This hunting guide is offered primarily as an aid for the prospective deer hunter or one with limited experience. It is hoped also that the woods-wise hunter will find an occasional item of interest and value to repay him for his reading. I am sure he would be the first to agree that it is advisable to supply the prospective deer hunter with reliable foreknowledge of hunting equipment and its use, and to offer practical ways for insuring personal comfort and safety in the field.Under the drive of modern living, I am certain that deer hunting offers esthetic rewards that balance and often exceed the practical aspects of the activity. This book can only point the way.

This book deals with small game hunting, a sport which makes a direct contribution to big game hunting skills. The relationship between big and small game hunting is seldom stressed, and when it is stressed, it is seldom that techniques are examined in detail to show how small game hunting improves big game hunting skills. One cannot be a mediocre squirrel hunter, and at the same time a skillful deer hunter. The two techniques go together. Of course, small game hunting is an end within itself. There is no more satisfying hunting than taking squirrel in the autumn hardwoods, cottontail rabbit when the first frost touches the upland pastures with its magic, ruffed grouse in heavy cover and raccoon along the river bottoms and swamps. Truly, one could spend a lifetime in the small game coverts, finding the game always worthy of the best hunting skills. They are our best teachers of woodcraft, rifles and shotgun field techniques. Rifles, handguns and shotguns considered in this book are those which I have found well qualified for small game hunting by personal use. I have followed common hunter word usage in calling all auto-loading firearms "automatics."

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This is a fisherman's book. No matter whether you fish for trout along a flashing mountain stream, go for panfish with a worm, or take catfish on quiet evenings when the stars are held captive in the dark waters, it is a book written for you. It tells you how to fool a wise old brown trout with a dry fly, the basic lore of wet fly fishing, the way to use streamers and plugs, the proper equipment?and a lot more. In short, this book discusses the why's and how's of fresh water fishing in all their manifestations. It is based on the trials, errors, and successes of my practical experiences. I am deeply indebted to many other practical fishermen who have contributed to the book by their suggestions as to what it should contain. I am going fishing. You come, too