Mark Jeffery Volk wrote 5 very good books on grouse and woodcock hunting. They're tough to find. It took me 10 years of looking to get a hard bound edition of his first book The Upland Way. I've really enjoyed reading his books.

Another great read is Jim Fergus's A Hunter's Road. I read it every season.

I got to have dinner with Jim in Rand (Ayn in the book) Colorado a few years ago at the Yacht Club that is now closed down. He signed my book saying that I was the only man in America that knows where Sweetzer Pass is...I'm from Southern Idaho...anyways great guy.

Shawn, I have all of Mark Jeffery Volk's books and have been thinking about going back and reading them again. He seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. I even talked to his old publisher and was able to get his last book, albeit the bookcover was missing. I am not talking bad about someone, but believe he may suffer from some serious depression--hope I am wrong, and hope he is doing well, but that is my impression. A great writer and talent, and wish he was still producing.
I believe Jim Fergus is now residing in Arizona( or N. Mex). Talked to him a couple of years ago. Chapter 16, "Looking for Mr. Grouse" is about our hunt together. He parked his Airstream in my drive for a couple of days and of course I got to hunt with his dog, Sweetzer. H e had 2 16 ga guns with him at the time a Sterlingworth 16 and a Belgium guild gun. I think he is just writing novels now.
And hey, Parker fans, you should all subscribe to Shawn's upland blog for enjoyable reading, he along with his brother Andrew, produce a couple great blogs. Hope I get this right Shawn--if not please chime in--" A Mouthful of Feathers, and Upland Ways. Great Stuff!!

Harold...I use to communicate with Mark Volk by email and then just as you described he dropped off the face of the earth. Mark is an excellent writer. I have all 5 books plus a complication of his first three books that was made into a limited edition...I've only seen two copies of this. I had them both and traded one to artist Bob Bertram for one of his hand made lanyards. I still have the other copy. I've heard that one of Mark's stories was sold for a movie...I believe it's the last chapter in The Upland Way...A perfect summer...but I'd have to go look at the title. It's certainly heart touching.

Jim Fergus has signed a copy of all his books and mailed them to me...I feel pretty lucky. I think you're right about AZ.

Andy and I just have Upland Ways and thanks for the kudos!

Havilah Babcock was one of the greatest outdoor writers of all times. He sure could tell a story...along with Gordon MacQuarrie. I also really like Raymond P Holland’s stuff. Dave Books' book is really good too...Although I've teased Dave for hunting with a Brittany :) Worth Mathewson needs to be on the list too.

