Hopdoc,

Its not the second shot at DG on a non DG hunt that is the issue, its the first, with a solid.

We were flat out charged by an angry cow elephant after we'd stopped the truck to take a walk looking for a nice warthog we'd seen. We were only thirty yards from the truck and the cow came from a hundred. We barely made it to the truck and she got within six feet of it as we got out of dodge. I'd thrown my 375H&H to one of the trackers after he climbed in the back as I climbed in the front and he fired two shots with my rifle over her head which checked her each time. She didn't stop til we'd covered a couple of hundred yards, at full speed, in reverse.

Put us further from the truck or put her closer to us when she saw us and it would have been more than an exciting moment. That was the last for me carrying more than one, at most two, softs in my bolt rifle, even if impala are the target.

Other than this close call, while after PG we were bluff charged once, again by a another cow in the bush and worried by a couple of others. I should have gone to one or two softs, on top of solids after the bluff charge, which was prior to the for real go. You will never feel so helpless than when an elephant is coming at you and you have all softs in your rifle. We also got a half hearted charge from an old scrum cap buff that had been torn up by a lion, when we suprised the old boy lying in a spring as we aproached it to check for tracks. He only came half way and when we held our ground he stopped then eventually turned and ran.

There was a tracker killed in Zim this year by a bull elephant when the party was after PG. This stuff does happen. And no matter how excellent the PH is, I don't want to be entirely dependent upon him, and hope if it came to it that I could save myself, or perhaps the PH or one of the trackers.

Elephants are amazingly difficult to see in the bush and a suprisingly small amount of seemingly sparse cover can make them blend in. They also move very quietly in cover you think they'd make a racket moving through. Best to have a healthy respect for them, including being prepared, best you can, to deal with trouble.

IMO, for PG hunts where there are no elephants, a bolt is the better choice, especially when ranges might be longer. For PG hunting where there are elephant, I think the light double might have the edge, but that doesn't make a bolt unsuitable, just plan for trouble and keep three or four solids under your one or two softs.

My thoughts,

JPK