Hunting Philosophy Books

Robert Ardrey

The Hunting Hypothesis: A Personal Conclusion Concerning The Evolutionary Nature Of Man by Robert Ardrey (1976). Today we have small hope of comprehending ourselves and our world unless we understand that man still, in his inmost being, remains a hunter. Ardrey explores the crises man has met and overcome along the way - the depredations of larger predators, scant food supplies, prolonged drought, severe ice ages - and speculates on those characteristics of man that have enabled him not only to survive, but to thrive.

Peter Atkinson

Making Game: An Essay On Hunting, Familiar Things, And The Strangeness Of Being Who One Is by Peter Atkinson (2009). The author reflects on the philosophical and ethical implications of hunting wild game. Through the activity of hunting, Atkinson finds a connection to the roots of his identity, both his family history and his sense of self. Free PDF version

Nino Burelli

Under A Hunter's Moon by Nino Burelli (2001) is a collection of simple tales about a man and a boy who share their hunting experiences. They spend time around the fire discussing not only the animals but also the hunters.

Barney Dickson

Recreational Hunting, Conservation And Rural Livelihoods by Barney Dickson, Jonathan Hutton & Bill Adams (2009) addresses many of the issues that are fundamental to an understanding of the real role of recreational hunting in conservation and rural development. It examines the key issues, asks the difficult questions and seeks to present the answers to guide policy.

Jose Ortega y Gasset

Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883 - 1955) was a Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist.

Meditations On Hunting: Provocative Insights Into Anthropology & Ecology By The Great Spanish Thinker by Jose Ortega y Gasset (1972). "The life that we are given has its minutes numbered, and in addition it is given to us empty. We have to fill it on our own, that is we have to occupy it one way or another." Ortega y Gasset also discusses the evolution of hunting and carefully examines its implications to the hunter - its total absorption of mind and body, its atavistic reverberations, its animalistic fulfillments and its tonic immersion in nature.

Bruce Lytle & Lars G Svensson

A Short Safari Adventure Among Africa's Thorny Bushveld Wildlife by Bruce Lytle & Lars Svensson (2014) Volume I: History Guide, Life's Imperatives, Enigmas And Travel. This volume is about a safari adventure to southern Africa and includes much on history of Zulus, ANC and Nelson Mandela, etc. The authors have tried to illustrate how the San Bushman hunter-gatherer attitudes influence mankind today and how the all the current global issues of land degradation, water resources, climate, disease, biodiversity and conservation affect us. They integrate their stories to include dealing with lions, leopards, elephants, rhino, buffalo, crocodiles, hippos, sharks, mambas and other snakes, tropical diseases, hyenas, and homo sapiens.

A Short Safari Adventure Among Africa's Thorny Bushveld Wildlife by Bruce Lytle & Lars Svensson (2014) Volume 2: Hunting, Ecosystem Challenges And Wildlife Restorancy. This is the second book in the series of true African travel and adventure safari that deals with sensitive environmental, past political and wildlife management issues that face Africa today. The late Don Heath, former Chief Ecologist for the Zimbabwe Parks Department said..."This book is not just another hunting story. It is the story of discovery, of brutally harsh realities – in short, an epic tale of Africa."

Stuart A Marks

Life As A Hunt: Thresholds Of Identities And Illusions On An African Landscape by Stuart A Marks (2016) is the story of the Bisa people of the Luangwa Valley, Zambia as it diverges from the myths that conservationists, administrators and philanthropists, tell about Africa's environmental and wildlife crises. The Luangwa Valley is the homeland of the Bisa in a narrow corridor surrounded by three national parks and an escarpment, and is microcosm of the political, economic and cultural battlefields surrounding most African protected areas today.

David Petersen

A Hunter's Heart: Honest Essays On Blood Sport by David Petersen (1997). The voices here speak of the verities of the hunt, our connections to the land and the ethics of blood sport, with essays by the best writers in the field: Edward Abbey, Rick Bass, Tom Beck, Jimmy Carter, Jim Fergus, Barry Lopez, Peter Matthiessen, Tom McGuane, Richard K Nelson, David Peterson and Terry Tempest Williams.

Heartsblood: Hunting, Spirituality And Wildness In America by David Petersen (2000). The writer and veteran outdoorsman David Petersen offers a thoroughly informed, unsettlingly honest, intensely personal exploration of this increasingly contentious issue. He draws clear distinctions between true hunting and contemporary hunter behaviour, praising what's right about the former and damning what's wrong with the latter, as he seeks to render the terms hunter and antihunter palpable-to put faces on these much-used but little-understood generalizations.

On The Wild Edge: In Search Of A Natural Life by David Petersen (2006). Twenty-five years ago David Petersen and his wife, pulled up stakes, trading Laguna Beach for a snug hand-built cabin in the wilderness. Today he knows that mountain land as intimately as anyone can know his home.

Jim Posewitz

Beyond Fair Chase: The Ethic And Tradition Of Hunting by Jim Posewitz (1994) is for anyone concerned about the future of hunting. In simple but powerful text, it describes the ethical way to hunt, from preparation to shooting to care after the shot. Never before have so many issues, such as physical fitness, wounding, public and private lands, been linked together in an ethical context. If hunting is to survive, this book should be required reading for all hunters.

Franklin Russell

The Hunting Animal by Franklin Russell (1984) is a series of narratives about hunts and hunters. Russell's effort to come to terms with the interweaving of blind impulse and order, horror and beauty in the natural world add to this gripping book.

James Swan

The Sacred Art Of Hunting: Myths, Legends And The Modern Mythos by James Swan (2000). Only recently has subsistence hunting ceased to be a necessity for most people and sport hunting become the norm. During this same era, the majority of populations have crowded into cities where few people have firsthand experience with nature. As a result, hunters worldwide are no longer regarded as cultural heroes. Rather, they are increasingly viewed with suspicion and have become subjects of scrutiny, criticism and even attacked - socially, politically and legally. Has sport hunting lost its relevance in our urban-oriented society? 'The Sacred Art of Hunting' investigates worldwide hunting myths, legends and customs from throughout history to place hunting in a new and contemporary cultural context, a modern mythos.

In Defense Of Hunting: Yesterday And Today by James Swan (1995) argues that acknowledging the instinctual roots of the hunt is vital to repairing our modern alienation from nature and crucial to our understanding of our basic human needs.

James Whisker

The Right To Hunt by James Whisker (1999) is not the ordinary hunting guide telling you where to find the game animals, it's guide to the ideas, the history and the politics of hunting that shape today's debate. This is genuine, useful intellectual ammunition for hunting activists everywhere.