quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
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.

Bill, that is certainly true as far as it goes, but it doesn't go nearly far enough.

Ever try pounding nails with a pair of pliers?

A finely made tool is a pleasure to own and use.

I too am a great admirer of Pondoro's writings. He helped untold numbers of hunters choose the right tool for the job, and did so with style and wit, as well, IMHO.

The choices he made in his personal life do not matter to me in the least.

quote:

Originally posted by Hughiam:
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.


PHC lit the fire in me to go to Africa. So for that I owe him a debt of gratitude.>>>SNIP

...............................................
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

In his videos he sometimes came off a little sappy! But for anyone who read his books, knows he was not sappy at all, but he simply was not an actor! Stop and think how well you would do if someone stuck a camera in your face, and asked you to adlib something profound, right off the top of your head.

I talked to PH Volker Grellman about his safari with PHC as a client hunting Elephant in Namibia. Volker truly liked Peter, and had a real respect for him, not only as a man, but also as a serious hunter. Volker told me that PHC had more factual knowledge on African wildlife, than anyone he had ever met, and that it seemed to just flow out of him like silk, when in private conversations in camp.

Sure he told Ghostly stories about how easily one could be hurt, or even killed in Africa. Not only from animals, but from disease, and in the many little wars that seem to flare up in Africa, periodically, seemingly over night, turn from peaceful to a fire-fight, or when accidentally stepping onto poachers, plying their trade.

I also have talked to Gordon Cundhill, about Peter shortly after PHC's death, and he seemed miffed that everyone had so bad mouthed Peter, and expressed dismay that so many had accused Peter of lies about things he (Gordon) knew to be true! One such story was the account of Peter, and Gordon standing a charge of a wounded lion. The lion was shot from behind in the back of the head by Peter, with his ever present 375H&H Mauser. The bullet somehow missed the brain, and when the lion got to his feet, he came. The first shot was fired at about 50 yds. In the telling Gordon reminded me of how much real estate a lion can cover in just a matter 3 or 4 seconds. The lion charged at full speed, but hadn't pinpointed their position, exactly, till they started shooting at him. Gordon was using his big bore double rifle, and Peter the bolt gun. in that 50 yds that lion was actually hit 10 times, which means 11 shots were attempted. I say attempted because Gordon's ammo was bad, and he got three hang fires, and one dud. With the initial wounding shot with the 375, and three hang fires actually hitting the lion. Three from Gordon's hang fires, that leaves six shots more from Peter in a desperately close charge. Gordon then said that damn lion almost ruined our day!

In my opinion, Peter's handling of the shooting, of a bolt rifle, and must have re-loaded at least once, still standing and shooting till the war was over, tells me this man could handle a bolt rifle, and was not a runner, and Gordon said the same thing. Gordon respected Capstick, because he always walked up his lions! No baits, he just tracked till the sighting, and then stood his ground, according to Gordon.

Say what you want, with impunity, gentlemen, the man is not here to defend himself! I say R.I.P. Capstick!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<Most of the available rags today, as opposed to Taylor's writings, are indeed boring. Do you include yourself in that group?>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I don't, but some who read my stuff may. I have never been accused of being a gun writer, and I hope I never am. k

<<<<<<<<<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.>>>>>>>>>

Believe me, I have a true love of African hunting. Why else would anyone make those 30-hour trips from Tucson to JNB 21 times in 24 years? But it is the hunting I love, and not the tools.

Guns are merely metal and wood (or plastic nowadays). I find no romance in them as some do, and I don't spend much time pondering which action type, caliber or bullet weight I'll use next. To each his own. I stopped taking my own rifles on out of country hunts years ago.

If it makes any difference I feel the same about cars and trucks, and the books and magazines about them.

Bill Quimby

And here I thought I was in for a fight!

Have a great holiday season,

Bill

I too have read all of P H C's major tomes or published writings, and have had the pleasure of speaking with him at several Safari Club conventions in years long past. He was a man with a gift of story telling, and that would by it's nature drift to the Fictional side of the agenda. Clearly Peter would make much larger than life the more minute and subtle goings on... so what He was fun. Yes it would be a mistake to believe that death awaits those that set foot in Africa, and by the most horrible means of course. He just reminded us that it could happen.

