I was seven years old when I was first exposed to the idea of public service, although I didn’t really know what it meant. But the words...

Not long ago, as I approached the age of which we will not speak, I took note of some things I might have to start leaving behind, or at...

In my mind’s eye I can still see her standing over the sink in the corner of the tiny apartment kitchen, plucking feathers from the goose...

On my way north I decided to stop at the Why-Go-By Bar for a burger and cold one. Sitting on the barstool waiting for attention, I...

The walk to my deer stand is short, and this morning I squinted to watch the edges of my path a little more than usual. Two skunks had...

Sitting on the bench outside the cabin I took a deep breath of the cool, moist morning air and finished off the tepid coffee in my mug as...

In Alaska, mother nature rules the day. A rough and edgy environment where people and all the related constructs live in the shadows of...

By 6:35 a.m. DeeCee had hooked her first salmon. Our guide, Mike, gave instruction on how best to wrestle the feisty fish boat side for...

When I tasted the first bite, I thought about a day on a boat a couple hours from Homer, and the magic of water, fishing poles, and...

Spring arrived two weeks early by Missouri standards. The dogwood and redbud trees in the front yard, an unofficial phenological metric...

About 20 yards from my tree stand I retrieved the evidence. Another hunter had been here before me. Exposed from the leaf litter by...

Marsh Moments No.1 (Rules) The wind was stiff. Sustained out of the northwest at 15 mph with gusts near 25. A good day for flags,...

It was a shock. There he stood, all alone. In 15 years he had never been entirely alone. But worse yet. Worse than being alone. He had...

In 1942, Aldo Leopold began writing the essays that would later become the classic, A Sand County Almanac. Interestingly, this book...

It’s two days before Christmas. My deadline for submitting a story to the Conservation Federation of Missouri magazine is January 2,...

Veterans Day. Many old timers still call it by its original name, Armistice Day. A moniker remembered by waterfowlers in part because of...

Late Friday morning, folks started arriving. Eight of ten would be in attendance, plus ex officio members of distinction; three...

I pulled back the screen door and reached in to grab the brass handle of the inner door, pressing my thumb to unlatch it open. A blast of...

This one will probably rub some folks the wrong way but have no fear. I make no laws. I am no threat to anyone, because in the final...

After days and weeks of blue skies and warm temperatures, the feel was a little different. Heavy gray clouds. An occasional mist carried...