10 Gift Ideas for the Sportsman in Your Life
Something for everyone at every price point.
Hunting with Dad – Hare Hatchet
When hunting with dad, he always brought his kindling hatchet with us on hare hunts in case we needed a fire to get warm. I've been thinking about that this holiday season. Recently, I was talking with some fiends who were introducing their young children to the “Elf...
Going for Canada Goose
Since waterfowl hunting seasons are open, I want to first give a tip of the hat to Labs (America’s most popular dog, the Labrador retriever) and dogs everywhere who plunge into icy waters to grab a downed duck or goose. Leaving land and going into icy water anywhere,...
Best Hunting Advice – No Excuses
I am often asked a simple question from hunters of all ages and skill, “What is your best hunting advice?” “Did you see anything this afternoon?” questioned a camo-shirted hunter, while I was filling my pickup with diesel. Before I could respond he added. “I didn’t...
Stage for Stories – A Paean to Porches
Porches were a place where you could be at peace with the world...a stage for stories. In yesteryear one of many blessings, what folks living in my native heath, the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, tended to take for granted was that they could enjoy their...
Kansas State Parks Black Friday
There’s no better deal than “free” and this Friday, there’s no better place to snag that deal than at a Kansas state park. This Black Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, entrance fees will be waived at all Kansas state parks as part of the nationwide #OptOutside initiative. Kansas...
Thanksgiving Means Cooked Turkey – Cameron
Wow, I just noticed this week is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving means cooked turkey, and I plan to eat my share and much more. I like turkey! While I have seen many turkeys while hunting, this past spring I got a close-up look at a wild turkey. Mike took me on his turkey...
Great Duck Guns
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? We’ll never know, but I can tell you the great duck guns came after the ammunition. Certainly there were heavy, large-bore shotguns in 6, 8 and 10 gauges, but even at that their payloads of shot were modest. The 10-gauge at...
Argentina Big Game – Beautifully Weird
On a mixed-bag Argentina big game hunt, the author experiences an entirely new continent and its game. It was evident when I met Gaucho the houndsman that he either did not speak English or didn’t choose to around me. When I shook his hand after my hunting guide and...
Best Little Aoudad Hunt, Texas
Wild sheep and sheep country have inspired a rich tradition of longing, struggle and adventure, perhaps a richer tapestry of hunting lore and literature. Some of it even true. Bighorns. Dall’s. Stone’s. Desert. Argalis. Snow sheep. These are the regal rams of fevered...
Bears – When They Aren’t Clowns
The odds of suffering an attack from bears are slim. Odds of surviving one can suddenly matter more. Fates seemed bent on bringing Joe to grief. No one could say why. The slightly-built, 65-year-old herder was reliable and industrious. He’d earned and saved enough...
Candid Cameron – Hitting the Highway
This week on Candid Cameron, "Hitting the highway means I'm going hunting!" It’s that time of year when there are so few days to hunt but so many birds to hunt. When I see Mike is digging into a box of shotshells or putting a shotgun into a case, I rush to the garage...
Canadian Waterfowl – A Red Letter Day
I am a New England Ruffed Grouse hunter, and the Western Canadian waterfowl, upland birds and prairies were a new world to me. Sharptail grouse thrive in Saskatchewan and so do those who hunt them. Around Tessier the Sharpies feed in the huge grain fields and shelter...
New CZ Model 600 Retires Previous Rifle Lines
This Czech manufacturer’s take on the modern bolt-action rifle is a game-changer. Dominique led as we moved slowly through the oak forest. Two years of drought had finally come to an end and the acorn crop returned in such abundance that the crunching underfoot...
Tucker Smith — A Celebration of Nature
Tour featuring major retrospective of Wyoming's Tucker Smith ends January 2, 2022. One enduring memory I have is of a silhouetted figure, the outline of a cowboy hat, the rangy gesture of a man, hand extended, holding what appeared to be a magic wand, reaching toward...
Great Hunting Friends
I live to hunt, and an added benefit of hunting is meeting many of Mike’s great hunting friends. Yes, he actually has friends har har! The best news is that his hunting friends don’t smell like his fishing friends who often reek of strong and repulsive fish odors....
Duck Hunting – A Tale of Two Marshes
Here is the story of two different marshes, on two different continents, gunned within a month of each other. British driven duck shooting versus American over-decoys duck hunting; green, well-watered country versus desert. In November I shot ducks in Scotland, and in...
