Gary Reeder
i know James from Jersey has been to Africa a bunch and
Monday, August 19, 2024, 12:41

probably has noticed this from a baboon. I have taken a few and have them mounted here in the shop. One odd thing I noticed about baboons is that they will stand about a hundred yards from you and if they think you are watching them they will stand up as tall as they can and give you the finger. I don't know if we got it from them or they got it from us, but more than once the old male of the troop has stood on his toes and give me the finger.
Another odd thing they do is turn around, bend over and pat their ass like they are saying "kiss this". An old male baboon is smart and will do everything he can to insult you.
On one hunt down in the Eastern Cape many years ago we spotted several baboons on the side of a hill playing in about 3 inches of snow. I had been wanting one for a good while so the PH told me to take the last one on the group as they scattered away from us. Leaning over the cab of the Land Cruiser I had a straight away shot so no real hold over was needed. I had my 338 GNR in a Contender (this was before the encores).
At the shot he rolled over into a brush pile. I jumped down from the truck and walked up to him. I had a S&W model 57 in 41 GNR revolver in my hand as I walked up to him. John, the PH, had told me to be very careful around them as they had 3" long teeth and could put a nasty bite on you.
Not really paying any attention to that I walked up to the baboon. He was lying all crumpled in the brush so I was sure he was dead. I reached down and touched his eye with the barrel. As I did this he grabbed my leg. In the midst of a scream I pulled the trigger on the 41 while I was about 4 feet in the air. The baboon died before I touched down and all I heard was John and the trackers laughing. The next couple of baboons I shot from about 50 yards.