Bow Hunter Kills an Elephant

FortyTwoBlades said:
If I remember correctly Fred Bear (the founder of Bear Archery) dropped an elephant with a single shot from a ground position. I doubt he let it expire in the night.

(on another amazing note, he also dropped a charging grizzly while he was on the ground!!! :eek: The man must have had nerves of steel!)
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Yeah...I read those stories long ago. If I remember right the bow he killed the elephant with, and maybe even the bear with, were re-curves. Definitely nerves of steel and likely b@!!s of cast iron.....or perhaps just a little touched in the head ;)
 
This is the epitome of some butch feminist trying to prove something to her male counterparts by taking drastic measures.

These are the kind of girls that burp in public just so they can challenge somebody who says something about it.
 
hlee said:
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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I agree, I see nothing wrong with what I’ve read about this.

I will add; I bet her heart was racing when she let that arrow fly.




"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike

Forest & Stream
 
This has two sides in my opinion. The first side, is wrong, the second is right. Allow me to explain my sides, so to speak.

Side 1: The woman who shot the elephant, was wrong. She wanted to kill the elephant just to say she did it. That is completely unethical in every which way that I see possible. I was taught growing up that if I killed it, I ate it. What is the point in saying "I shot an elephant" from 12 yards? That is like telling someone you can hit the broad side of a barn with a rock from 10 feet away. (In my opinion, although I do agree skill is required for an accurate shot with a bow)

Side 2: The right side, is that the Elephant is being shot by a paying customer, which gives money to the area. In addition to the money, the elephant is also used to feed the village of 500 people, who may not have a way to pay for the hunt themselves, or maybe not a way to kill the animals. Either way, they got meat from the hunt. As long as they utilize the meat and not waste any of it, I believe this will outweigh the bad side.

As far as letting it go overnight, they likely hadn't any other choice. I am no expert on Elephants, but maybe after it ran, there were still elephants around, and elephants are dangerous creatures. I am sure if they could have, they would have been there that night cleaning it. (Or not, never hunted an elephant, nor will I ever)
 
TheGame said:
This has two sides in my opinion. The first side, is wrong, the second is right. Allow me to explain my sides, so to speak.

Side 1: The woman who shot the elephant, was wrong. She wanted to kill the elephant just to say she did it. That is completely unethical in every which way that I see possible. I was taught growing up that if I killed it, I ate it. What is the point in saying "I shot an elephant" from 12 yards? That is like telling someone you can hit the broad side of a barn with a rock from 10 feet away. (In my opinion, although I do agree skill is required for an accurate shot with a bow)

Side 2: The right side, is that the Elephant is being shot by a paying customer, which gives money to the area. In addition to the money, the elephant is also used to feed the village of 500 people, who may not have a way to pay for the hunt themselves, or maybe not a way to kill the animals. Either way, they got meat from the hunt. As long as they utilize the meat and not waste any of it, I believe this will outweigh the bad side.

As far as letting it go overnight, they likely hadn't any other choice. I am no expert on Elephants, but maybe after it ran, there were still elephants around, and elephants are dangerous creatures. I am sure if they could have, they would have been there that night cleaning it. (Or not, never hunted an elephant, nor will I ever)
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Thats the way I see it as well, but my god what a stupid women!:D
 
The point about this type of commercial hunting is that it preserves the elephants.
If it wasn't for the cash from selling permits, the locals, or poachers with AK47's, would slaughter all the elephants in next to no time.
 
I think that what some people are missing is that to get within 12 yards of any big game animal is a feat. To get within 12 yards of 4 to 5 tons of bull elephant- WITHIN A HERD OF OTHER ELEPHANTS- that is a feat of hunting skill that will rarely be surpassed. Killing is always the easy part. Getting within range of your chosen impliment is the hard part. It is much less dificult with a high powered modern firearm. With the right gun, the right rest, some training, and a bit of skill pretty much anyone can take a big game animal from 300 yards or more. The real challenge is to get with in what Peter Capstick calls "hallitosis range." Where you can feel the fetid breath on your skin.

Hitting a softball sized target from 12 yards is not a challenge. Lets face it, you have to hit a vital area to kill even a deer. Hitting jumbo in the butt with an arrow isn't going to do you any good. You've got to put the arrow where it can get to the vitals. that means shooting between bone. Those that make the barn door analogy obviously don't know what they are talking about. Let me say this again. THOSE THAT MAKE THE BARN DOOR ANALOGY OBVIOUSLY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. It is not that you shot something from 12 yards. Its that you snuck into a herd of elephants and from 12 yards away poked a mature bull elephant with a stick (we are talking about a bow and arrow after all) and lived to tell about it. If you tell a deer hunter that you shot a deer from 12 yards the response is not going to be "Big deal, I could hit a pie plate from 12 yards," the response is going to be "How in the he** did you get within 12 yards of a deer, draw and release an arrow without being spotted!?!." If you get spotted by a deer at 12 yards the consequence is that the deer runs away. If you get spotted by jumbo-or a HERD of jumbos- at 12 yards the consequence is that you get shipped home in a ziploc baggie, a SMALL ziploc baggie.

