Your first Eland...

[Buff-Buster]

Mine was 2004 in the mountains in the East Cape. Six bulls starting to climb out of the bottom of a steep canyon on the oppisite hillside. One grand old bull stood out with his dark blue hue and massive body. The horns didn't matter. As he walked into a opening at 348yds, he stopped and looked up the oppisite hillside at us and the .338 win mag bellowed, sending the 210gr Partition on it's way. The angle was steep enough to allow little drop as I was sited in 1 1/2" high at a hundred yds. The bullet hitting it's mark sounded back up the steep hillside to us as the great bull lurched forward, took a few steps, then toppled over backward rolling back down the hill until we heard him stop by crashing into a stand of trees, shaking them violently as he came to a stop. What a grand old bull. His horns were worn down substantially, but they made him even more grand. Once I made it down to him and looked back up to where we had to get him too, I realized just how important all of the packers back at camp were to be!

 

[mudslinger]

First bowhunt with Harry Nel of African Arrow Safaris ended wiht me beibg lucky enough to take a trophy Eland. After lunch one aft4ernoon we were running a little late getting to the hide and I had a bright red shirt on with my camo britches and harry said do not worry about the color, just hurry! I did not change shirts and we headed to the hide. Before we reached the hide, several Eland scattered from the water into the brush and I thought, maybe, but you know how those African animals are. We got settled into the hide and about 15 minutes later I looked out the side window and saw one Eland making its way to the water. I nudged Harry and ask him if this was a good Eland, One look and Harry said, Yes this is a trophy bull. Be quiet, be still and let him get settled and make dang sure of your shot. Harry had already told me that if the shot on these big bulls was not on target that the tracking job would be difficult at best. I was still in the latter stages of fighting target panic so my focus was on a spot straing up the onside leg and 1/3rd up the body. The big bull settled and stopped perfectly broadside underneath a camel thorn tree at 22 yards. haryy said now was the time so I eased off my chair, drew the bow and settled the 20 yard pin slightly higher than 1/3 up the body and squeezed the realease of bet i could. I saw the arrow hit and felt as if the Slick Trick tipped arrow had found its mark. Harry was pretty excited and i was a total wreck. I could not have styed still or drawn my bow if my life depended on it I was shaking so hard. We waited about 15 minutes and eased out of the hide to where the bull stood. Harry spotted blood and after about 100 yards we walked up on my trophy bull Eland. I have not had him officially measured but he is right at 35" and 11" bases. A trophy in my book and he looks great on a pedestal in, my trophy room. By the way, my wife hates any picture of me and my Eland in my "red" shirt! I was lucky enough to get this Eland early enough that we ventured to another hide late that afternoon and kiled a 36" trophy male Gemsbock.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Very nice mounts mudslinger. I have to ask one question though. Is the Eland on the pedestal mount the same as the Eland in the kill picture? I ask because the Eland on the pedestal has no ruff, while the kill pic shows a very full ruff.

 

[mudslinger]

Unfortunatley they are the same. I was dissapointed when I got the mount back and the forehead ruff was not standing out like it was in the pic. I have a friend that is a taxi and I am going to ask him if there is anything he can do to make it look more like the pic.

 

[Stretch]

I also have an eland picked as a top want. I wish you the best of luck, but mostly, absorb the experience, relish the moment. Great hunts are made up of so very much more than an animal on the ground. Shoot straight.

 

[Ivan Carter]

congrats on a great eland ...eland hunting is one of my favourite when tracking and stalking is involved , they are sharp witted , tough to approach and need a good shot to put them down ...

regarding the ruff , very often without fast and adequate priomary field prep , with all the mud and stuff that gathers in the ruff as they rub it on things , its a prime spot for some hairslip and often thins out substantially in the tanning process ..just my 2c

 

[Diamondhitch]

congrats on a great eland ...eland hunting is one of my favourite when tracking and stalking is involved , they are sharp witted , tough to approach and need a good shot to put them down ...

regarding the ruff , very often without fast and adequate priomary field prep , with all the mud and stuff that gathers in the ruff as they rub it on things , its a prime spot for some hairslip and often thins out substantially in the tanning process ..just my 2c

Good call. Immediate attention to the hide is definitely the #1 cause of problem hides/poor mounts - worldwide. At the time, waiting until morning to get some nice pictures in better light may seem like a good idea but could be the difference between a great mount and a heavily repaired or replaced cape.

