Whitetail Nation

My Season in Pursuit of the Monster Buck

Pete Bodo

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN:
  9780547504452
• Print ISBN:
  9780547577500
• Subtopic: Essays on Nature

A dedicated deer hunter "writes with humor and insight" about his adventures—and misadventures—in the wild ( Orlando Sentinel).
 
Every autumn, millions of men and women across the country don their camo, stock up on doe urine, and undertake a quintessential American tradition—deer hunting. The pinnacle of a hunter's quest is killing a buck with antlers that "score" highly enough to qualify for the Boone and Crockett record book. But in all his seasons on the trail, Pete Bodo, an avid outdoorsman and student of the hunt, had never reached that milestone. Sadly, he had to admit it: He was a nimrod.
 
Whitetail Nation is the uproarious story of the season Pete Bodo set out to kill the big buck. From the rolling hills of upstate New York to the vast and unforgiving land of the Big Sky to the Texas ranches that feature high fences, deer feeders, and money-back guarantees, Bodo traverses deep into the heart of a lively, growing subculture that draws powerfully on durable American values: the love of the frontier, the importance of self-reliance, the camaraderie of men in adventure, the quest for sustained youth, and yes, the capitalist's right to amass every high tech hunting gadget this industry's exploding commerce has to offer.
 
Gradually, Bodo closes in on his target—that elusive monster buck—and with each day spent perched in a deer stand or crawling stealthily in high grass (praying the rattlesnakes are gone), or shivering through the night in a drafty cabin (flannel, polar fleece, and whiskey be damned), readers are treated to an unforgettable tour through a landscape that ranges from the exalted to the absurd. Along the way Bodo deftly captures the spirit and passion of this rich American pursuit, tracing its history back to the days of Lewis and Clark and examining that age old question: "Why do men hunt?"

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Prologue
• Part I
• All Roads Lead to Antlers
• Blood Trail to Nowhere
• The Milkweed Factor
• Pancho and Lefty, Reprieved
• Part II
• Gravity Is a Buzzkill
• The Whitetail Express
• Lord of the Plains
• The Big Empty
• Part III
• Love and War in the Woods
• The Million-Dollar Free Throw
• Know When to Fold ’Em
• A Nimrod’s Lament
• Afterword
• Glossary
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH