Our All-American Bear

Our All-American Bear

Assigned to cover a draw high on Old Smokies’ spine, Kephart kindled a thin fire between roots of a mountain oak that wasn’t warm enough to thaw his fingers and toes. Rifle across his lap, he listened for the dogs to bay, announcing they’d caught a black bear’s trail....
An Old Parker Finds New Life

An Old Parker Finds New Life

To restore or not, that is the question. How many times have each of us thought about having a fine old gun refinished only to be cautioned that having it reblued or restocked will diminish its value? Several years ago at a small gun show in a church social hall, I...
America’s Best Trout Streams

America’s Best Trout Streams

The middle of the night is a wonderful time to go fishing. No matter how heavy the flow, we can wade to the most advantageous position. Our casts unfurl with uncanny precision, and flies drift wakelessly until the dimpled take. It is then that slashing rainbows,...
Great Guide Not

Great Guide Not

I owe much of what I know about how, where, and when to fish to great guides. Guides who spend day after day on the same water accompanying myriad clients of varied ability and temperament amass an abundance of knowledge that’s ours for the learning. Most of the time...
Giants Of The Earth

Giants Of The Earth

A close encounter with a huge grizzly or brown bear can be an unforgettable experience—if you survive to remember it. Come the end of September, there are few places I’d rather be than in Last Chance, Idaho, so named because enlightened lodge owners incorporated a...
Perfect Pairings At Wing & Barrel Ranch

Perfect Pairings At Wing & Barrel Ranch

Seldom do hunters pair superlative upland gunning – pheasants, chukar and quail – with Sonoma County or the Napa Valley. The region’s reputation seems reserved for wines, but around 1900, about 50 years after the first commercial vintners were established, ringnecks...