 

[bcarper]

Congratulations to Mudslinger and Buffbuster, great Eland. Love that old worn down warrior Buff. Those are some nice pedestal mounts on some great animals Mudslinger. Brian

 

[Buff-Buster]

Thanks Brian. The PH actually applologized for not noticing the worn down horns. We both just concentrated on his massive body. He dwarfed the other bulls in the bunch. I couldn't be happier with him just as he is.

 

[Edward_]

I am happy to bring feed back on my Eland hunt!

After waking up early the first morning we headed out and after a long days walk that provided us with no sight of Eland we called it! Not knowing if we would ever find Eland I woke up the next morning we started walking and around 8am we hear the radio Eland was spotted to the south! After softly running/walking/Stalking threw the bush for a few hours, I see the bull the owner's voice: "That is a good bull" Looking threw the scope I saw him spook and he started to rush towards us because he had no idea where we were. I took one deep breath and took the shot it went straight threw the heart! He stopped walked a few steps then dropped what a great experience it was!!

 

[Diamondhitch]

Way to go. Sounds like a good hunt, congrats.

 

[BryceM]

My first eland was a couple of months ago in Namibia. We were hunting for the second time with Uitspan safaris. My dad had taken a real monster of a huge, blue bull on his first trip. That old bull had a huge bristle-brush forehead and a dewlap big enough to live in. Horns were worn down to maybe 34" but heavy, nice and symmetric.

This trip I decided I needed to join the eland fellowship. We had to drive a couple of hours to get to a new area where the eland were supposed to be. We drove, stalked, and looked and apparently the eland didn't understand their part of the plan. We were moving to another area when we peeked over a hill and saw the herd almost a mile away in the bottom of a valley. Their location couldn't have been better.

We backed out carefully and moved parallel along the ridgeline to get into position. A modereate breeze was blowing directly in our faces. Perfect! We moved ahead slowly and a did a leopard crawl up to the top of the ridge. The herd contained about 20 or 25 animals with a nice mature bull and a younger bull with very distinct stripes - almost like a kudu. We of course wanted the dark, old bull. We moved up to a nice shooting branch and sat and waited for the bull to get clear. The rangefinder showed about 200-225 yards if I remember correctly. They were feeding in and out of some bushes. When the bull finally got clear I walloped him with the 180gr TTSX from my Mk V Wby .300. He jumped and started trotting forward. After only a step or two he was again behind the bushes and out of view.

We waited for a small eternity and the entire herd started to emerge and run off across an open area. Cow, cow, cow, calf, cow, young bull, cow, cow, etc. etc. He never showed up. I was so absolutely convinced he'd require a dozen shots that it didn't even occur to me that he might be down already. Sure enough, we walked up there and he had only gone about 10 yards. The bullet was visible just under the hide in the center of the shoulder on the far side. To date this is the only TTSX I've ever recovered.

And then I saw how big he was!

The PH expertly loaded him, whole, into the cruiser and off we went - much lower to the ground than we started. A good winch is worth so much more than a bottle of ibuprofen! Hook weight of the processed animal was right at 370 kg. The bullet passed squarely through the top of the heart.

I'm at work, so I don't have any of my photos on this computer but I'll try to post some when I get home. The memories of this hunt will be with me for good long while.

 

[Diamondhitch]

The memories of this hunt will be with me for good long while.

Til death do you part!

 

[enysse]

I am happy to bring feed back on my Eland hunt!

After waking up early the first morning we headed out and after a long days walk that provided us with no sight of Eland we called it! Not knowing if we would ever find Eland I woke up the next morning we started walking and around 8am we hear the radio Eland was spotted to the south! After softly running/walking/Stalking threw the bush for a few hours, I see the bull the owner's voice: "That is a good bull" Looking threw the scope I saw him spook and he started to rush towards us because he had no idea where we were. I took one deep breath and took the shot it went straight threw the heart! He stopped walked a few steps then dropped what a great experience it was!! View attachment 12388

You have shot a excellent trophy! You should be proud! Very nice eland.