Eldridge Hardie: Painter of Dogs
The greatest equine artist of all time, and arguably the greatest animal portraitist, was the 18th century Englishman George Stubbs. The toast of the town in his day, when the cream of British aristocracy beat a path to his door to have him paint...
Immortal Dogs: The Sporting Art of J.M. Tracy
Before there was an Eldridge Hardie, a Tom Quinn or a Bob Abbett; before there was a William Harnden Foster or a Percival Rosseau; even before there was an Edmund Osthaus or a Gustav Muss-Arnolt, there was John Martin Tracy. And J.M. Tracy, to use the name he signed...
September’s Lessons
It was the kind of heat that has weight—like an enormous hand pressing down. Every so often a puffy cloud would pass, obscuring the sun and providing a few moments of blessed relief. But then the sky would clear, the sun’s unblinking gaze would hammer down once again,...
The Opening Weekend Tragedy
This October marks the 21st anniversary of one of the most tragic events in the history of upland bird hunting: opening weekend of the 2003 South Dakota pheasant season. Over the horrifying course of those two days, more than 100 gundogs (no one knows the exact...
Requiem for a Peregrine
Everything about the peregrine falcon is spectacular — even in death. “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” – Aldo Leopold Early one evening toward the end of April, my English setter, Tina, and I...
Hall of Fame Trainer Billy Wunderlich
As good with people as he was with dogs.
Canine Myths and Misconceptions
I used to think that everyone who’s ever owned a dog considers him- or herself an expert on canine behavior. Upon further review, however, I’ve amended that opinion. I now think that everyone who’s ever been around a dog considers him- or herself an expert on canine...
The Best Grouse Hunting Writer and More?
Some years ago, I was bird-hunting in Idaho with the brothers Wayment: Shawn, a veterinarian who blogs as the “Bird Dog Doc,” and Andy, an attorney who also happens to be the author of Idaho Ruffed Grouse Hunting. One afternoon, walking through a golden seam of...