Books

[Dean Romig]

Books are a wonderful escape from the often monotony of everyday life and from the stresses of business and making a living. They are also a soothing medium for those experiencing 'cabin fever' or the 'shack nasties' at this time of year. To be able to sit back in that comfortable chair by the fire while enjoying a favorite beverage and become lost in a different place in a different time within the pages of a book is such a pleasure after a long day. I do it almost every day.

Reading some George Bird Evans recently I came across a short passage of his that really epitomizes my feeling about woodcock - he writes: "The sorcery of woodcock - dropping out of almost nowhere into remote coverts, bringing them alive for a few days, then vanishing - working their spell each autumn in places many times unseen by men, is a wonder I can never take for granted."

I'm a grouse hunter, but woodcock really have my heart.

In the Spring Issue of Parker Pages we have a nicely written Book Review. We used to publish members' book reviews with some frequency but haven't done so for quite a good while, but I'd sure publish them if we received any.

Please share with our readers a good book you have read recently. If you haven't read one lately, now is the perfect time to do so.... to ward off the Shack Nasties. :vconfused::throw::rotf:






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[Charles Matthews]

Dean,
Thankfully, we are not experiencing the shack nasties in the Carolinas (72 today) but your topic is very timely and I agree wholeheartedly. In an attempt to broaden my horizons from the traditional works of Rutledge, McIntosh, Ruark, GB Evans, etc., my fly fishing son has introduced me to a book called "Trout Bum" by John Gierach. A fly fishing book may seem off topic for our forum but I know a lot our group occasionally will put down the Parkers and pick up a fly rod. The link for me and my son is that we are now tying our own flies with our wing shooting feathers. Anyway, the book is humerous and written at a high level that really makes you think about what you need to sacrifice and forsake in life to truly become a "trout bum". It's a good read for those that share other passions in addition to our Parkers and wing shooting.

Charles

[Rick Losey]

there are fly fishing writers who, in my opinion, rival the best of the upland writers

some like Corey Ford did both well

[Dean Romig]

And Burt Spiller wrote "Fishin' Around." A really good read.

Gierach is one of my favorites! I have several of his books - he's really an independent cuss... a lot like many of us.

One of my favorite Gierach quotes came from one of his stories where he nosed his old pickup truck in against the curb in one of those little Colorado recently 'yuppified' towns and a young woman on the curb started berating him for the shotgun in the rack in his back window.... "That's no shotgun lady - that's a Parker!" was his terse reply.





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[Harold Lee Pickens]

Need a good foul weather weekend here so I can catch up on my reading. I have saved GBE's last book on the Blackwater/Cannan, have Steve Smith's new woodcock book, and haven't looked at the Tranquility series I bought from Angel. I almost always buy some books when I go to the Southern and Hausmanns . Yeah, Gierach is a good read, I need to collect all his books. I get sidetracked now with playing guitar--fingerstyle--just picked up a little classical guitar, working on some James Taylor, Stephen Bishop, and Kenny Rankin tonight--along with a little Bulleit Rye.

[Dean Romig]

Do yourself a favor Harold - treat yourself to the Tranquility trilogy soon... you will not regret it. Sheldon's writing in these books is some of the 'best of the best' - but then that's a Yankee's opinion of a Yankee writer and sportsman. :bowdown:






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[CraigThompson]

Dean,
Thankfully, we are not experiencing the shack nasties in the Carolinas (72 today) but your topic is very timely and I agree wholeheartedly. In an attempt to broaden my horizons from the traditional works of Rutledge, McIntosh, Ruark, GB Evans, etc., my fly fishing son has introduced me to a book called "Trout Bum" by John Gierach. A fly fishing book may seem off topic for our forum but I know a lot our group occasionally will put down the Parkers and pick up a fly rod. The link for me and my son is that we are now tying our own flies with our wing shooting feathers. Anyway, the book is humerous and written at a high level that really makes you think about what you need to sacrifice and forsake in life to truly become a "trout bum". It's a good read for those that share other passions in addition to our Parkers and wing shooting.

Charles I've been reading Gierach for a number of years .

[Phil Yearout]

It's almost a cliché to say it, but every year I find myself re-reading something of Gene Hill's; fishin' stuff when the season's upon us, upland stuff in the fall. And...

