Sports A Field

Thirty by Thirty

The global 30×30 initiative presents opportunities—and challenges—for the hunting community.

If you read Sports Afield, chances are you hunt and fish. There’s also a good chance you get wind of the constant flow of information about laws, regulations, and legislative proposals that impact your ability to hunt and fish. Depending on how you choose to spend your time in the field or on the water and where you do it, some of these policies impact you and some won’t. Occasionally, something big comes along that has the potential to impact all of it–sometimes for the better and other times not.

With constant buzz of the 24-hour news cycle in the background, it can be tough to keep things straight, but there’s a big one on the horizon. Here’s a quick synopsis—the 30 by 30 Initiative (30×30 initiative) is a multi-national campaign to protect 30 percent of the world’s lands and waters across the globe by the year 2030. Here at home, President Biden issued an Executive Order in January that establish the 30 percent target by 2030 in the United States. At the risk of stating the obvious, the global goal is an incredibly ambitious target. Here in the U.S., it’s raising some eyebrows as well as some questions. How will this goal be achieved? How much of the U.S. is already “protected”? How will pursuit of these goals impact private landowners and public lands? Most importantly for us, how will this impact hunting- and fishing-driven conservation?

Having invested more in conservation than any other stakeholder, these are just a few of the questions we as hunters and anglers should be asking now, before others define 30×30 for us. As sustainable use practitioners and advocates, engaging on 30×30 is tricky because 1) some of 30×30’s biggest cheerleaders have a hard time admitting that hunting and fishing drive conservation and 2) the initiative’s biggest champions have defined the objective without telling anyone how they plan to get there. When it comes to political decision making, this lack of definition represents both challenge and opportunity.

Fortunately, the sporting conservation community isn’t waiting for these folks to tell policymakers what we already know: how to successfully conserve land, water, fish, and wildlife while meeting the needs of people through management and sustainable use. 

Hunters and anglers are the original conservationists of our land, water, and natural resources. The contributions that hunters and anglers make to conservation in America derive from the American System of Conservation Funding a “user pays–public benefits” program. Since 1939, conservation funding has been provided through hunting and fishing license sales and excise taxes on ammunition, firearms, fishing tackle, boat fuel, and other equipment necessary to engage in hunting and angling activities. We were also at the forefront of recent victories like the Great American Outdoors Act, which provides an injection of funding for landscape conservation, in addition to increased public land access. We’re also pushing hard to drive resources to the conservation of game and non-game species through the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act.

Sportsmen and women have a duty to become engaged in the conversation about 30×30. It is essential policy makers understand and appreciate the role that sportsmen and women play in conservation and biodiversity of our lands, water, fish and wildlife. If the sporting conservation community does not ensure that measures taken in pursuit of 30×30 objectives do not constitute restrictions on hunting and angling access, we risk losing the invaluable opportunities and resources that we have willingly conserved for decades. 

As an effort to engage the sporting conservation community in the global 30×30 Initiative, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), with other leading conservation organizations, established the “Hunt Fish 30×30” coalition to augment the voices of America’s sportsmen and women and highlight the vitality of being a part of this conversation as America’s original conservationists. The coalition consists of more than fifty conservation organizations that are committed to the role sportsmen and women play in biodiversity conservation. On the coalition’s website, huntfish3030.com, the public can learn about the role that sportsmen and women play in supporting biodiversity. HuntFish3030.com is an educational resource for the public and encourages hunters and anglers to continue our conservation legacy by being a part of the 30×30 conversation.

Sportsmen and women can effectively participate in the Hunt Fish 30×30 Initiative to illustrate how they already contribute to biodiversity conservation and their unique role in nature. The Hunt Fish 30×30 coalition has established a petition for individuals to sign to recognize the importance of hunting and fishing and the future of conservation and biodiversity. This petition encourages lawmakers to support policies that promote biodiversity while protecting access to our lands and waters. Additionally, follow CSF’s updates, communication, and social media about the Hunt Fish 3030 effort and the variety of 30×30 proposals–some good, some bad–across the country.

Hunting and fishing fuel our nation’s economy, conservation, and passions. There is no other stakeholder group more familiar with, or dedicated to, conservation and biodiversity through the activities of hunting and fishing. Sportsmen and women should ensure that conservation—and our role that has made conservation so profound—remains a priority as lawmakers consider 30×30 policies. Our commitment is derived from an appreciation for the healthy habitats that provide hunting and fishing endeavors and leave the world a better place.

Finally, we need to accept that the struggle to keep hunting and fishing firmly established as a cornerstone of conservation isn’t going away anytime soon. 30×30 is just the latest battle and we need to be united, informed, and active to ensure that our legacy remains intact. I strongly encourage you to take the first step and sign the Hunt Fish 30×30 petition today at huntfish3030.com/petition. — Jeff Crane, President and CEO of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation

About Jeff Crane and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation

Jeff Crane has been at CSF for nearly two decades and brings nearly 40 years of experience in on-the-ground natural resource management and policy expertise at the federal, state and international levels. A life-long outdoorsman, he has experience developing wildlife habitat management plans in the United States and South Africa, where he obtained his professional hunter’s license and guided hunts for big game animals. Jeff currently resides in Maryland where he continues to pursue the hunting and fishing lifestyle.

Since 1989, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) has become the nation’s most respected and leading sportsmen’s organization in the political arena. CSF’s mission is to work with Congress, governors, and state legislatures to protect and advance hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping. CSF works closely with the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus, and the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses, which is a collective force serving as an unprecedented network of pro-sportsmen elected officials that advance the interests of America’s hunters and anglers. Learn more about CSF and their latest work at congressionalsportsmen.org.

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Battle of the 6.5s

Which is better: Creedmoor or PRC?

Photo above: This Georgia whitetail is the first animal Boddington has taken with a 6.5mm PRC. The rifle is a Springfield Waypoint test rifle that had to be returned, but Boddington was impressed enough by both rifle and cartridge that he’s ordered one.

The success of Hornady’s 6.5mm Creedmoor cartridge is the most amazing phenomenon I’ve seen in my career. It’s an efficient and mild-kicking cartridge with modern case design, but here’s the fascinating thing: When it was brought out in 2007, its current popularity wasn’t expected.  

Hornady saw it as a long-range target cartridge. Taking advantage of the 6.5mm’s bullet aerodynamics, it remains supersonic to ‘way out there. Based on a shortened .308 Winchester (or .30 TC) case, it can use those long bullets in short bolt-actions. Obviously, it has hunting applications but, since it was designed as a target cartridge, initial expectations were modest, and the introduction was fairly quiet. The 6.5mm Creedmoor soon started winning matches but sales languished along for several years…as anticipated.

Even the Hornady folks are a bit confused as to what happened; if done purposefully through effective marketing you’d want to bottle and sell it, but there’s no formula: About 2013, the 6.5 Creedmoor took off…seemingly all by itself, and its momentum continues. Plenty of folks already have one, and everybody else wants one. All suitable platforms are chambered to it, and factory loads continue to expand.

Boddington and outfitter Armando Klein with a whitetail from central Mexico. Using Klein’s Blaser with 6.5mm Creedmoor barrel, the shot was about 325 yards. This is well within the Creedmoor’s capability, but for longer shots Boddington prefers a faster cartridge delivering more energy.

Very little about the Creedmoor is new. I’ve often suggested that the Creedmoor can’t do anything the 6.5×55 couldn’t do before 1900. This is almost true, but the Creedmoor has definite advantages over the 6.5×55: Its short (1.920-inch) case can handle long bullets in a short action. And, thanks to its rapid popularity, it is much more available in the U.S.

The Creedmoor’s advantages over the .260 Remington aren’t as clear. Introduced in 1997, the .260 Remington is based on the .308 Winchester case necked down to take a 6.5mm bullet. I jumped on the .260 bandwagon early; both my daughters took their first game with .260 Remington rifles. The .260 has not become wildly popular, but it is almost ballistically identical to the Creedmoor. In short actions, the Creedmoor does better with long bullets, but the .260 has more case capacity and can be loaded a bit faster.

Arguments can be made either way about which is “better,” but they’re too close to call. With the most case capacity, the 6.5×55 could be faster than either the Creedmoor or .260, but 6.5×55 factory ammo is loaded to lower pressure, and reloading manuals hold the 6.5×55 to lower limits. Loads (and loaders) vary, but we can say that the 6.5×55, .260 Remington, and Creedmoor are similar, propelling a 140-grain bullet at around 2700 fps, and yielding about 2300 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle.

Left to right, 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser, .260 Remington, 6.5mm Creedmoor. These three cartridges are very similar in ballistics and downrange performance, but the Creedmoor is by far the most available…in both rifles and ammunition.

The Creedmoor has made American shooters aware of long-available 6.5mm magic. At a modest 2700 fps muzzle velocity, an aerodynamic 6.5mm bullet can remain supersonic well beyond 1200 yards, achieving this with mild recoil and little blast. The Creedmoor tends to be accurate, thus it really is an ideal long-range target cartridge, and obviously excellent for deer-sized game. However, it is minimal for game larger than deer; and it is not an ideal long-range hunting cartridge. Thanks to its rapid popularity, too many of us seem to have imparted near-mystical powers to the Creedmoor, touting its suitability for elk-sized game at extreme range.

On deer-sized game, the Creedmoor has sensible capability to around 400 yards. At closer ranges, it is elk-capable, but it lacks the velocity and energy for large game at long range. The Creedmoor erased the “curse of the 6.5mm” that spelled failure for all American 6.5mm cartridges up to and including the .260 Remington. We have finally embraced the .26-caliber and accepted the advantages of its long, aerodynamic projectiles. We have more and better bullets, and more 6.5mm cartridges to choose from.

