[cjanak]

Please recommend your favorite deer hunting book(s) along with a one or two line summary along with your likes/dislikes. I'm mostly interested in "how-to" hunting books but hey, I'm up for adventure stories too if they're really good. Tactics and strategy would be great, but I'm also interested in field dressing, meat care, etc. too.

Thanks!

[Shawnee]

First and foremost would be "Whitetail" by George Mattis published in 1969.

It's value is that it is oriented to Deer and deals with hunting as dictated by deer behavior as opposed to the all-too-common simple regurgitation of hearsay or Madison Avenue salesmanship. It is for the advanced hunter as opposed to the "hunter" who has his own parking space at Cabela's.

Second best (IMHO) is the classic volume "Shots at Whitetails" by Larry Koller published in 1948.

It is a fascinating and detailed description of yesteryear deer hunting and is fairly narrowly focused - chiefly in the old time deer hunting clubs of the Adirondacks. But within that "narrow focus" is a huge amount of deer hunting saavy, deer country saavy, and saavy about the mechanics of things surrounding the hunt (eg. camping, cleaning deer etc., etc.) as well as some very subtle and astute observatons of deer behavior under hunting pressure.

Both of these were written by deer hunters who operated as hunters - guys who could, and did, go deer hunting with nothing but a gun, ammo, knife, and drag rope with complete confidence and complete success - because they knew deer and they knew hunting (as opposed to knowing the Cabella's catalog and Shooters' Bible by rote).


:cool:

[ClarkEMyers]

Tom Hayes another older book - notice that times have changed and some hunting pressure and access to land has shifted things around some. That said a guided hunt combined with dressing the kill - not leaving it for the guide - if any is a good way to start.

[280shooter]

Chuck Adams has a good one on bow hunting mostly. but still a great book.

[Quickdraw Limpsalot]

Definitely "The Deer of North America" by Leonard Lee Rue III, if you can find it. Great book packed with info.

[phantomak47]

I like Greg Miller books, hes no BS and doesn't have some mystery method for deer hunting, just solid advice.