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“A fall of woodcock into a covert you have either chosen or to which you have been directed is a magic all its own,” Tom Huggler writes in this book devoted to the woodcock and to those who await the return to their favorite coverts each autumn. This book, with a new introduction by Charley Waterman, casts a similar spell as it chronicles Tom’s travels to New England, the Maritimes, Maine, Louisiana, then back to his beloved Michigan in search of a better understanding of the woodcock, and finally, a better understanding of himself. Like the annual migratory flights of the woodcock, A Fall of Woodcock follows no particular line, but rather meanders along the main currents and causeways of Huggler’s life, dropping down here and there in places that both sustain it and give it meaning. It covers his early hunting years, old friends and new ones, four-legged partners, woodcock researchers, and a visit with H. G. “Tap” Tapply. Huggler also traces his evolution from a run-and-gun birder to a slower but surer hunter who sets his own pace and his own bag limits. Those familiar with the magic and mystery of the American woodcock are sure to find a kindred spirit here. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for hunters and firearms enthusiasts. We publish books about shotguns, rifles, handguns, target shooting, gun collecting, self-defense, archery, ammunition, knives, gunsmithing, gun repair, and wilderness survival. We publish books on deer hunting, big game hunting, small game hunting, wing shooting, turkey hunting, deer stands, duck blinds, bowhunting, wing shooting, hunting dogs, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Woodcock are one of the oddest birds in North America. They are a shorebird that got lost and ended up in the scrubby parts of the forest, and look like they were put together with the leftover parts of other birds. Oddities aside, each spring they rise to great beauty with their sky dance at dusk. Greg Hoch combines natural history, land management, scientific knowledge, and personal observation to examine this little game bird. Woodcock have a complex life history and the management of their habitat is also complex. The health of this bird can be considered a key indicator of what good forests look like.
"It seems as though wherever wingshooters and dog people get together, and the talk turns to the things they read and the writers they respect, the name Steve Smith is one of the first mentioned. His biography includes over 35 years as on outdoor editor and involvement in the sporting industry. But through all of this, there was always woodcock. Smith did his graduate work on them, has hunted them in a dozen states and provinces, waits impatiently for the spring skydancing displays, and still can't sleep the night before the season opens. In the words of famed author Tom Davis: Other gamebirds excite; the woodcock beguiles. With his inimitable blend of wit, insight, expansive knowledge, and deep but lightly worn wisdom, Steve Smith beautifully chronicles his lifelong love affair with this enigmatic charmer"--Amazon.
This antiquarian book contains a fascinating treatise on the woodcock, and includes information on its natural history, habit and habitats, how to find and hunt them, and much more. This informative and practical book is highly recommended for those with an interest in hunting woodcock, and it would also make for a great addition to collections of hunting literature. The chapters of this book include: “Opening Days”, “Characteristics and Habits”, “The Yearly Cycle”, “Migrations and Flights”, “Banding Operations”, “Fight for Survival”, “Woodcock Cover”, “Hunting Equipment”, “Dogs and Guns”, “Hunting Methods”, “The W. D. A.”, etcetera. Many antiquarian books such as this are increasingly hard to come by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on ornithology.
This book is a supplement to the textbook Basic Technical Japanese. It introduces 100 new kanji and more than 700 new words and phrases that appear frequently in documents dealing with solid-state physics. The text offers ten lessons, each presenting key vocabulary and ten new kanji that reappear in the exercises for that lesson and in subsequent lessons, reinforcing learning. The exercises emphasize vocabulary building, kanji recognition, definition matching, and translation skills. An introductory lesson reviews the katakana and hiragana writing systems. The lessons in this book have been keyed to the final ten chapters of Basic Technical Japanese, so that students can use the two volumes together to build a Japanese vocabulary and to practice translation related to solid-state physics and engineering."
Building a Grouse Dog: From Puppy to Polished Performer by Craig Doherty, is the most comprehensive, how-to manual there is for taking an eight-week-old little squirmer of any pointing breed and turning him or her into that most coveted game bird finder there is: a finished grouse dog. Unlike many general pointing-dog training books, this one concentrates on one species – the ruffed grouse. Grouse are notorious for their caginess, their wariness, and their difficulty in being pinned down so a hunter can get close enough to flush and shoot. It takes a dog that has been trained nearly from birth to handle that task, and no one knows how to do it better than Craig Doherty. Craig was the driving force behind Field Trial Magazine, is a columnist for The Pointing Dog Journal, regularly competes in grouse trials throughout the Northeast, professionally trains grouse dogs for clients from all over the country, and – this is important – guides grouse hunters using his own dogs trained in his outstanding methods; important because paying clients need results, and those results can only come by following dogs that know the game. A number of how-to training books tell you what to do from beginning to end; but if you have started your own training, run into problems, and consult the literature, many times you’ll find that the advice is something along the lines of, “Well, you messed up because you didn’t do X, Y, and Z. Remember that so you won’t ruin your next dog.” Not Craig – if you have run into a snag with your current dog, Craig tells you what to do to get past it and on with the dog’s completed training. So if your aim, your goal, is to own and hunt behind a finished grouse dog that knows what’s what in the coverts, Building a Grouse Dog is the best guide you’ll ever have.
Like that earlier grouse hunter Aldo Leopold, Mark Parman takes to the woods when the aspens are smoky gold. Here, in an evocative almanac that chronicles the early season of the grouse hunt through its end in the snows of January, Parman follows his dog through the changing trees and foliage, thrills to the sudden flush of beating wings, and holds a bird in hand, thankful for the meal it will provide. Distilling twenty seasons of grouse hunting into these essays, he writes of old dogs and gun lust, cover and clear cutting, climate change, companions male and female, wildlife art, and stumps. A Grouse Hunter's Almanac delves into the mind of a hunter, exploring the Northwoods with an eye for more than just game. "Notable and quotable. Parman stakes out original territory and provides a vivid snapshot of the Northwoods."—John Motoviloff, author of Wisconsin Wildfoods: 100 Recipes for Badger State Bounties "Extremely rich and detailed. Parman puts forth original and genuine experiences."—Richard Yatzeck, author of Hunting the Edges