Ruark On Safari: The Grand Old Elephant

Ruark On Safari: The Grand Old Elephant

An excerpt from Ruark Remembered by Alan Ritchie who served as Ruark’s personal secretary for 12 years. Then finally the day came, and as it so happened with the aid of a ten-year-old Samburu-Rendille maiden, that Bob got on the trail of what promised to be very big...
The Short, Dangerous Life of Paul Rainey

The Short, Dangerous Life of Paul Rainey

He had it all – money, education and looks – along with an obsession for danger that would get another man killed.  He was a millionaire, Arctic explorer, big game hunter and movie producer – a man who was larger than life in everything that he did. Born September 18,...
Karamojo Crossing

Karamojo Crossing

The rains were gone but the rivers were still swollen. He looked on in amazement as the men calmly walked into the river, each man carrying a big elephant tusk across his shoulder. As they neared the middle of the river, they continued to walk until one by one they...
Whiskey and Palaver at the Dying of the Sun

Whiskey and Palaver at the Dying of the Sun

Moses threw another load of sticks upon the coals. The fire crackled, sparks flew and smoke rolled. Zambia, in the valley of the Great Zambezi. Out on the sandbars, hippos were grunting up dates, a-hunka-hunka-hunka. A leopard coughed in the gathering dark and the...
Fred Selous Heart of Steel

Fred Selous Heart of Steel

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...
TR In The Land Of Giants

TR In The Land Of Giants

By September 1909,Theodore Roosevelt’s year-long safari had moved on to the Meru region on the northeastern slopes of Mount Kenya where, with the help of Edward Butler Horne, the first district commissioner, they would hunt for more elephant. TR had already shot his...
Hunters’ Adventures: Our Reason for Being

Hunters’ Adventures: Our Reason for Being

For the true hunter, the adventure never ends. Instead, it permeates our lives and becomes a reason for being. Montana’s big game opener just came and went. I spent the day working through miles of good country and didn’t see an antler, not even a...
Binding An Elephant

Binding An Elephant

The flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg provides those unwilling to embrace the charms of Ambien with ample opportunity to think. In point of fact, beyond ample. It offers a rare and uninterrupted block of time that is best used for pondering complex issues in great...