Hunting Posts
A Carolina Christmas…in the Southern uplands
Winter is here, and leather boots are on the go
Wingshooters in orange walking through evergreen groves
Red Partridgeberries danglin’ everywhere
Timberdoodles flushin’ in pairs
It must be that time of year that brings warm cheer
Of Impala and Dogs
I knew the shot was good, but as I watched the impala ram run into the thick tangle of trees and brush like nothing had happened, my heart sank. Cape buffalo, kudu, and puku all noticed the .300 Swift A-frame I sent their way, but not this impala. “It’s going to be fine,” my professional hunter, Strang Middleton, assured me as I lowered my rifle. “My dogs will find him.”
Atlantic Brant & The Death of Blackbeard
It’s the morning of November 22nd, 1718, and the North Carolina Island of Ocracoke will be witness to a battle that will result in the death and beheading of the most famous pirate in history, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. The golden age of piracy ended almost 300 years ago, but our fascination with pirates is as strong today as it was during the Golden Age. Blackbeard is, without a doubt, the most well-known pirate, but many myths and legends surround him…
Turkey in Old Mexico
When someone asks me, “Why did you go all the way to Mexico just to shoot a turkey?”, the answer is simple: the experience. The flight down to El Paso, the border crossing, traveling through a truly authentic “border town”, being stopped by the “Federales” on the trip back from camp, and all the great food, followed by some excellent turkey hunting made it a trip truly filled full of experiences. While some better than others, but nonetheless, experiences…
The Wild Fowl Tastes of Twain
When speaking about Mark Twain (1835-1910), we usually think of him putting pen to paper and not holding a fork. Twain loved to eat. Most people traveling throughout Europe would say the food is exquisite. Whether one is in Spain, France, or Italy, the cuisine is supposed to be the pinnacle of culinary refinement. However, for Twain it was far from it. Twain made it clear while traveling in the 1870s that he preferred and longed for good, ol’ American food.
A Guineafowl Shoot In Zambia
Guineafowl are an exotic addition on many farms across the South, where they are used for insect control epically ticks. Still, in their native Africa, they offer an excellent wing shooting opportunity. A quick morning hunt for a couple of guineafowl for breakfast would be the ending of a beautiful hunting adventure in Zambia
Five Quotes By Nash Buckingham
American author and conservationist Nash Buckingham is best remembered for his shorts stories collected in the book De Shootinest Gent’man.
Sun, Dust & Borrego Cimarron
Do you have that one animal that possesses your every-thought? I’ve hunted quite a few species in over forty years but there is no animal that holds my admiration more than a wild desert sheep. Desert sheep are survivors in the most inhospitable high places requiring the best you have to give both physically and mentally making a successful hunt all the more rewarding. It’s ironic though that such a tough survivor is having such a difficult time. The circumstances surrounding the population struggles of desert bighorn predate my existence and in many cases are still the same. In spite of the conservation success desert…
A Lion in the Distance
Stinging sweat ran down the face and into the eyes of the man with the big gun. As he walked he took his forefinger and thumb and squeezed the corners of his eyes at the bridge of his nose soothing the pain temporarily. It was mid-morning , but his light green shirt was already darker in sections. In front of…
Ward Allen: The Shakespeare Quoting Market Hunter Of Savannah
Its the late 1800s in Savannah, Georgia, on a warm fall evening, you are walking down the street and hear the familiar lines of Shakespeare coming from inside a bar. Outside the bar lay a couple of Chesapeake Bay retrievers patiently waiting for someone. Intrigued, you step inside, as the smoke burns your eyes and your nose fills with the smell of whiskey you see a figure in a wide-brimmed Stetson hat and a handlebar mustache quoting sonnets and speaking Latin. The man in the hat is Ward Allen, heir to the Allen Plantation and the last of Savannah’s market hunters.
Danger!: Hippo Hunting in Zambia!
It was our first morning in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia, and hippo was on the morning’s agenda! My hunting companion, Charles, had wanted a hippo for some time, and after an unsuccessful hunt in Zimbabwe the year before, he opted to try his luck in the hippo-rich waters of the Luangwa.
Ruby & Woodcocks
Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, it is only natural that I developed a strong connection to the outdoors. Endless adventures awaited me just outside my doorstep throughout my childhood. Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, it is only natural that I developed a strong connection to the outdoors. Endless adventures awaited me just outside my doorstep throughout my childhood. The Croatan National Forest, Bogue Sound, barrier islands and countless other opportunities were always within walking distance. As a young man with a deep yearning to be outdoors, I was fortunate to be immersed in all that North Carolina had to offer.
Five Quotes About Waterfowling
The time spent in pursuit of wildfowl gives a hunter a chance to reflect on their passion for the game they pursue and the enjoyment of those moments spent with hunting buddies two- legged and four. The thoughts of the day are jotted down, and when the words are read, they remind us of the days when the birds worked the decoys, and we spent another day pursuing waterfowl. Here are five quotes on waterfowling that will transport you back to a day in the duck blind.
One Last Bluebill
The boy was older now, so much older than his daddy who died at the age of twenty-five, a year after enlisting in the army to fight in “The Great War”. His father was killed by a German machine gunner in a land that he saw only when it was being blown apart by war. The son of the soldier, now seventy-five, was reflecting on his life and upon the man, he never truly knew. His daddy had been a market gunner for wildfowl in coastal North Carolina, but times and attitudes towards game were changing, and to make money for the family, he enlisted and went off to war.…
So You Want to Hunt a Himalayan Tahr … in New Zealand?
People tend to light up with excitement, at least in the United States, upon hearing you’re headed to New Zealand…