Ozbow

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

I agree with everything you said Jim. I have this and three other books by Don Thomas and I would rate his work as among the best and arguably the best of the modern era. His books tell of hunts and hunting as they should be and not some stage for self promotion or killing for the sake of killing. I love his books and I also love Corbetts.

It was back in the late 90's that I read this book (Longbows in the Far North) and I still have a copy of it in my collection. As you have stated Jim, it was a pleasure to read. (you've put the interest back in me to read it again).... I followed up reading the series by Jay Massey I think there were four in all and the ways he hunted and made his Archery gear was also very interesting. I'm just getting into reading David Luxford's "Bowhunting Australia" an easy read so far and enjoyable.

Bill I have read Luxfords book and found it most enjoyable and pretty honest. He is not afraid to say it how it was and I found it very refreshing to read of his many misses. This is something very few writers ever mention and as we all know it is part of the bowhunting experience. Never ceases to amaze me how some of the magazine writers never miss even though they hunt with sighted compounds most of the time and only pick up a recurve/longbow every now and then. Wish I was that good.

Phil