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Out of general interest I will put up some comments from the Big Game REcords book 1931, of which the author corresponded with WDM Bell:

(Regarding buffalo)
F. C. Selous has said: "as regards viciousness
I should be inclined to put the buffalo third
on the list ", and W. D. M. Bell who has shot
them in East, West and Central Africa has
described them as " worthy game in thick stuff
but ludicrously easy things to kill in open
country ".
Mr. W. D. M. Bell, whose opinion of the buffalo
I have already quoted, has probably shot more of
these animals than any other man. In the course
of his career as a hunter he has killed between
600 and 700.
In connection with the above I will now quote
from information that Mr. Bell has kindly
supplied me with: *" In parts they (buffaloes)
were the regular ration for the camp. I remem-
ber killing 23 out of 23 with a high velocity .22
rifle partly to see how effective the tiny 80 grain
bullet was but chiefly because meat was required.
I must have killed between six and seven hundred
of these animals in all. Their hide was a con-
stant trade article. Cut into sandal and shield
sizes they never failed to attract an abundant
supply of flour'.
Lest the novice or moderate shot should be en-
couraged by the above statement to attack the
dangerous game of Africa with a .22 rifle, I feel
it should be stated that Mr. Bell is probably one
of the most brilliant big-game shots that has ever
lived. The high velocity .22 rifle in the hands of
such an expert may well be an adequate weapon,
but it is usually regarded as in the extreme of
small bores for use against dangerous game.

Mr. W. D. M. Bell, whose career as an elephant
hunter I have dealt with in the first chapter, has
kindly supplied me with the following notes on
his experiences with rhinoceroses in Equatorial
Africa: " Regarding my bag of black rhino I
find that out of a total of 63 killed no less than
41 were shot when presenting some sort of
menace to either myself or to a line of porters or
to an encampment. Of the remainder only three
were killed for food, thus indicating the richness
of the other and better meat harvest, while the
remainder were chiefly killed for making sandals
or for rewarding natives with shield pieces. In
my time the horn was not worth taking unless of
unusual size."

"During my elephant hunts west of the Nile on
the banks of that river the white rhino was very
plentiful. The greatest number I ever saw in one
day was eleven but I saw some every day. They
were quite inoffensive, unlike the pugnacious
black, and hardly ever required shooting. Other
meat was plentiful and I killed three only."

"With regard to lions I merely killed any that
caused annoyance, such as roaring round camp, stampeding
porters, and so forth. The total so killed is 25."
Leopards he shot, when he came across them,
provided he was not close to elephants at the
time, or by waiting for them at water-holes, etc.
Mr. Bell shot 16 leopards during the course of his
hunting career. I have already indicated in the
chapters devoted to African elephants and
African buffaloes that Mr. Bell is a rifle shot of
outstanding ability, it is therefore particularly
interesting to know his views on lion hunting,
I quote the following from his most excellent
book, 'The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter" ,
in which he says : " The reason of the high
mortality among those who hunt lions casually is,
I think, the simple one of not holding straight
enough. Buck -fever or excitement, coupled with
anxiety lest the animal should slip away, is
probably the cause of much of the erratic shoot-
ing done at lions. This frequently results in flesh
wounds or stomach wounds, which very often
cause the lion to make a determined charge; and
there are a great many things easier to hit than
a charging lion. Great care should be taken to
plant the bullet right. The calibre does not
matter, I am convinced, provided the bullet is in
the right place. Speaking personally, I have
killed sixteen lions with .256 and .275 solid bullets,
and, as far as I can recollect, none of them
required a second shot ".

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If you carry a cat home by the tail you will receive information valuable to you for the rest of your life.
Mark Twain

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