Lack of titles 'Kindle' deer writer's passion

An e-book reader kindled a Solon Springs man’s decision to become an author. The third of Andrew Saari’s deer hunting books, “Bow Hunting — Whitetail Tactics” was released Aug. 27, just in time for Wisconsin’s bow hunting season.

“The majority of tactics will work anywhere,” Saari said, although hunters need to be able to adapt. Each of his three books contains some similar basic information, but they aren’t duplicates.

“You’re going to find something new in each,” Saari said.

Reader reviews posted at Amazon.com give the books high marks for being direct, concise and packed with information. The titles cover gear and safety as well as finding, tracking and hunting deer. Reviewers said they offer something for both beginners and experienced hunters.

It all started with a Kindle that Saari bought his wife, Jackie, for Christmas.

“I was just playing with her Kindle, trying to find deer hunting books,” he said. A search through the 9,000 e-book titles netted only a handful — about 200 — on deer hunting. So Saari decided to write his own.

“It’s something I’m really interested in,” he said. “I’ve been doing it all my life.”

Saari has a natural ability out in the woods, according to his uncle, Tom McGrath.

“He has literally years of experience hunting and tracking,” McGrath said. “He’s been around hunting since he could walk, almost.”

The author started hunting deer in the Lakeside woods before he could shoot them, according to his mother Sue Enright.

“He used to go out to ‘drive’ the deer before he was old enough to hunt,” she said.

The tinder for the story came from Saari’s own hunting experiences, conversations he’s had with other hunters and a lot of research. Once he outlined his chapters and decided to do it, the Solon Springs man found it wasn’t as hard as he’d expected to forge the first book, “How to Hunt Deer — Whitetail Tactics.”

“It caught me by surprise, it started selling in February when I first published it,” he said, even though hunting season was months away.

With all the notes he had together, Saari was able to pen two more books, “Deer Hunting Guide — Whitetail Tactics” in May and the bow hunting book. Each of them weighs in at about 150 pages. All of them are offered as both e-books and print editions. Although, Saari said, sales of e-books are blazing past those of the print versions by a margin of three to one.

Many of Saari’s whitetail tactics will be used when he pulls out his bow later this month. He’s hoping to lure deer in with a pond he made, as well as food plots seeded with Dan’s Wildlife Mix from Dan’s Feed Bin in Superior.

The Solon Springs man is a quiet, reserved guy. McGrath didn’t even find out Saari was an author until the third book came out.

“We are planning on ordering all three of them,” he said. “Hopefully I can get him to sign them for me.”

Although many family members took part in the deer hunts years ago, Saari and McGrath are the only ones still hunting deer. The author’s uncle has no doubt the books will offer plenty of kindling for hunters.

“Knowing Andy, I’m sure they’re all great,” McGrath said.

The books are available online on www.amazon.com. The e-books sell for $2.99 each; the print editions range from $10.75 to $11.46. More information is also available at http://www.whitetailtactics.net.

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