Ah, a 'fouler shot' you say. I saw him fire 7 shots at a Cape
Buffalo. Which one of these shots was the fouler? I've also seen
him shot at a lion (under 50 yds) three times, a couple of which
were either clean misses of hits NOT in the vitals. I think his
PH provided the coup d'grace before the lion got into the tall
grass. I'm not criticizing follow-up shots on dangerous African
game, just not sure that his shots were follow-up or still trying to hit the animal. This is somewhat complicated because
his PH doing his job, also fired to put down the animal.
This doesn't even come close to other North American game I've witnessed (via TV) him 'shoot' with several 'fouler shots' fired afterwards!
I know and respect he's a reserve Marine Brig General. And I also
know he used to write excellent hunting articles when he was just
another hunting scribe. I also know that over the years of reading his articles he seemed to lose a bit of his insight. Then
when Kevin "Doctari" Robertson came out with his "Perfect Shot"
for African game, Mr Boddington's jonny-come-lately volume on the
"Perfect Shot" for North American game wasn't just a poor second,
but seriously lacking any intelligent discussion of ballistics,
cartridges, and bullets. Long story short, it wasn't an authoritative book like Mr Robertson's book was about African game! In short, Mr Boddington's book was filled with advertising
spin collected over the last 30-yrs. Such writing is easily obtained by reading a writer trying to break into the trade, so to speak.
Conversely, I'm not an international hunter (by choice), nor
do I 'need to be one'. I'm satisfied hunting North American big game (including Alaska). Nor do I make a big deal about it.
And yes, I've missed my share of shots. But if I miss, I own it.
No fault except my own. I've also racked up a number of one-shot kills over the years (which is my goal).
No glamour, no magnums, no hype. Just plain good shooting, good
shot placement, quality bullets, and good hunting skills. I apologize for not remembering the good Dr's name, but a Southern
gentleman (I think from Georgia), made it his mission to take all the North American game animals with a 30-06 ( I think his name was Y.O. Jones). He wrote a book about his adventures and I
loved it. Yes he acknowledged that with any given specie, there
were better cartridges than the 30-06. But he stuck to his gun
(and reloads). A very interesting read for anyone interested.
His goal was to take every animal with the 30-06! He succeeded.
Far better reading than Mr Boddington bloviating about anything.
