Community, The Braxton Democrat

A 1960’s Hillbilly Hunter in Kenya, East Africa

Part 3 of a 4-Part Series

Editor’s Note: This is Part 3 of a 4-part series by Ed Grafton of Berry Fork Tree Farm fame. He 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. We thank Dr. Grafton for sharing his experiences!


Hunting Safaris
In December 1966 I booked my first hunting block. Byrl Collins and John Wagner joined on the hunting trip to the Narok area. John was the most recent WVU team member teaching Agriculture Engineering. He and I shared a house on campus.
We drove across the Mau Mountains in the early morning for a delicious breakfast with the Burns at Narok. This was the beginning of the numerous hunting safaris to the Narok area with a cache of butter, milk, ice cream and other dairy products from the Egerton College Dairy for our Narok hosts. After breakfast Bob led us to what he believed would be a good hunting spot.
Byrl had a bad day missing an impala and two zebras for starters. He trailed the second zebra for nearly an hour never getting sufficiently close for another shot. Later that day he finally bagged a Thomson gazelle and a zebra. I matched him also bagging a Thomson gazelle and a zebra.
We returned to Narok and left a hind quarter of a Thomson gazelle with the Burns. After resting and refreshments we left for Egerton. Both Byrl and John bagged impalas before we exited the hunting block. We crossed the Mau Mountains to Egerton ending a successful hunt for all.
During 1967 my last contract year, hunting blocks were booked for 19 different hunting safari excursions, mostly on weekends as Sunday hunting was legal. Rarely did I eat beef from the local meat markets as there was an ample supply of wild game in the freezer. There were also extra cuts for my houseboy Olog, faculty and friends. My usual hunting companions were Byrl Collins and John Wagner.
Of course we provided Bob and Mildred Burns with roasts, steaks, and hamburger meat. This was in appreciation for their generous hospitality and “boarding” us on many of our overnight hunting trips to the Narok area. Fifteen of our trips were to hunting blocks near Narok.
Four hunting trips were to the nearby Mau Mountains. There the habitat was heavily forested with thick undergrowth much like West Virginia. The primary game species we hunted there were impalas, bush buck and reed buck. Two of the trips were “shut outs.” Two bush bucks and a reed buck were bagged on the other two trips.
On one trip I was the driver only and John was the hunter. We arrived at the prospective site and John prepared to arm the rifle. He gave me a puzzled look then told me he forgot to bring any ammunition. Tough to bag game without “ammo.” We returned to the college mostly in silence.
On occasion other Egerton College friends joined us on hunting trips as helpers and observers. These included: Dave Gregory, Forest Technician, British VSO; Liz Govan, Biology Technician, British VSO; Gary Candelet, Engineering Technician, US Peace Corps; Gene Payne, Range Management teacher, WVU AID Team, and John and Mike Warren, sons of Frank (Business Manager) and Elizabeth Warren.
In total the game animals bagged personally on hunting trips follow: 4 zebra; 4 Coke’s hartebeest; 4 Grant gazelle; 2 Thomson gazelle; 2 wildebeest; 2 bush buck; 2 impala; and 1 reed buck.
Reflecting back, my major regret was the zebra kills. We tried eating zebra meat but did not like the taste. Maybe the problem was the thought of eating “horse meat.” I did have all the hides tanned and three were brought back to West Virginia. One hide was taken to a local leather crafter who made an ottoman for my dear friends, Bob and Mildred Burns.
Additionally I collected a black and white colobus monkey pelt from a road kill found along the Mau Mountains road. I obtained a special permit and had the pelt tanned. I killed a defassa waterbuck for the students while on a work project in the Abedare Mountains. I killed a duiker and some game birds mostly for the students. They greatly appreciated these additions to their camp meals.
The only other wildlife taken were dik-diks, the smallest gazelle in Kenya. I shot them with my .22 caliber rifle. One was take on a trip to Lake Baringo when looking for petrified wood. The other was on a camping trip to Lake Hannington. In both cases they were roasted over a campfire on a spit. The meat was very tasty.
In the Narok area the primary nomadic tribe was the Masai. When hunting the Kenya plains rarely did we have the hide removed from larger animals before a group of Masai “young warriors to be” would appear. They were seemingly not interested in the meat or hide but wanted other body parts. Even when offered hind quarters or other meat they refused to accept it.
Carcasses were quickly located by scavengers, especially vultures. We classified the scavengers as “the sanitary engineering corps of the African plains.” On one hunt we dispatched a zebra. We completed the removal of the hide as hundreds of vultures circled overhead. Many landed on the ground nearby easing within 50 feet or so. When we finished and loaded the hide we backed off about 100 feet from the carcass. An amazing scene followed as the vultures on the ground rushed the carcass.
