Is Capstick real or fake?

[fourfive8]

Have read most of his work. Some more than once. Same with Selous, Bell, Hemingway, Everett and others. Actually Sands of Silence was one of my favorites. To each their own I guess. Seemed to be more of an attempt at a compendium of a journal to yield an insight into life in the Kalahari of Namibia (would also apply to Botswana) as opposed to telling “kill or be killed” stories.

I always noticed he went out of his way to credit to those he borrowed stories from. Seems nonsense to assume he stole his material from the experience of others. He was a very accomplished writer and maybe the victim of a lot of jealousy from those who couldn’t make an elephant charge interesting or entertaining.

 

[Kouprey]

Capstick was a very entertaining writer, i read all his books several times. My favourites are "Death in the Long Grass", "The Last Ivory Hunter" and "Maneaters".

But - in my opinion - one of his greatest achievments was that he had St. Martin's Press reprint all those classic Africana Books by Lyell, Blixen, Roosevelt, Stigand, Foran, etc. They would have been unobtainable and too expensive for me in the original first Editions.
And in his books "Death in the Silent Places" and "African Adventurers" Capstick introduces us to legendary hunters like Sutherland, Siemel, Ionides, Bell, Pretorius... - great short biographies; stuff that makes you want to know more about those men. So, thanks to Peter H. Capstick i bought all the books of those hunters and built a fine hunting library.

By the way: some slightly critical comments about Capstick are in the book by PH John Northcote "From Sailor to Professional Hunter".

 

[cal pappas]

PHC was my early introduction to Africa. I read Hunter and Taylor and Lake but Capstick really brought it home to me. Then Bull and Sullivan and I was hooked.

 

[Bullthrower338]

PHC is in the top 10 that would love to sit around a fire and listen to tell stories and have some drinks. He was instrumental in my obsession with Africa Hunting. I could care less that he took some literary privilege to improve his stories to entertain the reader. Nobody faults Grandpa when he tells the same story about the buck he shot in 42 that gets bigger every time the story is told,

 

[baxterb]

Capstick was a very entertaining writer, i read all his books several times. My favourites are "Death in the Long Grass", "The Last Ivory Hunter" and "Maneaters".

But - in my opinion - one of his greatest achievments was that he had St. Martin's Press reprint all those classic Africana Books by Lyell, Blixen, Roosevelt, Stigand, Foran, etc. They would have been unobtainable and too expensive for me in the original first Editions.
And in his books "Death in the Silent Places" and "African Adventurers" Capstick introduces us to legendary hunters like Sutherland, Siemel, Ionides, Bell, Pretorius... - great short biographies; stuff that makes you want to know more about those men. So, thanks to Peter H. Capstick i bought all the books of those hunters and built a fine hunting library.

By the way: some slightly critical comments about Capstick are in the book by PH John Northcote "From Sailor to Professional Hunter".

you are 100% right on the reprints. They most definitely made some great books available to mere mortals.

and well spotted on the Northcote reference. That is the exact book I was referring to in my original post. To my knowledge he is the only PH to make a comment on PHC in a book.

Northcote himself had an interesting life, aye?

 

[Bearskinner]

When I sit down to read, I don’t want to be bored to death. I haven’t re-read his books in many years, but I believe his writings were a good part of helping me want to get to Africa in the first place. His writings create a sort of romance with going on Safari, and experiencing it in first person is something to cherish for life.

 

[Kouprey]

you are 100% right on the reprints. They most definitely made some great books available to mere mortals.

and well spotted on the Northcote reference. That is the exact book I was referring to in my original post. To my knowledge he is the only PH to make a comment on PHC in a book.

Northcote himself had an interesting life, aye?

Indeed! A good book - the tree-tusked elephant is very spectacular!

Another PHs who wrote about Capstick (in a friendlier way): Geoff Broom in "A Life on Safari" and Gordon Cundill in "A Hunter's Africa".

One thing about Capstick's books is strange: There are no typical "trophy photos" of Capstick and his clients, or Capstick with his own trophies.
On the other hand, i remember that i had several old "Saga" Magazines from the 1970s-1980s which had Capstick-Stories with good pictures of him and clients and defunct leopards, crocodiles, buffs... Maybe legal issues / photo copyrights?
Those Saga-photos in "Death in the Long Grass" would have helped Capstick's credibility immensely.

 

[BRICKBURN]

The result of entering into an argument with a guy who provides no factual basis for his opinion -

Enjoy the books yourself and skip the argument.

 

[baxterb]

Indeed! A good book - the tree-tusked elephant is very spectacular!

Another PHs who wrote about Capstick (in a friendlier way): Geoff Broom in "A Life on Safari" and Gordon Cundill in "A Hunter's Africa".

