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Local hunter pens guide to state
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
October 09, 2002
John Axelson had been wanting to write a book about Colorado hunting for a long time. He just never dreamed it would turn out like this.
"I put together this length work and shopped it around to several publishers without much success," said Axelson, who grew up in Broomfield and has migrated east, all the way to Brighton.
It wasn't until he landed at Wilderness Adventures Press in Belgrade, Mont., that luck, and reality, arrived in equal doses.
"They wanted a Colorado book as part of their guidebook series," he said of a project that required another two years to reshape his own material into a format that has proved highly successful, most notably in the Colorado flyfishing guide authored by Denver resident Marty Bartholomew.
The result is "Big Game Hunter's Guide to Colorado," a 508-page compendium that should have an honored spot in any Nimrod's knapsack.
With geographic precision, Axelson, 37, dispenses tips and prospects for each of Colorado's big game animals, a wisdom accumulated since he began hunting as a teenager with rifle and bow.
As with each of the books in the Wilderness Adventures Series, much of the information is delivered in true guidebook form, with exhaustive lists of accommodations, game processors, shops and campgrounds-even places to have your vehicles and horses fixed.
All of which initially caused Axelson intense consternation.
"The format seemed overwhelming when I started. I didn't think I possibly could provide all that research," Axelson said. "But the things I thought most difficult proved to be most rewarding."
Axelson's digging put him back in touch with the smaller communities of the Western Slope, places such as Paonia and Somerset, where his father grew up, and Kremmling, where family members live.
"I got in touch with these smaller communities and all the good people who live there," he said.
Axelson got particular satisfaction crafting sections about hunter success and on conservation in which he details his philosophy on the hunting ethic.
"I hope these are the things that readers really weed out of the book."
From Wilderness Adventure Press, 45 Buckskin Road, Belgrade, Mt. 59714, 800-925-3339; http://www.wildadv.com , $28.95.
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
October 09, 2002
John Axelson had been wanting to write a book about Colorado hunting for a long time. He just never dreamed it would turn out like this.
"I put together this length work and shopped it around to several publishers without much success," said Axelson, who grew up in Broomfield and has migrated east, all the way to Brighton.
It wasn't until he landed at Wilderness Adventures Press in Belgrade, Mont., that luck, and reality, arrived in equal doses.
"They wanted a Colorado book as part of their guidebook series," he said of a project that required another two years to reshape his own material into a format that has proved highly successful, most notably in the Colorado flyfishing guide authored by Denver resident Marty Bartholomew.
The result is "Big Game Hunter's Guide to Colorado," a 508-page compendium that should have an honored spot in any Nimrod's knapsack.
With geographic precision, Axelson, 37, dispenses tips and prospects for each of Colorado's big game animals, a wisdom accumulated since he began hunting as a teenager with rifle and bow.
As with each of the books in the Wilderness Adventures Series, much of the information is delivered in true guidebook form, with exhaustive lists of accommodations, game processors, shops and campgrounds-even places to have your vehicles and horses fixed.
All of which initially caused Axelson intense consternation.
"The format seemed overwhelming when I started. I didn't think I possibly could provide all that research," Axelson said. "But the things I thought most difficult proved to be most rewarding."
Axelson's digging put him back in touch with the smaller communities of the Western Slope, places such as Paonia and Somerset, where his father grew up, and Kremmling, where family members live.
"I got in touch with these smaller communities and all the good people who live there," he said.
Axelson got particular satisfaction crafting sections about hunter success and on conservation in which he details his philosophy on the hunting ethic.
"I hope these are the things that readers really weed out of the book."
From Wilderness Adventure Press, 45 Buckskin Road, Belgrade, Mt. 59714, 800-925-3339; http://www.wildadv.com , $28.95.
