Eric Forlee A Painter Charged with Life

Eric Forlee A Painter Charged with Life

And “charged” with life is exactly what he means. Incredibly, he has had no formal art training, yet he is considered by many to be among the world’s best wildlife artists. He considers himself a cultural orphan, whose life experiences span three...
Getting There

Getting There

I take my time with the old men now. I take my time with the duffers I find on opening day, swapping yarns and a thermos by 9am, or posted alone on a barren ridge no deer has crossed in more than a decade. They will tell me, whether I ask or not, that they don’t...
The Lady in Green

The Lady in Green

Everybody had now gathered but Steve. When questioned, the other drivers disclaimed all knowledge of his whereabouts or his peculiar behavior. But they knew perfectly of both. For a very long time we have had on the plantation a black man named Steve. For a generation...
Greg Beecham Wildlife Artist Coming Home

Greg Beecham Wildlife Artist Coming Home

It’s only natural that Greg Beecham should feel as he does. His dad, Tom Beecham…drilled drawing into him before the youngsters years had reached his teens. Greg Beecham’s dusty brown felt hat rides high on his forehead, the way a cowboy sits straight on his...
Shadows on the Hills

Shadows on the Hills

It is at the edge of dark, that pandemonium erupts. One day, I want to shoot a buffalo. With paces between us, facing his dare. I want to know for once before I die, even if on the day I die, the tremble of doubt and the taste of fear. It is only just, before all I...
Leopard in Our Lap

Leopard in Our Lap

I felt terrible. I could have prevented the whole thing if only I had killed the leopard when it charged. When our family of five set out on our hunting safari in Africa, we were prepared for a great adventure. Although we knew Africa could be a dangerous place, we...
Last Buck at Charlie’s Place

Last Buck at Charlie’s Place

My last buck — the last to date at Charlie’s and likely the last, though the unknown has yet to reach its terminus. Distraught. That definitive aptly portrayed the sentiments of both Neal and me. Current news, while not completely unexpected, put us on alert. Near two...
The Old Man’s Leopard and the Omen

The Old Man’s Leopard and the Omen

It had to be an evil omen. The first glow of the sun eased out the night and pinked the peaks of the majestic Water Berg Range. Towering mountains, like a series of huge waves about to crash onto the land below and a crumbling old stone house guarded by flat-topped...
Joshua Spies the Wide World

Joshua Spies the Wide World

For Joshua Spies, it’s about payback. Across the lonesome, windblown prairie of northern mid-America, locals know him simply as “the kid.” On this morning, the prodigal artistic son of Watertown, South Dakota, stands in his studio surrounded by six...
Night Sweats

Night Sweats

It is important for a man to do a thing well, even if it is killing. The honor of a feat is the measure of how you do it…And what was the truth of me? To hell with Bob Ruark. To blazes with Hemingway, Capstick, Percival, Boddington, the whole and bunch of them....