Sportfishery for Great White Sharks?
The thought of a sportfishery for great whites tantalizes some anglers, but if it's ever to happen, the science will have to support it. "I want to show you something.” I had spent enough time working for the artificial reef program at the South Carolina Department...
Mossberg 940 JM Pro Wins 2020 Best New Shotgun Award
O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. was honored with the 2020 Caliber Award in the “Best New Shotgun” category for the company’s 940 JM Pro competition shotgun. Presented virtually on October 20, 2020, by NASGW (National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers) and POMA...
True Romance: The Ugartachea 20-Gauge
I quickly surmised that the pawn shop didn't know what it had – a Spanish double of good repute. Further, they were asking only $295. My grandfather had an old double barrel that I never shouldered. It hung beyond my reach above my grandmother's china cabinet,...
Four Timothy Murphy Poems
The recurring theme in Timothy Murphy's poetry is hunting and the cruel and ruthless innocence of nature, conflating the virtues of hunting with religious values. In 1951, two recently married teachers in Hibbing, Minnesota, paid a young boy named Bobby Zimmerman ten...
Woman Gored by Neighbor’s Pet Deer
After a Colorado woman was gored by a deer, CPW issued misdemeanor citations to the neighbor who admitted she raised deer in her home. A Black Forest, Colorado woman who told Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers she took a days-old fawn into her home more than a year...
Meet the $70,000 Fish
For many, catching a bonefish on the fly is tantamount to turning the saltwater flats to holy water. As a fly fisherman, I feel naked when I wade a saltwater flat to cast for bonefish. I try and play the part of motionless heron but nevertheless feel so exposed in the...
Cockers in Cover
The cocker: a breed that deploys quickly and steers precisely. I damn near didn’t stop. I was driving a road that I rarely traveled, en route to another piece of cover. It was a crisp, clear day toward the end of October, the kind of day you see in your mind’s eye...
The Woman With Wide-Set Eyes
A woman of breathtaking beauty was absolutely the last thing he expected to see in such a desolate place. I’d been on a Jim Harrison binge in the wake of his death—easy to do given his prodigious output. In particular, I’d been enjoying the stuff set in Michigan’s...
Collecting Guns
A simple but effective technique has proven workable to many gun collectors. And it’s almost as classic. One of the finer points of gun collecting, if not the finest, is the ability of concealing from your wife: (1) the fact that you have actually purchased a new gun...
Little Angler, Big Trout
He hasn't yet turned five years old, but already he loves going fishing with the big guys and his new fly rod. Note: This article originally appeared in the September/October 2014 issue of Sporting Classics. His name is Gabriel Matthew Altizer, and he has not yet...
How Upland Bird Hunters Can Stay Safe in the Field
While enjoying the hunt and upland bird hunting season, all hunters should make safety their top priority. Upland bird hunting is enjoyed by thousands of hunters who want to create memories, carry on traditions and bring home a wild meal. While enjoying the hunt, all...
Buffalo Around the World
This week on Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey... We're celebrating the different subspecies of buffalo from around the world, including the animal known to kill more hunters in Africa than any other, the Cape buffalo. While other subspecies of buffalo – water,...
Parker Bros.
Our quest: the old workhorse of the Parker stable, the gun that, more than any other, validated the company catchphrase, “The Old Reliable.” For it was that of a young man, and I am old, and I have seen first-hand the burnishment of many golden years upon a dream that...
Getting to Know Your Friendly Neighborhood Oyster
October is oyster season in the southeast, and there are a few things the United Oyster Ranchers and Rodeo Association of America doesn’t want you to know about the common oyster. “Secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.” – Charles Dickens “He was a...
Ghost Light on the Land’s End Road
I was suddenly awash in pale blue phosphorescence and I briefly reckoned poor ventilated Private Quigley had his chilly arms around me! Right turn at Frogmore, south down a dozen miles of two-lane island blacktop, through woods and swamps and fields, to old Fort...
Ruffed Grouse Covert
Once upon a time Bob Sohrweide had a ruffed grouse cover. He’d had other covers before and since but this one was his best. Bob found it in his eighth grade Latin class. Let me tell you… As Bob walked into his classroom, he overheard Robbie Trotta finishing a story to...
Massachusetts Teens Catch 1,000+ Pound Tuna
A trio of Massachusetts teenagers reeled in a massive bluefin tuna weighing more than the three anglers combined and measuring more than 10 feet in length. In early October off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, Captain Dan Smith and his crew Kyle Falle and Jim...
