Product Description

In his prologue, author Jim McDermott writes: "In my neurotic imagination, the field held any number of threats to the well-being of a bird dog ... but when hunting with Speck I most feared his push for the excessive range that led to loss. I wanted to keep Speck safe and, at the same time, I wanted to have the pleasure of watching him run, but it wasn’t easy to figure out how to do these things without diminishing his enthusiasm for our time in the uplands. Learning to hunt with Speck in an authentic way meant learning not to question the wildness in him.... More than anything else, that learning was what our quest for a comfortable range was all about."

In this book, McDermott describes his struggle to understand his talented, independent English setter, Speck, at the same time he confronts his innermost fears for the safety of this much-loved gun dog. A Comfortable Range is a powerful personal narrative in which McDermott and Speck carry the reader from the confines of suburban Virginia to the sprawl of South Dakota, where man and dog ultimately find resolution to their quest for compatibility.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1179067 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 154 pages

About the Author
Jim McDermott has trained and hunted English setters for more than twenty years. Following his dogs, he annually pursues a variety of upland birds from the Southeast to the Western prairies. McDermott holds a Ph.D. in English literature, and he has published articles in national magazines. A Comfortable Range is his first book. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and his English setter, Speck.

Customer Reviews

This book is in the "comfortable range" for most readers

A COMFORTABLE RANGE is for anyone who has ever loved an animal (or a child) and also experienced the joy of being free outdoors accompanied by that loved one.

Jim's story is the perfect summer "read," for one can finish it in a day at the beach or an afternoon in the sunshine at home.

I think Amazon needs to broaden the way it refers people to the book. It's not just a book for hunters. It has much wider appeal than that.

If a bird dog owns you . . .
. . . you'll want to get this one to help make the summer seem less endless, the first of October look a little bit closer. This is a very simply written book, and it's short enough to read in an evening, but the author packs in a good story and some accurate (although, at times, convoluted) observations about how to get a dog to hunt close. Still, it's not a how-to book; it's more of a yarn told by the fire about hunting birds in wild places with a big-running Llewellin. It reminded me of why I find bird dogs so much fun to spend time with. If you liked *A Hunter's Road,* you'll probably like this one, too. If the author had hired a good dog-trainer, he wouldn't have written the book, so I'm glad he didn't.