The Modern Hunter

[Jay Edward (deceased)]

I have come to believe that hunting in Africa is more formula than anything else.  It seems as if you can take the same rifle or the same compound bow and simply plug in the parade of 'hunters' who want their picture in a hunting or firearms magazine.
 
  I suppose that the hunting over there has become so regulated that the PHs and 'safari' companies 'recommend' certain rifles and cartridges to the point that... there is no point.
 
  Long gone are the days of the hunters like Selous, Oswell, Baker, Taylor, Neumann, Littledale, Hunter and Kirby (to name a few).  I think that even the men who took wildcats over there to hunt game have pretty much surrendered to the factory cartridges or neo-traditional cartridges of the 80s and later.
 
  Perhaps there will come a time when hunters will resurrect single shot or bolt action rifles (in calibers suitable to the heavy game) that do not suffer from the fear the hunters have.  This business of "I only get this one chance so, although I'm hunting with a classic African or heavy game rifle, I'm taking along my semi-auto .50 caliber blaster for back up".  
 
  It sorta reminds me of the men I've only hunted once with who want to go muzzle loader hunting but "...brought along my scoped, bolt action 'meat getter' if it comes down to the last day".  This lack of confidence in themselves and their equipment just takes the fun of the hunt right out of me.  'Foot to the floor in the corners'... 'all or nothing at all'... that is the kind of hunt that, to me, has flavor.

[Paul Hoskins]

Well said Jay, I just can't understand why someone wants to hunt but brings along a battery of guns, "just in case." I hunt with several guns but on any specific hunt there is usually just one gun and a single shot at that. Another thing that bugs me no end is those that carry a "repeater" that holds more cartridges than they need but still fill their pockets with more ammo. I've been in the woods bear or deer hunting with a SS rifle and only two cartridges. In the case of bears, the second cartridge is for myself in case something gets out of hand. More than once in bear camp, I've been questioned about my preference for a "bear" gun. Especially when it's a 22 caliber. At least other hunters that don't know me keep their distance and only look at me with quick, nervous glances.    ...........Paul H

[AZ Shooter Gal]

I WOULD fill the magazine of my 'repeater' .30-06. but I didn't carry any extra ammo. If the deer was not dead with 5 shots it served me right to have to finish it off with my knife. which never happened

[Steveb]

Beware of the man with one gun.

[22hornet]

This lack of confidence in themselves and their equipment just takes the fun of the hunt right out of me. 'Foot to the floor in the corners'... 'all or nothing at all'... that is the kind of hunt that, to me, has flavor.

I agree, but most OZ hunters I know will take multiple rifles on a trip for hunting different game, not through lack of confidence in their gear.
 
But an old hunter once told me, "Use one rifle with one load and learn to shoot it well!"
 
I'm sticking by that more and more now that I'm "wiser"

[gitano]

Generalities generally fail to cover a subject fully.
 
While I agree in general with what has been written above, I have committed each of the above 'crimes' at least once. And on occassion, it was a good thing I did.
 
First, I don't like to hunt with somebody else's gun. It's like wearing somebody else's shoes. Now, I don't mind using someone else's gun for a specific purpose, like "would you check this out for me?", or in the case a couple of years ago when HB agreed graciously to use the .338 MAI to get it 'blooded' while I used the Martini .50. Therefore, if I'm going to travel half way around the world - Africa or New Zealand - you can bet I'm going to take a "backup" in case the airlines or some other deck-ape ruins one or more of my rifles.
 
In point of fact, about 20-some-odd years ago, for reasons not clearly understood by me at the time, I took two rifles - a Remignton 700 chambered in 7x300 Weatherby, nad my new Remingotn 700 in .17 Rem - on a week-long deer hunt. That turned out to be fortuitous, as some yahoos fooling around in camp broke the 'scope on the 7x300. If I hadn't had a "backup", I would have been SOL for a week of hunting. As it turned out, I learned a great deal about the lethality of the .17 Rem. That knowledge, learned from a "backup gun" has served me very well over the subsequent years.
 
I once took a fellow sheep hunting. I'll relate the long story elsewhere, but in the spirit of

If the deer was not dead with 5 shots it served me right to have to finish it off with my knife

he only brought 3 bullets up the mountain. When he missed with two and wounded with the final, he was out of bullets. I had to kill the sheep, and he was very disappointed.
 
"All or nothing" is fine for a challenge, but if the point is putting meat on the table - as opposed to "sport" (ptooey) - I seriously doubt that our 'noble', single-shot-toting, ancestors would have risked starving their families for the 'honor' of stating that they did it without taking along a "backup".
 
Paul

[LvrLover]

I'll "ditto" gitano. I carry a full mag of 4 and one in the chamber of my 99. I also have a full spare mag and ten rifle shells on my pistol belt. That belt also holds 20 some 44s and 6 in the revolver. Where I hunt we have some very quick shooting to do before the game runs across to the neighbors. I shoot until they drop - and sometimes more to make sure. People around here are real protective of their hunting land and many won't even let you get a deer that drops on their land even if you shot it on yours. I always try for one shot kills as anyone should, but reality is they don't drop in their tracks most of the time - even when the shot placement is right. All that being said, I do hunt with a muzzle loader and find it very rewarding; and I don't carry a back up when I do.