Luther College professor Jeff Wilkerson publishes memoir bridging the connection between astronomy and bird hunting

Jeff Wilkerson, professor of physics at Luther College, recently published “23 Woodcock in 22 Years: Reflections on Hunting, the Night Sky, and Our Place in the Universe,” a memoir interweaving Wilkerson’s thoughts on the relationship between astronomy and bird hunting and how these two passions shape his identity.

Jeff Wilkerson, professor of physics at Luther College, recently published the memoir “23 Woodcock in 22 Years: Reflections on Hunting, the Night Sky, and Our Place in the Universe.” The book interweaves Wilkerson’s thoughts on the relationship between astronomy and bird hunting.

“In hunting, I feel a deep connection to the world around me. In astronomy, I feel a deep connection to the universe,” Wilkerson said. “In each of these, I feel connected to the people who have undertaken these activities before me and are doing so now elsewhere in the world and to the people who are yet to come, but will partake in observing the sky, modeling the universe and living off the land as much as possible.”

Wilkerson is a professor at Luther focusing on the topics of x-ray and gamma-ray detector development, and the study of variable stars in clusters. This Indiana native earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, before relocating to Decorah in 1997 for a faculty position at Luther.

“One thing that might show up in the book is that I tend to burrow in and make a place home when I am there,” Wilkerson said. “California was a sort of home for me, but I needed more open country and land a little closer to my everyday life than I had in California for it to feel fully like home. Something—I didn’t know what— was missing.”

Wilkerson found what he was missing in Iowa.

“Not to try upstaging Lou Gehrig, but I am truly the luckiest person on the face of the earth for having had the chance to carve out a career, to build a life, at Luther and in the paradise that surrounds the college,” he said.

Wilkerson’s journey from physics professor to published author began in 2021, when he wrote a short story titled “The Lure of a Single Woodcock,” and the story was shared by the Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock Society. The society’s mission is to unite conservationists to improve wildlife habitat and forest health for ruffed grouse, American woodcock and all other forest wildlife. This single short story, which includes his book’s title (“My journals record 23 woodcock bagged in the past 22 years”), led Wilkerson to write more.

“I had no intention of writing a book. I was simply telling stories that my brain suggested I needed to tell,” Wilkerson said. “At some point in the writing, I asked my wife, professor of religion Kristin Swanson, ‘Is this a book?’ Apparently it was.”

The result is a 234-page memoir filled with Wilkerson’s thoughts. The book is enhanced with several black and white sketches drawn by Luther student L’Engle Charis-Carlson, a junior majoring in art and visual communication, from Iowa City. Ava Shively, who graduated from Luther in 2024, produced the cover art.

While there is a surplus of books focused on hunting stories, few have taken aim on the woodcock. And in the crowded space of memoirs, “23 Woodcock in 22 Years” stands out with the unique distinction of attempting to convey a bridge between hunting and astronomy.

“It is a strange little book that connects, sometimes obliquely, a lot of different things,” Wilkerson said. “Maybe those who like stories in general and stories of place and family will appreciate the book, even without a particular affinity for astronomy or bird hunting.”

Native to Iowa, woodcock are migratory upland birds that eat primarily earthworms and make their nests on the forest ground. “When it takes flight, the woodcock flies straight up before flying outward in an attempt to avoid tree limbs. This bird makes a unique, spiral flight pattern at dusk and dawn during the breeding season,” according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Wilkerson didn’t hunt woodcock until moving to Iowa. Now, his annual practice of bagging a woodcock for a special holiday meal marks the passage of time. This fall, he bagged two woodcock, so Wilkerson and Swanson, along with their relatives, enjoyed both birds at Thanksgiving.

“Those woodcock were a very special part of an appetizer course for all of us,” Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson’s book “23 Woodcock in 22 Years” was published by University of Iowa Press and released on Nov. 19, 2024. Autographed first editions are on sale at Luther Book Shop. You may also purchase “23 Woodcock in 22 Years” through the Luther Book Shop online store.