Estcourt shoot-out
YESTERDAY we featured the account of an unfortunate incident on a guinea fowl shoot at Otto’s Bluff, near Maritzburg, when a fellow had his toe shot off and it got eaten by his bull terrier.
Today, in the interests of gun safety, we look at another incident, this time at Estcourt. It had something of the qualities of a duel.
It was another guinea fowl shoot. It had been a long day out in the fields. This fellow had been having a wretched time, failing to bring down a single bird. He got a ribbing when they gathered afterwards for a few beers.
“You know what? If I bend over 100 yards away you couldn’t hit my backside!”
This was fighting talk. After a few more beers and a bit more taunting, the original challenger marched away 100 paces and bucked over. Somebody handed the other fellow a shotgun.
What he didn’t know was that things had been doctored. The shot had been removed from the cartridges in the gun. Another clean miss was about to be recorded.
But the chap with the gun opened it before taking aim. It was loaded with buckshot cartridges. A bit drastic, he thought, so he switched the buckshot for two birdshot cartridges from his own belt.
Then he drew a bead and – Whammo! – the guy bending over got two barrels of birdshot up the Khyber Pass, as they say in the classics. The nurses at Estcourt hospital spoke about the case for a long time afterwards as the Tweezer Marathon.