Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Always has been. If I have a second favorite, it’s not even close. I love Thanksgiving because it’s the...

Ilike people who need no excuse to go fishing. You simply broach the subject, and the conversation quickly turns to matters of when and where—logistics—not...

The Marlboro Man rode a horse; Oscar Mayer wiener men (and women) drive Wienermobiles; Red Bull dudes drive Mini Coopers. Chuck Carlisle is the Remington...

On the side of a mountain, tired and underfed, strange things can creep into a man’s mind. In that very situation this past Sunday, I found myself...

On Dec. 19, the Central Virginia branch of the Quality Deer Management Association will hold its annual youth hunt at the Doodlum Hunt Club in Purdy. Hunters...

For the record, I considered taking this column off. I figured I’d get the editors to hang a sign in the spot where they normally put me: “Andy...

This past spring, the game department announced that it had found white nose syndrome in bats at two different caves in western and southwestern Virginia....

Is it a curse or a blessing to know the sunlight is fading, that you can count your last moments on Earth on one hand? Your body is failing, wracked by...

Like it or not, every deer hunter worth his fox urine cover scent must also be a scholar of chemical attraction. Of course, I aspire to be worth my fox...

A little less than a year ago I wrote about the possible reintroduction of a substantial elk herd in Virginia. The eastern elk, of course, was native to...

When I introduced the Urban Oasis series at the beginning of this year, the goal was to find patches of overlooked wilderness in the Richmond area. There...

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts doesn’t reopen until May of next year. The November First Fridays isn’t for three weeks. What’s an art...

Throughout the summer and into the early fall, the biggest celebrities in northwestern Powhatan County were a bruin and a buck. In still-rural communities...

Imagine with me a day in the not so distant future. The ballpark debate has been settled. A gleaming stadium sits overlooking the floodwall and the river...

As societal ills go, littering might not be up there with violent crime, political corruption or purse snatching, but there is something particularly galling...

Funny the images that stay with you from childhood. Any time someone mentions the Civil War, there’s this snapshot that flits across my brain of...

In the room where I sit to write, a second-story makeshift office at home, there are two windows. One looks out over a road and the neighbor’s house,...

When I asked Matt Balazik about the gill nets he uses to catch prehistoric fish in the James River, he explained in his typically enthusiastic way about...

I’ll talk until I’m hoarse about Richmond’s trails. For years, I’ve extolled their virtues to anyone who’d listen. The variety,...

CYPRESS BRIDGE In a slough off the Nottoway River south of Courtland lies an orgy of the gothic and grotesque. Few find it by accident, and those who do...

I’ve never understood how they compute the odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery game. On every billboard announcing the jackpot in small print...

Under gray and threatening skies, Ed Clark jumps up on the tailgate of his pickup truck and launches into a speech. Behind him in the covered flatbed is...

There are very few outdoors-related activities prohibited on Virginia’s Wildlife Management Areas. In 38 places across the state, on a total of 200,000...

Preparations for the upcoming hunting seasons can be broken down into two loose categories: the physical and the psychological. The first is necessary...

The signs are unmistakable: a rustling in basements, attics and garages as gear is brought out and dusted off; targets with hay bales behind them set up...

This column was originally going to be about noodling, the mostly insane practice of angling for catfish with one’s hand popular in parts of the...

Ihave the bad habit of forgetting the pain of physical endeavors shortly after they’re over. How bad is my memory for painful experiences? Every...

SANTA CATALINA ISLAND, Calif. For most of his adult life, Eddie Harrison operated a glass bottom boat, giving tours to visitors of this mountainous island...

For 26 years now, Hugh Crittenden has been putting on the Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show. It’s the longest running and best-attended show of its...

Ever wanted to learn a new language? Gain some culture? Impress your friends? Let me suggest one. All it will cost is $2 for a slender paperback book....