There are very few subsistance hunters left in america. We hunt because we enjoy it. Yes, we say that we hunt for the meat and I do eat what I kill (and I truely do prefer deer to beef), but we as a group don't hunt to eat. We all could go to the grocery store and buy meat. We put the antlers, horns, hides, skulls, and other assorted trophies on our walls and enjoy some satisfaction when friends come over and admire the tokens of our hunts. The woman shot the elephant because she could. And THAT, is about as much as any of us can say about why we hunt.
 
yeah pretty much, I'm with you, I only kill what I eat and try to make a clean shot....she must be spoiled and not have a lot going on in her life to kill such magnificent animal......Did she even eat the meat???????????




mtnfolk mike said:
as a traditional archer/bowhunter, i think that this is absolutely rediculous....:thumbdn: why the hell does this chick even want to kill a damn elephant to begin with... just to say she did....:mad: dumb...
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I'll tell you that shooting a whitetail at 12yrds is alot harder than shooting one at 20yrds. You guys that haven't hunted won't understand and the those who have only hunted with a gun at 50yrds couldn't fathom it. To be able to get close to the animal is the name of the game in primitive hunting. It's not about target practice. Do you think that being able to group shots makes you a good hunter? Its about stealth, patience and frame of mind. Animals are able to read intent. That's why you can see turkeys all year but once hunting season begins you're lucky to get within 50yrds of a tom.

Sure she did it for fame... but many good things came of it. She wouldn't have been allowed to take it if there was a problem. To be able to get in, take the shot and get out alive is very impressive.

Until you are not eating commercial meat, buying leather goods or wearing your favorite wool sweater... you shouldn't be judging the ethics of others.

I'm not trying to condem folks for their opinions (it's probably coming off that way). They are making a judgement based on the knowledge they have. However, consider this... It would be easy for someone to say that making a knife is simply a matter of grinding a piece of steel to shape, heat treating and slapping a handle on it. Which wouldn't be a false statement.... just an uneducated one.


I'm surprized some of you are siding with what seems to be a very biased article.... has anyone tried to pic this story up from another publication?


Rick
 
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Fonly said:
I have been hunting for many years, but that women is an idiot.
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Honestly, I don't know what to say to that... As many people have pointed out here, the woman had some balls. She found the determination and prepared to do something she set her mind to... Plain and simple.
What is different about her going out and killing an elephant because a guy told her she couldn't and someone telling you, I bet you can't hit that 6x6 bull elk thats 600 yards away. Believe me that kind of stuff happens. And when the guy hits the elk at 600 yards, thats one hell of a story. In fact I guarantee you would be telling people on this forum that you did it...
Those of you that don't like the fact that this woman pushed herself both physically and mentally to do this hunt, can just not read about those things. Keep your opinions to yourself because you obviously don't know much about hunting. I actually laughed out loud when I read someone say it's the same as hitting a barn. Wow, not the point at all. That is why most people who hunt with a bow, do it, because it is damn hard. You have to be really close and do everything perfectly.
Most likely the elephant did die a good clean death. It became weak and decided to bed down. I shot an elk last year that never flinched, just stared at me, I put another on in him because I thought I had missed, he fell where he stood.
There was absolutely no difference between this hunt any most any other hunt. Except the fact that a woman did it.
Stop complaining about something you don't understand. I have no problems with your opinions, I just think you should be more educated about something before making ridiculous remarks.
 
Oregon Knife Guy said:
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.
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I said it. I bowhunt. The kill zone on an elephant is way bigger then a deer. 12 yards with a good kill like that is great, but no superhuman feat. I agree with whomever said that the stalk is more of a feat then the actual shot. Gotta be soooooo quiet to sneak up on an elephant herd. Im torn on this whole story. I have no issue with leaving it to die till morning, my issue was with the need to kill an elephant just to be able to say you did it. Its great they fed so many people with the meat, and the $$ will go to a good place( this is Africa, so who knows if thats even true), but she didnt set out to feed the village, she set out to kill for sport, which IMO aint cool. No offense to those who do hunt for sport and no other reason, just my opinion....
 
Some really insightful and learned coments from
Hlee
Oregon knife guy
Bikermikearchery
Dannyboy Leather
Big Mike
Magnussen.

