushbuck is in our way. We hope she does not bark and give away our position but that isn’t how luck usually works and she busts our stalk.
We press onwards and luck turns in our favor as we hear the herd break off from the river and head up a valley into the hills. This will end up having the herd drive right past us. Half of them have already gone through by the time we get there but we see the tuskless we were hoping for and she is less than 50 yards away.
I take up a position behind a copse of little trees that looks more like a shrub on miracle grow. It works perfectly for cover, but Steven tells me that we are right next to a fishing lodge.
In my mind, fishing is just another kind of hunting, but I am told these are “bunny huggers” so we have to be very careful and wait for the elephant to move further away from the lodge.
Arrow knocked, I wait for the elephant to clear from the tree she is behind and I will have a perfect shot opportunity at under 30 yards. Just as I get to see her, a young get bull steps between us. 20 yards away and staring as us. We have to slowly pull back while Steven tries to intimidate this bull out of the way.
One of the trackers makes a noise to get our attention and points to a mature bull coming up to us on the right. He looks like he has decided to do some intimidating of his own.
I like to think I am not very easily intimidated. Maybe I am just reckless or foolish. Only history will eventually decide which is correct, perhaps. Wessel, Steven and I all stare down this pair of elephants, but the ranger from Zambia Parks is not so steely. He fired a shot. For a second, I thought he had actually shot the big bull but it was a warning shot. The elephants all took off, then we heard people coming from the lodge next door yelling expletives, telling us to fuck off, etc. they even came out on a boat to yell as us, but sadly I was gone by the time they got there. Steven directed them to the park ranger who was the one that fired a shot and he put them in their place.
Back at the lodge at 4:40pm and I can just say today was about as successful as one can have on a hunting day where you don’t actually get an animal.
I expect tomorrow we should likely connect on something.
We were supposed to cross the river before dawn and wait for the hippos to come in. The plan was to get up at 4am and be in a blind at the tip of an outcropping of land by 4:30. Apparently the hippos were a bit restless and decided to come in early. I look at my watch. It is 2am. Nothing I can do now but rest and listen. Lots of hippo noise and eventually I hear some hyenas.
4am comes slowly but I am already wide awake. I get ready and am ready to go by 4:10am. I head down to the fire by the river and see Steven and Wessel there. We are all ready to start the hunt.
Getting into a small boat in the dark is a bit of a challenge but we manage to climb in without capsizing it. 3 full grown men, one cooler with some food and one skinny tracker manning the boat. We sink low and slowly cross the river, trying not to draw the attention of the hippos we can see but not really see under the moonlight.
Eventually we make it to the other side of the river. Steven had tied some toilet paper along a footpath previously to help us navigate in the dark. He is in front and I am right behind. We move slowly, deliberately and most of all quietly. There are hippos on both sides of us and in front as well. I can see their shapes shimmer in the river basked by the moonlight. A dark slimy shape with speckles of silver moonlight reflected off parts of their head, giving a good clue they are there but not enough to make out where they are looking or if they are alerted to our presence.
From the left, I hear a snort. Looking over, a hippo has seen us and decides to head towards the water instead of towards us. He was less than 40 yards away but more than 20. In this low light, that is the best I can guess. Only one gun in the group and even my bow isn’t readied as I have it in a soft case to hide the glow in the dark spots I put in it to help me find it in the dark of the blind.
I have hunted dangerous game before, but this is another level and we have not even gotten to the elephants yet.
With so much to prepare for on this hunt, I realize I did not make a video for my family should tragedy strike. I did pay up my life insurance though, with the check clearing about a week before I left.
Lots of noise in the quiet of the night. There are far too many roosters in Africa now for my liking, but that it the inevitable creep of civilization pushing further and further into the previously untamed wilds of Africa.
As the sun comes up just past six, I can now make out the hippos and we can start to assess the group. We look for big humps by their nostrils as an indicator of the tusks that lie beneath. It is a slow process but Steven tells me there is a lifetime hippo out here. He hints that if I don’t shoot it, he might and I don’t get the sense that he is joking. Rather, there may be a world record hippo in the area.
We get some good looks at the pod and the big hippo is there, but a bow shot does not present itself. He is 38 yards out - certainly within range but quartering towards and his vitals underneath the water. Finally, around 7am they suspect something is amiss and move out from their position. They do not leave, but they are further away. All we can do is wait and hope they get comfortable and come back close.
I hear the din of the locals in the distance. It is somewhat quiet as they are quite a distance off but sound travels far over water. I still hear the hippos and that keeps my interest. When I hear them come up for air, I glance back to see if they are moving closer or farther away. They are close enough that we must be wary of our sounds and movements, but not so close that I need to reach for my bow.
