There are plenty of books on taxidermy, but none covers small game with the learning and depth of THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SMALL GAME TAXIDERMY. Drawing on generations of experience, the author covers all aspects of the art. From proper field care and tanning to crafting life-size mounts, this book will help any individual to approach master status.
Chapters cover topics like basic base building, making a life-size bobcat mount, and more. The author relates a lifetime of invaluable tips on the subtle arts of the ear and mouth--when to choose open and when to choose closed--and why field care is where good taxidermy starts.
Whether the reader is pursuing taxidermy as a hobby or a profession, THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SMALL GAME TAXIDERMY will prove an invaluable guide.

Concealed Carry Class: The ABCs of Self-Defense Tools & Tactics is a comprehensive guide to recognizing, avoiding and surviving violent confrontations. It covers everything from situational-awareness skills that can be honed to help keep you and your loved ones out of potentially dangerous scenarios; to the mental discipline it takes to carry a concealed weapon every day; to evaluating and selecting concealed-carry hardware, including handguns and calibers, holsters and clothing; to training drills you can use to become proficient with a handgun, and remain proficient through regular practice. Tom Givens calls on decades of firearms and law-enforcement experience to put together this practical collection of tips and tactics anyone can use for the safe, responsible and legal carrying of a concealed weapon.He has been involved in armed confrontations both as a police officer and as a private citizen, and has seen firsthand how decent people, with proper training, can fight back and overcome criminal attacks. -- Tom Givens

Discover the pros secrets for catching more and bigger muskies. They don't call it the Fish of Ten Thousand Casts for nothing. The challenge of catching muskie is not only finding them, but also figuring out their attitude and what presentation might work--today. To find success tomorrow, you'll probably need a different location, attitude, and lure.
Pro muskie "hunters" Jack Burns and Rob Kimm share their own experience as well as that of the many other muskie anglers with whom they've worked and fished over the years. They cover the basic biology of muskies and how you can use that knowledge to catch more and bigger fish. They discuss fishing tackle, release techniques, reacting to follows, doing figure eights, triggering strikes, and much more.
In this expertly written book you'll find examples of on-the-water tactics and strategies covering a wide range of situations. More important, you'll develop an understanding of the why behind a particular strategy and how to adapt to different water and weather conditions throughout the year. The result is a complete, up-to-date course on muskie fishing for the beginning to intermediate angler.

This is Michael McIntosh's classic book on fine shotguns, in a fully revised and expanded form-covering gunmakers who have become prominent since the first edition was published in 1989 and McIntosh's continued research into the nature of the shotgun and the people who make them. McIntosh divides hisThis nearly encyclopedic gathering of gun knowledge deals with the world of shotguns into two distinct sections. The first is devoted to the best shotguns ever made in America, "American Best," looks at each of the finest guns made in the United States during the Golden Age of gunmaking. Names from the past such as Parker, A. H. Fox, L. C. Smith, Ithaca, Lefever, and others are treated in greater detail, including newly manufactured American classics that bear those same names.once were more than simply names on old guns; they were people and companies, inventively vying for a share of a growing gun market. Their efforts created guns of lasting value and fame. In the second section, McIntosh explores the revivified world of gunmaking abroad-in England, Spain, Italy, and elsewhere, places where traditional craftsmanship and modern technology have combined to make the turn of the twenty-first century the most vibrant and exciting period in fine gunmaking in nearly a hundred years."The World's Best," Michael McIntosh explores the world of fine guns as it exists today, country by country, commenting on guns whose intrinsic merit qualifies them as "best" guns. He looks at the gunmaking centers of England, Italy, France, Belgium, and Spain and talks of the names that warm the hearts of those who appreciate the workmanship, dynamics, and "feel" of a fine gun-names such as Purdey, Holland & Holland, Granger, Fabbri, Piotti, Arrizabalaga, and others. McIntosh offers practical advice on buying, shooting, and collecting older guns-what to look for and what to look out for, all based on long experience. McIntosh also offers advice on buying and shooting older guns-what to look for and what to look out for. As interest in fine double guns reaches a new high in this country, Best Guns serves as both a guide for the uninitiated and a standard reference for the experienced collector and shooter, all written with the precision and seamless grace that is Michael McIntosh's trademark style..

