Dove Hunting in the Heart of Texas
There’s an old and much quoted saying that everything is bigger in Texas, and when it comes to football and dove hunting, that’s no lie. But for the sake of this story, I’m going to talk dove hunting in Coleman County. It has one of the highest dove populations in the...
What To Hunt
So, what to hunt? Everything with feathers! Mike sometimes says he thinks he needs to show me a picture of the bird(s) we will be hunting that day. OK, I get distracted because any and all birds are on my radar. I live to hunt birds. This is the time of year when...
Hunting is a Marathon
Hunting is a marathon and Mike and anyone hunting afield with me needs to keep up! Hunting is a task that is not to be taken lightly. Once the door is open on the truck and I spring out faster than a jack-n-the-box, it’s like the Kentucky Derby — I’m off to the race!...
Hunting Clues
There's your clue! If you remember the odd comment about nearly everything a few years past, everyone was saying: “There’s your clue!” This comment came when folks everywhere would wonder what to do next or which road in life to take when a fork in the road appeared....
The Baby Toddles
I think a dog’s pleasure in scenting game is certainly as keen as our seeing it. How many birds do you think there are in it?” I asked Jake. “Forty if there’s one,” he said. I believed him; for Jack owed me nothing, and he is not a farmer. To a farmer — at least, to...
The Bloody Side of Hunting
For me, this hunting season is becoming the season of cuts. If you think this piece will be about dead animals, read something else. The recent blood in hunting has been mine. From thorns to sharp rocks to barbed-wire fences, there are things in the hunting world that...
Why I Taught My Boys to be Hunters
It has always seemed to me that any man is a better man for being a hunter. I have said that my hunting has often been solitary; but that was chiefly in the early days. During the last 25 years, I have rarely taken to the woods and fields in the shooting season...
Hunting is Like Work
I may need to charge overtime. Treats and a half, Mike! I wrote recently that fishing is like work, and I’m here to tell you that hunting is like real work. I have to climb mountains, trek down valleys, wade or swim across rivers and struggle and muscle my way through...
Report from the Field
Hunting season is here! Time to find birds! These are the days all hunting dogs live for. Hunting season is underway and once that calendar rolled over and spotted September on the exposed page, I dashed to the truck and dove in. My days now are spent sniffing about...
The Trespasser
"That's a very sad story,” said Austin. "It gets worse," said Ray. Passing through the ranch gate and driving down the tree-lined gravel lane toward the log house seemed like going back in time. The little English setter, asleep in the passenger seat for the past...