American Hunter Killed in Uganda

[Ontario Hunter]

Update: One source (who knew Mr. Cox from a previous safari) recalls that Mr. Cox hunted Cape buffalo in the past with a .416 Remington Magnum made by Montana Rifle Company.

Now, it’s too early to tell. But assuming that it’s true (and that this is the same rifle which he was using on this ill fated safari), what could have gone wrong ?

If a MRC that he's used "in the past", it's almost certainly a Model 1999, essentially a CRF 98 Mauser/Model 70 clone. Those had a 3-position side safety almost identical to Model 70. The bolt shroud would not detach after firing a shot, barring the gun being blown completely to pieces.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Come on, man. Be reasonable. There are lots of single/divorced/widowed men in their advanced age (who probably are estranged from their family, if they have any alive) that make hunting trips overseas to live out their passion as long as they’re reasonably healthy. It happens. I have many single buddies (even one in his 90s) that make trips to Africa on safari all the time.

And the US State Dept can't find anyone related to them? Mr Cox may indeed be an old loner with no family attachments and lots of money (he hunts Africa regularly). It's certainly a possible scenario but given the natural human attraction to wealth, it would be unusual if his entire family has cast him out. I highly doubt "lots" of guys fall in that category. I'm sure someone in his extended family will turn up eventually. Just makes an unusual story more unusual.

Incidentally, I do fall in the category of old geezer who's both widowed and divorced but I still ensure someone in my family knows where I'm going when I head to Africa. A bit more than driving to Walmart.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

And the US State Dept can't find anyone related to them? Mr Cox may indeed be an old loner with no family attachments and lots of money (he hunts Africa regularly). It's certainly a possible scenario but given the natural human attraction to wealth, it would be unusual if his entire family has cast him out. I highly doubt "lots" of guys fall in that category.

Incidentally, I do fall in the category of old geezer who's both widowed and divorced but I still ensure someone in my family knows where I'm going when I head to Africa.

Same here. I’m divorced too. But my parents, children & grandchildren always know wherever I’m going.

 

[Russ16]

I’ll be the contrarian here on informing people. I went to Azerbaijan on a hunt and neglected to tell anyone. Just slipped my mind. They were quite surprised when I got back. I travel regularly for work including a decent amount international. It just doesn’t occur to me to tell anyone. I’m divorced with no kids.

I do list an emergency contact with the outfitter. It’s usually someone in my family.

 

[Milehighshooter]

I'll pay any updates I hear from my customer. It is possible he might have given emergency contacts who are NOT next of kin, and the state dept won't release his remains to them.

 

[Buffalo_Bob]

I have read the thread and the comments, and, I feel I must clear the air. It annoys me to no end to see a forum such as this to be construed as an occasion to pontificate on slim information and manufactured circumstance and speculation.

Mr. Cox was not inexperienced! He had hunted in Africa many times. His hunting included Cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, nine spiral horn antelope and countless other species of plains game. He also hunted big horn sheep in Turkmenistan, the Himalayas, and Mongolia. He’d also been on many big game hunts in North America.

Frank was 78 years old and had a pacemaker, but was in good physical condition. He walked continually. Prior to his African trip, he had just finished a bird hunting season- walking in the field, with all the ups and downs, from morning till night for days on end. He had been hunting from September 1, through the end of the year.

Frank cleaned and inspected his firearms each night to ensure that they were in good working order. He would have swabbed the barrel, chamber and action to clear out any dust and/or debris as well as verify the scope zero, which can easily be accomplished with simple tools. Minimal field stripping a firearm is important, especially on dangerous game hunts! I did it when I was on safari, including dangerous game, but also do so for other hunting.

Frank was an experienced and knowledgeable shooter and an excellent marksman. Hunting buffalo presents circumstances that may create a miss, but it would be rare to see him not hitting a vital spot. We do know that does not always stop a cape buffalo. His next instinct would be to chamber and fire another round; that would almost be an automatic reflex. If he realized something was amiss with his rifle, he would not have pursued a wounded animal into the bush.

I can vouch for his abilities as a hunter and firearms handler, and also a committed sportsman. I learned a lot about hunting and shooting from Frank, and I will miss his tutelage and friendship.

Frank’s brother was contacted by the embassy within 24 hours of his death. His brother got the word to me and to several of Frank’s close friends and hunting companions.

I was most gratified to see the many expressions of condolences for Frank and the wishing well and speedy recovery for Mr. Trappe. I also feel I can thank those folks on behalf of Frank’s family, who I have the privilege of knowing.

So, thank you well-wishers and true sports folk. I have lost a best friend and valued sporting companion.

