Legendary Hunter Paul Roberts Interview

Mike Yardley talks to his friend of 35 years, the legendary hunter and gunmaker, Paul Roberts

When did you first stalk Paul?

I shot my first deer in 1966, it was a fallow, my friend Alistair McAlpine later Lord McAlpine of West Green (who became Conservative Treasurer) told me he had a lot of deer on his estate and that we should go down and shoot some.  I was very lucky, but that, honestly, is how I started my stalking career! His place was near Henley in Buckinghamshire. In those days stalking was not as popular in England as it has since become, although the St Hubert’s Club, of which I was later a member, were trying to develop interest and improve British deer stalking methods.

My dad in those days was in the gun trade, as indeed was I, but my main mentor with regard to deer was my godfather Renato Ceimatti who not only opened the first big coffee bar in London called Macumbo – where the Scotch House now is in Knightsbridge – but a very fashionable place called el Cubano also near Harrods and a chain of restaurants, once very well known in London, called the Contented Soul, not to mention Flannigans and Finigans. If you like, he was the Marco Pierre White of his day. He was extremely interested in deer stalking too and had hunted in eastern Europe as well, but not Africa as I remember.

Meantime, I saw an advert for roe stalking in Dorset and went down there by myself and shot a huge head and brought it up to London to show Renato. He lived in a converted church in Chelsea called Gunter Hall. He was sitting in front of an enormous open fireplace. I presented the head. “Where the hell did you shoot that!” “Dorset!” I exclaimed. It turned out to be the English record for 1967 scoring 146 points on CIC scale. The next year he went down with me. Soon after he shot his own mega beast. That turned out to be the English record in ‘68. He stalked it with Richard Prior in the same area – but not the same estate – indeed, his was taken in Wiltshire and mine in Dorset as noted.

What rifles were you using?

In those days I had a 7x57 Purdey  with a Zeiss scope, it was superseded by a Mannlicher Shoenouer .243 for roe deer and, I used a 30-06 Remington semi-auto for sika and red. That itself was replaced by a Browning BAR in the same calibre for the big deer. In those days of course, before Hungerford, you could use a semi-automatic centre-fire rifle quite legally in this country.

I had quickly become a very enthusiastic stalker. Friends, family and work all promoted interest. I was in the gun trade in London mainly dealing in second best guns, I was also importing guns from the Indian maharajas and making frequent trips to the sub continent as my father’s agent – fascinating times. In some ways these were the glory days, we were buying guns of fantastic quality at relatively reasonable price, and, I was learning a lot about double rifles which have since become a life-long passion.

Because we were doing so much work on the old rifles with calibre conversions and similar, I started to become interested in making bolt action rifles inspired by the late great David Perkins – one of our finest ever gunsmiths – who worked for me at that time having been at Rigby’s which I would later own myself (from 1982), and, which of course had a wonderful reputation both for it’s stalking rifles in .275 Rigby (aka 7x57) and for bolt action and double big bore big game rifles.

As far as my stalking interests were concerned, I was renting an estate in Invernesshire and spending a month a year up there Stalking red stags (and hinds later in their season). We also had roe and sika on the estate. With regard to woodland stalking nearer home, I was very fortunate in being able to shoot some of the huge red deer that then roamed Norfolk and Suffolk [I still see quite a few in Essex and Suffolk M.Y.]. I moved to Sussex in the mid 1970s and, again, was lucky to acquire the roe rights at the Shillinglee estate owned by Lord Nunburnholme. I have been stalking in this area ever since.  I have shot some fallow in Sussex as well. These days I enjoy taking people out almost as much as I enjoy shooting myself.

What are your stalking tips Paul?

I believe that the colour of your clothing is important, but it does not necessarily have to be camo as has become so trendy (though I wear it myself sometimes!). I also think wind detection is critical and typically carry various aids including a plastic pot which I have created. It is like a pepper shaker and I put fine ash into it. I prefer to shoot off sticks or in a high seat. As for rifles, my preference now would be a Blaser .243 for roe – I have found them extremely reliable and accurate – and I use a .270 custom Mauser of my own manufacture for red, sika and fallow.

Spurred on by the stalking and handling so many big bore rifles, I first went to Africa in 1971 and I have been every year since – well, almost! I have shot all the African Big Five including a black rhino with Luke Samaras in 1976 and some 50 buffalo. My biggest tusker was an 80 pounder bull elephant in the Selous. Other species that I have shot in Africa include all the normal stuff you might imagine plus Sitatunga in Botswana, sable in Tanzania (where I managed a good 40” specimen), and several Central African giant eland in Cameroon and CAR. I have shot lots of litte oribis in the Cameroons too, and, Kirk’s dik dik and Sharpe’s grysbok, lesser kudu and gerenuk (Waller’s gazelle) in Kenya, dwarf forest buffalo in the Cameroons, red river hog in the CAR too. In India, I have shot blackbuck, sambar, and chital. In South America, I have shot their buffalo – an Asiatic water buf introduced from India – and boar.

These days, I love my trips to Europe boar shooting as much as anything which I think offers especially good value. My rifle preference is a double 9.3, but I have a lever action 444 Marlin as well [Paul, like me, has always been a fan of repeating weapons].

What would your advice be to those going on their first safari?

Make sure that you are really familiar with your new ‘African’ rifle. You won’t go wrong if you take a 300 Win Mag for plains game and .416 for big game. Don’t skimp on the scope or binoculars, take a decent knife and a Leatherman, and make sure that you have broken your boots in and are reasonably fit physically before you go. Discuss with your outfitter or PH what colour clothing is most appropriate to the area and season – often you will find that green is better than khaki. And, finally, on the boar shooting front, make sure your scope winds down to no more than 2 power (and if you are using an optic on your 416 it should be a 1-4 or 1 or 1 1/2-6 at set in quick detachable mounts). If your rifle has iron sights, whether you are going to Europe or further afield, make sure that you test them before you go. You may never know when you will have to use them.