A South African foray
An invitation to join a ‘species day’ is always a special treat and if red ink is ever used in the game book, it is often reserved for such forays. Long after the big bags have blended into the mists of memory, those days on foreshore or marsh, where a smorgasbord of sporting species are set down for posterity, shine through. My own game book lists a few days when the ‘various’ column went into double figures, and unless one is fortunate enough to be amongst a profusion of assorted wildfowl, these varietal days are rare.
However, the rules are different in Africa and the sheer variety of sporting quarry is something to behold. With this in mind, the invitation to shoot four species of francolin over “the best pointer in Africa”, plus a wide range of wildfowl and a tilt at plains game, brooked no hesitation.
Miles Malone is an Army doctor, a crack shot and a true naturalist. When we met up at Johannesburg airport on a cold winter’s morning, he was already a day
