Africa's Most Dangerous - A book review
From Safari Press:
Africa's Most Dangerous
By Kevin Robertson
This latest book by Kevin Robertson is an excellent treatment of one of Africa's most sought after game species the Cape Buffalo, or what he more accurately calls the "Southern Buffalo". The book clearly covers some very important topics such as proper shot placement, rifle
selection, caliber selection, field judging etc. All of this is from the perspective of an experienced buffalo hunter and PH. It is practical common sense information that a veteran Cape Buffalo hunter or anyone who wants to hunt Cape Buffalo in the future would benefit from reading. Robertson's analysis of shot placement is excellent. The photo/diagrams are wonderful tools for the buffalo hunter.
Robertson a qualified PH and veterinarian looks at buffalo hunting from a few different perspectives. Some of his opinions and theories will be a bit controversial which is exactly why I like this book. It does a lot more than repeat the standard treatise on buffalo hunting. One such topic is the SCI scoring system for buffalo. He argues that the system weighs heavily in favor of horn length and width with very little consideration given to the size of the the boss. If the vast number of hunters continue to take to the field placing emphasis on these factors as opposed to boss size and hardness Robertson convincingly argues that we will do long term damage to buffalo because hunters are killing younger bulls who have not yet had the opportunity to breed and spread their genes to the herd.
Another topic I find fascinating is the toughness of African animals. There are some that say they are no tougher than North American game of similar size. Robertson theorizes that the toughness of African game animals is real and that it may be the result of the Rhinderpest pandemic of the 1890's which decimated buffalo and antelope herds across Africa. His opinion is that their progeny which are the animals that occupy the continent now are tougher because their ancestors had to survive the epidemic and extreme pressure from predators. While his thesis is not scientific and he acknowledges that from the start it is quite an interesting theory, and makes for interesting reading.
I think this book is fascinating in that it explores topics not addressed by other books about buffalo. It is a comprehensive volume on hunting the Cape buffalo from a man who knows what he is talking about. I recommend it for anyone interested in buffalo hunting. - TJR
Africa's Most Dangerous is available from Safari Press PO BOX 3095 Long Beach CA 90803
Africa's Most Dangerous
By Kevin Robertson
This latest book by Kevin Robertson is an excellent treatment of one of Africa's most sought after game species the Cape Buffalo, or what he more accurately calls the "Southern Buffalo". The book clearly covers some very important topics such as proper shot placement, rifle
selection, caliber selection, field judging etc. All of this is from the perspective of an experienced buffalo hunter and PH. It is practical common sense information that a veteran Cape Buffalo hunter or anyone who wants to hunt Cape Buffalo in the future would benefit from reading. Robertson's analysis of shot placement is excellent. The photo/diagrams are wonderful tools for the buffalo hunter.Robertson a qualified PH and veterinarian looks at buffalo hunting from a few different perspectives. Some of his opinions and theories will be a bit controversial which is exactly why I like this book. It does a lot more than repeat the standard treatise on buffalo hunting. One such topic is the SCI scoring system for buffalo. He argues that the system weighs heavily in favor of horn length and width with very little consideration given to the size of the the boss. If the vast number of hunters continue to take to the field placing emphasis on these factors as opposed to boss size and hardness Robertson convincingly argues that we will do long term damage to buffalo because hunters are killing younger bulls who have not yet had the opportunity to breed and spread their genes to the herd.
Another topic I find fascinating is the toughness of African animals. There are some that say they are no tougher than North American game of similar size. Robertson theorizes that the toughness of African game animals is real and that it may be the result of the Rhinderpest pandemic of the 1890's which decimated buffalo and antelope herds across Africa. His opinion is that their progeny which are the animals that occupy the continent now are tougher because their ancestors had to survive the epidemic and extreme pressure from predators. While his thesis is not scientific and he acknowledges that from the start it is quite an interesting theory, and makes for interesting reading.
I think this book is fascinating in that it explores topics not addressed by other books about buffalo. It is a comprehensive volume on hunting the Cape buffalo from a man who knows what he is talking about. I recommend it for anyone interested in buffalo hunting. - TJR
Africa's Most Dangerous is available from Safari Press PO BOX 3095 Long Beach CA 90803
posted by Todd J. Rathner @ 11:37 PM
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