Three Boys and a Cannon Barrel
It was a Federal Criminal Conspiracy: three boys, a cannon barrel and scaup to drive them crazy. The saltwater scaup are mostly gone now, but back when I was a boy they would raft offshore, a thousand, ten thousand at a time. It would take a booming gale to get them...
Beard Beauty
Turkey beards are a meaningful memento of success in the field—one with the potential to provide ongoing pleasure limited only by your creativity. There is a pronounced tendency among turkey hunters to consider the length and thickness of a turkey’s beard the ultimate...
The 45-70 Isn’t Old Yet!
It arrived 150 years ago in a panic. Hickok and Custer had three years to live. It still gets rave reviews!
The Mink
How the mink had come to be there the boy did not know. Those whom he asked about it—casually, trying not to appear too inquisitive—laughed and told him condescendingly, There’s no mink in this country! Prob’ly just an old muskrat. They all had their reasons—Too far...
Rare/Classic Hunting Books for Sale
Here’s a chance to add treasures in a variety of fields—classic reprints, sumptuous books on renowned sporting artists, choice old-time angling titles and more. There are items for every budget and many interests. All of the listings that follow are one of a kind...
The Story of the Sporting Gun
Firearms, of a sort, are supposed to have been used before gunpowder was invented; but the history of sporting guns is not concerned with the prototypes of these early weapons, and they need not be specified. Nor do the early cannon devised for military purposes call...
The Opening Weekend Tragedy
This October marks the 21st anniversary of one of the most tragic events in the history of upland bird hunting: opening weekend of the 2003 South Dakota pheasant season. Over the horrifying course of those two days, more than 100 gundogs (no one knows the exact...
Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 9 Trailer
This week's episode of Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey features three hunters in pursuit of black bear as Dorsey invites Sporting Classics Magazine CEO Duncan Grant and COO Wayne Nanney to join him for an unforgettable adventure in Saskatchewan. Check out Sporting...
Holland & Holland’s 700 Nitro Express
In 1985, big game hunter and gun enthusiast, William Feldstein, walked into 33 Bruton St., London with a check in hand to cover the cost of a large gun order. Feldstein wanted Holland & Holland to build him a set of five bespoke large-bore nitro express double...
The 270 Winchester: A Very Fast Ball
The Model T, Coolidge, then Depression defined the 1920s. Winchester added the 270. It alone endures. Night’s chill lies late in Spoon Creek. I slipped into cold wool and left the tent before dawn was a pale smudge. Breath white, I climbed through the timber to a bald...
Mr. Theodore Castwell
An enchantingly beautiful chalk stream, perfect cast after perfect cast, big trout rising to the fly each time it alights on the water... For Theodore Castwell, it seemed that St. Peter had indeed given him very special consideration. Mr. Theodore Castwell, having...
Love Gloves
Never underestimate the power of suggestion, especially from a crafty old codger with a bird dog.
Little Guns Big Birds
I’ve always had a healthy respect for the .410 as long as it was restricted to small birds at short range.
Big Bore: Rifles for Dangerous Game
Just when you think you have hunting dangerous game figured out, a wake-up call comes knocking, usually during the follow-up of a wounded animal.
Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 8 Trailer
This week's episode of Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey features a dream fulfilled for one lucky hunter who wins the big game adventure of a lifetime in New Zealand and an impressive haul of prizes. Check out Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey on Outdoor Channel...
On the Southbound Home
Had a man once who said, “The older the boy, the younger the man.” Strikes me he was right. No matter how old you are, you got to hang on to him—the boy—never let him go. Hardly back from Chile and Patagonia, languishing in a chair before the fire—even as the...
Roosevelt’s Smoldering Savannah
A raging wildfire threatens to bring President Roosevelt's safari to a quick and untimely end. It was a terrifying sight that greeted Theodore Roosevelt as he stepped from his tent that morning in 1910, and it was something that could have brought a costly and...
Little Windy and the Wingshooting Woman
She was a great Nordic beauty, and she came with a duck lease. She was a green-eyed freckle-faced redhead, long of hair and limb, married a couple of times before I met her but neither lasted too long. Her name, literally translated, meant "the daughter of an angel of...
Angling Through the Ages
Those who build a rod, fly or lure are participating in one of the world’s oldest professions. The history of man as hunter is partially defined by the history of fishing; the history of fishing is intertwined with the invention and evolution of fishing tackle. Thus,...
The Savage Model 99
Here’s a gun that carries better than some considerable few others of no greater efficiency. And a man carries a gun a blame sight more than he shoots it.
Requiem for a Peregrine
Everything about the peregrine falcon is spectacular — even in death. "One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds." – Aldo Leopold Early one evening toward the end of April, my English setter, Tina, and I were on the...
Nothing To Do for Three Weeks
I left long before daylight, alone but not lonely. Sunday-morning stillness filled the big city. It was so quiet that I heard the whistle of duck wings as I unlocked the car door. There would be ducks leaving Lake Michigan. A fine sound, that, early of a morning. Wild...
The Knobbly Buck
The magnificent old buck was a once-in-a-lifetime prize…and now it stood only 25 yards from his son’s stand.
Arriving in Tinkhamtown
“He was going back to Tinkhamtown. It was a long way, but he knew where he was going. He would follow the road through the woods and over the crest of a hill and down the hill to the stream, and cross the sagging timbers of the bridge, and on the other side would be the place called Tinkhamtown. He was going back to Tinkhamtown.”
Shoot and Shoot More Often!
