A Hunter's Road - by Jim Fergus (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A Hunter's Road is that rarest of books, a word journey that can one minute have you doubled over with laughter, and a few pages later leave you wiping a tear from your eye."
--Heartland USA

In an epic season of sport, Jim Fergus and his trusty Lab, Sweetzer, trek the mountains, plains, prairies, forests, marshes, deltas, and deserts of America, both alone and with a host of memorable companions.

Compared by critics to John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley in Search of America and Ivan Turgenev's Hunter's Sketches, A Hunter's Road is a travel adventure tale in which bird hunting is less an end than a vehicle straight to the heart of the country.

From the Back Cover

There are estimated to be more than six million bird hunters in America, every one of whom has dreamed of the kind of epic hunting season that Jim Fergus lives in A Hunter's Road - 17,000 miles in 5 months, pursuing 21 different game bird species across 24 states. But one need not be a bird hunter to enjoy this picaresque adventure; and far more important than the statistics are the hundreds of miles on foot that Fergus and his trusty yellow Lab, Sweetzer, cover in the course of their longest season - tramping the mountains, plains, prairies, fields, forests, marshes, deltas, and deserts of America - both alone and with a host of memorable companions. A Hunter's Road profiles one man's personal journey into the romance of the open country, touching on the history, sociology, politics, and economics of bird hunting in America, while addressing the issue of hunting ethics and the burgeoning antihunting movement in this country - the latter, in Fergus's opinion, reflecting our increasing estrangement from the natural world. A thoughtful and sometimes troubling exploration of the health and well-being of what remains of the American countryside, A Hunter's Road is by turns poignant, humorous, lyric, opinionated, and unflinchingly honest. It is destined to become an American sporting classic.

Review Quotes

"An absorbing, provocative, and even enchanting book."
-- Los Angeles Times

"A Hunter's Road is that rarest of books, a word journey that can one minute have you doubled over with laughter, and a few pages later leave you wiping a tear from your eye."
--Heartland USA

"If you read just one sporting book this year, it should be A Hunter's Road by Jim Fergus. . . . An exceptional writer, he has an eye for country, an ear for dialogue, a feel for the rhythms of the heart."
--Sporting Classics

About the Author

Jim Fergus is the author of the essay collection The Sporting Road and the novels One Thousand White Women and Wild Girl. His articles and essays have appeared in a wide variety of national magazines and newspapers, including Newsweek, Newsday, The Paris Review, Esquire, Sports Afield, and Field & Stream. Fergus was born in Chicago and attended Colorado College. He lives in southern Arizona.