Folks,

Let's have a bit of fun.

I was going through some old photograph albums today and it suddenly struck me that a large percentage of the animals I've had trouble with (over the years) have been relatively small species. Warthogs for example are pretty small, but if they take a bullet in the wrong place they run forever, and get very aggressive if cornered.

Then I noticed a fiscal shrike which is only a small bird had caught a young black mamba and left it impaled on a thorn on one of my fever trees in the garden.....Shrikes are another example of a small animal that thinks it's a big animal.

Just think if a warthog was as big as a hippo or a shrike was as big as a fish eagle how formidable they would be...

so my question is.........what small species would you nominate for the "little tough guy hall of fame"?

.......and I just might give a small prize for the most interesting or entertaining answer.

Imagine a honey badger the size of a grizzly. What gun would you pack?

I nominate Vaal Rehbok and Mountain Reedbuck for the #1 & #2 spots. I can' think of anything that can be more frustrating to hunt than these two animals, or trophies that are more satisfying to bag, especially since they must be hunted the right way -- on foot -- and it's all spot & stalk work. It's real hunting, at its best. Long shots are often the order of the day, and these smallish antelope are anything but stupid, and won't stand around on ceremony while you take your time about shooting them. You not only have to spot them and put on a good stalk, but you have to be stealthy about it all, go unnoticed if at all possible, and you have to be able to assume and execute a good shot at a small target under real open-country field conditions instead of blasting away from the hood of the 'Cruiser.

Craig Boddington devoted an entire chapter to Vaal Rhebok in his great new book, "African Hunter II", and in my opinion justifiably so.

The range of these animals isn't, comparatively, all that wide, either...........

AD

Not that this was a dangerous situation but interesting just the same.

Tye shot an impala in the center of the chest with a .416 Rigby. It's what he had in his hands.
The animal led them on a trail of over 300 yards. When they got to a point that it saw them, it got up to RUN again. Tye droped it there. The original exit wound was next to the anus. That was one tough little bugger!

Sam

In all cases in small animals the anus is quite near the brain. I believe this is the root cause of most of the troubles

Badgers can be plenty mean when cornered -even without the honey. Dachshunds are also feisty packages and one of the few dogs that will sort out a cornered badger.

And my wife...I was going to do a spell with the UN troops in Kosovo in September but she sure put a small foot down very hard!

"Choose -Africa or Kosovo!"

After that it was simple.

I nominate my wife.

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Originally posted by allen day:
I nominate Vaal Rehbok and Mountain Reedbuck for the #1 & #2 spots... Craig Boddington devoted an entire chapter to Vaal Rhebok in his great new book, "African Hunter II", and in my opinion justifiably so.

The range of these animals isn't, comparatively, all that wide, either...........

AD

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I agree with Allen, especially after reading that piece by Craig.

My vote goes to a wounded and cornered Bush Buck.

A wounded bushbuck is, pound-for-pound much more, very much more dangerous than a wounded buffalo. Both can and will kill you, but the bushbuck weighs only a small fraction of what a buff weighs.

Then again, I think of a more recent event involving a tough small animal, an old and dog-wise old male lynx. Maybe I should tell the story of the day that I crossed paths with one while on a pointer training walk and having nothing bigger than a wristwatch to use in defence/attack?
Andrew McLaren

My vote would go to bushbuck as well for the little guys with an attitude.

However, a warthog the size of a buff? I want a bigger gun!

I would have to go along with CEWE and nominate my wife. But if limited to African game, I'd also nominate the Bush Buck. It has toughness, speed, determination, stilletto horns, and smarts. My brother shot his incredible trophy using my .375HH, and I think it took three or four shots before it gave up the ghost. Kudude.

Pound for pound, it's got to be the....Bluegill

If that little fish weighed twelve pounds, he'd flip your boat and beat the hell out of you.

Elmo

I have to go with the Bushbuck. Strong second when it comes to attitude, is my little Jack Russell Terrier. That dog's never looked in a mirror to see just how small he is

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so my question is.........what small species would you nominate for the "little tough guy hall of fame"?

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Anything with a "short-arse".

Bushbuck hands down, the last one I shot took two well placed shots from my .300 Win. Mag. and was still trying to get up and come at me when we approached. One horn point was as sharp as a knife.

CFA

Yoda....that little green bugger can kick arse!!

How about the lowly swuirrel? Mean spirited and tough, you can shoot those little monsters with a 540 grain arrow with a blunt on it, and they just don't die. If one was the size of a grizzly or a Cape buffalo, they'd be tossing Volkswagens at you from the tree tops instead of acorns.

Steve

I am with Allen on this, I think the Vaal and Mt. Reebok are the ultimate hunt...

Big guy,
Not so, Please notice when a poster sits down to copy a post to us all that his brain is closer to his anus and to prove my point read all these post on what is the ultimate game to hunt, the defense rests!

Well I think A lowly weasel would be my pick, I would shudder to think what one the size of a grizzly could do!
I recently saw a batch of pictures from a friend where he caught a weasel in the act of chasing, catching, and then killing an adult snowshoe hare!

Folks,

Sorry for the delay in answering this....we got hit by lightning and lost the phone lines, the PC and almost my better half!

Thanks for the suggestions and Blank wins the prize......if you would like to send me an e-mail, I'll get something in the post.

Also Nitro X deserves something for remembering my Zulu name and for managing to take the piss out of it........Thanks John, you gave me a good laugh!!!!