Botswana - African Expedition

Transcription

Hunting
Blind to
Blood
Can you read a blood spoor?
Botswana
with a pocket
battleship
Kayak Sailie
Catching sailfish from a kayak
Graduating to
Buffalo
Take a Rest
Hunting Africa with
your son
Hunting with shooting sticks
Reloading the 303
BRITISH
Blaser
S2 Safari
Keeping the legend alive
Rookie Writers
Revolutionary Double Rifle Design
The Journeyman
Make a Plan
Out of brake or hydraulic fluid
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Published by Safari Media Africa
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Editor: Alan Bunn [email protected]
Associate editor: Galen Geer [email protected]
Europe
Editor: Hans Jochen Wild [email protected]
Africa
Editor: Mitch Mitchell [email protected]
Financial
Thea Mitchell
Layout & Design
Xtasis Media and Digital Wind
Contributors & Photographers
A. Bunn, C. Cheney, D. Edgcumbe, G. Geer,
L. Grizzaffi (Reloading), Dr. K. Hugo (Medical)
D. Hulme, C. Mitchell, Dr. G. Swart (Medical)
Advertising and Marketing
South Africa: T. Mitchell
[email protected]
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African Expedition Magazine is an independent bimonthly publication promoting fair,
sustainable hunting, a protected environment
and adventure sports in Africa.
The African Expedition Magazine is published
by Safari Media Africa
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contents
4 | AFRICAN EXPEDITION MAGAZINE JULY 2010
8 Blind to Blood
20 Graduating to Buffalo
Hunting Africa with your son
30 The Blaser S2 Safari
36 Hunting Botswana
with a pocket battleship
48 Kayak Sailie
66 Take a Rest
74 Reloading the 303 BRITISH
Keeping the legend alive
79 Rookie Writers
The Journeyman
92 News, Reviews, and Press
Releases
116 Make a Plan
121 True North
We’ve Bought the Lie
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JULY 2010 AFRICAN EXPEDITION MAGAZINE | 7
Blind to Blood
Cleve Cheney
W
e have the tendency to take things
for granted usually for about as
long as we have them. It is when we
start to lose, or lose completely, what
we have that we are brought to the sudden realisation of what we once had
which we have no more.
Consider hearing as an example. Those of
us who love the bush appreciate its unique
sounds. The plaintive cry of jackal ushering
in the African night, the haunting call of night
jars or the hair standing on end effect brought
on by the sound of lions roaring close by,
elephant trumpeting and leopard sawing.
To lose one’s ability to hear is a tragic loss for one
becomes cut off from so much that makes life worthwhile.
And what about going blind – how awful that must
be. Our ability to see as with hearing is a very, very
precious gift the value of which often only becomes
apparent when we lose it partially or completely.
Those who are deaf say they would gladly give up
their sight to hear and those who are blind are often
heard to remark that they would be willing to lose
their hearing if they could only see again. The fact of
the matter is that to lose any or part of one’s sensory abilities is indeed
dreadful.
Sometimes loss of
hearing or sight is progressive. My hearing
is not what it used to
be. After all my years of
shooting (mostly without
hearing protection!).
I have lost some hearing – especially in my
left ear and I struggle
to hear high frequency
sounds. As we get older
many of us end up having to acquire spectacles to read or to see
at a distance as visual
acuity begins to wane
due to natural aging processes. Sometimes loss of
a sensory faculty can be caused by disease or by
inheritance.
I recently came across an interesting case and realised what effect it could have on ones hunting ability.
I had been conducting the tracking module as part of
a bow hunting course when I became aware of the
problem.
One of the exercises given to students is to follow
a prepared blood trail for a distance of about 100m.
Exercises begin with an easy to follow trail with a lot
of bright red blood sign indicating an animal bleeding
profusely from an artery and then follow up exercises
become progressively more difficult with infrequent
and tiny drops of blood sign.
Most students follow the first trail with ease and arrive at the finish point within 5-10 minutes.
On this particular day I noticed one individual really
struggling.
After half an hour he had made no progress at all but
was ferreting around aimlessly and not making any
headway. I joined him and asked if I could help. He
replied in the affirmative. I took him over to where the
first splash of blood was that was easily visible and
pointed it out to him and told him to carry on.
A few minutes later he had made little if any progress. Either the individual had no ability to track whatsoever or else there was a problem. I took him to the
next blood sign on the trail – once again easily visible
and asked him to point it out to me. He could not and
then the penny dropped – he was colour blind!
This is a genetic visual
defect which can manifest itself in the person
not being able to see
certain colours in the
visible light spectrum.
The student was red
green colour blind.
What we could see
as a bright red colour
against the background
of green grass he
perceived as grey on
grey and it was invisible to him and hence
his inability to be able to
follow the trail.
Now the implications
of this to the hunter are obvious. He will not be able
to follow the blood trail of a wounded animal and will
have to rely on a second person, guide or tracker to
assist him.
Being red green colour blind will also make it difficult to spot wild animals that have a rufous (reddish)
colouration. An impala will stand out starkly against a
summer green or winter straw coloured background
to someone with normal vision but will be more difficult to spot in a person who has a red green colour
blindness defect.
Most herbivores are also red / green colour blind.
Hunters know how important it is to be able to track a
wounded animal from blood sign. We try our best not
to wound animals but being fallible human beings we
do occasionally “botch a shot” and end up having to
try and locate a wounded animal.
When an animal runs off after having been shot the
hunter will always scout around the spot where the
animal was last seen to search for some sign of
Some examples of what blood sign would
look like to a red green colour blind person
CLICK HERE
blood which will confirm that the animal was indeed
hit and will then look for the trail of blood sign which
in some instances might be quite profuse and in
other cases very scant, small and far apart, which
will lead him either to within sight of the quarry to
allow for a follow up shot or to the downed animal.
We should also be able to follow up on wounded
animals by observing other sign such as tracks,
broken vegetation etc. But the substrate does not
always lend itself to this type of tracking and this is
where the contrasting colour of red blood against a
background makes things a little easier – for those
that can see the colour red that is. If you are “blind”
to the colour red, tracking blood sign becomes a
virtual impossibility. How do you know if you are red
/ green colour blind? A Japanese researcher developed what are known as Ishihara charts which help
diagnose the defect. The charts to diagnose red /
green colour blindness are shown in Figure 4. If you
are unfortunate enough to be colour blind to certain
wavelengths of the visible light spectrum you will
have to rely on someone to assist you when tracking
blood sign.
The lesson to be learned from this article? Give
thanks – every day – for the faculties that you do
have.
Cleve Cheney holds
a bachelor of science
degree in zoology and
a master’s degree in
animal physiology.
He is a wilderness
trail leader, rated field
guide instructor and
the author of many
leading articles on the
subjects of tracking, guiding, bowhunting
and survival. Cleve has unrivalled experience in wildlife management, game capture and hunting, both with bow and rifle.
Are you color blind?
Color vision deficiencies can be classified as acquired or inherited.[3][4]
Acquired
Inherited: There are three types of inherited or congenital color vision deficiencies: monochromacy, dichromacy, and anomalous trichromacy.[3]
Monochromacy, also known as “total color blindness,”[5] is the lack of ability to distinguish colors; caused by cone defect or absence.[6] Monochromacy occurs when two or all three of the
cone pigments are missing and color and lightness vision is reduced to one dimension.[5]
Rod monochromacy (achromatopsia) is an exceedingly rare, nonprogressive inability to distinguish any colors as a result of absent or nonfunctioning retinal cones. It is associated with
light sensitivity (photophobia), involuntary eye oscillations (nystagmus), and poor vision.[6]
Cone monochromacy is a rare total color blindness that is accompanied by relatively normal
vision, electoretinogram, and electrooculogram.[6]
Dichromacy is a moderately severe color vision defect in which one of the three basic color
mechanisms is absent or not functioning. It is hereditary and, in the case of Protanopia or
Deuteranopia, sex-linked, affecting predominantly males.[6] Dichromacy occurs when one of
the cone pigments is missing and color is reduced to two dimensions.[5]
Protanopia is a severe type of color vision deficiency caused by the complete absence of red
retinal photoreceptors. It is a form of dichromatism in which red appears dark. It is hereditary,
sex-linked, and present in 1% of males.[6]
Deuteranopia is a color vision deficiency in which the green retinal photoreceptors are absent,
moderately affecting red-green hue discrimination. It is a form of dichromatism in which there
are only two cone pigments present. It is likewise hereditary and sex-linked.
Tritanopia is a very rare color vision disturbance in which there are only two cone pigments
present and a total absence of blue retinal receptors.[6]
Anomalous trichromacy is a common type of inherited color vision deficiency, occurring when
one of the three cone pigments is altered in its spectral sensitivity. This results in an impairment, rather than loss, of trichromacy (normal three-dimensional color vision).[5]
Protanomaly is a mild color vision defect in which an altered spectral sensitivity of red retinal
receptors (closer to green receptor response) results in poor red-green hue discrimination. It is
hereditary, sex-linked, and present in 1% of males.[6]
Deuteranomaly, caused by a similar shift in the green retinal receptors, is by far the most
common type of color vision deficiency, mildly affecting red-green hue discrimination in 5% of
males. It is hereditary and sex-linked.[6]
Tritanomaly is a rare, hereditary color vision deficiency affecting blue-yellow hue discrimination. Unlike most other forms, it is not sex-linked.[6]
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The colors of the rainbow as viewed by a
person with no color vision deficiencies,
The colors of the rainbow as
viewed by a person with protanopias, in which the green
retinal photoreceptors are
absent, moderately affecting
red-green hue discrimination.
The image to the left contains
the number 37, but someone
who is protanopic may not be
able to see it.
The colors of the rainbow
as viewed by a person with
deuteranopia. which there
are only two cone pigments
present and a total absence
of blue retinal receptors.
The image to the left shows
a number 49, but someone
who is deuteranopic may not
be able to see it.
The colors of the rainbow
as viewed by a person with
tritanopia where of the three
cone pigments is altered in its
spectral sensitivity.
The image to the left shows
the number 56, but someone
who is tritanopic may not be
able to see it.
CLICK HERE
Graduating to
Buffalo
Hunting Africa with your son
Lt. Col. Patrick Munn, U.S. Army, Retired
W
hen my son Michael was in high school
he went on safari to South Africa with
me. He wanted to return and I told him if he
did well in college, a Cape buffalo hunt would
be his graduation present. He complied, and
then was accepted to law school. So, the
summer after graduation found us in Zimbabwe, with Professional Hunter Graham
Chatham.
We were eight days into a ten-day hunt and Michael
had shot a sable, but no buffalo, so we returned to
camp early that day to rest and regroup.
As we approached camp I spotted two black specks
across the grassy plain, but they barely registered
with me—probably just wildebeests—and I looked
away, toward camp and a soft bed.
Michael slowly climbed down from the Land Cruiser’s
raised observation seat.
“You doing OK?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said, “But should we have come in so
early? We haven’t seen a decent buffalo since the
first day.”
“It won’t hurt to take a little break and rest up,” I said.
“Let’s have some dinner and turn in early.”
I hoped another day without success hadn’t discouraged my son. On our first day a cheeky but immature
bull charged the Land Cruiser. A great start—followed
by many days of pursuing herds only to find no shootable bulls, and then all buffalo seemingly disappeared
overnight.
We’d seen lion tracks within a mile of camp. Graham
said the tracks belonged to a big male. Michael wondered if we should have included lion on the license,
but I told him we needed a buffalo before discussing the high cost of lions. Our lion track discovery
brought us to the eighth day, another of searching
without success.
I had just laid the Steyr 458 Winchester Magnum
on the spare bed when Michael burst in, followed
by tracker Albert. Kuntu , our other tracker, had
remained with the Land Cruiser to help unload.
Michael wore his brush-proof pants but was bareheaded and had traded his hunting shirt for a college
T-shirt, his boots for a pair of soft elk-hide camp moccasins.
“Quick, give me the 458! Kuntu saw two buffalo by
the waterhole, and Graham wants to go after them.”
I handed over the 458 and mentally kicked myself—
the two black specks I had seen when we drove into
camp were the buffalo Michael was on the run to
overtake.
“Are you coming?” he asked as he headed out the
door.
I pulled on my clothes but by the time I made it out
the door Michael was nowhere in sight. A couple of
hunters and their PHs were already firmly ensconced
around the fire ring, nursing their first sundowners.
One, a doctor from New Jersey, looked up as I approached.
“I saw your son and Graham and the trackers tearing
out of here. What’s going on?” he asked.
“Buffalo,” I answered. “They’re going to try to get
close enough before it gets too dark.”
George Parkin and fellow PH Monty Wilkinson approached, libations in hand. “Not to worry,” Monty
said. “Graham’ll put him on that buff if it’s a good
one.”
“Right,” agreed George. “They’ll sort it out in short
order. Probably be back before dinner.”
Moments later—Ca-ra-wong! —a gunshot rang out,
closer than I’d expected.
“Sounds like your boy got his buffalo,” the New Jersey doctor said. “Hope it’s a good one.”
Out of the stillness that pervades African twilight,
there was another Ca-ra-wong! and almost immediately, a third.
“Well, that ought to do it, I expect,” George Parkin
offered, and we heard the familiar eerie death rattle
that marks a Cape buffalo’s final moment. Then all
was quiet.
George was spurred to action. “I say, shall I run you
up there in my ‘Cruiser? You’ll want photographs,
won’t you?”
We traveled the well-worn trail out of camp and
stopped just around the first bend when we saw
headlights bouncing in the off-road growth. It was
Kuntu, working Graham’s vehicle into the bush,
while Albert chopped small trees ahead of the hunting car. We walked ahead and soon came upon
Graham and Michael, standing over a very dead
Cape buffalo.
“Quite a fine buffalo your son’s killed,” Graham
said. “He’ll go thirty-eight or thirty-nine, I should
think. Has a good drop and I think Michael is
happy”.
I looked over at my son, who was kneeling beside
the buffalo, examining its boss. “So, is that true—
you’re happy with your buffalo?”
“Absolutely.”
I turned back to Graham. “What happened?”
“We followed the road to the point the two buffalo
crossed, then pursued them on foot. They doubled
back, we got within about thirty yards, and the better
of the two turned—he was about to charge. Michael
dropped the buff with one shot. A nice piece of
shooting, by the way.”
I surveyed the scene. “You know, I outfitted you in
the best safari gear I could afford, including madeto-order boots. You walked for days, and now you
shoot a perfectly fine buffalo five hundred yards
from camp in a T-shirt and a pair of bedroom slippers.”
“Give me a break and just take some pictures, will you?” Michael replied. I decided I had teased him enough.
Two days later we left for that incredibly long trip back home.
During the flight I pulled the stereo headphones off Michael
and asked him how he felt about his accomplishments.
“You’ve graduated from college to law school, and from plains
game to buffalo,” I sagely observed. “Will that hold you for a
while?”
“Maybe,” he said. “But I still want some other plains game.
And then, there were those lion tracks . . . .”
“You didn’t spend all your money on this trip, did you?”
I settled back in my seat and made a mental note: Push retirement back another five years.
Help us stop those
poaching bastards.
Donate quickly and
securely with PayPal
The BorderLine Walk is in support of antipoaching efforts for
Black Rhino in the Savè Valley. Initiated by Hunters for Zimbabwe, the walk will be 3066 kilometers long: 813 kilometers
along the Botswana border, 797 km. along Zambia, 225 km.
along South Africa, and finally 1231 km. along the Mozambique border. The BorderLine Walk will be widely covered
by the media and progress will be published on the African
Expedition Magazine and tracked on Google Earth.
