It was my Mother’s fault and it was, I believe, intentional–she made Thanksgiving my favorite holiday. When you grow up in a world where family is everything and you have to work year-around, taking time out to thank God for your blessings in the presence of that family becomes the…
The true magic of the Appalachian Mountains manifests itself in the diversity of life found here. Because of the antiquity of the region our flora and fauna have had ample opportunity to adapt to fill every ecological nook and cranny. Only the remaining fragments of the primordial tropical rain forest…
From where I am sitting this morning I can see 22 different species of trees. That fact may not be remarkable to most people, but to me, it represents the age and wonder of our Appalachian mountains. This is not to mention the dozens of species of shrubs, flowering plants,…
The last person to touch this stone tool, thousands of years before I found it, on a gravel bar at the headwaters of a Grayson County creek, was a hunter and a warrior. We can speculate until the cows come home exactly why is was here, in this place, but…
It seems that according to the mainstream media today, just the mention of the word ‘gun’ is enough to send folks screaming for cover. This has been especially perplexing to me since I am the 9th generation of my family to call the Appalachian region home; we have been, and…
No one ever wrote a song about her—but that doesn’t really matter, I suppose. I don’t know how these things are decided but for some reason my family was blessed to find her, and make our lives beside her at a time when our country was new and full of…
WILDLIFE BIOLOGY and WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT A short essay on the state of the art Copyright Walt Hampton 5-25-16 Like most folks in the profession I decided to pursue a career in wildlife because I simply loved animals. Some of my earliest memories are of pouring over a series of…
A DEER HUNT Copyright 2015 Walt Hampton 10-20-15 She was a big old doe, with that long head and thick, squared-up body; she conducted herself with a caution and attention not seen in the younger deer. She was alone; no trailing fawns, they had been weaned and were off…