One thing about Capstick's books is strange: There are no typical "trophy photos" of Capstick and his clients, or Capstick with his own trophies.
On the other hand, i remember that i had several old "Saga" Magazines from the 1970s-1980s which had Capstick-Stories with good pictures of him and clients and defunct leopards, crocodiles, buffs... Maybe legal issues / photo copyrights?
Those Saga-photos in "Death in the Long Grass" would have helped Capstick's credibility immensely.

interesting comment on the trophy photos. A return to the long grass does have a typical trophy pic with his lion and also Fiona and trackers. But in general, you are right.

Maybe that’s another reason why I like them - they don’t follow the pattern to a T.

i haven’t seen the Saga magazines - need to look them up. My first introduction was the Minisniping article in G&A in 1984 when I was 12. Was hooked!

 

[Sabattiboy]

A hunt, no matter where or for what animal, is somewhat like the TV or Radio ads for a miracle drug. At the end they rattle off the disclaimer that it could destroy every organ in your body so the user dies free of whatever ailed them.
Well, DG animals can bend fold spindle and mutilate but the PH is supposed to keep that from happening. So, getting chased, gored, clawed, bitten etc definitely makes a better hunt story then we walked up fired a shot and went home.
P.S. listen to the video of the A Square guy recounting the PH elephant hunt story of how he come to develop the 577 T-Rex cartridge. Fluff or real????

 

[baxterb]

Exactly @Sabattiboy

i will say after reading many of those stories , the purple starts getting a little deep and one (at least I) comes to appreciate much more than just the “thrill of the hunt.” Putting things in a greater context, whether cultural, historical or environmental has become a “must have” for me.

i chatted with Harry Selby a bit on this and he expressed the same idea: that those who came to Africa to collect animals and go home were missing more than half of the experience.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Capstick was a very entertaining writer, i read all his books several times. My favourites are "Death in the Long Grass", "The Last Ivory Hunter" and "Maneaters".

But - in my opinion - one of his greatest achievments was that he had St. Martin's Press reprint all those classic Africana Books by Lyell, Blixen, Roosevelt, Stigand, Foran, etc. They would have been unobtainable and too expensive for me in the original first Editions.
And in his books "Death in the Silent Places" and "African Adventurers" Capstick introduces us to legendary hunters like Sutherland, Siemel, Ionides, Bell, Pretorius... - great short biographies; stuff that makes you want to know more about those men. So, thanks to Peter H. Capstick i bought all the books of those hunters and built a fine hunting library.

By the way: some slightly critical comments about Capstick are in the book by PH John Northcote "From Sailor to Professional Hunter".

Agreed. I have most of the “from capstick’s library” reprints. Indeed, they form the core of my library of Africana. When they were readily available, they made an accessible option for me and probably many others. I was able to purchase The Maneaters of Tsavo and African Game Trails from Barnes and Noble of all places.

 

[Ian Manning]

Peter did his first season with me in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia as a fully licenced professional hunter in 1969. Norman Carr of Luangwa Safaris had hired him at a meeting in New York, knowing that Peter's big-game experience centred only on the Jaguar. It was a good decision. He was a quick learner. I had opened the south Munyamadzi corridor to hunting in that year. It was filled with big tuskers, lion, buffalo and black rhino. I let Peter take on all the leopard baiting which I disliked, while I dealt with most of the elephant. On our first hunt together with a Mexican party, we pulled in four elephant averaging 79 lbs a side (Peter is on the bottom right of the pic). I wrote this all up in my book, With a Gun in Good Country.

Peter was a writer who wrote about hunting. Death in the Long Grass, in which he recorded our hunt together, was memorable - rather like the late Wilbur Smith's success with his first book, When the Lion Feeds. Smith had been brought up in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and hunted with his father, though never professionally. And, of course, Ruark and Hemingway hunted as clients.

Peter was a charming man. But our paths never crossed again.

 

[baxterb]

Thanks @Ian Manning - great to hear some first-hand knowledge.

that looks like a heck of a Safari…

 

[Kouprey]

Peter did his first season with me in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia as a fully licenced professional hunter in 1969. Norman Carr of Luangwa Safaris had hired him at a meeting in New York, knowing that Peter's big-game experience centred only on the Jaguar. It was a good decision. He was a quick learner. I had opened the south Munyamadzi corridor to hunting in that year. It was filled with big tuskers, lion, buffalo and black rhino. I let Peter take on all the leopard baiting which I disliked, while I dealt with most of the elephant. On our first hunt together with a Mexican party, we pulled in four elephant averaging 79 lbs a side (Peter is on the bottom right of the pic). I wrote this all up in my book, With a Gun in Good Country.

