Judging Eland

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

Etosha, Namibia

 

[DaveL]

I hope people add eland pictures and memories to this thread.

Guided a fellow to this lovely bull in Niassa last year, October '18. Took him cleanly with one shot at 220 yards with a .416 Rem.

Love hunting these blue grey bulls!

 

[tarbe]

View attachment 274489

Guided a fellow to this lovely bull in Niassa last year, October '18. Took him cleanly with one shot at 220 yards with a .416 Rem.

Love hunting these blue grey bulls!

That’s a good poke with a 416!

 

[Tim Blackwell]

My first eland taken with KMG Safaris in 2018. A great hunt and a 300y shot with the Kimber .300 WM after a long chase.

 

[Daga Boy]

View attachment 274489

Guided a fellow to this lovely bull in Niassa last year, October '18. Took him cleanly with one shot at 220 yards with a .416 Rem.

Love hunting these blue grey bulls!

That's a beautiful animal - and in typical Eland terrain.
Well done!

 

[Daga Boy]

My first eland taken with KMG Safaris in 2018. A great hunt and a 300y shot with the Kimber .300 WM after a long chase.
View attachment 274632 View attachment 274633

Very nice, and well done.
Must say, I would not be keen on such a long shot except in very open terrain.
As big as it an eland can just disappear.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Very nice, and well done.
Must say, I would not be keen on such a long shot except in very open terrain.
As big as it an eland can just disappear.

It was not our first case option that's for sure, but we got the job done. The day prior Marius and I stalked a Bushbuck ram to 8 yards in the thick stuff....so I guess these things even out haha

 

[Daga Boy]

Bushbuck are amazing ito ability not to be seen. sometimes you can be right on top of them and not realise it.
Once, while fishing for trout on a misty morning in a dense forest, I looked to my left and there was a pair standing maybe 5m away. not sure if they arrived silently while i was concentrating on the stream or whether they had been there all along. Was quite an amazing experience.

 

[Tim1990]

This is my Eland from November 2021.
Ist was an amazing Hunt and i think it’s a nice trophy.

Could anyone judge the age of this Bull?
It didnt had a huge dewlap, but he has big/long horns, a nice brush and a nice grey color

 

[DaveL]

That’s a good poke with a 416!

It sure was Tim, but dropped him in his tracks! Found him at the opposite end of a 'vlei' and he was switched on to us so we couldn't get closer. Good glass, fine marksmanship and a trusty A frame did the rest.

 

[DaveL]

Probably one of the finer eland I've taken with a client! October 2021 in Niassa Reserve. These Miombo bulls in remote Moz are something else!

 

[DaveL]

Probably one of the finer eland I've taken with a client! October 2021 in Niassa Reserve. These Miombo bulls in remote Moz are something else!

Would help if I attached the picture I am commenting on - what a numbnut..!

 

[Frederik]

Tracked for eland bulls in cloudy almost rainy weather for 4 days and eventually saw this big boy. I could only see the huge body and dewlap and nice grey hairless body and let the client shoot the bull.

I never saw the horns or that he had no tuff client didn't mind what the horns looked like since it was hunting for experience and tracking eland in mopane veldt in hot November.

I was very shocked that he did not have a nice tuff and horns showed a mature bull in his prime then I found out that some bulls just dont get a tuff and I see some other big bulls in this thread without it either.

Client was very happy to have ended 4 days long of tracking each day from dark to dark and didn't mind the no tuff even in November with just a bit of rain to make the Mopane green no grass yet this bull slaugthered out 340kg after a dry long winter.

So I suppose the Tuff is in the genes or if anybody else has a good theory or fact of why some bulls don't grow them? One theory I heard is that if there is a dominant eland bull in the area the other bulls will not grow the tuff untill he is not dominant anymore but I don't know if that is close to true?

But if I did notice that this bull didn't have a tuff I would not have let the client shoot it which would have meant more tracking and maybe not finding a bull. This was a dedicated eland bull tracking hunt. Now the Euro Mount stands proudly in his trophy room and he recalls a super great tracking hunt. If I remember correctly horns were around 34"

 

[Frederik]

DaveL, Those Niassa bulls are just spectacular I remember seeing them run off in NIassa while hunting cleint didnt want an eland altough we saw them regurlaly. Definetely bigger in body than big dagga boys.

 

[Trophyhunter01]

Old bull Limpopo 2020, worn horns, appears to be on the way down.

 

[Proneshooter]

Zimbabwe 2019 top, 2017 bottom

 

[Nevada Mike]

Eland taken this fall on Lukwati North - huge dewlap, nice ruff on his forehead. Taken at 200 yards + or - with 400 grn Swift A Frame from my 404J.