A 1960’S Hillbilly Hunter in Kenya, East Africa
Editor’s Note: Ed Grafton of Berry Fork Tree Farm fame, has graciously provided this account of his hunting escapades in East After over 60 years ago. We found the story very interesting and gained his permission to share it with our readers. The account is quite lengthy which will require it appearing as a 3 or 4 part series in our paper. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. We thank Dr. Grafton for sharing his experiences with us!
Prelude…
I was born at home with the able assistance of a midwife. I was the sixth child of eleven parented by Albert and Esta Catherine Nutter-Grafton. My Dad was a horse logger and mother was at home tending the family. We lived on a small hillside farm near Lookout.
I graduated from Divide Grade School and Nuttall High School at Lookout. Upon graduation I worked in Charleston for a year before traveling north to enroll in a Forestry bachelors (BS) degree program at West Virginia University (WVU). Upon graduation with a BS degree I was offered and accepted a research assistantship to study for a Master’s degree (MS) in Forestry Economics.
About three weeks before graduation with the MS degree I was asked to fill a vacancy on the Forestry Faculty at WVU. This was a major surprise as I had never seriously considered a teaching career at any educational level.
At the time all male college graduates without previous military service were subject to the selective service draft. That had been anticipated by WVU. They had contacted and received assurances from the Fayette County selective service that I would not be drafted for two years unless there was a major war. This rookie then signed on become a forestry instructor at WVU.
Shortly after my first semester teaching at WVU began, the Forestry Department was asked to provide a forestry instructor at Edgerton College, Kenya as part of an international program with the WVU College of Agriculture, I was very interested in this opportunity and applied for the assignment. Dr. WC Percival, Department Head, replied simply, “You are needed here.” If felt good to be needed but it was not any closer to Africa.
The position was filled by Bill Cones, WVU Forest Superintendent. Bill was a classmate during our BS degree study. He completed a MS degree at Duke University. I kept in touch with Bill and after two years he decided to return to WVU and pursue a PhD program in Forestry Pathology.
Once more I applied for the Egerton College teaching position. This time Dr. Percival approved my request to become effective at the end of the spring semester 1965. I learned that Byrl Collins, Agriculture Engineering was also selected for duty at the Egerton College. We were enrolled in a Swahili language class at Duesquene University in Pittsburgh. The objective was to learn and speak Swahili, the most common African language spoken in Kenya. There was no effort to read or write the language.
Bill was not a hunter. In my correspondence with him the subject of hunting was never discussed. At that time I owned a .22 caliber rifle and a 12 gauge shotgun. I decided to take these two guns with me. I also had part ownership of a 30-30 caliber rifle but left it with my brother Tom. At this time I had no interest in African big game hunting.
Growing up in Fayette County, West Virginia the only game hunting available was for squirrels, rabbits, and ruffed grouse. Vermin hunting included groundhogs, skunks, starlings, crows, and English sparrows. Prior to leaving for forestry study at WVU, there was no big game hunting permitted in Fayette County. In fact the first white-tail deer I ever saw in the state was at Cooper’s Rock State Forest on a forestry class lab trip. During my time at WVU from 1956 to 1965 I did go deer hunting at Cooper’s Rock twice but never bagged a deer.
Letter communications with Bill Cones convinced me to bring a pickup truck with a rear bed canopy. The contract would pay the sea freight for one American made automobile. I purchased a Chevrolet with rear wheel positraction. He also recommended a hand winch (come-along), a 20-foot chain, tire chains and an international driver’s license. I sent the truck over in July hoping it would be there when I arrived in Kenya in August. The truck arrived at the Mombasa harbor, however, a strike by dock workers prohibited the unloading of cargo ships. My transportation did not arrive locally for nearly four months.
Hunting Regulations…
Guns entering Kenya had to be declared. The Central Firearms Bureau impounded all firearms and ammunition upon entry at the airport. These items could not be released to the owner until home storage was completed and approved by the local police. Byrl asked about bringing his pistol at a later date. The response was immediate, “Pistols are developed to shoot people. In Kenya we do not believe in shooting people.” End of story! Gun safety was certainly vastly different that in the USA.
In early September Byrl and I visited the Njoro police station. We discussed the detail gun safety requirements. A steel safe had to be bolted to an interior wall in your house with no anchor bolts showing and no exposed door hinges. The police directed us to shops in Nakuru where an approved safe could be purchase.
Later we ordered safes from a Nakuru dealer. We installed the safes according to police specifications. The Njoro police inspected and approved our workmanship.
With this completed we traveled to Nairobi to collect our guns. No such luck! The firearms were for hunting. In order to get them release it was necessary to pass a game identification exam.