Peter was a writer who wrote about hunting. Death in the Long Grass, in which he recorded our hunt together, was memorable - rather like the late Wilbur Smith's success with his first book, When the Lion Feeds. Smith had been brought up in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and hunted with his father, though never professionally. And, of course, Ruark and Hemingway hunted as clients.

Peter was a charming man. But our paths never crossed again.

View attachment 436675

Thank you, Mr. Manning!
At last, someone who actually knew Capstick stands up.
This picture alone should end all doubts and rumours about Peter Capstick. Impressive tusks!

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Peter did his first season with me in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia as a fully licenced professional hunter in 1969. Norman Carr of Luangwa Safaris had hired him at a meeting in New York, knowing that Peter's big-game experience centred only on the Jaguar. It was a good decision. He was a quick learner. I had opened the south Munyamadzi corridor to hunting in that year. It was filled with big tuskers, lion, buffalo and black rhino. I let Peter take on all the leopard baiting which I disliked, while I dealt with most of the elephant. On our first hunt together with a Mexican party, we pulled in four elephant averaging 79 lbs a side (Peter is on the bottom right of the pic). I wrote this all up in my book, With a Gun in Good Country.

Peter was a writer who wrote about hunting. Death in the Long Grass, in which he recorded our hunt together, was memorable - rather like the late Wilbur Smith's success with his first book, When the Lion Feeds. Smith had been brought up in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and hunted with his father, though never professionally. And, of course, Ruark and Hemingway hunted as clients.

Peter was a charming man. But our paths never crossed again.

View attachment 436675

This one first hand account carries more weight to me than all the hearsay spread by anonymous posters who never met the man. Thank you for sharing your insight and your book, which I will have to get.

 

[Wheels]

Peter did his first season with me in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia as a fully licenced professional hunter in 1969. Norman Carr of Luangwa Safaris had hired him at a meeting in New York, knowing that Peter's big-game experience centred only on the Jaguar. It was a good decision. He was a quick learner. I had opened the south Munyamadzi corridor to hunting in that year. It was filled with big tuskers, lion, buffalo and black rhino. I let Peter take on all the leopard baiting which I disliked, while I dealt with most of the elephant. On our first hunt together with a Mexican party, we pulled in four elephant averaging 79 lbs a side (Peter is on the bottom right of the pic). I wrote this all up in my book, With a Gun in Good Country.

Peter was a writer who wrote about hunting. Death in the Long Grass, in which he recorded our hunt together, was memorable - rather like the late Wilbur Smith's success with his first book, When the Lion Feeds. Smith had been brought up in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and hunted with his father, though never professionally. And, of course, Ruark and Hemingway hunted as clients.

Peter was a charming man. But our paths never crossed again.

View attachment 436675

Thanks for adding your insight Mzee!

 

[Sabattiboy]

@Ian Manning
Thank you sir.
A new rule could be instituted for Safari story writers. The foreword has to be written by an ex girlfriend or ex wife.

 

[Jason Miller]

Peter did his first season with me in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia as a fully licenced professional hunter in 1969. Norman Carr of Luangwa Safaris had hired him at a meeting in New York, knowing that Peter's big-game experience centred only on the Jaguar. It was a good decision. He was a quick learner. I had opened the south Munyamadzi corridor to hunting in that year. It was filled with big tuskers, lion, buffalo and black rhino. I let Peter take on all the leopard baiting which I disliked, while I dealt with most of the elephant. On our first hunt together with a Mexican party, we pulled in four elephant averaging 79 lbs a side (Peter is on the bottom right of the pic). I wrote this all up in my book, With a Gun in Good Country.

Peter was a writer who wrote about hunting. Death in the Long Grass, in which he recorded our hunt together, was memorable - rather like the late Wilbur Smith's success with his first book, When the Lion Feeds. Smith had been brought up in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and hunted with his father, though never professionally. And, of course, Ruark and Hemingway hunted as clients.

Peter was a charming man. But our paths never crossed again.

View attachment 436675

And there you have it! First hand

 

[spoonieduck]

Hey all!
I don’t want to make this too long but long story short a much older coworker of mine saw that I had a huge interest in African reading to which he proceeded to bash Capstick and call him a fake. I never get into a debate unless I have all the facts hence why I’m going to my community here which I trust. My coworker’s claim was that Capstick actually stole stories from Hunter and other previous writers or hunters. My impressionnas if it wasn’t Captsick’s actual story he would say so as a disclaimer.
Does anyone know or can prove that that’s true?
Capstick’s writings, like all of of Im sure, we’re very influential in my life and wanted to research this thoroughly.
Thanks!