Two Sports
Men of remarkable talent and courage, Er Shelley and Paul Rainey brought a unique form of hunting to Africa. As the 20th century dawned, the gamelands near Memphis beckoned two very different young men. One was a pointing dog trainer from rural Michigan, uncannily...
South African Rangers Dehorn Rhinos to Save Their Lives
At the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve bordering Kruger National Park in South Africa, a single engine aircraft circles overhead, looking for endangered African white rhinoceros hidden in the bush. Down below a ruby red Raven II helicopter patiently waits with a...
Fred Selous: Heart of Steel, Frame of Iron
In the words of his contemporary and close friend, Teddy Roosevelt, Frederick Courteney Selous (1851-1917) was "the greatest of the world's big-game hunters." Certainly, there were few sportsmen of the late Victorian and Edwardian period who would have disputed the...
Joseph Thomson: Mystery Man of Africa
Over the course of the 19th century, phenomenon sometimes referred to as “the opening up of Africa,” hunters and explorers, along with a solid sprinkling of traders, were in the forefront. They pioneered the way into the interior and their tales of grand adventures,...
The Best Plains-Game Rifle for Africa
The gun has to be capable of dropping everything from ten-pound dik-dik to 2,000-pound eland.
Ruark On Safari: Gin
An excerpt from Ruark Remembered by Alan Ritchie who served as Ruark’s personal secretary for 12 years. During the next few weeks we’ve changed locations many times with a series of fIy camps, sometimes setting up without anything except mosquito nets. The whole...
A Terrible Silence: Cape Buffalo in the Zambezi Valley
The author fulfills a life-long dream of hunting Cape buffalo in old Africa. When things do not go as planned, he finds himself following a wounded bull — and reconsiders his reasons for pursuing dangerous game. At the shot, the Cape buffalo bull whirled from his bed...
The Literary Legacy of W. Robert Foran
A few months back I received an e-mail from a book collector/dealer asking me a question that immediately raised a question of my own. The essence of his inquiry involved a photocopied collection of a series of syndicated columns written by W. Robert Foran under the...
Why I Support Safari Club International
If someone asked me which conservation organization I would want standing beside hunters when the next political assault arrives, my answer would be immediate: Safari Club International. That isn't because SCI is the largest hunting organization or because it hosts...
Scottish Roe Deer… Finally! (Part 3 of 3)
When Scandinavian Prohunters’ Stefan Bengtsson told me Scotland would be the third leg of my Three-Nations roe deer hunt they were donating to the DSC Foundation Gala’s auction, I was thrilled beyond words. I could hardly wait for our adventure to begin, especially...