Summer Reading

[Lee Vivian]

#4264

As many on this site, I am a voracious reader..always have been….I have read and enjoyed all of Dave Petersen’s book, as well as those by Reg Darling, and others….

I have a couple recommendations……

I just finished Tom Kidwell’s “Another Old Bowhunter, A Collection of Old Bowhunter Memories”, and like his first book, it is an enjoyable read about hunting trips, friends he met on those trips…just your basic “campfire” stories….no how-to, just pure trad bowhunting…I highly recommend it…

I had the pleasure of meeting Brad Isham at the Baltimore Bowmen Traditional Shoot..where he graciously signed a copy of his book: “The Sound of the String; An African Bush Country Novel”…although I have never had a desire to hunt Africa….Brad’s book is so well written, and the stories so well told, that I feel I may have to rethink it….

I highly recommend both books….Now….anyone have any recommendations? Post em!

Lee

[lyagooshka]

#28919

Lee,

Great idea for a post. I often look for things to fill my Kindle with. (TBM need to come out more often! 😀 )

One that I am sure you have read, but I mention it becuase it is one that really pushed me towards traditional archery is “Hunting the Hard Way” by Howard Hill. I’ve also enjoyed “The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow” by Hugh D. H. Soar. I also picked up “Zen in the Art of Archery” by Eugen Herrigel and Daisetz T. Suzuki but have not read it yet.

I also must give honorable mention to “If You Didn’t Bring Jerky, What Did I Just Eat: Misadventures in Hunting, Fishing, and the Wilds of Suburbia” by Bill Heavey. While it’s not a trad-bow book, it’s a really fun read. I love Bill Heavey’s writing style. He’s quite commical, but has the ability to make you think as well.

Hope it helps.

Alex

🙂

[Lee Vivian]

#28928

Alex,

thanks for the recommendations…..i have resisted a Kindle or Nook to this point…I still like to feel the paper as I turn the pages, and dogearing where I left off….but my bookshelves are overflowing and eventually I may succumb to the electronic media….

I am not making this trad specific….I just started a series on the Civil War by Jeff Shaara…my tastes are very diversified…..

Lee

[George McCloskey]

#28979

For some reason I’ve got this interest in two things as I squirm in excitement for September…One is to learn all that I can about our Wapiti friends in the high country. I just got Dave Petersen’s “Racks” with is great fun, and I am reading Valerius Geist as well. For some low drag meanderings with a Bourbon on ice, I’ll be reading “The Big Sky” by A. B. Guthrie.

I love anything about the mountains as many of you do too…

[lyagooshka]

#29051

Lee,

If you really are a bookworm, the Kindle is great. If all you want to do is read, the black/white one is less than 100 bucks and you can go on a week long safari, read for hours a day and still not need to charge it. I have the color one which only lasts a few hours, but still nice. I know what you mean about the feel of the books, but after moving 3 bookshelves worth of books, it lost its appeal real quick. I don’t know anything about the Nook, so I can’t help you there.

Alex

🙂

[Raymond Coffman]

#29285

Iyagooshka { ditto on the Kindle}– if you enjoyed – “zen and the art of archery”

Try – One arrow One Life :Zen ,Archery –Kenneth Kushner a modern continuance —E-book

GmcCloskey – if you like Dave Peds books & the Mtns try “Among the Aspen” DP & Brandon Reynolds — probably have to do Amazon – used books

Scout.

ps _ “The Big Sky” was a great book — pretty good movie too-

pss – in the end if you read a lot – the kindle is cheaper [ if the book is an ebook -lot of classics for free or 99 cents]

or wait a couple yrs ————it will show up on ebook

[wildschwein]

#29375

I would recommend “Facing the Hunter” by David Adam Richards. Short book by a man who grew up on the east coast talking about hunting as a way of life in his youth and how its proponents are now becoming misguided and misunderstood.

Didn’t agree with everything he wrote, but his writing served me as a wake up call, and reminded me that my quarry is not the only thing I should hunt for.

[paleoman]

#29891

I’m into Empire Of The Summer Moon right now – about the settlement of the southern Plains, the Comanche wars, and Comanche Quanah Parker and his unique part in it. Having been familiar mainly with the eastern tribes and those struggles, it’s been an eye opener to say the least. There was just no way the 2 cultures could have co-existed without the struggle that ensued. Many references to the Comanche skill with a bow too! You would not want to have been caught flat footed on the Plains in those days and I think they might have scared the bananas out of some of these drug lord thugs all things being equal.

[lyagooshka]

#29958

Scout, I’m glad you brought up the classics on the kindle (and thanks for the suggestions, will difinitely look into). Here is a perfect example. If you want to get an archery classic, “Hunting with the Bow and Arrow” by Saxton Pope, it will cost $18.99 (plus shipping unless you get that free, i.e. are a “Prime” member). The same thing for kindle is free. Another example is “The Witchery of Archery” by J. Maurice Thompson, almost 30 bucks in paperback, 8 something on kindle, and you get it instantly.

