Best hunting, fishing and trapping books
Wild protein takes skill to harvest and process. These books cover the hunt, the catch, and the butchering.
10 books, beginner-friendly first.
Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game
John J. Mettler Jr., John J. Mettler · 2003
Step-by-step butchering of beef, pork, lamb, poultry, rabbit, and venison.
beginner
Basic Fishing
Wade Bourne · 2011
Wade Bourne's beginner's guide to fishing: tackle, knots, and where fish live.
beginnerCamp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making
W. Hamilton Gibson · 2018
An 1880s guide to woods camps, traps, and snares. It's public domain, so Project Gutenberg has a free copy.
beginnerFree legal PDFThe Complete Guide to Hunting
Arthur L. Cone · 1978
A broad introduction to hunting methods and game.
beginner
The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game: Volume 1
Steven Rinella · 2014
Steven Rinella on big game: hunting, field dressing, butchering, and cooking.
beginner
The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game: Volume 2
Steven Rinella, John Hafner · 2015
Rinella's companion volume on small game and fowl.
beginnerSpiral / lay-flat
The Ultimate Guide to Home Butchering
Monte Burch · 2019
Monte Burch's guide to butchering and processing meat at home, from game to livestock.
beginnerThe Bushcraft Field Guide to Trapping, Gathering, and Cooking in the Wild
Dave Canterbury · 2016
Canterbury on finding and cooking food in the wild.
intermediate
The Trapper's Bible
Jay McCullough, Eustace Hazard Livingston · 2012
A collection of traditional trapping methods and tips.
intermediate
Traditional Bowyer's Bible
Jim Hamm · 2000
The definitive series on building wooden bows by hand. Volume 1 starts with the fundamentals.
advanced