[Vocabulary] question about a phrase

[Cynthia Garett]

Hello,

I read an article written by Mark Krammer, an American journalist ("Breakable Rules for Literary Journalists") and I came across this phrase:

"Perhaps it it to push this limit that writers go adventuring - sailing into nasty seas and living to tell, hunting in the green hills of Africa and bagging the limit in close calls."

My question is: what does "bagging the limit in close calls" mean? Something like "looking for trouble"?

Thank you,

Cynthia Garett

 

[SoothingDave]

A "bag limit" is the number of a given animal that you can hunt legally. So "bagging the limit" means you successfully hunted the maximum number allowed.

Since he mentions Africa, the idea is hunting lion or elephant or something that involves danger to yourself from hunting. Hence the "close calls." (A "close call" is when something very bad or deadly almost happens.)

 

[Cynthia Garett]

Thank you both for your kind help.

Cynthia