Mark Sullivan the Expose’

[NIGHTHAWK]

Mark does have balls of steel. The kind of ego and resolve it takes shoot charging Buff and Hippo and wait for them to close within feet of him, his client, tracker, and film crew is amazing and crazy!

 

[375Fox]

Mark does have balls of steel. The kind of ego and resolve it takes shoot charging Buff and Hippo and wait for them to close within feet of him, his client, tracker, and film crew is amazing and crazy!

He might have balls of steel and resolve, but ego leads to these situations. I said it earlier in this thread but I’d rather choose a PH that uses his knowledge to avoid a charge situation than create it. There are a number of zim PHs with great charges on camera. Ego doesn’t appear a factor.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

He might have balls of steel and resolve, but ego leads to these situations. I said it earlier in this thread but I’d rather choose a PH that uses his knowledge to avoid a charge situation than create it. There are a number of zim PHs with great charges on camera. Ego doesn’t appear a factor.

Yea, I wouldn’t hunt with him…

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I try not to let ego drive any of my decisions; if I can help it…

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Mark does have balls of steel. The kind of ego and resolve it takes shoot charging Buff and Hippo and wait for them to close within feet of him, his client, tracker, and film crew is amazing and crazy!

Balls of steel or brains of sawdust?

 

[RSL]

Well, how fast can a camel run? Maybe a one humped can run faster than a two humped?

Every hot rodder knows double humps were the fastest back in the day.........

 

[grand veneur]

Yea, I wouldn’t hunt with him…

Maybe I would have, but I don't know how far he was familiar with the mentality of European hunters and especially those who are influenced by the German hunting tradition.

 

[CZDiesel]

Balls of steel or brains of sawdust?

And I’m assuming you are the brains of sawdust? Seeing as your experience with dangerous game is nothing but dust others have kicked up in the field…

 

[Ontario Hunter]

And I’m assuming you are the brains of sawdust? Seeing as your experience with dangerous game is nothing but dust others have kicked up in the field…

I have shot a couple of Cape buffalo. Never provoked them to charge, though. Over the last sixty years I've endured many close calls in the field and may yet live to endure a few more. But none were ever engineered to be close calls. That's the stuff of sawdust.

 

[CZDiesel]

I have shot a couple of Cape buffalo. Never provoked them to charge, though. Over the last sixty years I've endured many close calls in the field and may yet live to endure a few more. But none were ever engineered to be close calls. That's the stuff of sawdust.

I don’t think you have even come close to “close calls”!
Let me know when you get into a gun fight at 5 meters!
Let me know when you get a double Ele charge!
Let me know when you get a pisses off injured Buff come at you in the dense cover of the Zimbabwe bush!
Let me know when you have tracked a wounded grizz in the tall grass of southern Alaska or the dense woods of Montana!

You sir have never seen and never will see dangerous action!!!
And part of me celebrates you for that! But don’t act as if you know what it is because you don’t and never will!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I don’t think you have even come close to “close calls”!
Let me know when you get into a gun fight at 5 meters!
Let me know when you get a double Ele charge!
Let me know when you get a pisses off injured Buff come at you in the dense cover of the Zimbabwe bush!
Let me know when you have tracked a wounded grizz in the tall grass of southern Alaska or the dense woods of Montana!

You sir have never seen and never will see dangerous action!!!
And part of me celebrates for that! But don’t act as if you know what it is because you don’t and never will!

You know nothing about me but you know everything. Pffft!

I am from Montana. I've had my share of grizzly encounters in dense woods. All solo, no one backing me up. Also worked in Alaska where I had many more grizzly encounters ... on a daily basis! I was formerly a policeman, but only fired my 1911 a couple of times on duty. No five meter firefights. I managed to avoid that foolishness, thankfully. Not so lucky avoiding high speed patrol car wreck. Also a wildfire fighter and had one blow over us on my first big fire in 1977. Gone through the ice three times bird hunting. Essentially died of hypothermia elk hunting in 1971. Caught in whiteouts twice moose hunting here and still made it back to the truck ... once six hours late. Again, I hunt solo. No one backing me up or bailing me out. Rolled end over end down the mountain on my horse in 1981: broke my Springfield 06 in two, lost my glasses, and a concussion. Still managed to get everything together, loaded up, and twenty miles back to the trailhead ... solo.

I'm not comparing my risky episodes afield to yours or Sullivan's. But I didn't engineer my close encounters for the benefit of video camerman. Hunting and fishing solo does have risks but I have found doing it with others can also be hazardous (e.g. hypothermia episode when I was late getting out and hunting partner left in my car and never returned). Anyway, the benefits of hunting alone are priceless ... for me anyway.

 

[mark-hunter]

I remember one article in Field and Stream by Dave Petzal. Basically he said, hunters who get lost and never return, are mostly hunters who hunt solo. This is bad habit.
But nevertheless, a CV worth noting.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I remember one article in Field and Stream by Dave Petzal. Basically he said, hunters who get lost and never return, are mostly hunters who hunt solo. This is bad habit.
But nevertheless, a CV worth noting.

