Is Capstick real or fake?

[spoonieduck]

I'm an old guy but never actually met the gentleman. Despite this, I was amazed when I found one of my own observations printed in his 'Safari Planning' book. It was something like, "My philosophy is to avoid bucket-list expensive hunts, that I could afford but rarely, but to go on plenty of lower cost African safaris." It's all many years ago so I don't remember my exact wording--but Capstick seems to have been told about it and quoted me almost perfectly. He said a young hunter told him this personally [I was a lot younger in those days] but I never met Capstick. I did, however, know a Californian who knew both of us--which is possibly where the quote came from.

I enjoyed reading Capstick, too, so certainly didn't hold it against him. We only have so much personal material. But Capstick told another fascinating story in one of his books. He writes about a man-eating leopard was terrorizing a village. He tried the usual tactics without success. Finally he determined that cat was killing in full daylight [quite surprising]. I remember how he determined where the leopard was was coming and going. He dug a hole in the open and had his men cover him with a shallow layer of dirt. He waited all day in the hot sail, finally killing the leopard which involved a lot of drama. Could be. But, during the last few years of Capstick's life, you could hire him to go along with you as a companion who knew a lot of interesting stories. I read the account of one of these hunts by written by the hunter who hired Capstick. He wrote, "Peter has hunted almost everything but, as luck would have it, he'd never shot a leopard. I gave my leopard permit to Peter." I think Peter shot a leopard out of a tree at dusk. No, it wasn't a man-eater, just a regular leopard. Oh Oh! Both stories can't be true. I'm inclined to think that the sports hunter who hired Capstick was telling the truth.

On the other hand, Capstick was a fascinating writer and, in his own way, was responsible for the modern popularity of African hunting. Yes, I believe he embellished his stories from those he heard from sports hunters, professional hunters and game wardens and sometimes put them in the first person. I don't know how many of his stories came from events he participated in. It is significant that some of his books weren't first person narratives. He wrote interesting tales that others were involved in. He told, for instance, the fascinating tale of Patterson, after a number of incompetent errors [Patterson was no hunter but circumstances forced him to become one], finally killing the Tsavo man-eaters.

But how many 'true' stories are technically 100% accurate. Probably very few. I wonder how many tales of an American hero taking out 5 Japanese pill boxes with hand grenades is precisely true. No way to know. Did Hartmann really shoot down 354 enemy aircraft? Witnesses say he did but even witnesses fib. Capstick's friend told me that, towards the end of his life, Capstick was right low. Why? My friend asked him. "Everybody thinks I'm a liar."

 

[Red Leg]

I'm an old guy but never actually met the gentleman. Despite this, I was amazed when I found one of my own observations printed in his 'Safari Planning' book. It was something like, "My philosophy is to avoid bucket-list expensive hunts, that I could afford but rarely, but to go on plenty of lower cost African safaris." It's all many years ago so I don't remember my exact wording--but Capstick seems to have been told about it and quoted me almost perfectly. He said a young hunter told him this personally [I was a lot younger in those days] but I never met Capstick. I did, however, know a Californian who knew both of us--which is possibly where the quote came from.

I enjoyed reading Capstick, too, so certainly didn't hold it against him. We only have so much personal material. But Capstick told another fascinating story in one of his books. He writes about a man-eating leopard was terrorizing a village. He tried the usual tactics without success. Finally he determined that cat was killing in full daylight [quite surprising]. I remember how he determined where the leopard was was coming and going. He dug a hole in the open and had his men cover him with a shallow layer of dirt. He waited all day in the hot sail, finally killing the leopard which involved a lot of drama. Could be. But, during the last few years of Capstick's life, you could hire him to go along with you as a companion who knew a lot of interesting stories. I read the account of one of these hunts by written by the hunter who hired Capstick. He wrote, "Peter has hunted almost everything but, as luck would have it, he'd never shot a leopard. I gave my leopard permit to Peter." I think Peter shot a leopard out of a tree at dusk. No, it wasn't a man-eater, just a regular leopard. Oh Oh! Both stories can't be true. I'm inclined to think that the sports hunter who hired Capstick was telling the truth.

