— Wildlife artist Doug Pederson has long been celebrated for his depictions of the wildlife and scenery of the Upper Minnesota River.
Whether it’s as carvings on the richly grained wood he’s harvested, as detailed scrimshaw depictions on antlers he’s recovered, or as drawings and pastel images on paper and canvas, it always comes to this: He brings to life the wild creatures he has spent his life quietly observing in their natural habitat.
Turns out, he can also bring it all to life in words.
Contributed / Doug Pederson
“(He was) not known as a writer, but turned out he was a good writer, too,” said his sister, Marcia Neely, as she held in hand the evidence. Neely was among those who filled the courtyard adjoining the Java River coffee house in downtown Montevideo on Sept. 6 for the launch of Pederson’s book, “The Art of a Hunter: Artwork, memories, and reflections drawn from my outdoor life.”
Pederson’s outdoor adventures in recent years have been limited by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a result of years of smoking and inhaling find wood dust in the sawmill and woodworking shop he operated. This year at age 75, he became inspired to put together a collection of his visual works and to tell the story of his lifelong passion for the outdoors, as well as to tell about the wildlife of all types he came to know.
Contributed / Doug Pederson
“When he started writing, Doug became almost a different person,” Neely told those who had gathered for the book launch. “He was animated. He became a chatter box, if you can imagine Doug as a chatterbox,” she said, laughing.
Marie Pederson has long been accustomed to her husband’s practice of keeping at hand the countless photographs of wildlife he has taken through the years. They serve as the starting point for his hand-created works.
In the past few months, she told the audience, their Montevideo home was not only filled with photographs: Everywhere, too, were paper notes on which he had jotted down his thoughts for the book.
“Words everywhere in our house. Pictures everywhere in our house,” she laughed.
Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune
It took three months and more to put it all together into a 114-page book. Neely played an important role in it. An author herself, she helped her brother put into book form the images he selected and the narrative he crafted for “The Art of a Hunter.”
There was plenty of back and forth between brother and sister as the book came together like pieces of a puzzle: all of it rewarding. Neely said she not only got to know her brother better, but her late father as well. Her brother had spent a lot of time as a youth hunting alongside their father.
In his book, Pederson recounts those early years and the influence of their father in his life’s passion for the outdoors. Pederson loved to hunt, but that evolved with time into a simple passion for quietly observing and understanding the wildlife around him, he explained.
Contributed / Doug Pederson
Pederson writes about how, over time, he replaced his firearms and the hand-made bow and arrows he once carried into the field with a camera.
He’s been much more than a silent observer, of course. Neely and Marie Pederson both told how the artist has always been driven to give back to nature, and not just with his art. Pederson has literally planted thousands of trees over the years.
Tom Cherveny / West Central Tribune
Without a doubt, that desire to give back helps inspire “The Art of a Hunter.” Each of the detailed and vivid images he created and selected for the book reveal the spirit of the creatures large and small he’s observed, and appreciates.
He writes about each of the creatures he has come to appreciate. These are not Wikipedia-style narratives about the creatures he has come to know so well, Neely explained. “It’s his experience with them,” she said.
Contributed / Doug Pederson
There is a clear motive driving Pederson’s works and now the book. It’s one that Marie Pederson said is evident by her husband’s decades of planting trees. “If that isn’t Doug to the core,” she said. “He wants to make the earth a better place.”
Copies of the books are available for purchase at Java River in Montevideo or by contacting Pederson at
Contributed / Doug Pederson
