Deer hunting in Scotland

Mt friend, photographer Jon Blumb, often goes to Scotland to hunt deer and fish for salmon. Guided by head game keeper Bruce Cooper on Glenprosen Estate near Kirriemuir in The County of Angus, Jon recently bagged this beautiful 6+ point roebuck. Jon downed the buck at 160 yards with Cooper’s .25/06 Sauer rifle.They had been out since …

Northwest Oklahoma

The sign on the highway claims you’re entering the Gloss Mountains. It’s a typo. This exotic area has always been referred to by locals as the GLASS Mountains. Located near the Cimarron River in Major County near Fairview, OK , Gloss Mountains State Park has hiking trails, picnic facilities and a gorgeous view of an unusual landscape. …

Pike on a fly rod

What’s the old saying? Even a blind hog finds an acorn every once in a while? My long-time fishing buddy and fellow Heart Of America Fly Fishers member Bill Lindley boated this 42.5″ northern pike on a 7 weight fly rod recently.   Where? Someplace between Nebraska and Canada. Wish I had been there to slap high fives with …

Heart Of America Fly Fishers

I always look forward to our One Fly Tournament. The last few years it has been held at Lake Of The Forest in Bonner Springs, KS. This is a very old residential lake surrounded by homes and is full of fat, sassy bass and bluegill. This year we were joined by some veterans from Project Healing Waters …

My first banded duck

I don’t remember what year it was but it had to have been in the sixties. That’s a ’63 Ford Falcon in the background. Don’t remember where I shot it . Probably the Marais Des Cygnes Waterfowl Management Area near La Cygnes, KS. Could have been John Redmond Reservoir near Burlington, KS. I’ve been duck hunting since …

Outdoor Writers Of Kansas Conference

The recent OWK conference gave photographer Jon Blumb and I a chance to explore the Flint Hills area near Emporia, KS and catch a LOT of fish. We spent Monday May 4th with guide Bill Hartman fishing a ranch pond for crappie and bluegills from float tubes. Being a terminal geezer and a rooky float …

Tweener Time

Once again it’s “Tweener Time”. A Tweener is a cartoon too filthy and degenerate for outdoor publications yet too outdoorsy for Playboy. For you non duck hunters…so-called dabbling ducks – mallards, pintails, teal and others -tip up to feed on edible stuff in the water like invertebrates, seeds and plants. When you see a dabbling duck …

Canada geese nest in strange places

Today I walked up to one of our duck blinds and a Canada goose leapt from the roof. She actually had a nest up there. Goose nests are not much better than dove nests, only bigger. Just a little pile of sticks. No wonder skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes and black snakes eat most of the eggs and goslings. Also …