I shan't repeat what they have said so well. However, I would like to add the following:
1) It amazes me that pragmatic and educated people who are members of this forum can make such damning judgements on the basis of a short article which has probably lost some of it's facts by being edited to fit a limited newspace.
2) A herd of elephants is a frightening place to find yourself in the middle of. It has happened to me and it has happened to friends of mine, all by accident. To place oneself there, willingly, in order to kill one of these huge beasts takes guts. That is something one cannot practice for. I think it was Peter Hathaway-Capstick who said "The first rule of bufffalo hunting is that you really must want to hunt one!". The same applies to elephants. The key difference is that when you face a buffalo he faces you alone. The elephant has the whole herd on his side.
3) A final thought for those who vent about ethics in Africa. Zimbabwe was once a hunter's paradise. Foreign hunters would flock there to experience the real Africa. Friends and family who still visit there on business or to help out those folk who cannot leave tell horror stories of the state of local wildlife. There are probably very few elephant left in Zimbabwe. The noble Sable and Kudu are probably all but gone. And the locals who kill these animals to survive do not use ethical methods. Most animals are snared by use of fencing-wire traps and only found a few days later when the traps are checked. They die of suffocation or dehydration. Sometimes limbs are cut down to the bone in their attempts to escape. Occasionally animals are "hunted" and shot a few times with the AK47/AKM until it drops and then butchered while still alive to save ammo. These people are starving and desperate. Where are the news articles covering this tragedy? Where are the cries of "Unethical methods - hunt fairly!". In the greater African context this bowhunt has helped save wildlife...provided that more hunters do the same. You want to save African wildlife - go hunt in Africa!
To the Bowhunters everywhere - you are truly "Hunters" - I salute you!
 
Oregon Knife Guy said:
Honestly, I don't know what to say to that... As many people have pointed out here, the woman had some balls. She found the determination and prepared to do something she set her mind to... Plain and simple.
What is different about her going out and killing an elephant because a guy told her she couldn't and someone telling you, I bet you can't hit that 6x6 bull elk thats 600 yards away. Believe me that kind of stuff happens. And when the guy hits the elk at 600 yards, thats one hell of a story. In fact I guarantee you would be telling people on this forum that you did it...
Those of you that don't like the fact that this woman pushed herself both physically and mentally to do this hunt, can just not read about those things. Keep your opinions to yourself because you obviously don't know much about hunting. I actually laughed out loud when I read someone say it's the same as hitting a barn. Wow, not the point at all. That is why most people who hunt with a bow, do it, because it is damn hard. You have to be really close and do everything perfectly.
Most likely the elephant did die a good clean death. It became weak and decided to bed down. I shot an elk last year that never flinched, just stared at me, I put another on in him because I thought I had missed, he fell where he stood.
There was absolutely no difference between this hunt any most any other hunt. Except the fact that a woman did it.
Stop complaining about something you don't understand. I have no problems with your opinions, I just think you should be more educated about something before making ridiculous remarks.
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No offense man, but everyone is entitled to their opinions, I for one do not want to tell people to keep em to themselves. I love seein both sides of the gun in these threads....:thumbup:
 
_____At first when I read the article I was upset about the whole thing but after reading the various posts, especially from bowhunters, I understand that the elephant probably didn't suffer much physically. However, (here is my Bambi moment) many people that study elephants have proposed that hey have some understanding of death. The target elephant as well as the entire herd probably did suffer from the distress of knowing what had and was happening. Is this the end of the world? No but I'm just putting that out there. Furt hermore..
_____I do not believe that this woman was able to stalk to within 12 yards of the elephant. I believe it was a canned hunt and that to some extent the elephants' movements were restricted. Yeah she got a clean shot but was she shooting from amongst the herd? I don't think so.
_____The thing that does truly bother me is that the killing of mature bull elephants in Africa has led to adolescent bull elephants going on rampages killing rhinoceri and buffalo and such. It is a disruption of the social (did he say social?) order that exists among elephants. I believe that a responsible hunter holds conservation and education as a priority. I don't think that this lady did. I wouldn't mind seeing her in a bikini though she looks like she's be fun.:D
 
j williams makes a good point. All opinions are welcome. How else would we learn from each other?

Chinpo - Regarding your comment about 'not much hunting takes place in the UK'.
Correction!!! There are a lot of hunters here in the UK. Bird, deer, small game and 'pests' are all on the menu. Shooters here have just learned to have a very low-key profile.

(PS No wise-ass requests for stats - I don't have any. I'm judging by the popularity of shooting and hunting magazines, the number of gun-clubs and gun-shops and the type of gear they sell.)
 
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