 

[LivingTheDream]

@Buffalo_Bob Sorry for your loss. Sounds like he was an amazing hunter and really wish I could have heard some of his stories. Thank you for providing the additional information.

 

[Wahoo]

I have read the thread and the comments, and, I feel I must clear the air. It annoys me to no end to see a forum such as this to be construed as an occasion to pontificate on slim information and manufactured circumstance and speculation.

Mr. Cox was not inexperienced! He had hunted in Africa many times. His hunting included Cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion, nine spiral horn antelope and countless other species of plains game. He also hunted big horn sheep in Turkmenistan, the Himalayas, and Mongolia. He’d also been on many big game hunts in North America.

Frank was 78 years old and had a pacemaker, but was in good physical condition. He walked continually. Prior to his African trip, he had just finished a bird hunting season- walking in the field, with all the ups and downs, from morning till night for days on end. He had been hunting from September 1, through the end of the year.

Frank cleaned and inspected his firearms each night to ensure that they were in good working order. He would have swabbed the barrel, chamber and action to clear out any dust and/or debris as well as verify the scope zero, which can easily be accomplished with simple tools. Minimal field stripping a firearm is important, especially on dangerous game hunts! I did it when I was on safari, including dangerous game, but also do so for other hunting.

Frank was an experienced and knowledgeable shooter and an excellent marksman. Hunting buffalo presents circumstances that may create a miss, but it would be rare to see him not hitting a vital spot. We do know that does not always stop a cape buffalo. His next instinct would be to chamber and fire another round; that would almost be an automatic reflex. If he realized something was amiss with his rifle, he would not have pursued a wounded animal into the bush.

I can vouch for his abilities as a hunter and firearms handler, and also a committed sportsman. I learned a lot about hunting and shooting from Frank, and I will miss his tutelage and friendship.

Frank’s brother was contacted by the embassy within 24 hours of his death. His brother got the word to me and to several of Frank’s close friends and hunting companions.

I was most gratified to see the many expressions of condolences for Frank and the wishing well and speedy recovery for Mr. Trappe. I also feel I can thank those folks on behalf of Frank’s family, who I have the privilege of knowing.

So, thank you well-wishers and true sports folk. I have lost a best friend and valued sporting companion.

Well said and agree. Condolences for your loss of a friend and to his family as well.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Bob

Condolonces for losing a valued friend. I'm glad the embassy was able to track down his family. Thanks for the update and multiple clarifications. I would never assume a 78 year-old gent with a pacemaker was necessarily unfit to hunt. I know how much a pacemaker envigorated my mom at age 74. And my 67 year-old best friend in Montana just had one implanted two weeks ago. Talked to him last night and he's feeling great. Sounds like we will be chasing deer again this fall in the Missouri Breaks.

Mr. Cox's rifle being found discombulated never made any sense to me and it seems you agree. The stuff about his age and pacemaker, dismantling his gun every night, and then the shroud somehow miraculously falling off his rifle were all added unnecessarily to the incident report. Accuracy aside, there was no good reason for the author to include that "information." The objective was fairly obvious. And very disrespectful to Mr Cox.

 

[rookhawk]

From the start, my forensics of the report focused on the one thing that was out of ordinary, the gun cleaning and the broken gun at the site of the encounter.

A pretty simple inference can be drawn by the location of the hunt, the species being hunted, and the age of the hunter: that the PH and client were well qualified and experienced.

Someone asked what could have gone wrong if it was an MRC rifle in 416 rem. Its exactly what could have gone wrong that I speculated in prior pages. Bolt wasn't full reassembled, bolt was damaged cocking it on a hard object after disassembly, stock bolts weren't tightened enough. Given the report states the shroud was found on the ground, I believe the shroud wasn't installed the correct number of rotations. Please don't take bolts apart in the bush. Just clean the externals of your bolt and put it back in the rifle.

Sorry for the family and friend's loss. I don't understand why we're speculating about his marital status and who is authorized to take his remains? Seems tacky, irrelevant, and fails to do anything positive on the two points of this thread: 1.) Condolences for the injured and deceased, 2.) Learning what caused it so the experience can prevent a future tragedy.

 

[IvW]

How did that gun ever fire in the first place if the shroud wasn't screwed in? Something really doesn't make sense with that story.

