{"id":9633,"date":"2023-07-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=9633"},"modified":"2023-07-11T09:14:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T13:14:51","slug":"bwana-ndege-the-bird-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=9633","title":{"rendered":"Robert Ruark, “Bwana Ndege!” the Bird Master"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Edgar Castillo <\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Make no mistake, writer Robert Ruark was a bird hunter long before he even pulled the trigger of a rifle. The shotgun was the instrument that emotionally connected Ruark when he was a young boy hunting quail, ducks, and training dogs, with his grandfather. Though he is more well known for his wild exotic hunting exploits, much like his idol Ernest Hemingway, Ruark\u2019s literary writings and big game accounts are <\/span>also<\/span><\/i> occasionally spiced with good ol\u2019 fashion bird shooting\u2026including, wild AFRICA.<\/span><\/p>

There have been many arguments about Ruark as he is regularly compared to Hemingway. He always seems to be in the shadow of his scholarly and adventurous mentor. It is well known that Ruark was greatly influenced by Hemingway. Many argue that Ruark was the better of the two when it came to writing. Some would even debate which great author was the better hunter. Ruark even followed in Hemingway\u2019s footsteps and found himself on a three-month safari in the Dark Continent in 1951. Ruark\u2019s experience led him to masterfully pen, \u201cHorn of the Hunter\u201d in 1953. Which by all accounts is probably \u201cvery arguably, the best book on African hunting ever written\u201d, according to Field & Stream.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Photo by Virginia Ruark of \"bird boys\" with guinea fowl (colorized by Edgar Castillo)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Ruark would go one step further and have his journey filmed. He provided the narration throughout the documentary which would later be released in the 1954 short film, \u201cRobert Ruark\u2019s African Adventure\u201d. The grainy black-and-white amateur footage chronicled the entire trip, showing all elements of an African safari. However, when not capturing stalks on rhinos, lions, and leopards, Ruark shared a common enjoyment with Hemingway, and subtly showcased the spectacular wingshooting Africa had to offer.<\/span><\/p>

The following is a brief overview of Ruark\u2019s wingshooting experiences that he shares in books, film, and quotes about bird hunting in Africa. <\/span><\/p>

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HORN OF THE HUNTER \u2013 Book<\/strong><\/p>

Ruark\u2019s epic safari for which he chronicled in the book, \u201c<\/a><\/span>Horn of the Hunter<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u201d<\/a>, is riddled with exciting hunts for dangerous and elusive animals. However, Ruark takes the time to tell readers he was a \u201ccompulsive bird shooter\u201d. Enough that starting on page 134, Ruark had to lay down the law and demand to <\/span>his<\/span><\/i> kind of shooting. Both his PH (professional hunter) Harry Selby, and the natives thought he was mad for \u201cspending time and energy blasting away at birds when there are two thousand pounds of eland over every hill\u2026\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

For over five-and-a-half pages Ruark shares in detail his need to revert to his roots with the shotgun, the noblest of weapons. With his English made Churchill 12-gauge, he was finally able put to rest his urges since stepping off the plane. Those flocks of guinea fowl, big coveys of spur fowl, and hordes of tiny quail that enticed Ruark every time they crossed the trail, were finally going to be given their own moment on the safari.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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That day came when Ruark couldn\u2019t bare it no more and shouted, \u201c<\/span>toa <\/span><\/i>(to take out) <\/span>the shotty-gun.<\/span><\/i>\u201d, after he spotted a duo of francolins, big-partridge like gamebirds with mouth-watering white meat. The pair fell easily to Ruark\u2019s marksmanship, though Selby was unimpressed with the clean double on the birds. One of the natives proclaimed Ruark, \u201c<\/span>Bwana Ndege<\/span><\/i>\u201d, Bird Master.<\/span><\/p>

It was at that moment Ruark decided to have a day devoted to his beloved wingshooting. Prior to leaving onto the next camp, Ruark and Selby, who would be armed with a little Sauer 16-gauge, would venture down to the watering hole, and shoot sand grouse.<\/span><\/p>

Ruark knew that at precisely eight-fifteen in the morning, flights of the plump birds would arrive. Soon it became clear that Ruark and Selby had switched roles, where Ruark became the master hunter and Selby, the inexperienced aloof student.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ruark shot twenty grouse using twenty-five cartridges, while Selby went through two boxes (50 rounds) for a grand total of eight birds. Giving up, Selby called it a day. But it didn\u2019t end. While on their return trip back to camp, Ruark observed a flock of guinea fowl and ordered Selby to stop the jeep. Ruark rushed the group of birds causing them to flush. He emptied both barrels, procuring two guineas. Ruark\u2019s prowess with the shotgun was enough that Selby had no words to say. Ruark had proved his point that wingshooting was indeed sporting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The book continues focusing on a variety of hunts for big game animals and in Chapter 9, Selby finally acknowledges Ruark\u2019s affair with wingshooting and tells him that he will be able to \u201c<\/span>shoot your bloody birds to your heart\u2019s delight\u2026<\/span><\/i>\u201d while in N.F.D (formerly known as the Northern Frontier District, now referred to as Kenya). Snippets abound with Ruark making comments throughout the remainder of the book on how much he just wants to go bird hunting across the savannah and bush\u2026\u201c<\/span>My mouth was watering at the wildfowl.<\/span><\/i>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Photo by Harry Selby of Virginia Ruark and \"bird boys\" holding strings of sand grouse and spur fowl (purchased and colorized by Edgar Castillo)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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It’s also apparent that Ruark\u2019s wife, Virginia, also partook in wingshooting in and around camp. Two black-and-white photos depict evidence of her ability with a shotgun. Handfuls of sand grouse, guinea and spur fowl met their demise at the hands of \u201c<\/span>Mama<\/span><\/i>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

