Bow Hunter Kills an Elephant

Note to self: Leave fieldpoints at home and use sharp broadheads instead when bowhunting elephants.

Yeah, this pretty much crosses any hunting ethics line. Use the right tool for the job.
 
It's hard to reply to this without swearing or slanting off into a personal attack on the hunter.

It seems a pretty pointless exercise to practice for months and workout 4 hours a day just to shoot the equivalent of a barn door from 12 yards. If she had done it with a spear then maybe I could see the point. (No pun intended)

Just shows you with enough money and spare time that any redundant achievement can be achieved.:thumbdn:
 
I bowhunt and I think she sucks. :thumbdn:

As usual, just add money and do whatever you want. No different than that MTV chick that wanted to summit Everest. Paid a team of sherpas to haul her ass up the side. But, I digress...
 
As a bowhhunter I've watched deer die after being shot. My experience is that they run a ways, stop, lay down and die. The thing about dying from a arrow wound is that the animal dies by blood loss. The brain slowly fails to receive the oxygen that it needs to function. The animal, in effect, dies in its sleep. Broadheads are razor sharp, or should be. There should be relatively little pain as the razor sharp edges of the head cut the nerves rendering them unable to send pain singals to the brain.

It should be noted that except for the efforts of sport hunters, elephants are little more than walking meat to tribal africans. Walking meat that destroys farm land. While not reported in the article, the hunter must have paid a tidy sum of money to get a permit to hunt an elephant, money (very much needed) that goes to the village that sold the permit. Permits are issued by the state to the villages, that then sell them to sport hunters.

All those that are wringing their hands about the wanton loss of life of such a magnificent creature should realize that both the meat reecovered and the money paid are very much in need. No part of the elephant was likely wasted, and the permit fees are in dire need. You should also spend some time in a slaughter house to witness the painless deaths of cattle and pigs that are shipped to the supermarket.

While it likely took a while to occur, the elephat died relatively painlessly in its sleep.

Yeah, hitting an elephant from 12 yards is probably not that great of a feat. Getting to within 12 yards of an elephant within a herd of others and making the shot, knowing that elephants are some of the most dangerous game ever to be hunted, and not getting ones self killed. Now that is a feat. many gun hunters have lsot their lives to elephants. Doing one with a bow takes brass ones. BIG ONES!!
 
Thats insane that she landed such a large kill, but although I do hunt occasionally I would not hunt an elephant.
 
Well I think this article was written to get the exact reactions that are coming out.

As for my opinion, As long as the meat was not wasted and the animal was not caused any undue distress then it is a good kill. It wasn't like she chased the animal down in a Jeep and shot multiple arrows into it before it succumbed.
 
Next headline will read: Bow Hunter Kills a Cow..

It is about as pathetic as killing an elephant. I know they charge and what not...but really..is that sport? Killing an animal of that size for nothing other than a trophy and a story is BS. Obviously I dont believe in killing something unless you eat it. I say she deserves a big ass piece of elephant steak! That'll learn her.
 
J_Curd said:
Im cool with hunting, but I never saw the point in killing such a magnificent creature. I hate seeing them dead in gun magazines...

:)
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That's how I see it as well. Hunting has always been the most basic mean of ensuring food for humans. The thing is that there has to be a good reason to take a life, other than the fun of it. How twisted need one be to get a kick out of seeing a creature dying, let alone slowly?
In case someone needs to kill an animal to obtain their food this is a totally different story and even then it has to be done as swiftly as possible. Even in slaughtering an animal it is done in such a way that one makes sure that the animal expires many times within seconds.
Aside from this I can't help but wonder what make people like this woman happy: looking at creatures in their natural habbitats or, just through pictures over their carcasses?
 
theedge13 said:
Next headline will read: Bow Hunter Kills a Cow..

It is about as pathetic as killing an elephant. I know they charge and what not...but really..is that sport? Killing an animal of that size for nothing other than a trophy and a story is BS. Obviously I dont believe in killing something unless you eat it. I say she deserves a big ass piece of elephant steak! That'll learn her.
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I couldn't agree with you more!:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Hunting plays a major role in my life, so conservation, and ethics are always on my mind. The time the woman took the the shot was never mentioned in the article. If she took the shot at dusk, it may not of been safe or smart to presue it while it was dark out. It also may have been a legal issue, I am not sure how game laws are in africa, but in New Hampshire it is illeagle to shoot after 1/2 hour past sunset. If there are similar laws in africa that could of been part of the reason that they decided to wait until morning. I think the fact that the woman trained for 8 months shows that she was serrious, and that is a very ethical to practice to that extent. As to the ethics of hunting elephants, as long as it is regulated by people that understand the carrying capicity of the land, conservation, and wild life management, I see no issues.
 
sounds to me like, bow hunting elephants basically required getting underneath one and shooting up! ....maybe their belly skin isnt as thick as the rest??

also, the whole leaving it overnight thing....could you imagine trying to clean an animal that large at night, with the smell of blood in the air? Imagine all the creatures you'd attract!!! every lion tiger and bear (oh my!) would be on you immediately....of course I dont know what types of animals roam that particular part of africa, but im sure a lot of them arent very friendly! that probably had a lot to do with it....
 
theedge13 said:
Next headline will read: Bow Hunter Kills a Cow..

