By Larry Benoit
Soft Cover 164 Pages
Available from Rowman & Littlefield
1-800-482-6920
$14.95 + $5 shipping
Written by the man Sports Afield said was possibly the best whitetail deer hunter in America this book has more useful information in it than any other book on the subject that I have seen.
On top of that it is well written.
It’s been a long time since a book kept me up burning the midnight oil reading like this one did. The author had taken only trophy deer each year since he was 9 years old back in 1933. He hunted by tracking in swamps and ridges far beyond where other hunters venture.
This is the old way to hunt deer, the way that property boundaries have made impossible for most of the country but still could be done in the remote parts of Vermont and Maine where he hunted. This method requires all of a hunter’s skill and these skills and how to obtain them are mapped out clearly and concisely without a lot of excess blather.
There is a wealth of information on the whitetail deer and it’s behavior including the tricks and ruses it can pull on the hunter.
One of the things that can make deer hunting such a test of the hunter’s skills is the deer’s formidable track record of outwitting his pursuers. Everything from conditioning, proper clothing and equipment, shooting, scouting (often the biggest factor in success) and interpreting the subtle signs a buck leaves as he passes through are detailed.
Once tracking starts there is a wealth of information that I have not seen in print in any other book. Proper emphasis is made of the hunter utilizing his senses, sight, sound, and smell. Again, in more detail than I have seen elsewhere.
There are good tips on field dressing and dragging out your kill over many miles since he hunted as far from other hunters as possible.
The section on hanging, butchering, and cooking the kill is worth noting.
Finally his thoughts on hunting must rank among the all-time classics. It is no exaggeration to state that this book has more useful deer hunting information than all the many books and articles I have read on the subject over the years put together. I highly recommend it.—Jim Dickson
