Traditional archery hunting: stories and advice about traditional bowhunting

As a Traditional Bowhunter and Bowyer I can relate, Clay has a way of writing that makes you feel as if you were there. Nothing like a great read to inspire you to want to hit the hills with a Traditional Bow. Well done Mr. Hayes!

Short, and real, great book!

Great book on traditional archery and stories of same, great, fun relaxing book that is easy to read.

I enjoyed this book. I'm fan of clays work and it's a good lead in to the rest of the stuff he does

Am a big fan of Clay’s YouTube. Check it out. I was expecting something more educational and instructional. There is very little in the way of advice. Much more this is a collection of hunting stories. They’re not well written. Clay really plays up the country hunter thing and it’s kind of annoying. Every chapter starts with the same campy cold open. It was honestly kind of painful to read. Very disappointed with this purchase.

Clay does not retell boastful takes of conquest. He does not lay out the "magic secret that only he knows (and you can, too, for a price and potion)". He does not tout his "ultrawhacker (and signature endorsed) gear". That, in this modern era, is almost unheard of.What Clay does do is talk to you as a friend, and about things that matter: how to start butchering your own meat, how to start on the path of woodsmanship. I say start because his words and his wisdom are clear that each path will be different and that his path is not going to be mine or yours. He'll tell you a few stories about his own adventures, and they are well lived and well told, but none so out of the realm of possibility that any of us are left thinking that we couldn't do that, too.Clay's work brings us back to an earlier time, one of Bear and of Leupold. He's taking us back to those times and to that path; one we should never have left in the first place. His elders long ahead on that path have to be looking back with a smile and a nod; proud that someone has found their tracks and is following, bringing us along. We'd be wise to follow.

Good little book. I read it pretty quick. Mr. Hayes is full of old timey knowledge.

Great prose is the outflow of gratitude - in this case, his gratitude for the created world. Clay’s skill with a quill may upstage his knowledge of Osage. This collection of essays is not a gold mine - it’s a jewelry store where the knowledge has been dug up, refined, and crafted into something beautiful. And then he gives it to you for a couple bucks. What Clay communicates here transcends pragmatic, it’s an intimacy and appreciation for the natural world on such a deep level that the typical American concern for the utilitarian becomes secondary. Beauty follows the work of the Lord, mankind cannot say the same about his works - he can only reflect God.Anyways good book.

great first book.good read.look forward to the next one.

Great read, easy to get into and packed with wisdom on archery, butchering and the great outdoors. Nice work Clay.

I found this small book a joy to read and indeed wanted it to last longer. Clay Hayes takes you on a ride with him through his adventures and gives down to earth no B.S. information that is intended to entertain and help the reader with out the usual " how good am I" attitude of a lot of todays so called experts. Now I am just waiting for another one of his books to get published and spread more information to the public.

Un opuscule plutôt bref rédigé en américain, rassemblant plusieurs anecdotes évocatrices de l'archerie de chasse traditionnelle.Comme évoqué par un autre commentaire : lecture pas évidente pour un niveau d'anglais de base.Pas d'illustration, ni explication précise. Plutôt des expériences qui illustrent des réflexions.Bon.Finalement, j'ai préféré ses vidéos.Je dirai que c'est une monographie alimentaire pour quelqu'un qui veut vivre de sa passion. Est-ce d'une lecture indispensable pour un amateur de chasse à l'arc ? Un néophyte ? Je n'en suis pas sûr.

by a real individualist, very intelligently written. Not only about great triumphs (bears) but also about "lesser" triumphs (toads), defeats (squirrels refusing to be hit and barking at the hapless hunter from behind the tree) and even outright nightmares such as the "sickening" feeling of just having hurt but not killed an animal. Most of all I appreciated the deep love for nature expressed in every page of this book. Clay Hayes is defintely someone grown up in a natural environment, who, by means of that background and his obvious education, is able ot bring near in a most credible way the very innate lure of traditional BOWhunt (even a flintlock gun seems slightly overdeveloped) to anybody with a minimum interest in these things. The different stories, which range from traditional craft ("tan yer hide", bowmaking) to hunt of any kind of animal, seem to be somewhat unstructured at first sight, but in reality they form a picture of life within and by nature all-comprising just as possible in a book short like this. Highly recommendable!