...Sheldon's writing in these books is some of the 'best of the best'...

...yup!

[Jack Kuzepski]

I've had Tranquility and Tranquility Revisited for years and had read them several times. It was less than a year ago I picked up Tranquility Regained and then read them as a set. It looks like it is time to do so again. Good reminder Dean!
Thanks,

Jack Kuzepski

[John Dallas]

I keep going back and reading Gordon McQuarrie's stuff, and when I need a Michigan fix, it's Robert Traver's Trout Madness and Trout Magic

[Mills Morrison]

I love outdoor books too. Favorites include Archibald Rutledge, Corey Ford, William Faulkner's the Bear, Hemingway, Jack London and Corey Ford. Havilah Babcock is a must for quail hunters. Really, there are too many to list.

[Rich Anderson]

Sporting Classics has a new book out called The Greatest Quail Hunting Book ever which I am about to order. For decades I was a member of Amwell Press through The National Sporting Fraternity and have amassed a good library.

For a long time Africa has held a special place for me and I just finished a collection of stories assembled once again by Sporting Classics. Santa brought me Incidents from an Elephant Hunters Diary by W.D.M. Bell and a bottle of Jack Daniels Single Barrel. I think this weekend it's time to put 400 grain solids in the double rifle (figuratively speaking) a few cubes of frozen water in a glass and the Single Barrel and go Elephant hunting.

[Phil Yearout]

I love outdoor books too. Favorites include Archibald Rutledge, Corey Ford, William Faulkner's the Bear, Hemingway, Jack London and Corey Ford. Havilah Babcock is a must for quail hunters. Really, there are too many to list.

Agree except for Rutledge; for some reason I just can't like his work. I was all excited the first time I picked up a few of his books, but they just left me cold. It's gotta be me, 'cause I like others from the era...for me reading him is like reading Emily Dickinson (or would be, if I ever read Emily Dickinson :)).

[Mike Poindexter]

While I'll always have a soft spot for Buckingham's Play House, two recent reads, both non-fiction, I found better than average: The Devils Teeth by Susan Casey, about the Farallon Islands and Great Whites and the toughening up of a city girl, and Dead Wake by Erik Larson about the last crossing of the Lusitania and a pretty good view of life in 1915. Enjoy.

[John Allen]

I really love Sheldon's Tranquility books.My favorite story of all time is the story of the funeral for the major who came to live in their village after the civil war.Sheldon talks about how important he was to the people there,particularly the war veterans.In the final paragraph he has the local band play the major's favorite song one last time for him.It was "Dixie".Makes you kinda misty eyed.

[Fred Preston]

Got Amazoned pretty good this Xmas. Marcy gave me "Hemingway on Hunting" and my brother, Hank, gave me the Kennel Club book "Black and Tan Coonhound" (I used to have good one, old Rattler).

[Dean Romig]

I really love Sheldon's Tranquility books.My favorite story of all time is the story of the funeral for the major who came to live in their village after the civil war. Sheldon talks about how important he was to the people there,particularly the war veterans.In the final paragraph he has the local band play the major's favorite song one last time for him.It was "Dixie".Makes you kinda misty eyed.


The name of that story is "Not Without Honor." One of my favorites too.

Here.... http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=19137&highlight=honor






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[edgarspencer]

This book, just finished last night, is only for people who love old stories of Fly-in Lodges, and Bush flying in Northern Maine.
Jake Morrell worked for Max Folsom, perhaps the most famous Maine Float pilot, then he and his wife started "Hardscrabble Lodge"; the name of the book.
Turns out, I drive by the guy's retirement home every trip to Greenville.
The book is published by Maine Authors Publishing and Cooperative
www.maineauthorspublishing.com
I love books that 'sound' like stories from around the woodstove, favorite drink in hand.

[Garth Gustafson]

If you love Down East humor read "Tall Tales from the Tall Pines" by Christian Potholm. Its a collection of Maine hunting & fishing stories as told by a Maine Guide. The characters in this book are absolutely hilarious.

[Phil Yearout]

If you love Down East humor read "Tall Tales from the Tall Pines" by Christian Potholm. Its a collection of Maine hunting & fishing stories as told by a Maine Guide. The characters in this book are absolutely hilarious.

