The articles showcase a literary style that prompted Kirkus Reviews to say of Last Horizons, "No one since Hemingway (with the possible exception of Ruark) has written on these subjects with such literary gusto."The stockbroker-turned-outdoorsman recalls his days as an African pro hunter in "The Killer Baboons of Vlackfontein." "Four Fangs in a Treetop" records a foray into British Honduras for the jaguar, "a gold-dappled teardrop of motion." Capstick narrowly escapes the Yellow Beard, Central America's deadly tree-climbing snake, and cows "The Black Death (Cape buffalo) in the kind of article that makes this author "the guru of American hunting fans" (New York Newsday). On Brazil's forsaken Marajo Island, he bags the pugnacious red buffalo, which has the "temperament of a constipated Sumo wrestler and the tenacity of an IRS man."The author discusses 12- and 20-gauge shotgun loads; recalls the pleasures of "biltong" (African beef jerky); describes the irresistible homemade lures of snook fishing expert John Gorbatch; and kills a genteel take of Atlantic salmon with the brilliantly simple tube fly.Over thirty gorgeous drawings by famous wildlife artist Dino Paravano make this volume yet another collector's item by a writer who "keeps the tradition of great safari adventure alive in each of his books" (African Expedition Gazette).Peter Capstick's eight prior titles include The Last Ivory Hunter (SMP, 1988); Peter Capstick's Africa (SMP, 1987); and Death in the Long Grass (SMP, 1978).

    Fly-tying is a highly prized fisherman's craft, but it's also an art form, wonderfully captured in this volume's hundreds of color photos. Each of 100 fly patterns is presented in a two-page spread: an enlarged photo and textual description on the left-hand page, complemented with a set of step-by-step, clearly captioned photos on the facing page. In addition, fishing enthusiasts will find sections on fly-tying tools and materials plus general instructions for getting started. The author, a well-known fly-tier and sport fisherman gives instructions on making traditional trout and salmon flies--all of them fish catchers of proven effectiveness in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Examples vary in complexity, with patterns to fit every skill level from novice to expert fly-tier. Here are dry flies, nymphs and bugs, wet flies, streamers, and hairwings--a virtually complete selection of traditional and up-to-date examples of the art. The book's hidden spiral binding keeps its pages opened flat, which makes it ideal for reference at the workbench. More than 600 color photos.

    They traveled from Newfoundland to Florida, deep into the heart of Mexico, through the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and into Alaska's Pribilof Islands. Two years later, Wild America, their classic account of the trip, was published.On the eve of that book's fiftieth anniversary, naturalist Scott Weidensaul retraces Peterson and Fisher's steps to tell the story of wild America today. How has the continent's natural landscape changed over the past fifty years? How have the wildlife, the rivers, and the rugged, untouched terrain fared? The journey takes Weidensaul to the coastal communities of Newfoundland, where he examines the devastating impact of the Atlantic cod fishery's collapse on the ecosystem; to Florida, where he charts the virtual extinction of the great wading bird colonies that Peterson and Fisher once documented; to the Mexican tropics of Xilitla, which have become a growing center of ecotourism since Fisher and Peterson's exposition. And perhaps most surprising of all, Weidensaul finds that much of what Peterson and Fisher discovered remains untouched by the industrial developments of the last fifty years. Poised to become a classic in its own right, Return to Wild America is a sweeping survey of the natural soul of North America today.