Great American Hunting Stories: Lyons Press Classics

by Lamar Underwood (Editor)

A superb collection of stories that captures the very soul of hunting.

For hunters, listening to the accounts of kindred spirits recalling the drama and action that go with good days afield ranks among life's most pleasurable activities. Here, then, are some of the best hunting tales ever written, stories that sweep from charging lions in the African bush to mountain goats in the mountain crags of the Rockies; from the gallant bird dogs of the Southern pinelands to the great Western hunts of Theodore Roosevelt. Great American Hunting Stories captures the very soul of hunting.

With contributions Theodore Roosevelt, Nash Buckingham, Archibald Rutledge, Zane Grey, Lieutenant Townsend Whelen, Harold McCracken, Irvin S. Cobb, Edwin Main Post, Horace Kephart, Francis Parkman ,William T. Hornaday, Sc.D, Rex Beach, and more.

344 pages, Paperback

Published June 26, 2019

Reviews

[Hunter T · Rating 5 out of 5]

My book is called Great American Hunting Stories by Lamar Underwood. It was a great book and has many very interesting stories in it. It even has a story that involves Theodore Roosevelt. The best story was The Alaskan Grizzly. It is about a guy named Charlie and two natives that hunt a grizzly together.
The theme of this book is very hard to understand. I think it would probably be “Stand your ground”. The reason why is in every story they are always hunting something that they have to face or be very quiet. The idea of the book is stand your ground and be cautious like you dont know whats around every corner. In the Alaskan Grizzly story the two natives have to stand their ground while Charlie tries and spooks the bear down towards them so they can get a shot off. Also this happened in the first chapter called The Hunting Grisly when he was hunting “Suddenly without warning, the great bear stepped out of the bushes and trod across the pine needles with such swift and silent footsteps that its bulk seemed unreal (p.8).” He ends up shooting the bear and it trots off before he can get another shot off. It was in the middle of the forest and he couldn't get another one off because of a pine tree.
I would recommend reading this book because if you live out in the country you will understand a lot more than living in the city. It is cool how the book ties into life and understands how to hunt grizzly bears and many more.It was not confusing because im from the country so I know how to hunt so it was easy to understand. You should definitely read this book because it made me want to read more about Great American Hunting Stories.

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a hunting book I think it falls short in most of the stories, as a collection of the attitudes of the outdoorsmen and the state of the American wilderness at the turn of the 20th century it is excellent. I have read books not about hunting/angling that capture the spirit/patience/excitement/or disappointment of the hunting or fishing trip way more than any story here. There are exciting moments at times and danger that many hunting stories won't necessarily see but it's just not capturing. If this was instead labelled as stories of the **American Wilderness at the Turn of the Century** it would be 3*'s but, as is, falls short of it's goal if still compiling interesting stories.