'The Still-Hunter' is still an American classic
From the bookshelf: Theodore Van Dyke's classic treatise on deer hunting is as valuable today as it was when it first came out in 1882
By James A. Swan, Ph.D.It's not often that you have the chance to write a review of the same book that Theodore Roosevelt reviewed.
But the first edition of "The Still-Hunter: A Practical Treatise On Deer Stalking" was published Dec. 30, 1882. It then sold for $2 and Roosevelt loved it.
"The Still-Hunter" has since gone through 17 editions, with the most recent being a 2004 "Classics of American Sport" edition (Stackpole Books, paperback, $16.95), with a foreword by the editor, Robert Wegner — perhaps the foremost authority on the history of deer and deer hunting in North America.
Theodore S. Van Dyke was born in 1842. By 1866 he had earned a bachelor's degree and a master's from Princeton. Upon graduation he moved to Minnesota, where he practiced law.
But his real passion was spending as much time as possible in the woods studying deer hunting with the local Indians.
In 1867 a case of "ague," a malarialike illness, caused him to retreat into the woods for seven months, during which time he lived off the land.
Roosevelt also used the "nature cure" on several occasions to save his own life, but Van Dyke's retreat into nature for personal healing changed his life forever.
Van Dyke returned to his law practice and became a member of the Minnesota State Assembly. But when he became ill again in 1875, he packed up and moved to southern California, spending most of his time roaming the woods and studying and pursuing deer with his favorite gun, a Winchester '73, when he was not writing about what he had learned about hunting.
Van Dyke applied his intelligence and attention to detail to studying deer and deer hunting as thoroughly as any man ever has. He scorned hunting from a blind and instead developed his ability to walk up on deer and antelope, which is what he calls "still-hunting."
The author of nine books and numerous articles, Van Dyke paced his writing style like tracking a deer.
Using a blend of storytelling designed to illustrate his points, he climbs inside the head of a novice hunter and describes with great accuracy the common mental faults and mistakes of the average neophyte in a narration about a fictional hunt.
Then he corrects the mistakes, for, as he states, "In scarcely any branch of life is one more apt to draw wrong conclusions from hasty observations than in hunting deer and antelope and shooting with the rifle."
Having laid down his point-by-point analysis and corrections, Van Dyke goes on to offer his guidance about attitude, behavior and skills in the next story section, thus improving the success of the fictional hunter, the reader, until he achieves success.
His style makes for fascinating reading more than a century after it was penned.
In modern sports psychology a common technique is to imagine a guide, someone who is trusted and deemed wise, standing at one's side to assist in one's actions. In time, reading this book will make Van Dyke such an observer who can help the average hunter, and especially the newcomer, become more successful.
Although he sometimes lumps whitetail and blacktail deer together (and in my experience they often have very different behavioral patterns), some of his best work is on deer behavior.
His advice on bedding and movement of deer is consistent with much of what many of the best of modern biologists will tell you, and his guidance on methods has stood the test of time.
The cardinal virtue in successful still-hunting is patience.
One also needs a little patience to finish the 390-page book, but each page contains new insights and instructions. Some are pragmatic, such as where to walk, how to track and where to shoot — advice that is as good as any today.
His practical suggestions about hunting deer and antelope, taken to heart, will quickly turn a novice into a woodsman.
Van Dyke offers a refreshing analysis of sighting and accuracy that modern hunters might well take time to consider. Refinements in telescopic sights and laser finders now allow accurate shooting out to 500 yards and beyond, but, at that distance, is it hunting or merely shooting at live targets?
Van Dyke was of the opinion that open sights are better than telescopic sights, and that the hunter should strive for shots of 75 yards or less, even though he could make them at greater distances.
He also offers some fascinating suggestions about how to personalize open sights and make them work better. For example, he advises dipping the rear sight in ink to make sure that it will not glare in the sun and/or making a rear sight of hardened leather.
Van Dyke also goes to great length to debunk one of the great myths of his day, that the best bullet is an exploding one made from inserting a smaller cartridge (.22) into the larger slug so it would explode on contact.
Perhaps the only place where modern hunters would be well advised to not follow Van Dyke's advice is concerning clothing in the field. He suggests wearing gray or brown, or handmade buckskin in the field, which is dangerous and illegal. But remember that there were few other hunters in his days and international orange was not an option.
There are many fascinating special tips. One that makes sense is to lessen chances of startling deer when walking by taking along a cowbell when hunting in an area where cattle roam freely. That way a deer, upon hearing a hunter's footsteps and then a bell, will think it is a cow.
The book is written for the times, when trick-shot artists were the celebrities of the day and there were few hunters in woods.
Van Dyke uses many examples of people taking numerous rapid shots at running animals. But he does admit that, "Speed of fire is a good servant, but a bad master."
He goes on to instruct how to sight in a rifle so that each shot counts, offering the wise counsel, "… The man who talks of placing a ball where he wishes to place it in a running deer or antelope at any distance … is either an ignoramus or a braggart …."
Roosevelt wrote of the book, "It is one of the few hunting books which should really be studied by the beginner because of what he can learn there in reference to the hunter's craft." With this I would wholeheartedly agree.
Read this book and you find that Van Dyke knew the art of still-hunting deer as well as any man who has ever hunted them.
James Swan — who has appeared in more than a dozen feature films, including "Murder in the First" and "Star Trek: First Contact," as well as the television series "Nash Bridges," "Midnight Caller" and "Modern Marvels" — is the author of the book "In Defense of Hunting." Click here to purchase a copy.
To learn more about Swan, visit his Web site.