In 2013, the 26 Nosler was the first of Nosler’s growing family of fast, large-cased, unbelted cartridges. Weatherby’s belted 6.5-.300 Weatherby Magnum (2016) is even faster. I took a monstrous ibex in eastern Turkey when the 26 Nosler was new, and I have a 6.5-.300. Few cartridges shoot as flat but, although my 6.5-.300 is very accurate, I view the two super-fast 6.5mms as almost too much of a good thing. They are over bore capacity, limiting suitable propellants, and reducing barrel life. They need long barrels, and I wouldn’t describe them as “mild” in blast or recoil!

There are other options, offering flatter trajectories than the “Creedmoor class,” and delivering more velocity and energy. I previously described this as the “6.5mm sweet spot.” There’s no magic in any particular number, but it seems to make a big difference in performance on game if you can get a 140-grain 6.5mm bullet up to about 3000 fps. Flattening of the trajectory isn’t so significant but the additional energy matters, especially on game larger and tougher than deer. A 140-grain bullet at 3000 fps delivers 2800 ft-lbs of energy, nearly a 20 percent increase over the Creedmoor.

Cartridges in this class include the 6.5-06, an old and fairly common wildcat; the 6.5-.284 Norma, loaded by Norma since 1999; and the old .264 Winchester Magnum, dating to 1958. All have some following. I saw my old friend Ron Mostyn the other day and asked if he was still using his 6.5-.284. He replied with a grin: “Best cartridge ever.” Montana outfitter Ryan Counts has a 6.5-06 that he swears by for coyotes and wolves at long range. And, with no apologies, I cling to my .264.

The old .264 has a belted case and is overbore capacity, but in a good barrel accuracy can be excellent. Modern cases like both the Creedmoor and PRC are conducive to accuracy, but case design isn’t the most important factor for accuracy. This group was fired with 140-grain Nosler Partitions. The “flier” low and left was probably shooter error!

My .264 is a nice rifle that shoots well so I have no reason to abandon it. However, based primarily on sheer availability, the fast 6.5mm that seems to make the most sense is the 6.5mm Precision Rifle Cartridge (PRC). Another Hornady design, the PRC case is based on the .300 Ruger Compact Magnum case (or, if you prefer, a shortened .375 Ruger case). It is thus unbelted, but uses the same .532-inch rim diameter as most belted magnums. Depending on bullet length and seating depth, the stubby 2.030-inch case is better in short actions than the 6.5-.284 Norma. With 6.5mm bullets getting longer (and more aerodynamic), a lot of folks are putting the 6.5mm PRC in standard (.30-06-length) rather than short-actions, eliminating any concern about cartridge overall length. The efficiency of the short, fat case reduces much of the over bore capacity issues long common to fast 6.5mms. Barrel life will be a bit better; if I ever shoot out the barrel on my .264, it will become a PRC.

As currently loaded by Hornady, a 143-grain ELD-X is rated at 2960 fps. That’s a bit short of my goal of 3000 fps, but close enough. Also in the ballpark is Weatherby’s 6.5mm Rebated Precision Magnum (RPM). Based on a lengthened .284 Winchester (or 6.5-.284) case, ballistics are much the same, with a 140-grain bullet at 2975 fps. I doubt the 6.5mm PRC will ever approach the Creedmoor’s availability and popularity, but it’s catching on fast, with multiple (and expanding) sources for ammo and brass, while Weatherby remains the primary source for their 6.5mm RPM.

So, if you’ve stepped out of your cave and into the sunlight with a sudden craving for a 6.5mm rifle, I think the primary choices are the Creedmoor and the PRC. I love to champion old classics (like the 6.5×55 and .264) but, these days, availability matters more than ever. Few cartridges equal the Creedmoor’s availability. The PRC won’t catch up, but is easily the most available of the faster 6.5s, and is increasing in popularity.

Which of the two is best for you depends largely on what you intend to do. If you’re a target shooter, the choice is easy. The Creedmoor is a cartridge you can shoot all day and call it fun. If you’re a normal deer hunter, your answer might be just as simple: The Creedmoor is plenty of gun for any deer-sized critter…out to the normal ranges that most of us shoot.

Caroline Boddington at the SAAM course, running a Ruger in 6.5mm Creedmoor out to 1000 yards. She was 16 at the time; the Creedmoor is accurate and fun to shoot, awesome for ringing steel…but that doesn’t make it a long-range hunting cartridge.

But, suppose you also hunt elk. Or, you’re a mountain hunter where the stakes are high and shots are unpredictable. Or, you’re an African hunter with a wide variety of plains game on the menu. Or, you’re an extreme-range shooter. You might want to up your game a bit and consider the PRC instead of the Creedmoor!

When you add 250 to 300 fps velocity you will feel the difference on your shoulder and in the muzzle blast. The PRC isn’t as much fun to shoot as the Creedmoor, but it’s not a hard-kicking cartridge. The difference in performance and versatility is significant, and the short, fat, modern case is conducive to accuracy. I am often not first in line to embrace new cartridges, but I have a Mossberg Patriot in 6.5mm Creedmoor that I’m happy with, fine for deer and hogs at medium range. For anything really serious I want more gun, and I’m impressed by the 6.5 PRC. I’m not going to retire my .264, but I’ve got a Springfield Waypoint in 6.5 PRC on order.

Left, 6.5mm Creedmoor; right, 6.5mm PRC. Based primarily on availability, Boddington believes these are the two best choices in 6.5mm cartridges. Power levels are quite different, so it depends on what you want to do.

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Hunting 101

The New Hunter Program at FTW Ranch turns novices into well-rounded, ethical, and skilled hunters.

If you want to become a hunter and you don’t have a hunting mentor, where do you start? Sure, a hunter education course is usually mandatory, but where does a novice go for information beyond the basics—how to aim and shoot properly, how to field-dress game, how to learn what to do with all that meat? There are a number of youth mentoring programs in various states, but few places for an adult hunter to get practical training.

A group of instructors and friends of the SAAM (Sportsman’s All-Weather, All-Terrain Marksmanship) course at FTW Ranch in Texas got to talking about this problem one evening around the campfire. An idea formed, and the New Hunter Program at SAAM was born.

SAAM, which specializes in training hunters to improve and refine their shooting skills, used its existing resources to team devise an inspired curriculum. Tim Fallon, owner of FTW and SAAM, said, “The team put into the course all of the elements that we feel a new hunter needs at the beginning, but also will fill in the blanks for hunters with some experience but not a lot of knowledge. The goal is that everyone leaves the course a better hunter.”

Upon arrival at the ranch, students are fitted for their guns. In this case, all students were provided with a Remington 700 in 6.5 Creedmoor, topped with a Swarovski scope, and Hornady ammo—all included in the price of the course. Some students chose classic hunting-style rifles and others opted for the platform range rifle with pistol grip. 

The course starts with the foundation of shooting proficiency and firearm safety. Students spend a morning in the classroom with Doug Prichard and Dave Knesek, both former Navy SEALs who teach regularly at the ranch. Students learn about parts of the rifle and scope, MOA and mil-dots. A discussion of shot placement and hunter ethics follows, and then before lunch on the first day, students are hands-on in the work room, cleaning and getting familiar with their firearms.

Students practice the basics of breathing and trigger control from prone positions on the range. Photo by Cameron Kuenzer

Shooting sessions on the range familiarize everyone with their guns and whet their appetites for what was next. Each student in the five-day class gets to take part in a cull hunt for blackbuck and fallow deer does. At the course I attended recently, two students were assigned to each FTW guide, and the hunting began on the second day at 5:30 a.m. 

The ever-changing Texas weather was windy and cold for the first early morning hunt. The rugged canyons and cliffs of FTW provide challenging conditions for even a skilled hunter. Some of the students were successful on the first morning, but many returned empty-handed but with significantly better understanding of the process. Morning and afternoon hunts continued during the week for all students, until each one was able to bring an animal to the skinning shed and get busy.

In addition to the daily routine of range time and hunting, students heard experts gave talks on various topics. Dr. Tim Doucet discussed what deer can see versus what humans can see, helping put spotting and stalking game animals and the importance of camouflage into context. Game Warden Clint Graham discussed the role of law enforcement in protecting natural resources. Understanding how to properly use and conserve natural resources is a large part of hunting ethics. Graham also talked about the role of land managers and landowners in the equation.

On most guided hunts, once an animal is taken, the gutting, cleaning and quartering of the animal is left to a team hired by the outfitter, and the hunter is free to celebrate, perhaps standing by and watching as the experts work. Not in this course. Each student was front and center in the skinning shed, knife in hand, learning what to do. 

Wildlife biologist and TV personality Larry Weishuhn performed a necropsy on the first animal brought in–a female blackbuck. As he gutted the animal, he not only explained the process but also discussed the various parts of the anatomy, showing the students the exact location of the vitals and examining the stomach contents to help the students learn what the animal had been eating. 

Larry was also on hand in the skinning shed with each student to show the proper way to begin skinning. As we observed the first students intently removing the skin from their animals with sharp knives, Weishuhn said to me, “This course is really remarkable in that it takes any hunter, especially a novice, and makes them a more complete hunter. The knowledge gained here will apply later to almost any type of hunt someone can undertake.”

Another instructor, Gary Broach of Rhodes Taxidermy, showed students how to prepare a skin for mounting, and also demonstrated how to quarter and butcher the animal. The results were steaks, chops, hams, and trim to be made into ground meat.

Capping off the full field-to-table experience was time in the kitchen with Chef Joshua Schwencke of Gastronomy Life Events, who showed the students how to prepare game meat for cooking and made suggestions on how to cook various parts of the kill. At the request of one student, Chef Josh prepared a blackbuck heart ceviche, which many in the group sampled. Each student also got a hands-on lesson in sausage making, using the gourmet recipes of Chef Josh—Thai-inspired or German-style. Everyone was sent home with at least a pound of sausage made from game meat mixed with pork fat and other flavorings. Dinner on the last day was a chef-prepared feast of wild game— followed by a beer tasting of local Texas brews.

