Where Giants Fought
Morgan Hillard Tracked the grizzly 90 miles by following prints and carnage left in its wake. Three miners dead; torn limbs and partly consumed bodies, grieving widows and children, and a horde of hunters now camped near “the meeting of the rivers,” a place named by...
Eric Forlee A Painter Charged with Life
And "charged" with life is exactly what he means. Incredibly, he has had no formal art training, yet he is considered by many to be among the world's best wildlife artists. He considers himself a cultural orphan, whose life experiences span three continents and...
Getting There
I take my time with the old men now. I take my time with the duffers I find on opening day, swapping yarns and a thermos by 9am, or posted alone on a barren ridge no deer has crossed in more than a decade. They will tell me, whether I ask or not, that they don't much...
The Lady in Green
Everybody had now gathered but Steve. When questioned, the other drivers disclaimed all knowledge of his whereabouts or his peculiar behavior. But they knew perfectly of both. For a very long time we have had on the plantation a black man named Steve. For a generation...
Greg Beecham Wildlife Artist Coming Home
It’s only natural that Greg Beecham should feel as he does. His dad, Tom Beecham...drilled drawing into him before the youngsters years had reached his teens. Greg Beecham’s dusty brown felt hat rides high on his forehead, the way a cowboy sits straight on his horse....
Shadows on the Hills
It is at the edge of dark, that pandemonium erupts. One day, I want to shoot a buffalo. With paces between us, facing his dare. I want to know for once before I die, even if on the day I die, the tremble of doubt and the taste of fear. It is only just, before all I...
Leopard in Our Lap
I felt terrible. I could have prevented the whole thing if only I had killed the leopard when it charged. When our family of five set out on our hunting safari in Africa, we were prepared for a great adventure. Although we knew Africa could be a dangerous place, we...
Last Buck at Charlie’s Place
My last buck — the last to date at Charlie’s and likely the last, though the unknown has yet to reach its terminus. Distraught. That definitive aptly portrayed the sentiments of both Neal and me. Current news, while not completely unexpected, put us on alert. Near two...
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...
Joshua Spies the Wide World
For Joshua Spies, it's about payback. Across the lonesome, windblown prairie of northern mid-America, locals know him simply as "the kid." On this morning, the prodigal artistic son of Watertown, South Dakota, stands in his studio surrounded by six easel paintings,...