Field Books

This is just the book you're looking for whether you are a beginner or an experienced hunter. Practical, insightful, a gold mine of information. Read it with a highlighter in hand, and be prepared to get out into the field and put the techniques into practice immediately. I realized my pre-scouting left alot to be desired. This is a must-have deer hunter's information resource...

Aggressive Whitetail Hunting is a superior book on hunting trophy whitetails. Frankly, I'm tired of books were the authors spend 200 pages telling me how great they are by recounting their exploits on fully guided hunts in hunting preserves.

Greg Miller is a true outdoorsman who hunts on public land and small farms in Wisconsin. His helpful tips, especially on hunting rublines are sure to make you a better hunter. As someone who must hunt heavily pressured public land I figured I would have to use Aggressvie Whitetail strategies to be successful. I applied the lessons learned in this book and bagged a nice eight point buck on public land.

If your a begginer, or someone who wants to bag a bigger buck this is the book for you.

This is a very informative book. I especially like the section on rub-lines and how Greg clears up misconceptions about scrapes and rubs (and rub-lines). I think the chapter on rub-lines is the most important. There is alot to learn in the rest of the book. E.g. chapters on hunting small tracts of land and performing "small" drives. If you want more information on rub-lines, check out Greg Miller's "Rub-Line Secrets" -- that one is a 5 star book.

Gets right to the point. Explains how to have quality hunting when there are limitations on how much time you can spend in the woods. This guy is obviously a hunter, not just an outdoors writer.

This the end all book for serious deer hunters. Whether you are a novice or an experienced hunter, this is the book to follow.

A 1950's folk singer and wild woman's memoir of her love affair with the Colorado River and Glen Canyon before the Glen Canyon Dam flooded her canyon. She tells of floating the river and exploring intimate side canyons on small personal trips.

This is one of the best and most special books I have read. Katie Lee really gives you the experience of Glen Canyon--it's beauty, wildness, and uniqueness. I fell in love with the place through her words, and felt her loss deeply when the damn dam was built. This act (the building of the dam) was truly a dark time in our history. I thank Katie Lee for sharing her thoughts and feelings and cheer her for her openness in those closed times.

Katie Lee has written a beautiful & powerful love story & funeral song to a place some considered the most beautiful on earth, now drowned under Lake Powell. The book is largely exerpts from Katie's river journals from 40+yrs ago & has an immediacy that left me feeling like I was in Glen Canyon with her. She mentions that she shared early drafts of a fiction version with Ed Abbey, who told her to just write her own story. That she couldn't make up anything better than her own experiences. Ed Abbey was right. I devoured the book in one emotional sitting, then spent the rest of the day wandering aimlessly with dreams & visions of lost desert canyons in my mind.

Katie Lee has given us a wonderful glimpse at a lost treasure. Her discriptions of the river and side canyons tell of her love of this lost world. My 2nd greatgrandfather went through Glen Canyon in 1872 with the second Powell Expedition and Katie has given me some feeling as to What he saw and the places he visited. I never understood what a treasure Glen Canyon was to Us till I read her book. Thank You Katie Lee

Katie Lee has led a remarkable life. But while she may be a fine story teller for a live audience, she is a poor writer. I found it a slow book to flog myself through- despite an enormous interest in the subject. Too bad she couldn't have put her ego aside and sat down with a professional writer. I can think of several women writers of the west that would have been a boon to the project. I look forward to the Katie Lee biography from one of them.

I come back to 'As Far as the Eye Can See' year after year. It's absolutely brilliant. Well written, honest, insightful. David Brill conveys his experiences on the AT better than any other through-hiker book I've ever read. Too many books make it seem if hiking the Appalachian Trail is man vs. trail but Mr. Brill brings the truth to the forefront, hiking the AT is hiker vs. him/herself. If you've ever thought of putting foot to the trail and walking from Georgia to Maine or simply enjoy day hiking in the beauty of the woods this book is for you.

