Elephant hunting in Zim

[Ryry4]

Since the elephant hunt that SCI Calgary is looking to auction off as brought some attention I thought I'd share a little write up I did for my colleagues at work once I returned from my trip this past year.

As most of you know I spent from April 20 to May 11 in the lowveld of Zimbabwe on a safari. The meaning of the word safari is: A journey or expedition, for hunting, exploration, or investigation, especially in eastern Africa. To say this was a journey is an understatement. The abundance of wild game in the Save Valley Conservancy is mid boggling. One day we saw 14 different species not including birds. This part of the world is breathtaking, and it has remained wild in part due to the hunting industry and hunters’ dollars. This part of the world is also extremely poor. School children wearing hand-me-down clothes running around barefoot, living in thatch roof houses, cooking meals on a fire outside. We did not see anything other than the airport in Harare, but what we saw there was in stark contrast to rural Zimbabwe. Leaving the airport, we saw a gold colored Rolls Royce, followed by a Mercedes Benz, followed by a BMW leaving the back tarmac. Inside we saw people dressed in Versace and other designer clothing. Clearly some have done quite well under the dictatorship rule of Robert Mugabe, while most have struggled. Farmers that had their farms for generations were removed from their land under Mugabe’s land reform in the late ‘90’s early 2000’s. After Bob lost the election by 75%, Bob called a second election, rigged it and won. After that foreign investment dropped off, and inflation took off. Before this happened five Zimbabwe dollars would get you one US dollar, by 2008 they were printing 100 trillion-dollar notes.

Back to the hunt. The Save is home to both white and black rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo, crocodile, hippo and pretty much every species of plains game you can think of. There is no government funding for the Save Valley Conservancy. All rhino poaching patrols are funded through donations and investments from guys that spend their hard-earned money on hunting trips like these. It’s estimated that $2.5-$3 million is spent on big game hunting in Zimbabwe annually. The rhino poaching squads are military trained and don’t mess around. A week or two before we got there three poachers were killed in a gun fight with the anti-poaching crew. One notorious poacher that had been recently arrested is facing 30 years in jail. They do intel work in the cities to try and catch the poachers before they are in the country because if they don’t they almost guarantee the will loose a rhino once the poachers are in the Conservancy. Regular game anti-poaching patrols are also conducted but not in the militarized way the rhino patrols are. Snares are removed, and poachers are still arrested though, once again all funded through hunting dollars.

This trip I harvested a Zebra, Kudu, Warthog and a grand elephant. I had been asked a lot of questions about why I wanted to hunt elephant, both by hunters and non-hunters. A popular misconception is that elephants are endangered and almost extinct. That’s not true in Zimbabwe, home of the second highest elephant population on earth. Regulated hunting of them is just that, very regulated. The area we hunted has one elephant permit on quota per year and last year they re-located 100 elephants out of the Save and put them in the Zambezi area to keep the population in check. If that wouldn’t have been done, more than likely a cull would have taken place. Ivan Carter was on site and did a T.V. show on it. Check his website out, the link is below. Now back to the reason I wanted to hunt Elephant. Honestly, it’s hard to put into words. I’ve read a number of books written by famous ivory hunters in Africa from the golden age of hunting the dark continent and I is something that has stuck with me and I wanted to experience it first hand. Tracking bulls through thick, snake and tick infested bush in 30+ degree weather for hours and miles on end. Bumping into cape buffalo and lions en-route. Trees so thick that you are 50 yards away before you even see the bull, and you only see him because he walked out from behind a tree. And after countless miles and sweat you let him walk away because he was too young to harvest and at 5 a.m. you are up the next day to do it all over again. We hunted for 14 days and I took this elephant on the 12 day of the hunt, when we saw this bull there was no doubt in my mind or the mind of my PH that this old bull was the one to take. We were about 15 yards away when I shot. It was a very emotional feeling putting my hand on his one tusk, something that can’t really be put into words.

A crew was called on the radio and a trail was cut to get trucks and a tractor with a wagon to the elephant. By 8 p.m. that night the entire elephant was butchered on site and taken back to camp to be processed. No meat was wasted at all.

