H&H, chill . . .
When I see someone quote specific numbers (like 6" - 8" from the brain to down an elephant) I just figure that there's some reason things were quantified - IIRC, Pondoro just said words to the effect that "a near miss" of the brain from a large caliber would knock out an elephant for a while whereas the same shot placement with a lesser caliber wouldn't. Taylor didn't define "near" so it could have meant 1 inch or 1 foot. If someone with Taylor's experience didn't quantify it, I was wondering about the background and basis of the person(s) who
had.
Never having taken a jumbo myself, I'm in no position to debate from my own experience what will and what won't "knock out" an elephant - but I'm always interested in learning from those who
do have extensive experience. And many of them don't seem to write much, if at all, about "knock out" with a near miss to the brain. That's why the figure you referenced piqued my interest - I hoped it might be based on something more than " . . . an educated guess. an estimation or a SWAG . . ."
Note that I allowed as Mark Sullivan was "controversial" . . . I suspect that over a couple of beers we'd find much to agree on regarding him . . . and I've seen buff downed by the "little" .375 that crumpled
just as definitively - if not more so - than most of those in Sullivan's flick. Body shot on buff isn't the same as a head shot on elephant, but it's the kind of thing that makes you go "Hmmm . . . " (BTW, though I very much love the .375, I hope you don't think I'm implying the .375 hits like a .500, or even a .470 or .458 - it clearly doesn't. Caliber is important, but IMHO above some threshold, which will certainly vary from one animal species to the next, bullet placement means a whole lot more than caliber.)
And when you asked Double about "taboo" animals, I thought it was a genuine inquiry, so I weighed in with what I knew in that regard . . . And yes, with very few exceptions all protein
is consumed, the animals taken either serving as camp meat or shared out with the locals, as I've seen first hand. Little or no waste.
As far as Double's other points were concerned, other than some scandalous "canned" lion hunts in RSA several years ago with old circus lions (and rumors of the same in Namibia,) I'm unaware of any "canned" hunts in Africa.
H&H, I think we agree on many things, and will continue to disagree on a few others, but we've been able to keep things civil . . . enjoy your hunt in Texas (thanks for spending money in my state!
) and be sure to post pictures when you get home.