Just got back from Zimbabwe yesterday. My son amd I both got nice old dugga boys after a somewhat exhausting hunt in the Charrara hills west of Makuti. We then hunted the Masuri conservancy in Kwekwe for a few head of plains game. Although I have hunted these areas before, two things stood out about this trip. While on the Masuri conservancy we were able to see and photograph black rhino. I had seen them there in the past but was unable to get to my camera, either because I was running away too fast or the rhino was running too fast the other way. The second thing which made this trip memorable was the hour and a half I spent chatting (interrogating?) with Ian Nyschens at his home in Harare.

Three or four years ago my PH, Doug Kok, had mentioned that his sister knew Ian Nyschens. For the past three years I have made efforts to meet the man while in Harare. Usually time constraints or other travel related issues interfered. This year I persevered. While at Doug's sister's home I once again asked about a meeting and she suggested we just pop over and make a visit. So we WALK over to his house. Turns out he lives TWO DOORS down the street! Man, it was like meeting the likes of a Taylor, Hunter, Bell, or Sutherland!

We talked guns, calibers, animals, hunting areas, charge stopping, and so many things, he must have thought I was a news reporter. He must be in his early eighties and still sharp as a tack. He says he just stopped camping in Mana Pools (by himself) two or three years ago because he says when you get old, you get too stiff in the morning after sleeping outside.

He is really an engaging recontour, and still has an edge, as any good hunter should. He has just finished another book which contains material and chapters the editor cut from the first book because the editor felt it would have made the book too long. Mr. Nyschens said if I liked the first book I will really like the new one.

We took pictures of Nyschens with me and my son which I will try to get my son to post tomorrow. At that time, I will also try to share some of his observations on shooting big game.

Geronimo

Too cool !

Good work!

Better than meeting Mozart or Rembrandt.

If you can, write down what he said.

LD

Geronomo, thanks for your anecdote. It made me reminisce about my dinner conversation with him when I stopped in Harare. He was surprisingly gregarious. He definitely has firm ideas on everything related to hunting. If he thinks you should take your scope off your gun and throw it away he will be glad to instruct you to do so. And he did just that when he looked at my scoped .416 Remington 700. He knew I would shortly be standing in front of an elephant in Mozambique, and he knew I would be experiencing trouble related to my close range from the elephant. He said I would not be able to tell where my shot was going at that range because I would not see landmarks, just gray patches of elephant hide. Well, he was exactly right. I was 15 paces from angry jumbo and he was rapidly figuring out where I was. After missing the brain shot due to the scope, I survived the encounter, but I need to give him credit for calling a spade a spade. That's Ian Nyschens. The other aspect of talking to him is that the listener needs to concentrate. His accent (from our perspective) is heavy. If you hear a tape of Ian talking, it is much easier to understand if it has subtitles. Thanks for sharing your story. Yours, Bill