Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer...

Do you have this book?



I found and bought it today off of ebay.

Have some other pretty scarce Keith books, including Safari and Keith's Rifles for Large Game, but don't have that one!

Gonna be some .333 & .334 OKH spoken here



41

Really,figured it would be in your collection.

41rem,yeah ain't it great.

Have ya'll seen the prices of some of his books today? ' Hell I was there' is nuts now.

I've got a beat up copy of "Guns and Ammo for Hunting Big Game." 1965 copyright, library discard. Wonder if it is the same book?

So is at all material written specifically for the book, or a collection of articles from magazines?

Mine is book form, not a collection of articles. But I would say there is a lot of the same material, just put in the book, from his magazine work.

300 savagem

Thanks, that answer my question.

My Keith collection includes his first book, Big Game Rifles & Cartridges, published in 1936.
Elmer Keith's Big Game Hunting
Hell, I Was There!
Gun Notes, Vol. 1 & II (a collection of his columns in Guns & Ammo)
Keith's Rifles for Large Game
Sixguns
Shotguns by Keith

I am not really a book collector, though I have ended up owning a few rare and fairly expensive volumes. Instead of collecting, I want older books that can provide historical references, good stories, etc. What I have found with Keith is that his basic ideas didn't really change all that much over the decades, and the above volumes pretty much have them covered--along with a lot of hunting stories.

Mule Deer.
Would you have any idea of the value of his first book ? (Big Game Rifles & Cartridges)
I have it in first edition 1936.
thanks
jay

Same book.

IDK

Dunno, especially in different levels of condition. Though you could Google it and see what comes up--which is how most people determine the approximate value of books these days--and guns, etc.

Mine is a former library copy without a dust jacket, which tends to lower the price. Can't remember how much I paid for it, but recall it was on the shelf at a used-book store, probably 15-20 years ago. Seem to recall it was $10-15.

Thanks elkhunternm. Along with this book, I have Sixguns, Shotguns, Hell I was there, and both Gunnotes. I enjoy Keith, and read him a lot in my youth, and still do. Interestingly, mine says "editing and rewrite by John Lachuk." It was published by Petersen.

My memory, without making a direct comparison, is that there is nothing new or unique or even unusual in the Petersen sourced book but lots of collected material including lots of pictures to make the book more fun as books go. There are several in the Petersen 8-1/2 X 11 series to match Hell I was There including Townsend Whelen. It's entirely possible the Keith manuscripts had more differences and editing homogenized the writing.

I have a reasonable assortment of his books mostly because I started buying them when Mr. Keith was still actively writing so I was buying new books at published prices or maybe even discounted from published prices and older used books cheaper than the new editions and new books.

I find as "how to" books Keith's books are I think deficient as once formed Mr. Keith's opinions seem set in concrete and repeated. Then again Warren Page once acknowledged he was writing embedded advertising in his collected from magazine articles hunting books and only Mr. Page's Accurate Rifle to my eye has any pretense of instruction.

I have a mixed hole size Hollywood Universal Turret because Mr. Keith said in the Petersen book that the Hollywood was the very best. Mr. Keith's reloading suggestions dated to the days of domed and flat primers but my own experience didn't so I found some suggestions puzzling. If domed primers ever come back I'm ready with the primer punch in my 4 punch turret. Likely enough the Hollywood with its ability to handle big European cartridges really was the best when he chose it. Mr. Keith is able to make distinctions like an outcome oriented legal opinion distinguishing cases because the car is red in one case and green in the other when in my own much more limited experience I don't see a real difference. I swapped off a youthful .270 with memories I should have kept and into a 7mm Remington Magnum when I decided to follow Keith instead of O'Connor. At 75 I can't remember the rationale but I mourn the .270.

On the other hand I also agree with the Idaho river valley resident who said: Don't tell Elmer I said so but in this kind of country [in the pines in the pines where the sun never shines] he's right. Certainly Mr. Keith is basing distinctions on experience and not thought experiments or work by others. No Clay Harvey he. For my money the man was as honest as he knew how to be. Though I do think Mr. Keith saw differences where I might have seen flukes and chance variations.

On the other hand I do believe until he became a grand old man he had issues with respect, as he was entitled to given issues in his life. I think the man depicted as edited in Keith comes across as a nicer guy than in less edited Hell I was There.

I could have had all his books autographed (and personalized which might not have helped prices compared to just autographed) and never bothered to my current double regret. I think Mr. Keith was lucky to be acclaimed in his own life and flattered to be asked.

Save perhaps the real and acknowledged rarities like Safari and maybe even Safari I think the prices for Mr. Keith's books have peaked and are starting to fall. This may be obscured by inflation.

Thanks !

I have one of those that was given to me. Heavy duty SOB. miles

Clark,

I've also been told by a couple people from the Salmon area that Keith used the .30-06 quite a bit in his later years, but didn't write about it due to his medium-to-big bore reputation. One claimed he used 180 Partitions, and a .30-06 with Partitions would certainly have solved the plains-game bullet problems he had on his first safari.

From what I've seen you're right about his books losing value, and in my experience it started a while back, mostly due to not as many Elmer Keith fans still being around. A secondary factor is not as many hunters doing much reading anymore.

One other Keith item I have is a letter from him, after I wrote to him about handloading the .338-06/OKH, after I had a .30-06 rebored in the 1970's. (Have had more than one editor who worked with Keith's copy say it was kind of a nightmare, and the letter is full of typos and other mistakes. But it's also full of good advice.)

This may be an urban (or in this case, rural) legend, but read the story years ago where a new editor sent Keith's manuscript back with suggestions, including the request that he use more commas. According to the story, Keith put the manuscript back in the manual typewriter and typed 4 or 5 rows of commas at the bottom, with the a note that read "This should be plenty. Put them where you want them." If it isn't true, it should be!

When did Elmer start writing for Petersen Publishing Co?