RIP Peter

"Bill, that is certainly true as far as it goes, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. Ever try pounding nails with a pair of pliers? A finely made tool is a pleasure to own and use."

I pound nails with hammers, and I also match a rifle, caliber and bullet to the job at hand. But I'll buy hammers from Harbor Freight if they are suitable for the job, and I don't caress my hammers and show them to friends, nor do I get any pleasure out of owning them.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
"Bill, that is certainly true as far as it goes, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. Ever try pounding nails with a pair of pliers? A finely made tool is a pleasure to own and use."

I pound nails with hammers, and I also match a rifle, caliber and bullet to the job at hand. But I'll buy hammers from Harbor Freight if they are suitable for the job, and I don't caress my hammers and show them to friends, nor do I get any pleasure out of owning them.

Bill Quimby

Mr. Q, you are indeed a man after my own heart. i would much rather spend money on a good hunt and use a borrowed/rented rifle than spend a lot on the rifle and scale back my hunt. as far as PHC., his books are what originally lit the fire in me to go to Africa and that fire still burns. jerry

Bill, all I'm saying is that I and many others value the aesthetics and elegance of a tool, and in particular, a rifle, as much as its mere utility. You don't. To each his own.

But getting back to Taylor, much if not most of his writing was specifically about rifles suitable for African big game.

Pondoro's writing, more than any before it, IMHO, enabled many hunters to choose their rifles, calibers and bullets to suit the job at hand, as you say.

When Pondoro shifted into writing about hunting, rumor has it that he too may have prevaricated just a bit once in a while. But he could spin a good yarn and his books kept me turning the pages, that's for sure.

Capstick always wrote about hunters or hunting, and particularly about African dangerous game hunting. The rifles were incidental.

I have generally managed to enjoy Capstick's writing, notwithstanding the necessary suspension of disbelief from time to time.

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
"Bill, that is certainly true as far as it goes, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. Ever try pounding nails with a pair of pliers? A finely made tool is a pleasure to own and use."

I pound nails with hammers, and I also match a rifle, caliber and bullet to the job at hand. But I'll buy hammers from Harbor Freight if they are suitable for the job, and I don't caress my hammers and show them to friends, nor do I get any pleasure out of owning them.

Bill Quimby

Bill it takes a hell of a lot more skill to build a proper, reliable rifle that a damn hammer! I can't imagine a person who has hunted Africa 21 times in 24 yrs, not caring whether his rifle fits him like a glove, and is known by him to be 100% reliable!

I'm not saying you are wrong, because the way you think is your own business, but what I am saying is, I simply do not understand it! It seems to me you see no difference between a Wally world junk rifle, and a rifle a very skilled artisan spent many very tedious hours doing it right!
...................

quote:

By Jdollar

Mr. Q, you are indeed a man after my own heart. i would much rather spend money on a good hunt and use a borrowed/rented rifle than spend a lot on the rifle and scale back my hunt. as far as PHC., his books are what originally lit the fire in me to go to Africa and that fire still burns. jerry

You two guys seem to be a victim of the THROUGH AWAY society! Why would anyone have to cut back on his safari because he bought a rifle? In my experience people who hunt Africa,especially one who has hunted Africa 21 times in 24 yrs, bought their rifles yrs ago, and a good one will still be shooting game for your grandchildren 50 yrs in the future. They're not just good for one hunt!

MacD37

I’ve never thrown a gun away, and never will. My guns have appreciated in value more than most of my mutual funds.

My problem is I have too many of them. Unlike the typical gun nut, I’ve never traded or sold any gun I acquired since buying my first rifle -- a .303 Savage Model 99 -- as a boy in 1948. Over the past 60 years I didn't go looking for them, but I also never passed up a gun at a super bargain price when someone died or divorced. And there was a period when I bought a few at outdoor writer discounts.

I haven’t counted them, but I’ve accumulated 40-50 rifles, shotguns, pistols and muzzleloaders representing every important U.S. caliber from .22 rimfire to .458 Win Mag since buying that .303 Savage. Each will be capable of taking game 50 years from now.

