Moon of the Rutting Stag

Moon of the Rutting Stag

Harold Martin captured the true essence of the autumn rutting season as he went on to say, “When the mast is heavy the deer will stay fat and sleek all winter on the acorns, and the bear, who are his friends, will lie cradled in rolls of fat, and the wild hogs will...
A Forest Chase

A Forest Chase

The following narrative is excerpted from Hunting Adventures in the Northern Wilds, A Tramp in the Chateaugay Woods, Over Hills, Lakes and Forest Streams, by S. H. Hammond, published in 1856. As the author travels into the back country wilderness of northern New York...
Strange Happenings At Chickamauga Creek

Strange Happenings At Chickamauga Creek

The hunter had been following a sparse blood trail for over two hours and it looked as though his greatest fear might be realized. The scant blood sign was beginning to peter out even more. John Forrest feared it might disappear altogether. Although he was sure he had...
No Such Thing as a Bad Day Fishing

No Such Thing as a Bad Day Fishing

The bumper sticker read: A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. I was sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic wondering how I had allowed myself to get in such a frustrating situation. Like all of the other miserable souls around me, I was growing more...
A Trip Back To Yesteryear (Pre-1900)

A Trip Back To Yesteryear (Pre-1900)

Why are American deer hunters so infatuated with the past? What is it about looking at old pictures from yesteryear that stirs our very being? Hunting touches the soul. When we go back in time and see how our grandfathers and great grandfathers took to the woods and...
Rendezvous with a King

Rendezvous with a King

The ocean was like a piece of glass as we glided past the familiar black-and-white-spiraled St. Augustine lighthouse a mile or so off to our starboard side. Heading out into the great unknown on a muggy June morning, I couldn’t help but think of my grandmother’s...
No Such Thing as a Bad Day Fishing

No Such Thing as a Bad Day Fishing

In all my years of fishing, I’d been skunked, sea sick, rained on, parched and humiliated. But never could I remember a bad day fishing. I was sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic wondering how I had allowed myself to get in such a frustrating situation. Like all of...
Père David’s Deer Back From the Brink

Père David’s Deer Back From the Brink

The intriguing survival story of a deer species discovered in China more than 150 years ago. When I was a small boy I started digging a hole in the backyard. My dad came out and asked me what I was doing. “Digging a hole,” I answered. He smiled broadly. “If you keep...
Sunday Shenanigans: Mysterious Ways

Sunday Shenanigans: Mysterious Ways

Sunday or not, day of rest or not, I reckon we’ve got a pair of bucks out in the woods that need to be tended to. When modern deer hunting seasons were first established in Georgia during the late 1950s and early ’60s, it was against the law to hunt on...