The Enduring Mauser

This take-down Rigby Mauser is bored for the .350 Rigby, once a popular cartridge, now upstaged

Thirty years after their first failure, Wilhelm was dead. Paul was 60 and might have quit the task.

 

By Wayne van Zwoll

Deeply pocked by the great hooves, the path narrowed in a thicket. We slowed, stepping sideways to limit the disturbance of our passage. Peering to either side, we could see mere feet into the bush.

 

It was enough. A wink of sun on a massive black boss stopped us. Crosswind, the bull faced our next step. Only a horn showed. I resisted the urge to ease the rifle up.

 

Seconds passed. “Too … big.” I read my partner’s silent lips, and nodded slightly to the corner of his eye. This buffalo was exceptional, not the aging, stub-horned “Dagga Boy” I sought. The decision was now the beast’s: to yield, or trigger a dust-up. At eight meters, it would happen fast.

 

Morning’s breeze shimmied. The bull chose well, spinning, then crashing off, gone in a blink.

 

With the Mauser back in the crook of my arm, we listened briefly, then turned back to the spoor.

 

Close shooting in Africa’s dense coverts begs a double rifle, say hunters who’ve had to fire fast, twice. After a second barrel saves you, a magazine won’t quite measure up. But for most hunting, bolt rifles beat doubles. If that were not so, the turn-bolt wouldn’t turn up on so many safaris. Its advantages include lower cost and a wide range of chamberings served by affordable ammunition. Typically lighter in weight and more accurate than a double, it’s easily scoped or fitted with an aperture sight. It carries four or five rounds, not two. The best bolt rifles deliver follow-up shots as dependably as a second, ready lock.

 

Legions of hunters still hail the Mauser bolt-action of 1898 as the best.

 

Like his stateside contemporary, John Moses Browning, young Peter Paul Mauser could “think” mechanisms onto paper and make parts that functioned as he imagined. Probably not first to use a door-latch device to seal a rifle’s breech, he developed actions around it that would establish him as Europe’s pre-eminent designer of small arms.

Rigby’s single-square-bridge Mausers (actions from Germany) still make rifle enthusiasts swoon

What better rifle for hunting bushbuck in thickets than an aging Mauser? (This one: a Holland in .375)

New loads have appeared for the versatile 9.3×62, long favored in Africa as a chambering in Mausers

Early in 1872 Prussia adopted Paul’s Model of 1871 as its infantry rifle. But the Prussian army paid just 15 percent of what he and his business-savvy brother Wilhelm had been led to expect for design rights. Also, the rifles would be built in government arsenals. To sustain their shop, the two men snatched a contract to make 3,000 sights for the rifle. Bavaria’s order for 100,000 sights funded a Mauser factory in Oberndorf. Then the Wuerttemberg War Ministry asked Paul and Wilhelm for 100,000 rifles. Partnering with the Wuerttemberg Vereinsbank of Stuttgart, the Mausers bought the Wuerttemberg Royal Armory. On February 5, 1874 it became Mauser Bros. and Co. After the last contracted 1871 rifles were delivered in 1878, China ordered 26,000 more.

 

Wilhelm died young in 1882, and Ludwig Loewe & Co. of Berlin bought controlling shares of the company. By then it was clear wars would soon be fought with repeating rifles, so Paul added a nine-shot tube magazine to the Model 1871. The 71/84 was a reliable arm; but its 11mm bullet still had a steep arc.

In 1889 Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre (FN) emerged in Liege to produce Mauser rifles for Belgium’s government. Paul’s Model of 1889, for smokeless loads, boasted a one-piece bolt with twin front-locking lugs. The magazine was charged by stripper clip. Turkish 1890 and Argentine 1891 Mausers were similar. All chambered the 7.65×53 Mauser cartridge. Notably, they shared a narrow, failure-prone extractor, and could fire with the bolt out of battery.

 

In his Model of 1892, Paul introduced the long, non-rotating extractor now widely considered the most reliable ever. Collared to the bolt body, its claw caught the rising case head before the bullet aligned with the barrel, controlling feed from follower to chamber. The ‘92’s bolt cleared the breech even when in the press of battle it was short-cycled. The broad claw tugged reluctant hulls from hot, fouled chambers.

 

The Model 1892’s single-stack magazine protruded, as had the 1889’s. But this was a fixed box. A guide rib in the left lug race smoothed bolt travel; a sear pin prevented firing if the bolt wasn’t locked; the bolt stop was independent of the magazine. 

 

In the beginning

 

Born into a family of gunsmiths, Peter Paul Mauser began his career trying to improve the Dreyse needle‑gun, which had armed Prussian troops in the Franco‑Prussian War. His work drew no interest from Wuerttemberg, Prussian or Austrian War Ministries. But it caught the eye of Samuel Norris, an American agent in Europe for E. Remington & Sons. Norris urged Paul and his older brother Wilhelm to convert the French Chassepot to a metallic‑cartridge rifle. In 1867 the Mausers moved to Liege, Belgium, and tooled up. But when the French government demurred, Norris pulled his support. (Norris then filed to patent the Mauser design in the U.S! On June 2, 1868, it became the first patented action bearing the Mauser name.) Meanwhile, Paul and Wilhelm returned to Paul’s birthplace in Oberndorf. Fortune smiled when the Royal Prussian Military Shooting School tested a Mauser rifle. The brothers made specified changes. Result: the single-shot Model of 1871. It fired an 11mm (43-caliber) black-powder round that sent 385-grain bullets at 1,400 fps.

A ‘98 Mauser’s beefy, non-rotating extractor prevents double loading; its ejector rides in a slotted lug

Magnum Mauser actions have the length and, here, bolt face to welcome rounds like the .416 Rigby

With these changes came a new cartridge: the 7×57 Mauser. Deadly during the Spanish-American War, it would influence the shape of U.S. infantry rounds. Among the first smokeless cartridges, the flat-shooting 7×57 (.275 Rigby, in British speak) soon became a favorite “smallbore” hunting round in Africa.  

 

The Mauser Model of 1892, with the 92/93 Spanish Navy rifle in 7.65×53, served barely a year in uniform before Paul gave it a flush, fixed box holding a staggered column. The resulting 1893 “Spanish Mauser” was an instant hit, and adopted by armies world-wide. Its flat-belly receiver, with integral recoil lug, was machined from a steel forging. A camming surface in the bridge engaged the bolt handle base to aid primary extraction. The flag safety pivoted atop the bolt sleeve. Thumbed to the right, it locked bolt and striker. Vertical, it held the striker off the sear but permitted cycling. Left was the “fire” position. The magazine was part of the trigger bow. Pressed with a pointed bullet, a latch allowed floor-plate removal.  Bolt handles on most 1893 and 1895 rifles were straight. Turned-down bolt handles appeared on carbines.

 

Mauser carbines bought by Sweden in 1894 inspired Carl Gustaf’s arsenal Stads Gevarsfaktori, in Eskiltuna, to produce more. These chambered the 6.5×55 Swedish cartridge. A checkered cocking piece permitted a soldier to ease the striker down without firing. The Model 1896 Swedish Mauser was similar, but with a straight bolt handle and three gas vents in the bolt.

Improvements on the 1893 Mauser resulted in the Model of 1898, adopted by the German Army April 5 that year. It cocked on opening. Generous gas vents and a third lug engaging a bridge slot added a measure of safety. Exported to many countries, the 1898 was produced in many more. The U.S., Great Britain, France and Russia designed their own battle rifles; but none functioned more reliably, shot more accurately or endured abuse more ably than the Gewehr 98. The Boxer Rebellion drew it into service. The short Karabine 98a began its 10-year production run months later.

 

Paul Mauser died in May, 1914, on the cusp of conflict that would muddy and bloody battlefields throughout Europe. His 1898 rifle would serve Germany’s armies in both world wars.

 

In the ashes of WW II, the Mauser Waffenfabrik (arms factory) was renamed Werke (works), and its marketing re-directed to hunters. Mauser engaged U.S. agent A.F. Stoeger, Inc. of New York, to sell the brand stateside. Stoeger assigned numbers to Mauser actions. By the late 1930s, the line comprised 20 configurations in four lengths: magnum, standard, intermediate and short, or kurz. The kurz, with a small receiver ring, was factory‑barreled for only three cartridges: 6.5×50, 8×51 and .250 Savage. 

Mausers in 9.3×62 have taken not only eland and other heavy plains game, but dangerous beasts, too.

Africa’s most celebrated hunters liked the 1898 action. W.D.M. Bell was said to have owned six barreled to .275, also a .22 Savage High-Power and a .416. Later, in the commercial-safari era, PH Harry Selby kept close company with his .416 Rigby. In India, the great hunter of man-eating cats, Jim Corbett, carried a Rigby Mauser in .275.

 

During its military life, the 1898 Mauser action was made of tough, low-carbon steel carburized, or case-hardened, for a hard finish. In the final, frantic years of WWII, receivers showed wide variations in hardness. War-weary Mauser infantry rifles sold cheap into the 1960s. Still, they were strong. An 1898 action barreled to .270 spared a pal who accidentally fed it a .308 cartridge. The lovely walnut stock was splintered, the extractor blown off. But the bolt, frozen by the enormous pressure, held.

