By David Draper

Last Friday, at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, while waiting for the weekend shift of working girls to deplane, I picked up a bottle of water and some reading material for my flight home. On the rack, there were the usual periodicals that often make their way into my carry-on: The Atlantic (which my swollen head couldn’t fathom at that moment); Surfer (not really the inspiration I needed for a trip home to Nebraska), and Esquire (didn’t want to be seen reading a magazine with a picture of Bill Clinton on the cover).

What I did find was a copy of Saveur, a food magazine whose Jan/Feb issue annually lists their Top 100 people, places, and ingredients for the food-obsessed. The Saveur 100 issue serves as great inspiration in the kitchen and fuels many a daydream for food-related road (and plane) trips should I ever win the lottery. It’s the kind of best-of list where you’ll find meatloaf next to something called mugua ji, or a treatise on the Czech Republic’s microbrews matched with Frito Pie.
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By Kirk Deeter

After careful thought, I have decided to award the prize (The Little Red Book of Fly Fishing) to Kyle Deneen.

He wrote: My cat Schizmak, (I just wanted to put his name in there because its cool) is a long haired Russian Blue, when the winters are around I take his under coat and use it for some of the best dubbing I have ever used. A cats undercoat will make the best "hairs ear nymph" but I guess we should now call it the "cat hairs nymph." Also my buddies and I from Fat Guy Fly Fishing found out that my back hair makes great dubbing after my wife shaves my back.
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By David Draper

Those of us dealing with the post-holiday hangover might be thinking about losing a little weight around the middle. I know I’ve put on a few pounds this fall that will need to be shed before I hit the woods for my annual spring turkey death march. I generally don’t tend to pay much attention to any of the diet trends that come and go, but one that does intrigue me is eating Paleo, a.k.a. the caveman diet. The name alone conjures images of tearing hunks of fire-roasted meat right off the bone, something I can relate to as a hunter. But apparently there’s more to the diet than that.

To learn more about eating like a caveman, I tracked down Charles Mayfield, co-author with his wife Julie of the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook. In addition to being cookbook authors, the Mayfields own several gyms in the Atlanta area and are hardcore fitness junkies. Charles is also a hunter, so who better to explain the Paleo lifestyle and how it can benefit hunters and wild-food lovers.
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By Chad Love

In an age of reduced funding sources, declining hunter participation, and increases in the average age of hunters, can cash-strapped state wildlife agencies afford to continue offering exemptions to hunting and fishing licenses? That's the issue facing Kansas as its wildlife department prepares to ask the state legislature to eliminate the state's senior citizen exemption for hunting and fishing licenses.

From this story in the Wichita Eagle:
Kansas senior citizens could be required to buy hunting and fishing licenses after this year. For decades, residents 65 and over have been exempt from the annual permits that currently sell for about $18 each. Chris Tymeson of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission said Thursday that the agency will ask the Legislature to remove the exemption.
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By Kirk Deeter

It is with great happiness that Uncle Deeter announces the arrival of Mabel Romano, who entered the world at a healthy 8 pounds 2 ounces a few days ago. She, along with her mom, Ellie, and dad, Tim Romano (my Fly Talk partner) are all doing just fine.

Apparently, we have another Fly Talker (well, for the time being, a Fly Goo-Goo/Coo-er) in the fold. And I can tell you that Tim has transformed flawlessly into a proud father. For the foreseeable future, Fly Talk posts might be a little heavy on the Deeter side. I hope you understand.
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By David E. Petzal

A little while back I spent an hour at the range helping a friend of mine mount a scope and get a rifle sighted in for his young son. Everything worked, and dad took the boy to Pennsylvania to hunt deer. As it turned out, they didn’t get one, but the father was nice enough to send me a photo of the kid in his stand, and the expression of joy on his face is unmistakable. I e-mailed my friend that whether or not his son goes on to be a serious hunter, that deer hunt will be pure gold for the rest of the boy’s life.

Small contributions like this can make a very big difference. If you are a hunter/shooter with some experience, there is a beginning hunter/shooter out there who can use your help. These are not easy sports to break into; there is an immense amount to learn. Questions lead to other questions, and the number of people who have the answers is shrinking.
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