Sporting Classics TV is Back!
Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey returns to Outdoor Channel next week! The first episode of 2025 is a pursuit of Scotland's ultimate sporting quest - the MacNab - where one must take a stag, a brace of grouse, and a salmon in one day. The series airs on prime-time...
Proposed Land Sale Pits Senate Republicans Against Key Constituency
The so-called Big Beautiful Bill suddenly turned ugly for America’s 60 million hunters and anglers after Utah Senator Mike Lee proposed selling up to three million acres of federal land in the West. Sportsmen and women are traditionally among the most reliable...
Call to Glory
They mended our imagination. The most astounding canine players ever to grace the century-and-a-quarter theater of American pointing dog trials. Can we help but suppose which was best? Sioux, La Besita, Palamonium. Luminary, Red Water Rex, Native Tango. Toe the...
Gertrude the Mason Brant Decoy
Born in a small shop behind William Mason's home, Gertrude the decoy would live a life most fulfilling. Here are a few of the many stories she has to tell. Hello, my name is Gertrude. I was named after Bob’s Aunt Gertrude Reade, a woman with a special gleam in her...
Sasquatch in Arctic Alaska
Long before I came to Alaska, I had been fascinated with the folklore and reports associated with the Abominable Snowman, Yeti, Sasquatch and Bigfoot. As a senior in high school I wrote a term paper on the legendary wild men that had been reported from so many places...
The Red Knife
The old knife was one of those singular objects in life that can never be replaced, an inseparable part of what and who you are.
A Company of Gentlemen Adventurers
The huge beast literally ripped off Pickering’s head.
In My Opinion
Interesting ideas that defy proof appeal to me, because facts have a way of strangling speculation and pestering us daydreamers. I have longed to scratch some of my itches in public, so here they are. You may not itch in exactly the same places, but hear me out....
Fishing For Dinosaurs: A Quest For Sturgeon
Hook into a 250-pound fish whose ancestors date back 100 million years and you begin to wonder if you’re reeling a dinosaur through a wormhole--as if you’re about to reveal a beast that doesn’t belong in our epoch. Such are first impressions when sturgeon fishing on...
The Stalemate
Ryan Bybee is a tough guy to fish with. Well, for me, anyway. It’s not that we don’t have a good time when we’re fishing together, it’s just that we have different ways of fishing. I like to run and gun. Find the active fish, pick off the biters, move, move, move....
Hybrid Striped Bass Fight Hard But Taste Delicious
Fishing with longtime striper and hybrid guide Chip Hamilton on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell, we were primed to get our fishing strings stretched by these powerful fish. Getting three outdoor writers on the same boat, and all in accord on the singular objective of...
The Old Man’s Leopard and the Omen
It had to be an evil omen. The first glow of the sun eased out the night and pinked the peaks of the majestic Water Berg Range. Towering mountains, like a series of huge waves about to crash onto the land below and a crumbling old stone house guarded by flat-topped...
Lynn Bogue Hunt: Angler, Hunter, Artist
Angler, hunter, and above all artist, Lynn Bogue Hunt was the most popular and prolific outdoor illustrator in mid-20th century America.
45-70 Govt. Versus Warthog
From Ron Spomer Outdoors The 45-70 Govt. carries a powerful mystique. Big bore. Heavy hitter. Knockdown power. A favorite of commercial bison hunters in the 1870s. So how do you think it performed on this 90-pound African warthog? Fort Richmond Safaris PH Geoffrey...
In The Court Of The Ruffed Grouse King
In the pine barren, the pasture’s edge, the orchard, this is the ruffed grouse’s court . . . and we are honored to be there. In an orchard, long abandoned, we make our way toward a solitary tree, one of few bearing apples this fall. That it has fruit at all strikes me...
Wild!
Just when you think a hunt couldn’t possibly get more dangerous and exciting, something really wild comes along.
Copley’s Sporting Sale 2025
On July 10 and 11, Copley Fine Art Auctions, the nation’s premier decoy and sporting art auction house, will hold its twentieth-annual Sporting Sale, coming after the firm’s record-setting $3-million Winter Sale. This major auction, and its accompanying 300-page,...
Deadly Botswana Cape Buffalo
The most rarefied air on Earth is the painfully thin atmosphere between you and the malignant stare of a wounded Cape buffalo. The tiny bit of oxygen on the top of Mt. Everest must seem like molasses by comparison. You are connected in a wild, primordial way, as he...
The Homecoming
Returning to his favorite squirrel woods after 40 years, he would rediscover the land and a few things about himself. Dank black pools of standing water enveloped the timber, mostly oak and hickory. The trees were massive in their maturity, casting the woodlot and its...
The Outdoor Writing Life
It is commonplace for long-established writers, late in their careers, to indulge in some type of retrospective look at their decades of literary endeavor. The word “indulge” is used advisedly, because to some degree virtually every such effort involves cosseting of...
The Bear Slayer
A hunter extraordinaire, Ben Lilly was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the greatest bear-slayers of his time.
Murder
"If fishing interferes with your business, give up your business," any angler will tell you, citing instances of men who have lost health and even life through failure to take a little recreation, and reminding you that “the trout do not rise in Greenwood Cemetery,”...
The Guinea Worm
Pursuit of the tiny African parasite had fallen to his drinking buddies, who found it an amusing— though quite dangerous—game. Wait a minute!” said Bucky Blackrod. “I can feel it moving now. Get ready. Okay, nail the bastard!” A group of drunks lunged at his hairy...