 

Even pedestrian hunting rifles on commercial Mauser actions from Oberndorf came dear between world wars. Two years after the 1937 debut of Winchester’s brilliant Model 70 at $61.25, Mauser sporters cost two to three times as much! Affordable rifles with commercial ‘98 actions followed. The Whitworth and Browning High Power, both now discontinued, still show up on safari. They’re comely, well-stocked “working guns.” Building a top-rung custom sporter on an 1898 action is now a costly project. A favored, (read: scarce) military action drains cash in machine work on receiver and bolt. A ‘98 clone from the likes of Granite Mountain Arms emerges from CNC baths a finished gem. It begs equal investment.

W.D.M. Bell, here retired in Scotland, owned several Mausers, famously shot elephants with a 7×57

Jim Corbett favored an iron-sighted Rigby Mauser in .275 Rigby for hunting man-eating cats in India.

PH Harry Selby, who hosted author Robert Ruark on his storied safari, favored a Rigby Mauser in .416

Cartridges, in uniform and out

 

The first Mauser 1898 rifles were barreled to the 8mm smokeless round introduced with the 1888 Commission rifle, not a Mauser. Known as the 7.9×57 or 7.9x57I (J has been substituted for I), this round sent a 227-grain .318 bullet at 2,100 fps. Germany soon developed a more potent cartridge for the strong 1898. The 8×57, with 154-grain pointed .323 bullets at 2,870 fps, appeared in 1905. Officially, the 8×57 was designated 7.9x57IS and 8x57IS. It would see German infantry through WWII. A Lange Visier sight could be adjusted to put bullets from the 8x57IS on target to 2,000 yards. After the Treaty of Versailles prohibited use of military ammunition by Germans, the 8x60S replaced the 8x57IS afield. Re-chambering turned infantry rifles into legal hunting arms

In 1911, the debut of Rigby’s .416 cartridge in a new Magnum action gave hunters a repeater with the punch of big-bore doubles. Its 410-grain bullets sent 5,100 ft-lbs out the muzzle. John “Pondoro” Taylor hailed the .416. Rigby knew it had a good thing going and initially refused to sell Magnum Mauser actions to its competition. When Rigby’s monopoly on Mausers expired in 1912, other British gunmakers scrambled to build rifles on them. Westley Richards barreled Mausers to its .318 and .425 cartridges. W.J. Jeffery used them for its .333s and .404s. Holland & Holland found the Magnum Mauser ideally suited to its belted .300 and .375, a go-to action for the .505 Gibbs.

 

You’d be hard-pressed to find, in the great tide of bolt-action rifles since the Mauser of 1898, any that didn’t borrow from it. Or any that have proven superior afield.

Wayne used a commercial Mauser in 8×57 and a196-grain bullet to take this fine Namibian gemsbok

A softnose, then “make sure” solids from a Mauser in 9.3×62 downed this old “Dagga Boy” for Wayne

The .416 Rigby (R) gave Mausers double-rifle stopping power. Much later: the belted .416 Rem. Mag

L-R: .275 Rigby (7×57), .303 British, .450/400 NE, all popular in Africa since the 1890s, all still loaded

A better box

 

Paul Mauser designed his 1898 magazine for the 7×57. A host of measurements contribute to the original Mauser’s smooth, dead-certain feeding with that round, including, box dimensions, the follower’s step and taper, the angle between case heads in the staggered cartridge stack, the stack’s taper forward …. Even the loose fit of the follower spring to a Mauser floor-plate is purposeful; it squirms to keep the stack centered as cartridges strip from either side. Later Mauser magazines also function with cartridge families, a credit to the original design.

While many Mauser ‘98s were bored to 8×57, this cartridge first appeared in the ’88 Commission rifle

The 7×57 (.275 Rigby) stands taller than the much later 7mm-08, its ballistic equal. Both sell briskly

This old but elegant Holland & Holland in .375 has a Magnum Mauser action, a cocking-piece sight

Africa’s Forgotten Wilderness

Camp overlooking the Vovodo River

Hunting in the Central African Republic Today

By Andrew Gooden

“No, it’s not the Congo – it’s just a bit further north… no, rebel militia doesn’t jump out from behind every bush… yes, hunting is open there.”

 

I find that the questions I am often asked about the Central African Republic are, in fact, an accurate assumption of the times in this part of the Dark Continent.

 

In hunting and safari circles in the not-so-distant past, the CAR was a well-known destination with many safari outfitters in operation. It had a reputation for producing quality trophies, still evident in today’s SCI Record Book. Sadly, a combination of political instability, mismanagement, and bad press have made it a far less common hunting ground for the avid safari-goer than it once was. On the ground today, however, the reality is quite different from the media portrayal.

 

In 2012, a military coup-d’état concentrated on the capital, Bangui, led to somewhat of a ‘free-for-all’ for various groups of rebel militia looking for an opportunity to loot and gain power. So much pressure on Bangui, the only real access point to the rest of the country, made operating any business virtually impossible during this brief period. As such, the safari operators couldn’t reach their camps, and many of them lost complete control over their concessions – where looting was rife, and wildlife suffered.

 

As we know from history in Africa and abroad, when sustainable hunting activities cease to exist, the value of wildlife and the land on which it lives decrease proportionately. There is no income, so anti-poaching programs disappear, the animals are slaughtered en masse, communities suffer, natural habitat is squandered, and the list goes on. As a result, most of the safari outfits in the CAR folded. After this brief period however, the MINUSCA peacekeeping force of the United Nations stepped in and rapidly restored stability to Bangui, and they are now highly effective in most towns across the country.

Today in Bangui you can safely enjoy a cold beer and a first-class meal amongst people of many different nationalities at several good restaurants, including the Relais des Chasses – the traditional meeting place for hunters before and after their safaris. There are comfortable accommodations available for hunters too and, in general, you can expect the same experience as they would in any other African city, despite what the press wants the public to believe.

 

Fast-forward ten years and, outside of the capital, there is a glowing beacon of light that remains in an otherwise sad story. A two-and-a-half-hour charter flight due east of Bangui, over a seemingly never-ending sea of green, takes you to one of the last two operational hunting concessions in the country run by the renowned French outfitter Alain Lefol and his son Kewin. This area experienced far less trouble than in the northern parts of the country many miles away, where most of the other safari companies had their hunting areas.

 

The 2.4-million-acre (one-million-hectare) zone is bordered

on either side by the Vovodo and Chinko Rivers, which drain into the Mbomou and Ubangui Rivers respectively, before eventually joining the mighty Congo River further south. Henry Morton Stanley considered this area to be the ‘northern-most extension of the Congo River Basin’ – too remote to even fall under the vast governance of the Belgian King Leopold II, or the French, in the great scramble for Africa in the late 1800s.

 

Alain, who has been hunting in the CAR since 1978, arrived in the never-before hunted area for the first time in 2009, and the Lefols have been operating there ever since. Like the other safari outfitters in 2012, they were unable to access the zone for a brief period and as such, it was hit hard by poaching. By 2014, however, they had reconsolidated the area and were on safari once again, never having any issues with regard to security.

 

In 2015, African Parks founded the Chinko Project on the western border of the concession, bringing the total area under protection to roughly 13 million acres (5.5 million hectares), which is double the size of Hawaii. The area is totally isolated, inaccessible by road, and there is no economic interest in resources like diamonds or gold, hence it is devoid of villages, state roads, bicycles, and people in general. Together, the Lefols and Chinko have been working hard on anti-poaching programs, which are now paying dividends, with animal populations increasing steadily. You would be hard-pressed to find a wilderness area anywhere in the world which compares in terms of size and undisturbed by human presence. It is quite a humbling sensation to know that no European has ever set foot in much of the concession and that places as wild as this still exist in these modern times.

Right: Kewin Lefol and Author returning from a successful fishing trip at dusk

The landscape here is gallery forest; savanna woodland fragmented by tropical forest patches – colloquially known as ‘baco’. Somewhat of a transition zone between the Congo Rainforest in the south and the Sahelian savanna in the north, the area is of great interest to the biologist and sportsman alike, thanks to the sheer diversity of flora and fauna, with both savanna and forest species occurring here.

 

There are two seasons in equatorial Africa: the dry season, which runs between November and March, and the wet season between April and October. In fact, the seasons are so extreme that at the peak of the dry season, dust from the Sahara Desert blows southward through the zone, carried on the Harmattan winds, and late in the rainy season huge tropical thunderstorms move eastward from Equatorial Guinea and Gabon on the west coast. As much of an expedition as it is a hunt, the nature of the landscape and enormity of the area make hunting tough. Patience and perseverance are required, but rewards can be great – with a unique experience and quality animals the result of a truly wild hunt.

 

Hunting is done primarily through tracking with skilled Zande or Baka Pygmy trackers, or by waiting in machans (tree-stands) high up in the forest canopy over salines. A ‘saline’ is a kind of natural salt lick; a place where minerals are concentrated in rock or soil, attracting animals to replenish mineral reserves otherwise lacking in their diet. Many of these were carved out by elephants that once roamed the area in great numbers in times gone past, known in this part of Africa, particularly for their long, golden ivory. The salines which remain are now the only legacy left behind by these giant pachyderms.

