Excerpt from The Still-Hunter Ist. All that part of the natural history and habits of our game which does not bear directly upon the question Of how to find and shoot it; such as its birth, nurture, growth, and shedding of horns, all of which may be found in other and better books - such as Judge Caton's. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Best deer hunting book I've ever read. The author has contempt for your meager skills, your 'tactics', your patience, your determination, and your reasoning. As much as he writes in the way of a frustrating mystery author--revealing the details of each case only after the detective has already solved the case--it is the appropriate way to talk about deer hunting. You do not know what you've missed until you've already missed it.
The author is humorous and eloquent, and full of great notions and contempt for the general knowledge held by moderately successful hunters. He explains shooting in a way that makes me feel like a finally understand it, as well as the implications of larger versus smaller bullets with more or less powder, how velocity, softness, and bullet shape affect killing power, and the best principals on which to buy a hunting rifle.
I'd recommend this book a lot of times over. It was one of Teddy Roosevelt's favorite, and it's easy to see why.
A total classic that came up a few times for me while researching books to read as a new hunter.
The value of this book today: - Entertaining writing that walks the reader through hunts in the woods while pointing out mistakes made along the way - As a historical example of American hunting culture's past (even some outdated things like shooting at uncertain targets) - Conveys the attention and presence of mind needed while hunting (or simply enjoying the woods in a deeper way) - The gear is interesting and still relevant. Proficiency with open sights and the use of homemade deer hide moccasins doesn't seem like such a bad idea today despite technological advances.
Also, this would be a killer gift for your hunter dad/uncle to skim by the fireside.