Wilderness Living

Gregory J. Davenport (Author)

Living, not just surviving, by choice in the wild can be a rewarding experience. This easy-to-use guide looks beyond the fundamentals of survival and examines the art of living long-term in the wilderness. Hunting techniques, meat preservation, clothing improvisation, shelter design, and tool- and basket-making are just a few of the basic skills described. Expert advice, clear prose, and detailed illustrations combine to make this book the authoritative text on primitive living.

Hunter's Guide to Shotguns for Upland Game

Terry Boyer (Author)

Hunter's Guide to Shotguns for Upland Game is a valuable reference that educates hunters about how to find the perfect shotgun to match their needs. The book takes a pragmatic approach for the average hunter looking to get the most bang for his buck and shows that hunters don't have to break the bank to buy a versatile shotgun. It discusses the best guns for various species of upland game and examines the all-important criteria for choosing a shotgun: the hunter's physique, preferred action type and gauge, gun features, price range, whether or not he's hunting with dogs, and other possible uses for the gun such as deer hunting or clay target games. Profiles of major manufacturers and models showcase a wide variety of shotguns to give readers a good idea of the relative strengths and weaknesses of available products. Once a hunter has selected a shotgun, he will discover how to use custom loads and make modifications to personalize his gun and improve its performance.

About the Author

Terry Boyer recently retired from a thirty-year career in law enforcement and is now a full-time freelance writer focusing on shotgun sports. He lives in Lubbock, Texas.

The Ultimate Guide to Blackpowder Hunting

Al Raychard (Author)

Although a muzzleloader is one of the simplest and most functional firearms ever devised, a myriad of questions challenge modern muzzleloader hunters and shooters, who have more types of firearms, powders, loads, and other products to choose from than our ancestors ever thought possible. In The Ultimate Guide to Blackpowder Hunting, Al Raychard answers these questions and many more, covering such topics as the anatomy of a muzzleloader, muzzleloader types and designs, ignition systems, propellants, projectiles and barrels, and loading up and sighting in for hunting. Raychard also gets into explaining field-tested tactics for hunting a variety of big-game species.

The Complete Black Powder Handbook (3rd Edition)

Sam Fadala (Author)

“I bought this book with just an interest in muzzleloading. Then I went to a long gun store and had some long talks with the store owner who has many years in muzzleloading experience. Every tip, explanation, anecdotal experience he shared with me on buying, loading and shooting a muzzleloader was in this book. I particularly appreciated the emphasis on safety with black powder guns. By the time I decided on a gun and purchased the accessories, I had confidence and comfort in being able to load and shoot safely and correctly. This is the ultimate book for learning about muzzleloaders.”

From an Amazon review.

The Blackpowder Plainsman: A Beginner's Guide to Muzzle Loading and Reenactment on the Great Plains

Randy Smith (Author)

This carfully prepared book is an information-filled guide for the beginning muzzleloader and plainsman. It is the most in-depth discussion on these subjects ever written, and it is an invaluable tool for anyone wanting to learn the skills and history of the Plainsmen. The book begins by investigating the rebirth of the black powder experience in America. The author explains that the muzzleloading adventure of today involves much more than just guns. Art, history, science, nature and philosophy all become part of the hobby. The reader is led through many categories of muzzleloading, including kit building, hunting and reenactments. A thorough review of Plains history from 1820 to 1876 is included. The westward push of all American settlers and their interactions with the Indians is discussed. The major trails and the men and women who traveled them are shown and explained.

The author examines the different lifestyles of those men and women of the Plains - the raiders, soldiers and hunters. Along with a detailed description of their lives, he presents a review of the firearms they used, accompanied by photographs of authentic clothing for both men and women are shown. Four chapters are devoted to modern hunting with muzzleloading weapons. Everything from supply lists to food is included for those who enjoy camping and hunting with black power. Whether the hunt is for big game or small, all the details are given to assure an enjoyable experience. This book is a "must have" for active black powder enthusiasts and for all wanting to enjoy the thrill of authentic plains reenactments. With its many photographs, numerous suggestions for hunting, camping, and rendezvous activities; and extensive lists of suppliers of goods and services, it is truly a complete guide for beginning this lifetime hobby.