Anyone interested in the AT, or just backpacking in general, should read this book. It's a great read. I liked it better than Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" and I recommend it to everyone.

Mr Brill's book was the first of several I have read on hiking the AT, and it is, so far, still my favorite. He tell's about the hardships without moaning and groaning, and also lists the good things. You can get a good idea of what to expect about the AT from reading this book.

In his book, "As Far Aas the Eye Can See", David Brill takes the reader on a soul-sirring adventure along the rooftop of eastern America. He tugs at heart strings as he overcomes the grueling day-to-day trials and tribulations that plague long distance backpackers, and he lifts the reader's spirit as his soul soars to lofty heights as the beauty of Nature's bounty unfolds. Couch-bound? Not to worry. Mr. Brill evokes pictures with his dynamic and descriptive prose that carries the reader alongside, step by step. A must-read! J.R. "Model-T" Tate, author of "Walkin' on the Happy Side of Misery"

It's hard to write a review about this book. Why? It's so good. Why is it good, and what makes it different?

First, it tells of the trail and the people he met in 1979. I doubt you'd find some of these folks along the AT today. For example, the rednecks who came a'drinkin' and a'shootin' at a Georgia shelter, the mountain woman who showed him how to hunt ramps, and the strange and funny account of the rednecks with their "bullet trick" at the tavern in Erwin. Most of these type folks have probably faded into the era from which they came, now extinct by the pervasive eroding effect of the media and its pressure for everyone to conform to American McCulture, not to mention the effect of a constant stream of AT thru-hikers through a previously much more isolated mountain culture and communities.

He writes very well of the changes the trail had on himself, and the transition from feeling like a visitor in the woods to a resident of the woods. He goes from being deathly afraid of thunderstorms in gaps in Georgia when he started, to enjoying them later on. And the change in personal values his hike had on him.

Another big difference is this book is written by subjects, not chronologically like the numerous journal-type AT books. Chapters are on "Fear," "Seasons," "Our Community," "Bad Company," "Critters," and so forth. I find this a refreshing break from those books that generally read something like: "I got up at 6 am, cooked pop tarts, walked X miles up a MFer of a hill, saw curly joe and moe, stayed at X shelter, cooked slop tarts, tossed and turned under a leaky roof, got up at 6 am and started again."

Don't know else to say. Read it.

Super book to take in the field with you. Organized by color to make it very handy. The photos are beautiful and large. I know that Illinois is a big state but it was amazing how many native birds there are. If you love watching birds - this is a must buy.

I love this book! So easy to use! You can find the bird you see easily (by color), and Stan gives you exactly the tip you need to tell which bird it is! Plus interesting facts about each bird, and where you are likely to see them, and what they are likely to be doing. And beautiful, clear photos! This is the first of his field guides that I ever bought. I bought several others. I love them all! His field guides really work!

This book was great. My partner and I were having a little bet on what bird we had seen in our backyard. This book has it all for those of you who love to birdwatch anywhere.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the birds in their Illinois backyard. We have learned so much about the birds that come to our feeders. Our children, ages 6 and 2, are now very interested in the types of birds that are in our backyard. Excellent buy!

Like all of the other reviews, I find this book the easiest to use when trying to identify new birds who come to our feeder. One other thing I love about it - it tells what the birds like to eat! So can stock my feeder appropriately.

I came across this little gem by accident, found it in the local Missouri section while walking down the wrong aisle at B&N, rather than in the animal section. I picked it up and gave it a glance and didn't think twice about purchasing it or not.

It's practically a dictionary of local birds, each entry has a beautiful picture of the bird, both female and male. Includes important information for identification, what area of the state they prefer, what their eggs and nests look like, and much more.

I really like the color tabs. See a brown bird? Turn to the brown section for quick look up. Living in Missouri, I only recently took up an interest in feeding birds in my back yard and have purchased several books on the subject. This one is the best by far! It's easy to use, informative, and the pictures are of excellent quality!

