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Yes John Basically it'll be an ele bull bowhunt and I also wish to hunt with Dan Hunsaker and Tristan a big leopard with the bow and arrow. Could be tricky to arrange with Buzz and Tristan for a 2 legs trip, or even 3 legs as we look for 2 leopard toms. About bowhunting elephant, I would prefer (as I attempted in vain) to hunt 2 ele cows. Buzz is clearly reluctant; he estimates that cows are more and more aggressive and if a rifle hunter can cope with the bitches, not so with the bow. Bowhunting requires a stealthy close approach at 10-20m. The closer, the more certainty of dramatic arrow penetration. To achieve a close and stealthy approach one requires a particular setting : bush enough to be hidden, not too noisy a ground (especially difficult in Winter (June - September) when dry leaves and twigs littered the ground), a steady wind (not so in Winter, wind whirling), a herd as small as possible for less eyes and ears probing, as few calves as possible as they rendered cows irremediably crazy. Taking advantage of the bush is a hindrance, too much grass and branches that can deflect the arrow. Consequently one can approach cows only in open bush. Chance of a charge is then maximal and sure the bow is the last rig to choose for stopping a resolute charge. All this considered, Buzz is adamant for opting for an ele bull, bulls being far less aggressive and often alone or a threesome at worst. That considerably explodes the budget : a cow is costing 2 000+$, a bull 12 000+$. That also changes the unfolding of the hunt. Cows' herds are noisy and easy to spot, let alone the evident spooring. No trophy coveted so one can shoot any handy cow, should the setting being reasonably safe. Not so with bulls. One has to stalk a good print and check. If the ivory isn't satisfying, let's go for another good spoor and so on. Always pondering whether shooting or not, if a possible better ivory is possible. That entails extensive spooring and stalking, passing middle good to good trophies in the hope of a whooper. This way you can end the safari in shooting the last day a less than decent bull and badly regretting the good ones you let alone. You also can shoot the first decent trophy and afterwards when seeing whooper regret your impatience. Add that the approach is tricky with a bow, it requires to close to 10-20m of the bull, and in most of the case, if it's an easy shot with the rifle, it's mostly botched with the bow as the bull detects the hunters and run to next county. My interpretation is also that Buzz isn’t eager to shoot scores of charging cows. When it occurs, he has to demonstrate the administration (with the help of the scout and the filming) that it happened in self-defense and that the charge wasn’t triggered on purpose.???? Worst, the expensive hunting day is killed, no chance to keep on happily hunting the rest of the day. And leopard bowhunting is radical different story. And leopard bowhunting is another story. |