About the Author

Born in Stafford Country, Kansas, Randy Smith is a graduate of Washburn University of Topeka and has completed work toward a Master of Science degree in communications at Fort Hays State University. In addition to his present position as a high school communications teacher in Garden City, Randy also conducts seminars and workshops on the instruction of applied communication throughout the state of Kansas. Randy Smith is a member of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, and the Kansas Muzzle Loading Association. He is active in rendezvous and reenactment activities, primarily those which are concerned with the early history of the Santa Fe Trail, and he hunts exclusively with black powder weapons. He looks forward to the day when he can take an elk or a bear with a muzzleloader. Randy's articles have been published in several black powder and historical publications including Muzzle Blasts, Wild West, Black Powder Hunting, and Muzzleloader. He is also the author of a western novel, Days of the Plainsman, and a teacher's supplement for the instruction of applied communication for the Kansas Competency Based Curriculum Center in Topeka, Kansas. Randy is married and the father of four children. During his free time, he enjoys hunting and rendezvous activities, historical research, writing, and trekking the hills and plains of western Kansas, packing a muzzleloader and a Pentax camera.

Still-Hunting Trophy Whitetails: with Bow, Rifle, Shotgun, and Muzzleloader

Bill Vaznis (Author)

Anthropologists tell us that primitive man evolved in part because of his abilities to still-hunt--moving silently and methodically in pursuit of big-game animals. Today, still-hunting is the least understood method of tagging trophy whitetail bucks. Still-Hunting Trophy Whitetails teaches hunters how to hone their woodsmanship skills to conquer the challenge of stalking bucks, with tips on camouflage and scent control, scrape lines, feeding and bedding areas, and travel routes. Details on yardage estimation, timing, shooting positions, and bowhunting thin cover provide the information necessary for successful sneaking and peeking. Special techniques for calling during the peak of the rut and imitating doe-in-heat bleats, buck contact and tending grunts, fawn-in-distress bleats, and buck clicks and growls round out the book.

About the Author

Bill Vaznis is a fulltime writer and photographer who has written more than 1,000 articles published in a variety of major outdoor magazines, including Deer & Deer Hunting and Whitetail Hunting Strategies. He makes his home in upstate New York.

Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Living: Surviving with Nothing But Your Bare Hands and What You Find in the Woods

John McPherson (Author), Geri McPherson (Author)

"During my first years of learning survival I took a course in survival and primitive earth skills taught by John and Geri McPherson. I was excited by their unbelievable passion and their intrinsic understanding of survival. Their teachings took me from understanding basic skills to a full-blown love for the ancient technologies that humans developed to survive. John and Geri are the real deal. They don't just teach this stuff, they live it. I loved the experience with them so much I came back a second time a few years later. Now that I have traveled the world as Survivorman--experiencing and filming survival in every ecosystem there is--I can sit back and watch my shows and see John and Geri's teachings peek through in every situation. I have been able to understand survival because of John and Geri, and can highly recommend this book."

--Les Stroud, AKA Survivorman

Packed with in-depth instruction and photos, Ultimate Guide to Wilderness Living teaches you the skills need to survive and live in the wild using only those things found in the woods. Learn how to:

Ignite a fire with a two-stick hand drill

Erect temporary and semi-permanent shelters

Chip stones and bones into primitive tools

Trap animals and hunt with a bow and arrow

Fire pots, weave baskets and tan buckskin

Prepare and cook wild foods

About the Author

John McPherson and Geri McPherson teach primitive wilderness living and survival skills to instructors in the U.S. Army's Special Warfare Command's survival school. They live on 46 acres of undeveloped land in the flint hills of Kansas.

The Field & Stream Bowhunting Handbook, New and Revised

Bob Robb (Author)

The discipline of bowhunting is its own challenge. Successful bowhunting—putting meat on the table and maybe some antlers on the wall—is a challenge on top of that. But if you’re drawn to this pursuit and treasure a sport that requires commitment, and if you thrill to the idea of having to get as close to your quarry as possible, it’s time for the archery season.

