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...
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...
Mentoring Youth Hunters
It is up to the next generation of dedicated conservation hunters to protect, enhance and defend America's millions of acres of public land. Richard stood five feet, two inches and wrestled. He wrestled on the mat in college, wrestled steer carcasses from the cooler...
Why Do Women Hunt?
In her book Why Women Hunt, K.J. Houtman features stories of some of the women who are contributing to the growing percentage of women in America who hunt. If you’ve ever had the notion to take a woman hunting, you’re onto something pretty special. As K.J. Houtman...
Worshiping at the Freshwater Temple
I was worshiping at my favorite freshwater temple when my 8-year-old fishing disciple hooked an epiphany and landed one of the secrets to the Kingdom of Heaven. Well, sort of. Author’s Note: Just before sunrise on Monday, April 13, 2020, a historic, record-breaking...
Wisconsin Girl, 11, Harvests 700-pound Black Bear
An 11-year-old girl in Wisconsin recently killed her first black bear, and it may just beat the record for the largest black bear harvested in the state. On opening day of her first bear hunt and accompanied by her grandfather, the sixth-grader spotted her first black...
The Tenth Time
There were pines in between the river and the rock cliff so I could not walk downstream to catch my salmon. I had to stay in one place, cast and drift. “Fish on!” Al yelled, and we scrambled down the path that led from Dam Camp to The Basin. Three of us hung over the...
Get More for Less with Sporting Classics Digital
When it comes to our digital edition of Sporting Classics magazine, the phrase "less is more" applies in more ways than one. To some, "digital" reading seems less tangible, less interactive or even less sophisticated than thumbing through crisp pages of a print...
A Book to Stir the Sporting Spirit
A piece of artwork speaks to the soul in a fashion even the most exquisite photographs cannot accomplish. Sulkowski’s paintings do that for me. The visual aspects of life astream and afield have long captured the fancy of discerning sportsmen. Witness, for example,...
The Fall
Camp's poem, "The Fall" was originally published in the October, 1897 issue of Outing. Now soon will come the summer’s angry strife With winter foes; and many a gloomy day. The sky, the battle-ground, where blue and gray Their struggle long since dead, stirs with new...
Final Prep for Opening Day
Hunting success usually hinges on preparation. These tips from top gun-dog trainers around the country will help you and your dog get ready for Opening Day. SPONSORED CONTENT No matter what you hunt, where you hunt or whom you hunt with, Opening Day has a special kind...
Nebraska Youth Outdoors Essay Competition
Youth are invited to enter the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Kayak Kid Essay Competition for the chance to win an outdoors prize package. The contest requires a handwritten 250-word essay expressing why growing up in the outdoors is important. Entries must...
Recipe for Hunter’s Breakfast Cups
From The Lodge at Black Pearl Cookbook, Vicky Mullaney shares her breakfast recipe that will awaken the cowboy in all of us. On one of our early fly fishing trips out West we stayed at the Diamond J Ranch in Ennis, Montana. They served us a very hearty breakfast every...
Scents of Love
A scent can conjure up emotions and even specific memories. In the brain, smell is the closest to memory; in the heart, the closest to love. She meditated. She would not eat the venison I brought her. She worshiped some Hindu holy man whose name I wish I could forget....
Among the Grouse
There is a special magic to be found in hunting this majestic bird with grouse dogs and good friends through a joyous palette of autumn colors. I never intended for grouse hunting to become such a passion. Only now, after more than 40 years of joyously stumbling about...
High Altitude Elk and Low Light Hogs
This week on Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey... It's a high-altitude pursuit for the noble and majestic Rocky Mountain elk, and then a down-and-dirty hunt for feral hog. Chris Dorsey hunts elk in the western slope of Colorado in the rugged terrain surrounding High...
Dove-Hunting Doodle
If you're looking for a family-loving, energetic, highly trainable pet that can also be helpful in the field, a Doodle may be right up your alley. These days, when we hear of the poodle breeds, we may imagine tall, slim, pampered pups with questionable hairstyles...
Blocks of Gold: The American Decoy
Perhaps the only art form to originate in America, the decoy is, in essence, a historical document of our golden age of waterfowling. Hunting was a very normal activity for young adolescents where I grew up in rural middle Georgia. We started with rabbits and...
Hawaii Cancels Lāna‘i Axis Deer Season 2021
The DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) regretfully announces the cancellation of the 2021 Lāna‘i Axis Deer season. DOFAW has determined that cancellation of the hunt is in the best interest of public safety. DOFAW is planning to implement a combination...
