I was reading the "Many Thanks" thread started by Harry and the wonderful tributes by many of the AR members and I got to thinking of the two times in life that I really wished that I was older.

First, when I was 17, and couldn't wait until I was 18 which gave me the legal right to vote. Eversince then I've been trying to stay young turning back the clock every moment I can. Never rushed marriage nor children, coming respectively when I was 35 and 37.

Then in 1998 at age 40, just getting into rifle hunting and reading Ruark books, I wished that I was older again and could have enjoyed a 1970's safari with Harry in East Africa. He was on his final years as a PH at that time so what did I do a couple years later? I booked a safari with his son Mark.

But when he priced it out; 3 buffs, a lion leopard and a whole compliment of plainsgame at his Ugalla concession, then told me the price at $83,000, I nearly croaked. I told him I'd never pay that much for a safari and begged for my deposit back. Boy what a steal that would be today. Renegging on that safari is one of the few regrets I've had as a hunter.

The closest I've got since then to hunting with a real legend is my safari with Gerard Miller in 2007. Yet I wonder if we'll see any more "Harry Selby's", a guy Ruark described this way, "the most man I ever met. It is a rare thing to find a man who can combine gentleness with toughness, bravery with timidity, recklessness with caution, sophistication with naïveté, kindness with harshness, mechanics with poetry, and adult judgment with juvenile foolishness. And, all the while, making every woman he meets want to mother him or marry him, and every man he meets respect him. I forgot honest."

Will he forever be the greatest of all time or is there someone out there now who has the skills to one day be as legendary as him? Is it possible to even compare modern day with old school?

There's alot of so-called great PH's out there today, but I don't think their challenges are as great as those of yesteryear. Or might I be wrong? The roads are all built, it's such a commercial enterprise nowadays, the 100-pound tuskers are all gone and it's a strugggle to even acquire a lion permit. The restrictions are so much greater, which although may be necessary, seem to have taken the fun out of safari hunting compared to the satisfaction the old dudes had.

Who's the modern day successor or is Harry to forever stand in a class by himself? And is the industry today so bankrupt of it's nostalgic past that us modern days guys will never have a chance to enjoy a safari like Ruark did? Am I the only guy who wishes he was older?

Things change, even Africa. "I wish", in my case, covers a lot of options, but wishing that I had been at the correct age with the proper income to hunt with Harry Selby covers a big one.

More than once have I wished I was older.

I used to listen for hours to my great grandfather who was part of the "Voortrekkers" how they hunted out of necessity and lived off the veld. This is probably where my passion for hunting came from. His stories ranged from their cattle been attacked by Lion to woman giving birth in the bush with hospitals no less than a week away.

Not just hunting but fishing as well - where have all the big fish gone. You go to the coast for a week and are lucky if you catch any edibles over 5kg. In the past Henties bay in (the old South West Africa) was the place to go, but now it is just not what is used to be.

By saying that lets look after what we got so our kids don’t say “I wish I was older”

For more modern day hunters, not necessarily PHs Richard Harland would have to be up at the very top. I would probably compare Harland more to Hunter than Selby though. The East African days of old and those associated with them just have a special air to them that will never be replicated, so I find it quite hard to believe another PH will be able to replicate Harry's fame. I quite seriously hope that one of the fine outdoor writers of today will help Mr. Selby record his life stories and experinces before they are lost forever. That would be a shame beyond words.

Brett

If you read much old Africana you will often hear people dreaming of the way it used to be. People writing in the 1920's harkened back to the days before licenses.

I think if you asked Harry he'd verify that older folks like Phil Percival envied days gone by.

I came along just too late to hunt Kenya. C'est la vie. I do not think there will be hunting in Africa 50 years from now; not at least the way we've known it. People then may refer to us now as having been in the "good ol' days."

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDL:
People then may refer to us now as having been in the "good ol' days."

Absolutely true! At the very least, those Sable trophies of today may in 50 years be viewed the way we currently see hunting Roan. Orxy may quickly become as rarely hunted as Sable is today, and something like Southern Roan may be just plain unhuntable. Similarly, I would love to hunt a lion today because I will bet in 20 years that hunt will be looked at the way we view tiger hunting today...never to be seen again.

Moral: Enjoy TODAY!

Great post, Marc.

The good old days... Hmm, no matter what, I think we are all experiencing something that has a serious chance at not being around in the not so distant future.

Times were a bit different in the 50's through the 70's. Bigger concessions but probably fewer people could really afford those hunts and thus that made the stories written about them that much more special. Plains game hunts today are very reasonably priced and have been for a long time allowing the average American the opportunity for a week long safari if they made a plan.

Still, though we do have the means to hunt in Africa today it will never replace the life and times as seen and written by Ruark, Hemmingway, Roosevelt, Capstick, etc, etc etc!

THE "GOOD OLD DAYS" WE ALL READ ABOUT WERE GRAND. IT'S WONDERFUL THOSE TIMES HAVE BEEN RECORDED FOR US TO ENJOY.

THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS FOR US. WE MUST ENJOY IT WHILE WE CAN.

Some day these days will be the 'good old days' but it generally it takes the perspective of time to realize it.

