Anyone ever read any Jim Kjelgaard books, my favorites are haunt fox, snow dog, wild trek, big red, and a nose for trouble, they are great for outdoors men who love to work with dogs

[Griffthebiggamehunter]

Anyone ever read any Jim Kjelgaard books, my favorites are haunt fox, snow dog, wild trek, big red, and a nose for trouble, they are great for outdoors men who love to work with dogs

[Okwaho]

YES!!!! My all-time favorite! Even as a grown-up, I go back and re-read them all the time. Too bad they're not in libraries and bookstores much anymore (what bookstores?). When I was a kid, I think a good half of what I knew about animals, camping, survival, etc. I learned from Jim Kjellgaard books. Hey, have you ever figured out what part of the country the Wintapi is in? I know it's fictional, but I believe Kjellgaard based it mostly on his boyhood home area of northwestern Pennsylvania, judging from the wildlife he describes (except for the wolverine in Big Red, of course; I don't think they ever lived in the East). A lot of people seem to think it's supposed to be somewhere in Canada, but that doesn't make sense given some of the other details (like Mr. Haggin's girlfriend driving from Philadelphia, the NYC dog show, etc.)

[huntfishtrap]

Yes, I think I have. Been a while though.

[charlie elk]

Great books, Black Fawn, Big Red, Nose for Trouble and Please Retrieve are all good.

[Okwaho]

Here are a few that I was never able to find until Amazon came along ....

Stormy - Black lab, duck hunting, pike fishing
Lion Hound - Set in the west, cougar hunting
Desert Dog - Greyhound, can't recall the story

One tip, if you haven't already experienced it for yourself: If you really like Big Red, and you've never watched the movie, DON'T watch the movie. It's probably the worst adaptation of a novel ever committed. But that's Disney for you, the same fine company that brought us that realistic, informative portrayal of forest life, Bambi.

[charlie elk]

Here are a few that I was never able to find until Amazon came along ....

Stormy - Black lab, duck hunting, pike fishing
Lion Hound - Set in the west, cougar hunting
Desert Dog - Greyhound, can't recall the story

One tip, if you haven't already experienced it for yourself: If you really like Big Red, and you've never watched the movie, DON'T watch the movie. It's probably the worst adaptation of a novel ever committed. But that's Disney for you, the same fine company that brought us that realistic, informative portrayal of forest life, Bambi.

The Big Red movie caused a mass demand for Irish Setters. Due to the ensuing demand for them as pets and show dogs the Irish Setter as a hunting dog almost became extinct. The hunting Irish Setter is just now regaining some popularity.

[charlie elk]

YES!!!! My all-time favorite! Even as a grown-up, I go back and re-read them all the time. Too bad they're not in libraries and bookstores much anymore (what bookstores?). When I was a kid, I think a good half of what I knew about animals, camping, survival, etc. I learned from Jim Kjellgaard books. Hey, have you ever figured out what part of the country the Wintapi is in? I know it's fictional, but I believe Kjellgaard based it mostly on his boyhood home area of northwestern Pennsylvania, judging from the wildlife he describes (except for the wolverine in Big Red, of course; I don't think they ever lived in the East). A lot of people seem to think it's supposed to be somewhere in Canada, but that doesn't make sense given some of the other details (like Mr. Haggin's girlfriend driving from Philadelphia, the NYC dog show, etc.)

Still find copies in used book stores. If it wasn't for ebooks they'd be mostly unavailable. Now most of them are available online for free, except Amazon charges for the Kindle versions.

[Griffthebiggamehunter]

Here are a few that I was never able to find until Amazon came along ....

Stormy - Black lab, duck hunting, pike fishing
Lion Hound - Set in the west, cougar hunting
Desert Dog - Greyhound, can't recall the story

One tip, if you haven't already experienced it for yourself: If you really like Big Red, and you've never watched the movie, DON'T watch the movie. It's probably the worst adaptation of a novel ever committed. But that's Disney for you, the same fine company that brought us that realistic, informative portrayal of forest life, Bambi.

I love lion hound, and desert dog is about a grey hound who is abandond in the desert

[Griffthebiggamehunter]

YES!!!! My all-time favorite! Even as a grown-up, I go back and re-read them all the time. Too bad they're not in libraries and bookstores much anymore (what bookstores?). When I was a kid, I think a good half of what I knew about animals, camping, survival, etc. I learned from Jim Kjellgaard books. Hey, have you ever figured out what part of the country the Wintapi is in? I know it's fictional, but I believe Kjellgaard based it mostly on his boyhood home area of northwestern Pennsylvania, judging from the wildlife he describes (except for the wolverine in Big Red, of course; I don't think they ever lived in the East). A lot of people seem to think it's supposed to be somewhere in Canada, but that doesn't make sense given some of the other details (like Mr. Haggin's girlfriend driving from Philadelphia, the NYC dog show, etc.)

The Wintapi sounds like a good hunting, fishing, and trapping place

[Griffthebiggamehunter]

Here are a few that I was never able to find until Amazon came along ....

Stormy - Black lab, duck hunting, pike fishing
Lion Hound - Set in the west, cougar hunting
Desert Dog - Greyhound, can't recall the story

One tip, if you haven't already experienced it for yourself: If you really like Big Red, and you've never watched the movie, DON'T watch the movie. It's probably the worst adaptation of a novel ever committed. But that's Disney for you, the same fine company that brought us that realistic, informative portrayal of forest life, Bambi.

And I dont like the movie a all

[Okwaho]

Great books, Black Fawn, Big Red, Nose for Trouble and Please Retrieve are all good.

Is "Please retrieve" an early version of Big Red? I seem to remember hearing something about that. I remember in the novel when Danny was upset because he couldn't make his father see how valuable Red could be as a bird dog.

[charlie elk]

Great books, Black Fawn, Big Red, Nose for Trouble and Please Retrieve are all good.

Please Retrieve is a short story that was published in Oct 1947 Boys Life magazine. Red was helping Danny train a pup who Red thought worthless. Google Books has this Boy's Life scanned so it can be read online free of charge.
Big Red was published in 1945.
Now that we're talking about these writings I've downloaded them to reread and share with my grand kids. It was more than a half century ago that I read them. Time for a refresher.

[Okwaho]

Great books, Black Fawn, Big Red, Nose for Trouble and Please Retrieve are all good.

Sounds like maybe a precursor to "Irish Red," the one with Red's un-trainable son Mike. Thanks for the info on Boys Life; I use Google Books all the time and never thought of seeing if they had that. I wish I'd lived in the days when practically every magazine printed short fiction.

[charlie elk]

Great books, Black Fawn, Big Red, Nose for Trouble and Please Retrieve are all good.

Sadly today most magazines now read like product catalogs. Perhaps this is why so many are failing.
You do live in an age where nearly all the classic magazines are available with a few clicks.

[charlie elk]

Came across this Jim Kjelgaard, A Daughter's Memoir
http://home.sprintmail.com/~charterbus/memoir.html
This is a memorial site setup for Jim Kjelgaard http://home.sprintmail.com/~charterbus/kjelgaard.htm
Information about his life, accomplishments and death. Just thought you'd be interested if you hadn't already come across it.