Those Hours Spent Outdoors

Tapply is wholly committed to fishing and hunting as a normal adjunct to living; since his childhood, he has hunted birds in the woods and fished in the rivers and ponds of New England. In these low-key essays, previously published in sporting magazines, he discourses on the pleasures and trials of seeking the wily grouse and angling for trout and bass in Walden Pond (he thinks that Thoreau wasn't much of a fisherman). He introduces hunting companions: legendary Burt Spiller, grouse expert; Doc, a great partner; Hank, who turns every outing into a competition. He reminisces about his first gun and his father's instructions on safety. This is material tailor-made for fishing-and-hunting enthusiasts.