Land Cruisers packed and en route to a fly camp

The area is most revered for its Bongo, with bulls over 32 inches and weighing 680 pounds not uncommon. The Bongo found in the gallery forest are generally larger than Bongo found in true forest, mainly because they have access to a more nutritious and varied diet offered to them by the savanna vegetation, in which they spend a lot of their time. Anyone who has hunted Bongo can attest to their cunning nature, mysteriously appearing and disappearing at will in habitat to which they are perfectly adapted. Every time you are gifted the rare opportunity to observe these enigmatic creatures – even if only for a few seconds – it is as if you are in the presence of royalty. It is quite uncanny to see animals of this size disappearing into seemingly impenetrable brush at full speed, with the surefootedness of a cat, and the grace of a Queen.

Left: A classic, old, heavy eastern CAR Bongo

The talismanic Giant Forest Hog, which are quite numerous in the area, is another prized animal from the east of the CAR. The biggest Hog hunted in the Vovodo concession thus far weighed an enormous 700 pounds and was taken by an 80-year-old bowhunter.

 

The Central African Savanna Buffalo found there are quite an anomaly. They are considered a ‘transition’ buffalo between the forest and savanna, coming in different shades of red and black with most bulls carrying forest-type horns. Although weighing in at 1,400 pounds, they are much bigger than the true dwarf buffalo of the big forest.

Young GFH boar proudly showing off his large nasal discs, a distinctive characteristic of the species, which are considered the largest wild member of the pig family

A typical young, inquisitive Central African Savanna Buffalo bull

Other huntable game in the area are lion and leopard, a variety of bigger antelope including the highly sought-after Lord Derby Eland, Red River Hog, warthog, and five species of duiker. In the Vovodo River, Tigerfish (occasionally the Goliath Tiger) and Nile Perch provide fantastic sport fishing.

 

Hunting in the CAR will test even the most experienced hunter and traveler. If you want to be pampered in a 5-star lodge, you won’t have a good time here. It is a place that heightens the senses, where you can truly live in the moment and forget about the rigors of everyday life in the western world. From the moment you touch down on the gravel airstrip until departure, the mind is lost to the bush.

 

The lack of interest in the country by tourists, big corporates, and foreign investors due to the publicity it has received in the last two decades can be seen as a positive thing by those longing for the Africa of old – the wild expanses remain, well, wild! And for the privileged few who are fortunate enough to venture into this unknown patch of green on the map in the dark heart of Africa, this forgotten wilderness will certainly not be forgotten.

Author with a 35 lb Nile Perch from the Vovodo River. These heavy brutes are quite common, engulfing lure, fly or bait with a force that will test any angler’s ability and tackle. Also – their big, buttery fillets provide excellent eating!

Author and trackers with a GFH after 3 hours of tracking through the Gallery Forest.

Andrew Gooden is a Professional Hunter based in South Africa. He has been hunting in the CAR for the last two years. For additional information or queries contact him at andrew@wildlandsoutfitters.com or +27 62 936 6790 (WhatsApp).

A Vintage Flight for Doves

By Simon K Barr

Photography credit: Tweed Media

 

South Africa is a sportsman’s dream: not only is it bursting with some of the most exciting hunting in the world, but when flying from Europe, there’s no jetlag. Less well-known are the fantastic opportunities for wingshooting, notably red-eyed doves and rock pigeon which are native to South Africa. These birds prey on crops, and the damage done to precious yields of soya and grains can be devastating. In May I headed out there with Marc Newton, MD of John Rigby & Co., to help protect soya crops.

 

Flights are short between cities and towns and the birds’ feeding grounds, and we were able to base ourselves just 45 minutes’ drive away from the airport at Pretoria, in the luxurious Ingaadi Spa. The plan was to join Andrew Tonkin, an authorised Rigby dealer in South Africa, who specialises in high-end shotguns and rifles, and has a tremendous stock of historic and antique guns, including some made by Rigby. Johan van Wyk, a writer and gun aficionado, would also be joining the team of shooters for two evening flights.

Johan talked us through the process: “We’re going after red-eyed dove and rock pigeon, just outside Pretoria East, about 10km outside town. These birds aren’t migratory in the true sense, but they live in the city, and fly out to feed. This gives us the chance to flight them as they head in and out of their feeding grounds – this is crop protection and harvesting wild meat. All the birds shot are collected and the meat will be distributed among the staff at Ingaadi Spa, where you are staying, so nothing goes to waste.”

 

It’s normal to shoot these crop-raiders on flightlines, according to Johan: “We don’t need to decoy, and mostly you’ll be shooting high incoming birds. If there are a lot of them, they keep coming in until it is dark. We’re right at the beginning of the season now, which runs from May to September. As the season goes on, the shooting gets better. There’s a 30-bird limit for the rock pigeon, but there’s no limit on the red-eyed doves.”

 

As we drove to the area we’d be shooting over, which held soya crops, Johan explained: “When you are going for pigeon, you need to select your venue according to crops. You also need to consider that the birds like to fly into the wind, so that will determine where you set up, too.” Judging by the numbers of birds lifting from the field as we approached, this was going to be an extraordinary flight for pigeon. There were thousands of them!

Red-eyed doves

 

The red-eyed dove, Streptopelia semitorquata, is a pigeon indigenous to Africa south of the Sahara. The red-eyed dove is around 12in in length, stocky, and has a pale brown back, wings and tail, with blackish flight feathers, while the head and underparts are dark pink to pale grey around the face. A black patch edged with white appears on the back of the neck. The name comes from a bare patch of skin around the eyes, which is red. The bird’s main diet is seeds, grains and other vegetation. The breeding season is all year round, though there is a clear spring/summer peak in some areas. Females lay two eggs, which are incubated by both parents for between 14 and 17 days before hatching. The chicks stay in the nest a further 15 to 20 days before fledging. The population is healthy, and the bird is listed as a species of least concern. Numbers have increased considerably, and the red-eyed dove has expanded its range since the early 20th century thanks to the planting of trees and digging of watering points.

History in action

Andrew Tonkin, whose collection and knowledge of historic guns is impressive, had brought guns for Marc to use. These weren’t just any old guns, either – these were shotguns made by John Rigby & Co. “We’ve got a Rising Bite, probably made just after the patent was taken out, so that was built in the 1880s. Then we’ve got a sidelock ejector from the 1930s and a top-lever hammergun with barlocks from 1877, which is a very uncommon Rigby to find.” Not a bad spread of guns, and all in 12-bore. Andrew shoots vintage guns every week: “Because I’m a collector, it just wouldn’t feel right to use a modern gun over-and-under. My group of shooting friends calls itself the ‘Practical Eccentrics’. It’s very seldom that we shoot any guns that are less than 100 years old.”

 

We were likely to be shooting a heavy volume of cartridges, but Andrew knew this wasn’t a problem: “We stick to the loads the guns were built for, rather than using heavier modern loads. We use the smokeless equivalent of 3g or ⅛oz load, which equates to 550 bar of pressure. If you use that, your old shotguns will last forever. Our pigeon here in South Africa are smaller than the UK woodpigeon, so in terms of cartridges, we use 30 or 32g of number 7 or even 7.5 shot, which gives you 1,250ft/lb. We also sometimes shoot red-breasted doves, which are even smaller, so for those we use 21g of 9s. That load is really easy on the shoulder, and when we have the WAGs (wives and girlfriends) along, they like it because there’s no recoil.”

 

A Vintage Flight

 

Using a historic gun is always a treat, and particularly so when it is a Rigby and the pigeon are flying fast and hard. We picked our birds, choosing to shoot sporting ones rather than volumes of easy targets. It’s pretty rare to be able shoot 250 cartridges an hour on any birds, but when the red-eyed doves are really flying, you’d certainly be able to do that. With so much shooting, the evening passed all too quickly.

The following day, we enjoyed a braai before the action, admiring Andrew’s stock and talking vintage guns as we ate. Andrew’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of firearms was fantastic, and his enthusiasm was catching. As he explained, shotguns haven’t changed all that much since the guns we were using were built: “As far as guns go, a vintage shotgun is the one that is closest to its modern counterpart. Rifles have improved a lot, handguns have improved a lot, but shotguns not really. If you could shoot a gun well in 1900, the same gun will serve you well in 2000. You can’t say the same for rifles or handguns or any other firearms.”

 

The second evening passed in the same flurry of action as the first, and again we were able to pick and choose the most challenging birds, with the Rigby shotguns performing just as well as the modern guns being used by other members of the party. Marc was impressed and delighted: “It was very good and very interesting. We had some seriously high-volume shooting, and it pays credit to the craftsmen of yesteryear that the guns they made up to 120 years ago are still fit to do the job they were made for. They worked just as well as the new guns that other people were shooting.” It’s interesting to think what those old guns have been used for by previous owners. We’re really just custodians of guns like these, and Andrew Tonkin is a fantastic representative of Rigby’s past, present and future.”

How to go dove shooting in South Africa

 

George Digweed has shot red-eyed doves with Andrew in South Africa, and said it was better than the shooting he’d had in Argentina. It’s also closer and there’s no jetlag. There are a few outfitters who can accommodate red-eyed dove shooting. Your outfitter should be able to organise all the paperwork for you to bring your shotguns into South Africa, as well as any permits or licences required.

