From the Foreword by Don Thomas: Like all of the few 'outdoor' books that truly deserve to endure, A Man Made of Elk is, well...different. That's logical enough, for the same can be said of its author. A former Marine pilot and current backwoods intellectual, idealist, iconoclast, and, yes, hunter, Dave Petersen defies categorization as adroitly as his terrific prose.... I know deer hunters, bear hunters, and sheep hunters, but I don't know anyone else who identifies as completely with one species of game as Dave Petersen identifies with elk. This book's title goes beyond metaphor; the guy is made of elk.

The book is a reflection upon the author's 60 year experience hunting upland game birds and waterfowl. The text includes insightful observations on wildlife biology and habitat. It includes a lot of informative stories and information about hunting dogs, especially Labrador retrievers and various pointing breeds. While much of the material focuses on the author's current home state of Montana, settings also include Alaska, the desert Southwest, and Texas as well as international destinations such as New Zealand and multiple locations in Southern Africa. The text is supplemented by 45 high quality color photographs.

For the past decade, Don Thomas's Closing Time columns in Ducks Unlimited magazine have received wide critical praise. Divided into five sections-Waterfowl, In the Field: Ducks, In the Field: Geese, Retrievers, and The Waterfowling Culture-this collection of those columns also includes eight chapters and five introductory essays that have not been published previously as well as photography by the author and his wife, Lori.

In Heartsblood, nationally acclaimed nature writer and veteran outdoorsman David Petersen takes a clear-eyed look at humans and hunting, and reaches conclusions sure to challenge everyone's preconceptions. He draws clear distinctions between true hunting and contemporary hunter behavior, praising what's right about the former and damning what's wrong with the latter. Along with his extensive personal experience, Petersen draws on philosophy, evolutionary science, biology, and empirical studies to create an engaging and literate work that offers a unique look at hunting, hunters, anti-hunting, and, in the words of the author, life's basic truths.

By 1952 it was thought the grizzly bear had been wiped out in Colorado, pushed to oblivion by predator-phobic sheep ranchers and government trappers. Even so, through the mid-1900s, ghostly stories of grizzly sightings continued to haunt remote corners of the dark-timbered San Juan Mountains in the southern-most part of the state. Then, one spooky September evening in 1979, a flesh-and-blood grizzly sow was surprised on its daybed in the South San Juans by a bowhunter ... and the rest, as they say, is history. Or is it? As author and veteran outdoorsman David Petersen takes us along on his quest for evidence of the next 'last' Colorado grizzly, we find ourselves enjoying a masterful mystery unfolding, character by adventure, page by riveting page. Although Ghost Grizzlies is set in Colorado, it stands as a timeless metaphor for every wild place and creature that finds itself under the gun of human encroachment still today. This revised 3rd edition has a new cover, 12 new pages of b/w photos, and updates.

In Elkheart, critically acclaimed essayist and naturalist David Petersen presents a deeply personal, intimately informed, and (by his own admission) somewhat eccentric portrait of the North american elk, or wapiti, and its wild and wooly world.

What does it take to become an Iditarod champion? Join four-time winner and mushing legend Martin Buser as he reveals his life's journey in candid and action-packed detail. From a childhood overseas to becoming a proud immigrant to the United States, Buser's story of self-discovery takes the reader with him on the adventures, misadventures, and lessons that have shaped him and his incredible bond with his sled dogs. This compelling narrative shows what it means to be a real Dog Man, but it also serves as a stirring tribute to the spirit of the Alaskan Husky.

This 20th Anniversary Edition of David Petersen's 1991 natural-history cult classic features new cover art by landscape master Thomas Aquinas Daly; original interior art by America's leading woodcut artist, Michael McCurdy; a foreword by world-renowned deer and antler expert Valerius Geist; and is revised and updated throughout. Well-researched chapters cover the antlers, evolution, natural histories, and social lives of each of North America's five deer species (white-tailed and mule deer, elk, moose, and caribou), as well as the extinct Irish elk, which carried antlers as wide as an SUV is long. Throughout, Petersen's science is woven seamlessly into the author's personal-narrative natural history, taking readers beyond mere facts and figures and into the field for personal encounters with antlers and the animals that wear them. Also included are a ibliography, deer taxonomy chart, and a fascinating interview with antler expert Dr. Valerius Geist. Whether you're a hunter, biologist, wildlife photographer or just a casual observer of nature, Racks is must reading if you're interested in the phenomena of antler growth and development. - Gary Wolfe (former CEO Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) When field observations are as well described as David Petersen's are in Racks, they open up new insights even to scientists. -Dr. Valerius Geist (from his foreword to Racks)

Follow Don Thomas around the world as he explores the outdoors with a traditional bow. While much of this book focuses upon hunting with traditional bows, it also includes numerous wildlife observations, discussions of wildlife biology, and descriptions of wilderness adventure and travel in locations including Alaska, Montana, Australia, and southern Africa. It incudes numerous professional photographs of wildlife and wilderness scenery.

The latest collection from one the country's most highly regarded outdoor writers takes readers bowhunting around the United States and the world. Don Thomas' rich prose brings alive not just the adventure of the hunts, but also the people, places, and natural history he encounters along his travels. A semi-retired physician and active Alaska hunting guide, Thomas writes about fly-fishing, wing-shooting, bowhunting, and wildlife for numerous national publications including Gray's Sporting Journal, Alaska, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, and Shooting Sportsman. He also co-edits Traditional Bowhunter and writes a column for Bowhunter magazine.

A uniquely compelling, refreshingly practical and unimpeachably informed how-to guide for aspiring and published nature writers.

Some Say Fire pits former police officer Susan Brand and private investigator Jake Goddard against nefarious arsonists setting forest fires in the drought-stricken Southwest. Bodies are found in the fires, each with an arrow through the chest. Who are the murderers taking advantage of climate change to spread terror and cause widespread destruction? Goddard and Brand rush to discover the truth before more innocent people die and a conflagration devours the Southwest.

In Greg Zeigler's environmental thriller The Straw That Broke, Lyndall Burke, a vulnerable young scientist and free spirit, gets caught up in a battle between ecoterrorists and corrupt public officials over water in the drought-stricken desert Southwest. Lyndall's disappearance leads police officer Susan Brand and private investigator Jake Goddard to rush to her aid, but abduction, deceit, and murder could lead to a cataclysmic ending jeopardizing the entire region. In a parched and frightening future in which two-thirds of the world's population is expected to be living under severe water shortages, The Straw That Broke is a modern allegory, shedding light on the desperate clashes over precious water, and on our imperiled future.

A modern-day mountain man, a dedicated naturalist, and a writer's writer, David Petersen spends a lot of time outdoors in the Rocky Mountain West. Whether wandering the aspen groves surrounding his cabin in Colorado's San Juan Mountains near Durango, watching grizzlies in Montana, or visiting the hidden desert grave of his friend and mentor, Edward Abbey, Petersen goes places many of us will never see--except through his evocative words. He writes with great clarity and elegance of expression, while constantly renewing and reexamining his special relationship with nature. The Nearby Faraway is an abridged autobiography of the author's life and travels, both geographical and spiritual, throughout the American West--a rich and moving collection from one of the West's most thoughtful, honest, and down-to-earth writers.