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Jealous beyond belief !

Life is what you make it . And you guys just made it WONDERFUL. Best wishes

Time to start building up those bow muscles ;)

Best of Luck, Jeff (Bowsite Sponsor)

Congratulations, you will love it. Great area. Last of the best. My elephant hunts were over 20 years ago and still among the most vivid memories of my life. Have a great trip.

Richard

I sparked an interest in hunting that country too, for buffalo.

Russell

I have a friend (Bob Miller) that practically shattered a knee on his elephant bowhunt....and he eventually got his elephant, but had to use a rifle.....I know that he will be there in spirit with me.....

But, having talked with people that have done polar bear bowhunts, Wood Bison bowhunts, and brown bear bowhunts (as well as elephant bowhunts); when I mention elephant....the bears drop from an adrenalin factor of 9+ to about a 3-4, I realize that THIS will probably be my most dangerous bowhunt.....

It is going to be an awesome experience......and if we can capture ANY of it on video, it will only allow it to be even MORE memorable!! The camp banter with Fearless LeFemine will be off the charts great, but there is something to be said for traveling with a trusted hunting buddy...especially since this is my first trip to the "dark continent".

To this day, I STILL don't know what I ever did to deserve all of this, but I'll take it!! LOL!!

Excited to read the semi-live feed when ya get it going.

Good luck, Robb

The Bowsite faithful are looking forward to following along.

When are you going ?

I wonder if you can wear bells to let the elephants hear you coming like when your in bear country? ;>)))

Ole thumper

Ole Thumper,

I don't know about bells.....I was going to wear slippers with mice on them....LOL!!

The answer to that is simple. Being smart and working hard.

Congrats to both of you as it truly will be an unbelievable adventure.

DJ

>>>>===(heavy shaft)=====>

You guys will have a gay ol' time. Sleep in different huts please.

Here you go. You can get a lot more info by googling his name from the article. Best wishes for a safe African adventure.

Where do you FIND this stuff? LMAO!!!

Regarding the SECOND photo, imagine hiking through the mountains of Mexico, tagging along with a Bowsite buddy that is bowhunting for his Desert Bighorn on the Baja peninsula......and you discover a Blue Marlin (or is that a swordfish?) in the middle of the bloody desert, on a mountaintop....sometimes you just can't make this stuff up!!! What a great laugh we had that day!!!

It's all good.....but you can tell that Loesshillsarcher is a dentist......would anyone else have noticed that the decor on that dude's left shoulder is human mandibles?

This journey that we call Life sure is a trip, isn't it!! ....and the hunt is still 10 months away!!

Wild1,

Thanks for the link....

Rancid Crabtree,

Are you KIDDING me?!! I can't stop laughing!!

Nice tats Jake.... the piercings are bit much though....be tough to find work I'd think.... =D

Keep us up on the plans.... please?

One word of caution.................don't wear that damn leafy suit, if the Elephants come unglued like horses...................well it won't end well!!

Great talking to you yesterday! So glad for you and Pat on this hunt!

I think Pat should sport that porn mustache on another thread for this hunt! :0)

Morgan is looking forward to seeing your game room Labor Day weekend!

It's a shame all of us have to wait 11 months for this hunt to happen!!!

See you in a few weeks,

Kelly

Also, does Rhinehart make an elephant 3D target??

But seriously, congrats guys. That's awesome. I can't wait to hear the stories.

Jake and Pat, god luck and safe hunting.

Rick

I have heard that a mature bull elephant is 10' to 12" tall.....but how long are they...14'? 16'? I believe that a mature bull is in the 6 ton range.

I also heard that hippo sweat is red.....honestly.

I always thought that an elephant hunt was the ultimate bowhunting adventure. I am looking forward to seeing what gear you guys put together for the hunt (Bows, arrows, broadheads).

John

Jake, you thinking of packing this one (similiar to your sheep hunt) back to camp? LOL!