On the other hand, Capstick was a fascinating writer and, in his own way, was responsible for the modern popularity of African hunting. Yes, I believe he embellished his stories from those he heard from sports hunters, professional hunters and game wardens and sometimes put them in the first person. I don't know how many of his stories came from events he participated in. It is significant that some of his books weren't first person narratives. He wrote interesting tales that others were involved in. He told, for instance, the fascinating tale of Patterson, after a number of incompetent errors [Patterson was no hunter but circumstances forced him to become one], finally killing the Tsavo man-eaters.

But how many 'true' stories are technically 100% accurate. Probably very few. I wonder how many tales of an American hero taking out 5 Japanese pill boxes with hand grenades is precisely true. No way to know. Did Hartmann really shoot down 354 enemy aircraft? Witnesses say he did but even witnesses fib. Capstick's friend told me that, towards the end of his life, Capstick was right low. Why? My friend asked him. "Everybody thinks I'm a liar."

I am an old guy as well, and "your" observation about how to best to employ fiscal resources for hunting is hardly a novel one. I have suggested it to people and read it here many times from many others. I am not sure I would draw too many conclusions from the fact that someone else had the same idea, and I would certainly never have known to credit you or Capstick..

I am also not real comfortable with your analogies.

If a soldier's actions of heroism are in an award write up, they are likely pretty accurate. It is more likely such actions would not be observed by a superior rather than be exaggerated in an award recommendation.

Eric Hartmann flew 1404 combat missions and was credited with 352 aircraft. Richard Bong, the USAF's highest scoring ace, shot down 40 aircraft in just over 200 missions. Bong's kill ratio was actually a little higher than Hartmann, but the German ace didn't have the option of being taken out of combat after a certain number of missions. The Luftwaffe pilots fought until maimed, killed, or the end of the war. His victory totals are absolutely reasonable. I should also add both the USAF and Luftwaffe used gun cameras.

As I noted above, "creating" literature around personal experiences and observations, is hardly new. Again, I would point to Ruark and Hemingway. Both, I should add, were writing in the first person. When the "Old Man and the Boy" was published, the Boy's grandfather had been dead for many years. Philip Hope Percival would never have dreamed of commenting on the line-by-line accuracy of either "Green Hills of Africa" or "True at First Light."

Just enjoy Capstick's works for what they are - good writing about something we love.

 

[Ian Manning]

Spoonieduck,
In my book, With a Gun in Good Country, I recorded the following after Peter assisted me with a hunt at my Nyampala camp in August 1969.

...he was keen, a mature individual who did not pretend with me that he was the next Selous, though he loved the aura of the White Hunter. We had gone upstream on the Munyamadzi one day with our Mexican clients to set up a lion bait and found a pod of hippo in one of the pools. The herd included a resident bull, and outside the herd, a lone sub-dominant bull. I advised Peter to take the lone bull in the shallows. Taking careful aim, the client shot the bull dead in its tracks. Peter stood up and walked out to look, though the herd bull was no more than thirty yards away. After a cursory inspection, his gun cradled on his shoulders, he turned and took a few steps towards the bull.​

​

“Watch this,” I said. “He’s going to have a nice charge.”​

​

No sooner had I spoken when the bull mounted onto the bar of sand and came at a full charge in a spray of water. It was rapid and sudden. Two shots rang out simultaneously, one from his client sitting with me on the bank, the other from Peter himself. Like the first hippo, this one too dropped in his tracks.​

​

“Did you see that?” said Peter when he had regained the bank.​

​

With these sorts of crash course lessons, he learnt quickly.​

​

Between one of the safaris, Peter bought a spear and began practising his throwing. He wanted to spear a buffalo. Coming back to camp one day, we saw a bull on a small plain dotted with patches of Kasense grass. For half an hour, we chased him around the plain - but for some reason, he was loth to leave. Eventually, I called it off, knowing that I would have to kill him, for spearing buffalo requires a collective effort in the manner of the Ila on the Kafue Flats.​

