Column: Spending time with some good books

If you're suffering from hunter's withdrawal, if angler angst gnaws at you, and if winter has you in a double hammerlock, some excellent books could be just the antidote for such seasonal ills.

Before I get into specific titles, a word about outdoor books. From my perspective, there are only three or four publishers who consistently produce good outdoor books and the very best one is The Lyons Press.

Moreover, Lyons is one of the few commercial presses that publishes hunting books. For this, they deserve our gratitude and support.

As an example, Lyons is republishing Tom Kelly, one of the finest writers about turkey hunting to ever put pen to paper. If you want to add another dimension to your spring gobbler hunting, read Kelly's 'Tenth Legion.'

Then go to 'Better on a Rising Tide' followed by 'Dealer's Choice' and get a different view of Kelly from 'The Boat.'

On my bookshelf there's a copy of 'Grouse Hunting Strategies' by Frank Woolner. Inside the flyleaf I have a letter from Woolner thanking me for a copy of the review I did on that book in 1975. I cherish both the letter and the book.

This year Lyons Press reprinted 'Grouse Hunting' and its companion volume 'The Complete Book of Woodcock Hunting.'

The photos are dated, but Woolner's writing isn't. If you're one of those hunters who beats the briars and the thickets for grouse or who slogs through alders and mucky bottoms for woodcock, both of these books belong on your shelf.

Sometime in the early 1970s I bought a copy of Andy Russell's 'Grizzly Country.' I thought it was a terrific book then and my opinion hasn't changed.

'Grizzly Country' isn't about hunting the big bears. Instead it's Russell's account of three years of studying these animals in the mountain country of western Canada and Alaska. Remarkable insights seems an inadequate term to describe the author's work.

On a more contemporary level, for the hunter seeking practical hunting tips that apply to spring and fall turkey seasons, 'The American Wild Turkey, Hunting Tactics and Techniques' by John McDaniel is the ticket.

McDaniel explains the finer points of turkey calling, selecting and maintaining the proper gear, and provides a history of the wild turkey and the hunters who pursue them. On top of this, McDaniel weaves in some good hunting stories.

I'm always leery about books with the word 'greatest' in the title, but I won't argue with 'The Greatest Hunting Stories Ever Told,' a collection of 25 stories edited by Lamar Underwood.

From William Faulkner to Gene Hill, this is a book wrapped in adventure and nostalgia, a book with writing that both soothes and crackles. Besides being a solid volume on its own, it serves as a fine introduction to a variety of writers readers may pursue at length.

Among many angling volumes, one book from Lyons demands attention. 'The Fly Fisher's Illustrated Dictionary' by Darrel Martin is the perfect reference guide to fly fishing.

Martin provides full explanations for more than 350 phrases and terms used by fly fishermen past and present. There are hundreds of illustrations that wipe away some of the mystery surrounding fly fishing, everything from tackle terms to entomology.

For example, how many anglers know what a gillaroo is• You'll find the answer here along with information about insects, including a list of common insect names and how to pronounce them, fly tying tools and materials, and fishing methods. A gillaroo, incidentally, is an Irish brown trout with abundant red spots.

If you take fly fishing seriously or you're a beginner who wants to know what other fly fishermen are talking about, this is the book for you.

Finally, there's 'Blue Mountains Far Away' by Gregory McNamee. This collection of essays deals with the Southwest. From lightning to Las Vegas, McNamee assesses his favorite country in a thoughtful, frequently wistful and sometimes humorous voice.

McNamee writes: 'The best way to know a place in its totality is to know the things it contains.'

Whether we're dealing with the southwestern mountains or southwestern Pennsylvania, those of us who roam the outdoors know that McNamee has hit on something. It's why some hunters become birders or want to know what kind of trees and plants occupy their hunting grounds. It's why some anglers can rattle off names of wildflowers and insect hatches. It gives us intimacy with place.

All of these books from Lyons Press are available through book stores. They may not speed the arrival of spring but they'll make the time spent waiting more enjoyable and worthwhile.

Dave Drakula is an outdoors writer based in Emporium, Cameron County.