The BorderLine walk will support anti-poaching efforts to prevent this from happening again:
a young black rhino caught in a poacher’s snare. This baby died a few days after this photograph was taken.
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David Hulme is a Zimbabwean writer and
professional wanderer
who spends most of
his time searching for
new stories and country, never staying too
long in any one place.’
FOLLOW THEIR PROGRESS ON GOOGLE EARTH
Support Hunters for Zimbabwe by buying David Hulme’s great
new book, Shangaan Song. Proceeds from the sale of this book
will be used to support the BorderLine Walk – a foot journey of
approximately three thousand kilometers along Zimbabwe’s border. The BorderLine Walk is an initiative aimed at raising awareness for Hunters for Zimbabwe, an organization whose primary
objective is the advancement of Zimbabwean people and wildlife.
Help us stop those
poaching bastards.
Donate quickly and
Jimmy
and
Whittall
Jimmy
onAnne
the day
I found him
The Blaser S2
2 Safari
My first impression of the S2: that rifle fits me very well! To test this I usually close my eyes and then point the rifle at some target. If I then open the
eyes and the sights are properly aligned at the target, I know the gun fits me.
The gun is big and heavy but well balanced with the weight right between the
hands. The S2 comes up to shoulder like a dream – an impression everybody
I had I let handle the rifle. And the weight helps to reduce the recoil, of course.
Being heavy it also provides a very stable shooting platform if you shoot it
offhand.
My S2 has a very nice crisp trigger pull adjusted to about 3 pounds (front trigger) respectively 4 pounds (rear trigger).
The S2 Safari allows the usual Blaser scope mount. And since I own a lot of
scopes with Blaser mounts this means that theoretically I could use any of
those for the double. Practical considerations, however, limits this to my Leopold’s 1.5 – 5 x 20 because only they have a long enough eye relief.
The open sights are excellent. They are the best I have ever seen on a big
game rifle.
Since buying the gun I’ve shot several hundred rounds with the .470 NE. The
gun doubled not once and there were no other problems whatsoever.
Basic facts:
●● available in calibres .375 H&H, .500/.416 NE, .470 NE, 500 NE
●● weight (my .470 NE) 5.3 kg (= 11.7 pounds)
●● barrel length 62 cm (24.4 inches)
●● overall length 105 cm (41.3 inches)
●● price here in Germany for my “deluxe” model is 6656 €, standard
model: 6072 € (published by Fankonia and Triebel, July 2010)
●● straight British type stock
●● Blaser kickstop. That is a kind of pipe filled with tungsten granuJULY 2010 AFRICAN EXPEDITION MAGAZINE | 31
late imbedded in the stock that counteracts
recoil)
●● Gun has no ejectors.
Free Floating Barrels.
The barrels of the Blaser S2 are kept like insert barrels
in two outer barrels. These outer barrels are held at the
muzzle by a kind of double interconnected “O” – rings a
feature that gives the double rifle a somewhat unusual
look. The inner barrels are free floating and can expand
independently from each other. This means that if the rifle
heats up from shooting the barrels are not bending
sideways as they do in a conventional DR.
Sighting in a conventional DR can be
very annoying and
license fees because Jäger certainly took out a patent on
his invention. In 1986 Blaser revived the tilting block lock,
using it in their famous K77 UL (“Ultralight”) break open
single shot rifle. From then on it has been a design feature
of Blaser rifles, single shot, combination, drillings and
doubles.
As mentioned before it is one of the strongest DR locks.
The .470 NE develops a maximum pressure of 2700 bar
(ca. 39200 psi). Lutz Moeller reports on his website that
Scheiring from Ferlach built a break open single shot tilting
block rifle in cal. .300” Pegasus. Due to a loading error this
rifle was fired with a .300 Pegasus cartridge that developed ca 6000 bar (87,000 psi). Result was quite a loud
boom, but the rifle survived this without any problems. You
might therefore assume that with the Blaser S2 there
should be no problems with “hot” loads. But even in
a rifle with a tilting block lock, you would be
well advised NOT to use overloads!
Aside from the fact that any load going beyond max pressure is
unsafe, you might get
extraction problems.
Even should the lock
of your DR take the
overpressure, your
cartridge cases might
stick to the chamber.
This would slow down
reloading and that
could be fatal during a
big game hunt.
time consuming process. You
have to wait until the barrels have
cooled enough to continue shooting. With
the S2 you can just go on shooting and it doesn’t matter in which sequence you shoot the barrels. Due to the
free floating barrels concept you do not have to observe
any specific time interval between the shooting of the two
barrels. It is also irrelevant whether you shoot the right or
the left barrel first.
Blaser’s S2 has no ejectors
In my eyes this is no shortcoming. Please read Taylor’s
or Boddingtons comments on this topic. I tend to agree to
their opinion that you don’t need ejectors.
Tilting block lock
The tilting block locking system was invented in the early
years of the last century by Jäger, a gun maker working
in the famous gun making town of Suhl. It is immensely
strong and locks directly into the barrel(s). During the
years it was used on and off by several German and
Austrian gun makers. British gun makers never copied it,
I don’t know why. Perhaps it was the “NIH” (Not Invented
Here) syndrome. It might also have been a question of
Keeping the pressure within
the barrel/
tilting block is one of the main
advantages of this locking system compared with
any other DR lock. Conventional DR’s are kept close
by the under barrel lugs. There is usually an additional
device to resist the barrels tendency to pull away from the
standing breech when firing. This could be a “dolls head”
or a “Greener” cross bolt passing traversally behind the
standing breech and through a matching hole in the rib
extension. This conventional kind of design is much more
pressure sensitive. Each firing of the rifle pushes the barrels away form the breeches face. Therefore there is an
inherent tendency of conventional DR’s to “shoot loose”
and to “come off the face” of the breech - depending of the
quality of steels used, the quality of workmanship and the
frequency of use, of course.
With the Blaser tilting block design the forces of the pressure is kept within the barrel/tilting block system. There is
only the force of the recoil and it pushes the barrels plus
tilting block against the standing breech not away from it.
To further explain the implications of the tilting block lock:
you could take the barrels out off the rifle, put cartridges
into the barrels, fit the tilting block onto the barrels. Now,
holding the barrel plus tilting block in your hand - you
could hit the firing pins with a hammer and fire the cartridges. That is certainly not something I would ad-
vise you to do because the recoil would certainly rip the
barrels violently out off your hand! I mention this only to
explain that even under this condition the cartridges explosion would be contained within the barrel - tilting block
system. The tilting block would not be ripped out off the
barrel just because the action is not closed.
Reloading a double rifle goes in two steps. Step one is
getting rid of the empty cases. This is easy if you have an
ejector rifle. Opening the rifle the ejector catapults them
out off the rifle. The Blaser is a non ejector. You don’t have
to pick the empties out - just lift the barrels after opening
about 45 degrees and the cases will drop out of the barrel.
I am often asked: “Does the barrel overhang hinder a fast
reloading?” My experience is: no, absolutely not! Funny
thing is: when I was using double rifles of conventional
design nobody ever inquired whether the dolls head or the
rib extensions of a Greener lock hindered reloading!
Step two is inserting new cartridges. Do not carry your
cartridges in your pockets or in a cartridge holder that is
closed with a flap. This slows down the reloading process
considerably. Instead carry them in a cartridge belt or a
cartridge holder in your front where you can easily grip two
cartridges side by side ready to insert them into the rifle.
Reloading Double Rifles
The magic recipe here is to experiment with cartridge
holders or cartridge belts to find the one that fits you best.
The other “secret” is training. If you fire your double only a
few times each year do not expect to be a fast reloader. To
build up your reloading speed you have to repeat the act
using dummy cartridges until a muscle memory develops
that allows you to do it automatically.
This is a good opportunity to talk about reloading double
rifles. Sometime ago I saw a video issued from a German
hunting magazines. The topic was “Big Game Hunting”.
It showed a sequence where a hunter shot an elephant.
With his first shot he tried a brain shot. That, however,
had not the intended effect. The elephant turned and ran
away. He was then able to anchor the elephant with his
second shot, a hipshot. Now he had to reload, because
the elephant was not down yet. He opened his double rifle
(a non ejector) picked the empty cases out one after the
other and then started to scrabble around in the pocket of
his hunting jacket for new cartridges. After sometime time
he was able to locate them and to inserted them into his
rifle. This reloading sequence is interesting because the
hunter did almost everything wrong. He was lucky that the
elephant did not turn around and attacked him.
The Blaser’s S2 manual cocking system
Both barrels are cocked by pushing the cocking device forward that sits on the top of the receiver. This means that
you can safely carry the DR uncocked with cartridges in
both barrels. If the rifle is opened, both locks are automatically uncocked.
This is a very useful feature because this way you are
always positive about the state of the rifle. Load the gun
and close it and it is NOT cocked and on safe. By the way:
cocking the action is completely noiseless.
“Black velvet” barrel finish.
The S2 shares this feature with other Blaser guns. This
finish is very corrosion resistant. I have used Blaser guns
since about 15 years. Here in Germany I hunt in all kind of adverse
weather. Many times I go out in
rain or snow. Coming back home
from a hunt late in the night usually I just put the gun away. Next
morning I wipe down barrel and
lock and apply some gun oil.
I have to confess that due to
business pressures I sometimes
forgot to do this. But even with this
somewhat negligent way to take
care of my guns I never had the
least bit of rust on any of my Blasers. The black velvet finish also
has the advantage of not being
light reflecting. That is an important feature for any African hunt.
One of the most stupid Big Game
rifle designs I ever saw was a gun
that came with a highly polished
stainless steel barrel and action.
This may look very pleasing to
the eye, but using such a gun in
the bush is like carrying a lighted
signal wand around, advertising
your presence to the game.
How does the Blaser Safari DR shoot?
When I started testing the S2
the immediate result was that
the two barrels didn’t group together, but each barrel for itself
produced very thigh groups.
I was told that it would not be
possible for my local gunsmith
to regulate the gun and that it
had to go back to the Blaser factory at Isny. There
it was regulated for Wolfgang Rommey ammunition
with 500 grains Woodleigh soft nose bullets. The
regulating was done by exchanging the double “O” –
rings which keep the barrels together in such a way
that a thigh group was achieved.
After regulating the rifle Blaser sent it back to me. It
came with a test fire report (please see below)
The size of the test-group is 1.2 inches – at 100 m
(109 yards) – that is almost minute of an angle precision! Boddington in his book Safari Rifles I (1990)
mentions on page 167 that two shots with a DR into
two inches are “exceptional” and four inches are
“acceptable accuracy”. Compared to this the Blasers
regulation is sensational. However I decided to even
improve on this result!
My objective was to develop
my own ammunition and to find
an optimal load. Starting point
were loading data published by
DEVA (“Deutsche Versuchsund Prüf-Anstalt für Jagd- und
Sportwaffen” = the German
test-center for sport- and hunting guns). They published the
following load:
Woodleigh 500 grains SN
bullets with 113.0 grains of N
160 (Vithavuori) powder with a
muzzle velocity of 2238 fps.
The advice of Graeme Wright
from his book “Shooting the
British Double Rifle” turned
out to be very helpful. Graeme
Wright points out that the center of gravity of a double rifle is
lower than the barrels. “Hence
… the effect is that each individual barrel will move away
from the other barrel and upwards. The right barrel moves
upward and to the right and
vice versa. When a cartridge is
fired the bullet starts to move
in the barrel and at the same
time the barrel starts to move in
recoil” (Graeme Wright, page 80)
“For the hand loader this
knowledge can be used to
adjust the ammunition for a
particular rifle … if a bullet is
going too slow (right barrel) it
will stay in the barrel too long and receive too much
upwards and right movement and therefore should
land high and right to the aiming mark.” Conversely
if the bullet goes to fast it will not stay long enough in
the barrel and will impact below and to the left of the
aiming mark. So by changing the amount of powder
it is possible to change the point where the bullet
lands on the target: if you increase the velocity the
impact points of the barrels move together.
If you go on increasing the velocity the barrels “cross
each other” i.e. the left barrel hits to the right of the
right barrel. Graeme Wright warns that this process
may not always work as described but with my Bla-
of the professional hand loaders could help you.
With such precision there should be no problem to
use the S2 on plainsgame on distances up to 150
yards. So it seems that Blaser is quite right when
claiming on their website that S2 can be used on
a “single rifle safari”. In other words when you are
hunting with the S2 for big game you don’t have to
take a second plainsgame rifle along. (However I do
admit that using a .470 NE on a klipspringer might be
a little extreme…)
The above mentioned optimal load is not too hot: the
spent cartridge cases just fall out off the barrel. When
I increased to loads to DEVA published maximum of
113.0 grains N 160 the cases were extracted but did
not always easily fall out of the barrels chambers.
The barrels crossing over
ser S2 double rifle it worked beautifully (see below)
For my test loads I used Vithavuori N 160 powder,
Federal 215 primers and Woodleigh 500 grains
roundnose bullets. Distance was 100 meters (109
yards). Scope was a Leupold Vari XIII (1.5 – 5 x 20)
set at five times magnification. I started with a load
of 112.0 grains N 160. With this load the right barrel
produced a tight group to the right of where the left
barrels shot. Diameter of both groups taken together
was 5 inches.
My next load was 112.2 grains of N 160. Now the
left barrel printed to the right of the right barrel. In
other words the barrels “crossed over”. According
to Graeme Wright the ammunition was to fast. So I
reduced the load to 112.1 grains – and bingo, both
barrel shot perfectly together. (See picture). (Scale
on the left side is in centimetre, 1 cm = .39 inches)
L1 and R1 are the results of the first two shots from
the left and right barrel, L2 and R2 are third and
fourth shot immediately after L1 and R1.
One week later I tried this load again; and the results
were sensational! However, one word of caution:
since double rifles can act very temperamentally we
have to assume that other S2 with this load may not
shoot equally well. If you would use a scope that is
not so heavy like the Leupold or heaver than it, the
S2 might react differently. So I suspect that each S2
owner has to find an optimal load for himself using
the same procedure that I employed. This should be
no problem for hand loaders – but if you use factory
ammo you have to take what they sell. Perhaps one
One week later I tried this load again;
here is the result:
The final step.
The final step of a “Dangerous Game Rifle” test is to
take the gun to Africa and try it out on big game. But
this is another story – to be told in future.
The intrepid Hans
J. Wild is 74 years
old and has been
involved in the
IT industry for 40
years. He is a veteran safari hunter
and has been on
12 African safaris
so far including
safaris to Zimbabwe and Namibia. He plans to continue
his safari career this year…
Hunting Botswana
Hunting
Botswana
with a pocket battleship
Russell Wilkin
I
guess this story starts when Holland &
Holland kindly reminded me that I was approaching 65; I had clocked up 45 years of
service and they wished to thank me in some
way. I was asked if I had any thoughts on
the matter. Frankly, I did not but I thanked
Daryl Greatrex (my MD) and promised to let
him know. However, I soon realised what
I would treasure most would be a special
memory rather than a keepsake, but of
course maintaining a direct link with H&H.
Since my first air rifle, I have favoured hunting with a
rifle, most memorably in Tanzania, which had left me
longing to hunt in Africa again. I had done so in the
hope of taking a Cape buffalo and was lucky enough
to do so. This left me pondering that if I was to
return to Africa for something extra-special then what
would I be looking for? To my mind, hunting in Africa
is synonymous with big game, offering excitement
and notionally some risk to the hunter.
However, having a fine 43” buff rather narrowed the
field until I came to the obvious: an elephant hunt
would surely do the job. Once this seed had been
sown I needed to check with H&H: no problem.
