Ghost Light on the Land’s End Road

Ghost Light on the Land’s End Road

I was suddenly awash in pale blue phosphorescence and I briefly reckoned poor ventilated Private Quigley had his chilly arms around me!  Right turn at Frogmore, south down a dozen miles of two-lane island blacktop, through woods and swamps and fields, to old Fort...
Collecting Guns

Collecting Guns

A simple but effective technique has proven workable to many gun collectors. And it’s almost as classic. One of the finer points of gun collecting, if not the finest, is the ability of concealing from your wife: (1) the fact that you have actually purchased a new gun...
Double Barrel Doves

Double Barrel Doves

I swore to lock up the 28-gauge Perazzi, safe and sound, and return it when asked. But I simply could not, would not, make this trip without her. I have always been lucky with dogs and shotguns. Or maybe just unlucky with everything else. In any event, one evening the...
Dear Deer

Dear Deer

Dear Deer, Why do you make me chase you? If you only knew what I had to go through, the trials I must endure, the obstacles I must overcome in order to spend time with you, you would throw your hooves up in the air and surrender out of sheer pity. First, I have to get...
The Guinea Worm

The Guinea Worm

Pursuit of the tiny African parasite had fallen to his drinking buddies, who found it an amusing— though quite dangerous—game. Wait a minute!” said Bucky Blackrod. “I can feel it moving now. Get ready. Okay, nail the bastard!” A group of drunks lunged at his hairy...
Dowsing, Ducks, Dynamite and Damnation

Dowsing, Ducks, Dynamite and Damnation

I felt the shockwave through my feet before I heard the thunderclap explosion. Mud flew, water ran and two days later, I had a new pond. Brothers and Sisters, I am a water witch. Water witching, dousing, doodle-bugging— call it what you will, finding unseen things...
Fishing Premonitions

Fishing Premonitions

Though I continue to believe omens, signs or premonitions are total baloney, I did note some rather convincing portents while fishing the Wisconsin River one spring evening. Some people put a lot of faith in omens, signs, premonitions or whatever you choose to call...
The Day Momma Killed Corky

The Day Momma Killed Corky

It was an act of violence rougher than anything Hemingway ever wrote about – the blood-curdling screams made me sick to my stomach. But about that time I hooked a monster bluegill… A Southern Tall Tale Excuse me, gents. Jimmy Shakes here, nice to meet ya. I...
When the Turkeys Busted Loose

When the Turkeys Busted Loose

Me and Poach and the Window Wizard, walking this scrubby sheep pasture west of town. Sheep got buck teeth and clip the grass right down to the dirt. Canada thistle and prickly ash take over, tight clumps around the boulders the glaciers brought when they came and...
Candid Cameron on Bullying

Candid Cameron on Bullying

Remaining calm and ignoring bullies completely is Cameron’s way of letting them know a dog’s world trumps hooman worlds (and words). By today’s standards, you should not say anything about my big ears, short bobbed tail, excessive drooling, wild stare, incessant...