OT, in a way -- Horn of the Hunter

[Doc Hudson]

For you pleasure and consideration, here are two short excerpts from Horn of the Hunter, by Robert C. Ruark.

I highly recommend this book for all who hear the horn of the huntere, especially for those who's dreams are haunted by Africa.
Doc
Excerpt from

Horn of the Hunter

By Robert C. Ruark

The hunter’s horn sounds early for some, I thought, later for others. For some unfortunates, prisoner by city sidewalks and sentenced to cement jungles more horrifying than anything found in Tanganyika, the horn of the hunter never winds at all. But deep in the guts of most men is buried the involuntary response to the hunter’s horn, a prickle of the nape hairs, an acceleration of the pulse, an atavistic memory of his fathers, who killed first with stone, and then withy club, and then with spear, and then with bow, and then with guns, and finally with formulae. How meek the man is of no importance; somewhere in the pigeon breast of the clerk is still the vestigial remnant of the hunter’s heart; somewhere in his nostrils the half=forgotten smell of blood. There is no man with such impoverishment of imagination that at some time he has not wondered how he would handle himself if a lion broke loose from a zoo and he were forced to face him without the protection of bars or handy, climbable trees,



This is aw simple manifestation of ancient ego, almost as simple as the breeding instinct, simpler than the urge for shelter, because the hunter lives basically in his belly. It is only when progress puts him in the business of killing other en that the bloodlust surges upward to his brain. And even war is still regarded by the individual as sport – the man himself against a larger and more dangerous lion.



Hunting is simple. Animals are simple. Man himself is simple inside himself. In this must be some explanation for the fact that zoos are crowed on Sundays and museums which display mou7nted animals are thronged on weekdays as well as holidays. This must explain the popularity of moving pictures which deal with animals. This explains the lasting popularity of the exploits of Tarzan of the Apes, the half-animal figure created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.



Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat for his growling belly, still a provider for his helpless mate and cubs. Else why am I here? From the moment he wakes until the moment he closes his eyes, man’s prime concern is the business of making a living for himself and his family.

Bringing home the bacon is the modern equivalent of banging a curly6 mammoth over the head with a big sharp rock.



Man has found it exceedingly difficult lately to decipher the weird incantations and ceremonies which surround the provision of meat and shelter for his spawn. He is mystified by the cabalistic signs of the economist. He does not understand billions of dollars in relationship to him and his. Parity baffles him, the administration of ceilings and floors and controls and excises and supports does not satisfy his meat urge or his aesthetic response to the chase, when the hunter’s horn of necessity rouses him. Those are pretty fine thoughts, I thought, I will think some more.



But he can understand a lion, because a lion is life in its simplest form, beautiful, menacing, dangerous, and attractive to his ego. A lion has always been the sympol of challenge, the prototype of personal hazard. You get the lion or the lion gets you.



And he can understand a gun, because the gun is the sympokl of man’s brain and ingenuity, the device of difference between small weak man and big brawny cruel life. …





“You are not shooting an elephant” Selby told me. “you are shooting the symbol of his tusks.. You are not shooting to kill. You are shooting to make immortal the thing you shoot. To kill just anything is a sin. To kill something that will be dead soon, but is so fine as to give you pleasure for years is wonderful. Everything dies. You only hasten the process. When you shoot a lion you re actually shooting its mane, something that will make you proud. You are shooting for yourself, not shooting just to kill.”

(quoting Harry Selby to Robert Ruark. Selby, 27 at the time he spoke these words, went on to become one of the most widely known and successful professional hunters in East Africa. Selby was a full-time professional hunter for over 50 years. He quit full-season guiding only in 1997 after 53 years, and fully retired only in 2000. Selby is still a legend among Africn professional hunters. LMH)

[madman4570]

Great read,I am going out and buy the book!!!
Thanks!

[Blaine]

I started reading Ruark in Jr High and took it as a personal effront when he passed away. With no father, it's safe to say Ruark stoked my interest in the outdoor sports and I learned mucho, mucho tecnique from his ramblings.......

[Pete44ru]

Speaking of "Horn of the Hunter", here's a couple (converted to drinking horns) :



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