Stories from a Hunter’s Campfire... The intro to Tory Taylor's new book

Tory Taylor, a prolific guide and big game hunter in Wyoming, is releasing a new book, Stories from a Hunter’s Campfire. You can find Tory in Dubois at the National Bighorn Sheep Center event this Sunday (11 am - 3 pm), where Tory will be available for folks to purchase his book and autograph a copy at the WWA booth. Carlie Ideker, our BT Organizer also be slinging info, stickers, and hats for anyone who decides to become a WWA member!

You can purchase the book here!

Carlie Ideker penned an introduction, which you can read below.

Stories from a Hunter’s Campfire, Intro by Carlie Ideker

"...The tradition of hunting and concepts of wilderness in North America are inextricably linked, both with roots in the ancestral lifeways of Indigenous Peoples. Earmarked as noble pursuits in Western ideology, these traditions have weathered the passage of time and countless misinterpretations — their merits debated in light of societal whims and economic compatibilities. But the ethos of hunting and wilderness remain sound, built upon the shared values of responsibility and reciprocity. In a time of increasing consumerism, neither hunting nor engaging wilderness require more than your own two feet — well, maybe four — the occasional weight of a bow or rifle, and a willingness to be humbled. In fact, the recent resurgence of fair-chase hunting ethics across the Rocky Mountain West gives me hope, especially as it occurs amidst a broader discussion of conservation, climate change, and deepening ideological divides. It suggests a point of commonality persists, that an appreciation and commitment to the ecological world we very much live in, remains. Through hunting, perhaps we can also find a way back to wilderness.

In truth, I can think of few ways to create a more profound connection with wilderness landscape than through the experience of hunting. I was fortunate to be raised in a sportsmen family that spent each weekend escaping into the natural world. Every hunting season, we would slip into the pine forests and sagebrush steppe hoping to fill the freezer. Whether successful or not, we always emerged from the experience slightly changed. A new grit found. A favorite knife lost. A greater reverence for the wildlife we hunted and the places they led us.

Hunting in these wild lands required leaving something of our old selves out on the landscape, and in its place, finding a new depth to our soul.

Anyone fortunate enough to know Tory Taylor, understands this point perfectly. Tory and Meredith Taylor built a life around guiding and big game hunting in the Rocky Mountains, primarily from the back of horse and head of a pack string, and ended up in decades-long relationship with wilderness. Tory's hunting experiences over the years recount that life and speak to the importance of cultivating a reverence for wild places and wild game."