I will write more later.

But when I first saw the question, my thoughts went immediately to one experience.

Hunting cow elephants in the Zambezi Valley, near Lake Kariba.

We were pursuing a herd of elephants, and one cow elephant was waiting behind a tree visible to us to AMBUSH us.

The PH said - "Go around the tree and shoot it!"

So I carefully started to walk slowly to go wide around the tree.

The cow ele had second thoughts and fled.

The PH yelled at me "You just have to ran it there and DO IT!"

What? Fuck him.

I was not going to RUSH IN THERE AND DO IT. I would have been maybe NINE FEET away from the elephant when I went around the tree. Possibly within trunk smashing distance ...

i was going to have to brain shoot it as soon as I saw it brain area and as soon as it saw me ....

I was thankful it ran away ... in this instance.

A few feet BEHIND an unaware ele bull or two in the bush with the wind in the right direction is fine. IN FRONT of an ambushing elephant planning death and destruction is NOT!

My two cow elephants on that trip were shot at maybe 15 yards or somewhat more.

My cape buffalo was shot at maybe 50 yards.

My first water buffalo maybe 15 feet away? In the water, we were knee of mid thigh deep as well. And ambush as it fed towards us in zig zags feeding on under water grasses or reeds.

Most water buffalo or scrub bulls I have shot at have between ten yards to say 50 yards.