One hallmark of SAAM courses in general is the team’s ability to quickly create a tight-knit culture from the diverse experience of students, instructors, presenters, and guides. Whether one is shooting for the first time, or has been at it for twenty-plus years, the camaraderie that quickly forms ensures that no one is left behind. 

The experienced instructors size students up quickly to help them form good new habits and break bad ones. Dave Knesek is one of the expert instructors at SAAM. He said, “I know how to take a look at someone shooting a few shots and immediately see which are the most significant things to correct. Once someone can fix those major things, the rest is easy.” 

Instructor Doug Prichard loves watching people learn. “Students are hungry for knowledge. We provide it and they just soak it up. That for me is the best part of this course.” Doug also addressed the maxim “failure is not an option” by turning it around. “In fact, we learn from failure. It motivates us to do better and to figure out how to do it right.” The expert instructors correct your mistakes with an eye to improving your shooting and by extension, your hunting proficiency. 

The hunting guides follow what students are learning in class and provide their own instruction in the field as students engage in spotting, stalking, discussing distances and windage, as well as observing animal behavior. By the end of the course, all students had bagged an animal to round out their experience.

Karrie Meadows with her blackbuck doe, shot at 145 yards with a Remington 700 6.5 Creedmoor. Photo by Cameron Kuenzer

Caroline Thompson, of Dallas, Texas, told me she was not sure about attending the course. Although interested in hunting, she was completely inexperienced. She wondered if she would feel safe, and if she would be able to keep up with others who were bound to have more experience than her. She wasn’t even sure what to wear. The staff worked with her before arrival to answer her questions, and Caroline ended up enjoying the experience. She said, “If you want to start hunting, this is definitely the place to go.” Caroline bagged a lovely fallow doe, which she skinned herself.

Karrie Meadows, of Plano, Texas, a novice with some experience, liked the way things were explained in an accessible and methodical way. “No matter what your background or previous skill level, this is a course for anyone who wants to learn about hunting. With a wide variety of lessons and topics, everyone leaves with a new appreciation or perspective.” Meadows had her sights on a female blackbuck, first at 300 yards, but then consulted with her guide Efren Hernandez about the wind and the shot placement, precisely as the SAAM training encourages. They decided to move to a better position at the bottom of the canyon, and Karrie made a successful 145-yard shot.

In the evening of the second day, I was watching a group of blackbuck females at 285 yards with my guide. Thanks to the earlier instruction and practice on the range, one shot to the lungs brought down the antelope. Having seen the necropsy earlier in the day helped me visualize precisely where to place the shot. 

It was in the skinning shed where I could really feel my inexperience. As I wielded the knife, removing the skin from the blackbuck, I frequently asked, “Am I doing this right?” My tutor and classmates reassured me patiently every time. At the end of the process, I had quarters of meat ready for butchering and a hide ready for tanning.

Karrie Meadows and Larry Weishuhn consult on how best to skin Karrie’s blackbuck. Photo by Cameron Kuenzer

Another student, Shaman Bakshi, of southern California, also a novice hunter, sought out this course because even though he has plenty of access to urban firing ranges, he found nothing to compare with the expert instruction or the facilities of FTW Ranch and the SAAM New Hunter Program. He said, “This is the only place with accurate training that I could find—perhaps due to COVID, or because good training may not exist in a consistent way. If it does, I am not aware of it.” Bakshi plans to return to SAAM later this year for the Safari course, which provides African safari simulations combined with shot placement on moving and charging targets, more wind-calling scenarios, and training in using rifle scopes effectively.

The New Hunter Program is rare in the world of shooting and hunting. The SAAM faculty have done a brilliant job of bringing together a winning combination of location and game, classes and sessions, and personable and skilled instructors. The result is a unique and intense experience that delivers on its goal to turn novices into more complete hunters. Those who have gone through this comprehensive experience, building solid skills from a solid base, are likely to go back into the field and hunt, again and again. 

Learn about the New Hunter Program by visiting ftwsaam.com and clicking on the SAAM tab.

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Best Bets for Bushbuck

Where to hunt “Africa’s whitetail.”

Photo above: An old harnessed bushbuck with one horn tip broken, taking a drink along a river in Benin. (Photo by Christophe Morio)

On a hunt in Uganda this past March, we spent our last few days hunting sitatunga in riverine papyrus beds, and we were successful on the last evening. On our very last day, we needed to be in Kampala by late afternoon for a midnight departure, but we had time for a morning hunt. Donna wanted a bushbuck, so we headed into mixed thornbush away from the river. Just at full daylight, hardly a half-hour from camp, she and PH Jumbo Moore stalked a big ram on a brushy antheap. It was the second bushbuck they’d stalked, but this one held for a shot.

The ram had heavy 16-inch horns, big for any bushbuck. And this wasn’t any bushbuck; it was a Nile bushbuck, one of the smaller races, so hers was exceptional. I shouldn’t have been surprised. In general, Donna is not a lucky hunter, but she’s been charmed with big bushbucks! I wouldn’t have banked on one that large, certainly not on a one-morning hunt. However, we were in a special place for bushbucks. 

PH Jumbo Moore and Donna Boddington with her Nile bushbuck, taken along the Kafu River in central Uganda. At 16 inches, it’s big for a Nile bushbuck; these horns are longer than they appear because of exceptional spirals, with excellent mass.

We were on the Kafu River in central Uganda. The wide, shallow river holds huge papyrus beds, ideal sitatunga habitat shared with crocodiles and hippos. Away from the river, small croplands are interspersed with thick cover, and I’ve never seen such a concentration of bushbucks (of any kind). Along the Kafu, bushbucks walk around like goats. You’ll see a few at any time of day, but poke around slowly in early morning or late afternoon, and you’re almost certain to see nice rams.

The bushbuck, Tragelaphus scriptus, is the smallest and most widespread of Africa’s spiral-horned antelopes. I think of them as Africa’s whitetail, and there are many parallels: Both species are crafty and love heavy cover. When threatened, the bushbuck gives a sharp bark, just as final as the whitetail’s alarm snort. Size and color vary confusingly. In the nineteenth century, when every explorer (or wannabe explorer) wanted an animal named after him/her, there were as many as forty races identified. Many are still disputed, but some modern experts reckon something like eight regional groupings is more likely. SCI and Rowland Ward’s record-keeping systems are not in total agreement on number or nomenclature, boiling the bushbucks down to eight and nine races respectively, all by regional grouping. A major difference between the two systems: Rowland Ward classes all bushbucks in South Africa (and adjacent southern Mozambique) as the South African bushbuck, with Chobe bushbuck to the north. SCI splits this into Cape bushbuck along the coast, adding the Limpopo bushbuck in northern South Africa and adjacent Zimbabwe. 

Taking one each of all the bushbucks is a Herculean task, and I have not. By SCI’s categories, I’m missing the Abyssinian bushbuck of Ethiopia’s lowlands. By Rowland Ward’s listings, I’m also missing the (disputed) Shoan bushbuck, found only on the southwest edge of Menelik bushbuck range in Ethiopia’s high country, but smaller and with almost no white markings; and the Somalian bushbuck of Somalia’s southern coast, not hunted for many years (current status unknown).

A gorgeous, dark bushbuck from South Africa’s eastern Cape, one of the great places to hunt this animal. This ram is about 14 inches, heavy and with perfect shape, a fine ram.

No matter; I like to hunt bushbucks. Rarely is a bushbuck a primary objective of a safari, but trophy fees are low and hunting them is interesting, making them an ideal add-on to any safari where they occur (which is almost everywhere except in desert habitat).  They’re crafty, tasty, and gorgeous! Typically, South African (Cape) rams are very dark, as are the Menelik bushbuck. Chobe and Abyssinian bushbucks are usually red while, in my experience, Limpopo and East African bushbucks may be very red or very dark. Most have a white throat patch and a variable patterning of white spots and stripes. The westernmost harnessed bushbuck, found throughout the forest zone, usually has the most brilliant markings, followed by the Nile bushbuck, currently hunted only in Uganda.

Throughout the races, individuals vary in markings (which largely led to the many proposed subspecies). As hunters, we usually don’t shoot bushbucks based on color; we tend to look at horns first: Spiraling gently upwards from thick bases, and usually ending in needle-sharp tips. Anywhere, an older ram with thick, worn horns may be a fine trophy at 12 or 13 inches. A 14-inch bushbuck is always good, and any ram in the 16-inch class is cause for serious celebration. In the old days, Kenya produced the longest-horned bushbucks. My first, up on Mount Kenya, had 18-inch horns, and remains my best. However, almost all of the races, even smaller bushbucks like harnessed and Nile, have produced individuals with outsized horns. It depends on your luck.

In today’s world, the Limpopo drainage probably produces the largest bushbucks, but Masailand’s scattered mountains also produce big rams. Chobe bushbuck in the Zambezi drainage in Zambia and northern Zimbabwe are generally smaller, but seem to grow exceptionally large in coastal Mozambique. The first time I hunted there, at Mahimba north of the Zambezi, I shot a wonderful 16-inch bushbuck. In a three-week period, three other hunters also took bushbucks. Mine was the smallest of the four, and I’m not ashamed of him!

Donna Boddington has been exceptionally lucky with big bushbucks. This is an exceptional Chobe bushbuck, taken in coastal Mozambique’s Coutada 11, south of the Zambezi.

The big Coutadas of the Zambezi Delta, surrounding the Marromeu Reserve, also produce very large Chobe bushbucks. However, unlike most places where I’ve hunted bushbucks, they seem to be generally (and thinly) distributed in the miombo forest, rather than tied to patches of ideal habitat. This makes them difficult to hunt specifically and on purpose. A few years ago, Donna (naturally) got a wonderful bushbuck there, but I never have. In fact, of the twenty-odd antelope varieties in the area, a big Chobe bushbuck is probably the most difficult, and one game quota that the outfitters never completely fill. Even so, that area produces several rams in the upper teens every year. It depends on your luck, and also how much time you spend specifically hunting bushbuck.

