Sarley: A bowhunting book that every non-hunter should read

I know I spend much more time talking about fishing than I do about hunting. I do like to hunt but do not spend as much time as I would like doing it.

To be honest, I am a rank amateur in the world of hunting. I am a hunter, merely by the broadest of definitions. I have harvested many varieties of birds and small game. I have spent time in blinds hoping to be able to get a shot at a whitetail but have been unsuccessful.

I have eaten everything I have ever taken with my shotgun and have respect for hunters and the sport of hunting. I feel much more confident reading the writing of true experts than trying to pen stories on my own.

I began hunting late in life and due to age and physical limitations, I don’t see myself ever becoming a more experienced hunter. I am jealous of those who are.

Northern Illinois is not a place the average guy would expect to be the home of a top-flight professional hunter. You’d figure those top pros would hail from Wyoming or Montana. Well, Mike Mitten, from Beach Park, near Waukegan, is one of the country’s top hunters, and he is an incredible author, to boot.

Individuals like Mitten are few and far between. Very few have the talent and skills to be a highly successful hunter. Even fewer have the ability to explain what they do and the reasons for doing it on the printed page.

Mitten’s first book in 2015, “One With the Wilderness – Passions of a Solo Bowhunter,” is still in print and available to anyone with a love for hunting or anyone who loves a good outdoor read. It is my favorite hunting book.

Mitten is back. It has taken him a decade to pen his latest book, “The Enchantment of Bowhunting,” published by Herd Bull Productions. The wait was worth it because this is a masterpiece.

Realize that Mitten is a traditional bowhunter. Those who practice hunting with a traditional long bow have a special place in my heart for being able to practice what I consider to be the most difficult skill for a hunter to master. You don’t need to use a recurve bow to do what Mitten does, but it helps you to appreciate what makes Mitten tick. He never uses shortcuts or takes the easy way out.

Mitten and “The Enchantment of Bowhunting,” is all about the hunt and what it means to true hunters. Mitten takes you to dream locations while he chases dream animals. He never loses sight of the spirituality in what he does. His feelings and emotions for what he lives fills each and every page.

This is a book that every non-hunter should read. The book won’t make you run down to the archery shop for a bow and arrow, but it will definitely make you understand why your friends and neighbors who bow hunt love it so much.

How can someone be opposed to a man who thinks like this?

“Shooting a traditional bow is fun, but I don’t practice to increase my shooting range,” Mitten said. “I practice to increase my yardages I am already comfortable with. After 48 years of hunting, I am very familiar with my own limitations and effective range, but I don’t impose them on others. I do, however, encourage all hunters to know their limitations and understand the performance limits of the equipment they choose to hunt with. It’s not good enough to just impose a lethal wound, we must strive toward a quick and humane kill.”

Solid thinking, to be sure.

You can get a copy of “The Enchantment of Bowhunting,” published by Herd Bull Productions at www.herdbullproductions.com.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.