I left on Friday 2/21 to drive to the Gilchrist Club to meet Rick Taylor & Mark Sullivan for the hunt Rick won in the Stu Taylor benefit. I was concerned. The weather had taken a turn for the worse. We only had 2 days. The idea was to hunt hogs in the afternoons and birds in the morning.






I arrived and it was pouring rain. I met Rick in the restaurant. We sat around for a while talking and eating lunch. The rain quit. Rick & I went to our lodge and took our things in. While we were waiting on Mark, we decided to try our hand at fishing. I managed to catch quite a few bluegills using one of my tricks.

Mark arrived. We helped him get his things into the lodge. We changed into hunting clothes and discussed the afternoon plans. I was still concerned as I thought it would rain again.

We had each brought several guns. Mark had some incredible rifles. Some were old and historic. This afternoon, Mark used a 425 Westley-Richards with iron sights. This was a beautiful gun.

We took Rick to the best place. We knew there was a big hog there that might be a bar hog. We put Mark out on a feeder that we call AW's. I cruised around checking other feeders.

To summarize the afternoon hunt:

1- I shot and killed a sow . She dropped in her tracks.

2- Rick shot and hit a BIG hog. It ran off. We did some checking in the dark. The lights we had were not good. We could not find it.

3- A fair sized hog came to AW's. Mark got down and stalked it. It ran off. Mark took a running shot and missed. Having shot a lot of hogs there myself, I have to say that there isn't much room. ANY RUNNING shot has to be rushed.

We were to dinner somewhat late as we got in late after looking for Rick's hog. Dinner was FANTASTIC. We did our best to make sure we were not dehydrated. This was accomplished by drinking large quantities of Crown Royal and Scotch.

We were having a hell of a good time talking about hunting, guns, the world and telling joke after joke after joke as well as generally raising hell. We were all laughing like crazy. It was one of my most fun nights ever up there.

We went back to the lodge. We continued our efforts at re-hydration. Mark & Rick played pool while we all cut up. I called it quits about 1 AM.

We got up bright and early the next morning. Off to the quail fields we went. We had a hell of a good shoot. We picked up just under 250 quail, chukars and pheasants mostly quail. Everyone shot well. We had a really good time. Lots of jokes were made. There was a lot of cutting up and carrying on. It would be difficult to have been any more enjoyable.










I sent someone to look for Rick's hog. They found it in short order. He had made a perfect shot. It was indeed a bar hog, an old bar hog. It had serious teeth and weighed about 300 pounds. We took pictures. Rick was happy. I told him that he might not ever get another hog that big.



That afternoon we went hog hunting again. I was, unfortunately, the only one to see a hog. I passed on a sow. In retrospect,I think heat did a number on us. Places where hogs had been every day, were totally void of hogs.

Off we went back to the lodge to eat dinner and to rehydrate ourselves, although not to the extent of the previous evening. The good times continued. I could not have asked for better companions.

We got up this morning and went to the quail fields after breakfast. It was foggy and gray. After the fog burned off, I could tell that bad weather was coming. It didn't stop us. We hammered the birds good and proper. We called the hunt to an end a little early as it was getting ready to storm. Regardless, we picked up just over 250 birds! We stopped about 5 minutes too late. It POURED. We got back to the truck with out being completely drenched but we were wet.



We headed back to the lodge, ate lunch, packed our stuff and talked a long while before we left. I personally hated to leave. It was an incredibly good time.

I would like to make a few comments on Mark Sullivan as follows:

1- He is older than I thought. He is 64.

2- He is an extremely nice guy. He is one of those people who thanks you for everything and is truly appreciative for everything.

3- He is an extremely funny guy. I am going to post a video clip. I think you will see just how funny he is. Also, very personable.

4- Mark loves life and and absolutely loves hunting. He still gets excited about it. He is a very optimistic person. He makes a lot of positive comments about things, many things. He feels fortunate to have been able to hunt as much as he has.

5- He loves history, historic guns and hunting in historic places. If you listen to him talk about hunting a particular place where one of the famous old timers hunted and you see the look in his eye, you know he means it.

6- We talked about hunting in great detail. I would imagine if he wrote down his ideas and distributed them to AR members without them knowing who wrote them, most would 100% agree with him.

7- We talked a lot about his controversial image and practices. Some of this is nothing more than things to make the videos sell. He had some extremely interesting things to say about his practices.

According to Mark, all clients are not the same. They differ in skills and risk tolerance. While some are terrified on one end of the scale, others WANT a charge at the other end of the scale. He hunts how the clients want to hunt. If they want to be safe, they do not do immediate followup. On the other hand, if he has a Rambo on his hands who wants a charge, he will follow up immediately.

Mark says charges by buff are rare, extremely rare. In his estimation, less than 5% of the wounded buffalo will charge. On the other hand, these lone bull hippo will charge 60% of the time under the right circumstances.

