Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters The Big Book of Big Game Hunting

I just ordered this, as well Shotguns for Wingshooting.

The Big Book of Gun Gack was a good read and is an excellent reference, IMO.

I received mine this week and fortunately it is the last free week we have till the end of bear season.
It is a rare pleasure to find so much experience and knowledge contained in one well written book.

Thanks John and Eileen

Well if that's not an excellent book review I don't know what is.
Guess I need to order my copy.

StarchedCover

Hi Phil,

Thanks very much. That means a lot.

Good to hear you have a little break before the big push. I'm trying to take a couple days off myself!

Have a good season Phil!

Now there, John, is a testimonial to put on your website...

I suspect it'll show up there soon. I forwarded it to Eileen.

[quote=GrimJim

I have now finished The Big Book of Big Game Hunting. After reading the last chapter, I now feel that John Barsness is a friend of mine, even though I have absolutely no justification for such a statement.

[/quote]


If you ever get to meet John, you'll feel entirely justified. I met him at Whittaker's awhile back, and it was like I'd known him forever. Of course, I HAVE been reading his stuff a long time, and he's just like he writes. A good guy, for sure. I'm a practical guy, sometimes, and I certainly appreciate John's practicality and conversational writing style. He's just better at it than I am.

Thanks! I enjoyed meeting and talking to you too. Loonies always have something in common, even if we don't desire (or "need") exactly the same rifles.

0r shotguns, or handguns, or....

I finished the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the kind of book you can pick up and put down without losing track and for a busy body like me, that works well. Before I go any further I feel like I need to apologize for being from east of the Mississippi River.

John, I feel like I know you as a person now. Astutely observant, sarcastic, with a hint of Walter's (from Jeff Dunham's show) cynicism and a healthy dose of Luddite, and I say that affectionately. You rather enjoyed the fire roasted trail camera in the Selous didn't you? And there are times you wish they would open a season on ATVs huh?

One of the things you do that I really like is that you take time to describe the geography and the flora of the areas you hunt. I am a very visual person. I need to form a mental image of what I am reading, and with your description and my limited travels out west, I could see what you were describing. When you were describing the haunts and hides of mule deer, I nodded knowingly. This past summer I was out west in CO hiking off the beaten path. I was in a narrow grassy meadow in between two rocky upcroppings. I was about to exit the meadow when I had this odd sensation I was being watched. I looked back over my left shoulder to see this resting buck eyeing me from his perfect perch.

[img]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...ac36cbfce7cba4445d1f18af&oe=5A25775A[/img]

I also liked the way you told us what the African words were for certain things. I mentioned the Herter's catalog in a thread here last week. You have a few years on me though I can certainly relate to the way the years accelerate by as we age, but I remember pouring over the pages of the Herter's Catalog in my grandfather's basement each summer when we went to visit him. I was enamored of the beautiful rifle stocks!

I grudgingly admit that you have those of us from east of the MS nailed down. I did a three year tour of duty in Kodiak before the advent of rangefinders. I had a boat paddle stock Ruger 30-06 that I had sighted in to hit 2 inches high at 100 yards. I hadn't done much long range shooting, but had studied ballistics tables enough to feel comfortable with a dead on hold out to 250 yards and a very slight hold over at 300 then a little daylight between the crosshairs and the back at 400.

