Today, rather than give up a sport that has been a passion for so long, I have learned to somewhat compensate for the nasty little surprises my aging body has waiting for me: diminished energy, painful joints, a bad back, neuropathy, hammertoes and muscle cramps. There are also paybacks for an assortment of freaky accidents like a falling tree crushing my shoulder and my snapping both Achilles tendons a year apart in overly optimistic and ridiculous attempts to play basketball again.
As few as 15 years ago, pheasant hunting for me was an uncomplicated affair. I arose at 5:00 a.m. so I could be in my favorite draw by dawn. I dressed, laced up my boots, grabbed my 12-gauge, my shells and my dog, a Thermos of coffee, a jug of water, a couple Snickers bars and an apple; I was out of the house in 15 minutes. I’d hunt until I had my threebird limit or until dark – whichever came first – and on weekends, I’d do it all over again the next day.
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THE BIG HURTS
my Uncle Pat once told me that both pain and disappointment were good:“The more of those you have experienced,” he explained, “the longer you have lived; suffer but a little, and you’re in an early grave.
Day's End
NEAR MISSES
Hunting Dog Hypoglycemia
The first time I ever saw a dog have a seizure from hunting dog hypoglycemia was 25 years ago while hunting pheasants in western Kansas.
Profile of an Artist: MATT DOYLE
Throughout Matt's life, there has always been an active passion for the great outdoors. As a young Pennsylvanian boy, his dad and grandfathers would take him out fishing and later hunting to share their deep-rooted respect and enjoyment for God's country. It became very clear that their passion for the outdoors would soon develop his passion for it as well.
DESERT CATHARSIS
Miles of sagebrush and grasslands slipped past during the 10-hour drive between Bozeman and Denver.
RED CAR WHITE DOG:
A Riff on Sporting Vehicles and Other Matters
UENATOR CAUE (HUNTER BEWARE) A FIELD GUIDE +O HUNTING LODGES
From ice bars to plywood shacks, in-room hot tubs to a kitchen staff uprising, the hunting lodge experience can be fascinating and frustrating.
Charles Helles & Sons, London
“Some enchanted evening ... you may see a stranger across a crowded” – gunroom.
ON POINT: Finding My Way with the Help of an English Setter
Becky came into my life in a rather unusual way. My friend Tom McGuane had just bought a home on Mobile Bay as a place to retreat from the cold winters of his Montana ranch.
Tail feathers - STANDARDS AND PRACTICES
\"An armed society is a polite society,\" the NRA says in one of its dicta, cribbed from Robert A. Heinlein, a 20th-century American science fiction writer.
