Nice bull. Would love to hear more
Just a heckova trip. The areas hunted included boundary roads around a national park which we drove most every day. Saw a number of herds but nothing of size. Mike decided to change the local conservation guide because he really wasn't cooperative to do anything but drive. Once we got a new guide you could tell it was going to get better just by all the conversation. Excuse the language but, they became what I'd call a bunch of rednecks on the back of a truck giving each other $hit. You may not know it (i sure didn't) but the conservation guide TELLS the hunting team where to go. The PH has to be somewhat persuasive to make it productive. Our original guy didn't want to get his feet wet.
Once that happened we made plans to go to the area south of us along the Botswana border and adjacent to the delta. Left at 0600 and shot at 1810 hrs. Drove to channel/tributary feeding the Okavanga delta, got out, loaded into Kayaks to get across this body of water, and then walked thru more shallow streams (chest high) and into an area of Palm islands (small islands about 1/2 acre in size) adjacent to the delta (this part of the delta was impassable).
Very fortunate to find a very large herd with about 1/2 of herd in the swamp/delta that consisted of 12 ft tall reeds and the other half munching amongst the palm islands.
We weaved ourselves thru the Askari and herd (probably about 30 around us with another 50 in the swamp), picked the big guy out and the PH and guide patted me on the back to shoot. Freehand quartering shot from behind the into lungs and heart. He stumbled, Mike put one into him and I followed up with a second. He went down at 1810 hrs. 20 mins remained in the allowable shooting period.
Left the bull lying there overnight and returned at the butt crack of dawn the next day for the field work. Villagers started arriving shortly thereafter with knives in hand. How the F they found us is still a mystery to me but by mid afternoon there wasn't much left of the elephant other than entrails and uneatables.
My best advice is not use brand new Tevas. Should have taken my well worn out ones from our beach place. Still have scars on my feet where they got blasted and just worn down.
Blaster R8 Professional, 416 R.E.M. Mag, solid, open sight.