Any African hunters on here?

[John Milford]

Fascinating subject and altogether emotive for some, read a report on a study between 2 estates in the Highlands, one was unshot the other was managed intensively, the stags shot averaged 12stone on the unmanaged estate along with poor health, liver fluke, high tick infestation..the managed estate was averaging 24 stone and in fine health.
This was under the BDS iirc.

Interesting comparison Stew.

I suppose that is because the deer's natural predators have all been eliminated, so there is no natural thinning out of the weak and sick in the 'unshot' herd?

Nothing to do directly with hunting, but related as it concerns ideological unmanaged 'rewilding'. Google Oostvaardersplassen.

Interesting. Especially the dilemma of human 'intervention' raising the philosophical question of whether or not humans are actually an inseparable part of 'nature'.

Well, hominids have altered the environments they inhabit since at least the invention/discovery of tools. How far back do we draw the line at not being a part of nature?

I wouldn't set too much store by that criteria Dave. Even worms alter the environment they inhabit.

(In a good way if you're a plant, but pretty disastrously if you happen to be an anaerobic bacteria).

Who is to say it is not our designated role in nature to fcuk things up for everything else?

(I'm only half joking. Perhaps we are nature's ploy to extend life beyond earth, once we've consumed everything useful on this planet? ).

Evolution is all just random s**t if you ask me. Humans won't last as long as the dinosaurs did. And they fecked off eventually!

Evolution was random Dave, until these primates with big brains thought of 'husbandry', then genetic engineering. Just wait until we start engineering our own genetics!

The concept of the 'Übermensch' has been around since 1883 and Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra, but now we have the technology!

[GAVIN H]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

[Mynki]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

[Andytheammer]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

Thanks for sharing Loved reading that

[GAVIN H]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

In the days when africa teemed with wildlife, i can understand why people hunted, today , i,m not sure i know enough to comment except to say i hate seeing hunters posing with lions etc but thats just me i,ve read poachers and the rising population is the biggest threat to the wildlife. Personally i would take no credit for killing one of the big five with a rifle. . Jim Corbett to me was protecting lives and in the end became a conservationist. Each to his own.

[Mynki]

In the days when africa teemed with wildlife, i can understand why people hunted, today , i,m not sure i know enough to comment except to say i hate seeing hunters posing with lions etc but thats just me i,ve read poachers and the rising population is the biggest threat to the wildlife. Personally i would take no credit for killing one of the big five with a rifle. . Jim Corbett to me was protecting lives and in the end became a conservationist. Each to his own.

It's all very complicated IMHO. In those days hunters didn't manage the animals. African elephant no longer grow tusks as large as they once did as they were trophy hunting and wiped out the genes carried by big tuskers. It was all a bit too indiscriminate as one example.

The real threats are lack of habitat and illegal poaching. The only big five species I'd hunt personally would be Cape buffalo but even then they'd be very strict criteria. They're effectively farmed in South Africa for the hunting industry so I'd not be hunting one there. Don't get me wrong, they're still potentially lethal but it would have to be a wild one in its native habitat under fair chase conditions and operated by an outfitter who follows sustainable practices.

I couldn't hunt a big cat ever. If I were a rancher in Africa who's cattle were being attacked things might be different. But no cats, bears, monkeys, apes or pachyderms for me. Deer, pigs and antelope definitely.

[Stewlaws]

In the days when africa teemed with wildlife, i can understand why people hunted, today , i,m not sure i know enough to comment except to say i hate seeing hunters posing with lions etc but thats just me i,ve read poachers and the rising population is the biggest threat to the wildlife. Personally i would take no credit for killing one of the big five with a rifle. . Jim Corbett to me was protecting lives and in the end became a conservationist. Each to his own.

It's all very complicated IMHO. In those days hunters didn't manage the animals. African elephant no longer grow tusks as large as they once did as they were trophy hunting and wiped out the genes carried by big tuskers. It was all a bit too indiscriminate as one example.

The real threats are lack of habitat and illegal poaching. The only big five species I'd hunt personally would be Cape buffalo but even then they'd be very strict criteria. They're effectively farmed in South Africa for the hunting industry so I'd not be hunting one there. Don't get me wrong, they're still potentially lethal but it would have to be a wild one in its native habitat under fair chase conditions and operated by an outfitter who follows sustainable practices.

