Bird Dog Days, Wingshooting Ways


Book Description

An expanded edition of Rutledge's stories on game-bird hunting and devoted canine companions Archibald Rutledge has long been recognized as one of the finest sporting scribes this country has ever produced. A prolific writer who specialized in stories on nature and hunting, over the course of a long and prolific career Rutledge produced more than fifty books of poetry and prose, held the position of South Carolina's poet laureate for thirty-three years, and garnered numerous honorary degrees and prizes for his writings. In this revised and expanded edition of Bird Dog Days, Wingshooting Ways, noted outdoor writer Jim Casada draws together Rutledge's stories on the southern heartland, deer hunting, turkey hunting, and Carolina Christmas hunts and traditions. This collection, first published in 1998, turns to Rutledge's writings on two subjects near and dear to his heart that he understood with an intimacy growing out of a lifetime of experience—upland bird hunting and hunting dogs. Its contents range from delightful tales of quail and grouse hunts to pieces on special dogs and some of their traits. Bird Dog Days, Wingshooting Ways also includes a long fictional piece, "The Odyssey of Bolio," which shows that Rutledge's literary mastery extended beyond simple tales for outdoorsmen.




What the Dogs Taught Me


Book Description

“My dogs and I get along best when I hit the birds they produce for me. Putting the odds in my favor is the least I can do. Now, so can you.” If you hunt for pheasants, grouse, quail, and other upland birds, forming a partnership with your dog can be a daunting challenge. Wingshooting USA’s Scott Linden is here to help. What the Dogs Taught Me fills in the blanks for the wingshooter and dog owner with solid advice that will improve dog and hunter’s levels of communication, respect, and hunting efficiency. With lessons on dogs’ desires, skills, and abilities to learn, care and feeding, health and safety, preparation, and shooting, What the Dogs Taught Me is the ultimate guide to maximizing happiness and minimizing frustration whether out on the hunt or relaxing in the backyard. Even better, Linden’s lovable, often hilarious tone makes taking advice on training, strategizing, and partnership enjoyable to human and canine alike. Don’t be a student at the school of hard knocks—What the Dogs Taught Me advances an upland hunter’s skills quickly, creatively, and without any of the angst of more difficult methods.




Sporting Dog and Retriever Training: The Wildrose Way


Book Description

A comprehensive guide to transforming your dog into a valuable wing-shooting companion in the field and at home. Created by Mike Stewart of Wildrose Kennels, the Wildrose Way is a unique, low-force, positive training method that is field-proven for upland and waterfowl gundogs. The training prepares dogs for versatility—any game, any terrain, any destination—and makes them desirable companions for any situation. Now, for the first time, Stewart’s methods are compiled in one indispensable reference book, fully illustrated with photographs and diagrams. Containing chapters on establishing essential behaviors, the core skills of the hunting retriever, and waterdog finishing work, as well as sidebars on such topics as breed selection and effective canine leadership, this step-by-step book is designed specifically for wing-shooters who want to transform their pup into a gentleman’s gundog.




Dog Tales


Book Description

Rich in history and drama, Dog Tales entertains, enlightens, and inspires dog owners and dog lovers. These are enduring stories that have passed the test of time and have attracted generations of readers. Emerging from the prose in these pages are gallant dogs, facing incredible dangers and tasks. Loyal and affectionate dogs, unforgettable in the memories of the owners who shared their lives. These stories have been carefully selected for the imaginative reader who loves dogs—the people who agree with Will Rogers that, “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”




Hunting Tales


Book Description

.Veteran editor Lamar Underwood invites you to join him in a hunting camp destined to give you hours of pleasure. Many of your favorite authors are here, trusted companions like Archibald Rutledge, Corey Ford, Theodore Roosevelt, Nash Buckingham, Tom Hennessey and many others. Their stories capture the action and tranquility of hunting game birds in the uplands, waterfowl in the marshes, and deer and big game in farmland forests and mountain peaks.




