Favorite books to read on stand

[Rally1148]

Well I'm getting my reading list together, and I was wondering if you all read on stand, and what you read? I know for scent reasons it's not the best choice so I don't do it for archery, but for rifle I do. Are there any genres that you guys love/prefer? I myself am a big fan of history and science... They get me thinking about life, and IMHO, the woods is one of the best places to think about the wonders of life! My BIL likes Louis L'Amour

Here are the books I've completed or reread on stand. Some are pretty nerdy, so don't judge me too harshly!

How to Build a Dinosaur -Jack Horner
Demon Haunted World- Carl Sagan
Climbing Mount Improbable- Richard Dawkins
MeatEater- Steve Rinella (GREAT book)
Cadillac Desert- Marc Reisner
Your Inner Fish- Neil Shubin (One of my favorite books of all time. He is the scientist that found the "missing link". He does a great job explaining heavy concepts while giving the reader a few breaks by inserting his personal anecdotes.)
Sand County Almanac- Aldo
El Beso de la Mujer Araña - Manuel Puig (I think that this one would be way to weird for lots of us here. I had to read it for my spanish lit class, and happened to do it on stand. I liked it, but it is not at all like any of the books I listed above in either form or subject matter. Regardless, it is a literary gem)
Field Notes from a Catastrophe - Elizabeth Kolbert
Silent Spring- Rachel Carson
Living Downstream - Sandra Steingraber (She came and spoke to one of my bio classes. She's a bit eccentric, and has been to jail for protesting, but she presents a lot of good info that gets you thinking about large scale systems and our role in them)


My list for this year includes a lot of geology stuff, but still some bio and history. It'll take me a good year to get through all of these, and most likely even longer.
This years list:
The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution- Greg Cochran
The Control of Nature- John McPhee
Annals of the Former World- John McPhee
American Buffalo- Steve Rinella
Governing The Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action- Elinor Ostrom
Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed American- John M. Barry.


Anything I should add to my list?!?

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I really like Sagan.....I remember watching Cosmos when i was young and being blown away. I always loved.....Billions and billions and billions...lol

I dont read on stand....although i guess being lost in thought and careful observation of my surroundings is probably a similar state of being. While bowhunting i'm usually so focused on my surroundings i couldnt read, and during rifle season i don't do much in the way of hunting from stands...i like to get out and still hunt or still hunt my way between areas that i set up in on the ground.

 

[Rally1148]

I really like Sagan.....I remember watching Cosmos when i was young and being blown away. I always loved.....Billions and billions and billions...lol

I dont read on stand....although i guess being lost in thought and careful observation of my surroundings is probably a similar state of being. While bowhunting i'm usually so focused on my surroundings i couldnt read, and during rifle season i don't do much in the way of hunting from stands...i like to get out and still hunt or still hunt my way between areas that i set up in on the ground.

I generally like books that get me thinking about that stuff, either how small we are, or how big of an impact we can have. I second what you say about being in your surroundings. I think I've spent more time reflecting on my place in the world while in my treestand bowhunting (with no book) than I have at most any other time except when I go fishing in the summer. A cooler with some two hearted (or basically anything), a pack of yamamoto kreatures, and some bluegrass and I'm set for hours. For me, bowhunting is that time that I get lost in nature (although I do spend a lot of time wandering and exploring when I do my habitat improvements). Bowhunting is by far my favorite over rifle. I've never shot a buck with either, but I get a doe each year in rifle... my heart doesn't pound TOO much on does with a rifle, but every time I get a doe or even a fawn or button in range with my bow (which I have a self imposed limit of 25 yards) I get the jitters! I almost jumped out of my skin when I had a big 6 point (which I found dead this year, and is either a HUGE 2.5 or a smaller 3.5). I passed on the shot because I felt it was too dark. Just having him at 15 yards and being able to observe him prior to that at 40 yards was awesome. There is just something about that deer being so close, and so alert that puts you on your toes and makes it exciting.

During rifle I'm usually in some homemade box binds, with a big clearing and a few shooting lanes. 20 acres (half swamp) is a bit too small for me to do much still hunting other than to and from my stands. Books keep me out there for a few extra hours, as a lot of the time I'm not seeing many deer (they get pretty pressured once the season hits). I'm sure I've missed deer because my head was down in a book, but I figure it's all great as long as I'm still enjoying it!

 

[Rally1148]

Into thin air is a great one. As far as Oreilly, I haven't read any of his books. I'm guess, perhaps foolishly, I thought that the books would be like he is on TV. Although lots of times there is a big difference between people on TV and their writing. For some reason Bill Oreilly's overview of what's wrong with our society and our country didn't seem like it'd be relaxing to me! I didn't even realize that they were historical. I'll have to check them out! Is there one that you prefer (he wrote Patton, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Jesus... am I missing any?) I'm most interested in Patton and Lincoln... I just love Pre 1950's US history. Once you get into Vietnam it all became to confusing.

To me Latin American history is pretty darn interesting as well. I love reading about the Dirty War era, and basically anything about Pinochet or Videla I find incredibly interesting. Franco-Post Franco Spain is also pretty interesting to me. LOTS of stuff going on in the world at that time, and the U.S. was involved in a lot of it one way or another.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Into thin air is a great one. As far as Oreilly, I haven't read any of his books. I'm guess, perhaps foolishly, I thought that the books would be like he is on TV. Although lots of times there is a big difference between people on TV and their writing. For some reason Bill Oreilly's overview of what's wrong with our society and our country didn't seem like it'd be relaxing to me! I didn't even realize that they were historical. I'll have to check them out! Is there one that you prefer (he wrote Patton, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Jesus... am I missing any?) I'm most interested in Patton and Lincoln... I just love Pre 1950's US history. Once you get into Vietnam it all became to confusing.

