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Book Review: A Hunters Road

I recently finished A Hunter's Road by Jim Fergus, which I enjoyed very much. Published in 1993 the book recounts an upland hunting road trip, which takes the author and his dog, a lab named Sweetz across the country on a 3 month long trip. During the trip Sweetz retrieved 21 different species of birds. Jim shares has a wide variety of experiences ranging from hunting solo on public lands to hunting quail on large plantations in the southeast usually reserved for aristocrats. Although the book is dated the author interviews some of the most knowledgable upland hunters and biologist in the nation. A Hunter's Road is an enjoyable blend of story telling along with thought provoking philosophical writing. Besides telling the story of his hunts topics include habitat loss, anti hunting, and the economics of upland bird hunting. The area I found most interesting was his experiences hunting the plantations of the southeast. An upland tradition I knew little about until reading this book. You will certainly be inspired to take hunting trips and if you pay attention you can even discover specific destinations. The bottom line is if you enjoy upland bird hunting and reading you owe it to yourself to read this book!

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