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"A Hunter's Road" is my all-time favorite bird-hunting book. Jim Fergus is one of my all-time favorite writers.

I have read just about all of his books. Though he has long since moved on from the hook-and-bullet world and is a rather accomplished and successful novelist in two countries (the U.S. and France), there are still the occasional bird hunting references in his current fictional works that bring a smile to those of us who read "A Hunter's Road." They are good works and good reads in their own right.

I'm trying to remember exactly why "A Hunter's Road" made such an impression on me. First, I think, Fergus is just a terrific writer. Second, I think I shared a similar upbringing that Fergus describes in the book's early pages: He was a suburban kid who grew up outside of Chicago whose only real access to hunting and fishing were the stories he read in Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Sports Afield and the other great sporting magazines of the day.

The whole premise of the book -- packing up your dog and double guns, putting your daily life and responsibilities on hold, and hitting the road on a largely unscripted, cross-country wild upland bird hunting adventure was such a crazy, bold, wonderful idea. Something we all would have liked to have done but couldn't or wouldn't have even known how to begin. At least we could follow along vicariously. Along the way, Fergus' book celebrated wild birds first and foremost, fine shotguns, good company, food and wine, good dogs, great writing, wildlife art -- many of the things those of us on this bulletin board also hold dearly.

This day and age, with the internet and OnX and GPS mapping systems and dog collars and iPhones, many folks take part in a bird hunting road trip of some sort every season. It's much easier to do and not that big of a deal it seems. Even hard-to-get-to wild chukar or Mearns quail or distant prairie grouse are easier to get at these days with all the online tools and resources available. You can follow along easily enough on various YouTube channels from the comfort of your home with a cocktail and a sleeping bird dog at your side.

It was another thing altogether 30 years or so ago to imagine such a trip, actually pull it off and write about it so well, stirring our own imaginations for trips we would like to someday take.

Joined: 17 Jan 2014 Posts: 1381 Location: Denver, Colorado

Gunflint: "the exclusionary bias of political tribe comments" Really? I find myself at a loss here. Perhaps I'm so hidebound by age and isolated experiences that I've missed something important? In an effort to explain my tastes in writers & writing styles I seem to have stumbled upon something that you find offensive. Please help me to understand your concerns.

Sporting Days: Fergus is a very good writer. I'm presently working my way through "A Sporting Road" again as well and I find myself warming to his style of writing (not sure about reading "One Thousand White Women" yet, but I might be getting there.) The perspective of being raised in an urban setting and only having access to wild places (and wild birds) through the writings (& now the online postings) of others is likely a way-more common experience these days. The world has clearly evolved to where access to game-rich environments is becoming more difficult. Growing up in mostly rural 1950/60s America (as I did) was a very different world. The power of the internet, combined with tools like onX mapping, has spread the knowledge of the few remaining places around to a much wider audience. I know this because I see it every Fall now in the places I go to chase said wild game. Not sure where all this ends up (difficult to make any predictions these days), but I'm going to keep puttering about as long as I can. Hopefully...sitting in my chair and only reading about it won't be sufficient entertainment for quite a while yet.

Lloyd3 -- Have you met "Fishboy" yet? You will in the chapter "Tore Down by Sport" in "The Sporting Road" book. One of my all-time favorite stories and characters.

From Fergus:

"Fishboy was one of the most consumate all-around sportsman that I've ever known -- and I've known a bunch of them. He could do it all; he owned the pure genetic ability to figure out how things worked in the outdoors. It's an enviable talent, a form of genius, like being a musical prodigy. But being able to think like wild things doesn't always come without a price."

Lloyd3 -- I enjoyed "A Hunter's Road" a lot. I reacted to derogatory characterization of Fergus introduced by others to your topic -- an "us vs. them" slant that a supposedly liberal writer's experience of hunting is automatically suspect as inauthentic.

Jay

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 787 Location: Indiana

No "supposedly" about it; here comes the thought police again. To me, Fergus comes off just the same as all the snide, snarky "holier than thou" new age hunters who want to tell everybody the "ethical way to practice our sport.

