Everyone tells us to live in the present. But hunters are genetically engineered to live in the past. The most difficult part of any loss is our recognition of the passing of a time and place which they represent.
RIP Mr. Selby. And thanks to the NYT for a well researched and non-judgmental obit.
My first "African Hunting" book was Ruark's "Horn of the Hunter". Was blessed to take 2 trips to Zimbabwe. A 3'rd was aborted due to cancer and I have not been well enough to book another. Do not wait until old age for a hunting trip of a lifetime as you may not be in good enough health to realize a dream. Mr. Selby, a life well led.
A very well written obit and biography.
Just think of the reunion being held at the "Pearly Gates" now. Our heroes are all there.
Mike
Just think of the reunion being held at the "Pearly Gates" now. Our heroes are all there.
Mike
You just said a mouthful there! Beautiful thought; a conviction for many...Geo
Interesting GENTLEMAN, and a delight to listen to....
I shared a camp in Botswana with a second safari party in the late 90's if I recall. Selby's son Mark was the PH for the other party, and his father visited the camp several evenings....
Amazing guy to listen to, I had to tear myself away from the fire and make myself go to bed....
The .416 Rigby Magazine rifle he made famous was purchased by the late Arkansas Sportsman Frank Lyon.He bought the gun directly from Selby, Joe Coogan (mentioned in the obit) arranged the deal.
Frank had the gun completely refurbished and had it with him at a Flyer shoot in Louisiana some time later and offered me a chance to fire a few shots off hand with it....
Frank returned to Africa with the rifle and Harry joined the safari briefly to see Frank put it back to work in its old haunts....
He lived quite a life.....
Sad to hear that Frank Lyon has also passed. I did not know it. Last time I saw Frank was at a flyer shoot in South Carolina.
SRH
I'm sorry to hear of his passing. His was a life well-lived. Very few of the old guard are left. I always enjoyed reading of Mr. Selby and have never heard anything negative about him. That's pretty rare in that career field.
.416 at flyers. Wow. I wouldn't use anything bigger than my Rigby .375 for pigeons.
Point well taken Mr. M, I know your need no clarification on the matter, but the Rigby was fired at a Tree knot chosen by the owner of the grounds as the target......
Just a matter of curiosity..... softs or solids for a .375 pigeon gun? Kynoch or H&H Proprietary Cartridges......?
Here's another obit with more good stories of his career. The obit ends with this quote from Selby: “To deny the instinct to hunt,” he told People, “is to deny the instinct to exist.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/harry-selby-genteel-safari-guide-from-a-bygone-era-dies-at-92/2018/01/22/359e4346-ff87-11e7-bb03-722769454f82_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-obit%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.d5b4c15b8be2
Yup, the Washington Post actually printed an obituary of a White Hunter. Apparently, Mrs. Selby has some contacts here in Washington.