The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game, Vol. 1

I can't put this book down. If you are interested at all in hunting and what that means, get this book. This is truly a comprehensive, "complete" guide to hunting. Rinella starts out with gear and works his way all the way to cooking and consumption. Very detailed. The first 100 pages alone covered dozens of things that I have attempted to research on my own through dozens of different sources. Now I have something I can reference in one place. This is a fantastic foundation and introduction to hunting. Nothing will beat real, hands on experience, but as Rinella himself says, you have to learn the rules before you can break them. This is one of those books that my kids will grow up reading. I would still consider myself new to hunting and this book is getting me very excited about hunting in general again and providing a deep longing to get outside. As far as quality goes, there are pictures and illustrations that explain nearly everything. If there's something that doesn't quite stick after reading it, you need only glance up to the corresponding image and vice versa. Rinella and team have done a great job making this information very accessible. The writing is simple, but not in an uninformative way; it's easy to pick and up read and I find myself getting lost in the pages as if it were fiction. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are interested at all about hunting and how to get started in it, do not look any farther. This should be required reading.

Thanks for sharing all your insights and knowledge. Ive been hunting for years, and I still learned a bunch! Very entertaining read as well. The book finished with recipes, which makes me want to get busy hunting again even more so!

I bought and watched a video from another person that was a great beginner's tool. Having that base helped me understand some things better when I went thru this book. A LOT of great info in here, and I found it well-organized and presented, too. From gear to prep info, on to various animal species (and I felt the amount of species included was quite large), then butchering and cooking. There was a lot of actual hunting info, like stands and blinds and various weapon types, and traits of the various animals covered. It also covers things like licenses and legal differences between state laws, etc. The butchering is where I got more than from that video I watched, because this book takes it further from just field dressing or boning. That's the subject I wanted more info on, too, so I found it quite handy. The recipes are a nice bonus. And all throughout there are some excellent photos. I'm mostly interested in this from a prepper's perspective. It does go into differences in skinning if you're going to tan the hide, but of course does not go into much about tanning itself. It's rather large and heavy to carry, so is best studied prior to need, but is, I feel, a very good instruction tool for preppers or new or medium-experienced hunters.

Whether you are a seasoned hunter or brand new to the outdoor sport, this book is a must have. The wealth of knowledge in it is amazing to say the least! Steve Rinella is literally the most awesome outdoorsman, hunter, and angler of all time! His ethics and the way he carries himself are why I am such a huge fan. I feel like no other person, show, or book explains hunting like Steve does. As a huge fan of his show MeatEater, and being a small game hunter and angler myself, I had to have his small game book. After reading through his small game book, The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game: Volume 2: Small Game and Fowl , I loved it so much, that I ordered this one, and will be going on a couple big game hunts later this year because of it! After reading his Small Game book, I changed a couple of my hunting techniques and even upgraded some of my gear, based directly on the information in the book. I found that I was more successful this hunting season because of it! I have already used some of the recipes for the upland game birds that I took this season and they were awesome!

I’m a huge fan of Steve Rinella and his work in the wild game arena. This is an awesome reference for both newbie and veteran wild game hunters/chefs. The paperback book is great, just wish I had paid a little more for the spiral-bound.

Rinella has become a household name for us not only because my husband listens to him frequently and even the kids enjoy M.E. Trivia but mainly because no matter the resource, he is full of knowledge and not just the kind an internet search gives, the kind you have to know people who *know* what they are doing, to learn. Recommend for new preppers, established hunters as a hand reference and dads who just want to take down a big game when they grow up.

Fantastic book full of great info and recipes, well written and fun.

Super Buch für Jagdanfänger sowie Fortgeschrittene. Eher auf die Jagd in den vereinigten Staaten ausgelegt aber trotzdem viele nützliche Informationen.

O Livro aborda diversas táticas para caça e o preparo dos animais na cozinha mateira. Excelentes dicas de culinária rústica e orientações para os amantes da vida ao ar livre. Bastante ilustrado com fotos fantásticas. Recomendo a publicação.

If you are interested in hunting or wondering if maybe it's for you, this book is a great place to start. You could go out and throw a bunch of money away buying a bunch of gear you don't need and won't know how to use, or you could read through this book and gain a better understanding of what you will need, the skills you can develop and what to actually expect on a hunt. I also recommend watching the related MeatEater YouTube videos alongside the book to get a better grasp on things like how to gut or skin an animal.

Being from the UK I am limited to small game hunting, however I purchased both books in the series. I'm glad I did. They are a fascinating read and Steven has done an excellent job on putting them together. Hopefully one day I can put the knowledge to good use and tackle some larger game and cook up some great food.