The drivers should walk quietly and steadily towards the standers.. This is the best approach for hunting swamps, brushy areas, heavy downfall areas, etc.Hunters that like to hunt from foot have to be patient and skillful. A still hunter may not get more than two hundred yards in a half-hour. The hunter closest to the trail may catch an unsuspecting buck, but most likely the buck will move upwind, coming into view of the other hunter.A hunter should not follow a deer trail directly, but should move in the direction of the trail, crossing it at intervals in wide, long, winding swings.If there are three hunters, one walks the deer trail and the other two parallel him, far out on each side.Always walk with any wind in your face or blowing at an angle that pushes your scent behind you.

This allows them to intercept suspicious bucks that fishhooks or circles to look back. With the wind at their back, their scent is caught by the deer as they move through.Taking Whitetail Bucks on foot is possible but takes certain skills and knowledge of deer habits. If the breeze is right, a whitetail may smell a hunter at a third of a mile. A deer, like other animals, recognize a steady, rhythmical pace as human. He also wants to walk like a browsing animal would, by taking a few unevenly timed steps, waiting, and then taking a few more steps. When the wind is crossing, the wider hunter should be on the upwind side. One man, stationed near the middle of the pack, should be designated to give a prearranged signal (usually raising his arm) to begin and end the drive.

A productive technique when two hunters are working together is for one hunter to move along 15 to 20 yards to one side of the tracks while the other parallels him much farther out on the other side (25 to 125 yards) depending on forest/vegetation density. This is also used when hunting long ridges.Quiet drives give standers a better opportunity for Ratchet Tie Downs Manufacturers a shot at a walking or trotting deer. The standers move to an area downwind or on a higher area and spread out. The most alluring deer scents dont seem to attract deer but they help mask the human odor. At the far end they spread out to cover the entire area to be pushed.

The hearing of the whitetail is acutely attuned to high-pitched sounds like that of a cough, a snapping twig, sling swivels, or other loose metal pieces on your body.Deer DrivesBetween six and a dozen men are needed to perform successful drives of 40 acres and more. The walking hunter must pause, look, and listen more than he walks.The pushers or drivers take a position on the opposite end of the designated area that is to be flushed. Ideally, they would take tree stands for a position, allowing them a greater view of approaching deer and the other hunters. Noisy drives push deer to escape the area at top speed (about 35 mph) leaving the stander only a quick look.

This book is proving to be a perfect example of what I find so limiting about economic history. Boyer is examining the impact of changes in welfare law upon the poor and unemployed in Britain. It's all well and good, but he never bothers to explain why Parliament changes the law. Was it a shift in morality, or because of the increasing shift of the population from rural to urban? Evidently Boyer doesn't think this worth addressing.

This might be a minor complaint, but it also highlights another problem with the book, this one being a lack of differentiation in his statistics. He tosses around numbers about the "population" and "the poor" as they were a uniform category between 1832 and 1951. He should know very well that this isn't the case, and that a lot of what was happening involved adapting a system geared towards addressing poverty in a predominantly agrarian economy to a predominantly industrial one. Given some of the arguments he makes, not addressing this leaves it flawed and subject to substantial revision, which is a shame because he makes some interesting points in his economic analysis.

If you haven't read this series please...stop here go back and start reading or listening  because it's all on audio. So either is good...trust me I've done both read the the series and listened to the audio and truly either format is very good.

I know I've already done one big long rambly review extolling the virtues of this book...actually of the whole series and truthfully I'll probably borrow some bits and pieces from it to use in this review, but if I do I promise I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

There's a quote that starts something to the effect of 'start as you mean to go on' and when I think about this series I truly feel that's what TJ Klune has done with this series. He began by giving us a story, one that we could relate to, with characters that we'd care about...invest a bit of ourselves in and take into our hearts and love and we did...or at least I know I did and I'm pretty sure a lot of my friends who read these books did as well and now here at the end of the journey we are once again given those same characters and even though this is their good-bye they have stayed in my heart and for all the hours that they've spent sharing their time with me they will remain firmly tucked into a corner of my heart.

When this journey started Bear was just finishing high school and the Kid well he was just that 'a kid' just a little guy and throughout the course of these stories we watched them grow up...going from a young man and a kid to grown men who have fallen in love, gotten married and now have children of their own. They've shared their happiness and their heartache with us, their good times and their bad and in return we've given them our tears and taken them into our hearts. 

I've read more than a few series from start to finish and I have to admit some have had amazing endings and some have been more than a little disappointing. 'The Long and Winding Road' for me was a perfect fit to the rest of the series. This is good-bye it's a glimpse at the past and everything that's gone before to make these men who they are but it's also a look into a future...one that's filled with love, laughter, good times, bad times and hope...always, there is hope.

