Tom’s Top Ten

Tenth Legion: Bootleg Revival

Introducing a special edition of Tenth Legion — the Bootleg Revival Named for an incident involving a devoted Louisiana sportsman who, in the book’s earliest days, quietly made bootleg copies of Tenth Legion to share with friends, this edition celebrates a moment that could have ended in a lawsuit — but instead sparked an extraordinary partnership that gave the book new life. The full story is told inside this faithful recreation of the original 1974 cover, complete with the character and quirks that made it legendary. • Learn more about this special edition  →

The Season

30th Anniversary Edition! This is Tom Kelly’s classic 1995 season, and his fourth book. It was first published in 1996, reprinted in 2019 and again in 2025 as a 30th anniversary edition. Kirkus Reviews originally described The Season as, “A genuine love song to outdoorsmanship as sharp-eyed, bawdy, and unbridled as a gobbler in full strut.” Copyright Tom Kelly 1996Copyright Tom Kelly Inc. 2019Copyright Tom Kelly Inc. 2025

The Boat

Almost every man feels the burning urge once in his life to build his own wooden boat.  In this 1998 book, Tom Kelly strays –though not too far–from wild turkeys to narrate the story behind his handmade boat, whose primary purpose was, “that of moving a hunter across bodies of water of one size or another to reduce the distance between the gun and the game.” Since the construction of this boat coincides with Kelly’s career in the timber industry, his humorous narrative embraces both. Copyright Tom Kelly 1998

Dealer’s Choice

Tom’s second book and one of his most popular after the “Bible of turkey hunting”, Tenth Legion. Delightfully funny and always instructive, this book is an iconic installment in the Kelly legacy of turkey hunting writing. Cover art by Tom’s grandson, John, painted when he was in 7th grade. The turkey portrait was given to Tom for his birthday and now hangs in his home.

The T. H. Kelly Handbook

Tom wrote this book in the 1980’s to give his 600-man Scott Paper woodlands staff a sense of commonality. The book is written for young first-line supervisors—those people who have just entered the corporate world. It is a common-sense guide to being a productive member of any organization. Buy it for your company and see the results immediately. Copyright Tom Kelly 1985

Better on a Rising Tide

Back in Stock 22 chapters of pure Tom Kelly prose. Better on a Rising Tide is Tom’s 3rd book that contains 22 chapters that previously appeared in several outdoor magazines in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Colonel Kelly writes about wild turkey hunting and southern states including social life and customs. He also writes about the southern timber industry that he was an integral part of for more than 50 years. “Nobody ever really knows how much of his makeup is environment and how much is heredity — no matter what stories you grandmother use to tell about the gallantry of your ancestors. But there were certain specific things that happened in your formative years that marked you, and sometimes you have the capacity to remember them exactly as they happened.” Tom notes, ”Chapter 20, the Turning, is the only wedding Field & Stream ever covered.” Copyright Tom Kelly Inc. 1995

No Place to Hide

Tom Kelly gives us more 9 more chapters, continuing the themes of his previous 21 books. In this collection Tom explores the future of the Wild Turkey, the Hunt and the Habitat, which means the timber industry to Tom. Here is what Tom has to say, ” The mechanics of the turkey’s demise, the tactics used to bring him to bag, the actions of the turkey and the hunter while in the process of the hunt, all come from a single source, the hunter.” Copyright Tom Kelly Inc. 2015

The Best of Tom Kelly Volume II

The success of The Best of Tom Kelly Volume I led us to create a second volume. Tom continued to write of course, and we found an additional 29 chapters of wild turkey essays. This Volume II was published in 2017 and is available in hardcover and e-book.  All of the stories in both Best of Tom Kelly volumes are about turkeys, turkey hunting and turkey hunters. Copyright Tom Kelly Inc. 2017

Faces in the Crowd [Now in Stock]

Now in Stock: This new hardcover edition of Faces in the Crowd is now available.  New hardcover edition of a favored classic featuring the touching story “An Afternoon on the Handles” about Tom’s dearly departed best turkey hunting friend, Jim Andrews. As Jim Casada wrote about this book, "Faces in the Crowd, is vintage Kelly in every sense. Irresistibly irreverent, tinged with touching turns of phrase, and evocative of the sport’s deepest meanings. If the story, 'An Afternoon on the Handles’ doesn’t warm the cockles of your heart and make your hair stand on end, then I recommend that you hasten to make an appointment with a psychiatrist. The story is a true classic, one destined to take its place among the finest pieces ever written on the sport.” Cover photograph courtesy of Westervelt Lodge archives.

Ol' Tom & Laura - Signature Edition

This edition is signed by both Colonel Tom Kelly and his daughter Laura A loving collection of essays that concern the raising a daughter in the Alabama woods— teaching and enjoying a special father-daughter relationship. (Stories from several  previous published Tom Kelly classics.) This book of Tom and Laura stories is a gift to dads and moms who have had the delight to raise their children in the outdoors. If you are lucky enough to have girl children, this book will bring tears to your eyes. Tom says this about Laura, “To put it in the vernacular of the upper Gulf Coast, “That there is one good kid.” There is a quotation from a play written by Mrs. Mary Shakespeare’s third child Billy, that covers the matter adequately: “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale, her infinite variety.” Copyright Tom Kelly Inc. 2008

A Few Loose Chapters

Tom says this about his 8th book, published in 2003, “What you have in this book are islands, loosely connected to the same kingdom, but islands all the same. Islands, if you choose, that can be explored singly.” You can start at the front and go through to the back. You can start at the back and come forward to the beginning. You can start in the middle and go either way. Feel free. Like we tend to say in backwoods Alabama, ”Pick your choice.” Copyright Tom Kelly Inc. 2003