Hunting's Best Short Stories

In this powerful collection, classics including Guy de Maupassant’s “Love” and Ernest Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” join contemporary offerings such as Wallace Stegner’s “The Blue-Winged Teal,” “On the Antler” by E. Annie Proulx, and David Quammen’s “Walking Out.” From duck, goose, and grouse hunting to stiffer contests for deer, elk, moose, bear, and big African game—in one case, even a manhunt—all kinds of hunting and all possible outcomes, from the comic to the heartwarming, disastrous, or bizarre, are explored. Against the backdrop of ocean, frozen swamp, forest, or jungle, we see the deep bonds between father and son, huntsman and dog, man and nature being forged or shattered as the line between sport and survival blurs, and the hunter risks becoming prey to weather, to circumstance, or to human and animal foes.