by mcl | Mar 30, 2019 | Columns, Inspiration, Outside In
By Chris Bates Pruned through pain and loss My father and some friends had a hunting lease in the Mississippi Delta. It was during my school years, so I was able to work on the property and hunt it often. During one season, I had some of the most...
by mcl | Feb 1, 2019 | Columns, Inspiration, Outside In
By Chris Bates Let your story help others That night on the mountain was during my fifth summer at the Christian camp I went to growing up. I had finally achieved the opportunity to take my Little Chief tests after years...
by mcl | Dec 1, 2018 | Columns, Inspiration, Outside In
By Chris Bates Ever been lost? My father had been taking me into the woods since I was as young as I can remember. On one cold, bluebird sky fall day in my early teen years, I was allowed to go out hunting by myself for one of the first times. My...
by mcl | Sep 2, 2018 | Columns, Inspiration, Outside In
By Chris Bates How big are you? The three of us were resting for the moment in a small valley far into the Colorado backcountry. We were surrounded by mountains that were covered with large golden groves of aspen trees in full fall colors. It was...
by mcl | Aug 1, 2018 | Columns, Inspiration, Outside In
By Chris Bates Fear Not My brother and I have that kind of brotherhood. It is like the A River Runs Through It-type bond. We’ve spent literally lifetimes together in trout rivers, duck blinds, fishing boats and on numerous outdoor adventures. We enjoy a...
by mcl | Jul 2, 2018 | Columns, Inspiration, Outside In
By Chris Bates Have You Shown Them? My grandfathers were both amazing men. I spent more time outdoors trolling for bass, casting for bream, watching for deer, or in a duck blind with them than I did being indoors in my childhood years. One of them loved...