“Are you nuts?” my buddy, Dave, asked. It was not a rhetorical question. I got the impression that he was legitimately concerned about my mental health. He did not smile and was obviously waiting for an answer. I had just informed him that I was planning to stalk turkeys with my recurve. No [...]
The morning temperature was a brisk 2 degrees F, but, by afternoon we were treated to a HEATWAVE. Temps had steadily risen throughout the day and had now reached a sweltering 23 degrees F. The plan was to place a decoy, (w/o antlers), near a small cornfield that intersected two clover fields. My [...]
A second is a very small amount of time as measured in some sports activities such as track and field, swimming, etc. Archery is not typically thought of in these terms. Some archers are technically driven to determine the speed of an arrow as it tracks per second. I was challenged to make [...]
The box arrived on Tuesday, the night before we were scheduled to leave for a hunting trip to Texas. It was an afterthought for my husband Dave, who said, “Did you see this box that came for you today?” “No,” I replied. “Who is it from?” He told me that I would just [...]
I only needed to make another 20 feet before I should be able to see where the goat had gone. I was scrambling to gain my footing on the steep scree when a grapefruit-sized rock slammed into my shoulder, almost knocking me down the slope and over a ledge. He must be heading [...]
When a hunter goes into the woods, he is at a disadvantage. The game he pursues has better eyesight, an ability to hear at greater distances, and a far more acute nose. Game animals also have a natural instinct to sense danger. One way a hunter tries to tilt the odds in his [...]
I call this story “Alaska on Layaway” because that’s the best way I can describe how a blue-collar guy like myself could afford such an Alaskan adventure. It all started with a call to Denis Zadra with Lonesome Dove Outfitters in Cordova, Alaska during the winter of 2016. I knew I couldn’t afford [...]
The freak shot and the freak deer incidents didn't happen the same year. The shot came first. The year was 1942 when Lawrence Becker of Madison, Wisconsin, made what he called a "freak shot" on a huge 10-point buck. The arrow was one of the "mistakes" which we've all been guilty of from [...]
The sun broke the horizon on this particular crisp early November day, and I sat there peacefully watching the yellow and red leaves periodically fluttering to the ground under the influences of a steady low breeze. Then, I heard crunching behind my tree and I slowly turned my head over my right shoulder [...]
One of the deadliest predators in North America is also the most elusive. Our largest cat, mountain lions often take down healthy big game animals like elk and moose that can outweigh them by five times their own body weight. Their most common prey is deer, and research has proven that mature cats [...]
