The Beginner's Guide to Hunting Deer for Food (Beginner's Guide To...

by Jackson Landers

Hunting deer is the most inexpensive and environmentally friendly way to acquire organic, grass-fed meat. In this thorough primer, perfect for those who’ve never hunted before, Jackson Landers explains how to supplement your food supply with venison taken near your home. From choosing the correct rifle and ammunition to field dressing, butchering, and proper safety measures, Landers takes you through every step of the process and encourages a gentle, practical approach to the psychology and politics of hunting.

Genres: Nonfiction, Outdoors, How To, Survival, Horror

175 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[ccoelophysis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have done with a few more diagrams, especially in the anatomy and butchering sections. The descriptions just weren't enough. Some terms, such as "brisket," were mentioned offhand with no definition or location diagram, which is fine in a more advanced hunting book but this book seems to be aimed at folks with zero experience (although I suspect many advanced hunters have a thing or two to learn from this book as well.)

If you'll be hunting mule deer instead of whitetail, be careful when you read the behavior sections. The author does mention a few differences between hunting the two types of deer in the beginning of the book, but the rest of the text is written for whitetails so you'll have to keep the differences in mind as you read. Mule deer, for example, don't display flagging behavior, but I didn't see this mentioned anywhere in the book. The book should still be useful no matter what kind of deer you're hunting, but more info about mule deer hunting would be nice.

A little bit of humor sprinkled throughout the book made this an entertaining read. One story made me laugh so hard I couldn't read it out loud to my husband for several minutes.

[Kevin Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is nearly perfect as an introduction to hunting deer for the first time. All the important things are covered and the rest will be figured out as I go.

If you are curious about hunting deer and what it takes to be successful at putting meat on the table, this book is for you.

[João · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short book that covers most important aspects of hunting deer in a pretty accessible manner. With it being so short, I don't know that it would've been quite enough for me when I was starting out. However, with Youtube & so much video information out there to back it up, I think it makes a great starting point (and starting point only).

What I loved about the book was the attitude with which the author approaches hunting. It is one of the few books whose ethos feels at least similar to my own. Most other books are about finding trophy bucks with big racks...

This one is about putting food on your & others' table, with little bravado to boot.

If you're curious about hunting deer for food & just need something short to break the ice & describe to you most of what it involves, you could do a lot, lot worse than this book.

[J. Gowin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over-all a good book for beginers, who don't have a mentor to walk them through the process. However the book would benefit from having more diagrams of field dressing and butchering. The only real negative in the book, was the slap shot way it described mounting a scope on a rifle. It completely overlooks aligning, lapping and shimming the rings. It also makes no reference to the critical step of leveling the scope on the rifle. If your retical is not level and plumb, everthing else you do is a waste of time.

[shawn kilpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for the guy who never had the benefit of being taught early on

This book is a must get for anyone wanting to take up hunting. Not having the good fortune to have been taken hunting as a child, I'm having to pick up this time honored past time on my own. This book answers all your questions and will get you into the field. Don't be apprehensive, just get out there and do it. You will learn each time you go and will get better and will develop your skill level. Thank you Jackson Landers for writing this book for guys like me. God bless you!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and helped me learn a few things without complicating them. The butchering and dressing instructions were a bit confusing. I found myself wishing for more pictures or diagrams, but then I remembered that this was unhelpful even in other guides for me. This confusion perhaps will dissipate with experience and having a real (dead) animal in front of me.

[Tom Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been looking for an all-encompassing book on hunting while tail for a beginner and this book is a home run! It's not just a how-to, either. He goes into detail on so many aspects I hadn't expected - like conservation, annual deer lifecycles, and even recipes for feeding your family from the harvest. If you're new to hunting, read this book!

[Mihkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

General good overview of whitetail behaviors, hunting and what follows, but feels like written very lazily, missing a lot of specifics. So, good enough to get you started, but needs a lot of follow-ups from better literature/mentors on certain specifics.

[Will G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious, like deer.

[Richard Isaacs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the fact that you think you know it all as a hunter, you can always learn something new.

[Henry DeForest · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderfully informative and, I believe, an ideal primer for anybody seeking to get into hunting. Landers puts environmental ethics and animal welfare in the forefront.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many people, I guess I saw deer hunting as unnecessarily brutal or violent, or primarily for people that just want to shoot something. While I'm sure there are definitely people who are in it for a trophy, or simply because they want to kill something (sickos), hunting in its truest form can’t be any further from the truth. When you buy "farmed" meat, you're just doing the killing by proxy, someone else is doing the killing for you, and the animals likely have lived a far worse and unnatural life compared to wild killed deer. You're trading 0-30 minutes of suffering for a deer (as sometimes the shot isn't an immediate kill shot) for 2 years of cows living in generally atrocious conditions, eating food that's not native to their systems (unless you're eating local, grass-fed, grass-finished beef, if so, good for you!).

To end the rant, the book goes beyond the "why" to the where and how, with selections of clothing (avoid blue, orange is the best, washed in unscented clothing), rifles, how to find and track deer, where you should deliver your shots, when you should and shouldn't take a shot, etc.

