A Sporting Chance: Unusual Methods of Hunting
Apr 2025 · Open Road Media
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346
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About this ebook
The award-winning author of The Way of the Gladiator shares his experiences hunting with strange devices—and animals—in this classic book.
Falcons, boomerangs, spears. . . In the mid-twentieth century, hunters of all shapes and sizes were in favor of giving their quarry a fighting chance. A revival of ancient sporting techniques was taking the hunting world by storm. The old ways required more skill and were, therefore, a greater challenge. They also brought people closer to nature.
Among those embracing this philosophy was author Daniel P. Mannix, who was more interested in learning an antique skill than shooting a new gun. In these pages, he delves into the history of hunting and gives readers firsthand accounts of his attempts at bagging pigeons with a feral cat (an ocelot named Tiba), using a blowgun with poisoned darts for deer in Mexico, teaching an otter to retrieve downed ducks, tracking—and trapping—humans, and other odd, old-school techniques.
“A gripping compendium of hunting devices and trained animals that give the prey a sporting chance, this is easily the best hunting book in years.” —Kirkus Reviews
Falcons, boomerangs, spears. . . In the mid-twentieth century, hunters of all shapes and sizes were in favor of giving their quarry a fighting chance. A revival of ancient sporting techniques was taking the hunting world by storm. The old ways required more skill and were, therefore, a greater challenge. They also brought people closer to nature.
Among those embracing this philosophy was author Daniel P. Mannix, who was more interested in learning an antique skill than shooting a new gun. In these pages, he delves into the history of hunting and gives readers firsthand accounts of his attempts at bagging pigeons with a feral cat (an ocelot named Tiba), using a blowgun with poisoned darts for deer in Mexico, teaching an otter to retrieve downed ducks, tracking—and trapping—humans, and other odd, old-school techniques.
“A gripping compendium of hunting devices and trained animals that give the prey a sporting chance, this is easily the best hunting book in years.” —Kirkus Reviews
About the author
Daniel P. Mannix was an award-winning American author and journalist, as well as a magician and filmmaker. Mannix’s magazine articles about his experiences in the carnival, where he performed under the stage name “The Great Zadma,” became popular in the mid-1940s and were compiled with the assistance of his wife in the book Step Right Up! His dozens of books and extensive essays range in subject from children’s animal stories, environmental issues, and hunting accounts to historical examinations of the Hellfire Club, the Atlantic slave trade, and the Roman gladiatorial games. Mannix was particularly interested in the Wizard of Oz canon and composed a biography of L. Frank Baum for American Heritage magazine in the 1960s.
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