by Mike Gaddis | Jul 21, 2020
“Wouldn’t it be great?” Kjos said again, his blood up, completely dismissing the ducks, “To have a permanent puppy, to have first love over and over again?” The sun slept in that years-ago Utah morning over the Salt Lake marshes. Where Kjos and I were guests in an...
by Mike Gaddis | Jun 1, 2020
I thank God most weekdays, and sometimes twice on Sunday, that there’s not a Trout Angler’s Sportsman Society. That, in modern matter, the fine art of fly fishing for species Salmo continues quietly and foremostly a gentleman’s endeavor, largely...
by Mike Gaddis | May 27, 2020
All grown up and reputable now, it’s time to be proper, to forget about catchin’ carp and all those boyhood memories, back when a Zero bar cost a nickel. I wish I wasn’t so sophisticated as I am, so I could just haul off in the daylight and find me a...
by Mike Gaddis | May 1, 2020
All his life he’d wanted such a bird dog, and finally he was getting one, though problem was, he could only have half of him and dang if he could decide which half he wanted. Two old friends, been longer together than shoe leather, out huntin’: The morning...
by Mike Gaddis | Mar 22, 2020
I’ve always had a few BB guns around the house, but now there’s a whole lot more, and I’m hungrily riding happy trails looking for the rest. I suppose if you’re going to revert to childhood, you might as well just get on with it, whole hog and all the daisies. My...
by Mike Gaddis | Mar 17, 2020
The most difficult part of nurturing a great dog is keeping yourself straight. I think of the dogs I have loved. Bird dogs. Yours and mine. I think of the ways I have loved them. This time, aside loyalty and devotion—almost a given within kind and understanding...
by Mike Gaddis | Feb 28, 2020
He was the best kept secret since the Trojans hid in the Horse. His name was W.C. Crissy; he was an august old codger from Little Rock, Arkansas, and his game was rare and valuable commodities. I say old and august. August for certain; old I’m not sure. For I...
by Mike Gaddis | Jan 21, 2020
Noah Webster was obviously a learned man, dedicating his life to language, his name synonymous with “dictionary” in America, especially the “modern” Merriam-Webster version, published inaugurally within that notable ring from the human cambium, 1828. In the process,...
by Mike Gaddis | Jan 2, 2020
Partridge and setter, each super-naturally gifted within his time. Bound within the all-consuming mission each was born for: to best the other. This story is true, as true as you wish it to be…as true as the truth of all the great grouse dogs and all the great grouse...
by Mike Gaddis | May 1, 2019
Two of the most electric advents in the sporting world recently have been Federal Premium 13/16 oz. .410 Super Shot loads of #9 Tungsten, and the .410 Viper G2 Bronze semi-auto by the Turkish firearms importer TriStar. The greatest excitement spinning around the...
