Customer Reviews

Echoes on Rimrock: In Pursuit of the Chukar Partridge

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like the high canyon slopes that chukars can be found at, Buddy Levy has a similarly lofty opinion of himself when chasing chukars. There are a lot of things I liked about this book - the technical material on chukars and their habitats, strategies etc. If you have ever hunted chukars, this book will stir your blood and get you pumped up for next season. But every once in a while, Buddy feels compelled to tell you how well he did something - waiting for birds to fly further away while his friend blazes away ineffectually at short range. Maybe that incident happened but a better writer might have reversed the roles to keep the reader on his side. He also suffers from those common maladies of outdoor writers- "thesaurus" mouth and excess spirituality. There is no need to describe every sensation associated with bird hunting with a large vocabulary. It has been done before and probably cannot be improved. Find some unique feature to describe. Not every step in the wilderness is a one of profound and deep meaning. Some of them are just hard, boring slogging.

The book is very short - not much more than a magazine essay. There is a chapter on gear that drops enough brand names to raise the topic of paid advertising but that is just nitpicking. I agree with him about Filson gear. It is worth the money .

For those of you who have stuck with this, I will now reveal the real reason I have been so critical of a book I did enjoy reading. In the section on birddogs, he discusses pointers and retrievers but fails to mention flushing dogs. As the proud owner of a springer spaniel that will hunt chukars until the cacti leaves him bloody, I can only say that was a major omission.

Anyway, if you like chukar hunting, buy this book if only for the winter hunt story. I could feel the wind blowing down my neck.

I've hunted chukars with a fever since I was able to carry a shotgun 25 years ago. Buddy Levy writes wonderfully and his passion, respect and understanding for this great game bird and the land they inhabit shines. It is obvious this book is personal and we are fortunate Levy has let us in.

I highly recommend you make the effort to share Levy's love of what it means to hunt chukars....

This is a literate and personal book, and a short one. As a long time chukar hunter, I think that it falls short in a couple of areas, or I would have rated it five stars.

This is not a "how to" book, although it contains a fair amount of information, and tips on gear.

Worth the money, and as I said, the only book (in English) on the subject.

This book was not what I expected, it is not just a nuts and bolts how to guide. It is classy reading and very enjoyable. This man can write and he has a soul. He reveals that he has a great passion and reverence for this sport. I was very inpressed by this book and plan to keep it and read it from time to time. I think any serious upland hunter, especially one who has hunted Chukar or wants to will really appreciate this book.

Being a chukar hunter myself, I found this book to be enjoyable. Whether you hunt them or not, the book has a lot of good points. It doesn't tell all, but it does talk about the realities of chukar hunting. If you're looking for a text book, forget it. But if you want to read a book that is factual and fun at the same time, this is a great book.

Very good book and somewhat educational