Is this a good one? Seems like I've heard it mentioned, and Ruark has always told a good tale. Found one at a flea market and thought I'd ask out here as the lady is pretty proud of her price...

Use Enough Gun is very good. It was published after his death, compiled from notes he had taken and other books he wrote.

You can find later printings and copies of the book in the $20 range from eBay every so often. New copies can be found from Safari Press, Book Trail, or other on-line outdoor bookstores.

If the one you have looked at is a first edition, yeah, they can be pretty expensive, depending on condition.

It's a good read. I love what Ruark writes when conveying his experiences withe the then-new .220 Swift! Good stuff!

I had forgotten about this one on the shelf... it deserves to be dusted off and read once-again!

God Bless,

Ruark is always a good read. "Use Enough Gun" is the real hunting book, but both "Something of Value" and "Uhuru" have some very good hunting writing mixed in with the historical novel plots.

Fireplug

I'm looking to get this book soon, currently reading Capstick's Death In the Long Grass. I saw Ruarks book, first edition, excellent condition, selling for 375.00 - what flea market did you say you saw that at?

Ruark published "Horn of the Hunter" as his true hunting book. "Use Enough Gun" was published after his death, compiled from his personal notes and some magazine articles he had written.

Both "Horn of the Hunter" and "Use Enough Gun" are fantastic books. He also wrote "The Old Man and the Boy" about his time growing up in coastal North Carolina. This is probably my favorite book that he wrote. Contains a lot of sage advice of his Grandpa's, some hunting, and the trials of growing up during his era. "The Old Man's Boy Grows Older" was the follow-up and is also an exceptional book. A few years ago one of the outdoor publishers offered both books in one binding, kind of a two for one.

Uhuru was his novel about the Mau-Mau uprising in Kenya and was made into a movie, I believe it starred Rock Hudson(?). "The Honey Badger" and "Something of Value" were also novels that he wrote. I believe "Something of Value" was his first book published, but am not sure.

"Something of Value" was the Mau Mau book. I have two copies of it. It also offers great insight to the primitive mindset of the native Africans of the time. ==Bob

Thanks pourboy,
I appreciate the correction. I get confused sometimes. :o

Can do a search on BookFinder.com and come up with a good number of books offered for sale...no first editions (at least not in my limited search) but if all you want is to read a copy, the used section has "Use Enough Gun" starting at $14 and ending at $150. Some are bound library copies...with thier strong and long lasting, but not original and often ugly, binding.

IF you collect first editions, then there are other on-line suppliers.

My "List 95, L--Z", one-half of the annual catalog of the superlative, but now defunct, Angler's & Shooter's Bookshelf (Goshen, Connecticut) shows that the first printing of "Use Enough Gun" occured in 1966. Henry's price for a first-edition copy in mint condition, with dust jacket, was listed as $60.00. Factor in nine years worth of inflation and you will have a pretty reliable idea of what this edition of the book may be worth today.

Gene Hill once stated, in a story titled "Culture" in his "A Hunter's Fireside Book", that, "One problem is that books of this nature--according to the publishers--don't sell. So, naturally the publishers don't advertise them. Sort of like the snake swallowing its own tail. So that creates the cycle. The publishers won't advertise, the bookstores won't stock, and most of us never know that they exist. And the book shortly goes out of print. Years later when it has become a 'classic' to nuts like me who collect them, the original price has gone up six-fold--or more."

Happy hunting (for books, and for game)!

Ruark was a good writer, and made a lot of money doing it, which means he wrote a LOT of magazine articles. Also, he wrote a lot of his books twice or more, but changed them enough that both books would be worth reading. "Use Enough Gun" was a redo of "Horn of the Hunter", "Uhuru" was a redo of "Something of Value", and "Poor No More" was a redo of "The Honey Badger" (or vice versa).

Anything with Ruark's name on it will get my attention. If you find a collection of his old magazine articles called "Lost Classics" grab it. Good, good read.

My wife liked the part in "Use Enough Gun" where Ruark's wife went with him and took her hairdresser along to do her hair everyday, on account the humidity would mess her hair up by the end of the day. Thats a good book with lots of pictures.

I just finished "Use Enough Gun." I was rather disappointed with it as I have read all of his other books, and this one was a just a re-hash and re-printing of his other stuff. Not much original stuff in there, but reading some of his stories a 2nd time is still worth it. "Horn of the Hunter" is still the best in my opinion...anyone interested in African hunting should have a copy.