Every now and then I pack a book out to the stand or blind when I plan on a long hunt. Recently, I have read Indian Creek Chronicles, Into Thin Air, Into the Wild and Man Eaters of Kumoan. When reading, I can typically sit still longer. The only times I fidget less is during my many cat naps out there.
Any suggestions for good outdoor/hunting non-fiction to help bide the time?
I don't take anything to the woods. I find plenty to read there, in the brush...under the leaves, even on the underside of a dead log. People write about their own experiences mostly, and I can read them after dark, in the house or cabin/tent. The woods is trying to convey a good story...we just need to know how to read it.
Now....that is not what you asked, so I'll give you a few that I read when not in the woods 8^). Archery: From Golds to Big Game....Keith Schuyler.
Forty Years of The Life of a Hunter...Meschak Browning. The Good Samaritan Strikes Again...Patrick McManus. I'm currently looking for some new material...lots out there, new and old.
"Alaska's Wolf Man, the adventures of Frank Glazer" by Rearden. Available on Amazon.com. Great first hand account of 1915-55 in wild Alaska.
If that's what you want to do, that's fine but I've never understood why a guy would sit on stand and get engrossed in a book.
I contend that you don't know how still you are sitting if you are reading, besides, there is so much to watch and listen too!
QuoteOriginally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
If that's what you want to do, that's fine but I've never understood why a guy would sit on stand and get engrossed in a book.
I contend that you don't know how still you are sitting if you are reading, besides, there is so much to watch and listen too!
So how about all the texting you and Marty do? Does that count as reading?
I'm currently reading "Bows on the Little Delta", but in the woods, I like to read tracks, scrapes, rubs, and droppings.
"Bucks and Bones". I just picked up a signed copy at Kzoo on Saturday and I am finding it difficult to put down. Great read, will read it again for sure! Thanks for the visit Gene :)
Should of read ALL the post before replying :scared: . I was just so excited to share with everyone how much I am enjoying this great book!
I am too darn busy filming and hunting! I do carry a book, but dont sit long enough to pull it out! I am much more of a successful hunter when I still hunt, but I have way much more fun when I spot and stalk, and I am determined to harvest a whitetail spot and stalk in the appalacians! NO cell service except for the top of the mountains. I know alot of guys that text while they are sitting in the woods. And I dont have a problem with it I suppose, but I dont do it often. While up on the ridge tops and I can manage to get a solid bar, I will text home and let mom know dad and I are alright! But that is about it!
O I forgot to say the current book, lol. I am reading Fred G Ashbells book, "Stalking and still hunting"!
QuoteOriginally posted by metsastaja:
QuoteOriginally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
If that's what you want to do, that's fine but I've never understood why a guy would sit on stand and get engrossed in a book.
I contend that you don't know how still you are sitting if you are reading, besides, there is so much to watch and listen too!
So how about all the texting you and Marty do? Does that count as reading? [/b]
Boy do you have that all wrong. Marty's the one who does all the texting and you're the one who posts to TG. I turn my phone off in the stand.
Right now I'm reading the collected works of John Muir, however, like a lot of the other folks posting, I don't read while I'm out hunting... too much other stuff to pay attention to!
Once Apon A Tine.
By U Know Who.
Definitely, no offense intended; but, I've never read while hunting either. Could never chance missing George's perfectly described kaleidoscope of wonder.
Just finished, " Man made of Elk". PM for a summary if interested.
lots of BS in this thread!! Anyone that claims to be reading tracks from a tree stand.....well I aint buyin it. "Reading" the woods should have been done before you poisitioned your stand of blind. maybe that's why some of ya aren't bringing home anything but memories???
I'm currently reading on of johnstones books. I really enjoy his charactors like preacher and smoke jensen
Hugs and kisses to you as well :rolleyes:
bows of the Little Delta
I'm reading two concurrently, Ghost Grizzly's and Arguing With Idiots. However, I never take a book into the woods, expect for maybe in camp.
Mike
Easy fellas, keep it civil. We all hunt a little differently.
Yes, from time to time I flip some pages. Yes, I have been known to doze off out there and who knows what I miss then. God only knows what gets spooked by my kids constantly asking questions and yelling "Look at that one Dad!"
I guess I am fortunate to spend as much time as I want out in the woods, sometimes hunting a little less harder than others.
Lots of good suggestions here. Thanks!
QuoteOriginally posted by NightHawk:
lots of BS in this thread!! Anyone that claims to be reading tracks from a tree stand.....well I aint buyin it. "Reading" the woods should have been done before you poisitioned your stand of blind. maybe that's why some of ya aren't bringing home anything but memories???
this is very much assumed, I dont think anyone that said they were reading tracks and sign said they were in a stand? I know when I am off in the woods I am reading the book that nature has provided. I think you need to think outside the tiny 2 foot platform 14' up the tree! :)
I read a LOT in the woods. Started carrying an ebook reader out there just so I could leave the page-turning at home!
