Stories

The Ghost: The sounds the murderous band of crow make filling a rain soaked forest. I’ll never forget them. How could...

Dear reader: You didn’t know this man, but I sure did. At 89 years old Jesse Lovelace embodied his surname in ways ma...

In today’s e-commerce is commerce world, when we as consumers can stand in a brick and mortar store and simultaneousl...

 In the world of lure crafting, art absolutely should, and does mimic ‘life.’   Bringing lures to life. That’s precisely what the tyer of the fly does. That’s what the airbrush strokes laid to crankbaits do. And, that’s what the Artisan crafted die press offers to brass sheets right before a fishing spoon blank emerges from the blank metal canvas.

“We don’t want anyone knowing where we’re hunting, son” he would say. To which I must have wondered out loud, ‘But we decided not to hunt here. The sign isn’t great.’ In response to which I received conclusively from the Old Man, “...well, we don’t want people knowing where we’re not hunting either.” 

You do you. And if that involves a crossbow because that’s the way you’re comfortable hunting, or because you have a family that enjoys your company, or because you're short on vacation days and want to increase your odds, that’s not unsportsmanlike. That’s smart. We’ll leave you with this quote from Bear Archery. A quote from a company who builds, brands, and sells bows and crossbows to the masses. A company greatly influenced by the Grandfather of modern archery himself, Fred Bear. If ever there was a creed to follow, a moral capstone, this is the one, 'this is the way'. “At Bear Archery, we promise to never forget the principles our brands were founded on - to create utterly reliable, intensely lethal archery equipment, capable of harvesting any game in a quick and ethical fashion. We are Bear Archery. This is The Fred Bear Way.”

...In the darkness a terrifying scream awakens us. The glow of the fire shows a silhouette of the old man thrashing the air and wailing. We stare in confusion, until he screams “BAT!” Our response at this point is to hide under covers of course. He was already attacked, so clearly this was the time to save ourselves.

It is at this point that we really need to picture this moment. A cool brisk October evening, barefoot, beer belly, grimacing clinched jawbone, tight undies. The crisping of the leaves and dirt under his middle-aged, hair-topped bare feet....

Two grown men ride by on a mountain bike. Yes, “a bike,” not two, but a single mountain bike. We freeze, transfixed on something our eyes have never seen before. Could this be? They were also surprised to find three flannel clad, orange hat wearing folks (i.e. Us) tilling and seeding a random field within the National Forest. After a frozen moment our eyes lock. Unsure of what we just saw we burst out laughing at the fact that they too must have been frozen in disbelief.

Instead, this little well known bypass route is riddled only with clean air, open shoulders, relaxed medians, and the ghosts of weeks past from custom JKs, genuine dually vans, and jacked 4x4s draped in pragmatic buckstop bumpers. If you want authentic, scenic, peaceful and contemplative look no further.

“You make your own reality. And once you've done it, apparently, everyone's of the opinion it was all so f#&$ing obvious.” - Logan Roy (Succession)

Why not Mead! Mead is wine-ish (insofar as it can serve as an alternative to, or sweetener of). Mead is field to distillery. Mead is micro-brew.  Mead is low-impact, ecologically speaking. Mead is ‘no-till.’ Mead means no pesticide or herbicide. And, Mead is the ancient poster child for being ‘keepers of the bees’. Look, Mead not only has a great name, but it touches our next generation’s lust for experience driven economies too. What more could we possibly ask for in a throw-back consumer consumable.