Due to this taking some time to write etc I will post this as several items.
This trip was a couple of years in the making. I had the urge to go back to Africa for Elephant again. I last use Ndumo Hunting operated by Karl Stumpfe and was well looked after. My two previous trips With Ndumo Hunting had been in the Caprivi Strip so I was headed back there. This suited me to the ground as I had always wanted to hunt the Caprivi since I was a kid. As such I looked forward to each trip there.
I had priced Own Use Elephant (Namibian term for Cull) Hippopotamus and planes game. The Hippo took this out of my price range so I dropped that. That is until 3 weeks before departure and Ndumo contacted me with an offer on the Hippo that was a lot cheaper, so I added the Hippo.
Flight over and back was with QANTAS, great staff and service but as usual the flights were late getting in and departing. I had arranged to overnight in Johannesburg at Africa Sky and elected to use their VIP service. Meet you at the Aerobridge on arrival take you through the express lanes then out to meet Gilbert the ever reliable Africa Sky representative who takes you through collecting rifle etc from the Police. Africa Sky also sends you all the paperwork you need to fill in for firearms and ammo in SA. Highly recommend them as the place to stay in Joburg.
The following morning Gilbert helped during the check-in phase and things flowed smoothly. Picked up at Kasane (Botswana) Airport and driven to the camp, after more border crossing paperwork. Camp for this trip was at their Balyerwa Conservancy area. Karl was at the camp as was my PH, Fred. I hunted with Fred on my previous trips and asked for him to be my PH on this trip. Camp accommodation is thatched roof, concrete floors and canvas sides, Insect proof mess for windows, with shower and toilet.
The hunting area is situated on flood plains, with a river in part of it. There are sections of open areas studded with bush/timbered areas. In the morning we check zero then went looking for Elephant. No Elephant tracks found, back to camp for lunch. Midafternoon found tracks, and very soon saw some Elephants. Looks like this was not going to be kilometers of walking to find the herd.
On moving through the herd Fred selected a bull. The bull kept moving, stopping to eat then move. The heart stopping moment was when we had to move between two cows with their calves. One was about 20metrs to our left the other 15meters to the right. We would take a couple of quiet steps then stop, wait then move and repeat till clear of them. We got to a spot where we were about 20 mts from the bull, just had to wait for him to move forward for a clear side on, shot at his brain. Fred put the sticks up as a mono pod so I rested the rifle on this. A couple of minutes later the bull moved forward. I aimed about 1” in front of its ear hole and fired, the bull dropped like a rock, then we moved forward quickly and I put a shot into his heart, just to be safe.

One Elephant and the crew.

Fred and Myself

Obligatory photos taken, then back to camp. In the morning went back to Elephant Carcass and watched the locals butcher the Elephant. The bullet, a 400 grain 416 cal Woodleigh Hydro was recovered. I had placed it through the Zygomatic bone and it’s nose cup was flattened and front slightly distorted. It had lost less than a grain in weight

Two views of the Hydro. Take these any day over a conventional round nose solid.