It is about as pathetic as killing an elephant. I know they charge and what not...but really..is that sport? Killing an animal of that size for nothing other than a trophy and a story is BS. Obviously I dont believe in killing something unless you eat it. I say she deserves a big ass piece of elephant steak! That'll learn her.
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It said that 500 vilagers were fed with the meat. I think the story could have been wrote better. Focused on the elephant being taken successfully, and 500 vilagers getting a meal from it. I think it was slanted in that they seemed to be focused on the act of the kill and details of the elephants death then the success of the hunt, people getting fed, and the feat of the stalk and shot...
 
heavy_-j said:
sounds to me like, bow hunting elephants basically required getting underneath one and shooting up! ....maybe their belly skin isnt as thick as the rest??

also, the whole leaving it overnight thing....could you imagine trying to clean an animal that large at night, with the smell of blood in the air? Imagine all the creatures you'd attract!!! every lion tiger and bear (oh my!) would be on you immediately....of course I dont know what types of animals roam that particular part of africa, but im sure a lot of them arent very friendly! that probably had a lot to do with it....
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Good point. Lots of predetors that hunt at night in africa. Dangerous ones. Waay safer to wait till light with some spotters to watch the area...:thumbup:
 
The main thing about this is not the killing of the elephant as such, he'll I would eat Panda if it was a livestock animal. I just believe in a quick and clean kill. The idea of shooting an animal and leaving it to wander off to die overnight doesn't sit well with me. I can only go on the article linked and that's why i'm against this sort of thing.

So what next for this woman? Possibly she could train with a historical re-enactment team to learn how to use the Roman Ballista. Then off to bag a whale from 12 feet. Sure the meat and oil will go to a small Inuit village as well as the fee for the license. But that's nothing compared to the great pic she'll get.
 
"Her shot was made at 12 yards and the Bull traveled (sic) 500 yards before going down. 500 African Villagers were fed with the meat from the Bull.:) (sic)", Africanbowhunter said.


500 yards and it went down, That is not unreasonable, Most news medias are anti-hunting and try to press there agenda.
The meat was used by the locals, and the money spent for the hunt will keep many more elephants alive.
You don't shoot at an elephant to kill an elephant, you shoot at an area the size of the palm of your hand to get the arrow between the ribs and in to a vital organ.
 
However bad it may sound that it was left there to die overnight, it was most likely the only choice for them. I know a few of you said that already on here. Often times situations arise when your hunting that are unavoidable. We don't know the whole story behind it. Those of you saying that it goes against everything you ever learned about hunting, obisously haven't hunted enough. If it is getting toward dark and you shoot an animal, it runs, you had best leave it until morning. Especially with a bow, when you shoot them they run a certain distance. If you walk upon them too soon, they simply get up and keep going. If you wait, they will simply lay down, they will die.
Another thing, elaphants are protective animals. The heard could have been guarding it for several hours and they had no choice to wait.
In parts of Africa, the villagers rely off people hunting wild game in their area, they get all of the meat. Traditionally, the hunter will get one meal off the animal the night they make the kill, then the village will eat the rest.
I don't want to sound like an ass, but this is how it it done. I don't believe in letting animals suffer any more than the next guy, it is our responsibility to end the harvests suffering as quickly as possible. But, there is also a responsibility that the guide with her had, to keep her safe, as well as the other guides with them. Remember, there was a guide with her, he has most likely done this for years and years as they are usually natives. He knows more about what he is doing than any of us.
 
Biker Mike, You hit it on the money. Whoever it was that said it would be harder to miss the elaphant, they have never bow hunted. 12 yards, most people miss deer. Your shot and your nerves have to be sooo study in order to make that shot, and make it count.
I have seen people shoot elk through the lungs and the elk went over a mile before it went down. 500 yards is incredible for an elaphant.
 
Maybe i'm the only one that has noticed that when i cut myself I only feel it after I look down and see it. Additionally, there are relatively few pain sensors in the interior of the body (relative to the concentration at the skin).

Hunt much? Bow hunt much? Leaving the animal to die unmolested it how it is done. As was mentioned above, moving too quickly to a kill (before the kill is actually a kill) will spook the animal. Deer that are kept running after a bow shot will run much longer and much further than deer that are left to find a place to lay down. Other animals are no different. 500 yards is not really that far for a deer to travel. That an elephant-with much more blood to lose through an equivalent wound channel- only made it 500 yards says something very positive about the placement of the woman's arrow. The fact that this hunt took place in Africa, where the concentration of predators-nocturnal at that- is much greater than we have here in North America adds another level to the equation- personal safety.

If you hunt you might get it. If you bow hunt you probably get it. If you don't hunt you will most likely never get it.
 
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