I grew up at a time when every camp—and these were camps, not cottages—had an outhouse. My grandparents built a camp on a small pond up north in the 1940s. The outhouse was named Myra. As far as I knew while I was growing up, the moniker had no significance, but I’ve since learned that […]
It’s hard to get good directions. Last October, I was upcountry and asked a local where I might find some partridges (yeah, I know there are no partridges up there). But, ask about grouse, and you’re sure to be instantly labeled as “one of them highbrows from down country.” Anyway, Alton, at the Lincoln Mobil […]
I took a walk with my beagle, Boozer, recently and we ended up in the Smalltown Cemetery. I noticed there were headstones dating back to the early 19th century, and read many of the inscriptions. As I did so, it occurred to me that most of the gravestones said little, other than the length of […]
I’ve been going to deer camp for well over 40 years—to the Wright Boys Camp up near Island Lake every year—but also to several others, at times, through my life. I’ve noticed that every camp has some characters in common. There’s always The Loudmouth—the guy who just never shuts up and spends most of his […]
Golf is a good walk spoiled. Mark Twain said it years ago, and there have been many days when I finished up on the links, pulled the calculator out of my golf bag to add up my score, and had to agree with him. Living here in the north country, I have all winter […]
Every November, I spend a lot of time with other guys dressed in wool and blaze orange. We spend hours talking about how well we know deer, their feeding and breeding habits, and how they think. I’d love to be a tick on a deer’s back and listen to a conversation between two bucks. Maybe […]
I really enjoy my game cameras. I have three of them now and hang them from trees along well known deer runs on Buck Mountain near the Smalltown Boys’ Camp north of home. Last fall, my brother, K.C., and his son, Eli, and I were some excited by the pre-deer season photos captured on my […]