Okay, I pulled out my 98 Mauser to see if I could replicate what happened. Didn't think it was possible. I was wrong. Maybe. Here's what happened, almost certainly. Someone was reassembling the bolt the night before and only started screwing on the bolt shroud when distracted (drunk?). The bolt can be closed with safety in position two and shroud only just started to thread onto the bolt. The firing pin was not released to store it overnight (not uncommon). Had it been released,, the error would have been discovered (shroud would come off the bolt). Mr Cox loaded the gun next day while safety still in position two (which position is required to reassemble the bolt). Then he pushed safety back to full safe for the stalk (so bolt is locked). But when the safety was disengaged, the striker was released and the gun fired prematurely, probably causing poor location of shot and wounding the buffalo. This "could have" happened because disengaging the safety not only releases the striker, it also causes the barely attached shroud to come off the bolt. The possible problems with this theory are 1) if the shroud comes loose from the bolt would the firing pin have enough energy to dent the primer sufficient to detonate? The striker spring jumps backwards so there would be little forward energy applied to firing pin. And 2) would the firing pin even reach the primer? I am tempted to load an empty case with just a primer and test my hypothesis. But I live in town so testing with detonating primers is not a good idea. As soon as Mr Cox attempted to cycle a followup shot the striker and shroud probably fell out of the gun. But maybe not. That I can test without alarming my neighbors. Let's see ... no, the striker, spring, and shroud almost certainly stayed with the bolt but unattached. So unless he deliberately looked at the gun when reloading (unlikely) he would be unaware the shroud was dangling loose and inoperable when he got on the sticks for the kill shot. The buffalo knocked the loose shroud and striker out of the gun and they became separated on the ground because they were no longer threaded together ... because they were barely threaded when the bolt was reassembled.

The question that is paramount to the official investigation is was Mr Cox hunting with his own gun? His family can answer that question. If not, then I think the blame belongs elsewhere. No outfitter would allow a client to completely disassemble a camp rifle. That would be delegated to an employee. Or it SHOULD be delegated to staff.

Here you imply he could have been drunk....

It is one thing to "go out with boots on" but quite another to take someone else with you. I have nearly met my maker a half dozen times while hunting. Most of those incidents could easily have been (likely would have been) a disaster for someone else's family had I not been hunting alone. One reason why I prefer to hunt alone. A 78 year-old guy with a pacemaker should have been hunting plains game. He was putting too many other guys at risk. Anyway, it appears, from what we're hearing at this point, he was either unfamiliar with his rifle or incapable of proper maintenance ... for whatever reason. Dicey health + basic unfamiliarity with the rifle = bad situation. Lucky the PH didn't get killed. He definitely wasn't ready to die.

Here you imply he should have been hunting plains game.....basic unfamiliarity with his rifle......incapable of proper maintenace.....

And so you carry on yet you know jackshit about the person or what happened on the ground, nor do you care......

You seem to know a lot about everything yet you know nothing about anything......

Shame on you.....

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Here you imply he could have been drunk....


Here you imply he should have been hunting plains game.....basic unfamiliarity with his rifle......incapable of proper maintenace.....

And so you carry on yet you know jackshit about the person or what happened on the ground, nor do you care......

You seem to know a lot about everything yet you know nothing about anything......

Shame on you.....

As usual you do a nice job taking bits and pieces out of context. The first quote says a person would have to be really stupid or very unfamiliar with the gun or distracted or incapacitated (drunk?) to stick a bolt back together with the shroud unattached. Then I went on to point out that none of those possibilities could have come into play anyway because a rifle reassembled with an unattached shroud could not fire and wound a buffalo as reported. Either the bolt shroud was never detached or the buffalo was never wounded. My money is on the former. Regrettably, I initially took the bait re age and pacemaker that was inappropriately added to the incident report. It soon became clear what the authors of that report were up to: exonerating the PH (who never needed exonerating anyway) and putting as much blame as possible on the client. The ones that may have needed exoneration were the other two govt guys who simply dropped off the page as soon as the buffalo was encountered. Clearly at least one of them was armed. I remember another report a while back where a tracker picked up the downed PH's rifle and dispatched the wounded animal (wasn't that Shockey's daughter's leopard?). Didn't happen here.

 

[rookhawk]

The first quote says a person would have to be really stupid or very unfamiliar with the gun or distracted or incapacitated (drunk?) to stick a bolt back together with the shroud unattached.

You're taking leaps way too far.

Hunting is incredibly fatiguing. A million things are going through one's head. You don't have to be stupid, or drunk, or lazy, or incompetent to have a lapse in judgement with your rifle at the end of a long day's hunting. The difference between mistakes and avoiding mistakes is setting rules and protocols for yourself (e.g. TAB-K) . A rule like no gunsmithing or rifle disassembly on a hunt would be a useful, lasting legacy of this thread that could save a life and it doesn't require any insult to a fellow hunter that has passed on.

