Grouse And Lesser Gods

After Minnesota lawyer Ted Nelson Lundrigan wowed the sporting community with his now classic Hunting the Sun, wingshooting readers eagerly awaited his second book, Grouse and Lesser Gods. Part hunting credo, part philosophy of life, this book lets you traipse with Ted into his coverts with his beloved dogs in pursuit of the roughed grouse.

Like that earlier grouse hunter Aldo Leopold, Mark Parman takes to the woods when the aspens are smoky gold. Here, in an evocative almanac that chronicles the early season of the grouse hunt through its end in the snows of January, Parman follows his dog through the changing trees and foliage, thrills to the sudden flush of beating wings, and holds a bird in hand, thankful for the meal it will provide. Distilling twenty seasons of grouse hunting into these essays, he writes of old dogs and gun lust, cover and clear cutting, climate change, companions male and female, wildlife art, and stumps. A Grouse Hunter's Almanac delves into the mind of a hunter, exploring the Northwoods with an eye for more than just game. "Notable and quotable. Parman stakes out original territory and provides a vivid snapshot of the Northwoods."—John Motoviloff, author of Wisconsin Wildfoods: 100 Recipes for Badger State Bounties "Extremely rich and detailed. Parman puts forth original and genuine experiences."—Richard Yatzeck, author of Hunting the Edges

This is a collection of fast-moving short stories that pack a punch. Each character is human, but has to negotiate completely different situations. Some are humorous, some are downright bizarre – and some are horrific.

At its core, A Bird in the Hand is indeed about trophies, though not those ranked by size or numbers or scores, but, rather, the lasting trophies of the mind and heart. In his lyrical trademark style, Lundrigan shares vivid images and compelling thoughts over a range of personal experiences from his beloved Minnesota grouse coverts to the red-dust quail country of western Oklahoma, from big-water duck gunning to sharp-tailed grouse hunts on the prairies of North Dakota. Ted weaves the fabric of his multifaceted tales in a manner that effortlessly involves you with the places and people and gun dogs that are the warp and woof of this hunts.