Author Topic: ELGIN GATES?? (Read 1787 times)

magnum308 · « **on:** September 06, 2004, 11:31:21 PM »

Hi, I'm from Brisbane, Australia. I got a book many years ago called "Trophy Hunter in Asia" by Elgin Gates. I was facinated by it and this trophy hunter's exploits. He also authoured "Trophy Hunter in Africa" as well, I picked one up from Canada, it arrived the other day but my wife is holding it as a birthday present for me on Thursday, September 9th.

He is a facinating hunter, having collected more game species than anyone else at the time and he is reputed to have opened up unhunted (by western trophy hunters) game fields in Asia and Africa. He was also a (and the youngest at the time) winner of the Weatherby Big Game Award. He is also credited with the 7th best Elephant of all time, see http://www.safaripress.com/page51.html, taken with his favourite rifle, a 300 Weatherby!!

I hear he had one of the finest trophy rooms in the US (if not the world) and he died in 1988. He sounds like a man of great passion for the sport of trophy hunting and with an unusual drive to do what he has done.

I'd like to know more about him, pictures of his trophy room (which I heard was destroyed by fire before he died) and converse with anyone who knew him or about him. He's a legend in my books

Magnum308

Lawdog · « **Reply #1 on:** September 07, 2004, 10:07:11 AM »

magnum308,

Back in the early 1960's it was Elgin Gates stories in Gun World magazine along with the books by J.A. Hunter that fueled my desire to hunt and to hunt Africa someday. Elgin Gates was a personal friend of Roy Weatherby and was most likely one of the big reason for the popularity of the Weatherby products today(the .300 Weatherby Magnum was Elgin's favorite). Elgin Gates stories like one in Gun World called "Buffalo Chicken" always seemed so real that while reading it one could almost feel as if they were there beside Mr. Gates. I got to meet Mr. Gates in 1983 at a Weatherby Collectors banquet. Friendly, warm and ready to tell a story at the drop of a hat and would look for the hat to drop it. I highly recommend his books to any that love to read about hunting in general. Lawdog

magnum308 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 09, 2004, 01:58:48 PM »

lawdog,

I got a copy of Trophy Hunter in Africa (for my birthday, well I found it in Canada and organised for it to come over but my wife snapped it and hid it for a week). The story Buffalo Chicken is in there. I haven't read it yet but I am looking forward to it.

He is the greatest.

Magnum308

Minkman · « **Reply #3 on:** December 16, 2004, 02:08:36 AM »

Elgin's book is great!

Also look for John Batten's books, he was a friend of Gates and wrote very well.

Enjoy!