Who are your favorite hunting authors?

[LAK]

My reading tastes tend to the first half of the 20th century, especially pre-WW2. Some favorites I have are; The Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter by W. D. M. Bell, Stalking In The Himalayas And Northern India by Col. C. H. Stockley and A Sportsman's Wanderings by J. G. Millais.

In addition to the hunting and shooting, I often find their observations on other matters in their travels everything from amusing to fascinating. I could easily collect a small library of these old works if I had the money and space.

 

[20cows]

Elmer Keith

I can't believe his name has only come up once. There are a number of his books out there besides his autobiography. They are all a good read.

 

[texagun]

"Jim Carmichel's Book of the Rifle" is the best recent book (1985) on rifles that I have read. Surprisingly, I can only find it used these days...but I have learned more from his book than any other. Jack O'Conner would be my 2nd choice as an author but his stuff is getting pretty old and doesn't deal with developments in the past 25 years or so.

 

[HunterTRW]

For good writing about upland bird shooting I like George Bird Evans. His The Upland Shooting Life is a pleasant mixed bag of stories that touch on (among other things) the "why" of upland hunting, the coverts, the birds, the dogs, the guns, and the men who shoot them.

Consider the last two paragraphs of his opening tale, "By an Evening's Fire":

"There are a given number of days in a lifetime and here at Old Hemlock we try to see that no one of them passes unused. We live a sort of civilized eighteenth-century country life in which there are still values, none of them based on dollars, a life in which the word 'spent' means shells. In Far Away and Long Ago, W.H. Hudson defined just what, as a young boy in South America, he asked of life:'I want only to keep what I have; to rise each morning and look out on the sky and the grassy dew-wet earth from day to day, from year to year...to feel the same old sweet surprise and delight...'

"Poor Hudson was writing of a life that was fifty years gone. My Far Away and Long Ago is Here and Now."

Spend some time afield with Mr. Evans in this pages of this book. I believe that you will find him to be a pleasant gunning companion.

Good luck, and good shooting!

 

[sm]

My sig gives me away- huh?

Ruark ( all his works)
Cory Ford ( thanks for sharing that btw)
Hemingway
McManus

...and others....

 

[artsmom]

Patrick MacManus for entertainment and humor of all of his books. (Favorite line: "A lot of people confuse "edible" with "good to eat". There are hundreds of edible plants in the woods, but only two are "good to eat".

Peter Hathaway Capstick for African hunting and a mastery of storytelling.

Ross Seyfreid for scorn and ridicule in magazine articles, Rick Jamison for the work he puts into his articles.

Jim Corbett's book "Maneaters of Kumaon" for an engrossing subject of tigers and leopards gone bad.

 

[HunterTRW]

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my hunting mentor, the late Gene Hill. His A Hunter's Fireside Book is responsible for inspiring me to take up the gun in pursuit of game. He taught me that hunting, if done in the proper spirit, will allow me to bring home much, much more than just a bird or venison for the table.

As the late Ed Zern said in his quotation on this book's rear cover, "Gene Hill's writing blends a country boy's deep, almost religious feeling for the out-of-doors with a city man's wit and sophistication. This isn't surprising because he's both--and the result is one of the best outdoor books in several coons' ages." I couldn't have said it any better.

Good luck, and good shooting!

 

[HunterTRW]

cjwartes' post on the Solunar Tables reminded me of John Alden Knight, another of my favorite hunting authors. His books titled Woodcock and Ruffed Grouse should be required reading for anyone who aspires to the title of "Upland Game Hunter." Lots of good information in both, and well-written, too.

Good luck, and good shooting!

 

[Malamute]

Elmer Keith, Peter Hathaway Capstick, Theodore Roosevelt.

 

[butch50]

Pat McManus
Ed Zern
Russel Tinsley
Robert Ruark

 

[38splfan]

More for the list.

For purely technical information, I enjoy Craig Boddington and Jim Zumbo. Mr. Boddington offers us insight on the rifle as used on large game in various manners, usually describing one of his many African hunts to do so.

Mr. Zumbo, it seems, has much knowledge on all things North American, most noteably Elk. However, he also shares information on sheep, various deer, and bear.

For entertainment value, I also like Bill Heavy, who writes for Feild and Stream. His stories are almost always humorous and light-hearted, which is a welcome break from the usual techno-babble about the new .234 winchester super short belted magnum moly tipped alloy cased game grabbing super bullet. Also, his occasional editorial and "A Sportsman's Life" column are regular monthly entertainment.

 

[22-rimfire]

For those that are reading this thread, I have been reading old Gun Digest of late since I have quite a few of them. There are a lot of really interesting stories in those books... perfect for the BR. You can pick these up pretty cheaply on ebay as they (or most) really aren't collector items. Of late, I have been reading stories written by the gun writers about the 44 magnum as the article in this months Shooting Times (An American Legend Turns 50 by Glenn Barnes) has spurred some historical interest on my part.