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For Whom The Bell Tolls: A Buffalo on Hemingway’s Birthday
It’s one thing to be sitting in the comfort of your home, in a comfortable chair, with a glass of bourbon, reading Peter Capstick’s “Death In the Long Grass” and dreaming of hunting Cape Buffalo in the grass so tall and thick that you can barely see a foot in front of you. It is another thing to leave the safety…
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Robert Ruark, “Bwana Ndege!” the Bird Master
Make no mistake, writer Robert Ruark was a bird hunter long before he even pulled the trigger of a rifle. The shotgun was the instrument that emotionally connected Ruark when he was a young boy hunting quail, ducks, and training dogs, with his grandfather. Though he is more well known for his wild exotic hunting exploits, much…
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The Southerner’s Guide to Safari: Accommodations
As someone who has traveled to Africa, I often get asked where to stay and if bathrooms are available. This is a reasonable question, especially for those planning to travel or hunt in the remote regions of Africa. We have grown accustomed to certain comfort levels in today’s modern world. It may surprise some that even in some of the…
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South Africa Warthog Adventure
It was day four of my African safari and I had already taken three of the animals on my Most Wanted list. The only thing remaining standing between me and hunting a bushbuck was a boar warthog. I bang-flopped my blue wildebeest on Day 1 but Nic, my Professional Hunter, had me put an insurance shot in…
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A Perfectly Wonderful Quail Hunt
We were fortunate in being able to book a last-minute quail hunt at Back Woods Quail Club in Georgetown, South Carolina, where we have enjoyed membership for many years. The weather was delightful, with partly cloudy skies, a meager chance of rain, and temperatures hovering around 70 degrees. Unfortunately, two previous quail hunts had been canceled because…
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Tar Heel Traditions
In the faded light of his driveway, down the road a piece from his hunting lease, Chris Fuller hastily shoots a photo of the biggest deer he’s seen in his life and texts it to his buddies. This was not just any whitetail mind you, this was one that later would qualify for the “Book”. You’d never…
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Ode To A Chesapeake
I walked behind her as she drove back and forth through the milo. She worked ahead of us, moving in no real pattern, but we had a routine, her and I: She would get twenty or so yards ahead and then look back at me; I would whistle to bring her close, and…
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Questionable Medical Advice
There are certain times in your life when you look back and recognize the exact origin of your current misery; the poorly made decisions that eventually flourished. The chickens came home to roost… or in my case: turkeys. We were camping along one of the many tributaries of the Columbia River, hoping for salmon but settling…
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Before it was “Old School” Camo
Long before it was "old school”, it was just camo. Before it became the preferred camouflage of North American duck hunters, its story began on the backs of Marines and soldiers in the Pacific campaign of WWII.
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Sheep Hunt for a Flatlander
There in the scope of my .30/06 were the two rams we had seen two days and two mountains back: both past prime breeding age and fine trophies. As I lay there on the side of a grassy mound, I hesitated. Not only for the purpose of taking a careful shot. Many other thoughts raced through my…