The choice and type of rifle was easy. I have been
involved in the making Holland’s double rifles since
the late 1960’s and used a 500/465 ‘Royal’ in Tanzania. This time I moved up a notch to use a demo
model of a new ‘Round Action’ double in .500/3” Nitro
Express. A veritable pocket battleship of a rifle, and
what better example of first-hand product testing!
Next where to hunt and with whom? For many years
H&H have been attending the annual Safari Club International conventions in either Reno or Las Vegas.
Although these
venues sound
incongruous,
be assured that
these shows
have to seen
to be believed
with hunting
professionals
and their many
clients travelling
from all over
the world to
book hunts with
the gunmakers
hoping to supply some of the
hardware.
Some years
ago Hollands
opened a sporting agency and
quickly established a most successful relationship
with Peter Holbrow, who was organising and guiding predominantly elephant hunts in Botswana’s
Okavango Delta. This was a very fruitful association
with Peter joining us on our booth at SCI. The idea of
hunting for elephant with Peter sounded marvellous.
However such hunting is very special and restricted.
Just as Hollands offer the very finest in guns, so elephant hunting in Botswana also represents about the
best there is. Naturally, and just like Hollands guns,
exclusivity and quality come at hefty cost. To be honest my wishes were more than a little unrealistic.
However situations change. Firstly, the sharp downturn in international business and travel, and then the
unexpected closure of all hunting in the Delta, had
left Peter with a changed situation. Perhaps there
was a way we might hunt together. Never one to
vacillate, Peter struck out and took a lease on two
huge areas in the northeast of Botswana bordering
the Chobe National Park. Peter was back in business and with his generosity, me smashing my piggy
bank, plus H&H’s kind contribution, the trip was on.
We would have eight days hunting elephant, meaning we could undertake a thorough search before
making any decisions and squeezing any triggers.
As is now the case, everywhere travelling with
firearms and ammunition involves volumes of paperwork and a determination not to balk at the many
obstacles. Although airline staff usually wishes to be
helpful, they too are tied and frustrated by the layers
of bureaucracy. To make
matters worse,
the airport authorities have
now ganged
together, levying the shooter with special
firearm handling charges
at every stage
of the journey.
I had four
such stages.
My trip with
British Airways
would be
from London/
Heath Row
to Johannesburg and then
onto Kasane;
returning ex Kasane via Jo’burg to L/HR. This rolled
up neatly to £100 for so-called special security handling. What can you do? Botswana even charges
import tax on the commercial value of the ammunition you take in with you. My request for a refund
10-days later for the unused balance of the twenty
rounds I arrived with was a big mistake, as it only
served to cause the Kasane ‘rebate system’–surely a
joke–to crash without hope of a fix, until I was forced
to run empty-handed for my flight! Looking back, I
am glad I took advice and engaged an agent to clear
the rifle at Jo’burg, as there are anxious moments
before finding your guns in the special firearms
custom post, tucked away in a corner of the terminal
building and which cannot be reached until clearing immigration and regular customs. These are an
anxious moments!
and failure. More on this later.
Peter met me at Kasane with all the necessary
documents and licences needed to clear the various
local hurdles. However, all the botheration was soon
forgotten as we motored off to his camp. The first
order of business, a tour around the spacious and
purposeful camp and introductions to Peter’s marvellous and welcoming staff, to be followed by a truly
excellent dinner and an early night in readiness for
the days to come. Throughout my stay all the staff
helped to increase the enjoyment of my stay with
Peter’s colourful Rastafarian chef excelling himself.
Often extending beyond the horizons, we searched
and explored the vast area for four or five days until
we began to find a pattern of elephant movement.
Whilst we were doing so, I was amazed by the profusion of species that we encountered. I had assumed
that the uninspiring bush offered limited habitat…
wrong! In addition to his elephant quota Peter can
offer much, much more. It is important to mention
that Chobe had experienced exceptional late rains
that meant many pans were still ‘wet’, and crucially
that the trees and shrub were also still in leaf, ensuring that the elephants remained well spread out and
not easy to locate. Much of the vast hunting area
had once been
forests of teak
that had been
cleared of
all but a few
large trees
many years
ago. The
forests are
regenerating
in a random
manner, with
literally millions of shrubs
and saplings
extending for
miles in all
directions.
The elephants
graze on this
young growth
with sufficient
frequency to
cause its re-growth to resemble coppice of about 15
feet in height with the lower leaves and branches
reaching down to knee level. This meant that you
could neither see over, nor peer under them.
My daily routine would be wake-ups at 06:00, breakfast of choice
at 06:30–I soon
copied Peter’s choice of
porridge–and
out of camp by
07:00 prompt
with the morning sky still
pink. (First light
revealed that
a lioness had
walked past my
tent during the
night… moral
being; keep
it zipped up.)
In fact, most
nights the hyenas made quite
a racket wailing
and whooping, no doubt
drawn to the camp by the ripe smells emanating from
the skinning sheds. One night some kudu disturbed
the night, as they sought protection from hyenas,
only to be chased out at dawn by wild dogs. Africa
is very harsh. Each day seemed to pass quickly,
but with ample time to discuss everything relating to
elephants, how they survive, and of course, how best
to hunt them. Peter provided some very useful articles for me to digest illustrating the physiology of an
elephant and what must be done to ensure a 100%
successful outcome. I dutifully re-read them every
day, and Peter added much of his 30-years of experience to help me achieve the desired outcome. It is
worth emphasising that things can go awry suddenly
when stalking up very close to these huge beasts,
therefore having a prepared drill of ‘what to do next’
may prove to be the telling factor between success
The food consumption of elephants is huge requiring them to feed some18-hours a day, however I
was not aware that they must also drink with near
equal frequency, commonly travelling long distances
to find water and then retracing their steps in an
almost daily pattern. From time to time we dragged
some branches behind the hunting wagon to clear
old spoor marks so that when returning we knew that
any new marks were fresh. Occasionally one of our
trackers would shin up a tree to spy the land, but
mostly it was down to hours of searching for spoor in
the sand, making an educated guess on their freshJULY 2010 AFRICAN EXPEDITION MAGAZINE | 39
ness (very clever), determining the direction of the
wind, and then to start walking.
Commonly, the spoor faded as elephants often keep
moving whilst
grazing, but
managing a
faster pace
than you can
keep up with.
Likewise the
copious quantities of dung,
sometimes
huge in diameter, fuels
expectations,
only to become
less interesting as the flies
colonise it as
it cools and
dries. But,
it’s not always
disappointment
for as the sun
gets hotter the
elephants eventually begin to slow and seek deeper
shade.
I guess over
the first six
days we
made several
close-in stalks
to 20 yards
and less.
This is when
the fun really
starts. Needless to say,
the very first
time you start
to get close
to hopefully
unaware elephants, your
own senses
become
enhanced–
a reaction
that must be primeval. The closer you approach the
elephants the more exiting it becomes, much heightened by the sounds of breaking branches, their deep
stomach rumbles, and the whoosh of exhalation as
they fling sand across their backs. However, getting
close does not always mean a clearer view, as the
biggest surprise is that the nearer you are in heavy
cover, the more
their features
merge into
a huge and
amorphous
mass with
often only the
flapping of the
ears indicating
which end is
the head. The
brilliant sunlight streams
through the
leaves and
branches to
produce amazingly effective
camouflage,
and pools of
near black
shade under
the larger
trees. (See the
photos). The
dense vegetation continued to
be a considerable hindrance
but conversely
it was also
very helpful
when needing
to conceal our
advance. However, the noncontact stalks
we made taught
me lots…
Male elephants
are usually
found in small
groups often a
little separated
and out of sight
of each other
but remaining
alert, meaning that in time you will be discovered.
On one such occasion, we experienced a spectacular threat by a big bull, his trunk fully raised, shaking
his head, and flapping his ears, and taking a token
few steps towards us. At Peter’s command we held
our ground–although admittedly with rifles at the
ready. The bull stopped, appearing to take stock of
the situation he might be getting into, and then spun
round and stampeded off with his mates. (Peter had
rejected the tusks). It’s so difficult to convey just how
big the older bulls are when you’re close and on foot.
When stalking, our party always numbered six.
Firstly, Peter’s tracker and his number two, then
Peter and myself–the only ones with rifles–followed
at the rear by a Wildlife Service Game Scout, and
lastly a representative of the local Community Trust.
The observers are charged with ensuring that everybody keeps to the rules. A day or so after the mock
charge, we encountered yet another typical all-bull
group at close quarters, which resulted in a more
scary threat when we were spotted by an immature–
but big enough–bull which advanced towards us
quite rapidly, forcing us to back-off sharply with rifles
ready and sending our wildlife scout running off.
Whilst all this was going on, I noted the grin on Pe42 | AFRICAN EXPEDITION MAGAZINE JULY 2010
ter’s face indicating that after 30-years in the bush he
still enjoys every moment of close contact with these
magnificent creatures. However, the majority of the
fully grown bulls that we spied or stalked proved to
have only one tusk, or one tusk good but with the
other broken, or simply ‘not worth taking’. Although
we were not after the ultimate trophy, nice tusks were
on the wish-list. No problem; we had ‘plenty of time’.
However, being selective meant still clean barrels
after six of the eight hunting days, suggesting that
perhaps it might be prudent to be less selective on
day seven.
Elephants have a very acute sense of smell on which
they rely heavily. If one of a group gets even a slight
whiff of you, most likely it will raise its trunk to confirm that something is amiss and then flee, causing
the rest of the group to follow in considerable haste.
Their sense of hearing, when they pause and stop
crunching up branches, seems normal but their eyesight is evidently less so. Therefore our tracker, who
is either smoking or using a fine-dust puffer, checks
our ‘wind’ every few yards and moves forward cau-
tiously. The gentle breeze seems to swirl unpredictably as the temperature climbs and the elephants
seek deeper shade. (See the shadows falling on me
whilst sitting on and holding his tail.) When creeping up close, your responsibility is to follow your PH
and tread with great care so as not to snap the tinder
dry twigs and leaf-litter. This is not easy. From time
to time an elephant may stop feeding, as if to take
a careful look around itself. Suddenly all goes very
quiet often revealing the presence of others in the
vicinity. At this point the only thing to do is stand
motionless, but if the elephants eventually resume
feeding, all is well. It’s very exciting.
Mindful of only two days left, we were off and out of
camp for day seven at 06:30 with the sky still barely
light, and with my breath steaming in the surprisingly
cold air. As if predestined, the first spoor we spotted crossing a clear sandy area looked very new,
definitely all males with at least one being a good
size. Our tracker went forward into the undergrowth
re-emerging quickly with good news. He had found
fresh dung and several green leaves on the ground
with one leaf fragment still wet with saliva: elephants
commonly spill a few leaves as they browse. Off
with the warm fleece, on with the cartridge belt, don’t
forget bino’s (an essential aid for peering through the
shadows), camera, hat, get ready (i.e. take a pee),
rifle out of its sleeve, load up and go. This time a relatively short stalk got us in on three bulls. As usual,
one was immature, one average, the third very large.
The big bull eventually showing us his two chunky
and decently matched tusks. The decision was soon
made: this was to be it. As on previous occasions
the cover was very dense ‘coppice’ that forced us to
close to about 15 yards for a careful look, but he was
not presenting a side brain shot as he was slightly
in front of us and slowly feeding and circling to his
right. We followed, keeping station with his left hip
as best we could, until we were eventually forced to
stop when our wind must have shifted and alerted
the young bull which raised its trunk for a better sniff.
We stood stock still for what seemed minutes until
the young bull
relaxed…
However at
this moment
our big bull
suddenly
swivelled
nearly180°,
firstly to face
us, and then
began to
move towards
us, but with a
clear view of
his forehead
obscured by
brush and
vegetation.
This was not
what we had
planned. He
was now a
towering dark
mass. I caught a glimpse of an eye, took aim and
fired through the brush at less than 15-yards. On
the booming report of the 500, the bull reared but did
not collapse, instead spinning away to start a headlong run in pursuit of the other two bulls. Just as
instructed by Peter ‘in case of’’, I rapidly touched off
the second barrel aiming behind his ribs, angling the
large bullet forward, seeking to penetrate the heart,
lungs and arteries.
The three bulls disappeared rapidly in a cloud of dust
with the sound of their escape fading rapidly. Peter,
who had been a few paces to my right when we were
all forced to freeze, had put in a couple of .470s with
his lovely Westley double immediately after I fired
my second barrel–the first a solid hit, the second not
known. Our trackers picked up blood spots within
a few metres that rapidly increased to a copious
quantity–only to appear to stop suddenly. OK, relax
a little, it had only changed direction. A few yards
on and our tracker crouched and pointed through
the undergrowth to a very large indistinct shape on
the sand. He was down and motionless. We approached carefully, but it soon became evident that
he was stone dead. Not quite a classic kill, but all
was well in the end. As they say ‘he’s in the salt’.
If ever there was doubt about the efficacy of a big
double rifle, this was surely the perfect answer and
a vivid example of what they can do in a pressured
situation. The crashing run that we had heard fading
into the distance had obviously been the other two
bulls. My first
shot had been
misdirected
to the left–I
thought he was
slightly angled
to my right: he
was not–and
I was also too
high. At such
close range I
should have
aimed below the
line of the eyes
as the brain is
way back and
quite low in the
massive head.
The bullet
had smashed
straight through
the top of his
skull–no wonder
it reared up as if to collapse backwards. As to my
second shot I have seen many beasts sprint off in
a death rush with their hearts completely destroyed
and then suddenly collapse stone dead. My bull had
done similar. The slaps on my back, the handshakes,
and the congratulations all went a little unappreciated
as I was somewhat dazed with what had happened
in the last few minutes.
Lucky for us, the bull had fallen in a relatively clear
area, reducing the work to clear a large working
area, for the carcass would be butchered for its meat
where it lay as tons of elephant cannot be moved
easily. It was interesting to note the care the guys
took when chopping down saplings so as not to leave
dangerous spear-tips just waiting to be trodden on.
As luck would have it, we were still within a few miles
of our camp and only an hour or two from the village that was next up on the meat distribution roster.
Three hours later, we had Peter’s camp skinners plus
a tractor and trailer full of helping hands. During the
wait, we started taking photographs whilst already
under the watchful eyes of the first ambulance-chasing vultures. Meanwhile Peter and the two ‘monitors’
began filling in forms, entering the date, the time and
GPS co-ordinates, the shooter, the rifle, the shots
fired, the hunting licence reference, and much more.
All these details would establish my title to the trophies so that they could be legitimised and shipped
home at a later date. It is essential that the bona fide
of the ivory is established for the grant and issue of a
CITES permit, and also to satisfy the various veterinary services in Botswana, South Africa, and the UK
that the trophies have been dipped and examined in
accordance with various health protocols.
Having selected the pieces I wished to keep, it was
Peter’s skinners who were the first to start and to
secure the trophies. Naturally I chose the tusks, both
with damaged tips but thick–typical of the area–and
probably quite heavy, then the tail and one lower
foreleg would suffice, removing the latter requiring
many blows with a heavy axe. The bull was huge
and in no need of trick photography to enhance his
bulk. His well-worn molar teeth, the battered tail,
and wear to the soles of his feet indicated he was
getting on in years. The huge muscular trunk, requiring at least two men to lift it, was quickly removed
and the skinning commenced. There is nothing
romantic about this process with the most effective
tools being box-cutters, which penetrated the hide
and fatty tissue to enable the first giant skin flaps to
be grasped and teased away from the flesh below.