Too many shotgunners imagine that their success in the field, or lack of it, is largely a question of innate ability and luck. Not true, say Bruce Bowlen and Dylan Snell, long-time Orvis shotgun instructors. Good shooting depends as much on effective technique as it does on natural talent, instinct, and favorable circumstances. With the proper instruction, bad shots can become good ones, and good shots will surprise themselves with how much better they can be. In this concise and clearly written guide to the fundamentals of the sport, the authors cover the basic elements as well as the intricacies of proper wing shooting. The correct stance, timing and motion, equipment, and safety procedures are described in detail. In addition, there are sections on field shooting versus clay-target shooting, how to lead, the master eye, gun fit, and much more. The updated text and illustrations contain the latest insights into the sport as it has evolved since the publication of the first edition more than twenty years ago. Maybe you shoot a great deal, or maybe you hunt just a few times a year, or maybe you've already decided to take lessons. In any case, The Orvis Wingshooting Handbook is your primer. For the cost of a few boxes of shells, you've got at your fingertips the techniques for making every shot count.

The popularity of rifles designed to take big game has never been greater. Terry Wieland, a widely recognized firearms expert, explores in detail the rifles and calibers that are drawing attention. This second edition covers what has changed in the field since the first edition was published-new calibers, new cartridges, new guns, new actions-and includes new material on action and barrel manufacture, tracing the production of a fine, custom-made, big-bore rifle.

This unique adventure in book publishing takes you onto the famed trout waters of Northern Pennsylvania for a series of detailed, exciting lessons from one of the great fly fishermen of all time, Joe Humphreys. In extraordinary photo sequences, detailed captions, and imaginative, original schematic drawings illustrating theory as well as practical technique, Joe shows you how to catch trout. Joe talks directly to you, the reader, in On the Trout Stream, as if you were wading along beside him for a one-on-one lesson. You are in the current at his side as he points out ways to read water, shows you what tippet-fly combo he's going to use for a particular stream situation, discusses casting, makes his approach, and, with you at his side, lands fish. Joe goes into the basics of bottom-drifting the nymph. He talks conditioning-the context of the weather's seasonal rhythms and how trout react, as well as how their behavior is affected by a dozen other factors, from light to temperature to the nature of the food chain. He shows you his favorite flies, some of them never-before-photographed originals, with advice on tying and fishing. He shows you ways to figure out what the trout are taking and how, in a myriad of different stream situations. You wade along with Joe as he plies intermixing currents, pocket water, riffles, pools, runs, feeder streams, spring holes, guts, shallows, and tight brush with his nymphs and dry flies, showing you-and talking to you-step-by-step through his system of fishing: a body of knowledge developed in over 100,000 hours of hands-on trouting experience on some of the world's toughest water. How do you get that weighted nymph bouncing naturally over the bottom where it's going to catch fish? What is the single most important factor in casting the dry fly? How should you build your leader for different types of water, current, and stream-configuration? When should you ignore water temperature? What's the one nymph-approach trout can't seem to resist? What's the secret of the hook-up? On the Trout Stream gives you hard information and instruction in an original, highly visual presentation of how Joe Humphreys actually fishes. Unprecedented in approach, full of new tips as well as photo-sequence explanations of techniques never before fully explained anywhere, this reading-and looking-experience will prove indispensable to anyone who has already grasped the basics of fly fishing and is surely destined to take its place among the innovative teaching texts in any sport.

It is with passion and clarity that Dave Whitlock describes trout, salmon, char, and how to fly fish for them. Artful Profiles of Trout, Char, and Salmon and the Flies That Catch Them is a collection of articles spanning Whitlock's career, all of which are essential reading for any fly-fisher. Over the past fifty years, he has amassed an incredible amount of knowledge and written a large number of articles, many of which appeared in Trout magazine and are featured within. Here, Whitlock deftly, accessibly, and thoroughly goes through a vast range of topics, including Insights into the many subspecies of trout, char, and salmon Casting methods for every scenario Drawing out shy fish Types of flies for different waters and situations Accurately imitating food sources And much more! Discover a wealth of information consolidated by an experienced and devoted angler. Artful Profiles of Trout, Char, and Salmon and the Flies That Catch Them is absolutely packed with tried-and-true tips, tactics, and techniques that are presented concisely alongside colorful illustrations by Whitlock himself. This book is a must have for anyone with an interest in angling, whether they are an absolute beginner, or an experienced angler with years under their belts.

