Peter H Capstick a fraud?

[Bill in Oregon]

Points well taken. My own sense is that Capstick is a hero to some folks, and I have simply gotten old enough to grow weary of most heroes except one: He was born a long time ago in a very small town in the Galilee and worked at a simple trade, carpentry. I promise you, I will NEVER be disappointed in him, and he will never fudge, or use writer's license and he will not let me down.

[Doc Hudson]

I believe it was John Sundra who wrote an article about Capstick being a bartender some years back, and it's snowballed from there.

As far as getting "facts" from Gun Test.....

Jon R. Sunda is a complete and total A-$-$!

i wouldn't believe a thing the man said. As a matter of fact, I make a point NOT to read anything he writes.

Then again, i once read Skeeter Skelton claiming that Bill Jordan was actually Belle Jordan a elderly spinster in Shreveport, LA. Of course Skeeter's comment was meant in jest since he nd Bill Jordan had been friends for years.

Sunda's stuff is pure spite. he is insulting a man with more talent as a writer and more experience as a hunter than he will ever hope to have in his wildest dreams.

[Doc Hudson]

KWK,

Thanks for posting those excerpts from Accurate Reloading, especially Tink Nathan's comments.

I'd intended to mention Tink and the stories he told me about Peter Capstick and the touching tribute Tink posted shortly after Peter's death.

I own a number of Capstick's books and have read most of what he wrote, both in book form and as magazine articles.

In addition to lots of freelance articles published in lots of magazines, I'm surprised no one else apparenhtly remembers that Peter H. Capstick was at one time a contributing editor and columnist for American Hunter magazine. Do any of you folks actually believe that the NRA would hire a fraud as an editor and columnist?

Was everything Capstick wrote the gospel truth? Who cares? To paraphrase another of my favorite authors , Robert C. Ruark, quoting his grandfather:

Never trust a man who won't lie about hunting or fishing! He'll probably embezzle money from the bank and rob the church Poor Box as he skips town. Every buck gets bigger and the shots get longer with every telling of the tale, and that is the way it should be.

I started reading Peter Capstick about the same time I started reading Paco Kelly, in the Spring of 1969. With all due respect to Paco, Capstick was my favorite outdoor writer as long as he lived. I had the great pleasure and honor to be a guest in Paco's home, and i will admit to having been heartbroken to learn that Peter Capstick died before I had a chance to meet him.

I've enjoyed and respected Peter Capstick's writing for forty years. Even now one quick way to get on my permanent Manure List is to insult Capstick, that goes for Ray Odorica and those spiteful Professional Hunters.

[Jacko]

Like many of you Peter Hathaway Capstick has fired my imagination , sounds very much to me like someone with a bone to pick , cowardly cutting down a tall poppy from there grave - I hate that as well . Now way can he write the way he did , paint those images in our minds without first hand experience . Anyone that has hunted will understand .

reagrds Jacko

[Ridgerunner]

In all the articles I have read by Sundra, he comes across as an arrogant, condesending male offspring of a female dog. The last thing I remember reading that he wrote, he took great umbrage to the fact that his female bear guide put an insurance shot into a big bear he had shot. Now, I understand that wounded bears can get nasty and one would think that such a legendary (in his own mind) hunter would appreciate the bear being put down for the count if for no other reason than to cause the bear less pain and suffering. But I suppose that such a guru knows far better than us mortals how to do it. I also remember his decrying the holding of 2 fresh cartidges in the non-firing hand to reload a double rifle, but having seen Elmer Keith use that technique, I sorta put Jonny boy in the pay-no-mind catagory....I have read and reread PHC, and as said in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "This is the West, sir. When the man becomes the legend, we print the legend." Peter, God rest you wherever you may be, and thanks for many hours of reading pleasure.

