The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Capstick Blurb in new Guns and AmmoGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Capstick Blurb in new Guns and Ammo | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
Did anyone else catch the editor's reply to a reader's letter regarding Peter Capstick in the January 2008 Guns and Ammo? The letter was positive towards Capstick's writing and the editor's reply was the following: "Your PH was more diplomatic than most. Praise for Capstick's extraordinary writing must always be tempered with the knowledge that he was telling other men's stories as his own.-Ed." I have heard these allegations before but have yet to hear anyone say just what stories he told about himself that actually happened to someone else. The bulk of his writings were about things that happened to other people. When he did write about himself it was always in a sort of self-deprecating fashion describing himself as the correspondence school bwana, etc. He never seemed to me to try to pass himself as the great white hunter but more wrote about the real ones. Cheers, Andy | ||
|
| One of Us |
Yeah, it's easy to take cheap shots at people when they are not around to defend themselves. I think it says more about the person doing the talking than anything else.  | |||
|
One of Us |
.....Ya kind of like what he did to Pondoro !!!! .If it can,t be grown , its gotta be mined .... | |||
|
| one of us |
It's become somewhat "fashionable" to bash Capstick both overtly and subtly. Personally, I think the man helped pull the safari business out of a very bad post-Kenya nightmare. You don't have to like him but you can't deny that many of us on this board went to Africa after reading Capstick. He certainly didn't keep us from hunting there with all of his spooky stories. Did he tell the whole truth or stretch it? Who cares...he's fun to read. I can tell you this...those who dislike Capstick in the "industry" have almost certainly profited personally from the increased interest his writings have generated in Africana. I just view Capstick as the African dime novel or Tom Clancy. Consider it to be entertainment and spit out the seeds. _______________________________  | |||
|
One of Us |
I had the pleasure of speaking to P.H.C when he was still living in Naples, Florida.. I wa vacationing in St. Pete and I called information and got his # and the rest is history... His writings are superb...He sent many of us guys to Africa to fulfill our dreams... Whether you like him or not his writings are what he should be judged for.. Mike | |||
|
one of us |
Yup, what Mike said. What happened to the "if you can't say something good,....."  Jim "Bwana Umfundi" NRA | |||
|
| One of Us |
I really enjoyed all of Capstick's writing and my first trip to Africa was partly due to wonder and curiosity engendered by his accounts of all things african. To the extent that He was my mentor in furthering my interest I will remain forever grateful. My ninth hunt is booked for May and I'm hoping for many more. | |||
|
| Administrator |
Gentlemen, I have read and enjoyed every single book Capstick wrote. In fact, I would imagine he was instrumental in my first trip to Africa about 25 years ago. But, the fact is I have not met a single PH in Africa who did not say that Capstick, despite giving African hunting an extraordinary amount of PR, was not a very good PH at all. Apparently he was much better at downing a drink than chasing a buffalo. | |||
|
| one of us |
I've got no problem with Saeed's statement. I'm sure he was entertaining around the fire like Walter...or Hemingway, Ruark, etc. etc. _______________________________ | |||
|
one of us |
Capstick, transfered African hunting into a African romance, he must be the no.1 reason why most hunters fall in love with Africa without seeing it. This is not a small feat on it's own to do and no matter what and how he did it we all enjoyed his writing and I am sure that more than half of us would not be sitting here and be part of this forum because of him. "Capstick gave Africa that energy and without it we would never have found it." God bless his soul. Frederik Cocquyt I always try to use enough gun but then sometimes a brainshot works just as good. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Well here is one that only read PHC after my first safari. Nothing against him but I prefer to read Boddington or Flack. To each his own said the man as he kissed the cow, eh. | |||
|
one of us |
The worst are the PH's about taking shots at PHC. But if wasn't for him most of those guys would be hawking used pencils at the street markets instead of bopping about town in their new Cruisers.  ------------------------------- Will / Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun. --------------------------------------- and, God Bless John Wayne. NRA Benefactor, GOA, NAGR _________________________ "Elephant and Elephant Guns" $99 shipped. “Hunting Africa's Dangerous Game" $20 shipped. red.dirt.elephant@gmail.com _________________________ If anything be of note, let it be he was once an elephant hunter, hoping to wind up where elephant hunters go. | |||
|
One of Us |
I thought the fsct that PHC "borrowed" most of his stories was common knowledge. I still enjoy reading his books, however. The man could tell a good story, true or not. ______________________ Age and Treachery Will Always Overcome Youth and Skill | |||
