Read about "Karamojo" Bell

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W.D.M Bell brought down over 1,000 elephants during his career, most often with brain shots taken with a 7x57 Mauser.

http://archive.org/details/wanderingsofelep1923bell

Good reading!

I went to Amazon.com and downloaded the free "Kindle for PC" application, then at the internet archive ( link given ) , I chose the Kindle version of this great book.

All for free. Enjoy!
 
I read that book years ago. Seem to remember he sat on an elevated platform in the elephant grass which allowed him to see the elephant foreheads sticking out like islands sticking out of the sea but the elephants couldn't see him or each other because of the tall grass. He thought the 256 Mannlicher* or 275* Rigby were plenty good enough for that type of shooting. :D

*Those were British designations for 6.5 Mannlicher and 7mm Mauser. :eek:
 
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See if you can find African Rifles and Cartridges by John "Pondoro" Taylor. That is a fascinating read, too!
 
If you enjoy reading about African hunting and guns, African Rifles and Cartridges is at the top. His book Pondoro is also great.

He tells that when he was in the bush he went naked like the natives, and the way he learned about WWII was when his men brought something wrapped in a newspaper. Is that back in the wilds or not?

When it comes to hunters I think Jim Corbett was the greatest of all times. He hunted maneaters sometimes on the ground at night.
I remembers reading Maneaters of Kumaon in Field and Stream in the late 40s. It was extremely interesting and I had to have all his books. My Mom liked the stories also and when we got a new issue we read it that night.
He grew up in India, and as a child even slept out at night in Tiger country.

Jerry
 
"The Man Eaters of Tsavo" by Lt. Col. J.H. Patterson, D.S.O., was one of the enjoyable books I've read in quite some time.

Not African hunting, but India during the time of British rule. This book is quite the journey.
 
Haven't seen Peter Hathaway Capstick mentioned yet, and he has several books that are great reading. Death in the Tall Grass, Death on the Dark Continent, etc.
 
This interesting book by Sam Fadala has an entire chapter about Bell. Try amazon for a copy.

Jack

Sam1.jpg
 
Bell is such a character. shooting flying birds with a rifle, shooting enemy pilots in the air while in the air himself (ww1).
 
For a fascinating look at military life in India before WWII, try John Masters' Bugles And A Tiger. Masters was a British officer of a Gurkha regiment in the British Army (as distinguished from the Indian Army). His descriptions of the character, incredible toughness and resilience, and constant humor of the Gurkha soldier is wonderful stuff, and he can make you smell the pines of their hill station and the smoke of campfires. And yes, he killed a marauding tiger with a .303 SMLE and ball ammo.

The story continues in brutal, gripping and infuriating (for the mishandling of the Gurkha troops by higher command) description of their WWII campaigns against the Japanese in The Road Past Mandalay.

Both are wonderful reading by a great writer.
 
Jack O'Conner...

First read his Outdoor Life articles about 1955, then read at least 2 of his books.

I loved the way he told stories. Began with nearly ready to take the shot, then went back in time to the beginning - how he decided to pursue this particular quarry - then followed the time line step by step until nearly ready to take the shot. Then he took the shot, and finished both the quarry and the story.
 
Seem to remember he sat on an elevated platform in the elephant grass which allowed him to see the elephant foreheads sticking out like islands sticking out of the sea but the elephants couldn't see him or each other because of the tall grass. He thought the 256 Mannlicher* or 275* Rigby were plenty good enough for that type of shooting.
Click to expand...
From his own book, as well as the writings of others, most of Bell's elephant hunting was done on foot.

He accomplished impressive feats with small caliber rifles for three reasons:

1. He was a phenomenal shot. He was known to shoot birds on the wing with a rifle.
2. He was very methodical. In specific, he took the time to carefully map the position of an elephant's brain within the massive skull and learned how to hit it from virtually any angle.
3. He picked rounds that had excellent penetrating power.
 
I still have those old books by Bell..Corbett..Patterson..etc...Good reading....Seems I don't have time to read anymore....:(
 
Bell was a big fan of the base-of-neck shot for shooting red stag with his Savage 22 High-Power rifle. He wrote about this in the 1950's. A friend shared this old article with me.

Jack
 
Thanks for posting the link. I've read a lot of Capstick and some by Taylor and others. Very interesting read by Bell, not only the hinting but also his observations of different areas, countries, elephant terrain, natives and govts.
 
Death in Silent Places. Wonderful read by Capstick, I love all of his work. This work in particular mentions Bell and his techniques, I especially like using the small calibers. I think the rule of law now is what, .375 at least? The rest of the book is wonderful as well, Sealus (sp) hunting jaguars with a spear, rifles just aren't quick enough ya know.
 
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