Sean Crisden was the narrator for this final audio book and while he hasn't narrated all the books in this series, he has narrated 3 out of the 4 and I have loved every one of them. I'm a fan of Mr. Crisden and yes, honestly I am listening to one of his other audio books as I type this review...like I say "I'm a fan." With each story he's given us a solid and consistent narration adding depth, dimension and life to the characters and the stories.

Sadly 'The Long and Winding Road' is the final chapter in the journey that we've taken with these characters. I had mistakenly thought it would be easier to travel this road this time because 'Hey, I've already read the story. I know what's going to happen, right?' well, yeah that is correct but somehow the sad was just as sad, the happy was just as happy and the funny was just as funny as the first time around and I'm pretty sure that times number 3 and 4 and so on ad so on are all going to be just as enjoyable because while the this may be the end of the journey it's not going to be good-bye for me as long as there's a play button on my computer, e-reader, whatever I'll be spending time with these stories.

Well go me, I've gotten this far without having to cheat and use anything from my original review so I think I'm going to quite while I'm ahead and I'll just say 'The Long and Winding Road' is the last leg of the journey for 'Bear, Otter & the Kid' if you've read it all like me than you know that audio or e-book this series is time well spent and if you haven't...well, damn you were suppose to quite reading this review  back up at the beginning...obviously you're one of those people who don't follow instructions well...lol!!! Welcome to the club and as your initiation you need to go check out this series, go on it's worth it.

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An audio book of 'The Long and Winding Road' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

every bit as important as how it started but then so is everything in the middle...

I have such mixed feelings about this one. I loved the chance to spend more time in this world with Otter, Bear, the Kid and all the wonderful people in their lives. But that this was the end of their story...well, how could that not make me a little sad.

While I was a little late to the party with this series. It was August of 2011 when 'Bear, Otter and the Kid' was first published and somehow I managed to wait until 2015 to read the first 3 books...and yes, I did binge read them and what I do know for sure is that whatever instinct told me that I finally needed to read these books was a good one and I need to listen to it more often. 

Life's tapestry is made of so many different threads...hellos, good-byes, births, deaths, meeting new friends, losing old ones, leaving home, going home and so many other moments that shape us taking us on a journey that helps us to define who we are. This is the journey that we've traveled with Bear, Otter and the Kid. 

It's an incredibly emotional journey. One covering everything from happiness and love to anger and grief with so much more in between and it's here in 'The Long and Winding Road' that we get to revisit the past with Bear as he faces some of the biggest changes yet to happen in his life and Bear's not the only one affected by these changes. While some of these changes affect Bear directly some do so indirectly because they're changes that are coming for the people that Bear loves...for the kid, for Otter, for Creed, for Izzie the sister that Bear's never met and at the heart of it all, Bear knows as long as they're together...Bear, Otter, the Kid and the amazing family they've gathered they will weather the changes and come out of things whole and stronger.

I think most of us can agree that how a series starts is important...that first book can decide if it's going to be a success, if the reader will want to read the next book, what kind of series it's going to be. So much can be decided from that first impression. But like the first book, the last book is also important. It can leave us frustrated, disappointed, feeling like we want more or less or it can leave us feeling happy and satisfied that we took the journey, even though we aren't really ready for the journey to end. If it's done right we're still left feeling that the journey is complete and content that we took the trip and while in my heart I wasn't ready for this to be over, I am very content that I took this journey, so much so that I know I'll be taking this journey again some day.

I did my music thing with this book and of course for anyone familiar with the Beatles you guessed right if you assumed that one of the first songs I listened to was 'The Long and Winding Road' and in many ways it's so fitting for this story and the title fits so wonderfully with the story, but for me the song that really connected with this story was a different another song by the Beatles it's called 'In My Life' either song is a beautiful and fitting background to this beautiful conclusion to a series that will always have a special place on my 'Favorite Series' list.

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An ARC of 'The Long and Winding Road' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man, this was wonderful. Perfect. I love all these people so much.

Thank you TJ for this amazing family. This family that started with Bear, Otter & the Kid.

Roads can diverge.

It’s tough but true.

It’ll be okay. In the end.

So you’ll go one way.

And we’ll go another.

Maybe one day we’ll meet again.

But even if we don’t, remember this:

We have lived.

We have loved.

We have lost.

But we’re standing.

For all that we are, we’re still standing.

Definitely a series I will be revisiting... Beginning with the audio. Funny how that works, even when reading this book, Sean Crisden's voice for Bear's verbal diarrhea is what I heard. Some narrators are just ingrained with the character.

*HIGHLY RECOMMENDED