​

I had to leave early that year in September, and Peter carried on hunting until the end of the season in October. Neville Steyn, a highly experienced hunter, arrived and helped Peter along. Keen to have some more elephant hunting experience, he went elephant cropping with Bob Langeveld on a few occasions (whom I had trained as a cropping ranger in 1967 when in charge of the elephant cropping in the South Luangwa Game Reserve). The cropping scheme closed soon after, and Peter never did return to Luangwa to hunt. I never saw him again. But he was to write many books that have done much for safari hunting.​

Now you should open Peter's classic, Death in the Long Grass (I left my copy with a son in Tanzania), and find where he describes the same incident. As I remember, there was a difference - after all, we are two individuals. And there lieth the debate. But the charge that he plagiarized the works of other hunters I know nothing about as have never read his other books. The Peter Capstick I knew was honest and true. I still occasionally sample the drink he and I invented then, the Gin Nyampala - gin, water and a dash of lime juice; and think of him.

 

[Speedster]

I enjoyed reading Capstick, too, so certainly didn't hold it against him. We only have so much personal material. But Capstick told another fascinating story in one of his books. He writes about a man-eating leopard was terrorizing a village. He tried the usual tactics without success. Finally he determined that cat was killing in full daylight [quite surprising]. I remember how he determined where the leopard was was coming and going. He dug a hole in the open and had his men cover him with a shallow layer of dirt. He waited all day in the hot sail, finally killing the leopard which involved a lot of drama. Could be. But, during the last few years of Capstick's life, you could hire him to go along with you as a companion who knew a lot of interesting stories. I read the account of one of these hunts by written by the hunter who hired Capstick. He wrote, "Peter has hunted almost everything but, as luck would have it, he'd never shot a leopard. I gave my leopard permit to Peter." I think Peter shot a leopard out of a tree at dusk. No, it wasn't a man-eater, just a regular leopard. Oh Oh! Both stories can't be true. I'm inclined to think that the sports hunter who hired Capstick was telling the truth.

Spoonie:

I think you are confused here. In the book "Peter Capstick's Africa," PHC describes his hunt for a leopard. He states that he had shot leopard before, but never one where he was the hunter trying to bag one. The one you described was a maneater that had to be exterminated. As it turned out, through a series of unfortunate events and carelessness (which he himself admitted), he killed a leopard but did not find it until it had been mostly eaten by a lion.

 

[One Day...]

Go cheap, go often...

This is fascinating...

I only read last month Capstick's Safari the Last Adventure. I did not have it and finally found an original leather-bound signed edition (there are a few coming and going on eBay). spoonieduck's post brought back in mind this advice, and Red Leg's comment is 100% on target.

Without having ever read the Capstick's advice before, I have been giving the same advice to friends interested in going to Africa for the last few years. In substance: you do not need to spend a lot of money in Africa to have the time of your life, and it is the best way to be able to go often.

I even go one step further, which is to recommend going on "cull" hunts which offer incredible value with same PH, same accommodations, same experience, etc. but without the cost of trophy fees.

Actually, I do it myself. Just as an example, think about the fact that you can book in South Africa a 5 day / 5 cull hunt (female Blue Wildebeest; female Black Wildebeest; female Red Hartebeest; female Eland; female Blesbok) for $2,500. You read me well: twenty five hundred dollars! I cannot think of a cheaper hunt anywhere in the world, and with a reputable operator hunting tens upon tens of thousands of acres in a contiguous block, herds reproduce naturally and by definition, sooner or later, since there are no big cats left in the wild in South Africa, females need to be culled to keep with land carrying capacity, and this is exactly the same hunt as you would have for five times the cost for males.

I will go one further for first timers: all the above 5 females have horns and they often make wonderful mounts.

