The Cull
The common link spanning the wide chasm of wealth and status were the dogs.
You Own What You Condone
It’s basic obedience, not rocket science. I’d gotten together with my pal Jones for a round of sporting clays. It’s something we do every summer before the hunting season, and while its effect on our wingshooting is questionable (the theory, of course, is that it will...
Sporting Classics TV Season 7 Episode 16 Trailer
This week, Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey features upland hunting at the spectacular Cumberland Estate - a Virginia property which has been meticulously restored. If there is heaven on Earth for quail hunters, this could be it. The series airs on prime-time on...
The Price of a Dog Part 1 of 3
Part One: Leaves Papa died in the spring of ’62 when I was 12 years old. Although there had been little interaction between us, he was still a needed figure in my life—a father. Mother wouldn’t, but I made allowances and excuses for his long absences. I would tell my...
Smith Setters Revisited
It was quiet when I drove down the long, sandy, Smith Setters Plantation road. On both sides were fields full of warm weather grasses that were rimmed by a mix of pines and oaks. Two quaint guest houses were on my left, and a big kennel and an expansive horse corral...
The Treasure of Simply Belonging
For restless years I harbored an unrequited craving for a 28 gauge. It came from reading too much Mcintosh, and misconceptions, perhaps, of life and love. In a hundred fantasies, the little 28 would come as breathlessly to shoulder as my high school heartthrob, a...
Choice of the Litter
It was to him a very simple thing and the wonder was that the others, the older ones, were so stupid and confused. It was only a matter of going back a few years to when he was ten and her age, and thinking as he had thought then. The old urges and desires and faiths...
Setters and Pointers in Advertising
“It was the time when hunting and fishing were as popular as video games and reality television shows are today. Let’s have a look at a few from the past 100 years.”
Put Down Your Book and Read Your Dog
Scupper was shaking so much that I thought he might spook the black ducks circling overhead. It was cold, there was some ice in the saltmarsh, but we weren’t out here long enough for him to be cold. Heck, it wasn’t even legal shooting time, so the only time he got wet...
Gundogs And Snakes
When it comes to gundogs and snakes, know your enemy and be prepared. For many of us, September means the first hunting of the season: doves, teal, prairie grouse. September also means warm if not downright hot weather—and the need to be aware of the health risks...