At age 71, I've lost interest in the possessions I've accumulated (including my trophy heads), and it’s a heck of a lot easier to travel out of country without the hassle of carrying a rifle. Borrowed guns have never let me down, nor have any of my own -- including my WallyWorld specials.

As for passing guns on to my grandchildren, my only grandson is 20 and I gave him three rifles and a shotgun when he was younger, and he’ll probably get everything in my gun safes when I’m gone in a few years.

Unfortunately, he lost interest in hunting and shooting when he discovered girls and music four years ago.

Bill Quimby

......Bill Q and J dollar seem to be the kind of guys Remington builds the 710 for ...........I hope thats not too disjointed for ya Mac... ........I guess thats what makes Pondoro my favorite author .....He loved to use wonderful big rifles and do as perfact a job as possible at killing heavy and dangerous game .........I mean how many people have the intestinal fortitude to hunt lions at night with a weak spot light and single shot rifles ...........with just 1 gun bearer

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:

Unfortunately, he lost interest in hunting and shooting when he discovered girls and music four years ago.

Bill Quimby

My boy went through that stage but came back, a little anyway. I'll be long gone before my twin grandsons ever reach 20 years of age. Consider yourself lucky that you had the opportunity to give it a shot.

A bolt action rifle is not a complicated piece of machinery, and the design has been around long enough that it doesn't take much or cost much to do it right.

When it comes to game animals there is only one degree of dead, and an American factory-made rifle does as good a job in that department as a custom rifle put together by the world's most expensive gunsmiths, stockmakers and engravers.

If paying a king's ransom for a rifle turns you on, you might consider bidding on one of those high-six-figure guns SCI will auction next month.

Bill Quimby

quote:

I can't imagine a person who has hunted Africa 21 times in 24 yrs, not caring whether his rifle fits him like a glove, and is known by him to be 100% reliable!

That would be my major concern with using a borrowed rifle....

I’m relatively young and have not been to Africa yet but I currently own at least fifty rifles...

I have a friend who is twice my age and owns at least 150 rifles...

He's kind of in the stage you are in billrquimby, so I think I know what you mean about your perspective on rifles...

I also have to admit that my inability to pass up a "good deal" somewhat hinders my hunting abroad.

It's true that the bolt action has been around long enough that you would think it should be pretty simple to build em right for the right price...But sadly that is neither my experience nor my friends...

In all of the rifles we have seen there are some real lemons out there...

I'm not saying you have to spend thousands, but I would want to know that what ever rifle I'm using is 100% in all regards...

I think that's why I liked Taylor so much...He really knew his rifles and laid allot of knowledge out there for the rest of us...

TH5000, you should sell some stuff and go to Africa. I paid for an elephant with a small but good collection of K22's.

quote:

Originally posted by Tembo:

quote:

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.

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.

OK... thanks for that. I'll have to search for it in his books and reread it.

-Bob F.

PHC ,was well respected here in the patagonia,my wifes granfather hunted ,with him geese and wild boars ,and everybody here loved him.Death at the long Grass ,is very popular here among all hunters.I dont understand why some people critize him ,he was a brave man of arms ,and an excellent writer .Juan

quote:

I’m relatively young and have not been to Africa yet but I currently own at least fifty rifles...

T5000,
I second yukon 100% I'm sure you could live with 10 rifles and do all the hunting in the world with them.

A quick calculation selling 40 rifles at an avg. of $400 each gives you $16 000.00 now that will easily pay for a tuskless and buff hunt in ZIM makes you think.

I enjoyed Capstick's biography of Taylor.

Someone should write a biography of Capstick.

quote:

Death at the long Grass ,is very popular here among all hunters.I dont understand why some people critize him ,he was a brave man of arms ,and an excellent writer .Juan

I also liked Death in the Long Grass until I actually went into Luangwa Valley and talked to people who have been PH and guiding there for more then thirty years, according to them PHC stories are either BS or he puts himself in someone else tale as if it happened to him. Another confirmation of this came from my PH in Zimbabwe who told me that PHC was for some time a camp manager in one of the Matetsi area where he learned most of his stories around a camp fire.