I personally hunt purposefully the most scroungy, skinny, decrepit animals possible. This adds a purpose to the hunt and actually requires quite the search and stalk. Think of it as trophy hunting in reverse. European hunters used to selective hunting for genetically deficient, ill, or wounded animals will understand instantly

As to Capstick, if memory serves, Capstick himself gives the advice in Safari the Last Adventure to never ask a PH about another PH who has not been dead at least 20 years, so intense is the rivalry between PHs

Never mind "would-be PHs" , or, the worst of all, "internet PHs"...

You have in my mind right there and then the likely explanation of the Capstick bashing saga... "nough said...

Interestingly, Capstick is mentioned, with respect I might add, by unquestioned African legends such as, indeed, Ian Manning in his book With a Gun in Good Country, and in this thread (Thank you Sir for taking the time to address the defamation), or Gordon Cundill who in his book Some Lions I Have Met mention hunting with Capstick in ways that leave no room for doubt about the reality of Capstick experience.

Edit: Looks like Ian Manning and I were typing at the same time . I cannot recommend his book enough. I own #90 of 1,000 original numbered copies signed by Ian Manning. It occasionally comes, used, on Amazon or eBay, and it is great news if a second edition is coming

 

[Red Leg]

Go cheap, go often...

This is fascinating...

I only read last month Capstick's Safari the Last Adventure. I did not have it and finally found an original leather-bound signed edition (there are a few coming and going on eBay). spoonieduck's post brought back in mind this advice, and Red Leg's comment is 100% on target.

Without having ever read the Capstick's advice before, I have been giving the same advice to friends interested in going to Africa for the last few years. In substance: you do not need to spend a lot of money in Africa to have the time of your life, and it is the best way to be able to go often.

I even go one step further, which is to recommend going on "cull" hunts which offer incredible value with same PH, same accommodations, same experience, etc. but without the cost of trophy fees.

Actually, I do it myself. Just as an example, think about the fact that you can book in South Africa a 5 day / 5 cull hunt (female Blue Wildebeest; female Black Wildebeest; female Red Hartebeest; female Eland; female Blesbok) for $2,500. You read me well: twenty five hundred dollars! I cannot think of a cheaper hunt anywhere in the world, and with a reputable operator hunting tens upon tens of thousands of acres in a contiguous block, herds reproduce naturally and by definition, sooner or later, since there are no big cats left in the wild in South Africa, females need to be culled to keep with land carrying capacity, and this is exactly the same hunt as you would have for five times the cost for males.

I will go one further for first timers: all the above 5 females have horns and they often make wonderful mounts.

I personally hunt purposefully the most scroungy, skinny, decrepit animals possible. This adds a purpose to the hunt and actually requires quite the search and stalk. Think of it as trophy hunting in reverse. European hunters used to selective hunting for genetically deficient, ill, or wounded animals will understand instantly

As to Capstick, if memory serves, Capstick himself gives the advice in Safari the Last Adventure to never ask a PH about another PH who has not been dead at least 20 years, so intense is the rivalry between PHs

Never mind "would-be PHs" , or, the worst of all, "internet PHs"...

You have in my mind right there and then the likely explanation of the Capstick bashing saga... "nough said...

Interestingly, Capstick is mentioned, with respect I might add, by unquestioned African legends such as, indeed, Ian Manning in his book With a Gun in Good Country, and in this thread (Thank you Sir for taking the time to address the defamation), or Gordon Cundill who in his book Some Lions I Have Met mention hunting with Capstick in ways that leave no room for doubt about the reality of Capstick experience.
View attachment 437150

Edit: Looks like Ian Manning and I were typing at the same time . I cannot recommend his book enough. I own #90 of 1,000 original numbered copies signed by Ian Manning. It occasionally comes, used, on Amazon or eBay, and it is great news if a second edition is coming

Allow me to second the recommendation to read "With a Gun in Good Country." It is beautifully written - an attribute all too rare in safari the genre.

 

[spoonieduck]

Like I said, I never personally met him but the story about losing the fatally hit man-eating leopard to have the carcass destroyed by hyaenas sounds much like I read in one of Capstick's books...ohh...over 40 years ago. Sure the story written by a sports hunter who hired him for his interesting and expert company, in which the sport hunter gave him his leopard license because 'Peter, with all his years of experience, never personally shot one before." Is what I read. Both can't be true but could Capstick have told the Sport, "All the hunting I've done, I've never collected my own, personal leopard skin trophy," somehow got garbled in translation. Maybe.

