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constructed a small hide just back from the edge of one of the small ponds. Just before 10 a.m. I heard the peeping sounds of sand grouse, reminiscent of little silver wind chimes. Then the tide rolled over me and for the next hour I had some of the sweetest wingshooting that I've ever experienced! Then, without warning, it stopped as suddenly as it had begun. To my great glee, I learned that in that location, the accommodating little fellows do the same thing punctually at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day. It seems that each year, each trip, my interest turned more and more to bird hunting. Four or five years ago, my friend, Gordon Stark, head of Nhoro Safaris, and I mused about that over a dying campfire along the banks of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. While waiting for word of marauding elephants, we commiserated over the inevitable dwindling of dangerous game hunting in Africa. As the fire burned to embers, we agreed that the future of hunting in Africa lay in its wealth of plains game—and its gamebirds. We wondered aloud whether American and European fowlers would support bird hunting in Africa. And vowed to find out. As a result of that conversation, when I board my flight to Johannesburg this year, I'll be going primarily for the birds. While the folks back home in Georgia languish in the summer heat, I'll be gunning birds through South Africa's fall and winter seasons. I'm planning to remain there from May to August. To be honest, I'll probably take a rifle, too. If I have a little spare time, I may cast around for that big kudu that I'm still looking for, but the main event will be birds. Gordon is setting up a traditional tented safari camp, with all the amenities, that will allow ready access to both high-volume doves and pigeons as well as plains game. Here's the wrinkle: We've made room for you, too. Gordon has a limited number of spaces available for other hunters. If you thought you'd never see Africa, now's your chance to get a taste without hocking your firstborn child. If you just want a fantastic bird shoot, you won't be disappointed. If you'd like to combine a few days of plains game hunting, that can be arranged. Even if your only goal is to go have a bunch of fun, call me. We'll leave the light on for you. Editor's Note: If you'd like to join Bob Matthews on his African adventure, call him at (706) 244-0523. n and other plains game, but I was continually seeing sand grouse along the dusty roads. After a couple of days, I casually asked one of the trackers if the ranch had any water holes. Until then I hadn't seen any open water larger than a Volkswagen. Well, he allowed, there were a couple of natural seep- ponds and one artificial impoundment on the place. That led to an experience that was nothing less than a wingshooter's nirvana. The very next morning I dug out my little 20-gauge AYA "travel gun" that New England Custom Guns had built for me and T he first time I traveled to Africa, I went to the magnificent Selous Reserve in Tanzania where I hunted only for Cape buffalo. As an inveterate bird hunter, however, I did take notice of the sheer abundance of gamebirds. Since then, I have taken along a shotgun on every African trip. Whenever we took a break from hunting the big stuff, I'd limber up the shotgun and take a whack at the local bird population. One of the grandest times I ever had in Africa was on the edge of a small waterhole in Namibia. I was hunting kudu, gemsbok, 94 • S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S