Theunis Botha, PH, killed during elephant hunt...

Status
Not open for further replies.
The elephant fell on him and crushed him. That had to have been a tight, fast moving situation!
 
Apparently he and his group were charged by a herd. And he was picked up by one of them using their trunks. Another member shot that elephant and he was dropped and the elephant fell on him. If that's true.....I can only imagine.
 
BigBore44 said:
Apparently he and his group were charged by a herd. And he was picked up by one of them using their trunks. Another member shot that elephant and he was dropped and the elephant fell on him. If that's true.....I can only imagine.
Click to expand...

People who haven't seen it in living color have no idea the speed and power of an elephant. They've certainly got my full attention on several occasions.
 
Would love to see it live in living color. But I doubt I ever will. It's not fear. It's funds. And no desire to hunt the "Big 5" at all. But I would certainly go on any hunt as a backer if I could. I'm sure there's not many things in the animal kingdom that could compare to a big bull charging. Their power is almost unbelievable. I've seen them flip cars and truck like we flip trash cans. And I've seen lions have to dead sprint to outrun them. Magnificent animals. And....deadly.
 
Bulls are powerful. Cows are cunning and terrifying when they attack, especially when they attack as a coordinated force in a herd situation.
 
I decided "Theunis Botha" to look up on you tube and the bunny huggers are sure out in force. I think I learned a couple of new combinations of words that I didn't learn in the air force. the replies are very profane.
 
Yes the ignorant unwashed masses are as usual squealing as pigs generally do when they get excited.
 
i had no desire to hunt the elephant in africa, but i was very close(40-50 feet) to them and we stood very still with the wind in out favor,like wise i had no desire to kill a big cat. i did shoot a cape buffalo and quite a few plains game, eland-kuda-water buck-blue,black wildabeast-zebra-orix-red hartabeast,ect. and any of them can kill you if things go wrong. prayers to the family. eastbank.
 
H&Hhunter said:
Yes the ignorant unwashed masses are as usual squealing as pigs generally do when they get excited.
Click to expand...

They are ignorant fools that don't understand the concept of wildlife management and how hunting actually preserves the game and gives the game value to the people. How, withought trophy hunting, many animals would simply be slaughtered to preserve the land for the indigenous people's livestock. But.....people have the right to be ignorant.
 
Prayers for his family, but also prayers for the one who shot the elephant. That would leave me 2nd guessing myself for the rest of my life. You try to help and you think you're making the right call, but did you shoot too soon? Too Late? Should you not have shot at all? Would he have been thrown clear? Was he doomed either way? No way to know, but it would be very hard not to ask those questions.
 
If he was in fact in the elephants trunk as reported. He was a dead man. The only option was to shoot the elephant.
 
No argument here. I still think that's going to haunt them for a long time.
 
H&Hhunter said:
If he was in fact in the elephants trunk as reported. He was a dead man. The only option was to shoot the elephant.
Click to expand...
We'll never know if he was alive when the elephant had ahold of him unless there's video or first hand accounts. But an elephant can squeeze the life out of a human more easily than we could squash a June bug. You don't uproot trees with a weak grip. And I seriously doubt that elephant was picking him up to like Dumbo's momma held him.
 
I've been in tight stitutions from angry brown/grizzy bears where when it was over I swore I was done with this. But the lure of the adrenaline rush with dangerous game always gets you back. Or at lest it did, afraid I have gotten old enough I'm afraid the next adrenaline pump may blow the old ticker.
As far as antis, you ought see there tune change on wolve control when one plucks their precious little poodle out of the back yard.
 
So true Jim. We have a wolf problem. They are not the German Shepherd dogs that play wolves in those cute Disney movies. All those urban dwellers that send their nickels and dimes to save the wolves should see the wolf wasted kills.
wyoming wolf.png

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/25/wolf-pack-kills-19-wyoming-elk-in-one-night.html

President Obama ordered our wolf control to cease. President Trump is reinstating our rights to shoot on sight.
 
BigBore44 said:
We'll never know if he was alive when the elephant had ahold of him unless there's video or first hand accounts. But an elephant can squeeze the life out of a human more easily than we could squash a June bug. You don't uproot trees with a weak grip. And I seriously doubt that elephant was picking him up to like Dumbo's momma held him.
Click to expand...

I never fully understood the power of an elephant's trunk until I watched a documentary on the Asian elephants workings in the timber industry. They can pick up and carry a hard wood tree trunk weighing 4,000 lbs*. They are unimaginably powerful. A simple swipe of the trunk will snap your bones as easily as you or I can snap a match stick. I saw a report once on the dangers of the big five. It is generally known that if an elephant gets a hold of you it is almost 100% fatal.

*Correction, they can carry a 1,000 lb log and drag a 4,000lber.
 
Last edited:
H&Hhunter said:
I never fully understood the power of an elephant's trunk until I watched a documentary on the Asian elephants workings in the timber industry. They can pick up and carry a hard wood tree trunk weighing 4,000 lbs. They are unimaginably powerful. A simple swipe of the trunk will snap your bones as easily as you or I can snap a match stick. I saw a report once on the dangers of the big five. It is generally known that if an elephant gets a hold of you it is almost 100% fatal.
Click to expand...
I think I watched the same documentary. I don't remember it saying they could carry 4,000 lbs. But that doesn't mean they didn't say it. And I certainly believe that they could do it.
 
BigBore44 said:
I think I watched the same documentary. I don't remember it saying they could carry 4,000 lbs. But that doesn't mean they didn't say it. And I certainly believe that they could do it.
Click to expand...
See my correction above. : ) Pick up and carry a 1,000lb log and drag a 4,000lb log.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

H&Hhunter
  • Locked
Speech given at Theunis Botha's funeral.
Replies
4
Views
688
swampcrawler
swampcrawler
BigBore44
  • Locked
Kansas Doe Shot By Wardens...
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
barnbwt
barnbwt
H&Hhunter
  • Locked
Elephants once valued by local community now being viewed as negative.
Replies
4
Views
840
Dave P
D
H&Hhunter
  • Locked
Cow elephant. The most intimidating animal on the planet!
2
Replies
39
Views
3K
H&Hhunter
H&Hhunter
H&Hhunter
  • Locked
Just got back from the SCI convention
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
JohnKSa
JohnKSa
Back
Top