African Hunting Gazette – July 2019

http://www.africanhuntinggazette.com 89

morning we went outto practicewith the
tranquilizergunandhitthebull’seyetwice.
Therhinoshadtobedartedintherightor
leftrump,thena helicopterwouldmaneuver
theotherrhino awayfromthebull sothat
thevetcouldputchipsinbothhornsandthe
neck.Soif therhinois poached,theteamcan
findhimimmediately. Therewouldbeone
vetandhisassistanttomonitorthevitalsigns.
Wewerenowreadytolookforrhinos,and
soonfoundtheonehewanted,buttherewas
anoldCapebuffalowithit andtwofemale
rhino and a smallcalf. Aswe waited and
watched,thebuffalofinallymovedoffandthe
rhinos laydown.Wedecidedto goaround
and down the valley to get downwind of
them. Wemanagedtocrawlupto 30 yards,
thentheirearswentup. Didtheyhearus?
Wefroze.Buttheyrelaxedandwentbackto
sleep. Wecrawledupto 20 yards,I shotthe
dartintherightrump,andtheygotupand
ran. Mark radioed thehelicopter to keep
trackofthetranquilizedrhinoandit wasable
tomaneuverthefemalesandcalfawayfrom
thebull. Thenthebullwentdownslowlyon
hisside.Youcannotleavetheanimallikethat
or hewilldrownfromhisown saliva. We
calledforhelp,andit took 14 mentopush
himuponhisbelly.Thenthevetquicklyput
chipsinbothhornsandtheneckandtagged
hisear,allthewhilewitha wetclothoverhis
eyestostopthemfromdryingout.
After giving it the antidote, the rhino
staggeredupandit wasa greatfeelingtosee
himwalkingaway andknowingourmoney
wasgoingtohelpsaverhinos. Wetooklots
ofpicturesandMarkmeasuredhorns,neck
andheadsowecouldmakea replicaofhim.
Nowit wastimeforMike’selephant,and
thenext day we flewto Victoria Falls and
enjoyeda dayofrelaxingandbuyingcurios.
WetookprivateboatupZambeziRiverand
sawhundreds ofelephant,and many other
animals,andfishedforTigerfish.Eldre’met
usthefollowingdaytogotoMatetsiSafari
huntingconcessiontomeetPeterCookson.
Aftera night’srestanda finebreakfast,wewere
outtothegunrangetocheckfor accuracy
onthe.375H&H. Thegunshotwell. We
lookedatpicturesofelephantsandanglesto
learnwherebesttoplacetheshot,thenwent
offtogeta feelforthelieoftheland. There
werethousandsofhectaresofwilderness,and
as wedrovewesawsable,giraffe,eland,kudu,
lion,andherdsofelephant.Inthefivedays
there we saw over 1000 elephants - cows,
calvesandbulls.
Thenextmorningwehadonlydriven 10
mileswhenwespotteda smallherdwitha
bullwitha brokentusk.Unfortunatelythe
herd was not on our concession, but was

comingourway. Wewenttogetinfrontof

thembutthewindswirled,theygotwindof

us,andweregonethatquick.So,offtolook

forothers.Wefounda largeherdwithcows

and calves and a couple bulls, but didn’t

wanttoshootandupsetthem. Ontheway

backtherewasa largebullinthemiddleof

a field. Hewasinverypoorcondition- you

couldseetheskinhangingonhim.Eldre’,

Peterandthegameguardallsaidthiswasa

goodonetotake,ashewasold.Thetracker

checked the wind.Luckily there was very

tallelephantgrasstostalkthrough,andwe

workedourwayaroundtillwewerebehind

thebull.Hisearswereoutandhewasbusy

eatingthegrass,anddidnotseeus.

“Putthe bullet a handswidth in front

oftheearhole,”Eldre’saidaswecautiously

movedforward.“Ifhegoesdownbuttfirst

heis dead.If hegoesheadfirstorbodyfirst

hewillgetup,sobereadytoshootagain.”

As we stalked closer, all at once his

trunk wentup.Weallfroze,wondering if

he scentedus. Then he continued to eat.

When we were at 48 yards he started to

swingsideways.Heknewsomethingwasup.

My heartwasracing. Eldre’put thesticks

up, andMike was on themand ready. As

the elephant paused Mike took the shot, a

perfectbrainshot,andhewentdownbutt

first.Wewentforwardtomakesurehewas

downandputanothershotinthebrainfor

safety.Hewasmagnificent. Later,thegame

biologist said he was between 60 and 65

yearsold.

We thank Eldre’ Hattingh of Lucca

African Safaris for a wonderful hunt,and

we also thank Double D Productions for

videoing everything for us. Jordy did a

wonderfuljobwitha dronethatcouldget

pictures you would otherwise never get -

viewsofelephantswithnewbornbabiesand

calves,picturesofthevastareaaswestalked

the elephants. Now we can watch Mike’s

dreamcometrueoverandoveragain.

Butalwaysremembertohavethebestof

PHsatyourside, as you never know what

might happen.

Karen and Mike are avid hunters having

huntedfromHawaiitoAfrica,toAustraliato

Argentina,toAlaska andthelower 48 states.

With all that experience behind them, they

decided tostartMikeys Outfittingsothat all

peoplecouldbenefitfromtheirknowledge.Our

motto isbetter to live life to the fullest than

never try.

Elephants on the Zambezi River.

Helping to save the rhino on a green hunt.

Here we are – our bucket list complete.