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He leaves us and takes the truck and rushes back for the
guys to abandon the fire and come. Muzi, Chris and I stay to watch
him in case he moves into the forest. 30 minutes later all are back
and we wait another hour for him to leave the waterhole. When he
is 500 yards from the pan we move in. The wind is swirling and
hits us in the back several times when we are only 50 yards from
him. We decided to go in quickly. At 25 yards the wind goes
straight to him as we get into position. He goes to the right. I take a
25 yd moving side-brain which doesn’t down him but knocks him
silly and he stops. A quick heart/lung follow and it is over as he
collapses on the spot. As we approach Rich is beaming. These
elephants are so big they are hard for me to judge. These Botswana
and Wankie elephants of Zimbabwe are monsters. They are a
minimum of a foot taller than Zambezi Valley elephants. This
ivory was very long and thin? Well, he turns out to have 17” at the
lip with 52”+ length outside, and ivory, very black with age. This
guy was in his last year or so of life. I am still waiting, but possible
70 lbs, depending on the root cavity. A very Big Day for everyone.
Day 14
saw another 50+ bull outside our camp and then a
day of game viewing in Hwange Park, which is just across our
boundary, separated by the Cape to Cairo railway. We saw another
possible 70 lb. bull along with all the game in the park.
On our last hunting,
Day 15
we packed and took a quick
sable drive and then left in a 100 F. for Vic Falls where we got a
real shower and meal at the Ilala Lodge. We went fishing the next
morning above the Falls in Richard’s boat. When you go thru
rapids in that river you
pay
attention.
Especially, when there
is a croc greeting you
at the boat dock. Rich
caught two tigers on a
fly, Chris one tigerfish
and a monster 6 lb.
yellowfish, me nothing
as usual.
This trip was a special one. It is a privilege to be able to
hunt these great beasts. We were among vast numbers of ele’s
everyday. The adult Bull count was over two hundred with a high
of 31 in a day. All of these but a few were tracked and checked on
foot. There were groups of 10 and 12 bulls together. Chris held a
steady video camera while being stared down by many a massive
elephant bull. That includes frontal confrontations at 15 and 13
yards on consecutive days. She learned trust, for sure. There was
talk of a big bull, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think
things would work like this. We experienced a truly traditional
safari with great company. Rich and Belinda Cooke (email at
or
) are a
great team.
Story By Andy Cob, 2011 Zimbabwe Hunt and Visis
Hunting Team: Jim and Chris (video), Richard Cooke PH, Gareth
Dicker-Appy, Video, and Camp Manager, Silas - Muzi - Martin
and Israel-Trackers, and Cheisa- helpful Game Scout.
Animal list: Rhino, lion, elephant, roan, sable, kudu, zebra, giraffe,
hippo, duiker, steenbok, eland, wildebeest, hyena, warthog, impala,
African wildcat, jackal, etc.