Orion's Book Reviews

Chapter 8: Some Thoughts on Trophy Rooms This chapter of the book has some good suggestions on how to set up a trophy room, and thoughts on how to back your animals. Notable tips: Use nets for fish And Light boards for dark trophies.  This chapter seems like a diary from a different time.  While the thought of having a trophy room, excites me, the thought of actually dedicating an entire room of my house to dead animals seems like an antiquated practice.

Chapter 7: Some Thoughts on Wild Game for the Larder This section contains eleven recipes for a variety of game.  He does end the chapter with three thoughts on wild game.  Gamey taste he believes come from not removing all the fat from big game.  I have seen this postulated by multiple of the "new" big game chefs that have arrived on the scene in the last few years.  He also talks about making hamburger and tenderizing the meat. 

Chapter 6: Some Thoughts on Field Care of Trophies Mr. Gilchrist goes quickly over how to skin a trophy for mounting.  This chapter has quite a few photos of how to properly cape a trophy animal for mounting.  He ends with advice on salting a trophy.

Chapter 5: Some Thoughts on Glassing This is a very short chapter.  Duncan does a fair job explaining different types of binoculars, and what the numbers mean.  This was important, as an adult onset hunter.  I never knew the various types of binoculars were good for.  He also gives several good tips on how to spot big game.  He finishes the chapter with some thoughts on spotting scopes.   He mentions several brands, that are still in service and high quality today. ( Bushnell, Zeiss, and Weaver)

Chapter 4: Some Thoughts on Photography While most of the actual equipment recommendations are out of date.  This chapter contains some timeless information on technique. The thoughts on lenses for SLR camera's are good for DSLR's also.  All in all, this is a very nice summary chapter on how to take good photographs.  I learned quite  a bit from it.

Chapter 3: Some Thoughts on Field Care for the Backpacking Hunter This is a quick chapter on the benefits of boning out meat before packing it out.  There are a few quick tips on tieing loads to backpacks.  The ideas presented here are sound, and for someone who has ever considered an extended hunt in a wilderness area, it is good reading  

Chapter 2: Some Thoughts on Gear for the Big Game Hunter For a book written in the late 80's, Mr Gilchrist has some interesting ideas.  His thoughts on most of the items are very handy, but he has a section on cameras, that is obviously very out of date.  Although, he does bring up some pictures that were taken in the 1930's that were very well done. Favorite Quote: "It rained a dozen days on a 12 day trip"

Chapter 1: Some Thoughts on Rifle Markmanship for the Big Game Hunter  Duncan begins by discussing long range shooting.  He advises to zero your scopes, especially for the flatter rounds (like .270) at 300 to 350 yards.  His rationale is simple, if you have an 8 inch target, and you have flat shooting rifle, at shorter ranges, you will hit the target.  At longer ranges, you will hit the target.  He doesn't want you to sight in at 100 yards, and then have to hold high on an animal to compensate for bullet drop. His next topic is rests and positions.  If you can use a rest, he highly recommends using one.  He also suggests using the sitting position for shooting at animals.  All simple ideas that he has thoroughly vetted in his decades as a hunter. He ends the chapter by discussing "new" stocks.  Now that the book is over 30 years old, the "new" part of this discussion is old.  He point is still well made.  Favori...

Duncan Gilchrist has written a great book hunting a lot of different game all over what many would consider the Western part of the country.  I personally learned quite a bit about hunting in general, and I would daresay this is the first stop on your journey of harvesting western game.  While some of the information at first glance might seem outdated (the book was published in 1987).  The tips and techniques are still useful, and will give you some very good starting points to begin researching your western adventure. Chapter 1: Thoughts on Rifle Marksmanship Chapter 2: Gear for the Big Game Hunter Chapter 3: Field Care for the Backpacking Hunter Chapter 4: Some Thoughts on Photography Chapter 5: Some Thoughts on Glassing Chapter 6: Some Thoughts on Field Care of Trophies Chapter 7: Some Thoughts on Wild Game for the Larder Chapter 8: Some Thoughts on Trophy Rooms Chapter 9: Short Course on Mountain Goat Hunting Chapter 10: Short Course on Bea...

A Quick Introduction to Machine Learning When Matthew Kirk says, quick, he means quick.  This chapter was a very short overview of the various types of machine learning.  He quickly lists some of the alogrithms he will presumably discuss in the book.  And last, he has a table of the various mathematical notations that will be used throughout the book. This chapter was a nice overview of the book.  Short, sweet and to the point.  I liked it.  Although, it leaves me with nothing to write about.  

This chapter is called Probably Approximately Correct Software. The first section is called Writing Software Right.  It starts by explaining SOLID principles Single Responsibility Principle Open/Close Principle Liskov Substitution Principle Interface Segregation Principle Dependency Inversion Principle Each of these sections is well defined, and gives a good overview of what each of these mean. The next section is Testing or TDD.   Unless you've been under a rock, the last few years, you probably already know what TDD (test driven development) is in software engineering.  If you have never heard of TDD, now is a good time to pick up this book, and learn more about it. Refactoring is next, and the author, again, does a good job of  explaining this concept to a "new" developer.  Again, if you know what is being talked about, this whole section can be skipped. The last major section of this chapter is called Writing the Right Software. ...

Welcome to my blog.  I am currently reading Thoughtful Machine Learning with Python. From Amazon.com Gain the confidence you need to apply machine learning in your daily work. With this practical guide, author Matthew Kirk shows you how to integrate and test machine learning algorithms in your code, without the academic subtext. Featuring graphs and highlighted code examples throughout, the book features tests with Python’s Numpy, Pandas, Scikit-Learn, and SciPy data science libraries. If you’re a software engineer or business analyst interested in data science, this book will help you: Reference real-world examples to test each algorithm through engaging, hands-on exercises Apply test-driven development (TDD) to write and run tests before you start coding Explore techniques for improving your machine-learning models with data extraction and feature development Watch out for the risks of machine learning, such as underfitting or overfitting data Work with K...