Reccomendations for birdhunting/vintage shotgunning books

[Bill Holcombe]

Just looking for some reccomendations for some good reads.

Already have parker story, old reliable, Best Guns, Shotguns and Shooting, Americas Best Shotgun, 2 colonel askins books, and looking at getting New England Grouse Shooting.

Any other good reccomendations out there?

[chris dawe]

King,for the birdhunter in you I would heartily recommend Jenny Willow,and any of Ted Lundrigans work ...absolutely fantastic.

[Dean Romig]

Anything by George Bird Evans, Burton Spiller, H.P. Sheldon - I highly endorse "Fun With Gamebirds" by Fred Everett, "That's Ruff" by George King.... the list goes on and on.

[Mills Morrison]

Archibald Rutledge. Jim Casada put together several volumes of Rutledge's work which focuses on hunting which are good. Havilah Babcock. Bill Tapply is good too. Like Dean says, the list goes on and on

[Mills Morrison]

The Road to Tinkhamtown by Corey Ford is a must read for anyone interested in bird hunting stories. You can find find it and read it online.

[Dean Romig]

The Road to Tinkhamtown by Corey Ford is a must read for anyone interested in bird hunting stories. You can find find it and read it online.


The twelve minute video I posted a couple of weeks ago is the full-length "Road to Tinkhamtown" but it's nice to have a hard copy close by for instant access.

[Harry Collins]

Nash Buckingham is one of my all time favorites.

[Rick Losey]

At one time, I atempted to maintain an inventory of the titles in the library.

It became too much to keep up

Some of George Bird Evans' titles are hard to find (many were only printed as a thousand copies or less) start with his "Upland Shooting Life". One of the best opening lines ever - "Tonight life is as I would have it"

Can't disagree with any of the suggestions above. If John Alden Knight has not been mentioned find a copy of his two titles on Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock.

[Dean Romig]

Frank Woolner's "Grouse and Grouse Hunting" and his "Timberdoodle!" are both classics.

"The Upland Gunner's Book, An Anthology" edited by George Bird Evans is an excellent compilation of upland hunting stories by several noted authors.

"Of Grouse and Things, The Best of The Drummer, 1975 - 1984" edited by Mark C. Dilts is another very good compilation of upland hunting stories, again by several exceptional authors. I have Tap Tapply's copy inscribed by Mark Dilts to Tap saying, "H.G. Tapply - In appreciation for all the pleasure your writing has given me through the years. I hope you enjoy reading this book, especially the stories Bill has written for us... As with you, we think he's kinda special ~ Best Wishes, mark C. Dilts"

[Bill Holcombe]

Thanks for all the replies. I have tracked down these so far to start:

Hunting and Home in the Southern Heartland: The Best of Archibald Rutledge

Upland Autumn: Birds, Dogs, and Shotgun Shells
Tapply, William G.

Tales of Quails 'n Such
Babcock, Havilah

The Best of Nash Buckingham
Nash Buckingham

[Mills Morrison]

I have Tap Tapply's copy inscribed by Mark Dilts to Tap saying, "H.G. Tapply - In appreciation for all the pleasure your writing has given me through the years. I hope you enjoy reading this book, especially the stories Bill has written for us... As with you, we think he's kinda special ~ Best Wishes, mark C. Dilts"

Cool!:shock:

[Dean Romig]

Thanks for all the replies. I have tracked down these so far to start:

Hunting and Home in the Southern Heartland: The Best of Archibald Rutledge

Upland Autumn: Birds, Dogs, and Shotgun Shells
Tapply, William G.

Tales of Quails 'n Such
Babcock, Havilah

The Best of Nash Buckingham
Nash Buckingham


Those are a great start Bill. Your library will grow at the pace you set for it and you will develop a preference in the kind of books you wish to keep in it.

[Bill Holcombe]

Thanks Dean, I almost bought George Bird Evans life of a shooting gentleman but wasn't certain a biography was what I was wanting.

[John Dallas]

Thought I had put in my $.02, but it appears that it didn't stick. For outdoor writing i like the "Gordon MacQuarrie Trilogy", which includes material from "Stories of the Old Duck Hunters and Other Drivel"
For a shotgun knowledge book, I like Bob Brister's "Shotgunning, the Art and the Science"

[Rick Losey]

Thanks Dean, I almost bought George Bird Evans life of a shooting gentleman but wasn't certain a biography was what I was wanting.

if you are interested in GBE the man, it is a very good biography (not an autobiography)- as an aside- Cathy Harper- the author has a litter mate to OH Osthaus.

she hunts and it shows - but the book is about a hunter and an artist, not so much the hunt

[Frank Childrey]

To this stellar list, I would add Robert Ruark's The Old Man and The Boy and John Sargeant Wise's Diomed--a novel told from a working setter's point of view. The Wise book came out in the 1880s, so only a rare book dealer would be able to track it down. Gene Hill's books are always entertaining, and often slyly funny.

[Frank Childrey]

In regard to magazines, Shooting Sportsman, Sporting Classics, and Gray's Sporting Journal are three good ones. The writing and art work in Gray's are of a very high caliber; the articles are directed toward experienced hunters. In a weak moment, I subscribed to Field and Stream . . . oh how the mighty have fallen!

[Rob Greenside]

Any book by Gene Hill. He was one of the great writers, just too bad he's gone now.

[Brett Souder]

I would like to add to your list of suggestions Eastern Upland Shooting by Charles C. Norris and The Trickiest Thing In Feathers by Corey Ford. This a great thread it has given me some new books to search for as well.

[Dean Romig]

Another of my Derrydales; Falling Leaves by Philip H. Babcock (1937). A delightful book of upland shooting stories from days we can only dream of.

[Tim Bearman]

I've enjoyed most of these.
http://parkerguns.org/forums/album.php?albumid=577&pictureid=6661
Don't know how Happy..ended up on that self.
To large for the shelf - Grouse of the North Shore by Gordon Gullion, a must for grouse hunters.

Don't know why the photo doesn't show. Link: http://parkerguns.org/forums/album.php?albumid=577&pictureid=6661

[Bill Holcombe]

I am really loving Hunting and home, the 1st Rutledge collection. Will have to track down the other two collections as I really enjoying his writing so far. Thus is the 1st of my new books I have cracked.

[Mills Morrison]

If you like turkey hunting, you will love his collection of turkey hunting stories

[Phil Yearout]

Years ago when I knew less than nothing about sporting books and was trying to build my library I was lucky enough to receive an offer to subscribe to a series called The 50 Greatest Books of the Derrydale Press. I received a book a month at around $35 each; very nice reprint editions and very affordable. I don't know if they really are the 50 greatest, but I have really enjoyed them and they introduced me to some wonderful writers - Spiller, Buckingham, Gordon Grand, Edmund Ware Smith, Gene Connett, etc. I only wish there had been more books in the series! You can still pick them up occasionally on ABE books, ebay, etc.

[Jack Kuzepski]

If you're looking for books that are slightly different but very good get "Making Game" (woodcock) and "For A Handful of Feathers" (bobwhite quail) by Guy de la Valdene.

Jack Kuzepski