I couldn't hunt a big cat ever. If I were a rancher in Africa who's cattle were being attacked things might be different. But no cats, bears, monkeys, apes or pachyderms for me. Deer, pigs and antelope definitely.

Fascinating overview from the coalface ...love reading others take on these issues

[Stewlaws]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

In the days when africa teemed with wildlife, i can understand why people hunted, today , i,m not sure i know enough to comment except to say i hate seeing hunters posing with lions etc but thats just me i,ve read poachers and the rising population is the biggest threat to the wildlife. Personally i would take no credit for killing one of the big five with a rifle. . Jim Corbett to me was protecting lives and in the end became a conservationist. Each to his own.

Some of the world's most celebrated and renowned conservationists Gavin have hunting DNA in their blood...

[GAVIN H]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

In the days when africa teemed with wildlife, i can understand why people hunted, today , i,m not sure i know enough to comment except to say i hate seeing hunters posing with lions etc but thats just me i,ve read poachers and the rising population is the biggest threat to the wildlife. Personally i would take no credit for killing one of the big five with a rifle. . Jim Corbett to me was protecting lives and in the end became a conservationist. Each to his own.

Some of the world's most celebrated and renowned conservationists Gavin have hunting DNA in their blood...

Like i said stew, i don,t know much about it. When i read the Capstick book, i could the guts needed to go into the bush after a wounded animal, balls of steel needed. Samw with Corbett, staking out at night waiting for a maneater to turn up, i get that but then you see some rich dentist posing with a big cat that he or she has killed at no personal danger, i dont get that Stew. Not trying to stop anyone hunting stew.

[GAVIN H]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

That lion is an awsome sight.

[Stewlaws]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

In the days when africa teemed with wildlife, i can understand why people hunted, today , i,m not sure i know enough to comment except to say i hate seeing hunters posing with lions etc but thats just me i,ve read poachers and the rising population is the biggest threat to the wildlife. Personally i would take no credit for killing one of the big five with a rifle. . Jim Corbett to me was protecting lives and in the end became a conservationist. Each to his own.

Some of the world's most celebrated and renowned conservationists Gavin have hunting DNA in their blood...

Like i said stew, i don,t know much about it. When i read the Capstick book, i could the guts needed to go into the bush after a wounded animal, balls of steel needed. Samw with Corbett, staking out at night waiting for a maneater to turn up, i get that but then you see some rich dentist posing with a big cat that he or she has killed at no personal danger, i dont get that Stew. Not trying to stop anyone hunting stew.

My understanding is older animals are hunted under licence with a healthy premium attached, in turn this pays for protection on the reserve .... Like you I don't see the joy in this case but understand the logic.

[Mynki]

That lion is an awsome sight.

A very special life experience for me. I've seen them in zoos, even in Addo Elephant Reserve in South Africa. That place is 1640 km squared but it's still fenced and they all have radio collars fitted. That pair were truly wild. They could be in Botswana, South Africa or Namibia within a minute depending on where they wanted to be which I found really pleasing. I hope that makes sense! lol

[Mike J]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

A photograph from my copy, bought by my Father in Nairobi in 1942.

IMG_2034.JPG

They had some good sport back in those days, almost as good as on here.

[davelumb]

Tsavo's the name of one of Katy Cropper's sheep dogs.

http://www.katycropper.co.uk/zac-tsavo-flash/

[GAVIN H]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

A photograph from my copy, bought by my Father in Nairobi in 1942.


IMG_2034.JPG


They had some good sport back in those days, almost as good as on here.

Very nice Mike

[Mike J]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

A photograph from my copy, bought by my Father in Nairobi in 1942.


IMG_2034.JPG


They had some good sport back in those days, almost as good as on here.

Very nice Mike

I have many photographs of my Father's time in Africa, I will post some if anyone's interested. He spoke Swahili and in his 90's one of his carers was Kenyan and they would chat away and laughing about I knew not what.

Another treasure is Jock of the Bushveld, written in 1907 it is still said to one of the finest dog books ever written.

IMG_2035.JPG

Not one of my Fathers but gifted to me by a titled Lady who always loved my dogs.

