- Length
- 10–14 days
- Where
- Zimbabwe
- Party size
- 1-2 hunters
- Season
- March to September
The full trophy hunt on free-range bull elephant, with no restriction on ivory. You hunt for the best bull the area holds, which means passing on animals and accepting that fourteen days may end without one.
What you are actually buying
Free-range elephant on unfenced ground, hunted on foot, over as many days as it takes within the length of the safari.
Trackers cut the sand rivers and cutlines at first light and read what crossed overnight. If the track is worth following you follow it, and that can mean a very long day on foot in heat, with no certainty at the end of it. Bulls cover enormous distances following water and browse, and the one you find on day nine may be a long way from where you started on day one.
Why the hunt is long
Because finding a bull worth taking is the hard part, not shooting him.
You will look at elephant. Possibly a great many elephant. Most of them will be the wrong animal, and your professional hunter will say so, and you will walk away and start again. Ten to fourteen days exists so that there is room for that to happen several times.
Hunters who book the short end of the range and expect a bull on day four are the ones who go home disappointed.
Before you commit
Check the import position for your own country before you pay a deposit, not after you hunt. For American hunters in particular, the US position on sport-hunted elephant trophies has changed more than once and has specifically changed for Zimbabwe. We will tell you what we know, and we will also tell you to verify it yourself.
Fitness matters here more than on any plains game hunt. You are walking in heat, in thick jesse, at the pace of a tracking team.
What you would be hunting
Every animal below links to its own page, where the trophy judging, rifle and season are covered properly. The figures here are the same ones we would quote you in writing.
| Species | A good trophy | Rifle | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elephant | 45 lb+ a side | .375 H&H minimum | Very demanding |
What is included
Your professional hunter, trackers and skinners, hunting vehicle and fuel, accommodation, all meals, laundry, standard drinks in camp, and field preparation of your trophies. We help arrange airport transfers, though the transport cost is for your account.
Not included: gratuities, trophy fees (including on any animal wounded but not recovered), dip and pack, shipping, taxidermy, charter flights, international flights and rifle rental. Each of these appears as its own line on your written proposal, so nothing arrives as a surprise. Full detail is on the what's included page.
On price
We do not publish prices. Trophy fees and government licence fees change annually, and a fourteen-day elephant hunt and a seven-day plains game safari are not comparable numbers. What we will do is send you a written proposal with the daily rate and every trophy fee itemised separately. Gratuities are never included and never expected; the tipping guide sets out sensible amounts if you would like to.
This is a starting point rather than a fixed menu. Most of our safaris end up as something between two of these.