Lefty Kreh's original edition of Fly Fishing in Salt Water pioneered a new territory for fly fishers. With over thirty thousand copies sold and the content fully updated, revised, and expanded, this third edition is the saltwater fly fisher's bible, based on firsthand experience by an acknowledged master. In clear, practical terms and with helpful photographs and line drawings, Lefty Kreh's Fly Fishing in Salt Water treats the techniques needed to catch all the major saltwater species--bonefish, tarpon, striped bass, bluefish, salmon, permit, snook, sharks, cobia, tuna, billfish, and more. The book shows how to fish from boats and how to wade the flats, and fully explains all the tackle needed and how to use it for specific jobs--the rods, the lines and leaders, and the flies (shown in full color). Lefty provides superb advice about how to make the long casts necessary for fishing the fly in salt water, how to "tease" sailfish and other large fish to within fly-casting range, how to chum, and how to tie the necessary knots for saltwater fishing. Chapter topics include Knots and Leaders, Flies, Tackle, Inshore Fly Fishing, and Boats.

As an age-old metaphor for the sexual chase, the hunt provides a uniquely conflicted site for the representation of masculinity. On the one hand, hunting had from ancient times served to define a particular and culturally approved mode of masculinity as heroic, pursuant, and goal-oriented, where success was measured by the achievement of the objectives set: the capture and killing of prey. When applied to love, on the other hand, hunting was inflected quite differently. At first glance, the basic scenario of a male subject pursuing elusive quarry over which he ultimately comes to assert control might seem to epitomise the dynamic of the sexual chase, yet when poets invoke the hunt in an amorous context, this most obvious manifestation of the metaphor is not the one they put to use. On the contrary, in lyric poetry and romance, the hunt metaphor serves to demote or destabilise the masculine subject in some way. The huntsman is routinely a figure of failure: for all his efforts, he either fails to catch what he pursues, catches the wrong thing, ends up being caught by others, or runs round in circles chasing himself. His failure is measured precisely as a shortfall from the cultural ideal. The metaphor of the hunt thus opens up possibilities for exploring definitions of masculinity that deviate from culturally approved models of mastery and power. It shows how limited those models are and offers examples of alternative and counter-cultural versions of a masculine subjectivity that radically query patriarchal stereotypes of gender and class. The hunt has been the subject of increased critical interest over last few years, partly as a result of its politicisation as an issue, as reflected in recent changes to hunting legislation within the UK. Shifting attitudes to the hunt indicate that as a cultural phenomenon it continues to mobilise strong opinion and to activate notions of class and gender identity to this day. Masculinity and the Hunt is a unique study considering the link between hunting and masculinity in the literature of the sixteenth century.

An intensely private and shy man, Hoover the person was largely unknown to the American public. In this extensively researched biography devoted to the angling side of Hoover, author Hal Elliott Wert examines the often overlooked life of our thirty-first president. In a presidency plagued by the Depression, in a time when the country was poised between the agrarian society of the past and the advent of a modern professional class, Herbert Hoover faced numerous challenges. A thinker and a doer who shaped the way we live today, Hoover found relief from the stresses of his professional life in his pastime, fishing. Herbert Hoover fished near his hometown of West Branch, Iowa, as a boy and then moved to Oregon, where he fished the Rogue, Willamette, McKenzie, and Columbia rivers. As a young man, he attended Stanford and fished and camped throughout the West during breaks. He fished and spent time in the outdoors throughout his life and especially in his years as president. He founded Cave Man Camp at Bohemian Grove north of San Francisco, a yearly getaway for powerful Republicans, and Camp Rapidan in Virginia while he was in the White House. In addition to freshwater fishing, Hoover enjoyed fishing the salt. On trips to Florida later in his life, he stalked bonefish and fished for permit and the larger species, such as sailfish.

This book is for children who are beginning to practice one of the many shooting sport disciplines, such as crossbow, archery, rifle, pistol, target shooting, etc. You have your target in your sights, you breathe calmly and then...the shot! Whether you shoot at cans or at targets, with balls, arrows, lasers or, later on, with actual sport ammunition - you want to be able to hit your target. We would like this book to be your practice companion. We will give you important information about equipment, techniques and your physical fitness. You will get tips for practicing at home and we will tell you how to recognize and avoid mistakes. The little stork will accompany you throughout the book. He is very skilled at using his long, pointy beak and almost always hits his target. He will tell you a lot about the shooting sport, and will give you tips on safety and a healthy lifestyle. In addition, the little stork offers you many opportunities for recording, filling in, coloring and doing brain teasers and he even wants to give you an award at the end. Have fun!

