Last Horizons: Hunting, Fishing & Shooting On Five Continents

by Peter Hathaway Capstick

Peter Hathaway Capstick first earned a name as an outdoor writer in the pages of such magazines as Guns & Ammo, Petersen's Hunting, The American Hunter, and Outdoor Life. In this, the first of a two-volume collection of his hunting, fishing, and shooting tales, you'll find twenty-four examples of his keen eye and steady hand with rifle, shotgun, bow, and typewriter.

The critically acclaimed successor to Hemingway and Robert Ruark repeatedly put himself in harm's way and writes about close scrapes with his trademark wit and dash. He tells what it's like to be in the path of an express train with Horns--the Cape buffalo; describes the heart-stopping sensation of sharing the immediate bush with several sickle-clawed lions that most certainly were prone to argue; and recounts his adventures bow-fishing for exotic species in the piranha-filled rivers of Brazil. Capstick's experiences, painfully gained (and almost lost) with the most dangerous of game, are the yardsticks against which most modern exotic and hunting adventures are gauged. The finely rendered drawings by Dino Paravano do justice to the text.

Genres: Nonfiction

277 pages, Hardcover

Published December 15, 1988

About the author

Peter Hathaway Capstick was an American hunter and author. Born in New Jersey and educated at (although did not graduate from) the University of Virginia, he walked away from a successful Wall Street career shortly before his thirtieth birthday to become a professional hunter, first in Central and South America and later (and most famously) in Africa. Capstick spent much of his life in Africa, a land he called his "source of inspiration." A chain smoker and heavy drinker, he died at age 56 from complications following heart surgery.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of Capstick's books are a thrill, and even if you aren't a hunter, you'll gain lots of insight into deadly animals, the lands they are from and the people in-and-around their habitats. The hunting is the way he chooses to convey the story...very thrilling stuff! This one is sort of a "best of" from his other books and articles.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first become aware of Peter Hathaway Capstick in the pages of magazines like Outdoor Life and The American Hunter. He's led an exciting life as a hunter and wildlife manager and writes about it with wit and verve. One of our best true-life adventure writers ever. This is a collection of his hunting articles from various magazines and I found these stories outstanding.

[Johnny Sumara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good. Worth it.

A fun collection of some of rus as contributing author to various outdoor magazines. Worth reading. Well worth your time and efforts

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was published by St. Martins Press
with Peter Capstick as Series Editor

in the Masterpieces of Africana Set of Four Vintage books
and other reprints

and later distributed through Wolfe Publishing in the 90s

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Masterpieces of Africana

Big Game Hunting and Collecting in East Africa, 1903-1926 - Kittenberger
Big Game Hunting in North Eastern Rhodesia - Letcher
After Big Game in Central Africa - Foa
Lion Hunting in Somaliland - Mellis

with the modern book

Last Horizons, Hunting Fishing and Shooting on Five Continents - Peter Hathaway Capstick

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Today you would be shooting with some of the rifles of the 1910s like
the 375 Holland and Holland from 1912
and the 416 Rigby from 1911

but you'd also have the 375 Blaser and 416 Remington and 416 Weatherby

I'd probably think that those lower level Elephant Guns would be far more workable these days than the somewhat more powerful beasts like the 500 Nitro Express, 500 Jeffrey (aka 12.7x70 Schuler), or the 460 Weatherby of the 1950s or the 458 Lott of the 70s or the 450 Rigby of the 2000s.

I'd think that any 375 will take things down, or a 416
and you don't need anything else...

though in some dangerous situations you might want more firepower, mostly for a quick kill, over a slower kill, so you don't get stomped on.... but sometimes that's more about bullet placement and luck than anything else...

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Probably the ideal is using a 375 H&H or 375 Blaser and having backup shooters with 416 Rigby/Remington/Weatherby

The wonderful thing about reading about the African hunters is when the always get mauled, like when you had the German 9.3x64 Brenneke which was like 1924 equal to the 375 Holland and Holland, but some German big game hunters would be killed by faulty bullet designs of the era (now you have fairly good things like the RWS TUG bullets for things like that now)....

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The 375 H&H is probably the ideal rifle for a one shot bear rifle
though it'll hit your shoulder with about 45 lbs of force

much easier then the 460 Weatherby with about 98 lbs

again, a lot depends on how heavy your rifle, and if you get a recoil reducer in your butt stock to reduce the recoil about 20% to 35%, and what bullet weight you're choosing for how much much firepower you need

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 4 out of 5]

They are all good.

[Caleb M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic diversity of Capstick stories. Some of the best were told to him by others. Guns and ammo aren't my thing, but the hunting and fishing stories are top knoch.

[Robert Attaway Sr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of Capstick's magazine articles. Very good.