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Robert Ruark, “Bwana Ndege!” the Bird Master
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…
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South Africa Warthog Adventure
It was day four of my African safari and I had already taken three of the animals on my Most Wanted list. The only thing remaining standing between me and hunting a bushbuck was a boar warthog. I bang-flopped my blue wildebeest on Day 1 but Nic, my Professional Hunter, had me put an insurance shot in…
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South African Adventure: Pt.2
It's now Tuesday morning, May 24th. I learn at breakfast that Diane, Henry and Dennis are going to spend the day visiting Kruger Park. It's time for my buff hunt to get serious. We drop them off at a car they have rented which was left a distance from the camp. As they leave, we learn from…
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Horn of the Hunter
Horn of the Hunter is one of my favorite pieces of safari literature by one of my favorite authors, Robert C. Ruark. This book tells of a safari that Ruark and his wife Virginia embarked upon in the early 1950s. They were guided by Harry Selby who began his career under the tutelage of the legendary hunter, Philip Percival, regarded by many as the Dean of African Hunters. Percival was part of Theodore Roosevelt’s famed 1909-1910 safari, as well as guiding for Baron Rothschild and Ernest Hemingway on African hunts.
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African Game Trails
By Brian Smith African Game Trails is written by Theodore Roosevelt and is an account of a safari he took with his son Kermit in East Africa starting out in March of 1909 sailing from New York and ending in Khartoum in March of 1910. The purpose of this expedition was to collect birds, mammals, reptiles, plants, and especially specimens of big game for The National Museum at Washington, the Smithsonian, and the American Museum of Natural History, New York. The game mounts from this expedition are on display to this day at these museums. The other members of the main party included Surgeon-Lieut. Col. Edgar A Mearns, U.S.A, retired;…
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Of Impala and Dogs
I knew the shot was good, but as I watched the impala ram run into the thick tangle of trees and brush like nothing had happened, my heart sank. Cape buffalo, kudu, and puku all noticed the .300 Swift A-frame I sent their way, but not this impala. “It’s going to be fine,” my professional hunter, Strang Middleton, assured me as I lowered my rifle. “My dogs will find him.”
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A Guineafowl Shoot In Zambia
Guineafowl are an exotic addition on many farms across the South, where they are used for insect control epically ticks. Still, in their native Africa, they offer an excellent wing shooting opportunity. A quick morning hunt for a couple of guineafowl for breakfast would be the ending of a beautiful hunting adventure in Zambia
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A Lion in the Distance
Stinging sweat ran down the face and into the eyes of the man with the big gun. As he walked he took his forefinger and thumb and squeezed the corners of his eyes at the bridge of his nose soothing the pain temporarily. It was mid-morning , but his light green shirt was already darker in sections. In front of…
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Danger!: Hippo Hunting in Zambia!
It was our first morning in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia, and hippo was on the morning’s agenda! My hunting companion, Charles, had wanted a hippo for some time, and after an unsuccessful hunt in Zimbabwe the year before, he opted to try his luck in the hippo-rich waters of the Luangwa.