Forget Gun Control, We Need Van Control
If you become bored with the sport of conventional deer hunting and are considering getting behind the wheel for a more mobile approach, here are a few points of etiquette to keep in mind. Forget all that nonsense of climbing trees and chasing deer around with dogs....
The Slam of Slams
This week on Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey... We look at a collection of Chris' remarkable slams - the North America 29, sheep slam, turkey world slam and the spiral horns slam. Hunting slams are not about collecting trophies or checking off a to-do list - they...
Flavors of The Season: BBQ Quail with Fall Perloo and Okra Chips
Simple for anyone who loves quail to make at home, this dish is composed of local, Southern and seasonal selections available in the Lowcountry. A South Carolina Lowcountry fall is upon us and that has us thinking about the flavors of the season. Brays Island onsite...
Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week October 11-17
Enjoy stellar outdoor recreation and the country’s wildlife heritage during National Wildlife Refuge Week, October 11-17, 2020. Celebrate your access to nature on the nation’s largest network of public lands dedicated to wildlife conservation, the National Wildlife...
How to Keep Your Dog Hydrated
Paying extra careful attention to hydrating your dog in warm temperatures is important. Use these tips to help him keep his cool this season. SPONSORED CONTENT For some of the year, bird season openers along with field trials and hunt tests are accompanied by warm...
Eukanuba Launches Premium Performance – A New Breed of Performance Fuel for Sporting and Working Dogs
Eukanuba introduces an enhanced and expanded line up of performance diets to fuel all levels of canine athletes. For more than half a century, Eukanuba™ has been a champion of sporting and working dogs. Founder Paul Iams focused on performance nutrition with the first...
Final Flights
The rivers were overflowing, the feeder streams were gushing and the lowland roads were washed out so I couldn’t get to my woodcock coverts. But I had an idea. The rain poured down for three straight days. It wasn’t a mist or a pitter patter on the tin roof. It was...
65 Custom Rifles Assist 3-Year-Old with Leukemia
Under Henry’s charitable “Guns For Great Causes” banner, company President and owner Anthony Imperato is donating a series of 65 custom “Prayers For Preslie” edition rifles to raise funds for the family of a 3-year-old Michigan girl battling leukemia. The rifles are...
True to the Bird: An Oysterman’s Sporting Legacy
Oysterman and artist, Gilbert Maggioni, married late and had no children. He passed his legacy to two young men, William Rhett of Beaufort and Grainger McKoy of Sumter. Gilbert Maggioni was an ornery old cuss most people said. He cussed the weather and he cussed the...
Simple Venison Oven Stew
Versatile to a degree that is unmatched by any other type of wild game, venison offers a doorway to fine, incredibly varied fare. Each year millions of hunters enjoy the timeless thrill of getting their deer, and the result is plenty of meat for the family table. Yet...
Maryland DNR Announces 2020 Photography Contest Winners
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has announced the winners of the 2020 Natural Resources Photo Contest. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has announced the winners of the 2020 Natural Resources Photo Contest with the grand prize going to Zaphir...
Sporting Classics Editor and Author, Jim Casada, Wins “Excellence in Craft” Award for SCD Article
Esteemed Sporting Classics Editor-At-Large and author, Jim Casada, recently won the Excellence in Craft award for his Sporting Classics Daily piece, "Sweet Soul of the Smokies." The Southeastern Outdoor Press Association (SEOPA) announced the winners of its annual...
Flo’s Place
He confided the happy little story that closed the 50 years between us as gently as nightfall closes day, that filled my eyes and made me smile. I’ve an idea it might foster a similar reminiscence for you. Little, whimsical outdoor gladdenings come along now and then...
The U.K.’s Black Tie Event of Shooting
With the grouse moors covered in blooming heather, it’s once again time for the annual Sport of Kings: driven grouse shooting. With its abundance of heather and red grouse, Yorkshire’s undulating moors echo with gunfire each August as artfully engraved shotguns...
New Hampshire’s “Hunt for the Hungry” Food Bank Program
New Hampshire hunters can share their fall harvest with the needy through the “Hunt for the Hungry” program at the New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities NH. Once again this fall, the New Hampshire Food Bank is collecting donations of processed deer...
Maryland New Triggerfish State Record
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has recognized Logan Liddick of Carlisle, Pennsylvania as the new Maryland state record holder for the gray triggerfish (Balistes capriscus). The 34-year-old angler caught the 6.0-pound, 20-inch long fish on September 25,...
The Sacrifice
No whites nor shred of camo, yet Dad and I inched forward toward a Dall sheep ram just over the ridge and across a small valley. It was the twenty third day of our hunt. For weeks we had been living like monks high in the rocky monastery of Alaska’s Chugach...
