From the Foreword by Don Thomas: "Like all of the few 'outdoor' books that truly deserve to endure, A Man Made of Elk is, well...different. That's logical enough, for the same can be said of its author. A former Marine pilot and current backwoods intellectual, idealist, iconoclast, and, yes, hunter, Dave Petersen defies categorization as adroitly as his terrific prose.... I know deer hunters, bear hunters, and sheep hunters, but I don't know anyone else who identifies as completely with one species of game as Dave Petersen identifies with elk. This book's title goes beyond metaphor; the guy is made of elk."

A Man Made of Elk: Stories, Advice, and Campfire Philosophy from a Lifetime of Traditional Bowhunting

Sports & Outdoors

PETERSEN, DAVID

Hunting & Fishing

David Petersen Books

By 1952 it was thought the grizzly bear had been wiped out in Colorado, pushed to oblivion by predator-phobic sheep ranchers and government trappers. Even so, through the mid-1900s, ghostly stories of grizzly sightings continued to haunt remote corners of the dark-timbered San Juan Mountains in the southern-most part of the state. Then, one spooky September evening in 1979, a flesh-and-blood grizzly sow was surprised on its daybed in the South San Juans by a bowhunter ... and the rest, as they say, is history. Or is it? As author and veteran outdoorsman David Petersen takes us along on his quest for evidence of "the next 'last' Colorado grizzly," we find ourselves enjoying a masterful mystery unfolding, character by adventure, page by riveting page. Although Ghost Grizzlies is set in Colorado, it stands as a timeless metaphor for every wild place and creature that finds itself under the gun of human encroachment still today. This revised 3rd edition has a new cover, 12 new pages of b/w photos, and updates.

Ghost Grizzlies: Does the great bear still haunt Colorado? 3rd ed.

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

In Heartsblood, nationally acclaimed nature writer and veteran outdoorsman David Petersen takes a clear-eyed look at humans and hunting, and reaches conclusions sure to challenge everyone's preconceptions. He draws clear distinctions between true hunting and contemporary hunter behavior, praising what's right about the former and damning what's wrong with the latter. Along with his extensive personal experience, Petersen draws on philosophy, evolutionary science, biology, and empirical studies to create an engaging and literate work that offers a unique look at hunting, hunters, anti-hunting, and, in the words of the author, "life's basic truths."

Heartsblood: Hunting, Spirituality, and Wildness in America

This 20th Anniversary Edition of David Petersen's 1991 natural-history cult classic features new cover art by landscape master Thomas Aquinas Daly; original interior art by America's leading woodcut artist, Michael McCurdy; a foreword by world-renowned deer and antler expert Valerius Geist; and is revised and updated throughout. Well-researched chapters cover the antlers, evolution, natural histories, and social lives of each of North America's five deer species (white-tailed and mule deer, elk, moose, and caribou), as well as the extinct "Irish elk," which carried antlers as wide as an SUV is long. Throughout, Petersen's science is woven seamlessly into the author's personal-narrative natural history, taking readers beyond mere facts and figures and into the field for personal encounters with antlers and the animals that wear them. Also included are a ibliography, deer taxonomy chart, and a fascinating interview with antler expert Dr. Valerius Geist. "Whether you're a hunter, biologist, wildlife photographer or just a casual observer of nature, Racks is must reading if you're interested in the phenomena of antler growth and development."  - Gary Wolfe (former CEO Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) "When field observations are as well described as David Petersen's are in Racks, they open up new insights even to scientists." -Dr. Valerius Geist (from his foreword to Racks)

Racks: A Natural History of Antlers and the Animals That Wear Them, 20th Anniversary Edition

Going Trad: Out There, with Elkheart

Nature & Ecology

A uniquely compelling, refreshingly practical and unimpeachably informed how-to guide for aspiring and published nature writers.

Writing Naturally: A Down-To-Earth Guide to Nature Writing

In Elkheart, critically acclaimed essayist and naturalist David Petersen presents a deeply personal, intimately informed, and (by his own admission) "somewhat eccentric" portrait of the North american elk, or wapiti, and its wild and wooly world.

Elkheart: A Personal Tribute to Wapiti and Their World

A modern-day mountain man, a dedicated naturalist, and a writer's writer, David Petersen spends a lot of time outdoors in the Rocky Mountain West. Whether wandering the aspen groves surrounding his cabin in Colorado's San Juan Mountains near Durango, watching grizzlies in Montana, or visiting the hidden desert grave of his friend and mentor, Edward Abbey, Petersen goes places many of us will never see--except through his evocative words. He writes with great clarity and elegance of expression, while constantly renewing and reexamining his special relationship with nature. The Nearby Faraway is an abridged autobiography of the author's life and travels, both geographical and spiritual, throughout the American West--a rich and moving collection from one of the West's most thoughtful, honest, and down-to-earth writers.

The Nearby Faraway: A Personal Journey Through the Heart of the West

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Books by David Petersen Books