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Pondoro- Last of the ivory hunters, by John Taylor

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21 July 2004, 12:49
ErikD
Pondoro- Last of the ivory hunters, by John Taylor
It looks like an interesting book. Is it any good?

Erik D.
21 July 2004, 12:55
Will
Is it any good? You must be kidding.

If you believe sex is any good, his books are better!!!
21 July 2004, 12:56
Dungbeetle
IMO, it's worth your time. Another that I just finished is about Wally Johnson - "Last of the Ivory Hunters" (or 'the last ivory hunter')by Capstick. It's a good read also.

Dungbeetle
21 July 2004, 13:02
ErikD
Quote:

If you believe sex is any good, his books are better!!!



Bill,

With our 1 week old baby and no sex on the horizon for a little while, it sounds like the perfect book for me!

Erik D.
21 July 2004, 13:15
bradhe
I literally just finished it last night - terrific
21 July 2004, 13:59
M1Tanker
Quote:

Quote:

If you believe sex is any good, his books are better!!!



Bill,

With our 1 week old baby and no sex on the horizon for a little while, it sounds like the perfect book for me!

Erik D.



You have my sympathies. My youngest is almost 2 now and I am glad to be past the point you are at. You will have a lonely 6 weeks ahead.

I reccomend reading some of Ruarks books. You will love them.
21 July 2004, 14:20
458RugerNo1
I've been reading two of Taylor's books about big game rifles and all I can say is Holy Cow! The man was simply incredible. His level of experience in the field (especially at the time/era that he lived) is simply beyond comprehension. He literally spent around 30 years in the bush hunting - not 30 years taking annual month-long safaris, but 30 years of actual TIME IN THE BUSH bagging game into the many thousands.

I want to read his biography too, let us know how you like it.
21 July 2004, 15:03
hacksawtom
It's a great book, but the way he describes his gun bearer made me think, well, I think he really, really liked his gun bearer!
21 July 2004, 16:27
Ku-dude
He really, really did.

The book is a good read. I just finished re-reading it. I find the descriptions of the wholesale killing of elephants a little hard to take given the state of elephants and Africa today. On the other hand, it certainly would have been nice to have had a chance to hunt in the period just following WWII. (Actually, he was hunting before WWII when he did so much of his poaching and "hunting.")

What he has to say about rifles is worth considering; however, by the time he wrote this book, he was a salesman for a leading dealer in fine firearms in London. I suspect that this may have colored his prose and opinions about certain rifles. Ku-dude
21 July 2004, 20:10
asdf
Quote:

... he was a salesman for a leading dealer in fine firearms in London.





Capstick's biography of Taylor indicates Taylor wrote all his books before he was kicked out of Africa.



Capstick also concludes Taylor really, really liked his last gunbearer, but I thought his case for this failed the "beyond a shadow of a doubt" test.



I enjoyed Taylor's books as well as Capstick's biography of him. Capstick suggests Taylor may have embellished a wee bit, but probably was quite a hunter, all the same
22 July 2004, 14:33
Mickey1
Taylor wrote 'Maneaters and Maruders'(1959) after his deportation(1957).