……two great old Elephant bulls were standing close together in the long yellow grass of the Kilombero valley with the late afternoon sun on their backs. The hunters had spent already 16 days of a 21 day hunt and many hours walking in search of a big tusker, but so far the only rewards had been some blisters, blood, sweat and fear. Was this going to be our day, with excitement reaching its peak and happy hunters standing next to a great trophy?
Only two days earlier we had followed two very promising tembo tracks for 6 hours and more than 10 miles … always very close, the dung still hot, but eventually lost their tracks and had to walk all the way back to the car. Two trackers, myself, the client and the game scout walked slowly in a single file, like the Wildebeest follow each other, sweating during the midday heat. The Mopane bees around our ears, noses and eyes were our only company. Nobody can explain the feelings of ups and downs while Elephant hunting, you have to experience it, feel it, smell it ….dream it. Suddenly, out of nowhere appeared a single Elephant cow to our left at about 50 meters on the edge of a thicket, ears out, trunk high, trying to identify the disturbance. No problem, I thought, as I have experienced so many times before, just back of, make a little detour and everything is fine …. Well not this time, something felt different. Without a warning sound she charged us and came in very fast, even my shouting at her did not turn her (usually it does), but only seemed to infuriate and speed her up even more. At 15 steps I told the client to fire a shot over her head, but she still pressed on. At ten yards I shouted again, but with my finger already applying little pressure on the trigger ….these are the moments when everything appears in slow motion, while decisions are made in only a split second, suddenly she stopped and kicked up some dust in front of us at about 8 yards (and believe me, an angry Elephant looks mighty big at that distance), but that was, through experience, what I was hoping for. I waved my arms and shouted again, even walked towards her and that made here very uneasy, unsure and she quickly changed her mind and took off with her tail curled up.
Back to our favorite lookout point in Manane, where the two big bulls are feeding slowly, their wrinkled skins brushing against the razor sharp reed grass. They are still too far for us in order to judge their tusks and most of the time their bottom half is covered by the grass. Time is pressing this late afternoon, with only 1 hour daylight left, so we decide to cross the river quickly and have a closer look. Twenty minutes later, we are within 100 yards, but suddenly the wind shifts and they get a little bit of our scent, but not enough to really scare them. As they run off for about 50 yards, we also run in a semi circle and try to get ahead of them with better wind. Suddenly they stop, unsure why they actually ran and spread their ears, lifted their trunks and try to detect any danger. Very slowly and quietly we move in closer … 40, 30, 20 yards…now I can clearly see that one bull is just a middle aged Askari with long, but thin tusks, while the second bull is at least two feet taller at the shoulder, much bigger head, sagging skin, but I can not see his tusks which are always covered by the reeds. We could easily shoot him, but without seeing his ivory first? We go a few steps to the left, then to the right, then my two trackers lift my up, but I still can not see or judge his white gold. All my senses tell me that he is a great old gentleman with mighty tusks … is that wishful thinking only? Is that enough, to give the client the go ahead and shoot? Time is running out, the sun is sending her last rays over the horizon; a decision has to be made. As tough as it was at the time, I decided to pull back and hopefully get another chance with them again in the next couple of days.
While the other three clients in our group happily hunted the next couple of days, shooting a magnificent Leopard, huge Crocodiles and many other top quality trophies, my client and myself we kept hunting the same area over and over again, in search of the two mighty bulls.
On our last hunting day we had to make another tough decision, because a huge Leopard was feeding …should we sit in the blind, or give it a last try for the Elephant? My client told me, that he likes playing poker and as he would have said at the gambling tables, he looked at me with a spark in his eyes and said “all in” for the Elephant. That was fine with me and at three o clock on our last afternoon; we made a last trip to our lookout point.
The usual sight in front of us, overlooking around twenty thousand hectares of floodplain dotted with Hippos, Crocodiles and Waterbuck. Suddenly we see a big herd of Elephant cows moving in from our left, along the edge of the river, immediately my heart skips a beat and I hold my breath, while frantically searching for the back of a big Bull with my binoculars. A first quick scan reveals only cows, calves and two medium sized Bulls … something does not feel right about the body size on these two Bulls and then I realize that they are standing in a depression, taking away at least 3-4 feet of their actual height. Just then, they step out of there, revealing their full body size and their tusks. Immediately I recognize the younger bull, with his long and thin tusks. As my eyes catch the second Bull, it almost takes my breath away. His tusks are thick at the lip, stained dark yellow by the juices of vegetation that brushed against it for many, many years and they carry on thickly for at least 3 feet and only taper slightly for another foot. No need to see more, this might be our last chance. The scramble for guns and ammo is a funny picture and we quickly run down to the edge of the river, where we have a boat hidden under a tree, just for that kind of emergency. The Bull is fully exposed on the other side of the river, but still 150 yards away… we paddle as quietly as possible across …100 yards …80 yards .. 60 yards… two cows move up to him and must have sensed something, their trunks come up and they slowly turn back into the long grass. He is still standing there, facing us, too far and unsteady for a brain shot…. 50yards…40 yards… I tell the client to get ready for a heart shot, as soon as he turns…slowly the boat is drifting closer and our heart rate is picking up, as he slowly turns to follow his ladies, he presents the long awaited fully broadside shot and my client fires his .416 solid into his shoulder and the Bull stumbles, immediately a second shot rings from my clients gun and the Bull takes off, quickly obscured by the long grass. We paddle frantically to the river bank and quickly move up the steep channel, the last step very careful, because not knowing, if the wounded Bull or an angry cow is waiting there for us. As I get the first glance of the scenery, I see the fleeing herd of cows, including the Askari and 150 yards to my right, the old Bull walking very slowly, the lung shot obviously already taking effect. We close the distance very quickly to about 20 yards and the client drops the mighty old Bull with a side brain shot. The hind legs collapse first, his head and trunk is thrown up high and before he is reaching the ground, he is dead … nor more walking the ivory trail. Walking slowly up to him, we are torn with mixed feelings. Happiness for having achieved our goal on the very last day, sadness for having taken the life of such a majestic old Gentleman.
This is what hunting is all about, lots of ups and downs, mixed emotions, but at the end of the day, it is us hunters, that have always been and hopefully will always be the ones that actually do care about wildlife and sustainable utilization and therefore give the next generations also a chance to walk ….the Ivory trail.
Happy hunting to all of you. And my very best wishes from our camp along the Kilombero River in the Selous Game Reserve