Harnessed bushbucks occur literally throughout the forest zone, but are thin on the ground and difficult to hunt in climax forest. I’ve seen them, and heard them bark, but I’ve had much better luck in the terminalia forest (“savannas”) of northern Cameroon and CAR. Benin and Burkina Faso are also excellent for harnessed bushbuck. Neither Donna nor I got one there, but we didn’t hunt them hard enough. You won’t encounter them daily in Central Africa, but you can hunt along thicker riverine growth that “just looks like” bushbuck habitat, and in the course of a week or two you will almost surely have a chance.

Length is modest, but this is a good, heavy-horned harnessed bushbuck, taken in northern Cameroon. The patterning of white stripes and spots gives the harnessed bushbuck its name; it’s generally the most brilliantly colored of all the bushbucks.

Places like Uganda’s Kafu River, where you can sally forth on almost any given day and expect to encounter a good bushbuck are rare, but not unheard-of. Mount Kenya was certainly like that, and I’m told Tanzania’s Mount Meru is the same. Certainly, there are riverines in the Limpopo drainage, both northern South Africa and southern Zimbabwe, where you can read the habitat, hunt it at the right time, and expect to see good rams.

South Africa’s Eastern Cape is also exceptional for bushbuck, both in the thick coastal thornbush, and in hilly country to the east. Agriculture can also be a key: Again, like whitetails, bushbucks must have heavy cover for security, but they also love “edge” habitat, thriving in the mosaic between farmland and thick bush.

The only time I hunted the nearly black Menelik bushbuck of Ethiopia’s high country, Joe Bishop and I hunted a big farming cooperative near Asela. Our outfitter, Colonel Negussie Eshete, planned just a day and a half between the mountains and the Danakil to hunt this important animal. The country sure didn’t look like bushbuck habitat, just narrow strands of cover along small streams, and big stands of mature eucalyptus with little understory. Negussie fully expected us to take our bushbucks in the allotted time, and we did. Mine was a nice ram, just peering out from behind a stout eucalyptus. As often happened when we hunted together, Bishop got a monster, one of the biggest in recent times. For bushbuck, you always have to be in the right place at the right time. To take a really big bushbuck, you also need a bit of luck!      

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Backcountry Meat Care

Keeping meat clean and cold until you can get it back to civilization is daunting, but it’s doable as long as you’re prepared.

Photo above: Processing meat in the backcountry can be challenging, but if done properly will result in healthy, delicious meat for your freezer.

Wind moaned through the alders, whipping the tops of stunted spruce into a frenzy. Crouched between a couple small trees, I stared at a big eyeball peering back at me from behind a spruce thicket. Above the eye a massive antler reached outward and upward like some primeval brown wing, but that was all I could see of the moose. One eye and one antler, although he was only thirty-five yards distant.

The day before I’d picked up an old grizzly-chewed moose scapula from beside a rushing creek. Just moments before, I’d beaten the same scapula up and down the trunk of the small spruce I now hid beside, in an attempt to lure a grunting bull from his timbered hillside stronghold. It had worked better than I planned, but thanks to the intervening tree I still didn’t have a shot. Slowly, I reached the bleached scapula into the air above my head and starting rocking it back and forth where the bull could see it. His eye sharpened, then rolled back in rage at the effrontery of a perceived small bull posturing at him. He strode into the open then, and I answered his challenge with my .300 Winchester Magnum.

My friend Greg and I were deep in Alaska’s interior, floating an unruly stream in one-man packrafts in an attempt to find undisturbed moose hunting. We’d found it, but now we had a problem. This moose was BIG. Big and heavy, and after skinning and quartering it we had one and a half miles to carry the meat on foot, thirty miles of ragged, capricious stream to float, and a dozen miles of terrible ATV trail to haul the moose across before we were, literally and figuratively, out of the woods. Add the complexities of rain, bilge-washed rafts, and hungry grizzlies, and it was apparent that keeping this meat good was going to be a challenge. Fortunately, we were prepared.

Regardless whether you’re hunting Coues deer in Arizona, elk in Montana, or moose in Alaska, meat care is likely to be challenging. Heat, cold, bugs, and bacteria all create obstacles to keeping meat fresh while extracting it from the backcountry. Here are tools and tactics that will help.

Heat

The number one threat to your meat is heat, both external (weather) and internal (body heat). Bacteria only thrive in warm surroundings. Hence, it is imperative to chill your meat as rapidly as possible after harvest.

Your first task after harvesting a backcountry animal and completing your photography session should be to skin and quarter the animal. This will enable body heat to escape rapidly. I prefer the gutless method, as it renders a quicker job and cleaner meat. Use 550 paracord to hang the quarters in a shady spot till the meat cools, and develops a nice crust. Drape the backstraps and other trim meat over clean shaded branches or rocks to cool. Then bag it all in meat sacks to keep bugs and dirt away from the meat. If bugs are bad (particularly flies), you’ll need to bag the meat the minute it comes off the animal. It’ll cool fine inside the meat sacks, it just won’t develop as good a crust. During the quartering and cooling process, take extra measures to protect the meat from dirt and debris. The cleaner your meat, the longer it will keep and the better it will taste.

If the weather is cool enough, say low 40s at night and daytime highs in the 60s, your meat will keep fine for several days as long as it stays in the shade. Cooler temps are even better, and will keep the meat longer.

If temps are hot, say in the 80s during the daytime and 50s or 60s at night, you’ll need a way to chill your meat. The best and only way I’ve found to chill meat in the backcountry is to bag it in contractor-grade trash bags and submerge it in a cold spring or creek. The meat will chill rapidly, and will stay good for a long time.

Cold

Rarely indeed does cold become a problem, unless you hunt the Far North, or late-season high-elevation elk. But it can happen. Your meat will never spoil, but it may freeze so hard that you can’t reduce it to carrying-size pieces. If temps stay below 32 degrees F during the day and drop into the teens or colder at night, even big, thick elk or moose quarters will freeze solid as the rock of Gibraltar. If you need the meat boned out or reduced to a packable size, you should cut it up before it freezes solid. Keep the meat perfectly clean and cut it as though you were processing it at home, then seal it into gallon-size zip-top bags. When you arrive home, simply toss the already-frozen meat into your freezer, preprocessed in the backcountry. Later you can defrost the meat and grind, wrap, or whatever at your leisure.

Alaskan moose meat hung on a scaffold where I could view it from a distance, the better to avoid an unpleasant encounter with a grizzly. A tarp can be spread over the assembly to protect against inclement weather.

Bugs and Birds

We’ve already touched on bugs and the damage they can do to your precious meat. In my experience, the nastiest damage your meat is likely to incur will be from flies, which, if present, will lay colossal amounts of eggs in every crack and crevice of the meat. You can trim them away, but in the process you’ll loose significant meat as well as your appetite.

Another threat to your precious meat comes in the form of hornets and yellow jackets. They’re carnivorous, and can consume astonishing amounts of unprotected meat. They’re not nearly as nasty as flies, but might inspire you to employ some expletives if you inadvertently grab one while handling your meat.

Lastly, birds can be a real problem in certain locals. Camp robber jays will ruin a lot of meat in a day’s time, and ravens, magpies, vultures, and the like can devour your entire meat cache in rapid order.

The best way to protect your meat from these predators is to bag it in good meat sacks and keep it hung in a shady spot. Place each quarter in its own bag, and place the backstraps, tenderloins, and other trim meat in one or two additional bags. Tie them off tightly so even a fly can’t get inside.

Moisture

Simply put, moisture is not your friend when it comes to keeping meat good in the wilderness. Moisture harbors and encourages bacteria, which is what spoils meat. Do your best to get your meat dry and keep it that way. If you’re hunting the far north where rain is to be expected and there may be no trees on which to hang meat, carry a sturdy 8×10 tarp that you can lay the quarters on to cool. Later, you can build a small scaffold to hang your meat on, and then cover it with the tarp. If you’ll be backpacking or floating a river through rainy weather, seal the meat in contractor-grade trash bags until the time you can again hang it to dry and air.

Bacteria

Bacteria in your meat are enemy number one. Unfortunately, all meat comes with inherent bacteria, and picks up lots more as soon as you introduce it to the atmosphere, your hands, your pack, and so on. Still, keeping your meat clean will drastically reduce the amount of bacteria it must deal with, and dramatically up your odds for good, tasty, wild meat. Remember, for bacteria to grow rapidly (thereby spoiling your meat) it must be warm. Keep the meat cold and it will stay good for many days without any problem.

One interesting “fact” I encountered while hunting and outfitting in the Rocky Mountains as well as Texas, is that not all regions are created equal. Two guides who were working for me almost came to blows over a disagreement about leaving an arrow-shot elk overnight before recovery. One guide was from Utah, and used to hunting cool, high-elevation territory. The other was from southern New Mexico, accustomed to hunting much lower, warmer country. The Utah guide maintained that it was a good idea to leave bow-shot animals overnight if the hit was at all questionable. The New Mexico guide was adamant that doing so would result in complete meat spoilage.

I listened with interest before finally stepping in and telling the guides to cool it, while adding my testimony to the Utah guide’s that I’d often left bow-shot elk overnight in high-elevation areas without experiencing any spoilage whatsoever. The New Mexico guide was disgruntled and unconvinced. I later learned that he, too, had been correct. In his warmer, lower-elevation neck of the woods, meat spoils much more rapidly, and an elk left unprocessed overnight will almost certainly spoil. I can only attribute this to the presence of more aggressive bacteria. 