Look forward to following this adventure!

Mark

I haven't seen you on Bowsite in AGES. Glad to hear from you!!

Mark,

Do you realize that even if I packed 200 pounds per trip, it would take 60 trips....LOL!!!!

Glad to be back, work has been so busy that I have hardly been able to get on the bowsite for most of the year. Ned,

I think you hit the nail on the head : ) John

Second, Jake should start working out now so he can increase his poundage!

Pat if ANOTHER BLACK MAMBA gets after you will you will Bowsite to me? LOL

Jake be careful around Pat; he attracts Black Mambas...

Can't wait for pics! Mike

Here's my arrow set-up. We used an Easton XX75 2215 and inserted an Easton 2117 (best I can remember),used a little glue, making a double wall Aluminum arrow. Ashby Head, 4" vanes w/dayglo wrap and a lighted nock. No weight tubes, sand or brass inserts were needed. Arrow is 29" long. I told Jake I was about 1200gr but looking back at my notes we were just under 1100gr.

Arrows flew like darts and hit hard. I used an Elite GT 500 90# Bow cranked down to 94#.

The power of a mature Bull is beyond belief, I don't think any arrow could hold up once inside. I will hunt another one and will use this same exact set-up.

Jake you can see the diameter of the shaft is slightly smaller than the broadhead.

I also have an Elite GT 500, and it also only has 90# limbs. Both of my two Mathews Safari Customs that I have shot religiously over the last twelve years have 100# limbs, but the Kinetic Energy of the GT500 rivals that of the Safari Customs because the GT500 is MUCH newer.

I specifically bought the Elite 500 in case the elephant hunt ever became a reality. Now, I am tempted to take both Safaris with me on the plane, but ship the GT 500 ahead (a month or two in advance), just in case the double bow case gets lost while traveling.....

Did you use malarone as your anti-malarial?....I would like to avoid Larium if at all possible....it has some bizarre side effects.

I was thinking of taking a crow bar.....in case they need to pry me from between the toes!!

First trip over I used Larium and had a "bad trip"! So last time I used nothing, it was very cool and I never saw a mosquito, but I wouldn't recommend that.

Natives are VERY resourceful, they will pick you out of his toes any way they can.

I don't have any experience with dangerous game, but from my experience with the Ashby head, I wouldn't use it on elephant. The ferrule doesn't extend very far into the head and I had several break or bend on shots that shouldn't affect a sturdy broadhead. Look up Antarcher on here and ask him about some of his experiences with the Ashby on the water buffalo in Australia. Not good. I like the VPA for the extra long ferrule. It extends almost all the way to the tip and provides that strength where it counts most: the thinnest point of the broadhead. VPA makes a head up to 300 grains and I believe they also make a custom single bevel version, but don't quote me on that.

A guy you should talk to is Fritz Rabe. He was my PH last week with Melorani Safaris for plains game, but he has a TON of experience with Bowhunting for dangerous game all over Africa. Very intelligent guy. Designed a Frankenbow and got Bowtech to piece it together for him. He calls it The Beast and I think he said it pushes a 1000 grain arrow at 230 fps out of a 90 pound bow.

PM me if you'd like his email address. I'm sure he'd be happy to help. He showed me a custom broadhead and insert design specifically for elephant and buffalo that I believe will be the way of the future for dangerous game with a bow and arrow.

Stay well, hug someone you love today !!

I have just returned from Namibia from a hunt and my PH was good friends with the PH who was killed earlier this year. Very sad and very sobering when it comes to what your about to engage in.

I wish you guys all the best. A dream hunt right there...

WPA

Best of luck to you fellows.

.....and on the topic of proper arrow placement, I have provided Pat with the appropriate model (for those that missed it in the Kansas thread)...

Just booked my plane tickets two days ago .....$1,568.00....a LOT cheaper than my New Zealand tickets, even though the flight is four hours longer.

Tee Hee.

TBB