Hunted Past Reason Book

This book was a real disappointment for me, I think because I am a backpacker and being a Matheson fan I was really excited to read it when I discovered it in a used book store. The story is unrealistic and full of of holes.

The one that stood out to me the most was the whole premise that it is illegal to hunt in a national forest, which is totally untrue. Anyone who spends anytime in the wilderness should know that. I would go so far as to call it common knowledge that hunting is perfectly legal, and even encouraged, in national forests. Also, Matheson seemed to consider national forests and national parks as the same thing, which they are not. It might be nitpicking on my part, but I just could not get passed it. I mean, how could Matheson or his editors not catch that glaring mistake, which shoots the story's credibility full of holes?

The other hang-up for me was the amount and type of wildlife they encounter. I've been backpacking many times all over Montana, Washington and Idaho, and I've never seen anything close to what these characters see in a national forest in California. It just robbed the story of realism in my eyes, the frequency in which they encounter bears and cougars and coyotes... It's just not realistic at all.

Finally I found that I wasn't really rooting for Bob all that much. He was a little sissy. He complained too much. In the end I was hoping he would just fall a cliff so I could finish the book and move on to something with a little more substance.