[Doc Hudson]

In all the articles I have read by Sundra, he comes across as an arrogant, condesending male offspring of a female dog. The last thing I remember reading that he wrote, he took great umbrage to the fact that his female bear guide put an insurance shot into a big bear he had shot. Now, I understand that wounded bears can get nasty and one would think that such a legendary (in his own mind) hunter would appreciate the bear being put down for the count if for no other reason than to cause the bear less pain and suffering. But I suppose that such a guru knows far better than us mortals how to do it. I also remember his decrying the holding of 2 fresh cartidges in the non-firing hand to reload a double rifle, but having seen Elmer Keith use that technique, I sorta put Jonny boy in the pay-no-mind catagory....I have read and reread PHC, and as said in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "This is the West, sir. When the man becomes the legend, we print the legend." Peter, God rest you wherever you may be, and thanks for many hours of reading pleasure.

welcome to the
i detest jon r sunda society!!!!

Your member number is 14

[Ridgerunner]

I also remember when Col. Askins passed on, Ayoob blasted him as a homicidal racist maniac....Having grown up in the BPC age (before political correctness), I never read anything by Col. Askins that was any more "racist" than any of the adult population I encountered. He killed, yes, but either in the line of duty as a Border Patrolman or as a soldier. Given the surrounding circumstances that I know, and spending nearly 30 years in law enforcement, I really see nothing he did that did not meet the deadly force criteria, even today, and I teach use of force and deadly force weekly to the Navy. When we die, the pi$$ants and flies like to hover around the carcass now that we are not longer able to stomp or swat them....Ayoobuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

[a357lever]

I don't know if he was a fake or not but i shot a 470 capstick, its was no fake, ouch

[Doc Hudson]

I also remember when Col. Askins passed on, Ayoob blasted him as a homicidal racist maniac....Having grown up in the BPC age (before political correctness), I never read anything by Col. Askins that was any more "racist" than any of the adult population I encountered. He killed, yes, but either in the line of duty as a Border Patrolman or as a soldier. Given the surrounding circumstances that I know, and spending nearly 30 years in law enforcement, I really see nothing he did that did not meet the deadly force criteria, even today, and I teach use of force and deadly force weekly to the Navy. When we die, the pi$$ants and flies like to hover around the carcass now that we are not longer able to stomp or swat them....Ayoobuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

I've read some of Colonel Askin's published works. IMO, any modern day cop who was so free and easy with his gunfire would probably end up on the wrong side of the bars. Whether Colonel Askins' was a racist or not, I neither know nor care. He was the product of his era and we can't judge him by "Post Civil Rights Era" criteria.

IMO, Colonel Askins often shot when not strictly necessary and he seemed to have enjoyed doing so. IMO, he was what used to be called "A Killing Gent." I respect his exploits and shooting ability, but I would not be comfortable sharing a campfire with the man.

[PaulB]

I started out reading everything I could by Jim Corbett. I then tried Capstick's "Death in the Long Grass". I decided Capstick was not for me. After Corbett's modesty mixed with extreme courage, I just didn't think much of Capstick's boastful style.

It never occurred to me that Capstick was lying, however. Now I start to wonder. I think it does matter if the material is factual; if it is not, it belongs in the realm of fiction.

I learned recently Louis L'Amour was also prone to BS, at least according to some rumors. This also is a huge disappointment.

But I have to say I'd give either of them the benefit of the doubt. I know there is a lot of BS in the world, but it may be the detractors of these men who are spouting it.

[getitdone1]

As I said much earlier in this discussion: I've read all of Capstick's books--not all of his writings.

Someone mentioned the number of books as being 12. I thought 13. Anyhow, all that knowledge in all those books--plus many articles for prominent magazines--and he's a fraud?

My main reason for this post is he was PASSIONATE about Africa and African hunting--and he could really express that passion !

An outstanding writer and I'd bet he had the courage of the many great hunters he wrote about.

Don McCullough

[Hobie]

The only book of his that I have read was his biography of Meinertzhagen, which I found so poorly written that I could not finish it. I really must read one of his African hunting books.

I've got that book. I thought it was fully as good as his others.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

This post reminds me of the debate about Wyatt Earp and his brothers and whether they were the good guys or the bad guys. That controversy comes up ever few years and I bet this one will grow a life of it's own, too. Unless you were there the opinions are just, well..........opinions. And we all know what those are worth.

[CowboyTutt]

welcome to the
i detest jon r sunda society!!!!

Your member number is 14

Doc, you owe me a beer for the one I just sprayed on the wall because I was laughing so hard!

-Tutt