Florida Fish Art Contest 2022
The Florida Fish Art Contest uses art, science, and creative writing to foster connections to the outdoors and inspire the next generation of stewards. The Florida Fish Art Contest was inspired in 1997 by a 5th grader’s homework assignment and has grown into an...
Hunting Plans – End of a Season
As countless millions of outdoorsmen's and women's hunting plans are structured around the seasons, they are done so usually without spending a moment contemplating when our last season will roll around. Each year I read articles of famous outdoorsman known for duck...
Steelhead Fishing in Ohio? Good News.
Ohio’s steelhead trout fishing is heating up now that colder weather is incoming, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. November through March provides peak action for anglers pursuing northeast Ohio’s silver bullets. Six...
AllTerra Carbon Rifle in 6.5 PRC
Say what you will in praise of the newest chassis rifle from, oh, say Bergara. Or the strongest big bore lever-action from Bighorn Armory. Or the lightest bolt-action from Weatherby or Barrett. All might be fine, precise, rugged, accurate. Spectacular tools, the best...
Candid Cameron – Go On Point
If you have been reading this column, you know I live to hunt birds. I love the smell of birds and the challenge of squeezing my way through dense brush to find a hidden bird. It’s a game, and the birds often loose. When I do get near birds in the brush and forests,...
Fishing Guide – My Short, Brilliant Career
The novelist John Gardner posited that there are really only two stories: A man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town. With all due respect to Gardner’s memory, however, I’d like to add a third: The telephone rings, and you answer it. The caller identified...
Something for the First Time
A fella posed a question the other day that caused me pause... He asked, “When’s the last time you did something for the first time?” Not when’s the last time you did something again for the first time in a long time. But the last time you did something for...
Vermont’s Hidden Gem: Dan Morgan, Gunsmith
I first heard of Vermont's hidden Gem, Dan Morgan, twelve years ago at Dave Tilden’s venue when the beavertail forend on my Philadelphia Fox BE suddenly became loose. A gunner finds many opportunities to hunt and shoot in Vermont. Waterfowlers gun both sides of the...
A Stillness by the Pool – Bob Kuhn
The Landing of a Wildlife Masterwork Once Belonging to T. Boone Pickens Now Available for the Public to Savor. This is Bob Kuhn's elusive tiger. Our eyes are drawn first inexorably to the carnivore paused peacefully in the aftermath of a kill. There is something...
Some Pretty Good Dogs – Scott Linden
There are plenty of canine rock stars, field trial money-makers, legendary bird dogs memorialized in literature, magazine stories and on hall of fame walls. But I’m a man of simple tastes, so those dogs that do yeoman’s duty are the ones that nudge their way into my...
Great Dogs in History — SALUTE!
Great dogs in history are my favorite. The other night I was lying on the couch and channel surfing when I suddenly heard a hound howling. Then, on the TV show, I spotted a Montana lion hunting dog, Capone, up in a tree. He had climbed up high in the tree’s...
One of a Kind – Regis Darne
From its sliding breech to its retractable sling, this graceful French beauty stands as an objet d'art in a world of lookalikes. Truly, one of a kind. Guns, like most tools, evolve in almost the same way as animals do. And, in the same way that we tend...
Don’t Call It a Classic: SA-35
This reimagined world-renowned design for modern use has had many names in its century-long history. The Springfield Armory SA-35 gives today’s shooters a modern take on a revered design modeled on one of the most popular pistols in small arms history. With subtle but...
Mossberg Expands Pistol Line: MC2sc
Mossberg Expands Pistol Line with MC2sc Optics-Ready Micro-Compact Mossberg has expanded its popular MC2 lineup with a new micro-compact 9mm: the MC2sc. With its double-stack magazines, the compact-profile MC2sc offers increased capacity but is comfortably sized for...
Mossberg Announces 590S Pump-Action Line
O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., America’s oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in the United States, continues its legacy of industry firsts with the introduction of the 590S Series of 12-gauge pump-actions; capable of cycling 1.75, 2.75 and 3-inch shotshells...
New tM35 Thermal Imaging Clip-On
THE NEW tM35 FROM SWAROVSKI OPTIK – Detect. Decide. Hunt. ANNOUNCING the new tM35 thermal imaging clip-on device from SWAROVSKI OPTIK NORTH AMERICA, a subsidiary of the Austrian based company. Hunters can count on proven SWAROVSKI OPTIK quality with the tM35. For...
