Burton Spiller‘s “Grouse Feathers” is a collection of his stories published by the Derrydale Press in 1934. It was Spiller’s first book, and consists of several numbered chapters, each covering a wide variety of topics surrounding grouse hunting. Spiller was an avid upland bird hunter in Maine and New Hampshire during the first half of the 20th century, and captivated Americans with his stories of grouse hunting in several publications.
I’m not sure any other writer has embodied the passion of ruffed grouse hunting as well as Spiller, and his love for this wily game bird is reflected on every page. The book contains so many different aspects of bird hunting and Spiller’s experiences. Topics include Spiller’s childhood hunting experiences, the desire to own a gun, battles with smart grouse, bird dogs and their training, woodcock hunts, grouse hunting in the old days, and many more. Spiller also covers duck hunting, being a humble hunter, grouse habits, bird hunting partners, and strange grouse habits.
I was touched by several of Spiller’s statements in the book, including this one:
“As I look back, over a greater period of years than I care to count, I am conscious of the fact that I must have been pretty thoroughly interested in bird hunting”.
You think? The man was absolutely dedicated to bird hunting. He hardly missed a day of the season, and spent considerable time observing grouse in the off season.
Another Spiller quote that inspired me was this:
“To have may hobbies is to know contentment”.
I agree.
“Grouse Feathers” is considered by many to be the greatest grouse hunting book ever published. I’m not sure I’d go that far, and some might call me crazy for that. In reading “Grouse Feathers” and “More Grouse Feathers”, I felt that both books could have benefited from better organization. The books are arbitrarily grouped into chapters with no real overarching topic for each, and Spiller jumps around from topic to topic every several paragraphs, with no real pattern for doing so. Overall, the writing style reads a bit choppy. That might be attributed to Spiller’s lack of experience as a writer at the time, or simply the time in which he wrote. Personally, I am amazed at Spiller’s growth as a writer over time, and found “Grouse Feathers, Again” to be even more of a quality read than the first two GF books. Either way, most readers don’t see these observations of mine as a real drawback, as evidenced by the overwhelming popularity of this monumental book on grouse hunting.
After the limited edition of 950 copies of “Grouse Feathers” was published by Derrydale in 1934, they promptly sold out. The book was published again in 1935, 1947, 1972 and 2000. Numerous copies of the newer editions are available, which is great, because the book deserves a place on every upland bird hunter’s bookshelf.
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