Teller of Tranquil Tales: Colonel Harold P. Sheldon
We rejoice through Sheldon’s reminders in knowledge that so long as sportsmen can dream of field and stream there will be tales to enchant and endure. As this column is being written, we find ourselves in a situation where ample doses of serenity, common sense and...
Abel Chapman: Forgotten Hunting Writer and Conservationist
Many of the literary figures from the Victorian and Edwardian eras who hunted extensively in Africa and wrote about their experiences are virtual household names among today’s armchair adventurers. Foremost among them is Theodore Roosevelt, although obviously the...
Charles Sheldon: Visionary Sportsman
Born in Rutland, Vermont, on October 18, 1867, for the first three-plus decades of his life Charles Alexander Sheldon led a fairly normal upper-class existence. He came from a well-to-do family involved in marble quarrying and spent his formative years with New...
Elmer Keith: King of Gun Cranks
One doesn’t have to dig deeply into the career of the “little man with the big Stetson,” Elmer Keith, before realizing that he was a fascinating character in a universe—that of hunting and shooting writers—generously populated by highly unusual individuals. Outdoor...
Beard Beauty
Turkey beards are a meaningful memento of success in the field—one with the potential to provide ongoing pleasure limited only by your creativity. There is a pronounced tendency among turkey hunters to consider the length and thickness of a turkey’s beard the ultimate...
Joseph Thomson: Mystery Man of Africa
Over the course of the 19th century, phenomenon sometimes referred to as “the opening up of Africa,” hunters and explorers, along with a solid sprinkling of traders, were in the forefront. They pioneered the way into the interior and their tales of grand adventures,...
Remembering Grandpa Joe
I flat-out worshiped Grandpa Joe. His folksy wisdom, the wonderful times I enjoyed in his company as a youngster, and what he taught me when it came to living close to the good earth endeared him to me. He died a half century ago, and in fairness and from hindsight, I...
Samuel “Baker of the Nile”
In autumn 1858, on a beautiful day in the Scottish Highlands, a remarkable sporting feat that would be recounted innumerable times until passing into legend, occurred. During dinner the previous evening at the Duke of Atholl’s estate, Sam Baker, recently returned to...
Preserving Turkey Memories
A delightfully different approach.