Duck Season Somewhere

What won't our beloved retrievers do for us? To-the-horizon, full-blast retrieves across wide open fields or across frigid waters to recover downed waterfowl seem their singular life missive. Our rid…

For 20 years, Rob Reynolds and his wife Lori have operated Ranchland Outfitters. Their reputation for delivering best-of-best Alberta waterfowl hunting experiences is unrivaled. But why? Rob describe…

"When Jake scouts, he always finds a great hunt. Always," says Northern Skies Outfitters Matt Schauer. Visiting between incredible fall hunts, he introduces me to a couple of his top goose guides, Ja…

Hailing from the Red River valley that forms the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma and only about an hour-and-a-half from downtown Dallas, Dakota Stowers is a long-time waterfowl guide. And when he…

"Find a job that interferes with your real life, not the other way around," someone once told Isaiah Bateel. And he did just that. He's now traveled through 50 states and several counties doing the t…

Navigating giant ships was not only a dream come true for John Dunaway, it was destiny. His family had done similarly for generations. An avid Texas wing shooter and creative story teller, Dunaway pu…

The sky overhead is filled with more decoying snow geese than stars, birds are cleaned, scouting's completed and it'll soon be time to start dinner. For Tekton Game Calls maker, Joey D'Amico and worl…

Mornings turn into seasons turn into years, and before we know it our entire hunting lifetime--the best of times spent with family, friends and retrievers--is in our wake.  I've never been one to jou…

For a week we crawled up Andes Mountains switchback trails and along Pacific Ocean estuaries while duck hunting in Peru, but were it not for our tour guides Raneiri and Dwight, it'd have ended right …

The oldest waterfowl decoys on earth were discovered in the Pacific Flyway. There are century-plus-years-old hunting clubs, and pit blind hunting may have even originated there. Bull hunting was borr…

On October 19, 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd was inarguably the greatest rock band touring the USA and played what was their final concert in Greenville, South Carolina.  While enroute to Baton Rouge on Octob…

In 1899, the Tarpon Club in gulf-coastal Texas was the most expensive, expansive and exclusive club in the world, its membership dubbed the "First Four Hundred Sportsman of America," whose combined w…

We only thought we'd seen and done a lot together until videographer, Jake Latendresse and I went duck hunting in Peru. From nearly 16,000 feet high into the Andes Mountains for a handful of mountain…

On October 17, 2007, the hammer finally came down on young Sam Necaise, who believed himself bulletproof. It came in the form of "every green game warden truck in the state of Mississippi and guys we…

It was right here--this exact location--in downtown Houston that I found smoke-infused religion. Purveyor of real Texas barbecue and former world-champ, Grant Pinkerton, and I visit at Pinkerton's Ba…

Since arriving to Texas from Europe 4 generations ago, Slade Schiurring's family has produced rice on Texas's fabled Garwood Prairie. Waterfowl, too! It was his grandfather who returned from the Seco…

Sam Necaise grew up deer hunting in south Mississippi with his dad. In many ways, his younger days remind me of my own. Maybe similar to yours, too. But big bucks were pretty tough to come by  where …

"It effects lives. Like tumbling dominoes, it affects relationships," says Gene Campbell about the fateful event. Y'all know my friend, Gene Campbell of Oyster Bayou Hunting Club in southeastern Texa…

September road-tripping through Southeast Texas during teal season means bs'ing with my long-time friend and onliest non-bourbon-drinking buddy, call maker Joe Briscoe. Never knowing where it'll go b…

Kennie Prince lurked deep beneath the surface, operating deep undercover, penetrating nefarious poaching rings that illegally ransacked wildlife resources--migratory game birds, paddle fish, furbeare…