Very Amusing Remarks In This Book!

27 December 2007, 14:31

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have just started reading a book on Africa - I will tell you the title and by whome later on.

I have only leafed through it, but a few things I noticed, are mentioned below.

Right at the beginning, he saw a kudu bull run across, he did not go after it, because he only had a 9.3x62 rifle. And apparently he was told this was too small for kudu!

Later on in the book he follows a wounded buffalo with a 7x64, and manages to brain it with an RWS softpoint.

Somewhere in the middle of the book, he mentions that one should only go after buffalo with a 500 grain bullet.

I suppose what this really means is; the best rifle for buffalo is the one you have in your hands at the moment of need.

27 December 2007, 14:40

375 fanatic

he needs a 375 then he can use it for every thing.

27 December 2007, 15:53

mboga biga bwana

There are TRULY Expert Hunter-Writer out there...

Seloushunter

27 December 2007, 17:18

ozhunter

Saeed,
Don't you know yet that the 7X64 is the perfect Buffalo follow up Caliber.

27 December 2007, 18:14

Vinny

Saeed,
Did Walter write this book?

27 December 2007, 18:28

RIP

I didn't think Walter could read or write, but he could have dictated the book, just like he dictated that kongoni.

27 December 2007, 18:38

Bob in TX

I guess this shows us once again that anyone can publish a book if they have the funds....

That is pretty funny!

Walter write a book........not a chance, he goes directly to the movie.

Bob

27 December 2007, 18:42

dogcat

What would the title of Walter's movie be?

Let's see -

1. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
3. The Shootist

Any other suggestions?

27 December 2007, 18:58

shakari

I can't remember who it was who wrote the following..... but it's OH so true...

â€œThere is something about an African safari that makes everyone who goes on one an expert on all things African from that time on. Climate, geology, politics, ethnology, anthropology, ecology and natural history. And in particular everyone who has ever gone on safari is an expert on all African game and what rifles and what cartridges should be used on it.

It is by no means unusual for these one-safari experts to get home and sit down and write books on the subject. Both Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark did so. I have seen several others. If you want all the answers and Africa and African hunting youâ€™ll find them there. These answers are absolutely pat because the minds of the authors were not gummed up with surplus knowledge.

My wife, who completed her sixth safari in 1969, says it is a shame to go to Africa more than once because at the end of the first safari everyone knows everything and subsequent safaris simply confuse and puzzle the expert and make him doubt his own omnipotence. I agree with her. In 1953 I hunted for a couple of months from central Tanzania to the northern frontier district of Kenya. When I came back I knew not only about the countries where I had hunted, but all about the African countries where I had not hunted. Since then I have been on safaris in northern Tanzania, in southern Tanzania, Chad, Mozambique, Angola. Botswana and Zambia. I have learned that Africa is a very large continent with different conditions, different climates, and a bewildering variety of people and animals. â€“ I should never have gone back after that first trip.â€?

27 December 2007, 19:07

Bahati

Shakari, For a moment there I saw YOU hunted all those places in 1953. My 1st reaction was that you are a serious madala and you carry your years very well! - then I read it again, slower this time ...

27 December 2007, 19:10

shakari

I admit I'm getting old - but not THAT bloody old!

A lot of the guys in camp call me Mzee nowadays and that REALLY makes Susan laugh!

27 December 2007, 19:22

AfricanHunter

quote:
Originally posted by shakari:
I can't remember who it was who wrote the following..... but it's OH so true...

â€œThere is something about an African safari that makes everyone who goes on one an expert on all things African from that time on. Climate, geology, politics, ethnology, anthropology, ecology and natural history. And in particular everyone who has ever gone on safari is an expert on all African game and what rifles and what cartridges should be used on it.

It is by no means unusual for these one-safari experts to get home and sit down and write books on the subject. Both Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark did so. I have seen several others. If you want all the answers and Africa and African hunting youâ€™ll find them there. These answers are absolutely pat because the minds of the authors were not gummed up with surplus knowledge.

My wife, who completed her sixth safari in 1969, says it is a shame to go to Africa more than once because at the end of the first safari everyone knows everything and subsequent safaris simply confuse and puzzle the expert and make him doubt his own omnipotence. I agree with her. In 1953 I hunted for a couple of months from central Tanzania to the northern frontier district of Kenya. When I came back I knew not only about the countries where I had hunted, but all about the African countries where I had not hunted. Since then I have been on safaris in northern Tanzania, in southern Tanzania, Chad, Mozambique, Angola. Botswana and Zambia. I have learned that Africa is a very large continent with different conditions, different climates, and a bewildering variety of people and animals. â€“ I should never have gone back after that first trip.â€?

I have read this before, can't say for sure but it sounds like Jack O'Connor wrote it.

27 December 2007, 20:47

yukon delta

quote:
Originally posted by RIP:
I didn't think Walter could read or write, but he could have dictated the book, just like he dictated that kongoni.

Now THAT'S funny.

27 December 2007, 21:40

Michael Robinson

quote:
It is by no means unusual for these one-safari experts to get home and sit down and write books on the subject. Both Ernest Hemingway and Robert Ruark did so. I have seen several others. If you want all the answers and Africa and African hunting you'll find them there. These answers are absolutely pat because the minds of the authors were not gummed up with surplus knowledge.

I don't know who wrote that. But whoever he was, he didn't read Hemingway or Ruark very carefully.

Both of them wrote stories about their personal experiences on safari. Neither of them presumed to be experts on the subject and neither of them was preachy.

All good African hunting stories are personal, IMHO.

As for choice of weapon, well, all we can testify about is what has worked or not worked for us. But of course, on that subject, every hunter who's ever bagged a squirrel is an expert.

Putting aside what might be minimally legal, I would feel pretty well armed with either a 9.3x62mm or a 7x64mm - with good bullets, of course - whether my quarry was kudu or buffalo.

Neither is ideal, but either would be plenty good enough, I would say. Put another way, the lack of anything "better" at hand would not keep me from hunting, all else being equal.

28 December 2007, 02:59

MacD37

quote:
Originally posted by Saeed:
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have just started reading a book on Africa - I will tell you the title and by whome later on.

I have only leafed through it, but a few things I noticed, are mentioned below.

Right at the beginning, he saw a kudu bull run across, he did not go after it, because he only had a 9.3x62 rifle. And apparently he was told this was too small for kudu!

Later on in the book he follows a wounded buffalo with a 7x64, and manages to brain it with an RWS softpoint.

Somewhere in the middle of the book, he mentions that one should only go after buffalo with a 500 grain bullet.

I suppose what this really means is; the best rifle for buffalo is the one you have in your hands at the moment of need.

Sounds like a man with Alzheimerâ€™s disease! He can't remember what he recommended form one page to the next!