Not to crap on some peoples parade, but those with a bad word to say about a dead man they never met, never saw, or are simply passing "info" they got form a third hand party should really think long and hard. You know nothing, at best some of you are saying you heard it from someone you know. Great. Wonderful. Real stand up men you are. We have a word for people like you, actually several,but I will refrain from slandering you like you do a dead man.

PHC's books completely changed my life. Now Africa is a priority for me, not a dream. I plan to be there before the age of 40 for likely 3 weeks. I am half way to my savings goal, and have my rifle ready to go. One can wonder all they want about his books and their veracity. Now prove them false. Just one account. Please. Don't pass on 3rd hand accounts, or some heresay you plan to build around. Prove it.

I reckon PHC did more for African hunting these days than any other 10 PH's post 1970 you can name. Let alone he had more talent as a writer than the entire lot of todays writers wrapped up in the return carriage handle of his typewriter. Take his stories for what they are, meant to stir your soul. Feel what he is putting across. If you feel the need to read them as fiction, which I'm not sure why 80% of the stories are told as accounts he is retelling and tells you so.

As for rifles. Well I bought my CZ550 .458 win mag simply to go to Africa. Now you all can make up your own minds about why you buy a rifle, no skin off my nose as it were. That said everytime I pull that rifle out of the case, or shoot it I dream of adventures yet to be, and animals I have put down already. It's a tangible object in my hands that floods me with feeling's. Anticipation, Joy, Trepidation, anxiety, and most of all Longing. I can't wait to get there..but until I do..PHC's books, My CZ550 and the hunting I can do now with that rifle keep me going. Saving, planning, learning and hoping. Show me another $1500 dollar "tool" that does that.

NHbwana

quote:

I second yukon 100% I'm sure you could live with 10 rifles and do all the hunting in the world with them

Yukon & Safari-Hunt…

I’m going to start lightening my load to free up some extra cash…

Then I just need to quit talking about it and do it…

If I could get an all inclusive tusk-less & buff for “around 16K†I’d be game…

To stay on topic; sitting around reading PHC writing of African adventures and not taking one myself is getting hard to do…

Now to get clichéd……

As far as rifles are concerned I guess you can’t take them with you when you go…

As far as Africa is concerned I need to go soon because as John Fogerty sang it “someday never comesâ€â€¦â€¦â€¦

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
MacD37

I’ve never thrown a gun away, and never will. My guns have appreciated in value more than most of my mutual funds.

My problem is I have too many of them. Unlike the typical gun nut, I’ve never traded or sold any gun I acquired since buying my first rifle -- a .303 Savage Model 99 -- as a boy in 1948. Over the past 60 years I didn't go looking for them, but I also never passed up a gun at a super bargain price when someone died or divorced. And there was a period when I bought a few at outdoor writer discounts.

I haven’t counted them, but I’ve accumulated 40-50 rifles, shotguns, pistols and muzzleloaders representing every important U.S. caliber from .22 rimfire to .458 Win Mag since buying that .303 Savage. Each will be capable of taking game 50 years from now.

At age 71, I've lost interest in the possessions I've accumulated (including my trophy heads), and it’s a heck of a lot easier to travel out of country without the hassle of carrying a rifle. Borrowed guns have never let me down, nor have any of my own -- including my WallyWorld specials.

As for passing guns on to my grandchildren, my only grandson is 20 and I gave him three rifles and a shotgun when he was younger, and he’ll probably get everything in my gun safes when I’m gone in a few years.

Unfortunately, he lost interest in hunting and shooting when he discovered girls and music four years ago.

Bill Quimby

A very reasonable response, and I have no problem with your thinking that way, I just didn't understand it, and frankly still don't.

The only thing that doesn't track is the statement that you have too many guns being the reason. I have over 150 guns,from 22 short, to 577, but I don't take them all when I go hunting. one gun case with two rifles in not a problem I can't live with. So what is in my gun vault has nothing to do with the connivance of using my own rifle to hunt with. The patriot act does however, make it some what of a problem I agree.

My father told me, when I was quite young, never loan a rifle to anyone, because if he cared anything about a rifle, he would already have one. In his opinion, people who borrow guns, care even less about yours, and simply consider them tools, and see no reason not to put scars, and dings in them, as long as they still work!

