# Horn of the Hunter Famous Quote



## Johnboat (Jun 7, 2004)

I didn't want to hijack the "like clock work" thread below about anticipation of hunting season, but here is a great introductory quote from Robert Ruark's 1953 book about his first (3 month long) African safari "Horn of the Hunter":

"The hunter's horn sounds early for some, later for others. For some unfortunates, poisoned by city sidewalks and sentenced to a cement jungle more horrifying than anything to be 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 with club, and then with spear, and then with bow, and then with gun, and finally with formulae."


----------



## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Robert Ruark saw Africa with an enthusiasm that still shines through today - 55 years later. Even when his writing took on a world-weary tone and he was writing about how disgusted he was with the way things were changing - he still showed us a Africa the way we would like to remember it, the way we wish it still was today. 
Robert Ruark was always The Boy, seeing things for the first time, with an excitement he could barely conceal and wanted to share. Later in life, telling us this, he became for many of us, the Old Man, a source of wisdom and insight, pointing us in the right direction, but never lecturing, never condescending. 

The world he wrote about may be gone forever, but the world he created is still with us, and will be as long as his books are read. A writer could not ask for much more.


----------



## Pablo (May 21, 2004)

Good timing Johnboat, I just started reading "Use Enough Gun" and the second chapter is a rehash of the "Horn of the Hunter" beginning. Can't wait to get more into it. Ruark's other book that have read is "Robert Ruark's Africa" which is a collection of articles and shorts that he wrote. Pretty good too.

Greenie to you Flakman, nice thoughts.


----------



## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

I haven't read that one. Looks like i might have to...

Thanks


----------



## Soapeddler (Jun 18, 2006)

Wow, I just got chills up and down my spine. Thanks for sharing that. I like to preface my articles with quotes from famous people. That is the perfect segway into one that has been rolling around in my head for a couple of years now. Look for it in Maximum Outdoors sometime in the fall. "The End of the Road"


----------



## Sea Aggie (Jul 18, 2005)

I've got Hemmingway's "Under Kilimanjaro" on my desk right now, reading it at lunch today... There are a number of excellent books on hunting Africa, thanks for the quote from one of the better reads. Growing up in Houston, but taking every opportunity live affords me to get out of doors, I feel the emotion of the author when reading your quote.


----------



## trophyhunter01 (Jun 20, 2008)

Ruark's Lost Classics is a good read as well, book with 27 short stories he had written for magazines that got him started. I am a big Ruark fan and it help me decide to go to Africa in 2007 after 10 years of planning and saving.


----------



## Johnboat (Jun 7, 2004)

*One more Ruark classic quote for you*

"I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so. Lions and leopards and rhinos excite me but don't frighten me. But that buff is so big and mean and ugly and hard to stop, and vindictive and cruel and surly and ornery. He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money. He looks like he is hunting you...He makes me sick in the stomach, and he makes my hands sweat, and he dries out my throat and my lips."

Robert Ruark, _Horn of the Hunter_, 1953


----------



## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

Probably my favorite Ruark book is "_The Old Man and the Boy_."
If you haven't read it, you really should. It is a true Classic.

As far as African/Dangerous Game writings, my favorites have to be those written by Peter Hathaway Capstick. I'm pretty sure I've read most everything he has ever written. If you've never read any of his stuff, and you like reading about hunting dangerous game, I would suggest you do. He had an unbelievable knack for making you feel you are there on the hunt.

Here's a short list of some of Capstick's stuff that should get you hooked_:
Death in a Lonely Land__
Death in the Dark Continent__
Death in the Long Grass__
Death in the Silent Places_


----------

