BOTSWANA: NG 13 Elephant Hunt

[Jerycmeach]

Sounds like a major adventure on the way.

Thank you!

 

[Jerycmeach]

After doing some controlled burns today and running my trapline I just had to shoot the double rifle. Leon my Ph forbade me to shoot the double rifle beyond 25 yards. Disregarding my instructions I had to know where the left and right barrel would impact at 100 yards. In the picture of the target you can see the results. The right barrel hits did on the point of aim. I was aiming at the bottom of the target right at the bottom of the vertical red line. Holding at the same point the left barrel shoots three inches high and an inch or so left. Can one of you savvy double rifle guys tell me your opinion of the "regulation" of this rifle based on what you see here? You won't hurt my feeling; I am totally happy no matter how my rifle compares to others. This accuracy seems great to me for what I am doing but I am curious how other rifles like mine compare on "regulation". Thanks for any information!

 

[Frederik]

I have no idea on regulating doubles but please shoot the double from Sticks for final zero.
I have seen with my Trijicon reflex that shooting from the bench and shooting from sticks have a small difference in impact point.

Since you will be shooting your Elephant from standing position or sticks just double check it.
I have seen the difference around 30 yards or so and further.

 

[Jerycmeach]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I have been shooting offhand every other day. Two shots most days at 25 to 35 yards. One day I shot at 55 yds and my Ph boxed my ears and said he only wanted me to concentrate on shooting 25 yrds and no further. Today I just had to know what it would do at 100 yrds in case I decided to shoot some plains game if I have time. If I am successful on the elephant of course. The plains game does not matter to me on this hunt. My PH said no sticks on the hunt and no shooting off sticks. So that is that. He said we will get in very close and it will be off hand shooting when the time comes... Here is a pictures of my two offhand shots that i took tonight. One from each barrel at 25 yards. Ill try to tighten those groups up as time goes along...

 

[AZDAVE]

Your rifle is well regulated, I would hunt with it!

 

[Jerycmeach]

Your rifle is well regulated, I would hunt with it!

Thanks ! I think so as well! I just did not know how this one compared with the regulation of what is deemed “ proper regulation” ha! This rifle is fine. The right barrel is spot in point of aim and the left barrel three inches high and slightly left at 100 yards. At 50 yards the bullets are roughy an inch and a half apart. I have to get to packing for this trip. Departure is five days away and I don’t even have my gun permits worked out. Ann from hunters 2000 said she will call me tomorrow. It sounds as if a breakthrough came today and maybe I will get to take my double rifle after all. I’m counting on it!

 

[AZDAVE]

Safe travels, and have a fantastic safari!

 

[buck wild]

Go get'em Jerry. Seems like your leopard hunt we discussed must have been successful. Guess I missed that part. Relax-relax-relax. You have done enough to prepare now go enjoy. You're a better guide than client

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I would say that there is an elephant in Botswana that is in deep trouble.

 

[buck wild]

Someone once said this, "The hardest part is just deciding to untie the boat from the dock and head out into the unknow!" !!

 

[Jerycmeach]

Safe travels, and have a fantastic safari!

Thank you! Today is the day of departure. I hope all goes well!

 

[Jerycmeach]

I would say that there is an elephant in Botswana that is in deep trouble.

Thanks for your optimism! Ha! I hope it all goes well!

 

[Jerycmeach]

Someone once said this, "The hardest part is just deciding to untie the boat from the dock and head out into the unknow!" !!

Thanks! You and I had some great discussions! Yes the leopards went well in both Tanzania and Botswana. Since you and I first talked there has been a full bag safari in Tanzania during which I was blessed to harvest the grandest of wild lions! It was so exciting! Now I am hoping to hunt a bull elephant in Botswana. I am currently broken down on the side of the roads in Oklahoma on the us to Dallas to catch the plane so things are off to a rather shaky start! Ha! Thanks for all the conversations before my very first trip you were very helpful and I think you

 

[Jerycmeach]

Well the day has come! I headed out from the lodge in Kansas this morning planning to drive to Dallas Texas and catch the flight heading towards Botswana as the final destination. Currently I’m broken down in an old Chevy tahoe on the side of the road in Oklahoma the middle of nowhere so things are off to a bit of a poor start! Ha! I’m sure not too many elephant hunters Have such a poor caliber of vehicular transportation as I own!

Here is an update I did not get all my travel permits and firearms permits and things until yesterday. Anne was very helpful and saved the day. Unfortunately the South African police issued the permits with one number off on the serial number even though they had been given the proper serial numbers so the permit had to be re-issued. I believe I have the documents that I need to transport the firearm.

