For years, I idolized a famous big-game hunter whom we don't hear anything about these days (appropriately). Had and cherished several of his books. Then I went (1955, 1956) to one of his lectures where he showed and narrated movies of his hunts. All was good � better than good � until he came to his leopard hunt.
He'd tethered a goat to a tree as bait for a leopard. He waited in a blind, Weatherby ready. A leopard came slinking to the tethered goat, which was making the expected motions and sounds of abject terror. Then the Mighty Hunter boasted of his cleverness.
He intentionally gut-shot the leopard to see what it'd do. As a south Alabama fox-hunter so eloquently put it later, "quicker'n seven gods can skin a minute," the leopard savaged the goat. The Mighty Hunter thought that that was funny. Let it go on for a while. Let the leopard kill the goat before he shot the leopard dead.
I didn't think that that was either clever or funny. I still don't. Threw his books away and never bought another � certainly not one of the signed copies that he was peddling at the lecture hall.
I take it you aren't willing to say who the big game hunter in question was? I'm just wondering because I have Wally Taber books and he was a Weatherby guy and an African hunter in the 50's and a big hunter/lecturer. Is he the guy?