Still, many adventure books or movies are likely to sell better if they are first hand accounts. I'm thinking of a TV archaeologist who has his own show. He goes to digs all over the world and the producers always get him in the middle of the action. Now, these digs have been going on for months or years so obviously don't need his amateur assistance. For most viewers, though, it makes in more interesting, kind of like that buffalo I killed with a bow....or was it a rifle? Who knows?

As far as Hartmann goes, the reader is right. The recorded number is 352. I read his book written after the war. He does a good job in retelling some of his shoot downs. Then I got to thinking about it. Now a wild duck is certainly not as exciting, memorable and fearful as an enemy fighter aircraft but still, if I were forced to give a detailed and exciting account of the fifty or so ducks I shot last season, I probably couldn't describe one of them accurately. It's all a blur. If I absolutely had to write about it, I'd have to fake it. Yeah, you might remember a particular event, even one many years ago, but still most are a blur. So I imagine Hartmann had to use a little Kentucky windage in his book. Most of us do.

People also like adventures which is another word for serious screw up. I've labored hard not to screw up and have been about 99.9% successful in Africa which means I have few adventures to report there, despite about 25 hunts from SA to Ethiopia. If I were to write an exciting adventure story I would definitely have to fake it.

 

[Ian Manning]

Go cheap, go often...

This is fascinating...

I only read last month Capstick's Safari the Last Adventure. I did not have it and finally found an original leather-bound signed edition (there are a few coming and going on eBay). spoonieduck's post brought back in mind this advice, and Red Leg's comment is 100% on target.

Without having ever read the Capstick's advice before, I have been giving the same advice to friends interested in going to Africa for the last few years. In substance: you do not need to spend a lot of money in Africa to have the time of your life, and it is the best way to be able to go often.

I even go one step further, which is to recommend going on "cull" hunts which offer incredible value with same PH, same accommodations, same experience, etc. but without the cost of trophy fees.

Actually, I do it myself. Just as an example, think about the fact that you can book in South Africa a 5 day / 5 cull hunt (female Blue Wildebeest; female Black Wildebeest; female Red Hartebeest; female Eland; female Blesbok) for $2,500. You read me well: twenty five hundred dollars! I cannot think of a cheaper hunt anywhere in the world, and with a reputable operator hunting tens upon tens of thousands of acres in a contiguous block, herds reproduce naturally and by definition, sooner or later, since there are no big cats left in the wild in South Africa, females need to be culled to keep with land carrying capacity, and this is exactly the same hunt as you would have for five times the cost for males.

I will go one further for first timers: all the above 5 females have horns and they often make wonderful mounts.

I personally hunt purposefully the most scroungy, skinny, decrepit animals possible. This adds a purpose to the hunt and actually requires quite the search and stalk. Think of it as trophy hunting in reverse. European hunters used to selective hunting for genetically deficient, ill, or wounded animals will understand instantly

As to Capstick, if memory serves, Capstick himself gives the advice in Safari the Last Adventure to never ask a PH about another PH who has not been dead at least 20 years, so intense is the rivalry between PHs

Never mind "would-be PHs" , or, the worst of all, "internet PHs"...

You have in my mind right there and then the likely explanation of the Capstick bashing saga... "nough said...

Interestingly, Capstick is mentioned, with respect I might add, by unquestioned African legends such as, indeed, Ian Manning in his book With a Gun in Good Country, and in this thread (Thank you Sir for taking the time to address the defamation), or Gordon Cundill who in his book Some Lions I Have Met mention hunting with Capstick in ways that leave no room for doubt about the reality of Capstick experience.
View attachment 437150

Edit: Looks like Ian Manning and I were typing at the same time . I cannot recommend his book enough. I own #90 of 1,000 original numbered copies signed by Ian Manning. It occasionally comes, used, on Amazon or eBay, and it is great news if a second edition is coming

 

[Ian Manning]

Thank you, Red Leg and One Day, for your kind comments. The Second edition is out in pdf and Epub 3. And happy reading Mark O.

