Meet the Author: Jacob Pistner

Get to know our newest author, Jacob Pistner. He wrote The North American Wild Turkey and Why I Don't Have One. Hear about his life, writing, and journey to publishing!

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I grew up in Elk County, PA, in a family that was very industrious. Growing up, we worked on cars and fixed apartment houses. Because of that, I’m kind of a jack of all trades. I spent a decade as a woodworking and engineering teacher, owned a handyman business, and have been a coach for multiple high school sports.

What inspired you to write your book?

I’m a terrible turkey hunter. Why, I have no idea. The more time I spent thinking about it, the more and more I was convinced I needed to start figuring out how to get it right. I’m a decent enough hunter outside of the turkey world. My wife and I were chatting at the dinner table one night, and she asked me, “If you could write a book about anything, what do you know enough about?” and I jokingly said, “Being bad at turkey hunting.” For some reason or another, the next day I started jotting down notes, and it evolved from there.

When did you start hunting?

I started at 12 years old, which is the youngest at the time that you could hunt in PA. My dad was adamant about whitetail hunting, so I jumped right in.

What made you decide to write a book about the one animal that evaded you rather than ones you’ve had more success with?

Obsession. I have spent hours, well, more like days, just thinking about turkey hunts and how I would fix them in my head. I enjoy problem solving because of my engineering and woodworking background, so this just turned into a problem to solve.

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Both! When I was writing this book, there were times when I felt like I fell away from the intended subject matter and had to rein in the ideas I wanted to focus on. There was a time when I stressed over word count and chapter numbers, but in the end, I found satisfaction and joy in writing about just the subjects I wanted to write about. Once I did that, it was full speed ahead.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

My younger self wouldn’t have believed me! I never wrote unless I had to in school. I don’t know if I could be convincing to that person.

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

I wasn’t really a writer before this book. I dabbled with short articles and essays when they were needed for work newsletters or events, but nothing for just myself. Now that I have gone through the publishing process, I try to think about how I need to write in a way that explains things to people who may not know the subject matter well, and be descriptive in those explanations to build a scene for them to envision.

What was the easiest and most difficult part of publishing?

I found it difficult to try to find a publisher that was interested in a book on turkey hunting. Most publishers that I pitched to told me that this project wasn’t marketable or even long enough to be considered a reasonable piece of work. With that said, once Meraki picked up my book, I found the editing process so enjoyable that I would say that was the easy part. The editors were easy to work with and were dedicated to keeping my voice as true to me as possible through the process.

Did you always want to write a book? If not, why now?

I never thought of writing a book in my whole life. It was probably only 6 years ago that I became an avid reader. Most of my attention for the last 12 years has really been on woodworking, and there was a time I was so involved with that that unless what I was doing was making sawdust, I just didn’t think about it. I like challenging myself, though, so when the time was right, this was just something that happened organically.

Do you think you'd ever write another book?

I don’t see myself writing an entirely new book. I have a few side projects taking up time as of right now, but it would be fun to possibly put out a special edition of the NAWT and tell my story about my first successful turkey harvest.

Do you have a piece of advice for someone who wants to write a book?

Just go for it, no reservations, no excuses. Even if this book wasn’t published, at the end of the day, I felt good about the project and what it meant to me.

Any advice for a young hunter?

Don’t measure your success by what you take home. There is so much more to hunting than just the harvest. When you're in the woods, take in the beauty of the world around you and enjoy the little things.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

More often than not, I use the woods as my church. When I go hunting, I’m left out alone, and more often than not, I’m my only company. I have found a lot of time over the years, because of hunting, to pray and reflect on life in general. I would encourage others not just be hyper-focused on taking home an animal every time they go hunting, but to reflect and enjoy the world in its purest form that was created for us.

Where can people find your book?

It's available to order online on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart. As time goes on, if you don’t see me at any of my upcoming author events, my goal is to have the book in some of the little stores around Elk and Clearfield Counties in the near future.

Thank you, Jacob, for sharing your time and insights with us!

If you would like to follow along with his book and further updates, you can find him on social media.

You can order his book here.

Available everywhere March 6th, 2026!