Man Magnum May/June 2023

THE latest crime statistics show that the total number of contact crimes increased by 19 067 (11.6%) from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022. According to Minister Bheki Cele, 7 555 people were murdered in the three months of reporting. Figures vary but most sources agree that on average between 71 and 85 people are murdered per day on Minister Cele’s watch. I certainly would not congratulate him on a job well done, though he clearly disagrees with my and probably most other taxpayers’ view. According to him, of the 7 555 victims, 3 144 were killed with a firearm and 2 498 people were killed with other weapons such as knives, sharp or blunt instruments, bricks and, in many cases, bare hands. This in our country where we are enduring…

Stopping Buffalo I refer to Gregor Woods’s article “Buffalo Don’t Back down” in Magnum’s Jan/Feb 2023 edition, in which he said, “Decades ago, an author opined in Magnum that hunting buffalo was a bit like hunting domestic cattle.” This made me think about the most challenging hunt I ever experienced – for a blind Brahman cow that had holed up in a wattle thicket near Alma in the Waterberge. That Magnum author of decades ago was wrong. Domestic cattle that have become wild can be more vigilant than kudu, and certainly more vigilant than buffalo. It took me quite a while before I could even determine the colour of the blind cow. It seemed as if she would take off if I so much as thought about her! I used…

AN Austrian lady, very much a city girl, had accompanied her hubby on our hunt. Coming across some eland dung, I picked up a grape-sized pellet to roll between my thumb and forefinger. Hearing a gasp, I turned to see her expression of utmost disgust as she stared at the dung pellet. “Euw!” she exclaimed, “Was machst du?” Surprised, I raised it to show her, and she recoiled in horror. “I’ll explain later,” I said. I wanted to hunt the eland. Back at the lodge, after showering, we gathered at the lapa. The lady kept a polite distance, but after the meal I broached the subject as we sat around the fire. “You seemed horrified that I handled a scat,” I said. “Yes, I think it’s disgusting!” “Well, perhaps no…

Old-school .45 NOTHING says ‘classic’ quite like a 1911 handgun in .45ACP, and there is something special about strapping on a 1911 with an old-school leather holster and a genuine leather gun belt. The Turkish company, Tisas, makes just such a classic with their Zig M1911. Tisas started production in 1993 and currently manufactures several handguns in .45ACP, 9mmP and .380 ACP calibres. Apart from the 1911 clone they also make, among other things, an excellent copy of the Browning Hi-Power, a quality competition pistol, and durable accessories like holsters, sights and pistol grips. The model I tested was clearly a quality handgun with all the features normally expected from more wellknown manufacturers, especially with a classic firearm like the 1911. The 1911 is probably one of the most copied…

IF I GO back fifty-five years, to mid-1968, I was a 17-year-old cadet game ranger in the esteemed Rhodesian Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management. I had joined after completing my schooling in Umtali, where I had not exactly excelled academically. All I wanted to do was work in the bush as a game ranger. They say your environmental upbringing can influence your career choice, if so, it was certainly a truism in my case. Much of my boyhood was spent in Rhodesia’s remote Sabi Valley, before any commercial agriculture took over. Our home was on the majestic south-flowing river’s east bank. Elephant from across the river, were frequent visitors, with the plundering of crops high on their agenda. Most of my school holidays from about age 13, were…

IN SOUTH AFRICA, the Lee .303 rifle has seen use from the time of the Jameson Raid of 1896 to its current duty with the State President’s Guard, so a good many exist in our country. In times past, the .303 was reputed to have felled more game in SA than any other cartridge. Many Lee Enfields have been converted to sporters and remain in regular use, filling freezers with venison and pantries with biltong. The .303 cartridge is more than adequate for hunting game from impala to kudu, and factory ammunition as well as reloading components are readily available. The Lee can also be cut down to serve as a handy farm- or home-defence weapon, one such form being as a ‘scout’ type rifle popularized by the late Jeff…