The Seven Francs book launch

The past week marked the informal launch of Kevin Cooke’s newly published book, The Seven Francs: Shotguns, Gamebirds & Gundogs.

Harare South tobacco farmer and former Zimbabwe Tobacco Association president Kevin Cooke has long been known in farming and sporting circles. In this book, he turns his hand to recording a deeply personal quest: to bag seven spurfowl and francolin species, all shot over pointing dogs. Alongside his wife Anne, their children, and close friends and fellow guns Angie and Graham Ross and Guy and Jackie Dollar, Cooke travelled to the far reaches of Zimbabwe’s unspoilt bush in pursuit of that goal.

The result is far more than a hunting log; it’s a story shaped by cold, crisp pre-dawns in the veld, dogs holding steady on point, the searing heat of the day and evenings around a campfire with a well-earned whisky. The rhythm of the narrative mirrors the rhythm of the hunt itself - patient, alert and reflective.

The son of a teacher, Maureen, Cooke’s love of the outdoors was forged in childhood, growing up on a Lowveld ranch surrounded by vast spaces and endless bush. Such a beginning provides rich material, but it also takes discipline to record memories and shape them into story. In his maiden foray into publishing, Cooke demonstrates both a dedication to detail and a reflective, almost poetic turn of phrase that lifts the book beyond the purely technical.

While there is plenty of action in the field, The Seven Francs is also filled with snippets of poetry, musings on life and, unexpectedly, a generous amount of insight into single malt whiskies. Adding another dimension are written contributions from fellow tobacco farmer and current Zimbabwe Tobacco Association president, Graham Ross.

The book chronicles the partnership at the heart of Cooke’s marriage to Anne. Her role in breeding and preparing the pointers underpins much of the success in the field. Her steady, practical approach to dog work, selecting for temperament, drive and trainability, runs quietly but firmly through the narrative. The documentation of the dogs, their bloodlines and the thinking behind breeding decisions will resonate with anyone interested in working dogs and genetics. Anne, a Tuli cattle breeder of nearly 30 years’ standing, brings that same long-view understanding of bloodlines to her canine pursuits.

The Ross and Dollar families add yet another layer: shared miles walked, shared disappointments and shared triumphs. The seven-species objective provided focus, but it is the camaraderie that gives the journey its texture and warmth.

Ultimately, while the successful bagging of seven francolin and spurfowl species offered a measurable goal, what endures is the passing on of knowledge and the preservation of a rural sporting culture. The book stands as both record and reminder of landscapes still wild, of dogs bred and trained with care, and of families and friendships forged in the veld.

Kevin is also at pains to point out that, importantly, the book is also a study in 'doing it right', from the ethics handed down by previous generations, to the identification of breeding seasons per species and hence the recommended shooting seasons for Zimbabwe. “Numbers of birds shot is never the agenda in The Seven Francs, it is all about sustainable utilisation from eating what you shoot, to, even tying trout flies with the feathers from the birds.”

On a parting note, Cooke notes, with his characteristic humour, that any profit from the self-published, limited 500-copy print run might go towards a long-admired G. Loomis Asquith fly rod. Should that target be met, readers may well hope for a second volume, perhaps chronicling adventures in yet another outdoor sporting discipline.