The Story of the Sporting Gun

The Story of the Sporting Gun

Firearms, of a sort, are supposed to have been used before gunpowder was invented; but the history of sporting guns is not concerned with the prototypes of these early weapons, and they need not be specified. Nor do the early cannon devised for military purposes call...
The 270 Winchester: A Very Fast Ball

The 270 Winchester: A Very Fast Ball

The Model T, Coolidge, then Depression defined the 1920s. Winchester added the 270. It alone endures. Night’s chill lies late in Spoon Creek. I slipped into cold wool and left the tent before dawn was a pale smudge. Breath white, I climbed through the timber to a bald...
The Savage Model 99

The Savage Model 99

Here’s a gun that carries better than some considerable few others of no greater efficiency. And a man carries a gun a blame sight more than he shoots it.

Nothing To Do for Three Weeks

Nothing To Do for Three Weeks

I left long before daylight, alone but not lonely. Sunday-morning stillness filled the big city. It was so quiet that I heard the whistle of duck wings as I unlocked the car door. There would be ducks leaving Lake Michigan. A fine sound, that, early of a morning. Wild...
Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 7 Trailer

Sporting Classics TV Season 6 Episode 7 Trailer

This week’s episode of Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey is an adventure in the Gulf Stream as Chris Dorsey and friends are after tight lines on saltwater.  The fly fishing adventure starts in Cape Cod in pursuit of striped bass, then heads south to Puerto Rico to...
Bad Day In the Bush

Bad Day In the Bush

On the morning of September 30, 2001, professional hunter Johan Calitz awoke with a start. Outside his tent the quiet sounds of a safari camp coming to life mixed with the chatter of raucous francolins greeted the sunrise. This is how Johan began most days, his ears...
The Tail of the Mangy Mutt

The Tail of the Mangy Mutt

It was my very first hunt with Lacie, and I said to the plantation manager, “Could you please put out twelve quail, two chukars and two pheasants, and all as singles in a small field.” He replied, “We have a small training field that is planted with sorghum. But you...
Ben Lilly The Last Mountain Man

Ben Lilly The Last Mountain Man

After the honorable David Crockett of Tennessee, Ben Lilly was said to be the greatest bear hunter in American history. He reputedly killed more bears with a knife in hand-to-hand combat than Ol’ Davy ever attempted to “grin” down. In truth, Ben Lilly no doubt killed...
22 Creedmoor and Friends

22 Creedmoor and Friends

Debating the merits of “deer cartridges” has heated as many hunting cabins as have potbellied stoves. Most such disputations are ignited by calibers from 24 through 35, but if you want a barn burner of a conflagration, toss a 22 centerfire onto the embers. In the...
Ducks Unlimited To Launch $3 Billion Campaign

Ducks Unlimited To Launch $3 Billion Campaign

On the heels of the great Dust Bowl of the infamous “Dirty Thirties,” duck hunters from across North America came together in a remarkable effort to save their beloved waterfowl. The extended drought across the Great Plains and elsewhere highlighted the importance of...