Category: writing

SMALL GAME HUNTING: ENJOY THE LAST HURRAH BEFORE SPRING

Take advantage of small game hunting seasons to stay in the woods and fields before spring arrives, and enjoy winter’s last hurrah.

The problem of “Hunting is for everyone” touted by so many is that they leave off part of what they really want to say, which is “Hunting is for everyone after deer season ends so it doesn’t mess up my chances of killing a big buck.” Public land hunters, especially, snarl and gnash teeth when their outing is “messed up” by squirrel, rabbit or bird hunters enjoying a day.

To this I say, tough noogies. Boo hoo hoo. Get over it.

Hunting is for everyone, at any time of the legal seasons, whether you’re pursuing a…READ MORE.

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Breaking Ground on a New Beginning

When the bulldozer fired up and rolled off the trailer, it became very real. My new home was officially under construction, and a project I never intend to finish has begun. As long as I own the land the home is being built on, it will be an ever-evolving landscape managed for wildlife. I eagerly anticipate plantings, burns, builds, harvests, and more as I work to benefit the critters I hope to have as neighbors.

The property I’m building on is 40-acres currently in row crop production. It has historically been leased out for farming. To create a mix of food and habitat for wildlife, I look forward to continuing to farm about half of the property with a mix of corn and soybeans. For a while, I’ll contract the entire scope of this work to…READ MORE.

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The Old Oak Tree

For over 50 years, an old oak tree stood near the corner of our house. It was no ordinary tree. Two oak trees had grown together at the trunk many years ago. It was massive in circumference and stood over 80 feet tall. The shade over our house and the oxygen it produced were invaluable to us. The fall colors of that tree added beauty to our yard.

Six other oaks are in the backyard. Two other oak trees are in front of the house. All are big, all are old, but none as old or as big as the old oak tree. The giant stood out among the other oaks, the maple trees, the redbuds, the buckeye, the dogwoods, and the spruce trees.

The giant old oak was always home…READ MORE.

by Larry Whiteley

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Behind the Scenes With Primos Hunting Calls

Director of Product and Marketing Jason Harris explains how the Primos manufacturing facility in the “middle of nowhere” (Brookhaven, Mississippi) creates more than 1 million top-notch game calls each year.

In a rural part of southeast Mississippi, the legacy sparked decades ago by Uncle Gus and Eleanor Roessler lives on in a nondescript wildlife call-making facility where men and women produce more than 1 million calls each year.

If you’ve never heard of Uncle Gus and Eleanor Roessler, don’t worry. Not many people dive that deeply into the Primos Hunting website or know its history. Company founder Will Primos caught the hunting bug early in life thanks to family and friends. He began building his own calls at age 11 after…READ MORE.

By Alan Clemons

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Southern Indiana’s Patoka Lake a top cast and blast destination

When warm, sunny weather appears magically in mid-winter, my mind always takes off on a tangent about all the places I plan to fish in the coming months. From Minnesota to Mexico, I can name 100 or more waters I could happily spend a day on trying to put a few fish in the boat. In the end, I won’t make it to half the destinations I dream of, but one lake that always draws me back I make a point of visiting as frequently as possible, is Patoka Lake in Southern Indiana.  

At 8,800 surface acres, Patoka Lake is the second-largest reservoir in Indiana. The lake is an amazing fishery, with deep coves and standing timber scattered throughout. But in my book, it’s the roughly 17,000 acres of public land surrounding the lake, and the public lands of the nearby…READ MORE.

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Rifle Stocks Built to Take a Beating

On a two-lane road in two nondescript buildings housing intricate tools and about 75 dedicated employees, some of the toughest, lightest carbon fiber composite rifle stocks in the world are being made. 

These beige buildings are about 25 miles from one of the country’s growing tech, space defense and biogenetic research cities. Huntsville is now the largest city in Alabama, and long a hub for engineering-minded development of creations great and small. Known as the Rocket City, it is where Dr. Wernher von Braun and his team of dedicated engineers developed rockets and missiles that helped the military from after World War II until today, along with putting the first U.S. satellite in space and men on the moon. 

When brothers Dave and Matt Tandy founded …READ MORE.

by Alan Clemons

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At 25-below, it’s nice to keep the outdoors outside

BAUDETTE, Minnesota – Sometimes, the key to enjoying the Great Outdoors, at least when it comes to ice fishing for walleyes on immense, frozen Lake of the Woods on the U.S./Canada border here, is keeping that outdoors, well, outdoors.

Maybe it’s towing a travel-trailer-called-a-wheelhouse that, once on the ice, hunkers down to become an ice shanty. These deluxe portable fishing cabins have price tags like…READ MORE

by Steve Griffin

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Jack’s Bait & Tackle in Chattanooga celebrates 56 years

In this day and age, many shoppers bemoan the proliferation of corporate “big box” stores. They long for the days of “Mom & Pop” retail locations – the kind of places where you can stop in for a cup of coffee and conversation, whether you intend to actually buy anything or not.

For Chattanooga area fishermen (and women), Jack’s Bait & Tackle is one of the few holdouts against corporate America. As of today (Feb. 16, 2023), the shop, at 4228 Bonny Oaks Dr., has been selling bait and tackle to area anglers for 56 years…READ MORE

by Richard Simms

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A Few Favorite Gene Hill Quotes About Dogs

Gene Hill is mostly known for his outdoor stories or “yarns” as they are called. By far my favorite writer, Hill always does an amazing job of not only colorfully telling a story, but truly putting the reader there with him. He often does this by using humor that just about any dog owner or hunter can relate to. Who doesn’t know about leaky waders while duck hunting or the “joys” of puppyhood when they chew your hunting boots? While most of his short stories make me laugh, his stories do a much better job of describing the connection between dog and hunter than I could ever dream of. We often say “words can’t describe it” to lazily explain monumental moments in our life or our obsession with…READ MORE

by Chris Midgette

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