The Cabin Life
No power, badgers and (potential) grizzlies, oh my! The other day Mike was speaking — he blabs a lot — and I was hearing blah, blah, blah until I suddenly heard the words "cabin," "mountains" and "vacation." The next instant I was in! I like to go on vacation! Soon...
But Not On Opening Day
"I promise you," he said, "on my word of honor, I won't die on the opening day of the bird season." Now you know your first big cock pheasant is a sight to see. There maybe ain't nothing as dramatic, whether it's an elephant or a polar bear. A cock pheasant is like a...
MOLLYGRUBS PART 3
DISASTER AT THE JUNIOR CONSERVATION BANQUET—PART 2 The mere appearance of Mitzi, or for that matter any girl who was even moderately attractive, was sufficient to turn Mollygrubs’ face an alarming shade of scarlet. The mere thought of talking to her, much less asking...
Transition
In April of 2016 (autumn in the southern hemisphere), author Michael Altizer was invited to Patagonia to fly fish some of the most famous trout waters in the world—the rivers Collón Curá, Chimehuin, and Rio Malleo. In the opening section of his book “RAMBLINGS—Tales...
The Old Brown Mackinaw
When the Old Duck Hunter's Association, Inc., died, the hearts of many men fell to the ground. There was no one like Mister President. When the old-timers go there is no bringing them back, nor is there any hope of replacing them. They are gone, and there is a void,...
The Upland Season is Underway
Mike needs to learn to hustle, because it's upland bird season! As you know, I get excited about birds — and the upland season opening week means it’s time for me to go to work. I also know Mike thinks I just lie around all day on the couch and eat treats, but I am...
Season End
There are surviving publications, most notably Sporting Classics, where my material has appeared on a regular basis for several decades. Were I so inclined, it would be difficult to provide a whole host of examples where I played a role in putting the kibosh on...
NEW! Venison Cookbook: From Field To Table
New 2023 Release! Venison Cookbook: From Field to Table Click Here to Order Today! Veteran cookbook authors Jim and Ann Casada share 400 field- and kitchen-tested recipes, along with dozens of sauces and marinades, that span the spectrum of venison cookery. From...
Are Prints a Sound Investment?
Some collector prints have greatly increased in value in the last few years, but are prints really good investments? There was something wrong with Ralph McDonald's mockingbird print, and he couldn't decide what it was. The year was 1972, and the Tennessee artist had...
Misadventures of Mollygrubs Messer Part 2
DISASTER AT THE JUNIOR CONSERVATION BANQUET — PART 1 In due time Mollygrubs Messer recovered physically from his rude and painful introduction to the miseries of poison ivy while on a Boy Scout outing, but mental torment remained in the form of regular taunting from...
Checking the Calendar
The calendar wasn't going fast enough from August to September — so I took the initiative to take it down myself! The other week, I was passing through Mike’s office when I noted his calendar was still on the August page. I know bird hunting seasons open in September,...
Frozen Terror
The date was Tuesday, January 22,1929. There was nothing to hint that the day would be any different from the many others Sweet had spent fishing through the ice for lake trout, there on the submerged reefs off Crane Island. Tramping across the rock-strewn,...
Benelli’s Migration Madness Sweepstakes is ON!
SPONSORED CONTENT Wingshooters live for the fall migration. And while this much-anticipated event is still a short time off, preparations are underway. To kick off the 2023 season, Benelli is launching the Benelli Migration Madness Sweepstakes with an unprecedented...
The Timely Art of Sporting Calendars
By definition and design, the calendar marks the passage of time and to an extent sets the tempo for our activities. But the calendar holds particular interest for the outdoor sportsman, the hunter and the collector of sporting art. The calendars of the late 19th and...
MISADVENTURES OF MOLLYGRUBS MESSER
The first installment in Jim Casada's new series: THE MISADVENTURES OF MOLLYGRUBS MESSER The parents of the newborn lad who would in time be known to one and all as Mollygrubs Messer most assuredly did not dub their offspring “Mollygrubs,” a quaint word widely used in...
The Longest Minute
I stood up and grabbed the holster but was unable to remove the revolver regardless of how hard I tugged. When I looked up, the grizzly was charging toward me...The next minute seemed to last an eternity. Most of us are familiar with the movies, The Longest Day, The...
