February 27 1950

[Hill Style]

Howard Hill killed the first of his 3 elephants with a bow on this day in 1950 being the first modern bowhunter in history to do so.

[Pappy 1]

Very cool, I have that picture in a frame in my cabin, now I can date it.
 Pappy

[Jim Wright]

Does anyone know what that is directly above the tip of the arrow on the elephant's forehead?

[David Mitchell]

Looks a lot like blood.  Did he shoot it in the head???

[Hill Style]

If you read Howard’s book or Edkins book or the magazine articles Hill wrote, after killing the elephant with a lung shot Howard Hill tried a brain shot on the dead elephant. That’s what the hole is. Howard found out a brain shot with an arrow was not a good idea.

There have been many misinformed that think it is a bullet hole, if you zoom in on a larger clear photo you can actually see the slits from the broadhead blades.
Howard killed 4 elephants however one was finished with a rifle and was not counted as a bow kill.

[Jim Wright]

Considering his experience, it's surprising he actually thought there was any chance of putting an arrow through the front of an elephant's skull.

[two4hooking]

Heere is a rarer photo of one of his other elephants.

[Wudstix]

There were many great and incredible things done in early archery.