 

Andrews suggested outfitter is: Henk Engelbrecht, Rawhide Safaris, Mobile | +27 83 280 0470 | info@rawhidesafaris.com

Campfire Thoughts & Reminiscences Part 7

Written by Neil Harmse

 

Chapter 8. Concerning Rhino

 

At one stage, when I was doing wilderness trails for the Wilderness Leadership School, I was asked to do a promotional walking trail with a group of journalists and dignitaries to help raise funds for educational trails for underprivileged young people. Included in this group were Heidi Muller of the SABC German Service, Greg Marinovich (a photojournalist with The Star), Willem Pretorius (a journalist with the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld), as well as several other media people. This trail was conducted in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve wilderness area and, after a few hours’ walk, we had been fortunate in seeing a variety of game animals. Discussions on the importance and use of various trees and plants generated a lot of interest, and notes and photos were taken.

 

We had also seen a number of rhino middens and had interesting conversations about the differences between white and black rhinos.

 

While walking in single file along one of the game paths through moderately thick vegetation, I spotted a white rhino cow and calf making their way along the path towards us. The calf was just ahead of its mother, being directed by nudges of her horn, which is the norm for this species. There was a bit of a gap in the vegetation along the path and my thought was to move the party out of sight and out of the way until the rhino had passed on their way. I quickly moved the people behind a large tree about 15m off the path, but – with a photojournalist’s instinct for a sensational photo – Greg stepped into the path to take a picture. The sudden movement ahead of her startled the cow and she immediately broke into a charge directly at Greg. He was wearing a short, sleeveless waistcoat, with many pockets for all his photographic paraphernalia, and I managed to grab him by the back of his jacket and pull him into the bush on the side as the rhino cow went thundering past. Fortunately, she did not turn, but kept going with the calf, huffing and puffing like a steam train. Needless to say, everyone was shaken by this experience and we all needed a while to settle our nerves before moving on.

Articles from The Star and Beeld

Two interesting stories in daily newspapers came from this experience, one by Greg titled Close Encounters of a Rhino Kind and another in Beeld by Willem titled Dapper Daan Word Bang Jan (“Brave Dan Becomes Frightened Freddie”). Amusing stories which could have been tragic.

 

The experience proved that in the bush, it is mainly the clients who need to be watched! Another incident I experienced concerning rhino was in the Timbavati Reserve bordering the Kruger National Park. That time, I was on a walking trail with a group of Technikon students. We had started out at first light to make our 

way to one of the waterholes, about 5-6km from our trail camp. A light drizzle and thin ground mist had set in, making the conditions cool to walk in and deadening sounds, but visibility was limited to short range. I spotted a white rhino cow with a half-grown calf about 30m ahead. The cow was lying down and the calf standing by her side. Because of the drizzle, we were all wearing some form of waterproof jacket, but I did notice that one of the young ladies had an umbrella folded up at her side. I had not given a thought to this when we set out, which turned out to be a mistake to be learnt from. The cow seemed reasonably restful and I maneuvered the group to sit just in front of a fairly large marula tree and squat down while we observed the rhinos from a distance.

 

The wind direction was a bit variable and the calf seemed rather nervous, but I knew that as long as the cow was calm, and we remained quiet, there should not be a problem.

 

The mist had lifted somewhat and the drizzle had become light rain. I was quietly describing the differences between the black and white rhino species when there was suddenly a loud ‘WHAP!’ behind me as the young lady opened her umbrella. This alarmed the cow, which was immediately on her feet and startled by the movement of this strange, round object in front of her. Up went her head, then down as she charged directly at us. I shouted to the group to get behind the marula tree, out of her line of sight. Fortunately, the cow and calf thundered past about 3m from us and kept going, presumably in search of a quieter place to rest.

 

This goes to show that a guide must carefully observe and anticipate anything a trailist may get up to!

Another similar incident occurred when I was on a trail with a group of senior high school students, also in the Timbavati. We had walked about 6km to Oppie Dam, a medium-sized waterhole situated north of our camp. On slowly approaching it along a gully, I saw a young rhino bull also approaching the dam from the west side. There was a broken tree stump which had long acted as a rubbing post, against which rhinos and buffalo enjoyed rubbing mud and ticks off their bellies and legs. Crouching in the gully, we observed the rhino’s behaviour with interest. One of the boys had a 35mm camera loaned to him by his father and asked if he could take a photo. I did not see any harm in this and thought a quiet click would be safe enough from our distance. I did not realise that the camera had an auto-rewind and was on the last two frames. Nothing happened with the first click, but on the second, everything went pear-shaped. The camera automatically started rewinding the film with a loud, whirring noise. The startled rhino spun around in a circle trying to find the source of this annoying sound and immediately charged in our direction. Fortunately, he could not see us so low down in the gully and turned off at its edge, then kept going along the side of the gully and into the bush ahead.

 

This again taught me a lesson about noisy contraptions such as auto-wind cameras, beeping alarms on electronic watches and, later, cellphones, which were all banned from my trails and had to be left in camp. And, of course, umbrellas!

 

To order Campfire Thoughts & Reminiscences – the complete book with illustrations (US $15 excluding S&H), contact Andrew Meyer at andrewisikhova@icloud.com

Classic and Contemporary African Hunting Literature

In the Salt 

Lou Hallamore (Trophy Room Books, 1999, 218 pages)

Reviewed by Ken Bailey

 

It’s been said that Lou Hallamore, one of Zimbabwe’s most revered PHs, has spent more time in leopard blinds than most of us have spent in movie theaters. His knowledge about hunting the great spotted cats is legendary, and is captured in the 2011 book he co-authored with Bruce Woods, titled Chui! – A Guide to Hunting the African Leopard. As you would guess, it’s very much a niche book, a manifesto targeted to PHs and clients with a passion for leopards. In the Salt, on the other hand, takes a much broader stroke, detailing Hallamore’s thoughts on hunting 25 of the most common species found in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in southern Africa.

 

Make no mistake, this is first and foremost a “how-to” book, not another collection of “me and Joe” stories of African adventure. In fact, without having any information to substantiate my assertion, I would suggest his intended audience was PHs, young PHs in particular; it reads very much like it was written by an old professor revealing his trade secrets to an up-and-coming protégé. This is not to say that client-hunters won’t get much from this book. It’s just the opposite, in fact—if you’re one of those who prefers to truly understand the strategies and tactics your PH employs, and the reasons for the decisions and recommendations he makes, then this book is for you. On the other hand, if you prefer to just go along for the ride as the designated shooter, there’s not nearly as much for you between these covers.

 

Don’t let the “how-to” nature of this book lead you to believe the text is somehow dry and academic, however. Hallamore weaves countless anecdotes throughout that both educate and illustrate. Want to know how to estimate the age and ivory size of an elephant from the length of its footprint or the cracks in its feet? You’ll read of Hallamore’s real-life experiences that support his assertions 80% of the time, and others that illustrate why 20% of the time you can throw the rules out the window. All in all, it’s fascinating reading.

 

The format of the book is pretty straight-forward. Every chapter, or sub-chapter, is dedicated to a specific game animal. Each is further broken down into recommended firearms/cartridges, detailed tactics for the various hunting strategies and scenarios that are common for the species, tips on judging trophy size, shot placement recommendations, whether you should have your PH back-up or not, game recovery tips, and an interesting short finale he calls “the way things really are.” In this last section he provides valuable, informed advice that helps PHs and hunters alike differentiate between realistic expectations and wishful thinking. As an example, in the chapter on crocodiles, Hallamore concludes by saying, “Twenty-footers don’t exist. Fifteen feet is a huge croc; in fact it is exceptional. I look for anything over the 12-foot mark and if we find something bigger, that’s a bonus.” That’s down-to-earth practical advice that can be hard to find. Harder still to accept, for some.

 

With regards to shot placement, Hallamore introduces the reader to a concept he calls the “pay line.” The pay line is an imaginary line drawn through the body of an animal, bisecting it in half, top to bottom. Shoot an animal above that line and chances are it’s gone he says, probably never to be recovered. Still, you’ll have to pay for it, hence the term. He also shows a vertical line on the animal, delineating the furthest back you can shoot and expect to recover it. There are full-color illustrations showing the pay line for 12 of the most commonly hunted species.

 

I really appreciated a chapter called “The Equipment” where Hallamore offers dedicated gear lists, and the rationale for his recommendations, for vehicles, PHs and clients. These make for great time-tested check lists when preparing for your hunt. He also includes a chapter making recommendations for both a PH’s and a client’s battery—it’s not anything that hasn’t been done before, and often, but Hallamore’s take makes for interesting reading.

 

Engrossing reads both, the first two chapters are biographical in nature. One describes his early life, his introduction to hunting, and a brief overview of his PH career. The other describes his eventful 20 years in the Rhodesian military forces.

 

When discussions of the “best reads” about hunting in Africa arise, I doubt In the Salt gets mentioned very often. That’s a shame, because it’s captivating in its own way and one of the few books that will make you a better hunter while concurrently entertaining you with the usual, and unusual, tales of safari life that we all enjoy.

Wildlife Ranger Challenge 2022

Ranger with elephant, Namibia. © Marcus Westberg

The need for rangers to help in anti-poaching and anti-trafficking patrols is mounting every day, with 259 rhinos poached for their horns in the first six months of 2022 in South Africa alone, in addition to the 451 lost to poaching in 2021. Across Africa, this number is far more devastating – and although rangers play a vital role to limit the impact of poaching and protect the habitats of endangered species, they are broadly under-resourced and under-appreciated.