The Field & Stream Bowhunting Handbook, by veteran hunting writer Bob Robb, covers in detail how to learn to shoot accurately and then hunt with a bow, particularly the compound bow. Robb explains how to select the right gear, how to practice safely and efficiently, how to operate in the woods as a bowhunter and approach a variety of game, and much more.

This fully revised edition details all the latest gear and up-to-the-minute techniques. If you’ve been bowhunting for some time and are looking for fresh insight, or even if you are just getting started, then The Field & Stream Bowhunting Handbook is the ticket to the next level of your sport.

With Gun and Rod in Canada [Kindle Edition]

Phil H. Moore (Author)

On February 9, 1901, Captain Barrett, of the Western Arms and Sporting Goods Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, presented me to a young mining engineer. The following spring I accompanied him on a prospecting trip in the Wahsatch Range and killed a cinnamon bear. Then he took me on a coaching tour through the mountains of Idaho. I furnished the meat for our party. On returning, my owner, with a partner and pack-outfit, travelled through Strawberry Pass into Ashley Valley. We killed coyotes, sage-hens, and an elk. From Ashley to Price (125 miles through the Bad Lands) I shot a vulture; also, “chance shot” a buck antelope 1,000 yards. At Price we railed to Salt Lake.

Records of North American Big Game, 11th Edition

C. Randall Byers (Author), George A. Bettas (Author), Boone and Crockett Club (Editor)

Records of North American Big Game is the official records book for outstanding North American big game trophies. This volume is the eleventh in a series of world renowned records books begun by the Boone and Crockett Club in 1932. The tabular listings are based upon the Boone and Crockett Club's copyrighted method of scoring. First adopted in 1950, this is the universally recognized standard for judging North American big game. Hunters, wildlife biologists, state and provincial game managers, federal wildlife officials and anyone with a sincere interest in biological data of big game species will find this book an invaluable reference source.

This book features: Eight new World's Records for typical whitetail deer, typical and non-typical American elk, Pacific walrus, Sitka blacktail, Alaska-Yukon moose, Central Canada barren ground caribou and muskox.

More than 17,000 North American big game trophies in 35 categories, with all the details - an increase of over 4,200 trophies from the last edition.

Over 130 field photographs, plus nearly 100 portrait photographs of the top-ranking trophies for each category.

Informative chapters that every hunter will enjoy and benefit from reading.

All 17 score charts, including the measurements for the current World's Records, and instructions for measuring your own trophies.

Thirty-two pages of wildlife and landscape artwork by current and past Boone and Crockett Club members reproduced in full color.

The Ultimate Guide to Shotgunning: Guns, Gear, and Hunting Tactics for Deer and Big Game, Upland Birds, Waterfowl, and Small Game

David R. Henderson (Author)

Drawing on forty years of shooting experience, author Dave Henderson takes a comprehensive look at what shotguns are and what they were and what they can do and can't do and why.

Henderson, in the elegant prose for which he is famous, starts out by sketching the history of the shotgun, and then clearly dissects every facet of the weapon, completely covering topics like gauges, the relative drawbacks and merits of double-barreled, pump action and autoloaders; how to fit a gun; and how to use chokes.

There are also invaluable descriptions of the characteristics of shot, and what the hunter can expect from the varieties available, as well as advice on choosing among them. There's advice on testing the pattern of your gun, as well as tips for beginners on gun handling.

Chapters include hunting white-tailed deer, wingshooting, hunting big game, waterfowl, and turkey, shooting sports such as sporting clays, plus valuable practical advice on cleaning guns and reloading shotshells.

This is truly the ultimate guide to the shotgun.

Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide

Peter Allison (Author)

Whatever You Do, Don’t Run is a hilarious collection of true tales from top ­safari guide Peter Allison. In a place where the wrong behavior could get you eaten, Allison has survived face-to-face encounters with big cats, angry ­elephants, and the world’s most unpredictable animals—herds of untamed tourists and foolhardy guides whose outrageous antics sometimes make them even more dangerous than a pride of hungry lions!

Join Allison as he faces down charging lions—twice; searches for a drunk, half-naked tourist who happens to be a member of the British royal family; drives a Land Rover full of tourists into a lagoon full of hippos; and adopts the most ­vicious animal in Africa as his “pet.” Full of lively humor and a genuine love and respect for Botswana and its rich wildlife, Whatever You Do, Don’t Run takes you to where the wild things are and introduces you to a place where every day is a new adventure!

