by Wayne van Zwoll | Jul 2, 2026
Doing things the hard way became habit. With arrows. In Africa. At the end.
by Wayne van Zwoll | Jun 23, 2026
What place, after a century, does a British cartridge have in the booming chorus of American 30-caliber magnums? Dawn’s hard snow was loud underfoot but the elk were noisy, too. Wind strumming the pines covered the crunch of our steps till both of us, surprised, met...
by Wayne van Zwoll | May 26, 2026
“For extended trips, where time is no object and cross country work is intended, the ox-wagon is the best means of conveyance, especially if a bulk of heads and skins is to be collected, and carried about. The hire of a wagon, with a full span of oxen native driver,...
by Wayne van Zwoll | Mar 20, 2026
Having grown up hunting November hardwoods, where riflescopes were scarce as clean socks in deer camps, A. B. Learned could be forgiven a provincial view: “I always use open sights,” he declared, “preferring their speed to the somewhat slower peep sight. I have...
by Wayne van Zwoll | Feb 24, 2026
Deer hunters don’t need exotic, expensive ammo, just accurate, reliably lethal loads. Herewith an update! Hitting far-off targets, informally or in competition, has shooters spending wildly on rifles, ammo and optics. Per backyard mechanics burying speedometer needles...
by Wayne van Zwoll | Jan 29, 2026
He saw Africa raw, tapped its treasures and chafed at what his generation had wrought.
by Wayne van Zwoll | Dec 16, 2025
“That’s gone. It sold right away. Sorry.” I had phoned on an ad for a rebarreled Mauser. He did sound genuinely sorry. My reply—“Oh,”—must have had an authentic ring, too. I truly was crushed. “You wouldn’t want a Springfield, would you?” As if he owed me something....
by Wayne van Zwoll | Nov 27, 2025
Once merely a bullet’s front end, the tip has become an engineering project. Here’s why.
by Wayne van Zwoll | Nov 20, 2025
Unlikely seed of cattle, coffee and a torpedo, his rifle failed. Its revival blessed hunters for a century. Gashes in the old snow pulled me into a riot of swamp-grass. Yards into it, a speck of red winked from the tangle. Confirmation, not a promise. I’d called a...
by Wayne van Zwoll | Oct 23, 2025
Powerful and tireless, quiet and quick, elephants proved smart enough to avoid hunters. Or kill them. It was another time. We’d picked him up at dawn, a slight, expressionless, middle-aged man who nodded to every query and directive. Motoring along a track toward our...