Jack O’Connor

[Steve Milbocker]

Poper, I think you’re probably right. I had all of Capsticks books at one time but gave them all away. Wish I would have kept all the hunting books I gave away now. I sincerely hope people are enjoying them as much as I did.

 

[whughett]

Only been hunting here for about 5 years, grew up in Ohio became a "southerner" in 2015 but it is my understanding that we have no black bears in middle Tennesse. We have always had game cameras out on the property. Currently running eight cameras and never caught a bear on camera. So I am pretty confident its a deer rub not a bear.

Not doubting the deer rub. Bear will claw a tree like that but leaves multiple claw marks. I was surprised to the no bear so I googled it. Seems they are currently in the eastern counties bordering the Carolinas and Georgia.
Might you’ll get lucky and they will start moving west.

 

[Steve Milbocker]

A few years back I think they were having a bad time with poachers taking black bears for their gall bladders in the Great Smokie Mnt. Natl Park

 

[whughett]

MCB. Small world. I was born In Scott county Tennessee grew up in the Cincinnati area of Ohio.
Lots of family still in Tennessee North Eastern and South central. . Was in Pulaski in early March for a family funeral.

 

[Steve Milbocker]

Reading about Jack all day got me thinking about pre 64 model 70s. I couldn’t afford one back in the day and I’m not too sure I can afford one now!

 

[Captcurt]

I too grew up reading the great hunting books Still have many of them. O'connor, Bob Hagel, Capstick, Russel Annabel, Archibald Rutledge, J. A. Hunter, to name a few. Uncle Jack was a learned man and taught at the college level. He even pinned a few novels. I soaked up his prose and even followed in his footsteps carrying a 270 for over 20 years. We need more writers now that are not in the habit of making their hunts into commercials. Not everyone can afford a McWhorter rifle or a Nightforce scope.

 

[.38 Special]

I believe the book you may be referring to is "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo", by Peter Capstick.

That book was written by John Henry Patterson. Supposedly all true. Capstick was pretty much a fiction writer.

 

[J-Bar]

Jack O’Connor, Elmer Keith, Warren Page, Larry Koller, Robert Ruark, Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jordan.

I didn’t realize how blessed I was to read their articles as a kid.

We will not see their like again.


...yeah, I carry a .270 into the deer woods each fall.

 

[EIB0879]

We had The Rifle Book and The Hunting Rifle in my Junior High library. That's how I came to know about Jack O'Connor.

 

[rust collector]

Jack O'Connor taught many of us to shoot, and did an excellent job. He was an excellent writer who didn't rely upon gimmicks or drama. It was a good time to be growing up. No big game history in my family, but Jack showed me how it was done and I've had a lot of fun following his instructions.

 

[drk1]

Had a customer a long time ago that had a "theory" about Jack O'Conner and JFK's assassination. It was not that O'Conner was involved in any way, but this fellow suggested that JFK was probably killed with a .270 - O'Conner's favorite round - and not a Carcano. This fellow began with the question: If you wanted to pick the off the shelf cartridge with the flatest, most accurate reputation in 1963, what would it be? Well, if you read any of the rags from that time, one of the most likely answers would have been the .270. Ok, but what about the Carcano? This guy pointed out that if you compare the dimensions of the .270 and the 6.5 Carcano, they're pretty close and if you were just looking at wounds caused by some indeterminent rifle round, it would be difficult to argue that it wasn't a .270 unless, of course, you just happened to find a Carcano rifle laying around and a nearly pristine Carcano bullet on the hospital gurney where the victim had been laying. The guy's point was that because of all the publicity that O'Conner gave the .270, if you were looking for the ideal assassination round in 1963, you'd have to consider the .270.

 

[SwampWolf]

I have the book in question and others written by O'Connor. One thing's for certain: he knew what a bolt-action rifle should look like. When you compare the "classic" looks of a Model 70, especially when customized by the likes of Al Biesen, with some of the weird, goofy, space-age appearances of many contemporary rifles, it's enough to make Jack turn in his grave. Mr. O'Connor even disparaged the looks of the "California" style rifles made by Weatherby and its ilk; the Winslow rifles being doubtless the worst of the lot at the time in terms of this theme (if you didn't like them-some obviously loved the look).

