Longbows In The Far North - E. Donnal Thomas Jr
Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 8:40 pm
If you don't know who Don Thomas is you can read a short bio here:
http://donthomasbooks.com/index.html
In this book Don Thomas recounts a bunch of hunts in Alaska and his very exciting expedition in Russia's eastern wilderness (apparently he was the first American to bowhunt there). Every chapter is a different hunt or expedition, after different game and his experience is so vast it's a little intimidating. Some expeds he is flown in a bush plane (he's actually been a bush plane pilot himself), some he rafts or canoes in, but they're always remote and to me, exotic locales. Every tale is interwoven with information about the game species and about the plants and land around them, from the extravagant antler growth of caribou to the seaweed that can make or break a stalk on coastal black bears.
Refreshingly, just as many of his tales are about missed shots and blown stalks as they are about game on the ground. Every hunt, game taken or not, is an adventure and an intimate outdoor experience in it's own right. He has a humble style, without being self-deprecating and yet he writes with authority, knowledge and experience.
Don Thomas replied to a message I once wrote about Jim Corbett's books on tiger hunting. He replied, in part:
Corbett is a model for all of us. No one has ever seriously disputed the veracity of the stories, the heroes of which are, in this order: 1. The great cats, 2. The people of the Himalayan foothills who dealt with them, 3. The terrain, and 4. (and a distant #4 at that), the writer and hunter.
That which Thomas admires in Corbett's writing is exactly what I admire in Thomas'. I think Corbett's Man Eaters of Kumaon is the best hunting book I've ever read. But Thomas' Longbows In The Far North is the best bowhunting book I've ever read.
If you've got a kindle you can get it instantly (almost) from amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Longbows-Far-Nort ... nal+thomas
I hope you read it,
Jim
http://donthomasbooks.com/index.html
In this book Don Thomas recounts a bunch of hunts in Alaska and his very exciting expedition in Russia's eastern wilderness (apparently he was the first American to bowhunt there). Every chapter is a different hunt or expedition, after different game and his experience is so vast it's a little intimidating. Some expeds he is flown in a bush plane (he's actually been a bush plane pilot himself), some he rafts or canoes in, but they're always remote and to me, exotic locales. Every tale is interwoven with information about the game species and about the plants and land around them, from the extravagant antler growth of caribou to the seaweed that can make or break a stalk on coastal black bears.
Refreshingly, just as many of his tales are about missed shots and blown stalks as they are about game on the ground. Every hunt, game taken or not, is an adventure and an intimate outdoor experience in it's own right. He has a humble style, without being self-deprecating and yet he writes with authority, knowledge and experience.
Don Thomas replied to a message I once wrote about Jim Corbett's books on tiger hunting. He replied, in part:
Corbett is a model for all of us. No one has ever seriously disputed the veracity of the stories, the heroes of which are, in this order: 1. The great cats, 2. The people of the Himalayan foothills who dealt with them, 3. The terrain, and 4. (and a distant #4 at that), the writer and hunter.
That which Thomas admires in Corbett's writing is exactly what I admire in Thomas'. I think Corbett's Man Eaters of Kumaon is the best hunting book I've ever read. But Thomas' Longbows In The Far North is the best bowhunting book I've ever read.
If you've got a kindle you can get it instantly (almost) from amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Longbows-Far-Nort ... nal+thomas
I hope you read it,
Jim