THE SPORTS AFIELD BOOK OF

Description / THE SPORTS AFIELD BOOK OF

Did you know that a single German prince in the 1600s killed more than 31,000 wild boars over his lifetime? Have you heard of Sasha Siemel, who dispatched some 300 jaguars using only a spear? Did you know that the big-game animal that lives at the highest altitude is not a wild sheep or ibex, but a yak? Or that the longest recorded successful shot at a prairie dog is 3,125 yards?

The Sports Afield Book of Hunting and Shooting Records and Facts is an entertaining and eclectic collection of remarkable feats, surprising facts, interesting trivia, and sensational coincidences from the world of big-game hunting, bird hunting, and shooting. This is a collection of historical anecdotes, not a comprehensive book of records of trophies or game bags of the world; its goal is to present surprising and interesting facts about animals and hunters, as well as amazing and outstanding feats from the field. Gathered from a wide variety of sources, the stories come from Europe and Asia as well as North and South America, and anecdotes range from amazing and impressive to shocking and hilarious. In short, they are incredible but true

Shatzko's hunting adventures in North America form the basis of the book. There he has hunted moose, caribou, mule deer, and, most of all, lots of sheep. Shatzko comes from a hunting family and his father and daughter feature in the pages of his hunts. Early on Shatzko realized that if he trained his horses, he would have access to the most remote wild places of British Columbia, and, so, he sets out to do just that. From the very beginning of his hunting exploits, he outfits himself, with only his own horses for companions; by far this takes more preparation, hard work, courage, determination, and resilience than going on a guided hunt. After hunting as much as possible in Canada, he tries his luck in Mexico, the United States, and two hunts in Central Asia for ibex and Marco Polo argali. But guides also feature prominently in these pages, especially the legendary Canadian Arctic outfitter Fred Webb.

All in all Shatzko has taken eleven trophies that qualify for the Boone & Crockett record book, no mean accomplishment for a hunter who is still a young man. In the introduction, the author says "I started this journey as a young man, who hunted strictly for sustenance, and I became a man who considers the challenge of hunting for trophy animals to be at the very core of who I am. This passion for the hunt is in every chapter." We could not say it any better ourselves. A great read.