quote:

Originally posted by GeoffM24:
Does anyone know of a book written by anyone about hunting or working with Capstick? You'd think with all the interest about the man a book written about going on Safari with him as the PH would sell well. A book with the same general idea as Horn of the Hunter.

Seems odd that there doen't seem to be anything like that.

Yeah, I wonder why that is?

I also wonder if people take that great advice he offered like carrying a bolt rifle uncocked with the bolt handle down and the firing pin resting on the primer? Or if anyone uses that nifty carrying method he espoused?

I wonder too, if any PHs wear a football helmet, a leather jacket covered in linoleum, and a Marine Corp neck protector when following up wounded leopards?

quote:

Originally posted by GeoffM24:
Does anyone know of a book written by anyone about hunting or working with Capstick? You'd think with all the interest about the man a book written about going on Safari with him as the PH would sell well. A book with the same general idea as Horn of the Hunter. Seems odd that there doen't seem to be anything like that.

What is needed is a full biography, and not just a chapter or two about an encounter with Peter Capstick in someone's memoirs.

However, Capstick's widow, Fiona, is not yet willing to work with a biographer or to write the biography herself (which she is more than capable of doing).

Without her blessing, no qualified author would attempt such a project during her lifetime. That's a shame, because many of the people who knew Capstick well, as well as people he hunted with or guided, are still alive and could be interviewed.

Bill Quimby

Anyone for some critical thinking? Nahhhhhh . . .

Even used car salesmen (and investment bankers, at least these days) get more respect.

Still, their mamas love them.

There's nothing new here, nothing noteworthy or remarkable.

Capstick could tell a story. That's more than most can do.

quote:

Originally posted by adrook:

quote:

Originally posted by GeoffM24:
Does anyone know of a book written by anyone about hunting or working with Capstick? You'd think with all the interest about the man a book written about going on Safari with him as the PH would sell well. A book with the same general idea as Horn of the Hunter.

Seems odd that there doen't seem to be anything like that.

Yeah, I wonder why that is?

I also wonder if people take that great advice he offered like carrying a bolt rifle uncocked with the bolt handle down and the firing pin resting on the primer? Or if anyone uses that nifty carrying method he espoused?

I wonder too, if any PHs wear a football helmet, a leather jacket covered in linoleum, and a Marine Corp neck protector when following up wounded leopards?

GeoffM24

Col. Charles Askins wrote about hunting with Capstick as his PH.

quote:

You'd think with all the interest about the man a book written about going on Safari with him as the PH would sell well. A book with the same general idea as Horn of the Hunter.

I only know of one book that put the PH in the position of "greatest guy alive" and that was Horn of the Hunter.

quote:

I also wonder if people take that great advice he offered like carrying a bolt rifle uncocked with the bolt handle down and the firing pin resting on the primer?

A bunch of guys have done that, some of them were even PHs. I don't doubt that some people still do.

quote:

Or if anyone uses that nifty carrying method he espoused?

If you have seen his videos you would notice that even he does not carry that way.

Jason

Which book, I'd like to read it. Thanks

I, for one, immensely enjoyed Capstick's writing. He and I had a mutual friend, who is...was...a retired US Marshall. Arnie thought the world of "Pete", as he called him. Arnie was a good egg and I have no reason to doubt him.

quote:

Originally posted by adrook:
I wonder too, if any PHs wear a football helmet, a leather jacket covered in linoleum, and a Marine Corp neck protector when following up wounded leopards?

I don't know any PHs who do, but I do know a couple who wish they had done so!

Actually, this thread is rather sad. No information of substance has been brought forward to impune a dead man's reputation. BTW your new Secretary of State landed under sniper fire in Bosnia...

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:
Actually, this thread is rather sad. No information of substance has been brought forward to impune a dead man's reputation. BTW your new Secretary of State landed under sniper fire in Bosnis...

>>>>>>"Col. Charles Askins wrote about hunting with Capstick as his PH.">>>>>>>>

Was that in a book or one of Askins' magazine articles? How would I get a copy?

Bill Quimby

quote:

Was that in a book or one of Askins' magazine articles?

Article. I have no idea how to get a copy. It would have been printed around the time PHC hunted with the Brooms.

Jason

The final word...

