Best and worst hunting/outdoor writers

[shannerdrake]

Love David Petzal, o’Connor, and Rinella. They bring the adventure to life.

On this site, I enjoy @Ben Lamb’s thoughtfulness, @Greenhorn’s unabashed style, and @noharleyyet’s brilliant, witty quips.

I’m glad someone else put Petzal on here. He is a treasure. I’ve read anything he has put to print. I think he sometimes gets lost between the old greats and the modern day conversationalist writers. However, he has spanned across and can connect to both.

 

[geetar]

Charles J. Alsheimer was a really good writer and photographer in the whitetail hunting world. I forgot to mention him in my earlier posts.

 

[LuketheDog]

Ruark
McGuane
Gierach
Rinella

 

[TheTone]

IMO the list of bad ones is way longer than good ones

 

[Brad]

R.M. Patterson- The Dangerous River made my imagination stir like nothing else has since I was 12 years old.

I think I've got all of Patterson's books... really wonderful.

 

[shrapnel]

Wow! No mention of Seyfried. He certainly has a following, but he isn’t afraid to bend the truth to promote himself.

I saw him guiding in the Missouri Breaks and what he wrote about vs what really happened was a deception. The story he wrote made good reading but was not true…

 

[Big Fin]

Maybe he has been mentioned, but Allen Morris Jones' work, "A Quiet Place of Violence" is excellent.

 

[Nutrioso]

Maybe he has been mentioned, but Allen Morris Jones' work, "A Quiet Place of Violence" is excellent.

Totally agree. This is the best explanation and justification of hunting I have ever read. Outstanding book.

 

[Irrelevant]

Someone a page or two back mentioned their favorite HT writers, which I think is worthy as I spend far more time digesting this site than I should. My favorite two posters, in terms of writing style are @trb and @Nameless Range. It doesn't matter what they write, I'd want to read it. Our fearless leader (@Big Fin ) is a close 3rd.

There are many others that also produce threads that I equally love but for different reasons.

 

[trb]

"Arctic Dreams" by Barry Lopez is at the top of my list of outdoors books. A completely mind blowing read.

In my late teenage years, I remember being gripped by London's short story "To Build A Fire".

I have really struggled to find hunting focused books that I genuinely enjoy, but I just ordered "A Quiet Place of Violence" that Fin recommended above, and look forward to giving that a try.

 

[Irrelevant]

"Arctic Dreams" by Barry Lopez is at the top of my list of outdoors books. A completely mind blowing read.

In my late teenage years, I remember being gripped by London's short story "To Build A Fire".

I have really struggled to find hunting focused books that I genuinely enjoy, but I just ordered "A Quiet Place of Violence" that Fin recommended above, and look forward to giving that a try.

If you related at all to upland I might suggest Mouthful of Feathers, it's a compilation of stories/essays from many authors. If you like fishing, I'd also suggest anything from Pulp Fly Vol 1-3. All of the above are digital only. Not you classic hunting/fishing story.

 

[Trailsend]

E Donnal Thomas
Hemingway
Kelgaard - fiction but fired my imagination
Ruark

 

[WesternWyoming]

Who qualifies as a outdoor writer? As in just hunting/fishing stories?

1. McManus
2. Hemmingway
3. Harrison
4. Tom Reed
5. Chad Love
6. James Duncan (River Y)
7. David Peterson

The duck commanders have to be at the bottom right?

Nice list. Add to that Hal Herring.

 

[woods89]

A lot of good ones have been mentioned. I'm not sure if he fits this mold or not, but I've really enjoyed some of the works of Sébastien Junger. The books I've read of his, War, Freedom, and of course, The Perfect Storm, all have at least a little to do with man and nature.

 

[S-3 Ranch]

jack o'connor
elmer keith
jim corbett
frank flowers
russell annabel
peter capstick
robert raurk
gary paulsen


l don'i care for frederick selous's style, incredibly cool guy though.
not a fan of ron spomers writing, l do enjoy his videos.
any of the duck commanders writing is junk.
mostly if l don't like someones writing l don't bother remembering their name.

Yep , and add John Howard "Pondoro" Taylor.

worst Jim Zumbo , never did ever enjoy his writing or opinions

 

[Cousin Basil]

I really like Ross Seyfried and the late Finn Aagard.

I'm too young for O'Connor but he seems to be just as much a walking 270 ad as Larry Wiesenhun is for T/C contenders. Elmer Keith wrote of shooting - his words - (winging shots at actually) a Mule Deer at several hundred yards with a 44. Seems it took 5-6 shots and after hitting a leg or 2, it finally fell. Not endearing.

 

[220yotekiller]

Yep , and add John Howard "Pondoro" Taylor.

worst Jim Zumbo , never did ever enjoy his writing or opinions

true and true, l had forgotten about taylor.

 

[sockeye]

probably my favorite is gene hill also like macmanus and have several of o'conners books

 

[Harrier]

Elmer Keith wrote of shooting - his words - (winging shots at actually) a Mule Deer at several hundred yards with a 44. Seems it took 5-6 shots and after hitting a leg or 2, it finally fell. Not endearing.

This is why I hated “The Still Hunter” by Theodore Van Dyke, which I haven’t seen mentioned here but which many readers consider a classic. I couldn’t get past his descriptions of shooting at unidentified noises in the brush or at animals silhouetted on a skyline.

 

[Scott85]

I think some of the people on here could give some outdoor “writers” a run for their money.