That one's on the nightstand right now.

[Randy Davis]

I enjoy picking up and reading a few chapters of Field, Cover and Trapshooting
by Capt. Bogardus. Another is Forest McNeir of Texas...
regards,
RD
Trap3

[calvin humburg]

1611 KJV.

Fred, the sound of hounds on a hot trail might be better than a sexy point by a English Pointer. English Pointers remind me of Coon hounds, they can go and go and they have that smell. Know what I mean ch

[Bill Holcombe]

Just finished New England Grouse Shooting and while it was less story and more practical, I enjoyed it greatly. Provided a really nice history of not only grouse, but the area itself. Currently reading my new autographed copy of Tattered coat and enjoying it immensely.

In regard to non sporting books, Itwo of my favorite reads are The King Ranch by Tom Lea and The Years of Lyndon Johnson series by Robert Cairo. Two amazing reads.

[Rich Anderson]

I have hunted almost everything that walks or flies through books. They can take you anywhere in the world and you can go in different time periods. No where else can you hunt with Rutledge, Babcock, Roosevelt or Ruark.

[Garth Gustafson]

Anything by Jack O'Connor and Zane Grey.
I just finished "The Best of Jack O'Connor", published 1977. Awesome collection of Jack's personal favorites.
And "Zane Grey Outdoorsman" (selections by George Reiner), published 1972. Zane was equally outstanding as a hunting & fishing writer as with his western novels.

[James L. Martin]

For a great read try " Hell, I Was There " by Elmer Keith.

[Ed Parker Taddeo]

I love books. To me, they represent knowledge and wisdom with nice covers! I will not live
long enough to make all the mistakes possible, so I (try) to learn from others experiences.
If I found time to fish, my Parker fly rod would come in handy!!(LOL).

[Rich Anderson]

I've read a lot of O'Connor and we have hunted sheep together from Alaska to Mexico. In addition Keith is well represented. It's interesting to not the differences between the two. Jack liked lighter faster bullets and Elmer the bigger the better. Seems I remember a Keith quote along the lines that a 375 made for a good prairie dog rifle. I've shot deer with both the 270 and a 375 both worked well.

I much prefer the look and feel of a book, no tablets :nono

[Dean Romig]

I much prefer the look and feel of a book, no tablets :nono

Books, especially first editions, much like our old Parkers and other guns, have a certain... 'soul' I guess. I wouldn't waste my time reading a great old book on an electronic device.... That's just me I guess.






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[Rich Anderson]

I have enough trouble navigating this computer:shock: I can't see myself with a Kindel:nono: It would end up at the rifle range where I could test O'Connor VS Keith with a 270 and a 500 express rifle:rotf::rotf::rotf:

[bob weeman]

I greatly enjoy Gordon McQuarrie for his story telling that takes you there with him and the president. Ted Trueblood for his story telling and the practicality he works into them. Francis Sell for his knowledge that was earned through experience and his old time story telling. Gene Hill for the way he expresses what we do so well. Burt Spiller for his ability to take me grouse hunting when I cannot go myself.Townsend Whelen because I love those old Springfield custom rifles.

[John Campbell]

Anything by Jack O'Connor ..."The Best of Jack O'Connor", published 1977. Awesome collection of Jack's personal favorites.
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No writer in the outdoor sporting genre has ever come close to Jack O'Connor. Or ever will. He was a master of language, nuance, candor and sophistication. The rest stand in his shadow.

[Russell E. Cleary]

Quote from start of this Thread: "....To be able to sit back in that comfortable chair by the fire while enjoying a favorite beverage and become lost in a different place in a different time within the pages of a book is such a pleasure after a long day. I do it almost every day...." -- D. R.

So, part of the experience, other than selecting a good title, is providing the right atmosphere for reading it. A carpenter friend of mine cites a house he built for a client in a fashionable Northeast area, costing several million dollars. It was, as he reported, "all glass"; "there wasn't a cozy corner in the entire house" ; "you couldn't read a book". (Apologies to those who like or live in Frank Lloyd-type houses -- and are Ok with reading a book in them.)

