Why Do People Hunt?

Why Do People Hunt?

We hunt for the same reason that foxes chase mice…because we’re genetically programmed to do it. Evans Chambers and I were reminiscing the other day, as old men are wont to do. Evans lives in Enid, Oklahoma, and has been affiliated with the Grand National Quail Hunt...
Why We Miss Birds in Upland Hunting

Why We Miss Birds in Upland Hunting

The pointer was facing me, and I could see that he was locked up tighter than a tick. His head was high, his tail set was ramrod straight, and there was no question there was a covey of quail under his nose. The birds were between him and me, and since it was my turn...
Why I Work with My Wife

Why I Work with My Wife

Sharing a home and a home office can be trying at times, but when works gets to be too much, this couple heads afield.

A Thanksgiving Blessing

A Thanksgiving Blessing

For more than 50 years I’ve been going up there. If it happens to be during hunting season – that is, deer season in the fall or turkey season in the spring – I usually have a rifle or shotgun in hand. For at least 30 of those years, my aging mother-in-law always...
Tested: Benelli’S M2 Field

Tested: Benelli’S M2 Field

SPONSORED CONTENT An out-of-the-box waterfowl wrecker that doubles as a do-all shotgun, Benelli’s M2 Field hits a pleasing semi-automatic price point, promises flawless function and is a pure joy to shoulder and shoot.   Benelli changed the game in 1991...
Abel Chapman: Forgotten Hunting Writer and Conservationist

Abel Chapman: Forgotten Hunting Writer and Conservationist

Many of the literary figures from the Victorian and Edwardian eras who hunted extensively in Africa and wrote about their experiences are virtual household names among today’s armchair adventurers. Foremost among them is Theodore Roosevelt, although obviously the...
Down On the Border: Mearns’ Quail

Down On the Border: Mearns’ Quail

I’d been following my Brittany, Tess, through the steep, rocky canyons of southeastern Arizona’s Coronado National Forest for the better part of an hour when her bell fell silent. I found her upslope—bug-eyed, trembling and stretched out on point—at the base of a live...
Legacy Gifts

Legacy Gifts

It was nearing midnight that Thanksgiving evening many years ago. The fire had waned to pulsing orange embers, the room captive to darkness beyond its failing glow, but for the single, small table lamp by Daddy’s chair. The night was mellow as moonlight on a meadow,...