This point was driven home to me one cool west Texas autumn day. I arrowed a deer perfectly with my longbow three hours before dark, and watched it tip over seventy yards distant. I had a whole pocketful of deer tags, and elected to let the buck lie while I sat for the rest of the evening in hopes of taking a second deer. In my home territory in the Rockies, the deer would have been at no risk of spoiling. However, upon recovering and quartering this west Texas buck exactly three hours after shooting him, I found that the meat was already souring. I was astonished and not a little chagrined, and then remembered the disagreement between my two guides. Based on this, it is my belief that meat will keep much better and longer in high-elevation, northern territory than in lower, more southerly territories, even when temps are similar, so keep that in mind.

Wild game meat can be incredibly flavorful, healthy meat. Do yourself a favor: Next time you hunt the backcountry, go prepared to treat your meat right. Steaks sizzling on the grill and a freezer stuffed with healthy meat will be your reward.

 Half-frozen elk meat, processed and ready for a 13-mile pack out of the high country.

Meat Care Tool Kit

Here is a basic list of must-have meat care tools for wilderness hunting. It will vary slightly depending upon hunt type and species. For instance, I might carry a nice fixed-blade belt knife during a float hunt for moose or a horsepack hunt for elk, but would exchange it for a skeletonized superlight knife during a backpack hunt.

Knife and Stone: I recommend carrying two knives, so you have an extra should one get lost. I also carry a tiny diamond stone made by EZ-LAP. With it I can restore a razor edge in less than a minute. I personally don’t like replaceable-blade knives, because I don’t like how they handle and because in my opinion they pose additional danger to the user. In the backcountry that’s a significant thing.

Meat Sacks: Lightweight meat sacks are essential. I like sturdy cotton sacks best, unless I’m hunting in Alaska where conditions are more challenging. For that I recommend the premium synthetic bags that come in kit form, tailored to contain the quarters and piece-meat from one moose, one caribou, etc. You’ll pay upward of $100 for such a kit, but they are reusable and worth the money.

Parachute Cord: Fifty feet of 550 paracord will serve to hang quarters, build meat poles, secure meat sacks, and so on. I like brightly colored cordage–it doesn’t seem to disappear as readily as the olive-green stuff.

Latex/Nitrile Gloves: Sturdy latex gloves make life easier, especially when it’s time to wash up. I carry two pairs.

Contractor-Grade Trash Bags: Heavy-duty trash bags are essential for keeping your backpack clean while packing meat, cooling quarters in mountain creeks, and 101 other meat-related tasks. I carry at least two.

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A Culture of Generosity

A new study finds that American hunters are incredibly unselfish about sharing the bounty of their wild harvests.

For most of human existence, hunting was an integral component of our species’ ecology, an act of pure survival and a primary means by which our communities were sustained. A successful hunt meant sustenance and security, brief but vital achievements within a tenuous, animal existence.  Understandably, both were celebrated by the hunter and the non-hunter alike. By means of story telling and mythology, both groups participated in the hunt, though certainly neither could have understood hunting in terms of recreation or sport, its beleaguered, modern terminologies. Rather, hunting was a necessity; the hunter deemed provider. And, it was the perceived generosity of the hunter, even more than his skill, that elevated him to a position of respect. Sharing his success was what mattered most, to the hunter’s status and to his community’s survival. Through this mutual benefit a core value system arose in human society, one where success and sharing became intertwined.

Today, we may often feel that this past is but an imagined whisper; a reality long dispersed and leaving us with an entirely new human world that little reflects its ancestral roots. Indeed, if you look at the declining rates of hunting participation and listen to the mounting objections of anti-hunting groups, you might conclude that hunting itself has become unacceptable and largely irrelevant in our modern world. 

Scratching the surface, however, you will find this diagnosis premature. Although it is true that only about 4 percent of the population in the United States engages in hunting activities, roughly 80 percent of Americans approve of hunting. Few activities, and far fewer controversial ones, which hunting surely is, enjoy anything close to this level of support. How and why is this support maintained? What can explain it? Could it simply be that the non-hunting population inherently agrees with hunting, no questions asked? Or is there at play some more profound human dimension that can help explain all of this? I have always felt there is, and that uncovering it will likely be a key to preserving hunting as we know it in North America. 

While there is certainly a complex set of factors at work, I believe these numbers suggest that hunting is not an isolated activity that occurs outside the experience of the majority population. Somehow, the non-participatory mass of people remains connected to hunting, or are made to feel as though they are. Somehow still, remarkably, hunting remains resonant across the larger fabric of society. But how? Is it possible that non-hunters can still perceive they benefit from hunting in some way, just as they did in the past, and thus continue to acknowledge, in a more muted process of quiet support rather than celebration, successful hunts and successful hunters? Does the broad public, in fact, still regard hunters as providers, in some atavistic way? Is this the wellspring from which the 80 percent public support rating derives? If so, what could possibly be reinforcing this societal tendency that seems so invincible to time, change, and controversy?

Traditionally, the most concrete manner in which hunters impacted the lives of other community members was through the shared consumption of wild meat. If this sharing tradition has been maintained, then this might be one way in which hunting could sustain both its presence and legitimacy in modern society. But while it is known that many non-hunters in the US have tried game meat and that hunters regularly share their wild meat harvest with others, the extent and patterns of wild meat sharing in the country are largely unknown. Without this information, it is difficult to conclude what role meat-sharing might play in maintaining public support of hunting. 

Obtaining this information lies at the heart of a comprehensive new program designed to explore the modern relevance and value of North America’s hunting traditions. The Wild Harvest Initiative represents an expanding network of partners dedicated to evaluating the varied dimensions and social impact of wild harvesting activities in the US and Canada. Uncovering, for the first time, the full economic, conservation, and social benefits of recreational animal harvests, this initiative is building an evidence-based narrative on the relevance of these activities in today’s society. As a crucial part of this effort, the Wild Harvest Initiative has set out to determine the full extent of wild meat sharing that takes place throughout the United States and Canada.

Starting with Texas as an initial point of inquiry, the Wild Harvest Initiative, in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, administered a Wild Meat Sharing Survey to resident hunters throughout the state. The survey findings, which were made available in 2020, are indeed remarkable. They shed new light on an ancient tradition that has been maintained long after it was essential for human survival. They open a modern passageway to our hunting past and expand our appreciation of hunting’s present.   

The survey revealed that nearly all successful hunters (98 percent) regularly share meat, and that this meat is shared with an estimated 5.8 million people across the state of Texas annually.  Considering the fact that, on average, less than 1.2 million people in Texas are hunting each year and, of this number, only around 718,000 are successful, the social reach these individuals are having is astounding. Roughly speaking, successful hunters in Texas are expanding the number of people benefiting from their wild harvesting activities by eightfold! This statistic has profound implications, especially when considering that approximately 1 in 7 people (4 million people total) in the state are experiencing some level of food insecurity. 

Significantly, individuals receiving the shared meat are definitely not restricted to those living within the same household as the hunters themselves. In fact, the majority of people receiving this meat–3.7 million (about 64 percent) – live outside the hunters’ home.  And the amount of meat involved is substantial.  The survey revealed that hunters share nearly 43 percent of their meat harvest with people living outside their domiciles, embracing a community of extended family, friends, neighbors, and associates.   

So, why do hunters do this? The Texas sharing survey also looked at the motivations behind meat sharing and hunting participation itself.  More than half the respondents stated that spending time with family and friends was a primary motivation for hunting while the most common reasons for harvest sharing were that hunters had more than enough meat for their own household and wanted to help family and friends with food stocks. Each of these responses speaks to an overall awareness and deep appreciation of family and community within the Texas hunting tradition.

While the results of this survey are specific to Texas, I suspect the story is similar in many other parts of the United States and Canada. And we will certainly find out. Building on the survey administered in Texas, the Wild Harvest Initiative has now partnered with several other state wildlife agencies to gather findings from other parts of the country. Once compiled, these results will reveal a more complete picture regarding the motivations and expansive social benefits associated with hunting in the United States.

But already the data are telling a positive, compelling story about our society and its traditions, and one that is contrary to the overarching narrative we so often hear.  We are constantly bombarded with stories of how community ties are eroding under the increasing weight of individualistic, self-absorbed pursuits and technology-mediated relationships. Generosity and magnanimity are certainly not the most often mentioned attributes used to describe today’s society. However, those who harvest wild meat, and who share so much with others, provide a powerful counterpoint to that narrative. I suspect this will be proven true of all who harvest from the natural world, hunter and gatherer alike.

This culture of generosity, demonstrated so emphatically by present-day hunters, is rooted in our evolutionary history. For tens of thousands of years communities have come together to share, celebrate, and enjoy the wild sustenance provided through successful hunts.  The Wild Harvest Initiative, through its Hunter Sharing Survey, is uncovering the modern dimensions of this historically rooted, cultural network that connects hunters and non-hunters in a community built on generosity and shared resources. The inherent beauty in these connections is worth preserving and speaks forcibly for the relevance and social value of North America’s hunting tradition. After all, who does not admire those who share?

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Masailand Safari

Braving COVID and travel hassles to experience an unforgettable adventure in Tanzania.

East Africa feels like southern Africa without the guard rail. Anyone who’s ever spent any time there can attest that its danger matches its startling beauty, making the region a premier destination for the traveling hunter. Tanzania is massive, and still very wild; less than 15 percent is accessible by paved road, and medical attention can be days away.  The mosquitoes alone can kill you.  Sure, everyone knows about COVID, but locals will tell you it’s the hippos you need to worry about.  

After the international travel standstill of early 2020 had eased, my husband, Ricardo, and I made our way to Tanzania as quickly as we could.  We hunt together worldwide, but instead of just traveling with rifles and archery equipment this time, we were also armed with facemasks, industrial-strength hand sanitizer, and negative COVID-19 blood tests.  Our original booking was on Turkish Airlines, which unexpectedly canceled all flights to Tanzania for September and October due to COVID concerns; unfortunately, they had not bothered to let us know until we arrived in Chicago from Texas on the day of our departure. The clock was ticking, as Tanzania requires proof on arrival of a negative COVID test within 72 hours of departure.  Despite our efforts, we were unable to get onto alternate airlines that evening. The following morning, at 5:30 am, we caught the first flight to Dulles, for a series of connecting Ethiopian Airlines flights that took us to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on to Zanzibar, and finally to Kilimanjaro Airport in Arusha.  