RIAC Sells Elvis Presley Revolver
Rock Island Auction Company Sells Elvis Presley's S&W Model 53 Revolver This past Saturday, August 26, 2023, RIAC sold Elvis Presley's Historic Special Order Russell Smith Signed, Master Engraved, Gold and Silver Inlaid with the original case gifted to the King of...
Robert Louis Releases DOUBLES DUTY
For the doubles shooters, finding empty fields to practice further reduces their opportunities to practice shooting. Robert Louis Company's latest product package, the DOUBLES DUTY Ultimate Practice Shooting System, brings the practice requirement to the shooter's...
Loyal to the Last
All that day the old man's thoughts were on Malachi, the grizzly and himself. He knew what he must do, but dreaded it. Jasper Pratt came awake, suddenly pulled by the instincts of his breed as he heard the far-off cries of a wolf pack running down an animal, perhaps a...
Clayton Flowers
Never said nothin' to nobody,' folks said of Clayton Flowers. But he'd talk to me, about livin' and even about dyin'. I'll tell this the way Clayton Flowers told it once to me. Clayton was an old man himself then, the deeper side of his 70s. Never talked to nobody...
NEW! Dawn of American Deer Hunting: Volume 3
Duncan Dobie's newest book is now available! Click Here to order your copy today! Whitetail hunting in this great land of ours is truly a “grand” obsession, and Dawn of American Deer Hunting, Volume III, will make you thankful for your own freedom to participate in...
Kings of the Hill
Only four years apart in their native Germany, Wilhelm Kuhnert and Carl Rungius would go on to become preeminent painters of the world's big game. For a short time in the late-1880s their trails crossed, the two young bulls setting out to make their ways in the world,...
A Country Store
What a store was doing out in the middle of nowhere I didn't know, but there it was. I should never have had that second green chili burrito. The gas in my stomach told me I had made a big mistake and it was getting worse by the minute. I had finished my sales calls...
Grizzly Singlehanded
The guide put me ashore on the island. Just me and the grizzlies...an interesting feeling...isolated. My thoughts: I can't walk out. Just one person knows how to find me. I'd read many stories about grizzly bear hunting and attacks by the big, hump-backed predators....
Attacked in My Front Yard!
Those diving birds are dangerous! The other day I was casually strolling across the front yard when it happened: a bird flew out a tree and dive bombed me. Yikes! Attacked in my own front yard. Well, I did not call the law, but I did run and jump back on the porch to...
Spruce Creek and the Future
Spruce Creek's greatest claim to fame may well lie in what it gives to angling families in the future. No wider than the asphalt two-lane that traced it, the little stream wasn’t too impressive at first glance. The roar of traffic along a busy Pennsylvania highway and...
Frank Stick the Forgotten Artist
He not only left a lasting legacy of art and conservation for future generations, Frank Stick left the world better than he found it. The Golden Age of illustration, which spanned the first half of the 20th century, produced some of our finest sporting artists,...
The Cripple
Deep down, he knew this duck, this day, no matter how good it had been, could not have made up for the things they had already lost. As they turned off the main highway onto a rutted two-track, Tom glanced over at his son and wondered what Casey would be thinking....
Wings Over Sonora
I know a sure cure for February cabin fever. It's just as well that February is the shortest month of the year. My grandfather used to maintain that it was so brief because it offered as large a dose of foul-weather misery as anyone could endure, and in many senses he...
Dove Season is Nigh!
Dove season is coming — and that right soon! Well, if you have been sleeping these hazy days of summer away, you may have missed the fact your calendar indicates dove season is coming — and will be here soon! I love hunting doves. There’s lots of shooting, birds...
Benelli 828U Sport
SPONSORED CONTENT Benelli’s 828U Sport is an innovative over/under shotgun for those who appreciate modern design combined with outstanding Italian quality. For centuries, Italian gun manufacturers have created shotguns with beautiful form and function. Benelli has...
Storytelling On the Thames
Some people are under the impression that all that is required to make a good fisherman is the ability to tell lies easily and without blushing; but this is a mistake. The neighborhood of Streatley and Goring is a great fishing center. There is some excellent fishing...
Play Day
Scene: A summer morning, Florida Keys, late July — but the events outlined here could have transpired in August, even September, just as well. We load the cooler with gallons of Gatorade, water and ice, with the reasonable expectation that it will feel downright...
The Scent of Elk and Horses
Following is the author Michael Altizer’s introduction to his latest book RAMBLINGS—Tales From Three Hemispheres. In addition to its over two dozen chapters that encompass stories from the top of the planet to the bottom, this book also contains a collection of...
