Gunning Snipe on the Gulf Coast 1901

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Milton C Starr

Im heavily interested in hunting from the 1870s-1910s. A bit off topic but are/were there any books from back then about hunting the methods or practices used. I love the aesthetics as well of that time period before gaudy camo.

There is a great deal of sporting literature for the period you mention here, Milton. On the earlier side is Carolina Sports by Land and Water, by William Elliott, which covers different types of hunting (but mostly big game). If you are really interested, let me know and I can work up a list for you. Be careful, though, collecting sporting literature is akin to collecting big bore guns -- addictive.

On the topic of Eakins; I taught 19th Century art history for many years, so I'm happy to see folks here show an interest in the works of, especially, American artists like Eakins. I'd recommend Winslow Homer to you. He is most certainly not a sporting artist per se, but his many paintings of hunting and fishing are incredible. BTW, he also was an "art correspondent" during the Civil War, and I would bet you would enjoy those works of his also.

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Garry L Gordon

There is a great deal of sporting literature for the period you mention here, Milton. On the earlier side is Carolina Sports by Land and Water, by William Elliott, which covers different types of hunting (but mostly big game). If you are really interested, let me know and I can work up a list for you. Be careful, though, collecting sporting literature is akin to collecting big bore guns -- addictive.

On the topic of Eakins; I taught 19th Century art history for many years, so I'm happy to see folks here show an interest in the works of, especially, American artists like Eakins. I'd recommend Winslow Homer to you. He is most certainly not a sporting artist per se, but his many paintings of hunting and fishing are incredible. BTW, he also was an "art correspondent" during the Civil War, and I would bet you would enjoy those works of his also.

That would be much appreciated, would you happen to know if there are any books on the contrast between sports hunters and market hunters of the time? I have also been wondering are there any detailed books about Grover Cleveland and his passion for waterfowling? I am looking up Winslow Homer now, I particularly like this one.

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Milton C Starr

That would be much appreciated, would you happen to know if there are any books on the contrast between sports hunters and market hunters of the time? I have also been wondering are there any detailed books about Grover Cleveland and his passion for waterfowling? I am looking up Winslow Homer now, I particularly like this one.

Cleveland wrote a book on hunting (and it's pretty good, too!). I'm not sure what you mean by the "contrast between sports hunters and market hunters," but there were certainly conservation minded sporting authors and editors of sporting periodicals (Wilbur F. Parker, Sr. was a very early advocate for conservation who decried market gunning. You might be interested in my article on him that was in a recent Parker Pages.)

There is a more recent book, The Outlaw Gunner, that has accounts of market gunning, especially for waterfowl.

[John Davis]

The line between sport hunter and market hunter is often blurry. As an example, Fred Kimble has sometimes been referred to as a market hunter. This really is not accurate. He and his group of hunting friends would often go off on 2 to 3 week expeditions and return to Peoria with a thousand or so birds. They would sell these to the local markets in order to defray the cost of the hunting trip. They hunted for "sport", not to make a living. But their kind of sport hunting was expensive.

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Garry L Gordon

Cleveland wrote a book on hunting (and it's pretty good, too!). I'm not sure what you mean by the "contrast between sports hunters and market hunters," but there were certainly conservation minded sporting authors and editors of sporting periodicals (Wilbur F. Parker, Sr. was a very early advocate for conservation who decried market gunning. You might be interested in my article on him that was in a recent Parker Pages.)

There is a more recent book, The Outlaw Gunner, that has accounts of market gunning, especially for waterfowl.

By contrast I meant if there was ethics debates between the market hunters and sports hunters and if there are books on that specific subject. What is the name of Clevelands book?

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Milton C Starr

By contrast I meant if there was ethics debates between the market hunters and sports hunters and if there are books on that specific subject. What is the name of Clevelands book?

Milton, Cleveland's book is called, Fishing and Shooting Sketches. As for books that debate market v. sport hunting, I can't say that I recall any. There are some good scholarly works on the evolution of sport hunting that give a good account of how we evolved (we hunters in America) from shooting for the market to having rules of conduct for hunting (like there are in other sports, thus the term "sport" hunting). One of the best books in my opinion on this is Hunting and the American Imagination by Daniel Herman. It's a pretty dense book, I believe his PhD dissertation, but it is very thorough and has complete annotations for its sources, including lots of primary ones. It would be a great way to track down more of the kinds of issues I think you are after.