It should go without saying that opinions regarding the aesthetic merits( or lack of) when considering the looks of a rifle is an inherently subjective treatise and there's really no right or wrong answer. Unless I'm right. And you're wrong.

 

[0ne3]

I think another good writer, was Skeeter Skelton.

 

[22250Rem]

Jack was probably the first outdoor writer I ever read as a kid. Didn't know a thing about rifles, and zero hunting experience. Then along comes this old, (to me) guy with really cool high power rifles and writing great, interesting stuff on those topics. I was already interested in those things and Jack really got me into it further even though I didn't fully understand all of what I was reading. It was interesting; which would be a tribute to his writing talent.

 

[Bill M.]

Grew up reading Jack O'Conner. Memorized every word. Often hunt with a 26" barreled shotgun with a single selective trigger.

But I drew the line. When I bought my Model 70 I got it in .280 Rem.

And I have never felt like I could drop the cash for a custom stocked Model 21. Of course he bought his guns when he was employed during the depression and nobody else was.

 

[Poper]

That book was written by John Henry Patterson. Supposedly all true. Capstick was pretty much a fiction writer.

https://www.alibris.com/search/book...3EYz-fV3DZIgi4avWdBoC1OQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Capstick edited a series and the book (The Man-Eaters of Tsavo) was released in a second edition with Peter Capstick's byline as a part of a series of stories he wrote about "Man-Eaters".

Capstick was not a fiction write by any means. Why you would state such escapes me:
"... Capstick walked away from a successful Wall Street career shortly before his thirtieth birthday to become a professional hunter. His hunting career began in Central and South America and culminated with hunts in Africa for which he is best known. Capstick spent much of his life in Africa, a land he called his "source of inspiration".[2] A chain smoker and heavy drinker, he died at age 56 from complications following heart surgery."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hathaway_Capstick
Perhaps you intended your statement to be jest. If so, I guess I missed it, and my apologies.

Men like Capstick, Bell, Wally Johnson and others of their ilk were born with bark instead of skin. They are/were the real deal and very few people today could or would live the life they lived under the conditions they lived them. That Capstick, O'Connor, Cooper or any of the the other great writers had the 'nads to live the life and the talent to write it in an entertaining form that could spellbind the reader, IMHO, gives great credit to their talent and any admiration and/or notoriety is justly deserved.

Capstick certainly was a talented writer, IMHO. I dare anyone to read "Death in the Long Grass", "Death in the Silent Places", "Death in the Dark Continent" and "The Last Ivory Hunter" and come away with a less than respectful impression of the story telling ability of the writer.

YMMV, of course...

 

[.38 Special]

Thank you for the information about Capstick as editor. I did not know that. My copy of "Man-eaters" is an older one, with Colonel Patterson's name alone.

I have most of Capstick's books and enjoy him as a writer and raconteur. I certainly would not call him a fraud or denigrate him as a person, as just about any hunting author will shine up his stories a bit. I am of the opinion, though, that Capstick's stories are a little shinier than most.

 

[bannockburn]

Poper

I believe the book you may be referring to is "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo", by Peter Capstick.

I was thinking the same thing only I believe the author was John Henry Patterson, published in 1907.

 

[Steve Milbocker]

Bill M, I think I recall Jack writing an article about the 280 in later years and admitted that it 1 upped his beloved 270

 

[Terry G]

I enjoyed everything Peter Capstick wrote. He did on occasion use event's that happened to other's as happening to him. Read "Use enough Gun" by Robert Ruark and you'll see. Don't let that stop you from enjoying Capstick's work, Besides the heart condition he had several African type diseases.

 

[22250Rem]

Bill M, I think I recall Jack writing an article about the 280 in later years and admitted that it 1 upped his beloved 270

......... If memory serves I think you are correct. He loved his 270 but there were others that he spoke highly of and I'm pretty sure the 280 was one of those. Wish that I could read some of his work again.

 

[cdb1]

He had a style of writing that made you feel good.

He was a university English professor for a number of years which I would think contributed to his writing prowess. I also grew up reading O’Connor, in my mind he was the bees knees and Elmer Keith was a joke. Over the years I’ve drifted away from the O’Connor school of thought a little bit towards Keith but am still on the O’Connor side by a big margin.

