Rocky Mountain News   Denver Colorado                                                                                 May 7 -1967

Tales of Safari Chief :

Have to be Quick To Hunt Lions

By David Brand

Rocky Mountain News Writer

Somewhere along the trail someone produced a theory about staring a lion into submission. Don’t believe it.

When a lion is coming at you from 30 yards there’s only one thing to do: Stand your ground and let him have it – right between the eyes with a double-barreled rifle.

That’s the advice of Professional Hunter Mohamed Iqbal, better known to his gung-ho clients as Ball. A Kenyan of Indian extraction,

Bali has seen more than his share of charging heavyweights.

Oh, and there’s just one more piece of ad­vice: “If the bullets don’t stop the cat- start praying.”

Companion Hunters: Roger Musick, left; Mohammed Iqbal, Alias Bali

There’s the time, not too long ago, when Bali was standing his ground before a charg­ing buffalo. His bullets tore into the animal’s skull – but it kept coming, tossing Bali aside and on past him. Then it dropped dead.

“You see,” says Bali, “the momentum had carried the animal forward – it is something that can happen. I was scratched and I twist­ed my ankle. Not too much otherwise.

“You have to know when the animal is close enough to shoot – 99 percent of the time he will drop. It’s that 1 percent you have to worry about.”

Ball Visits Denver

Bali was in town 1o visit safari-client Roger Musick, a Denver architect. He flew in from San Antonio, where he had been attending an international big game conference.

Forget about the Errol Flynn-with-a-swagger-stick image of big game hunters (blood­thirsty types crashing through the jungle). click to read more