From listening to a speech by David Wescott at the GBS, which led me to an article from Woodcraft to LNT by James Morton Turner. This in turn led me to the following two books that predate George Washington Sears AKA Nessmuk.

I never thought Id become a history buff. Adding these two books to my list to read.

Edward Breck’s The Way of the Woods (1908)

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7239952M/The_way_of_the_woods

This is Edward Breck’s 1908 outdoor sports handbook, ‘The Way of the Woods’. Originally intended for sportsmen in North-eastern Unites States and Canada, it has chapters on hunting cougars, grizzly bears, and other fauna native to that part of the world. It also deals with many other aspects of hunting from photography to trapping, making it ideal for anyone with an interest in the sport. Contents include: ‘Cookery-Cooking-kits’, ‘Making Camp’, ‘Woodcraft’, ‘Nature Protection’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Sporting Firearms’, ‘Deer-hunting’, ‘Caribou-hunting’, ‘The Game of the North-west-Elk, Antelope, Mountain Sheep, Mountain Goat, Grizzle Bear, Cougar’, ‘Game Birds’, ‘Trapping’, ‘Photography’, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition complete with the original text and images.

Elmer Krep’s Camp and Trail Methods (1910)

Camp and Trail Methods: Interesting Information for All Lovers of Nature. What To Take and What To Do

Elmer Harry Kreps – “At a young age Elmer became an avid outdoors-man. He authored three books on outdoor subjects and illustrated each with his own sketches. He worked as an illustrator and commercial artist, with his works appearing in many magazines of the period.

His three books on the outdoors are still very much sought after and read. They are “Science of Trapping” published in 1909, “Camp & Trail Methods” published in 1910, and the book he is most known for, “Woodcraft” published in 1919.