I am pleased to announce that Keith Crowley’s wonderful new book Pheasant Dogs is finally in print. For those who have patiently waited, thank you for your advance orders. I sincerely hope you will think the wait worth it. I believe this is truly one of the great wingshooting books of all time.
Official Publication: February 15, 2019, but order now and we will include you in a special advance mailing next Monday, February 4!
Pheasant Dogs explores the extraordinary bond between the men and women of all ages who train and cherish their bird dogs. It’s a warm and wild celebration of the the many diverse breeds that hunt America’s favorite upland game bird.
Author Keith R. Crowley is a lifelong hunter who makes his home in Wisconsin. Crowley spent six months traveling throughout the cornfields and hedge rows of the upper Midwest and Plains states, photographing pheasant dogs in action and listening to their owners tell stories. Some will make you laugh; some will make you cry. And you will learn a great deal about how to choose and train the dog of your dreams.
Pheasant Dogs is the perfect winter elixir to put you right back out there in the golden fields of autumn.
For a lively preview:
Enjoy!
Thomas R. Pero
Publisher
tom@wildriverpress.com
425-486-3638
From the Pages of Shooting Sportsman Magazine:
The single most influential agent in shaping the American sporting-dog scene has been the ring-necked pheasant. Labrador and golden retrievers originally were brought to these shores to serve as pheasant fetchers: springer spaniels and Continental pointing breeds were imported expressly to solve the pheasant “problem.”
Of course, there’s no perfect breed for ringnecks, and a lot of it boils down to what we’ve grown up with, what we’ve fallen into and simply what we like. Do we hunt behind the dogs we do because of their functionality, or do we fashion a narrative of functionality to put a credible spin on what is essentially a romantic entanglement?
The question is at the heart of Pheasant Dogs, Keith R. Crowley’s celebration of the canine partners whose presence adds drama and meaning to the upland experience. A widely published photographer and author of an award-winning biography of Gordon MacQuarrie, Crowley sat down with two dozen pheasant hunters–men and women, younger and older, newbies and veterans, famous and not; flushing-dog people and pointing-dog people–and basically said, “Tell me about your dogs.”
Their stories map out the craggy emotional journey our dogs take us on. There are the heavenly highs and the hellish lows; the seemingly insurmountable struggles and the tiny victories that accrete to become transformational; the daily gifts of humor, grace and gratitude that compose the warp and woof of our shared lives.
Lavishly illustrated with Crowley’s photography as well as images contributed by his interviewees, Pheasant Dogs is published by Wild River Press. The book costs $59.95, with 50 signed, numbered, leather-bound copies available for $250 each. For ordering information, visit pheasantdogsbook.com.~TOM DAVIS