|
| One of Us |
as much as i enjoy his writings, much of what he wrote was gotten during a time when he worked as a bartender at the safari lodge in vic falls. While the man did hunt and was a PH, many of the tails while true are hearsay. that aside, I doubt if to many writers are 100% factual. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Gumboot458 I thought Capstick did justice to Pondoro. I was unaware that he maligned him, unless I am not reading your post correctly. A biography should tell the truth in a non-biased manner. Dutch Too cold to sit in the gutter today. | |||
|
| one of us |
Whether Taylor was queer or not, he is my Africana hero. "African Rifles and Cartridges" has to be the every best book on Africa hunting ever written. And Capstick or Marsh, nor anyone else, has ever proven any such nonsense about Taylor. It all is just conjecture. ------------------------------- Will / Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun. --------------------------------------- and, God Bless John Wayne. NRA Benefactor, GOA, NAGR _________________________ "Elephant and Elephant Guns" $99 shipped. “Hunting Africa's Dangerous Game" $20 shipped. red.dirt.elephant@gmail.com _________________________ If anything be of note, let it be he was once an elephant hunter, hoping to wind up where elephant hunters go. | |||
|
| one of us |
It's been awhile since I've read Capstick but I have read all of his books. I also have never understood where this stuff about him "telling other men's stories as his own" came from. Several of his first books (Death in the Long Grass, etc.) deal with Capstick telling the stories of and about other people. Can anyone cite a book passage or magazine article that they know is one where Capstick is taking credit for someone's else adventure, story, etc. as his own? -Bob F. | |||
|
One of Us |
Ditto... He was a rebel and a renegade/individualist and had more adventures than most of us could ever dream of… Who cares about the rumors concerning his personal life… ______________________ Sometimes there is no spring... Just the wind that smells fresh before the storm... | |||
|
| One of Us |
Capstick sent me to Africa. As did Ruark and Smith and several others. | |||
|
one of us |
My basic comment is...I still read Capstick; I discontinued my subscription to Guns & Ammo many years ago.  .395 Family Member DRSS, po' boy member Political correctness is nothing but liberal enforced censorship | |||
|
One of Us |
He was a hugely entertaining writer. But he simply made stuff up. Like his having killed 800 elephant. That is just fantasy. Here is an example of where he claimed a double rifle as his own that clearly was not: Double Rifle Article Does that make him or anyone else who stretches the truth in telling a yarn a bad guy? Not necessarily. I never heard that Capstick did anything malicious in his life. He was a writer and a raconteur, and very good at those things, and one must give him his artistic liberties accordingly. Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
|
| one of us |
I'd gladly loan him all of my storey's and borrow some more if he could just write us one more book. I too, owe him. "Death In The Long Grass" came out one year after my first safari. It and the others that followed helped keep the dream alive. Rich Elliott Rich Elliott Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris | |||
|
one of us |
What PHC wrote about Taylor was from interviews with people who knew Taylor, principally Brian Marsh. That whole book was only put into print by Capstick, and everything in it was testamony from others, and the allegations about Taylor were well known by his peers in his day! were they proven, no! However,the alligations were not made by PHC,but were lang before he wrote that book. You guys are shooting the messenger, simply because you don't like the message! PHC did nothing to Taylor that hadn't been in the wind long before Peter came on the African sceen! 
The above is absolutely true! And all PHC's decentors are doing exactly what they accuse him of doing! Talking about shit they can't prove, shit they heard in the bars, and at shows, and between hunts they bennefite from because of PHC! At least PHC offered the source of his infromation, which is far more than anyone here has done!
Will, nor has anyone prioven any of the crap they say about PHC, but it certainly doesn't keep them from repeating it! I thought the book on Pondoro was a first rate book, and I have read it twice, and because of this thread, I just may read it again! Pondoro was no different from most ele hunters in his day! He was,as most were poachers, and hellasious law breakers in many ways, and the only difference, I can see,is Taylor may have been gay! It was the general consinsus of his peers in his day. Folks, here, seem to want to change the history they don't like, and I'd say those who were there would have a better knowledge than anyone posting here on AR. HE was gay!, he was not gay!, who cares, he was a hell of an Ivory hunter, and he couldn't have been all bad, because he loved DOUBLE RIFLES!  I don't see where PHC hurt what little positive reputation Pondoro had among his contemporaries. Peter was only reporting what his research told him, by Brian Marsh, and others!