My friend's reactions reminded me of what I saw when returning to a New England college a few years back. The library interior reflected a new-style of institutional remodeling. It no longer had any cozy corners; the wing-back chairs were all gone; even the displays of collections had been removed. It looked like a records storage facility or laboratory.

So, I sought some explanatory insights from a good "local knowledge" source -- one of the college Buildings and Grounds employees (often a good alternative to an academician). He told me that the current practice was to get people in and out of the library quickly -- no reading or study encouraged there; just get what was needed for study or research and take it elsewhere.

As for recommended titles, don't overlook the works of Jim Corbett, slayer of man-eating Tigers and Leopards. A boxed set of his writings -- hunting for sport, meat and guiding and his life in rural India under the Raj -- can now be obtained.

And, if drawn-in enough by the Corbett mystique, you can follow up with the biographies:

JIM CORBETT OF KUMAON, by D. C. Kala
CARPET SAHIB --A life of Jim Corbett, by Martin Booth
GENTLEMAN HUNTER, by Peter Byrne, the one biographer of unique authority, as he was once a professional guide for big cat sport hunters in India
BEHIND THE JIM CORBETT STORIES -- an Analytical Journey to 'Corbett Places' and Unanswered Questions, written by a squad of enthusiasts of varying nationalities, professions and advanced degrees, re-tracing Corbett's footsteps and debating the saga's lingering discrepancies.

[Eric Grims]

A sad note for those who love to read by the fire: we lost a true Northeast Kingdom treasure in the passing of the author Howard Mosher a few weeks back. I had fished and hunted a bit with Howard and slapped my knees a hundred times in outrageous laughter with him. One of his last wishes was to finish a final book and this he succeeded in accomplishing. In saying goodby I know that the energy is never lost and this final work should be one great read.

[Dean Romig]

Ok, very sorry for the loss of a true NEKer.

How can I get a copy of that book?

[Tim Thomas]

Do yourself a favor Harold - treat yourself to the Tranquility trilogy soon... you will not regret it. Sheldon's writing in these books is some of the 'best of the best' - but then that's a Yankee's opinion of a Yankee writer and sportsman. :bowdown:






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Dean,
Thanks for the reminder. I just pulled down my copy of "Tranquility" to enjoy this weekend. While it's not Nash writing about places familiar to thisTennessee boy, it is a wonderful book. Don't have the other two in the trilogy but I'll have to start looking for them. By the way, I am really enjoying the nice 28ga Repro I got from you recently!
Have good weekend.
Best
Tim

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Tim - That's a sweetheart of a gun. I took a fair number of grouse and woodcock with it and that Mod barrel can really reach out there.
One of my greatest memories with it was a big cock grouse that flashed about twenty-five yards to my right from beneath some scrub apple trees flying up along an old barb wire fence toward another group of older apple trees. When he finally broke into view he was more than 35 yards away and about 4 feet off the ground going like a rocket. All in one motion I mounted that gun, put my finger on the rear trigger, swung past him, and I must have pressed the trigger because he disappeared from my view. I found him stone dead just beyond where I last saw him... a full 44 long paces from where I was standing when I shot.





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[Rich Anderson]

The one writer that I just never could warm up to was Nash Buckingham. I just find him hard to read. Spiller, Sheldon, Ford, Evans I have enjoyed immensely but not Nash.

[Dean Romig]

Nash sure had the ability to put 'old-time Southern' dialect and colloquialism to the pen - he was a master of that style of story telling.




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[Rich Anderson]

Yes he was but I was never able to master reading it:)

[Mike Koneski]

I too never really got into Nash. Then again, I'm not a waterfowl hunter, just dabble in it once in a while. I know I've told some guys in the past that Archibald Rutledge has a special place in our family. We have many of his books, original printing and dedicated to my Father-in-Law, who AR took under his wing at Mercersburg Academy. Same for a fine arrowhead and hand tool collection AR helped him find in the fields around the Academy back in the day. I read his stories and can envision those hunts just like I am in the midst of the action.

If you like fly fishing stories, you need to read Charlie Meck "Memory Rising". He's a Central PA guy and fished Spruce Creek in the day when it was open to the public.

[Tim Thomas]

I guess growing up in the South gives me a bit of an advantage reading Nash because I have been around that dialect all my life, that may be what makes it so special to me. I can certainly see where some would have trouble with it. You have to get in to kind of a rhythm when reading and just let the words flow phonetically rather than letting your brain try to decipher them word by word.

