[.ca] Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America (ISBN 0679736867)

From Amazon.com:
Cultural anthropologist Richard Nelson, who has worked among hunting peoples of the Arctic, offers a richly detailed account of North America's native deer species: Odocoileus hemionus and Odocoileus virginianus, or the mule deer and white-tailed deer. The latter, he writes, can be found across a range from the Canadian Arctic to Central America, and it figures in the folklore of countless native peoples. The white-tailed deer is also present in the lore of European America, lending it a talismanic quality. Nelson examines the role of the deer in several ecosystems, especially in some that are now disappearing, such as the Alaskan coastal forests, and he looks at deer's role in spreading Lyme disease. For hunters and natural-history enthusiasts alike, Heart and Blood is essential reading.

WORTH EVERY BUCK! I DEFY YOU TO DISLIKE THIS BOOK!:
As a National Park Service Ranger and animal lover I've personally and professionally struggled with the issues surrounding deer management -- Bullets or starvation, which is more humane? Deer abundance or ecosystem biodiversity? Etc. etc. I've also read a great deal of literature spanning the entire HEART and BLOOD spectrum. This is the most accurate, fair, and comprehensive treatment on deer management I've ever seen. Richard Nelson is the epitome of the professional anthropologist. He walks with as much confidence in the scientific and statistical world of biology/wildlife mgmt. as he does in the socio-political world of mass media, voters, and taxpayers. The veteran scientist will regard the imagery in a few of his more vivid passages as "filler". These readers should be reminded that if the management of deer wasn't an emotional issue there would be far fewer researchers employed in such capacity. Hopefully they also realize that when Nelson describes tracking a food stressed doe in winter with "...at last I found her at the end of her tracks like a pencil resting in mid sentence," he didn't choose those words to impress an English teacher but to describe to the layperson exactly what it is like to pursue a starving animal. On the other extreme the animal rights activist may try to skip over all of Nelson's nuances regarding deer behavior, physiology, and biochemistry. However, Nelson goes to great lengths to interject such information at a gentle rate and in very accessible terms. With sincere unbiased reporting he describes opposing positions on classic bipolar debates. Then with his own arguments Nelson blurs the dividing line so thoroughly that animal rights activist will find themselves whispering "I can see how a hunter could be an animal lover too." and wildlife managers will end up muttering "I suppose individual animal welfare is worth the millions being spent on finding viable management alternatives to the bullet." To say that this book has something for everybody would not only be cliche, it would be inaccurate. This book has everything for everybody. If you don't believe me, get a degree in Wildlife Management. Spend hundreds of hours tracking deer, thousands of hours pouring over scores of boring scientific research papers, EISs, lawsuits, and "blood-thirsty" calls-to-arms by animal rights organizations. Or save yourself a few thousand dollars tuition and buy and enjoy reading this book. Allow Nelson who has already done the "BLOOD" work to take you directly to the "HEART" of the dilemma in a mere 400 pages.

Heart of the hunter:
This book is the most thorough, most comprehensive, most graceful study of deer I have ever encountered. It deals with everything from the natural history of deer to the animal rights movement to different approaches to hunting and management. There's even a section that deals with the ways in which the film "Bambi" inextricably has altered Americans' views about deer. Nelson is honest about his own biases and convictions; he tells us that he is a hunter and that he believes in a strict ethical code with regard to his own hunting, a belief he learned while working as a cultural anthropologist with the Koyukon Indians in northern Alaska. Despite his strong beliefs, he is remarkably even-handed when dealing with the many controversial issues surrounding wildlife management in America today. I understand much better now why animal rights activists and wilderness preservationists do not always make comfortable allies. I trust this author; he has integrity. I loved "The Island Within" for capturing the mist-ridden world of an island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, and I loved this book every bit as much. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in deer, hunting, and the animal rights and environmental movements. It is balanced, fair, and majestic.

Great review and perspective of deer in America.:
Nelson explores deer history, management, and views in a thorough and unbiased review. He takes a personal perspective on values of hunting which will make the hunter and nonhunter alike ponder the marvels of the hunt.

Excellent. Well written, informative, enjoyable.:
Highly recommend this to both hunters and non-hunters. Richard Nelson did a great job in capturing the evolution of deer and people interactions in America. An enjoyable book!

Couldn't put it down:
Seriously, and I've met few non-fiction books that I can say that about. I'm not a hunter but I found this book quite engaging. Hunting is only one focus of the book. There is great appeal for readers interested in wilderness and conservation issues in the U.S. Remarkably detailed, intelligent, and colorful examination of deer across the U.S.; Alaska, Texas, Wisconsin, California, New York, etc. Very well-written; not a word is wasted and the whole is beautifully composed.