Working in three-man teams on different areas of the
carcass, favoured joints, or simply 15-20kg lumps of
meat, were detached and loaded in the trailer. The
work was kept up until one side of the carcass was
picked clean, requiring the tractor and chains to roll
it over for the process to be repeated on the other
side. Meanwhile the vultures, now in their dozens,
gathered and wheeled high above. The head was
skinned and detached and taken to our camp to be
buried in an earth pit leaving only the tusks protruding. Decomposition only takes a few days in the
heat, allowing the tusks to come free from the skull
avoiding possible damage by attempting to chop
them free.
To satisfy my curiosity I requested the heart be
removed. It was truly colossal, all solid muscle, and
roughly the size of a man’s torso. The arteries are
significantly larger than a hose on a petrol pump and
the whole thing is heavy enough to make it quite difficult to lift. Other than the feet and lower legs, which
are all bone and ligaments, there only remained the
ribcage and abdomen which being full of chewed up
wood was left for nature’s clean-up squad to take
over. Some of the choicer cuts went back to our
camp, with the large trailer full of what is very lean
meat being taken away and distributed to
the local villagers. Most of the meat is sliced
into long strips, heavily seasoned and made
into biltong for future use. Still the vultures
kept coming: they would wait...
Later that evening and in the days that followed, I went over the crucial last minutes
before taking the first shot. Peter had, of
course, been absolutely correct in planning
for a side-on shot where the distinct features
of the eye, the ear-hole and the cheekbone
serve as constant reference points that do
not change regardless of how the elephant
happens to be carrying its head. Obviously,
the point of aim for a frontal shot needs to be
dead centre, but the angle upwards varies
considerably with the attitude of the head,
particularly when so close. I was sure that
the elephant had sensed our presence after
it turned towards us and began advancing.
Peter said afterwards that it probably had
not picked us up but would have done so,
at most in another step or two. I guess that
had I waited just a second or two longer, or
perhaps moved a pace to my right to obtain
a clearer shot through the twigs and leaves,
I may have had a better picture of the entire
forehead. I will never know, but next time ...
Russel joined H&H
in 1963 as a mature
trainee where his
maths and physics
skills accelerated his
progress to managing manufacture
and progressing to
Director of Gunmaking. He has always
been a proud man to state his trade
Kayak
Sailie
Brian Jacob
I
t was the perfect place: Ponta Malongane
Mozambique, a spectacular sunset and
great live African music - and the story of a
once-in-a-lifetime fish.
Piet Botha (son of Pik) and his band “Jack Hammer”, started playing their relaxed African music at
sunset on the beach. They carried on well into the
night marking the start of a four-day music festival
called “STRAB” - 30 of Southern Africa’s best and
up and coming bands.
But for us diehard fishermen, STRAB was only an
added bonus in this already perfect setting.
Ponta Malongane is one bay north of the southern
tip of Mozambique, which is Ponta do Oura.
The launch at Malongane is slightly trickier than D Oura but is a
more popular fishing destination because of the numerous reefs in
the bay.
Traditionally kayak fishing tactics have involved trolling artificials
as fast as possible, or slower trolling or drifting baits. Recently
vertical jigging has become more possible for us paddlers. We had
planned to jig on a reef called Cloud Break, which is 2.8km offshore and goes from 32m down to 41m.
Of course, in our small, specialised craft it was all dependant on
the weather.
The jigging lures we used were 1.5 ounce to 3 ounce Berkley Nitro
jig heads accompanied by 5 or 7inch Berkley soft baits, as well as
bucktails and the very new squid jigs.
On our 1st launch the weather was immaculate and this allowed
us to explore the deeper reefs extensively. It was not long and
Derek, the wetbiker in our party was stuck into something solid.
He was using light tackle, and after a 30 minute battle landed a
stunning Ignobilis of 13 to 15kg. His day and week were made!
Between the 3 kayakers out there we only managed a few bottoms, which was rather disappointing.
The second day and we were on the water before sunlight. We
trolled articficials straight to the same reef, without success. The
westerly was blowing and with it us off the outside of the reef. So
after 4 or 5 downs with your jig, you would have to paddle toward
the shore and back onto the reef. Again we only got some stunning swallowtail rockcods.
After 3 hours of hard work against the wind we decided to put
2 baits out and head out to shallow water. My plan was to pull
a mackerel behind a pink skirt with a baitswinner and a sardine
behind a pearly duster on the top. As expected, within seconds of
putting the sardine out, the ever-present Remora took it.
I rebaited, got some distance between me and the “suckers” and
let my lure out again. To my disgust another “tekkiekop” ate my
last sardine. So my mackerel was to swim solo back to land.
With the figures on the beach growing ever clearer, I started to
plan my my beaching, but the great blue ocean had other plans.
Loud splashing behind my kayak, and my 6 foot 6 Ugly stick is
doing a frantic dance! I looked back and something with a bill was
viciously shaking its head above the water. I accelerated by giving 5 deep dug strokes, hoping that this time the hooks would set
properly. This time they did, and my Penn Torque 200 confirmed
this when my 30-pound big game started stripping off at blinding
speed.
After a surging run, the fish came back to the surface to do a
majestic tail walk. When my adrenalin pumps I loose track of time
and the tailwalk felt like 10 minutes - but was probably only 30
seconds.
It dived back into the water and this time its run was straight to50 | AFRICAN EXPEDITION MAGAZINE JULY 2010
wards me.
For a split second the headline for the next day’s
newspaper flashed in my brain. “Kayaker impaled by
angry billfish”.
Fortunately the Toque’s high cranking speed got me
back into contact with the beast.
My fishing partner, Rudolf, was about a kilometre
away from me, being certain that I wanted to release
this fish if I landed it, I shouted and waved like my
life depended on it. Rudolf put some back into his
strokes and the fish pulled me slightly north and then
out towards Rudolf.
“I saw something jumping, is it a Dorado?” Rudolf
asked me. “It’s a Sailie”, I screamed, “Please come
get my camera”.
So like a professional photographer and a true fishing partner, Rudolf paddled after me while the fish
towed me around.
After some serious pulling on the fish, I got my first
glimpse of it. “Is it a sailie?” The sail was not up - but
this was a big boy. It might even be a small marlin.
After giving me a real run for my money this beautiful
creature came up glided next to my kayak.
Using my cap to grab its bill, it gave 2 more tired
shakes of its long body, before I rested its head on
my lap.
The perfect hook up, the 4x strong treble in the top
of its mouth and the single in the top of its bill. For
once everything had gone right on that big fish, and it
didn’t get away.
After removing the hooks and a couple of photos, I
put his big eye back into the water world it knows.
I used its massive sail to turn it upright and straight
away it started to swim again. I pulled it forward and
let it go.
The magnificent fish was free and would live to fight
again!
Thanks to STRAB, to our team “Hunter Ski” from
campsite 11, to Ponta Malongane and mostly to the
great God up above, for giving me this experience I
will never forget!
Brian Jacob is a passionate kayak fisherman
and owner of Hunter Ski
kayaks. He has been
fishing from the day he
could walk and has not
stopped since. The new
challenge of fishing from
a kayak has inspired him to new heights,
“there is nothing quite as rewarding as
landing a fish from a kayak, totally solo!”
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Take a Rest
Koos Barnard
S
hooting accurately under field conditions can be a challenge. It is fairly easy to cleanly “kill” a paper target on the
shooting range because you are relaxed, have a stable shooting bench and the targets wait, obligingly and motionless to
be perforated.
Although it is generally agreed that hunters should use some kind of
support for the rifle when they shoot, many do not give this issue much
thought – until they actually need a rest. Nature provides anthills, branches and big rocks, etc but these are often not in the right place or too high,
low or just too awkward to use, when you need them. One of the biggest
problems with natural rests is that many hunters are not accustomed to
using them and are therefore so uncomfortable when doing so, that they
take too long to settle in and get a shot off.
To get familiar with and use natural rests with confidence you have to
use them during practice sessions. Unfortunately shooting ranges do not
have conveniently placed natural rests as shooting aids but where there
is a will, there is a way. Most of us have shrubs and trees in our gardens
and these can be used during dry-firing sessions. Just make sure you
are out of the public eye when practising in your back yard.
When hunting in dense African bushveld or even in the more open
savannahs, the hunter is more often than not obliged to take shots from
the standing position because long grass and other vegetation make it
impossible to use the more stable sitting position. For that reason, homeor factory-made bi- or tripod “shooting sticks” are very handy. The most
versatile, lightweight rests are factory-made aluminium ones with adjustable legs which make them suitable for standing kneeling and sitting
shots. Stoney Point’s tripod and the BOG-PODS from BOGgear have
three-section telescoping legs that rank among the best available today.
Unfortunately these tripods are quite expensive.
Some people prefer to use bipods from the standing
position but a tripod is more stable and can stand
on its own. I have seen many types of homemade
shooting sticks
fashioned from
wooden dowels, bamboo,
broom sticks
and aluminium
tubing. Any
material that
is strong and
stable enough
will do and if
you have to
carry the sticks
yourself weight
is an important
consideration.
I always hunt
on my own
and therefore
have to carry
whatever I
use in the veld
myself. Broom sticks are too heavy so DIY people
should use bamboo, wooden dowels or aluminium
tubing. Such
homemade
shooting sticks
normally are
not adjustable
for length and
it is important
to use material
that provides
enough stability
when using the
sticks from the
sitting position.
The legs are
normally bound
together by
inner tubing or
joined by bolts
and nuts and
the rifle is then
rested in the
web or wedge
that is created where the
legs are joined. Factory-made shooting sticks have
purpose-made, user-friendly wedges (see picture).
However, when the hunter is sitting, he uses only
one of the legs and uses his hand to support the
rifle. If the leg is too thin it will be wobbly (not sturdy
enough) and accurate shooting off it will be difficult.
Many
overseas
hunters
who come
to Africa
have never used
a tri- or
bipod from
the standing position and
a good
number
of them
find it very
challenging. However, once
you have
mastered
the shooting sticks you will realise that it is in many
ways better than most natural rests. In the African
bushveld I’d say about 75% or even more shots are
taken from
the standing position (more
shots can
actually be
taken from
the sitting
position
but that
requires
more
movement and
adjusting
the shooting sticks).
Practise
with those
long shooting sticks
until you
are familiar
with them. Hunting in Africa does not always require
bull’s-eye accuracy at long ranges - getting into
position fast and shooting quickly is more often than
not far more important that hitting a small
target. In the African bush a 150 yard shot
is regarded as a long-range shot. If you
can place your shots inside a six inch circle
at that distance form a standing position off
a rest you will be OK.
In more open country shooting distances
are often longer, especially if you go after
plains game such as springbuck or blesbuck or mountain dwellers such as the
elusive vaal rhebok. For longer shots one
would preferably use the sitting or even
the prone position. A Harris or similar bipod
that attaches to the fore-end of the rifle is
a good option. The biggest problem with
such a bipod is that it makes the rifle bulky
and adds weight. For those who ambush
game and stay stationary for long periods
a heavy, bulky rifle is not a problem, but
walk-and-stalk hunters find such rifles
awkward and a schlep to carry. Attaching
a bipod can also make your rifle shoot to
a different point of impact (usually lower).
I have found that the shorter, lightweight
bipods meant for prone shooting (the ones
that adjust from say six to 13”) normally
do not have an influence on the point of
impact. The longer, heavier ones (adjustable from about 13 to 27”) which are used
when shooting from the sitting position
often cause rifles to shoot lower when they
are attached because they add weight to
the fore-end. Always sight your rifle in with
the bipod attached.
For shooting from the sitting position I
carry Stoneypoint’s Safari Stix, a very lightweight, collapsible bipod. When folded up
it rides comfortably in its pouch on my belt.
Whenever I hunt in terrain that allows the
use of the prone position I carry a second
short bipod that rides in the same pouch.
The legs of this bipod are 36cm (just over
14”) in length and I have bolted them
together about four inches from the top. A
spacer between the legs where they hinge
allowed me to pad the V-rest. When using
this bipod the non-shooting arm provides a
third leg and the elbow acts as the third anchor point. I added a retaining string to this
short bipod to prevent the legs from opening wider than my preferred position. That
also negates the necessity of holding onto
the bipod where it hinges with the non-
shooting hand to control the leg positions.
When I hunt in terrain where standing and
sitting shots are the norm, I carry long
sticks and my collapsible bipod on my belt.
In open country where sitting and/or prone
shots are the norm, I carry the lightweight
sitting and prone bipods in my belt pouch.
With these combinations I have the right
shooting sticks for any situation at hand.
I often shoot from the sitting position over
sticks because it provides a stable platform. Used correctly it elevates the shooter
above fairly tall grass. I always sit flat on
my bum and face away from the target at
an angle of between 30 to 45 degrees. At
times I draw both my knees up and either
keep my feet flat on the ground or dig my
heels in while resting my elbows on my
knees with the non-shooting hand holding
the bipod. My favourite position, however,
is to draw up only my right knee and, with
my foot flat on the ground, rest the elbow
of my right arm (my shooting hand) on it
while my left leg is held flat on the ground.
I can sit very long in that position without
getting tired and putting tension on my leg
muscles. When your muscles get tense
you start to shake. To get into a comfortable sitting position quickly, settle down
and shoot is not so easy – you need to
be fairly flexible and you must know in an
instant what position you are going to use.
That only comes with regular practice.
I have, for some reason never felt comfortable and very stable when using the
kneeling position (with or without shooting
sticks) and never attempt it. Find out what
position your body is comfortable with and
then practice regularly.
I have basically given up using my rifle
sling for steady aiming because it really
only works well when you shoot from the
prone position and only when it has been
modified to resemble a target or deliberate sling. A target sling has a single loop
that fits around the upper left arm. With
the sling correctly adjusted for length and
in place around the upper arm, grab the
fore-end and move the hand forwards or
back to remove any slack. Increasing the
angle between the biceps and the forearm
- pushing the forearm away from the body
– allows the shooter to put the right amount of tension on the sling. The leverage afforded by your arm
will brace the rifle in place.
Proper target slings are of course useless for carrying because they only attach to the rifle at one point.
There are, however, carry slings on the market with
integral, fully adjustable loops. With the loop correctly
adjusted for length you simply slip your arm through
it in the same way as you would a target sling. In-
stead of buying one I made my own from leather and
it works just fine. Of the thousands of animals I had
shot, I can probably count the times when I had used
a sling on one hand.
Take a rest whenever you can but remember; if you
really want to get the most from a shooting rest,
practice by using different kinds of rests from a variety of shooting positions.
Koos Barnard is
an ex-professional
hunter and a full
time gun writer,
having published
hundreds of articles. He was born
in Namibia and
has been a keen
hunter since his
youth.
Reloading the
303 BRITISH
Keeping the
legend alive
Terry Blauwkamp
M
y first experience with the British .303
was on a recent to trip to South Africa,
where the ranch we were hunting on had one
with a problem. The “problem” they said,
was that it didn’t pattern so well anymore. I
always figured rifles grouped, and shotguns
patterned.
So, we took this rifle to the range and they were right,
it did indeed pattern. So back at the house, I went to
work on it. First, I soaked the bore in bore cleaner for
a while, and then I tried to get a bore brush down it.
“Tried” is the correct word, as I had to resort to a worn
out .30 cal brush for the first few passes, followed by
a new .303 brush.
I can see already that the biggest problem was a
dirty and fouled barrel. After a couple more hours of
soaking and brushing, things were going much better. Now, I gave it 50 strokes of Remington 40X bore
cleaner which has a mild abrasive in it.
