I do alot more armchair hunting than real hunting; I think most of us can't devote as much time to it as we would like. So books are important to me as I can benefit from the extensive experience of others who have been there and done that. Now that I've read a ton of them, I think the three most useful books before a hunting safari in Africa, and which you can take with you, are:

"The Perfect Shot" by Kevin Robertson and the mini edition for travel
"A Field Guide to the Tracks & Signs of Southern and East African Wildlife" by Chris & Tilde Stuart, and
"The Safari Companion" by Richard Estes

I think there is too much emphasis on "gun" books and not enough on learning about the wildlife, their habits, their behaviour and their identification.

Dear Wink,

For a person who likes to read there is a fantastic website based in Australia called the Gutenberg Library. There are all kinds of old books whose copyrights have expired on it including old hunting books about hunting grizzlies in California etc.

I like the Francis Parkman classics like "The Oregon Trail" and I think they have the Stewart Edward White stuff too but I have not read it. He shot 350 lions on an early safari.

VBR,


Ted Gorsline

Ted,

Do you mean this outfit?
http://www.gutenberg.org/

I found it with a google search and it looks like it a worldwide project, not just Australia. I don't know if I could get into e-books, I like the old fashioned ink on paper kind of books. It looks like a great resource though, thanks for the tip.

Dear Wink,

That is it. Lots of hard to find books and very interesting information but like you say no ink on paper.

Francis Parkman's "Oregon Trail" is on it. That is the book that all the old western films were based on. Kit Carson was already a legend as a buffalo hunter in 1843.

Parkman wrote another great book called "The conspiracy of Pontiac". Pontiac is the Ottawa war chief after whom the "Pontiac " car is named. He killed more than 2,000 American settlers on the frontier. Osama Bin Ladin with a tomahawk.


VBR,


Ted Gorsline

Wink, great thought provoker, I am planning my first hunt and keep going back to rifle/ cartridge selection. I have alot of books that give me more useful information . Will take mt .300H&H and my .375H&H. Need to gather in procatical information. Strange in the US hunts I don't spend as much time thinking about rifle cartridge combo just gather information about the place I am going to hunt, weather, elevation, vegetation etc.

Wink, I agree with your idea. I reckon that I'd go first with Dennis Lyell & C.H. Stigand's book on 'African game and its spoor' (or something close to that) for the hints at the ecology and necessary field craft.

Then I'd go for a book on the general history of the area I was going to hunt; for Zuid Afrika and surrounds 'Washing of the Spears," 'Scouting on Two Continents," or something on the Great Trek would probably work. That would give me a better appreciation of where my PH and his crew had their roots.

Then my third pick would be a book by whichever of the 'classic' hunters operated in that area. The land and animals haven't changed that much in the intervening years since they wrote and today (admitting that in much of South Africa, the animals were extirpated and reintroduced between then and now), and it'd give me a sense of what the hunting is really like.

I reckon I don't buy into the Doktari book or one on rifle selection. Animal physiognomy isn't enough different between Africa and North America to make it necessary to by a primer on "where to shoot them." And for rifle selection, that is a way overrated subject that may have had more importance when there was a true difference between caliber/cartridge effectiveness, but is pretty much arguing over angels on pinheads nowadays.

I expect most others' opinions will differ considerably

Books to prepare one for the ultimate trip, African Hunter by Mellon, covers so much has so much info on Africa, Solo Safari by Terry Cacek, lots of insight on African travel, and finally Buffalo,Elephant, and Bongos bt Reinhert Von Meueres, lots of insight into Africa and the people.

How about "African Hunter" -- both the old one by Mellon and the new one edited by Boddington and Flack?

There's also a nifty pocket-sized guidebook to the mammals of southern Africa (its name escapes me but I think its by Dorst and Dandelot or some similar names. I can't find my copy). It has descriptions, maps and color drawings for most of the large and small animals you will encounter in Africa.

Then there's the SCI Record Book of Trophy Animals, African volume, any year. The text and maps by Jack Schwabland are invaluable for a hunter heading anywhere in Africa.

Bill Quimby

Bill, I have the Dorst & Dandelot which is called "Field Guide to the Large Mammals of Africa" (I think). It has been my Bible for animal identification until the Kingdon authored book (which has a similar title which I can't remember) came out. The Dorst & Dandelot is now published by Collins but needs to be updated.

I've been using Haltenorth & Diller's "Mammals of Africa including Madagascar" backed up by C.&T. Stuart's "Tracks & signs of southern and east African wildlife" while in Africa.

quote:

The Dorst & Dandelot is now published by Collins but needs to be updated.

I bought my copy at the old Jan Smuts International Airport in 1983 as I was waiting to catch a flight to Harare on my first trip to Africa.

I carried that little book down there several times after that until I (mistakenly) believed I had no more need for it.

It is a wonderful pocket guide. I can't imagine it needing to be updated.

Incidentally, when I took over as editor of the SCI record book soon after my first trip to Africa I tried to buy the the rights to use the excellent Dorst and Dandelot illustrations in the SCI books. The letter I received from the publisher said, in effect, "the artist does want want to promote the killing of animals."

Bill Quimby

The Dorst & Dandelot first edition came out in 1970. I lost my first copy in the CAR in the late 70's and then bought another in the early nineties (a 1990 reprint). Dorst wrote the text, Pierre Dandelot did the colour plates. Too bad Dandelot thought you using the plates would somehow be detrimental to animals. The book does give the Rowland & Ward trophy figures for horn lengths (this is one thing that could be updated as they were using the 1962 edition of R&W). I think the range maps could also use a serious review. Check out the range map for the Wild Dog for instance. You'd think they were everywhere from the map. Still, it's a very good field guide and I think the colour plates are about as good as they get.

"Africa: An Encyclopedia of the Continent"
It's a thick paperback, covers geology, polititics (sic), weather, flora, fauna, everything. Not about hunting, but a great resource. Sorry, can't recall the author, but it's very well done.

While in transit in the Dar es Salaam airport last week I found a copy of the new "Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals". This is subsequent to the larger hardbacked "Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals". Not only that, the Field Guide is now translated into French! If you haven't seen the Kingdon guides to African mammal identification then you should. I think they are the best books for African mammal identification I have seen.