I think the difference with Bell in regards to big bore/small bore, is that he studied, experimented, and tried the big bores, and ended up with what worked best for HIS particular situation. I don't consider reasoned choice fanaticism

I think for ninety-nine percent of us, his choice would be the wrong one, and it would be as Grandveneur says: "on the safe side". Blind adulation and imitation is foolish. If one had his skill-set, though, things might be different. There were no minimum calibers in those days.

In regards to Bell's losing a lot of game...I personally don't believe it happened. I'm sure he lost some, as anyone hunting in those quantities will, but you can go down two paths:

You assume he lied or omitted a bunch of losses

You assume he is telling the truth

I personally don't feel, from the reading, that he lied. He says when he loses game, as does Selous in his accounts. They SEEM truthful to me. He isn't puffing himself up, or telling wild tales...most of his writing is pretty straightforward.

However, I wasn't there, didn't know the man, so all I can go on is the printed word.

I HAVE read plenty of people ONLINE, saying things like "he walked into a herd, and just started shooting, didn't care about wounding, left them to die in agony, etc, etc."

Which is why I posed my original question, because I want a reliable source for this.