July/August 1978 - American Handgunner

Trophy KuduThe Author Learns of Cooper'sHunting CodeBy TONY WEEKSwas Monday August 12th, 1977, weIT had just said good-bye to Barry Millerof The Gunshop and his lawyer friend JeffFobbs. For eight days we had unsuccessfullylooked for a trophy sized kudu onUmfula Ranch, Nuanetsi district in S.E.Rhodesia.My hunting partner (Jeff Cooper'sfriend, Clifford Douglas from LosAngeles, California) and I had a few daysto go before returning to Salisbury. Isuggested that we take a stroll down theMkurni River-a tributary of the Lundi,which had pools of water every half a mileor so. At the last moment I discarded mypre-war .30-06 M-70 Winchester with3x-9x Redfield Widefield and decided totake only the 6%" Model 29 S&W .44Maghum revolver with Pachmayr grips.Two school boys and two trackersmade up a party of six. Soon one schoolboyvolunteered to return to the LandRover and to take it to the boundarywhere we were heading. Then Cliffordand the other schoolboy elected to crossover the Mkumi and comb the otherside-once again I had no objection. Thatleft one tracker, Shangani and I and theModel 29!1 The Trophy is SightedWithin ten minutes of very quiet walk-ing-previously impossible due to thenumber of hunters-there, not morethan 75 meters away, was the biggestkudu trophy that I have seen for 15 years.I aimed for the shoulder, shooting fromthe Weaver stance, and squeezed off.The beautiful animal did not drop orspook, but strolled out of view behind abushy ridge. I let it have two more shotsas it moved off. Reloading - from the beltas I moved slowly forward, I then gotanother view from the slight ridge that ithad strolled over. Three more shots at theshoulder and the trophy was mine.Apparently the first shot had been justforward of the point of the shoulder andhad nicked the spinal column, afterwhich the kudu could only walk slowly.Four of my six shots were well placed onthe shoulder. I was not at all dis~leasedwith the performance of myself or mypistol. Elmer Keith's load (22 grains of2400 behind a 429421 S. W.C. weighing250 grains) had penetrated right throughto the opposing shoulder without distortionon two of the four hits. The other twohad been Norma factory soft point hollownose that I had unfortunately reloadedwhile moving forward to the ridge. Thesehad expanded into the lung cavity withlittle penetration. Shots two and threecould have been misses.To have succeeded with a pistol withinone hour of setting out-when we had-failed the previous eight days-only enhancedthe indescribable satisfaction thatonly keen successful hunters using "fairhunting methods" can know.The trophy horns I measured as 57%"round the curve, but Gerry Gore, who isan official Rowland Ward registration officer,knocked this down to 52% inches,just making the Rowland Ward Record ofBig Game Trophy Book. Apparently thecorrect method is to measure up the frontedge of the horns, not following the builtin groove that seems designed to take atape measure!The kudu bull was an estimated 16years of age and had actually started to goblue with baldness on the shoulders. Hewas past his prime, not as heavy as hemight have been three years ago, and actuallyproved to have had seven ribs brokenand healed some time in his fightingpast.Cooper's Hunting CodeOne of Jeff Cooper's first questionswhen told of my success was "How bigdid the front sight appear on the kudu?"After reflection, I said "About one footacross." Now with an 8 inch sight radius,the one eighth inch sight would subtendone foot at exactly 64 yards-which tendsto agree with my estimate of 75 meters.The interesting thing is the reason forJeff's question which was that Jeff onlyshot a hunting handgun if the vulnerableor kill area was bigger than his foresight.Obviouslv he had established his own limitationbased on proven ability.So the next step was to establish myown limitation with the .44 Magnum andso a group of ten was fired with my standardload 22124001250 K T SWC at 75 meters.You have probably guessed theresult-all ten shots were in a 12" circle,proving that I had not broken a goodhandgunners code. I would like to recommendthis system toall handgun hunters.AMERICAN HANDGUNNER JULYIAUGUST 1978