A Hunter's Road: A Journey With Gun and Dog Across the American Uplands [Hardcover]

Jim Fergus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1992

A literary exploration of the American sporting life, this is a road book in which the road is left behind. Far less a "how-to" hunting guide that it is a connected series of tales, sketches, and profiles of a journey into the romance of the open country, it is a thoughtful exploration of the health and well-being of what remains of the American countryside.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In September 1990 freelance sportswriter Fergus bird-hunted during the opening days of the sage grouse season in Wyoming, blue grouse season in Colorado and chukar season in Idaho. Five months later, this first-time author and his yellow Labrador, Sweetzer, had hunted (and retrieved) 21 species of game birds in 24 states during a 17,000-mile journey recounted here with asides providing recipes for how to cook the various catches. Man and dog tramped in woods and fields, through swamps and deserts; they observed a shoot on a private game ranch and met hunters (and dogs) from all walks of life. Fergus gives a splendid tour of the countryside and a spirited defense of hunting as a sport, sharing his worries about the growth of anti-hunting sentiment and the decline in bird population due to loss of habitat. A fine travel-and-adventure tale, both for hunters and readers who enjoy the outdoors.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In middle age, the author fulfilled a childhood dream by spending five months Fergus hunted and spoke with famous and infamous hunters, with biologists, authors such as George Bird Evans, and land owners. Like another Fergus (Charles, A Rough-Shooting Dog , LJ 8/91), he writes lyrically about the hunter's role in conservation, the relationship with his dog and with other hunters, the anti-hunting movement, and the very nature of hunting itself. Missing his targets frequently, sometimes admiring rather than shooting, he demonstrates his own axiom that "grace is a quality central to sport and art." This book is highly recommended for public libraries where upland bird hunting is pursued (and also where it is attacked).
- Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co; 1st edition (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805016198
• ISBN-13: 978-0805016192
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Fergus is a former freelance writer who has published hundreds of articles in dozens of regional and national magazines and newspapers. He is the author of three novels, and two books of nonfiction. His bestselling novel, One Thousand White Women, has been a favorite selection of book clubs and reading groups across the country for over a decade. The novel won the Mountain and Plains Booksellers association Fiction Award. The French translation - Mille Femmes Blanches - won the "Best First Foreign Novel" award in France, and has sold over 400,000 copies in that country. Fergus' most recent novel, Marie-Blanche, a sweeping family historical fiction that spans the entire 20th century, was published in France in the spring of 2011. An English edition of Marie-Blanche is soon to be published in America in Kindle format. Jim Fergus divides his time between southern Arizona, northern Colorado, and France.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thought-provoking, highly entertaining bird hunting book, December 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Hunter's Road: A Journey with Gun and Dog Across the American Uplands (An Owl Book) (Paperback)

As a somewhat novice upland bird hunter with a young dog, and as a writer for a state wildlife management agency, I found a deep appreciation for the observations, sentiments and candid representations of the experiences the author enjoyed while researcing his book.

He details a trip across the United States and all the interesting people and places he visited and came to know as intimately as only a hunter or nature lover could. This book was like a long daydream that I didn't want to end, and I'm greatful he invited me along. I have met so many hunters of the type he writes about - some good, some bad and some who just "are."

He at times reports objectively about their attitudes and other times makes judgements that I may or may not agree with, but it was always entertaining and was food for thought.

This is not a book that will teach you where or how to hunt, but it will teach you about why you hunt and what is happening to the hunt. We would do well to think about his words as we enter the 21st Century.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fergus Stuns Steinbeck Fan, February 19, 2000

By 

Ro Leaphart (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Hunter's Road: A Journey with Gun and Dog Across the American Uplands (An Owl Book) (Paperback)

Fergus, a peripatetic writer, travels cross country with his lab using hunting as his reason to find the heart and soul of America. Wandering the fields and woodlands seeking a covey on the rise, Fergus shares the joys and challenges of friendship, dogs, and the American frontier. Fergus and his companions are saddened by the lose of habitat that protects breeding birds, that provide there communion with nature. Reverently, he ponders one of the great philosophical questions of our time: Can a hunter also be an environmentalist?

Fortunately, I stumbled across Jim Fergus' book while doing research in my local library. I've now purchased a copy to keep and reread. If you enjoy Steinbeck or Buffett, you will enjoy reading this book.

PS... I'm a middle-aged, environmentalist, non-hunting woman.... AND I loved this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, June 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Hunter's Road: A Journey with Gun and Dog Across the American Uplands (An Owl Book) (Paperback)

For anyone who has a genuine respect and love for upland bird hunting - the sport, the dogs, the game and their habitat - Jim Fergus's A Hunters Road is one of the definitive Classics. The book is not only a wonderfully entertaining read, it is also a serious commentary on those who pursue the sport, the good, the bad, the ugly, the ethics, and the environment. Of course, there will be reader's who either misread or misinterpret Fergus's intent. For those however, who wish to journey into the sanctity of the sport (bird lovers included), and be subliminally educated in the process, Fergus's A Hunter's Road is a must.