Realtree's Will Brantley to Launch New Hunting and Fishing Book May 5

“Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen” will hit bookstore shelves May 5. You can also pre-order copies on Amazon.

I met Will Brantley 15 years ago at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas, after Realtree hired him as the new website editor. I was skeptical at first. He was younger than me, a bit cocky, and he was my new boss. I wondered how this young dude I’d never heard of managed to secure such an impressive editorial position. It took me no time to find out. I could tell from the first day we met that Brantley was a captivating story teller with a wit as sharp as his Kentucky twang.

Over those next few days at the show, we spent hours swapping tales like a couple of old hunting buddies. As we began working together, I learned that his skill for telling stories is only surpassed by his talent for writing them. Will is the kind of writer who can turn a muddy pair of boots and a hung-up gobbler into a story you want to read twice and even tell your friends about later. He’s an educated author, but he doesn’t shy away from his fondness for all things redneck. Instead, he frequently leans into the kind of uncouth humor that an uptight editor might prefer to clean up. For those of us who love hunting and fishing stories, and who appreciate a bit of rural authenticity, Brantley’s new book, “Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen: Tales of Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, and Life in the Woods” is a must-read.

Will Brantley shares authentic and hilarious tales of his adventures at home and abroad from a country boy’s point of view in his new book, “Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen.”

Will’s stories are full of good-old-days nostalgia, Southern charm, and backwoods antics. Most of them take place in his home range of western Kentucky where he and his wife, Michelle, and their son, Anse, chase big bucks and bass, noodle for catfish, and run trap lines for varmints. Their adventures, as well as those shared with friends and family members, both at home and in exotic places around the world, are narrated in gritty detail throughout the book.

Will’s son, Anse, already has enough hunting and fishing adventures to fill a book of his own.

“Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen” is being published by Lyons Press, in partnership with Field & Stream, where Brantley has also worked as a columnist and hunting editor since 2015. The cover was illustrated by renowned wildlife artist Ryan Kirby. Many of the stories in the book were originally published in F&S, although a number of others including “20 Summers of Blood Sport,” “BB Gun Safaris,” and “The Bird Hunter’s Club” were originally published on Realtree.com. There are a number of new, never-before-seen stories in the collection as well.

Over the years, I’ve gotten to hear several of these stories straight from Will’s mouth, including the time he accidentally splashed his future wife in the face with deer urine (before they even went on their first date), and the time that he shot his neighbor’s pet pheasant, believing it was a wild bird. Some of the stories made me cringe and some made me cackle, but each of them made me appreciate that there are storytellers like Will who can draw you into their adventures and leave you wishing for an invitation to the next one.

“Skinning Catfish in Mary’s Kitchen” will hit bookstore shelves on May 5. You can pre-order copies right now on Amazon, or you can e-mail him at [email protected] to get on the list for a signed copy.