We sneak out to the back side of the island to see another hippo but he is not exposed enough. By 10am, we call it quits and head back to camp for breakfast and then plan to move on to elephants.
After breakfast, we send the trackers over to the elephant area with supplies. I look back and see the hippos are now out of the water enough for a bow shot. Sadly, the trackers have the boat so we cannot cross the river for the hippo. 261 yards away from where I am sitting. I could close maybe 30 yards until I would be in the water myself - still leaving a 230 yard shot. Tomorrow, I suppose.
The boat gets back and ferries Wessel and I up the river where the guides are. We are dropped off as Forget goes back to get Steven. While waiting, we spot a troupe of baboons and a lone female bushbuck. No sign of a male, but I have a permit for one and will keep my eyes peeled.
Off in the distance, about a mile away, we see some elephants. One is tuskless, but one of the trackers inform me it is a female with a calf. They start walking towards us.
We make our way up the hillside and behind the elephants when one of the trackers spots a hippo on land with the elephants between it and the water, effectively trapping it in the tall grass.
As we don’t see any good elephants that fit the bill for my permit, we decide to try and find the hippo in the tall grass while there are elephants on two and eventually 3 sides of us.
After half an hour of searching, we give up on the hippo and start working our way through the elephant herd. There are perhaps 20 to 30 elephants. It is hard to judge as the herd is very spread out and we cannot see them all at one time.
There are several tuskless ones in the group but every time we get close enough to see the details, they are female. About half of them have calves with them.
I can shoot a female tuskless and discuss the gameplan with Steven. He tells me we have time to get a better specimen. I explain to him again that I don’t really care about that. It isn’t exportable and has no tusks so it doesn’t really matter if it is a 10,000 pound elephant or a 13,000 pound elephant. I don’t want to spend days trying to get a larger tuskless and not have enough time to get the rest of the animals I am looking for. I want a monster of a crocodile and a good sized or better hippo. Any old elephant will do.
We circle around the back of the herd and start working our way forward to get into range of a tuskless at the back of the group. They are all headed back downstream. The wind is in our favor, but it takes time to catch up to elephants on the move.
We catch up to them several times but cannot get a good angle for a shot. Finally, we get a good chance and as luck would have it, another female bushbuck is in our way. We hope she does not bark and give away our position but that isn’t how luck usually works and she busts our stalk.
We press onwards and luck turns in our favor as we hear the herd break off from the river and head up a valley into the hills. This will end up having the herd drive right past us. Half of them have already gone through by the time we get there but we see the tuskless we were hoping for and she is less than 50 yards away.
I take up a position behind a copse of little trees that looks more like a shrub on miracle grow. It works perfectly for cover, but Steven tells me that we are right next to a fishing lodge.
In my mind, fishing is just another kind of hunting, but I am told these are “bunny huggers” so we have to be very careful and wait for the elephant to move further away from the lodge.
Arrow knocked, I wait for the elephant to clear from the tree she is behind and I will have a perfect shot opportunity at under 30 yards. Just as I get to see her, a young get bull steps between us. 20 yards away and staring as us. We have to slowly pull back while Steven tries to intimidate this bull out of the way.
One of the trackers makes a noise to get our attention and points to a mature bull coming up to us on the right. He looks like he has decided to do some intimidating of his own.
I like to think I am not very easily intimidated. Maybe I am just reckless or foolish. Only history will eventually decide which is correct, perhaps. Wessel, Steven and I all stare down this pair of elephants, but the ranger from Zambia Parks is not so steely. He fired a shot. For a second, I thought he had actually shot the big bull but it was a warning shot. The elephants all took off, then we heard people coming from the lodge next door yelling expletives, telling us to fuck off, etc. they even came out on a boat to yell as us, but sadly I was gone by the time they got there. Steven directed them to the park ranger who was the one that fired a shot and he put them in their place.
Back at the lodge at 4:40pm and I can just say today was about as successful as one can have on a hunting day where you don’t actually get an animal.
I expect tomorrow we should likely connect on something.
Rumrunner
AH member
Really enjoying your adventure. Looking forward to everything working your way.
mrpoindexter
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The wind woke me up but it wasn’t really the wind.
Something sounded different. An elephant was outside my room. Less than 20 yards, eating from a tree outside my door. Then less than 10 yards eating from the closest tree to my room. Then 3 yards from my window he decided to relieve himself. Two exits, no waiting, he made a mess just next to my window. Very funny, but the wind was blowing the wrong way so if it was a prank, it failed. If it was a tuskless, he would have heard a twang as I stood there in my underwear looking at him.
