Book is Great Start to Easy African Hunt

Ron Spomer Outdoors Nambian Book

Sports Afield Editor Diana Rupp, a dedicated big game hunter of considerable experience, offers first-time (or wanna-be) Africa hunters a thorough, easy introduction to that experience in her new book, Ask the Namibian Guides. (Available from www.safaripress.com.)Guide books are nothing new, but remain a durable, repeatable resource for discovery. Unlike a TV show, advertisement or even magazine article, a guide book sits at your disposal 24/7. You have time to ponder, reread and reference. But only if the information is useful and understandable. In this book, it is, thanks to a clever device.Instead of relying on her personal Namibian experiences, Ms. Rupp was wise enough to milk a baker's dozen veteran Professional Hunters (African guides) working in Namibia. She asks each the questions you would ask before launching a safari -- and probably a few you'd forget to ask. Each PH gives his information and suggestions, and they aren't always all the same. This provides insights you rarely find in one-author guide books. You have to think for yourself a bit, but the result is a more thorough understanding of things.The book includes lots of color photos of landscapes, game, hunters and trophies. Chapters include Selecting a Safari Guide; Rifles and Gear; Arriving and Departing (the invaluable how-to for travel); Hunting Areas in Namibia and much more.I've hunted Namibia a half-dozen times and find the information in this book spot-on. Wish I'd had it years ago. I'd have gone sooner, stayed longer and had even better adventures than I did. Although I'm not complaining. Namibia has given me some of the most satisfying game viewing, photography and hunting of my life. And each year it seems to get better at a cost that makes it, often, less expensive than a single elk hunt in the States.If you're the kind of hunter who is also a human, rather than a human that sometimes hunts, you owe it to yourself to experience the greatest big game continent on Earth. Africa is every human's heritage, our cradle. Returning to it is not just adventure, but spiritual renewal. Read the advice and information in Ask the Namibian Guides. Follow Editor Diana Rupp's lead. Plan the hunt of a lifetime in dry, clean, safe Namibia. You won't regret it.