Who is your favourite gun writer?

[steve white]

Bill Heavey, anyone? Also Robert Jones, Anno Hecher, Burger, Capstick, Oggeri...lots!

 

[Ridgewalker]

I enjoyed Capstick mainly for the entertainment. Boddington’s for his no frills vast experiences and Dr Kevin Robertson for his clear writings of how, where and what to use no nonsense explanations.
Of course Robert Ruark for starting my reading skills with The Old Man and the Boy. JA Hunter might possibly be my Africa favorite from the past.

 

[Phil Valliant]

Chapstick is one of my favorite, I'm reading a new book through jungle and desert by william astor Chandler

 

[degoins]

Well if we're including writers of hunting, then Corbett is my hands down favorite.

 

[Tra3]

+1 Capstick when reading you can tell there are some embellishments, but that makes the story better.
+1 Bill Heavey also great entertainment and a good heart.

 

[Gemsbok45]

I read it all and like or love most of it but as a younger man Craig Boddington opened up the world of the traveling hunter.

 

[Opposite Pole]

Corbett, Patterson, Burger, Hunt, Ruark. Honourable mention to Hemingway. I do enjoy Mr Hemingway’s writings but my favourite reads by his pen are not hunting books.

 

[Muskox]

I grew up reading Elmer Keith and Jack O'Connor. I liked both then, and I mostly like both today. Eventually we rented Capstick videos and I read what books I could get my hands on, enjoyed them I asked my father if he knew anyway that I could afford to hunt Africa like they were doing at the time and he said " no he did not". We weren't poor, my father was a police officer but we were far from rich.

I read my first Craig Boddington article when I was about 14, his articles pushed me to travel to Africa in 2005 to Namibia. The idea that all of this would unfold blew my mind.

Wayne Van Zwoll is a favorite on this side of the pond, and Bruce Potts is one of my favorite British authors.

There are lots of others for sure.

 

[Zambezi]

I enjoy reading books about places that I have been as I can visualise the scene so "local" authors such as Ron Thompson tops my list. Also Koos Barnard and Brian Marsh and good family friend Geoff Wainwright come to mind.

The standard Capsticks / Ruark books are also great reads.

 

[Cervus elaphus]

Gents,
Apart from frequent discussions on reccomended books, on this forum, let me ask following:

1. Who is your favourite gun writer today?

2. Who is your favourite gun writer in history?

For me, in order of prefernce:

1. Modern:

Dave Petzal (Field and stream), with fantastic style of writing, and good american sense of humor, which makes him different from all the rest. Being technically oriented - the gun writing buisness, it is hard to keep there literary value and style, within the tecnical subjects of guns, shooting, or hunting. Besides the factual knowledge and experience, this quality makes him my number 1.

Terry Wieland, expert on firearm history, then guns, hunting, etc - nuomerous books and articles.

Craig Boddington - most prolific gun writer today, books, magazines, but most important of all, producing most updated contemporary information about African safari today.

2. Historical:

Robert Ruark
John Pondoro Taylor
Ernest Hemingway (except, he is not gun writer by proffesion, but writer, short story writer, journalist, big game fisherman, boxer, nobel prize winner, passionate shotgunner, BUT qualifies well in this subject, too )

And, all these three are most quoted authors even today. I enjoy reading them.

Peter Hathaway Capstick

 

[C.W. Richter]

Most, if not all modern "writers" are so heavily influenced by commercial advertising-they are merely peddling products. I have little to no tolerance for it. While I understand that Petzal has written about emperor jo bi-din's policies, I'm sure his angle is no different, just being funded by the NRA and handed an assignment by the very large MSM entity that now controls it all. I have read so much in the past (and have an immense library at the farm on bookshelves made by my g. grandfather that introduced me to hunting at age 3), I simply prefer to "do" now! For the $12+ for commercial mags (ads) now, I can instead get more important reloading and shooting accomplished. I neither need to buy any black plastic guns, a 6.5 needmore, nor any other widgetry sold to the masses these days. Others have gone on some amazing journeys and are highly experienced, but the end product delivery bores me to tears. At least one popular modern writer never fails to add some "hollywood b.s." to every story, making the experience quite a bit more frightful than reality. Many can see right through it and in-turn have little respect...

Elmer Keith-Hell, he was there! lol Art Alphin (no nonsense, full bore gunsmithing and ballistics). Hemmingway wrote more than one book on hunting, and you failed to mention that he was a big game hunter too. Capstick wrote a series of books about other hunters, with input from them (Wally Johnson, Denis Lydel, Volker Grellham, et. al.-all interesting reads.) Bell. Kevin Robertson. Some are stories, others are quite technical-i prefer technical. There are many more! The older, the better! Many legends not even mentioned...Selous, Jameson...Although he is strictly a bowhunter, Chuck Adams is perhaps the best writer (and most knowledgeable on stalking game,) that I've ever read. I think he was a professor in MT that largely shied away from commercial TV and mags, favoring writing his own books.

