I Love Cynics!

There are few certainties about hunting in Alaska. However, whether or not your hunt was successful, the forests and tundra of this beautiful state will provide stories for years to come.

It can often prove difficult to find decent books that provide details for hunting where you live. There are many general books to be had in the outdoors section of your local bookstore, but finding the specifics for your area is generally a word of mouth prospect. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ran an article on Jim McCann’s new book Upland Hunting in Alaska.

It proved to be a hard book to find. Our Walden’s did not have it. Neither did the local used bookstore. I was finally able to get a copy at Down Under Guns, a local gun shop.

The book provides a very open look at McCann’s hunting life in Alaska. The focus of the book, grouse, play a key hunting role in Alaska. Plentiful, they provide many a hunter with endless hours of sport and a myriad of recipes.

McCann’s goal is to teach the reader about grouse, how they are hunted, what they eat and where they can be found (but not is so much detail that you’ll find his prized spots!) But he goes much farther than that. McCann enjoys the company of three very special companions; his hunting dogs Buddy, Rusty and Rudy. While he does give tips for the dogless hunter, he primarily focuses his personal stories on the exploits of his Brittany spaniels.

McCann provides excellent tips for hunting grouse and ptarmigan in interior Alaska. From general locations to specific gear, the tips should help even seasoned hunters improve their luck. From point to follow through, he explains the hunting strategies that work best for each variation of grouse found in Alaska. Ruffed, spruce and sharptails are given plenty of space to explain habitat, locations, feeding and mating.

All the while, he focuses on personal history and conservation. He holds little (no) respect for those hunters hanging out of windows blowing away birds along the side of the road. The basic tenet of “Pack out what you pack in” is mentioned several times. Pack out more if anyone before you has been slobs. Never shoot more birds than you need. Rarely does one need to “limit out.”

The goal is to keep up healthy populations and habitat. This is a lesson McCann tries to drill in early and often. In his chapter on the future of grouse hunting in Alaska, he frets over dwindling habitat and bird populations, and rightfully so. Even in Alaska development continues to expand, consuming habitat. Additionally, as more and more people discover the excellent hunting, or exploit the often-oblivious nature of the bird (what? Move for the hunter? I’M EATING HERE!) populations may rapidly dwindle.

While he does have a habit of shifting into storytelling when you least expect it, and retelling previously mentioned information, he does so with a purpose. Each story tells you something about himself, Alaska, the crafty birds and his dogs. You can tell the man loves his dogs and that he is proud of them. I think that makes the book all that much more enjoyable and real. It’s easy to empathize with a disappointment or the excitement of the moment.

I hope to put his suggestions to work for me. To Alaskan’s I say buy this book, hunter or not, just to read about the experiences. To those from out of state, I say buy it for the same reason. You’ll learn why we all love to live here.

Note: This book does not yet appear to be on Amazon. It can be found at Barnes & Noble, however.