Elephant!: The Renaissance of Hunting the African Elephant

Boddington is by now a classic in hunting literature. "Elephant!" (2012), one of his most recent books, shows that he can go with aplomb into another member of the Big Five and improve his previous one (i.e. "Buffalo!"), despite he claims that he has much to learn of elephant hunting yet. It covers almost all areas that an avid reader has to know about "Loxodonta africana's" hunting. Chapters are offered on past hunting and hunters, on recent trends of the politics and ecology of African elephant management, and also on the knowhow of today trophy hunting. A special section is devoted to the most relevant countries where hunting this great beast is possible at the time the book went to press. Overall, the author is optimistic on the short term prospects for this industry to thrive. Unfortunately, the ever changing political landscape in Africa as well as the current bad press of trophy hunting makes the future of this dangerous sport a matter of cautious analysis. The recent ban in Botswana (2014) is a case in point; it is a paradox that a country that needs most elephant control and management had been swayed by bossy ONG's. In conclusion, an excellent book, from top to end. Readable, instructive, thoughtful, balanced, a must for those who want to know seriously about this specialty of dangerous game hunting.

Very good book. Delivery just as promised.

Hi fellow readers ,im dr Juan Pablo Pozzi a proffesional hunter from Argentina ,althoug i hunt Africa once a year with groups of clients . I strongly believe in conservation trough hunting .This is the only manner to mantain wild lands and wild herds for the elephant . Regarding the book ,the colonel did it again a GREAT work very usefull .I recommend it to any hunter that wants to hunt jumbos . Juan Pablo Pozzi Zurbriggen md

I would only recommend this book for elephant hunting enthusiasts. It covers current elephant numbers in countries that are open to elephant hunting or that may soon be open. It discusses habitat loss/preservation, the effects of poaching, some basic elephant life cycle stuff, and the realistic prospects for what size tusker you might encounter in each specific country. The length to which the author goes to describe these topics would probably get a little laborious to anyone who does not list the elephant very high on his African game list. Additionally, I would have liked to have seen more actual hunting stories interspersed with all the data. Having said all that, and admitting that I devour elephant hunting books, I still liked the book because I felt it gave an accurate depiction of elephant hunting today with the modern day perk of color photographs. I also enjoyed the author's straightforward style and I did not feel that he embellished his tales.

As always a great read by Bodington. Lot of real information about habitat, elephants, hunting, calibers, economics and the politics involved.

EXCELLENT book on elephants and elephant hunting