Field guide
20 published stories
Hunting
Honest hunting stories and practical lessons on preparation, ethics, habitat, public land, shooting, and the mistakes that shape better hunters.
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Hunting
The Deer Started Coming to Corn. The Buck Never Did.
The Argument Over the Feeders My dad and me closed on one hundred ninety nine acres in late March. It was the kind of…
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Hunting
Treestand Practice Is a Lie I Told Myself
I spent all summer shooting flat. That was the problem, only I didn’t know it…
Hunting
I Called That Gobbler Too Much and Then Quit on Him
I called that gobbler so much he probably started answering just to tell me to…
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Hunting
I Hung a Stand on July Sign and Married It. The Deer Were Forty Yards From My Boot Path All Season.
I hung my stand in July. That should have told me everything, and it told me nothing. The first weekend…
Hunting
The Prettiest Spots on Public Land Are Empty for a Reason
My first opening day on public land, I did what every guy with a four-wheel drive and a false sense…
Hunting
Aim at the Deer, Miss the Deer
My Uncle Ray used to tell me that a man’s first buck is a coin flip between the best day…
Hunting
A Season of Pheasants Without a Dog
I have hunted pheasants for six years and for five of them I had a dog. For the one year…
Hunting
The Orange Sign That Stole My Season Was a Lie
The first time I saw the sign, I believed it. That was my whole problem, and it cost me a…
Field Skills
A Bucket, a Rope, and a Fake Exit From the Stand
Last season, opening week, I hunted the same oak flat six mornings in a row. It was the kind of…
Hunting
Sixteen Hours of Pavement for a Hog That Never Showed
My buddy Dale had been telling me for two years to come down to Texas and shoot some pigs. “They’re…
Hunting
The Buck That Walked Under a Sleeping Hunter
I didn’t plan to fall asleep. Nobody ever does. But there I was, 16 feet up a white oak in…
Hunting
Field Dressing Your First Deer Alone in the Dark. It Goes Exactly How You Think.
I killed my first deer on public land in western Nebraska, 45 minutes before sunset, with nobody within three miles…