Mark Sullivan shows us how to handle a Double Rifle

[Royal27]

Rick Young's Bino harness that is available on his website and at DSC.

Fantastic product.

 

[Ruark]

"I've seen Sullivan BS on video with the client while a buffalo is crawling on two legs for a few minutes with a severed spine.
If Sullivan can tolerate an animal suffering like that and have a chat with a client, he is a psychopath. Zero empathy for the animal. Zero respect."

I admit, I would differ from Sullivan on that. My philosophy has always been that if you're not sure it's going to be a bangflop, don't shoot. Kinda sad, really. He's obviously an extremely capable hunter. If I were being charged by a Big Fiver, I wouldn't mind having him standing beside me. But if I ever hunted with him, I would certainly make some things clear first.

 

[siml]

@Ruark , 100% correct.

 

[Foxi]

"I must always laugh,when I see the headlines in a forum " I hunted black death "
Its nonsene. Our wild boars at home attack much quicker."

Never been to Africa, but killed my share of boars. They're pretty easy to put down, and don't weigh 2,000 pounds. J.A. Hunter told of a buff's heart that was cut out and continued beating for 4 hours. I personally knew a guy who shot a buff 17 times in the neck with a .458 before it finally went down.

I understand your point, but somebody (I think Capstick or Selby) said something like, "99 out of 100 animals won't hurt you; it's that 1 out of 100 that turns you into a puddle of red chili."

Sullivan simply gives them more of a chance to do so than the guy who "stands back" and plugs an animal from 100 yards off with a scope and bipod. As long as the client understands what he's getting into, I don't see anything wrong with it. I would book with him in a heartbeat.

I dont want to compare these animals ,but what I want to say is,that it is a fairy-tale that a buff is always attacking you, when you hunt them.
Sure, its not so spectacular if a 50kg boar is attacking you and in most cases the dog is the first victim and you can manage the situation.But a worst shot is a worst shot and accidents are here often,sometimes deadly.
I dont belive that most hunter will find a wounded boar with a bullet in the stomach,in these cases they are really though and you can follow them over kilometers,so your dog can hold the track.

You dont need so much to hear the angles singing.
One deep cut is often enough (picture) and it goes so damned quick and in opposite of Africa, you are mostly alone in the woods with your problems.

It sounds much,much better when on my gravestone you can read one day "killed by african buffalo" than "killed by an bavarian boar".
At the first part,people may think : a real hero ,at the second: what a stupid guy .

But serious,to track donw a dagga boy is -for me-the best hunt I can do.But no work to earn the "medal of honour."
Foxi

 

[ChrisG]

Well I was given Mark's book "Fear No Death" for Christmas. I have never read so much drivel in all my life. He repeatedly calls a .470 a woman's gun, which is a little degrading to women I suppose... but the thing I found shocking... I mean utterly SHOCKING... he's married. HOW?!!? how on earth does a guy in his profession "hunt" the way he does when you have a family to care for? Well... I guess it's because, to Mark Sullivan, there's only one human worth his salt in the universe... Mark Sullivan. I kinda want to see if he refers to his various yards around his house as "(cardinal direction) Perimeters" e.g. "I'm gonna take the trash out and check the garden in the South Perimeter." He probably also uses the phonetic alphabet when spelling things too. He just sounds like GI Joe wannabe with Napoleon syndrome.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

He probably also uses the phonetic alphabet when spelling things too. He just sounds like GI Joe wannabe with Napoleon syndrome.

How about, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning?"

 

[Foxi]

375 Ruger Fan:
do you belive in MS ?

Negativ.

 

[HeinrichH]

I'd love to see him face buffalo in the thick stuff we hunt in, he always sees the animal and approaches it. We on the other hand end up facings charging wounded buffalo in thick stuff when you only hear him coming never knowing from where or how far....
Calling a 470 a womans gun... he can kiss my @ss, my 470 does the same work, and some cases would even out perform his 'gun' on certain levels.
Dont get me wrong, I'd love to also have a 577, but the fact that he puts everything and everyone down gets me... he was in camp with a friend of mine a few years back, and he was bragging about his gun, not knowing my friend also had the exact gun and caliber. The moment he saw it he got disrespectful and rude because all of a sudden he wasnt the main guy in camp.... hes clients also left half way through the safari due to his rude behavior because of this.

