Night at the Opera – A Woodland Spectacle
It was late afternoon when I came off the mountain near the old Indian Mound and started following the winding downhill trail that led out to the highway. Opening morning would arrive in three more days and my anticipation level measured about a 12 on the Richter...
Hunting England’s Vampire Deer
“What was that?” I questioned Merwyn Manningham Buller, host for our roe deer hunt near the Castle Corfe, built in the 11th century by William the Conquerer. “Couldn’t have been an apparition or ghost, and I don’t think it was a fox . . .wrong color and too big and...
Socrates Becomes a Hunter
A boy's dog named Soc finally proves his worth as a gundog by flushing pheasants for the boy and his uncle. That first spring together evolved into a long, hot summer, seemingly endless for a boy hankering for his first pheasant season. Sweating through chores, I...
Music In the Forest
Traveling south on I-20, I cross the Savannah River at Augusta and ease into the Peach State. Determined to slow life’s pace and enjoy this 200-mile trip, I’ve silently vowed to take the backroads. So, I leave the frantic pace of the interstate, lower the passenger...
Snow Grouse
When I stepped out on the balcony that cold, damp, late February evening to sniff the weather, the stars had disappeared. It was very still, and felt like snow. Re-entering the warmth of our little apartment, I heard the phone ringing. It was Gary calling to discuss...
To Bite the Bullet
An overturned jeep, no water, and a charging elephant in the night. What else could go wrong?
This Hunting Life
We were learning the world. It is that learning I speak of as hunting. In the house I rent hangs a photo of me taken as a teenager. I'm lying next to my dog in some tall reeds by a river. For a long time I wondered what made me frame that picture and hang it. Tika and...
Ruark On Safari: Politics
An excerpt from Ruark Remembered by Alan Ritchie who served as Ruark’s personal secretary for 12 years. Up until the last year or so of Bob's life, there was always a great urgency in his writing, an impatience in his attitude toward his work, and the desire to get on...
The Turkey Drought Breaks
An amusing story to be retold on those long, hot days in the blind between birds.
Parker Whedon: The Last Of The Old-Time Turkey Hunters
When Parker Whedon died on March 16, 2012 after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease and the myriad complications associated with the illness, the world of turkey hunting lost perhaps its final direct link to the sport’s great names of yesteryear. From the time...