In his most recent follow up to Sketches from the Ranch: A Montana Memoir, Dan Aadland places readers right into the very soul of what it truly means to be a Montana hunter. The Best of All Seasons: Fifty Years As a Montana Hunter is an unapologetic, honest, and oftentimes nostalgic glimpse into the subsistence-through-recreation type of hunting that many multi-job, mortgage-payin’, real live Montanans participate in every year. Dan Aadland, a retired teacher and rancher from Absarokee, brings to life in this book what a truly enriching, educating, and humbling experience hunting can be.
Aadland’s memoirs are accessible and relatable right from the beginning. One has not to venture to far into the book to notice that Aadland’s easy, conversational style lends itself well to his musing stories, as well as some fairly in-depth discussions on rifles, caliber choice, and hunting ethics. Aadland’s honesty is as dead on as his Ruger #1s. Whether recounting the quiet bliss of his solo moose hunt and horse-pack trip in the Stillwater, or describing the obesity and sheer laziness of the ATV hunter, this is one author who doesn’t pander to anybody. That is what makes The Best of All Seasons a great book—it is really just one big campfire story packed full of wit, wisdom, and humor, and one can’t help but enjoy it.