Hie to the Hunters

by Jesse Stuart

When an Appalachian family with a sixteen-year-old son takes in a runaway town boy, a friendship begins, full of shared, simple pleasures

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Jesse Hilton Stuart was an American writer known for writing short stories, poetry, and novels about Southern Appalachia. Born and raised in Greenup County, Kentucky, Stuart relied heavily on the rural locale of Northeastern Kentucky for his writings. Stuart was named the Poet Laureate of Kentucky in 1954. He died at Jo-Lin nursing home in Ironton, Ohio, which is near his boyhood home.

Reviews

[Dave Creek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesse Stuart's HIE TO THE HUNTERS returns us to the Plum Grove hills
This is a return visit for me to the Plum Grove hills of Kentucky Jesse Stuart wrote about so lovingly all his life.

HIE TO THE HUNTERS tells the story of Didway Hargis, a city boy who ends up running away from his life of privilege to live with the rural Sparks family. He learns to hunt possums, plow the earth, and take part in midnight corn shucking.

This background is everyday life to Stuart's characters (as it was to him), but to most current readers it's a look into a culture that to a large extent has disappeared -- one that revolves around farming methods we would consider hopelessly primitive now, and one where many people haven't had a chance to gain much "book larnin'" and often don't realize its value. But they value their shared humanity, and it brings them through some tough times.

I've always believed Stuart deserves more than to be considered only a "regional author." His stories confirm the necessity for that shared humanity, and that's a message that should never die.

[Ben House · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book around 1970 when I was in high school. Since then, I have read it a half dozen times or more. For several years, I have been using this book in my junior high American history book. It is not about history, but about rural culture and life in a mountain community. That is my excuse for using it in class.
As much as I love this book, I love hearing kids talk about liking it even more. My own kids love the book and many others will tell me years after reading it that it was a favorite.
Be warned: This book is filled with fighting, dancing, shooting guns, trapping and killing animals, and using--smoking and chewing and spitting tobacco. What a fun story.
Jesse Stuart was a great story teller, poet, and chronicler of life in eastern Kentucky. Certainly, he romanticizes the hard life of mountain people, but let others tell the harsh accounts.
This is a great book for young people. We also have a day of celebrating the book by having a pot luck meal with country foods. That itself is lots of fun.
Count me as a big fan of all that Jesse Stuart wrote.

[Jim Towe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in Kentucky

I grew up in Kentucky. Many of the happenings in this story I have done first hand. Stripping tobacco, raising tobacco, riding Mike's and farming were the best days of my life. All young men should have these life experiences.

[Angela Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

Will recommend this book to anyone who likes the adventure. I can picture the whole book due to the authors writing style

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dad remembered a book from his childhood and he could retell several scenes. However, I never had any luck finding it until years later when I had my eyes drawn to this book on a special display in our local library. YAY!

Anyways, this was a really funny and heart touching book. It's a city boy meets country life sort of story that was really a nice story to read. We thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The city boy, Did (short for Didway) Hargis is small and the target of bullies in his town. Then a boy from the hill-country comes to town, "Sparkie" is tanned, tough, and has a good aim with his non-lethal "secret weapon". He comes to the rescue of Did and Did ends up coming home with him, where he lives with Sparkie and his parents Peg and Arn Sparks.

I literally got teary-eyed a time or two reading this. I also have to say I loved Arn. She was such a fun and spunky character.

[Rob Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Freshman English read, and an interesting book as I remember it.

[Mary]

A wonderful old fashioned tale that will entrance you like the Kentucky hills it's set in and embrace you like the warm family dwelling in those hills.

[Cruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the characters in the story. They are so unique.

[ricky emerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a great book read it first time when i was 10 years old. loved it then love it now i am 66

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read Hie to the Hunters as a young boy. I still read it every other year or so. This is a young person's book with many adult lessons. Sparkie is a 16-year-old, tobacco chewin', fox huntin', overgrown teenager from the hills of Kentucky. He rescues Did Hargis from two bullies who are using him for a punching bag and takes him home to the hills. Did is a soft city-slicker kid who is the resident poster boy of the local school. When Did first meets Sparkie's father "Peg" and mother "Arn" he is amused at their homey mannerisms and country ways. But Did soon learns that all knowledge is not found in books. He learns from his new family more than he had ever learned from his own father who operates the local hardware store. He even learns to sleep in the barn's hayloft with a hound dog or two for a blanket. Sparkie and Did coon hunt, fox hunt, and run a trap-line together. At first, Did is all thumbs, but he soon learns the tricks of being a mountain man and fits right in.

Meanwhile, a feud is brewing between the fox-hunters and the tobacco-growers. The tobacco-growers blame the fox-hunters for letting their hounds run through their tobacco and so they set out poison in the tobacco fields. In retaliation, tobacco barns start going up in flames one by one. Also, Did's dad isn't too happy about his leaving home to live among these "backward hillbillies" and gets the sheriff and town locals after Sparkie's folks. Did wants to stay, and the result is a cornfield fight between the mountain people and the city people. The mountain folk are at the annual corn-shuckin' when trouble breaks out. Did has just found a red ear (and thereby earned a kiss from his girl) when his dad and half the town come over the hill. Corn-stalks, fists, and insults are flying all around that night, but the issue still isn't settled.

There's much more to read about in this warm, moving, fictional account of two boys from different worlds learning how to be men together. The language in the book reminds one of the movie Sergeant York. If this all sounds interesting, believe me, this book is fun, action-packed, and moving. I recommend it to anyone who longs for simpler days and true family values. Hie to the Hunters is a classic.

[Zane Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember being sad that this book was over and wanting there to be more.

[Brandon Parman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting in the hills and hollers of Kentucky around the 1930s reminded me of tales that my grandparents shared from when they were young. I have experienced touches of it myself when we farmed some when I was a kid. It is a very realistic description of the hardships the people faced and their every day life. The main characters are very likable and it is very well written, and respectful to mountain people. It is also reminded me some of the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn books. There is an adventure around every corner. A lot of my family love Jesse Stuart and I thoroughly enjoyed it also.