Any of you who have not yet met Mike - RETREEVER - the gentleman who won the the SAFARI here on this forum which he will depart for this JULY, you should know, and I am going to tell you now, that he is as fine a person as you can imagine.

I am very new on this site, and I got into some P/M's with Mike because he had indicated here that he had hunted with http://www.tshabezisafaris.com (DUDLEY ROGERS - ZIMBABWE) and I wanted to hear about this operator. (It turns out Mike was quite happy with his experience, but back to the point.)

Mike mentioned his winning the trip and having the extra benefit of knowing a man who owned a double in .450 #2 NE, and that man wanted his rifle to go back to AFRICA, and that Mike was welcome to use it on his coming adventure. Reading this I P/M'ed him back with my phone number and I inquired of Mike if I might be allowed to join him some time when he was going to take the DR out for practice in preparation for his coming SAFARI, since I had NEVER fired a DR in my life and very much wanted to. Next thing I get a call from Mike and we had a very pleasant conversation about safaris, shooting and all, and we penciled in a date about a week down the line to go SHOOTING! I was elated!!! As the days passed we firmed up our plans and on Saturday Jan 07 we met up out in north east Pennsylvania.

At about 9:40 AM we started with some breakfast at a little place 5 or 6 miles from the range we would be going to. Mike shared his photos of his prior safari in which he had taken a BULL ELLIE wearing about 60 total pounds of IVORY, and a BULL CAPE BUFF along with several plains gaime species. We spoke of guns and ammo of course, and what it's like to shoot these larger calibered rifles and so on. This got us right into the shooting mode mentally, and off we went to the outdoor public range which the state of PA. had established and maintains.

Mike had brought three rifles, a bolt action .375 H&H calibered Savage, a bolt action .458 LOTT calibered Ruger and the PRIZE - A FAMARS .450 #2 Nitro Express. I brought my .450 Dakota Caliber bolt action built by WFF HEIN (http://www.rifleactions.com) and a .375 H&H bolt action model 97 by Dakota Arms. Unfortunately I had not yet received my ammo , so mine were just for "show and tell".

Mike and I got all his rifles, ammo and gear organized on the benches and set up targets and then Mike gave me some instruction on how best to hold the big bores for the desired results. He then fired two from the D/R as a demonstration. Much to my surprise, there was near ZERO muzzle jump upward! Yes, the rifle moved back toward Mike's shoulder some, but he had such a firm, controlling grip on that beauty that even THAT motion was far, far less than what I had expected! It was then my turn. The largest caliber I had ever fired to date was the .458 Win Mag using a 500 grain bullet. THAT, had been 15 years ago. I loaded the two barrels with those large, mighty looking cartridges, closed the scalloped action and shouldered this exquisite ELEPHANT RIFLE. Once the site picture was on the target 25 yards away, I slid off the safety and squeezed the forward trigger. Round one was now history, and as I write this, I am not remembering if I hit anything but snow and dirt! I was kind of expecting that the recoil was going to be really, really monsterous, so I am sure I pulled or pushed that round off course. In fact, the kick was quite managable. I said something to Mike about it being not anywhere as bad as I was prepared for, which he acknowledged, then I sent off round two using the rear trigger and I do believe I made a killing shot. I was quite satisfied with myself and with the way this experience was playing out. Mike coached me a little more and I shot a couple more times. He followed with a few, including some shots at the 50 yard distance. Some of the time we shot off sticks, sometimes we shot free hand. It was all great and we really had a blast there in the shallow snow. When I shot the .458 LOTT bolt I proclaimed that it was clearly a sharper, harder hit on my shoulder than the D/R. Mike agreed without hesitation that the D/R was less violent. After some time we shot the .375 H&H. Following the first shot that I took with it, I asked Mike if he had the MUZZLE BRAKE activated. He said no and I said, "Man, this is like a CUPCAKE after shooting the .45 caliber big bores." Again Mike concurred. We shot some solids at large rocks and laughed as the pieces flew off everywhere! It was like we had known each other for years. We were both very much having a great day. To say something about Mike's ability to shoot, let me report here and now, off the sticks he fired that open sited FAMARS D/R at a bullseye 95 plus yards down range and put that round inside the 2.5 inch diameter 10 ring! I am not kidding, and this is after shooting at least 20 big bore rounds! He saved that target don't you know!

That was the "icing on the cake" of a fine day with a fine gentleman, shooter, hunter and new friend. As we packed up we chatted with some other folks who had come to shoot, and then we went back to that little place where we had started our day. We ate our lunch, recapped our day and mused about hopes for the future. Just before we got into our trucks to return to our homes Mike gave me a loaded .450 #2 Cartridge for a keep sake. With that we talked breifly about the next time, and maybe how some of you others might join us with more doubles and bolt action big bores. Then it was good bye and off we went.

Mike my new friend, let me say publicly, you are AN ACE AND A TRUE GENTLEMAN and I thank you most sincerely for affording me the opportunity to get to meet you and to become a friend, and to shoot that wonderful FAMARS Double Rifle. Until next time.

Your friend,

Jack,

Sounds like you and Mike had a blast. I met Mike last year at Dallas, and believe you are right, you've made a friend for life.

I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting Mike but at least one PH I ran into in Tanzania last month (Ian Dodds) thinks highly of him as a client. Looks like you are in good company.

Hey Jack, I sent you a PM

Sounds like a GREAT day but for those of us who know Mike, it is not surprising.

John

That was a great story about a good man, and a lucky one for sure, as I was next in line as second place winner, or if you prefere, the first place looser! However I have my passport ready, and bags packed, in case Mike decides he's tired of Africa!

I met Mike at Dallas last year, and look forward to seeing him and others at the Dallas Safari Club show again this year.

Jack and all others thank you for your kind words. I must say we had a great time..I enjoyed making gravel with the solids...
But I go back to Rusty's words, " We band of brothers. "


Regards,

Mike