By golly, there really is rifling in the bore and it does
not look too bad! Next, I took a good look at the
muzzle’s crown, and decided that needed fixing too.
I always carry my Brownell’s crowning tools with me,
as there always seems to be a rifle that needs work.
If a rifle won’t group well, quite often it is just the
crown that needs repair.
The next step was to replace the old scope that was
on there. It looked like something left over from the
Boer War had ended up on this rifle.
After a bit of undoing, we finally got the scope rings
loose and replaced it with a 4X Leupold that I had
brought along as a spare. We might as well know
if the scope is also contributing to the poor performance.
Finally, we are ready to take our newly fixed up .303
to the range. All we had for ammo was some military
FMJ, and a few PMP 150 gr. Soft Points. We used
the FMJ to get the scope on the paper, and then
tweaked it in with the PMP’s.
Finally we are ready to really check out our work.
Glory be, it now shot those 150 gr. PMP soft point
into nice 3 shot 1½ groups. This a far cry from what
it was doing, so we surely have improved something.
I like the nostalgia of the .303, as the Boers shot everything in sight with it back in the old days. When I
got home I set about finding a .303 I could play with.
I wanted to use the .303 next year hunting plains
game, and I wanted to have some proper bullets and
loads.
The gun I rounded up came with a very nice Weaver
style one piece base on it, and I attached a Leupold
3-9X compact scope to it. The scope fit perfectly and
I had high hopes of making a deer rifle out of it for
this fall.
The first time I took it out to the range, it ran out of
windage adjustment. I shimmed it and tried it again.
My little shims did the trick, and I got the rifle zeroed
in perfectly. Had I been using a standard size scope,
rather than a compact, I suspect I would have had
enough windage adjustment.
First, I tried some more handloads all with 180 gr
.311 dia Remington RN Core Lokts. The results were
as follows:
All were in R-P cases with CCI 200:
48 gr of AA 4350
42 gr Rel 15
= 2458 fps ¾ “
22 fps ES
group at 50 yards
= 2408 fps 1”
9 fps ES
43 gr IMR 4064
42 gr Ball “C”
= 2486 fps ¾”
= 2451 fps ¾”
“24 fps ES
47 fps ES
I then tried some factory loads:
WW 180 Power = 2409 fps ¾”
Points
Federal 180
= 2441 fps 1”
gr SP
“33 fps ES
“38 fps ES
It sure looks to me like the .303 will nicely do 2400
fps with 180 gr. bullets and will be a fine deer rifle.
The .303 British is very close to the 30-40 Krag, and
a lot closer to the .308 Winchester than I thought,
except it doesn’t operate at as high a pressure as the
.308 does.
I took one case of each caliber and filled it with Ball
C powder, and weighed it to see what the capacity
difference was. The .303 Case held 58.0 gr., the
30-40 Krag held 59.5, and the .308 Win case held 58
gr. just like the .303 did. This tells me, that I can use
30-40 data as .303 data is a bit hard to come by.
The next “trick” I had up my sleeve, was to rethroat
the barrel, as it has surely seen a lot of use. I secured a .303 throater from Dave Manson Reamers,
www.mansonreamers.com and the results were
great. Simply put, I now can shoot the same size
groups at 100 yards, which I was shooting at 50 yard
before rethroating it. I only pushed the throat forward
about .025, which was just enough to clean up the
lands.
I had occasion to harvest a nice whitetail deer with
this gun so far, and used a .311 dia 180 gr. Remington RN Core Lokt bullet at 2440 fps. The deer was
facing me at about 75 yards, and the bullet struck
him squarely in the brisket, and went right thru the
heart and lodged somewhere behind that. The buck
dropped right where he stood like he had been hit
with a .300 Weatherby. He never knew the difference. The heart had a huge hole through it, and
internal damage was extensive. Maybe Remington’s
ad is correct when it says their Core Lokts are the
“Deadliest mushroom in the woods”.
If you would care to share any of your experiences
with the
.303 or have
Terry Blauwkamp is
a lifelong hunter and
questions,
a veteran of many
feel free to
African safaris. His
write anyreloading expertise
time to tbextends beyond the
lauwkamp@
standard American
calibers to metric
superiorand classic African
sales.com
calibers.
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Don’t you just hate it when large international magazines refuse to publish
the work of budding new authors? “Give us a list of where your articles
were published and we will consider you.” they write in their demoralising
emails.
Everybody has to start somewhere. Talk about Catch 22.
Well, enough is enough. We feel rookie writers need to get a chance to
strut their stuff, so we negotiated with The Ultimate Field Guide to sponsor
a Rookie Writer article in our next couple of issues to help those authors
who are not famous - yet.
So here it is - the first Rookie Writer article. Read them and vote for your
favorite.
You may just help to launch the next Wilbur Smith on a writing career.
Rookie
Writers
We never knew there were so many budding authors out there. The overwhelming response from the rookies made it clear: they want to be read!
They may be new to the writing world, but they are gutsy and they can
write.
And now your article can be read too. If you had an African experience, put
it on paper and we will publish it free of charge.
Come on - you never know whether you can write until you try!
Your article will be judged by fellow African hunters and adventurers like
yourself who have no motivation but to tell it like it is and you will get the
truth about if you really can write.
Here are this issues’ rookie articles.
Be sure to vote for them
The
Journeyman
Leon-David Viljoen
W
e all journey through life, for it is life that presents to us
a constant process of traveling from one goal onto the
next. For some the journey is easy and the road map through
the journey clearly defined, for others the map has images and
keys missing and the journey itself is cumbersome and downright difficult.
As an African, conservationist, hunter and businessman I have learned
to travel with my senses. In this culturally rich and diversified continent I
have learned to use the gift of sight to see the ruby-red sunsets against
the thorn tree lined horizon, I have smelled the first heavy raindrops that
splatter on the sun baked earth in the late summer months and have I felt
the misery that poverty and hunger can bring to the soul of all humanity
once they have lost hope and the will to live. I have also experienced
the emotions that laughter can bring to a country rich in eleven different
languages and have seen the joy of children that run endlessly with a
football at their feet, oblivious of the journey that they still have to travel
through life. We live with the fickleness of nature as God has blessed
this continent with abundance as well as scarcity as He has clearly
defined Himself as the beacon that we have to travel toward. We have
learned to use nature as well as to protect her resources for generations
that have to follow.
I have used this rather long-winded opening parable
to illustrate what a privilege it is to enjoy the journey
of life. To a large degree we travel the journey alone
and in isolation as we only have ourselves to provide
the impetus to get going. In my travels abroad I have
seen a similarity in how we as humans venture on
the life passage as we all recognize the importance
of family, community and friends in our life journey.
Some of us are however not so privilege to have a
long life journey and we only experience these individuals for a fleeting moment as they drift in and out
of our own lives. I am writing this short pre-journey
entry about a young man I have not yet met, but who
has already influenced the way that I look at life and
the steps that lay ahead. This young man from a
town called Manassa, Southern Colorado was sent
my way through the Hunt of a Lifetime Foundation,
a non-profit organization established to make the
dreams of young terminally ill patients come true.
Steeped in a history of success and overcoming the
odds, Tina Pattison and her Foundation had to battle
prejudice, disbelief and stubbornness to grant her
own son, Matt his dying wish to hunt. You can follow
the trails and tribulations of the Foundation on their
website at www.huntofalifetime.org. I do not know
to what degree Jonathan Rodriguez has been struck
by his illness nor do I know of the battles that he has
fought to date or the battles that he still has to face.
What I do know is that in the plentiful blessings that
I have received, I have also been given the opportunity to give back.
I have also been in the privileged position to have
joined a young man, sponsored by the men and
women behind the Foundation, previously on a
journey to Africa. This young man not only caught my
attention but left a lasting imprint on me. I tried to
construct my thoughts down after our experience and
the following is a brief extract of that experience and
the journey I managed to share.
“I recently penned a few thoughts on what it takes
to be a child of Africa. The thoughts and emotions
were formulated away from the rhetoric of politics
and race, as I deliberately avoided getting caught in
a topical debate that I do not enjoy. My thoughts and
emotions were rather captured by an experience in
July 2004 that not only has left an imprint on my soul,
but also has left me feeling a better person.
The story that I am narrating had its beginnings in a
rural hospital in Greybull, Wyoming. A remarkable
young man, Nick DeWitt, has been battling leukemia
for the last 13 years. A hunter in soul and body, he
knew the rigors of fighting for what he wants, in his
case it was a basic and simplistic quest - a normal
day away from the smells and sounds of an intensive care unit. Our paths were about to cross away
from that hospital, and together we were to rekindle
the feeling that hunt unleashes within our soul. This
story is an ode to courage and triumph.
I am a child of Africa. Her mountains, open veld,
savanna’s and rugged bush remain an integral part
of who I am. The continent has shaped me and has
left me with believing that there is a bit of Africa in
every one of us. We all long to see the unspoiled,
uncomplicated world where nature remains supreme.
It was with this philosophy in mind that I started the
Hunting Network two years ago. My business philosophy is based on a realization of the privileged
position that I have to be part of one of the most
misunderstood of continents on the one hand, and
our ability to share our world with a number of sportsmen and hunters from all corners of the globe on the
other. A few months ago I made contact with a nonprofit organization called Hunt of a Lifetime. Through
our initial discussions and long-distance telephone
calls we talked about sharing the vision of making
near-impossible dreams a reality. I was mildly surprised when I received a phone call during May 2004
in which I was asked to facilitate and arrange a hunt
for a young man from Wyoming.
To me, the name Nick Dewitt did not say much, and
at first he was just another client on our books. However with the first of our e-mails exchanged between
Nick and myself, I came to realize that when life has
dealt you a few dud cards, you need to play your
hand when the cards have fallen in your favor. I
came to realize that this was no ordinary young man,
and after sitting down with my colleague, friend and
professional hunter of the Hunting Network, Glaeser
Conradie, we decided that we need to pull out all
stops to make this African Safari truly a hunt of a lifetime. The wheels were set in motion and we started
wheeling and dealing to get a representative package for Nick going. The odd phone call here and
the cashing in on long-overdue favors resulted in a
structured plains package of game that we believed
would provide Nick with a taste and feel for Africa.
It was with great anticipation that we awaited the arrival of the Dewitt family into Cape Town International
Airport. After the usual customs and immigration
paperwork we managed to get the all settled for their
first night in Africa. I met Nick at the guesthouse in
the university town of Stellenbosch, and I was immediately taken back by his size. He was a small compact young man and I thought that there is no way
that he could be 18 years old. I was again struck by his gentleness,
sincerity and the appreciation expressed, while I kept on thinking that I
was the one who had to say thank you for providing us with an opportunity to show him our world. We talked about the hunt, the animals
and the small things in life, and it was with these thoughts that I sent
them in the care of my colleague to the hunting concession. I cannot
write about the hunt itself as I was not the one who accompanied Nick.
Unfair work pressure and deadlines to get a project completed meant
that my colleague had to do the hard work in the field.
As I stated in my opening line, I am a child of Africa and I know that in
order to hunt the plains you need to be strong in mind and body. Nick
rose to the challenge, and listening to the stories of his training on the
wrestling mat, I had no illusions that he took to the African hunt with
the same ease that he would face an opponent on the mat.
Hunting the Karoo you need to be sure of shot placement and distance. A good guide will be able to keep the guessing work to the
minimum, but with the combination of low shrub and keen eyesight the
game will maintain the advantage of the hunter. The cold winter mornings and hot midday sun all add to the mix of the hunt, Springbok used
to roam the plains in numbers over one million, and choosing a big
male does take time and patience. Impala on the other hand are skittish in behavior and the slightest of noises and movement will cause
them to dart away from perceived danger.
We knew that this is the basis of what his memories of the hunt would
be and we hoped that the challenge will be part of those memories. A
telephone call during the hunt confirmed the trust that I had in Nick’s
prowess in the hunt. Nick soon bagged all his trophies with the exception of a Kudu. Somehow the old master of the thorn thickets did not
present an opportunity for a clean shot and we decided to let the Kudu
be this time around, and rather, to focus our attention on a Black Wildebeest (Gnu). It was an inspired choice as a well-placed shot meant
that Nick is now the proud owner of one of the biggest trophy bulls
ever shot on the Karoo plains. We are still awaiting the official results
from the Rowland Ward Guild, but judged on measurements made in
the veld Nick’s trophy cabinet can be dusted to make provision for a
record.
Reaching records and new highs tend to be part of his remarkable
life. I could go on and on writing about him, but it would not do his life
or the love of his parents any justice. I am struggling to find words
that will outline my feelings as I reflect back on a memorable experience of meeting a fighter and a companion. I have four kids of my
own and they are blessed with good health. Looking at Nick I realized
how much I take them for granted. Nick made my think about the gift
of health and for that I am grateful. He might have taken a bit of my
Africa with him, but he has left a lot of him in me.
I salute you my friend.
I need to draw a concluding line in my story. As I have stated in my
opening line we all journey and for some the journey is smooth and
a road well traveled, for others the road has a number of obstacles.
Jonathan, in advance, we are looking forward to the journey. May the
road be smooth.
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A cutting word is worse than a bowstring, a cut may heal, but the cut of
the tongue does not.
A fool looks for dung where the cow
never browsed.
News,
Reviews, and
Press Releases
TACM3 Announces Lightstalker II AL
PALM BAY, FL - TACM3 Inc. announces the release
of its LiteStalker II AL™ flashlight in Mossy Oak® Treestand® camouflage and new
220 Lumen Multi-Function LED
Bulb Module.
Specifically designed by hunters for hunters, the LiteStalker
II AL™ is manufactured in the
USA out of solid bar stock aerospace grade aluminum. Using
state-of-the-art machining processes and equipment,
each LiteStalker II AL™ flashlight is manufactured
with precision tolerances and O-Ring sealed to
prevent water intrusion. Take it from us, this is one
strong flashlight.
The LiteStalker II AL™ is powered by two CR123
3-volt Lithium batteries which provide you, the sportsman in the field, with an unbelievable 220 Lumens of
extremely bright and focused ultra-white LED light.
The LED module is multi-function capable by providing a solid beam of 220 Lumens with the first switch
activation, 220 Lumens strobe with the second push
of the switch and then a 40 Lumens low power solid
beam with a third push. The LiteStalker II AL™ in
our NEW 220 Lumen LED will never leave you in the
dark! (Also available in 105.5 Lumens Xenon lamp)
At approximately 5 1/4 inches in length, extreme light
weight, recessed on-off-momentary push button tail
cap switch, USMC Ka-Bar knife inspired grooved and
diamond cut knurled grip, 10 year battery shelf life
and an average continuous run time of 1.5 hours, the
NEW LED LiteStalker II AL™ flashlight is ready when
you are!
During these financially challenging times, we at
TACM3 Inc. take great pride in offering the world
great products at fair and realistic prices. Paying less
does not mean you’re getting less. Our family owned
and operated company motto has always been
straight forward; Keep it simple and produce durable
products that work. Premium quality, lightweight,
high-intensity flashlights and common sense flashlight mounts for firearms, combined with the worlds
finest camouflage patterns from
Mossy Oak. It doesn’t get any
better than that!
TACM3 produces official licensed products of Mossy
Oak/ Haas Outdoors Inc. Haas
Outdoors Inc. is headquartered
in West Point, Miss., was established in 1986 and is home
of Mossy Oak (www.mossyoak.
com). Mossy Oak specializes in developing and marketing modern camouflage designs for hunters and
outdoorsmen. Mossy Oak patterns can be found on a
multitude of products worldwide. Haas Outdoors Inc.
is the outdoor industry leader in modern camouflage
design, international licensing and marketing. Haas
Outdoors Inc. markets its services and products
under widely recognized brands including: Mossy
Oak, BioLogic, Mossy Oak Productions, Mossy Oak
Interactive, LLC, Nativ Nurseries and Mossy Oak
Properties.
