Rating: 
Summary: An almost-classic.
Review: Fergus covers more ground in this journey than many bird-hunting addicts would care to admit to themselves. He not only scours the country for the finest coveys, but along the way he also flushes up the issues and lifestyles that upland bird hunters across the U.S. know all too well. But when these issues and lifestyles see the light of day, he often misses them with both barrels (as he humbly admits is his luck with birds), because his words don't fire out as cleanly as his readers might have hoped. Some sentences seem to go on forever, and the "nearly"s and "somewhat"s are the briars and sinkholes on an otherwise clear path. What Fergus missed in editing, he more than made up for in content. The book is well researched, the character portraits are courageously honest, and his self-inspection even moreso. There are emotional moments and passages which will make you laugh so loud you'll wake up the dog. The game recipes he collects from each companion are a clever idea, and they add a unique flavor to this traveller's log. It's the kind of journey you wish you had time to take, and it's the kind of book you wish you had written. Only if you had, you might have cleaned it up just a little better.
Rating: 
Summary: A thought-provoking, highly entertaining bird hunting book
Review: As a somewhat novice upland bird hunter with a young dog, and as a writer for a state wildlife management agency, I found a deep appreciation for the observations, sentiments and candid representations of the experiences the author enjoyed while researcing his book. He details a trip across the United States and all the interesting people and places he visited and came to know as intimately as only a hunter or nature lover could. This book was like a long daydream that I didn't want to end, and I'm greatful he invited me along. I have met so many hunters of the type he writes about - some good, some bad and some who just "are." He at times reports objectively about their attitudes and other times makes judgements that I may or may not agree with, but it was always entertaining and was food for thought. This is not a book that will teach you where or how to hunt, but it will teach you about why you hunt and what is happening to the hunt. We would do well to think about his words as we enter the 21st Century.
Rating:
Summary: Fergus Stuns Steinbeck Fan
Review: Fergus, a peripatetic writer, travels cross country with his lab using hunting as his reason to find the heart and soul of America. Wandering the fields and woodlands seeking a covey on the rise, Fergus shares the joys and challenges of friendship, dogs, and the American frontier. Fergus and his companions are saddened by the lose of habitat that protects breeding birds, that provide there communion with nature. Reverently, he ponders one of the great philosophical questions of our time: Can a hunter also be an environmentalist? Fortunately, I stumbled across Jim Fergus' book while doing research in my local library. I've now purchased a copy to keep and reread. If you enjoy Steinbeck or Buffett, you will enjoy reading this book. PS... I'm a middle-aged, environmentalist, non-hunting woman.... AND I loved this book.
Rating:
Summary: Fergus Stuns Steinbeck Fan
Review: Fergus, a peripatetic writer, travels cross country with his lab using hunting as his reason to find the heart and soul of America. Wandering the fields and woodlands seeking a covey on the rise, Fergus shares the joys and challenges of friendship, dogs, and the American frontier. Fergus and his companions are saddened by the lose of habitat that protects breeding birds, that provide there communion with nature. Reverently, he ponders one of the great philosophical questions of our time: Can a hunter also be an environmentalist? Fortunately, I stumbled across Jim Fergus' book while doing research in my local library. I've now purchased a copy to keep and reread. If you enjoy Steinbeck or Buffett, you will enjoy reading this book. PS... I'm a middle-aged, environmentalist, non-hunting woman.... AND I loved this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: For anyone who has a genuine respect and love for upland bird hunting - the sport, the dogs, the game and their habitat - Jim Fergus's A Hunters Road is one of the definitive Classics. The book is not only a wonderfully entertaining read, it is also a serious commentary on those who pursue the sport, the good, the bad, the ugly, the ethics, and the environment. Of course, there will be reader's who either misread or misinterpret Fergus's intent. For those however, who wish to journey into the sanctity of the sport (bird lovers included), and be subliminally educated in the process, Fergus's A Hunter's Road is a must.
Rating:
Summary: Well written. Great read. Likable characters
Review: Highly insightful book. Everyone who hunts or wants to can learn the etiquette, simple hospitality and reverence that separates the man who hunts for spiritual gratification and the poacher hunting off the side of the road. This should be included in the Huster's safety course that our Federal Government requires of us. Greatest of all... He Quail hunts with my "Everyman," Jimmy Buffett.
Rating:
Summary: Get this.
Review: I could relate to so many of the experiences in this book, it seems like it could be the story I write about my time in the field. This represents every hunters dream. The best book I have read. Thanks Jim.
How 'bout them "Reebok" Quail of Arizona? Good Hunting.
Rating:
Summary: three letters, "GAW," three words, Great American Writer
Review: I have had the distinct pleasure of having read Mr. Fergus's A Hunters Road... At first sight, based on the jacket, I thought it was going to be another "get drunk, piss in the woods, hook and bullet" story. However, to my greatest surprise and delight, I found that it was a memorable recollection charming stories about a man, his dog, nature, the environment, and real "characters" representing an eclectic vision of America and its people. If Mr. Fergus can survive the unfortunate packaging and placement of his first novel, I am confident that he has the potential to become a Great American Writer...
Rating: 
Summary: Bo-ring
Review: I liked the premise and based on the reviews bought A Hunters Road. Good outdoor writing effectively takes the reader afield in their minds eye, be it the forest of Maine, the flats off the Florida Keys or the African Savannah. Good outdoor writing also speaks to the place that hunting and fishing holds in our life; how it is a part of us emotionally and spiritually. Consequently, good outdoor writing is a tough job, one that A Hunters Road is not up to. For all it's promise this book is a relatively dry travel journal peppered with sappy hunting cliches.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: I saw this book at the library and decided to check it out as I'm an avid outdoorsman. Unfortunately it [the book] deals more with the author trying to get his head straight from a bad childhood, than a good book about upland bird hunting. I personally can have little respect for the author after he and his hunting partners borrowed a shotgun from a rancher who tried to drown four yellow lab puppies. The author describes in detail how one of the pups, through its instincts, tried to swim to shore when the rancher threw them in the river. Any self-respecting upland hunter who loves dogs would not have borrowed the "time-of-day" from this rancher--let alone a shotgun. My Instincts tell me never to pick-up this book up again! If you want to read an an enjoyable book about upland bird hunting in America DO NOT READ this book--try another author like Gene Hill. Sincerely: Michael S. Graves
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