Dick Sternberg, Upland Game Birds (1995) — Book Review

© 2013 Peter Free

 

02 February 2013

 

 

128 excellent pages

 

This book briefly covers upland game bird hunting techniques, including sections on:

 

pheasants — ring-necked

 

partridge — hungarian and chukar

 

grouse — ruffed, sharp-tailed, blue, sage, prairie chicken, spruce, ptarmigan

 

quail — bobwhite, Gambrel’s, California, mountain, Mearns, sealed

 

migratory upland — mourning doves, woodcock, snipe, band-tailed pigeon, white-ringed and white-tipped doves

 

 

Part of the (out of print) Cy DeCosse Incorporated/Cowles Magazines Hunting and Fishing Library®

 

You can still the Library listed under that name at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.  Some of the books in the series are still available through their affiliated sellers.

 

My volume was printed by R. R. Donnelly & Sons Company (now called RR Donnelly).

 

 

Why this review of an out of print book?

 

This very slim volume is an outstanding representation of what outdoors books should be.  Exceptional color photographs of the birds in question and profusely illustrated with color pictures of hunters hunting the habitat under review.

 

The introductory pages give a short, intelligent overview of shotgun types and sizing, bores, chokes, pellet counts, and patterning.  Followed by a section on the various upland dog breeds, including a photograph of each and a short description of its strengths and weaknesses.  Clothing and footwear are also addressed.

 

The techniques sections are helpful because they include pictures of the terrain and habitats the author addresses.  For people who do not own an upland dog, Sternberg occasionally writes about how to approach that handicap in the field.

 

 

Highly recommended

 

Introductory books do not get any better than Dick Sternberg’s Upland Game Birds.

 

The quality photographs alone, some taken from creative angles that had me wondering how they did them in the film age, will stir the love of the outdoors in anyone who is not already soul dead.

 

An exceptional effort, in every respect.  Easily one of my most prized books.