Travel

Taking the Long, Scenic Road to Goose Hunting in Alberta

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:30:52 +0100

If you love goose hunting then western Canada is Mecca. Last fall my hunting partner Mark and I planned a trip to western Canada to the province of Alberta. Our connection up there works and lives in the fast growing region and city of Grand Prairie. Located a bunch of miles north of Edmonton in the center of the oil and gas fields as well as a heavy agriculture area, Grand Prairie has acres and acres of great goose hunting area. The farmers raise peas on these wide open fields and the geese fl ...

Outdoor Television 101 -- or What You Donât See on TV

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +0100

You are supposed to title your article when youâre finished with it, so I am already doing this backwards since I just wrote the title. But what you see in outdoor television programming, and what is involved in making it happen, are about as backward as it gets. As a viewer, you see the great dog work, the great shots, the great panorama shots of sky, mountains, birds and the successful hunter. What you donât see is the WORK, on the part of everyone involved, that goes into making that wond ...

My Kansas Dream Hunt With Lee Horsley

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:08:27 +0100

A couple of years ago I received a call from a business acquaintance at Benelli USA, the good people who build a great shotgun. The call was an invitation to be a guest on an episode of Benelliâs Dream Hunts program airing weekly on The Outdoor Life Network now called Versus. Not being one to turn down any chance to hunt I quickly accepted without knowing any of the details at the time. A couple of weeks later I received another call letting me know that we would be bird hunting in Kansas at ...

The Accidental Commando

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:23:42 +0100

I was a very unlikely prospect, but Gary Jackson knew better. The past President of Blackwater Worldwide and ex-Navy SEAL took one look at me and saw my inner commando. It speaks highly of his perceptive powers, because at the time my legs were ready to completely give out from under me, which is how we met in the first place. Turn back the clock to January 17, 2009. It was the third day of the sprawling four-day SHOT Show, the industry confab for everything firearms. The event was held at Orl ...

Nemacolin: The Crown Jewel of the Alleghanys

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:20:12 +0100

This is the final installment in our three-part series, The Triple Crown of Sporting Clays Resorts. In the first installment, Shotgun Life Editor, Deb McKown wrote about The Greenbrier. The second installment brought us to The Homestead. To wrap it up, Deb now writes about the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Â When we woke up that morning in our palatial room at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Mother Nature had thrown us another curve ball in our three-day sporting clays quest. For the past t ...

The Homesteadâs David Judah Works His Sporting Clays Magic

Sun, 17 May 2009 17:46:13 +0100

For most people, The Homestead resort conjures up visions of golf, tennis, horseback riding and a romantic evening of four-star cuisine. Those of us involved in the shotgun sports also associate the world renowned Â Southern establishment with a man named David Judah. Since taking the helm of The Homestead's shooting club in 1993, David's reputation as one of the finest sporting clays instructors on the planet has spread through the shotgun world with a sense of reverence. It's nearly impossible ...

The Triple Crown of Sporting Clays Resorts

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:40:45 +0100

Part 1: The GreenbrierYou know a road trip is going be great when, on the first leg of it, Johnny Cash comes on the radio and sings "Ghost Riders in the Sky."Your SUV is packed with sporting clays guns, ammo and shooting gear and Cash's renegade ballad sends a shiver down your spine. You wonder, Does it really get any better than this?For us, the answer would be a resounding yes.This was the first leg of a four-day jaunt to the three most celebrated luxury shooting resorts in America: The Greenb ...

An Autumn Weekend of Shotgun Sports at Orvis Sandanona

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:55:33 +0100

We anticipated an extraordinary weekend of shooting and dining, since we also had dinner reservations at another great American institution, the Culinary Institute of America in nearby Hyde Park.The occasion for the trip to Sandanona (as if you really need an excuse) was the back-to-back Orvis Shotgun Classic and Orvis Cup 2008.The Shotgun Classic is a two-day round robin of small-group instructions by some of the best sporting clays and wingshooting teachers on both sides of the Atlantic. You c ...

Shooting Sporting Clays With The Ghost of Johnny Reb

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 03:23:03 +0100

The opportunity to shoot sporting clays on hallow ground doesn't present itself that often, but you can do it in the area of Manassas, Virginia where the battles of Bull Run were fought. Depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon Line you're standing, it's called either the First and Second Battle of Bull Run (as it's known in the North) or the First Battle and Second Battle of Manassas (the Southern name for it). The first battle took placed July 21, 1861 while the second, larger battle was fo ...

Take a Right on Reclamation Road

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100

This installment is the fourth and final part of Deborah McKown's series on clays shooting in the San Francisco Bay Area. In part I, Deb reveals a little-known skeet field inside San Francisco city limits. Afterwards, Deb and friend Diane visit a nearby micro brewery with a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean. Part II saw Deb and Diane head to the "Other Napa Valley" for a day of clays shooting and wine tasting. Their first stop found them in a waterfront outpost that seemed like a covert comma ...

