The Author
Peter Capstick was a successful Wall Street stockbroker, but around the age of thirty, he followed his dream to hunt and fish in the wilds. He got professional hunting licences in Zambia, Botswana and Rhodesia, and was successful in his new career as both a hunter and author. Death in the Long Grass was his first book, published in 1977. Peter was a heavy smoker and drinker, and sadly he died young, at 56 years of age, in South Africa in 1996.
The Argument
In recent times, the big-game hunting genre has become unfashionable. Its popularity faded with the anti-fur movement and animal rights activism. Now, activists, and many other people, believe killing an animal, even in self-defence, is unacceptable. Today, in many people’s eyes, shark protection measures at beaches are cruel and unjustified. The argument goes, humans are at fault if they trespass on the creature’s natural habitat. The anti-hunting lobby often backs up this argument with a debate on the negative impact humans have on the wildlife’s food supply. Sharks and other predators must then substitute with available alternatives, including humans. Many people blame over-fishing and expansion of human settlement into wildlife habitat for this situation.
As a child, I read many hunting stories and dreamt of a life as a big-game hunter. I was a crack shot with my pellet gun and terrorised the birds in the bush around Bulawayo. Soon though, I recognised the waste of those beautiful lives and turned to the camera as a far better way to shoot them. So now, I dislike photos of hunters with modern weapons, standing proudly next to the carcass of some unfortunate beast. No animal seems exempt from their desire to kill. Even endangered species run the risk of a bullet or arrow.
The Book
Perhaps, we should distinguish between trophy hunting and other arguably essential forms of hunting. It would be a shame to approach this book with any preconceived ideas or prejudices. My August 2018 blog post—A Case for Hunting? A Review of the Question—looks at arguments for and against hunting big-game. The intent of the post is to encourage readers to keep an open mind.
The author devotes a chapter to each of Africa’s more dangerous creatures, including the big five, that presents a threat to humans. Many of the animals he hunted were man-eaters or rogue beasts that threatened human life. At other times he guided trophy hunters on safaris. Peter Capstick, aware of the controversy surrounding big-game hunting, discusses the issue in his book.
For me, a non-hunter, the stories were as thrilling as any I read in my youth. Peter has a gift for tension and fast-paced action, with a touch of dry humour. Death in the Long Grass is great storytelling through great writing. He wrote one of my all-time favourite opening sentences—‘The man who was about to die padded softly along the narrow trail, tiny puffs of reddish dust spurting from beneath his crude, auto-tire sandals.’ How can you not read further? Death in the Long Grass is a must-read for all lovers of adventure stories.
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