There\u2019s no doubt the book is about big game hunting, but Ruark does a wonderful job singling out here and there the importance for his first love of wingshooting and incorporating it into the safari.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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ROBERT RUARK\u2019S AFRICAN ADVENTURE – Film<\/strong><\/p>

Upon landing in British East Africa (BEA), Ruark and his wife, Virginia, meet up with Harry Selby, a professional hunter. After all the gear and provisions needed to live and survive the long trek are procured, including an armament of firearms, the convoy of vehicles set off.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The heat and environment cause the band of cars to stop briefly to cool off the engines and fix a tire. Ruark takes the opportunity to climb an anthill to get a better view of the landscape. Using binoculars, he observes a variety of animals, including a flock of Guinea fowl. The plump, cartoonish-looking birds are scratching their way up and down a <\/span>donga<\/span><\/i>, a dry riverbed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ruark relays to the viewers,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cThey form a staple in our diet\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/b> and <\/span>\u201c\u2026cold, boiled with mustard, they taste mighty good.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>

Soon they are back on track and the caravan finds itself stopping in Masailand. There they set up their first temporary encampment, and Ruark provides a glimpse into camp life. He narrates the variety of chores performed by the hired native help. One of the most important jobs is preparing and procuring food. Ruark\u2019s wife, Virginia, and Harry see an opportunity and go to a nearby watering hole for some pass shooting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Ruark says\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cThis day we intend to dine on grouse. Sandgrouse. A wonderful desert bird about the size of a partridge. He comes to drink at the waterhole, and he swoops and darts like teal in a hurry. You\u2019ll miss more of these than hit. But they make wonderful eating.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>

The scene is beautifully captured, showing Virginia and Harry toting side-by-side shotguns, probably 12-gauges, as sandgrouse flutter about. Crouching behind what appears to be a scraggly bush, the two shoot at small groups of grouse that come in for a drink. Larger flocks descend in and out rapidly. Shots ring out and birds are seen falling from the sky.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ruark narrates\u2026<\/span><\/p>

\u201cThe human bird dogs, Natheka and Chalo, go to search for the ingredients of dinner, and come back laden.\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

They two African natives are seen carrying at least seven sandgrouse in each hand. Virginia is seen holding and admiring the birds, but Ruark declares he would much rather have them popped into a skillet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The recorded scene thus ends what we know briefly of Ruark\u2019s African wingshooting encounters in the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

ROBERT RUARK – Quote<\/span><\/p>

On Safari:<\/span><\/p>

\u201c\u2026 big coveys of ostriches and armies of guinea fowl.\u00a0 The big, fat, yellow-necked francolin flapped and squawked and scratched in the track, sand grouse carved their jet trails in the skies, and the tall thorn trees erupted big blue pigeons\u2026\u201d <\/i><\/b>– <\/span>The Lost Classics of Robert Ruark<\/b><\/a><\/p>

On Sandgrouse:<\/span><\/p>

\u201c<\/span><\/i>The sand grouse is closer to the pigeon family than he is to a grouse, but he is stripped for speed and beautiful to watch when he flies and he is also beautiful to eat. He is a plump little fellow speckled in brown, buff and black, and while his meat is dark I never saw anybody curse him when he turned up in a pot roast. … . A pintail sand grouse coming in with his eye fixed on a waterhole is logging fifty knots or better, and when he swoops he makes a Mexican white-wing dove look clumsy and slow. He comes just once a day to dip his sharp little bill in the water.\u201d \u2013 Horn of the Hunter<\/i><\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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<\/p>\n

Ruark didn\u2019t know it, but at the time he was giving readers of his book and viewers of the film very small doses, yet important glimpses into his love for bird shooting. Because when it came to hunting, Ruark was plain and simple a wingshooter <\/span>first<\/i><\/b>. <\/span>
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Wingshooting was Ruark\u2019s way to return to that time of innocence where the whir of wings catapulted his heart. It had been ingrained into him as a young boy, for which it laid the groundwork for Ruark expanding his adventures afield. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ruark\u2019s brief passages on bird shooting were just enough to whet his own appetite, for it had been growing since beginning the safari. The shooting of birds not only supplied camp food for the pot but provided a sense of elegance and refinement surrounded by death, decay, and maneaters while carefully walking the tall grass. The wild country offered so much more in the way of wingshooting\u2026doves, sand grouse (double-banded, Burchell\u2019s, and Namaqua), and the partridge-like francolin, or pheasant-size guinea fowl, both occurring in multiple species, as well a smorgusborg of waterfowl.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ruark saw the rich shotgunning opportunities the land had to offer, and wanted to make sure it didn\u2019t go unnoticed. Words and images were what he used to share the new love he encountered, wingshooting Africa. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Make no mistake, writer Robert Ruark was a bird hunter long before he even pulled the trigger of a rifle. The shotgun was the instrument that emotionally connected Ruark when he was a young boy hunting quail, ducks, and training dogs, with his grandfather. Though he is more well known for his wild exotic hunting exploits, much\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[37,78,139,200],"class_list":["post-9633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hunting","tag-africa-hunting","tag-beyond-the-mason-dixon","tag-robert-ruark","tag-wingshooting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0723BD7C-9E40-4B33-9DF3-797EB5052606.jpeg","acf":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9633"}],"version-history":[{"count":66,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10423,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9633\/revisions\/10423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}