UPLAND AUTHORS and ILLUSTRATORS (North American) 12-24-17

a few gaps filled
comments about the authors and illustrators still welcome
thanks to all who have contributed something to this list
REC
________________________________
Allen, Ken GUIDE TO UPLAND BIRD HUNTING; Northeast; how to
Anonymous THE AMERICAN SHOOTER'S MANUAL, by a Gentleman from Philadelphia County, Derrydale Press, 1928; plain and simple rules for the inexperienced.
Anonymous THE SPORTSMAN'S COMPANION : OR, AN ESSAY ON SHOOTING; Derrydale Press; 1930;
Babcock, Havilah MY HEALTH IS BETTER IN NOVEMBER; one of the greatest outdoor writers;
Babcock, Philip H. FALLING LEAVES: TALES FROM A GUN ROOM; Derrydale Press, 1937; illustrated by Aiden L. Ripley
Bell, Vereen Collier’s; Sat. Evening Post; Outdoor Life; Field & Stream; BRAG DOG AND OTHER STORIES; Wilderness Adventures Press, 2000; wrote SWAMP WATER (became a movie)
Bethune, George A. THE UNCERTAINTIES OF TRAVEL; 1880; a train/boat journey from Boston to Long Island to hunt Woodcock; privately printed
Betton, H.L. UPLAND GAME SHOOTING
Bigelow, Horatio -- FLYING FEATHERS; Bostonian turned Virginian; lived and worked in Ct., too; Railway man.
Books, Dave WINGBEATS AND HEARTBEATS-- ESSAYS ON GAME BIRDS, GUN DOGS AND DAYS AFIELD, ; includes upper mid-West; Western and Southwestern bird hunting
Buckingham, Nash
Buckman, C.T. 75 YEARS WITH A SHOTGUN
Carmichael, Jim CLASSIC CARMICHAEL
Chase, Paul E. MEANDERINGS OF A SNAKE MEADOW EDITOR-- essays about upland fine arts,
books, history, guns, dogs, "the peripherals"; book collector
Claflin, William H., Jr. PARTRIDGE ADVENTURES; privately printed; Harvard University Printing Office; 1951; New York and New Hampshire hunts; informal reminiscences; illustrated; fold-out chart;
Connett, Eugene, editor UPLAND GAME BIRD SHOOTING IN AMERICA (Derrydale Press); Lewis S. Thompson, Introduction
Cox, Charles E., Jr. JOHN TOBIAS, SPORTSMAN; (Derrydale Press); includes Grouse hunting; A. L. Ripley illustrations; 1937
Gorham L. Cross (G. Grouse) PARTRIDGE SHORTENIN'; privately printed, 1949
Davis, Edmund W. WOODCOCKSHOOTING-- early 20th C., reflective, hunted New Brunswick
Deckard, Lon (publisher) BARE NOVEMBER DAYS ; COME OCTOBER, EXCLUSIVELY WOODCOCK (anthology) illustrated by Bruce Langton, Countrysport Press
De La Valdene, Guy MAKING GAME (An essay on Woodcock); FOR AHANDFUL OF FEATHERS
DeMott, Robert; Smith, Dave AFIELD : AMERICAN WRITERS ON BIRD DOGS; Skyhorse Publishing
Dickey, Charley OPENING SHOTS & PARTING LINES
Dilts, Mark C. (editor) OF GROUSE AND THINGS
Edminster, Frank THE RUFFED GROUSE: LIFE HISTORY, PROPAGATION, MANAGEMENT
Elman, Robert (publisher) TIMBER AND TIDE: Hunting Tales of the Northeast 1730-1998;
Enders, John O. RANDOM NOTES ON HUNTING , privately printed 1955; includes Grouse and Woodcock in New England; Quail in North Carolina
Evans, George Bird prolific; an all-time great, friend of the Ruffed Grouse; Old Hemlock line of English setters; the Woodcock books
Everett, Fred FUN WITH GAME BIRDS
Fergus, Charles THE UPLAND EQUASION; belletrist; gun fancier
Fergus, Jim A HUNTER’S ROAD, Henry Holt & Company, 1992; "a great read"; Harold Lee Pickens, PGCA Member, in Chapter 16
Foote, John Taintor dog stories; POCONO SHOT;
Ford, Corey MINUTES OF THE LOWER FORTY
Forester, Frank -- see Henry William Herbert
Foster, William Harnden NEW ENGLAND GROUSE SHOOTING, 1941 (fabulous artwork; father of skeet; well- known field trialer)
Frost, A. B. SHOOTING PICTURES; illustrations, including upland; text by Charles D. Lanier
Gaddis, Mike ZIP ZAP: THE TRUE STORY OF A DOG AND A DREAM; plantation Quail; field trialing legacy of the Old South
Gray, Ed (text) WINGS FROM COVER: The Upland Images of Robert Abbett and Ed Gray
Greenfield, Joseph A QUAIL HUNTERS ODYSSEY
Grozik, Richard BIRDHUNTER: A CELEBRATION OF WILD BIRDS, FINE GUNS AND STAUNCH DOGS; Safari Press, 1997
Guillion, Gordon GROUSE OF THE NORTH SHORE
Hagerbaumer, David; Sam Lehman SELECTED AMERICAN GAME BIRDS ; The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1980, prints
Hall, Henry Marion Canadian perspective; full color plates; strong on biology and management.
Hammond, S. T. MY FRIEND THE PARTRIDGE
Harper, Catherine A. GEORGE BIRD EVANS: LIFE OF A SHOOTING GENTLEMAN
Heacox, Cecil E. THE GALLANT GROUSE
Hebert, Henry William novelist; "father of sporting literature" "Frank Forrester"
Heilner, Van Campen OUR AMERICAN GAME BIRDS
Heller, Morris AMERICAN HUNTING AND FISHING BOOKS; Vol. I (Vol. II never printed); a heavy-weight; many books never seen by most collectors -- nor will be; Nimrod and Piscator Press, 1977
Henderson, David H. ON POINT
Hennessy, Tom FEATHERS AND FINS
Hightower, John PHEASANT HUNTING (illustrations by Lynn Bogue Hunt)
Hill, Gene THE WHISPERING WINGS OF AUTUMN
Hill, Lewis Webb (see John C. Phillips)
Hochwalt, A. F. BIRDDOGS: THEIR HISTORY AND ACHIEVEMENTS, Sportsmen's Digest, 1922; THE MODERN SETTER; 1919;
Holland, Ray BIRD DOGS; A. S. Barnes, 1948; SCATTERGUNNING; SHOTGUNNING IN THE UPLANDS; UPLAND BIRDS AND WATHERFOWL;
Howard, John (editor) anthology
Huggler, Tom A FALL OF WOODCOCK: Woodcock, Grouse and Quail
Humphrey, George M.; Krech, Shepard, (editors); THE GEORGIA-FLORIDA FIELD TRIAL CLUB (1916-1948) , Scribner's 1948, illustrated A. L. Ripley
Huntington, Dwight W. IN BRUSH, SEDGE and STUBBLE -- Feathered Game of the Upland, The Sportsman's Society, 1898
Jezioro, Frank 55 YEARS A GROUSE HUNTER
Johnson, Don. L GROUSE & WOODCOCK -- A Gunner's Guide; how to
Jones, Robert F. Labrador retrievers; DANCERS IN THE SUNSET SKY: THE MUSINGS OF A BIRD HUNTER; 1996
King, George THAT’S RUFF; some of the very best hunting stories ever written;
Kirmse, Marguerite DOGS INTHE FIELD, Derrydale Press, 1936
Krech, Shepard (see George M. Humphrey)
Knight, John A RUFFED GROUSE; WOODCOCK
Lamb, Dana S. SPORTING ETCHINGS -- A. Lassell Ripley, Barre Publishers, 1970
Lanier, Henry Wysham A. B. FROST-- THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN"S ARTIST, Premier Press, 1985
Leffingwell, William Bruce (editor) SHOOTING ON UPLAND, MARSH AND STREAM; Rand McNally & Co., 1890
Lehman, Sam see David Hagerbaumer
Lundrigan, Ted Nelson
Lytle, Horace gun dogs
Maass, David; Gene Hill (text) A GALLERY OF WATERFOWL AND UPLAND GAME , Peterson Publishing, 1978
Mackay, John W. MARK!
MacQuarrie, Gordon; "sure could tell a story"
Martin, Chuck BIRDHUNTING --TALES AND TIPS
Martin, Gene and Bella (editors) TIMBERDOODLE DAYS , (Wm. Claflin was a member of the Timberdoodle Club)
Mathewson, Worth REFLECTIONS ON SNIPE; upland tales (editor)
McCormack, Kevin THE DOUBLE GUN JOURNAL INDEX & READER 1997-2005, "This Parker Life" -- engaging story; the making of a Parker maven;
McIntosh, Michael
Mulak, Steve WINGS OF THUNDER-- NEW ENGLAND GROUSE HUNTING REVISITED