Freshly rested, with perfect lighting, in a climate controlled home workshop, without distraction, I could very well make the same type of mistake on a rifle as likely happened on this hunt. It doesn't take any pejorative term to describe potential human error. It's called an accident for a reason. In the case of a fellow hunter above, it was a terrible accident with the worst consequences. It's why we do things that introduce mechanical risks in a clean-room setting and then we certify our guns reliable by function testing before a hunt begins. Problems do happen all the time since 100% of mechanical devices can and will fail.

@Ontario Hunter you tend to insert animus and state of mind into all your suppositions on other people. It's speculative in a harmful way rather than a politely factual way. You think differently than virtually everybody which is just fine, but you then infer everyone else's state of mind based upon how your mind works which is not correct whatsoever. You have no evidence for most of what you've spouted on this thread, only speculations that start with you dismissing the reported facts, then with you creating your own theories. It's weird.

 

[Firebird]

I watched Ph Mini Trappe last night on a hunting show I had on dvr. When I saw the name I sat up in my chair remembering this thread. They were hunting buffalo in Uganda and I believe the program was Hornadys Dark and Dangerous. I’ll check when I get home in a couple days, but it made the episode much more fascinating to watch, getting to “meet” a ph I hadn’t heard of ten days ago, and an increased hope for his recovery.

 

[WAB]

Can’t we let this go and simply express our condolences to the family and friends? Surely you guys can find somewhere else
to have a pissing match?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

You're taking leaps way too far.

Hunting is incredibly fatiguing. A million things are going through one's head. You don't have to be stupid, or drunk, or lazy, or incompetent to have a lapse in judgement with your rifle at the end of a long day's hunting. The difference between mistakes and avoiding mistakes is setting rules and protocols for yourself (e.g. TAB-K) . A rule like no gunsmithing or rifle disassembly on a hunt would be a useful, lasting legacy of this thread that could save a life and it doesn't require any insult to a fellow hunter that has passed on.

Freshly rested, with perfect lighting, in a climate controlled home workshop, without distraction, I could very well make the same type of mistake on a rifle as likely happened on this hunt. It doesn't take any pejorative term to describe potential human error. It's called an accident for a reason. In the case of a fellow hunter above, it was a terrible accident with the worst consequences. It's why we do things that introduce mechanical risks in a clean-room setting and then we certify our guns reliable by function testing before a hunt begins. Problems do happen all the time since 100% of mechanical devices can and will fail.

@Ontario Hunter you tend to insert animus and state of mind into all your suppositions on other people. It's speculative in a harmful way rather than a politely factual way. You think differently than virtually everybody which is just fine, but you then infer everyone else's state of mind based upon how your mind works which is not correct whatsoever. You have no evidence for most of what you've spouted on this thread, only speculations that start with you dismissing the reported facts, then with you creating your own theories. It's weird.

You have missed the point. There "most likely" was NO mistake reassembling the rifle. Otherwise it would never have fired the shot that wounded the buffalo. The buffalo was wounded therefore client shot it with a gun that WAS reassembled properly with the shroud attached. Without the shroud attached there's no spring tension to make the firing pin work. A gun without a working firing pin won't shoot a buffalo. It's a fact.

Personally, I would have no reservation whatsoever about disassembling my 98 Mauser bolt in the field, even in the dark. All I need is the sharp stabled edge of something that's well grounded (truck bed, tree stump, etc.). If the firing pin breaks on a hunting trip, I likely will have to replace it myself. No gunsmiths available in camp or in town. Now, my Springfield 03A3 is a different matter. I would never attempt replacing it's firing pin anywhere but a VERY controlled environment. Too easy to loose control of the bloody spring when locking the firing pin tip onto striker. Looking at a diagram of Model 70 bolt assembly, I don't think I'd attempt changing that firing pin in an uncontrolled environment for the same reason. Digging a firing pin spring from behind the washing machine is a pain in the arse but at least I know it's back there. If it flies off into the trees I probably will never find it. Would I disassemble my bolt on a nightly basis? Only if environmental conditions dictate. A lot of snow falling in the action can lead to a frozen firing pin. Been there done that several times. Then the bolt gets disassembled in the tent at night to be cleaned and thoroughly dried. In very dusty windy conditions I would disassemble and clean the bolt at camp if needed. Not sure I would want to wait for a buffalo charge to discover cleaning was needed. A worldly veteran hunter like Mr Cox undoubtedly knew how to properly clean and reassemble his rifle's bolt. I don't know if he disassembled it the night before (doubtful) but I am certain it was properly in one piece when he shot his buffalo the next day. Clearly this accident was not due to any mechanical malfunction.

 

[RR 314]

Personally, I would have no reservation whatsoever about disassembling my 98 Mauser bolt in the field, even in the dark.

In the dark, blindfolded, and behind your back. Got it. This is a terrible tragedy. Leave it at that.