A Fall of Woodcock
Tom Huggler
Art by Jim Foote
Outdoor Images, $89 Leather-bound
fall: an alleged name for a covey or flight (of woodcock).
Obsolete. Circa 1450. Oxford English Dictionary
--A Fall of Woodcock, p. xi
In Michigan there are two upland birds which lure hunters and their dogs into the thickets each fall: the ruffed grouse and the woodcock. Many books have been written about grouse but few about the woodcock. Tom Huggler and Jim Foote have teamed up to produce a book that does much to even the score.
A Fall of Woodcock is a limited leather-bound edition published in December 1996. A trade edition is planned for the future. The present edition of 750 is a beautifully presented volume. Tom and Jim sign each copy and Tom will usually be able to add a personal inscription if requested. A unique touch is a woodcock feather attached to the title page. The leather binding with gold inscription and an oval shaped insert of a Foote painting of two woodcock result in a book which will compliment any bookshelf, desk, or coffee table.
In the eleven chapters Tom takes the reader on a journey with that elusive traveler, the American woodcock. The journey encompasses a chapter devoted to some of the woodcock dogs with whom Tom has had the privilege to hunt. Other chapters take us to a hunt in New England, trips to the Maritimes, Maine, and Louisiana, and, of course, hunting woodcock in Michigan.
Tom also pleads the case of the 28-gauge shotgun in a very convincing manner. There are two chapters which tell of some of the "Old Hands," the men who hunted woodcock for scores of years and who would not give in gently to those scourges of aging hunters: slowing reflexes and unreliable knee joints. He writes of the hunters who also are responsible for much of the research on these feathered travelers, about which so little is known.
Tom writes in his usual factual style, easy to read and difficult to put down. His descriptions of his travels for woodcock cause the reader to think about getting out the atlas and planning a trip to hunt coverts in places with names like the Musquadoboit River and the Atchafalaya Basin.
This is not just a "how to" book, nor a dog book, nor a collection of hunting tales. It is a combination of all of these and much more. In short it is, as the title states, a fall of woodcock.
Jim Foote's art is, in a word, superb. There are five color plates and twenty-eight black and white prints throughout the book (if I counted correctly). I am especially taken with the black and white, or more exactly, the gray and white illustrations. Jim describes the technique as monochromatic brush drawing with acrylic paint. The work reminds me of the pen and ink illustrations of Francis Lee Jaques.
As my wife, Peggy, said upon seeing the mother woodcock with chicks (see page 14 of this issue), "That's exactly how it is!," referring to the chicks we have seen when banding woodcock with friends. The full page of the setter with a woodcock flushing (page 163 of the book) is so real that I can imagine the entire sequence of dog work that would lead to this moment.
Jim's art not only exhibits his tremendous artistic talent and command of technique but also his longtime association and love of woodcock and the coverts in which they are found.
A limited edition of color prints (20.5 in. x 27.5 in.) of Plate I, "Double Flush and Setter," will be available through The Ruffed Grouse Society.
It should be pointed out that I could well be accused of being unable to review this book objectively. It is true that I am a friend of both Jim and Tom. However, even allowing for my possible prejudice and the appearance of, if not outright, bias I can responsibly state that A Fall of Woodcock is a book which all who are thrilled by the sight and sound of a flushing timberdoodle will absolutely enjoy. RWOL
Editor's Note: Information about the purchase of this book can be obtained by writing Outdoor Images, P.0. Box 250, Sunfield, MI 48890, or by calling 1-800-735-3476.
© Copyright 1997 - , Anglers of the Au Sable, Inc. All rights reserved. Last modified: February 20, 2002