The circling vultures overhead began dropping on top of the vultures that were now totally covering the carcass. At times they seemed to be piled three or four high. Eventually those on top would “fall” through to the carcass, grab what they could and be squeezed away by others dropping on the pile from above. We watched in awe for about 10 to 15 minutes. The frenzy began to subside. We eased the truck back to the carcass to find essentially nothing but bones remaining. Yet more reason as to why rotting meat odor was never detected on the Kenya plains.
After purchasing Eric Trump’s Land Rover it was taken on hunting trips often with the Chevy. The Land Rover was better for traversing through the bush looking for game or retrieving a kill. The Land Rover was easier to maneuver around obstacles and less likely to bog down.
On one hunt in the Mt. Suswa area Dave Gregory and I were the scouts. We were sitting on top of the cab with our feet on the hood. The Land Rover had a hard top cab with a sturdy metal heat shield. The heat shield covered the entire top of the cab with a 1 to 1-1/2 inch air space between it and the top of the cab.
Dave and I were holding on to the heat shield with both hands. Byrl was driving and as usual, too fast for the circumstances. As we were traveling through the tall grass we all failed to see a narrow washed out ditch about three feet deep and three feet wide. The Land Rover crashed into the ditch. Dave and I were unable to hang on from the sudden stop. We both plummeted over the front of the Land Rover onto the ground. We were a bit dazed as we scrambled to our feet to survey the damage.
Fortunately no broken bones were detected. I lost most of the skin on the inside of my fingers of my right hand. I had tried to hang onto the heat shield to keep from tumbling to the ground. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it tightly around my right hand to await stoppage of bleeding. Dave also lost some skin but had apparently let go of his grip earlier than I. After cleaning our wounds and applying ointment and bandage it was time to rescue the Land Rover.
The front bumper of the Land Rover ended up resting on the ground surface on the opposite side of the ditch. The wheels were hanging free. We were experienced veterans in this type of rescue. Byrl had to get the axe and chop a post as Dave and I were of little help due to injured hands. Byrl also had to dig a hole and set the post. Once more the hand winch was hooked between the post and the Land Rover. Then “crank by crank” the vehicle was pulled out.
Once free we loaded our gear and returned to Egerton. It was a painful trip home for Dave and I due to our “debarked” fingers.
Byrl and I hunted on game block 60 for the first and only time in March 1967. This was known as the Mara River Block. Near the river we drove around a relatively sharp curve and approached a group of elephants browsing near the road. I attempted to ease by them but one bull elephant charged the truck. I quickly slipped into reverse and backed around the curve out of sight.
We waited about 30 minutes before slowly driving around the curve again. The elephants had moved about 100 yards from the road. We continued forward slowly. One bull elephant raised his head, flapped his ears, and sounded his “trumpet.” The race was on! I sped down the road as the elephant headed our way. The ole Chevy was too fast for the bull elephant and we rolled by to safety.
We then looked for a camp site and shortly came to a small village. Here we encountered a local policeman who wanted to see our pass from the Provincial Office in Narok. We had no such pass and were unware of one being required. We assumed our booking of the game block was all that was necessary.
The policeman was not very friendly and quite unhappy that we did not have a pass to be in the area. He issued a citation requiring us to report to the Provincial Office in Narok the next day. He did allow us to park the truck in the back of the police station where we camped for the night.
Early the next morning we left our “police campsite” and began the trek back to Narok. As we arrived at the Narok air strip there were several animals present including some on the landing strip itself. I recalled Don Mallinson saying it took a pass or two across the runway to clear some air strips of animals before safely landing an airplane. Well I helped the future pilots by bagging a Thomson gazelle. I gave this one to the Burns where we spent the night.
The next morning we went to the Provincial Office concerning our citation. They were not too friendly either and issued a summons to appear in court the following week. We returned to the Burns with the news. Bob angrily said, “Give me that summons, I’ll take care of it Monday.” With his positive assurance he took the summons. Sure enough on Monday he called and let us know “all is well,” no need to come to Narok court.