Thoughts on Tuskless Hunting

[Backyardsniper]

Like everyone else who wants to hunt elephants, I want to kill that elusive 100lb'er. We all do right? However, for some of us it is just not a reality. While planning my hunt I tried every way in the world to justify hunting a bull but the cost was simply prohibitive for me. I could have potentially done a bull hunt for what this safari cost in total, the downside though, would have been flying halfway around the world to pull the trigger one time. Michelle talked me out of that and I'm glad she did.

What I want to do here is just share what I learned about tuskless hunting for the sake of anyone who is thinking about booking a tuskless hunt but isn't quite sure what all it entails.

We will get the nasty business out of the way up front, if you shoot a tuskless elephant there is about a 90% chance it will be in some stage of pregnancy. Cow elephants breed until the day they die and they have basically a two year gestation period, there is no such thing as a cow that is out of the breeding cycle. Obviously your PH will not allow you to shoot a heavily pregnant tuskless, or one with a dependent calf. Which brings us to the next important part of tuskless hunting, which is that while trying to find the particular elephant you are looking for you will get a whole lot of elephant experience! On a bull hunt you are looking for the tracks of that one bull that you will then follow until you find him. While hunting tuskless you will wade into herd after herd of elephant and sort through them all while trying to identify the one elephant you need, a tuskless that is not heavily pregnant and also does not have a dependent calf, sometimes it can take a while to find an elephant that meets all the criteria you are looking for. It is exciting, terrifying, and nerve wracking all at the same time. There will be long tracks that end in disappointment. There will be times when you are 20 yards from elephants and you can hear them breaking branches and eating but you can't see them. You will likely see the awe inspiring power of an elephant blazing a trail when the wind betrays your presence and they decide to depart the scene in a hurry and run, not around, but directly over the top of everything in their path. You will probably get to experience what it feels like when an elephant trumpets from 20 or 30 yards away and absolutely blows your hat off! If you think a turkey gobbling or an elk bugling in close proximity will make your hair stand up, just wait until you get a dose of old jumbo tuning up his trumpet.

Tuskless hunting is probably not for everyone, there is no trophy to take home at the end of the hunt. It is dangerous as hell, like the line in the movie Crimson Tide, I think it was, "Make no mistake gentleman, from this point forward, you are in harm's way!" If you like excitement, if you love a good adrenaline rush, if you have the desire to be around a lot of elephants and learn about them, if you want to sharpen your tracking skills a little, then a tuskless hunt is probably for you.

 

[Jason Miller]

Excellent information and I am at a point trophies mean nothing to me, its about experience ! and price

 

[mark-hunter]

good info. thanks for sharing.

 

[Dinsdale]

FWIW nature doesnt always follow the rules either.

On my last tuskless hunt (Dande), the female wasn’t pregnant and hadn’t nursed a calf in a long time, and she was not young.

Also Buzz Charlton has taken a few adult tuskless males in recent years. (One hunt is on video, maybe his first dvd?)

Tuskless got me over the idea I had to bring stuff home, a lesson I wish I had learned sooner, and that was way before these insane prices I’m seeing for shipping.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Tuskless cow elephants are the most dangerous of them all. I have only shot bull elephants till now. But renowned Tanzanian white hunter and former game ranger Terry Irwin told me that tuskless cows are so aggressive as a means of compensating for their lack of tusks.

Richard Harland (author of ”Ndlovu: The Art Of Hunting The African Elephant“) had some of his hairiest experiences with tuskless cow elephants when culling elephant in the Rhodesian corridors in the 1960s.

I would love to hunt one someday. Trophies be damned. I have enough of them, as it is. If hunting was merely about collecting trophies for me, then I would have retired from it 30 years ago. I hunt because I like hunting. End of story.

 

[grand veneur]

I once shot an older elephant cow in the middle of a herd.

It was not nice, because it caused a lot of unrest in the herd. Some elephants tried to lift the dead cow while the others were looking around, and finally found us. The matriarch attacked us and after a short escape we both, myself and the PH, stood with our rifles at the shoulders in front of the cow that fortunately stopped the attack.

I did not pay anything for shooting the cow because that was commissioned by authorities, but I would not pay for something like that anyway. This hunt has nothing in common with an Trophy bull elephant hunting.