This is a great book with great pictures of the birds. My boys were able to go straight to the color and find the bird we were looking for.

This is a great book. I got two bird feeders and was curious about the kinds of birds that were feeding. This book is easy to use, it lists birds by colors, it also says whether they are all year round, migratory, summer or winter. Very helpful for identifying the birds!!

After moving to Missouri for my husband's job, I was interested in all the colorful birds. I purchased this book and have been using it for about a year. It is easy to use and include brief descriptions and fun facts about each bird, as well as colorful photos and maps. The best thing is that the pages are color-coded so you aren't flipping through the whole book trying to find that one red bird you saw--you just flip to the red tab pages.

I just started birdwatching, and this is the first book that I bought to help me along. It is arranged by bird color, which is great for beginners like me who have no idea what to look for. I would say that this is a great book for beginners, but maybe a bit too simple for people who have been birdwatching for awhile. I am about ready for a new book myself...

We have two dozen field guides and identifiers for birds - this one book is faster than all the rest to identify what is at our feeder, on the trail or along the road. It almost seems too simple - why don't all the other guides we have go by ... color ... seems too simple right? D'oh. I almost feel like I'm cheating when I use this book - other books seem too snobberish - read: if you are a *real* birder, use our complete guide. Find a bird, lookup the color or color combination, look through 10 pages and presto - identified. How hard can that be?

If you could only get one birding book ... get this one. Or, in my case, if I only have room to pack one book, I always pack this one.

Side-note: The companion CDs are great too, and they match the pages up nicely to the book, but frankly I can't identify by ear - maybe I' tone deaf ... but they are nicely arranged discs. My wife likes them more.

I found this book to be very informative & easy to find a particular bird since they are grouped by color. However, I'm a little confused by the photo & description of the Carolina Chickadee. I've lived in Western North Carolina since Spring, 2006 & the "Chickadee" I've always seen doesn't have the tan belly as the one pictured in the book. The "Chickadee" I've seen has mostly a white belly & has a white streak on the wing. It looks most like the pictures identifying the Black-Capped Chickadee I've seen in other bird identification books. I am wondering why the author did not include a photo & description of the Black-Capped Chickadee.

Birds of the Carolinas and the companion CD have been without a doubt the best field guide we have purchased. I refer to it on a regular basis and find the new color coded format extremely easy to use. It is well worth purchasing even if you have several other guides!!

I love this field guide! It has full page pictures on the left side, making it easy to just flip through the book and find the bird that you're looking for. And limiting it to just the birds in the Carolinas eliminates the irritation of thinking that you've figured out waht bird it is - only to find that that bird only lives in Arizona!

This book is perfect for rookies. The color coded tabs helped me to quickly look up the bird's that were clustering at my new feeder. I just wanted to know a little bit about each species to better enjoy them. I now keep this the book near my window, so that I can idententify all types of birds that flock in and around my yard.
This book is most definately a great investment.
(I love the compact size)

Cache Lake Country stands up to the test of time. Out of print now, it is still as relevant and beautiful a testament to the outdoor experience of Rowlands, Kane, and Chief Tibeash as it was in the 50's. If you love nature and the solitary experiences of the wilderness then you'll love this book.

Rowlands is a marvelous writer, for sure, but I was totally smitten with the outstanding black-and-white illustrations of the highly talented illustrator, Henry B. Kane, who brought, humor, fine draughtsmanship, art, and passion together for this book. It's reminiscent in some ways of Joseph Wood Krutch's "The Voice of the Desert" and Abby's "Desert Solitaire" but it takes place in the North Woods (some say Quebec, others say Ontario). I liked this book even better than the two aforementioned because of the great teamwork of Rowlands and Kane.

I reviewed this book several years ago, and after accidently stumbling upon my review, the same images, smells, and excitement still come to mind. I just purchased an old copy at many times the original price, and I can't wait to read it again after more than thirty years. It still amazes me to thnk that a simple diary of life in a bygone distant frontier could elicit such a Technicolor panorama in the mind of the reader. Everyone should read this book. It's good for the soul.

