xausa
AH enthusiast
I've never seen this mentioned or discussed before, but I thought I would bring it up. In 1971 I was on my first African hunt, in Kenya with David Williams of Ker, Downey & Selby as my PH. I had a 68 pound elephant to my credit and had just completed two weeks of strenuous hunting in the North East Territory north of the Tana River, with no luck. We had broken camp and were driving back to Nairobi, when we were flagged down by one of the locals, who said that he could lead us to an enormous elephant. Everyone shook his head, evidently that was an old story, with the promised elephant turning out to be very ordinary, but this time, after the gun bearers and tracker had gone with the local, they came back grinning and we hurriedly unloaded guns and equipment and took off in the direction from which they had come.
Long story short, the elephant had big ivory, but only one tusk. The other tusk had evidently been broken off at the lip recently, since the nerve was still festering and the old boy was not in a cheerful mood. I had to decide whether to go for a one tusker, possibly a 100 pounder, or pass it up. I wasted no time in deciding to go for him.
It took some maneuvering to get a shot, and then it was far from ideal. We had come to a small clearing and spotted the elephant on the other side of the clearing, behind a large bush, which left only his head exposed. At the moment, his head was almost vertical as he readhed for a branch above him. I had to make a quick calculation in deciding where to aim, but I didn't hesitate and squeezed off the shot. The elephant dropped to the ground and struggled to get up, the 510 grain solid from my .458 double rifle had missed the brain, but had knocked him off his feet.
It was impossible to get closer, because we would have to cross the open area and that would expose us to the second elephant, the "askari" or companion, which old elephants sometimes have, who was trumpeting and generally kicking up a rumpus. There was no question in our minds that he would have charged us on sight.
A couple of shots more, and the old guy ceased struggling. The askari departed, evidently realizing that the situation was beyond his power to intervene. We were left to survey the animal at leisure.
When the tusk had been extracted and weighed, it tipped the scales at 94 pounds. Had the nerve been slightly smaller, it could have gone over the magical 100 mark. However, I was far from disappointed. That one massive tusk now adorns the wall in my library. My only regret was that it was impossible to locate the other tusk.
Long story short, the elephant had big ivory, but only one tusk. The other tusk had evidently been broken off at the lip recently, since the nerve was still festering and the old boy was not in a cheerful mood. I had to decide whether to go for a one tusker, possibly a 100 pounder, or pass it up. I wasted no time in deciding to go for him.
It took some maneuvering to get a shot, and then it was far from ideal. We had come to a small clearing and spotted the elephant on the other side of the clearing, behind a large bush, which left only his head exposed. At the moment, his head was almost vertical as he readhed for a branch above him. I had to make a quick calculation in deciding where to aim, but I didn't hesitate and squeezed off the shot. The elephant dropped to the ground and struggled to get up, the 510 grain solid from my .458 double rifle had missed the brain, but had knocked him off his feet.
It was impossible to get closer, because we would have to cross the open area and that would expose us to the second elephant, the "askari" or companion, which old elephants sometimes have, who was trumpeting and generally kicking up a rumpus. There was no question in our minds that he would have charged us on sight.
A couple of shots more, and the old guy ceased struggling. The askari departed, evidently realizing that the situation was beyond his power to intervene. We were left to survey the animal at leisure.
When the tusk had been extracted and weighed, it tipped the scales at 94 pounds. Had the nerve been slightly smaller, it could have gone over the magical 100 mark. However, I was far from disappointed. That one massive tusk now adorns the wall in my library. My only regret was that it was impossible to locate the other tusk.
