Probably the most well-known Weatherby hunter was Elgin Gates. Elgin was a well known paper puncher as well as an obsessive hunter.
Elgin was argueably the most well traveled and greatest sporting hunter of the 20th Century. He hunted Africa for nearly 30 years, many of his hunts were true expeditions into areas unknown. He had a standing agreement with Jack Blacklaws (one of Africa's greatest and most debonair White Hunters) that Elgin would fund any exploratory safari into virgin country, provided Elgin went along, then Blacklaws could have it to take the rest of his clients. Through this type of agreement, Gates helped to reopen French Equatorial Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Mozambique to sport hunting. In doing so, Gates got first crack at wildlife virtually unknown to the outside world. Some instances, Gates would explore by himself, flying into some remote village in the wilds of Africa and hiring the locals to help him mount an expedition.
Hunting Asia was his mecca, especially the areas marked "unmapped", "boundaries approximate", or "unexplored". Gates was as much a modern day explorer as he was a hunter. His Asian hunts usually found him on the very edge of civilization hiring a few locals for shikars and porters, then traipsing into vast mountain stretches of the Pamirs, Tian Shans, Altais and rest of the Himalayas. Once he was arrested by a roving Tibetian Army, freed only after he was able to pull an abcessed tooth of commanding officer and "take the devil from his mouth". Hunting for Marco Polo Sheep, he dodged the invading Chinese Army, while fully prepared to defend himself and his camp, "I will not allow them to capture us.". Gates marched, on foot, 95 miles into the most remote sections of the Himalayas in November through blinding snowstorms to hunt Marco Polo sheep. With provisions running out and the snows deepening, temps falling to as low as -30, he climbed over Taghdumbash pass at 20,800 feet to hunt the world's No.1 big game trophy, but not for trophy's sake, without that meat, he, his porters, and shikars would starve or die of sickness as provisions had run out.
Ever the adventurer, even in the face of the Chinese invasion of Hunza, Gates defiantly crossed over into China, slipping behind a Chinese patrol, to shoot a Himalayan Ibex. He actually took the time to write a note:
"Dear Mao:
Just a short note to let you know how much I enjoyed my recent hunt in China. I apologize for not having a hunting license for Sinkiang Province, but with the approval of Ayub Khan and a little help from a couple of your boys, the hunt was a great success. I'm pleased to inform you that I will always cherish this wonderful gift from China."
This note, of course, was meant as a slap in the face to Chairman Mao.
Gates has 152 African trophies listed in Rowland Ward's Records of Big Game. He also has 54 trophies from Asia listed and 26 from North America, for a total of 232 in the book. He was the Weatherby Award winner in 1960.
Elgin raced motor boats winning several national championships and set 26 world records. He won 17 national and international championships in clay target shooting. Won 3 International Olympic-style championships in 8 years, defeating every member fo the elite and highly trained military teams from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy. He was the only civilian to ever do so. Elgin also founded the International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association (IHMSA) and helped develop many of the Dan Wesson Super Mag cartridges.
Don't there was more of a gun crank than him and Herb Klein.