Elephant hunting has become a very controversial topic in recent years and I wanted to shed some light on it to the folks that are not in the hunting community. The money raised from a hunts like these stays in rural Zimbabwe, and this country is poor. While striving to keep the funds in the local communities, only 3% is estimated to be returned locally. Most of the income is needed for conservation efforts. The political elite have robbed these people blind and a hunt like this is an investment into wild Africa in an attempt to keep wild Africa wild. On the “Save’ website, there is a list of organizations and specific fundraising for conservation efforts for the area. Supporting these specific funds ensures the money will go to conservation without getting siphoned off by administration and Governments. The money I paid for this hunt goes directly into rural, wild Africa. If not for donations and hunters’ dollars, the million acres the Save Valley Conservancy consists of would be plowed under and be farmed. There is not a lot of room for elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, etc. on cultivated farm land.

The Whittall family are true wild life conservationists. I am truly blessed to have met them and to have hunted with Guy Whittall, one of the best PH’s in Zimbabwe if not all of Africa. Below are some links to websites to shed some light on the people we were with and the area we were in. The story of Jimmy the Rhino is a testament to what Roger and Anne have done for wild game in Africa. It has been published into a children’s book.

As Guy said at the end of our hunt: “I have no problem with taking as long as we give back”. As a true conservationist and hunter, no other words could be more true.

https://www.rogerwhittallsafaris.com/

https://savevalleyconservancy.org/

A story about Jimmy the Rhino:
http://www.africanxmag.com/rhino_in_the_bathroom.htm

https://www.ivancarter.com/

[cowmanbob]

Thanks for the write up.

[thumper]

Personally, not for me, but I can certainly see the appeal and often find myself defending your position. Many thanks for the informed explanations.

[AB2506]

Originally Posted by thumper

Personally, not for me, but I can certainly see the appeal and often find myself defending your position. Many thanks for the informed explanations.

Did you find that elephants just stood there and let you walk up to them?

I find comments like that on other threads hilarious. Whoever has seen that has only seen elephants in zoos or national parks. Wild elephants do not let you walk up to them.

Thanks for the write up.

[Gilly]

Having already done the plains game and seeing some good bull elephants at spitting distance this hunt is high on my list as well. Great write up sounds like a hell of a safari.

[Ryry4]

Originally Posted by AB2506

Did you find that elephants just stood there and let you walk up to them?

I find comments like that on other threads hilarious. Whoever has seen that has only seen elephants in zoos or national parks. Wild elephants do not let you walk up to them.

Thanks for the write up.

With the wind right and if your quiet you can get close. Once they wind you though they can go for miles without stopping.

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by Ryry4

Since the elephant hunt that SCI Calgary is looking to auction off as brought some attention I thought I'd share a little write up I did for my colleagues at work once I returned from my trip this past year.

As most of you know I spent from April 20 to May 11 in the lowveld of Zimbabwe on a safari. The meaning of the word safari is: A journey or expedition, for hunting, exploration, or investigation, especially in eastern Africa. To say this was a journey is an understatement. The abundance of wild game in the Save Valley Conservancy is mid boggling. One day we saw 14 different species not including birds. This part of the world is breathtaking, and it has remained wild in part due to the hunting industry and hunters’ dollars. This part of the world is also extremely poor. School children wearing hand-me-down clothes running around barefoot, living in thatch roof houses, cooking meals on a fire outside. We did not see anything other than the airport in Harare, but what we saw there was in stark contrast to rural Zimbabwe. Leaving the airport, we saw a gold colored Rolls Royce, followed by a Mercedes Benz, followed by a BMW leaving the back tarmac. Inside we saw people dressed in Versace and other designer clothing. Clearly some have done quite well under the dictatorship rule of Robert Mugabe, while most have struggled. Farmers that had their farms for generations were removed from their land under Mugabe’s land reform in the late ‘90’s early 2000’s. After Bob lost the election by 75%, Bob called a second election, rigged it and won. After that foreign investment dropped off, and inflation took off. Before this happened five Zimbabwe dollars would get you one US dollar, by 2008 they were printing 100 trillion-dollar notes.

