I have read most of his hunting books, and can recommend Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, The Wilderness Hunter, African Game Trails and Through The Brazilian Wilderness.
Going to order a few of them. Were they generally fictions or were some of them based on his experiences?
Almost completely Roosevelt's first hand experience. I would recommend the same ones MD did and have read most of them more than once.
I've read a couple of his hunting books. Very enjoyable to read, hunting trips of a ranchman was my favorite.
One of the little-known aspects of TR's life is that he made more money writing than in any of his other jobs.
I have Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail. It's a good book.
Apparently Teddy was an enthusiastic, but not particularly skillful, marksman, and loved to hunt. His vision did not help, and he readily admits his mediocrity with his rifles.
It’s been a while, but I seem to recall that like Howard Hill, if he could see it, it was “in range”. I have a couple or three, including the one where he goes after the panda. I’m apparently saving them for my old age. Mine were picked up in flea markets and such.
Pretty much all of the old hunting books are available as e-books from sites like archive.org, which is good because the old hard-copies can be pretty fragile. If you have a choice, get the scanned versions as opposed to the OCR, which can have “issues”. The scanned ones often have “character” in the form of the original owners’ names, bookplates, etc.
Have read a couple of them. Entertaining, and a glimpse at a lifestyle that is long gone.
Good reads. He gets a little verbose at times, but good historically
I used to have set of all his books, great reading. It was like he was there talking to you. My ex-wifes uncle gave them to me and after the divorce she asked if she could have them back and 19 yrs later I gave them back. I said I get them back to her when I was done with them.
I have Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail. It's a good book.
Apparently Teddy was an enthusiastic, but not particularly skillful, marksman, and loved to hunt. His vision did not help, and he readily admits his mediocrity with his rifles.
Theodore Roosevelt
His writing is excellent, and all first hand, but it's very much written in the style of the day and tends to be less readable than modern works. Still worth the effort.
I have a set of his books and enjoy reading them.
I've read his Africa and Montana hunting/ranching works. A well schooled writer extremely proficient at setting the scenes. Interesting, but certainly different ethics compared to today's sportsmen. Seems if he could see them, they were in range. Being essentially blind in his left eye, I suspect his range estimation skills were a bit wanting.
I've read a few of his books but did not enjoy them as much as many have reported. Like stated above, I found TR to be somewhat verbose and I would find I was forcing my way through until I couldn't take it anymore, then that title would sit for awhile until I gathered up the courage to continue on. The titles that I read were interesting snapshots of life in that time period but as enjoyable reads I prefer other authors.
On a side note, we visited TRNP a few summers ago and it was nice to put Hunting Trips of a Ranchman in a proper perspective. It is hard to imagine setting off with a wagon in that country in search of enough meat to provide for the ranch hands. I had also never heard of hydrophobia until I realized what we call it today - damn skunks!
Literary skills and questionable shooting aside, his establishment of the National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges greatly helped to bring conservation consciousness to be an acceptable attitude for the sporting public.
Read hunting trip of a ranchman. Like someone else said, not the most readable prose. Interesting historically and because of who he Was. But he weren't no Ruark or O'Connor.
I always have "Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter" nearby. Great stories for when you just want to flip through and find a read without getting into a full blown book.
I have read several; Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter, The Wilderness Hunter, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, and The Winning of the West. I enjoy the first hand account stories and the details about the animals and places. If you are already interested in the outdoors and hunting, I would recommend reading any of his works on those subjects. Like others have said, he wasn't the best writer but he was able to hold my attention cover to cover.
He talks of a possible violent Bigfoot encounter told by his trapper I believe. I really like his books. Imagine leaving on safari as president. I think his rough rider stories are the best
He talks of a possible violent Bigfoot encounter told by his trapper I believe. I really like his books. Imagine leaving on safari as president. I think his rough rider stories are the best
He didn't "leave on safari as president." His safari took place after he left office.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4026374344...mlej07wIVchh9Ch0nGQVsEAQYAiABEgL_0PD_BwEThe River of Doubt is a very good read, IMO and sets a lot of the era into perspective. The trip earned him a nasty infection which ultimately killed him.
