I am in awe...

And very, very well written!

Regards,
Martin

Wow! What an experience! and well told... Congrats on coming through it in one piece!

Judge -
thanks and UFF, I can start breathing again.
While reading I asked myself wheather reading the story was better than being there ,what an experience - to survive !YOU will cherish it for your lifetime and we will do the same - never knowing how we would react or stay clean.In the end one just faces reality and makes the best of it.You didn't run, you been to the mountain and nothing that will turn up in the future will compare.You might as well look for other adventures.
Thanks

Judge:

When will you book be published? You have a mastery of the pen few can rival...

Judge,

You are a raconteur par excellence!! Thanks for that story, and congrats on an experience of a dozen lifetimes.

Cheers,
Canuck

you have lived my dream!!

Well lived and well written; congratulations.

Very Intense. Good thing they stuck to thier natural prey.

It was his breath that saved them all...Have you been around "his honer" after a night of that expensive scotch malt, thats whiskey to us Texans, its the stuff that smells like Kerosene to most of us, comes from Pete moss methinks, at any rate the Lions never had a chance, they couldn't wait to exit...He also drinks my mineral oil when the gins gone, and that should flay any Lion a day after, but thats an inside joke! Thus their salvation!!

You're right Earnest. You have been to the mountain top because it's all downhill from there!
Amazing experience and great writing. Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your buffalo hunt is a most certainly a lifetime experience. Remembering is reliving.

Congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
It was his breath that saved them all...Have you been around "his honer" after a night of that expensive scotch malt, thats whiskey to us Texans, its the stuff that smells like Kerosene to most of us, comes from Pete moss methinks, at any rate the Lions never had a chance, they couldn't wait to exit...He also drinks my mineral oil when the gins gone, and that should flay any Lion a day after, but thats an inside joke! Thus their salvation!!

Unlike the old British sailors, that were used to pickled and salted meat, it appears lions like fresh meat.

1. Judge, did that double feel like "enough gun"?

2. Is your new rifle a Nitro 600, "double double" four barrels? Or, for this situation, sounds like an FN/FAL or M-14, are more for the occassion.

3. Are you going to start wearing diapers sooner then normal?

4. How many shots do you think you could have got off, if the lions came at you, and not the buff?

I've watched one lion go from a crouch, and nail game, within 'putting' distance, and I couldn't even start to move, much less site, and pull the trigger.

Seriously, that was an incredible experience, followed by incredible writing. Well done, and glad you are alive and well, to write about it.

Hand of The Lord is evident in these rare glimpses we get into His incredible creations...

God Bless

GS

WOW

What a great adventure. Thank God you had some luck and the lions and buffalo were busy with each other.Another good reason to carry "enough gun" too.

great story, thanks for taking us to the mountain top.

Judge G ----- Great adventure well epostulated. I have hunted with Pierr'e and Twiga, I had a fantastac hunt for Buffalo and plains game, however I didn't get quite as high on the mountain as you. A previous story by you convinced me to hunt with Pierr'e and I certainly didn't regret my choice. It utterly amazed me as to the exposure to danger they live with daily, but are always alert to and respectful of the animals they hunt. Good shooting.

yeahaw!

awesome story, scratch that awesome experience!
what would you do different looking back? what would you do different with the 405? strong peep sights? wilson combat ones maybe?

Boom:

I feel that I had the very perfect gun for the incident with the lions, a Westley Richards .450/.400 with a Woodleigh soft in the right barrel and a solid in the right. It is far from a heavy gun and points wonderfully for me. I spent many an afternoon putting a little water in baloons and chunking them in a pond, then as the wind blew them, busting them out to 70 yards or so as the "sailed" across the lake. I practiced rapid reloading while doing so.

As to the .405 Winchester, I believe that the Lyman 21 just isn't sturdy enough for a rifle that will be carried all day. It is amazingly accurate and has a feature that allows you to flip down the small apperture and use one a little less than "Ghost ring" size.... just perfect for low light situations.

I had the .405 just where I wanted it, but never figured that the sight would slide down the track when the gun was resting/bumping along on my shoulder while stalking buffalo.

Williams make a model that is rock solid. I will replace the Lyman and get a Williams and bore out the apperture some... or just buy a couple of extra appertures of different diameters to keep in my pocket.

As I wrote elsewhere, the Northforks weighing 330 grains had a sectional density of .279 or so and were traveling in excess of 2200 fps. Northforks CUPS and FPS penetrate like crazy. I was ready... but the best laid plans?

While huntng buffalo with the Westley Richards, I found myself limited to pretty close in shooting, unless I caught game out in the open. My old eyes just won't let me pick out a path through bushes, etc. after 50 yards or so. I think I'll never lose my love for doubles, but next safari where I'll hunt buffalo, I'll take the pressure off some by popping the first dagga boy with something wearing a 1.5x5 Leupold. Age has its limitations... Then I'll try to get fancy. Maybe I'll get rich again had have Butch make me a .375 Flanged Magnum with claw mounts. That sounds like a winner? The best of both worlds?