Unfortunately, I have yet to find any hunting material in electronic format.
I am presently reading Barrys book that I picked up from him on Saturday in K-zoo.I have never read a book in the woods up to this point.
do you like that thing? I think there may be alot more electronic format in the future with the release of the I tablet!?
Besides all the posts on Tradgang?
Atm I'm reading "Nation" by Terry Pratchett and "The Traditional Archer's Handbook" by Hilary Greenland.
Will soon be re-reading "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" by Stephen LaBerge
Chris,
I own three readers now. I go through 120+ books a year. Carrying them around isn't really practical anymore. My current favorite is the Kindle, although my old reliable Palm is what goes out on stand with me, since it has a built in backlight and drops into a shirt pocket.
I don't think the iPad is anything other than a gimmick, myself. There are much better readers out there, and I already suffer from the delicacy of an iPhone (I've had to return the phone for replacement four times in six months!).
I have the kindle and have found many out of print archery books you can get for free.
http://www.gutenberg.org has some
or
http://www.archive.org/ type in saxton pope and you will get a few old ones
There is a program called stanz for converting stuff for Kindle.
i always take a book in my possibles bag if im out for more than a few hours . sitting atop a mountain , brewing a coffee and reading Tolkien or perhaps Whitman makes perfect sense to me ...
Ben ...
QuoteOriginally posted by Chris Shelton:
O I forgot to say the current book, lol. I am reading Fred G Ashbells book, "Stalking and still hunting"!
Excellent book. :thumbsup:
I am currenty reading Eusebius: The Church History. But this past weekend I ordered Barry Wensel's book, Once Upon A Tine. Also, a couple of months back I read a review in TBM of the Bernard Cornwell novel, Agincourt, and just orderd that book as well.
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abby (if you appreciate those who don't choose to "fit in" you'll like this book. His description of what desert dryness is like is the best I 've ever read)
We Took to the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich ( ye olde Maine backcountry)
Challenge the Wilderness by Clayton Klein (not a fun trip)
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Dana Jr (you'll gain new appreciation for sailers on square rigged ships)
Joshua, not argueing about who reads what where. To each his own.
Sorry Gene, but I am currently reading Barrys new book first, "Once upon a tine" Only a few chapters into it, Great book Barry. Gene I will get to your book later. :D
Witchery of Archery, Thompson.
KJV
I don't read while hunting. I go there to think and enjoy nature in many ways. Now my buddy Jack will read all day I think which is fine with me.
However, I am reading(in the house) some book called..what is it..Buckskin and Bone? Something like that. It's ok. ;)
I know that there are some of you guys that can sit day after day from dawn to dusk and see nothing. I ain't one of you! :rolleyes:
After about 3 hours, I am ready to get down. BUT, if I have a book in my bag I can pull it out and maybe stick it out for another hour or so. :archer: That has paid off for me in the past.
Right now I am reading The Witchery of Archery for the first time. I love it.
You have a lot to choose from---Ruark, Hemingway, Faulkner, Capstick, etc. Some good fiction out there too. If you haven't tried the People of the...series by Michael and Kathleen Gear you should give it a try.
I usually have a hunting magazine with me.I nap,I whittle,I eat whatever it takes to stay out there.I prefer magazines because I dont feel as bad when they get beat up when I use the pack as a pillow
"Arctic Adventure" by Peter Freuchen (1935)
I never read on the stand. Instead I hunt hard as long as I can, but then wind up getting tired and taking a nap. Some times I think reading might be better, but I consider a book to be just one more thing to carry.
I just finished "Love of the Hunt" by John Winsor. Really good book. Now, I'm on G Fred's "Stalkin and Still Hunting.
Orson Scott Card's spectacular sequel to his seminal work 'Ender's Game,' titled 'Speaker for the Dead'
His Ender anthology is some of the most emotive, well written prose to ever grace a page!
Rob, " ender's game" is on my bedside table . never read any of his stuff but looking fowrd to it .
Ben
I have tried to read on stand but just don't like. Looking up every 30 sec cause I felt like something was coming in. Alot of my stands are in tight spots and I hate getting caught unprepared, same reason my bow rarely leaves my hand. But then I don't sit all day...5hrs tops.
I think the time "doing nothing" in the stand is valuable. It's great mulling and figuring time.
