Author Topic: Arrgh. John Pondoro Taylor, Poaching queen of the jungle (Read 2780 times)

Questor · « **on:** August 30, 2005, 04:20:53 AM »

I'm reading Capstick's "A Man Called Lion", which is a biography of John "Pondoro" Taylor, the guy who invented the Taylor Knock Out Value. I'm only at about page 30 now, but much seems to be made about how he was kicked out of Ireland on a death threat by Sinn Fein, got into professional hunting by acquiring seed money as a poacher, became a whisky-loving moslem, and was a "devoted" homosexual. It's a pretty seedy story so far. It ends with his demise in dissipatation and poverty in London.

Robert · « **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2005, 05:20:29 AM »

Sounds like it is not a very good book. You should try to read the book actually titled 'PONDORO'. I found it to be an exceptional and exciting read. So he was a poacher.....he does not deny that. It was a different era....and although many frown on any kind of poaching stories....Pondoro is an excellent book.

Questor · « **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2005, 05:47:03 AM »

It's too early to tell, but I assume this first set of pages is setting up the rest of the book. I've skimmed around in it and there's a lot of interesting looking stuff there. It's more of a picture of Pondoro's life's work, including his ballistic theories and the basis of his understanding of bullet effect. It appears he was a rifle crank who used significant amounts of his earnings to try new guns. I'll add to this thread as I progress through the book.

NONYA · « **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2005, 06:09:10 AM »

in those days if you wanted or more likly needed to hunt and you were not an english lord you had to "poach",to hell with the english....

50 Calshtr · « **Reply #4 on:** August 30, 2005, 06:45:16 AM »

Having read most of his books, including one or two not commonly available, as well as Capstick's book, I think you can safely say John Taylor was a very complex, thoughtful and articualte individual. It seems he did just about everything mentioned above plus more, wrote some great reading books, and prehaps told a tall tale or two. In any case he aquired a wealth of knowledge about sporting arms and game no one in this day and age could match in their wildest dreams. I would hope those who read his books, or those about him, would look at that knowledge and experience for it's own value and not judge it based on the unrelated frailties of the man.

Questor · « **Reply #5 on:** August 30, 2005, 08:09:01 AM »

Well put, 50calshtr. I don't yet know what his knowledge or experiences are, but I had an idea. It seemed a bit awkward that the book starts with so much on the frailties without mentioning much about his accomplishments. I'll just have to get to that, I suppose.

Lawdog · « **Reply #6 on:** August 30, 2005, 09:39:32 AM »

I wouldnt put a whole lot of faith in the Taylor Knock Out Value. According to Taylors Chart a .22 lr. 31 gr. high velocity hollow point traveling at 1,500 fps. has a Taylor Knock Out Value of 1.46. This means it should be excellent for cockroaches & mice but a little on the light side for crow sized birds which require a Taylor Value rating of 2 - 4.

Taylor Game Value Rating

0 - 1,   Cockroaches, mice
2 - 4,   Crows, squirrels
4 - 6,   Woodchucks
7 - 20,   Deer, antelope
20 - 33,   Elk, moose, bear
33 - 40,   Thin-skinned plains animals
41 - 50,   Thin-skinned dangerous game
50 - 150,   Thick-skinned dangerous game
150 - 190,   Anything that breathes

Its at the higher end of Taylors Knock Out Value rating that has the most merit. Lawdog

captainkirk · « **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2005, 10:24:00 AM »

Having read all of Capstick's books, A Man Called Lion puzzled and disappointed me the most. Mostly for the reasons you mention, Questor. I haven't read it for a few years now but it seems like Capstick is apologizing through a good portion of the book. Not one of his better reads. I normally take one of his(or Ruark or Taylor himself) books in hand as a little escape from life in Houston...

captainkirk

Lone Star · « **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2005, 10:28:47 AM »

Taylor never intended that his famous TKO values be use for anything other than rating a bullet's effect on knocking down large, thick-skinned game like elephants, rhinos, hippos, etc. It was not a rating of killing power on thin-skinned game, and those armchair hunters who use it for that purpose are kidding themselves if they think that it is in any way a reflection of Taylor's lifetime hunting experiences.

The fact is that he thought that kinetic energy was as good as anything for predicting the killing power of bullets on lighter game. Who knew? :roll:

As for Ruark, IIRC in his famous tome Use Enough Gun he devotes less than a page to the choice of hunting firearms, the rest of the book, while interesting, has little to do with "using enough gun.

Questor · « **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2005, 01:36:51 AM »

I'm into the book far enough now that I have to regretfully say that it is not the reason I read books on hunting or the lives of the great hunters. This book is mostly an expose of Taylors faults and has little to do with his accomplishments. I do not recommend it. :cry: :cry: :cry:

Questor · « **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2005, 01:50:02 AM »

I certainly went about this the wrong way. I should have read Taylor's work first. There is a story by Taylor in the Capstick book and it's beautifully written. I'll be in the market for a couple of Taylor's books now. Maybe for the Taylor buff this would be a good book to read AFTER reading Taylor's work just to get a look at how some others have seen him. There are also a few of his magazine articles reprinted in the book, and an explanation of Taylor's ballistic theories.

50 Calshtr · « **Reply #11 on:** September 01, 2005, 03:46:12 AM »

Quester
Put Capstick's book down for now and get a copy of "African Rifles and Cartridges", it's Taylor's best known work and a classic in the field. I think you will find it a very good read, good, if dated, technical data, insightful thoughts on hunting and funny in some areas, ("Diving For Fat" is a hoot!). Capstick's book is of some value in that it fills in some gaps of Taylors life before and after his writtings. It is rather dark and in many ways a sad ending to a man who's best and happiest years were spent in the bush.

Ramrod · « **Reply #12 on:** September 02, 2005, 04:43:07 PM »

Robert and NONYA bring up a very good historical point. To the common man, poaching has always been an honorable profession under the British form of government. Remember the tales of Robin Hood? He became an outlaw for poaching the King's deer. Robbing the rich, and giving to the poor was his way of getting back at the Sheriff of Nottingham. It was the poaching that fed his supporters, not the odd gold piece.
Taylor's contribution to our knowledge about what it takes to kill large animals is not diminished because he might have broken a few laws. He killed more game than 100's of posters here combined, so he might have learned a thing or two, and can probably teach us a thing or two.

Questor · « **Reply #13 on:** September 06, 2005, 04:33:42 AM »

I finished the book and will undoubtedly not read it again. In the final analysis, I'd have to say that this book must have been for Taylor-ophiles who just want to know more about the guy. There's just too much emphasis on his "dirty laundry" in the book and it gave me the impression that Capstick was auditioning for a job with the National Enquirer.

However, on the happy side of things, it introduced me to the writings of Taylor and I ordered one of his books to read. Hopefully it will be as good as the sample work that appears in A Man Called Lion.