Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa African Hunting Book Recommendation

I read "Death In The Long Grass" by Capstick a long time ago and I really enjoyed it. I loved reading about the good old days of hunting Africa and I would like to pick up another book similar to that. I was planning to just get another one of Capstick's books, but I thought I'd check in with the Campfire and see if there is any "must-read" book that I might be overlooking on the old days of African hunting with the legends like Ruark, etc. Thanks for suggesting any favorites you might have!

For the great early days of African hunting start w/ Selous and Baldwin, amazing times and hunters.


mike r

I would HIGHLY recommend " White Hunters" by Brian Herne

Hunter by John Hunter

I would be hard to recommend just one book on "the old days" of African hunting, since they go back much further than Ruark and Hemingway. It's also hard to stop with just one. Here's part of my little library, but have seen far more extensive collections. (Have also sold some of mine, partly to finance safaris, including a copy of Elmer Keith's Safari, but that's another subject.)



But perhaps my favorite of "historical" accounts of the classic African hunting is this one:



It's a collection of of stories from various British hunters in the early 1900s--and not hard to find on the Internet, and not all that expensive. I got lucky, and was given my copy as a present from Jack O'Connor's son Bradford a few years ago--the copy Jack gave him years ago. In his inscription to Brad, Jack says "Chapter Seven, Addax Hunting in Dongola" by Maydon, "is one of the finest hunting stories ever written." Since it appeared around a century ago, obviously the info isn't current, but it's a fascinating look at what once was.

+1 for "White Hunters" and also for "Hunter" by John A Hunter.

Yep, you will see Hunter toward the right end of the second shelf of my first photo--alongside Hunter's Tracks by him, and another great collection of stories.

Another one I recently reread was Kambaku, but Harry Manners, another excellent look at that era.

If you like the thought of Cape Buffalo hunting then by all means you must read Berger.

I sure appreciate all the good recommendations! I don't think I'll ever be able to hunt Africa so I'd like to live as much of the good old safari days vicariously through the stories as I can. I shoot a CZ550 American in 6.5x55 Swedish and I always think that would be a good light rifle to take there. Once I got to shoot a CZ550 Safari in .458 Win Mag. We shot 350 and 500 grain bullets. That was something else! With open sights at 50 yards I was dead center in the bullseye. After that first shot though I must have started flinching a little because my groups weren't very impressive. But it was a cherished experience to at least have gotten to shoot a genuine "elephant" rifle!

It sounds like "Hunter" is going to be in my shopping cart tonight and maybe a couple of other titles such as "White Hunters" and maybe the Maydon book. That one has me intrigued, especially with the endorsement of the patron saint of the .270 Winchester!

Thanks everyone, I hope you all have a safe and fun Memorial Day!

Another REAL interesting read is " Bell of Africa" Its Karamojo Bells memoirs...a VERY interesting man.

Yep--as is Karamojo Safari, which is on my shelves next to Bell of Africa. Both are in the photo just to the left of several Craig Boddington books--and then Horned Death by John Burger, and next Peter Capstick's biography of John Taylor, A Man Called Lion--which I've found more interesting than Capstick's other books.

On the upper left of the photo are three books by Finn Aagaard, one with additional material material added by his wife Berit, herself a very good writer. Finn was born in Kenya 1932, and started hunting as soon as he could hold and aim a rifle, eventually starting his own safari company. So his African hunting stories encompass a lot of what's sometimes called the "classic" post-WWII safari era, when Ruark and others hunted.

If you want to read a lot of detail about hunting rifles for Africa, Craig Boddington's Safari Rifles II is good. In addition to his own opinions he includes surveys of African PH's of their opinions about rifles.

I went ahead and ordered a copy of "Hunter" by John A. Hunter. It should be here tomorrow, I'm excited to kick back in the woods in my hammock on Memorial Day, relax and get into "Hunter".

I was debating between "White Hunters" and "Hunter". The former was $18 for a paperback, the latter was Hardcover for $30. I chose to get the hardcover to start my own little "African" collection.

