Fishing Guide – My Short, Brilliant Career
The novelist John Gardner posited that there are really only two stories: A man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town. With all due respect to Gardner’s memory, however, I’d like to add a third: The telephone rings, and you answer it. The caller identified...
Something for the First Time
A fella posed a question the other day that caused me pause... He asked, “When’s the last time you did something for the first time?” Not when’s the last time you did something again for the first time in a long time. But the last time you did something for...
Vermont’s Hidden Gem: Dan Morgan, Gunsmith
I first heard of Vermont's hidden Gem, Dan Morgan, twelve years ago at Dave Tilden’s venue when the beavertail forend on my Philadelphia Fox BE suddenly became loose. A gunner finds many opportunities to hunt and shoot in Vermont. Waterfowlers gun both sides of the...
A Stillness by the Pool – Bob Kuhn
The Landing of a Wildlife Masterwork Once Belonging to T. Boone Pickens Now Available for the Public to Savor. This is Bob Kuhn's elusive tiger. Our eyes are drawn first inexorably to the carnivore paused peacefully in the aftermath of a kill. There is something...
Great Dogs in History — SALUTE!
Great dogs in history are my favorite. The other night I was lying on the couch and channel surfing when I suddenly heard a hound howling. Then, on the TV show, I spotted a Montana lion hunting dog, Capone, up in a tree. He had climbed up high in the tree’s...
One of a Kind – Regis Darne
From its sliding breech to its retractable sling, this graceful French beauty stands as an objet d'art in a world of lookalikes. Truly, one of a kind. Guns, like most tools, evolve in almost the same way as animals do. And, in the same way that we tend...
Fruitful Blessing – Dispatch
My boss, Sporting Classics' Editorial Director, Scott E. Mayer, had inquired about us going fishing on a Friday after work, a few weeks back. He added that we would be doing so at a pond located in the backyard of our Publisher, Duncan Grant. I humbly accepted. What a...
Time To Hunt – Cameron the Weim Returns!
Well, in case you have been pulling a Rip Van Winkle and sleeping under a large tree, take a look at your calendar now. Hunting seasons are open. Time to hunt! Or to be more specific bird hunting seasons are open, across America. The list of birds to find, point,...
Mysteries on the Water’s Edge – The Creek
Even the smallest stream, skinny enough to step across, carries unsolved mysteries on the water's edge, drawing adventurous young’uns. I grew up in the heart of South Carolina. Halfway between the Upcountry and the Lowcountry. Right on the fall line, where...
Battle of Sugar Point – Wild Rice Shoot-Out
They were among the most peaceable Indians, the papers all said, but they had a grievance. This is the story of the Battle of Sugar Point. Wild rice. It’s good alright, mighty good, cooked long and slow in moose broth, with maybe morel mushrooms and...