Stalking the seam is not a passive endeavor. Getting after it, while meeting the demands of work and family, requires intention and effort. Likewise, conserving the resources, perpetuating the values, and passing on the knowledge and lore that make our pursuits possible for future generations can feel like an uphill battle. Apathy and ignorance, Read More
Shuffle… shuffle… drag. Mr. Teavendale, my sixth grade science teacher, taught me that movement is one defining characteristic of life. Shuffle… shuffle… drag. Inching through the bowels of an airport qualifies, I suppose. Shuffle… shuffle…drag. But it’s not my ideal form. Step… step… glass. Slinking through broken timber is movement too. Step…step… glass. The, Read More
My eyes were already open when the alarm hit 2:30am. By 3:00am I was hitching up the boat. I put the dog in the cab. Scraping the windshield quickly, I worried she might eat the breakfast burritos that my partner in crime had toiled over the night before. After sipping on a thermos of, Read More
Purple mountain majesties get all the ink. But for every picture-postcard perfect acre of Tetons, Big Horns or Snowys in Wyoming, there are ten of high desert sagebrush steppe – and they do the heavy lifting. They never make the movies or the magazine covers. They just make the antelope, sage grouse and elbow, Read More
Folding neatly the greenhead splashed soundly onto the water. The old lady made quick work of the retrieve.
The old lady gets all the ink. See here, here, here and here. But I actually do have two dogs. My 5 year old male, while lacking the flair for the ridiculous and the dramatic of his counterpart, has been consistently retrieving birds like a laser guided missile since he was a pup. At, Read More
“Dada, Dada I called the pheasant!” came the voice from the yard. I can’t call anything. To a passing flock of mallards, I’m as persuasive as a hitchhiker with a chainsaw. The most effective thing I can do with an elk bugle is leave it in the truck. I have my strengths, but imitating, Read More
“We don’t eat the feathers, cause see that would be silly, right Dada?” “Right.” “Yeah, cause we only eat the meat, and feathers aren’t meat and… and… um… cause see the meat’s on the inside!” The duck we were plucking had only hung for a couple days. I’d planned on waiting longer to breast, Read More
Bucking in circles like a rodeo bull, her enthusiasm belied her age. I was scrambling around the cold garage looking for duck hunting gear that hasn’t been used much lately. The temps started to drop, from a high of 20 F, as soon as the sun dipped below the mountains. Waterfowl was our game, Read More