INTRODUCTION
I first met Bruce in Indianapolis the day after the running of the1995 Indianapolis 500. My guest for the Indy 500, Col. Jeff Cooper, had asked to meet Bruce and other members of the Indianapolis Police Department to thank them for providing him with “lights flashing” transportation to and from his grandstand seat for the running of the Indy 500.
Bruce had already been to Africa and he had hunted buffalo, which was of particular interest to Col. Cooper. We spent several hours in discussion after breakfast, and it was a meeting which led to a friendship that lasts to this day. Bruce happens to be that disappearing wonder, a thorough gentleman and warrior in every sense of the word. I learned later that Bruce had “met the elephant” in his police work, and won.
Over the years Bruce would come to our farm to hunt, and we spent many hours conversing on a variety of topics from politics to shooting. I had a fairly complete range and particularly enjoyed shooting with a man that breathed proper weapon handling. Together we explored the world of double rifles in the 470 N.E. caliber, his a William Douglas and mine a Chapuis, at Bruce’s suggestion. I once watched him in preparation for another trip to Africa, as he sighted in his .470 hand loads sitting at the bench. It was a feat I was never tempted to duplicate. One important fact about Bruce is that he never flinches – never, whether he is shooting big weapons or facing really bad guys in his days as a police officer.
I had the privilege of watching Bruce set up his “cursed” Winchester Model 70 in .416 Remington at our shooting range. Cosmetically it was one of the most beautiful rifles I’d ever seen, and I didn’t realize then that the main advantage it would give Bruce in Africa would be the ability to supply clients with .416 Remington ammo while he employed his 470 N.E. double.
If you wish to read about a man that truly shares the mind set of last century’s gentleman professional hunters, Bruce is your man. He has made 4 safaris, and so much of Africa is in his blood that he arranged to work as a Professional Hunter’s assistant in Zimbabwe. When I first heard that Bruce was going to leave his very comfortable home, family, car and Harleys to live in Africa I had the same feeling Churchill had about Lawrence of Arabia, “The world looks with awe upon a man who appears unconcernedly indifferent to home, money, comfort, rank, or even power and fame. The world feels not without a certain apprehension, that here is someone outside its jurisdiction, someone before whom its allurements may be spread in vain, some one strangely enfranchised, untamed, untrammeled by convention, moving independently of the ordinary currents of human action.”
Lawrence of Arabia once adequately described men like Bruce when he wrote, “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.”
Bruce is indeed a danger to felons, Gov. Schwarzenegger’s “girlie men”, and others frightened by a real man living a real life. Such “mind sets” frighten the timid, encourage the vacillating to take a stand in their own lives, and allow those of us unable to follow to at least appreciate the path taken. Bruce is well-educated, even erudite, as this book proves, and a marvelous companion for any activity: in short, that rarity, a civilized gentleman.
When Kirk, the Professional Hunter, finds Bruce solid beside him in a dangerous buffalo situation, the camp atmosphere changes. What probably never occurred to Kirk or for that matter, Bruce, was that he had faced unflinchingly “the most dangerous game”, an armed man in a shootout and had prevailed. Bruce wasn’t proving something new; he was merely demonstrating a skill. While most of us would be soiling our garments facing a charging elephant at 20 paces, Bruce writes that years of experience kicked in to achieve the accurate shot. He is simply telling the straight truth, unembellished and as accurate as his shooting. “There was no conscious thought, just a lifetime of training and practice that took over in that critical moment. The action snapped shut as I mounted the rifle into my shoulder. The Bull was at 30 paces. On its own the front bead nestled into the shallow V of the rear sight. The Bull had made it to 25 paces. The front sight settled on exactly the right wrinkle of the great forehead, and at 20 paces the left barrel fired, seemingly on its own. As my finger shifted to the front trigger, the huge head snapped back, the rear end collapsed, and the Bull rolled over, finished. There was suddenly a dead calm, and for a moment time stood still as it all sunk in.” The next sentence is almost unbelievable, but you’ll have to read the book yourself.
Bruce isn’t content to confine his writing to just hunting, and has included all the sights and sounds and smells associated with Africa, along with the people, the professional hunters, the clients, and the “vets” that are destroying Zimbabwe. His love of Africa is evident, even with all the frustrations, sadness, and fears for the future of African hunting. As the saying goes, “It’s Africa, Baby.”
Don Davis
Casa Grande, Arizona