Man, there are some righteous attitudes here. I probably should exercise some of the common sense referred to here and not respond, but then I was also a bowhunter in my youth. I’m both a safari client (blessed) in a humble way as well as a local lad. It’s difficult to describe the risks we take every day. I don’t carry a rifle when I walk my dog or take the rubbish to the bin outside the yard - I just try to be observant and careful and see the buffalo first and from a distance, avoiding blind spots and thick cover. The word “back-up” has been mentioned numerous times here in relation to the crossbow. I don’t know these guys but I can tell you what the situation did not involve. It did not involve one guy saying to the other, “Hey, I’d like to hunt a buffalo with my bow. Would you please guide me and protect me with your crossbow?” It was just a case of two guys setting-out on an adventure (that became a misadventure) with their archery gear, similar to what happens in North America in bear country (yes, some bowhunters carry a firearm, but many don’t). In the bush you have a mindset of doing what you can with what you’ve got. I was once threatened by a tremendous buffalo bull and all I had was a .22-250. Thankfully both me and the bull and the other guys survived the encounter, but when I told the story a particular safari hunter from the city was quite judgemental about the rifle I was carrying. Of course I should’ve planned it better, but I was out with my Aboriginal friends trying to find kangaroo, turkey or pig, and at the time the .22-250 seemed like a good choice. I’ve tried to learn from my mistakes and modify my behaviours to stay as safe as possible while still living life. But that doesn’t mean I don’t find myself in tricky situations from time-to-time. At present I don’t have a big bore rifle, and I feel uncomfortable without it. I will still take my wife fishing and bird-watching, carrying my .300H&H, but I know that isn’t ideal for close surprises - so we walk carefully and try to set a course away from blind spots. We live with the nagging reality that we could be killed or injured each day. We try to be sensible and careful, but accidents can still happen. If ever something bad happens to me I can guarantee it will be because I made a mistake that armchair quarterbacks can enjoy dissecting. The bloke in Gove made a mistake. Ian Gibson made a mistake. Everyone who lives in the bush makes mistakes no matter how hard you try not to. Sometimes you have some luck and sometimes you don’t. So I’m not going to join-in with kicking this guy while he’s down. Of course, your mileage may vary and you have the right to voice different views.
On a related topic, it’s worth researching what Bill Negley thought about bowhunting with rifle back-up, and also reading some of Don Thomas’s articles from when he was bowhunting on Melville - not to prove anything, but just to consider another viewpoint (a viewpoint that I never adopted myself as a bowhunter, but respected theirs). I may be wrong, but I thought there was an old ABA rule that stipulated members need to have a back-up rifle present when bowhunting buffalo, a rule ignored at least 50% of the time (my guess).
So, I probably should’ve kept quiet, but then I probably don’t have the brains to, as evidenced by the two times (or three?) that I found myself uncomfortably close to wonderful bull buffalos with only my longbow in hand - long story! Cheers!