Oh, the joys of travel, especially in this crazy COVID era. We arrived in northern Tanzania with just three hours remaining on our COVID test’s validity, and very eager to start our thirty-five days in Masailand with Tanzania Big Game Safaris. We were greeted by Lorne Ramoni, our primary professional hunter, Dustin Van Staden, our second professional hunter, and Barry Bingle, apprentice hunter.  

I was handed an arrangement of fresh flowers—well played, gentlemen–and several men assisted us with luggage and clearing Ricardo’s archery equipment through customs. From the airport, the Monduli Camp is about a three-hour drive. The company had arranged for all staff to be COVID-tested before our arrival. The staff sanitized everything daily, and they offered to have all staff wear masks.  At our request, however, the first thing to go was social distancing and face masks. 

The free-range concession area is approximately 650 square miles, which is the size of the Houston city limits and is considered relatively small by Tanzanian standards.  Arriving at our tented camp (ladies, think glamping), we were welcomed by about thirty staff members who keep the concession and lodge running smoothly. There was still enough light to allow Ricardo to sight-in his bow in preparation for the next day’s hunt.  Finally, after the hectic journey and settling into camp, we were able to sit around the fire and contemplate the riots, economic uncertainty, and health concerns of the modern world happening so far from us.  We had peace with the knowledge that tomorrow we’d be leopard-crawling through the dust after game. It was good to be back in Africa.

East African sunsets are unforgettable.

Monduli

I had previously hunted in Masailand with my father, Joe Hosmer, in the mid-2000s, and I wanted Ricardo to experience the region.  The Monduli area is rolling with a few tall, rocky outcrops and numerous dry riverbeds. It looks relatively scrubby, with a peppering of taller flat-topped acacias, the vegetation all a monotone of different winter grays and brown.  It’s not the most picturesque area, but does it ever produce some unbelievable trophy specimens of gerenuk, lesser kudu, Thomson gazelle, Kirk’s dik-dik, and Grant gazelle.

At first light we were off, bouncing about in the back of the Land Cruiser.  Walk-and-stalk-style bowhunting is not a straightforward endeavor, especially in open country; however, with the plethora of Maasai goat and cattle herders passing through, the game was used to human disturbance. While trying for a gerenuk, Ricardo and I donned the traditional Maasai red shuka fabric, walking slowly behind a big, red, two-dimensional cow decoy. This got us within about 150 yards of several antelope, but never close enough.

Dusty and Barry had seen an exceptional gerenuk in another area several days prior, and Lorne wanted to see if we could find him. As we turned a corner on the path, we spotted the gerenuk, Ricardo’s number-one priority for the hunt. We split up, with Dusty, Barry, and myself positioning ourselves on higher ground, watching Ricardo, Lorne, and the game scout as they wove in and out of the vegetation to get closer to where the gerenuk was last spotted.  As we watched with anticipation, we could hear the hollow ding-ding-ding of Masai cattle bells, and soon we spotted a cattle herd led by a Morani, a Masai warrior, who proceeded to move his herd between Ricardo’s group and the gerenuk.  Spooked, the gerenuk trotted off. The three hunters then stepped out of the vegetation, appearing like ghosts from the bushes, to the Morani’s wide-eyed bewilderment.  They chatted for a bit, and through the binocular, I saw the Masai take off his personal shuka cloth and hand it to Lorne.  Now the hunters had proper cover scent in their favor, as well as the appearance of Masai. Ricardo and Lorne followed the herder, walking upright and nonchalant, with about twenty head of cattle.  Around the bend of the path, the gerenuk stood erect, browsing with its head in a bush. As the cattle wandered around, Ricardo was able to get within forty yards of the gerenuk and make a killing shot.  

The hunters attempted to dress like the native Masai and hide behind a cow decoy to get within bow range of a gerenuk.

On another day, Ricardo had shot a Kirk dik-dik and we drove up a mountain to set up for some scenic field photos. From high on the mountain, Dusty spotted several very nice lesser kudu browsing in the valley below.  Quickly finishing up the photos, Lorne and Ricardo made their way slowly down the steep slope, wobbling on lose rocks, and pausing every few feet to untangle each other from the dense thorn thickets.  Being now at the same elevation as the lesser kudu, Lorne and Ricardo had no idea what direction the animals had moved, and with exaggerated hand signals, we guided them from above.  There was a massive flock of guinea fowl between Ricardo and the lesser kudu, and as the team slowly zigzagged their way in closer, their movement startled the flock.  The guinea fowl flew up in a massive explosion, and Dusty, Barry, and I, watching from above, thought for sure the long stalk was over.  However, the lesser kudu instinctively stopped when the birds took flight. Lorne whistled sharply, and Ricardo was able to let an arrow fly from forty yards away. The hunters watched the animal dart off into the brush, but from above, I was able to see exactly where the kudu went down in a puff of dust. It was a perfect heart shot and an impressive stalk.

Ricardo arrowed this fine lesser kudu.

One of the most challenging elements of hunting on foot in Masailand is that while stalking, you are constantly bumping into other species of game.  Often we would be stalking one species and suddenly get an opportunity for another species and have to make a split-second decision to modify the hunt.  With the quality and quantity of game on these  well-managed concessions, there were always a lot of ears and eyes in the bush.  In ten days of hunting, Ricardo collected seven species, most of which were new number ones with a bow.  At a time when so much of life seemed to be canceled or postponed, when there was so much separation from friends and family, it felt good to be back in a wild place, hunting.  As every campfire turned to embers, we counted our blessings.  

Ruvu

After fourteen days in Monduli, we traveled about four hours to another of Tanzania Big Game Safari’s concessions, also considered to be within the Masailand ecosystem, called Ruvu.  This area is known for its Cape buffalo, Patterson eland, fringe-eared oryx, East African greater kudu, Coke hartebeest, and impressive East African impala.  Most of the game was concentrated in heavy thickets of brush dotted with ancient, towering baobabs and funky-looking euphoria trees. A few weeks was not enough for intimate knowledge of this 1,000-mile- square area, but there was a quick and intense sensory absorption with the magic of hunting the land. 

In Ruvu, I helped collect some leopard bait and camp meat.  Ruvu is one of the most beautiful camps we’ve stayed in.  Expansive canvas tents and private bathrooms were well-appointed with local artifacts, handsome local textiles, and cool objects found in the bush.  The best part of the camp was its main dining room, bar area, and campfire, nestled among several huge boulders at the base of a small mountain.  The site offers an incredible vista of the surrounding hunting lands unfurling into the dusty haze.  Changing camps is like starting a new chapter–a whole new hunt.

The following evening we came across a stunning East African greater kudu standing in the brush, about 300 yards away.  There was no way for Ricardo to get within bow-shot distance in the brush with the light fading fast.  A wild-eyed Lorne grabbed me and said to get the rifle ready. This kudu was too good to pass up.  We hustled along the edge of the brush, shielding our silhouettes, and got set up on shooting sticks.  Just 100 yards away, as I watched through the scope, I could tell the kudu was uncertain where we were, but he seemed to sense our intentions. He moved, alert to danger, with straight-legged stomps, ears fanned out, and nostrils flared.  Lorne watched through his binocular and walked me through the shot, anticipating the kudu’s movements.  Catching my breath from the dash, I settled steady on the shooting sticks and balanced my right elbow on Lorne’s shoulder, and the shot was accurate and clean.

Britt with her greater kudu.

The following afternoon we had a very unusual hunting experience.  Lorne and I were stalking a herd of fringe-eared oryx that kept spooking despite our best efforts to keep the wind in our faces and our outlines concealed; there were just too many eyes aware of our presence. Then two bull Coke hartebeest moved in the same direction as the oryx herd, and broke off to the far right. The area had been intentionally burned by the Masai cattle herders, making the ground crunchy underfoot, and it was challenging to get close enough to judge the trophy quality between the two. When the hartebeest moved off, we were able to make a broad, sweeping loop to get within a hundred yards for a better view and subsequent shot. My hartebeest went down; the other, however, was confused and stayed within about fifty yards of his fallen comrade.  

The Land Cruiser was only about a half-mile away, and the crew heard the shot and came up toward us as Lorne and I hunkered down behind a bush watching the second hartebeest. Lorne scuttled back to the vehicle and told Ricardo to grab his bow. He had no time to explain the situation, and I think Ricardo was more perplexed than the hartebeest! I couldn’t help but giggle at the scurry of confusion on the vehicle.  I remained hunkered down in the bush, watching everything unfold, as Lorne and Ricardo belly-crawled past me and into position about fifty yards ahead of where I knelt. The second hartebeest had moved off, but not far. Ricardo drew, and with an arrow planted in the hartebeest’s vitals, it was game over. Two Coke hartebeest within a matter of minutes! These animals are typically very skittish, and it is an impressive feat to take one with a bow. 

In recent years, the Masai have become increasingly less nomadic and are opting more often for a semi-permanent, agrarian lifestyle. They clear the land of all brush, creating protective boma walls around soon-to-be cash crops like tobacco, corn, and cotton. The Masai cut and remove all the small trees and then line the base of the trunks of the massive trees with firewood, like a medieval witch-burning pyre, to burn down the ancient trees they cannot fell by hand. Then these giant hardwoods are burned into charcoal, adding to the illegal charcoal market.  I felt a pang of anger mingled with sympathy at all the new farms and bomas I saw being built in the hunting concession, knowing there was nothing we can do, as it is technically legal.  With new settlements come additional problems: increased human-wildlife conflict, overconsumption of ecological resources, illegal mining operations, poaching, and habitat destruction, and these are the main reasons for declining wildlife populations in Tanzania.  

