Recent content by Major Bonkers

My gripe with coats like this - Barbour are the same - is that they don't cover (what Forrest Gump called) the boo-tocks. We used to call coats like this 'bum freezers' at school. In the rain, the coat drips from the hem straight onto your bum or legs. QED, the ideal coat should come down to...

It's not climate change, it is climate variation.

And the nice thing about returning to the same outfitter is that you develop a friendship and get to know the staff and ground. I think that you have got it absolutely right, Mr. 45-70guy.

Also: https://www.pronkjag.com/

I have not done it, and I have some qualms about the process. But I have met someone who did it. His take was that the lion reverted to type within two weeks, itself hunting naturally (the party came across the lion's own kills whilst hunting it), and the lion was de facto indistinguishable...

Here's how to get your US hunting for free (slight risk involved)... https://magazine.atavist.com/2026/san-luis-valley-wildlife-poaching

Mr. Deewayne2003 - I do not in any way mean to be rude, but I disagree with you. Firstly, you are not comparing like with like (as you admit). Kenya was closed to hunting in 1977 (when Madam Kenyatta's work was done) and, as you say, rhino and elephant are off the menu nowadays. These are the...

I suspect that, if one were to run the figures taking into account inflation, purchasing power parity, and so on, we are actually living in a period of the cheapest ever safaris. Looking over Ruarke's Horn of the Hunter, he took a nine-week safari, plus travel time (which, in 1951, must have...

It would certainly be a good opportunity to demonstrate how managed conservation works to the benefit of all concerned, provided Mr. Rootball Express leaves some for everyone else. Other advantages would be an expected premium for shooting one of Señor Escobar's hippos over an African one, as...

Black & Decker Workmate

More: Colombia to cull up to 80 hippos descended from Pablo Escobar zoo

These are excellent rifles, highly rated by Pierre van der Walt and Gregor Woods. I have one myself and it is a lovely rifle with excellent handling, which I prefer over my H&H .375. The beavertail forend works well with this rifle. Obviously check that the rifle is in good condition, but the...

Presumably, Churchill took one or both of his Mauser pistols with him to South Africa when he was reporting the second Boer War: he was in South Africa between October 1899 - July 1900. Perhaps one of his pistols was confiscated on his capture by the Boers, and his third purchase (1 December...

I am afraid that I can't help thinking that the whole venture is flawed. There are two common variants of .458 cartridges, and various Johnny-come-latelys which do not add anything other than headaches for those trying to source ammunition. I can, to a certain extent, understand the attraction...

It's too late now, but I would have passed the whole thing onto Bill Blacker. He may have been able to save the rib (with the all-important 'Holland & Holland' written on it) and foresight. He still ought to be able to make you a new set of barrels. Stephane Dupille is the chap for stocking...