close call

[MacD37]

HUNTING TALES:

Here's a hunting tale that was pritty exciteing for a few wild seconds.

Back in 1992 I was on Safari in the Luangwa Valley, of Zambia. Cape Buffalo was my main target, with five or six plains game animals also on license. This safari had been made posible because the Valley had had a drought, and a subsiquint crop failier, and the local people were hungry, and had begun setting snares to trap bush meat. The snares are indiscriminate, and kill what ever it catches. It doesn't matter if the animal is rare, or endangered, it matters not to a hungry man trying to feed his family. SO, the safaris were discounted to supply meat for the locals, in a conserving fashion. So on my lichese was a Cape Buffalo bull, a Hippo bull, an Impala male,a warthog male,a Cookson's wildebeast, and a zebra.

The day of the happening, we had been tracking four or five cape buffalo from a water pan, for about 3 hours. My PH was carrying a BRNO 375 H&H bolt rifle, and I was carrying my 500/450NE Westley Richards double rifle. We were still quite far behind the little DUGABOY band, when, through the trees, we spotted a real BUSTER, of a cookson's wildebeast off to our left about 200 yds away. My PH said that is one good willy, and we are still far enough behind the buffalo that we can try for him if you want.

He asked if I wanted to use his rifle, and I passed, in favor of my own rifle. It being a big double rifle, I needed to get closer, so we started moveing quietly toward the Willy, keeping our eyes on him. We had made about 50 yds,when to our immediate right, we both heard the unmistakeable grunt of a big Cape Buffalo, and heard him start. It was clear, he had winded us, and was coming. He was CLOSE, but comeing through thick bush, we couldn't see him. When he cleared the bush, he was no more than 10 yds, and comeing fast. My PH, and I fired similtaineously, both bullets hitting him mid chest, for the heart, not even slowing him. My second shot was aimed at the tip of his nose, hitting him square braining him. by that time the bull was at about 4 yds. A split second after my second shot the PH fired his shot at the same target, but my bullet had turned his head a little, so the PH's shot hit a little off center, and missed the brain, coming out of the cheek of the bull, and re-entering just right of the neck into the shoulder, and slid around the ribcage, between the shoulder, and the ribs, as he went down in cloud of red dust. I reloaded, and put another in the downed buff through the spine between the shoulder blades, end of fight. Then the shakes started, and we both flopped down on our butts and just shook for ten minutes before we said anything.

We all like to think we will stand and drop them with a single shot, dead and end it like a hero. Well gentlemen, the shots we took were without thinking, and we were just lucky as hell, they did the job, or one, and maybe both of us would have been enjured, or killed that fine day!

That bull was not anything to place in any record book, and I have shot much bigger bulls, but that one holds a place of honor on my wall today, many years later. he was only 37" spred, and was not fully hard bossed, but he is my best trophy, because of how I took him! Sometimes the best trophies are the most unlikely.

On that Safari I put 8000 lbs of meat into a local village of 1500 people, who ate all that meat in less than a week. The meat came from a 26" Hippo, and 20" impala, a 12" warthog, an 800 lb zebra, a 28" cookson's wildebeast, and the bufflao! Good safari for me, and the local folks as well!

[Nulle]

That would sure bring out the pucker factor for sure. Nice the natives get the meat and aside from having a great hunt you helped many people go to bed full = Good for you.