As for elephants... that's another issue. Doubles all the way.

This should be a sticky, or put somewhere for everyone to have easy access to. FANTASTIC

G

Holy crap !!!
I almost shit my pants just reading it. Man you're a lucky guy, both for the experience and for being alive.

Very well written.

Judge, that was the best account I ever read about a wild encounter.Your are a gifted narrator.Write a book and you will be a millionaire ( even if you are one now).Thanks for sharing-
Locksley.

JudgeG I woould very honored to sit at your camp fire. Sprig

What a story! Puh... Breathtaking.
I visited Etosha last year and vitniced a pack of lions killing a springbuck a 100 yards away. I was at a waterhole at Halali camp, behind fences.. Thought I had experienced something exciting..

Ernest,

Thanks for your story. With your writing ability who needs to be a judge, I will look forward to seeing your stories in print. Perhaps you could sell some and keep that "perfect double", besides I will have another .500/465 H&H Dominion coming soon and we still need to some up with a litter.

Fred

speechless . . .

Ernest,
Push that Lyman down all the way and lock tight it there, then get a .007 brass faced partridge sight from NECG and hand file it to zero..no more problems or just send the sight to me is another option...maybe the sight and the rifle together if the barrel is any good...

See, that's what all of that legal and judicial training was good for!

Yes indeed, you have been to the Mountain! A superb adventure very well told!

Judge:

You crafted that story as if you reached for each word, careful to ensure that it created the right sights, smells, and emotion.

Very well done.

Even PHC could not have written more Ernestly than that. Thanks for reminding me of how lions make my short hairs snap to attention. I just don't care for cats. I was rooting for the buffalo, and the humans.

Judge G
My wife,who will be going with me, read your wonderful report and ask if that could happen to us. I said I guess it is possiable. She looked at the Ruger #1 458 lott I was holding at the time and ask "Don't you think you need a better Rifle?" I looked at her and says "Anything to make you feel safe dear."
Now I got to hope she don't figure out what the
375 Whitworth is for till I can get to the shop.

Thanks for the new rifle.
Gene

quote:

"Anything to make you feel safe dear." Big Grin

JudgeG....being late to chime in on this one, i know it sounds like an echo when i say, "Wow, what an experience!!" others have also beaten me to the punch by favorably comparing your relating of this event to the writings of PHC and the other great writers. concerning your writing and you intestinal fortitude, i will jump in with everyone else and just say "extremely well done!!"

i also have to say that i envy you. not many of us hunters(besides the combat vets and a few others) will ever find out if we really "have what it takes". you have found that out about yourself. it's easy and common for us to say what we would do in a situation like the one you were in but nobody really knows until it happens to them. i don't know if i could have done it but i would like to find out. i can say one thing for certain...for those few minutes it would have been physically impossible to drive a sewing needle up my butt with a 16 lb sledgehammer

again, well done and thanks for sharing your experience with us...bud

I don't think anyone can deny that the Judge has an extraordinary ability when it comes to writing hunting stories. He does have a way with words. I would think he could make a profitable sideline as a "ghost writer" for articles in various hunting magazines. His stories are always a joy to read! Keep it up Judge!

I can just see it now....the Judge reaching for the ejection seat handles and saying "Eject! Eject! Eject!

Damn. That will sure keep your attention.

Incredible.

AWE - n. - a feeling of fearful or profound respect or wonder inspired by the greatness, superiority, grandeur, etc. of a person or thing and suggests an immobilizing effect

Dave

I read Almostacowboys words and became Almostabighead until I realized he was in awe of the experience, instead of my writing!

We've all been to the Mountaintop, be it in your granddaughter's laughter, the graduation of a son who you'd thought would never make it, watching childbirth or just seeing the lady at the checkout counter smile when she doesn't have to.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of eating a meal with a good friend and his grown daughter. I know the trials and tribulations of the relationship and getting to observe the product of a lifetime of "hanging in there" and the resultant and obvious love between them was about as great a joy to watch as catching a 15 pound bass... and maybe even better than eating Key Lime pie made with the real juice from South Florida... well, not better, but a great thing to see! Love is Grand. Nature is Grand. Life is Good. Bad stuff happens, but dwell on the Good.

Tomorrow, promise to stop to watch a squirrel scamper up a tree, a cloud morph into a cartoon character or just wonder at the technology of a cell phone call. I get a kick out of watching a dog and an assistant dog just checking out the neighbor's yard. Not every day has its lions and tigers, but every day has its joys.

We've all been kicked in the teeth and tend to forget that God is on His throne. His promises are redeemable... just maybe not when you expect them.

So... May you all, at least for tomorrow, enjoy the Peace that surpasses all understanding, and, though tired as the expression may be... Have a good day!

And, no, Ray... I only had one single malt tonight.