"Due to the good rainy season this year, the elephants in Nyae Nyae Conservancy were widely dispersed in the area. On the sixth day, after a long march, we just touched an area in the northwest of the concession where there seemed to be a lot of elephant movement. The next day we returned to the vicinity and at a waterhole found an extraordinarily good track. Unfortunately, as the bull moved onto hard ground, where the trail was mixed up with other spoor, we were unable to hold the spoor and had to give up.
"On returning the next day, I was searching the vicinity of the water- hole with the trackers while Ortmeier and his friend waited at the water when an impressive bull neared the waterhole. Unfortunately, he got wind of the two and made off. On inspecting the scene, we realized that it was the same bull we had followed the day before.
"We took up the pursuit, but the clever old bull twice circled leewards on his spoor and thus once again got our scent. After a pursuit of some six hours we caught up with him around 3 pm. It was a most impressive sight, the bull showing his left side with an extraordinary, fine tusk. Ortmeier brought the bull down with a clean brain shot. Great was our joy when we realized just how big the ivory was. Dries Alberts, a MET game ranger, officially weighed the tusks at 93 and 66 pounds. The right tusk was broken while the heavier left tusk has a length of 193 centimeters (nearly 6½ feet). Its circumference is 54 centimeters (about 21 inches)."........(continued)
