Years ago (30-35)I read an excellent book about a guy who was a good mule deer and elk hunter. If I remember correctly he shot a recurve. I'm not sure what his name was, but for some reason Cal sticks in my mind as possibly being his first name. I think Idaho was his home state, but I could be mistaken on that fact.
The book was a good read and presented some really interesting observations the hunter had made regarding the way elk and mule deer interact with one another. The book also described in detail how the hunter effectively positioned himself while stalking to take advantage of the animals natural movement patterns and detailed lots of hunting action. He admitted in the book that his stalking skills far exceeded his shooting skills in his early hunting years and that after he improved his shooting his hunting success improved markedly.
Can anyone help me out with the name of the book and/or the hunter? Like I said, it was a good interesting read, and I would like to find a copy.
I think the fella's name is Cal Coziah. May have misspelled the last name. Don't have a copy of the book and don't remember the title, but I do remember reading part of it quite a while ago. My recollection is that he hunted mostly with a compound.
You are correct with the name, Orion. Thank you!
Anyone else recall the name of the book?
is it "Bucks, Bows, and Campfires"?
I just googled his name and this book showed up.
Yes. That is it. Thank you, Elkchaser!
M.R. James wrote a chapter on Cal Coziah in his book "Unforgettable Bowhunters". Seems Cal fell into obscurity after he tried to enter a deer rack that had been altered into the P&Y record books.Later his previous entries were disallowed as well as any future listing.
Interesting...this guy sounds like a car dealer we had here in Western Washington years ago. Instead of entering phony bucks, he just took folks money and moved to Hawaii. Sorry...
Cal was convicted in Idaho in 1989 of poaching and illegal guiding. No one knows for sure how many of his "claimed" bow killed mule deer were shot with firearms but all his P&Y records were stripped from the Record book.
I read the book and enjoyed it.
It was later that being famous got to him and he had to cheat to keep up.
I think it was an old Allen compound with a lot of wire etc.