In 1994 Peter Allison set off for a year-long stay in Africa. More than a dozen years and hundreds of adventures later, he’s still leading safaris and collecting stories. Allison’s safaris have been ­featured in National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler, and on television programs such as Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures.

The Ducks Unlimited Guide to Shotgunning

Don Zutz (Author)

Nobody knew shotgunning better than the late Don Zutz, who, during the course of his lengthy career, penned several books and thousands of magazine articles on shotguns and shooting, influencing an entire generation of shooting sports enthusiasts. This book, a collection of the shotgunning columns he wrote for Ducks Unlimited magazine between 1990 and 1998, is sure to become the point of reference for all waterfowl gunning. It covers everything from the grand old guns of yesterday to today's best guns and loads, from the basics of shotgun fit and function to expert advice on ballistics, chokes, and shooting techniques - all with the duck and goose hunter in mind.

Corbin's advice; or, the Wolf Hunter's Guide

Benjamin Corbin (Author)

"Tells how to catch 'em and all about the science of wolf hunting."

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

In Africa: Hunting Adventures in the Big Game Country

John T. McCutcheon (Author)

EVER since I can remember, almost, I have cherished a modest ambition to hunt lions and elephants. At an early age, or, to be more exact, at about that age which finds lost boys wondering whether they would rather be Indian fighters or sailors, I ran across a copy of Stanley's Through the Dark Continent. It was full of fascinating adventures. I thrilled at the accounts which spoke in terms of easy familiarity of "express" rifles and "elephant" guns, and in only vivid but misguided imagination, I pictured an elephant gun as a sort of cannon-a huge, unwieldy harquebus-that fired a ponderous shell. The old woodcuts of daring hunters and charging lions inspired me with unrest and longing-the longing to bid the farm farewell and start down tile road for Africa. Africa 1 What a picture it conjured up in my fancy! Then, as even now, it symbolized a world of adventurous….

Brian's Hunt

Gary Paulsen (Author)

Millions of readers of Hatchet, The River, Brian?s Winter, and Brian?s Return know that Brian Robeson is at home in the Canadian wilderness. He has stood up to the challenge of surviving alone in the woods. He prefers being on his own in the natural world to civilization.

When Brian finds a dog one night, a dog that is wounded and whimpering, he senses danger. The dog is badly hurt, and as Brian cares for it, he worries about his Cree friends who live north of his camp. His instincts tell him to head north, quickly. With his new companion at his side, and with a terrible, growing sense of unease, he sets out to learn what happened. He sets out on the hunt.

About the Author

Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people. He lives in New Mexico and on the Pacific Ocean.

Through the Brazilian Wilderness

Theodore Roosevelt (Author)

Through the Brazilian Wilderness is Theodore Roosevelt's narrative of his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913. Teddy Roosevelt was a man's man, a New York kid whose taste for adventure was sparked in his boyhood by a dead seal for sale on a Broadway sidewalk. Harvard student, soldier, Rough Rider, youngest President ever and one who survived the assassin's bullet, maverick politician, Nobel Prize winner, hunter and conservationist, and finally the man who, at 55 years old, explored an unknown region of the Amazon river basin. Imagine one of today's former-Presidents undertaking a similar adventure. For six weeks, in 1914, Roosevelt and his party paddled and carried their canoes down a previously unexplored 950-mile river now called the Rio Roosevelt. Men died, boats were lost, food became scarce, dangerous animals and natives were about, fever borne by insects sickened many in the party (and led to Roosevelt's own death five years later).

This is the stuff of Through the Brazilian Wilderness. Theodore Roosevelt was truly a unique, gifted and accomplished person. If he had followed the interests of his youth, he would have grown up to be a naturalist rather than President of the United States. As a boy he had a vast collection of frogs, squirrels, snakes, birds, insects that he called the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History. Science's loss was politics gain. However, T.R. never lost his interest in nature. Following his presidency, he set out on an expedition to explore and map unknown regions of Paraguay and Brazil on the 950-mile "River of Doubt," a previously unexplored tributary of the Amazon River. The expedition collected thousands of species of birds and mammals. Roosevelt admired those who lived life with passion and for what he called "the Great Adventure." The story of his expedition, as chronicled in "Through the Brazilian Wilderness," tells one of T.R.'s last great adventures in his typical inimitable style.