The shooting of the double rifle finally came together the last three shots of the 60 rounds that I fired in practice could have been covered by a quarter. Off hand and in the wind. The first two shots were in the right barrel followed by the left barrel is rapidly as I could get back on target and then I reloaded and shot one more with the right barrel. I am so glad that I worked with this gun to gain confidence I’m sure it probably isn’t necessary to shoot an elephant but it’s been such a fun ride and now the gun feels like it’s a part of me when I pick it up it’s no longer like a foreign object it feels like my gun if you know what I mean!

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Good luck Jerry and safe travels. Hope you get some help in Oklahoma. I am to far away to help

 

[Rare Breed]

Well the day has come! I headed out from the lodge in Kansas this morning planning to drive to Dallas Texas and catch the flight heading towards Botswana as the final destination. Currently I’m broken down in an old Chevy tahoe on the side of the road in Oklahoma the middle of nowhere so things are off to a bit of a poor start! Ha! I’m sure not too many elephant hunters Have such a poor caliber of vehicular transportation as I own!

Here is an update I did not get all my travel permits and firearms permits and things until yesterday. Anne was very helpful and saved the day. Unfortunately the South African police issued the permits with one number off on the serial number even though they had been given the proper serial numbers so the permit had to be re-issued. I believe I have the documents that I need to transport the firearm.

The shooting of the double rifle finally came together the last three shots of the 60 rounds that I fired in practice could have been covered by a quarter. Off hand and in the wind. The first two shots were in the right barrel followed by the left barrel is rapidly as I could get back on target and then I reloaded and shot one more with the right barrel. I am so glad that I worked with this gun to gain confidence I’m sure it probably isn’t necessary to shoot an elephant but it’s been such a fun ride and now the gun feels like it’s a part of me when I pick it up it’s no longer like a foreign object it feels like my gun if you know what I mean!View attachment 526424View attachment 526425View attachment 526426

Outstanding!!!

 

[Rare Breed]

I am excitedly looking forward to my upcoming elephant hunt in Botswana’s NG 13 with Leon Kachelhoffer. If you want to become infuriated at the way the fake media portrays hunters and hunting in Africa just google NG 13 elephant or Leon Kachelhoffer and read one of the many “hit pieces” written in the national and international media in April and May of 2022. We all can remember the way Corey Knowlton was treated. The Texan that hunted the Rhino in Namibia to benefit conservation. Corey was attacked with death threats and phone messages saying things like I am going to rape your wife to death and make you watch and burn your house down with your kids inside! Lovely people, aren’t they? These kind hearted, caring, anti-hunters. Leon was treated the very same way for his crime of investing years of effort and a huge amount of money to develop this hunting concession which will benefit all the wildlife and the area tribes. I am so passionate about the conservation aspect of “funding conservation through hunting in Africa” that I had to book with Leon and do this same hunt on the “one year anniversary” of him being crucified for harvesting the hundred pounder. I will be able to interview Leon and the local tribes and council and get the story first hand on how they were falsely accused. I will see the benefits first hand and hopefully someday be able to spread the truth about how beneficial “tourist hunting” is to conservation in Africa.

Leon came to my hunting Lodge in Kansas this winter and we planned our hunt. I cannot believe the hunt is only about a month away. I feel so unprepared.

I want to thank everyone on AH for being so helpful! Through the wonderful friends I have made on AH I was able find guidance to wonderful outfitters and discern which companies I would like to hunt with. If this hunt goes as I hope I will have been blessed to go on three hunts to Africa in just 22 months. I have harvested several leopards and three cape buffalo and fantastic wild lion and 26 plains game animals. I have been in Tanzania for 28 days and in Botswana for over 30. All this is beyond my wildest dreams. I definitely feel like Cinderella! What I mean is that my paygrade and education I was never meant to go on all these fantastic adventures! God has blessed me and I am thankful! Covid stole my Alaska fishing business because it was largely based on cruise ship clientele. This nightmare of my losing my business caused me to have the time off to go to Africa.

This October I floated the Snake River for twenty days and hunted with a recurve bow made for me 40 years ago by Jim Brackenbury. I took no supplies and lived entirely off the land. I slept on the gravel under the stars and called in 18 bull moose. I used a kayak I made myself about 30 years ago. In the end I shot a bull at 8 feet away with an arrow that was 60 years old. A browning micro flight and a vintage fred bear broadhead. I have an article about this adventure that will come out this next month I believe in a western hunting magazine.