Thanks again for all the good suggestions! Being a fan of the 6.5 Swede I always liked reading about the elephants Bell killed with his 6.5x54 M-S and 7x57 Mauser. He must have been a real cool shot under pressure. I appreciate those who brought him up, I am definitely interested in reading about his adventures too.

There are so many good books. I highly recommend Horned Death by John Burger. The National Sporting Fraternity published many great books, including anthologies Hunting The African Elephant, and the same title for Lion, Leopard and Buffalo. If you can find The East African Hunters, get it.

Ruark, whose works have probably been mentioned already, is well worth reading. I also recommend the book that started my African desire, Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter by WDM Bell. I bought a first edition back in 1977, when I was but 18 years old. It started an interest in Africa that has become a passion. I highly recommend it.

Consider Capstick as partial fiction. Many experiences were true but there was also some glamour added to make it more interesting.

My recommendation is to start another savings account at a bank. Put a little in when you can. Do side jobs. You'll be surprised that in a couple years how much you have accrued. Keep reading and fuel that desire. Don't bring your trophies home. You can find a cull hunt fairly cheap but you'll still get the experience. You need to do this otherwise you'll regret it.

I finished "Hunter" this evening and started "White Hunters" immediately. I knew I wouldn't want to have to wait to get it so I secured a copy when I was about halfway through "Hunter" so I'd have it on-deck. So far it is starting out really good.

The best book is Months of The Sun by Ian Nychens.Hunter by John Hunter is good.Then there is Corbet's books on man killers in India.All these authors are a little screwed up but the hunting stories are priceless.The books by the drunk Ruark were the worst.

Naw, the best book is Tuskers In The Dust by Fred Everett. Nychens comes in second.

And a lot of it written from a barstool...

Or at least heard from a barstool....

In any sort of reading about a certain subject, I tend to read as many sources as possible. Which is why I have too damn many books--and also tend to distrust anybody who claims XYZ book is the "best" or "only."

This has also been tempered by my own experience in several trips to Africa--along with that of several PHs I've hunted with, including the excellent author Kevin Thomas. This is partly because he published the book There's Something About Buffalo a few years ago, which is not only about his experiences but several other professional hunters (https://www.kevindthomas.com/. And Kevin's experience is not just as a PH, but as a culler on big ranch in what was then Rhodesia--and also a professional soldier, one of the original Selous Scouts. His latest book is about his experience as a "consultant" for the U.S. in Iraq.

A lot of Kevin's writing is far more relevant to hunting in today's Africa than older books, whether written by PHs or "visiting" hunters. But as is often said these days, whatever....

Go to Abebooks.com and search for Oswald, Cummings, Harris, Akley, Baldwin, Hunter, Selous , Bell, Johnson, Patterson, Rosevelt and Africa, and then surf up additional references from those books.

Some of these folks were there long before LandRovers and modern cartridges were invented and mucked about for years.

Been filling my shelves for the last few years, and many of these are best read twice.

Capstick borrowed heavily from others who were around before his grand parents were born.

Several advise the continent was pretty well shot out by the late 1700's, but rinderpest was largely responsible for a lot of the decline.

When one gets to volumes drafted in the mid-1700's they can get expensive and may have to be sourced from Europe.

"Hunter" was riveting and I dog-eared many pages with passages that I highlighted. I liked that he returned to Africa after feeling claustrophobic in Scotland. Kind of the opposite of what I believe WDM Bell ended up doing. I am reading "White Hunters" now and am about halfway through it. I'm consumed by these books, I have been neglecting my own handloading and shooting time at the gun club for weeks now! We did a "Women On Target" event a couple of Saturdays ago and I volunteered at that, but otherwise I have just been rushing home to sit outside at sunset and get lost in tales of the golden days of safari hunting. Last night I forced myself to shoot a Ruger Air Magnum pellet gun from my front porch for awhile just to get a little exercise for my trigger finger!

