Death Wore A Lion Skin

Death Wore A Lion Skin

The lion came in low and very fast, seemingly out of nowhere. Pete Barrett saw Henry Poolman knocked aside, and the next thing he remembered he was looking down at the top of the great cat’s head, and it had his left forearm between its jaws and was crunching down on...

Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldiers

I got my first good look at the mountain just before dawn on the second day of the trip. The morning was clear, and as the sky began to lighten, the mountain appeared and quickly dominated the skyline of the flat Masai steppes in northern Tanzania. I knew it was...

Through an Old Man’s Eyes

Through an Old Man’s Eyes

The following is an excerpt from the "Characters" chapter of Jim Spencer’s book A Life Well Misspent. With a keen eye for detail and a deep connection to the natural world, Spencer invites you to walk in his footsteps, feel the thrill (and disappointments) of the...

High Peril on Polychrome Mountain

High Peril on Polychrome Mountain

For two bone-chilling days, he pursued the rams unrelentingly, from dawn to dark, scaling precipitous cliffs, inching across narrow ledges and sliding down icy slopes. March 9. While climbing the mountains the past few days, I had been uncomfortable because of warmer...

Roosevelt the Rifleman

Roosevelt the Rifleman

With horse and rifle he explored frontiers, indulging a lust that would transcend politics.  Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. defined the bully pulpit, spared the teddy bear and led the strenuous life. “I do not believe,” he declared in a late retrospective, “that any...

Pit Blind Geese

Pit Blind Geese

Field-hunting geese from a pit blind represents the epitome of waterfowling. Each gust of wind brought the smell of freshly spread cow manure from the cut cornfield below. The maize had been harvested in the fall, and the ducks, geese, turkey and whitetails devoured...