THE STORY OF UNG


Once, on a glittering ice-field, ages and ages ago,
Ung, a maker of pictures, fashioned an image of snow.
Fashioned the form of a tribesman -- gaily he whistled and sung,
Working the snow with his fingers. ~Read ye the Story of Ung!~

Pleased was his tribe with that image -- came in their hundreds to scan --
Handled it, smelt it, and grunted: "Verily, this is a man!
Thus do we carry our lances -- thus is a war-belt slung.
Lo! it is even as we are. Glory and honour to Ung!"

Later he pictured an aurochs -- later he pictured a bear --
Pictured the sabre-tooth tiger dragging a man to his lair --
Pictured the mountainous mammoth, hairy, abhorrent, alone --
Out of the love that he bore them, scribing them clearly on bone.

Swift came the tribe to behold them, peering and pushing and still --
Men of the berg-battered beaches, men of the boulder-hatched hill --
Hunters and fishers and trappers, presently whispering low:
"Yea, they are like -- and it may be -- But how does the Picture-man know?"

"Ung -- hath he slept with the Aurochs -- watched where the Mastodon roam?
Spoke on the ice with the Bow-head -- followed the Sabre-tooth home?
Nay! These are toys of his fancy! If he have cheated us so,
How is there truth in his image -- the man that he fashioned of snow?"

Wroth was that maker of pictures -- hotly he answered the call:
"Hunters and fishers and trappers, children and fools are ye all!
Look at the beasts when ye hunt them!" Swift from the tumult he broke,
Ran to the cave of his father and told him the shame that they spoke.

And the father of Ung gave answer, that was old and wise in the craft,
Maker of pictures aforetime, he leaned on his lance and laughed:
"If they could see as thou seest they would do what thou hast done,
And each man would make him a picture, and -- what would become of my son?

"There would be no pelts of the reindeer, flung down at thy cave for a gift,
Nor dole of the oily timber that comes on the Baltic drift;
No store of well-drilled needles, nor ouches of amber pale;
No new-cut tongues of the bison, nor meat of the stranded whale.

"~Thou~ hast not toiled at the fishing when the sodden trammels freeze,
Nor worked the war-boats outward through the rush of the rock-staked seas,
Yet they bring thee fish and plunder -- full meal and an easy bed --
And all for the sake of thy pictures." And Ung held down his head.

"~Thou~ hast not stood to the Aurochs when the red snow reeks of the fight;
Men have no time at the houghing to count his curls aright.
And the heart of the hairy Mammoth, thou sayest, they do not see,
Yet they save it whole from the beaches and broil the best for thee.

"And now do they press to thy pictures, with opened mouth and eye,
And a little gift in the doorway, and the praise no gift can buy:
But -- sure they have doubted thy pictures, and that is a grievous stain --
Son that can see so clearly, return them their gifts again!"

And Ung looked down at his deerskins -- their broad shell-tasselled bands --
And Ung drew downward his mitten and looked at his naked hands;
And he gloved himself and departed, and he heard his father, behind:
"Son that can see so clearly, rejoice that thy tribe is blind!"

Straight on the glittering ice-field, by the caves of the lost Dordogne,
Ung, a maker of pictures, fell to his scribing on bone
Even to mammoth editions. Gaily he whistled and sung,
Blessing his tribe for their blindness. ~Heed ye the Story of Ung!~

Great to know I'm not the only Kippler here.

Which term comes from a friend of mine who was talking to a woman in a bar and he asked her if she liked Kipling......... she replied, 'I don't know, how do you Kipple?"



The American term 'dumb assed broad' springs to mind.

Ganyana, that is a very insightfull poem! Thank you sir! Who wrote it?

Rudyard Kipling - A true professional writers poem.

As one of the last old time colonial officers for whom conservation was a vocation rather than just a job as it seems to be now, and who has now moved onto occasionally dabbling in writing...The following poem has often given me cause for thought.


Out on the dim Verandah, God stooped me and said
“You’ve wasted a day in the life I gave - and a wasted day is dead!
“What have you done in my world today?†– I smiled as I replied:
“I’ve saved a child from the bite of a snake!†And God was satisfied.

Out on the dim verandah, when bats were wheeling low,
Again God came, and I felt His Wings, and I saw The Presence glow-
“You’ve wasted a day!†said god to me - but swiftly I replied:
“I have saved the crops of a thousand men!†And God was satisfied.

