Best and worst hunting/outdoor writers

[rmyoung1]

The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Ruark is one of my favorite books of all time. I also love anything by Thomas McGuane. I wish I could write an essay like McGuane.

 

[Bulldog0156]

Writer vs storyteller is an important distinction to me.

I love reading anything Andrew McKean writes. The thought and effort that goes into his writing is apparent and it makes for an excellent read.

 

[BigHornRam]

I was doing a little reading earlier and it got me wondering who the good folks on here think are some of the better and worst outdoor authors past and present. Who is the best? Is it O’Connor?
I like Duncan Gilchrist He was no literary genius, compared to others, but that simple, matter of (questionable) factness is also why I like him.

And for the worst, is it Ron Spomer or Craig Boddington?

O'Connor would be my favorite. Knew Duncan from early MT WSF days. He was a character! Met Ron Spomer on a BC hunt. Funny guy in person. His writing is dull from what I've read. Boddington blows. Can't make it through half a page before abandoning his stories.

 

[Jape]

Love David Petzal, o’Connor, and Rinella. They bring the adventure to life.

On this site, I enjoy @Ben Lamb’s thoughtfulness, @Greenhorn’s unabashed style, and @noharleyyet’s brilliant, witty quips.

 

[el unit]

Not a regular outdoor writer, but I really enjoyed this article written in 2007 by Susan Casey.

https://www.fieldands

http://

Not a regular outdoor writer, but I really enjoyed this article written in 2007 by Susan Casey.

F&S Classics: An Improbable Elk Hunt

Author Susan Casey gets a crash course in hunter education before she travels to Colorado for her first ever big-game hunt for bull elk.

www.fieldandstream.com

It was a fantastic hunt and I was fortunate enough to be the guide! We had a great week pursuing high country elk. She did an excellent job retelling the hunt.
Heading back to that country in a couple weeks for 4th rifle elk.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Outdoor/conservation writers, then…

Aldo Leupold
Stephen E. Ambrose
Sigurd F. Olson
Theodore Roosevelt
John Muir
Ansel Adams (photography)

 

[Nick_CO]

Hunting - David Peterson, Jack O'Connor, Steven Rinella

Fishing - Jon Gierach, Nick Lyons, Rich Osthoff

Outdoor/Game Cooking - Hank Shaw, Steven Rinella

Other Outdoor/Adventure- Craig Childs, Ed Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams, Aldo Leupold, Bill Bryson.

Not sure about the worst? I guess if they are boring to me I just don't finish their books.

 

[2rocky]

I really enjoy Robert Ruark and Patrick McManus.

I don't see what's so bad about Boddington and Spomer. Much of their material is factual and dry, and they try to spice it up the best they can , but they still gotta deliver the data. There was an article in Petersen's Hunting profiling the .300 Win Mag in the 90's. It was the main reason I bought a .300. It might have been written by Boddington.

I enjoyed Elmer Keith's book Hell, I was There! but it had a little to much arrogance in the tone rather than humility. Nonetheless he did lead an amazing life.

I've reviewed a few books, and that actually got some publishers sending me more to review. I can get something out of just about any author....

 

[Farmerj]

My thought was an outdoor channel, reviews without sponsors. But one needs to pander to the money men to earn the income.

There’s differences though between an author and a writer. If they are published in the outdoor rags(paper or electronic versions) then I avoid them because I’m tired of being sold to buy the next special widget. Nor do I care to listen to how what’s worked for 50 years is suddenly no longer acceptable. (Think ackley and creedmor trends)

I do truly miss not seeing new Pat McManus works.

 

[longbow51]

Many of the good ones have been mentioned. Unfortunately, as @Farmerj noted, outdoor writing now is often just advertising for the latest greatest.

The former generation had some fine writing. Havilah Babcock, e.g. My Health is Always Better in November, Ted Trueblood, Corey Ford, and the great Ed Zern, an early supporter of ethical hunting and conservation, and founder of the Madison Avenue Rod, Gun, Bloody Mary & Labrador Retriever Benevolent Association.

Zern's review of Lady Chatterly's Lover as a treatise on English gamekeeping is classic.

Stephen Bodio was good early on with Good Guns and Querencia.

And I was sorry to hear of the passing of Tom McIntyre.

 

[Marshian]

I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I don’t really like any outdoor writing. I enjoy the hunttalk posts with accompanying pictures, but in terms of formal magazine or book pieces, I find them almost always sappy and boring. For books, Hemingway is at times tolerable but that’s about it. For magazines, I can handle Spomer, Van Zwoll and Petzal usually. That being said, I’m not nuch of a book reader to begin with and when I do, it’s usually non fiction. When I get The Bugle, I read it in about ten minutes- look at pictures, see the new conserved areas, and check out the recipe. Again, I know I’m the odd one out here.

 

[RobertD]

There’s hunters, and then there’s hunters who are English majors.