But theres a buffalo waiting for him one day with that behavior. That is if, by that time he is still allowed on concessions over Africa, at the rate he is going now he wont be able to sit foot in the bush anywhere, not to long from now.

 

[Ruark]

"But theres a buffalo waiting for him one day with that behavior...."

Ego aside, he appears to be fully aware of the ramifications of his hunting style. He says on his web page:

"A word of caution. Do not attempt to mirror my technique and method unless you are willing to pay the ultimate price, because in order to do what I do, you must be willing to die. This is a personal choice; my personal beliefs in hunting dangerous game are mine and mine alone. "

 

[rookhawk]

@HeinrichH I don't know anything about .577NE because its not a sporting arm per se, its a PH tool designed to save lives. I do know a bit about .470NE and .500NE having owned the latter.

The .470NE is superior to the .500NE on every level that matters. 500Gr bullet vs 570Gr bullet...same effective expansion. Minimal weight difference of around what, 12%? The .470 at normal load in an 11 pound gun is 69lbs of recoil. The 500NE with the normal load in a 12 pound gun is 75lbs of recoil. So at first blush, you're carrying 10% more weight and feeling 10% more recoil. What does that buy you...lets see:

.470 500gr bullets have a .374BC and a .318SD

.500 570gr bullets have a .350BC and a .313SD

Net result: The penetration at regulation load velocities is superior with the .470 than with the .500.

Then we get to the versatility factor: If you want to shoot a flatter cartridge the .470 is easy to accommodate with monometal solids, softs and solids because of the narrower diameter. Ballistics are superior in lighter weight bullets than the .500NE because the .500NE runs amuck faster as the bullets of the .500 become more like fat cylinders that are less stable as they diminish in weight. This is an effect of the smaller bore diameter holding an advantage.

Again, I don't fault people for their preferences but its just another example of MS making outrageous claims with no supporting evidence that he is "Great" and all those opposed are uninformed, holding "girl's guns". Forgetting/Omitting differences of ethics, morality and style, I still seem to disagree with MS on most of his rifle handling, ballistic insights, manufacturer recommendations and other technlogical opinions. That would be fine if MS didn't assume all those that disagree have not educated themselves. I've spent a tremendous amount of time obsessing over what is proper, best, and superior technologically and while I don't have all the answers, my opinions are formed with data. MS's opinions are formed with emotion and ego as no data is ever provided to support his claims. (experiential "one time at bandcamp" stories do not equate to data)

 

[rookhawk]

Ego aside, he appears to be fully aware of the ramifications of his hunting style. He says on his web page:

"A word of caution. Do not attempt to mirror my technique and method unless you are willing to pay the ultimate price, because in order to do what I do, you must be willing to die. This is a personal choice; my personal beliefs in hunting dangerous game are mine and mine alone. "

There are things worse than dying, like the "ultimate price". Unfortunately, the ultimate price is lost on Mark Sullivan as he thinks it is death. "Loss of values and integrity" was the correct answer, Mark.

 

[spike.t]

Ego aside, he appears to be fully aware of the ramifications of his hunting style. He says on his web page:

"A word of caution. Do not attempt to mirror my technique and method unless you are willing to pay the ultimate price, because in order to do what I do, you must be willing to die. This is a personal choice; my personal beliefs in hunting dangerous game are mine and mine alone. "

sorry but walking up to a downed wounded buff towards its front, and not from behind and trying to finish it quietly and quickly, and instead telling the client to wait and goading it into a charge is bullshit

 

[rookhawk]

sorry but walking up to a downed wounded buff towards its front, and not from behind and trying to finish it quietly and quickly, and instead telling the client to wait and goading it into a charge is bullshit

@spike.t as a falconer years ago we had a debate about these sorts of principles. It was in these "battle royale debates" that I was schooled and thought about these actions. Falconers are pretty much hyper-intense bird watchers. We used to LOVE taking photographs of the hunt and especially the play by play of the raptor taking down the prey. Prevailing ethicists won (I was on the wrong side of history at the time 20 years ago) and they said basically: "its not ethical for you to take photographs of your bird doing the coup de gras to the wounded animal".