I'm so appreciative of you all for sharing your recommendations. I'm sure I will return to this thread many times for guidance on my future readings. I still have a good ways to go in "White Hunters" but I'm already thinking I want to read some Bell next. I like the Era before the automobile showed up better I think. Although the author that Mule Deer suggested looks very interesting, especially since I love reading about military special operations and history too. I watched a documentary on the Selous Scout's and I would like to learn more.

This!

"White Hunters" is awesome. I'm over halfway through it and I'm loving every page. I ordered a copy of Frederick Courtney Selous' "Wanderings Of An African Hunter" and a friend loaned me a copy of "The Man-Eaters Of Tsavo". I'm not sure which one I'll read next, but it will be one of those two.

Since I read the chapter in "White Hunters" on the silver screen I also watched the movies "King Solomon's Mines", "The Macomber Affair" and last night "The Snows Of Kilimanjaro". I like the classic movies so I thought they were all pretty good. I read "The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber" before I watched the movie and thought they did a good job of it.

I'm still wanting to read Bell and others, but the Selous book was so cheap I couldn't pass it up.

The one thing you quickly learn in White Hunters is that most of them met a tragic, sudden fate. I mean just look at the Cottars, dad gets it from a rhino, son is Cape Buff, and grandson is all but killed by a Buff

Anything written by Boddington. It is mostly current, at least within the past 20 years. I love the old stuff but for a Nimrod headed to Africa, lots of stuff is way way way different than what it was even in the 1950s.

A more modern book is “Tall Tales” by Buzz Charlton. Great African dangerous game stories sprinkled with some humor.

Buzz Charlton has a reputation for dangerous game hunts and seems to be well respected. Sounds like an interesting book.

It's been a few years since I wrote about my time with Capstick when he worked for Luangwa Safaris in Zambia. I can think of nothing new to add. I will repeat, he wrote a good story and never let the truth get in the way. He did catch a lot of the flavor of safari if not the facts of any particular day. And he was a nice guy at the time.

Well okay, one new story. After he had published several of his books I happened to run into him at his booth at an NRA convention. He was speechless and actually turned pale when he saw me. I was not there to embarrass him so just said "Hi," asked how he'd been and moved on.

Kambaku - by Harry Manners . Amazing story of an amazing individual , the setting is Portuguese East Africa, now Mozambique. Harry shot his first elephant as a teenager and used that experience to become a pioneer of safaris in Portuguese East Africa , land that was little hunted. He built his own roads and bridges to get to new hunting locations. He was a professional elephant hunter until 1953 when ivory hunting was closed in Mozambique , he went to become the first PH at Safarilandia and later served on the National Parks Board of SA. Tragic event at the end effects his personal life.

The Last Ivory Hunter , The Saga of Wally Johnson by Peter Capstick . Wally was a hunting partner of Harry Manners. So I recommend reading both books. Wally is one of the few people to survive the bite of a Gaboon Viper. Wally lost his home and all his possessions in the revolt in Mozambique . The photos in the book were supplied by his daughter who had moved to the US.

Lastly, anything by Robert Ruark. Horn of the Hunter is a good start .

If interested, I have several numbered collector issues of Peter's limited edition books....personalized to me.
PM for details.
Best
Spike

After three chapters, I’m liking Thunder Without Rain by Thomas McIntyre pretty well. It’s sure not one that can be read quickly, not by me anyway; too much meat in his writing for that.

My favorites Aagaard’s Africa by Finn A and Horn of the Hunter by Ruark.

I'd imagine that if, the campfire members who had hunted Africa were to write a chapter each on their experiences...that would be a great read...

Rick,

Have you read the later edition, which includes Berit's additions? They add considerable interesting info.

Selous and Baker, among others, can be found in e-form for free online. Some are OCR versions and full of errors and other annoyances, but the PDF scans are better, with the dog-eared, whiskey-stained pages “intact”. Only the musty, flea market smell is missing. Libravox.org is a good source, but there are others.