About the Author

Philip Holden was a skilled hunter, writer and photographer. Born in 1938 in Wales, he migrated to Australia with his parents at the age of 14. Later he worked in the outback where he experienced his first hunting adventures. When he was 23 years old he came to New Zealand to join the New Zealand Government Forest Service hunters. He wrote his first book called Pack and Rifle after his experiences as a government deer culler. The book was published in 1977 and immediately became a best-seller, the first of many. On his death in 2005, Philip had created 54 published volumes of work, making him one of New Zealand's most prolific and successful writers on the outdoors.