My 2 ½ Cents Worth!
I. Outdoors
A. Alaska:
*1. “Alaska Yukon Trophies Won and Lost” by G.O. Young. My favorite hunting book of all time. Young was a legislator from Virginia who in 1919 traveled to the area of the current day Wrangell/St. Elias National Park in Alaska by train and boat and finally joined others in an epic big game hunt into the Yukon by horse. Originally published in 1947. Nonfiction
2. “Sheep Hunting in Alaska” by Tony Russ. This guy is a fine hunter. The definitive modern work on hunting sheep in Alaska and an excellent read for anybody interested in hunting big game. “Sheep Stalking in Alaska” is another book by Mr. Russ that‘s a good read too. Nonfiction
3. “One Man’s Wilderness” by Richard Proenneke and “The Final Frontiersman” by James Campbell: These are mostly about isolated bush living in Alaska with hunting as a byproduct. Both good reads but with very different flavors. Nonfiction
4. “Two in the Far North” by Margaret E. Murie. This isn’t a hunting book but provides a look at Alaska from the point of view of long time Alaskan, Ms. Murie, and her husband, noted naturalist Olas Murie, as they traveled and lived in the arctic and sub arctic areas of interior Alaska. Nonfiction
5. “The Upper Yukon - Another Look at Wilderness Hunting” by Dave Barnett. This is my personal favorite since Dave is a good friend, hunting partner and a fine craftsman. History of the Upper Yukon river as well as Dave and Jo’s process of adapting to life in small town rural Alaska. Tough to come by but a used copy is occasionally on the market. Nonfiction
6. “Two Old Women” by Velma Wallace. An Athabascan legend of survival told by a talented writer of Athabascan descent. An outstanding read with a great “moral of the story”. Fiction with a basis.
7. “The Call of the Wild” and “White Fang” by Jack London. Alaska dog/dog mushing classics. Great reads. Fiction
B. Africa
1. “Horn of the Hunter” by Robert Ruark. If you can’t go on safari to Africa, this is next best. It’s a very good book. Hunting/Humor/Philosophy. Nonfiction (mostly)
Another of Ruark’s books “Uhuru” ( means “Freedom“) dealt with Kenyan freedom and it’s ramifications …interesting, but not hunting/outdoors directly. Based fiction.
C. Everyplace Else:
*1. “The Old Man and the Boy” by Robert Ruark. This fine read has been detailed in earlier posts…it’s a great book. I didn’t care for the sequel (“The Old Man’s Boy Grows Older”) nearly as much. Fiction with a basis.
*2. “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean. This one is set around Missoula and Lolo Montana where my wife’s family has it’s roots and where our daughter is going to school now. The movie is best known but I nearly always like the book better and this is no exception. Even an old bait fishermen like I am that still borax cures cluster eggs and carries worms in a Prince Albert or Folgers can (when I can find one) appreciates this down to earth flyfishing classic. Fiction with a basis.
*3. “The River Why” by David James Duncan. I guess this is a movie now too…haven’t bothered ‘cause the book is so good! It’s a Northwest Steelhead/Cutthroat/Chinook hippie cult fishing classic. The main character, Gus Orviston, is the spawn of a proper English fly fishing professional writer father and an East of the Cascades wild-woman cowgirl bait-fisherwoman mother. It’s not like any other hunting/fishing book I’ve ever read. It makes me wish I had read it when I was sixteen every time I reread it. A great fun read. Fiction
4. “Last of the Mohicans” by James Fennimore Cooper. This novel first published in Jan of 1826 is a true classic and a great read. Fiction
5. “Arundel” by Kenneth Roberts. A historical classic in the vein of “Last of the Mohicans” but with a base in the history of the attack on Quebec led by Benedict Arnold. Roberts is a Pulitzer winner. Historical Fiction
6. “Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. The ultimate big fish story. A true classic and a great old man read. Fiction.
7. Jack O’connor’s many fine hunting and shooting books…I’ve only read a couple of his books and years ago, one on big game hunting and one on the shotgun, and I don’t remember which ones they were. Both were excellent and I’d bet it would be hard to find a clinker written by O’connor. Nonfiction mostly.
8. “Shotgunning” by Bob Brister. A classic with a ton of information on shotguns/shotgunning. My copy is pre steel shot. Nonfiction
9. “Training Your Retriever” by James Lamb Free. A classic that has trained many fine retrievers. The edition I have is pre shock-collar. Nonfiction
10. “Gun Dog (Revolutionary Rapid Training Method)” by Richard A. Wolters. Another classic that has helped train some fine dogs. Focused primarily on upland dogs. My copy of this one is pre shock-collar too. Nonfiction
II. Cowboys! (Couldn’t resist a couple that I think are on a plane above most “shoot-em-ups”)
1. “The Virginian” by Owen Wister. This has been described as the original western novel…it is a classy read. Fiction
*2. “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry. Old guys with ATTITUDE! Most folks know this as the movie but I like the book better (as usual). Gus and Call are a class act. Fiction
* Are the ones I read over and over.
