http://www.africanhuntinggazette.com 43Zimbabwe: 1996 - 2018
A sad moment of contemplation after puttingdownthedistressedelephantcow.More than once we
returned home having not
fired a shot.
highly recommended new hi-tech projectile
turnedouttobea disappointment.Jimcutthe
topof theslug,removeda smallballencasedin
gel,andfileda freshtiponthebullet,saving
themuzzleloaderpartofthesafari.
Morethanoncewereturnedhomehaving
notfireda shot.Consequently,wecritiqued
ourperformanceandthatofthePH.Wewere
drivenbacktothedrawingboardwithmore
researchupgradingtheriflesandexperimenting
with new projectiles. Our 8 bore slug now
weighed 1,360 grainsand was propelled by
270 grainsof2FFGblackpowder.The4 bore,
or“BigMack”pushedthequarterpound,one
inchdiameterball,withthesamechargeof 270
grains.Therifleshadbecomeverydependable
andverycapablehuntingtools.
In 2015 wehadbeenluckyhuntingwith
ourPH Johan ona conventional rifle hunt
ina differentareaofZimbabwe- our“Safari
from Heaven”, taking two tuskless elephant
cowswithonefrontalbrainshoteach,andtwo
buffalocowswithoneshoteach. Thathunt
was thefinaleofmultiplehuntsinmanyof
Zimbabwe’s hunting concessionswith many
differentprofessionalhunters,overa periodof
twentyyears!Wehadbeenseverelyskunked,
andcalculatedthatthenumberofdaysinthe
bushhuntingtusklesscowsduringthoseyears
wouldexceed50.Hardtobelieve,buttrue.
Inanattempttorecreate,“TheSafarifrom
Heaven”we bookeda riflehunt withJohan
again. This safari would take place in the
DandeSouthareaofZimbabwe.Wouldit be
anotherbust?Wouldit belikereturningtoa
fabulousrestauranttoexperiencea memorable
mealfromthepast?Wouldit belikechecking
out your high-school girlfriendat a 50-year
reunion, and wishing you hadn’t? We had
tremendous faith in Johan’s hunting skills
andthoseofhistrackers,butinreality,what
werethechancesofrecreatingour“Safarifrom
Heaven?”
Wehadhuntedhardfora week.Wefollowed
the spoor of many elephants, sometimes
findingtheanimals.Wewerecloseandvery
personal with elephants deep in the bush
trying to identify a tuskless cow. Difficult,
becauseofthenecessityofcheckingfora tusk
oneachsideoftheanimal’shead.Wespotted
smallherdsonridgesfaraway,takingthetime
toclosethegapandlookfora tusklesscow.
We droveto distantareas, highin the hills
of the multi-thousand-hectare concession,
hopingtofindsignofelephants.Wegotup
earliereachmorning,drivingtothedryriver,
attemptingtocatchelephantsreturningtothe
bushafterwateringintheearlyhours.Weset
uplookoutsatoneareaoftheriverbank,in
touchbyradiowithJohanatanother,hoping
to set up an ambush when the elephants
crossedtheriverbedandheadedintothebush
tofeed.Wespeculated,strategized,theorized
andcalculated,alltonoavail.Allourefforts
resultedinseeingonetusklesscow– andshe
vanishedbeforewecouldgetcloseenoughfor
a shot.
Andnow,mid-morningonourlastdayof our
7-dayhunt,Philipthetrackerwhowasleading
ourteamofeight,spottedsomeunusualspoor
froma fewyardsaway.Thewidedragmarks
wereetcheddeeplyinto the dry sand of the
Angwa riverbed.
We were about
to move from
the bush onto
the sand, when
Philip stopped
abruptly and
conferred with
ourPHJohan,andAdmire,oursecondtracker.
Theiropinionwasthesame:Wewerelooking
atthespoorofanelephantinseveredistress.
Visuallyfollowingthespoortoapproximately
500 yardsdowntheriverbed,wecouldseethe
elephant.Johanraised his binoculars and took
a long look.“The elephant is standing with most of
itsweightontheleftbackleg,”hereported.
“Somethingis definitelywrongwiththeright
frontleg.Let’stakea closerlook.”Weslowly
closedthegapanothertwohundredyardson
theunsuspectingelephant.Furtherinspection
by Johan described grossly enlarged teats,
onealmosttouchingthegroundbetweenthe
elephant’slegs. “Let’scallParksandWildlife
andreportthisrightnow.”
In rural Africa, like many places around
theworld,cellphoneservicedoesnotalways
cooperate.Wehadtoleavetheelephantand
drive thirty minutes to a high point on a
nearbyridgetofindreceptionandmakeour
call.Afterreportingthedetailsof thedistressed
elephant,Parks’responsewas,“We’llgetback
toyou.”Unbelievably,theydid,butwiththe
caveatthattheymustalsogetthepermission
ofthe localvillage Councilbefore givingus
the go-ahead to put the animal down. We
expectedhoursofdelay,butamazinglyJohan’s
cellphoneranginjustminutes.
“You must take a video oftheliveanimal,the
tracks she made
from the bush,
a field autopsy,
and any other
documentation
you can to
verify the need
for putting the
elephantdown.Also,youmustdeliverallthe
meatto thelocalvillage,andtheivoryandskin
tothelocalParksoffice.”
We had been charged with a mission of
mercy. There would be zero drama in our
duty.Noears-back-vengefulcharge.Noclose-
quarters shooting in dense bush. Just a purely