 

The 2022 Wildlife Ranger Challenge is a multi-million-dollar fundraising initiative, which has raised more than $12 million for this worthy cause since being initiated in 2020. This year, in addition to raising much-needed funds for the continent’s wildlife protectors, the Challenge will shine a light on the every-increasing and ever-diversifying role of rangers to demonstrate their impact as conservationists, teachers, community support workers and leaders

Game Rangers’ Association of Africa

Founded in 1970, the GRAA is a non-profit organisation which is the oldest, largest, and most representative ranger association in Africa.

Rangers training in Malawi. © Tusk

South African rangers are once again gearing up to join over 100 ranger teams from 15 African countries to take part in the gruelling 21km half marathon on Saturday 17  September, which coincides with the African Ranger Congress taking place in Kasane, Botswana.

 

“It’s a race with one goal – to support rangers who have been under pressure with drastic cuts in resources over the past two years. With COVID-19 restrictions easing, this long-awaited challenge will help shift COVID-recovery for the conservation and tourism sectors,” says Charlie Mayhew MBE, Chief Executive of Tusk.

Tusk

For more than 30 years Tusk has worked to amplify the impact of progressive conservation initiatives across Africa, and helped pioneer an impressive range of successful conservation projects across more than 20 countries. These initiatives have not only increased vital protection for threatened species, but also helped to alleviate poverty through sustainable development and education amongst rural communities living alongside wildlife. Tusk partners with the most effective local organisations, investing in their in-depth knowledge and expertise. By supporting and nurturing their conservation programmes, Tusk helps to accelerate growth from an innovative idea to a scalable solution. The charity has raised and invested over $100m since its founding in 1990.

The marathon will put rangers under a series of mental and physical challenges, including a mini-challenge for ranger teams with canine units to demonstrate their tracking skills, but this year, Tusk and its partners, the Game Rangers’ Association of Africa, and NATURAL STATE are also hoping to set a Guinness World Record for the fastest half-marathon carrying 22kg.

 

A key focus of the 2022 Challenge is to educate and correct misconceptions that rangers are just men with a gun chasing poachers. The Challenge will showcase the multifaceted nature of the job and skills of rangers from different backgrounds, varying ages, and gender.

Save The Rhino Trust Ranger, Namibia with reliable 4×4 transport. © Marcus Westberg

Scheinberg Relief Fund

Mark Scheinberg and the Relief Fund, the Challenge’s founding donor, has generously committed $1 million in match-funding in support of rangers, on top of the total $6.5 million to the campaign to date. The Scheinberg Relief Fund is the founding donor of the Wildlife Ranger Challenge. It was established by businessman and philanthropist Mark Scheinberg, and his family, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its mission is to provide a meaningful difference with strategic, high impact relief for individuals and communities in locations where the family has a personal or business presence. The fund works closely with a network of trusted partners in key locations across the globe to identify local organisations, social benefit projects, charities, and communities on the ground that have limited visibility.

“Women are starting to make a breakthrough in what can be considered a very male-dominated profession, and are proving to play a vital role in protecting Africa’s rich natural heritage. From deterring poachers out in the field, tackling biodiversity loss to teaching the value of conservation among local communities, women bring a different and much-needed skill set, experience, and knowledge to the ranger workforce,” says Sergeant Belinda Mzimba, member of the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit in South Africa.

 

In support of World Ranger Day celebrated on 31 July, the public in Africa and around the world are encouraged to participate alongside the rangers. To find out more, donate to this worthy cause or sign up to run in solidarity with Africa’s rangers visit www.wildliferangerchallenge.org

Save the Rhino Trust Ranger, Namibia, with zebra carcasse. © Marcus Westberg

While working with tourists is one key aspect of a ranger’s job, coupled with removing snares and traps and reporting illegal activity, the role is becoming broader than before and highly specialised. Rangers are also now expected to harness technology to improve conservation and protect natural habitats as habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and climate change increase.

 

“Initiatives like the Wildlife Ranger Challenge play a big role in highlighting conservation and the role of rangers across the continent. The Challenge has to date supported over 2,000 rangers, 59,500 livelihoods, 45 endangered species, including elephants, pangolins, rhinos and lions, and 302,684km² of ecosystem across 24 African countries,” continues Mayhew.

 

“Looking ahead, we have even greater ambitions for the Wildlife Ranger Challenge and hope it will become not only the largest pan-African sporting event, but a springboard from which the entire ‘rangering’ profession can be recognised and developed”.

 

For further information: Joanne Gichana| +254 791 698 395 | gichana.joanne@redhouseke.com

Ranger with Black Rhino, Namib Desert. © Marcus Westberg

Dr John Ledger is a past Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, now a consultant, writer and teacher on the environment, energy and wildlife; he is a columnist for the African Hunting Gazette. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.Ledger@wol.co.za

The Benefit of Doubt

By Mary Hayes

 

During my hunting experience in South Africa, I learned a very important lesson about taking pride in what you do and to never doubt yourself. I have carried this knowledge with me since the time I had this amazing opportunity.

 

Hoooonnnnnk… Shoooooo. Hooooooonk… Shoooooo.

 

“Dad can you please put your mouthpiece in.”

 

Shoooooooooo.

 

“Urgh!” I cried in frustration. All night I had been trying to get my dad to put in his mouthpiece that would keep him from snoring. It was about 1 a.m. and at that point I finally decided to give up. I desperately longed to see the back of my eyelids instead of the small, thatch-roofed room around me. My thoughts started to swarm around in my head like bees, stinging, rushing around frantically. Tomorrow I have to hunt. Tomorrow I either make the shot of a lifetime or fail. These thoughts continued to rush around my head, until one lone memory of the previous day crept in. It almost seemed to shut out all the others.

 

That afternoon on the hunt, my father had made a funny comment about how many times he’d missed that day: “I’ve never heard a gemsbok laugh before.” My father had shot at the animal many times, and he had missed every single time. It turned out to be just because the gun was two inches off. More thoughts till I finally fell asleep at 4 a.m.

 

Too soon I heard my father say, “Mary are you awake? Mary, there’s a whole bunch of impalas over in that field.

 

“Do you want to shoot one?” asked Pete, our hunting guide.

 

“Mmmmm… sure,” I replied.  As I picked up my heavy gun, all I could think about was how much I didn’t want to do this. I was tired, scared, and overall lacking in self-confidence. When I shot, it was not surprising to me that I missed.

 

“Why are you so tired?” my dad asked.

 

“What do you think?’ I retorted.

 

“I slept great!” my dad said with energy and enthusiasm.

 

“Exactly!” I replied.

We started walking towards a thick forest. All you could see was darkness as we trekked through the trees. The jeep started to fade away until it was just a tiny speck in the distance. Pete was guiding us through the thorns and thick, heavy brush.

 

“Did you see that?” he whispered.

 

“What?” we whispered back.

 

“There’s a buffalo right behind that tree.”

 

I stood very still and slowly turned my head toward the tree. There was an enormous Cape buffalo. “The only difference between this and buffalo hunting is that the animal we are looking for isn’t trying to kill us,” Pete whispered. The fear that had crept into my mind disappeared. We continued like that for a long while and eventually we weren’t looking for the impala anymore. We were looking for buffalo. It was exciting to see dark shapes moving around or a pile of fresh dung. We were in the buffalo territory! But we had to abandon the hunt because we were too far into the forest, so we headed back to the jeep.

 

We steadily bumped along the rough terrain, and the rocking motion almost lulled me to sleep. All I could do was replay the Cape buffalo or impala hunt in my mind over and over again, wanting to remember each tiny detail of it so that I would never forget any second of experience.

 

It was a different thrill from anything else. It was something that I felt belonged to us – me, my dad, my grandfather and Pete, something special, something that might not happen again. Suddenly, “Hey Mary,” I heard Pete’s voice over the loud rumbling of the jeep.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I see a blesbok in that field over there, do you want to shoot it?” I looked. Sure enough, there was a blesbok in the field. A pang of hesitation hit me. What if I miss? What if I injure the animal and it dies a slow painful death? What if… no.

 

No, I was not going to let the “what ifs” be my downfall. There are way too many of them in life and I realized I was never going to get anywhere if I let the “what ifs” drag me down.

 

“Yes,” I replied. I found a rest for my rifle, steadied myself and pulled the trigger. When I looked up, the blesbok had moved only ten feet away from his original spot and was now continuing to eat grass. I had missed! “What ifs” were swarming now, panic started to settle in and I was having trouble focusing.

 

“Do you want to go after it?” Pete asked. I looked over at my grandfather and dad, sure I was going to see scowls and looks of disappointment, but all I saw were reassuring smiles. I nodded. Pete carried the tripod sticks, and I carried my gun. We walked down the hill and set everything up.

 

“Now remember, keep yourself steady and make sure you’re confident before you shoot. Don’t doubt yourself,” Pete instructed. I nodded my head and swallowed. I lowered the gun to the sticks and put my eye up to the scope. For once, all my thoughts were positive, and even though only Pete was with me, I could feel everyone’s voices encouraging me, giving me new strength and energy. I zeroed in on the animal, took a deep breath and squeezed.

BAM! I lifted my head. Pete was smiling.

 

“What?” I asked

 

“You hit it!” Pete replied

 

My doubt quickly turned to excitement and elation. I was thrilled. “Seriously?” I screamed.

 

“Yep, straight through the lung,” Pete said. I did it! I actually did it!

