Outdoor Hunting

Brilliant, witty, perceptive essays about fly-fishing, the natural world, and life in general by the acknowledged master of fishing writers.

Setters get their name from their ability to crouch low, or set, as they point their bodies toward game. Learn about the different setter breeds and what makes them great hunting companions and loyal friends.

Thirty-four of the nation’s best turkey hunters and turkey callers, past and present, have filled this book with their knowledge and wisdom. You’ll learn tactics from some of the early pioneers of the sport of turkey hunting, during the time that wild turkeys were just being reintroduced into many states. You’ll also learn, from some of the best turkey hunters of today, how to deal with too many gobblers and too many hens coming in at the same time, or one old tough tom that no one seems to be able to take.

In 1898, the British were building a railway line between Mombasa in Kenya and Uganda. At the Tsavo River in Kenya where a bridge needed to be built, the project was suddenly interrupted by two man-eating lions that targeted the camps of the workers. Over a period of nine months, the lions killed scores of people. These lions were deliberately hunting people, preferring humans over any other prey, and they seemed to have supernatural abilities in evading all attempts to stop them. Colonel J.H. Patterson, the chief engineer in charge of the project, finally managed to eliminate them.

In The Optimist, David Coggins tackled the techniques of fly-fishing and meditated on its virtues, recounting his triumphs and failures. Now, in The Believer, he deftly mixes travel, local cultures, further fishing challenges (some knee-buckling in their disappointment), and details his own experience as life and love crowd his time to fish.

A lifelong Alaskan, Steve Kahn moved at the age of nine from the “metropolis” of Anchorage to the foothills of the Chugach Mountains. A childhood of berry picking, fishing, and hunting led to a life as a big-game guide. When he wasn’t guiding in the spring and fall, he worked as a commercial fisherman and earned his pilot’s license, pursuits that took him to the far reaches of the Alaskan wilderness. He lived through some of the most important moments in the state’s history.

Hunting has a rich history and many modern uses. For some, it is a thrilling sport; for others, it is a chance to challenge nature; and then for those like me, it is a way to provide food and other necessities. Wild game meat is free from hormones and harmful chemicals, is organic, and is really good for you. If you can catch it yourself, then you will literally know where your meat comes from. You can prepare the meat yourself too. My book will teach you how. In this book, I’m going to discuss everything you need to know about wild game hunting if you are a beginner.

These essays recount his adventures alone and with friends, taking listeners through the seasons. In Paulsen’s north country, every expedition is a major one, and often hilarious. Once again Gary Paulsen demonstrates why he is one of America’s most beloved writers, for he shows us fishing and hunting as pleasure, as art, as companionship, and as source of life’s deepest lessons.

Deadly Force, 2nd Edition is a continuation of Ayoob’s mission to educate gun owners on all aspects of lethal force laws. Drawing on more than four decades of experience as an expert witness for the courts in weapons and shooting cases and serving as a fully sworn and empowered part-time police officer for 43 years, Ayoob also educates through his Massad Ayoob Group classes such as the Armed Citizen’s Rules of Engagement.

John Gierach is known for his witty, trenchant observations about fly-fishing. In A Fly Rod of Your Own, Gierach once again takes us into his world and scrutinizes the art of fly-fishing. He travels to remote fishing locations where the airport is not much bigger than a garage and a flight might be held up because a passenger is running late. He sings the praises of the skilled pilots who fly to remote fishing lodges in tricky locations and bad weather.

"One of the best acid tests of an introductory book...is that the text allows the reader to learn an important skill independent of the illustrations. Fly casting is very difficult to teach in person, and even more so in print, yet this book contains the best, the most interesting, and the most effective introduction to fly casting I have ever read."

In what he says is the most important piece of environmental writing in his long and award-winning career, Mark Kurlansky, best-selling author of Salt and Cod, The Big Oyster, 1968, and Milk, among many others, employs his signature multi-century storytelling and compelling attention to detail to chronicle the harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle of salmon.

The Fishing Life is an entertaining anthology of fishing anecdotes and well-researched articles from across Paul Schullery’s research and fishing career. The author offers up stories, essays, farces, daydreams, and ruminations that will engage listeners of all kinds. Of course, being a fisherman and living the fishing life goes beyond just those days spent with rod and reel in hand. It is something that occupies your mind and your heart, not just your hands.

In Bowhunting Deer: The Secrets of the PSE Pros, these men will tell you how they set up to take them and how they choose a hunting bow and other hunting gear they feel with give them the best opportunities to take those bucks of their lifetimes. You'll also see how a serious deer hunter prepares to take a deer and the different strategies he utilizes to look for a big whitetail and grow a bigger whitetail on the property he hunts.

With his characteristic color and flair, Capstick recalls the extraordinary careers of men like Colonel J.H. Patterson and Colonel Jim Corbett, who stalked legendary man-eaters through the silent darkness on opposite sides of the world; men like Karamojo Bell, acknowledged as the greatest elephant hunter of all time; men like the valiant Sasha Siemel, who tracked killer jaguars though the Matto Grosso armed only with a spear.

George Bird Evans is a man to whom upland shooting has been a way of life for 50 years, and his book is both a creed for shooters and a fascinating sharing of the experiences of a true specialist. It is not a book for meat hunters (although possession of the game means as much to the author as to the next man), rather it is a book, half "how-to," half anecdotal and philosophical, that reveals in rich and intimate detail the unity that makes upland shooting that triad of bird-dog-gun in which no part is complete without the others.

Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse have been friends for 30 years, but when life intervened, what was once a joyous and spontaneous friendship dwindled to the odd phone call or occasional catch up. Then, Glory Be! They were both diagnosed with heart disease and realised that time is short. They'd better spend it fishing...So they dusted off their kits, chucked on their waders and ventured into the achingly beautiful British countryside to fish, rediscover the joys of their friendship and ruminate on some of life's most profound questions....

Whether it’s a rabbit, a deer, or something even bigger, nothing is more exciting than the thrill of the hunt. This is especially true when your weapon requires the skill and precision of a bow and arrow.

Proving that fishing is not just a part-time pursuit, At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman takes us through a year with America's favorite fishing scribe, John Gierach, who dedicates himself to his passion despite his belief that "In the long run, fishing usually amounts to a lifetime of pratfalls punctuated by rare moments of perfection."

Explore the world through its most unlikely creatures: Cryptozoology, the study of hidden, monstrous, and legendary animals, is truly the art of discovering the unknown. Richard Freeman, Zoological Director of Centre for Fortean Zoology, has explored the corners of the five continents on the search for creatures that many people believe are non-existent. In this book, he shares the exciting stories of his investigations of the Yeti, Mongolian Deathworm, Loch Ness Monster, Orang-Pendak, Ninki-Naka, and more.