Editorial Reviews
Review
About the Author
Zachary Hanson is an avid hunter and trapper. He is the co-founder and CEO of TheOutfitter.Guide, one of the hunting industry’s first true software companies, mixing cutting-edge technological expertise with real-world outdoor experience.Hanson is an expert in artificial intelligence and machine learning product management, with experience developing AI solutions for Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Brightcove, Capital One, and Wells Fargo. He holds degrees from the College of Charleston and Johns Hopkins University. A backcountry enthusiast committed to sustainable living, he lives with his wife and two children at the base of the Sawtooth Mountains in rural Idaho.
Alan S McCleaf –
This is one (very determined) man’s story about stepping back from the influences of social media and Corporate America to follow his dreams and unearth his true core self. It is about moving to the wilderness and learning to do the things that are required in that environment, but contains life lessons for many that could be applied to lots of our lives. Zach’s writing is often humorous, regularly self-effacing, sometimes heartbreaking and always brutally honest, as he recounts his journey from the initial small and faltering first steps (like a backyard archery range in suburbia) to achieving his dream of significant self-sufficiency in the wilds of Idaho. Along the way, he makes unanticipated discoveries about himself and his spirit. Recommended reading for anyone who is feeling a bit like they are in The Matrix and dreams of locating their lost dreams and sense of self, and wants to be inspired to take that first small step forward.(Disclaimer: I worked remotely for Zach in Corporate America for about a year during this adventure, though I have still never met him in person.)
Matt Bishop –
Turning Feral is an easy and fun read, but more importantly, it provides exposure to someone who has decided to go a different way. You may not be a hunter or a trapper, but in a way, that is just the context. The real message here is that someone smart and qualified to do a lot of financially “successful” things, woke up, didn’t like the tech drenched, fast paced, and community poor life they were living and chose another path. Some of the beauty in this book is that there is quite a bit of honesty about how messy that can be (how steep the learning curve can be in forging an entirely different path and attempting to step in to a true community as an outsider). I hope there is a sequel a decade in that talks about the success of this path for Zach and maybe some of the continued struggles and compromises with the broader tech driven world.
M Shaffer –
I quite enjoyed the book as the stories as were told. I appreciate the author sharing about the situations that went off the tracks and the personal growth that came as a result.
Eric Becker –
There’s no lack of men approaching midlife who never find the courage to ditch the drudgery in search of a more fulfilling existence. Hanson bucks that trend, offering an honest telling of the trials and pitfalls of finding a life of greater meaning and purpose amidst the often brutal realities of living in a remote location at the border of a great wilderness. Turning Feral is a thoroughly entertaining, funny, and often touching tale of toeing the often opaque line between finding freedom in raw pursuits of outdoorsmanship while still providing for the ones you love. This is an excellent read for anyone considering a change up, and a fantastic intro to hunting, trapping, and a life well lived.
G. T. Wilson –
The author’s adventures are interesting but come from that genre of internet publishing that is the “I don’t know how to do this so I’m going to write a book about it.” You see these sorts of things on YouTube all the time and they do garner clicks (because love and hate get clicks).At the end of the day it’s a story of a guy who changes his life to go live somewhat in the wilderness but still doing his “tech job” by day.It’s just a touch too self aware. He goes out of his way to espouse his ethical hunting and to “harvest” animals in ways he sees as ethical. It’s as if he’s writing not to offend his family back home.In other words, hardly feral.
Kyle Zibrowski –
Incredible read, on point for the trends that are occurring in the tech industry. As a tech professional myself, I look around at my peers and see so many individuals who have had their lives sheltered and cutoff from the aspects of life that truly matter. Zach’s persistence to learn, find adventure and recapture the enthusiasm to pursue the things in life that truly matter should give any reader the motivation to pause and reflect on their own lives. We’re so inundated with pursuing the definition of winning as laid out by executives that are beholden to shareholders, that so many of us have lost the ability to stop and ask ourselves what truly energizes and engages us.Turning Feral is a humble, humorous take on Zach’s journey of rediscovery and has been a catalyst for me to reflect on my own life and where I focus my energy.
BB Sanders –
The Rocky Mountains were once described as “The Marrow of the World”. Sadly, the comforts of modern life have robbed its taste from our lips. If you find yourself imprisoned, deprived, and malnourished, as Zachary Hanson did, this book is your map to freedom.Zach entrusts his readers with sacred memories of a man’s ups, downs, challenges, and victories as he transitions from the prison of modern comfort to the freedom of our primal roots. Beginning with childhood curiosities brought on by mountain man legends, he documents the progression of a big game hunter. His story should be studied in-depth, from bow failures to not knowing how to gut a deer and nearly losing a mortally wounded bear to becoming a seasoned and successful hunter.His story crescendos as he finds himself working a wolf trapline in the remote regions of Idaho. Knowing it would be the ultimate manifestation of woodsmanship, he set to trapping the illustrious and dangerous animal. While doing so, he often found himself with bloodied hands from a successful hunt as he responded to emails from those wanting to follow his example. Zach had pioneered a new path, seamlessly transitioning from Zoom and Slack to skinning game and stretching hides.In Turning Feral, Zach shows what it is like to be a modern-day Mountain Man. You can read this book if you want an inspiring story of a man broken from divorce who transformed his life into something with much more depth and meaning. Yet, if your soul years to reclaim your God-given place on the landscape, this book is required reading.
TB –
Awesome!
Extremely well written, engaging and entertaining account of one persons transition from corporate tech worker to seasoned woodsman. This book is for anyone wondering what it would be like to live life with a deeper connection to their natural environment and to have a greater level of self sufficiency.
Loch F –
A Book that will Resonate with Modern Man
As someone who originally grew up in a rural area, as a boy I would read Hemingway, London, Ruark, Corbett, and Capstick. As an adult who now works in both corporate and higher education settings, the call of the wild howls often as each mundane day passes.This book tells the story of a man who answered that call, an individual who had the courage to walk away from the trappings of modern life, relocate to a remote region and provide for both himself and family.Written in clear and authentic prose, this is a book for all those people who look to the mountains and sense that there is a place for them in that wilderness.