 

Pete started walking towards the dead blesbok. Pops, my grandfather, appeared from behind the hill and put his arms up in a questioning gesture, and I thrust my arms up in confirmation. Then my father appeared and the next thing I knew we were all down in the valley celebrating. “Go find something to put in the blesbok’s month,” my dad said.

 

Everyone went over to examine the animal while I wandered around to find flowers. It was an old tradition that when an animal dies you need to put a bundle of grass or flowers in their mouth out of respect for their lives and to thank God for His creation.

As I trudged along the rocky landscape, I started to think about how I was going to tell everyone at school what I had done, thoughts ricocheting back and forth in my mind. I had hunted and killed an animal. Maybe their reactions would be something like: “Oh my gosh, wow!” Or “That’s amazing!” Then reality settled in. I realized what their real reactions might instead be: “Oh my gosh, you killed an animal! How could you?” Or “What? That’s horrible!”

 

My self-doubt kicked up. Why did I do it? What made me kill that animal? Did I come all the way to South Africa just to take a life? I spotted some beautiful purple flowers in the bare, dry landscape. Shooting the animal was only a small puzzle piece in this trip. In fact, it wasn’t even about the shot at all. The shot was the destination, the hunt was the journey. I pondered for a while until I heard the voices of the others.

 

“Mary! Where are you?”

 

I quickly pulled the flowers out of the ground and ran back to where the blesbok was and put the flowers into its mouth

and said a quick prayer. We took some pictures and loaded it up in the jeep.

 

After a wonderful a picnic lunch in a beautiful rocky outcrop we went back to the lodge. That night as we all sat around the fire, all the chatter was about the hunts of the afternoon and at that moment I felt unashamed and proud of my accomplishments.

 

I concluded that even when self-doubt, judgement and fear may conflict you, there are still some things that no one can take away from you. My hunting experience in South Africa was one of these things. It wasn’t about killing the animal; it was about being with the people I love and hunting.

 

My experience in South Africa, is something I will never forget. In a way, I am almost thankful now for the insecurities I had had about myself, because without them, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome those weak spots in my self-esteem. I learned the benefit of doubt.

Mpofu! The largest of the antelope species

An eland bull is a huge, impressive animal, and hunting one is an experience you won’t soon forget.

© Massaro Media Group

By Phil Massaro

My first safari was a ten-day jaunt spent on South Africa’s Orange Free State, in the semi-Karoo region not far outside of Bloemfontein. The terrain looked much like the photos I’d seen of classic East African safaris on the Serengeti Plain; couple that with the fact that I wasn’t far from the birthplace of J.R.R. Tolkien and I was just this side of heaven. Like any first-timer, the grandeur of simply being in Africa caused insomnia, euphoria, and elation, and with my well-planned shopping list in pocket, I knew exactly what I wanted to hunt. And, like any first-timer, that list was immediately revised as I was exposed to varying species ‘on-the-hoof’, and I began to just enjoy my time on African soil, but the one species that hooked me hard was the eland.

 

Yes, I still wanted a kudu – though that would take over a decade to happen – and still do, but my first sight of an eland bull was an absolute game-changer. The sheer size of the big blue bull was awe-inspiring, but the grace with which these animals carry themselves, whether crossing a fence as though it weren’t an issue at all, or watching the herd go into that famous trot-run that they can maintain for miles was nearly unbelievable. I was hooked, and the eland moved right up to the top of my list in a hurry.

 

I’d brought two rifles on that first safari: an Interarms Mark X in .300 Winchester Magnum and a Winchester Model 70 in .375 H&H Magnum. Though there was to be no dangerous game pursued on this hunt – though I did learn what the Afrikaans phrase “gevaarlike dier” meant in a hurry – I felt that bringing a three-seven-five to Africa was just proper in some manner. Once I’d seen the eland, I knew the cartridge had a worthy adversary on this plains game hunt. Dawid Schoeman was the PH on that first hunt, and we were hunting four contiguous ranches owned by Dr. Piet Venter. We’d need to obtain Dr, Venter’s permission to take one of his mpofu (the Zulu word for eland) bulls, and when I saw the gentleman nod his head in affirmation, I knew I was in for a great time.

 

The huge, flat plains were dotted with acacias – and I quickly became acquainted with the capabilities of their thorns – but there were a good number of tall kopjes which afforded a good vantage point for glassing the surrounding areas. The plan was to climb a kopje early in the morning, glass diligently to find the eland and/or kudu, and make a plan to set out after the chosen quarry. It was two or three days later when we caught sight of the herd from the top of the tallest kopje, descended as fast as possible, and got on their trail. By mid-morning, we caught the tail end of the big herd, and followed diligently, minding the wind as the day heated up. We ran out of cover with the herd still a long way in front of us; leopard-crawling between termite mounds was our only hope. Reaching the last of the rust-colored heaps of earth, we glassed the herd and easily identified the huge bull we wanted. Problem was, there were four football fields between us, and that’s a poke for the .375 H&H. We had the wind in our favor, and discussed the option of slithering across the open, but opted to use the dead-steady rest that the termite mound offered. We deliberated about the distance in those pre-rangefinder days, and agreed on an even 400 yards, or so close it didn’t matter. I had prepared a drop chart for just such an unfortunate circumstance, wrapped my arm in the rifle’s sling, dialed the Leupold scope up to 9x, held for the appropriate amount of trajectory drop and compensated for the steady wind, and broke the Winchester’s trigger. It took a second or two, but the unmistakable sound of a bullet breaking bone came back on the wind. The herd vacated the area – actually running within 75 yards of us – but that bull was hit hard, and though he didn’t drop, he couldn’t run either.

Massaro with a South African eland bull, taken in 2004 with a .375 H&H Magnum and handloaded 300-grain Swift A-Frame bullets. ©Massaro Media Group

The 300-grain Swift A-Frame couldn’t have been placed better, breaking the shoulder and traveling into the heart. Approaching to 200 yards, Dawid spread the sticks and I delivered the coup-de-grace, and soon stood, proudly, over one of the largest animals I’d seen up to that point.

 

Fast forward fifteen years, and I’d find myself in Namibia with the guys from Federal Premium ammunition, hunting with Jamy Traut’s outfit during one of the worst droughts in living memory. His place has a wide variety of terrain, including those lovely red sand dunes, as well as some acacia-dotted plains, with the occasional small hill we used for glassing. We’d had a great week, with some wild adventures, including sleeping under the stars on the Namib escarpment in pursuit of Hartmann’s mountain zebra – I took a grand old stallion – a red hartebeest bull and a really good springbok, but once I saw the eland herd, my focus for the remaining time was on the big guys. Hunting with PH Maré van der Merwe, we spent a couple of days tracking the herd around the huge Panorama concession, and finally drew to within 250 yards.

 

The drought had taken its toll in many ways, including robbing us of most of the cover. We got into a bit of a depression, moving as quickly as possible in that awkward Chuck Berry duck-walk, desperately trying to close the gap without running out of daylight. For that hunt I was using a late-1950s vintage Colt Coltsman rifle, chambered in .300 Holland & Holland Magnum. I had handloaded 180-grain Federal Trophy Bonded Tip bullets to a muzzle velocity of 2,905 fps, and it had proved to be a great combination. In fact, among the crew of us that Federal had brought, we had a lot of trouble keeping any of their premium bullets in an animal, and because of that drought the shots were on the longer side of normal. Our bull – my bull, with the impossible long horns – offered a broadside shot at over 300 yards, and I held for a half-foot of elevation, and broke the Colt’s trigger. Dead steady on the classic three-legged African shooting sticks, I knew the shot went true, but I absolutely did not expect what happened next: the bull fell out of the scope. Even through the recoil of the Super .30 I watched the bull tip over and stay there; I had suspected a spine shot, but it was a high heart/lung shot that just planted him. And staying in the tradition of the week, I couldn’t recover that bullet either.

Cartridges for eland

Federal loads the excellent Swift A-Frame bullet in their Safari line, making a perfect choice for taking an eland bull and Cape buffalo bull as well. © Federal Premium

I am often asked for cartridge recommendations for a first time plains game hunt, and my answer is often “bring your favorite deer rifle.” While that may generally true, my answer is also skewed by growing up in Upstate New York, where an all-around rifle is more often a .270 Winchester, .30-’06 Springfield or .308 Winchester, as black bears were often on the menu. I don’t feel a .243 Winchester or .25-’06 Remington makes a good choice for a plains game hunt which includes eland. At the very minimum, a 6.5mm cartridge with a stout 140-grain bullet could handle a true blue bull, but you’ve really got to pick your shot carefully. A better choice is one of the .270s with 150-grain bullets, and I’d be even happier with a 7mm 160-grain premium bullet or a 180-grain .30 caliber, and I wouldn’t frown upon the choice of a magnum cartridge. If you are on a dangerous game hunt, and have just a big bore with you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a .375, .404 Jeffery, one of the .416s, .458s or even a .470 NE if you can make the shot.