 

[PerH]

The late author Kjell Hallbing ,author of Morgan Kane and many more novels and all else.
Hee wrote a novel called " Tondo" about a Zambia early 70s elephant cull that did not go so well as it should been. Lot of adrenaline ,anxiety ,and cordite blood smell lodged in those pages .

 

[grand veneur]

With every hunt something can go wrong, only that some hunts, even if they go as expected, are not particularly pleasant. However, one can glorify everything.

 

[Philip Glass]

Like everyone else who wants to hunt elephants, I want to kill that elusive 100lb'er. We all do right? However, for some of us it is just not a reality. While planning my hunt I tried every way in the world to justify hunting a bull but the cost was simply prohibitive for me. I could have potentially done a bull hunt for what this safari cost in total, the downside though, would have been flying halfway around the world to pull the trigger one time. Michelle talked me out of that and I'm glad she did.

What I want to do here is just share what I learned about tuskless hunting for the sake of anyone who is thinking about booking a tuskless hunt but isn't quite sure what all it entails.

We will get the nasty business out of the way up front, if you shoot a tuskless elephant there is about a 90% chance it will be in some stage of pregnancy. Cow elephants breed until the day they die and they have basically a two year gestation period, there is no such thing as a cow that is out of the breeding cycle. Obviously your PH will not allow you to shoot a heavily pregnant tuskless, or one with a dependent calf. Which brings us to the next important part of tuskless hunting, which is that while trying to find the particular elephant you are looking for you will get a whole lot of elephant experience! On a bull hunt you are looking for the tracks of that one bull that you will then follow until you find him. While hunting tuskless you will wade into herd after herd of elephant and sort through them all while trying to identify the one elephant you need, a tuskless that is not heavily pregnant and also does not have a dependent calf, sometimes it can take a while to find an elephant that meets all the criteria you are looking for. It is exciting, terrifying, and nerve wracking all at the same time. There will be long tracks that end in disappointment. There will be times when you are 20 yards from elephants and you can hear them breaking branches and eating but you can't see them. You will likely see the awe inspiring power of an elephant blazing a trail when the wind betrays your presence and they decide to depart the scene in a hurry and run, not around, but directly over the top of everything in their path. You will probably get to experience what it feels like when an elephant trumpets from 20 or 30 yards away and absolutely blows your hat off! If you think a turkey gobbling or an elk bugling in close proximity will make your hair stand up, just wait until you get a dose of old jumbo tuning up his trumpet.

Tuskless hunting is probably not for everyone, there is no trophy to take home at the end of the hunt. It is dangerous as hell, like the line in the movie Crimson Tide, I think it was, "Make no mistake gentleman, from this point forward, you are in harm's way!" If you like excitement, if you love a good adrenaline rush, if you have the desire to be around a lot of elephants and learn about them, if you want to sharpen your tracking skills a little, then a tuskless hunt is probably for you.

Very well said! While it is the cheapest elephant hunt it also the most dangerous hunt.

 

[grand veneur]

The danger was not at all the primary problem, but the panic I caused in the herd. Among other things, some cows tried in the chaos to bring their calves to safety. If possible one should spare the animals something like that.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I’m on the fence about tuskless. On the one hand the price is tempting (also looks like great fun) but on other I can see the argument against due to the turmoil it can cause in a herd. I’m all for culling though. I think I’ll probably have to go the non-export, non-trophy bull route

 

[Velo Dog]

Fellow Hunters,

If I were to hunt elephant, due to my static retirment income, most likely it would be a tuskless elephant.
Likewise, be it with or without ivory, perhaps as Wishfulthinker5 pointed out, a non-exportable bull.
All the above appeals to me greatly, as does hippo on land and / or another buffalo hunt.
At this late stage in my life, if I was to ever buy a “dangerous game” hunt, I recon that I’d hunt another buffalo, probably a cow at that, perhaps two cow buffaloes on the same hunting trip.
There’s just something about buffalo.
They are the most appealing in my opinion, of Africa’s so called “Big 5” or “Dangerous 7”, whichever.