[Stewlaws]

Victorian campaigners on the continent (s) certainly had a tale to tell, not sure that conservation was ever thought of due to the volume of species abound, must had been a sight on the field to see these animals in abundance, an old chap no longer with us described a "wild partridge drive" that use to take a few hours to flag in to a huge valley during the guns taking lunch, with Covey after Covey starbursting over the subsequent guns lined out.
Not seen a grey partridge now for years let along enough to even consider shooting.. hard to imagine the volume this chap talked about, I'm sure the world over is no different to this kind of anecdotal recital.

[Brian Springthorpe]

Don’t think I’ve ever seen a Grey partridge around these parts, plenty of red legged, not sure if they will live along side each other, found about 7 nests of red legged this year, only 1 survived, bloody Magpies, crows and Fox had em

[Stewlaws]

The partridge keepers were ruthless in their day Bri, every beat had tunnel traps by there hundreds, even the hedgehog was targeted as an egg thief, biggest single issue is unfortunately farming practices and efficienties of harvesting, we don't see the pyramid for successful rearing and habitat due to agronomy advances ....

[piker al]

Bought a book "Death in The Longrass" last year, hell of a good read. Used to love reading books about the maneaters of Tsavo, Jim Corbetts books, were good too.

I love the Capstick books. In 2018 I was hunting red hartebeest in the Namibian KalaharI. A 110,000 acre property ran by my friend Frank. He gets a call on the radio from one of the farm laborers saying a leopard had taken a goat. The place farms goat and cattle and predators are a very real problem there. We run back to the vehicle and speed off in the direction of the leopard to investigate.

Ten minutes later we slow down. I'm advised to make no sudden movements and chamber a round ready to shoot if charged. I'm scanning the ground for a few seconds looking for the cat before I eventually see it. Only it doesn't look quite right to me. I look harder through the grass and see that there are two of them eating the goat. But the 'leopards' looks too slim and scrawny to me. I then realise I'm looking at pair of cheetahs in fairly bad shape. We get off the truck and I film them on my phone just ten yards away. Knowing cheetahs don't attack humans like leopard do I was far more relaxed than I was minutes earlier.

We leave and I'm happy that I managed to see them so close up.



The next day we were nearby to the site where the goat had been killed. We decided to see if the cheetah were still in the area. Frank my friend, myself and a tracker approach slowly when the tracker starts explaining that they'd ran off as a lion had approached. You could see both the lion paw prints and the cheetah prints extend as they obviously took flight. Blood and hair was found on barbed wire fencing and we could see that the lion had dragged the kill away. If you look at a map of Africa where South Africa, Botswana and Namibia meet there's a small concrete post at that very point. This was 15' away from us as we looked across the fence line into South Africa.

Gordon my mate asked how far away the lion would be. The reply "Not very far" grabbed my attention. I joked that if we're charged by it I'll just boot Gordon in the knee cap as hard as I can so we only need to run faster than him. As I finish my sentence I see two male lions looking straight at us. The range finder shows they're 140 meters away.







My .30-06 was in the vehicle 50 yards to the right, uphill on sand. I reckoned they could clear that 140 yards quicker than I could make the truck. But they just stood there and looked at us whilst I started remembering the stories I'd read in Death in the long grass and death in a dark continent. Capstick is a great author but I'm positive he's exaggerated many of his tales. Your post reminded me of that day. :)

No big cats were harmed just in case anyone was wondering.

A great experience there Mynki I’d love to visit Africa some day

[Mynki]

A great experience there Mynki I’d love to visit Africa some day

Then you must do it. Just be warned there's every chance you'll be aching to get back upon your return. The place gets under your skin in that sense. I need to see the Okavango Delta and the deepest, darkest forests of the DRC up close and personal before I eventually croak

We're still working on a trip for next year but COVID19 isn't making things easy so we might have to do something else instead. ;/

[Edward.P.A.C]

A great experience there Mynki I’d love to visit Africa some day

Then you must do it. Just be warned there's every chance you'll be aching to get back upon your return. The place gets under your skin in that sense. I need to see the Okavango Delta and the deepest, darkest forests of the DRC up close and personal before I eventually croak

We're still working on a trip for next year but COVID19 isn't making things easy so we might have to do something else instead. ;/

Of all the places Ive worked around the world, Africa and (most of) the African's are by far my favourite. Moz and Kenya are probably my 2 all time favourites.

Both my kids went on safari in Kenya with their school, and both fell in love with the country. And its people. Great continent, it certainly does get under your skin.