Roosevelt himself was an interesting character.
Roosevelt himself was an interesting character.
Complex guy. I've read the vast majority of biographies out there on him and while I don't agree with everything he did as a politician, or to be fair, wanted to do on the Bull Moose platform, you can never say he did not love his country, family and fellow service members. He was a man of character and resolve.
I love the scene in "Hunting Trips" where they take the wagon to the head of a coulee and walk up to timberline looking for elk. Find the herd at the top of the coulee just at sunset, so they build a fire and pull their wool coats around them and lie down to (try) to sleep. Get up just before dawn, eat some hardtack they carried in their coat pockets and take a nice bull (or two) as the sun rises. Wool coats and hardtack is a far tougher way of life than down bags and gas mini stoves.
I have Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail. It's a good book.
Apparently Teddy was an enthusiastic, but not particularly skillful, marksman, and loved to hunt. His vision did not help, and he readily admits his mediocrity with his rifles.
Theodore Roosevelt
His writing is excellent, and all first hand, but it's very much written in the style of the day and tends to be less readable than modern works. Still worth the effort.
My impression was that his style was rather ponderous, but not for a lack of experience.
Just thinking of the Amazon Basin is apt to initiate a skin eruption.
He talks of a possible violent Bigfoot encounter told by his trapper I believe. I really like his books. Imagine leaving on safari as president. I think his rough rider stories are the best
I think his safari was started in 1918 and spanned three months. From memory, his son Kermit, skinners, those who would do wildlife sketches, and many native bearers mounted to quite a troupe coursing through the bush.
Real time costs was in the $80-90k range.
I'm a third of the way through African Game Trails. More of a day to day account of the safari than actual hunting. Imagine chasing Lions on horseback!!
He talks of a possible violent Bigfoot encounter told by his trapper I believe. I really like his books. Imagine leaving on safari as president. I think his rough rider stories are the best
I think his safari was started in 1918 and spanned three months. From memory, his son Kermit, skinners, those who would do wildlife sketches, and many native bearers mounted to quite a troupe coursing through the bush.
Real time costs was in the $80-90k range.
From memory also, but I know he died slow and that happened early '19... I am thinking the safari was before the Brazilian trip, more like '16. I could be wrong...
The safari was 1909-1910, and lasted most of a year.
He hunted around the U.S. and Canada some between the safari and Brazil.
Thanks for the correction. Apparently my memory is not always trustworthy.
I can't remember the title, but there's a book from the last few years about that expedition that really makes you realize just how many hardships Roosevelt glossed over and how tough a trip it really was
Looking on Amazon for Teddy Roosevelt books, I picked up several. They weren't that expensive in paperback.
Looks like they're gonna be good reading.
DF
Thanks for these suggestions. I just picked up a few used, paperback copies to enjoy.
Rex
Speaking of TR, there is a PBS documentary on Amazon Called Into the Amazon. Have not seen it but ran across it while looking for something else.
Reading "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman", Teddy states that the .45-75 half mag Winchester, "stocked and sighted to suit myself", was the best weapon he ever had. I see a number of pictures with him holding a high grade, half mag Win 1876, which seems to be the gun he's mentioning.
For around the ranch, he liked his double 16 ga with a 45-70 lower barrel, evidently a drilling, which he refers to as his "little ranch gun"..
For ducks and geese he had a "No 10 choke-bore" double gun made for him by "Thomas of Chicago" and for grouse, a "No 16 built for him by Kennedy of St. Paul". So I assume a 10 ga, not sure about the choke, and a 16 ga. for grouse. I would think these were guns stocked or put together for him by these named individuals. He never says what brand.they were. I doubt these guys built those guns from scratch.
He was quite wealthy from birth, so I'm sure he had his guns tweaked to suit him without regard to cost.
Interesting. I guess he was a Loony of sorts.
DF