Liberals want to have their say, but when someone opposes them, they come unglued that anyone could think differently than them. I find that especially true ir regard to online postings. Don't like that? Tough!

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 787 Location: Indiana

No "supposedly" about it; here comes the thought police again. To me, Fergus comes off just the same as all the snide, snarky "holier than thou" new age hunters who want to tell everybody the "ethical way to practice our sport.

Liberals want to have their say, but when someone opposes them, they come unglued that anyone could think differently than them. I find that especially true ir regard to online postings. Don't like that? Tough!

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 787 Location: Indiana

No "supposedly" about it; here comes the online, "smartest person in the room" thought police again. To me, Fergus comes off just the same as all the snide, snarky "holier than thou" new age hunters who want to tell everybody the "ethical way to practice our sport.

Liberals want to have their say, but when someone opposes them, they come unglued that anyone could think differently than them. I find that especially true ir regard to online postings. Don't like that? Tough!

Wolfchief -- What you say is true of conservatives and liberals alike. I said it disappoints me to find "us vs. them" division seeping into this forum's discussion about hunting and shooting. Not quite "unglued". Fergus writes about what he likes. I found nothing snarky or critical of what others enjoy. When we welcome all who want to participate, regardless of different perspectives, we're stronger for fighting off those who want to end our sport. And, uh huh, if you don't like hearing it -- tough!

PawleysJim,

I simply made a comment about what another man posted, sorry if I offended you.
I am a very conservative sportsman, and yes I believe there is a right and wrong, especially when it comes to ethical sportsmanship.
This has nothing to due with politics.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

Joined: 07 Mar 2010 Posts: 483 Location: South Eastern PA

Rather than comment one way or another, I just ordered the book used for $5.04 with free shipping.

Delivery is mid September. Maybe I'll bring this thread alive in October when I'm done reading it. LOL!

BTW, as for wondering about Fergus taking so much time off work to follow the hunting seasons around the country ... his job is writing, he was working as a writer, got paid when people bought his book.

You gotta be pretty good at your chosen work to make a decent living as a writer.

Jay

Dave,

Sorry that I brought it up but I was responding to an other's post.

I think you as a scribe might be confusing conservation and conservative. I have no doubt that you are indeed a great conservationist, which has nothing to do with politics. You are indeed a staunch conservative which has nothing to do with hunting but everything to do politics.

I apologize for taking that left turn with the thread, and we shall say no more here.

All the best,
Jim

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1311 Location: Western WA

I’ve finished reading the book with much satisfaction, and am very grateful that it was brought to my attention on this site, thank you Lloyd3. Yes I found his opinions rather one-sided, but he is the author and not me, so it is his prerogative. And I enjoyed it nonetheless, and look forward to reading more of his work.

Most troubling was his account of mysterious and devastating disappearance of ruffed grouse in the East. I hope the trend has been reversed and the reason for the this has been discovered since publication 30 years ago. Maybe someone here can enlighten us. It is not a great concern out West here…yet.

Thanks
B.

Brewster11,

There are many reasons the Ruffed Grouse in the eastern part of our country have been effected in a negative way. At the top of the list Habitat, 2nd the flying predators.
Diseases do not help either. It is hard to believe that when my Grandfather was a little boy Pa had a massive Grouse population that nobody believed could ever be damaged.
In fact the RGS Headquarters was moved to Pa we had that many Grouse in our forests. Unfortunately with the lack of the different stages of forests our Grouse population has dropped and only on our northern tier where the logging continues do we have a decent Grouse population. I am very lucky to own a log cabin and some property right in the middle of those mountains. What has happened on our southern tier is almost a crime. The forests have become old and the Grouse habitat so poor that our once incredible Grouse population has suffered greatly.

all the best,

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

We still do have some serious Grouse habitat in Potter County, Pa and less than half the Grouse hunting sportsman than when I was a boy in the 50's.