 

The common eland – Taurotragus oryx – can be larger than any Cape buffalo, weighing in excess of 2,000 pounds; get into a true ‘blue bull’ (so named for the color when the hair beings to fall out on older specimens) and you have a formidable slab of meat which requires a good amount of penetration to reach the vitals. Like other antelope species, the heart and lungs lie behind the stout shoulder bones, and that joint can test the mettle of lighter bullets. If someone were to look to the single ultimate choice for an eland cartridge, I’d have to consider the .300 Winchester Magnum, or even the .338 Winchester Magnum if the recoil can be handled. Though rare these days, my pet .318 Westley Richards would be a perfect choice out to 300 or 350 yards, and I could suggest the .338-’06 as well for a lighter recoiling option.

Bullet choices for eland

The author has a penchant for the .300 Holland & Holland Magnum; when mated with a premium bullet like the Federal Trophy Bonded Tip, the old cartridge performs even better. ©Federal Premium

I have used premium bullets for both the eland I hunted, and stand by my decision. I like big holes in an animal to ensure a quick, humane kill, and I prefer two holes over just one. There are plenty of good choices, from the Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, Trophy Bonded Tip and Terminal Ascent, to the Nosler Partition and AccuBond, to the Barnes TSX and TTSX, Swift A-Frame, Peregrine Bushmaster, Woodleigh Weldcore, Hornady DGX Bonded and more.

 

What I’m looking for is controlled expansion; in the event that I hit those big bones I don’t want by bullet stopped due to over-expansion. The high weight retention of the bonded-core and monometal designs is a welcome feature for the serious eland hunter. At the same time I want to guarantee expansion for longer shots (both of my bulls were between 300 and 400 yards, not the norm) so I can get the biggest hole through the vitals. I would probably point to the Swift A-Frame, Barnes TSX and Nosler Partition for an all-around choice.

Same species, different build

Massaro with a Namibian eland bull, taken with the classic .300 H&H Magnum and a 180-grain Federal Trophy Bonded Tip bullet. ©Massaro Media Group

Not all eland are created equal, and certain areas are renowned for their bigger-bodied bulls. Two areas that come quickly to mind are northern Namibia – up in the area of the Caprivi Strip – as well as the central to northern reaches of neighboring Botswana. In order to get some further insight into the bulls of those regions, I reached out to a couple of good friends: Namibian PH Divan Labuschagne, and Botswana PH Jay Leyendecker. Divan is a native Namibian, while Jay is one of the few U.S. citizens to obtain a Bostwana Professional Hunter’s license. Both are highly experienced, and I respect both of their opinions highly.

 

Labushagne had this to offer: “I started my hunting career after school as I joined PH and outfitter Arthure Vickermann from Botswana where I hunted for some time until Botswana closed hunting. 

 

I then came back to my home country Namibia where I built my own camp in eastern Namibia. We hunted mostly plains game and leopard. In 2018 Karl Stumpfe let me join the Ndumo hunting team up north in Namibia’s famous Caprivi where we run and operate four areas mainly for Elephant, buffalo, hippo, leopard and many more. 

 

Regarding the eland up here, I have never seen eland this big and clever in my life. These bulls can grow as large as 2,000lbs. 

 

Our area is a 700,000-acre open, free range area sandwiched between Angola to the north and Botswana to the south with some very thick cluster leaves forests where these bulls grow old and smart. Hunting these big bodied bulls requires patience, knowledge of the area and of course the eland itself. Tracking is the preferred way of hunting these big bulls and can sometimes take hours even days. One has to be very careful when tracking them because if they notice you the chase is on and most often won by the bull.  They can trot for miles before coming to a stop and by then you are hours behind and have to play catch up for most of the time. 

 

On a very hot summer day things can go your way if you can stay on the track as the bull will stop, more often in the blistering African heat to rest and that gives you the chance to gain valuable ground and hopefully get in shooting position. 

 

Ammo and rifle choices can lead to a very long debate because everyone has his or her own opinion about bullets and rifles. 

 

I love the .300 Win Mag for most plains game and works great on eland but still I believe a little bigger is always better. I love the .375 H&H with a well constructed bullet like Barnes or Swift A-Frame. When hunting big bodied bulls like these you need a very good bullet that will hold together and do the job, or if not you will spend most of your day tracking a very smart bull in some thick cover for hours, even days. 

An eland bull will have a prominent dark patch of hair on his forehead, called a ruff. ©Divan Labuschagne

I do actually believe the bulls up here are a bit tougher than most eland south from here on game farms and such. Just because of the simple fact that these bulls are proper free range and can go wherever they want, they can go to where the food is best and thus can grow extremely large and tough.”

 

Leyendecker shared his eland expertise, adding the following: “I’ve seen many eland bulls taken with a variety of calibers, from .270 Winchester to .308 Winchester, and .300 Winchester Magnum, all the way up to .375 H&H and .416 Rigby. Interestingly, in my years as a Professional Hunter, I’ve never had a client take one with a double rifle, although I had often fantasized about it and thought it would be a fantastic experience.

 

If I had to choose my top eland calibers, given the density of the brush that they typically like, the usual distances of the initial shots, and the sheer enormity of the species, my list would be first the .375 H&H, secondly the .300 Winchester Magnum, and thirdly the .416 Rigby. The .375 has the capability of distance and striking power; a shot can easily 

be taken at 300 yards in capable hands with a great understanding of the caliber and trajectory. With the .300 Magnums you may not achieve the penetration of the .375 and raking shots will be difficult. More specifically, on a hard quartering away shot presentation, the animal’s rumen will often stop a well-placed shot before I can get into the vital organs, and therefore result in a long day of tracking.

 

The .416 Rigby – and Ruger – is equally as capable as the .375, however I have had an incident where the client was not able to square up properly on the rifle, and the scope kissed him, so to speak. It was nothing of his fault it was just the way the animal was position. Had it been a .375, I feel nothing would’ve happened. The .300 would’ve kicked the least, but the animal was in a very, very strong quartering-away position. He took the shot right in front of the left hip and the with the bullet’s path reaching the opposing shoulder, killing the animal cleanly. That bull went less than 100 yards before piling up.

The hooves of an eland bull will ‘cross’, resulting in a clicking sound when the walk. If conditions are right, it can be heard at a considerable distance.

©Massaro Media Group

Namibian Professional Hunter Divan Labuschagne and client with a well-worn eland bull.

© Divan Labuschagne

Zambia’s Kafue National Park now in the African Parks Portfolio

Kafue National Park, Kafue River, Zambia. Photography by Frank Weitzer and African Parks.

On 1 July 2022, the Government of Zambia and conservation non-profit organisation, African Parks, announced the signing of a 20 year agreement for the Kafue National Park in a landmark commitment to secure the protection and effective management of one of Africa’s ten largest national parks. This significant new partnership will deliver greater investment in all aspects of Kafue’s park management, to realise its exceptional value to biodiversity, socio-economic development and the people of Zambia.

 

The agreement follows the successful conclusion of a 16-month Priority Support Plan (PSP), initiated in February 2021 by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and African Parks, to provide technical and financial support for Kafue. Funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund grant, and supported by The Nature Conservancy and the Elephant Crisis Fund, the PSP has been central to concluding this momentous full-term mandate. 

 

Speaking during the event in Lusaka, Zambia Ministry of Tourism Permanent Secretary Evans Muhanga stated, “Following nearly two decades of collaborating with African Parks, the Government of Zambia is confident that this partnership will protect Kafue’s valuable landscape for the benefit of the country. This is a new and exciting chapter for Kafue National Park and we look forward to the socio-economic development and other opportunities that come from expanding sustainable tourism through effective park and wildlife management.  We also greatly appreciate the support provided by the Dutch Postcode Lottery for this project.”

African Parks is a non-profit conservation organisation that takes on the complete responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities. African Parks manages 20 national parks and protected areas in 11 countries covering over 17 million hectares in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. For more information visit www.africanparks.org, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Contact: Francis Chewe, Communications Coordinator, African Parks, Zambia 

T: +260 (0) 97 659 4001: email: francisc@africanparks.org

Lechwe at Kafue National Park, Busanga Plains. Photograph by African Parks.

Through the PSP, African Parks has laid the foundation for the ongoing development and management of Kafue. During this period US$3.6 million was invested into park infrastructure and operations, including the construction of a new law enforcement centre; rehabilitation of existing infrastructure at Chunga and Ngoma; grading of 2,000 km of roads; aerial support to law enforcement operations with both helicopter and fixed wing aircraft; completion of an aerial census for the entire landscape; and the creation of 150 permanent jobs. It also included US$800 000 in law enforcement salaries, which were reimbursed to the Government of Zambia.

 

The new agreement provides a full mandate to implement a holistic management plan, including a continuation of the work set out in the PSP. Priorities for 2022 include further upgrades of roads to improve visitor access, development of community facilities and projects, an upgraded communications network and the operationalisation of the state-of-the-art law enforcement centre.

 

African Parks’ CEO, Peter Fearnhead said: “Through the conclusion of this management partnership, the Zambian Government sets in motion the process to fully restore Kafue as one of Africa’s greatest conservation areas. In addition to investing in Kafue’s exceptional landscape and the conservation of its biodiversity, it also enhances Kafue’s value for communities and its economic contribution to the country.” 

Kafue National Park, Zambia. Photograph by Mana Meadows.

Spanning 22,400 km2, Kafue National Park is situated in the world’s largest transfrontier conservation area, the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA TFCA), which straddles five countries – Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The park is amongst the world’s most important natural heritage sites and an essential water source for the region. One of the last vast expanses of the iconic Zambezian ecoregion, and home to elephant, large predators, 21 species of antelope and 515 bird species, Kafue holds potential to become one of Africa’s most exceptional tourist destinations.