First full study devoted to the archery and crossbow guilds which grew up in Flanders in the middle ages. The notion of "guilds" in civic society might conjure images of craft guilds, the organisations of butchers, bakers or brewers set up to regulate working practises. In the towns of medieval Flanders, however, a plethora of guildsexisted which had little or nothing to do with the organisation of labour, including chambers of rhetoric, urban jousters and archery and crossbow guilds. This is the first full-length study of the archery and crossbow guilds, encompassing not only the great urban centres of Ghent, Bruges and Lille but also numerous smaller towns, whose participation in guild culture was nonetheless significant. It examines guild membership, structure and organisation, revealing the diversity of guild brothers - and sisters - and bringing to life the elaborate social occasions when princes and plumbers would dine together. The most spectacular of these were the elaborate regional shooting competitions, whose entrances alone included play wagons, light shows and even an elephant! It also considers their social and cultural activities, and their important role in strengthening and rebuilding regional networks. Overall, it provides a new perspective on the strength of community within Flemish towns and the values that underlay medieval urban ideology. LAURA CROMBIE gained her PhD from the university of Glasgow.

The attempt to "match the hatch"--to pair a dry fly perfectly with its natural as the insect emerges--is something every fly fisher hopes to experience. Trout, however, eat all the time and have no intention of waiting for the mayflies to make up their mind. So, while an understanding of dry flies is truly important, the fly fisher who catches fish consistently knows about everything trout like to eat, a menu that includes a wide variety of aquatic species. This book is your essential guide to all the crucial issues: How various flies imitate correctly a variety of food items. How to understand trout feeding patterns and watch the water to spot them. How to identify the important mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, midges, and other aquatic insects, and choose imitations. How to identify forage fish. And how to make proper presentations. Throughout this book, the author's enjoyable black-and-white illustrations
reinforce the discussion and give highly accurate portrayals of what the
angler can expect to see in the field. A full-color section includes size and color charts for many major insects, crustaceans, and forage fish.

With lessons on dogs' desires, skills, and abilities to learn, care and feeding, health and safety, preparation, and shooting, Training and Hunting Bird Dogs is the ultimate guide to maximizing happiness and minimizing frustration whether out on the hunt or relaxing in the backyard. "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. Training and Hunting Bird Dogs 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. 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-Training and Hunting Bird Dogs advances an upland hunter's skills quickly, creatively, and without any of the angst of more difficult methods.

Evaluations of different crossbows on the market today and how to select the right arrow, points, and sightsShooting and hunting techniques for deer, bear, hogs, and elkClassic crossbow hunts for big game in Africa, musk ox in the Canadian arctic, and water buffalo in AustraliaThe extreme precision possible with a crossbow appeals to many hunters, including big-game hunters who want to expand their hunting seasons; younger hunters and those with physical limitations, who appreciate the crossbow's ease of use; and those fascinated by the crossbow's recent technological advances. As more states are legalizing hunting with a crossbow, the need for current information rises. Crossbow Hunting provides in-depth analysis of the past 20 years of technological developments. A complete guide to hunting with one of the most ingenious tools, Crossbow Hunting helps the hunter select the right crossbow, takes him on the hunt, and shows how to prepare and cook the game.

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both." -- LP Jacks For nearly 80 years, Yvon Chouinard has followed this advice, pursuing, with equal fervor, sports adventures, business excellence, and environmental activism. Since 1950, he has captured the lessons and revelations he's learned in articles and books, personal letters and poetry, introductions and eulogies. In this fascinating inside look, Chouinard himself has selected his favorites from years of reflection, all accompanied by illustrative photos, many never published before. The results is both more of Chouinard's iconoclastic and provocative thinking, his skilled storytelling and sense of humor, and a picture of the evolution of his thoughts and philosophies. With articles on sports, from falconry to fishing and climbing to surfing, with musings on the purpose of business and the importance of environmental activism, this very personal book is like sitting on the couch with this amazing man, flipping through his photo album as he tells the stories of his life. Some Stories is an eclectic portrait of a unique life lived well. Yet the final pages of the book indicate that Chouinard will continue to challenge people, business, and the world. He presents the company's new simple but direct mission statement, revised for the first time in 27 years: "We are in business to save our home planet." With it he emphasizes the urgency of the climate crisis then entreats every person's obligation to reflect on, commit to, and act on this mission.