The bird, a year-old, male, red-tail hawk, looks right at home, perched on a high snag overlooking a brushy arroyo in the Burro Mountains of Grant County, New Mexico. I am close underneath and could hit him with a rock, but he is not spooked by my presence. Nor is he curious. He has his … More Primitive Pursuit Sustains Man of the Cloth
Rats! Black and Brown Few can resist a fascination at some point in life with the lowly rat, for the fascination is borne of revulsion. Get up close with a rat for the first time and the experience is there for life. How well I remember! I arrived home from grade school one afternoon with … More Rats! Black and Brown
FLY FISHING POST 9/11 From the archives of Country Sports… It was my first outing since a few of those people killed so many of our people at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I’d say terrorists but overuse has rendered the word too mild for the likes of them. And the … More Fly Fishing Post 9/11
From the archives of Country Sports . . . Recently I read that the ecologist Garrett Hardin died in September of this year (2003). It seems his passing was scarcely noticed by the nation’s media, or even by most of the environmental community. Yet Hardin’s thought and writings have never been more pertinent and will … More Garrett Hardin (1915-2003) Controversial Conservationist
It has often been written that the only survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn was a trooper’s horse named Comanche. There is evidence, however, that one of General Custer’s hunting hounds may have also survived the battle. True or not, the dogs of George Armstrong Custer tell an interesting story of outdoor … More THE HOUNDS OF GENERAL CUSTER
SCYTHE: HAND-TOOL OF USE AND SATISFACTION From the archives of Country Sports – II I used to be a deckhand on a crane boat. This was in upstate New York on the famed Erie Canal and a deckhand on a crane boat gets assigned all kinds of labor. One day they set me to work … More SCYTHE: HAND-TOOL OF USE AND SATISFACTION
From the archives of Country Sports. Having email access means being on the email circuit and that means all manner of stuff arrives unannounced and often unwanted. Most of this stuff is just junk, some of it is reprehensible, but there is the occasional nugget of real interest. Such was the case this week when … More BEAR ATTACKS ARE ALL THE RAGE!
Night Fishing is a Whole Other World Recently my son Bud and I have been fishing at night. It only makes sense; it has simply been too hot of late to fish with pleasure in the daytime. But once the sun goes down, it’s nice. With night fishing there is also the allure of big … More Night Fishing is a Whole Other World
Here’s an historical piece from the pages of Country Sports – II He was a mountain man all right, known as “Hunter” Thomas Jefferson Wood. Folks relied on him for skins, hides, wild meat. For a price of course. But he was a homesteader as well, with a place in the upper headwaters … More Mountain Men and a Family Feud
Note: This essay and photo were first published on July 4th, 2002, the first Independence Day celebration following the atrocity of “nine-eleven.” With the date of 9/11 still fresh in our minds, the recent 4th of July celebration was the most patriotic in memory. Certainly it was for me and my family. Since 9/11/01 … More Love of Country
