Peter H. Capstick (1940–1996)

A hunting buddy loaned me this book upon learned that I had planned a camera safari for Kenya and Tanzania. I didn’t get around to reading it until I had returned and I’m glad I did.

Our two week tour included visits to five national park/conservation areas in Kenya and Tanzania. Kenya banned commercial hunting in 1973 (the author has a definite opinion on this), while Tanzania still has limited hunting concessions. While observing the various species of animal at each of the parks, including the Big Five highlighted in this book, I was at a loss how hunting such animals could be considered sport. After reading this account of various hunting safaris and big five encounters, I have a better understanding.

As mentioned above, I am a hunter of whitetail deer, turkey and various upland game birds, so I would be the last to denigrate sport hunting. I would not, however, defend the hunting of cows, zebra or any other animal that involved little or no sport. Hunting the Big Five in a national park or conservation area would entail no sport as those animals have lost any fear or even recognition of human presence. The type of hunting practiced and described by the author (largely occurring prior to 1975), is another thing entirely. Stalking a wary, trophy bull elephant for dozens of miles on foot, sometimes in dense foliage to very close proximity, aware that a non-lethal shot may result in gruesome death, can certainly be classified as sport. Likewise, trailing a wounded leopard or Cape buffalo into an impenetrable thicket is not only sport, it is lunacy.

The author has a very folksy, entertaining writing style that includes a healthy dose of humor along with technical and practical information on the means, methods and tools used in such an endeavor. At about 250 pages, this is a very quick, entertaining read.… (more)

Because Rich said this was more about Africa than many of the Kilimanjaro books we've read recently, I started this. Capstick starts with a justification about big-game hunting and he lost me with it. You can't equate hunting elephants with hunting white-tailed deer because deer aren't endangered. Plus you eat the deer. I can't read it holding my nose as I can just read Hemingway, because even Hemingway knew the animal populations were plummeting and Capstick is 40 years later on and also not Hemingway.… (more)