NGL I was getting ready for an attack

 

[Beignet]

Zern's review of Lady Chatterly's Lover as a treatise on English gamekeeping is classic.

I was hitherto unaware of this. Reading it gave me a nice chuckle this AM.

Found this anecdote on some old book blog:

“According to Roberts & Poplawski's bibliography of D.H. Lawrence (pp. 152-153), Hugh Grey, editor of Field and Stream, requested that Zern choose an outdoors-oriented book for review as a "sort of test case." This was their first.”

 

[Schaaf]

Some of my favorite outdoor writers from 100+Years ago that haven’t been mentioned are

William Hornaday- I went on a 2 year search trying to find the source of one of his short stories about dinosaur fossils and mule deer.

Charles Sheldon- His books on the Yukon, Denali and the deserts of Mexico are amazing.

R.M. Patterson- The Dangerous River made my imagination stir like nothing else has since I was 12 years old.

 

[Harrier]

I love this thread. On some of the hunting/shooting threads I visit, the clientele is often sub-literate, so thanks and congratulations.

To me, Hemingway is the champ for both fiction and non-fiction. For outdoor journalism, Jack O’Connor is hard to beat. Roosevelt’s “African Game Trails” and Bell’s “Wanderings of an Elephant Hunter” are well-written classics. Among today’s writers, Steve Rinella was a pleasant surprise.

On the downside, I dropped my subscription to Gray’s Sporting Journal because lately the articles had been so poorly edited. Also, I read Capstick’s “Death in the Tall Grass” and it sucked. I don’t know why people like his overwritten purple prose.

 

[Elktrack]

Where do you start?
Obviously the “Hall of fame” guys like O’Connor, Keith, Capstick, etc.
There’s also kind of a subcategory of writers/authors that weren’t literary geniuses but produced solid stuff. Mainly because they were actually hunters, shooters, reloaders, wildcatters, and not just product review writers.
I’m talking about the Bob Milek, Skeeter Skelton, Rick Jamison, kinda guys. There’s a bunch more who had positive impacts and wrote interesting things.

“Writing “ has morphed into something different and while there’s a few legit knowledgeable guys, I don’t think we have much hope of another hall of famer anytime soon. Writing is old school and being replaced by content creators and videos.

The scrutiny of the internet is a contributing factor too. Kinda like that line from a movie about “living long enough to see the heroes become villains “. It’s doubtful that many guys can have a long enough career without being crucified for something. I’m not defending Boddington or Zumbo or any other guy that stepped on their crank. They were considered good until all the sudden they weren’t. Just saying that there ain’t a one immune from the defamatory attacks. (Deserved or not)

Betcha now days Keith would be attacked for shooting a deer at 600 yds with his revolver. (Unless it was a.44PRC) just kiddin, kinda

 

[Nicoli7153]

Where do you start?
Obviously the “Hall of fame” guys like O’Connor, Keith, Capstick, etc.
There’s also kind of a subcategory of writers/authors that weren’t literary geniuses but produced solid stuff. Mainly because they were actually hunters, shooters, reloaders, wildcatters, and not just product review writers.
I’m talking about the Bob Milek, Skeeter Skelton, Rick Jamison, kinda guys. There’s a bunch more who had positive impacts and wrote interesting things.

“Writing “ has morphed into something different and while there’s a few legit knowledgeable guys, I don’t think we have much hope of another hall of famer anytime soon. Writing is old school and being replaced by content creators and videos.

The scrutiny of the internet is a contributing factor too. Kinda like that line from a movie about “living long enough to see the heroes become villains “. It’s doubtful that many guys can have a long enough career without being crucified for something. I’m not defending Boddington or Zumbo or any other guy that stepped on their crank. They were considered good until all the sudden they weren’t. Just saying that there ain’t a one immune from the defamatory attacks. (Deserved or not)

Betcha now days Keith would be attacked for shooting a deer at 600 yds with his revolver. (Unless it was a.44PRC) just kiddin, kinda

The thing I like most about literature is that everyone forms their own characters and visons in their minds eye. It is different for everyone and unique. Content and film tends to be one person's vision.

 

[Nameless Range]

Something additional, is that certain people have produced one thing that mystifies and captures, and then kind of went a different direction. Years back Rinella spoke about this short story, "The Ledge", by Lawrence Sargent Hall. It's a father-son duck hunting story, and smacks your heart upside the ventricle like maybe nothing else I've read. So if only producing one work of "outdoor writing" counts, I'd count this guy.

https://ds062.k12.sd.us/kingsahlimon/pdf/CW/The Ledge, Hall short story.pdf

 

[Elktrack]

The thing I like most about literature is that everyone forms their own characters and visons in their minds eye. It is different for everyone and unique. Content and film tends to be one person's vision.

I agree. My point was that writing is kind of a dying thing. Sadly, I watch way more YouTube than I read.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Love the feel of a well worn book and try to imagine all the hands it's passed through. But I hear ya on the You Tube thing ..... if I can stay awake!!!!