Transported into the Wild Light
Painter Rod Crossman, considered one of the greatest sporting artists of our time, connects us to holy outdoor places that span generations. This is how we are transported into the wildlight. Think about your greatest fishing memory, the one that, like a fine...
Fruitful Blessing – Dispatch
My boss, Sporting Classics' Editorial Director, Scott E. Mayer, had inquired about us going fishing on a Friday after work, a few weeks back. He added that we would be doing so at a pond located in the backyard of our Publisher, Duncan Grant. I humbly accepted. What a...
Good Waterfowl Season For Texas Hunters
With millions of ducks in the Central Flyway and promising conditions in many parts of the state, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologists suggest these factors could indicate a good waterfowl season for Texas Hunters. For the second straight year, the...
A Place for ALL those Upland Decals! – DIY
At some point we ALL run out of room to place our decals on. What to do. If you are like me and have an ever-growing stash of decals, then do I have a solution for you. A DIY on a place for all those upland decals. In the early 1980s it was popular for school kids to...
Time To Hunt – Cameron the Weim Returns!
Well, in case you have been pulling a Rip Van Winkle and sleeping under a large tree, take a look at your calendar now. Hunting seasons are open. Time to hunt! Or to be more specific bird hunting seasons are open, across America. The list of birds to find, point,...
SC Store Deluxe Book Sale
Use code DELUXE15 during checkout to save. Beat the rush this season and save 15% off your total order on all books, including our deluxe limited editions! Each of our leather-bound limited edition books are signed and individually numbered by the author. Hurry sale...
Arizona Big Game Super Raffle
The Arizona Big Game Super Raffle is bringing back their special fall raffle that will give one lucky hunter a unique bear, mountain lion, javelina hunt package. The Arizona Big Game Super Raffle (AZBGSR) received three additional tags again this year, which the...
Mysteries on the Water’s Edge – The Creek
Even the smallest stream, skinny enough to step across, carries unsolved mysteries on the water's edge, drawing adventurous young’uns. I grew up in the heart of South Carolina. Halfway between the Upcountry and the Lowcountry. Right on the fall line, where...
Battle of Sugar Point – Wild Rice Shoot-Out
They were among the most peaceable Indians, the papers all said, but they had a grievance. This is the story of the Battle of Sugar Point. Wild rice. It’s good alright, mighty good, cooked long and slow in moose broth, with maybe morel mushrooms and...
Redemption – Finally, One for the Books!
Larry Weishuhn recalls how he redeemed himself from the buck that got away. Of all places! The biggest whitetail buck I have ever seen was standing 50 yards off of Highway 2 between Edmonton to Athabasca. He was huge of body and antler — wide, tall, massive —...
Staying on Course
With fall hunting seasons quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to visit this week about scouting and learning land that you are not familiar with. For a quarter century, I made my living first working on and later running survey field crews. I remember...
SEWE 2022: Celebrating 40 Years
Tickets will go on sale October 9th for SEWE 2022, which will be held February 17-20 After canceling its event in 2021, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, will return next year to celebrate 40 years in 2022, February 17 - 20...
Henry’s Guns for Great Causes Keeps Making an Impact
When firearms and “Made in the USA” are the topics being discussed by hunters, recreational shooters and firearms collectors from coast to coast, one company stands out—Henry Repeating Arms. SPONSORED CONTENT This firearms manufacturer leads in lever-actions and...
King of the Beasts – Speed, With Spots
Wayne van Zwoll discusses the real "King of the Beasts", the African Leopard and those who dedicated their lives to hunting them. I shook his left hand. There was nothing below his right elbow. He was strong, an aging giant six-foot-five, with a raw-boned frame to...
Lessons Handed Down to a Son – The Borrowed Gun
Peter Ryan on lessons handed down to a son. Our son, Jamie, is 10 years old. Today, after much pleading, he is with me at a cabin on the South Island of New Zealand, a long way from anywhere. There at the head of the valley the snow looms high overhead, waterfalls...
The Literature of Turkey Hunting
Jim Casada contemplates the art and romance in the literature of turkey hunting and the world of sporting, wildlife literature at large. The malady of bibliomania exhibits varying symptoms. Some collectors are perfectly happy to do little more than gaze on lovely yet...
Kansas Reminds Hunters to use Non-Toxic Shot for Dove and Waterfowl
With the ongoing ammo shortage, we know hunters are having trouble finding non-toxic shot to take advantage of dove and waterfowl hunting seasons. Non-toxic shot is required for dove hunting on DNR properties by state law, and federal law requires the use of non-toxic...