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Hunting is a tradition in the del Rosario Family. In March of 2007, the dreams of boyhood became a reality in the Kalahari Desert of Namibia, Africa.
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The hunting firearm that Nathan was going to take to Africa was his New England Firearms Survivor, .308 Winchester. It is a single-shot rifle, capable of bringing down medium-size ungulates at ranges out to 250 meters. Instead, he took his Remington Model Seven in .308 Winchester with a fixed 4-power scope.
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Among predators of epochs past, Nathan explores the dinosaur exhibits at New York's American Museum of Natural History, June 2006.
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We canoed out to this island on the Washington coast to pick up oysters and clams.
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Cleaning up the barn after an afternoon of riding is not Nathan's idea of fun.
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This is Sven Fietz with whom Nathan had been corresponding with by email. He is 12 years old and his family speaks mostly German at their home in Namibia. Their secondary languages are English and Afrikaans. Nathan had tried to learn German so that he and Sven could converse in at least two languages. Sven is shown here with a jackal that he shot at his family's hunting farm about 20 kilometers east of Hochfeld.
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This is our host family in Namibia, the Fietz family - from bottom clockwise are Sven, Laura, Karen, Armin, and Nathan.
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A Gold Medal kudu that my Dad, Enrique, shot the first day we were in Namibia.
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Another Gold Medal for my Dad. This time it is a warthog that he shot after a difficult stalk of about 500 meters in an open field.
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Nathan and Sven with a caracal that was feeding on a half-eaten carcass of a wildebeest calf. Tracks of two cheetahs were found near the carcass along with tracks of jackals and warthogs so it was probably the work of the cheetahs.
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Some of Nathan's Thoughts on Africa and Hunting
On hunting: I will only hunt an animal that is not on the endangered species list, and only if it is an animal that is destructive to other wildlife. Also, I will not shoot at animals who are protecting their young.
On what will be the most difficult experience for me in Africa: My Dad said that I have to try the foods that will be served to me, including vegetables - yuk!
On what I am most apprehensive about in Africa: Lions and Black Mambas
On what I look forward to the most: Seeing the animals in their natural habitat.
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