Before you die...

06 November 2008, 01:43

surestrike

If I never shoot another critter before I die I won't go to the happy hunting grounds with grief in my heart.
I feel very fortunate to have been able to do the amount of hunting that I've done in my life. I am eternally thankful for what I have and what I've been able to do in life so far.

With that in mind if I could only have one more I think it would have to be a big old mule deer buck on a horse back hunt in rolling sage brush country and Pinnon country. Ahhhhh, just writing it down makes me think of the smell of sage and pinnon after a sweet fresh desert rain!

If it had to be an African critter I'd like to know how it feels just once to close the final 20 yards with a fine double in hand on a big old bull elephant.

If your parents didn't have any children chances are you won't either.

Verbera!, Iugula!, Iugula!!!

Blair.

....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1
DRSS Charter member
"If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982

Hands of Old Elmer Keith

"Science only goes so far then God takes over."

DRSS
Life Member SCI
Life Member NRA
Life Member WSF

Rhyme of the Sheep Hunter
May fordings never be too deep, And alders not too thick; May rock slides never be too steep And ridges not too slick.
And may your bullets shoot as swell As Fred Bear's arrow's flew; And may your nose work just as well As Jack O'Connor's too.
May winds be never at your tail When stalking down the steep; May bears be never on your trail When packing out your sheep.
May the hundred pounds upon you Not make you break or trip; And may the plane in which you flew Await you at the strip.
-Seth Peterson

08 November 2008, 02:07

David Hulme

quote:
Originally posted by Brett Adam Barringer:
Hard to say but if I must it's between a tracking hunt for a 100lbs. elephant, a tracking hunt for a beautiful full mane lion, or a tracking hunt for a big male tiger.

Brett

Brett,

Now that's my choice - a tiger. How awesome would that be? Something that will never happen, but something that I do fantasize about once in a while. Even photographing a wild tiger would give me a huge thrill.... Sigh, let me sink back into fantasy land.

Dave

www.rogerwhittallsafaris.com

Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.

What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.

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"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. -Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Jack

OH GOD! {Seriously, we need the help.}

Happiness is a warm gun

The average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty; and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.

When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults!

-+-+-

"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." - The Dalai Lama

The only easy day is yesterday!

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"In those savage countries success frequently depends upon one particular moment; you may lose or win according to your action at that critical instant."

Sir Samuel Baker