Back to the hunt. The Save is home to both white and black rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, cape buffalo, crocodile, hippo and pretty much every species of plains game you can think of. There is no government funding for the Save Valley Conservancy. All rhino poaching patrols are funded through donations and investments from guys that spend their hard-earned money on hunting trips like these. It’s estimated that $2.5-$3 million is spent on big game hunting in Zimbabwe annually. The rhino poaching squads are military trained and don’t mess around. A week or two before we got there three poachers were killed in a gun fight with the anti-poaching crew. One notorious poacher that had been recently arrested is facing 30 years in jail. They do intel work in the cities to try and catch the poachers before they are in the country because if they don’t they almost guarantee the will loose a rhino once the poachers are in the Conservancy. Regular game anti-poaching patrols are also conducted but not in the militarized way the rhino patrols are. Snares are removed, and poachers are still arrested though, once again all funded through hunting dollars.

This trip I harvested a Zebra, Kudu, Warthog and a grand elephant. I had been asked a lot of questions about why I wanted to hunt elephant, both by hunters and non-hunters. A popular misconception is that elephants are endangered and almost extinct. That’s not true in Zimbabwe, home of the second highest elephant population on earth. Regulated hunting of them is just that, very regulated. The area we hunted has one elephant permit on quota per year and last year they re-located 100 elephants out of the Save and put them in the Zambezi area to keep the population in check. If that wouldn’t have been done, more than likely a cull would have taken place. Ivan Carter was on site and did a T.V. show on it. Check his website out, the link is below. Now back to the reason I wanted to hunt Elephant. Honestly, it’s hard to put into words. I’ve read a number of books written by famous ivory hunters in Africa from the golden age of hunting the dark continent and I is something that has stuck with me and I wanted to experience it first hand. Tracking bulls through thick, snake and tick infested bush in 30+ degree weather for hours and miles on end. Bumping into cape buffalo and lions en-route. Trees so thick that you are 50 yards away before you even see the bull, and you only see him because he walked out from behind a tree. And after countless miles and sweat you let him walk away because he was too young to harvest and at 5 a.m. you are up the next day to do it all over again. We hunted for 14 days and I took this elephant on the 12 day of the hunt, when we saw this bull there was no doubt in my mind or the mind of my PH that this old bull was the one to take. We were about 15 yards away when I shot. It was a very emotional feeling putting my hand on his one tusk, something that can’t really be put into words.

A crew was called on the radio and a trail was cut to get trucks and a tractor with a wagon to the elephant. By 8 p.m. that night the entire elephant was butchered on site and taken back to camp to be processed. No meat was wasted at all.

Elephant hunting has become a very controversial topic in recent years and I wanted to shed some light on it to the folks that are not in the hunting community. The money raised from a hunts like these stays in rural Zimbabwe, and this country is poor. While striving to keep the funds in the local communities, only 3% is estimated to be returned locally. Most of the income is needed for conservation efforts. The political elite have robbed these people blind and a hunt like this is an investment into wild Africa in an attempt to keep wild Africa wild. On the “Save’ website, there is a list of organizations and specific fundraising for conservation efforts for the area. Supporting these specific funds ensures the money will go to conservation without getting siphoned off by administration and Governments. The money I paid for this hunt goes directly into rural, wild Africa. If not for donations and hunters’ dollars, the million acres the Save Valley Conservancy consists of would be plowed under and be farmed. There is not a lot of room for elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, etc. on cultivated farm land.

The Whittall family are true wild life conservationists. I am truly blessed to have met them and to have hunted with Guy Whittall, one of the best PH’s in Zimbabwe if not all of Africa. Below are some links to websites to shed some light on the people we were with and the area we were in. The story of Jimmy the Rhino is a testament to what Roger and Anne have done for wild game in Africa. It has been published into a children’s book.

As Guy said at the end of our hunt: “I have no problem with taking as long as we give back”. As a true conservationist and hunter, no other words could be more true.

https://www.rogerwhittallsafaris.com/

https://savevalleyconservancy.org/

A story about Jimmy the Rhino:
http://www.africanxmag.com/rhino_in_the_bathroom.htm

https://www.ivancarter.com/

Cool story ! I hunted elephant and lion in the Matetsi area in South Western Zim.

