Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Elmer Keith "Hell, I Was There"

I bought a copy somewhere in the early 90's Don't remember how much I paid.

Threw the dustcover away, but the book is like new.
Have read it twice. GREAT book!

Wonder what it's worth?

Thanks! Virgil B.

I have the inexpensive reprint - and the wisdom is still invaluable.

What about signed?

"Hell, I was There", always provided some good laughs.

In one part, Elmer talks about a riderless mule that came buckin' into town.

Everybody came out of the saloon to see what was going on.

There was a saddle on the mule and a burlap sack thrown across the back of the saddle.

Turns out, there was a golden eagle in the burlap sack and it had arched it's talons through the sack and sunk them into the flank of the mule,..causing it to pitch a fit,..naturally.

Elmer,..being Elmer, shot a couple of rounds from his revolver into the sack and sent the eagle to the choir eternal.

Some wag who hung out at the saloon decided to disinfect the mule's wounds by pouring whiskey on them.

"She sure did bray!", says Elmer.

A while later the mule's owner camp limping into town.

When the eagle took an attitude and dug its talons into the mule, the mule had dislodged its rider directly into an outgrowth of prickly pear,..and his butt was covered with its thorny splines.

They took him into the saloon,..layed him out on the pool table and began extracting the prickly pear thorns from his butt.

When they were finished,..the same saloon wag who had poured whiskey on the mules wounds walked up and poured whiskey on the guy's prickly peared ass.

Evidently,...he didn't think any more of the disinfectant procedure than they mule did.

You and I are on the same page on that one. Somewhere well before that you cross the line from hunting to shooting, IMO.

Elmer was one of the good buys. He surely befriended a young gunny teenager .... me

Steve

That's very cool,..

"Who the hell is Elmer Keith?" Perhaps that's why you got it for $35. As I recall, my copy came to me via the Outdoor Life Book Club......for a song, but unsigned, of course.

GFY, the de-deflavinated version of course...(Good For You)

I loaned my copy to a friend and he lost it . Been looking for a replacement for a while. Yes it was worth it.

outstanding deal, ive seen copies like that go for upwards of $600 on a good day, $300 all week long.....seen asking prices higher but have actually seen more than one copy sold for around $600....

I have 4 of Elmers books, bought each of them from him back in the 70's & he signed each one for me, the ultra rare one is Safari, very few of them ever made it to the public. Your buy for $35 is a real bargin. I still remember standing on his front porch the first time, I was shaking a bit at the thought of meeting the old master, it was very interesting visiting with him & Lorraine although she didn't say much. Her & my wife talked sewing.
I remember Elmer had a re-caped Stone sheep in the front room, along with a Sable & a very large set of Elephant Ivory's, the tusks were arched over the couch. Everything else was out back in his converted garage/writing room.

Dick

I too have the Outdoor Life book club edition. Time to read it again.

Idaho, that is how I felt when I met Elmer for the first time..He was without a doubt a gentleman..and as honest as they come..I am certain he was a very, very bright man..As for his writing, it seems he just typed on..a few strike overs, but little if any corrections..Have some of his letters, they are gems..Also have a book of his letters, and several small books from people who knew him..
We tend to forget in this day, that hunting was not so much for trophies for Elmer, but for meat..In once case they hunted for 30 days before getting elk in the position to shoot..I can see why he favored heavy rifles..One of the old stories he tells of walking seven miles in the dark BEFORE he started hunting..Certainly a different breed of man ..
As for the shot at the mulie at 600 yards..He actually fired several shots, and didn't realize until about a mth later when the started to use the buck for meat that he had hit the buck at such long range..He used his first 44 mag. with Rem. factory loads..He wanted to kill a buck with it, but wasn't having any luck..It was the last day of season and they spotted a band of deer with a nice buck...Since it was so far away, with little chance of closing the distance before quitting time he ask his pal who had a .300 H & H, to kill the deer for him for meat..Anyway, as others have said the buck was wounded and getting away before Elmer took a hand..He did succeed in hitting the buck several times at that distance..Quite an event..But we must remember Elmer praticed all his life with a handgun at long range..He was prepared..
Someone mentioned going over to Salmon..It has to be one of the most beautiful spots I have ever visited..But I am sure my admiration for Elmer has something to do with it..Great read..Hope you enjoy the book..The letters in the back are also great reading..

Shrap, clean out your pm box.

There are and were legends out there that surpass Jack and Elmer,the guys that are not gunwriters but took them and others on there hunts or the everyday guy that just lived it.

Gunwriters appeal to concrete cowboys that don't live the life and belieive what they write is golden.And the legends prevail with a gift of gab..Elmer and Jack were great writers for those that like to here there experiences but the unforgotten people that took them on there hunts and taught them,remain unknown....

I no one that took Jack many times hunting and another that fed Elmer shine on his trip down the Salmon river and they both said,what they write is not what they are......

But this is the net and hero's are hero's,for those that need hero's.................Slam away..............

Jayco

"Hell I Was There" is still one of my favorite books. First read it in High School, and countless times since. It's still one of the best handgun books I've ever read.

Elmer was a man's man & lived a in a life & time the rest of us can only dream about. I only wished I would have had the privelidge of meeting him. Some of you fellas are really lucky! God broke the mold when he made Elmer Keith.

[/quote]Like HawkI...

I, too, did some corresponding with Elmer Keith in the 1960s and found him quite literate... certainly NOT the "crude cowboy" some apparently jealous newer gun-writers attempt to make him out to be.

I found him refreshing honest and forthright, but he was no man's fool and I seriously doubt that the man lied as he has so often been accused of doing concerning his 600 yard killing shots on that deer with a 6-gun so often given by some doubters as an example of an outright lie.

I believe Elmer Keith was a "diamond-in-the-rough", and the man could certainly write a fine, interesting story. He seemed to me to be a very sincere and a relatively humble man in spite of his fame as one of "THE" top gun-scribes of the American 20th. century.

At least, that was my "take" on Elmer Keith.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T. [/quote]

I've seen a few letters too, and that's my take also, as well as that of the fellow who shared the letters with me.

Agree on Hell I Was There, great book. My copy was not much more than $35, but it's beat up and doesn't have a signature, though I do have a 1917 with Elmer's stamp on the stock.

Here's a link to Elmers write up on the 600 yard shot. he knew that he hit him a couple of times that day. Once in back of the jaw and once through the lungs.
Doc
http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=34

Absolutely.

But I'm getting married this weekend.


Travis

Pretty sure that's Rick's responsibility.


Travis