Whitetail Nation: My Season in Pursuit of the Monster Buck - Couverture rigide

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 in 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 bedamned), readers are treated with a hilarious and 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?"

"Fun, honest, and humble, Pete Bodo is the guy you want telling stories around your campfire. He’s also the perfect guide to the obsessives of the Whitetail Nation, where the size of the bucks is matched only by the dreams about them. This book is for anyone who chases deer from the heights of a tree stand or the depths of the most comfortable armchair." – Mark Obmascik, author of Halfway to Heavenand The Big Year

"This book has everything you could want from a hunting story: style, humor, suspense, and lots and lots of antler. Pete Bodo's Whitetail Nation is easily the best thing I've ever read on deer and deer hunting, and I've read a pile of it." – Steven Rinella, author of American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon 

"An unabashed predator in the 21st century, Pete Bodo is a funny, warm and honest companion on this fascinating romp through whitetail nation. His lucid descriptions of the landscapes he traverses and his poignant expressions of the odd spiritual revelations that come with killing ensure that this is no ordinary hook and bullet story." – James Prosek, author of Trout: An Illustrated History and The Complete Angler