The Jim Posewitz Digital Library

The Jim Posewitz Digital Library: Required Reading for Conservationists

From the post-hunting-season doldrums and winter snows, to the social distancing that is 2020-21, many hunters and anglers have found opportunity to read up on the great conservation stories of our past and successes that led to the hunting and fishing opportunities we enjoy today.

BHA’s Required Reading for Conservationists list began in the Winter 2018 issue of Backcountry Journal and, through its popularity, continues to be expanded upon today. This ever-expanding list of thought-provoking reads provides inspiration, history and fun for the conservation-minded hunter and angler.Photo by Thom Bridge

This library is dedicated to conservation icon Jim Posewitz. Founder of Orion: The Hunter's Institute and author of four books on hunting and hunter ethics including Beyond Fair Chase: The Ethic and Tradition of HuntingInherit the Hunt: A Journey into the Heart of American HuntingRifle in Hand: How Wild America was Saved and Taking a Bullet for Conservation, Jim Posewitz is an inspiration to all backcountry hunter/conservationists. Learn more about Jim on the BHA Podcast & Blast, where he and host Hal Herring chat about the history of conservation and a whole lot more.

This digital library also exists in our new and growing physical library at BHA Headquarters in Missoula, Montana. We'll add a new title here weekly to the digital library, so be sure to check back often for new reading inspiration! 

Rifle in Hand by Jim Posewitz

Posted by: 589host Etchasoft SuperUser | Friday, April 25, 2025

Rifle in Hand by Jim Posewitz

This title is part of BHA's Jim Posewitz Digital Library: Required Reading for Conservationists

In 2016, BHA, along with Orion – The Hunter’s Institute, established the Jim Posewitz Award for Ethical Hunting and Fishing and honored Randy Newberg as the first recipient. Establishing this award in Jim’s name just made sense as he is the premier author on hunting ethics and our sporting heritage. 

If you have ever been around Jim, his prose is natural and doesn’t waste a word. I re-read and enjoy all of Jim’s books often: Inherit the Hunt, Beyond Fair Chase and Taking a Bullet for Conservation. But I chose to single out Rifle in Hand. In this book, Jim does a masterful job of telling the American conservation story with those we know well, like Theodore Roosevelt, as well as lesser known contributors to our conservation legacy. We all have a role to play.

Like all of Jim’s books, Rifle in Hand is an easy read but offers much in return. In order to protect and promote what we have today it helps to see, through the eyes of a hunter, how we got here.

-LAND TAWNEY, BHA President & CEO

 

Purchase Rifle in Hand on Amazon Smile, and register Backcountry Hunters & Anglers as your preferred non-profit to give back to your wild public lands, waters and wildlife. 

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