[Dean Romig]

Didn't Charlie Meck start the Meck Hackle line?





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[Mike Koneski]

That would be the guy. The Spruce Creek area was home to quite a few big name fly fisherman.

[Mike Koneski]

Foxgun, I hear ya. I don't have a problem letting the drawl flow. :-) Doesn't confuse me at all. If it wasn't so hot in Dixie I'd move there in a heartbeat!

[Rich Anderson]

I'm about done with my latest book by W.D.M. Bell, Incidents from an Elephant Hunter's Diary and will need to go somewhere else. Perhaps to the NE Kingdom with Spiller or wander the lower forty with Ford. Alaska with Russell Annabel is always a good choice as is Ruark.
I have been gimped up for two weeks now since coming back from Georgia with a bad foot. First it was the gout which took a week to get cleared up but all the pain never went away. X-Rays revealed the distinct possibility of a broken bone in my foot. I see an orthopedic doc on Tuesday. You can do a lot of reading when it's all you have to do:)

[John Dallas]

I'm presently reading "the Best of Nash Buckingham, edited by George Bird Evans." This copy is signed by John Olin, thanking my friend's dad for helping him get a bird dog

[Dean Romig]

I just finished that one... again (third time.)





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[Phil Yearout]

I just received a copy of Flights on the Wind by Ed Gray, art by Brett James Smith. Have just read a couple of the tales but am enjoying it, even though I ain't a waterfowler. Nicely produced by Willow Creek Press and easily worth the $4.95 from Hamilton Books! I also picked up Fishing Stories by Nick Lyons ($5.95) and Nick Sisley's book on shotgun games (hoping it will help me get started with skeet shooting which I've never done :whistle:).

Then this thread helped me realize that I have Stories of the Old Duck Hunters, but not More " " " or Last " " ", so those are on order in the Willow Creek editions to match. Add the copy of the American Single Barrel Trap Gun I picked up and the copy of Falling Leaves on the way from Dave S., and I'm set for a while. Sigh; so much stuff, so little time!

[Dean Romig]

Phil, Falling Leaves is a really good read even though a lot of it is set here in Massachusetts in the old days.





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[Marc Retallack]

Phil,

As an interesting side note (at least to me), Nick Sisley took my dog. Ok, he didn't actually take my dog but he does (I'm assuming he still has Boggs) have a GSP that was offered to me prior to Nick taking him in.

I had adopted a lab that belonged to one of my best friends a few years ago. A short while after adopting my lab, Max, my friend mentioned that his boss needed to re-home his GSP and wanted to know if I would like to take him in. Knowing the type of hunter that his boss, Scott, was and the time and money that had been put in to Boggs, I was honored by the offer but ultimately had to turn him down as another dog was not an option at the time.

A little while later, my friend mentioned to me that Boggs had found a new home... with Nick. If I recall correctly, his boss and Nick were college roommates and have hunted together on occasion ever since school.

If of any interest, a little while ago I came across an old article by Nick Sisley where he mentions he and Scott hunting together

https://books.google.com/books?id=0lo3xA96lTUC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=nick+sisley+scott+harrison&source=bl&ots=rmQ8zl0TMA&sig=zJL0V25cTMftqSXbsCINgn9dz7c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsxNy-l53SAhXK5CYKHRhkAJQQ6AEINzAE#v=onepage&q=nick%20sisley%20scott%20harrison&f=false

[Phil Yearout]

Marc, really cool! Very interesting; thanks for sharing! I'm a pretty poor trap shooter and have never shot skeet so I was hoping Nick's book would help. Probably won't though :rolleyes:.

[Phil Yearout]

Phil, Falling Leaves is a really good read even though a lot of it is set here in Massachusetts in the old days..

That's fine by me Dean; I love reading that stuff even though it's a bit different from my prairie uplands.

[nick balzano]

As an avid fly fisher who loves the sport the same way I love Parkers, I have to correct Mt, Man. Charly Meck is avery good fly fisher and author of several good fly fishing books. Mr. (Bing, I think)Metz is the owner of Metz fly fishing feathers. Both are Pa. Boys