Don't we all wish we knew someone like J.J. Rowlands. What a life! He should have been a father; what a wealth of information he might have imparted... ...and what delivery! Couldn't put it down. Thank goodness he left us his book.

Back in the prehistoric days of the 1970's, I found this small book in my school library. Despite it's small size, it became, and has always been a bible of life in the northwoods. No politics, no social agenda, just a detailed blueprint of the pleasures and perils of living far from the city. The book covers the basics of shelter and winter warmth. It instructs the reader in a variety of skills ( from keeping oatmeal warm until breakfast, to making snowshoes to get along in mid-winter). All in all, I recall it as the first docu-drama that I ever had the pleasure to read. Though it can be labeled as non fiction (of the instructive kind), it has the ability to build endles dreams of pioneer life in the mind of most any reader.

I can only echo the other reviewers to date: this is simply the finest and most memorable book from my youth. The painstaking black and white line drawings embellish a story of life in the Canadian backwoods. The author was well aware that his was a disappearing way of life, when he spent time as a timber overseer on a remote Canadian lake, and his obvious care in crafting his recollections shows his love for that life. I was fortunate enough in my youth to have a chance to canoe 200 miles of Canada not all that far from Cache Lake country - and can only say that Rowland's account rings true. I have made some of the recipies, perched on rock shores above sparkling Canadian waters. I can only add that in a world of quick fixes and patent falsehoods, Cache Lake Country is a collection of truths. If books can truly be friends, this is a best friend.

All the information you need to explore new rivers. Giving it as a gift to all our paddling freinds and family.

It would be nice if it were easy to scout out a river before driving to an access point and paddling it. This book does it for you. The directions to access points and places to park are very detailed and good. The maps are excellent and very clear. There are written notes on the problems or special circumstances you will encounter, which are very intelligent and accurate. I checked the rivers I have paddled and read the remarks, and they are just what you need to know, and they are true. The author really knows what he is writing about, this is not a book thrown together by someone who hasn't actually been on the river. If you want to know which Michigan rivers are in this book, here is a list:

Lower Peninsula:
Au Sable
Au Sable South Branch
Betsie
Black
Boardman
Cass
Chippewa
Dowagiac
Flat
Huron
Jordan
Kalamazoo
Little Manistee
Little Muskegon
Mansitee
Muskegon
Ocqueoc
Pere Marquette
Pigeon
Pine
Platte
Rifle
Shiawassee
Sturgeon
Thornapple
Thunder Bay
White

Upper Peninsula:
Black
Brule
Escanaba
Ford
Fox
Indian
Manisique
Michigamme
Montreal
Ontonagon (East Branch, Mainstream, Middle Branch, South Branch)
Paint
Presque Isle
Sturgeon
Two Hearted
Whitefish

What a great book! I am a beginner kayaker having never kayaked a river before - and was nervous even thinking about it. This book was very descriptive and informative. We did the Platte River from Loon Lake to Lake Michigan and it was a blast. Very relaxing. The maps of the rivers were great as was the description of the landings and portages. Looking forward to my next river, and this book will help decide which one!

This book is really good to have in the car or for planning a trip. It is really handy having the maps next to the description. Good accurate maps and great insight.

The people who wrote this book definately did their homework. I've gone down a few of the rivers in the lower peninsula and this book was an impeccable guide. Now, Lower Peninsula rivers aren't exactly the meanest or fastest, but there are enough twists and turns to keep your attention and to want a book like this aroud, if only to know what's all out there. There was also good attention paid to campsites and drop off points gone through in great detail. I once tried a dropoff point agains the recommendation of this book and paid for it dearly.

The problem about getting hardcovers of natural wonders like rivers is that all too often the data becomes obsolete after a couple years. For this case is seems that it's still pretty to date, but check on the web anyways just in case conditions change.

it covers a wide varity og game and has some interesting ideas

This book has realy been a great help for my husband. It gives him a quicker technic for cutting wild game meat. The book was received in great shape. Thank you very much.