Murphy, Robert THE PHANTOM SETTER & OTHER STORIES; Dutton, 1966; one of the best short stories on bird hunting; uncommon
Noreen, David J. THE DOUBLE GUN JOURNAL INDEX & READER 1997-2005 "In Search of the Next Bit of Information", an essay that includes rare autobiographical data on the peripatetic Researcher;
Norris, Charles EASTERN UPLAND SHOOTING
Nutting, Judge THE HISTORY OF ONE DAY OUT OF SEVENTEEN THOUSAND; R. J. Oliphant, 1889;
O'Brien, Stephen B., Jr.; and Wildfeuer, Julie Carlson, THE ART OF AIDEN LASSELL RIPLEY
O'Connor, Jack "Pheasants I Love You" (wrote under a pseudonym); master gun and hunting writer; a few Upland stories; i.e. on Western Quail.
Ordeman, John T. books on sporting artists, e.g., WILLIAM J. SCHALDACH: ARTIST, AUTHOR, SPORTSMAN
Osborn, Robert BIRD CRAZY
Parman, Mark A GROUSE HUNTER'S ALMANAC
Pero, Thomas H. (editor); A PASSION FOR GROUSE: THE LORE AND LEGEND OF AMERICA'S PREMIER GAME BIRD; Wild River Press, 2013
Peters, Fred J. (compiler) THE SPORTING PRINTS BY CURRIER & IVES; Antique Bulletin Publishing Co., 1930
Phillips, John C. , author for example of A SPORTSMAN'S SCRAPBOOK; editor, with Lewis Webb Hill of CLASSICS OF THE AMERICAN SPOOTING FIELD; a Bostonian; ranged South to Pamlico Sound
Phillips, Jonathan R. WHERE THE DIRT ROAD ENDS; RUMINATIONS OF A YANKEE BIRD HUNTER;
Price, Charlie THE DOUBLE GUN JOURNAL INDEX & READER 1997-2005, "High Brass Fives", precision reporting on a Kansas Pheasant hunt with the Parker Gun Collectors Association High Command,
Pringle, J.J. TWENTY YEARS SNIPE SHOOTING
Proper, Datus PHEASANTS OF THE MIND
Reed, Henry M. THE A. B. FROST BOOK
Richardson, Lee THOSE WERE THE DAYS
Rikhoff, Jim FAIR CHASE
Rosene, Walter THE BOBWHITE QUAIL: IT'S LIFE AND MANAGEMENT
Ruark, Robert THE OLD MAN AND THE BOY; true classic
Rutledge, Archibald Southerner transplanted to Union College, NY; PA and then home again; FIREWORKS IN THE PEAFIELD CORNER
Samson, Jack HUNTING THE SOUTHWST some game birds