Back to the PHC thing, I'd love to own the rifle that started the highjacking of this thread, even though the rifle was only loaned to PHC. Loaned because he was fresh to Africa, and didn't have the needed equipment. A need he soon remedied, and as far as I know, he never had to borrow a rifle again, because he didn't have one suitable for the job at hand. He could have, I'm just saying I'm not aware of it if he did. That double rifle is in pristine condition today, because the three people who owned it, and the one who borrowed it cared enough that they did not abuse it. That my friends, is pride in the ownership of a WELL MADE FIRE ARM, the cost of which is in the making of the rifle, not in the decoration of a pimp rifle, or the economics of a machine made, stamped out "IT'LL DO", piece of crap!

I wanted PHC's bolt rifle auctioned at the SCI convention after his death, but simply couldn't afford it! You see, I do have a pride in arms that have a history, but find precious little to attract me to the Wally World junk!

All this is off topic of the thread anyway, and I apologize to the original poster for my participation in the highjacking of the thread............GONE

MacD37: I know of what you speak. A few years ago, and against my better judgment, I lent a friend one of my Browning shotguns for a pheasant hunt that we went on together. When I came back to the truck after hunting for the morning, the Browning was sitting inside my truck with a large scratch across the receiver, from this idiot dragging it over a barbed wire fence. Suffice it to say, he and I never spoke after that, as he did not feel responsible enough to have it buffed out and reblued. I will never loan a gun to anyone, except my own children, and even then I have to think about it first.

"All this is off topic of the thread anyway, and I apologize to the original poster for my participation in the highjacking of the thread...."

I join you in apologizing for my part in the highjacking. To put it back on track,

Capstick was beyond doubt the best African hunting writer of the last half of the 20th century.

Taylor was a gun writer far ahead of his peers of that era in his understanding of ballistics.

Some of us like to read hunting stories, while others prefer nuts and bolts gun stuff.

I'm in the first group.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
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.

Damn right!

quote:

Originally posted by MacD37:
All this is off topic of the thread anyway, and I apologize to the original poster for my participation in the highjacking of the thread............GONE

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
I join you in apologizing for my part in the highjacking.Bill Quimby

You guys are true gentlemen but no apology is necessary. I quite enjoyed the tangent on PHC's borrowed DR.

Cheers,
Andy

Jealousy what a wonderful thing.

We on the AR forum owe a great deal to MacD37 for his ever present well balanced, intelligent, non biased and informative comments.Long may they continue!!!

All,

Discussing Peter Capstick is sort of like sitting around a roaring bonfire with a bucket of water in one hand, and a bucket of gasoline in the other. The decision is which one to throw first!

Really, personal thoughts aside, I think that there is little doubt that Peter took a good bit of literary license with much of his work. Even so, it was masterfully done and he will long be remembered for it. Likewise, I think also there is little doubt that John Taylor was a homosexual. Even so, who cares. His rifles and cartridges book will be a standard of reference for many more years to come.

Friend Bill Quimby has every prerogative to feel as he does about rifles being tools. In the 30 years that I have been attending the SCI Conventions, I found that philosophy to be prevalent in that organization. I have seen it changing over the years, but many members still hold that view. The founder of the organization, C.J. McElroy, for example, used predominately one rifle throughout his hunting career, a Mark V Weatherby, which looked, by the way, like it had barely survived a train wreck!

I do not hold Bill's view about rifles. To me, they are far more than just a tool. I am reminded of a passage written by Jack O'Connor that best describes the way I feel. He wrote, "To me the rifle has always been the most romantic of all weapons, and of all rifles the one I love most is the rifle for big game. Some may have the same sort of feeling about other weapons, but I do not--to the same extent, anyway. The handgun I associate with the target range, with plinking at tin cans on Sunday afternoon picnics, with an occasional potted cottontail or grouse. When I think of the shotgun, I see warm September days in wheat stubble with swift doves angling in against clouds piled high and white in the blue sky of late summer, hear the roar of a covey of flushing Gambel's quail in some wide arroyo, or see again the V of wild geese and hear their lonely cries. But the rifle--Ah, that's something.

