Elon Musk’s father Errol says Musk was a ‘natural hunter’
ELON Musk was a “natural born hunter” who had a frightening moment going after game in the wild as a kid, his dad has claimed.
The richest man in the world, 52, shared a viral video last week that showed him hip-firing a powerful .50 caliber Barrett rifle in slow motion.
Last year Elon also caused an uproar after sharing a picture of his bedside table showing two prop guns.
The Tesla CEO’s photo showed a replica of George Washington’s flintlock pistol in a box and a replica Diamond Back .357 revolver.
Now his father Errol has revealed that Elon’s love of guns can be traced back to his childhood in South Africa.
The retired electromechanical engineer, 77, explained that his estranged son grew up using shotguns, revolvers, and rifles and was a “crack shot.”
He said: “I bought Elon his own .22 rifle with a scope when he was 11.
“He went on some hunts in the Timbavati game reserve area with his .22, with big game hunters.
“Elon once frightened a bunch of hunters to death by cocking his rifle immediately after game was sighted at about midnight.
“That’s a real no-no due to the possibility of shooting a person by mistake.
But they were very impressed by his enthusiasm and spirit.
“They came back with the bakkies [pickup trucks] loaded with game, blood running out of the back.
“As a boy Elon was a natural born hunter, but that was just in his boyhood.”
The tech tycoon hinted that he was still sympathetic toward hunting earlier this year.
In February, he personally got involved to reinstate Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines after he was banned from Twitter for posting a pic of him and his wife after a successful antelope hunt.
‘CRACK SHOT’
Errol explained that his billionaire son even won a boozy prize while competing against adults with his rifle as a kid.
He said: “He could shoot so well that at 12, I took him to a Rolls-Royce event, and he beat all the men, including me, and won two cases of J&B whisky.
“The committee decided to give the whisky to the runner-up, a well-known large retailer at the time.
Elon was given various vouchers for the shop and bought some T-shirts.
“He was a real crack shot and would have won competitions.
“I know because I won the South African Defence Force’s week-long national shooting competition in at the Hamilton Range in Bloemfontein in 1968.”
Asked about the video of Elon shooting the .50 caliber rifle last week, Errol said: “A .50 rifle like that is harsh. The recoil makes accurate use impossible.
His stance is not good, it’s just his size that helps him.
“The stance for that needs strong back leg anchoring, forward-leaning torso, and a different grip with the left arm squarely under the rifle and the right arm horizontal at right angles to the left arm.
“The feet also need to be straight in line with the weapon.”
CONFRONTATION
In September last year, Errol admitted to shooting armed intruders in South Africa in 1998 while his then six-year-old daughter Ali clung to his leg.
Errol’s relationship with his son has been back in the headlines recently following the publication last month of a new biography of Elon by bestselling author Walter Isaacson.
Isaacson portrays Errol in the book as a “volatile fabulist, regularly spinning tales that are larded with fantasies, sometimes calculated and at other times delusional.”
Meanwhile, Errol hit back at the book for painting him as a villain with “demonic powers.”
He also denied Isaacson’s claims that Elon flies into “demon mode” when he is at his most productive.
The book revealed that Elon had a confrontation with comedian Larry David over gun control.
Isaacson revealed that David told Musk at a wedding just days after the Uvalde school massacre in Texas in May last year: “Do you just want to murder kids in schools?”
The SpaceX founder is said to have been “baffled and annoyed” by the question and “stuttered” in response: “No, no. I’m anti-kid murder.”
Following the bloodbath, which left 19 students and two teachers dead, Musk said that he believes assault rifles should require a special permit.
He added that he supports “tight background checks” for all gun purchases.
Errol told The U.S. Sun last month that he fears that his firstborn son could be assassinated for going up against the US government.
He also hit back at claims in a bombshell report in The New Yorker that his son is on drugs and suffering from mental health issues.
Errol told The U.S. Sun in June that he believes Elon has put himself in a “no-win situation” with a proposed cage fight with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
He said that the “humiliation would be total” for Elon if he loses against Zuckerberg.
Errol also slammed an AI-generated pic of his son as “totally inaccurate” and shared childhood photos to prove his point.
In April, Errol revealed details about his claim to have once bought a share in an emerald business in Zambia, which Elon has disputed.