doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Anyone got Badminton Magazine, Feb. 1898?

Dear members of the board,

has anyone perchance got a copy of The Badminton Magazine of Sports for February 1898? There is a hilarious story in it, titled "The complete Russian sportsman", which I would love to use in my column. It is available online at archive.org - however, the digitized version is missing the illustrations, which ought to be as hilarious as the story. If any of the respected members of the board happens to possess both the indicated volume, and the time and means to scan the images and forward it to me, my gratutude would be immeasurable.

Thank you

(and pardon the style :))

I may be able to access an original copy at the British Library, where one can now take photos of journal articles.

I'll see what I can do.

Tim

Update 25 Jan: I have ordered it for 3 Feb when I next visit the British Library. I'll take photos of the article then. Tim

I recall reading in, I think, the British magazine 'Shooting Times' a few years back an amusing hunting incident that is connected with Russia. Whether true or not I cannot say but it involved some foreign dignitary that the Russian Government wished to impress by providing a brown bear hunt. The fact that that particular region was devoid in brown bears was not going to stand in their way. So, they built a tree stand overlooking a forest track and for a bear they obtained an old retired circus performing bear. They intended to drive the bear towards the tree stand but unfortunately an old peasant woman was cycling along the same track. Upon seeing the bear she fell from her cycle and ran away in panic. The bear, remembering his former occupation in the circus and training, got upon the cycle and proceeded to ride it along the track towards the waiting dignitary. Upon seeing the bear go cycling by he fell from his tree stand from shock. The story does not relate what happened to the cycling bear; maybe he is still cycling around Russia somewhere. Lagopus.....

I was crying onto my dinner reading that. Superb !

Tim, thanks a lot! I owe you Hope you'll take the time to read the story too, it's hilarious and, sadly, still rings true...

Lagopus, that's one of the classic Russian hunting anecdotes. It's totally fiction, of course, but sort of based on real events. With Communist rulers one never knows for sure, but there are documented instances of Czars treating foreign ambassadors to "bear hunts" where bears were completely tame.

Continuing on the topic of bears and Russian hunting https://youtu.be/lnev6QILIYk

This is an extract from comedy movie "Particuliarities of the National Hunt", another hilarious and oh so realistic take on Russian hunting. This one's in Russian, but most of the stories are clear without words.

https://youtu.be/xL3HYoLQNtI

There's a version with English subtitles but it ain't free...
http://www.opensubtitles.org/en/subtitles/4085490/osobennosti-natsionalnoy-okhoty-en

Here's another Russian bear story.

A VIP, no, a V-V-VIP from the capital came on an inspection to a minor provinical town, and kept boasting about his hunting exploits until the local authorities felt they absolutely had to arrange a hunt for him. Unfortunately, the neighborhood was devoid of any game, and even the circus bear was not available.

The nearest thing to a bear in the neighborhood was a retired drama actor, who had drunk himself to a state where he couldn't be trusted any part with words. But he shined at imitated a bear in a performance for children, and would take any part in any prank for a volume of vodka. So, they told him, we'd dress you up in a real old bear skin, and hide you under some fallen wood. Then we approach and set the dogs on you, you'll rise, roar and growl and wave your hands about. And when the VIP bangs at you (don't worry, we'll load his gun with blanks) you'll play dead. We'll congratulate the VIP and start selebrating immediately, without letting him see you, and then we'll send him the skin and everyone will be happy.

So, at the designated time and day, the actor, complete with a bear skin and a bottle of advance vodka to kill the time, was hiding under a windfall. The "hunting party" approached "the bear den", the VIP (whose hunting stories were all lies, and who in fact had never seen a bear before) was handed over a gun, and the dogs "rose the bear". The artist was in top form, heated up just enough, and he looked very convincing as a bear - so convincing, in fact, that the VIP was too scared to pull the trigger. Finally, he pulled himself together and fired.

Unfortunately, the local bureaucrats had no blanks in the caliber of the VIP's gun, so they loaded it with birdshot, thinking it couldn't seriously injure the actor under protection of his bear skin. Well, that presupposition was correct - the actor wasn't wounded - but the impact of the pellets was painful enough. To be exact, it hurt like hell.

So, instead of rolling over dead, the bear turned to the hunters and yelled in pure Russian:

- What the fvck is going on, man, it wasn't the deal!

HD

All done. Have secured images of the plates that accompanied the story, as well as the story itself.

Let me know how you would like it all sending to you.

Tim

Hurrah! Thank you very much! I really appreciate your help, and wish I'll be able to repay it some time. I'm sending my e-mail in a PM.