Faga Moto!
Ian

 

[Red Leg]

Like I said, I never personally met him but the story about losing the fatally hit man-eating leopard to have the carcass destroyed by hyaenas sounds much like I read in one of Capstick's books...ohh...over 40 years ago. Sure the story written by a sports hunter who hired him for his interesting and expert company, in which the sport hunter gave him his leopard license because 'Peter, with all his years of experience, never personally shot one before." Is what I read. Both can't be true but could Capstick have told the Sport, "All the hunting I've done, I've never collected my own, personal leopard skin trophy," somehow got garbled in translation. Maybe.

Still, many adventure books or movies are likely to sell better if they are first hand accounts. I'm thinking of a TV archaeologist who has his own show. He goes to digs all over the world and the producers always get him in the middle of the action. Now, these digs have been going on for months or years so obviously don't need his amateur assistance. For most viewers, though, it makes in more interesting, kind of like that buffalo I killed with a bow....or was it a rifle? Who knows?

As far as Hartmann goes, the reader is right. The recorded number is 352. I read his book written after the war. He does a good job in retelling some of his shoot downs. Then I got to thinking about it. Now a wild duck is certainly not as exciting, memorable and fearful as an enemy fighter aircraft but still, if I were forced to give a detailed and exciting account of the fifty or so ducks I shot last season, I probably couldn't describe one of them accurately. It's all a blur. If I absolutely had to write about it, I'd have to fake it. Yeah, you might remember a particular event, even one many years ago, but still most are a blur. So I imagine Hartmann had to use a little Kentucky windage in his book. Most of us do.

People also like adventures which is another word for serious screw up. I've labored hard not to screw up and have been about 99.9% successful in Africa which means I have few adventures to report there, despite about 25 hunts from SA to Ethiopia. If I were to write an exciting adventure story I would definitely have to fake it.

I really think you should write that book.

I invoked my 24 hr rule before responding because this thread is about Capstick, not Erich Hartmann. However the comment comparing your duck season to anyone's experience in combat is one of the most outrageous things I have heard in a very long time. I have forgotten a lot of ducks, but have no difficulty recalling my combat experiences in rather vivid detail. Perhaps yours were different?

I assume when you say "his book" you actually mean the biography "The Blond Knight of Germany" written by Constable and Toliver? Published in 1970, the authors were indeed able to interview Hartman who was retiring as a senior serving Bundeswehr officer at the time. They also had access to extensive Luftwaffe operational records. Popular when published, the book has been criticized in recent years for portraying Hartmann too sympathetically and stereotyping the Soviets. I am unaware of any serious military historian who has questioned his confirmed kills. Indeed, other authors have done extensive research of his sorties and other German aces.

It is a good read. It does paint a decidedly German view of the air war in the East. Unfortunately for the Russians, Americans learned about the war in the East from the German perspective. The Cold War and the communist regimes tight grip on their version of the truth obscured serious Russian histories until recent decades. Instead, for forty years the West relied on memoires by authors such as Guderian and Manstein, and the memories of men like Hartmann.

 

[spoonieduck]

Memories fade. Even the most vivid memories fade. Hartmann's score was 352 which doesn't begin to count all the aerial combats he was involved in. Did he remember all of these with precision? Maybe, but combat stats involving pilots in all theaters give post war over-estimations of approximately two to one, which doesn't count bomber-gunner estimates that tended to be far worse than this. Was Hartmann better than this? Quite possibly because his combat success rates him as an especially acute observer. Still in reading his book [autobiography if you prefer] twice, his most vivid retelling of experiences were those when the men and women in his outfit turned themselves in to American Forces only to be hideously betrayed and turned over to the Soviets. His years in Soviet prison--seems to me--were indelibly stamped on his soul.