It follows by mentioning how to gut, skin, quarter, and butcher a deer. This part of the book was the weakest, as someone who has never hunted a deer, I had a hard time visualizing how one would go about some of these tasks (specifically gutting/quartering), and the gray scale illustrations didn't help very much. I would very much have liked an external reference, such as a link to a youtube video, on how to do each of these.

Overall, I'd recommend this book even if (especially if) you're a meat eater that's morally opposed to hunting deer. Like it did to me, it may sway your opinion a little bit toward respecting something that many people do simply to feed their families.

[Tristan S · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Beginner’s Guide to Hunting Deer for Food by Jackson Landers is a book that tells the importance and benefit of hunting, as well as how to hunt and harvesting the meat and making recipes. It also tells about understanding the deer’s behavior, hunting tactics and cooking the venison. The supplies and tools you will need to make and clean your kill.
I loved the book. It helped a lot when it came to homework and projects, as well as my own knowledge on hunting. The guidelines of the book do not apply to just deer. It can be used for just about all big game. It was great how Landers gave recipes for the different types of meat. That will be great to share with my family. His personal stories give a sense of what or what not to do. Also, the amount of information crammed into the thin pages of the book was phenomenal. It was almost like the equivalence of three books. The only bad thing is that the book only talked about deer. It could have been great to talk about pronghorn or some sort of small game. Other than that, the book was fantastic and I will have to use the knowledge on the next time I go deer hunting.

[Tim Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got turned onto this book by reading The Paleo Manifesto by John Durant who recommended it as a good book for anything thinking of deer hunting for meat. I grew up hunting with my dad, became a vegetarian/vegan at 18 and thought I'd never even think of hunting again. Well, now I'm an ex-vegan turned Paleo and after eating some venison and antelope given to me by a hunter friend I am going back to thinking about hunting. I went on a few deer hunts as a kid but we never got one so this book was a good overview of what is involved in deer hunting. The jury is still out on whether or not I'll take this up, I am planning on going bird hunting soon which I used to do a lot of and actually have shot and dressed pheasants. Deer is a whole new game and I feel like I still need to tag along with someone experienced to really learn the ropes after reading this book.

[Lee Tyner · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT book for beginning to intermediate deer hunters. Also, it is written from the vantage of putting food on the table without regard for whether or not it's a trophy. It is primarily for rifle or shotgun hunters. I would have liked a little more on bow hunting; perhaps a chapter on it. This makes it worthy of a "4" Admittedly, most beginner deer hunters don't "begin" with archery so I am compelled to rate it a "5." Also, both the formatting and writing style are easily worthy of a "5." It is concise, well written, readable, and a treasure chest for the new hunter.

UPDATE: After reading a few other books on bow hunting deer for beginners, it made me appreciate this book even more. It was definitely the best book I've read on this topic.

[James Bone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely needs more diagrams on anatomy and butchering. Some of the "facts" about estrus linked to the phases of the moon is also pseudo-science nonsense. However, it is overall a very readable and non-political look at why deer hunting makes sense and how to do it from start to finish. I think the tactics section could be expanded to talk about party or group hunting, as it is entirely written for the solo hunter, which in my experience is the exception rather than the rule. It is a little American-centric as well, which limits its appeal. A section on getting permission from landowners and farmers would also be good.

[Петър Стойков · Rating 3 out of 5]

В случая става дума за white tailed deer което е сърна и в САЩ сега те са вреден дивеч и трябва да се трепят, понеже преди години някой умник обявил вълците за вреден дивеч и ги изтрепали, и изненада, сърните сега толкова са се намножили, че са природно бедствие - унищожават горите като ядат младите фиданки, тъпчат земните животинки и т.н.

Книгата описва какво е нужно, за да ги ловува човек и да ги яде - как се вади ловен билет (в САЩ), как се ловят, как се стреля, каква пушка ти трябва, как се кормят и как се готвят. Като цяло добро описание, но направено прекалено подробно на много места и то главно местата които не са чак толкова важни, подозирам за да станат повече страниците.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a hunter, although I would like to be some day, and found that this book demystified the activity for me quite a bit. It answered a lot of questions for me related to whether or not it is something I'm even capable of doing, and if it's doable without investing a boat load of money. My hunting friends are always going on and on about their various guns and equipment, but Landers shows that it hunting for food is very doable on a smaller budget.

Definitely a good read and something I will come back to when I am able to actually start hunting.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is Mr. Lander's first book and he strikes an excellent balance between explaining why as omnivores we should have a healthy respect for hunting. The details of how to hunt will only be interesting if you have never hunted before or have only gone once. This is a beginner's guide, as it says in the title. If you read the Omnivore's Dilemma and are thinking about getting closer to the food chain, read this book. It will only take you a few hours.

[T. K. Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome beginners guide

Awesome beginners guide

This is exactly what I wanted. I've never hunted anything before and am just getting into it.
Perfect overview for the beginner. I will be re-reading this one many times for sure.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, really informative on weapon choice and tactics to successfully, responsibly, and humanely bring home venison for food.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative, especially for a city boy interested in learning the basics.