 

The Government of Zambia first partnered with African Parks in 2003 in Liuwa Plain National Park and subsequently in 2008 in Bangweulu Wetlands. Kafue National Park is the 20th park to join African Parks’ portfolio.

 

This has been made possible by the Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund grant, a 16.9 million Euro contribution awarded to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), Peace Parks Foundation and African Parks to assist KAZA partner states in securing the TFCA through integrated initiatives. The long-term mandate will continue to be supported by the Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund.

Busanga Plains, Kafue National Park, Zambia. Photograph by Andrew Beck.

Dr John Ledger is a past Director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, now a consultant, writer and teacher on the environment, energy and wildlife; he is a columnist for the African Hunting Gazette. He lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.Ledger@wol.co.za

The Triple Deuce Safari

By Kim Stuart

 

Two old guys, two double rifles, and two Cape buffalo each.

 

I know, this sounds like an African wreck waiting to happen. When long-time hunting buddy Jim Gefroh and I sat down with Jacques Senekal, owner of African Maximum Safaris in the North West Province of South Africa, and laid our hunting parameters, things did get worse, at least for him.

 

The conversation went like this.

 

“Hi Jacques, great to finally be here. Jim and I have a few things you should know. Well, Jim is kinda hard of hearing, not bad, but you have to speak up a bit, even when standing next to him. Oh, and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be, especially in low light conditions. But we figure between the two of us you’ve got one pretty seasoned hunter.”

Jacque smiled weakly and shifted slightly in his seat.

And, just so there are no surprises, we have a self-imposed maximum shooting distance of 50 yards. We won’t shoot unless we have a perfect broadside shot on a buffalo, no moving targets. We’ve agreed that unless a scenario is perfect, we won’t take the shot. We would rather go home without shooting a buffalo than mess things up. Oh yeah, and I’m allergic to chocolate.”

After a quick change of clothes, we headed to the shooting range with professional hunters T.J. and Arri. They kindly accommodated us by setting up a target at 50 yards. Our trackers, Medina and Songas, as well as a group of curious onlookers were there to see how the old guys would do.

 

Jim was spot on as usual. His .500 Nitro Express, built by Varney Caron for Griffin and Howie, was a tack driver. He consistently drove 570-grain bullets into the center, a 6×6 square in the middle of the target. My turn. After six shots I finally got on the larger, 12×12 paper target.

 

Our (my credibility) dropped like a Victorian window-weight. The silence behind me said it all, and I know that T.J. and Arri were thinking, what every PH thinks when witnessing an incompetent shooter… We are really in trouble, let’s hope this guy doesn’t wound a buffalo.

 

The next day we left African Maximum Safaris at Woodstock Farm, and headed to Thabazimbi. There we would hunt on a property not far from the border of Botswana, one with the romantic name, roughly translated from Afrikaans as, Scent of Spring.

 

The hunt Jim and I booked months before was a cull hunt for four, two each of Cape buffalo cows, ideally those too old to breed. We would be accompanied by our two PHs, our two trackers and a tracker from the property where we would be hunting. He would help to identify an individual cow that could be taken without endangering any other animals in the herd.

 

When I began writing some years ago, a fellow hunter and long- term respected friend told me almost as a directive, “Kim, you must always tell the truth.”

 

In this case it would be easy to use artistic license when recounting the facts of a hunt, especially when all does not go according to plan.

 

Jim was on a bubble our first morning, but it didn’t take long to realize buffalo in a high-fenced area, even one of approximately 1,000 acres, are more skittish than fair-chase buffalo. Many stalks over the first day yielded only filtered views of various buffalo through the thick acacia bushveld. By late in the second afternoon they were even more difficult to find.

Suddenly, T.J. rapped on the hood of the Toyota bakkie. He pointed to the right of the vehicle, at a dark spot approximately 60 yards away, indistinguishable to me from any other dim shadow. Hi whispered, “Cow buff, let’s go.”

 

I stayed with the vehicle as Jim, Arri, T.J. and our local tracker tried to maneuver through the thick brush, closing the gap on the old cow. She shifted, disappeared, appeared again, joined her small herd, began to wonder off, stopped and… at 62 yards, presented a clear shot, slightly quartering towards Jim. His .500 Nitro Express barked, followed by the unmistakable sound of a round hitting flesh. The cow buckled, stumbled and disappeared.

 

There was a small amount of blood, not much, but a slight trail we were able to follow forty or fifty yards before tracking became too difficult. Her prints were mixed with the others of the herd that bolted with her after the shot. In addition, dusk was upon us and to continue in the low light conditions could easily have compromised what spoor we had.

 

We resumed tracking early the next morning and, after thirty hours of tracking, found not one more drop of blood or sign of a wounded buffalo, or one in distress.

 

T.J., Arri, and our local tracker gave the call: “We think the buff was clipped in the brisket, initially bled when it bolted, and we are sure the buffalo will be OK. We have done everything we can to find her, criss-crossing the concession multiple times and see no reason to continue.”

 

A PH often asks a hunter after a shot, “How did it feel?”

 

I had asked Jim, “Would you take the same shot again?”

 

His answer was a most definite, “Absolutely, no doubt of it.”

 

I had known Jim and hunted with him for almost 45 years, in trips to Canada and Alaska, California, Texas, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and including over two dozen hunts in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Many of the African hunts were for dangerous game. Never had I ever seen Jim miss. He has hunted many species with a custom-made flintlock, a single-shot handgun, and many large-caliber rifles, both single shot, bolt action and double barrel. I’ve never seen Jim muff a shot, he is just too careful, too much a seasoned hunter, and too responsible.

As you can imagine, Jim felt horrible, but was comforted by knowing the buffalo would be OK. However, I had a surprise in mind that would make him feel better.

 

We returned to Woodstock where Jacques had kindly arranged a hunt on a nearby cattle ranch of many thousands of acres.

 

With a new area to hunt, and many undisturbed buffalo, this was my possibility for redemption.

 

T.J.’s hawk-like eyes picked up the slight movement and dark shapes of buffalo cautiously sifting through a small clearing. We eased off the bakkie, and moved diagonally to the slowly drifting herd. T.J. whispered. ”Just over 60 yards to the old cow on the far right.” I could clearly see the protruding hip-bones and prominent ribs of the cow he was pointing to. We set up the shooting sticks, moving them again to clear some low-hanging branches, and again as the cow eased past a few bushes, and once more when she finally stopped and stood broadside.

I was shooting a single trigger over-and-under .375 by Chapuis. The rifle felt as comfortable as an old golf club when I slipped it onto the shooting sticks and squeezed the trigger. T.J. reacted like a lottery winner. “Nice shot, wow, nice shot!” The cow was down within a few yards from where she stood, and a follow-up shot was probably not necessary, however, always a safe bet.

If T.J. was excited, I was secretly elated. Why my shooting at the range a few days before was so bad, I’ll never know. The feeling of making a clean shot on a buffalo of any age is like casting the perfect fly. So many variables have to come together: distance, wind, cover, noise, nerves and an accommodating-target.

 

Jim was on a high again. Another new area, and a different challenge. Jim was to take a buffalo that was, according to the landowner, “Cheeky.” In a multiple-acre, high-fenced area with thick bush, one single animal is difficult to locate, stalk, and successfully shoot.

 

Thankfully, Jim’s hunt ended well. Even with our two PHs and a tracker, it was a challenging half-day event in the thickest bush and on the hottest day we had experienced.

The surprise I mentioned earlier was a birthday gift for Jim. He was in the dark, but our two PHs were not. Although Jim had hunted his two buffalo, T.J. advised him to keep his rifle with him as there might be an opportunity to shoot a warthog, if we were lucky. The trap had been set!

We arrived at the same property where I had taken my buffalo some days before. After a few hours of driving and covering areas of the large farm we had not previously scouted, we spotted fresh buffalo spoor and eventually saw the filtered, dark and dusty colors of a small herd slowly drifting through the bushveld.

 

Jim’s casual attitude was not one of a hunter ready to stalk and shoot a Cape buffalo. In his mind, his safari was over, and he was along for the ride, basically on vacation. As T.J. and Arri slipped Jim’s rifle out of the case, I leaned over and said, ”Happy birthday, this buffalo is yours.”

 

I had to repeat it, not because of his hearing, but because he just couldn’t believe what I was saying.

 

“Yeah, Jimmy, you’re hard to buy for, so for the guy who has everything, how about hunting another Cape buffalo?”

Many of us save for years with the goal of visiting Africa to hunt a Cape buffalo, hoping for one successful safari. Jimmy had the opportunity to hunt three, and my gift of the last buffalo couldn’t go to a more deserving friend.

With new purpose and a morning shot of hunter’s adrenalin, Jim, T.J. and Arri slowly eased off the truck and into the bush. The wind was favorable and moisture from the morning dew softened carefully placed footsteps on the grassy approach to the buffalo.

 

When the scenario of two seasoned PHs and a confident hunter come together, the ending is like that of a well-rehearsed play. Jim’s hunt ended successfully, taking the buffalo at 35 yards. It was down cleanly, all hands were safe, and the curtain of our safari closed with our small audience silently acknowledging a very positive ending to our, “Triple Deuce Safari.”

This will close in 2 seconds

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.