Let’s be honest—most of us don’t practice enough, but it’s essential for becoming a better, more confident shooter. The first step is deciding to change that behavior and plan ahead for practice time—and stick to your guns. Handle your gun frequently, even when not...
Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 7 Trailer
This week's episode of Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey is an adventure in the Gulf Stream as Chris Dorsey and friends are after tight lines on saltwater. The fly fishing adventure starts in Cape Cod in pursuit of striped bass, then heads south to Puerto Rico to...
Sam “Bird” Fite
Seven Decades of Chasing the Elusive Drummer
Woodcock Days
The best hunting spots are secrets among friends, where a bird in the bag is just a bonus. A mist conceals these mountains. They are gray like bone. The sun will not rise above them for another hour, and yet it is eight o'clock. This is a favorite spot. I find...
Rising Buffalo
Instead of just two bulls, Theodore Roosevelt and his party were suddenly confronted by a huge herd of angry Cape buffalo. The buffalo rose like massive black warriors from the papyrus swamp. Theodore Roosevelt and his party had just come face-to-face with one of...
Bad Day In the Bush
On the morning of September 30, 2001, professional hunter Johan Calitz awoke with a start. Outside his tent the quiet sounds of a safari camp coming to life mixed with the chatter of raucous francolins greeted the sunrise. This is how Johan began most days, his ears...
2024 Guns & Hunting Issue
Our special 2024 Guns issue is now available! It features an incredible collection of articles on exquisite shotguns and rifles from both past and present. The cover sports The Millionth Savage Model 1899 Lever Action Rifle, currently on exhibit at the NRA National...
Warped Perspective on Precision Rifles
We hunters might be suffering from a warped perspective on rifle accuracy or, more accurately, precision.
River of Many Returns
I must tell you a story. A story of old Argentina. A story older than two centuries, but as young as yesterday. A story within a story, for one would be untold without the other. A story of many things, though at its core the strength and soul of a woman. Not of Evita...
Experts Warn Mountain Lion Attacks Likely To Rise If Colorado Ballot Measure Passes
In David Baron’s 2004 environmental classic, The Beast in the Garden, the science author explains why large predators like mountain lions are increasingly frequenting suburban communities—specifically his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Since the 1980s, mountain lion...
Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 6 Trailer
This week's episode of Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey features an epic hunt for red stag and fallow deer in the stunning mountains of New Zealand. Chris Dorsey returns to the south island to pursue big game with his old friend John Scurr in an adventure that...
Watch: Tough Hunt for Moose in Newfoundland
Shane Jones hunts moose on Newfoundland in a grueling hunt on 'The Rock,' and stalks within range of a massive bull.
The Tail of the Mangy Mutt
It was my very first hunt with Lacie, and I said to the plantation manager, “Could you please put out twelve quail, two chukars and two pheasants, and all as singles in a small field.” He replied, “We have a small training field that is planted with sorghum. But you...
Sables Are Hard to Hit
In this article for Outdoor Life, Jack O’Connor revels in the name given him by the natives, Medala Pala Pala “Old Man Who Can’t Hit a Sable,” but in the end he manages to silence his African critics by taking a fine bull.
The Russell Chukka
The Chukka fills that "what-should-l-wear" gap between a loafer and a boot. Comfortable and light for everyday wear but with enough height to keep out dirt and sand. Slips on and off easily and laces quickly. The Chukka's many uses will make it your favorite daily...
The Brook Trout’s Province
Newfoundland and Labrador’s crystal-clear waters teem with brook trout, a telling testament to this unspoiled land.
The Cost of Hesitation
The old saw, “Good things come to those who wait,” rarely applies to hunting trips.
Leopards are Different
Of all the African big game animals, Chui the leopard is the most beautiful and exotic – even in death.
Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 5 Trailer
When bobwhite quail populations in West Texas plummeted in 2010, concerned hunters took notice and banded together to fund research to find a solution to the mystery. Now the efforts from the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation are bearing fruit for wildlife in...
Menace On Flat Water
Hazards from beasts in the bush are no match for daily perils along Africa’s waterways!
John Clymer Illustrates the West
John Clymer was a painting phenomenon. None of his contemporary artists even came close to achieving the kind of success Clymer enjoyed with his history and wildlife paintings. Toward the end of his life, collectors were happily standing in line to pay $300,000 for...
Father’s Boats
He fished for panfish, bass, and maybe, just maybe, a muskie.
Ruffed Grouse Are Not Gentlemen
Ruffed grouse are survivalists, like anything wild. Keen masters of escape, Houdini had nothing on them. I’ve had them use the back door too many times to think it’s chance. And when that door is covered, they fly out the side window. I am convinced they thumb their...
Getting Socrates Drunk
Stuck for a name, we had it when Uncle Harry christened the stray pup “Socrates,” given his proclivity to poison himself. Worse than a baby in a bathroom cabinet, right from the git-go he liked stuff he shouldn’t and revealed a fatal attraction for everything liquid....
Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 4 Trailer
The world’s most watched outdoor television series embarks on an unforgettable safari adventure in Tanzania as Chris Dorsey and Steve Hicks hunt myriad plainsgame on this week's episode of Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey on Outdoor Channel. The two intrepid...
Mr. Detwiler: A Ghostly Grouse Hunt
Who was this strange old man who handled a shotgun like no one I'd ever seen? When I first saw him, I tried to duck back into the pines, but he raised his hand in greeting and I was stuck. All the while he was coming on over through the hawthorns, I cussed under my...