“The Ketchecum Hunt Club: One Hundred Years on Catchacoma Lake” offers a remarkably detailed record of the enduring passion for autumnal deer hunting and fishing in the Kawartha Lakes region.

Long-awaited as the club’s centennial project, the book is co-authored by Peterborough’s Catherine Dibben and her longtime friend Barbara LaPerriere (née Turner). Those interested in the early social development of the area and the membership of the hunt club (both founding and current) will find much to savour in this pictorial rendering of the Ketchecum Hunt Club’s evolution.

The book offers a wide-ranging account of one of the most important ways men in Peterborough chose to spend their time, energy and money. The record begins in the mid-19th century and runs to the year 2000, when the club opted to move to its new property and better hunting territory north of the town of Apsley.

I must admit that I have little interest in deer slaying or recreational fishing for that matter. But I do know many local fellows who, every October, eagerly drop everything to take part in “the hunt.”

Down in Nova Scotia, my closest neighbour bags a buck on his own property every autumn season. We share our lands with a lively herd of whitetail deer who enjoy our unmown grasses and fruitful apple trees all summer long. Though my wife finds their propensity to chew up her gardens annoying, I have many occasions to admire their statuesque beauty and graceful movements.

Nevertheless, this book stirred many of my historical interests and provided plenty of fascinating social detail. Initially, it helped me realize that back in the 1860s, young men had limited outlets for their energies. Organized sports were non-existent and would remain so for decades. Horse raising and horse racing were available, but were expensive preoccupations, while curling, golf and tennis were still in their infancy. But hunting and fishing were........

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