Cheju Do Pheasant Hunt
Back in 1968 I was doing penance for some perceived past sins at Kwang Ju, a remote air base in Korea. I had arrived there on a hot, sweltering night in mid-August to serve a 13-month tour as an Air Force munitions officer. As I staggered out the rear cargo door of a...
In Pursuit of the MacNab
I’m very sorry, sir, but you cannot take a handgun to the United Kingdom. Confused, I responded, “I understand that, Ma’am. Handguns are also prohibited in Canada.” Yes, but your booking form says you are bringing a “shot gun,” which is a type of handgun. Err . . . ...
Little Windy and the Wingshooting Woman
She was a green-eyed freckle-faced redhead, long of hair and limb, married a couple of times before I met her but neither lasted too long. Her name, literally translated, meant "the daughter of an angel of bright shining light," and it was true, mostly. She was a...
The Gift Bird
There wasn’t a turkey gobbling anywhere as I moseyed toward the log landing where Jill and I were to rendezvous at midmorning. We’d selected the spot because it was convenient, because we could both find it with no problem from where we’d each started, and because it...
The Borrowed Gun
Our son, Jamie, is 10 years old. Today, after much pleading, he is with me at a cabin on the South Island of New Zealand, a long way from anywhere. There at the head of the valley, the snow looms high overhead, waterfalls cascade off the mountainside and fingers of...
Watch: Chasing Light
Wildlife photographer Wyman Meinzer is, more than anything else, a Texan. After years as a hunter, trapper & marksman, this outdoor pioneer traded in his rifle to stare down the barrel of a zoom lens. https://youtu.be/iPQrCMadE1U?si=U5ieYNyakuyPMKHH In this YETI...
A Russian Wolf Hunt
During the winter of 1882, business complications made it necessary for me to take a journey into a wild and remote part of Russia. The house with which I was connected had had some very unsatisfactory dealings with one of its branches, and thing’s had come to such a...
Back Woods Quail Club
It was literally zero degrees when I left Bucks County, PA. The everlasting snow had a thick crust of ice, and this, combined with the deep chill factor, had kept us out of the fields and off the range for weeks. I was antsy and really looking forward to heading to...
Lt. Colonel J. H. Patterson: A Life on the Lunatic Express
A Life on the Lunatic Express Some four decades ago, when both this magazine and writer were young, I wrote a feature bearing the title “The Lunatic Express.” It later appeared as the lead story in an anthology of grand tales of derring-do carrying the title Africa:...
One Dog Night
In the early years, African leopards commonly preyed on cattle and other livestock, and even humans. But their favorite prey of all was the dog.