Favorite Waterfowl Books

Tar Heel · 02-03-2008, 12:37 PM

Well, post-season boredome, withdrawl symptoms have clearly set in, and who cares about the super bowl-if we just had the chance for one more duck hunt? Oh well, we can blog away and wait for late season geese, OR, if we want to be edumacated, we could read some shooting stories. One book that I think most serious WF'S should have is ''Ducks Geese and Swans of North America.'' For local hunting stories, I like ''Big December Canvasbacks.'' What are some of ya'll's favorite duck shooting books?(Tar Heels over FSU in OT!)

SImudBogger · 02-03-2008, 02:43 PM

Dave, I have one that's really great. I can't remember what it's called but it's a bout regular duck hunters like us. I got it at barnes and noble and it's endorsed by DU.

It's basically this guy from the midwest/east coast area recalling his best memories, tips, the ridiculous stuff we do in the pursuit, etc....

I'll grab it off the shelf tonight and get the name. I'm at work and i figured if i can't watch the game i might as well waste company time online!!

sprigkiller09 · 02-03-2008, 03:41 PM

Not all of the stories are waterfowl but i like Terry Grosz's series (6-7 books) called wildlife wars. I could barely put those things down until they were all done.

oregondukhntr · 02-03-2008, 04:05 PM

Don't Shoot the Decoys

duckboy · 02-03-2008, 04:46 PM

Hmm,

Favorite Waterfowl writers.
I am not much of a reader, since I have a really tough time concentrating for more than a page or two. (My hunting chronies will all agree that my memory and lack thereof, is sometimes very comical, and sometimes a bloody nuisance, (sometimes it is a real handicap to me).

I used to have the book �Big December Canvasbacks� Worth Matthewson wrote it, and he hunts lots of the same places I like to hunt. It is great to read his stories, because he never mentions exactly where he is, but I am certain that I�ve hunted some of the same spots.

I also enjoy Corey Ford�s stories.

My father was a friend of Dr Jim Hall, he lives down in Medford and has written some books too. �Doc Hall�s Journal� is one I have read a few times. Dr Hall was a close hunting buddy of Corey Ford, and I think Corey was probably Dr Hall�s #1 mentor in writing and otherwise.

Robert Service wrote all kinds of Lyrical poetry about the Yukon and the Klondike Gold rush. Love that stuff. Easy to follow, easy to remember.

SImudBogger · 02-03-2008, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oregondukhntr

Don't Shoot the Decoys

Thats the one i have. I liked it a lot

water and sky · 02-03-2008, 08:10 PM

Worth Mathewson's books are all good. I like the old stories circa 1900. Amazing how little has changed since then, but can you imagine no neoprene?

sprigkiller09 · 02-03-2008, 08:31 PM

Oh i almost forgot!!!!!!!! I like this one alot too

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources...tion_final.pdf

And i also like Misery Loves company.

steelheadslayer · 02-04-2008, 07:48 AM

Misery Loves Company is great.
Also like to read Wolters book on the history of the Labrador Retriever. Any of the decoy help books are also fairly good reads and keeps me thinking about spreads for next season.

You can't rule out anything by Pat McManus for just downright hilarious reading in the off season either.

HammerinHonkers · 02-04-2008, 08:54 AM

Check out the Otto brother book, A season of wing shooting. Great read and awesome pics.

Old Guys Rule · 02-04-2008, 08:57 AM

Nash Buckingham "De Shootinest Gentlemen"

Amazing stories about hunting the lower Mississippi during the turn of the century through the fifties. It was an entirely different lifestyle of the rich and famous.....

Threemuch · 02-04-2008, 09:03 AM

The Natural History of Waterfowl, by Frank Todd. It's incredible, beautiful photography, great descriptions of every kind of waterfowl in the world. It isn't a hunting book, but it isn't anti either. It's 80-100 depending on where you buy it but worth every penny.

MarshBum · 02-04-2008, 02:23 PM

Anything by Gordon Macquarrie.

Geoff

Tar Heel · 02-06-2008, 09:20 AM

Thanks guys. In '' big December Canvasbacks'' Mathweson refernces one of his favorites, ''A Book on Duck Shooting,'' by Van Campen Heilner. So we found it on ebay (it's out of print). It's a great collection of his adventures all over the world. In it he makes some intersting observations. For instance, The Black Duck will never be in trouble since it's so warry of man. Another, The Pac Flyway will never match the others in duck/goose numbers because the breeding grounds are so scattered and infertile. While one can see his logic, it hasn't played out that way. Every year before the season, I review The Orvis Wingshooting Guide, and it's a great synopsis of scattergunning that is short and to the point. I will save this thread and come BDay and xmas ask for some of the above.

Tvfowlhunter · 02-06-2008, 03:31 PM

�Big December Canvasbacks� by Worth Matthewson is probably my favorite.

chummer · 02-06-2008, 06:18 PM

While not really a waterfowl book, "Meditations on Hunting" by Ortega Y Gasset is a great read on hunting philosopy written a long time ago that still applies today. The book is out of publication, but you might find it at Powell's or your public library. I found it easy to read with some very down to earth observations.