Samuels, Edward A. WITH ROD AND GUN IN NEW ENGLAND AND THE MARITIME PROVINCES, 1897
Sands, Ledyard THE BIRD THE GUN AND THE DOG
Schaldach, W.J. UPLAND GUNNING
Schley, Frank AMERICAN PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING
Scruggs, Ed THE BIRD DOG
Sheldon, Harold P. Tranquility trilogy; "A Private Affair"; "Not without Honor"; strongly endorsed by The Editor.
Sisley, Nick GROUSE AND WOODCOCK
Skehan, Everett R. FIELDS OF GLORY, LEGENDARY BIRD DOGS
Smith, Steve WOODCOCK SHOOTING
Spiller, Burt GROUSE FEATHERS; MORE GROUSE FEATHERS; DRUMMER IN THE WOODS; Grouse hunts often rollicking and occasionally madcap
Strickland, Roy W. COMMON SENSE GROUSE AND WOODCOCK DOG TRAINING
Tapply, William G. "Bill" -- THE SPOTSMAN'S MOTEBOOK -- AND TAP'S TIPS; various practical and useful
Taylor, John D. A GENTLEEMAN'S SHOOTING DOG; GUNNING THE EASTERN UPLANDS
Trueblood, Ted THE HUNTER’S HANDBOOK; how to, leavened with narrative, includes some Eastern
and Western upland; quotable quote: "If grouse hunters always waited for an open shot, not very many partridge would be killed."
Underwood, Lamar HUNTING THE SOUTH LANDS; THE DUCK HUNTER’S BOOK; THE BOBWHITE QUAIL BOOK: CLASSIC UPLAND TALES
Vanderweide, Harry GROUSE FOOLISH & OTHER STORIES
Volk, Mark Jeffrey THE UPLAND WAY, the first of "five very good books on grouse and woodcock hunting";
Walrod, Dennis GROUSE HUNTER'S GUIDE ;how to
Waterman, Charles F.
Waters, Tom E. TIMBERDOODLE TALES;
Weeks, Edward A. (text) A. LASSELL RIPLEY PAINTINGS
Wheatley, William Arthur -- obscure works; see PGCA Forum post 6/17/17
Wheaton, Art GROUSE COUNTRY; THE DOUBLE GUN JOURNAL INDEX & READER 1997-2005, "The Old Pat's Society -- an Annual Affair with Parker's, Pa'tridge and Woodcock", annual hunts practiced by a congenial fraternity of North country double-gunners;
Wildfeuer, Julie Carlson (see Stephen B. O'Brien, Jr.)
Williams, Ben Ames
Woolner, Frank mid-20th C. local N.E. hunts with friends; TIMBERDOODLE!; GROUSE AND GROUSE HUNTING

The top picture of the FEP of Woolner's "Grouse and Grouse Hunting" is inscribed to a gentleman here in Andover who was a president of The Andover Fly Fishers by the name of Fred Cummings.

The next one was Tap Tapply's personal copy of "Timberdoodle" which is in my library along with a few more of Tap's personal books.


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Dean, what great treasures to have in your library!!
Marc Parman has a new book coming out called "Among the Aspens", and I have ordered a signed copy. I am hoping to get Andrew Wayment's new grouse book "The Heartbeat of the Woods' before I go on family vacation to Hilton Head in Sept. I catch up on alot of reading that week.

These two pages are from "Of Grouse and Things" a compilation of stories by several upland authors and edited by Mark Dilts and inscribed to Tap Tapply.


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Very cool stuff, especially the signed books.