Why I Shot Coyote Valley With a 28-Gauge

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:42:15 +0100

This article is the third part of Deborah McKown's four-part series on clays shooting in the San Francisco Bay area. Part I reveals a little-known skeet field inside city limits. Afterwards, Deb and friend Diane head to a nearby micro brewery with a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean. In Part II, Deb and Diane shoot skeet and trap at a place that resembles a covert terrorist camp. Afterwards, they visit an interesting mix of wineries in the "Other Napa Valley." Now here is Part III... by Debora ...

Wingshooting in Braveheart Country With the Duke & Duchess of Buccleuch

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:45:45 +0100

It's the dream of every American wingshooter to visit the British Isles for a driven shoot. Well, here is your chance to bid on that dream and help protect one of the UK's prized game birds. On November 20, 2008, the Game Conservancy USA will hold an auction to benefit The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust's Grey Partridge Recovery Project. The fund-raising auction for the UK organization will take place at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan. If you are unable to attend in person, you can a ...

An Autumn Afternoon at the 38th Annual Waterfowl Festival

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:21:23 +0100

If you're into fried seafood, hand-carved decoys and the pleasures of small-town life then the 38th Annual Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland was the place to spend a leisurely autumn afternoon. Easton is the heartbeat of Mid-Atlantic waterfowl country, and so it would only make sense that we'd run into Wes Lang, President of nearby Caesar Guerini, at Albright's Gun Shop right in downtown. Albright's is a popular Caesar Guerini shotgun dealer. The store combines old-world enchantment with ...

Breaking Clays in the Other Napa Valley

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:35:42 +0100

This article is the second part of Deborah McKown's four-part series on clays shooting in the San Francisco Bay area. Part I reveals a little-known skeet field inside city limits. Afterwards, Deb and friend Diane head to a nearby micro brewery with a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean. Now here is Part II...

The Shotgun Life: A Passion For Travel

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:48:31 +0100
Thereâs bobwhite quail, chukar, partridge and pheasant for the taking in Texas. But thereâs more than great bird shooting in Texas. You can drive to Austin, the city that surprisingly has more live music venues per capita than even Nashville, Memphis, Los Angeles, Las Vegas or New York CityIn Mexico you can go on trips to shoot ducks, quail goose, and perd ...

You Must Be Kiddingâ¦ Skeet Shooting in San Francisco?

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:33:52 +0100
The prospect of a long, holiday weekend put me into action. I'd jump on a plane and head west to San Francisco -- catch up with friends and do a little skeet shooting.Skeet shooting in San Francisco?Â I know it sounds absurd, but the cradle of American counter-culture does in fact have one clays shooting facility right inside the city limits. Called the Pacific Rod and Gun Club, it's a time capsule from the 1930s, with the original clapboard clubhouse pristine under a grove of trees. The buildi ...

A Sporting Clays Paradise

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:32:44 +0100
by Irwin Greenstein Three-hundred targets, three sporting clays courses, 48 hours.The eight of us piled into three cars to meet the challenge. We left from Greater Baltimore on Friday morning. The group split up according to breakfast habits. Us four, not real big on lumberjack specials, decided to sleep the extra 30 minutes and grab a last-minute coffee at home.The other four aimed to hit one of the local favorite greasy spoons along the way to load up on carbs, cholesterol and coffee -- the k ...

Shooting Geese and Ducks in Canada

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:31:52 +0100
Having been in the outdoor related business for 50 years, Iâve met only one other person whoâs a better hunter than Jimmy E. -- and that man is deceased.Jimmy E. is, without doubt, the most prolific hunting and fishing guy Iâve ever met. Iâve known him for a very long time, and I can testify that if thereâs 100 days in a hunting season, Jimmy E. has participated in 90 of them.Now a retired police offic ...

Grouse in High Places

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:03:15 +0100
On a hot August day last year, James Ashcroft visited Atholl estate, for a day of sweltering sport after the well-heeled Scottish grouse, a gamebird beyond compare I spoke to a sporting agent recently about the popularity and accessibility of grouse shooting and he made a comment that staggered me. Though the previous two years have not been good yardsticks by which to judge, he told me, âThough available grous ...

Travel

Taking the Long, Scenic Road to Goose Hunting in Alberta

Outdoor Television 101 -- or What You Donât See on TV

My Kansas Dream Hunt With Lee Horsley

The Accidental Commando

Nemacolin: The Crown Jewel of the Alleghanys

The Homesteadâs David Judah Works His Sporting Clays Magic

The Triple Crown of Sporting Clays Resorts

An Autumn Weekend of Shotgun Sports at Orvis Sandanona

Shooting Sporting Clays With The Ghost of Johnny Reb

Take a Right on Reclamation Road

Why I Shot Coyote Valley With a 28-Gauge

Wingshooting in Braveheart Country With the Duke & Duchess of Buccleuch

An Autumn Afternoon at the 38th Annual Waterfowl Festival

Breaking Clays in the Other Napa Valley

The Shotgun Life: A Passion For Travel

You Must Be Kiddingâ¦ Skeet Shooting in San Francisco?

A Sporting Clays Paradise

Shooting Geese and Ducks in Canada

Grouse in High Places

Outdoor Television 101 -- or What You Donât See on TV

The Homesteadâs David Judah Works His Sporting Clays Magic

You Must Be Kiddingâ¦ Skeet Shooting in San Francisco?