After 53 years of writing about the outdoors in Kentucky I have decided to retire.
I would like to thank the Clabes family for the opportunity to write for them on a weekly basis, first in Kentucky Forward, and in recent years in the The Northern Kentucky Tribune. I started contributing to the Clabes family publications in 2013.
They gave me the opportunity to write on a wide range of topics of my own choosing. I probably have written more than 550 articles through the years. Topics have included Kentucky’s diverse fish and wildlife species and their habitats, native trees, snakes, turtles, nesting birds, invasive and non-native species, and our state’s proud heritage of quality fishing and hunting, and the renowned natural resource management by biologists of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
Article topics also included forest management to benefit wildlife, seasonal mowing and planting forage crops for white-tailed deer, wild turkey and other wildlife, and outbreaks of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) that affected our deer herds.
Annual pre-season and post-season articles on deer and wild turkeys included harvest data, harvest trends, observations of the program coordinators and hunting strategies. Stories targeted a wide range of topics from ground blinds and treestands, archery gear and pre-season practice, deer rifles, and hunting with flintlock longrifles and turkey shotguns.
Other features focused on Kentucky’s elk herd, the largest in the eastern U.S., furbearers, small game (squirrels, rabbits, and ruffed grouse), songbirds, migratory birds (mourning doves and woodcock), and waterfowl (ducks and Canada geese).
Fish articles profiled sportfish species and their management, native walleye restoration, striped bass, ancient fish species such as gar, the invasion of Asian carp, non-native mussels, and nuisance rooted aquatic vegetation in our lakes.
Major reservoir and small lake profiles focused on marinas, boat ramps, and fish species, with emphasis on how and where to catch them.
There were also a few memorable book reviews through the years, and features on notable Kentuckians in history, such as explorer and early settler Squire Boone, immortalized in a bronze statue in Shelbyville.
James A. Henshall, who will forever be remembered for introducing America to black bass, brought international notoriety to the Kentucky Reel, a handmade casting reel produced from about 1820 to the 1940s in Central Kentucky. Henshall spent many years in Northern Kentucky, and died in Cincinnati in 1925 at the age of 89.
I’ve been blessed with a varied and challenging career. During the decades I was a freelancer, writing for magazines, and print newspapers, and a staff information specialist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. I wrote three books and was a contributor to several other books, and spent 23 years as the outdoors staff writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper.
Advancing age, and nagging arthritis make it more difficult for me to hunt and fish. And I believe an outdoors writer is most effective when he or she is fully engaged in the outdoor pursuits being covered in their news articles.
I appreciate the opportunity I have had to continue writing online articles into advancing age.
Thanks again to the Clabes family, biologists with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources who provided me with valuable information and insight, and lastly to my loyal readers.
We wish him all the best in his retirement.