Here’s A Christmas Gift That’s Easy To Read Into

You can’t go wrong this Christmas by giving your outdoor-oriented friend or relative a book.

Numerous outstanding books on hunting, bass fishing, fly fishing and tying, kayaking, animals and birds were published this year, some the last few weeks.

You’ll have to pay more for books now than you did a year ago. Publishers have had to boost prices dramatically as the result of sky rocketing paper costs, but most are still priced under $50.

Here are a few excellent books published recently:

Wildfowler’s Season, by Chris Dorsey, published by Lyons & Burford, $37.95. Many books on duck hunting have been published the last 100 years. This one, by the editor of Ducks Unlimited magazine, is an up-to-date, well-written and authoritative book on one of the most absorbing of all outdoor sports.

Dorsey condensed in 224 pages much of what makes duck hunting fascinating to hundreds of thousands of waterfowlers. He summarizes the history of duck hunting, provides detailed information about each duck species, discusses the newest equipment, decoys, placement of decoys, blinds, retrievers and even includes duck recipes.

A River Seen Right, by Michael Baughman, published by Lyons & Burford, $25. Northwest fly fishers will be interested in this 143-page book on Oregon’s legendary North Umpqua River. Baughman’s book is more than about how to fish his favorite river, although fly fishers will learn a lot about when to fish it and its pools and runs. It’s a philosophical treatise on traditional fly fishing for steelhead.

Fly fishers who use “indicators” - bobbers to bait fishermen - won’t like what Baughman says about their method. “My purpose certainly isn’t to suggest that indicator fishermen are on level with men who dynamite steelhead holding pools,” he says, “but it does seem to me that the whole ethical question of what works and whether we should do it simply because it works is at the heart of the current controversy over this increasingly popular form of fly angling.”

Best of Dick Idol’s Whitetail World, by Dick Idol, published by Venture Press, Big Fork, Mont., 1-800-826-6071, $29.95. Idol, one of the founders of North American Whitetail magazine, tells how to hunt what he calls the four periods of the rut in his 244-page book. He discusses buck and doe movements during the rut, factors that influence movement, deer travel patterns and how to find food sources, rutting sites, bedding areas and much more.

The World of the Coyote, by Wayne Grady, published by Sierra Club Books, $25. Most people have strong opinions about the much maligned, highly intelligent and cunning coyote. Many ranchers detest and shoot every coyote the see because, they contend, coyotes will kill new-born calves and anything else they regard as food. City dwellers, seeing the wild, elusive coyote running hard over wheat stubble, admire the little wild dog for its wildness. This book, illustrated with beautiful photos, celebrates the animal that lives close to people but retains its wildness and independence.

Bird Brains, by Candace Savage, published by Sierra Club Books, $25. Crows, magpies, jays and other members of the corvid (crow) family are remarkably intelligent and may be the smartest of the world’s birds. Long ago someone wrote that “If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.” Savage, author of numerous books on animals, says that crows call each other by name, remember the location of thousands of food caches and work in teams. They’ll even bark like a dog and trill like a starling. The book is illustrated with numerous color photos of crows, magpies and jays.

Shooter’s Bible and Gun Trader’s Guide, published by Stoeger Publishing. Thousands of gun owners and traders look forward each year to new editions of these popular reference books. As usual, the 1996 “Shooter’s Bible,” $21.95, contains several articles on guns and shooting and provides details on the world’s most popular guns and scopes. “Gun Trader’s Guide,” $16.95, a must for gun buyers and sellers, lists the current market value of many guns.

Bassin’ With a Fly Rod, by Jack Ellis, published by Mountain Pond Publishing Corp., and distributed by Lyons & Burford, $22.95. Most Inland Northwest fly fishers are trout fishermen, but many who read Ellis’ book will start to spend time casting outsized bass bugs at the region’s lakes. There’s little doubt that fly fishing for bass is gradually becoming popular in the region as more and more fly fishers discover the delights of hooking wary largemouths. New recruits to bassing with a fly can learn a lot by reading this book.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review