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (1858–1919) was the 26th President of the United States. He is noted for his energetic personality, range of interests and achievements, leadership of the Progressive Movement, and his "cowboy" image and robust masculinity. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming President (1901–1909) he held offices at the municipal, state, and federal level of government. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician.

The Tattered Autumn Sky: Bird Hunting in the Heartland

Tom Davis (Author)

In these fine essays, Tom Davis lyrically reflects on gundogs and gamebirds; on the prairies, fields, and woodlands where they meet; on the delights of upland bird hunting and the dilemmas posed by the summons of blood. Far more literary than most chroniclers of the sporting experience, his work stands squarely in the tradition of outdoor writing represented by such greats as Aldo Leopold, Gordon MacQuarrie, Gene Hill, and Robert F. Jones.

More than recounting the highlights of a sporting life, these twenty-five essays, spanning two decades, act as a finely etched memoir. We come to know the bird dogs that have been central to Davis’s life, including the irrepressible Maggie in “Blood,” an endearing yet doomed English setter pup with the distinct aroma of a chicken. We meet family and friends, observe a marriage and its dissolution, and join in the resumption of life and love. With Davis, we are swallowed up by the immense prairies of Nebraska and South Dakota; awed by the late afternoon light in the Wisconsin northwoods; and moved by the devotion of an old dog on point. Through Davis’s deft pen, we, too, are bone weary at the end of a long day afield, and we, too, feel the elemental connection a hunter has to wild birds and the unspoiled places they inhabit.

The long-time Senior Editor and Gun Dogs columnist for Sporting Classics, award-winning writer Tom Davis is also Editor-at-Large for Pointing Dog Journal, a contributing Editor to Sports Afield, and a columnist for Just Labs. His work has appeared in Gray's Sporting Journal, Field & Stream, Shooting Sportsman, Ducks Unlimited, Gun Dog, and Retriever Journal. Davis's books include Why Dogs Do That, To The Point, and Just Goldens. Davis lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with wife, stepdaughter, and two English setters.

Thirty-One Years On the Plains and in the Mountains: Or, the Last Voice from the Plains. an Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West

William F. Drannan (Author)  

From an Amazon customer review: This is the true story of a boy who was orphaned at a young age and given to a farmer who treated him very poorly. In his early teens, he runs away and happens to meet Kit Carson, who takes him under his wing and treats him like an adopted son. (As he leaves, the revenge he takes on the housekeeper who had been so cruel to him is one of the highlights of the book.) He has many amazing adventures as a hunter, trapper, army and wagon train scout, indian fighter and so on. He barely escapes certain death on many occasions, rescues women captured by indians, etc. The book covers most of his life and shows his gradual development from an ignorant boy to a skilled and highly regarded frontiersman whose advice and assistance are sought by Army officers and others who have to brave the dangers of the "wild west." I've read the book twice and will no doubt read it again. Considering his scarcity of formal education, he writes quite well and with humorous understatement when describing experiences that would have most of us soiling our clothes. A real "guy's" book.

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer (Author)

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and , unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.

Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life. Admitting an interst that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the dries and desires that propelled McCandless. Digging deeply, he takes an inherently compelling mystery and unravels the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.

When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naiveté, pretensions, and hubris. He is said to have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity , and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding--and not an ounce of sentimentality. Mesmerizing, heartbreaking, Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer's stoytelling blaze through every page.

Fishing's Greatest Misadventures

Paul Diamond (Editor)

Fishing's Greatest Misadventures presents 25 larger-than-life true stories covering the spectrum of fish tales, from terrifying to comical to downright bizarre. Everyday fishermen, journalists, and pros tell their stories of freak accidents, fish attacks, sabotage, pranks, getting lost at sea, idiotic decisions, eerie incidents, and other jaw-dropping calamities. This book takes you from the freshwater to the sea with stories about every form of angling, from fly-casting for trout to noodling for catfish, and big game sport fishing to casting for the unknown.