8-If you hear him discuss his views of conducting a safari and what it should accomplish for the client, every single one of you would say that ALL safari companies should operate that way.

9- He believes that because of the economy and the costs in TZ that there have not been that many safaris conducted in TZ. As a result, the hunting is getting better and better.

10- He laughs his ass off about all the discussion of him here on AR. He believes he could not buy that publicity. He loves it.

11- Given a couple of things he said, I imagine he is lurking here on AR fairly often under a fake name.

12- He says unequivocally that these stories about how these these charges happen are total BS. For example, the story about shooting buff in the balls with a 22 magnum to get a charge.

13- He has an interesting thought process on the immediate follow up and the attempt to get a charge. He agrees that most let the buff stiffen up. That takes a certain amount of time. He believes that his method is more humane as the buff is dead quicker than waiting for it to stiffen up. He gets that some don't like that he may not shoot the wounded buff immediately.

14- Over 90% of his business is repeat business. That says something.



I have to say that I like Mark a lot. I was very surprised about a lot of things he said. He could not have been any nicer. He was a lot of fun and a perfect gentleman.

Thanks to Rick & Mark for a fantastic weekend.







Check out the video clip below:

I have always thought that he would be an interesting guy to spend time with. I bet it was a blast

Sounds like an awesome time - wish I were with you guys!

Congrats on a great hunt!

Sounds like fun!!

Larry,

I am glad to hear that you had such a great time! I spoke with Mark briefly during and at length after the hunt today. Mark told me that you are a very gracious host and he greatly enjoyed his time spent with you and Rick. He also mentioned that you are pretty good with a shotgun.

Shawn

Gentlemen:

I am having trouble with the video clip. Trust me, it is special. I may have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanks for that Larry. Sounds like a lot of fun. I sure would have loved to have such an experience, though I might not have hit too many quail!

There is ONE BIG PROBLEM with this whole shebang. I WASN'T THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great job fellows.

Thanks for the update Larry! Must have been a blast.

Sounds like a hell of a great time Larry. You guys hammered the birds, eh?

Funny, all the guys who have spent time with Mark petty much say the same thing ... that he is a hell of a lot of fun to be around, funny, and truly enjoys hunting and nice guns. I hope to hunt with him one day in Tanz! Probably should just commit to it and make it happen.

Thanks for the report.

Gentlemen:

I added the video clip on the end of the opening post. I think it is funny as hell and will probably give you a little insight into the outrageous comments Mark sometimes makes.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Gentlemen:

I added the video clip on the end of the opening post. I think it is funny as hell and will probably give you a little insight into the outrageous comments Mark sometimes makes.

I did one of those as well on my last elephant hunt that I'll try to post when I get a bit of time. I've always seen the humor in that line Mark uses. I'm betting before this thread rolls to page 2, we'll have a demonstration of complete LACK of sense of humor in some!

Funny clip. Mark must have lost a bet to shave his mustache. Glad everyone had a good time.

Perfect!!!

I would have loved to have been on that hunt!

Larry, Larry, Larry!
I thought you were going to tell the truth about our hunt and "Mark". I could tell the moment that Larry met Mark, it was nothing but pure, unadulterated HERO WORSHIP!

Alright, just joking. I honestly have to agree about Larry's comments about Mark. He is polite, well spoken, old (damn, he's 64!), has plenty of stories to tell and I'll bet they are genuine. He was very pleasant to hunt with and handles a shotgun very well. Speaking of handling a shotgun very well, our gracious host, Mr Shores, sir! handles a shotgun very well. He managed, except for a few times (and I mean, VERY FEW) to almost always get the first shot off. And he hits what he shoots at. Whether it's a tree or, the palmetto that the quail are taking refuge in..
I have never seen anyone else "center punch" so many quail on the fly, to the point that they are actually accelerating at a greatly exagerated pace when the full load hits them. Amazing shot. Only reason I'm posting that part is so you don't bet him on shells per bird and LOSE YOUR ASS!
And I told both of them I was gonna pick on them in my response so they weren't surprised and think me ungracious.
I had the time of my life. Both Larry and Mark are entertaining to say the least. Larry never runs out of jokes and Mark usually has a comeback for it of his own.
So, Mr Shores. I, publicly want to express my gratitude for donating the hunt and drawing my name as the hunter. Would you consider donating an African Safari next time?
Seriously, Larry is a very gracious host and I feel priveleged to have shared this hunt with both He and Mark. After reading all of the comments about Mark here, He did not come across like that at all and we all 3 had a fabulous time.
We've got to find a "cause" again next year!
PS All of you guys that wished that you could have been there, are correct. It was fantastic.

Well done all!! Looks like you had a blast.

Funny video.

Cheers
Jim

Now that was funny!

