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dale
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Loc: logan W.V.

A coupe from the Xausa archives
#126777 - 12/02/09 03:37 PM

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EricD
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: dale]
#126826 - 13/02/09 04:27 AM

Great pictures Xausa! Was this in Kenya? I see you enjoyed o/u rifles even back then.

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xausa
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: EricD]
#126835 - 13/02/09 05:38 AM

Hi Erik,

The rhino and the one tusked elephant were both from Kenya (Aberdares, North East Territory), but the lion, buffalo and other elephant were all from the Selous. After striking out for three days in a row, I got the elephant one morning, a leopard that afternoon, a greater kudu the next morning and the lion the following afternoon, and three buffalo the next day.

Back then, the Selous was teeming with game and very little hunting done. The three buffalo fed a large number of park maintenance workers, who showed up on the scene with a dump truck after the shooting had died down. This guy was the biggest of the three.

Bill

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AspenHill
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: xausa]
#127048 - 15/02/09 01:54 AM

Bill,

Awesome trophies, those must have been great days afield!

--------------------
~Ann

Everyday spent outdoors is the best day of my life.

Aspen Hill Adventures

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Ripp
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: xausa]
#127052 - 15/02/09 02:33 AM

Awesome trophies...what a great time to be afield...

If you don't mind me asking--what time period approximately was that...

Congrates again and thanks for sharing..

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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xausa
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: Ripp]
#127066 - 15/02/09 04:06 AM

The first trip to Kenya (five weeks in the field) was in October, 1971.

The Tanzania hunt (three weeks) was in October, 1972. I actually ended that trip a little early, since I had accomplished all my aims (two elephant, five buffalo, lion, leopard, greater kudu, sable, brindled gun, assorted plains game) by the end of the second week.

The second trip to Kenya (three weeks) was in October, 1974. I had booked for 1973, but Kenya had imposed a temporary ban on elephant hunting, and I decided to postpone for a year in hopes it would be lifted. No such luck. My friend, with whom I had planned to hunt in 1973, went on without me and was almost caught at the Cairo airport by the Six Day War.

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peter
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: xausa]
#127067 - 15/02/09 04:17 AM

Quote:

The first trip to Kenya (five weeks in the field) was in October, 1971.

i would have loved to have been there with you, sadly i was only 6 months old and not allowed to travel with guns yet.

peter

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xausa
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: peter]
#127069 - 15/02/09 04:39 AM

That makes you virtually the same age as my second oldest son, who celebrated his first birthday on October 29, 1971, while I was away. Too bad he has no interest in hunting or guns.

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peter
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: xausa]
#127072 - 15/02/09 05:02 AM

that is a shame, would you consider adopting me instead

who about the other son is into it ?

best regards

peter

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ozhunter
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: xausa]
#127108 - 15/02/09 11:26 AM

Quote:

The second trip to Kenya (three weeks) was in October, 1974.

I was only eight months old then so sadly missed my opportunity to hunt one of these in Kenya.

A Tsavo Bull

What area in the NF District did you hunt? Tana River, Mathews Rangers, Ewaso Ngiro river ?

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xausa
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: ozhunter]
#127140 - 15/02/09 04:51 PM

Tana River, which was dry at that time of the year. We let air out of our Land Cruiser tires and simply drove down the sandy river bed until we came to a place where the elephants had dug for water with their tusks, then got out and evaluated the tracks. If they looked promising, then we struck out after the elephant on foot. In this case, we constantly came up on large bulls with small teeth.

I took this one on the last day.

We had given up and were driving back to camp, when we were flagged down by a native, who told us that he knew where a bull with huge ivory was. We stopped and sent out the tracker and the gunbearers with him with him. He and the gunbearers returned, grinning from ear to ear. The one tusk weighed in at 94 pounds, with an exceptinoally large nerve. So close....

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dale
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: xausa]
#127145 - 15/02/09 05:30 PM

I had intended to post these too but have been having a fit with photobucket.

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xausa
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: dale]
#127315 - 17/02/09 02:06 AM

The first four photos are from my 1972 three week safari in the Selous. They, together with the lion previously discussed, represent three days hunting, the elephant and the leopard taken on the same day, the greater kudu and the lion the next day, and the three buffalo within five minutes on the third day.

The last photo was taken on my last safari in Kenya, 1974, and shows a record book Peters' gazelle, taken with my little 7X57, built on a G33/40 action by my late friend and gunsmith, Harry Creighton.

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Anonymous
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: dale]
#127340 - 17/02/09 08:14 AM

Superb trophies, congratulations.

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larcher
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: ]
#127414 - 18/02/09 06:44 AM

Thanks for sharing, these are wonderful trophies and got fairly quick that gives an idea of the abundance of game in this blessed years.
Aren't they more precious as you know that Kenya is now beyond of recovery, gamewise? Your agenda was perfect.

--------------------
"I don't want to create an encyclopedic atmosphere here when we might be having a beer instead" P H Capstick in "Safari the last adventure."

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NitroX
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: dale]
#127927 - 24/02/09 05:14 PM

Very nice. Great to see your photos of hunts and game from the time before Kenya closed sport hunting. Plus the Tanz ones from the same period.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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bonanza
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: dale]
#191735 - 13/10/11 10:32 AM

Bill,

Are those print scans, negative scans or slides? I love shooting film and banked my only safari on a couple of 35mm cameras. One being a Nikon FM2, which is 100% manual. Film has an untangle look that digital can't replicate. I'm talking about setting the film speed, shutter, aperture and focus. Six rolls later some where shit, but most were great.

B.

--------------------

"Speak Precisely" G. Gordon Liddy.

"Life is absurd, chaotic and we must define its purpose with our actions" Abert Camus

"I''m the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude."

"Yo! Mr. White"

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xausa
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: bonanza]
#191737 - 13/10/11 11:13 AM

They were slides, all taken with my trusty Nikon FT, 135mm zoom lens, if I remember correctly.

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9.3x57
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: xausa]
#191767 - 13/10/11 10:19 PM

Marvelous pix!

Great days for sure.

Bill, you sure were one of a VERY few in those days who did this, and especially with a O/U rifle!

In addition, your custom .505 is another truly unique round from a era when there was a dearth of such things.

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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xausa
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Re: A coupe from the Xausa archives [Re: 9.3x57]
#191788 - 14/10/11 05:56 AM

Quote:

In addition, your custom .505 is another truly unique round from a era when there was a dearth of such things.

I had a request from one of our European members who collects brass for examples of a couple of my wildcat cartridges. I decided to track down all of the little devils for him, and here they are: From the left .577 VSRE, .505 SRE. .416 MRE, .375 LRE and .450 C&W. All but the .450 are 2.500" long and were designed to work through a standard length action.

Only the .505 has actually been to Africa, but it certainly proved itself: one black rhino, three elephants and five Cape buffalo, using a 570 grain Kynoch solid at 2150 fps.

The .450 was intended to be the replacement for the host of then unavailable British double rifle cartridges which fired a 500 grain bullet at 2150 fps. It was simply the .375 H&H (flanged) opened up to accept a .458" bullet, representing a sort of rimmed .450 Watts, providing a lower pressure, rimmed alternative to the .458 Winchester Magnum. Krieghoff actually built me a rifle in that caliber, which arrived too late for my last African trip.