My combat experiences are extremely limited but I know a young man who commanded 4 marine corps tanks from the Iraqi frontier, An Nasirah, Al Kut and up to the outskirts of Bagdad. It was a fight from the start to the finish with no 'leave' or major rest periods. "Write it down," I told him when he returned. "You will forget much of it if you wait." He didn't write it down and, although he certainly hasn't forgotten, the memories are no longer as vivid.

But we were discussing Capstick. I didn't know him but read most, if not all, of his books. He called himself "Old Purple Prose." My recollection that he wrote that "I spoke to a young American hunter who said... it's better to go on multiple inexpensive hunts than on only one or two really expensive hunts." [or words to that effect]. Could the words have come from somebody else? Of course, but these inexpensive hunts were fairly new when I was hunting SA, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia. Be that as it may, more than anybody else I can think of Capstick popularized modern African hunting which, in my opinion, was a very good thing.

Also, back in the early 70s there were a couple of gentlemen--whose names I can't remember--who began to advertise inexpensive African hunts. They contracted with ranchers in South Africa, South West Africa, and Rhodesia who expressed an interest in taking hunters. I wasn't the first of these because I couldn't afford one of these inexpensive hunts. I couldn't make it until sometime between 1975-1978, when the Bush War was raging in Rhodesia. Nevertheless, I was a convert years before I got there having read Cloete's "Pace of the Ox" when I was only a child. I don't know if these two fellows were the first American agents to promote these hunts but if there were others, I don't know of them.

 

[steve white]

PH's I have met have uniformly agreed that Capstick was good for the safari industry. Having said that, they also uniformly agreed that he claimed to do some deeds that were actually accomplished by others altogether. Not plagiarism of WRITING, but filching whole episodes, which were perhaps, and perhaps not, ever actually written about. I have all his books, and enjoy them. Wish I had bought the leather bounds as they have skyrocketed in value. Almost had to sock him because he kept trying to kiss my wife "as a greeting" about 5 times in a row, while at the DSC convention one year long ago. Nobody is perfect. I am more put out with the verbal overkill of Capstick "wannabes." You can definitely have too much of a good thing, at the expense of authenticity. Colorful language does not make an adventure, it only describes one, and certainly cannot create one. Some writers have more of one than the other...I like to read a book where the author really knows his stuff by hard experience and grit.

 

[JPmbogo]

Well, most, if not all of us, spend far more time as arm-chair hunters rather than hunters afield. Pour yourself a couple of inches of your favorite libation and enjoy the read.

 

[Safari Dave]

If Capstick is a phony, then I have been living a lie since I was in the 8th grade!


If I had not loaned my copy of "Death in The Long Grass" to a guy in my college Ichthyology class, I would not have a best friend for the last 34 years!


He will always be real to me, even if someone told me he was really a drag-queen who spent his whole life working the shady side of Pretoria!

 

[Nhoro]

Seems to me that too many people are willing to take family and parenting advice from Oprah and life advice from the Kardashians and tear down someone like Capstick.

Many will vouch for the facts as follows- he was a Pro hunter, he did control work so must have shot a number of elephant. And control work usually gives you some interesting experiences.

Surely, if he plagiarized his stories, there would be a number of people who would have complained or spoken up about them. Were they exaggerated (probably)or entirely fictional (i dont think so).

True adventure costs money,time and self sacrifice. Today's heroes are the opposite-meaningless wasters that give lazy people an excuse for not having any adventures.

If he was a crook, he was a damn good one- read enjoy and be inspired. And the haters can stay home and watch Oprah re-runs.

 

[Ian Manning]

I managed to access Peter Capstick's Death in the Long Grass on Internet Archive (many classic hunting books published prior to 1926 can be downloaded there, and those after 1926, borrowed.) Here is what he wrote about the hippo charge.

 

[NE 7x57]

I just finished "Death in the Long Grass" and concluded Capstick is one hell of a writer. Are all of his stories true, how the hell would I know, but long ago I learned the hard way that you don't call another man a liar unless you're willing to back that up. Of course that is somewhat easier if the person is dead.