For more info contact: Mark Fell Ph: 321-726-0644
[email protected]
Epic Announces EPIC HD Camera
EPIC, the leader in action sports video cameras,
brings you into the world of YouTube with a self-contained, light weight digital video camera that records
stunning 720P HD (High Definition) Video with crisp
clear audio. Ideal for capturing your hunting, fishing,
shooting and other outdoor activities. Weighing just
three ounces, the New Epic HD can be mounted virtually anywhere for any outdoor activity. The EPIC’s
high resolution HD video delivers high quality footage
for posting online or watching on your TV at home.
The SD compatible memory, with up to 200 minutes
of video at 30 frames per second, along with audio
makes this an ideal tool for capturing those unforgettable experiences. And if that’s not enough, The
EPIC HD doubles as an 8 Mega Pixel camera with
Burst Mode Technology™ for
multiple still images. Optional
waterproof housings and multiple mounting adaptors enable
the user a multitude of applications from mounting high in
the treestand or on your hat,
capture POV footage like never
before.
Epic Features:
●● * HD 1280x720 Digital
Video (total of 3 resolution settings)
●● * H.264 Video Compression
●● * 30 Frames per second
●● * 168 degree wide angle lens
●● * 4x digital zoom
●● * Accepts up to 16GB SD memory cards
●● * 8MP Still Cam with 1-9 Burst Mode
●● * 10-30 second self timer
●● * Audible guide ( can be turned on or off )
●● * Upside Down mode
●● * USB Out
●● * Operated on 3 AAA Batteries (Energizer
Lithium’s included)
MSRP $269
For more information, contact: Stealth Cam, LLC, 3385
Roy Orr Blvd. Grand Prairie, TX 75050, Phone: 877269-8490 www.epicstealthcam.com
IRIDIUM EXPANDS REACH WITH
SOUTH AFRICAN LICENSE
MCLEAN, Va. and JOHANNESBURG – June 22,
2010 – Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM)
announces the establishment of “Iridium South
Africa,” under which Iridium has licenses to operate,
provide and sell mobile satellite services (MSS) in
the country. The authorization was provided by the
Independent Communications Authority of South
Africa (ICASA), the regulator for the South African
communications and broadcasting services. This
authorization enables Iridium partners the ability to
better address the growing government and commercial enterprise market demand with Iridium products,
services and applications in the country.
The Iridium low-Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite constellation provides mobile voice and data commu-
nications over the entire planet,
offering service where no other
means of communication exists.
As a result of the new communications licenses, the government,
business and consumer sectors
in South Africa now have greater
access to the world’s only truly
global MSS.
“Iridium has grown its commercial
service revenues between 2006
and 2009 at a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of more than
27 percent, primarily through the
introduction of new products and
services, attraction of new distribution partners, and
expansion of its geographic sales reach,” said Matt
Desch, CEO, Iridium. “This announcement continues
to demonstrate the demand for Iridium’s MSS around
the globe. South Africa is an important and growing
market that requires Iridium’s broad, reliable, dependable, mobile communications services.”
Iridium anticipates its MSS can be utilized by the
South African government to provide backup communications in urban and rural areas, and in emergency
situations, as is the case in many regions of the
world. Iridium’s global low-latency, two-way machineto-machine (M2M) communications are ideal for
markets such as transportation, logistics, security, oil
and gas, and mining where there are requirements
to deliver continuous, intelligent communications
on valuable assets in real time. In addition, there is
significant demand from global companies looking to
expand their operations in the country.
Iridium voice and data services are particularly ideal
for South Africa because of its coastal access to
the South Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean, as well
as its large rural land mass and significant mining
operations. The country’s established and emerging
industries, growing infrastructure and adventure tourist industry also make Iridium an essential service in
South Africa.
“A satellite communications service such as Iridium’s,
with service covering the entire globe, as well as
all corners of our country, including her shores and
areas that may never be served otherwise by current
service providers, is an enormous development for
South Africa,” said Dr. John K. Nkadimeng, patron of
the John Kgoana Nkadimeng Foundation, and one
of the champions of the liberation struggle for freedom in South Africa. Nkadimeng, along with Nelson
R. Mandela, is one of the original 1956 Treason Trial
anti-apartheid defendants.
In addition to
the existing
partners with
export operations in South Africa, Iridium anticipates opportunities
for its more than 200 global distribution partners to
form new partnerships to deliver a range of innovative voice and data applications that will connect
the South African market to the global reach of the
Iridium network.
Demand for truly global MSS has helped fuel the
company’s international expansion as well as plans
to build its next-generation satellite constellation,
Iridium NEXT. Iridium continues to pursue licenses
in other significant geographical markets, such as
Russia and China, which represent the opportunity
for further expansion of the company’s products and
services.
Nikon Beefs Up Monarch 42mm ATB
No other group of hunting binoculars has such a distinguished record of success or such a large legion
of followers as the Monarch ATB™ Series binoculars.
Nikon is raising the specification bar even higher in
2010, with advanced prism
coating technology previously
found exclusively in its much
higher priced offerings.
The new Monarch ATB 42mm
with Dielectric High-Reflective
Multilayer Prism Coating
features brighter, sharper
colors, as well as crisp and
drastically improved low-light
performance. A new body style
provides unparalleled strength
and ruggedness in a package
that is comfortable to carry all day.
With rugged rubber armor for added durability and a
firm grip even in the worst conditions, Nikon guarantees every ATB to be 100% waterproof and fogproof.
Each is backed by Nikon’s 25 Year Limited Warranty
and No-Fault Repair/Replacement Policy.
The new Monarch ATB 42mm with Dielectric HighReflective Multilayer Prism Coating binocular is available in 8x42, 10x42 and 12x42. It is also available in
Team REALTREE models with the REALTREE APG
HDÒ camouflage pattern. MSRP $279.95-$349.95.
Nikon Inc. is the U.S. distributor of Nikon sports and
recreational optics, world-renowned Nikon 35mm
cameras, digital cameras, speedlights and accessories, Nikkor lenses and electronic imaging products.
For more information on Nikon’s full line of Riflescopes, Binoculars, Spotting Scopes, Fieldscopes
and Laser Rangefinders, contact: Nikon Sport Optics,
1300 Walt Whitman Rd., Melville, NY 11747-3064, or
call 1-800-645-6687www.nikonhunting.com.
SureFire Back to its Roots With
X400TM Weapon Light & Laser Combo
Fountain Valley, CA -- SureFire, LLC, manufacturer
of high-end illumination tools and tactical products,
has announced the release of its long-awaited X400
WeaponLight. The X400 is a rugged LED WeaponLight with a powerful, fully integrated red laser sight.
This is the first new laser product in more than 10
years from the company that manufactured the first
fully integrated small-arms aiming laser thirty years
ago.
The versatile beam and highly visible laser of the
X400 make it an excellent choice for both close- and
longer-range applications. Its solid-state LED, which
has no filament to burn out or break from the effects
of recoil, generates 170 lumens of blinding light and
continues producing tactical-level light (enough to overwhelm
the night-adapted vision of an
aggressor) for 2.4 hours on a
set of batteries. The X400’s Total Internal Reflection (TIR) lens
gathers virtually all of the LED’s
light and forms a tightly focused
beam that reaches far into the
darkness but has enough surround beam to accommodate a
user’s peripheral vision.
At 635 nanometers, the X400’s
laser sight is one of the most powerful available to
the public. Its shorter wavelengths make it nearly
twice as bright as the nearest competitor’s laser
sight, which means it’s more visible to the human eye
and easier to track at longer distances. The X400’s
laser sighting adjustment uses Nylok® screws, which
won’t “back out” or loosen from the effects of recoil,
so it rarely needs to be re-zeroed-even after extended use.
Ambidextrous switching makes it easy to operate
X400 with either hand, and optional remote switching for many weapons offers precise control without
altering your grip on the weapon. The X400 slides
onto most handguns with Universal Standard accessory rails and fits many handguns without rails via a
SureFire rail adapter. It can
also be mounted on long
guns sporting a Mil-Spec
Picatinny rail.
guarantees shooters will always have their dot ready
for action.
Additional features include:
* Anti-reflective coating on
exterior lens
* Waterproof / shockproof /
fogproof performance
A tough, hard-anodized
aerospace-grade aluminum
body protects the X400’s
electronics and a tempered
window offer more of the
same for its TIR lens and
LED. O-ring seals and
gaskets keep out dust, dirt,
propellant residue, and
moisture. MSRP is $460.
For more information call 800-828-8809 or visit www.
surefire.com.
Weaver Adds Red/Green Dot to Optics
Line
ONALASKA, Wisconsin - Weaver® Optics, one of
the most trusted names in optics, rings and bases
and an industry mainstay
for 80 years, welcomes
a new addition to their
comprehensive line of
riflescopes and binoculars. Available now, the
new Red/Green Dot Sight
(MSRP: $307.49) is a
perfect optic for a variety of
shooting applications.
Ideal for turkey and big
game hunts as well as the
fast action of tactical shooting, the Weaver Red/Green
Dot continues the legendary Weaver performance. Backed by Weaver’s 80
years of optics expertise, this new dot complements
Weaver’s existing line of optics and serves as the
perfect choice for both young shooters and seasoned
veterans alike.
Weaver’s new Red/Green Dot is loaded with the
modern advances of today’s premium optics. This
true 1x sight offers five red and five green brightness
settings for various light conditions, four illumination modes and instant, accurate target acquisition.
Removable front sunshade and adjustable rear hood
ensures performance and comfort in all weather
conditions while the spare battery compartment
* Rugged 30mm tube with
one-piece construction
* Adjustments are 1 MOA
and parallax is set for
50-yards
* Four different illumination modes: Micro dot, dot,
circle and circle with dot
* Integral adjustable mounting system mounts to a
Weaver® Base
For more information and product images, visit www.
weaveroptics.com.
Sharkfin Spinning Reel Designed for
More Distance,
Fewer Tangles
definite sound of friction.
The Sharkfin “fins” are
tapered underneath much
like the wing of an airplane. So as the line exits
the spool during the cast
there is the least amount
of friction on the line as
possible. Line exiting the
Sharkfin spool during
casting is near silent while on a standard round
spool you will hear the
Casting farther is a major
component
in catching
more fish, just
ask Thomas
Maire, 7x World
Casting Champion . . . “The
more water
you can cover,
the increased
chance to reel in more fish. The Sharkfin reel gives
fishermen the edge by enabling them to make longer
and more precise casts. When tournament fishing,
casting distance is one of the most important factors to having a successful day. The farther a fisherman can stay away from schooling fish, the better
the chances for success. Being able to cast farther
into shallow water where the boat can’t maneuver is
always a plus. The Sharkfin also provides less drag,
contributing to a more accurate, easier cast to obtain
more distance,” says Maire.
The Sharkfin spool has shark-like fins, uniquely
designed to minimize up to 80 percent of the friction
on the line during the cast, allowing anglers to cast
farther. During the retrieve, the “fins” catch and retain
excess line or “loops” that can create tangles, and
freely releases them on the next cast. The Sharkfin
is used like any standard spool, is braid-friendly, and
works with all reel-recommended line diameters.
The reel was invented by Guenther Burk in Germany,
where he has engineered, crafted and tested the
technology since the mid-90’s. The new Castalia
Sharkfin Reel won Best of Show at the 2010 International Trade Show “ChinaFish” in Beijing. The trade
show featured buyers and manufacturers from more
than 85 countries. The Sharkfin has received patents throughout Europe, the United States, United
Kingdom, Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New
Zealand.
Two reel models are available, the FD 2000 for
freshwater and inshore saltwater; model FD 4000
for inshore and light offshore. MSRP $119.99 and
$149.99.
Castalia introduced a Sharkfin Rod/Reel Combo
during ICAST 2010. The Sharkfin Combo uses the
worldwide patented Sharkfin reel spool, with 4 + 1
ball bearings, a 5.2:1 gear ratio and 400-yard line capacity. The Combo is available in a sharp “gun metal”
color with matching 2-part, 7 ft. rod. MSRP $97.00
For more information, visit www.castaliaoutdoors.com
or call 1-800-558-5541
ASAP Survival Gear Adds Natural Disaster Modules
Williston, VT- The 2010 hurricane season is underway and weather experts are predicting a very active
season of tropical storms and hurricanes this year.
The ingredients for a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, include pre-existing weather
disturbances, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and
relatively light winds. If these conditions persist long
enough, they can combine to produce the violent
winds, enormous waves, torrential rains, and massive floods.
ASAP™ Survival Gear takes hurricane and emergency preparedness to a new level with its line of
emergency starter packs and two Natural Disaster
Modules: the Evac to Shelter Module and the Shelter
Unavailable Module. Designed as add-ons to any of
the ASAP Starter packs these two modules will enhance your ability to manage an emergency situation
caused by a major natural disaster such as a hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake.
ASAP™ Survival Gear has enlisted the expertise
of Dr. Bob Arnot as Chief Education Officer to their
products and program. Dr. Arnot is one of the most
recognized names in medical and health professions,
having served as the former chief medical editor for
NBC News. In the last two decades, he has been on
site of the world’s worst disasters, helping as a physician, humanitarian and foreign news correspondent.
According to Dr. Bob, when a major natural disaster
hits, the reality is that most people will evacuate to
a shelter until conditions settle. The ASAP Natural
Disaster Module I provides items to help make your
stay in an evacuation shelter more comfortable.
However, sometimes major natural disasters strike
without warning and prevent you and your family
from evacuating to a shelter. When you are forced to
ride out a storm in your home or office, you must assume that basic needs like water, gas, and electricity
will not function. The ASAP Natural Disaster Module
II, when combined with any ASAP Starter pack, gives
you the essential tools to treat water, cook and pro-
vides other basic elements for survival.
ASAP™ Survival Gear currently offers 13 different need or situation specific modules. Each ASAP
module contains pre-packed essential items stored in
a grab-and-go stuff sack or waterproof case that are
easily added to any of the ASAP™ starter packs as
seen on www.asapsurvivalgear.com.
Z2-S CombatLight is First SureFire
Flashlight with Strobe Mode
SureFire, LLC, manufacturer of high-end illumination
tools and tactical products, announces the release
of the Z2-S, the latest addition to their popular line of
“CombatLight” flashlights. It’s the first stroblng flashlight from the same company that invented both the
tactical flashlight and the CombatLight.
The Z2-S’s ultra-high-output LED generates 160
lumens of light, eight times the light output of a
standard two-D-cell flashlight. The Z2-S utilizes a
micro-textured reflector to shape and blend the beam
so it has plenty of reach for searching-and enough
peripheral light to maximize situational awarenesswith no rings, spots, or other defects. The Z2-S also
features a strobe mode programmed to blink at a
specific frequency to effectively disorient an attacker,
a feature that has been continuously requested by
SureFire customers.
CombatLights feature tactical-level output (enough to
overwhelm night-adapted vision), ergonomic tailcap
switching, and SureFire’s patented CombatGrip-a
stepped-down body and rubber grip ring that makes
pairing the light with a firearm easier, as well as providing a secure hold in wet or cold conditions or while
wearing gloves.
At five inches long and under five ounces in weight
(with batteries), the Z2-S is designed to be portable
and powerful. Its sophisticated electronics-an internal microprocessor regulates the LED to maximize
output and runtime-are protected by a rugged aerospace aluminum body that’s hard anodized with
black Mil-Spec finish. Press the tactical tailcap switch
for momentary-on, press three times rapidly to activate the strobe, or twisting it for constant-on in either
mode.
