Biology Reference
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at least some of our other dreams. The phrase “rite of passage” was used to describe the
life of the young rather than the older, but if my life pattern is somewhat inverted, so be it.
And so, after meandering courses, the rivulets that have created this journey had finally
come together. Hunting, Africa, hunting big game, trophy hunting, hunting with a guide,
advancing age, and now I could afford it (just).
My friend and colleague, Lars Svensson, grew up in South Africa, loves ballistics, is an
excellent long distance shot and photographer and a great organizer. He had gone on our
elk hunt in Vermejo and shot an elk at 600 yards with one of his custom long-range shooting
guns fitted with a rifle scope on it about the size of Mt. Palomar. After that experience we
were sitting together talking one day and decided that we were going to go to Africa. We
hadn't even been drinking. Lars organized the trip with the help of the Atcheson group. I
had decided that I wanted to hunt, among other things, for a sable, an animal that I
consider one of the real African beauties, and they recommended a spot in Zimbabwe. Soon
we had dates, late August and early September of 2011, a year away, and I signed up to hunt
sable and plains game.
Then, I started reading. The African literature is deep, varied and fun. I went back and
re-read Roosevelt's and Hemingway's topics, along with Ruark and more modern authors
such as Boddington and Capstick. I re-read the topics by John Hunter. I read African
Hunting Gazette and Sports Afield, the “Perfect Shot” and, for good measure, some of the
stories about Jim Corbett hunting in India.
Some of what I read about, particularly in the more modern works, were guns and bullets
and calibers. What I started to learn was that there didn't seem to be a real premium on
long shots in Africa, at least in the area of Africa we were going to. But, although there was
not a premium placed on velocity, there was a premium placed on penetration. My 300
Weatherby caliber that I had used for elk and sometimes for deer in the wide open spaces,
was not particularly favored by the African crowd. I was going to be hunting sable and
plains game but that plains game included an eland and there were other creatures running
around that were big and somewhat nasty, and although we would have a professional
hunter with us, it seemed like there would probably be no disadvantage to using a heavier
caliber. The old' “use enough gun” concept.
So at length I decided to acquire a new gun and after looking around the various options
I decided that a bolt action rifle built by the A-Square Company would fit into my price
range and I called to discuss the matter with Colonel Arthur Alphin who, at that time, was
the face of the A-Square Company. I had thought that a 375 H&H sounded like about the
right caliber for me in terms of size, weight, recoil, and ability to handle whatever we might
find. Colonel Alphin seemed to agree with that and a few months later, after the paper work
necessary to transfer a firearm, I had it in my hand, along with about 4 boxes of A-Square
ammunition. (By the way, owning rifles and traveling to Africa with rifles requires getting
used to a lot of paperwork.)
Over the next few months I shot my rifle quite a bit. It was bigger and heavier than the
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