A Sporting Dog’s Unique Nutritional Needs
Sporting dogs work differently, and that’s why it’s important to have nutrition that powers their specific needs and keeps them properly fueled. SPONSORED CONTENT The fascinating part of sporting dogs is that they’re all so different. Never mind the fact that you can...
Mule Deer Adventures
A superlative trophy reminds us that killing doesn’t make someone a hunter. The winter’s first storm had busted out of the Arctic like a death row inmate with nothing to lose. For three days it ran roughshod along both flanks of the Canadian Rockies, emptying highways...
Dogtra Products Receive IPX9K Durability and Waterproof Rating
Dogtra, producer of the world’s finest e-collars and dog training products, is pleased to announce all of their e-collar receivers and GPS collars are IPX9K rated. In addition, select transmitters also meet the rigorous testing required to earn this rating. The...
Hunting in the Shadows of Edmund Davis
At times I may think I am unique in my hunting approach, yet the reality is I am not. Like many, I follow in the shadows of Edmund Davis. The phone rang listing a number I did not recognize. I answered. “Tom Keer.” “I had the chair.” “Terrific,” I said. “It’s...
Roasted Duck with Honeyed Figs
Whole plucked and roasted ducks make for a lovely presentation—especially a single teal per person, which is just right for a dinner plate. For the Brine 1 cup kosher salt 1 cup organic cane sugar 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, crushed 4 allspice berries,...
Purdey’s “Man-Sized” Guns Meant for Work and Lots of It
The guns that really caught my eye were the new trigger-plate over/unders. Despite a personal predilection for side-by-sides, these guns are something special! Given the liberty of a wholly unsolicited opinion, I’d surely opine that almost everybody who likes shotguns...
Top of the Flyway
This week on Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey... Chris and his brother Joe migrate north to catch the start of the waterfowl season in Alberta as millions of ducks and geese begin their migration south. It is an unforgettable hunt as they let the Winchesters bark...
Montana River Wars
The decline of Montana’s rivers foretells a new battle brewing between businesses that depend on fishing tourism and the state’s ranchers. I’ll never forget the first time I met the Big Hole River. The relationship started on one of those crisp Montana autumn days,...
70+ Shotguns for Women at Syren U.S.A.
As female gun enthusiasts, we know one size doesn’t fit all. To meet the need of the growing percentage of women who hunt, Syren offers more than 70 options for shotguns crafted with female hunters and shooters in mind. SPONSORED CONTENT Women who shoot and hunt are...
Four Sheep, Four Cartridges, One Nosler Complete North American Grand Slam
For sheep hunters, the pinnacle of their pursuit is completing a North American Grand Slam. SPONSORED CONTENT But not every hunter has the time, patience, and most importantly, the stamina to successfully harvest Dall, Stone, Rocky Mountain bighorn and Desert bighorn...
Tips for Properly and Ethically Disposing of Deer Remains
Disposal of deer remains may not be the highlight of a hunting trip, but it is an important aspect of hunting, particularly in maintaining the hunter's image. Properly disposed deer remains will soon be taken care of by decomposition and insects because nature wastes...
Hunting Blinds From 1960-2020
Luke Clayton and Larry Weishuhn reflect upon just how much deer stands have changed since the sixties when they both began hunting deer. I was recently recording “Campfire Talk,” the weekly radio segment that Larry Weishuhn (aka “Mr. Whitetail”) and I have produced...
At Home on the Range
Cooking on wood is like blowing a goose call or a trombone. Showing you is easy, telling you is hard. The scud stacked up over the northeast, a gray washboard above the sea, to the horizon and beyond. Too late for a hurricane, but the wind didn’t care. Raindrops big...
My Mid-life Crisis Gun
The gun salesman had that look on his face of a trout fisherman that just set the hook in a nice brown. He knew he had me. In the fall of 2009 while on vacation I mentioned to the wife that when we got back home, I was going looking for a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun– a...
Invasive Lizard Species Concerns SCDNR Officials
The number of invasive tegu lizards, a species popular in the pet trade, continues to increase across South Carolina, especially in the Midlands. South Carolina documented its first black and white tegu lizard, a species popular in the pet trade, in Lexington after a...
Swapping Roles with Your Guide
Sharing your fly rod, rifle or shotgun with a guide can be as rewarding as using them yourself. To this day I’ve never actually fired the old shotgun. It’s an ancient Winchester Model 12 with a plain, well-worn walnut stock and was in my hands on that cool spring...