Again, not trying to sell anyone anything, but it’s a pretty neat tool. Imagine being in hunting camp and taking along a library worth of books in something that weighs a pound.

Like I said earlier though, if all you do is read, don’t go for the color one. It’s more like an iPad. Battery drains pretty quickly too. It’s a great tool (that’s the one I have), but if you are only reading, the black and white is smaller, lighter, cheaper and holds a charge for weeks.

One last thing. If you have a smart phone or iPad, the Kindle app is available for free.

Alex

🙂

[Raymond Coffman]

#30036

paleo* – That is the only {best}book you need on the Comanche in the SW – excellent read, fair to all sides, imho.

IYA – yes I have an older Kindle and I take it to the field with me [ have a veh charger] but as you say battery lasts for a week +

Scout.

* sorry GM got confused —

[George McCloskey]

#30171

I’ll second the Kindle, big fan of them. I got the “non commercial” black and white version and as stated by iyagooshka it lasts a week. Hey thanks btw for the info on Saxton Pope’s tome being free! I just downloaded to my kindle.

[Wexbow]

#30239

Funny, I was gonna post a similar message as I’ve finished a number of bowhunting books and am in need of more! I can thoroughly recommend Saxton Pope’s Hunting with the Bow and Arrow, Don Thomas’s Have Bow Will Travel, Jim Dougherty’s Best of Trails End, and of course Fred Bear’s Field Notes. I’m currently reading Fred Bear’s biography by Kroll. Empire of the Summer Moon is excellent and I’ve just borrowed Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee so that’s probably next on the list…

Keep the recommendations coming please 😀

[Raymond Coffman]

#30274

Wexbow –

Don Thomas – “Double helix” [africa – quite unique as he does a lot of stalking] and Dave petersons “man made of elk” [great primer on current methods of tradbow Elk hunting and just Elk info}are both topnotch – I have enjoyed everything I have read by both these authors—

A different but I found interesting book on archery is – Timeless bowhunting : the Art ,the Science,& the Spirit by Roy s Marlow – it talks about compounds* as well as tradbow.

Scout

* I have shot { in the distant past} but never owned a compound or intend to, but this is an interesting book specifically the science of it ——gives tradbow equal time-

[Bruce Smithhammer]

#31095

Paleo – If you are enjoying “Empire of the Summer Moon,” I would also highly recommend checking out “Blood and Thunder” by Hampton Sides.

[David Coulter]

#31110

I just finished The Thin Red Line and am half way through With the Old Breed. Excellent works, fiction and non-fiction on WWII in the South Pacific. One hunting book that I really enjoyed, although not archery, is The Greatest Hunting Stories Ever Told, edited by Lamar Underwood. It might be a presumptuous title, but it’s a fine collection. One story easily rivals London’s To Build a Fire. I’ve always been a fan of short stories and these fit the bill. That’s also one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed Dave’s books, as some are a collection of essays.

Stay cool.

[Wexbow]

#31337

cyberscout wrote: Wexbow –

Don Thomas – “Double helix” [africa – quite unique as he does a lot of stalking] and Dave petersons “man made of elk” [great primer on current methods of tradbow Elk hunting and just Elk info}are both topnotch – I have enjoyed everything I have read by both these authors—

A different but I found interesting book on archery is – Timeless bowhunting : the Art ,the Science,& the Spirit by Roy s Marlow – it talks about compounds* as well as tradbow.

Scout

Scout, thanks for those. I’ve been very tempted by some of Dave’s books already and will probably purchase sooner than later. I already have Marlow’s book and agree that it is a very informative read – even the science bits are interesting and accessible to trad heads like myself.

[Raymond Coffman]

#31379

anytime Wexbow —

Can’t go wrong with any books by Peterson/Thomas [I have read all their bowhunting related ones,and a few of their others.]

FYI for any members interested in the Book “Barebow” by Dennis Dunn [ it is a 9 lb book on his bowhunts for all 29 NA game animals ] $100 +. you can now get installments on Kindle for $4.00 bucks a section.

Scout

[skifrk]

#31412

A couple I have been reading about hunting but not necessarily bowhunting are The Still-hunter by theodore van dyke, a good read from an author about Tedd Roosevelt’s time. Second one is “Grizzly’s and white guys the story of Clayton Mack”. Both good ones that I have enjoyed. Last summer I read “Death in the Long Grass” by Peter Capstick about being a PH in Africa.

[David Coulter]

#31595

Capstick’s books on Africa are pretty good. If you can find Ruark’s Uhuru, it’s an amazing story. It was pretty controversial in its day. When I was in school I read Catch Twenty Two and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas back to back. It set my attitude for that summer. Uhuru did the same for me in later years.

[Author]

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