MoreThan a Memory— Quail Songs for the Future Virginia Wildlife October 2011 "Bob White's Greatest Hits" can be more than a memory.
Clarke writes about the efforts of biologists, conservationists, and landowners to restore and maintain quail habitat (Click here to read the article.)
James River Sturgeon Virginia Wildlife April 2011
Clarke and photographer Dwight Dyke discover how Luck Stone Corporation helped to engineer a reef along the James River for the homely sturgeon. (Click here to read the article.)
Decoys as Investment Virginia Wildlife February 2011 "...A feeding chatter seductively called from one of the false ducks below, negating whatever hesitancy the lead mallard may have had..." (Click here to read the article.)
Rx for Your Dog Virginia Wildlife November 2010 Three veterinarians give Clarke "the scoop" about caring for your best friend. (Click here to read the article.)
Crafting a Connection to History Virginia Wildlife October 2010
Clarke writes about the handmade flintlocks by craftsman Lowell Haarer of Linville, Virginia.
Dogs on Trial Virginia Wildlife September 2010 "Leave it to a southerner to help create one of the oldest dog trials in the United States. ..." (Click here to read the article.)
Traveling with a Dog Virginia Wildlife August 2010 "Plan ahead to make hunting trips easier for you and your dog..." (Click here to read the article.)
Clarke met integral knife maker Edmund Davidson of Goshen, Virginia and wrote about the special gift Edmund forged for Richard Petty.
Read about the man who creates Art with an Edge.
Click on the photo to view a larger picture of the integral knife forged by Edmund Davidson.
Click on the photo of the integral knife by Edmund Davidson to view the detail.
Fishology for Kids Virginia Wildlife May 2009 "...Being fly-fishermen, they chose to name their organization after a feather from a fowl found in India, which was often used as a part of a fly lure for trout or salmon fishing. They called themselves the Brotherhood of the Jungle Cocks. An unusual name, admittedly, but the Brotherhood was, and still is today, very serious when it comes to teaching today's youth all the facets of fishing, including stewardship of the planet. Conservation, they felt, is a large part of what makes a fisherman a sportsman..." (Click here to read the article.)
Click to learn about preserving Bobwhite habitat.
In the February 2009 issue of Virginia Wildlife
Clarke noted that there are many shooting preserves in Virginia where you and your pointer, lab or setter can find some birds.
Click to read about the Virginia Quail Trail.
Engraving Their Niche Virginia Wildlife January 2009 "For the beginning artist, it would be like standing beside Norman Rockwell while he painted...for a novice writer, like hovering over Hemingway's typewriter as words magically formed on a page. That is the closest I can describe the feeling I experienced while watching Lisa Tomlin engrave the hair on the back of an elephant—an elephant which serves as the focal point on the receiver of a shotgun. Her work is that detailed, that exacting..." (Click here to continue reading the article.)
GRITS Virginia Wildlife August 2008 "...You can usually count on seeing the same thing at any sporting clay range when you show up during the week: a small group of men with poor hearing who said goodbye to their 40s a long time ago. You do not expect to find two car loads of women consisting of a law partner, a minister, an artist, and several garden club members chatting about choke tubes, Browning vs. Beretta, and which preserve offers the best pheasant shooting..." (Click here to read the article featuring photos by Dwight Dyke.)
Side-by-Side Virginia Wildlife August 2007 "...For some owners these guns have a deeper personal meaning. As one gentleman explained, "This gun belonged to my grandfather, a man I only knew from pictures of him in an old felt hat and tall leather boots holding this gun. It sort of gives me a chance to maybe feel a little what he may have felt every time I hold it." Whether it came from a Sears catalog in the early 1900's or from the finest gunsmiths in Europe, collectors and shooters of these shotguns all agree there is something special about owning a side-by-side..." (Click here to continue reading the article.)
A Picker's Up, Pick Me Up Virginia Wildlife August 2005 "As a pale, cool sun struggles to make daylight on a brisk Saturday morning in Keene, Virginia, the dog people step from their vehicles and release their retrievers. Some participants have traveled over a hundred miles to this spot just to do what retrievers were born to do. The dogs begin to search for a particular spot while their handlers search for caffeine in the rustic warmth of a former caretaker's cottage, which is now used as an assembly area for the shooters, pickers up, and lunch. Thus starts another pheasant circle shoot in Virginia..." (Click here to continue reading the article...)