The Z2-S has an MSRP of $139.00 and is available
for purchase from an authorized SureFire dealer or
directly from SureFire at www.surefire.com.
Maruto Introduces New Semi-Barbless
Treble Hook
Barbless hooks have been around for some time,
with anglers hesitant to use them because of the
fear of losing
fish without a
barbed hook.
Some fisheries
even require
barbless hooks.
Enter the era of
the semi-barbless hook. The
all new and patented Maruto
Semi-Barbless
Treble Hook
provides a unique “lock/unlock” feature. With positive
hook-ups and less harm to fish (and fishermen), the
Semi-Barbless hook is the hook that will change the
mind of even the most skeptical angler.
Maruto Semi-Barbless Lock-Unlock FeatureNo
matter how sharp a traditional barbed hook point is,
the barb greatly increases resistance on the hook
while penetrating - reducing positive hook-ups. With
the Semi-Barbless Hook, there’s no barb to create
resistance, and the “lock/unlock” feature helps keep
the fish on until you’re ready to release it. A consistent pressure on the retrieve will keep fish on; simply
reverse the pressure on the hook’s point to release
it easily and harmlessly from the fish. As a bonus,
this hook will also exit non-rubberized netting much
easier than a barbed hook, saving time and aggravation.
The hook point offers a razor profile and the Maruto
Semi-Barbless Treble Hook is currently offered in
sizes 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, 1/0 and 2/0.
For more info ontact: Pam Richards (800) 558-5541 or
[email protected]\
WaveSpin Introduces ZTR Tangle-Free
Economy Reels at ICAST
• Folding Soft Grip Paddle Handle
LAS VEGAS, Nev. --- Fishing writers and retailers will
be among the first to see two new 2011 model year
WaveSpin reels --- both at suggested prices below
$50 and guaranteed tangle free --- at the ICAST fishing tackle trade show, July 14 - 16 in Las Vegas.
• Light Weight Graphite Body (ZTR 1500 is 8 oz, ZTR
3000 is 10 oz)
WaveSpin’s two new ZTR (Zero Tangle Reel) 1500
and 3000 models are
built off the same popular
and award winning “radical” design developed by
Doug Hannon. Known far
and wide in the industry
as The Bass Professor, Hannon patented a
“waved” spool making
loops irrelevant by eliminating tangles and bird
nests that have left millions of anglers frustrated
since the invention of the modern spinning reel 60
years ago.
Despite the down turn in the economy WaveSpin
has continued to grow and now tens of thousands
of “tangle-free” anglers are making more and longer,
effortless casts.
“We hope to bring in even more anglers of all ages
with these two lower priced reels,” said Hannon.
“WaveSpin has helped introduce many families to
trouble-free fishing fun.”
WaveSpin’s newest lightweight models resemble
the beveled styling of the DHxL reel introduced two
years ago. Three predecessors will also be featured
at ICAST including the DH3000 which has won many
accolades and awards, among them the 2008 Field
& Stream Magazine’s “Best of the Best” for spinning
reels and TackleTour.com’s Innovation Award.
WaveSpin’s Patented Tangle-Free Technology
makes them the only reels of any kind or category
in the history of the fishing industry that has ever
guaranteed tangle-free operation. Many fishing writers and editors have stated in their reviews it’s one
the most important performance features to ever
be added to a fishing reel in decades. It’s also why
WaveSpin was chosen as the “Official reel of Walt
Disney World’s guided fishing excursions.”
Both new WaveSpin ZTR reels feature:
• 4 stainless ball bearings
• One Year Warranty
• Same great performing spool design and drag system that’s made WaveSpin a success.
• WaveSpin’s Tangle Free Guarantee
Internally each has tough
multi-disc drags for more
tension and smoother
operation in fighting the
big fish. Hannon said
the ZTR 3000 is ideal for
largemouth bass, walleye, northern pike and
larger panfish; the smaller
ZTR1500 is for finesse
fishing like trout, smallmouth bass and panfish.
Line weights range from 2
-12 lb mono and up to 50 lb braid.
Suggested list price for the ZTR 3000 is $49.95, the
ZTR 1500 is $45.95.
The newest 2011 additions to WaveSpin’s growing
family of reels will be available in stores like Cabela’s, Bass Pro, West Marine and independent tackle
stores across the nation well in time for Christmas.
WaveSpin is marketed by XXX-Stream Tackle
through major sporting and fishing goods stores.
For more on WaveSpin go to its website at www.
wavespinreel.com or contact Russ Riley, VP of sales
and marketing at: 989-967-8426 or via e-mail at russ@
wavespinreel.com.
Bushnell Adds Two Models To The
Legend Ultra-HD Binocular Line
Overland Park, KS - The Legend Ultra•HD binoculars
have quickly become a favorite of serious outdoorsmen since their introduction in 2009. The combination of high quality optics and premium ED Prime
Glass with the new Ultra Wide Band Custom Coating
lens technology provides the ultimate in high definition performance.
Two new mid-size roof prism models have been
introduced for 2010 - the Legend Ultra•HD 8x36mm
and 10x36mm. Their anti-reflective Ultra Wide
Custom Coating delivers the best available light not
only during the peak of the day, but also at dusk and
dawn when optics matter
most. Premium ED (Extra
Low Dispersion) glass delivers optimal color performance and edge-to-edge
sharpness.
offering the advantage of
elevation and concealment,
however do not over look
the effectiveness and convenience of a good ground
blind.
Compared to similarly price
optics, Legend Ultra•HD
binoculars deliver a wider
field of view and are also
more comfortable to use.
Longer eye relief means
less eye strain. The new
Legend Ultra•HD binoculars
are built on a lightweight,
durable magnesium chassis. As a bonus they come
with a deluxe binocular
harness with pre-attached
neckstrap lugs that distributes the weight of the binoculars more evenly across
your back.
Excalibur has been successfully and safely using
ground blinds for decades
from the plains and prairies
of the west to the boreal
forests of the north. Here’s
a couple tips to make sure
you have a successful and
safe hunt.
The new mid-size Legend
Ultra•HD binoculars provide
all weather performance
with their 100 percent waterproof construction and
new RainGuard® HD highdensity permanent coating,
which scatters less light by
minimizing or eliminating moisture on the lens surface.
●● Only open 2 or 3 shooting windows over- looking
your shooting lanes, the
less light entering the blind
the better
– the better!
●● Set your chair at the
back of the blind, shooting
through the window, almost
every good quality blind will
allow plenty of room so the
limbs will not contact the
sides. many new hunters
make the BIG mistake of
trying to get their crossbow
out of the window or too
close. The more concealed
The 8x36 version comes in RealTree AP camouflage and the 10x36
model in black. Both come complete with a premium carrying case,
neck strap and custom binocular
harness. Suggested retail prices
are: 8x36 - $249.99 and 10x36
- $249.99. They are available at
Bushnell dealers nationwide
Perfect Concealment Excalibur in ground blinds
As the laws change legalizing
crossbows to be used in the archery season, so too are the methods in which crossbow hunters are
using to take big game.
Tree stands are a great way to hunt
●● Keep your shots close , ideally you want to
set your blind 25 -30 yards away from your
expected target.
So next time you’re thinking about a perfect set up,
give ground blind hunting a chance , I’m sure the Excalibur & blind won’t let you down. Click on an image
below to view some exciting ground blind action with
Excalibur.
Benchmade Knife Company Wins 2010
Knife of the Year
Model 741 Onslaught Captures Second Straight Knife
of the Year Award
OREGON CITY, Ore. - The
Shooting Industry Academy
of Excellence presented
its 2010 Knife of the Year
Award to Benchmade Knife
Company for the model 741
Onslaught™. The awards
were presented at the Shooting Industry Masters event
on July 23rd in Grand Island,
Nebraska.
690 Elishewitz (2001), 720 Mel Pardue (2000), 710
McHenry & Williams (1999), and the 910 Stryker®
(1998).
For more information on previous winners, please
visit: http://www.benchmade.com/shooting_industry/
recap/
Bushnell Introduces New Spotting
Scope To The Legend
Overland Park, KS. - Bushnell introduces the Legend® Ultra HD 15-45x60 spotting scope.
This spotter fits easily into a backpack making it perfect for backcountry hunting trips, and is light enough
to use on car window mounts. It has twin dual speed
focus controls which provide both rapid focus for
moving subjects or low power use, and the ability to
slowly fine tune focus when viewing at higher power
or closer distances. The mid size spotter has a wide
field of view, and a straight eyepiece with a zoom
range from 15-45 power.
The new Legend 60mm scope features the patented
Bushnell RainGuard®HD lens coating for better
moisture dispersion and easier cleaning.
“Benchmade is honored to
receive such a prestigious award and be recognized
for our American-made products and high-quality
manufacturing,” says Les de Asis, CEO and Founder
of Benchmade Knife Company.
The 741 Onslaught features Benchmade’s patented
AXIS® Locking Mechanism, contoured G10 handle
scales with 420J stainless steel liners, and 154CM
stainless steel blade. The knife was designed by
renowned custom knife
maker, Bob Lum. For
more information on
the 741 Onslaught,
please visit: http://
www.benchmade.
com/products/741
Benchmade has now
won Knife of the Year
twice in the past two
years and ten times
since 1998. Previous
Benchmade Knife of
the Year winners include 585 Mini-Barrage® (2009),
610 Rukus® (2006), 425 Gravitator® (2005), 921
Switchback® (2003), 556 Mini-Griptilian® (2002),
Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass is employed on the
Legend Ultra HD spotting scope to give the sharpest and clearest image available by ensuring that all
colors in the light spectrum are focused to the same
plane.
The 15-45x60mm Legend Ultra-HD spotting scope
also features a retractable sun shade, twist-up eyecup, and rotating tripod mounting collar. A soft case
and table-top tripod are included.
Legacy Sports Announces
HOWA Fluted Barrel Rifles
RENO, NEVADA: Legacy Sports
International, LLC announces the
availability of their popular HOWA®
rifle with fluted barrels. Fluting
increases the surface area of the
barrel, which aids in heat dispersion
- and ultimately - keeping the barrel
cooler during shooting sessions.
The Howa Fluted barrels will be
available in six popular calibers:
.270 Win. and 30-06 Spfd. in standard blued barrel, .300 Win. Mag.
and 7mm Rem. Mag. in blued magnum barrel and .223 Rem. and .308
Win. in heavy barrel.
These Fluted Barreled actions are
being pared with the ever-popular
Hogue Overmolded™ Stock, as well
as the new Talon thumbhole stock
from BLACKHAWK! Industries.
Pricing is set at between $599.00
to $865.00 MSRP. These rifles are
available to the shooting press
NOW for test and evaluation! See
specifications and pricing under
separate document, included.
Legacy Sports International, LLC is
an importer of firearms and shooting
accessories. Bringing in high quality, reliable and affordable products
for shooting and hunting enthusiasts
is the mission of Legacy Sports’
business.
With well-respected brands including Howa and Puma rifles, NikkoStirling optics, Escort and Verona
shotguns, and the new Citadel
brand, Legacy Sports is committed to offer today’s shooting sports
enthusiast performance on the range and in the field.
Legacy’s track record proves - without a doubt - that
they have consistently provided accurate rifles and
shotguns as well as award-winning optics for sportsmen on a budget. This is why Legacy Sports is
known as “The Most Trusted Name in the Shooting
Industry”.
Contact: Rick Homme, Legacy Sports International,
LLC (775) 828-0555 or [email protected]
Konus Fast Becoming the
Optics of Choice By Professional Hunters, T.V. Personalities, and A Multi-Million
Dollar Gun & Accessory
Company
Miami, Florida, July 21, 2010 – The
hunting community is abuzz with talk
about Konus and everyone agrees that
Konus offers high-quality, reliable optics
at an affordable price. That is the basic
principle behind Konus, which has been
praised by hunters, critics and press
nationwide as being the best value for
your dollar.
“Konus means quality and dependability to me,” says O’Neill Williams, top
outdoorsman and host of TV’s O’Neill
Outside. “As an avid outdoorsman, I
hunt and fish all over the world, and I
know that there is no substitute for quality optics in the field.”
Chad Shearer, world champion elk
caller and host of Shoot Straight with
Chad Shearer agrees and now recommends Konus to his viewers and fellow
hunters. “I am very impressed with the
quality of the Konus optics. They are
clear, bright and durable. As our viewers know, we demand a lot out of our
optics, and Konus makes great products at reasonable prices.”
Konus is also the exclusive brand of
optics for CVA, the muzzle-loading
division of Blackpowder Products, Inc.
(BPI). After decades of using other optics, CVA brand muzzleloader guns are
now matched and sold with Konus riflescopes. “The Konus line of riflescopes have emerged
as one of the most durable and reliable scopes on
the market,” said Dudley McGarity, Chief Executive
Officer of BPI.
Based on the feedback from all of these pros, Konus
is highlighting some of their finest products for this
upcoming hunting season. First up are the critically
acclaimed Konus M30 riflescopes, which in a single
unit combine the most advance features and the professional specifications on the market to date.
Valencia, Spain.
The hunting community is also raving about Konus’
selection of spotting scopes, calling them “unbelievable,” “the clearest” and most “affordable” spotters on
the market. Put to the test in the range or in the field,
Konus’ powerful spotting scopes are ideal in either
environment.
In the area of red dots, Konus recommends their
“Sight Pro Atomic”, the smallest and lightest traditional red dot sight currently on the market with all of
the features and durability of a full-sized unit in an
extremely compact footprint. The Sight Pro Atomic is
the perfect companion for rifles, shotguns, handguns
and a great compliment for carbines, or for mounting
on top of traditional riflescopes and/or night vision
devices.
Exclusive NRX Technology Offered In
16 Fly Rods From G. Loomis
WOODLAND, Washington USA - ICAST Show
2010 Introduction - Anglers around the globe realize G.Loomis is a long-time leader in graphite rod
blank technology. It started with IM6 and GL2, then
to GL3 and IMX, and then GLX more than 16 years
ago, the only graphite made
strictly for use in the construction of fishing rods. The next
breakthrough is now here
with G.Loomis’ new NRX
fly rod series, offered in 16
four-piece models in weights
and designs for trout, salmon/
steelhead, saltwater and twohand/spey techniques. The
rods have already received
international recognition by being honored with
the ‘Best New Fly Rod’ award at European Fishing
Tackle Trade Expo (EFTTEX), held this past June in
Calling on the talents of chief rod designer Steve
Rajeff and the support of the entire G.Loomis team
worldwide, anglers “will uncover a series of rods that
are at least 15-percent lighter than equivalent power
GLX rods, plus we’re able to offer a durability feature
to make them up to 20-percent stronger and more
impact resistant,” said Rajeff. “And as anglers would
expect from G.Loomis, we bring the best in components - from reel seats, grips and guides - selected
specifically for the NRX fly rod series. At G.Loomis,
we have never settled for just good enough. These
NRX rods are the best at every level in terms of
graphite, resins and components to provide anglers
with the most dynamic, lightweight and sensitive rods
we can make.”
According to Justin Poe, brand manager for
G.Loomis, the NRX construction method is completely unique to rod manufacturing. “By utilizing a stiffer,
lighter and higher density carbon married with Nano
Silica resin systems, we can provide Steve and his
design team with a material that provides all kinds
of positive benefits to anglers. The rods are lighter,
yet more durable, extremely sensitive, and yet stiffer.
Obviously we simply think they are the best fly rods
out there.”
