Dick von Blixen-Finecke, passionate hunter on home and foreign paths. His rifle is a S 202 Take Down in different calibres.

„On one of my trips to Africa I went for Buffalo in Tanzania. Even though I knew that the area I would hunt in was wetland wilderness, I didn’t expect it to start so soon after my arrival. When airplanes and jeeps could not transport us any further, there where only two ways to get to the camp and that was by a mokoro or by foot. The mokoro is a dugout canoe made from a straight tree trunk and since it can move very quietly through shallow waters it was perfect transportation for my destination. I figured I would get all the chances in the world to walk during my hunt, so I jumped in the mokoro and softly the boatman pushed the canoe into the looping channels, using a long pole. We reached camp after one and a half hour and immediately started to get our gear ready for an early start the next day.
In the marshland the wildlife is extraordinary and the landscape a labyrinth of water, grassy floodplains and small bush islands. We stalked both by canoe and by foot, often in water. Since the buffalo often stay in the open plains, close to water and mud, we also had to crawl to be able to come close enough without being spotted. If we were spotted two things happened, the herd either approached us or fled. Either one alternative was not attractive.
After a couple of days stalking with nothing but marshland in sight, suddenly a single, mud-caked bull with massive bosses appeared in a small open plain. He saw us the same moment I pulled the trigger. Even though the first shot should have taken him down, his adrenaline kept him up. The thick grass and bushes around us where no place I wanted to go stalking for a wounded buffalo, so I quickly pulled the trigger once more. From this shot he turned over, still fighting furiously, while he stared at me with dark intensity. The dust from his movements almost covered him completely and the struggle made large mud-cakes fall off his already lion-scarred body. My heart was pounding and sweat from the tension and the gazing sun stung in my eyes as I stared through the sight. Finally, the third shot made the daggers of this great old Nyati touch the ground.
That night I went through it all in my head as I sat outside my tent. The smoke from the open fireside almost kept the mosquitos away as I silently cleaned my rifle free of water and clay. When I disassembled I thought of my ancestors sitting here before me in another time and another world. Different clothes, different equipment, different conditions and yet the same strive to reach something more, something extraordinary. Like the essence of hunting.”

Dick von Blixen-Finecke has gained hunting experience all over the world. His Tanzanian buffalo hunt was one of his greatest adventures. “Since the Buffalo often stay in the open plains, close to water and mud, we had to crawl to be able to come close enough without being spotted. If we were spotted two things happened, the herd either approached us or fled. Either one alternative was not attractive.”