Looking for some good reference books on hunting and fishing for my 13 yo

Any and all fishing.

Peterson's and Audubon make good field guides for fish and game identification. I have 2 other books that have been invaluable to me over the years (but don't apply to Louisiana): "Canoeing Mississippi" by Ernest Herndon (I looked and he has written a "Canoeing Louisiana") and "Home Waters" by the Mid-South Fly Fishers. I used to have a good one named "Fly Fishing the Louisiana Coast," but loaned it out. Another that might be good is "Fishes and Fishing in Louisiana" by Grits Gresham.

A subscription to a good outdoor magazine might work, too, and covers various subjects over the course of a year (Eastern Fly Fishing and Louisiana Sportsman come to mind).

Good luck!

ETA: When I was 10-13, my folks gave me field guides and books about fishing and hunting galore. It was the greatest gift they could have given. I remember poring over them and reading the adventures, looking at the animals, and getting outside to fish, hunt and explore, instead of watching TV. It gave me the love I have for the outdoors today.

The Old Man and the Boy. LINK

This classic captures the endearing relationship between a man and his grandson as they fish and hunt the lakes and woods of North Carolina. All the while the Old Man acts as teacher and guide, passing on his wisdom and life experiences to the boy, who listens in rapt fascination.

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"Anybody who reads this book is bound to realize that I had a real fine time as a child." That's the theme of "The Old Man and the Boy." A boy learns to hunt and fish with his grandfather in coastal North Carolina in the 1920s. The Old Man imparts salty wisdom and a respect for quail, guns, turtle eggs, whiskey, poor whites, and rural negroes while the two of them roam the woods, swamps and sounds.

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I fish mainly bass, so I would say to get him a scrip to Bassmaster. You get a digital id to login to the archives and can read every publication, they come out monthly, so if he is going fishing in March he can read all of the March ones, or as many as he wants.
For more general hunting/ fishing, LA Sportsman, and IIRC Texas has a sportsman magazine also.

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Field and Stream

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i remember when it was a descent magazine

get him a few of the Patrick Mcmanus books as wel las some field guides. Mcmanus is a outdoor humor writer. - use to do the back page of Outdoor Life. If he likes Hunting / Fishing he will enjoy those books.

x2 on old man and the boy; also the partner book the old mans boy grows older

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Also have him take his hunter and boater safety courses.

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most important of all...

a lot of reading for the hunter ed course, but AFAIC not well suited to keep a 13yo attention...

Popular Mechanics: How to tempt a fish

It's older but it's still an interesting read on general fishing