Why: Wild animals are savages. Inherently amoral. They eat things alive. They kill unjustly. They are inhumane and therefore lacking humanity. Once man volunteers to participate in a predator/prey relationship they are held to the standard of doing that which is "humane". It means we are making all attempts to prevent suffering or end suffering as expeditiously as possible. IF we do not, we are nothing more than animals. The falconer taking pictures of the predator-prey relationship was protracting the death of the prey by clicking away with a camera instead of leaping in with a knife to dispatch the quarry. The inhumanity was the pleasure of taking a picture of something awesome in nature trumped the desire to dispatch a suffering animal in a humane way, a way nature would not do things. In a way that makes us different than animals.

Delaying the second shot in the MS videos, encouraging an animal to attack by adding to the animal's stress, confronting the animal head-on to elevate tension in the animal, chatting with clients while the animal lay paralyzed walking around on two feet... all of those examples from MS videos are the same inhumane, immoral, unethical scenarios.

I've beaten the horse enough. I'll shut up now and listen/learn from other perspectives.

 

[Pheroze]

@spike.t as a falconer years ago we had a debate about these sorts of principles. It was in these "battle royale debates" that I was schooled and thought about these actions. Falconers are pretty much hyper-intense bird watchers. We used to LOVE taking photographs of the hunt and especially the play by play of the raptor taking down the prey. Prevailing ethicists won (I was on the wrong side of history at the time 20 years ago) and they said basically: "its not ethical for you to take photographs of your bird doing the coup de gras to the wounded animal".

Why: Wild animals are savages. Inherently amoral. They eat things alive. They kill unjustly. They are inhumane and therefore lacking humanity. Once man volunteers to participate in a predator/prey relationship they are held to the standard of doing that which is "humane". It means we are making all attempts to prevent suffering or end suffering as expeditiously as possible. IF we do not, we are nothing more than animals. The falconer taking pictures of the predator-prey relationship was protracting the death of the prey by clicking away with a camera instead of leaping in with a knife to dispatch the quarry. The inhumanity was the pleasure of taking a picture of something awesome in nature trumped the desire to dispatch a suffering animal in a humane way, a way nature would not do things. In a way that makes us different than animals.

Delaying the second shot in the MS videos, encouraging an animal to attack by adding to the animal's stress, confronting the animal head-on to elevate tension in the animal, chatting with clients while the animal lay paralyzed walking around on two feet... all of those examples from MS videos are the same inhumane, immoral, unethical scenarios.

Fantastic analysis in my opinion. Nicely put.

 

[HeinrichH]

Its so great so see that majority in the hunting community agree to certain ethics, and the one guy who doesnt...

 

[Red Leg]

The game animal is bad enough. What really angers me is unnecessarily putting other people at risk to satisfy some narcissistic drive. I am sure I am a product of my profession, but if you are in charge of a situation and someone is injured or killed as a result of your actions, decisions, or indecisions, "shit happens" is not an acceptable response any more than "this the way I hunt." My sense is that anyone ready to so cavalierly put others at risk, probably doesn't spend a lot of time reflecting upon consequences. I relieved more than one subordinate over the years exhibiting such callousness.

 

[Ray B]

I wonder:
If he considers the 577 a proper rifle, and the 470 a woman's gun, what does he consider a 404 or 458?

 

[accipiter]

I wonder:
If he considers the 577 a proper rifle, and the 470 a woman's gun, what does he consider a 404 or 458?

A youth gun?


The most I ever used on safari was a 375 H&H.

 

[gizmo]

He certainly is his biggest fan. I couldnt imagine being stuck in the middle of nowhere with him. Sure he can shoot and yes he's probably invoked and stood more charges than anyone else in modern day but WoW what a douche. He's probably got some good advice but hell I cant stand listening to the guy long enough to gain anything from it. To each his own I guess.

 

[Pheroze]

What do you folks think of his carry technique? He has specific concerns about muzzle up carry. What are the thoughts?

I personally liked the way he timed and used the safety.