Because of COVID, international hunting and tourist dollars for humanitarian aid and conservation have dried up considerably this past year. This is evident in the increased illegal timber felling and bushmeat poaching we saw firsthand, and we learned that Tanzania Big Game Safaris’ private anti-poaching teams have intercepted far more bushmeat poachers this year compared to last.  The impact of hunters traveling to remote parts of the world is crucial to conservation, and this is why hunters need to travel now, more than ever.  Hunting and eco-tourism dollars give direct value to wild places that otherwise would have greater monetary value as mines, slash-and-burn agricultural lands, and new settlements. I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to travel this coming year to support wildlife as well as our outfitter friends. Despite the uncertainly we all face, we need a reason to dream.  Plan your hunts; book your adventures; the time is now–go.

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Single-shots on Safari

Are they really a good idea?

When we think of classic African hunting rifles we’re usually thinking of big-bore double rifles or bolt-actions, or perhaps a combination of the two. The other action types, not so much. Despite their popularity (and versatility and utility) in the U.S., semi-automatic sporting rifles are specifically illegal in many African jurisdictions. The slide-action, though still common with shotguns, isn’t as common in rifles as it once was, and is rarely seen elsewhere. In fact, the only slide-action rifle I’ve ever seen in Africa was a battered Remington .30-06 carried by a hunting partner clear back in 1981.

Lever-actions also aren’t as popular as they once were, but millions of Americans have a Marlin, Savage, or Winchester lever-action. I’ve taken lever-actions on several safaris. They performed just fine, and you’d be surprised how many hunting households in Africa also have a lever-action squirreled away. Even so, we don’t think of the all-American lever-action as a classic safari rifle.

The single-shot also doesn’t come immediately to mind for African hunting, but at one time it was a safari classic. Frederick Selous came to prefer single-shot falling blocks on the pattern of the Scottish Farquharson action. Photos of Selous in the field often showed him with one of these elegant rifles.

A decade ago, I used a Holland & Holland single-shot from Bill Jones’s collection. It wasn’t exactly a Farquharson action, but it was a falling block, chambered to 6.5x53R and made for Selous in 1898.

Although never exclusive in their use, I’m a single-shot fan. I’ve always wanted an original “Farkie,” but I’ve never owned one; they’re scarce and expensive. Instead, most of my single-shots have been Ruger No. 1s. Bill Ruger admired the Farquharson, and the influence is obvious. Although production has never been large, chamberings have been myriad, with many variations. The No. 1s I like best are the Light and Medium Sporters and the Tropicals. These all carry rear sights on quarter rib (which doubles as a scope base) and barrel band front sights. They also have barrel-mounted forward sling swivel studs. Mind you, I like all No. 1s, but the Sporter and Tropical models are most reminiscent of the classic British single-shots.

The Dakota Model 10 is even trimmer and more elegant than the Ruger No. 1, but also a lot costlier. Boddington’s M10 in .275 Rigby hasn’t been to Africa yet; hopefully it will make the trip soon.

In my use of single-shots I have not remained true to the Ruger. I admire the trim little Dakota Model 10, also a falling block, but sleeker and even more elegant. I’ve used Dakota single-shots on several safaris, and have a gorgeous M10 in .275 Rigby. I’ve also used the Thompson/Center break-open in Africa. The T/C isn’t as pretty, but it’s inexpensive and the switch-barrel capability is handy.  I took a T/C with .22 Hornet and .270 Winchester barrels on a couple of safaris, a great combination.

So, where might the single-shot fit in on the modern safari? Technically, just about anywhere . . . with reservations! Most single-shots have a two-piece stock, and the fore-end is often attached to the barrel by a screw. These factors aren’t ideal for utmost accuracy. I love my single-shots, but I haven’t used them for much mountain hunting, and I wouldn’t choose one for extreme-range shooting. That said, single-shots are plenty accurate for most hunting, certainly in Africa, and some are tack-drivers.

No matter where you are, the first shot may not be enough and another shot is needed. It will be slower with a single-shot, but I can’t recall problems because I was using a single-shot. Knowing you can rely on just the one shot makes you careful, and that’s good.

Boddington used a Dakota Model 10 in 7mm Remington Magnum on safari in western Tanzania. Just short of 300 yards, this was the longest shot he has had to make on a sitatunga.

In western Tanzania, hunting with Jaco Oosthuizen, I used a Dakota M10 in 7mm Remington Magnum for a variety of antelopes: topi, waterbuck, bohor reedbuck, my longest shot on a sitatunga, and a really lucky long shot on a side-striped jackal. Ten years ago, I did a “single-shot safari” with two No. 1s: An exceptionally accurate .300 H&H Medium Sporter, and a Tropical in .450/.400 3-inch. We started in Mozambique with Mark Haldane, then went on to northwest Zambia with Pete Fisher. Naturally, the .300 H&H did most of the work. At last light, I took a fine nyala, a tricky shot off sticks. We hadn’t quite gotten to the animal when Haldane stopped and put up the sticks again. “That’s a huge red duiker; you must shoot him.” I did, for a most unusual double.

With non-dangerous game, there are two limitations to using a single-shot. First, a second shot, if needed, will be slower. Second: Unless action is imminent, I never carry a round in the chamber. So, carrying a single-shot requires a mind-set: First cartridge ready, second cartridge handy. When the time comes, you must be able to load quickly! I’ve used Ruger No. 1s for fifty years, so these are not dramatic constraints, but it is a matter of training. You must know where that all-important first cartridge is, and how you’re going to load it on a moment’s notice.

On that Mozambique/Zambia safari, the .450/.400 single-shot was used exactly once, for a Zambezi Delta buffalo, and only one shot was fired. So, let’s talk about the single-shot for dangerous game. Several single-shots are available in appropriate chamberings, so that’s not a limitation. The real question is: How limiting is that “one-shot-only” capability?

Extensive experience with lions is hard to come by today. I have some, but I have never hunted a lion with a single-shot, and I’d just as soon not. As a visiting hunter, I’m not hunting dangerous game alone. However, I prefer cleaning up my own messes. If things get nasty, I have no issues with my PH chiming in, but I’d just as soon he didn’t. In my experience, “pure” one-shot kills on lions are rare; it’s just not the nature of the beast. Also, since you rarely know what the first shot accomplished until it’s all over, is it wise for your PH to dither while you fumble the reload? I think not!

The Ruger No. 1 is unique among single-shots because it has a powerful ejector, throwing cartridge cases completely clear with the lever is dropped. This makes it one of the fastest of all single-shots to reload.

I have much more experience with elephants, but I have also never hunted elephant with a single-shot. My thinking is much the same; things happen fast after the first shot. If it isn’t perfect, or if your experienced PH thinks it isn’t perfect, something must be done–fast! I have no ego-driven issue with backup, and I have flubbed the first shot on elephants. With a double or bolt-action, I’ve always been able to correct my error. With a single-shot, nobody is fast enough.

The leopard is a different deal. Most times, there’s only one shot. I’ve hunted leopards with single-shots and would again, especially over bait. You sit there as long as it takes, rifle loaded and ready. The chance for a second shot is very unlikely; you simply must make the first shot count. A single-shot actually helps, because you know you have just one shot.

Andrew Dawson and Boddington with a nice Zambezi Valley leopard, taken with a single-shot .30-06, made by Dakota on a Miller falling block action. With leopards it’s extremely unusual to get a second shot; it’s essential to make the first shot count!

Buffalo, the most plentiful and available dangerous game, are worthy of discussion. The first buffalo I took with a single-shot was in 1995, using a Dakota M10 in .375 Dakota. Hunting in Zambia with Russ Broom, we’d tracked him to his bed. When he got up, I think my shot was good, but the buffalo was still up, and Russ backed me up. Did he need to? We will never know, because I was still reloading and he had a split-second judgment call to make. Russ is not a trigger-happy PH. I agreed with his call to shoot rather than to wait and see what happened next. That is the dilemma to hunting buffalo with a single-shot: You want to do it all by yourself, but second shots matter, and nobody is fast enough on the reload to reliably get a second shot off every time.

In the last quarter-century I’ve taken numerous buffalo with single-shot rifles. Some have been pure one-shot kills. However, when that happens it usually isn’t a matter of first-shot perfection, but simply that the buffalo is down or masked before a second shot can be fired. Sometimes there’s time to reload. In Mozambique in 2018, using a Ruger No. 1 in .450 3¼-inch, I found myself shooting and reloading on the run; the bull was still up, and I had no idea what that first shot had done.

This is the first buffalo taken with Hornady’s modern load for the .450/.400-3” (.400 Jeffery) cartridge, taken in the Zambezi Valley with a Ruger No. 1, one shot at about sixty yards.

There is a point to be made regarding the Ruger No. 1 as opposed to most other single-shots. Older British rifles were invariably extractor guns. To this day, most single-shot rifles extract but do not eject. This means that the fired case must be manually plucked from the chamber. With his No. 1, Bill Ruger engineered a powerful and reliable ejector!

Does this mean the Ruger No. 1 is the only single-shot suitable for dangerous game? Hardly; Fred Selous would dispute that vehemently. However, because it both extracts and ejects, the Ruger No. 1 is probably the fastest single-shot to reload, and reloading time is critical on dangerous game. Mostly, it comes down to practice: Training and familiarity. Americans are especially bad about “admiring the shot,” firing one shot and waiting to see what happens next. Unfortunately, the single-shot promotes this mind-set, and it’s dangerous. Place that first shot with care, but practice fast reloading!

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Welcoming New Hunters

After years of decline, hunting participation took an encouraging jump this year.

Photo above: Rupp with her DIY cow elk taken in western Colorado.

The past year has been a tough one all around. Everyone has experienced the challenges of the pandemic in their own way. The hardships have been worse for some than others, but it’s safe to say we’ve all been affected. One thing that has happily remained constant through it all is the great outdoors, and the solace and renewal it brings to those who seek it out.