The reason I mention this Idaho moose hunt is that by using Old and Vintage equipment I was able to make this hunt one of the most amazing adventures of my life! I knew the unit had produced an average size shiras bull of only 28 inches. I did not care about the size of the antlers I cared about the “size of the adventure”! Think about those words for a minute!

Today I spent the day with George of Champlin Firearms in Enid Oklahoma. What a gentleman! He opened his shop on a Saturday just for me and he spent hours and hours teaching me about double rifles! I have hunted all of my life and had never touched or seen let alone fired a double rifle! So now you see why I told the story about the moose hunt this oct with vintage archery gear! I am only 30 days or so away from my Elephant hunt and I am just now discovering the romance and history of the double rifle! It is all I think about! I am so afraid that I do not have the time to do justice to acquiring a double, learn to shoot it well, and be ready for this elephant hunt. On the other hand I am afraid that if I take the elephant with a borrowed camp gun I will forever regret that I did not hunt the elephant with a mor classic and historic firearm. Oh well! Ha!

Thanks again everyone on AH for your help in my journey to support conservation in Africa through hunting!
Below a picture of George and I at his Champlin firearms shop in Enid Oklahoma taken today.

View attachment 519809
View attachment 519811
above a recent scouting picture of an elephant on NG 13 taken by Leon and sent to me.
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above a picture of me four decades ago with the same bow that I used on the moose hunt this past October.
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above a picture of Leon Kachelhoffer and I at my lodge in Kansas this winter.

above floating the snake river in Idaho for 20 days this past october with the 40 year old bow and 30 year old kayak I built myself

My wild lion from Tanzania this past August.

Me with the same bow I carried above the artic circle In Alaska 40 years ago as seen in the previous picture I used this past Oct on the snake river in Idaho. Makes me want to use a double rifle on the elephant hunt to make it more historic and romantic.View attachment 519823
My Botswana Leopard was mounted by Robert Vitro and was displayed at SCI in Nashville. I have not seen it in person yet. Alan Porter of Colorado is providing trucking of the mount from the show back to my lodge in Kansas. It was just loaded on the truck this evening after the close of SCI Convention and I should see the mount soon.

I too owned a hand made Brackenberry

 

[PARA45]

What would a trip of this magnitude be without any hiccups. I’m sure we’ve all been there in it one way or another. Good luck getting to TX. It will get better and all this will in the past once you are in Africa.

Good luck to you sir, and may the Hunting Gods cast rays of good luck on you and may your aim be true when you are facing your query.

Anxiously waiting for your report and pictures.

 

[Jerycmeach]

Good luck Jerry and safe travels. Hope you get some help in Oklahoma. I am to far away to help

I too owned a hand made Brackenberry

Me too buddy! It was the bow of my youth! Shot everything with it! I loved it!

 

[Jerycmeach]

I made it thanks to the valiant efforts of an off duty Oklahoma highway patrol officer. I jotted down his name on a scrap of paper I had in the old Chevy tahoe. My intentions are to give him a great commendation on the Oklahoma state police Facebook page. I’ve already lost the scrap of paper! Crap! Well I know the game warden from that area, Larry Green is his name. I reached out to him with a text already because he knows this officer that helped me and will give me the info I need. Anyway back to the vehicle breakdown…. the dispatch gal at the highway patrol said she could not arrange roadside assistance or even pass my name to a company that provided roadside service. Frustrating! Finally, I got through to her the sheer magnitude of this emergency! That being an elephant hunt in Botswana! Ha! I bet she thought she had heard it all but this reason to send out the Calvary Im sure was new to her! Anyway, she decided to help me and knew that one of here officers had a small ranch near where I was stranded. Nothing but windmills and smoke plumes from the wildfires where I was broken down! It was the wilderness for sure compared to most of the land east of the Rockies!
Fast forward a few hours and I am sweating bullets about missing my flight. Just when I think all is lost a flatbed ranch truck pulls up and it’s the off duty trooper. He had dropped his ranch chores for the day to come out and render aid. He wound not take a cent for his time or trouble! Just a handshake! The trouble was bad fuel. One thing let to another we got the old girl rolling again. He was a hunter of course and we conversed about my elephant hunt with a focus on how hunters fund conservation. He was in agreement! Well, just now as I wait a few minutes for the Qatar flight to board Larry green the Oklahoma game warden responded with the officers name and badge number. Robert Regner! What a guy! Guess what he said when I apologized for taking away part of his day off? He said, “everyone needs a little help once in a while m, don’t worry about it” ! I think we all need to think like this a little more often!