Nice post Marc
There is no comparing then and now. Due to travel and quota restrictions no one will ever to be able to take part in the volume of hunting available to Harry's generation.
Each generations goal should be to thrill to the wonderful stories of yesteryear, while doing our very best to enjoy the days, game, and hunting fields that are available to "our generation'
How blessed we are to have guys like Harry as a living link to the Golden Days of safari.
And... I hope you are reading Harry, how much poorer we will be if Harry does not come out with a book of his 50 years on Safari !!!

quote:

Originally posted by SableTrail:
Am I the only guy who wishes he was older?

Great post Moja.

I have wished that I was older at every point in my life that I can remember, until this year. My whole life I have thought I was born in the wrong time and have oriented my passions (hunting, backpacking, travel, etc) largely around following the "old paths" that were made by the men I admire.

As I am on the verge of turning 40, it has dawned on me how quickly my 30's have slipped away....now I just wanna slow the bus down a little!

quote:

Originally posted by SableTrail:
Who's the modern day successor or is Harry to forever stand in a class by himself? And is the industry today so bankrupt of it's nostalgic past that us modern days guys will never have a chance to enjoy a safari like Ruark did? Am I the only guy who wishes he was older?

Bwana Moja, your post is a great tribute to a great man, who lived in a great time, and luckily is still here to tell the story that we would all love to hear.

As far as wishing I were older, I'm 72 yrs old, and lived some of what the young of today call the "GOOD OLD DAYS" but in this case I wish I had been on those safaris with Harry, and Ruark. My great grand children will wish for the GOOD OLD DAYS, we are liveing today, but in the hunting field, there will never again be a Selby era, and that to me is a sad affaire! We talk about an old double rifle, saying "Man if this thing could talk, think of the stories it could tell!" But in this case we have Harry, and he CAN talk, and write, and MAN THE STORIES HE COULD TELL! I'm in line for his Biography, just say when it is available!

Again Welcome to our campfire Harry Selby!

Marc,
Great post. Let me offer a different train of thought. I think a bit of the "old days" resides in each of the "new" PH's - the Buzz Charlton's, the Dean Kendall's, the Ivan Carter's and so on. What Mr. Selby did along with many others laid the groundwork for the PH training and the respect for the game and the profession. It is a bit like pro baseball or football - I would have loved to have played for Lombardi but he was gone before I had the chance - but his legacy lived on.

Same goes for every "real" PH. They all have a little Harry Selby in them.

+2 !

The “good old days” are nothing more than forgetting the bad old days. It’s a frame of mind. Sure none of us will ever have a safari like Ruark. But I bet there were a few “bad old days” in his memory as there may be in Mr. Selby’s memory as well.

This should not stop any of us from enjoying whatever opportunity is left out there for a great fair chase hunt. The only yardstick of measure you need to use is the one that defines what a proper safari is for you.

I was lucky enough to grow up in the “muscle car era”. I owned some major metal and raced both on the drag strip and underground on the streets in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I own a rare 1969 Roadrunner now. When I take it to shows many young folks who never had the pleasure of experiencing the 60’s and 70’s with the street light to street light races that were common sit and listen to my stories. I doubt it decreases the pride they have in their present ride.

I will have never had the pleasure of Mr. Selby’s guidance on a hunt but I will still enjoy Mr. Du ploy’s guidance for Buffalo in 2010 and if I live long enough it will be “the good old days”.

Mark, very well said... The respect one has garnered over a lifetime many only dream of...

Mike

Amrc,

I too use to wish I was older...then all at once I was! I started hunting Ethiopia in 1982.
I was 37 years old. Back in the 80's we could buy licenses, load up a truck with a portable camp, put our rifles in the 88 'Rover and just head out. No quotas, no limited areas, and one game scout who was more a part of the team than a warden. East African plains game in the Omo Valley, Lion, Nile bufalo, and big waterbuck and bushbuck in the hills above the Gojeb River, then mules down into Kulo Kunta (or Tepi Plantation) for elephant. It was all sort of taken for granted. We had no idea what we had. For me those were the "good old days'.

Rich Elliott

Very nice post Marc.

Have not wished I was older since I was a kid.
Taking nothing away from the days of old in Africa, but 10 to 20 years from now these will be the good old days. I kind of like the ice cold beer and nice camps of today, Just call me a wuss!

To expand on what jeff h said I kind of think the Good Old Days are here now. When I say that I mean that the Africa of the time when Harry Selby was hunting Ruark was not available to hunters of moderate means. Today a guy with almost any good job can get himself to Africa on safari if he makes a plan. Of course none of us will experience what Ruark did but we can have a pretty good facsimilie in a much shorter time frame.

Mark

Rich, I am really envious of you. The elephants you guys hunted in Ethiopia were an elephant hunters dream. Can you post a few of those photos?

Best regards
Aziz

quote:

Can you post a few of those photos?

Best regards
Aziz

Okay, Aziz,
It's Been Done.
Rich Eliott

quote:

Originally posted by jetdrvr:
Things change, even Africa. "I wish", in my case, covers a lot of options, but wishing that I had been at the correct age with the proper income to hunt with Harry Selby covers a big one.

I had a dif dream than most when I was a kid .I wanted to have been born in a time that I could have WORKED with guys like Harry . Or Mike Cotter ,Tony Dyer, Donald Ker,Bunny Allen etc.
We will never see thier like again!!!

My hats of to you Moja.........that is without a boubt one of the best posts I've read in a long, long time.