36 Hunting Books For All Ages And Pursuits

Hunting has always been something that I have felt like I am pulled to do. While the ways in which I hunt and the animals I pursue have changed over the years, the desire burns as strong as ever. That intrinsic desire is something that I believe can be cultivated, with the right exposure early in your hunting experience. I have a wife who is an adult-onset hunter, and at the time of this writing, two boys, ages 5 and 2 are just starting to experience what hunting is all about. I am proud to have created a hunter out of my wife and I want to cultivate my boys into hunters as well. One of the best ways to help them on that journey are quality, timeless hunting books.

Now some might say, “Dad, you need to let those boys live their own lives and don’t pressure them into hunting.” But my position is that while that may be true for baseball and playing the guitar, hunting is an essential human function. Having a connection with the food you eat, and killing that food, gives you a greater respect for all forms of life. In addition, time spent in nature, alone, is where I feel that I get closest to God. I will be disappointed if I don’t provide that same experience. 

Hunting books, in my opinion, play an integral role in forming us into real hunters who have a deep respect for the game they pursue and desire to leave the resource better than they found it. They take us into nature when we can’t physically be there and challenge our thought patterns. Reading the sage advice of those who have gone before us is formative in developing our own standards. Seeing multiple perspectives makes you question your own and is healthy. In this article, I could have written about my picks for the best hunting books to have on your shelf, but I decided to go at this from a different angle. I polled 10 outdoor writers, from their 20’s to their 70’s, to learn what their favorite hunting books were in all types of categories. Below are some of their (and my) picks.

Books About Hunting Conservation

A Sand County Almanac

These astonishing portraits of the natural world explore the breathtaking diversity of the unspoiled American landscape—the mountains and the prairies, the deserts and the coastlines. Conjuring up one extraordinary vision after another, Aldo Leopold takes readers with him on the road and through the seasons on a fantastic tour of our priceless natural resources, explaining the destructive effects humankind has had on the land and issuing a bold challenge to protect the world we love.

The Hunter’s Encyclopedia

Features timeless information on big game, small game, animal predators, winged predators, small mammals, upland game birds, shorebirds, waterfowl, color section, firearms, ammunition, dogs, and miscellany. 

Southern Wonder: Alabama’s Surprising Biodiversity

Explores Alabama’s amazing biological diversity, the reasons for the large number of species in the state, and the importance of their preservation.

Hunting Stories For All Ages

A Hunter’s Fireside Book

A Hunter’s Fireside Book, originally published in 1972, is a timeless celebration of the hunting and outdoorsman lifestyle. For decades, Gene Hill’s articles and books have captured the spirit of the outdoors in a way that inspires and entertains millions of readers.

If Nothin’ Don’t Happen

An old-timey sampler of Florida cracker tales from the Withlacoochee River country.

The Jon Boat Years

Nationally recognized and award-winning writer Jim Mize captures the true essence of sport and living life to the fullest in this collection of stories about his outdoor escapades. In tales spanning more than five decades, Mize invites readers into carefree days hiking through the Colorado Rockies with a fly rod and leisurely casting poppers to bluegill on small southern ponds. Mize’s humorous stories entertain and return readers to their own turkey hunting or creek-fishing excursions. Black-and-white drawings from artist Bob White illustrate stories filled with laughter, quiet contemplation, and wonder.

Where The Red Fern Grows

Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own—Old Dan and Little Ann—he’s ecstatic. It doesn’t matter that times are tough; together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks.

Books On Hunting Abroad

Man-Eaters of Kumaon

The hunting book chronicles Corbett’s experiences hunting and tracking man-eating tigers and leopards that terrorized the villages of the Kumaon region. Corbett’s expertise as a hunter and tracker allowed him to successfully locate and eliminate these dangerous predators, saving the lives of countless villagers in the process. Each chapter of the book tells the story of a particular man-eater and the efforts made by Corbett and his team to track and eliminate it.

Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari

No other book can give you the feel of Africa like this one can.

Wild Game Cookbook Picks For Every Kitchen

The Complete Venison Cookbook

This definitive book on venison cooking addresses virtually every aspect of venison processing, preparation, cooking, and preservation. The Complete Venison Cookbook features everything from basic recipes for home and camp to tips on preparing and presenting venison for the most elegant dining occasions. There are over 700 venison recipes for steaks, chops, roasts, and ribs, plus chilies, stews, stroganoffs, meat loaves, burgers, and much more.

Buck, Buck, Moose

Buck, Buck, Moose is a groundbreaking venison cookbook, offering over 100 diverse recipes for deer, elk, moose, antelope, and caribou. This full-color, comprehensive guide takes you on a global culinary journey, covering everything from traditional dishes to innovative creations. Learn butchering, aging, and storage techniques, and discover how to utilize every part of the animal. The book also delves into curing venison and sausage-making. Interspersed with hunting stories and insightful essays, it celebrates venison’s profound significance in human culture, making it a must-have for any enthusiast.

Duck, Duck, Goose

Duck is having a renaissance in American restaurants and kitchens as cooks discover that diverse breeds, species, and cuts of meat offer an exciting range of flavors and textures. Many cooks—and even hunters—have a fear of cooking fowl. Duck, Duck, Goose shows you how to cook duck and goose like a pro: perfectly crisp skin crackling with each bite, succulent confit, impeccable prosciutto, and more.

Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail

Game birds have always held a high place at the table, whether it’s a hunter’s prize of roast grouse or the turkey we all eat at Thanksgiving. Pheasants, quail, rabbits, doves, grouse and more – these are singular species with grand culinary traditions that offer the cook an unmatched range of flavors. Many cooks fear the fowl, however. Lean and athletic, game birds, rabbits and hares can dry out in a hurry. Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail shows you how to cook small game like a pro: perfectly crisp skin over tender breast meat, melt-in-your-mouth braises and confit, stews, sausages, and more.

The Best Wild Game and Seafood Cookbook Ever

This cookbook contains some of the most-delicious recipes we’ve tried and tested from the best wild-game and fish chefs all over the nation to answer the question, “What will I do with this meat?” It contains delicious recipes for venison, elk, wild pigs, turkeys, birds, rabbits, squirrels, crabs, shrimp and more than 20 species of freshwater and saltwater fish, as well as helpful information about how to prepare your game or fish for eating.

After the Hunt

This cookbook delves into the history of hunting from early humans to American colonization. It traces the evolution of hunting tools, the development of a taste for wild game, and the cultural significance of hunting in various civilizations. The book explores hunting as a revered sport and its role in preparing men for war. It also highlights the exclusivity of hunting privileges for the aristocracy and the art inspired by the hunt. Traveling through time, readers witness the love affair between humans and hunting, emphasizing that it’s not just about the kill but the pursuit of an ancient treasure. The book also covers early colonists’ hunting experiences in North America and takes readers to Louisiana’s hunting camps. “After the Hunt” features over 500 unique game and game fish recipes, making it a comprehensive tribute to Louisiana as the Sportsman’s Paradise and a celebration of hunters from the past, present, and future.

Deer Hunting Books

Deer Hunting Secrets To Taking Mature Bucks On Public Lands

Michael Perry has spent a lifetime pursuing whitetail deer on public lands in Alabama. In this book, Michael shares his techniques for finding and taking trophy whitetail bucks while hunting on wildlife management areas and public lands. His knowledge, experience and tips can help any deer hunter become more proficient in finding and taking deer on public lands that anyone can hunt.

Whitetails: An Unprecedented Research Driven Hunting Model

This hunting book compiles over two decades of rigorous research on whitetail deer, focusing on their daytime movement patterns influenced by weather conditions. Dr. Sheppard combines data from a major hunting operation, Bent Creek Lodge, with NOAA’s weather database, resulting in an extensive dataset of over 35,000 hunter days. Through in-depth statistical analysis, the book reveals groundbreaking insights into whitetail behavior that can revolutionize hunting strategies and redefine our understanding of these creatures.

Hunting Books For Kids

The Scouting Guide To Survival

Every year, numerous outdoor enthusiasts face unexpected emergencies while in the wild, including getting lost or injured. In today’s world, with the aid of modern communication tools like cell phones, satellite messengers, and personal locator beacons (PLBs), many such situations are resolved within hours. However, lacking preparation or survival skills can turn these incidents into tragedies. J. Wayne Fears draws upon his Army and Air Force training to emphasize the importance of readiness in the outdoors, echoing the Boy Scout motto ‘Be Prepared.

The Old Man And The Boy

This classic hunting book captures the endearing relationship between a man and his grandson as they fish and hunt the lakes and woods of North Carolina. All the while the Old Man acts as teacher and guide, passing on his wisdom and life experiences to the boy, who listens in rapt fascination.

Hatchet

This award-winning contemporary classic is the survival story with which all others are compared—and a page-turning, heart-stopping adventure, recipient of the Newbery Honor. Hatchet has also been nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

The Birthday Buck And The Hunt Club Kids Series

Wholesome, family-friendly hunting books for kids who love hunting and outdoor adventures.

Duck Hunting Books

De Shootinest Gent’man & Other Tales

Nash Buckingham was perhaps the most famous author of sporting tales in the first half of the 20th century. This collection of eight stories first published in Field and Stream , Recreation , and Outdoor Life was originally published by The Derrydale Press in 1934. Buckingham’s ability to evoke the golden age of wild fowling along the Mississippi flyway from the 1890s to the 1940s is unparalleled. Pull up your favorite chair in front of a fire and get ready to relive some of the best hunting stories ever told.

The Duck Hunter’s Bible

A well known hunter tells you all about hunting-Mallard Black Duck Pintail Gadwall Baldpate Teal Shoveller Wood duck Ruddy duck Canvasback Redhead Scaup Ringneck duck Goldeneye Bufflehead Old Squaw Canada Goose Snow goose Snow goose Blue goose White-fronted goose Clapper rail Gallinule Jacksnipe and others.

Turkey Hunting Books

Tenth Legion

Tom Kelly wrote and self published his classic hunting book, TENTH LEGION, in October of 1973. The book has long been considered the best Wild Turkey hunting primer ever written by any outdoor writer living or dead. Mr. Kelly is alive and well and still writing. TENTH LEGION has been in continuous print for 39 years now.

Outdoor Life’s Complete Turkey Hunting

This hunting book brings together the wisdom and expertise of 34 of the nation’s top turkey hunters and callers, both past and present. It covers a wide range of turkey hunting strategies, from the early days of the sport when wild turkeys were being reintroduced, to modern challenges like dealing with multiple gobblers and hens, hunting cunning toms, and outsmarting super-smart turkeys. You’ll discover the history of mouth calls, techniques for various turkey subspecies, and tips for hunting in different terrains and weather conditions. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned turkey hunter, this book provides valuable insights, equipment advice, and exciting hunting stories.

Trapping Books

Trapping The Boundary Waters

On May 4, 1919, Charlie Cook set off for a year of adventure in the Minnesota-Ontario Boundary Waters. Soon abandoned by his comfort-loving companion, the restless World War I veteran spent an enlightening year learning – often the hard way – how to paddle and sail on windy lakes, hunt and fish for food, bake “rough delicacies” in a reflector oven, and build winter-proof shelters.

Journal Of A Trapper

Osborne Russell’s thrilling lifetime involved trapping and wilderness exploration, and makes for a adventurous, eventful and highly readable autobiography.

Crow Killer: The Saga Of Liver-Eating Johnson

This book, often regarded as one of the most enigmatic yet impactful works in American Mountain Man folklore, offers a unique perspective. It presents itself as a biography of John Johnston, whose legendary alias was John “Liver-Eating” Johnson (circa 1824–1900). The narrative claims to rely on oral sources that challenge the accuracy of prior historical accounts. Strikingly, for many years, historians and folklorists unquestioningly embraced the sensational tale of a solitary mountain man from the 1840s, waging a solo battle against the Crow Nation armed with his trusty Hawken rifle.

Best Hunting Books To Read While You Are Hunting

Home, At Last, Is the Hunter

This hunting book skillfully combines the appreciation of hunters for their prey and the beauty of nature, reminiscent of great authors like Archibald Rutledge and Robert Ruark. With finesse and power, Gross takes readers into the woods on the pursuit of the elusive wild turkey, capturing the essence of this remarkable gamebird and the dedicated hunters who chase it. Through the story’s lens, we become deeply invested in the young protagonist, Jeff Stewart, and his remarkable grandfather, The Boss, much like Ruark’s “The Old Man and the Boy.” This book blends adventure with important lessons on hunting safety and respect for game laws, making it a compelling read for novice and experienced hunters alike, as well as non-hunters. Gross expertly weaves woodland knowledge, the thrill of the hunt, and a range of emotions into its pages, creating a truly memorable and recommended work of literature.

Death In The Long Grass

Drawing from Peter Hathaway Capstick’s personal experiences and those of his peers, “Death in the Long Grass” vividly presents the formidable predators of the African wilderness. These include not only iconic beasts like lions, leopards, and elephants but also the primal rhino and the lurking crocodile, patiently awaiting its unsuspecting prey. The narrative introduces us to the colossal hippo and the Cape buffalo, charging with the force of an unstoppable locomotive. Capstick, a natural storyteller, uses vibrant descriptions and an acute eye for authentic details to immerse readers in close encounters with some of the world’s most lethal creatures. This includes underrated yet remarkably brave hyenas, stealthy assassins like the lightning-fast black mamba snake, and the coordinated hunting strategies of wild dogs.

Hemingway On Hunting

Ernest Hemingway’s lifelong zeal for the hunting life is reflected in his masterful works of fiction, from his famous portrayal of an African safari in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” to passages about duck hunting in Across the River and Into the Trees. For Hemingway, hunting was more than just a passion—it was a means through which to explore our humanity and man’s relationship to nature. Courage, awe, respect, precision, patience—these were the virtues that Hemingway honored in the hunter, and his ability to translate these qualities into prose has produced some of the strongest accounts of sportsmanship of all time.

Spiritual Books To Read While Hunting

The New Jefferson Bible – The Life And Morals Of Jesus Of Nazareth

For the first time, you can explore the words and story of Jesus of Nazareth, as personally curated by Thomas Jefferson, in modern English. Dan Marshall has meticulously reviewed the Open English Bible translation to present you with the verses specifically chosen by Jefferson himself. This translation, released in 2010 by the Open English Bible Project, was crafted for accessibility, readability, and precision, aimed at a high school reading level. Thanks to these contemporary efforts, you can now grasp the Gospel passages that Jefferson handpicked in a manner never before achievable. Dive into the perspective of Jesus as seen through the eyes of one of America’s most renowned Founding Fathers.

Wild At Heart

In this updated and expanded edition of the enduring bestseller, ‘Wild at Heart,’ Eldredge delves into the quest for male validation, the cultivation of inner courage, and the imperative to lead a life filled with adventure. Drawing from his personal experiences and grounding them in scripture, Eldredge reminds men that, despite life’s challenges and responsibilities, they need not bury their childhood passions, dreams, and desires. Instead, God designed men to embrace lives marked by courage, adventure, and freedom, encouraging them to take risks and discover authentic purpose and belonging.

The Way Of Chuang Tzu

Working from existing translations, Thomas Merton composed a series of his own versions of the classic sayings of Chuang Tzu, the most spiritual of Chinese philosophers. Chuang Tzu, who wrote in the fourth and third centuries B.C., is the chief authentic historical spokesperson for Taoism and its founder Lao Tzu (a legendary character known largely through Chuang Tzu’s writings). Indeed it was because of Chuang Tzu and the other Taoist sages that Indian Buddhism was transformed, in China, into the unique vehicle we now call by its Japanese name―Zen.

Funny Hunting Stories

To Hell With Hunting

If you’ve ever wondered about trapping a tiger with a talking machine, escaping a rabbit up a tree, or telling the mainland from an ocean reef, ‘To Hell with Hunting’ is your book. Whether you’re an experienced hunter or clueless about tailor’s geese and Canada geese, this book offers hilarious insights that will amuse hunters and humor enthusiasts alike. Packed with Zern’s witty jabs at all things hunting, accompanied by his zany illustrations, this book guarantees double-barreled fun from beginning to end.

Hunting With Beanpole

An award-winning collection of humorous fictional stories featuring a character like that friend we all know—Beanpole, whose curiosity leads to comical mishaps and adventures while hunting varmints, quail, deer, and turkeys. These tales include pranks, mishaps, and even ghostly encounters. If you have a friend like Beanpole, you might consider increasing your insurance and packing a survival kit for your next trip. Winner of the Pinnacle Award from the Professional Outdoor Media Association, these stories provide both laughs and lessons in the great outdoors.

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