Petzal is definitely a social hunter. Seems every year he was writing on their website (before it died) about card playing forays in his annual Maine deer hunting camp. I tried the camp scene ... and hated it. Always someone who declares himself king. Or the cook who can burn water. I once stayed on the track of a bleeding moose overnight (shot, presumably, by persons unknown). No worries. It was not terribly cold and I was prepared. But not possible if someone was waiting back at the tent. Petzal would have a panic attack spending the night in a wall tent alone fifty miles from anything. He wouldn't make it to midnight. I have read enough of his stuff to know he doesn't have the right stuff for that kind of hunting. I don't have to listen to anyone snore or swear or fart. I can go where I want, when I want, for as long as I want. In town, on the road, or at work I have to follow the rules. Out there, there are no rules. You should try it. Can be a bit eery the first night, but after that it's fine. Just keep reminding yourself of the regimented pandamonium you have to return to at the end of the hunt. My wife was always waiting at home but she was a former wilderness canoe ranger so she understood the lure of being wild, truly wild. I'm sure Petzal thinks rock climbers are all nuts. I used to think so too till I got to know some when working Yosemite. They have the right skills and equipment to enjoy something unique and, to them, precious. Not for me but that's okay. When hunting alone I have the right skills and equipment to keep myself out of trouble or get out of trouble if it finds me.

Petzal's remark, I submit, has no basis in fact. Every year I seem to read more disaster reports re individuals party hunting than solo (tree stand accidents excepted). Seems the merry band types are typically not as prepared or knowledgeable. Hunting with others provides a false sense of security. "I can march off into the woods without a pack or food. Someone will come looking if I get in trouble."

 

[buffybr]

I don’t think you have even come close to “close calls”!
Let me know when you get into a gun fight at 5 meters!
Let me know when you get a double Ele charge!
Let me know when you get a pisses off injured Buff come at you in the dense cover of the Zimbabwe bush!
Let me know when you have tracked a wounded grizz in the tall grass of southern Alaska or the dense woods of Montana!

You sir have never seen and never will see dangerous action!!!
And part of me celebrates you for that! But don’t act as if you know what it is because you don’t and never will!

There's a huge difference between encountering a close call and in provoking a close call.

 

[HankBuck]

There's a huge difference between encountering a close call and in provoking a close call.

@buffybr - I think I’m following your point - One is a random Unexpected dangerous encounter and the other is deliberately provoked “into” a Dangerous situation. However - aside from what “started” the Dangerous encounter, don’t you think the End Result is almost identical? IE: a wounded animal, likely charging or attacking and capable of killing/injuring people Unless shot & killed at very close range and while it is charging or attacking…..possibly with people in or near the Line-of-Fire.

 

[Africa1]

Consider this. 24 pages of discussion to 10/25/25...in 2025! This alone merits consideration!

 

[Rare Breed]

I think a lot of people who haven't experienced a charge from dangerous came (me included), in this case cape buffalo are forgetting the power of intent.

Intent plays a major role in violence of action. If we are waiting for them to be within 10 yards to shoot, they can cross that distance in .58 seconds at 35 mph. That isn't much time at all to stop a ton of animal with no other intent but to kill the person in front of them.

I have been charged by a lion, rhino and elephant…the speed when they come will shock you even when you are ready meaning you have imagined it in your mind and of course you did not want it but it comes none the less

 

[Grandpa Moose]

On my trapline several years ago I chased a family of wolves off a young moose. Totally unprovoked but full of adrenaline she ran me down in deep snow and stomped me into the ground and left me for dead. On coming too I was able to make it out but spent two days in local hospital. Have pics of bruises to remind me that wild game can move fast snd unpredictable

 

[CZDiesel]

I have been charged by a lion, rhino and elephant…the speed when they come will shock you even when you are ready meaning you have imagined it in your mind and of course you did not want it but it comes none the less

And that’s what I was trying to convey to OH, who never listens to anyone, that there is a MAJOR difference between being in a dangerous situation and having a close call!
All the situations I listed in my remark to him have happened, in some cases multiple times, to either myself or my family and friends!
You can train and prepare all you want and that’s the correct thing to do! But not until shit goes sideways will you ever know just how you will react and how well you can handle the situation and come out the other end to tell the story!!!

 

[uplander01]

Well, I think it's safe to say, love him or hate him, Sullivan has proven that he can handle a double in the most precarious of situations, and proves it on film like he has ice water flowing through his veins. I would think a person would have to go back at least 80-100 years if not more to find someone who has done that level of CQB with big game. Perhaps Sir Samuel White Baker, James Sutherland? Like I mentioned before in this thread, I've spoken with Mark in person a few times and exchanged emails a few times, found the man to be a perfect gentleman and consummate professional. Don't get me wrong, felt like I could sense his crazy, but I'm sure people have said the same about me.