We climbed to the top of Barometer Mountain. My bud and I split up a bit. I started glassing down into a bowl. I saw two bucks sparring. Both were shooters and one a trophy. I hiked back over to my bud and got him. I explained the situation and the plan of attack. I asked Mark if he wanted to take the first available shot. Of course he did, he's that kind of bud. The first buck we encountered was the smaller one. He bagged it then we hurried to a point where I thought we could intercept the other one as it retreated. The plan worked perfectly. There he was, casually strolling along about 400 yards away, stopping every now and then to survey his surroundings. I had shed my backpack where I had met up with Mark in preparation for hustling to catch back up with the deer. I made use of a spindly alder for a rest. I told Mark not to shoot if I missed. I got a much better rest than I thought I would get, did my deep breath with a partial release, rested up perfectly, held just over the back and eased the trigger rearward. I was nice and relaxed on the squeeze. Perhaps too relaxed. The -06 bucked back, slamming the ocular bell against my brow, immediately sending blood rushing down my face. I didn't hear the decided thwack I was conditioned to hear, but in between giggles, Mark told me he saw meat fly off the far side of the deer. The deer didn't react at all. He just walked as he had been doing when we first saw him. When he stopped again, I laid the rifle back over the alder limb, snugged up to it a bit more firmly, and I held on the exact same imaginary spot I had before and got off what I felt like was another good shot. Mark told me he saw more meat fly off the far side of the deer then said he was going to shoot him. The deer was walking at this point. I told Mark not to shoot. I realized that I had spent so much time looking through the scope and the binoculars that I had not assessed his distance well. Mark shot. I heard a soft reply off of the deer and it stumbled a bit then trotted for a second and stopped. I took another rest, held dead on, squeezed the trigger and the buck folded with the sound of thwack I wanted to hear.

The deer in Kodiak carry a heavy layer of fat. When we got to the deer the two bullet holes from my first two shots were almost touching. They had plowed through the fat above the deer's spine. That's what mark had seen flying off the far side. Mark's shot had kinda grazed the leading edge of the thigh. My final shot was directly below the first two and right where I held. So that was a long way of validating your thoughts about us easterners being bad at estimating range in the wide open spaces of the west.

Irish Setters are indeed stupid. I appreciate your craft my friend!

Well, my copy arrived in today's mail. I've been reading random bits of it, and thoroughly enjoying it. I've had JB's two previous hunting story books (Born to Hunt and Life of the Hunt) on my shelf for a few years, but this book is far and away the best yet. Well done, JB!

Wonderful, just wonderful. I retire, leave the computer alone for a month or so, miss the notice and find out now that John has a new book out. Just what I need, another book and a bill for $32 when my first retirement check hasn't arrived yet. Sheeesh, what next? A flat tire?

Really though, it took reading about 3 posts to know I was going to place an order...............................again.

MD, expect to see an order online or perhaps I'll just send you a snail mail envelope like we did in the horse and buggy days before computers. Well, maybe it would be more correct to say in the carbureted vehicle days (that apparently is such an ancient term the spell checker here doesn't recognize it ). Regards to the editor too.

Geno

PS Ha! I solved one problem. Birthday coming up soon so I just asked the wonderful wife if she'd like to buy me a book. Answer: "sure". One has to love it when pieces fall into place!!

Paul,

The inability to accurately "judge" range isn't limited to hunters from east of the Mississippi. It's a human failing, though many wouldn't admit it in pre-rangefinder days--though they had after lasers proved they weren't nearly as good as they thought they were. Back then a lot of Montana pronghorn hunters got around the range problem by chasing them in pickups. In fact, some still do....

Doc,

Thanks very much! Must point out, however, that the two previous books were pure "story" books, without the technical advice on hunting, traveling and guns this one has. Plus, THE LIFE OF THE HUNT even included a couple fishing stories!

I chuckled over your easterner comments. All of 'em. Life is tough when you can't laugh at yourself.

No matter, I'll forgive you the fishing stories; your old Inuit guide with his "twenty-two mag-a-num" made up for them in spades!!!

Sent my order in. Might as well fill out the john barsness shelf

And your book is on the way. I helped by carrying the stack of packages to the post office for Eileen, so she could whip out the official riflesandrecipes credit card and send them on their journeys....

will get ready for front porch coffee sipping while reading then.

JB,

Mine arrived this past week. Thanks to you, Eileen for her help, and my wonderful wife for a great birthday present. Already through four or five chapters between chores, dog walks, 400 mile round trips to eye doctors, and the rest of life.

Thanks for filling another spot on the new bookshelf I have to buy/build
Geno