Six months passed before I journeyed to Nairobi and took the test. This was a very challenging test as many of the game animals and birds were only partially visible. I did pass the test on the first attempt for a resident hunting license.
I also learned that local police could come unannounced to inspect the safe to be sure all guns and ammunition were locked inside. Shotgun and .22 caliber ammunition could be purchased and kept in unrestricted quantities. However, big game ammunition had to recorded as to usage. If too much was used in relation to reported kills you could lose your license and have both guns and ammunition impounded. I tried to make sure I reported a kill on average every three rounds of ammunition used. It was never subjected to an unannounced inspection.
First Hunting Safari…
Joe Robertson was one the WVU Egerton College team. He was hired from the University of Nevada to administer the WVU team and start a degree program in Range Management. Joe and Byrl Collins had been on several big game hunts during the first half of 1966. After much pleading and encouragement they convinced me to join them on a hunt between Nairasha and Narok.
On Saturday, September 24, 1966 I packed my two guns, ammunition, change of clothes, food, cooking supplies, and sleeping bag in the ole’ red Chevy. After picking up Byrl and Joe and their gear we hit the road. Byrl had booked a hunting block for the weekend.
In Kenya hunting areas were subdivided into individual hunting blocks. Each block was large; the two we usually booked are about 48 miles by 19 miles. Only two hunting groups were allowed on a specific block on any given day-one resident hunter group and one professional hunter/client group. In retrospect on all the hunting trips during my stay in Kenya, I never encountered another group or hearing a gun shot from another group.
About five miles after entering the hunting block two coke’s hartebeest (Kongoni) were spotted some 200 yards from the road. This was to be Joe’s challenge. The stalk began. The three of us kept tall grass and woody bush between us and our quarry. We eased to within 100 yards from the hartebeest, an animal about the size of an elk. Joe had a forked stick which he stuck in the ground. He carefully placed the gun barrel in the fork, stretched out in the prone position, lined up the animal in his “peep” sight, and fired.
The hartebeest appeared untouched, trotting off a few steps and continued to graze. Joe repeated this process five more times with the same result. Joe was obviously befuddles! Finally on the seventh try, the hartebeest went down in a heap. There was little movement-a kill! We walked over to the animal. Joe rubbed his brow saying, “I don’t know how I totally missed this beast six times and then hit it exactly where I aimed on the seventh shot?” We nodded in agreement.
Then the work began. We removed the hide and horns. As we finished this chore another group of hartebeest came into view about 300 yards away. I suggested Byrl to stalk that group as they seemed unconcerned with our presence. Byrl headed off to stalk and try to bag another one.
Joe and I removed the hind quarters and stripped the rest of the meat from his kill. We put the stripped meat in a large metal pan. We then loaded all the bounty in the truck.
About the same time a shot rang out. Byrl waved success. We now had another animal to butcher. Byrl was a deadly shot at anything less than 400 yards distance.
Joe and I spotted a potential camping site near a group of acacia trees about 75 yards from Byrl’s kill. We eased the truck there and hung the hind quarters in a tree. Joe walked out to Byrl’s kill to assist with butchering the carcass. Nightfall would soon be on us.
I gathered firewood, started a fire and began preparing some food for supper. It was dark when I carefully drove the truck through the tall grass to collect the bounty from Byrl’s animal. As it was dark, Bryl agreed to collect the horns the next day.
Back at camp we hung two more hind quarters in the tree. We placed the hides and one set of horns on the truck hood and placed two large metal pans of meat on top of the truck rear canopy. We then cleaned up a bit and had our supper. I do not remember the menu.
Watch next week’s Citizens’ News for Part II.
Patrick Facemire receives Masters Degree from University of So. Carolina
Patrick Russell Facemire recently graduated from the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, SC, where he completed the requirement for his Master of Fine Art History Degree. In May 2020, he received his Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of New York, in Buffalo, NY after receiving his Bachelor of Fine Art Degree from Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV.
A Braxton County native, Patrick received his high school diploma from Braxton County High School in June, 2012.
He is a juried artist with Tamarack where he has been recognized as the Best of West Virginia artist as well as his artwork being selected for the gallery on numerous occasions. Patrick was selected to have two of his paintings in the West Virginia, 23rd Biennial Juried Exhibition at the West Virginia Culture Center at the State Capitol. His artwork has been on exhibition at Sugar City Arts Collaborative in Buffalo, New York, and at the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center, in Pueblo, Colorado, the Hopkins Art Center, in Hopkins, Minnesota, the Firehouse Gallery, in Grants Pass, Oregon, and the Hagerstown Engine Room, in Hagerstown, Maryland among many others.
Patrick is the son of Retired Judge Richard A. Facemire and his wife Patricia. They reside in Frametown.
