Judd Cooney - The Bowhunters Field Manual: Tactics and Gear for Big and Small Game Across the Country

Tactics and Gear for Big and Small Game
Across the Country

JUDD COONEY

Foreword by M. R. James
Preface by James Dougherty

SKYHORSE PUBLISHING

To my daughter Lisa and son-in-law, Mike Kraetsch, for unconditionally allowing me to share a lifetime of knowledge and outdoor experiences with the next generation of bowhunters, my grandchildren, Zane, Cole and Magan, and to revel in their unbridled energy, limitless curiosity and boundless enthusiasm during our ventures in the great outdoors.

As a bowhunter who has spent countless irreplaceable days enjoying the great outdoors with bow and arrow in hand, Im honored to be a part of this worthwhile endeavor where a portion of the money you spend for this book is returned directly to the Bowhunting Preservation Alliance. This non-profit organization works to enhance our present bowhunting situation, develop new bowhunting opportunities across the nation and recruit new bowhunters into this challenging and rewarding sport. These ongoing efforts, in turn, will help preserve our bowhunting heritage for us and future generations to follow.

Judd Cooney

Copyright 2013 by Skyhorse Publishing

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62087-692-3

Printed in the United States of America

Bowhunting is like religiononce youve seen the light, you want others to find that special sense of accomplishment and challenge that only bowhunting offers. The Bowhunting Preservation Alliance works to put archery into every community, invite every beginning archer to try bowhunting, and wants every bowhunter to find opportunities to hunt where they live. Your purchase of this book will help provide the means for us to spread the good news about archery and bowhunting and ensure that, long after youve left the woods, others will experience the adrenaline rush and genuine satisfaction shared by all whove hunted with stick and string. Thanks.

Jay McAninch,

CEO/President, Archery Trade Association.

APPENDIX
State and Province Game and Fish Departments and Resources

Judd Cooney is a living, breathing anachronism. Those of us who know him best universally agree that he would have been just as much at home toting a .58 caliber Hawken back in the 1800s as he is heading afield today carrying a modern compound bow, scope-sighted rifle, or auto-loading shotgun. Likewise we know that Judd would have been just as comfortable clad in beaded moccasins, fringed buckskin shirt, and brain-tanned trousers as he is in Windstopper camo and Vibram-soled hunting boots. And theres absolutely no doubt in anyones mind that he would have chatted as friendly-like across some high-country campfire with famed frontiersman Jim Bridges as he did across the dinner table with legendary bowhunter Fred Bear.

So, just who is this contemporary mountain man who likely was born a century or two too late? Honestly, its impossible to pin a single label on Judd Cooney. Outdoor writer? Yes, and a darned good one. Wildlife photographer? Arguably, one of the countrys best. Hunting guide? Yep, a top-drawer professional. Conservationist? Definitely, but in the purest sense of the word (dont ever confuse Judd Cooney the conservationist with one of those misinformed Yuppie preservationists who learned all about nature by watching Walt Disney movies and who believe animals talk to each other while coexisting peacefully in an outdoor world as lush and innocent as the biblical Garden of Eden).

And dont forget other appropriate labels, either: serious varmint hunter, deadeye shot (with most any weapon you can name), extraordinary game caller, and, oh yes, passionate and knowledgeable hunter with both gun and bow.

Finally, mix in such terms as loyal friend, devoted husband, proud father, and doting grandpa, and you can sketch a pretty good mental image of this rugged, square-jawed individualist who possesses a devilish sense of humor and always calls em exactly as he sees emoften with the subtlety of a kick in the groin.

Judd Cooney intimately knows and bluntly speaks the truth about nature. He has learned about wild birds and animals firsthand, observing them throughout a long and active outdoor life that spans more than six decades. From his early boyhood days hunting, fishing, and trapping in his native Minnesota... through his formative college years in South Dakota (where he kept a pet fox in his dorm room and sometimes cut morning classes to jump-shoot ducks or bowhunt bottomland deer)... to his postgraduate conservation work in Alaska, his later years spent afield as a Colorado game warden and a successful freelance photojournalistJudd Cooney has been there, done that. Again and again. Over and over.

It is Judds familiarity with wildlife and successful hunting techniqueserudition gained from myriad personal experiences during long decades spent in North Americas fields and foreststhat set him apart from his peers. Combine a God-given writing talent with a hunters instinct and artists eye, and you have perhaps the only man who could create this comprehensive bowhunting field manual so honestly, so well.

I first met Judd Cooney some three decades ago. Over the ensuing years, we shared numerous antelope, deer, bear, and turkey camps. In Colorado. California. Alabama. Illinois. Iowa. South Dakota. And Canada, too. Hardly a year passes that we dont team up on yet another bowhunting adventure. Somewhere. Anywhere. And after all this time, I am still amazed by Judds knowledge and his innate ability to impart useful information to others.

For anyone dreaming of hunting trips to faraway placesor simply wanting to improve backyard-hunting skillsthis new book offers on-target assistance and serves as an invaluable reference source. Its intended to be read. And reread. The writing, you will quickly discover, is vintage Cooney. Crisp. Honest. Understandable. Sprinkled with appropriate anecdotes and no-nonsense advice. Every page, in fact, shines with the authors knowledge, talent, and complete understanding of the subject.

I consider The Bowhunters Field Manual to be the ideal packagegood reading and generous information offered by an outdoorsman who has lived the words he chooses to share. Now read onand learn. Youll be a better bowhunter for the experience. Thats a promise.