Cork Graham and The Bamboo Chest

Cork Graham has asked me to let you all know that his book The Bamboo Chest is now available at Kindle!

Here are a few comments on his impressive work:

You get your money's worth in this book! I had to read it more than two times to get all that was delivered. UnixWizard

It is only a few days before the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. If there were ever a book to read about the meaning of that event from a more than just analytical point of view, this book is it! FrogMan221

I purchased one book from Amazon and then another from the author's website so that I could get a personally signed copy, it's that good! I am not attracted to books about Vietnam, but after this book was recommended to me by a friend who served there in the military and later as a civilian contractor, I couldn't put it down. The book was finished in two days! For an eighteen year old, who was barely out of high school, to survive this type of experience without any prior military training makes the story almost incredible. Sara W

Like these very positive and enthusiastic notes, there are dozens more reviews, remarks, and comments recommending The Bamboo Chest.

Now that it's on Kindle, it's easier than ever to get it

Now here are the links for our friends in the UK and Europe:

For our friends in Britain, here is the UK Amazon link. As you may know, BAMBOO CHEST did really well there also:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004YQTBAG

Und für die Freunde in Deutschland: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B004YQTBAG This here is the German Amazon!

More on Cork Graham:
http://www.corkgraham.com/

http://www.corksoutdoors.com/
http://www.globalcounterter.com/
Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member: Qalat City Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

The Range Reviews: Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn

© 2010 Albert A Rasch™ and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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The Range Reviews

Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn

After watching me struggle, cuss, and hack my way through two powder horn projects, niether of which is really complete, and fill up my little corner of the living room with sawdust and horn detritus, my wife went and ordered  Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn by Scott and Cathy Sibley.

I am eagerly anticipating going home next year and reading my new gift! In the mean time, I have to ensconse myself at my desk here in Afghanistan, and be satisfied to look at scans my wife has been sending me.

I was immediately taken by the clear photos and detailed instructions that made it easy to understand what and how to do any number different steps in the creation of an art quality powder horn. And not just one type mind you, but several different types.

The authors, Scott and Cathy Sibley are well known powder horn makers and scrimshaw artists. I Googled them up and found a variety of references to their work, especially at Contemporary Makers. Contemporary Makers is a blog that covers the contemporary artists in period gun work, including accouterments; well worth the visit!

Scott is both a retired soldier, and a retired teacher. Cathy is retired school administrator. They got started making powder horns and quill-work while teaching school in the outer most reaches of Alaska.

I have been diligently working on a powderhorn for one of my friends, and I am very anxious to complete it on my next R&R. I have already picked up quite a few hints and new ideas from the excellent explanations in the book. The clear and well posed pictures make it easy to understand, and the Sibley's skill is obvious. The photography deseves a mention of its own; the quality and clarity is superb!

The book is divided into 21 chapters. It starts off in logical fashion with "Tools and Materials," followed by "Selecting a Horn." Thereafter it explains how you should set up your work area, (Believe me, nothing like mine!) and then starts from the begining in a logical and step by step horn making manner. The photography complements the descriptions very well, and options are presented for different time periods or styles

 Just to be clear, I don't work in any recognized style, period, or era. Shoot, until I started reading about 17th and 18th century blackpowder stuff, I didn't even realize there were different eras! Now I know better...





The scrimshawing section of the book is very well illustrated and explained. My next attempt at scratching away on a powder horn should be more successful than not! Selecting the proper tools for your project and clear, step-by-step directions are given. Something I appreciated was the scrimshaw patterns at the back of the book. It gives you some idea of where you might want to go with your scrimshaw.

The last two chapters have examples of original horns, followed by horns made by Contemporary Makers. It is an excellent reference to guide you to those styles and eras I mentioned earlier!




I have found powder horn making to be a rewarding combination of crafts. Not only are you working with horn, but you will pick out and work with wood, and possibly do some metal shaping should the mood strike you, to complete your horn.There are techniques discussed for using dyes or stains, many types of carving are covered, along with filing and shaping tools. The end result of the mess you are going to make, is a beautiful powder horn for your collection that will merit both artistic and practical praise.

For those of you looking for an entertaining and productive pasttime, maybe an activity to take your mind off of something, working with your hands to make a powder horn will be very rewarding. You will find  Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn is an incredible reference for the budding horn maker. I would recommend it without reservation!


Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn

Softcover, $19.95

91 pages, 11" x 8-1/2"

ISBN 0-9765797-0-7

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch™
Member: Shindand Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...


Though he spends most of his time writing and keeping the world safe for democracy, Albert was actually a student of biology. Really. But after a stint as a lab tech performing repetitious and mind-numbing processes that a trained capuchin monkey could do better, he never returned to the field. Rather he became a bartender. As he once said, "Hell, I was feeding mice all sorts of concoctions. At the club I did the same thing; except I got paid a lot better, and the rats where bigger." He has followed the science of QDM for many years, and fancies himself an aficionado. If you have any questions, or just want to get more information, reach him via TheRaschOutdoorChronicles(at)MSN(dot)com.

The Last Ivory Hunter: A Chronicles' Book Review

© 2009 Albert A Rasch
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The Last Ivory Hunter
The Saga of Wally Johnson
By Peter Capstick

Wally Johnson was one of the best professional hunters in Africa. Starting out in Mozambique as a professional ivory hunter when elephants were as thick as fleas, he branched out into gold prospecting and mining. Then he was a safari leader for more than fifty years. He shot nearly 100 lions, 1300 elephants and almost 2000 cape buffalo throughout his many years on the African continent. It was the 1975 Marxist and revolution and eventual destruction of Mozambique that finally forced Wally to leave his beloved country.

Many years later, around a safari campfire on the banks of the Mupamadazi River in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, Peter Capstick picks up the thread and weaves a new tapestry. In Capstick's imitable style, he has blended the words of Wally and his own comments into a seamless chronicle of an unspoiled Africa where mighty tuskers teemed and a man could carve out his own destiny with a sharp panga, accurate rifle, steely nerves, and his wits.

In over 150 hours of conversations by leadwood and mopane campfires in the African bush, interviews in his home, and conversations with Wally’s family members, Capstick tells us Wally’s career. But this is not a biography in the strictest sense of the word, it is rather a collaboration, a conversation, between two hunters around a campfire. Wally recounts for us how he survived the poisonous bite of a Gaboon Viper, and being gored by a buffalo. He tells us of fortunes gained and lost, of people met, and just as mysteriously disappeared. Interestingly enough, as a bush mechanic Wally had no peer!

Capstick records Wally’s adventures with safari clients (Robert Ruark was one of them); stories about the natives and their magic arts. Capstick and Wally artfully weave a wonderful story, vividly recalling a time that is no more.

These are the reminiscence of a grand old man, a professional hunter retelling the events that were his life, to be recorded by a writer, another hunter. This is the story of a Wally Johnson, hunter, prospector, and refugee who lived an extraordinary life in Mozambique.

As a fan of Peter Capstick, I highly recommend this book; you won't regret it. Capstick is at his story telling finest, and if some of it may seem implausible, maybe unbelievable, remember...

You weren't there!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...

Precision Bowhunting: A Chronicles' Book Review

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Recently I was fortunate enough to win a signed edition of Precision Bowhunting by John and Chris Eberhart, a father and son team from Michigan. So I've decided that this year I would focus a little (actually a lot) more on whitetail deer hunting than my usual hog hunting. It will also allow me the opportunity to delve more intimately with the "suburban hunting" phenomenon that is the norm in so many built up areas.

Packed with practical advice, John and Chris' Precision Bowhunting covers a year round approach to scouting, finding, and hunting the whitetail. They explain what you should be doing right now, what to prepare for, and what to expect month to month, season by season.

There are no gimmicks or tricks, just a studious application of hard work and perseverance. Hunting pressured or public land is what most of us must contend with, and that is what is covered in Precision Bowhunting.

Precision Bowhunting covers not only where you need to be, but also where you shouldn't. The Eberharts warn you of common mistakes made by both experienced and amateur bowhunters. Scent control, scouting tactics, and stand selection receive serious consideration and suggestions. Both John and Chris seem very sincere in their writing and discussions. That alone, sets the apart from many other writers in the field.

If you are new to bowhunting whitetails, or an old hat trying to up his game, you couldn't pick a better book. I learned more about scouting whitetails from this book than I have in reading everything else over the last forty years.

Be warned. It is not a "how to" book, that you can read right before season opener. It is, as the cover says, "A Year-Round Approach to Taking Mature Whitetails."

Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...