I had the great pleasure of talking to PHC many times before some, and after some other books he wrote, and if you will read his books without prejudice, you will see most of the Daring-do things he wrote about, were about things others had done, and he made no bones about the fact that he was simply relateing the story. The one thing everyone always brings up is his Statement about killing over 800 elephants! That was taken out of context, and I have a live recording where he says "I have killed over 800 elephants! I say killed, I mean, I have been in on the killing OF over 800 elephants! While serving as a cropping officer, and on ele hunts I was PH on, there were more than 800 elephants taken, most of them not mine, but either belonging the government, or clients" I'm reading a book writen by Brian Marsh right now, given to me by our host, The hunting Blackbeards Of Botswana and I have always found BM's writings to be very believable, and well written, and researched. I find Marsh's information on Taylor for A Man Called Lion to be believable as well. That information, whether true, or not, has not changed my opinion of Taylor. I couldn't care less what Pondoro did with his off time! This place reads like an old woman's knitting /gossip party sometimes! ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith  | |||
|
| one of us |
That is a William Evans with a LOT of providence. Even the fact that it was loaned to Capstick makes it more interesting. _______________________________ | |||
|
| one of us |
I agree, Yukon, and I'd hock my home to be able to buy that rifle! I like everyone connected with that rifle including it's present owner!  ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
|
| One of Us |
Yukon Delta just about covered it! Reading Capstick while relaxing after work in the Alaskan oilfields gave me the excitement I needed to begin hunting in Africa. Thanks Peter! RIP | |||
|
| One of Us |
Peter had a way with words...He could sell Ice to eskimoes or sand to the bushmen. He was certainly not a coward, and served as a "bright lights" here in Rhodesia- ie he took on farm sitting duties in very dangerous areas for farmers who needed a break. I have enjoyed much of his writing and in real life he was brilliant entertainer - until the booze got to him. | |||
|
| One of Us |
G & A = worst gun publication going PHC influenced many hunters and Africa-philes over the years. I really enjoy his books and they were always more obtainable than more expensive and obsure publications, you could get most from public libraries! | |||
|
| one of us |
Now, gentlemen, there is some first hand information, from one who was there! ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
|
| One of Us |
[/QUOTE] It's been awhile since I've read Capstick but I have read all of his books. I also have never understood where this stuff about him "telling other men's stories as his own" came from. Several of his first books (Death in the Long Grass, etc.) deal with Capstick telling the stories of and about other people. Can anyone cite a book passage or magazine article that they know is one where Capstick is taking credit for someone's else adventure, story, etc. as his own? -Bob F.[/QUOTE] Bob, the story, in one of his books, I forget which one about him pulling the 270? bullet out of the case with his teeth and reversing it and then shooting the elephant came directly from Wally Johnson. Many more of his stories came from Gordon Cundhill. ______________________ Age and Treachery Will Always Overcome Youth and Skill | |||
|
| One of Us |
...........I have read most all Capstick,s books .,., He was Hilarious and rivetingly entertaining ......He relaied practicle advice on rifles and probably can be credited with a good chunck of the 416 revolution even tho he never said he used one ........Africana leads one to Ruark and to the 416 , and the rest is history ... .......However in the opening pages of 'A Man Called Lion ....He states that John Taylor was a homosexual and then he says , something like [ those are just the facts ].....What a bunch of bs..........What Taylor did with Taylor,s time is probably known by those who lived and worked with him ..........Not some alcholic author .......It,s like saying that the man who lets his dog ride in the cab of his pickup is into beasteality .....Anyone can accuse anyone of anything ......But neither does that make it true or even worth mentioning ..........Pondoro probably exaggerated his bag .,.,....Like probably everyone did ........But then yall,s banquets celebrate plenty of the fly, shoot and land and measure ,,,and mayby fly shoot and land and measure some more record holders .......................At least Pondoro had his tusks bucked up into packable sizes ... ....I appreciate Pondoro,s apparent value system ,,rather than, I do Capstick,s.................... .If it can,t be grown , its gotta be mined .... | |||
|
| one of us |
I never cared if Capstick wrote complete fiction. His writing was and is better than most hunting writers... 375 Ruger- The NEW KING of the .375's!! | |||
|
One of Us |