I like a handgun. I hold a shotgun in high regard; but rifles--well, I love the darned things. To me they stand for wilderness, mystery, romance . . . the brown bighorn ram high on a rocky comb, the flash of a whitetail's fan as he burst out of his cover and dashes for safety, the big hulking moose stalking on long, stilt-like legs through the spruce timber . . . high mountain passes, glaciers, timber-line basins, green, lush, smooth as an English lawn, where the grizzly bear digs for marmots and the soaring eagle whistles."

Though it cannot be successfully argued that a rifle is not a tool, O'Connor's thoughts on the subject mirror my on far more than Bill's. Both, however, are correct for them personally. That's all that counts.

Tom

You are correct about C.J. McElroy. He used his .300 Weatherby for most of his career (along with a .458 WM) until the recoil got too much for him and he switched to a 7mm Remington Magnum. All three of his rifles were well-used. I doubt that he ever cleaned their bores. I know that he did nothing to preserve their outside finish.

I was with Mac in Zambia when he shot his last trophy -- a Crawshay deffasa waterbuck. He borrowed my 7 Mag and hit it three times running at distances ranging from 250 to 300 yards.

Funny thing, most of the international hunters and Weatherby Award winners I've written books for -- Watson Yoshimoto, Arnold Alward, Hubert Thummler and those for whom I ghost wrote books and whose names I will not mention, spent most of their hunting careers using only three or four rifles. Not one owned more than five or six rifles at a time, even though they could afford to buy an unlimited number.

Except for Prince Abdorreza (most of his rifles were put together by Al Biesen) and McElroy's .458 Browning, all of them used off-the-shelf made-in-America rifles. The only "custom" touches they added were things such as glass bedding and recoil pads.

Bill Quimby

I try to stay out of these types of discussions for the most part, but I will put my say in anyway...I like his writings, and have had many enjoyable hours reading his books.
The question always arises about his taking other's adventures and putting himself in them. In this litigious society, if that were true, I would think that someone, somewhere, would have have sued the publisher, or PHC, or someone. We have instances now of people suing others, such as songwriters, because two or three words in a song were the same as one they wrote....
I always hear that a so and so, who talked to so and so, who overheard so and so, said that he heard that the stories were made up. Do any of these people who make these claims have the stones to come out and say it for themselves, or put it in writing? I have yet to read or hear of anyone doing it. He may or may not have been a good PH, but that is different than stating that the life he wrote about living was a lie.


So to keep this type of 2nd, 3rd or 4th + person hearsay going, I heard from a friend of mine, who overheard while getting his oil changed, that someone had read somewhere, that someone had stated in an interview, at some gunshow, that he had heard from someone who overheard a famous manufacturer of firearms is coming out with a double rifle, the quality of a best grade H&H, and will be putting it on the market in your choice of calibers for around $1000....and no, not Remington this time!

Ahh, once again our little band of heroes shuffle through the dark night of " The Writers of African Adventures",
Boldly, they go forward, their arm outstretched! Their lanterns held high! Onward, ever onward, they trudge as Diogonese searching for the truthful author! Let me know when you find one!

For whatever PHC was, he has provided hours of entertainment to those who have read his works. He is responsible for most of us getting off our asses and into the African bush toting a rifle! I'd credit him for being the reason for the current interest in African hunting.

I had the opportunity to meet Peter in Houston on a book promotion when he came by the radio station years ago. He was as a kind and as a decent man as you would ever want to meet.

I met Capstick back in the late 80's at the Dallas Safari Show. The show was about over and I walked up and asked him how many hunting lies he had heard that day. He said he "had heard enough to last a lifetime" so I suggested it was time for a beer. We sat around and drank some brews and I can tell you he was one of the most entertaining guys I have every met in my life!!! Wether you like him or not, PHC did more for African hunting than anyone since R.R. Everytime I'm over there, I toast a cold one for him. Cheers PHC!

let me think- spend $11,000-13,000 0n a double rifle and skip that buff hunt for 3-4 years or use my Whitworth 375 H&H and go in 2008. think i will hunt now while i am still able. time and unexpected ill health has a way of slipping up on you. i found that out a few years ago when i was diagnosed with terminal lymphoma!! as long as the gun in my hands will do the job required, i am satisfied.