Like Moths to the Flame
Whether you pitch a tent, sleep in a camper or rest in the luxury of a lodge, the evening fire is what draws us together. The ring of fire, the billowing smoke and dancing flames define the place where we gather every evening at hunt camp. Whether you pitch a tent,...
A Guide to Guides
These professional hunters anglers understand there is no substitute for spending time in the field or on the water. During my career as an outdoors writer, I have worked with hundreds of fishing and hunting guides while on story assignments and worked as a guide...
Traits of the Pheasant-Hunting Dog
The relevant and meaningful question isn’t “Which breed is best for pheasants?” It’s “Which breed is right for me?” No upland gamebird engenders so much disagreement, disputation and plain, unvarnished discord as the ring-necked pheasant. Other gamebirds are rarely...
The R3 Initiative for Hunting: Rectruit, Retain, Reactivate
This week on Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey... The R3 initiative – Recruit, Retain and Reactivate – is a national movement in response to a crisis. Hunting participation in America peaked in 1982, when 17 million hunters purchased 28.3 million licenses. In 2016,...
“Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey” World’s Most Watched Outdoor TV Series
The series, in its second season, averages nearly one million monthly viewers on the Outdoor Channel alone, while also spreading to other networks. Officials from Dorsey Pictures, the world's largest producer of outdoor adventure programming with series airing on ten...
Aimpoint Sight Makes Aiming Easier
SPONSORED CONTENT Who would have thought I’d be ahead of the times, but I’ve been essentially enjoying the benefits of a red dot sight on hunting rifles since before they were largely promoted in the U.S. for use on hunting rifles. Back in the 1980s, the late Col....
California Upland Game Bird Stamp Art Contest
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is conducting its annual art contest to select the design for the state’s 2020-2021 upland game bird stamp. The California Upland Game Bird Stamp Art Contest is open to all U.S. residents ages 18 and older. Entries...
Reconsidering Recoil: It Doesn’t Have to Hurt
Recoil. It doesn’t have to be painful. But will a rifle with less recoil compromise your ability to terminate what you shoot? You’ll get a kick out of this. Lord knows the Kid did. His name has been changed to minimize his embarrassment. We told him the bleeding would...
10 Classic Hunting and Fishing Cartoons
This collection of classic and all-too-relatable hunting and fishing cartoons is sure to hit the sportsman's funny bone. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. This book is a collection of outdoor stories wrapped in the human condition. They were written with an eye...
Archery Traditions: Crafting Wooden Arrows
Traditional archery has a way of embedding itself irrevocably into one’s psyche, and there are a few folks for whom it goes well beyond shooting or hunting. Grandpa loved to feed his hogs. He would trudge across the narrow tar-and-gravel coal road there in the bottom...
Simple Southern Quail Recipe–Only 5 Ingredients!
Give this mouthwatering and simple southern quail recipe a try using just five tasty ingredients. You'll need: 6 whole quail 1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup olive oil 2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans chicken with rice soup 1/2 cup dry sherry Instructions: In a skillet, brown the quail in...
‘Tween Casts with Flip Pallot
There’s more to the story. The flip side of Flip. He stays busy– too busy to fish one might think, but flingin’ a fly is always on the schedule. When most of us landlubbers think of Flip Pallot, we picture a smiling, bearded gentleman casting a fly for bonefish or...
Dove Hunting and the Making of a Sportsman
Arguably the finest of all the myriad bonuses associated with a dove shoot is taking along a youngster not yet old enough to carry a gun. A late friend of mine, Roy Turner, liked to refer to the opening day of dove season as “Christmas in September.” That description...
Gun Smuggling and the Preservation of Domestic Bliss
A collective group of gun-smuggling savants advise a young, newly wed husband on plausible strategies for sneaking guns past his wife. I was at my local sportsman’s club recently, a friendly neighborhood place where threadbear flannel or last year’s camo pattern are...
The Legend of Trapper Jim
At Elkhorn Outfitters, there’s a hunting guide, With a full face beard, And a horse to ride. He isn’t short, And he isn’t slim. But today he’s known As Trapper Jim. It happened one night In a hunting shack High in the mountains, A range known as Black....
Invasive Jumping Worms? What’s Next?
Beware of jumping worms in soil and gardening mulch – invasive worms are not appropriate for bait. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is cautioning gardeners and anglers to be on the lookout for invasive jumping worms. These destructive worms can quickly...
Words of Wisdom from Old Flintlock: 13 Archibald Rutledge Quotes
Rutledge was wonderfully quotable. Here are a few memorable examples of what anyone who reads his work can expect: “Establishing oneself in a dog’s confidence is the foundation of training.” –Hunter’s Choice “Every puppy begins by conceiving his master to be a god; it...