Escape From A Hell Hole
Finding a big billy wasn’t difficult, but getting his trophy out of the mountain wilderness would become the most perilous struggle of his life.
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 with nary a...
Where Rifle and Shotguns Meet
"East is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet.” So said Rudyard Kipling, and it’s been gospel since the day he wrote it. It’s elementary stuff, but if you’ll bear with me a bit, there’s a point at the end of this little discussion. Shotguns and...
Hunting Oryx in the Journey of Death
A descent into a cauldron of scorched earth in pursuit of oryx.
Black Bear Danger
A man-eating bear stood between the hunter and his rifle.
The Giant Serpent of Cebu
On a tiny Pacific Island, American naturalist Dr. John N. Hamlet responds to the pleas of a luckless farmer and decides to track down a pig-eating python. But what begins as a casual search for a marauding snake soon becomes a harrowing adventure deep within the...
Springtime at Brays Island
SPONSORED CONTENT It is springtime at Brays Island. Turkey hunting is in full swing, the redfish are biting, cobia season is just around the corner, and the weather is perfect for a day on the sporting clays course, golf course, or equestrian trail. Owning property at...
Buffalo Hunting in Northern Tanzania
In the weeks leading up to our safari, Reid Freeman insisted that on this, his first, he’d go slow on buffalo, wait until he’d gotten a feel for them, maybe stalk a few with me and see how it all worked, maybe not hunt them at all. That sensible plan worked for about...
The Great Missouri Lion Hunt
Never mind the cost and the public outcry, the wealthy businessman was determined to bring African dangerous game hunting to his home state.
Furrow Company 2024 Online Firearm Auction
SPONSORED CONTENT Eldridge Shively, known as “Uncle Dit” served as a medic in the Korean War, where he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. After retiring from his work as a boilermaker, he enjoyed many happy years in his second career as an antique...
Not Perfect, but Close Enough
The gobbler silently stepped from the thick brush 25 yards away, looking for the hen that had been calling intermittently. He had called to her early, but she had not come to him as he’d hoped. Now, after the initial breeding period, he had come looking for her. I...
Trust Your Dog
Give a pointer the benefit of the doubt when he or she makes a stand. You’ll usually be glad you did!
Classic Alaska Charters
SPONSORED CONTENT Now Booking for 2024! 2024 is Classic Alaska Charters 34th season navigating the protected wilderness waterways of Misty Fjords National Monument/Wilderness Area! They offer outstanding adventure cruises for 5 days, 4 nights, saltwater fishing,...
Dark Legends
The hut smelled of must and dampness. Slivers of light pierced through thin gaps in the grass walls. The old shaman sat with his legs crossed. His dull, green eyes seemed void of life, staring through rather than at them. His skin hung on a bony frame and his voice...
A Turkey Trifecta
A hunt of firsts for a lifelong turkey addict.
Grace in Bronze: Wildlife Sculptures by Fred Boyer
SPONSORED CONTENT For Fred Boyer, there is no separation between living a rich outdoor sporting life that has little to do with money and celebrating it in a way so that we, the viewers, literally feel the texture of what he’s expressing in our hands. If Boyer’s not...
Mollygrubs And The Birds And Bees
Similar to pretty much any teenage boy in the time around the onset of puberty, Mollygrubs Messer talked with his buddies about the birds and bees, bragged of planned sexual conquests, boasted around backcountry campfires of upcoming plans to date some “hot chick”...
The First Leopard
The famed tiger hunter goes after a cat of a different stripe. A simple bird hunt turned into an unforgettable encounter with dangerous game for Jim Corbett.
The Legacy of Roger Pinckney
Roger Pinckney, who wrote the immensely popular “Horizons” column for Sporting Classics, died on April 3 from complications after a fall at his home on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina. He was 77. Pinckney wrote his first story, entitled “Big Empty Encounter,” for the...
Wintersong
You will always be my children; I will always be your pa.
Big Empty Encounter
A long stretch of dark, empty woods stood between them and the truck, and the big bear kept edging nearer, so close now they could hear his nasally whine and the soft rumbling in his throat.
Ernest Hemingway: The Early Years (1939-1948)
Ernest Hemingway is inextricably linked to both Sun Valley and the nearby town of Ketchum, Idaho. He had a special affinity for the countryside with its backdrop of the Sawtooth Mountains, which reminded him of Spain, for the excellent bird hunting he found there and...
Preserving Antique Shotguns
As someone who spends a lot of time working to preserve late 19th century and early 20th century double guns, I have thought a lot about why some high quality and once very expensive shotguns have been well preserved and others have not. The formula for the...
Planning a Custom 260 Remington
Remington Custom Shop manager Carlos Martinez and I put our heads together in an attempt to buck the trend, to create something different, functional, beautiful. Personal. The rifle you see here is the result. Notice the stock is not hand-laid carbon or even...
