Western Wings: Hunting Upland Birds on the Northern Plains

Rating:
Summary: Could have been worse
Review: Several Wilderness Press books were written by the author or his hunting buddies. The latter is the case with "Western Wings". So it goes without saying that is no classic of upland bird hunting, but rather a loosely organized collection of hunting tales and observations of your average Western bird hunter. Williams does do a good job of describing the behavioral patterns of birds throughout the days and the seasons, and dispels some common myths about prairie gamebirds (e.g. "huns always flush wild in the late season"). You get the impression he knows his bird dogs, although he does does not really delve into the subject. I do have to respect him for NOT including a chapter on pheasants---which he says he hunts "reluctantly". This book is really mostly his personal homage to the vast grasslands of the West, and the grouse, prairie chickens, and huns that make the Big Sky country a bird hunter's dream. It is neither great writing nor informative naturalism, but it's a pleasant book to crack open on a winter's night, when you want to reflect on seasons past.