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l uo t e s O There is a different feel about a hunting gun. It carries fond memories. Used with skill, it provides a special meat for the table, healthy meat, meat that carries the spirit of the wild and has flavors that were known to our ancestors millions of years ago. James A. Swan, In Defense of Hunting, 1995 Submitted by David R. Drinan Somers, Connecticut Reader Favorites The outdoors holds many things of keen delight. A deer flashing across a burn, a squirrel corkscrewing up a tree trunk, a sharptail throbbing up from the stubble – all these have their place in the scheme of things. But the magic visitation of ducks from the sky to a set of bobbing blocks hold more beauty and heartpounding thrill than I have ever experience afield with rod or gun. Gordon MacQuarrie, Stories of the Old Duck Hunters and Other Drivel, 1994, Submitted by Dave Hedgman Niles, Michigan . . . there's a book out called An Exultation of Larks; that being the old name for a flock of birds – like a covey of quail or a flight of ducks. All these temptingly lead us into inventing our own. How about an apology of trapshooters? Or a numb of duck hunters . . . a fib of fishermen. A stumbling of coonhunters. A stammer of bourbon fanciers. Or a frown of editors. A shriek of wives. Kind of fun, isn't it. Go ahead, try some, it'll pass the time in the blind between flights. Just one more and I'll quit: an exaggeration of guides. Gene Hill, A Hunter's Fireside Book, 1972 . . . all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air – and there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill and eat." The Bible, Acts 10, verses 12 and 13 Submitted by Daniel Block Dillon, Montana If religion is meant to save, to awe, to cleanse, to fortify, then my faith is found at the tops of mountains and in the secrecy of woods, in the cradle of rivers and at the bottom of the sea. I find in the solitude of nature reason and purpose. I have slept with this solitude for so long that I have made her my friend, my accomplice. She follows me in the fields, the woods, the rivers, faithful as a shadow. Guy de la Valdene, The Fragrance of Grass, 2011, Submitted by Jerry Serie Easton, Maryland Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. Abraham Lincoln, 16th American President Submitted by Bob Whitehead Cloverdale, California The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten. It is an antidote to insecurity, the open door to the waterways of ages past and a way of life with profound and abiding satisfactions. When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known. Sigurd F. Olson, The Singing Wilderness, 1956, Submitted by Jeff Stricker, Anoka, Minnesota If you strike a thorn or rose, Keep a-goin'! If it hails or if it snows, Keep a-goin'! Taint no use to sit an' whine When the fish ain't on your line; Bait your hook an' keep a-tryin' – Keep a-goin'! Frank L. Stanton (1857-1927) Send us your favorite quotes from sporting literature and receive one free gift subscription for every quote that is published. Include the author, title of book and date of publication. Send to: Quotes, Sporting Classics, PO Box 23707, Columbia, SC 29224 S P O R T I N G C 200 L A S S I C S