A “Thanksgiving” Shooting Trip

A “Thanksgiving” Shooting Trip

On Thanksgiving, a shoot at Hooper’s Island in Chesapeake Bay furnished some experiences that will not soon be forgotten. Our party consisted of three—my hosts, Bert and his brother Al, and myself. With me went my two dogs, Don, an English setter, and Nick, a pointer,...

The First Time I Saw God

The First Time I Saw God

It was about 5:15 p.m., 108 miles northeast of Oran, I remember, when the starboard gunners shouted, ‘’Torpedo off the bow!” The helmsman tried to swing her so the thing would run parallel to us, but the old bucket was bottom-heavy with about 9,000 tons of high...

Mixed Bag in the Yukon

Mixed Bag in the Yukon

We were out of the wind up there on that Yukon ridge. In the polished blue of the sky, fluffy white clouds were sailing along like jet planes, but where we sat, it was quiet and pleasantly warm. It was late August, the tail end of the Yukon summer, and the rolling...

Faster Horses

Faster Horses

I guess I’m just a born country boy. I’ve always felt most at home in the woods and fields with a dog and a shotgun for company. Early on, I “took to” the home-spun philosophy in country music, too, and Tom T. Hall was one of my favorite inspirations. I was still a...

Shallow-Water Ducks

Shallow-Water Ducks

When the ducks come—splayed feet anticipating a frigid plunge into shallows; wings cupped, rocking in a jerky side-to-side; keen eyes scanning—there is no finer experience in the hunting world. Oh, there is the enhanced palpitation of heart when distant leaf crunch...

Eleventh Hour 11-Pointer

Eleventh Hour 11-Pointer

I sat content in the pre-dawn silence. The sun began wrapping its gentle embrace, and the world seemed to hold its breath, listening to the soft whispers of the past carried on the morning breeze as darkness turned to monochrome and finally to the warm golden color of...

Got An Attitude?

Got An Attitude?

Next time you head to the deer woods, keeping a “proper” attitude can pay huge dividends! Deer movement had been slow. By now, the three of us in the South Texas Brush Country camp should have had a couple of bucks hanging or at least be talking about the bucks we...

Hemingway In Michigan

Hemingway In Michigan

The Making of a Literary Sportsman Whether you admire him for his prose or the adventurous lifestyle he led, vilify him for his philandering or even pity him for his untimely and ignoble ending, Ernest Hemingway nonetheless remains one of the most influential literary...