Dog Overboard!
Life is so full of perils when you are on — or out of — a boat. As I have noted before, this summer has been one of many trips down rivers in fishing drift boats. While river cruising is fun, it has dangers like rocks and limbs protruding from the shoreline. Also the...
Gloss and Glory
In the 60s it was hip to be bass, and anglers everywhere welcomed a whole new breed of American hero. By 1965, the bassing revolution was at full throttle and re-born bass fishing was rapidly becoming galaxial. It was hip to be bass. Popularity encouraged fraternity...
Cosmi Shotgun from Nighthawk
The Cosmi is a premium grade Italian-made semi-auto that’s primarily built by hand — a slim and sleek firearm as fine as a Swiss watch. SPONSORED CONTENT I learned the value of quality a long, long time ago. For a lot of practical and aesthetic reasons, it pays to...
Defunding Hunting Programs in Schools
Defunding efforts that promote getting kids outdoors is antithetical to the current administration’s own stated goals of addressing America’s psychological woes. As America faces a storm of geopolitical threats, endures a flood of fentanyl streaming across a largely...
The Sporting Life of Riley
Ford Riley's goal is not just to paint what he sees while hunting and fishing — he wants to take you there, mind and soul. Almost all of Riley's paintings are inspired from his daily outings in the woods and on the water near his home along the St. John's River just...
Best of Breed
If immortality is nothing more, or less, than the condition of being remembered, the dogs profiled here will always remain vibrantly and brilliantly alive. These canines are, by any reckoning, the Best of Breed. Not long ago, I had occasion to write to a man I’d never...
Caribbean Silvers in Another World
From one world to another in a couple of blinks. The first boat heads out. Native fishermen crowd the beach and watch to see if they make it through. We idle upriver, then circle to wait our turn. Ahead is a quarter mile of choppy, mocha-stained water. Five-foot waves...
An Exceptional Archibald Rutledge Collection
Click Here to View All These materials all have been collected by Jim Casada, a longtime student of Archibald Rutledge and the editor of five works bringing together Old Flintlock’s enduring outdoor tales on a variety of subjects. Collectively they represent a solid...
I Call It Rabbit Netting!
What follows is a true story and not a tall hunting tale! The other day while Mike was fly fishing on a river near our home, I continued doing what I do best — sniffing about. Every bush and object within 100 yards of a river or lake must be sniffed out, that’s my...
Griffin & Howe 100 Years: Celebrating a Legacy of Craftsmanship
In the world of firearms, few names carry as much historical significance and prestige as Griffin & Howe. Founded in 1923, this legendary company has been synonymous with quality, precision and innovation in the firearms industry for an incredible 100 years. To...
Chairman of the Lower Forty
From this moment forward, their association will finally go down as one of the greatest in the annals of outdoor writing. Our paths converged in a field called the Lower Forty. Corey Ford owned it, I own it — in this very real, very rural, picture-postcard New England...
Swarovision: Unveiling the World of Precision Optics
SPONSORED CONTENT In the world of outdoor enthusiasts, nature lovers and avid hunters, the name "Swarovski" has long been synonymous with exceptional quality and unparalleled precision optics. The renowned Austrian company, Swarovski Optik, has been at the forefront...
Weatherby Offered in Other Cartridges
Weatherby has now made available the option to load some of the most popular hunting cartridges in the industry. Starting out, the cartridges being loaded will be: 300 PRC, 7mm PRC, 6.5 PRC, 28 Nosler and 280 AI. Designed to lead the industry in velocity and terminal...
Rediscovering Phillip Russell Goodwin
For many years after Goodwin's death, he was largely ignored in art circles. His "real" specialty," he told a friend, was painting "hunting scenes with action" for sporting goods calendars. Yet wildlife, hunting, fishing, and western paintings signed "Philip R....
Bob Ruark and the Boy
Bob Ruark left every lover of nature, every hunter and fisherman a bountiful legacy. To virtually all contemporary lovers of fine sporting literature, not to mention the millions who came to know him through his biting newspaper columns or best-selling novels, the...
People Like Us Never Grow Up
I do not mean to sound bitter about this, for perhaps it is not the fault of the wet-eared young... This piece is being written in a bug-ridden swamp on the banks of the sluggish yellow Tana River, in northeastern Kenya, where the big elephants bugle and the baboons...