Out on the dim verandah, when stars were twinkling clear,
The Godshead, and I saw the Light that gleamed as he drew near;
“What have you done this day? He asked – I thought, and then replied:
“I have tried the cause of an injured man!†And God was satisfied.

Out on the dim verandah, when twilight hours were past,
God came one more, and His breath was cold, and I felt the icy blast –
“You have lost to-day!†said God to me, and I shuddered as I replied:
I have written a page of a book to-day!†And God was wroth, and cried:

“Those that I set to govern men have work enough in sight -
“Crops to garner, and lives to save, and wrongs to set aright!
“Books forsooth!†– and he smote His Thigh, and the world grew dark for me,
And I woke to find I was chained in Hell, to write for Eternity.

I always like this string of words. From the Ballad of East and West

quote:

With that he whistled his only son, that dropped from a mountain-crest --
He trod the ling like a buck in spring, and he looked like a lance in rest.

I have read the collected works of Kipling at least a dozen times. I always enjoy just picking up one of his books and reading for a bit.

Gator1

Those couple of lines are also one of my favourites.

I'm a big poetry fan and although I never take a book on safari because I'm far too busy to read one, I do always take a leather bound folder of my favourite poems and quotes etc. I try to spend a few minutes reading it every morning before the clients show up for breakfast.

Glancing through it, just some of the names in it are:

Rudyard Kipling
Robert Service
Omar Khayyam
William Blake
Peter H Capstick
C Emily Dibb
Robert Ruark
Walt Whitman
Col. Sam Colt
Sher Jung
F. Marcano
Barry McGuire
J E McGraw
W B Yeats
Robert Frost
R L Stevenson
Byron
Brian Brooke
Robert Herrick
Jonathan Swift
Dylan Thomas
John Dryden
Breaker Morant
Judge G
Ben Okri
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Lewis Carroll
Edgar Allen Poe
A E Houseman
Grantland Rice
Henry Newbolt
Jack London
and many many more.

About the last 6 posts or so ,starting with Ganyana's last word poem,are the only worthwhile reading in this whole thread....

dan

Ganyana,
Thanks for posting! I have always tried to live by Kipling's teachings!

quote:

A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.

Rudyard Kipling

quote:

Originally posted by woodmanDan:
About the last 6 posts or so ,starting with Ganyana's last word poem,are the only worthwhile reading in this whole thread....

dan

Ditto

If I had to choose two poems to name as my all time favourites, it'd be The Thousandth Man and IF......... and I've tried to live my life according to those principles.

I would recommend Banjo Patterson from Australia.

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Gator1

Those couple of lines are also one of my favourites.

I'm a big poetry fan and although I never take a book on safari because I'm far too busy to read one, I do always take a leather bound folder of my favourite poems and quotes etc. I try to spend a few minutes reading it every morning before the clients show up for breakfast.

Glancing through it, just some of the names in it are:

Rudyard Kipling
Robert Service
Omar Khayyam
William Blake
Peter H Capstick
C Emily Dibb
Robert Ruark
Walt Whitman
Col. Sam Colt
Sher Jung
F. Marcano
Barry McGuire
J E McGraw
W B Yeats
Robert Frost
R L Stevenson
Byron
Brian Brooke
Robert Herrick
Jonathan Swift
Dylan Thomas
John Dryden
Breaker Morant
Judge G
Ben Okri
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Lewis Carroll
Edgar Allen Poe
A E Houseman
Grantland Rice
Henry Newbolt
Jack London
and many many more.

Steve - For me there is only one and that is "If"

Ian,

funny you should mention that. When I did my very first PH exams with Ian Goss, he gave me shit throughout the course because he's an incredibly hard taskmaster......... at the end, he sat me down and told me I'd passed everything he threw at me but whether I passed or failed all depended on one final test....... I guess I probably paled a tad before I asked him what it was I had to do...... He looked mt bang in the eye and told me I had to recite If word for word and if I so much as hesitated or got anything wrong, I'd fail.......... I'm glad to say I got it right, but I've never forgotten that day!

Gator1

Thanks for the tip sbout Banjo - I'll look him up.

An imposing man from what little I know of him. Doesn't surprise me in the least that he would know that one word for word.

