Welcome aboard SaintPanzer, Please tell us a little more about yourself as a hunter. things like what have you hunted previously, what kind and caliber rifles you own, do you reload. Do you have any specific time frame for your future African hunt? what species are you thinking about taking? There are a number of AH members with backgrounds similar to yours. BTW Thank you for your service.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the US that has not stalked a whitetail? Elk are next on my list.
Here in Europe, I stalk red stags, and have both stalked and used a stand on boar. I'm trying to set up an Austrian hunt for Gams this fall, need to figure that all out. Of course, Rehbock have also been victims, and there was that Dachs...
My safe here is small, so I use a .30-06 as an "all rounder". It is a Steyr-Mannlicher Classic II. I've just scoped (and it took forever to find a true Johann Springer Erben mount) a Mannlicher Schoenauer 9.5X57 carbine. At home, I have a matching 6.5X54. Both are pre-war, the big one has a very low serial number, the small is stamped "Made In Germany", so that should give you a good idea as to the dates. Those all work for now, but others will join them. I have set aside quite a bit for that retirement present to myself, and was all sold on a Dakota Traveler in .300 H&H and .375 H&H, but, well, Dakota... So I'll find something else to fill that role. What I should do is find an '03 Springfield action, and have that sporterized, as that would be a perfect bookend to the career... we'll see. I do have sitting in the safe at home an FN Mauser action that I was going to have done up in 9.3X64... too many decisions.
Timeline for the Africa Hunt is 3 to 5 years. Perhaps sooner, not later. Right now, I am thinking Namibia, and Sable - but I don't think I have a final decision on that yet. I think it was Mogadishu that taught me that no one promises you tomorrow, so I try to not look too far ahead.
Oh, and to answer the inevitable screen-name questions, I tried to add a website to my profile, but it wouldn't save. A visit to
www.saintpanzer.com should probably answer the "why".
to AH!