To me Latin American history is pretty darn interesting as well. I love reading about the Dirty War era, and basically anything about Pinochet or Videla I find incredibly interesting. Franco-Post Franco Spain is also pretty interesting to me. LOTS of stuff going on in the world at that time, and the U.S. was involved in a lot of it one way or another.

I have really gotten into the history of Afghanistan/pakistan from the cold war on to the present. A book called Ghost Wars by Steve Coll is a good read.

 

[sandbur]

I hadn't taken a book along to read while deer hunting since I was a kid (late 70's)...until I moved to MN. Now I take along some kind of habitat book (Jeff Sturgis' last year) to peruse from time to time. When I hunted where there was a decent population of deer, no way was I going to have my nose stuck in a book when a big buck could materialize at any time. Here, I don't have that worry :oops:

I read far more books while on stand than I see deer. I have actually looked forward to the reading time. For me it is fiction with a historical bend that I like the best. I have also read Tom Clancy.

Stu-Move north in Mn. and you might not see a deer all season. Just carry a shovel-SSS.

 

[PackerBacker]

Wish I could be of help for good books. Outside of Steve B's books, I haven't read a book for enjoyment since high school. Books I bring with me are always work related self help type of books on how to build a better company, be more efficient and so on.

 

[Catscratch]

"Voices of Chernobly". Interviews of people who lived through the meltdown. A little science, history, nature, and human perspective.

Dean Koontz and Stephen King are always good ways to pass the time, but they probably don't fit your genre. Lone Survivor was good...

 

[sandbur]

Wish I could be of help for good books. Outside of Steve B's books, I haven't read a book for enjoyment since high school. Books I bring with me are always work related self help type of books on how to build a better company, be more efficient and so on.

Deer season is a time to relax for me and to get away from work.

I admire your dedication!

 

[j-bird]

I will eventually get the 3 books from Steve B and will add them to my pack - I may want to read the on on stand placement before the season starts!:D

 

[Catscratch]

Wish I could be of help for good books. Outside of Steve B's books, I haven't read a book for enjoyment since high school. Books I bring with me are always work related self help type of books on how to build a better company, be more efficient and so on.

Some great leadership books come from coaches:
"The Carolina Way" Dean Smith (my favorite)
Bobby Knight's book (don't remember it's title but a good look at his life and why is who he is)
Geno Auriemma's book
Pat Summitt's book

 

[bueller]

I'll take a nap on the stand before reading a book. I think my grunt call (snoring) strikes the curiousity of the deer and brings them in closer. Great way to remain completely still also.

 

[Rally1148]

I'll take a nap on the stand before reading a book. I think my grunt call (snoring) strikes the curiousity of the deer and brings them in closer. Great way to remain completely still also.

I'm more than guilty of falling asleep on stand. Rarely when I'm bowhunting, but you can usually count on it by about 10:00 am in a morning set after I wake up at 5am. I have one blind with no glass or windows of any kinds, just shutters that I prop open. It's incredible when it snows. Absolutely silent, yet the woods are alive with birds and squirrels, and sometimes deer. I'll be honest, I've drifted off a time or two right at the magic hour, and woken up about 20 minutes after legal light. I just think of it as recharging.

 

[PackerBacker]

Some great leadership books come from coaches:
"The Carolina Way" Dean Smith (my favorite)
Bobby Knight's book (don't remember it's title but a good look at his life and why is who he is)
Geno Auriemma's book
Pat Summitt's book

Thanks - will look into those. Have to be better than the Millionaire Next Door and Who Moved My Cheese.

 

[j-bird]

I read to learn so in most cases it's about deer or habitat stuff.

Some great leadership books come from coaches:
"The Carolina Way" Dean Smith (my favorite)
Bobby Knight's book (don't remember it's title but a good look at his life and why is who he is)
Geno Auriemma's book
Pat Summitt's book

Knight's book is called -"buy a couch - I'll throw in a chair!":D That's coming from a Hoosier fan - so it's OK.

 

[SD51555]

I don't read on stand. But I have come across some great books. Fiction: All the Vince Flynn books. Personal finance: The first four books in the rich dad series, Cramers "Get rich carefully" Wild cards: Folks This Ain't Normal and Managing Cover Crops Profitably (3rd edition).

I usually end up in one of four mindsets on stand:

-sleep
-high anticipation for action
-deep thought
-endless doubt if i'm in the right stand for the moment, and what the hell is just out of sight of me?

 

[Rally1148]

-high anticipation for action
-deep thought
-endless doubt if i'm in the right stand for the moment, and what the hell is just out of sight of me?

Those last three are always mine for an afternoon set. I'm set up on my food plot because I haven't YET figured out other places to sit. Half of the time I'm wondering if the deer will come out from the path that I'm covering, or one on the other side! The first few sits of the year, I couldn't even begin to fall asleep. I'm so pumped up just to be out there.

 

[Da U.P. 'eh]

Allow me to put in a vote for McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove". Not new but one of the best.

 

[wklman]

My favorite is a book called "they call me hunter" by hunter wells. Some great and funny stories by one of the greatest guides ever in AZ. He died in a plane crash in Alaska. If you can find the book it's definitely worth the read.

 

[Rally1148]

My favorite is a book called "they call me hunter" by hunter wells. Some great and funny stories by one of the greatest guides ever in AZ. He died in a plane crash in Alaska. If you can find the book it's definitely worth the read.

I'll try to find it!