Within the NRX series, trout anglers are addressed
with four 9-foot rods offered in 3, 4, 5 and 6 weights.
For salmon and steelhead action, G.Loomis offers
10-foot NRX rods in 7, 8 and 9 weights. For both
lighter action inshore and heavier tarpon and tuna
use in the salt, NRX rods include 9-foot 7, 8, 9, 10,
11 and 12 weight models, while two-hand casters are
provide with NRX spey rods in a 13-foot 8/9, a 14foot 9/10, and a 15-foot 10/11.
All the NRX fly rods feature black Ion coated REC
Recoil guides. Each rods custom reel seat - proprietary to G.Loomis - has no exposed threads so as
to make it easy to lock the reel to the reel seat. The
grips feature G.Loomis’ ‘HD cork’
design, where the cork transitions to provide more sensitivity
where needed, and more durability in where needed.
“What fly anglers will experience
with NRX is line on the water
sensitivity through the rod blank
that they have never felt before
- either in a G.Loomis rod or any
other,” Poe states. “And with our NRX trout rods, it
could be the difference needed on whether you fish
with an indicator or not. At G.Loomis, we say these
rods have life. Fish one and you’ll quickly feel what
we mean.”
As with all G.Loomis rods, the NRX models are manufactured in the USA. For more information on the
new NRX fly rods (and bass rods), visit gloomis.com,
call 800/GLoomis, or stop by your nearest G.Loomis
tackle dealer.
Contact: John Mazurkiewicz/Catalyst Marketing 574/289-1331 - [email protected]
Canon U.S.A. Expands Its VIXIA Lineup With The New VIXIA HF M32 Dual
Flash Memory Camcorder
New Camcorder Features 64GB of Internal Flash
Memory and Provides SDXC Memory Card Compatibility for Super-Expandable Capacity Up To 2TB
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., July 14, 2010 – Canon
U.S.A., Inc, a leader in digital imaging technology,
today introduces the new VIXIA HF M32 Dual Flash
Memory camcorder. The VIXIA HF M32 is an easyto-use, movie-making tool capable of hours upon
hours of high-quality HD video recording, ideal for
the aspiring family documentarian or social-networking fanatic. Equipped with 64GB of internal flash
memory, the new camcorder can record up to 24
hours of HD video and also
includes an SD memory card
slot that is fully compatible
with latest generation SDXC
memory cards. The new
SDXC memory card specification increases storage capacity from 32GB up to 2TB
and enhances data transfer
speeds.
Like it’s predecessors in
the VIXIA HF M-series (VIXIA HF M31, HF M30, HF
M300), the VIXIA HF M32 offers stunning HD video
in an ultra-sleek, compact and lightweight body. The
VIXIA HF M32 retains Canon’s proprietary imaging
technologies – a Genuine Canon HD Video Lens,
HD CMOS Image Sensor and DIGIC DV III Image
Processor – and like other VIXIA HF M-series camcorders, features a Touch Panel LCD and a host of
features that make capturing and sharing stunning
HD video easier than ever before, including:
•
Smart Auto: Makes shooting great video even
easier by utilizing Canon’s DIGIC DV III Image Processor to intelligently detect and analyze brightness,
color, distance and movement and automatically
select the best setting for the scene being recorded.
●● Touch & Track: Enables users to select a
subject on the Touch Panel LCD which will
then be recognized and tracked. This sophisticated technology recognizes faces, objects,
and even animals, ensuring the subject will
always be in focus and properly exposed.
●● Relay Recording: Allows users to capture uninterrupted video when the primary recording
media is full. The camcorder will continue to
record a scene by switching from one memory source to the other as it fills up, so that a
moment of action will not be missed.
●● Powered IS: In addition to Canon’s Dynamic
SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization,
Powered IS provides an even higher level of
compensation for subtle hand movement at
the telephoto end of the zoom range. This
new enhancement can be engaged by pressing the Powered IS button on the LCD panel.
●● HD-to-SD Downconversion: Enables users to
convert recorded HD video to standard-definition files while preserving the original HD
video. These standard-definition files make it
even more convenient to share video online
or create a DVD.
●●
Advanced Video
Snapshot: Provides the flexibility of capturing two, four,
or eight second video clips
while recording or during
playback.
The VIXIA HF M32 is
compatible with Eye-Fi SD
memory cards, which makes
it easy to wirelessly transfer
video content and photos to
a computer or sharing site.
Eye-Fi SD memory cards feature a built-in Wi-Fi that
uses your wireless network to effortlessly transfer
photos and videos directly from the camcorder. The
VIXIA HF M32 is also compatible with Canon’s WPV2 Waterproof Case allowing users to capture exciting HD footage underwater at depths up to 130 feet.
The VIXIA HF M32 Dual Flash Memory camcorder
is scheduled to be available in September for an
estimated retail price of $999.99. The Canon WP-V2
Waterproof Case is currently available for an estimated retail price of $599.
Blackhawk launches composite toe
boot
BLACKHAWK!’s new Composite Toe Boot was
designed to meet the ASTM F2413-05 safety standards for impact and compression resistance and
additional protections such as metatarsal protection,
conductive protection, electric shock, static dissipation and protection against punctures. Now, this is a
BLACKHAWK! boot so you know it comes with features that are carefully considered
and tested such as
a Vibram® “Multisport” oil resistant
TC4+compound
outsole with large,
open lugs for
traversing debris
and providing
excellent traction
on irregular surfaces. Water, water
everywhere and
if you are working
in a life and death
situation, you need
boots that won’t
slowly drown you.
The Composite Toe
boot is made from
water-resistant
Cordura® and a
high-abrasion full
grain leather upper
with an additional
SympaTex® waterproof barrier. A Dri-Lex® inner lining wicks away
moisture and dries quickly and the midsole is made
from long-wearing, water-friendly polyurethane.
The footbed is a custom molded Ortholite® footbed
that is washable and antimicrobial. The steel shank
provides additional support especially when carrying
the load of a full pack. Full grain leather heel and toe
reinforcements are abrasion and scuff resistant and
let’s not forget the composite toe! You’ll have on-thejob comfort all day long. Just remember to take them
off when you get home! MSRP $159.99..
• Water-resistant Cordura® and high-abrasion full
grain leather upper for rugged durability. Cordura®
panels breathe for comfort and help to reduce weight
• Additional SympaTex® waterproof barrier
• Vibram® “Multisport” oil resistant TC4+compound
outsole has large, open lug for traversing debris and
provides excellent traction on irregular surfaces
• Fully gusseted tongue prevents debris from entering boot
• Extra shinable layer full grain leather heel and toe
reinforcements provide abrasion and scuff resistance
• Steel shank provides additional support needed
when under the load of a full pack
• Dri-Lex® inner
lining wicks away
moisture and dries
quickly
• Washable,
antimicrobial,
Ortholite® custom
molded footbed
• Composite toe
• Meets ASTM
F2413-05 safety
standards
• LONG-WEARING, WATERFRIENDLY
POLYURETHANE
MIDSOLE
• 2” ANKLEWEBBING ENHANCES
STABILITY
• Washable,
antimicrobial,
Ortholite® custom
molded footbed
Magellan Launches Next Generation of
eXplorist Outdoor Handeld GPS
SANTA CLARA, California - Magellan has unveiled
the next generation of its award-winning, rugged eXplorist handheld GPS devices for the outdoor recreation market.
The new eXplorist 510, 610 and 710 devices allow adventurers to navigate to outdoor destinations
worldwide, capture geotagged photos along the
way, and share their experiences online when they
return home. Each eXplorist model combines highsensitivity GPS, an intuitive user interface, easyto-read mapping and accurate navigation. The new
series of handheld GPS units are being revealed at
the OutDoor Trade Fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany,
and will be available to consumers inNorth America,
Europe, and many other countries worldwide in the
4th quarter, 2010.
“With the popularity of social networks, the GPS
industry is shifting towards more online experience
sharing,” said Justin Doucette, Director, Outdoor
Product Marketing, Magellan. “There are many sites
that allow for geographic and multimedia data to be
posted and shared with others. The eXplorist series
allows users to bring their adventures home with
them, catalog for future
reference, and share online
with family and friends.”
tion, accurate elevation information, and enables for
weather pattern tracking.
Each model in the eXplorist series also includes several innovative features, such as Magellan’s awardwinning OneTouch™ favorites menu, enabling users
to instantly access bookmarked locations, searches,
and functions. The industrial design incorporates
silent proximity alarms. And, to complement the 3.0inch touch screen, each device has two customizable
hard buttons to take a photograph, mark a waypoint,
or provide quick access to a number of other preferred features.
All three new eXplorist
handheld GPS units come
equipped with a camera,
microphone, and speaker to
enable users to record and
share their adventures with
friends.
Each eXplorist device features a 3.0-inch color touch
screen, a 3.2 mega-pixel
camera with auto-focus, microphone and speaker
to record geo-referenced images, videos, and voice
notes. All products in the eXplorist series are waterproof (IPX-7) and come preloaded with the most
detailed worldwide map in the industry. Magellan’s
World Edition map includes a complete road network
for the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Australia,
as well as water features, urban and rural land use,
and a realistic shaded relief background.
The top-of-the-line eXplorist 710 combines the best
of on-road and off-road navigation. Built-in maps get
adventurers from doorstep to trailhead to summit and
back. The eXplorist 710 includes both Magellan’s
highly detailed Summit Seriestopographic map and
its City Series turn-by-turn map which allows users to
navigate their vehicles through busy city streets on
their way to their outdoor adventures. The eXplorist
610 and 710 feature a 3-axis electronic compass and
a barometric altimeter that provide precise orienta-
lation.
The new eXplorist devices also include essential
outdoor features such
as expandable memory,
paperless geocaching,
GPX compatibility, 16
hours of battery life, high
sensitivity GPS enabling
3-5 meters of accuracy,
vertical profiling, a digital
almanac, track summary
statistics and area calcu-
The Magellan eXplorist 510 GPS device will be
introduced at an M.S.R.P. of USD $349.99, the eXplorist 610 at an M.S.R.P. of USD $449.99, and the
eXplorist 710 at an M.S.R.P. of USD $549.99. The
units will ship with a standard mini USB cable and 2
lithium disposable AA batteries. With the purchase
of a Magellan® eXplorist GPS device customers will
receive a 30-day free premium membership to http://
geocaching.com.
The new generation of eXplorist GPS handheld devices joins several other new introductions by Magellan this year in the outdoor navigation market. The
eXplorist GC, a device 100% dedicated to geocaching, and the ToughCase™, a device that transforms
your iPhone or iPod Touch into a rugged, handheld
GPS device, were launched earlier this year.
For more information, visit magellangps.com
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guides to prepare you for your
next hunt
Hunting Books
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serious hunter
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Make a Plan
Here in Africa, we Boers are pioneers and survivors - and we always make a plan.
We got Wallace to share come of them with you.
He continues his new series.
Hints and advice are given in good faith to be of help in emergencies. The writer as well as the publisher, personnel and agents concerned does not accept any responsibility for any injury, accident or
damages that might arise from the use of any of the hints.
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There is a serious leak in the brake system of your vehicle – you step on the brake and pump
until it is later flat on the floor board. The brake fluid holder is empty and you are in the middle
of nowhere. The same thing can also happen with the hydraulic coupler. If there is no other
option, then you must drive further without brakes and rely on your mechanical hand brake or
by using lower gears for the engine to brake the vehicle. You can also rather succeed to drive
without clutch. With my old 1962 Series 11 Land Rover I change gears easily without clutch
(don’t know if it is that easy with the modern vehicles) and we could, for a long time, manage in
Botswana, when the clutch failed there.
• To start an emergency plan to fix the brake or clutch system, you must first stop the leak.
Look out for moist spots, and if you cannot fix the leak, close the relative part of the
system down. You can, if need be, squeeze the problem pipe closed with pliers if it is
not the main supply pipe. With only two or three wheels that can brake you can still, with
care, go on.
• Now the system is shut again but there is still no fluid – what now? Well, emergency is
emergency. To get you out of the dilemma, you can use dish washing soap, the very
well known green Sunlight Liquid. Dilute it with a little bit of water, but do not let it foam.
Just remember it is just for an emergency. You will have to clean the whole system and
check everything when you are home because rust can easily start in the pipes or brake
cylinders.
• To start without a clutch you must get into second gear, switch the key on to get it to start
with the starter. Confine it only to emergencies because the starter will work overtime in
the process.
• To change gears you must drive the vehicle until
Dr Wallace Vosloo
the engine revolutions are higher than you noris an Engineer and
mally would use for that gear. Gently remove your
Scientist by profesfoot from the petrol and slip the gears in neutral
sion. His family has
when you feel the vehicle has little torsion power
lived in Africa since
1696 and he has
on the wheels. Allow the engine revolutions to go
a deep love for the
still lower until you feel the vehicle move at the
continent. He is a
speed of the gear you selected and get it then in
practical outdoorsto gear. In the beginning things might be a little
man and loves
traditional hunting, axe and knife throwscratchy, but you will get the feeling. Don’t even
ing, longbow shooting, black powder
try to change gears like that when you are on a
rifle- and cannon shooting, salt and fresh
gradient or when the vehicle is pulling heavily.
water fly fishing and tracking. The art of
Rather stay in a lower gear and take it easy.
survival is Wallace’s main field of interest
.
and his passion is to transfer these old
forgotten skills to young hunters.
Your African hunting safari
is a unique experience.
Now you can document
your hunt day by day
and revisit those exciting
times for years to come.
31 Full days of journaling space with vital
information:
●● safari clothing
●● personal item
checklists
●● health and first
aid
●● mammal identification information with photographs, tracks,
dung and SCI
and Rowland
Ward qualification minimums.
Know how to administer
CPR. Deal with dangerous animals up close.
Identify and treat bites
from snakes, spiders
and scorpions. Know the
right emergency numbers to dial in an emergency – it’s all there.
A must-have item for
every serious hunter.
Sturdy PlastiCoil binding
for durability and easy
opening, 110 pages, 6.0 x
9.0 in.
Full color covers and
cream interior printed in
black and white.
John Eldredge
True North
We’ve Bought the Lie
After his resurrection, Jesus sends us all out to do what
he did: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John
20:21 NRSV). And he gives us his authority to do it: “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go” (Matt. 28:18-19). Why else would he have
given us his authority if we weren’t supposed to use it?
The attitude of so many Christians today is anything
but fierce. We’re passive, acquiescent. We’re acting as
if the battle is over, as if the wolf and the lamb are now
fast friends. Good grief-we’re beating swords into plowshares as the armies of the Evil One descend upon us.
We’ve bought the lie of the Religious Spirit, which says,
“You don’t need to fight the Enemy. Let Jesus do that.”
It’s nonsense. It’s unbiblical. It’s like a private in Vietnam
saying, “My commander will do all the fighting for me; I
don’t even need to fire my weapon.” We are commanded to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James
4:7). We are told, “Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist
him” (1 Peter 5:8-9); “Fight the good fight” (1 Tim. 1:18);
“Rescue those being led away to death” (Prov. 24:11).
Seriously, just this morning a man said to me, “We don’t
need to fight the Enemy. Jesus has won.” Yes, Jesus
has won the victory over Satan and his kingdom. However, the battle is not over. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:2425: “Then the end will come, when he [Jesus] hands
over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must
reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
After he has destroyed the rest of the Enemy’s works.
Until then, he must reign by bringing his enemies under
his feet. Jesus is still at war, and he calls us to join him.
(Waking the Dead , 167-68)

Botswana - African Expedition

Transcription

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