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DOUBLE RIFLES AND HUNTING TROPHIES
Stefan Bader of Germany, a good gent I met at SCI Reno in 2010, is a double rifle man. His two buffalo and impala were taken
with a .500 in 2006 in Tanzania and the pair of eland with a 9.3x74r in April of this year in Namibia. Stefan is buying a
.500 Heym double so we should see more of his photos posted here.
Mike Mooney is yet another Alaskan who left the great northland for warmer pastures in Washington. Several years ago Mike
took this cape buffalo with a vintage Holland and Holland .500 3 1/4" black powder express. Several plains game fell to his
.375 (only one barrel, though) and the year before Mike and I hunted in South Africa together.
Jerry and Joan Brossia are experienced hunters in both Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Jerry shoots a .500 Merkel double and, as you
can see from the photos, shoots it very well. A fellow Alaskan, Jerry began developing loads for his double at my cabin in
Willow.
I finally found them! The two photos below are Ron Williams with PH Gary Hopkins from Ron's September 2008 hunt in Zimbabwe
south of Vic Falls. The kudu photo has Greg Hoversten on the left and Cal on the right. Both the kudu and waterbuck were both
one shot kills (the waterbuck at 120 yards!) and the rifle is a Rodda .475 nitro express double. Ron's elephant can be seen
a bit lower on this page. The Rodda weighs about 12 pounds which is a bit heavy for a .475 but the recoil is like a .450-400--quite
mild.
Gus Gillespie, a good friend for many years here in Alaska, took this cape buffalo in Tanzania with an Osborne .450 3 1/4".
Gus took several great animals on his safari with a .375 and the .450 including a super lion. He is a very active member in
the Alaska SCI chapter.
Anthony Alborough-Tregear of Westley Richards was a great assistance in my book on the .600s and was kind enough to write
the introduction. He is also an experienced African hunter as can be seen in the two photos below. I do not have the caliber
and make of his double but will post it when I find out. Thanks for all the help, Anthony.
Below are some photos that came with the Wilkes .475 no2 on May 7th. From the top: Mr. And Mrs. Ray Meyer with the tusks
of one of the 5 elephants shot on safari in 1955. One was a reported shamba raider and had killed a woman and child. Next
is the elephant. The third photo is of the Meyers, two Africans, and their PH--Patrick Hemingway--yes, Ernest's son was a
PH in the 1950s. The rifle in the photos is my .475 no 2. Fourth photo was published in the Double Gun Journal in the early
or mid 1990s (I believe). A bit of American hunting, too, but a great African history (including all of the big five) my new
love has! The Wilkes' photos are on the double rifle page.
The following four photos are from Cal. Top photo is a Matetsi, Zimbabwe, buffalo from 2008. Taken with a John Wilkes .600
that dates from 1914 it was rough for this cold weather Alaskan to carry 15 1/2 pounds in the heat of September. The boss
is great but he is a bit narrow. Next is a croc from Tanzania taken with a .450-400 Harrison and Husssey. The eland was taken
with a Mortimer and Son .500 black powder express outside of Chiredzi, Zimbabwe in 1997 on Jerry Whitehead's ranch with PH
Neil Duckworth. The hippo was shot in Tanzania and the rifle is my .450-400. PH is Gary Hopkins of Zimbabwe.
Steve Ahrenberg of Phoenix used a Krieghoff .470 to take his Zambia buffalo and lion.
Below are five photos of game I've taken with my Harrison and Hussey boxlock ejector double rifle. It has a Swarovski
1.25-4x 30mm scope and claw mounts. Top photo is a super nyala taken in Zululand, about 30 miles out of Greytown, SA. The
bush was so thick other nyala and impala came to within a few yards of us. My PH was Gert Rall of Pietersburg. Next, is a
sable taken in Zimbabwe in 2005 with Gary Hopkins, PH. Below that is a warthog from the Limpopo river on the Botswana border
in 2005. The water buffalo was taken in 2000 with Kim Walters and Barry Jones of Buffalo Safaris Australia. One shot through
the chest and a second through the shoulder as he turned did in the old dagga boy. Bottom photo are some poacher's dogs taken
is SA in 2005. The dogs were used to run down and exhaust game and had killed a warthog and now had a 40-inch lizard at bay.
After I shot the dogs I noticed the poacher running away. If you look close at the top center of the picture, you can see
the lizard--curved like the letter C
Ron Williams of Palmer, Alaska, took this non-trophy cow elephant in Metetsi (Zimbabwe) in 2008. It was a one shot kill (brain
shot) with a Rodda .475.
I shot this buffalo close to Lake Kariba in 2003. The rifle is a Joseph Lang double (of course) in .450 no2 nitro express.
Load was 102 grains of IMR 4831 and a 500-grain Hornady solid. My guide was Gert Rall of South Africa and Evans M'kanza of
Zimbabwe. My rifle has a great history of going to Kenya in 1904 with White Hunters Africa when the owner (a veteran of the
Boer War) moved from hog farming to being a white hunter. It stayed in Kenya until 1956 when it went back to London for repairs
and/or alterations. I purchased it in Anchorage in 2001 and she shoots within two inches at 50 yards. Below the buffalo is
a giraffe taken with the .450 no2 Lang in South Africa outside of the town of Vivo. While giraffe are not considered a sporting
trophy animal, stalking one is the most difficult of any game I have come upon. Taken at 60 yards with two shots 3 inches
apart on the upper left shoulder. The Grizzly was also taken with the Lang in 2003. He as an interior grizzly taken 30 miles
out of the town of Eagle on the Yukon River, close the the Yukon border. The bear's internal organs and fat was purple due
to eating nothing but blueberries (I carry whipped cream, bowl, and spoon when I hunt in the fall as I love the wild Alaska
berries). I called this griz to 8 yards when a shot in the chest dropped him instantly.
Steve Ahrenberg of Phoenix has hunted extensively in Africa. Below are two excellent trophies taken with doubles. The Botswana
elephant was taken in 2006 with a Krieghoff .470 and the buffalo (and what a buffalo it is!) was taken in Zambia with a Armeria
de Madrid .500. Expect more photos from Steve. One additional note, Steve has just purchased his first English double--an
Osborne .450-400 3 1/4".
The three photos below were sent by a good friend from Texas, Lester Dyke. A Russian boar and two nilgai bulls were taken
on his ranch. It may be difficult to see the animals as I know you will be focused on two of his excellent double rifles:
a original 1903 Rigby rising bite in .450 nitro express and an Army & Navy .600 (bottom photo).
Alaska's Rob Seymour took this Zimbabwe bull in Matetsi in 2008 with his Bland 4-bore single. Rob's Bland is a true 4
with a bore diameter of 1 inch. He was using Blue Dot powder and a 2100-grain hard cast bullet. (I know Rob's rifle is not
a double, but, hey.....)
Below are four of Cal's non-trophy trophies (?). All were taken with my .450-400 Harrison and Hussey boxlock ejector with
a Swarovski scope. The caribou was a 2004 meat animal taken on the Yukon Border in Alaska. The impala was leopard bait in
Tanzania in 2006. The Tanzania leopard was also in 2006. He was a good cat but was wounded a few months prior by a Russian
client and infection set in. Upon cleaning him, he stank to high heaven and his internal organs were green in color. He was
over 7-feet long but weighed well under 100 pounds as he was starving. The lion was a major disappointment. My PH told me
he was a 5 1/2 year old lion with little mane due to living his live in the bush. Actually, he was a 2 1/2 year old sub adult
and should not have been shot. I didn't know this then.
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