From left to right: George Grant, Mike Gaddis, and Bob Timberlake at Kentucky’s Deer Creek Lodge.
Over sere and tawny game fields in the gently rolling hills of western Kentucky, under a perfectly gray and moody sky, the song of dog, bird, and gun were in perfect harmony. Setter and cocker and an upland hunt of many colors: pheasant, chukar, Huns, and quail.
We had arrived late the night before from the Carolinas, tired and unstrung, after a harrowing and perilous road trip in rain and heavy traffic, but now on this new morning over the expansive shooting venue of Deer Creek Lodge in Sebree, all was healed.
It was the dawning morning of a three-day hunt and our anticipation melded richly with the reality of find and flush, wings to air, and guns to shoulder. Feathers on the chill, gray air, and the smoldering smell of freshly spent gunpowder.
Bob Timberlake, the renowned realist artist and entrepreneur, Duncan Grant, CEO for Sporting Classics, along with his son George, plus Yours Truly comprised our gunning foursome. If there’s a finer way to relish a late autumn day, we’ve yet to find it.
So it’s happily about and on, with two and a half more glorious gunning ventures to cherish over one of the premier shooting destinations in the country, with regal lodging and memorable cuisine.
Heigh-ho and devil take the hindmost! It’s November again!
— Mike Gaddis (Nov. 30, 2015)
Nashville traffic snarls as Duncan Grant and his son George head to Kentucky.
Bob Timberlake congratulates George Grant on a good shot.
Mike Gaddis, left, and Duncan Grant walk the wet fields in search of upland birds.