A Legacy of Decoys: Cameron McIntyre

A Legacy of Decoys: Cameron McIntyre

One of the first duck hunters I met when I moved to the coast of Georgia in 1968 was a game warden named Dick McIntyre. He lived just a hop and a jump across the Savannah River in Beaufort, South Carolina. And no, I didn’t meet him because I was guilty of some game...
Hunting Africa’s Most Elusive Creatures

Hunting Africa’s Most Elusive Creatures

The raucous cacophony stirred my early morning blood as it drifted up from the dense tropical vegetation far below. The hounds were in full pursuit and giving tongue as the hot scent of the kudu-killer filled their lungs. Through my binoculars I picked up an explosion...
Fishing for Muskie in Lake Chautauqua

Fishing for Muskie in Lake Chautauqua

They say it’s the fish of ten-thousand casts. Maybe so. I truly believed that for many years and still won’t argue with those odds. Twice before I had traveled all the way from Georgia to Canada to do battle with the great muskellunge only to fish for days...
Ducks of Wood: A Good Investment or Not?

Ducks of Wood: A Good Investment or Not?

In my half-century of collecting antique duck and shorebird decoys, I have been asked countless times: “Are they a good investment”?  My answer is always the same. “It depends.” And then I go on to explain. Just for the purpose of answering this question, I will...
Old Europe, New Frontier

Old Europe, New Frontier

Our forced march was exhausting, and I was cold, wet and miserable. For nearly an hour we’d been trudging across a heath bog in eastern Europe, trying to reach the blind before daylight. It was like walking on a six-inch mattress floating in a foot of water. I’d...
The Saga of Cobb Island

The Saga of Cobb Island

This article originally appeared in the 2018 Summer issue of Sporting Classics Magazine. Click here to learn more about Wings of Wonder, a beautiful 327-page book detailing the remarkable story of the Cobb Family. Featuring more than 200 decoys and hundreds of...
Blocks of Gold: The American Decoy

Blocks of Gold: The American Decoy

Perhaps the only art form to originate in America, the decoy is, in essence, a historical document of our golden age of waterfowling. Hunting was a very normal activity for young adolescents where I grew up in rural middle Georgia. We started with rabbits and...
Prairie Wings 

Prairie Wings 

We had just turned the horses into the wind when I noticed Beck, one of Jeff’s A-Team setters, getting birdy. Was it another bunch of meadowlarks or something better? Then, 50 yards in front of us, Beck locked down tight and Bandit, his canine partner from the A-Team,...