Great Hunting Rifles


Book Description

In Great Hunting Rifles, firearms expert Terry Wieland leads the reader on a journey through the history of some of the most exquisite rifles made in the twentieth century. The rifles featured in the book, all personally owned by the author and described in loving detail, were chosen for their particular importance. Each rifle either represents a particular era of gun making, is historically important, or is simply a paragon of gun making skill. In his treatment of these special rifles, Wieland provides a close look at some individual guns that are superb in a unique way, and which illustrate high points of the twentieth century. Each chapter is dedicated to one particular rifle, and is accompanied by photographs of the author's own examples, including: James Woodward hammer double .450 Express 3 1/4" Holland & Holland hammer .500 Express 3 1/4" Haenel-Mannlicher bolt action .450 Ackley custom rifle Mannlicher-Schoenauer Model 1908 Savage Model 1899 Al Biesen custom .270 Winchester .505 Gibbs custom built on a Granite Mountain Mauser 98 And many more! Great Hunting Rifles is perfect for anyone who wants to know more about the history of those few, special rifles that have made their mark on time.




Southern Writers


Book Description

This new edition of Southern Writers assumes its distinguished predecessor's place as the essential reference on literary artists of the American South. Broadly expanded and thoroughly revised, it boasts 604 entries-nearly double the earlier edition's-written by 264 scholars. For every figure major and minor, from the venerable and canonical to the fresh and innovative, a biographical sketch and chronological list of published works provide comprehensive, concise, up-to-date information. Here in one convenient source are the South's novelists and short story writers, poets and dramatists, memoirists and essayists, journalists, scholars, and biographers from the colonial period to the twenty-first century. What constitutes a "southern writer" is always a matter for debate. Editors Joseph M. Flora and Amber Vogel have used a generous definition that turns on having a significant connection to the region, in either a personal or literary sense. New to this volume are younger writers who have emerged in the quarter century since the dictionary's original publication, as well as older talents previously unknown or unacknowledged. For almost every writer found in the previous edition, a new biography has been commissioned. Drawn from the very best minds on southern literature and covering the full spectrum of its practitioners, Southern Writers is an indispensable reference book for anyone intrigued by the subject.




Meditations on Hunting


Book Description

This is the classic treatise on hunting, written by Spain's leading philosopher of the 20th century. Reprinted with permission from Scribner, this edition features handsome new illustrations. The author explains the reason why humans hunt, as well as the ethics of hunting.




Bird Dog


Book Description

Ben O. Williams has become legendary for his hard-charging, bold, and obedient hunting dogs. The training method he has developed over forty years consistently produces dogs that are friendly and affectionate, yet who also perform at the highest level of excellence in the field. And the best part is the Ben O. Williams Instinctive Method revealed in this book is not only easy, but fun for both owner and dog. Both a training manual and a bird philosophy, the heavily-illustrated Bird Dog reveals unique and timed-tested methods that cultivate a dog's desires and instincts to achieve upland hunting bliss, while also creating a loveable home companion. Williams is an acclaimed dog breeder, trainer, and outdoor writer who is the author of several books. He is a dog magazine columnist, and a member of the Orvis Wingshooting Advisory Board. He and his dogs have appeared on many outdoor television shows, including Gray's Sporting Journal.




Carolina Christmas


Book Description

A collection of holiday tales, poems, and recipes celebrating hearth and hunt in the South of yesteryear. Carolina Christmas collects for the first time holiday stories of Archibald Rutledge (1883–1973), one of the most prolific outdoor and nature writers of the twentieth century and the first poet laureate of South Carolina. Some of Rutledge's finest writing revolves around his vivid memories of hunt, hearth, and holidays. These memories are celebrated in this keepsake collection of enduring stories and poems, further augmented with traditional recipes and food lore associated with the season. Archibald Rutledge spent decades teaching at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. All the while he supplemented his income through his writings in order to support a growing family and restoration efforts at Hampton Plantation, his ancestral home in coastal South Carolina—now a state historic site. Each Christmas, Rutledge returned to his cherished Hampton Plantation for hunting, celebrations of the season, and renewal of his decidedly Southern soul. This annual migration home meant the opportunity to enjoy hunting and communion with nature—so vitally important to him—and to renew acquaintances with those living on neighboring plantations and with the African American community he immortalized in his book God's Children. Rutledge wrote dozens of stories and poems revolving around the Hampton Hunt, fellowship with family and friends, the serenity of the winter woods, and his appetite for seasonal Southern foodways. Edited by Jim Casada, this collection highlights the very best of Rutledge's holiday tales in a vibrant tapestry through which Christmas runs as a bright, sparkling thread. In these tales of Christmas past—each representative of the author's sterling literary reputation and continuing popularity—Rutledge guides us once more into a world of traditions now largely lost. But to tread those forgotten trails once more, to sample and savor the foods he loved, and to experience vicariously the sport he so enjoyed is to experience the wonder of yesteryear.