Like Red Leg I was amused by the comparison of aerial combat to duck hunting. Not really an apple to oranges thing. Hartman and the other German (and allied) aces usually shot down quite a few planes that were never confirmed. I have no doubt that the number of aircraft he was credited with if inaccurate is slightly low. I guess we're also assuming Hartman didn't have a journal.

Anyway, I will need to read some of the rest of Capstick's books. Like the works of other African hunters he gives insights into another period of hunting on that continent that's gone forever.

 

[Wiley64]

Capstick’s books practically packed my bags for Africa. All the rumors are just sour grapes from people that are jealous.

 

[cbvanb]

Spoonieduck,
In my book, With a Gun in Good Country, I recorded the following after Peter assisted me with a hunt at my Nyampala camp in August 1969.

...he was keen, a mature individual who did not pretend with me that he was the next Selous, though he loved the aura of the White Hunter. We had gone upstream on the Munyamadzi one day with our Mexican clients to set up a lion bait and found a pod of hippo in one of the pools. The herd included a resident bull, and outside the herd, a lone sub-dominant bull. I advised Peter to take the lone bull in the shallows. Taking careful aim, the client shot the bull dead in its tracks. Peter stood up and walked out to look, though the herd bull was no more than thirty yards away. After a cursory inspection, his gun cradled on his shoulders, he turned and took a few steps towards the bull.​

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“Watch this,” I said. “He’s going to have a nice charge.”​

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No sooner had I spoken when the bull mounted onto the bar of sand and came at a full charge in a spray of water. It was rapid and sudden. Two shots rang out simultaneously, one from his client sitting with me on the bank, the other from Peter himself. Like the first hippo, this one too dropped in his tracks.​

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“Did you see that?” said Peter when he had regained the bank.​

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With these sorts of crash course lessons, he learnt quickly.​

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Between one of the safaris, Peter bought a spear and began practising his throwing. He wanted to spear a buffalo. Coming back to camp one day, we saw a bull on a small plain dotted with patches of Kasense grass. For half an hour, we chased him around the plain - but for some reason, he was loth to leave. Eventually, I called it off, knowing that I would have to kill him, for spearing buffalo requires a collective effort in the manner of the Ila on the Kafue Flats.​

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I had to leave early that year in September, and Peter carried on hunting until the end of the season in October. Neville Steyn, a highly experienced hunter, arrived and helped Peter along. Keen to have some more elephant hunting experience, he went elephant cropping with Bob Langeveld on a few occasions (whom I had trained as a cropping ranger in 1967 when in charge of the elephant cropping in the South Luangwa Game Reserve). The cropping scheme closed soon after, and Peter never did return to Luangwa to hunt. I never saw him again. But he was to write many books that have done much for safari hunting.​

Now you should open Peter's classic, Death in the Long Grass (I left my copy with a son in Tanzania), and find where he describes the same incident. As I remember, there was a difference - after all, we are two individuals. And there lieth the debate. But the charge that he plagiarized the works of other hunters I know nothing about as have never read his other books. The Peter Capstick I knew was honest and true. I still occasionally sample the drink he and I invented then, the Gin Nyampala - gin, water and a dash of lime juice; and think of him.

Thank-you for this bit of background information. I have had my doubts about whether Capstick wrote his own stories or repeated those of others. Several years after he died, I spent a season working for a safari company in Zimbabwe. The owner of the company was convinced Capstick was a liar due to the elephant cropping story. The owner believed that at that time no foreigner would have been licensed as a PH in Zambia and certainly would have never been used in elephant cropping operations. It's good to know Capstick was telling the truth, as those stories about shooting elephants had a great influence on me.
As an aside, I found a copy of your book on eBay and it's on the way to me now. I'm looking forward to a great read.

 

[Ian Manning]

cbvanb,

Thanks for your note. Glad you found a copy of the hard-copy first edition. The second edition is out on ebook and PDF, and am in the throes of getting set up for hard copy as well.
My two-volume book, God's Country, covers the personal and political side of hunting in several African countries.

Ian