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[ Game in the Desert BY O'Connor Jack ( Author ) ] { Paperback } 2014

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Originally published by The Derrydale Press in 1939, Frank O'Connor's introduction to the flora and fauna of the American southwest gave many Americans their first glimpse of a largely unknown region of the country. O'Connor loved the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains and their bighorn, antelope, elk and mule deer inhabitants. He also hunted throughout Arizona and New Mexico for rabbit, wild pigs, turkey, quail, and dove. Jaguar, mountain lion, coyote and bear are also covered. Practical advice on hunting in the southwestern states, as well as a heartfelt ode to the wildlife of the area. 23 illustrations by T. J. Harter, including several in full color.

Paperback

First published January 28, 1955

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About the author

Jack O'Connor

81 books18 followers
Jack O'Connor was best known as a writer for Outdoor Life, magazine, where he served as Shooting Editor for 31 years.

Jack O'Connor taught English at the University of Arizona, and became its first journalism professor. His first love was the outdoors and writing about hunting, firearms, and the natural history of big game animals. As the longtime firearms editor for Outdoor Life magazine, O'Connor hunted and collected trophies throughout the world, and introduced millions of readers to hunting and firearms. O'Connor moved to Lewiston, Idaho in 1948 and he lived there until his death in 1978.

O'Connor was well known among shooters and hunters as a proponent of the .270 Winchester and 7x57mm Mauser (.275 Rigby) cartridges. His knowledge of hunting and shooting was extensive, and he had a firm opinion on everything. He was one of America's greatest hunting and gun writers of the twentieth century.

Jack O'Connor authored over a dozen non-fiction books including "Game in the Desert" "The Rifle Book" "The Complete Book of Rifles and Shotguns" "The Big Game of North America" "The Art of Hunting Big Game in North America," and "Sheep and Sheep Hunting" He also wrote two western novels, "Conquest," and "Boom Town," and the autobiography of his formative years: "Horse and Buggy West: A Boyhood on the Last Frontier."

According to his son Bradford, in an introduction written for the 2004 book, "The Lost Classics of Jack O'Connor," Jack wrote more than 1200 articles for hunting and fishing magazines, and also wrote romantic novellas and articles for Redbook, Mademoiselle, Reader's Digest, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, the literary magazine Midland, and other magazines popular in the 1930s and 1940s.

Thanks to his education and teaching experience O'Connor's writing skills and style were far above the norm for outdoor magazines. An O'Connor story always taught the reader something about hunting, shooting, or sportsmanship. He had the ability to make the reader feel as if they were right there with him, and he usually closed a hunting story with a bit of humor or an exclamation by one of the characters, leaving the reader eager for more.

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Ward.
38 reviews
July 23, 2022
O’Connor was a great hunting and gun writer and when I was a kid my father read Outdoor Life religiously just for his monthly column. This early 1939 book about Arizona wildlife is one of his best. It’s a product of its time though, some of the comments about Mexicans are a lot less than politically correct. I don’t share his low opinion of mountain lions and coyotes either.
Profile Image for Casan Scott.
Author 2 books3 followers
January 15, 2023
A throwback. Loved it!

I loved this book. The writing is excellent and it evokes nostalgia for the good ol’ days. Very informative about big game in the Southwest.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

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