Quiz: Classic Hunting Books From The Golden Age Of Outdoor Writing

Take our quiz and find out how much you really know about the golden age of outdoor writing and the authors of timeless hunting books.

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posted on November 16, 2023
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Faulkner Bigwoods 1
Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner recounted his best hunting tales in the book “Big Woods: The Hunting Stories” published in 1955. See the book cover above, along with a 1954 photo of Faulkner by Carl Van Vechten.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, LC-DIG-PPMSCA-10445

The golden age of outdoor writing, especially hunting books, occurred during the 20th century. But how many of those classic books and their authors are you familiar with? Take our 10-question quiz to find out by matching the book titles below with the authors. Place the letter located beside the author’s name in the blank space provided in front of the book title. We guarantee that you’ll get at least one right. The answers are at the end of the quiz, but don’t peek ahead, we’ll know!

BOOK TITLES
  1. _____ “Big Woods” (Hint: this book contains the story titled “The Bear.”)
  2. _____ “The Old Man and the Boy”
  3. _____ “De Shootin’est Gent’man”
  4. _____ “Where the Red Fern Grows”
  5. _____ “Death in the Long Grass”
  6. _____ “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman”
  7. _____ “Hemingway on Hunting”
  8. _____ “The Hunting Rifle”
  9. _____ “My Health is Better in November”
  10. _____ “Tenth Legion”
BOOK AUTHORS
  1. Tom Kelly
  2. Havilah Babcock
  3. Jack O’Connor
  4. Ernest Hemingway
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Peter Hathaway Capstick
  7. Wilson Rawls
  8. Nash Buckingham
  9. Robert Ruark
  10. William Faulkner
ANSWERS
  1. J. (William Faulkner)
  2. I. (Robert Ruark)
  3. H. (Nash Buckingham)
  4. G. (Wilson Rawls)
  5. F. (Peter Hathaway Capstick)
  6. E. (Theodore Roosevelt)
  7. D. (Ernest Hemingway)
  8. C. (Jack O’Connor)
  9. B. (Havilah Babcock)
  10. A. (Tom Kelly)
SCORECARD

Well, how did you do? Did you notice that the correct answers to the book titles are in reverse order of the authors listed? Sneaky, huh …

0 to 3 answers correct: Put away the comic books.

4 to 6 answers correct: Better get a library card.

7 or 8 answers correct: Well done, but keep reading … and shooting.

9 or 10 answers correct: Excellent! When will you write your own shooting and hunting book?

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