How big was your bull ? And do you have any pictures you would share ?

I was supposed to hunt on Hammond and Arda in the Savé in 2016 for Leopard and Buffalo but couldn’t break away for that long due to other business. Hopefully in the next few years I can get back over there.

My understanding was that the Savé was all privately owned by foreign investors? I wasn’t aware there were government blocks inside the fenced area. Were those areas taken in the land grab ?

Congrats again on your hunt !

[Ryry4]

Originally Posted by Torkdiesel

Cool story ! I hunted elephant and lion in the Matetsi area in South Western Zim.

How big was your bull ? And do you have any pictures you would share ?

I was supposed to hunt on Hammond and Arda in the Savé in 2016 for Leopard and Buffalo but couldn’t break away for that long due to other business. Hopefully in the next few years I can get back over there.

My understanding was that the Savé was all privately owned by foreign investors? I wasn’t aware there were government blocks inside the fenced area. Were those areas taken in the land grab ?

Congrats again on your hunt !

60 lbs and 52 lbs.

We were hunting out of the Arda camp and spent a few days at the main camp on Humani.

I'm not entirely sure how things went down with the land grad but the Save falls under Parks now. I heard a few stories of what was happening during the land grab. Not good.

[zouzou123]

Pics?

[oldgutpile]

My bucket list animal. Probably gonna stay that way, just due to the cost, but there are alternatives!
I had a chance at a PAC (problem animal control) elephant last year in Namibia. I had just gotten back from there a month earlier when I got the call. The PH that I had hunted with notified me ( I had put the bug in his ear that if such an opportunity ever came up.....) but I just couldnt make arrangements to get there fast ènough. They were kind enough to send me pictures of the animal with the lucky hunter who got the job done Likely an opportunity that will never come my way again.

[Ryry4]

Originally Posted by oldgutpile

My bucket list animal. Probably gonna stay that way, just due to the cost, but there are alternatives!
I had a chance at a PAC (problem animal control) elephant last year in Namibia. I had just gotten back from there a month earlier when I got the call. The PH that I had hunted with notified me ( I had put the bug in his ear that if such an opportunity ever came up.....) but I just couldnt make arrangements to get there fast ènough. They were kind enough to send me pictures of the animal with the lucky hunter who got the job done Likely an opportunity that will never come my way again.

Opportunities like that while cheaper I don't think will get you the real experience of hunting an old bull. Tracking, and getting in close to a bull and then backing out because it wasn't the right one is where you get the full experience.

Dollar for dollar Zim is probably a guys best bet for an ele hunt right now. Spend a weekend at the SCI convention you might find a deal that works for you.

[oldgutpile]

Maybe not the opportunity to go after a bull of my choosing, but going after a bull that has been causing grief and knowing it can stomp me into dirt if I dont do my part! I wouldnt look at it as a trophy hunt, as much as the extra adrenalin rush!

[nimrod]

I saw this posted on the news this morning, the crazies are not happy about this

[Ryry4]

Originally Posted by oldgutpile

Maybe not the opportunity to go after a bull of my choosing, but going after a bull that has been causing grief and knowing it can stomp me into dirt if I dont do my part! I wouldnt look at it as a trophy hunt, as much as the extra adrenalin rush!

And a rush it is.

[karateka]

very interesting and informative writeup

many thanks

[scruffy]

The big bulls are incredibly wary, of course, and will usually get out of Dodge if they perceive danger. Having said that, Mike Bunce, Zimbabwe PH in 1989, told me that nothing gets your attention like a bull elephant in full charge.

I had a bull come up to me in the Matetsi area of Zimbabwe and never realized that the PH had run away. I forgot that he even existed until he came back and told me. His explanation being that since it was coming right at us the lung shot was gone.. He was only 24 at the time and made the occasional bad choice.

Cow elephants are usually much more dangerous and the ones in the Zambezi Valley (especially the tuskless ones) are more than happy to kill you.