Full Description
Hunting nourishes human bodies, minds, and, in some cases, careers. Like many rural Texas youths in the 1940s, Jack Ward Thomas learned to hunt early on. It provided food for his family and a lifetime of enjoyment. But hunting also brought Thomas to his life's work in conservation, highlighted by his tenure as chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Hunting Around the World offers the best accumulated stories, nostalgia, and wisdom of a quintessential hunter-conservationist. Thomas hunted red stag in the Scottish highlands, doves in Argentina, caribou in Alaska, and all manner of big, small, and feathered game across the United States. But his first and most enduring love was hunting in the "high lonesome" of western wildernesses, most often with his wise companion in adventure, Bill Brown. Thomas's storytelling about those quests is classic sporting literature. Readers will feel the chill of a frosty mountain morning, tense moments as a bull elk wanders into shooting range, exhilaration as well as "pangs of conscience" in making a kill, and the wistfulness of truth that old age and old injuries will someday bring every hunter's backcountry chapters to an end.
The field accounts in Hunting Around the World are enriched by the perspective of a man who devoted his life to sustainable management of natural resources. As author, Thomas often switches from his well-worn hunting hat to that of a veteran biologist, field researcher, and U.S. Forest Service chief. This unique insight is what makes Thomas's hunting memoir an unusual and special work. Thomas concludes with thoughtful analyses of why he hunted, fair chase, simple-minded critics of hunting, habitat loss as the greatest threat to both wildlife and hunting, and his final surrenderleaving his cherished firearms to heirs: "It seems sad that I can't pass along my memories that are attached to the rifles, shotguns, and pistols. But that's as it should be. Guns and their owners should make their own memories together."
Contents
Foreword by Robert Bob" Model Preface 1. Whiskey Jacks to Breakfast 2. Not WildernessBut Really Close 3. Chasing Mule Deer Bucks in the Eagle Cap Wilderness 4. Elk Hunting in WildernessFor Me, the Ultimate Hunting Experience 5. Getting There First and Staking a ClaimEven Wilderness Can Get Crowded 6. Did You See Anything?"Yes, Nothing and Everything 7. Despacio, DespacioA Model for Hunting (and Living) 8. You Kill Elk Where You Hunt 9. Retreat to a TouchstoneReturn to Three Buck Camp 10. Pursuing the Wily Caribou in AlaskaA New Wilderness Experience 11. All Good Things Must EndBill Brown's Last Wilderness Sojourn 12. A Newly Minted Gentleman" Discovers Shooting Preserves" 13. Hunting on a High-End Hunting Preserve, South Texas Style 14. My Heart's in the Highlands" 15. Dove Shooting in Argentina 16. Return to the Scottish Highlands 17. A Trophy for Kathy Epilogue Publisher's Notes Author's Acknowledgments