In the interest of putting this silly topic to rest, could we continue the discussion under a new thread. I hate reading this rot at the top of the forum every time I open it

quote:

Originally posted by adrook:

quote:

Originally posted by gunsmithing:
Does anyone know who receives the royalties for Taylors books? I know of at least one person that printed a bunch of his books, and pocketed all the money. As he had a will, I am sure the royalties were taken care of.

I assume you are referring to Trophy Room Books. The owner of that outfit is a witch. I wouldn't buy anything from her.

I know of a company,Crown Press, that was selling copies of Taylors book Pondoro. Got one autographed by the man that owns the company. I will not mention names, being a gentleman, but he is big on printing books and not paying royalties.

God, we finally got rid rid of cowchip and his soulmate,acrook, and somebody has to resurrect this crap!! let sleeping dung- i mean dogs- lie.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I have seen only one or two of his videos, but read all his books.

His books are very entertaining - in fact, that is what got me thinking of going to Africa in the first place!

But, his videos I did not find interesting at all.

Regardless of the above, despite the fact that he seems not be such a great PHs, as he wished to be known, he did more for modern African hunting than anyone I can think of.

And, my friends, deserves a very big THANK YOU Peter Hathaway Capstick.

And a big +10 from here.
From my point of view, I have to give the edge to PHC and his type in such arguments. I spent some time in my misbegotten youth as a 'Guide' - actually, I called ducks and geese for people until my voice changed and put me out of business.
If the birds flew and worked well, the 'sports' were the best shots, etc in the world, little credit - and small tips! - to the caller. If things were bad, then it was the callers fault they didn't fly, etc - and no tips! And I have had people in the pit with me that could not have hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle, much less kill a Canada goose or a mallard duck on the wing - so who do you think busted their birds for them? But by the time we were back at the clubhouse they had made the world's most difficult shots and killed the bird dead at a measured 100 yds, etc, yadda yadda yada - never a word about how they actually were brought to bag.
And to this day, when I see someone's trophy room, the first thought to cross my mind is who actually shot the beasties? PHC, may you rest in peace.

..................DROP THIS SHIT!

quote:

Originally posted by h kittle:
I met Capstick once at a cocktail party probably 20 years ago. An acquaintance of mine had a publishing company, Buckingham Mint and they were distributing or republishing some of his books. This was before I had any idea that I would one day get to hunt in Africa.

Although I do not remember all the details, something he said just did not sound right. I remember him being full of BS.

H Kittle

I also know the publisher of The Buckingham Mint,(Doug M.). When he (the publisher) tells me that Chapstick is full of BS,I believe he knows what he is talking about. I spent an afternoon at a bar with Chapstick many years ago, and came to the same conclusion.

Maybe he simply didn't like you calling him "Chapstick"........

Whatever else, Capstick could stir someone to want to go to Africa -as he did for me. He's dead now and I have always agreed with the old Roman maxim -De mortuis nil nisi bonum. BTW, I used to spend a lot of time in Cuba B.C.(Before Castro) and heard many stories about Ernest Hemingway that did not add to his reputation. While I am not comparing the two as writers, the fact remains that writers do have a certain talent that most of us don't have. Let the faults go and enjoy the results of the talent.

GUNSMITHING-

Why did you feel it necessary to post in this dead thread? Please let this go away and remain away. Some have been banned and that should be enough.

School holiday times are here again. We can expect all the old controversial threads & subjects from yonks ago to be revived in the coming weeks.

The only reason I reopened the thread is because I am trying to contact Peter Capsticks wife. I need permission to use some of his articles in a book.
He was very knowledgable, and well spoken,highly educated, and gifted. He brought Africa to people that had and never will be there. He brought excitement to a boring world, and opend our eyes to another reality, that many never knew existed. To this and many other things, I raise my glass and say THANK YOU.

The Thread That Would Not Die!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did not know that threads had a specific life span. Any info that can be gotten, or inquired about is valuable.
If it is proper to "kill" a subject after an allotted time, then by all means I will be courteous and resume my search for the truth elsewhere.

Don't take it personal, everyone is just joking with you a little.

From time to time, folks that don't have the honorable intentions you do, will go back and find contentious topics and call them Lazarus, and resurrect them to be hashed out all over again.

Nothing wrong with that, but it will draw the type of re-actions you have received.

Best of Luck in your quest to reach Mrs. Capstick.

Thank you. I forget that there are crazy people out there. Or people with just too much time on their hands.