Long-Range Rifle on a Budget
Three cartridges that will make long-range shooting a breeze.
Nothing Like on Paper
I was beginning to wonder if the tom had been spooked by a this strange “hen” yelping from inside a vehicle, when I heard a shotgun blast.
Surviving a ‘Hurricane’ Moose Hunt
The muddy waters swept to our armpits.
Zane Grey – High Seas Prophet
So what can we say of Zane Grey, this dentist turned novelist turned outdoor writer? He was a dentist and photography and a storyteller. He was one hell of a baseball player. He was husband and father and perpetual wanderer and a hunter and fisherman who once held...
This One’s On Me
The following is an excerpt of Chapter 3 from Mike Gaddis's From A Higher Hill, featuring 65 explorations of the sporting life, the whole of which transcend contemporary perspective, and ascend to rare and unexcelled poignancy. Pardon the indulgence, my good fellows,...
Of Remingtons, Parkers and Old Pats
Devout Remington men toting Parkers?
Dowsing, Ducks, Dynamite and Damnation
I felt the shockwave through my feet before I heard the thunderclap explosion. Mud flew, water ran and two days later, I had a new pond. Brothers and Sisters, I am a water witch. Water witching, dousing, doodle-bugging— call it what you will, finding unseen things...
Moving Forward
I was crawling, attempting to get close to a majestic red sheep.
The Lords Of Loafers Glory
During the middle of the past century, it was commonplace for old men, maybe a smattering of somewhat younger n’er-do-wells and boys to congregate in popular gathering places. In small towns and rural crossroads, those spots were almost always a country store,...
Mamba By Any Other Name
It had happened so incredibly fast. The snake had bitten him before he could even think of reacting. And now he was alone, a wave of nausea wracking his entire body. He was going to die.
Fishing Premonitions
Though I continue to believe omens, signs or premonitions are total baloney, I did note some rather convincing portents while fishing the Wisconsin River one spring evening. Some people put a lot of faith in omens, signs, premonitions or whatever you choose to call...
How Coleman Became an Outdoors Icon
And why it’s been synonymous with camping equipment for more than a century.
Replacing Moonshine With Flyline
Arriving at Headwaters on the Soque farm in northeast Georgia is like stepping back into a world that has quietly eluded the encroachment of progress. It’s an easy 80 miles from Metro Atlanta, but it might as well be a thousand. When you arrive at the farm in...
The Day They Took My Guns Away
Originally published in Field & Stream, this article also appeared in the Sept./Oct. 2000 issue ofSporting Classics.
Wounded Comrade
It was 1913 when renowned hunter and sculptor Carl Akeley created his most famous sculpture, "Wounded Comrade." Inspired by an actual event Akeley witnessed on his first trip to Africa in 1896, and encouraged by fellow sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor, he sculpted...
Hunting Spanish Beceite – Challenging Game In A Beautiful Country
“Tomorrow early, breakfast well before daylight. We need to be about an hour east of the hotel by the time black fades to gray! But tonight we eat well. I have ordered for you a variety of specialized Spanish dishes, including pork, beef and vegetables. Try a bit of...
My Firearm is Fire-Damaged. What Do I Do Now?
Fires are one of the most devastating things that can happen to our families and our homes. When the fire has died down and it’s time to sort through the ashes, what do you do with your fire-damaged firearms? We get a lot of emails and phone calls from people who’ve...
The Last Of the Outlaw Gunners
Or they were going to be, until a gator got in the way.
Behind The Badge
Imagine an America without first responders and ask yourself if that’s a country in which you’d want to live? That is both the cautionary tale and the lament of Behind the Badge, Answering the Call to Serve on America’s Homefront by Johnny Joey Jones. Jones is the...
All Writers Are Liars
All writers are liars, whether reef-fishing miles offshore on the Atlantic or fishing through a hole in the north country ice. The smokestack of the hulk gloomed from the depths, barely visible when the July sun ricocheted off the surface of the sea. Halfway to the...
Wayward in Hayward
The man who taught me grouse and woodcock lives with his wife in a Vermont hamlet just this side of Canada. He has some gray in his beard these days but only enough to make him look as wise as his years, and he smells like pipe smoke and cherry-wood shavings. He heats...
How to Choose the Best Knife
Looking for the best knife for you? Not only do you need to choose a knife that is well made, but also make sure that it has a functional design. If you’re an outdoorsman, then it’s highly probable that you own a different knife for every occasion. In fact, you may...
A Father’s Quandary: How to Explain the Benefits of Hunting to Youth
Rather than simply explain to his daughter the many benefits of hunting for game meat, this father decided to lead by example. And it worked. How does a father explain the benefits of hunting to his children? A few years ago in a restaurant in Jackson Hole, my...
Boddington’s Best Buck
A large, dark brown bear appeared on the ridge above us. The sound of Craig’s one shot was all it took for that top predator to home in on us. Soon after being put ashore we jumped a huge buck at sixty yards that took off quartering away to the right. I told him to...
Amid Whirring Wings
All the trappings and traditions of quail hunting explained in one article.
Sierra Nevada – Ibex On The Med.
Alfonso extended backwards his lowered, open palm left hand indicating to stop. As I did, using his right hand he pointed toward the horizon. My eyes moved upward. There stood a young male Sierra Nevada ibex staring in our direction. “Poco, poco!” cautioned my guide...
In the Moonlight of the Mountains
Sharing a turkey hunt with a daughter who’s growing up too fast.