After a while, I had enough and went to bed. An hour later, I was woken again. He came back with friends. Three bull elephants outside my room. One shook the tree to free up the nuts or fruit on it - not sure what kind of tree and I wasn’t about to investigate with them there. All three had ivory. Nothing super massive, but one was a shooter, probably the biggest set of ivory I have seen on this side of the Zambezi. It just was not a legal target for me on this permit.
This time, I got my flashlight so I could take some photos and video. They were unfazed by the lights.
At least I know the rifle didn’t chase off all the elephants in the area or if it did, not for long. It is now 3am and I doubt I get back to sleep. We will be up in an hour and head out for hippos.
The stress of the western world is gone. I look forward to the coming day of hunting.
Back up at 4am and crossing the river at 4:30 to the small Zambian island in the middle of the Zambezi. This time I used the thermal so there are no surprises. Saw a hippo camped out at our boat landing site, so we had to go downstream and offload a bit further down. As we traversed the island, I would periodically check for hippo. At the same spot we came across one the day before we found the entire pod had bedded down, perhaps 40 yards from where our path takes us. We were able to make our way past them undetected, but they ran into the water right as we were getting into the blind.
The morning went slowly. We could hear the hippos making a lot of noise. It made me think of my kids playing Marco Polo in the pool. They would surface, one would grunt and another couple would grunt back and it just repeated for a few hours. Unfortunately, by the time the shooting light was up, they were out of range and mostly submerged. We waited for them to settle down, but just prior to the time we expected them to surface and expose their vitals, they left. We walked the perimeter of the island and found they had traveled over to just next to what they call the Devil’s gate, a rough part of the river where our boat cannot take a full complement of passengers. Also, should the hippos charge, we cannot outrun them there.
We find a few hippos just to the south but they are not surfacing yet. We give them some time and continue to walk the perimeter looking for opportunities. We pass by the fisherman farmer who sleeps in the field with his wife to protect their crop from the hippos. His entire farm cannot be more than a few acres and wouldn’t be considered a farm in California. It looks like he waters all his corn plants by hand. That he would have to risk his life and his wife’s to protect so little from such dangerous animals is quite sad and sobering to see how good life in America is. He informs us of the animal activity in the area.
We see three hippos just in the river near his farm. It wakes a while but we wait until they start to surface so they can nap while in the water.
There is only one bull, and he will not give me a broadside shot. I sneak as close as I can and also as far to the side as possible. The hippo is about 15 degrees to the right otherwise I would be perfectly behind him. I range him at 45 yards and drop an arrow into his back.
The arrow buries to about the cresting. I look at Steven and he seems a little unsure, feeling it is a bit far back. I tell him it will go through the lung but only one lung. From the angle, I could not get a double lung shot. The hippos all go underwater and things are quiet. We see one hippo surface and then another. Neither were our bull.
Finally, half way across the river, we see a hippo surface and he sprays blood into the water. There are bubbles on the surface and it is obvious that there is a solid lung shot. He submerges a few more times as he makes his way to the opposite river bank. We are hopeful that he may exit the river right next to the skinning shed, but this hippo cannot climb the banks now.
He keeps going down river and eventually ends up in a tree and thrashes out the last of his life.
By the time we get there, we cannot see the hippo. We are told he is stuck under the tree but to be extra cautious, we send the boat downstream to look for the body. That turned out to be a good decision.
They found my hippo before he took a trip to Mozambique. We do find out how strong the mighty Zambezi can be however and the boat cannot pull the hippo carcass upstream. It can barely move upstream with it in tow - perhaps a quarter mile per hour and then the engine gives out after a few minutes of running too much power.
We fashion a rope to its leg and then take a boat upstream a couple hundred feet, tie the boat to a tree and then tug of war the hippo upstream to us. Have one small boat hold him there while the other one moves upstream and repeats the process.
The trackers are surprised the bwana wants to help but I am going to earn this animal. It is a three and a half hour recovery. I am physically exhausted but my hippo is back in camp and good lord they emit some foul odors when the gasses escape their body.
We take a trip to some little village later to try and get a new car battery for the Land Cruiser as some of the employees killed it charging their phones and running it completely dead the day before. No more hunting in the afternoon but I am so tired I am fine with that.
I sleep soundly and am not woken by elephants. Tomorrow we should look for another elephant herd
Something sounded different. An elephant was outside my room. Less than 20 yards, eating from a tree outside my door. Then less than 10 yards eating from the closest tree to my room. Then 3 yards from my window he decided to relieve himself. Two exits, no waiting, he made a mess just next to my window. Very funny, but the wind was blowing the wrong way so if it was a prank, it failed. If it was a tuskless, he would have heard a twang as I stood there in my underwear looking at him.
