I was fortunate enough to hunt Africa with Bill in 2008, I think? We met in Atlanta and flew together from there. Bill took his 45-110 Shiloh Business Rifle with barrel rear sight and copper penny front sight. I took my 50-90 Shiloh No. 1.
One day, Bill gave me some lessons on his sighting set up. We both took turns shooting at an old kudo skull across a pond, perhaps 225 yds away. We then did some shooting at 600 across a canyon. That day made me believer in barrel sights with a copper penny front. When I got home, I promptly ordered another Shiloh, this one a Business Rifle in 45-70, with the sights set up just like Bills. I also got a tutorial in shooting paper patch in my 110, set up for hunting.
We each took 6 or so plains game animals, the Shiloh's did well. We then went wingshooting for 2 days, which was amazing. The wingshooting was every bit as good as my experience in Argentina. One day was doves, the next waterfowl. The pickup bed was overflowing each evening with birds. The trackers would sit on top of the birds in the pickup bed, and hand out birds to the natives all the way back to camp.
Every night, we would sit around the campfire, sampling South African made beverages, recap the hunting that day and tell stories. As you guys know, Bill was some kind of storyteller. He had us on the edge of our seats.
These are lifelong memories for me that will never be replaced. Every time I break out that Business Rifle I think of how it came to be.
