Just read "Sixty Years a Hunter" by our own Bill Quimby. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read that covers Bill's experiences afield. Bill's youth was dominated by a father who went off to WWII just after Pearl Harbor, and was absent for more than 4 years. The impression I get is no matter who the guy was before the war, he was a selfish alcoholic SOB upon his return. I had the urge to punch the guy in the nose just from the stories.

Bill is not afraid to talk about shots he missed or hunts that went wrong. He waited nearly 40 years to draw an Arizona desert sheep tag, only to break his arm changing a flat tire early in the hunt. He persevered and collected his sheep, but that was a tough one. He also tells of a hunt in Canada's NW Territories that had him arrive at camp with a very drunk Indian Guide who proceeded to jump into a boat a speed across the lake. Turns out his boat was found on the opposite shore, but the body didn't turn up until the next Spring. The Mounties had to come and investigate to make sure there was no monkey business associated with the tragedy.

Bill's stories about his African adventures are the ones I enjoyed the most. It seems we have some mutual acquaintances. He tells of Tudor Howard-Davies, former editor of RSA's MAN/MAGNUM magazine. Tudor helped me book my first safari when he worked for Jerome Knapp of Global Expeditions. Tudor was Rhodesian, went to RSA after Mugabe did his thing, and then on to Canada briefly before returning to RSA and succumbing to prostate cancer. A prince of a fellow, Tudor had some great stories. My favorite, not in the book, was the time he was setting up a camp out in the bush, that consisted of thatched structures, including a cooking area open on the sides with a thatched roof. One day as he and others were standing in the area,, a black mamba dropped down amongst them, and slithered away while they scattered. A few years ago, I dropped a note to Tudor's wife, who was again working for MAN/MAgnum, and related the story, and how Tudor got a fright from the experience.

"He got a fright?" She asked me. "The damned snaked dropped on top of me!"

Quimby also shares a little about SCI Founder C.J. McElroy. Unless you are an SCI old timer, you might not know C.J. He was an "interesting" character, for sure. A natural born salesman that founded SCI, and was forced out largely over the museum in Tucson that holds many of his mounts. C.J. hunted animals and areas that will now be forever closed and gone. McElroy is seldom talked of today, and really deserves a discussion.

If you are looking for a good hunting story, grab Bill's book from Safari Press. I enjoyed it, and think some of you might also.

Sounds like a very good read no nonsense and for real.

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Tudor was a great fellow with many interesting stories about his life as a young professional hunter in Rhodesia. It was a darned shame that he died so young without writing his own book.

You're also right about C.J. McElroy being "interesting." He was a controversial guy with many warts, to be sure, but among other things he was instrumental in my making my first trip to Zimbabwe in 1983 and I will always be in his debt for that.

As I told about in my book, I accompanied him to Zambia in 1994 and shot the lion that appears with my posts. Mac had not planned to hunt, but watching me soon got to him. He borrowed my 7 mm Rem Mag and killed a running waterbuck a long, long way off. It was the last animal he would collect in Africa.

Seeing Mac dying a couple of years later, unable to speak because of the stroke he'd suffered, really touched me and I still choke up when I think about it.

Bill Quimby

Bill

PM sent.. I want to catch you before you leave Tucson and head up to the trees for the summer.