The Phantom Trout of Sullivan County
The First of April has for untold ages been the Day of Fools! Why? No one in particular seems to know. There are patron saints for everyone from the prelate thief, but who is the Saint of All-Fools?” Thus spoke Tom Marks, one of a merry trio of trout fishers who had...
Elgin Gates: A Legendary Big Game Hunter
Mention the word “legendary” in connection with big game hunters and hunting literature, and thoughts of most serious readers likely turn in one of two distinct directions. Most will look back to the wealth of books produced by the pioneers who sampled and savored the...
SecureIt: Revolutionary Home Gun Storage
Several years ago, I produced a TV special for Discovery’s Destination America network called Armageddon Arsenals, a gritty take on the doomsday prepper craze that continues to sweep the world—especially in the aftermath of the global pandemic. The documentary...
Sporting Firearms & Antique Advertising: A Perfect Pair
SPONSORED CONTENT Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Our admiration of the antique is not admiration of the old, but of the natural.” I arguably have one of the best jobs in the world, selling the rarest and highest condition antique advertising pieces on the planet. “How...
Fool’s Paradise
Never feel sporting about turkeys for they’ll dupe you more than you’ll dupe them.
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,...
Bullets and Blessings: An Easter to Remember
The fork-horn buck was big trouble, even after he was dead, and the wild stories about the little deer rattled around town like
a rock in a milk pail.
An Afternoon on the Handles
This story is Tom Kelly at his inimitable best – evocative, filled with emotion and in some senses, downright eerie.
EP 167: Choctaw Buffalo Hunt
Click Here to Listen Now This week Luke and Larry discuss a recent buffalo at the Choctaw Hunting lodge. It was a successful hunt with the hunters shooting the classic 1874 Sharps rifles.
The Day the Lake Went Mad
The gale-force winds and driving rain were bad enough, but then the island itself began to move.
Roping Elk In the Rockies
One of the redeeming features of existence in a small Canadian town is that at all seasons of the year some form of woodland sport lies within an hour’s walk or drive or paddle of your door. For the monarch moose and the shy, capricious caribou, one must go far afoot....
Gunwerks “Ready to Werk” Special Offer
For a limited time buy any Gunwerks Ready to Werk rifle packaged with a Revic Optics riflescope and get a free Revic BR4 ballistic rangefinder or BLR10b ballistic rangefinding binocular! Supplies are limited and this offer is only valid for 30 days, expiring April...
Broken Down and Shot Out
When the Tin Liz breaks down five miles from home, the Old Man and the Boy discover a new way of bird-hunting. A classic from the September, 1956 issue of Field & Stream.
The Bell
The sound of the small brass bell was his link to three dogs and almost three decades of bird-hunting.
The Dead Man on Wendigo Brook
What trout fisherman, plunged into despair by hyper-selective fish that refuse all his imitations, hasn’t wished for a “magic” fly? In this cautionary tale from the anthology Seasons of the Angler (1988), the author reminds us to be careful what we wish for . . .
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...
Training Across
Those of us who spend lifetimes hunting and fishing learn in time that skills attained wild serve very efficiently in the struggles that eventuate in tamer, but trying, environs of modern living. Attributes of stoicism, self-discipline, perseverance, determination,...
River God
“The River God” by the late Roland Pertwee first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in July, 1928. An Englishman, Pertwee was an actor, playwright, screenwriter, novelist and painter. He wrote screenplays for Warner Brothers in the 1930s and ’40s. Pertwee died at age 78 in 1963.
The Cull
The common link spanning the wide chasm of wealth and status were the dogs.
There Are Strange Things Done in the Springtime Sun
Aficionados of campfire poetry in general, or fans of the so-called “Poet of the Yukon,” Robert Service, will likely recognize that the title of this piece comes from his eerie yet wonderful poem, “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” The setting for the saga lies far from...
How Valuable is Your Old Side-By-Side ?
Just because it’s an old side-by-side doesn’t make it valuable.
Introducing the Diana Bird Shooter for Her
Introducing the new Russell Moccasin “Diana Bird Shooter”, the first woman specific model in their made-to-order Premier Build program. With a 9” height, oak-leather heel counters, leather lined quarters, Double Vamp construction, and a lightweight Vibram outsole, the...
Hunting With Vintage Lever Actions
Still making meat after more than a century.
Helle 2024 Knife of the Year
The 2024 Helle limited edition knife is designed by our chief handlemaker Audun. Starting in 1973, Audun first worked on the cutlery before taking over as chief handlemaker and foreman. For the past 50 years he has worked with and for three generation of Helles and...
EP 166: Outdoor Cooking
Click Here to Listen Now There is no doubt food cooked in camp or in the outdoors simply tastes better, regardless of the "makings". Both Luke and Larry are adept at cooking outdoors particularly over an open-fire with cast iron. Luke too has mastered cooking with...
Quail of the Kalmias
These birds of the hills develop both a speed of flight and a finesse of dodging that are superior to anything the field birds can show.