Hunter-Habib
AH legend
The co-author of my autobiography was kind enough to loan me this magnificent book a few weeks back… and I can honestly say that it’s one of those works which a passionate sportsman/firearms aficionado/lover of African adventure simply can’t put down. Being a combination of all three, it absolutely comes off as no surprise that I found myself so drawn to this book.
The author, Dr. Jorge Pinero relates his harrowing tale of how he hunted a notorious man eating & livestock killing lion in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia in 1998. A Cuban American gent with an immense passion for all forms of hunting (be it for big game or small, fur or feather)… the good Doctor (through his writings) proved himself to be one of those authors whom I’ve immediately taken a liking to & somebody who’s way of thinking bears countless similarities to my own. For one, he’s an immense fan of hunting the African lion. Those of you who have been following my posts on these forums for the last five years, will know that (barring the hunting of hippopotamus bulls on land in the sugarcane fields at night), the African lion remains my No. 1 favorite form of dangerous game hunting in the Dark Continent. Dr. Pinero has successfully hunted three of these great cats over the years (as of 2025) and this book encompasses his experiences while he went in pursuit of the most troublesome one to date.
In the end, the Doctor & his white hunter (the late great Hartley Combrink who was one of the first professionals to introduce the .458 Lott caliber in Zambia) do succeed in bringing the brute to bag… but only after the rogue gives them a very difficult time (and soaks up quite a bit of lead).
I won’t spoil it for any of you, but those of us who’ve had the immense fortunate to hunt old Simba will know that he’s a real contrarian when it comes to how easy or difficult he is to takedown. Indeed, I have fond memories of one particular specimen in Zambia which I shot over bait (a zebra stallion)… that succumbed to a perfectly placed 200Gr Nosler Partition fired from a .300 Winchester Magnum into the heart-lung region (from a broadside position). He could not have made off more than 30 yards before expiring. On the other end of the scale, I also have quite harrowing memories of a particularly stubborn Tom in Tanzania which took an entire magazine (four rounds) of Federal Premium 300Gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claws fired from a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum into the chest (frontal heart shots whilst charging) before I finally brought him to bag. Based upon personal experience, I’ll tell this to all of you- an infuriated lion can be a real devil to stop once he’s determined to charge you.
The Doctor & I do share a few different views in that he doesn’t consider the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum to be a proper dangerous game cartridge, while I personally find it to be perfectly adequate for everything except body shots on bull elephants. He also doesn’t think too highly of magazine rifles being used on dangerous game (albeit for the practical reasons of simply preferring double rifles rather than any self righteous sense of sporting ethics), while I (despite enjoying hunting with double rifles quite a bit) owe some of my most successful big game hunting adventures over the years to bolt action .375 Magnums. But that’s perfectly alright. The world would be quite a boring place if we all exhibited the exact same preferences. As flawless as the Blaser R8 is (for instance), I still hesitate to think of the day when the game fields of Africa will be full of client hunters coming with only Blaser R8 rifles to secure their trophies (which just might be how things eventually end up, considering how an increasing number of sportsmen these days are discarding traditional Mauser Model 98 action magazine rifles & double rifles in favor of this trendy little piece of German engineering).
But Dr. Pinero’s rifle preferences are quite sound (and more importantly, they have clearly been working for him). In reality, a double rifle is an excellent tool to possess when hunting lions on-foot in the veldt. For this application, I would (were I completely unconstrained by bounds of budget or ammunition availability) personally prefer a Heym Model 89B boxlock ejector chambered in .500/416 Nitro Express. Equipped with double triggers (front trigger being articulated), a manual safety, 26” barrels and wide V express iron sights. Firing the 400Gr Hornady DGX (Dangerous Game eXpanding) Bonded soft point at 2330 FPS.
The book (aside from detailing the hunt for the problem lion) also covers the hunting of a wide plethora of African dangerous game, including Cape Buffalo & hippopotamus. The Doctor gives one very solid piece of advice to the novice sportsman- Never to employ solid bullets when tackling Cape buffalo in herds. I can’t repeat this crucial piece of advice strongly enough. I still have rather embarrassing memories of my life’s first African Safari to Kenya in 1974… when I had accidentally wounded a Cape buffalo cow when my RWS 300Gr nickel jacketed round nosed FMJ solid buried itself into her flank after passing through both lungs of my target bull. Fortunately, you could still getaway with doing this sort of thing back in those days. If something like this happened today, I honestly hesitate to think of the legal repercussions one would face.
Aside from the hunting adventures themselves, the book also plays a much appreciated part in properly explaining to lay people (with statistical data) about the vital role which hunting plays in sustainable ecological & wildlife management. As a bonus, photographs also illustrate a proper description of how meat harvested from a sportsman’s trophies invariably & without exception goes towards feeding entire villages & communities of starving protein deficit African natives. This essentially dispels any rumors perpetrated by the low IQ big mouthed anti hunting pressure groups about how we “Sick trophy hunters murder innocent wildlife merely for bragging purposes & head mounts while leaving the rest of the poor creature behinf to rot”. In my opinion, more hunting books should focus more upon this aspect (aside from the hunting adventures themselves) in order to ensure that the common masses are properly educated about what hunting actually is (rather than get influenced by the cultists from PETA and Disney).
All in all, I can totally recommend this book wholeheartedly. And Dr. Pinero is a fellow sportsman whom I’d be absolutely privileged to share a Safari camp with in the future. His writings have the makings of a modern day Colonel Charles Askins. Confident, passionate & unapologetic about what we do. I see that he’s authored another book in the past, and if possible… I’d totally love to read that one too. If it’s anywhere as thrilling as this one, It’s definitely going to be be well worth the read.
“Rogue of the Luangwa” is available for purchase on Amazon.com:
