Hunting Trips of a Ranchman & the Wilderness Hunter

My wife bought me this book for my birthday since I am starting to get interested in hunting. I heard that it was good, and was eager to read it since the author is one of our Presidents. I was not disappointed at all by the book. It is quite the page turner as Teddy Roosevelt describes his adventures hunting near the ranch he purchased after the death of his wife. The biggest surprise from the book is how well the former President writes. I knew that TR was quite an active man, full of energy and adventure. But, I did not appreciate the fact that we wrote very well. In this book he describes hunting several different types of animals - deer, buffalo, goats, elk to name a few. You practically feel like you are in the saddle with him on these numerous hunting trips. Although TR wrote this book over a hundred years ago, it still contains content that is relevant today. If you appreciate a good hunting book, and have not read this one, then I recommend you do. It will make you want to pick up your rifle and go out for an outdoor adventure soon.

The prose of TR takes me back to a time in America, a time before my own, but a time that I so wish I could have experienced in the saddle alongside TR. While the prose may be somewhat dated, as an avid reader and author I find it refreshing and relaxing. I use the present tense of the verb because I never seem to tire of reading and reading TR's sagas of life on the plains and the pursuit of big game. Today such pursuit is mostly for sport and I am but one of many who enjoy this great adventure, even to its fullest. Life on his ranch in the Badlands however required such pursuit for sustinence and as such required patience and persistance in far greater excess than many of us today possess. Many who choose to pursue elk, mule deer or antelope could do far worse than to read and absorb the lessons of one of the great plainsmen of history.

I felt strongly enough to review this book from actually reading and owning the two original books which comprise this one collection. Teddy Roosevelt came west after his first wife died to heal and in the plains he found the spirit which made the gentleman who would become a world leader. Hunting Trips of a Ranchman is an early work of Roosevelt finding his way in writing. It is a wonderful historic work of the showing of the sportsman over the market hunter in America with all big game species detailed on his hunts, and, how Roosevelt felt that the virtue of freedom was based in Americans learning to experience stalking game, living in the wilds all to create the citizen soldier. The Wilderness Hunter is my favorite for in this Teddy touches upon the prose of his soul and is the best work I have found so far in crafting a beautiful stories in the experience of hunting. I have read this book twice and it is still the one I reach for to carry along in times to keep me company.

This collection of Roosevelt's hunting trips and adventures puts you right out there with him, on the wild plains. The clarity of his descriptions and the easy way he takes you through his experiences has made this one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. If you enjoy the wilderness, stories about the old west or just relaxing with a good book, this is a great choice.

Roosevelt purchased two cattle ranches in present-day western North Dakota, and many times went out to hunt for sport or for "meat for the pot."Hunting Trips of a Ranchman in effect provides essays on the description, behavior, habitat, and survival of several species known to the prairies and the distant forests and mountain ranges. He talks of wildfowl (grouse, etc), elk, buffalo, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, black-tailed or mule deer, and finishes with Old Ephraim, the grizzly bear. All of these books are good for armchair readers who have never been to the western wildernesses or prairies, where these animals can be viewed with perseverance and patience.Roosevelt speaks of elk as the most noble of the deer family and perhaps the most majestic of all animals (which I tend to agree). He speaks of the incredible speed but also remarkable (and sometimes fatal) curiosity of the pronghorn, who are able to outrun any foes and keep in the open to see them at long distance with their excellent vision. However, they run in a straight line to provide a fairly consistent target for a good marksmen. He speaks of the enjoyable hunting of both kinds of deer, the difficulty of approaching the haunts of the bighorn, and his big finale, one of the best accounts of hunting grizzlies that I have ever read. Roosevelt's respect for the bear's ferocity is manifest, almost amounting to an admitted dread, which shows his good sense.If you are interested in the American wild, are curious about the habits and habitats of these large species, and are drawn to the hunting and outdoor mentality of the President who helped strengthen the national park system, this will be an entertaining read for you.