When I came home there was a dead deer on my living room table (yes I was shocked because it didn't belong there) and my husband was looking at it holding a knife. He didn't look so sure what to do. I got this book from the library which explains in very detailed pictures how to "disect" the animal. It worked so great I bought him the book for xmas and we have used it several times for deer, turkey and the great recipes.

The book contains excellent photography making it most helpful; the problem I found with it however was the example shown for field dressing the deer. In my opinion opening the carcass from chin all the way through the crotch area is absolutely wrong. A much better way is discussed in the book entitled, "Butchering Deer" by John Weiss.
Dressing and cooking wild game is an excellent book in all other aspects and would have rated five stars if this area was correct.

One of the most comprehensive books I've ever owned on the subject. This book covers everything from how to sharpen a knife to skinning and butchering deer, rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, quail, and coon. There are also several recipes in the back for each of these animals. Good pics, good information, good book.

Book about Warblers
this reference book is very helpful in identifying the migrating warblers.
It arrived in very good condition.

This book is much more than just a field guide to the warblers. It contains a wealth of information on identification, but it also functions as a summary of the scientific literature on the ecology of each species, complete with references to the primary literature. This guide is a great way to not only get more serious as a birdwatcher, but also to help this interest develop into an interest in and understanding of ecology.

As a field guide, this book is exhaustive and excellent. The illustrations are extremely clear, and there are distinct illustrations of different sexes, ages, and plumages (fall/spring) whenever these plumages are distinct. In addition to the illustrations of perched birds, there are also excellent illustrations of undertail patterns, which are very important and useful. Throughout the text as well, there are a number of detailed color photos. Visually, this guide has it all! The range maps are large and clear, although I wish that the range maps would mark migration paths more clearly.

The expanded chapters on each species are outstanding. While some of this information, especially the plumages, range, song, habitat, and behavior, would be interesting and useful to birders, this book goes above and beyond by discussing in depth the ecology of each species, taxonomy, and conservation status. The writing is clear and concise, and there are numerous references to the primary literature as starting points for people who are interested in further reading.

Bottom line? If you like warblers, you have to get this book! You will not be disappointed.

Several years ago, while watching the bird feeders at Muskatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Seymour, Indiana, I heard a voice behind me pointing out that there were two races of White-crowned Sparrow at the feeder. He went into detail about the subtle differences between the two. At first I thought to myself, who is this guy? Later, I realized that it was Jon Dunn! I have had a high respect for him ever since.
Years later, he was the guest speaker at our bird club meeting. He presented some of the plates from his, at the time, upcoming new field guide to warblers. I fell in love with the plates from the very start. Thomas R. Shultz and Cindy House did a remarkable job, and the detail that was carefully gathered from museum specimens is second to none. I knew from the beginning that I had to have this new field guide and I couldn't wait until it appeared on the shelves.
When I bought my copy of the finished product, it was even more than I expected. Aside from the detailed plates making fall and female warbler identification easier, the text is filled with information on virtually every aspect of life history of each species, with cross-references that will aid any serious researcher. More than just a field guide for identification purposes, this book belongs on the shelf of beginners and experts alike who share a passion for warblers.

This book provides good color plates of the warblers in various stages of plummage. The distribution maps are easy to read and color coded. I bought the book because of the multiple pages of natural history information on each species. The birding guide I use in the field has excellent illustrations but totally lacks in the supplemental information. So, when I get home, I grab this book to learn the biology of the species.

Kimball Garrett and Jon Dunn worked together once again to produce a masterpiece. The information on status and distribution is remarkably accurate given the exceptional detail in which it is presented. The identification discussion is thorough and accurate. The discussion of subspecies, their taxonomy, and their identification (as is possible) is remarkable. The books only failing are the illustrations, which are flat and unrealistic for the most part. Their usefulness is limited.