I also grew up with the impression Jack was a nice guy and Elmer something of a jerk. In the last couple of years I’ve read a fair bit of anecdotal evidence suggesting the opposite was true.

Thing was, back in those days it was hard to make a living hunting and writing about it.

I’m not trying to be argumentative but based on commentary from John Barsness, Wayne Van Zwoll and Dave Petzal I believe the opposite is true, and if anything it’s harder to make a living as a gun writer currently. than back in the day.

Capstick was not a fiction write by any means. Why you would state such escapes me:

Because in many ways he was and wouldn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. I’d read around 2/3’s of Capsticks writing when I came upon the book where he wrote about going after wounded leopards and the padded leather suit he wore when doing so. It struck me as a flight of fancy as there is no way one could react and move quickly in the midst of a leopard charge wearing that contraption. In addition pretty much every PH I’m aware of has gone on record stating Capstick was a liar and a fraud and that much of what he wrote didn’t happen to him, also mentioned by Terry G. That a lot of the stories were true, but they did not happen to Peter, that he stole the stories from other PH’s. From then on in my mind Capstick was an excellent fiction writer who incorporated a lot of facts in to his work.

 

[Trey Veston]

I have the book in question and others written by O'Connor. One thing's for certain: he knew what a bolt-action rifle should look like. When you compare the "classic" looks of a Model 70, especially when customized by the likes of Al Biesen, with some of the weird, goofy, space-age appearances of many contemporary rifles, it's enough to make Jack turn in his grave. Mr. O'Connor even disparaged the looks of the "California" style rifles made by Weatherby and its ilk; the Winslow rifles being doubtless the worst of the lot at the time in terms of this theme (if you didn't like them-some obviously loved the look).

It should go without saying that opinions regarding the aesthetic merits( or lack of) when considering the looks of a rifle is an inherently subjective treatise and there's really no right or wrong answer. Unless you're right. Or wrong.

My dad was a HUGE fan of Jack O'Connor as dad was a fellow gun writer from Idaho and avid big-game hunter.

He had this rifle built to emulate O'Connor as it is an Al Biesen Model 70 in .270 and used it to take a Grand Slam...

 

[Daveboone]

Jack O'connors Big Game Hunts is a great read, Hell, I was There by Keith is one of the all time greatest outdoors books...what a life! Skeeter Skelton is the one I would have liked to have shared a fire with the most....too bad he died so young.Russell Annabel was a great story teller. Although he was an Alaskan Guide when young, his stories are mainly fiction but great reads. I cant think of any of the new writers that can write like those originals.

 

[.38 Special]

He was a university English professor for a number of years which I would think contributed to his writing prowess. I also grew up reading O’Connor, in my mind he was the bees knees and Elmer Keith was a joke. Over the years I’ve drifted away from the O’Connor school of thought a little bit towards Keith but am still on the O’Connor side by a big margin.

I also grew up with the impression Jack was a nice guy and Elmer something of a jerk. In the last couple of years I’ve read a fair bit of anecdotal evidence suggesting the opposite was true.


I’m not trying to be argumentative but based on commentary from John Barsness, Wayne Van Zwoll and Dave Petzal I believe the opposite is true, and if anything it’s harder to make a living as a gun writer currently. than back in the day.

Because in many ways he was and wouldn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story. I’d read around 2/3’s of Capsticks writing when I came upon the book where he wrote about going after wounded leopards and the padded leather suit he wore when doing so. It struck me as a flight of fancy as there is no way one could react and move quickly in the midst of a leopard charge wearing that contraptio. In addition pretty much every PH I’m aware of has gone on record stating Capstick was a liar and a fraud and that much of what he wrote didn’t happen to him, also mentioned by Terry G. That a lot of the stories were true, but they did not happen to Peter, that he stole the stories from other PH’s. From then on in my mind Capstick was an excellent fiction writer who incorporated a lot of facts in to his work.

Regardless, O'Connor was a very polished writer and Keith was, well, not. I still am biased toward Keith, but I have done enough editing to understand why O'Connor was more popular with professional writers.