This is interesting, we live very full lives in cities, and become accustomed to lots of 'artificial' stimuli manmade stuff. When alone and in the 'emptiness' of the wilderness it is hard to make the switch and be in the moment of being outdoors. Books are fine and I am sure there are flat periods. I like reading something historical about the area, but I do that in camp. I take a nice plain sketch book and a field guide along in my pack and I draw and sketch. I make copious notes, check lists of birds etc. I will try to draw a 360 portrait of the view from the hide or stand. I take photos, and list animal sounds etc. This way your attention is focussed outwards and you are conscious of the surroundings and not buried in the book. The journal is as complete a record of my day as I can make it. I also hope fervently for blank spots in the record! Those will be when there are animals close by! In camp I will have other bigger books to read when we are not jawing by the fire. I once took a book of knots and a piece of cord and practised knot making, it was fun and quiet but I was looking down and not at the world around.
chrisg
RIGHT NOW (THE BOOK OF JAMES)
"Thunder Over the Ochocos"...history of Oregon before it was a state and after. I hunt in many of the places that many events occurred. It will make many days up in those mountains and meadows more reflective of what transpired.
I have taken books into the stand several times but never read a page. To worried about missing something going on.
Right now at home I am reading Digital Fortress and T J Conrads (?) The Traditional Bowhunters Handbook
QuoteHis Ender anthology is some of the most emotive, well written prose to ever grace a page!
100% agreed. Everyone should at least read Ender's Game.
I'm reading volume one of Shelby Foote's three volume series on the history of the Civil War. I know how it ends. :D Not a good book to carry in the woods, though... it's rather large.
I've also been reading some Inspector Morse mysteries by Colin Dexter. Those would fit in a pack nicely.
Another good read: Dick Proenneke's One Man's Wilderness, An Alaskan Odyssey.
I'd also recommend the children series "The Ranger's Apprentice" series by John Flannigan. Good stuff to read when out in the woods with your bow.
Chris,
I assumed nothing, if you had read the first post,the man asked what we are/were reading while on stand or in a blind. The reason I said what I did is because of the elitist baloney that some people have to throw around.Do what ever makes you happy and is legal. Personally I listen to the radio and read while on stand or in my blind. It has never affected my hunt in a negative way and I sure won't put someone down for not shooting a custom bow or reading a book while on stand
"Poachers" Tom Franklin http://www.amazon.com/Poachers-Stories-Tom-Franklin/dp/0688177719#reader_0688177719
I don't read anything while on stand. I had a good 10, come in behind me and make a scrape that I never saw till he was on top of me. And that was while I was paying attention!!
QuoteOriginally posted by NightHawk:
I assumed nothing, if you had read the first post,
I had read your first post, that would be the quote that I was talking about? As far as you not assuming you did, you addressed your responce as a general statement to all of us. And although his question was do you pack a book to your stand or blind- STAND is a relative term used for spot as well as tree stand.
I don't read in my tree stand, but when I bought a new farm in a different ecological area, I started carrying a tree identification book to learn more about the trees there.
QuoteOriginally posted by bozara:
I don't read in my tree stand, but when I bought a new farm in a different ecological area, I started carrying a tree identification book to learn more about the trees there.
That is important, I had to take a class in school called EMR(environmental resource managment) because of my second completer in Environmental science, and we spent a good two months on tree identification. And it has really, really helped me as a hunter. Too bad we did that unit in the spring when there were leaves!
I carry the Word of God with me... pocket New Testament, but don't read it too much in the stand.
I just finished Ruark's Africa. It's a collection of magazine articles he wrote in the late 50's to the mid 60's. If you are into Aftrica and like Ruark's style it's well worth the effort.
Also recently read Super Slam by Chuck Adams. Very well worth the effort...
I've never read while on stand and probably never will. That's the time to let the mind wander, solve all of your problems, design gadgets, plan future hunts or fishing trips.
In my easy chair I do my reading. The last three books:
"Spandau Diaries" Albert Speer
"Bows on the Little Delta" Glenn St.Charles
"D-Day" Anthony Beevor
green eggs and ham.....anyone know that one? :goldtooth:
Nighthawk, here is what you stated...for your enjoyment:
"lots of BS in this thread!! Anyone that claims to be reading tracks from a tree stand.....well I aint buyin it. "Reading" the woods should have been done before you poisitioned your stand of blind. maybe that's why some of ya aren't bringing home anything but memories???"
Not everyone sits in a tree stand all day and reads books. I can read at home, during evening hours, when some are probably watching the mindless dribble of sitcoms or the outdoor channel. Some of us spend our time on the ground, where we can study those things I spoke of, while attending to the process at hand; hunting with the bow and arrow....not reading a Dean Koontz thriller. But alas we are all different, so smoke 'em if you got 'em.
'War and Peace' ...... no wait -its bigger than that....its the Cabelas book I just got in the mail!!!!!
I wanna enjoy any second when I am hunting try to learn any single detail that mother Earth shows to me.