Like an honest dog, it’ll be the standard by which you compare all other upland hunting books.
It’s the highest level of praise for a handler to call a dog “honest.” By that handlers mean every time the dog points there is a bird under his nose. Honest dogs work hard, they aim to please, they handle like a dream, and they remain staunch until hunters arrive for a shot. I don’t know that there is a similar term in book publishing, but if there was a book publishing equivalent, then Tim Flanigan’s Grouse and Woodcock: The Birds of My Life is one for sure.
Part of the charm of Grouse and Woodcock: The Birds of My Life comes from the regular inclusion of hundreds of unique and stunning images. Flanigan is an industry-best photographer whose countless awards from over a dozen, industry-leading institutions proves that he knows his way around a camera. But his life spent with grouse, woodcock, bird dogs, and covers lends itself perfectly to shape his eye.
Flanigan’s eye, or his way of looking at the world, is precisely what we bird hunters want to see. He represents the entire life of ruffed grouse and woodcock, and shows us their magical nature as found in their natural environment. No one likes having a picture taken while their mouths are full, but Flanigan’s patience, wisdom and skill enables him to capture a cock grouse eating fruit from a multiflora rose stem, a hen grouse eating a daily dose of greens, and a woodcock extracting a worm from the ground. Flanigan shows birds that feel totally relaxed and safe enough to let down their guard and feast. Those images are perfectly composed with exquisite light, razor sharp focus and clarity, all of which speak to Flanigan’s outstanding photographer’s eye. It should come as no surprise that when he used to shoot birds he did so successfully in thick, early season foliage with a .410.
Like an honest dog, Flanigan works hard. His four-season, multi-state tour across his entire life results in well-crafted stories that traverse time. Discussions from his decades as a state game warden and guide touch on the past and move progressively into current issues. His goal is to kindle and illuminate. Ideally, his wisdom will inspire a new group of grouse and woodcock devotees committed to insightful and meaningful pursuit of these wonderful, wild birds. Chapters range from conservation, practical hunting information, flora and fauna, and game bird behavior, habits and characteristics. Flanigan’s crisp writing blends with his images to show readers how important grouse and woodcock are not just to him but to us all. Those, too, are the baselines that factor into the necessity for our world to be wild as a whole.
In Grouse and Woodcock: The Birds of My Life, Flanigan doesn’t hunt for himself. Like an honest dog, he aims to please. His information is not delivered like a professor providing a seminar from behind a lectern. He speaks to readers and viewers with the tone of a best hunting buddy, the kind who knows a lot more than you but, in his heart, really wants you to succeed. His writing is humble, informative, and patient, and like all excellent writers Flanigan prefers to show rather than to tell. His wisdom is indefatigable, it’s relatable as it is encouraging. In the end, Flanigan hopes readers will see more with their minds than their eyes, for that is from whence true mastery comes.
Part of Flanigan’s goal is to inspire readers to know as much about grouse and woodcock as possible. From that increased study comes an understanding of the underpinnings of natural order. Out of that deeper knowledge comes discernment, or the ability to differentiate. Being able to discern is what makes an honest dog pass up foot scent to instead point body scent. By savoring Grouse and Woodcock: The Birds of My Life, readers will become better hunters for sure. But more importantly they’ll be able to savor both the journey as well as the experience.
As a long-time grouse and woodcock hunter, I’m kind of a shoo-in for an exquisite book such as Flanigan’s. As a litmus test, I passed it along to a passionate pheasant and quail hunter. He loved it so much that he said this fall he will travel North for a first experience with these wonderful birds. Flanigan’s book is powerful, so much so that it should come with a warning label: be careful, grouse and woodcock hunting is addictive.
If you own a lot of dogs in your life the odds are good that you’ll have an honest dog. To get the equivalent in an upland hunting book then take a hard look at Grouse and Woodcock: The Birds of my Life. Like an honest dog it’ll be the standard by which you compare all others.
This revised and expanded edition relives 30 years of hunting on the High Plains of North America. You’ll find detailed information on sharptails, sage grouse, pheasants, prairie chickens and Huns, and the best techniques for hunting each species. Buy Now