I didn't like the writing styles of Ruark or O'Connor at all-and those guys were the beginnings of selling stuff for magazines! In his video, Ruark is shown having "to get some columns done." (on his typewriter whilst swigging beer or gin.) The reason everyone says to read Horn of the Hunter-is to sell that book or because they really didn't read it! *It would help induce a deep sleep on the flights to Tambo or Tembo! Many should've stuck to the movies/tv shows/videos-only. They are more interesting, but the required writing provides them with steady income.

 

[Gemsbok45]

Guess you did not see chuck teaming up with Michael Waddell For Bushnell. C’mon CW lighten up! I get the paid influencers but not liking Ruark whether Horn of the hunter or Something of Value. Your a tuff cookie. You do something for a living so every time you talk about it you should be written off as bought and paid for. I’ve lived in Africa and enjoy hearing all points of view. Your smart enough to be your own filter but still a little stiff!

 

[Newboomer]

Chapstick is one of my favorite, I'm reading a new book through jungle and desert by william astor Chandler

Chapstick?? That's funny.

 

[Newboomer]

John Taffin. I like his articles on the sixguns and classics. Craig Boddington. His book Boddington on Buffalo pretty much convinced me to go buff hunting. I've read it twice.

 

[Petey J]

I really enjoy Ron Spomer’s work. Not so much for the gun reviews (for the reason repeatedly mentioned). However, his hunting stories are engaging and well written. I particularly like his bird hunting pieces. And he has a great series on how to do a “Safari for less,” which is full of practical advice for a really affordable plains game Safari (I first read the series before I found AH).

 

[Vintageguy]

For me it was Carmichael. He was my hero as a kid. As an adult I got into double barreled shotguns and became close friends with an old collector who I ended up setting up at shows with, one because I really enjoyed the time with him and secondly my going and doing the lifting enabled him to keep going. He talked of how much fun this guy “Jim” was that he always set up with at one of the shows and how I’d like him because he was “our kind of people”. Well we went and I was setting things up for us when my buddy said “let me introduce you to Jim”. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes because you’ll be disappointed but that wasn’t the case at all. I got to see him quite a lot and my buddy always invited me to come by whenever he stopped by his place for a visit and he was indeed “our kind of people”.
Story telling, Corbett and Capstick. Corbett could describe a setting so vividly that when I first saw pictures of those places they were exactly what I’d pictured and Capstick captured the feelings. Made me want to have those adventures too.
Can’t say I really follow anyone now. Most are basically paid salesmen and I’ve gotten too BS intolerant for that.

 

[Vintageguy]

Besides those mentioned, Ruark, etc., I have enjoyed Michael McIntosh, Galen Winter and Steve Lamascus.

McIntosh was a good one. Knowledgeable and writing talent too.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Guess you did not see chuck teaming up with Michael Waddell For Bushnell. C’mon CW lighten up! I get the paid influencers but not liking Ruark whether Horn of the hunter or Something of Value. Your a tuff cookie. You do something for a living so every time you talk about it you should be written off as bought and paid for. I’ve lived in Africa and enjoy hearing all points of view. Your smart enough to be your own filter but still a little stiff!

"In for a penny, In for a pound!" If someone writes a terrific book (on their own) and prospers from it, God Bless them! IF they write it because it was assigned to them for a paycheck (free black guns/ammo) as an MSM clerk to sell something to line the 1%'ers pockets, it's completely watered down. (It's the same process by which Joe Biden got elected). You raise an interesting thought: As a result of absolutely not enjoying Horn of the Hunter, I wasn't in a hurry to read Something of Value. Now, the meaning of the title of that book I subscribe to entirely. When I find time in-between making my own $ and spending it on wildlife conservation as I choose (not often from succumbing to ads), I have promised myself to read it (I might have to borrow a copy from someone else, as I believe I was taken last time!) I for one am NOT for corporate committee coca-cola being produced and sold en-masse...the resultant quality is subpar, causes health issues, and is for-profit only. Ruark helped sell this industry, which I respectfully won't get into, but for a so-called "professional writer," there were so many others better than he. Here's to hoping he was off the beer and gin when he wrote Value. I did see Chuck on tv a few times way back when, but read one of his writings and compare it to Ruark or O'Connor and you'll know straight away he's in a different league (again, I think he may be a professor of literature or english, so his writing style is amongst the best. He is so good at hunting and writing about it, a book was written about him during his lifetime: Life at Full Draw!) LOL And being in the toxic waste treatment business, that's the "filtered" version.

 

[Gemsbok45]

Good on you,read Something of value and let us know what you think. I thought Prothero was an English teacher.Your right Chuck was one of a kind.

 

[sestoppelman]

Jack O'Connor was a literature professor as well. To say he wasn't a good writer is like saying Babe Ruth couldn't swat a baseball. Ridiculous!
Same as Ruark, good grief, one of the best writers we have had. Sad he drank himself into an early grave but some apparently have not read many of his books. Horn of the Hunter is probably responsible for more of us wanting to see Africa than anyone else of my generation anyway, Boomer.
But Capstick as well, whether or not he did or didn't embellish, borrow whatever some of his material, doesn't matter, he made it his own and was a great writer, again another one sadly gone too soon.