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There Are Those Who Do And Those Who Talk About Doing!
By Don Heath
The following editorial was penned by past editor Don Heath in 2007. Though Don is no longer with us - and no doubt spinning yarns with Frederick and Karamojo somewhere - he lives on through his many writings and musings. Flicking back through older issues of the African Hunter, it is so incredibly comforting to travel old beaten roads with Don while reading his words. So many articles and adventures live in our pages, born on the spur of a moment, or planned with meticulous precision (tongue in cheek, as Don seldom liked structure), but which were nonetheless always entertaining. It is my pleasure from time to time, to share them again - their lessons as pertinent now as they were back then. I hope you enjoy traveling a road with an old friend.
Ant Williams.
“But anyone who hunts big game ought to be prepared to take some chances; and after all, if the element of danger were entirely eliminated, where would the fun come in?”
I was reading Dante’s Divine Comedy (as one does on stormy days when you have finished the last Louis La’More and National Geographic you can find) and was struck, not so much by the description of Hell but rather by the Ante Inferno or “Outer Hell” upon whose gates is the inscription “Abandon Every Hope, Who Enter Here!” There follows a description of a place worse than hell whose occupants are not sinners, nor saints, but rather the moral cowards of life. Those who have been insipid. Who have never DONE anything to warrant hell, nor had the faith to find Heaven. The angels who stood on the fence whilst the battle between good and evil raged, and the armchair “Walter Mitty’s” of this world who read of others’ exploits, and half heartedly dream of others’ dreams. People, who at the end, beg the demons to allow them into hell, but, like Rudyard Kipling’s pathetic Tomlinson receive the answer “Do you think I would waste my good pit‑coal on the hide of a brain sick fool?”
Matopos Hills
When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time in the Matopos Hills in southern Zimbabwe with the scouts. We did a fair amount of work, but spent a huge amount of time hiking, camping or even just having a rock fight. Yes there was a nasty little war on but hey‑ we enjoyed life to the full. The worst insult that could be passed was “oh, so you like to get your adventure reading Hardy Boys or Famous Five, invariably said to somebody who didn’t want to see if Mr Leopard was home in a particularly deep cave, or pulled out of a hike which seemed a little too tough. Looking around the world meeting and talking to people as I do, it seems to be the curse of the modern age that, in western culture at any rate, most people are fully satisfied with all the adventure they can get on the Discovery Channel or Reality TV. Fortunately most readers of this magazine are made of at least a little more substance. To actually sit under the stars watching the flames flicker on hardwood logs, hear a lion grunting in the distance, smell the coffee percolating and taste how superb almost any food tastes to a hungry man. These are sensations I can almost sense as I sit typing this ‑ but “almost” sense is a poor second to actually doing. The hunting season, however, is neigh.
On a similar vein, I was reading F. C. Selous’ comments on rifles and calibre choice. He was a dedicated small bore fan (for the day), and writes... “In conclusion, I do not say that a man who happened to get killed through failing to stop the charge of a wounded buffalo, elephant or lion with a .450‑bore rifle might not possibly have saved his life if he had had a heavy rifle in his hands. But anyone who hunts big game ought to be prepared to take some chances; and after all, if the element of danger were entirely eliminated, where would the fun come in?”
I have watched with fascination over the years as bigger and better cartridges are designed for big game hunting and cannot but think back to D W M Bell’s quip about big bore rifles and “shock” ‑ “they undoubtably shock the firer more”. Few things terrify a PH more than the sight of a client with a new rifle in something over .375. That is usually more cause for alarm and concern than a wounded lion or buffalo in the reeds. To be sure, many PHs are armed with as big a rifle as they can manage ‑ they have to solve other people’s problems. Leaving your clients to get killed as a result of their own poor shooting doesn’t bode well for business in general, let alone repeat bookings. I have long advocated marksmanship over power for all hunting. There are instances where power is essential and can make the difference between somebody getting squashed or turning a charge, but this is relatively rare, and mostly confined to elephant. Very few people get squashed or chewed up relative to the amount of big game hunting that occurs. The fact that they still do is almost always linked to that first shot being poor. A hyped up, adrenaline‑filled animal, particularly buffalo, can take more stopping than any rifle you can carry and a wounded leopard is quicker than most mens brains let alone their hands. Part of the art of being a top PH is getting your client close enough to the animal so that the shooting distance coincides with his ability. Sometimes this is a very tall order.
As a hunter, you owe it to your quarry to shoot straight, and after that, if things go wrong, remember, it is not always possible for your PH to dig you out of the poop. That is why big game hunting is a sport.
Captain F. C. Selous
*References
The Divine Comedy, Catno III of Inferno By Dante Alighieri
Tomlinson By Rudyard Kipling
Travel and Adventure in South East Africa By F.C. Selous
The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter By DWM Bell
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