By Gayne C. Young
“Yippee Ki Yay __________!”
If you finished the above with an obscenity, you probably know Roy Rogers as the hero of John McClane in “Die Hard.” If you finished it with the word “kids” then you’re probably older than dirt at this point and only vaguely remember Roy Rogers from his TV show. Regardless of how you know Roy, know that he was a lot more than a celebrity cowboy, actor, and pitchman. He was also an avid outdoorsman who hunted Africa on three separate occasions. And although Roy didn’t keep this part of his life secret, most of his adoring fans never knew of his love of big-game hunting until long after his death.
Roy’s most public safari was detailed as “Record Kudu for a Sharpshooting Cowboy” by Peter Barrett in the 1962 issue of True magazine, and a stranger time you’re not likely to find. The true goal for Roy was to at last take a record kudu, an animal that he had not successfully taken on earlier safaris to Tanganyika and Kenya. The safari began with Roy being mobbed at the airport at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Not only was Roy swarmed by TV, newsreel, radio, and newspaper people but by hordes of fans who even tried following him into the men’s room. Roy later explained to Barrett, “I can’t even go downtown at home for a pack of cigarettes without autograph hunters finding me.” When Barrett pointed out that Roy could probably go unnoticed most places if he didn’t wear brash colored cowboy attire bedazzled with sequins, fringe, a beaded belt, and cowboy boots with gold-plated heel and toe caps Roy simply replied, “If I don’t wear them, people are disappointed.”
Uh, sure Roy. Africans throughout history have always loved having a near 50-year-old white guy dressed in clown meets Las Vegas pimp with a side order of Liberace in their midst. They’d be disappointed if they didn’t see such.
Doggone Lucky Roy
Roy’s party made it to camp located in the bush some 150 miles northwest of Beira, Mozambique. Roy settled in, changed into normal clothing (with the exception of his self-declared Roy Rogers-invented double-creased cowboy hat) and met his professional hunters and camp staff. That first day saw Roy hunt with PH Jose Simoes. The goal was a record book kudu, but a herd of eland was spotted from the truck and the hunt was on. Simoes found one bull in particular worthy of hunting.
“What a bull!” Simoes whispered to Roy in the tall grass. “I think he’s the one we’ve been trying to get for the last couple of years.”
The men stalked to within 200 yards and Roy squeezed the trigger on his .300 Weatherby. Roy knew immediately that his shot wasn’t his best. “Think I hit him. But I may not have led him enough,” Roy said. Two follow-up shots did the trick and Roy’s first animal of the safari was down. Simoes measured the eland at 33½ inches. Roy was ecstatic at his trophy but still upset at his first shot. “I was doggone lucky,” Roy declared at actually getting the animal down.
NOTE: This marks the first time in history that the word “doggone” was uttered on the African continent.
The next few days saw Roy continue his quest for a kudu. Along the way he took a bushbuck and forest hog with his always-at-his-side, shiny-as-hell .357 magnum, a monster buffalo from a herd of over 200 with a single shot from his .458 Winchester mag., a near record book sable, a waterbuck, and more. Roy also took a francolin with a slingshot he brought and spent several days hunting cockroaches around camp with that same primitive weapon but never managed to down a nice one.
NOTE: This marks the first time in history that a singing cowboy hunted roaches with a slingshot in Africa.
The Singing Safari Hunter
Roy finally took a kudu toward the end of his safari. The party spotted two nice bulls in a depression and stalked to within 125 yards. Roy and his PH debated which of the two was the better trophy before finally choosing the one on the left. Roy dropped the animal with a single shot, and the tape proved the animal a monster at just over 58 inches. This proved to be the best and most favorite of the 18 animals Roy took on safari.
The animals from this and Roy’s other safaris were mounted and put on display in his home. Roy’s most famous taxidermy projects however (his horse Trigger, his German shepherd Bullet, and his wife’s horse Buttermilk) were displayed at the Roy Rogers – Dale Evans Museum in Apple Valley, California. All mounts—horses, dogs, and those from Africa—were sold after Roy died on July 6, 1998.
Yippee Ki Yay __________!
Special thanks to Robert Deis of MensPulpMags.com for his assistance in researching this piece.
