Illegal collared elephant hunt in Greater Kruger – warden convicted

[Hank2211]

This is a separate hunt in Balule than the previous post. This hunt takes place November 23 and an elephant is shot 800 meters from a lodge. The initial report takes place in August. In that hunt a collared elephant on Balule is shot in Mapumalanga, 700 meters from the Limpopo province boundary where the license was issued.

Wonder if elephant hunting on Balule is about finished.

@Wheels is of course correct that this is a separate hunt, in a different area from the one which began this thread.

I'd add a couple of points. Firstly, the elephant was taken 800 meters from the lodge. That's quite a distance. Almost 9 foot ball fields. Unless the observers had bios, it's hard to see how they could have had an accurate appreciation of what was going on, although I don't doubt that if you heard shots and saw an elephant fall, you might reasonably conclude that it had been shot. But trauma? Having said that, personally I would not want to shoot anything within sight of a building and other people not part of my hunting party. 800 meters is a long way for an "elephant" bullet to travel, but it could happen.

The point though, that I really take issue with is the "several shot were fired before the elephant was successfully brought down." There seems to be an implication here that there was poor shooting, or the animal suffered more than was necessary.

I learned, and practised, the rule that once you pull the trigger on an elephant, you keep shooting until it is on the ground. The first shot might well have been a fatal shot, but a dead elephant can still cover a meaningful distance. And then once the elephant is on the ground, it is generally good practice, in my opinion, to put another shot either into the brain or into the heart. This rule may not apply if you have taken a successful brain shot, but while we tend to see those shots on tv, because the results of a (successful) shot are so dramatic, I think most PH's would prefer you go for the higher percentage heart/lung shot.

So the fact that several shot were taken seems a meaningless comment. Or am I being overly sensitive (maybe like the observers?!).

 

[CAustin]

You need to remember that the lodge they're speaking of is for people doing photo safaris. The Balule is a pretty large area, as are the other KNP bordering properties forming the APNR. Hunting as a means of population control has been agreed to by the APNR and I would presume KNP too, but only on the privately held properties.

As such, there's I'm sure an agreement with the lodges as to no hunt zones, like close to the lodges for no other reason than safety, but I'm sure also to keep it out of view of the photo tourists. They did not pay to see an animal hunted and I'm sure a certain amount of anti-hunters are in this category and this just makes things worse.

Again, the outfitter/PH screwed this hunt up. The ultimate fallout from this could be no more hunting on the APNR properties.

Phil you are correct on all points! This APNR is where I hunted and harvested the guy in my avatar. On day one he was in fact working down to the river at noon. We had lunch and waited for the three bulls to move away from the river. I well remember the lodges on the other side and the decks overlooking Balule.
I’m glad that the two PHs with me knew what they were doing and kept our hunt legal and without poking antis in the eye! The lodges were pointed out to me during lunch and it was clearly explained that we would not be shooting within their viewing range.
A good Ph s worth a lot in these situations and I was fortunate to have two of them!

 

[CAustin]

@Wheels is of course correct that this is a separate hunt, in a different area from the one which began this thread.

I'd add a couple of points. Firstly, the elephant was taken 800 meters from the lodge. That's quite a distance. Almost 9 foot ball fields. Unless the observers had bios, it's hard to see how they could have had an accurate appreciation of what was going on, although I don't doubt that if you heard shots and saw an elephant fall, you might reasonably conclude that it had been shot. But trauma? Having said that, personally I would not want to shoot anything within sight of a building and other people not part of my hunting party. 800 meters is a long way for an "elephant" bullet to travel, but it could happen.

The point though, that I really take issue with is the "several shot were fired before the elephant was successfully brought down." There seems to be an implication here that there was poor shooting, or the animal suffered more than was necessary.

I learned, and practised, the rule that once you pull the trigger on an elephant, you keep shooting until it is on the ground. The first shot might well have been a fatal shot, but a dead elephant can still cover a meaningful distance. And then once the elephant is on the ground, it is generally good practice, in my opinion, to put another shot either into the brain or into the heart. This rule may not apply if you have taken a successful brain shot, but while we tend to see those shots on tv, because the results of a (successful) shot are so dramatic, I think most PH's would prefer you go for the higher percentage heart/lung shot.

So the fact that several shot were taken seems a meaningless comment. Or am I being overly sensitive (maybe like the observers?!).

Hank those lodges are on a bluff on the other side of the river and so you can see a long long way. I observed photo safari types up there with optics.
I will try to find a picture so that you can what I am trying to describe. The Balulue APNR tries not to anger the park visitors which I’m sure is a wise policy given the situation surrounding elephant hunting!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Africa Geographic - Diagnosing Trauma.

 

[sgt_zim]

@Wheels is of course correct that this is a separate hunt, in a different area from the one which began this thread.

I'd add a couple of points. Firstly, the elephant was taken 800 meters from the lodge. That's quite a distance. Almost 9 foot ball fields. Unless the observers had bios, it's hard to see how they could have had an accurate appreciation of what was going on, although I don't doubt that if you heard shots and saw an elephant fall, you might reasonably conclude that it had been shot. But trauma? Having said that, personally I would not want to shoot anything within sight of a building and other people not part of my hunting party. 800 meters is a long way for an "elephant" bullet to travel, but it could happen.

The point though, that I really take issue with is the "several shot were fired before the elephant was successfully brought down." There seems to be an implication here that there was poor shooting, or the animal suffered more than was necessary.

I learned, and practised, the rule that once you pull the trigger on an elephant, you keep shooting until it is on the ground. The first shot might well have been a fatal shot, but a dead elephant can still cover a meaningful distance. And then once the elephant is on the ground, it is generally good practice, in my opinion, to put another shot either into the brain or into the heart. This rule may not apply if you have taken a successful brain shot, but while we tend to see those shots on tv, because the results of a (successful) shot are so dramatic, I think most PH's would prefer you go for the higher percentage heart/lung shot.

So the fact that several shot were taken seems a meaningless comment. Or am I being overly sensitive (maybe like the observers?!).

Even apart from ensuring our safety, there is our ethical obligation to continue shooting until the animal is well and truly dead. The antis don't grasp that not-very-fine point, either.