About the Book
The book is a reflection upon the author's 60 year experience hunting upland game birds and waterfowl. The text includes insightful observations on wildlife biology and habitat. It includes a lot of informative stories and information about hunting dogs, especially Labrador retrievers and various pointing breeds. While much of the material focuses on the author's current home state of Montana, settings also include Alaska, the desert Southwest, and Texas as well as international destinations such as New Zealand and multiple locations in Southern Africa. The text is supplemented by 45 high quality color photographs.
About the Author :
After growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Don Thomas completed his higher education in California, Montreal, and Washington, winding up as a board-certified internist. He spent his 40-year medical career in rural Montana and Alaska, where he was also a pilot, commercial fisherman, and bear hunting guide.He began writing professionally in the early 1980s. Following old advice to write about topics he both knew and cared about, he turned naturally to the outdoors for subject matter. He has written over 1700 features and columns for a wide variety of magazines including Traditional Bowhunter, Bowhunter, Gray's Sporting Journal, Big Sky Journal, Alaska, Retriever Journal, Pointing Dog Journal, Just Labs, American Flyfishing, Sports Afield, Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, Fish Alaska, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, Western Hunting Journal, Fly Rod and Reel, Outside Bozeman, Saltwater Flyfishing, Strung, and Tail. He has held numerous masthead positions and is currently a principal at Strung. His writing has won numerous awards including the Traver Award for Flyfishing Fiction (twice), the Ted Trueblood Award from Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and the Tom Shupenis and Glenn St. Charles awards from the Professional Bowhunters Society. He was also the Co-Editor of Traditional Bowhunter for nearly 20 years.Don has written over 20 books on subjects including bowhunting, flyfishing, wing-shooting, gun dogs, conservation, and history. His work has appeared in numerus anthologies. Working together, he and his wife Lori have also contributed numerous photo essays to the same magazines.Don and Lori now live in rural Montana. Their four kids are grown and gone, but they still have their Labrador retrievers, German wirehair pointers, and one Jack Russell terrier.Don has always written under the byline "E.Donnall Thomas Jr." in honor of his father, who won the 1990 Noble Prize in Medicine and was one of the most capable and ethical outdoorsmen Don ever met. He omits the "M.D." to which he is entitled because he has never met a gamebird or animal that cared. Afifth-generation Montanan who grew up in a hunting ranch family, Lori Thomas had no experience with bows, shotguns, or fly rods prior to her marriage to Don. She proved a fast learner and now engages in these activities as enthusiastically and capably as her husband.Although she had limited experience behind a camera at the time of their marriage, Don was still doing a lot of outdoor photography then, and Lori learned rapidly. While blessed with a keen eye and meticulous attention to technique, her enthusiasm and perseverance are the keys to her success. If she must stand in the rain for hours to get the shot, she'll be there long after most photographers would have gone home to dry out. Although their photo credits go to both of them, Don's aging eyes now make it hard for him to manage the controls on a digital camera. While he still offers suggestions about shots and took some of those in this book, Lori does most of the actual shooting.Lori graduated from high school in the same rural Montana community where she and Don now live. After obtaining her nursing degree from Montana State University, she enjoyed a challenging career as a nurse which continued after her marriage. The decision to retire from medicine was hard for both of them.Wife and mother, skilled clinical nurse, all-around outdoorswoman, and capable photographer... Don considers himself a lucky man, because he is.
Review :
"On the Wing is a remarkable account of a lifetime afield that belongs in the permanent collection of any hunter who appreciates a well-told story. Mike Floyd, Gray's Sporting Journal
Don's writing makes you feel like you are alongside to see the sights, sense the adrenaline, feel the warm, soft Labrador fur under your hands...
Steve and Jake Smith, Retriever Journal
Don Thomas is the consummate wing-shooter, and his passion for birds, dogs, people, and places comes through with his prose....that rare storyteller who can both educate and entertain. Ralph Stuart, - Shooting Sportsman
Don Thomas has gifted us with a collection of the very best hunting stories from uplands to water....Pure gold hunting stories. Tom Carpenter, Pheasants Forever