I could have guessed the video clip. He's a gent as shown by his humor towards his own films.
A classic. He should put this as a trailer in his next film.
Cal

That video is classic!

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
Larry, Larry, Larry!
I thought you were going to tell the truth about our hunt and "Mark". I could tell the moment that Larry met Mark, it was nothing but pure, unadulterated HERO WORSHIP!

Alright, just joking. I honestly have to agree about Larry's comments about Mark. He is polite, well spoken, old (damn, he's 64!), has plenty of stories to tell and I'll bet they are genuine. He was very pleasant to hunt with and handles a shotgun very well. Speaking of handling a shotgun very well, our gracious host, Mr Shores, sir! handles a shotgun very well. He managed, except for a few times (and I mean, VERY FEW) to almost always get the first shot off. And he hits what he shoots at. Whether it's a tree or, the palmetto that the quail are taking refuge in..
I have never seen anyone else "center punch" so many quail on the fly, to the point that they are actually accelerating at a greatly exagerated pace when the full load hits them. Amazing shot. Only reason I'm posting that part is so you don't bet him on shells per bird and LOSE YOUR ASS!
And I told both of them I was gonna pick on them in my response so they weren't surprised and think me ungracious.
I had the time of my life. Both Larry and Mark are entertaining to say the least. Larry never runs out of jokes and Mark usually has a comeback for it of his own.
So, Mr Shores. I, publicly want to express my gratitude for donating the hunt and drawing my name as the hunter. Would you consider donating an African Safari next time?
Seriously, Larry is a very gracious host and I feel priveleged to have shared this hunt with both He and Mark. After reading all of the comments about Mark here, He did not come across like that at all and we all 3 had a fabulous time.
We've got to find a "cause" again next year!
PS All of you guys that wished that you could have been there, are correct. It was fantastic.

Thanks Rick. It was an honor to have you there sir. You are a true gentleman, even if you think Obama is our best president ever!

Great Report.

Larry, your writing about the personality from Mark is the same as I have meet him here in Germany.

He is a great guy and a true character (and as you say a true american man).

Best wishes to all of you.

B.

Thanks for the post Larry.

Great video. That was FUNNY.

Thanks Larry for the report...a weekend of guns, hunting, fine beverages and friendly competition among gentlemen... It just doesn't get any better than that. did you any pictures of the rifles for us to drool over?

Paul

Oh, Mr Shores sir. You had to think long and hard, which at your age is really difficult, to come up with that chickens%%% comment. I had a great time sir. Wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Thanks again
(By the way, when are you gonna get that "Hillary in '16 sticker off your truck?)

looks like fun was had by all.
well done

Awesome and thanks for sharing!!!
Well done gents

quote:

You are a true gentleman, even if you think Obama is our best president ever!

That's amazing. I understand Todd feels the same way.

[Just kidding Mr. Williams.]

Great Report! good all the way around well except for the Nobama stuff

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

Dammit! I almost asked if any birds chose how they wanted too die but didn't want y'all to think I was being a smart ass. I literally edited that out before I posted. This is HILARIOUS!

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:

quote:

You are a true gentleman, even if you think Obama is our best president ever!

That's amazing. I understand Todd feels the same way.

[Just kidding Mr. Williams.]

I'm going to maintain my calm, peaceful attitude towards mjines as well Todd. See what you started Larry?????
Before this gets any further along, I, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, AM AN OBUMMER SUPPORTER!!! But I do think that secretly, Mr Shores has the hots for Hillary!

the video clip is priceless!!

quote:

Originally posted by pagosawingnut:
I'm going to maintain my calm, peaceful attitude towards mjines as well Todd. See what you started Larry?????
Before this gets any further along, I, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, AM AN OBUMMER SUPPORTER!!! But I do think that secretly, Mr Shores has the hots for Hillary!

Damn Rick, you weren't supposed to tell that. At least you didn't disclose my secret fantasy. A threesome with Hillary & Janet Reno.


Safe travels brother. We will do it again some day.

quote:

Damn Rick, you weren't supposed to tell that. At least you didn't disclose my secret fantasy. A threesome with Hillary & Janet Reno.

Dang Larry, don't think I'd of told that one.

Good stuff Larry!!!!

Congrats to all.
What a great group of guys hunting and having a blast.
Mark, that video was just too much. You guys are welcome in my camp any day.

Pagosawingnut!

What a great hunt and fine time you had with Larry and Mark. Congratulations. Seems your new shotgun did good work, coupled with talent of course.

A pleasure to read about and the pictures tell it all. Fine times were had, no doubt.

Kind regards
Jytte

Jytte,
I had a wonderful time with both of these outlaws. Everything Larry wrote about Mark were my observations as well. Both of these gentlemen were excellent hunting partners.
And yes, the new s x s 20 shoots much better than I do and I was pleased. I only hope you have as good a time on your hunt as I did mine.
Regards
Rick