The Boy Never Had a Chance

The Boy Never Had a Chance

Willie Boy made his literary debut in the final chapter of The Greatest Quail Hunting Book Ever.  The chapter was titled “ A Small Southern Tale,” and it chronicled the comings and goings of a single family of Georgia bobwhite quail hunters in the period following...

Reticles That Help You Hit

Reticles That Help You Hit

When I fired my first shot with a centerfire rifle, only about half of all hunters used scopes. Offhand, squinting down the Krag’s long barrel and struggling to hold it up, I tugged the trigger. The report savaged my ears, the steel butt my clavicle. The oil can on...

The Family Rifle

The Family Rifle

Remington called it “The Gamemaster.” Serial number 260,000, one of more than a million made between 1952 and 1982. We met on the beach. I was doing turtle work for the DNR, she was on vacation. I was registered with the Feds with authority to possess and transport...

Dad’s Browning

Dad’s Browning

“A poor man can only afford the best.” This was the mantra my father lived by. Dad was a professional firefighter for nearly 40 years in a midwestern town. A survivor of the Depression who lived on a farm without running water or electricity, he enlisted at age 17 to...

The Old Man

The Old Man

I called my buddy Ken Eversull the other day about doing some work on my old Parker. If you don’t know him, he is a gunsmith, for lack of a more fitting term, and an absolute genius at his art. He lives and practices his trade in Louisiana and has forgotten more about...

Holland & Holland: Masters of the Double Rifle

Holland & Holland: Masters of the Double Rifle

In the annals of “Best” firearms, Holland & Holland holds an unambiguous place: builder of the world’s finest double rifles. For more than a century, dangerous game hunters have prepared for their great unknowns by trekking to Mayfair in London’s West End. Their...