ZIMBABWE: Elephant & Leopard In Zimbabwe - Cancellation Hunt Report

[Green Chile]

The .416 solid (and that's an important distinction) expanded to .466, which is a 9% expansion. One factor on the .416, which I wish you could hear, was the very audible slap of the solid hitting meat.

 

[Trogon]

I very much enjoyed reading your hunt report and the manner you presented it here. Details matter. Congratulations to you on a enjoyable safari. I'll strive to do better reports in the future after reading yours. Thank you!

 

[K-man]

Great hunt and great write-up! If you are starting a pool for ivory weight, I'll put mine in for upper 60's for the shorter/thicker one and almost that 70 for the longer one. ?? You realize all future hunts are now ruined for you except maybe leopard. Congratulations!!

 

[375Fox]

Great report. Congratulations on a great hunt. That eland is amazing and you did really well on plains game overall (plus the elephant) not every hunt in a concession area is that lucky. I’m always envious of the hunters willing to jump on cancellation deals. I always tell myself I’ll wait for a deal but I can’t. I seem to enjoy the planning and anticipation of hunt more than the savings apparently.

 

[Altitude sickness]

375fox, I was looking at auction hunts and discounted hunts also. And then realized that booking full price isn’t that much more to be able to pick the dates and get the quota I wanted.

I agree the planning and prep is half the fun. My wife loves to hunt Africa and we need time to get everything in order. She would stroke out if I told her we got a good deal and leave in 2 weeks.

If traveling alone or with a hunting freind. I would be more inclined jump on last minute deals.

It’s nice for the business owners and hunters that those situations work out for both parties.

 

[Green Chile]

Great hunt and great write-up! If you are starting a pool for ivory weight, I'll put mine in for upper 60's for the shorter/thicker one and almost that 70 for the longer one. ?? You realize all future hunts are now ruined for you except maybe leopard. Congratulations!!

Yea let's see where it goes. PH is going to have the official weight soon when he registers it with Zim parks and their scales. The stamp it with their seal and mark the official weights on their registered scales.

 

[Green Chile]

Great report. Congratulations on a great hunt. That eland is amazing and you did really well on plains game overall (plus the elephant) not every hunt in a concession area is that lucky. I’m always envious of the hunters willing to jump on cancellation deals. I always tell myself I’ll wait for a deal but I can’t. I seem to enjoy the planning and anticipation of hunt more than the savings apparently.

Thank you. I will say in all candor, PG was tough on this hunt and it wasn't easy finding bait. It's a CAMPFIRE area and there are not that many PG. There just isn't enough water and some of the water is fenced off. You want to see a PH get pissed??? Show him a fenced off water hole. You won't have to ask his opinion of it! This is a whole separate subject but that's just wrong and I believe in conflict with a concession contract. The operator will have to talk to the village council about it. If you can't water animals then the leopard will leave eventually and all you will have are the random elephant movement...and they will smash your precious fence anyway.

 

[AZDAVE]

I really enjoy your writing style and the details of the information gleaned while on a safari.
Cats are a special hunt! They get under your skin and you are back on track trying to figure the next one out from the smallest to the largest just fascinating animals. Your PH's gave a master class in leopard hunting, your were blessed in their instruction and your willingness and desire to learn all you could. This is a compliment on both parties. I like many are envious of the safari you had and I know you will be able to recall small details the rest of your life. The big three harvested on this safari (Elephant, Eland and Diker) are great examples of their species. Congratulations

Look forward to reading about your plans for a rematch with Mr Spots.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Great report and amazing hunt! Zim is a special place! That Eland is wonderful, a guy could hunt his life and never expect the luck you had on this trip! Some days you are the wolf and some days you are the sheep, I’d say you had 14 wolf days there, including the Leopard, although unsuccessful in the pursuit, you seem to have really gained a great experience. Sometimes that is better than anything else!

Edit: one more thought, how amazing would kudu blackstrap be with a Big Jim Chili laid over it! Always wished that I had green chili to go with the braii there!

Cheers,
Cody

 

[Green Chile]

Green chili in African cooking needs to happen!

 

[Green Chile]

PH tells me he is registering the ivory with Zim Parks on Tue. We will get official weights then and report back on it. Just for fun, guesses on the weight and see who gets closest? I will tell you that the shorter working tusk does not feel lighter than the longer one. I think they are close in weight. There is very little taper and the weight carries forward. Also the nerve pockets were small and the large head makes the ivory look smaller. I don't have measurements at the lip, etc but what would you guess?

 

[Green Chile]

 

[Green Chile]

 

[Green Chile]

 

[Altitude sickness]

I don’t know squat about judging. But hey, for fun. Why not. 48 and 53

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

The .416 solid (and that's an important distinction) expanded to .466, which is a 9% expansion. One factor on the .416, which I wish you could hear, was the very audible slap of the solid hitting meat.

View attachment 562139

I've not used the CPS, but have wanted to try it out. I've used NF softs in numerous rifles, both the PP and SS variety. I've never been disappointed.

Back when the gents from Oregon owned North Fork I would visit with them at the shows and got to know them well. As I recall the story of the CPS development was in response to hunters saying the Flat Point Solid (FPS) was basically too good. That the penetration was too much and they'd like something that didn't penetrate so well. And so the CPS was developed to create that expansion and with it more resistance.

If I also recall correctly the cup point was designed also to create that much more of a large wound channel and to sort of create the same sort of damage as a soft, at least on the on side of the animal. I'm curious as to what you saw in that regard.

Great thread by the way, I'm sorry you didn't get your leopard, but that is hunting in the end sometimes.

 

[Green Chile]

Interesting points on the CPS. Thanks for sharing. I would say it was remarkable how much hydraulic effect the riveted nose (for lack of a better word) on the solid created. It was also very noticeable the different sound it made on impact. The PHs commented on that regularly....wow, that thing sounds really different when it hits. They really liked that bullet. They are the guys who know the most about bullet performance in the field. They had never seen a solid penetrate like that on an eland....from back to front. They said if I had taken a side on brain shot on the ele that it probably would have exited.

 

[PARA45]

I don't know Jack Schit about elephants, or how much their tusk weight, so here is my best guesstimate: short one 51 lbs, longer one 56 lbs.

 

[Green Chile]

I think I’ve met the same “Jack” in most hunting camps!

 

[neckdeep]

These are what I have for recovered NF's, 23 animal's from Klipspringer to Giraffe including a couple Buffalo and one very large Eland. The bullets on the right came from the Eland and Giraffe and where mostly finishing shot's I believe. I also saw a soft (300 gr SS)under the offside skin on a Zebra on that same trip but didn't get that bullet back. The ones on the left came from a Mozambique buffalo that was hopped up on 6hours of adrenaline after a poor first shot on my part ( a 300 gr NF FNS right through the neck a couple inches above his spine). I believe to this day that if I would have used a soft ( 300 gr NF SS) the outcome would have came to a conclusion much faster. Much more blood to follow than a solid zipping straight through. I like the riveting bullet's better, leave more hydrostatic shock on the way through.