10 Books for Bushcrafters, Nature Lovers, and People Who Love the Outdoors (2014)

Here is a list of great books for your favorite bushcrafter, nature lover, or person who loves the outdoors. It is one of the NatureOutside Gift Guides for 2014.

This is the first year I have done this guide. So not all of the recommendations below are books published this year. Some are “classics” that I have not got around to recommending on the blog.

There are many terrific books that did not make the list. But I hope you are inspired by one of the titles below.

General Bushcraft and Nature

These books do not fall into any particular category. But it is fun to escape into their pages.

1. My Outdoor Life, Ray Mears

Ray Mears is one of the most famous bushcraft experts in the world. His relaxed British TV shows take the fear out of going into the wilderness. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Ray’s shows educate and inspire, not just entertain. His enthusiasm for his subject shines through each of his programs. Ray loves sharing his craft and demonstrates techniques that any of his viewers can emulate.

Ray’s autobiography tells how his parents and an early mentor encouraged his interest in bushcraft, and an attitude of self-reliance. The book gives behind-the-scenes accounts of his many adventures and the making of his famous television programs. Finally, Ray recounts how he used his tracking skills to help the police hunt a notorious killer.

Fans of his many TV programs will most enjoy this book. You can find Ray’s shows on broadcast TV, DVD or on YouTube.

2. Illumination in the Flatwoods, Joe Hutto

It is one thing to imprint two dozen wild turkey chicks on you. It is quite another to raise them in the wild as a mother turkey!

Naturalist Joe Hutto led his brood of poults through the Florida wilds, teaching them to survive the many threats facing a young wild turkey. But to his amazement, the young chicks shared a wealth of wisdom with him in return. It turns out that having a turkey’s eye view of the world can be an enlightening one.

Bushcraft

Here are two classic books that cover traditional wilderness skills.

3. Bushcraft, Mors Kochankski

This is considered by many to be one of the definitive works on outdoor skills and wilderness survival. Renowned Canadian bushcraft instructor Mors Kochanski describes skills you can use outdoors. He covers:

Lighting and using fires
Using the knife, axe, and saw
Creating and using cordage
How to make shelters
The flora and fauna of the boreal forest

The book has its deficiencies. It is not always clear from the drawings how the techniques work, and the text does not always provide complete descriptions. The book’s value is as a starting point to learn more about different skills and techniques.

4. Wildwood Wisdom, Ellsworth Jaeger

This book was first published in 1945. But that does not mean the skills it describes do not apply to you! As we have become more reliant on technology, many of the skills our ancestors used to survive in the outdoors have been forgotten. This book is a wonderful mix of text and cartoon-like drawings that breathe life into these bygone skills. Jaeger covers shelters, firemaking, use of the axe and knife, camp cooking, sanitation, and much more.

Animals

Just because you can identify an animal, does it mean you really know anything about it? Here are two books that take you into the lives of the creatures you see when you are out hiking. They tell you about their biology and teach you about their ways.

5. Behavior of North American Mammals, Mark Elbroch and Kurt Rinehart

This is a terrific book about the lives and behaviors of mammals in North America. Elbroch is a respected name in animal tracking and wildlife observation. The book covers more than 50 species and provides detailed, well researched, information. The photography is very well done.

6. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior, David Allen Sibley et al.

What Elbroch does for mammals, David Allen Sibley does for birds. Birds are fascinating creatures and the chapter, “Flight, Form, and Function”, describes in wonderful detail how a bird’s body is completely optimized for flight. Sibley then takes us into the lives of more than 80 species. The hand-drawn illustrations are terrific.

Plants & Fungi

Here are three very different books on plants, fungi, and their use by man.

7. Nature’s Garden, Samuel Thayer

This is one of the most popular (and rightly so) books about foraging, processing, and consuming wild plants. Thayer is excited about his subject and a stickler for accurate information. He is a practitioner and uses the plants and skills he teaches. I very much recommend the section about foraging for acorns. It contains an extremely well-conceived and well-written description of how to recognize good acorns while foraging.

8. Mushrooms Demystified, David Arora

This book is another classic. It is the size of a small telephone book and filled with terrific information. Arora loves fungi and wants you to love them too. His sense of humor shines throughout the book and injects a sense of merry adventure into the hunt for edible mushrooms. His book also contains a wonderful key that I have used several times to identify mushroom species.

This book has also become a sentimental favorite because I have a good David Arora story. 🙂

9. Cedar, Hilary Stewart

From the cover of this large-format book you will think it belongs on a coffee table. Don’t be deceived! Cedar contains 192 pages filled with pictures, drawings, and description of how the Northwest Coast Indians used the cedar tree in their daily lives. Most of the drawings illustrate specific items made from cedar materials. I found the descriptions of the techniques used to make the items, from shelters to baskets to clothing, absolutely fascinating. Even if you do not have cedar trees where you live, the techniques and the ways that the materials were used will give you many ideas for your own area.

Ecology

10. Autumn – A season of Change, Peter J. Marchand

The author guides you through the amazing variety of changes going on in the natural world during fall. I never realized how busy a time it was in the plant and animal kingdom as each species prepares for the coming winter. Whether it is migration, the rut, or seed dispersal, each plant and animal uses its specific adaptations to transform itself during this season of change.