Like most of us, I didn’t travel this year; I hunted close to home. It proved fun and rewarding. I discovered some excellent dove and goose hunting less than thirty minutes from my house. I also killed my first DIY elk, a cow, in mid-October. As my husband and I packed the boned quarters out of the woods, we were intensely grateful for the fact that we would have a freezer full of excellent meat during a time of uncertainty.

We were hardly alone in this. People all across the country found themselves with more free time or work flexibility, fewer distractions, and an increased appreciation of the importance of self-reliance. As a result, a lot of them tried hunting for the first time–or returned to it after a hiatus. Hunting participation numbers, which have been on a long, slow decline for years, took a sudden jump.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates that hunting license sales increased more than 12 percent in 2020 over the year before. That means there were as many as a million more hunters in the woods this past year. A large proportion of those hunters, according to preliminary stats coming out of several states, were first-timers, and many of those were women and young people.

We don’t know what will happen in 2021, as the world (hopefully) starts to return to normal. For the sake of wildlife agency budgets and wildlife conservation work, which are heavily dependent on hunting license sales, we hope that these new hunters stick with it and continue to increase their hunting skills and enjoy being out in the field.

If you’re one of those new hunters, welcome to the fold. If you’re an experienced hunter, please invite a newbie to go shooting with you, or share your duck blind. You’ll find it’s as fun for you as for them. Other than that DIY elk, the most rewarding hunt I did this year was a goose hunt where I invited a new hunter along and had the pleasure of seeing her shoot (and later skin, cook, and eat) her first goose.

There are lots of other ways to help new hunters. Share some of your extra gear (you know you have some). Treat them to a membership in a reputable organization so they can learn more about the conservation benefits hunting provides. Above all, make them feel welcome. Today’s new hunters are the ones who will carry on a timeless and precious tradition.

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The 1903 Springfield Sporter

A nostalgic look at America’s classic bolt-action hunting rifle.

Photo above: Barsness’s Springfield Sporter was built by Frank Pachmayr in the 1930s. Originally a .35 Whelen, it was later rechambered to .358 Norma Magnum. 

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the U.S. Army decided it needed a more modern bolt-action rifle. Since 1892, the Army had been using variations of the Krag-Jorgenson rifle, which was chambered for the .30 U.S round commonly known as the .30-40 Krag. Despite America winning the 1898 Spanish-American War in Cuba, it did not go unnoticed that the 1895 Mauser rifles used by Spain could be reloaded far quicker than Krags, which had a rather clumsy, hinge-topped magazine on the side of the action. The 1895s used disposable “stripper-clips” that could be inserted quickly into the top of the action, instantly loading five rounds.

The Army designed a new action, which used stripper clips so similar to the Mauser’s that the U.S. Government had to pay royalties to the Mauser company. The action itself was a combination of Mauser and Krag features, and in 1903 was accepted as the new service rifle.

The U.S. also “designed” a new cartridge for the 1903 rifle, strongly resembling the first smokeless German military round, today known in the U.S. as the 8×57 Mauser. The 8×57 had a rimless case, formed by cutting an extractor groove around the case-head, resulting in a rim the same diameter as the cartridge body.

The 1903 Springfield’s cartridge was also rimless, and in another not-so-astonishing coincidence, featured the same 12mm (.472 inch) rim diameter as the 8×57. The overall case was slightly longer, and used the same 220-grain roundnose bullet as the .30-40 Krag, at a muzzle velocity of 2,300 fps. 

Soon afterward, however, Germany dropped the 8×57’s heavy round-nose bullet, switching to a 154-grain spitzer (pointed) bullet at a muzzle velocity around 2,800 fps. The faster, sleeker bullet extended the 8×57’s range considerably, and the U.S. again followed the German lead by switching to a 150-grain spitzer at 2,700 fps. Officially termed the “cartridge, ball, caliber .30, Model of 1906,” it soon became known as the .30-06. 

Hunters started using the new rifle and round, which resulted in a major secondary industry, converting 1903 Springfield military rifles into sporters. The first and most famous 1903 was ordered from Springfield Armory by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. The Armory fitted a custom-made sporter stock, partly fashioned after one of Roosevelt’s Winchester rifles, with a short fore-end, cheekpiece, and commercial buttplate, and replaced the military open sights with Lyman sporting sights.

The Pachmayr rifle has an s-curved bolt handle, which just clears the rear of the Lyman Alaskan scope. Typical of Springfield sporters during its era, it also has a Lyman 48 receiver sight, with a removable elevation slide.

Even for America’s commander-in-chief, this work wasn’t free. Roosevelt paid $42.13 for the job, equivalent to around $1,200 today, and in 1905 he took a Colorado black bear with the rifle, using the military 220-grain load. It was also one of three rifles he took on his long, post-presidential East African safari in 1909-10, along with an 1895 Winchester lever-action in .405 WCF and a Holland & Holland .500/.450 double. He used the newer 150-grain spitzer .30-06 ammo; the pointed bullet tended to tumble when hitting game, killing quickly. 

Roosevelt’s book about the safari, African Game Trails, alerted plenty of hunters to the 1903 Springfield’s potential, including Roosevelt’s friend, the well-known author Stewart Edward White, who in 1910 commissioned gunsmith Louis Wundhammer to build five Springfield sporters—one for him, and four for friends.

Wundhammer was born in Bavaria but by 1910 lived in Los Angeles, a hotbed of custom sporting rifles during much of the twentieth century. White’s rifle was apparently the first commercially made Springfield sporter, and of course he also published a book about his 1912 safari.

From then on a 1903 Springfield sporter became the rifle for cutting-edge American sportsmen. The list of well-known Springfield fans includes Ernest Hemingway (who ordered his from Griffin & Howe), and Army officer and author Townsend Whelen, who owned several Springfield sporters made by various gunsmiths.

Eventually even Springfield Armory produced a sporting version, which could be purchased by members of the National Rifle Association. Several thousand were sold from 1924 to 1933. They resembled a plainer version of Roosevelt’s rifle, but had a Lyman receiver sight, the Model 48, developed specifically for the 1903 rifle.

Custom 1903 Springfields attracted such lofty customers partly because most American “authorities” (including Whelen) considered the 1903 a better action than the 1898 Mauser used by many gunsmiths and European firearms companies—not necessarily mechanically, but in manufacturing quality. Military 98 Mausers were made all over the world in vast numbers, sometimes by factories not so concerned about fit and finish, and even some gunsmiths in Germany made Springfield sporters. 

I started slowly falling under the spell of the Springfield after beginning to hunt big game in the 1960s, when the Civilian Marksmanship Program sold a bunch of “war surplus” 1903 Springfields to retail companies. Many local hunters bought surplus Springfields, some using the rifles as-is, especially the less expensive 1903A3 version produced by Remington and the L.C. Smith & Corona Typewriter Company during World War II, which had an aperture sight better for field use than the open sights of the original 1903. 

The 1960s were the last gasp of converting original 1903 Springfields to sporting rifles; by the 1970s, original military rifles started becoming too valuable to convert. I bought my first Springfield sporter in the 1970s, a typical 1960s “garage” job converted for scope use, with a semi-inletted walnut stock and a Canjar custom trigger. I spiffed up the stock a little, and hunted with the rifle for several years.

A quarter-century later I started lusting after one of the classic custom Springfields made before World War II, in large part due my friend Tim Crawford giving me a brand-new book in 2005, Custom Gunmakers of the 20th Century, written by Michael Petrov, a rifle loony from Anchorage, Alaska. Petrov had published a series of articles about custom Springfields for the now-defunct Precision Shooter magazine, which they eventually collected in book form. 

Reading Petrov taught me a lot more about Springfield sporters, and a year later I ran across The One, on the late Ike Ellis’s table at a local gun show. Ike was a fine custom stockmaker who owned a big sporting goods store in Idaho Falls, so he knew his stuff. This particular Springfield had a classic, highly-figured black walnut stock, finely and extensively checkered in a fleur-de-lis pattern, with the requisite Lyman 48 receiver sight and Lyman Alaskan scope in a detachable Griffin & Howe side-mount. 

But it also had white-line spacers between the ebony fore-end tip and grip cap, and a ventilated Pachmayr white-line recoil pad. This seemed odd for a custom rifle typical of the pre-World War II era—until I picked it up and saw “Frank Pachmayr” engraved on the barrel. 

Frank and his father, Gus, were among the very top custom gunsmiths of the pre-World War II era. Like Wundhammer, they were based in Los Angeles, so had plenty of great stock wood from California walnut groves. Frank came up with the concept of white-line spacers before the war, even making some from elephant ivory.

The detachable Griffin & Howe side-mount was considered the ultimate mount back when rifle scopes weren’t as reliable as they are today.

The barrel was engraved “.35 Whelen,” but the tag read “.358 Norma Magnum,” one of the many .30-06-length belted magnums that appeared in the two decades after the war. No doubt the rifle got converted then, when the Whelen was still a wildcat and the Norma a new factory round. The rifle seemed like such a perfect illustration of Springfield sporter history that of course, I succumbed.

Eileen and I ended up in Alaska a couple years later, on our way to open ptarmigan season with our outfitter friends Phil Shoemaker, his wife, Rocky Harrison, and their kids Tia and Taj. Of course Phil knew Mike Petrov, and told him we’d be overnighting at an Anchorage motel. Mike invited us to dinner, and we had a great evening with him and his wife, Janet, much of it among his collection of fine rifles. Mike and I kept in touch, and in 2013 he sent me a copy of Volume Two of Custom Gunmakers of the 20th Century, an even more impressive collection of new and updated information.

Unfortunately, Mike passed away a year later, but through the books his knowledge of Springfield sporters lives on—though they now sell for far more than the original $16.95. For hunters who’d like to learn almost everything about classic Springfield sporters, they’re worth the price. 

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