The following is just in case you know anyone who might give a rat’s ass…….
Now at age 70, I remain a firearms and fishing tackle enthusiast, especially hunting rifle related and fly fishing related things.
And, ethically + lawfully hunting anything, including tuskless elephant, anterless deer and so forth, for me personally, is pretty much as satisfying as bagging the large horns, antlers and tusks.
Although sporting goods and animals / fish will always and forever be intertwined, nonetheless I enjoy the rifles and the fly rods, just a wee bit more than I do the animals and the fish.

The walls in my home are already festooned with skulls, horns, antlers and swine tusks.
There are numerous framed photographs of the memories from many hunting and fishing trips on the walls here as well.
There are even a couple of zebra skins here, one is on the bed in our guest room.
The other is draped over the railing beside a stair well in our living room.

So, bringing home more bones, teeth and hair seems almost pointless now.
Framed photos bring as much joy these days as anything I have on display here.
I do not care for the descriptor of “Trophy” as it pertains to fish & wild life, preferring instead, “memento”.
Therefore, my greatest memento is the smell of thorn bush and nitro powder smoke, lingering in my nostrils.

Tuskless elephant hunt ?
I say yes, life is short and the world is changing rapidly.
Book it sooner than later.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[grand veneur]

Based on my limited experience with this kind of hunting, I would recommend it for younger people in good physical condition, because above all you should be able to run very fast.

 

[mark-hunter]

Questions: (great topic btw)

1. Which countries offer tuskless ele hunt, besides Zimbabwe?

2. What are the options for tuskless bull?

 

[Backyardsniper]

Based on my limited experience with this kind of hunting, I would recommend it for younger people in good physical condition, because above all you should be able to run very fast.

I will second this we were tracking elephants in a dry river bed and ran into a herd of cows with some very small calves and they were not in a friendly mood. The wind swirled and they started moving in our direction trying to locate us. It was at this point that York looks back over his shoulder at me and says, "If they come we are going to run for that tree on the other side of the river" I though " I sure hope they don't because there ain't no way I can run anywhere in this damn sand!" Tuskless hunting can indeed involve some sprinting occasionally. Ha ha

 

[Backyardsniper]

Questions: (great topic btw)

1. Which countries offer tuskless ele hunt, besides Zimbabwe?

2. What are the options for tuskless bull?

Tuskless bulls are pretty rare, but it does happen. As far as I know a tuskless is a tuskless tho Ugh when it comes to shooting. A tuskless bull would be a really nice bonus!

 

[Ridge Runner]

It's about Conserving and protecting a species!!!

After all isn't the bottom line as hunters: To protect and conserve our natural (hunting) resources?!!.

It shouldn't matter to the hunter as to how deep their respective pockets are; whether exportable or non exportable!! We hunt to preserve and protect animals!.,...our right to hunt a food source,....!!!.

Thus...The Biggest Question.... Although Somewhat Rhetorical; Why Do We Ask Others For Their Opinions/ (permission) to hunt our own budget/pocket book versas their's.

Bottom line is!!: Reducing Non Productive Females Is Just As Important As Reducing The Number As Non Productive Males and "Rogue" Animals!!!.. To Reduce and Improve Genetics and Contribute to The Survival of All Any Species we have/ implement "Cull" hunts.

IMPO...hunt what your budget allows....and Foremost...enjoy your hunt and post Your Hunt Report for all of to read and enjoy.

By All Means....Hunt What You Want...Others Be Damn....And NOT Just Hunting.... Enjoy ALL Your Experiences In Life!!..AND Living It!!.

The Telling of Your memories and experiences are what will inspire the next generation(s) to carry forward our heritage!.

 

[Tanks]

I’m on the fence about tuskless. On the one hand the price is tempting (also looks like great fun) but on other I can see the argument against due to the turmoil it can cause in a herd. I’m all for culling though. I think I’ll probably have to go the non-export, non-trophy bull route

I have shot two tuskless so far. In both cases there were only a couple of elephants around, not a herd. Which is good because if the other cows notice they start looking around.

 

[Tanks]

Tuskless hunting is probably not for everyone, there is no trophy to take home at the end of the hunt.

Slightly incorrect, obviously no ivory but you can take everything else skin, legs, ears etc. home. I have two in process of permitting.

 

[Backyardsniper]

Slightly incorrect, obviously no ivory but you can take everything else skin, legs, ears etc. home. I have two in process of permitting.

True, I didn't really think about keeping the skin and such.