It's more complicated than just being able to buy them. The problem is that each country is issued with a limited/finite number of CITES export licences and in the case of Botswana, they use all those when they issue them to the sport trophy hunters who hunt places like the Okavango and pay 4 or 5 times (or even more) the price of this hunt.

As Botswana has a large and increasing number of Elephants in the tribal areas such as where this hunt takes place, they still want the Elephants controlled but don't have spare CITES export licences.... So they allow the Elephants to be shot at a lower price and keep the tusks in the hope that they'll be able to sell them some time in the future.

Bowhunting is allowed in Botswana but not usually for any Dangerous Game. If the hunt had been in a privately owned area they might have granted special permission but when we asked them for that permission on these hunts, they turned us down because there is a number of indiginous people living in the area and they felt it was too much of a risk to have a wounded Elephant running round with so many defenceless people in the area...... fair enough I suppose.

So, it's rifles only. - But it's a very good deal indeed. - esp for a Botswana Elephant. Even Mozambique is more expensive than this hunt. I spoke to a buddy of mine today who has a coutada in Mozambique and by the time we'd added in the charters and permits etc he was almost up to US$15K.