“Are you loaded?”
I nodded affirmatively.
“Tracks! Buffalo just came through here. Have more rounds handy if you need to reload?”
I pointed to my cartridge belt.
“If you need to add rounds, without looking down, open the action. If you’ve got a live round in the barrel, grab it as it comes out of the chamber and push it down into the magazine. From your cartridge belt, grab a round and feed it into the magazine. If you drop a round, do not look down. Do not pick it up! Leave it! Keep looking for the buffalo! If we find a big mature bull, shoot. Keep shooting until I tell you to quit.”
I double-checked to made certain my Trijicon scope was cranked down to the lowest magnification.
Brush lined the narrow path we followed. If we saw a buffalo he would be close, very close! “Bull to the left!” instructed Dave Knesek. Followed immediately by, “Don’t shoot! Soft-boss bull!”
We continued on spoor, my rifle at half port, thumb on safety, finger alongside the trigger.
“To the right, big bull! Take him!” As I shouldered my .375 Ruger loaded with Hornady’s 300 grain DGX, I pushed safety to fire. The Ruger pointed at the forehead of the deeply drooped, hard-bossed bull. I pulled the trigger then immediately bolted in a fresh round!
“He’s down! Reload!”
I topped off the magazine as instructed! Then the buffalo up again, less than five yards away!
“Shoot! Shoot!”
Crosshairs immediately settled between and just above the buffalo’s eyes. I squeezed the trigger, opened the bolt bringing it all the way back careful not to “short-stroke.” As I closed the bolt my finger came right back to the trigger. With crosshairs in nearly the exact spot as previously, I pulled the trigger. Bolting in another round I heard, “He’s down!” I again topped off the magazine without taking my eyes off the buffalo!
Talk about an adrenaline high!
“What did you think of your shooting?” asked Dave, instructor with the FTW Ranch’s S.A.A.M. (Sportsman All Weather All Terrain Marksmanship) Dangerous Game Hunter’s Training. I smiled.
The course incorporates action video and interactive shot placement specific to many African species. Along with classroom training, students are able to hunt, with live ammo, realistic targets, both stationary and moving. Even charging! It’s as close as you can get to an actual hunt.
“Let’s check where you hit the targets,” Dave said. We walked over to the life-sized Cape buffalo target and I am proud to say all my shots were within the “kill zones.”
“Elephants are next. Then we’ll move to the leopard and lion blind. If you’re loaded, let’s go!”
I am not new to dangerous game. But, there is always room to learn and improve one’s skills! That was the primary reason I was back on the FTW Ranch, and because, finally, I would soon be going after leopard. The real thing!
My firearm for my lifetime-awaited leopard hunt with Namibia’s Dzombo Safaris is my Ruger M77 FTW Hunter in .300 Win Mag wearing a Trijicon variable and shooting Hornady’s Precision Hunter, 200-grain ELD-X bullets.
Most leopard hunts involve hunting over bait, making a mental, rather than physical game. Distances are close, but leopards require precise bullet placement!
Back on the FTW, Dave and I were seated in a blind waiting for a leopard. In reality, such waits can take many days!
My .300 Win Mag pointed toward the bait, we waited. By pre-agreed sign, Dave pointed toward my safety, indicating to quietly push safety to fire then get in shooting position. The leopard appeared. I waited for verification it was a male and indeed a shooter. I waited, crosshairs on the leopard’s chest, for the three squeezes on my arm signaling to shoot.
No signal came, then I saw movement…a second leopard! I repositioned my rifle. Dave held up two fingers. He pointed to the finger on the right, indicating to take the leopard on the right. I locked crosshairs on target, felt Dave squeeze my arm three times. I took a breath, exhaled, then gently pulled the trigger. “He’s down!” I reloaded.
Moments later, “OK, Blake,” Dave was addressing Blake Barnett my “DSC’s Trailing the Hunter’s Moon” co-host. “Load four rounds and let’s see if we can find a buffalo.” Blake loaded four Hornady 300-grain DGX rounds into his .375 Ruger FTW Hunter. They disappeared into the jess. A minute later I heard several shots. Minutes later Blake returned. He was smiling broadly!
“Whysoon, I’m ready for Cape buffalo!”
Late afternoon we moved to the FTW’s “lodge range” to train on full-sized Cape buffalo and elephant targets, stationary and charging! Tremendous fun!
Over an evening meal, rivaling the finest found in the world’s best restaurants, we discussed our day’s shooting, “de-briefing”. Supper finished, we returned to the classroom where we had begun our training the first morning discussing principals of marksmanship, rifles, scopes, ammo and ballistics.
The FTW Ranch www.ftwsaam.com is located in the rugged terrain of the Texas Hill Country about 60 miles north of Uvalde. It covers in excess of 12,000 acres and is home to numerous ranges including many hunting/shooting scenarios out to 1,800 yards and beyond. The FTW offers several S.A.A.M. training options.
S.A.A.M.’s instructors are hunters, mostly former military marksman instructors who have hunted throughout the world. One of the sayings you will see posted throughout the facilities is: “It’s the hunter’s job to kill the animal on the first shot!” As it should be!
According to FTW’s Tim Fallon, “We strive to make our teaching situations as real as possible and how to shoot accurately at ranges near and far. But we do not encourage long range hunting.” Having hunted on five continents including a considerable amount in North America and Africa, I can assure you the FTW does exactly that!