Fair Game

For half a century, a Stevens single-shot was the Christmas rifle for several generations of small boys. In those days, the company stressed safety and parents taught responsibility—and the vast majority grew up to be responsible shooters. The Stevens single-shot is not the only thing that’s gone…

A Gun for Christmas

This is not the kind of Christmas story you’re expecting, so count the rest of…
To learn about speed in shooting, try international skeet. Here, Ryan Mason of Missouri prepares for a bird, gun down as the rules require. With birds that fly faster, international skeet is a great game to either improve your shooting or deflate your ego.

The Need for Speed

On my first safari, to Botswana, in 1978, I asked PH Ian Manning to rank…
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em… “Know when to walk away, know when to run.” Photo by Terry Wieland

How To Avoid Getting Killed While Big Game Hunting

Here are some helpful hints on how to avoid getting fatally hammered on a big-game…
Abercrombie & Fitch were classic, Olde World outfitters where you could buy a genuine English sun helmet (this is not a pith helmet!) made for them in Piccadilly to the highest standards. This one belongs to Gray’s shooting editor Terry Wieland. On the same trip in 1977, he bought a birchbark moose call made for A&F in New Brunswick.

Mecca on Madison

Long ago (1945 to 1977, roughly) and far away (New York City) there was a…
Winston Churchill’s work on a Sharps-Borchardt that sold at Rock Island in December, 2022. It brought nearly $30,000. Grace and three-dimensional quality? Indeed. Photo courtesy Rock Island Auction Company

Winston Gordon Churchill, 1939-2023

On July 31, at age 83, Winston Churchill of Proctorsville, Vermont, went to a world…
The .458 Lott (right) beside the perennially popular .416 Rigby. When it comes to hammering dangerous game, almost nothing beats the .458’s 500-grain bullet. We say “almost” because presumably Zeus has some lightning bolts in reserve.

Meditations on Big-Game Hunting

For something like three decades, every summer I would go and visit for a long…
A duelling pistol by Robert Wogdon of London—so preeminent in his field that a serious dispute between gentlemen became known as “a Wogdon case.” Courtesy Rock Island Auction Company

Initial Reactions and Random Musings

I’ve been reading past Sporting Notes with near-orgasmic pleasure (Why “near,” you ask. Because I’m…
Robert Ruark and his two most enduring books: Horn of the Hunter and The Old Man and the Boy, and anthology of his eponymous Field & Stream columns.

Robert Ruark — An Appreciation

On July 1, 1965, I was listening to the AM radio in the kitchen when…
Dave Petzal

Tom McIntyre and Thunder Without Rain

On November 3, 2022, Tom McIntyre’s overworked heart shut down while he slept, depriving his…