After a while, I had enough and went to bed. An hour later, I was woken again. He came back with friends. Three bull elephants outside my room. One shook the tree to free up the nuts or fruit on it - not sure what kind of tree and I wasn’t about to investigate with them there. All three had ivory. Nothing super massive, but one was a shooter, probably the biggest set of ivory I have seen on this side of the Zambezi. It just was not a legal target for me on this permit.
This time, I got my flashlight so I could take some photos and video. They were unfazed by the lights.
At least I know the rifle didn’t chase off all the elephants in the area or if it did, not for long. It is now 3am and I doubt I get back to sleep. We will be up in an hour and head out for hippos.
The stress of the western world is gone. I look forward to the coming day of hunting.
Back up at 4am and crossing the river at 4:30 to the small Zambian island in the middle of the Zambezi. This time I used the thermal so there are no surprises. Saw a hippo camped out at our boat landing site, so we had to go downstream and offload a bit further down. As we traversed the island, I would periodically check for hippo. At the same spot we came across one the day before we found the entire pod had bedded down, perhaps 40 yards from where our path takes us. We were able to make our way past them undetected, but they ran into the water right as we were getting into the blind.
The morning went slowly. We could hear the hippos making a lot of noise. It made me think of my kids playing Marco Polo in the pool. They would surface, one would grunt and another couple would grunt back and it just repeated for a few hours. Unfortunately, by the time the shooting light was up, they were out of range and mostly submerged. We waited for them to settle down, but just prior to the time we expected them to surface and expose their vitals, they left. We walked the perimeter of the island and found they had traveled over to just next to what they call the Devil’s gate, a rough part of the river where our boat cannot take a full complement of passengers. Also, should the hippos charge, we cannot outrun them there.
We find a few hippos just to the south but they are not surfacing yet. We give them some time and continue to walk the perimeter looking for opportunities. We pass by the fisherman farmer who sleeps in the field with his wife to protect their crop from the hippos. His entire farm cannot be more than a few acres and wouldn’t be considered a farm in California. It looks like he waters all his corn plants by hand. That he would have to risk his life and his wife’s to protect so little from such dangerous animals is quite sad and sobering to see how good life in America is. He informs us of the animal activity in the area.
We see three hippos just in the river near his farm. It wakes a while but we wait until they start to surface so they can nap while in the water.
There is only one bull, and he will not give me a broadside shot. I sneak as close as I can and also as far to the side as possible. The hippo is about 15 degrees to the right otherwise I would be perfectly behind him. I range him at 45 yards and drop an arrow into his back.
The arrow buries to about the cresting. I look at Steven and he seems a little unsure, feeling it is a bit far back. I tell him it will go through the lung but only one lung. From the angle, I could not get a double lung shot. The hippos all go underwater and things are quiet. We see one hippo surface and then another. Neither were our bull.
Finally, half way across the river, we see a hippo surface and he sprays blood into the water. There are bubbles on the surface and it is obvious that there is a solid lung shot. He submerges a few more times as he makes his way to the opposite river bank. We are hopeful that he may exit the river right next to the skinning shed, but this hippo cannot climb the banks now.
He keeps going down river and eventually ends up in a tree and thrashes out the last of his life.
By the time we get there, we cannot see the hippo. We are told he is stuck under the tree but to be extra cautious, we send the boat downstream to look for the body. That turned out to be a good decision.
They found my hippo before he took a trip to Mozambique. We do find out how strong the mighty Zambezi can be however and the boat cannot pull the hippo carcass upstream. It can barely move upstream with it in tow - perhaps a quarter mile per hour and then the engine gives out after a few minutes of running too much power.
We fashion a rope to its leg and then take a boat upstream a couple hundred feet, tie the boat to a tree and then tug of war the hippo upstream to us. Have one small boat hold him there while the other one moves upstream and repeats the process.
The trackers are surprised the bwana wants to help but I am going to earn this animal. It is a three and a half hour recovery. I am physically exhausted but my hippo is back in camp and good lord they emit some foul odors when the gasses escape their body.
We take a trip to some little village later to try and get a new car battery for the Land Cruiser as some of the employees killed it charging their phones and running it completely dead the day before. No more hunting in the afternoon but I am so tired I am fine with that.
I sleep soundly and am not woken by elephants. Tomorrow we should look for another elephant herd
PHOENIX PHIL
AH ambassador
Congrats on the hippo!
Huntforever
AH enthusiast
Great Story and Hippo!!
1dirthawker
AH elite
well freaking done!!!! and a great read. congrats, your preparation paid off.
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THAT'S AFRICA SAFARI wrote on tommy1005's profile.
Happy birthday Tommy1005 we hope the year ahead is filled with alot of hunting!