>>>>>>>I thought Capstick did justice to Pondoro. I was unaware that he maligned him, unless I am not reading your post correctly. A biography should tell the truth in a non-biased manner.<<<<<<<<<< I agree. I thought Capstick and Marsh wrote about Taylor without maligning him or even judging him for his sexual preferences. I wonder if those who are attacking Capstick and Marsh have actually read their "A Man Called Lion." >>>>>>>>>Whether Taylor was queer or not, he is my Africana hero. "African Rifles and Cartridges" has to be the every best book on Africa hunting ever written.<<<<<<<< It's been at least ten years since I read Taylor's book, but I remember it was as its title promised: a gun book about choices of firearms and ammo for Africa. I also remember that it bored the hell out of me as do most gun magazine articles and gun books. A gun is a tool to use on a hunt; a hunt is not an excuse to contemplate, own, handle and shoot a gun as some gun writers would lead us to believe. Capstick was a hunting writer, and a damned good one. I marvelled at how well he could make anything he touched entertaining and easy to read. Bill Quimby | |||
|
One of Us |
Safari-Hunt: I think that you could conservatively change that figure to 3/4 instead of 1/2. Gatehouse: Agreed! To the rest of you: Long live the memory of Peter Hathaway Capstick, and may his writings continue to inspire thousands of others to seek out Mother Africa like it did the majority of us here on AR. | |||
|
| one of us |
I find it interesting that Boddington and his partners continue to try and buy Dawson out of his double rifle formerly owned/borrowed by Capstick and others. They must like it too! A very interesting point above about library books...Capstick is found in every public library I have ever been to. That is a huge statement in itself. Another huge point by Ganyana...I did not know that Capstick helped farmers in Rhodesia in that way. Now I really like him!!!  Another good point about the booze...it heavily contributed to the destruction of Hemingway and Ruark too and countless others. Those in the industry who REALLY dislike Capstick and want everyone to know about it are suspect in my book. As far as I'm concerned, they can turn in part of their salary since their livelihood was helped by Capstick...and they know it. _______________________________ | |||
|
| One of Us |
I am with you on that one Will. I never read Chappie until after I had been to Afica a few times, but I had read Taylor & Keith. I don't deny Chappie told some good tales in his books, but I'd rather read the other two. | |||
|
| one of us |
Most of the available rags today, as opposed to Taylor's writings, are indeed boring. Do you include yourself in that group?  I should apologize for that dig but anyone that thought "African Rifles and Cartridges" was boring would appear to me to just have a job to write stories, hunting stories or cooking stories, or any other topic stories, and have not a true love of African hunting. Now I do appreciate a writer's ability to write a good story no matter the subject, but from my perspective, Taylor, and Capstick, had a love for African hunting that was indeed genuine. Capstick could pile on the bullshit with the best of them, but boring he wasn't. ------------------------------- Will / Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun. --------------------------------------- and, God Bless John Wayne. NRA Benefactor, GOA, NAGR _________________________ "Elephant and Elephant Guns" $99 shipped. “Hunting Africa's Dangerous Game" $20 shipped. red.dirt.elephant@gmail.com _________________________ If anything be of note, let it be he was once an elephant hunter, hoping to wind up where elephant hunters go. | |||
|
One of Us |
When I was a kid I remember reading PHC's accounts in the pages of various mags. As I grew up, I remember asking for his books for xmas and birthdays. Once I reached adulthood, i purchased them in hardcover as well as Ruark, Heminway, etc. I remember being riveted to the books and never reading anything like it. PHC lit the fire in me to go to Africa. So for that I owe him a debt of gratitude. I have a few regrets in life regarding not meeting my childhood heros. I grew up 60 miles from Fred Bear's Factory in Grayling and never had the chance to meet him. I also never had the chance to meet PHC although I felt through his readings I already knew him. I saw his video's with Ken Wilson and instead of my hero, I saw a man (arguably in various shades of sobriety during the filming) who loved hunting and story telling. And if he were alive today, I'd buy him a drink. Hugh Pro Staff for: In Natures Image Taxidermy | |||
|
| one of us |
Talk about fragmented thought process!    ....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1 DRSS Charter member "If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982 Hands of Old Elmer Keith | |||
|
one of us |
I very much enjoyed PHC's writing. It matters not if it was fact or fiction to me. It kindled the fire to explore new lands, that in itself makes the writing of value. I would love to borrow the 470 for a hunt too! | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Capstick Blurb in new Guns and Ammo
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia