Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Peter Hathaway Capstick Credibility

Over the years I sure enjoyed reading Capstick's "Death in the ......(pick a place) books but I did hear once that Peter's material was, well should we say, "embellished" a bit? I immediately asked about this and the comment was something like "Doesn't it strike you a bit unusual that Capstick has more life and death charges, narrow escapes, etc., from wildlife in Africa than do any 5 other professional hunters combined?" I was dumbstruck, which is not all that hard. Just ask my children. Anyway, back to the point. This man, who is pretty well connnected to the outdoor professional writing business, contended that the word was out among the other professional, outdoor writers, that Capstick made up most of this exciting stuff in his books or at least embellished it so much that it departed from the point of truthfulness. My making this point is not to really make a point but rather to find out from any of you other campfire regulars if you had ever heard something similar or ACTUALLY KNEW ANY FACTS ABOUT IT. Let's hear it from the Capstick fans or detractors out there.

I can't say. I've never heard that his writing was "embellished", but it wouldn't really surprise me. Some of it is a little unbelievable, but then I've never been to Africa.

Regardless, I do enjoy reading his books. Most of my reading is done for entertainmant, so I tend to enjoy it without judgement. If it's good and I enjoy the book, I don't worry too much about truthfulness.

Of course, I read alot of books about the ACW. As a book dealing with history, it had better be factual. I can stand a little "embelishment" and editorial slant, but after reading "Our brave lads from (fill in the state) slew all the cowardly devils" for the umpteenth time.... Well let's just say it's time to find another book.
7mm

Rolly,

I don't know about embellished at all. His books for the most part are about experiences of other people. I didn't get the feeling he was "embellishing" as much as he was telling the stories in an interesting and entertaining style.

As for me I enjoyed his books and even went so far as to buy a leatherbound numbered signed set from Safari Press a few years back.

Besides the guy is dead and I prefer to take them at face value.

I tend to beleive that Capstick was telling the truth. He may have embellished a bit but what he wrote has the ring of truth.
If you read some of the other hunter/writers like Denis Lyell, John "Pondoro" Taylor, W.D.M."Karamojo" Bell, and of course the incomparable Edward James Corbett you'll see what Capstick said isn't too far off.
Dem critters wif the big toofesses can get mighty testy.
After all they LIVED it.
I put absolutely no stock in what modern writers, like Sundra, have to say. These chumps fly into a champagne safari, "hunt" for a few days, maybe get a shot or two, and proclaim they're African experts. And of course everyone else is a blithering idiot except for themselves.

A lot of stories are better with the telling: and the retelling and the retelling and the retelling. I haven't read anything by Capstick beyond what was published by magazines. He told his dramas well and I really don't care how precise the stories were. He entertained me for the duration of the read and I probably learned something too. Some other writers haven't provided as much. I still enjoy Ruark as much as any writer and we all know he specialized in fiction combined with a bit of truth and experience. If you are really active in the game fields you will discover your own truths: and retell them, and retell them. and retell them. That's how it should be. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I've heard many times that Capstick not only embelished, but stole stories from other PH's and retold them as his own. I've heard that he wrote most of his stories from a barstool.

Maybe that is accurate, and maybe it's not. I wasn't there, so who am I to say?

I'll say this, though- I don't care if he never even went to Africa.

Capstick was a wonderful writer, and can keep you on the edge of your seat. Even if it was pure fiction, it doesn;t matter.

Capstick was well known for sitting in African bars and picking up storys,then writing them up with himself as the hero.

Anyone with a lick of common sense,can tell right off the bat that anything pertaining this his "PH" work in Africa,is a crock.Yup,not every day that your pair of African trackers are named "Silent" and "Invisable" (maybe because they didn't exist?).

I also like how Peter had been charged/mauled by every species he ever wrote about.I fondly remember some years ago someone doing some research on Peter,after reading all of his claims of culling elephant for the parks department.No records were found of him doing so,unless of course he was working under the table and off the books.

Anyone who has watched his hunting videos,will see what a complete and udder joke he was.I've watched them all and my favorite part in one was were they're all standing around talking,and a hippo trots from the timber line to the water,around 200 yards from them.Peter looks up and screams "Look out!!" and goes running,while everyone else stands their looking at him.

There are a few folks over at AccurateReloading who claim to have known him and that he was "the real deal".This makes me seriously question if they think they're "the real deal" also.Nope,I never met Peter,and I have never met Bill Clinton either,but I can sure as hell tell you that both are full of crap!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Peter WAS a good writer,I will give him that.I own several of his books,and as far as entertainment and entertainment only goes,it's great.I think his biography of John Taylor was horrible and very degrading to the memory of the fine man (calling Taylor a homosexual simply because his best friend and tracker of many years slept in the same hut together,is ridiculous by any stretch of the imagination).

Brian.

WCB,

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Dep Norm,
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Brian.

(see,I can use graemlins too)

All I can say, from 1 experiance of my own. Big cats scare the hell out of me! I saw a Tiger attack in RSVN, a full magazine of 5.56 ball and 3- 5 round bursts from my M-60 to stop him! I like P.H. Capsticks stories and believe there is probably more than a grain of truth in them! I have seen our own JJ Hack slandered on other boards as well. If ya don't know and base your opinion on hearsay, shame on you.

Some (quite a few) years ago I ventured an opinion that a certain Alaska writer with the words Annabell and Russell in his name may have expanded the truth slightly. Unfortunately for me, three of the other 6 guys in the group had known and hunted with him, of which I was unaware when I made my mildly pickled opinion known. Whoops! I only recently got my ears unpinned.

Don't know about PHC, but he's a fine writer, and I enjoy all his works. If it didn't happen, it should have.

TLEE,

You were undergunned. The military should have known you never take a varmint or a deer gun to a tiger fight.

Blaine

I now realize that the "Blooper trooper" shoud have just put a H.E. into him. Trouble is we were too busy to think! Seriously, I had no idea how damn fast they are, I doubt that the chopper could have lifted off fast enough even if the pilot had alredy spooled up and pulled pitch. Cat come out of the tree line like an NVA tracer! He swatted two slow ARVN troopers about 20 yards apart before we could react and open fire. We did, however pretty much disassemble him.

Dear Rolly,

Peter Hathaway Capstick was a great writer. I knew him although I cannot personally attest to the truth of what he wrote from personal experience. I did not know him that well. However, I knew Bob Langeveldt pretty well and we had several long conversations about Peter's writings. For those with a copy of Death in the Long Grass, Bob is mentioned often in the chapter on elephant.

Bob was a control officer for many years and had well over 1000 elephants to his credit. Peter did do at least some elephant cropping as Bob told me that the young Capstick was sent to him to learn "the ropes" of culling jumbo. He also told me several interesting stories about the experience.

Bob also told me, and I fully believe what I was told, that everything in Peter's books actually happened. However, he also told me that it didn't necessarily happen exactly the way it was recorded in his books.

Whatever the real truth might be, he was a truly gifted writer and left us much too young.

Tom