( 3 reviews )
-
Posted: Oct 5 2007
If you love upland game and man's best friend you must buy this book. Mr. Davis shares with his readers a personal side of his life while clearly describing some of the ephemeral reasons why modern man MUST hunt. In this collection of his short stories, you learn about a man passionate about bird hunting and intimately connected to the dogs he takes to the field. The book is well written and unlike some sports writers who feel they must apologize for their sport, this gent understands hunting is as important to his life as the blood that courses through his veins.
-
( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 27 2006
I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for the meaning of shooting sport in a world increasingly hostile to it and other elements of tradition and style. Upon reflection, this is a deeply enjoyable book. It conveys a hidden wealth of knowledge and experience about upland wing shooting. As part of a broader quest for enduring personal style, I am embarked on a systematic program to flesh out a philosophy of contemporary wingshooting. In context, this book is both inspirational and educational. My 4 star rating is provisional and based, knowing myself as I do, on a prediction that I will find more value in a few unread books above this one on my list. Candidly, I still have lots of reading and hunting to do. So, I don't want to finalize any assessment until I complete my reading list entitled "The Upland Road: Wingshooting with Style and Class" and transition it to more a carefully reasoned guide by the same name. The Tattered Autumn Sky is a collection of personal essays working together to convey a growing sense of sportsmanship and style through the medium of upland wing shooting. Mr. Davis could have called the book, "How To Be a Better Sport". But, I'm sure he would consider that presumptuous. An essential value of the book is that Tom Davis never preaches about sportsmanship. He illustrates it in a background of personal growth, providing a rich context for readers to choose for themselves what, if any, philosophy they would like to bring to/from the field. In addition to subtle penetrating philosophy, there are also several practical levels on which this book succeeds. First, it excels as a simple survey of game birds and hunting situations in the United States. Second, it provides valuable insights into gun dog training, development and performance. Third, it reveals the sophisticated world of gourmet cooking embedded in the sport. Finally, it offers insight into the social clashes caused by re-gentrification of the, heretofore, widely egalitarian nature of American upland shooting descending from its historical connections to the self-sufficient family farm. My only complaint about the book (and really it is a small one) is that it is few degrees too personal and too sentimental. I admit this criticism may be unwarranted and only a by-product of my own stoicism. It is understandable, after all, that anyone who enjoys a "social" sport like shooting, fishing or golf would want to relate emotionally to the personalities they have enjoyed in a lifetime of sporting activity. But, it is very easy (as I believe happens in this book) to slip into personal sentiment so far that the readers end feeling deprived of helpful insights that they cannot so easily reproduce for themselves by substitute means. Back on the positive side, I learned a great deal from this book about the relative merits of the variety of American upland game birds. I share Mr. Davis's enthusiasm for the woodcock, and so, I appreciate his many insights about this elusive game bird. I also enjoyed his insights about the demands of hunting the prairie chicken and sharp-tail grouse. I have, indeed, been looking for an excuse to visit Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and Iowa. His stories about both the prairie grouses and pheasants give me direction and inspiration for the fall seasons ahead. The coverage of the hunting for quail, grouse and waterfowl in this book is less than that of pheasant, woodcock and prairie grouse. The coverage, nevertheless, is insightful and helpful as it reinforces the value of a good pointing and retrieving dog. The overall cross-comparisons also bring into perspective the interesting contrast in hunting conditions, shooting technique and cooking tastes. My personal interests run towards the fusion of American enthusiasm and practicality in sport with received European style and sensibility. I prefer, for example, to hunt in a Barbour coat, a tattersall shirt, a tie, a pair of knee pants and a pair of Le Chameau St, Hubert boots. But, I wear bright orange baseball cap and I enjoy fighting in the thickets to flush the woodcock and climbing the Sand Hills of Nebraska walking the miles needed to track down the elusive sharp-tail. Intentional or otherwise, Tom Davis succeeds to a high level in conveying useful concepts for anyone searching the woods of life for personal style and philosophy. He achieves this while also conveying an abiding sportsmanship institutionalizing respect for the land, the game, the dogs and the people who converge on this tributary to the search for the good life.
-
( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 27 2005
I purchased this book as a gift for my father, a lifelong bird hunter,though not with pointers. My wife and I read chapters at random, we were so touched by the first one chosen we couldn't stop reading. The descriptions of days afield were poignant and touching. This compelling book made us both laugh and cry. We enjoyed every page and felt we had lived these experiences in the author's own boots. I would compare this author to Spiller, Mcquarrie and Hill. I felt as though I had found a new hunting companion in Davis.
