Wildlife - Laura Pittman

Discovering Fish IBX: A Day With Mitchell Blake

When Mitchell Blake looks at the world around him, he sees the life within it, and pieces together the elements like a graceful detective trying to retell the events of a night through obscure clues.

He sees the ripples of fish rolling, the eagle perched in the distant tree, the seagull on a post eyeing our bait. He feels the brisk bite of the wind and asks if I’m okay, if my place in this adventure is still serving me well. If not, he’s going to adapt to make it better for me–just like he does when he sees how the fish respond to his initial lures. Mitchell knows the curves of the river and how each species has changed in the last ten years. He talks about the fish and birds like they are his colleagues, friends for the day whose home he is always welcome at. Through loving this world and living within it, he has become a part of it. With membership comes the hard truth: the only certainty is change.

Access to Outdoor Education: BOW

A few years ago, I had the privilege of participating in a unique program sponsored by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Known as BOW, Becoming an Outdoors-Woman, this program is an annual weekend long opportunity for women to gather with other women and take classes of their choosing related to the outdoors. Everything from driving boats, backing boat trailers, fishing, bowfishing, canoeing, kayaking, firearms (classes for every kind), bird watching, archery, hunting, tracking, trapping, plant identification, orienteering, and much more was offered for an

Fishing Wildlife

Erin Weaver: The Female Fisherman

Erin Weaver is a testament to hope. After having her life flipped upside down, she discovered new pieces of joy that fit together into a puzzle of peace. The central theme: fishing.

Several years ago, Weaver was living in Wilmington and working as a registered nurse. She had a fiancée, a house, and a thriving career–what many would consider to be the picture of a successful life. All of that changed in July of 2019, when she became affected by Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). This diagnosis and the ensuing daily symptoms led to intense transition, from leaving work and becoming a person with a disability, to having to sell her house and seeing her engagement come to an end.

Fly Fishing Wildlife

Uncharted Outdoorswomen: Leading Women Into the Wild

Erin Crider is passionate about women in the outdoors–not as volunteers, observers, or paid customers, but as leaders, teachers, and confident guides. Out of this desire to see change in the industry, Crider founded Uncharted Outdoorswomen, an organization “creating space for women in the outdoors.”

Fiction God Letters Love Wildlife

The Heart Maker

He could visualize each creature, from the young girl who would soon be born in Seattle to the baby fawn about to be enveloped by the looming shadows of Carolina pines. Pale speckled eggs starting to crack, puppies’ noses’ twitching for the scent of their mother. Everything blossomed like springtime, but with international oversight it was far more than seasonal.

Purpose came with needs, and He loved to intertwine the two. For the hummingbird, every heart would need to beat over and over with a spirit of joyful solitude for those long solo trips across endless skies. The cheetah’s chest would need pacing to blaze across the savannah without tire, its pulse matching the pounding of its paws on the dry foliage beneath, both ground and body too silent to let loose the secret presence.

Catfishing Wildlife

The Face of a Fisherman

Scattered throughout the state of Oklahoma, in long forgotten rivers and lakes, massive catfish lurk beneath the surface. In addition to being genetic exceptions, most of these fish have one thing in common: they’ve met a man named Austin Brown.

Some were reluctant to accept the invitation, waiting until the middle of the night to taste the freshly prepared meal he left for them, and then fighting the whole way to his riverbank doorstep. Others came somewhat more willingly, running toward him before a last second panic and sudden thrashing.

Regardless, each enjoyed a fuller belly and an adventure with a good ending as they were released back into their home to further contribute to the gene pool and live out the end of their lives.

Artisan Photography Wildlife

The Glistening of Dark Eyes

Kyle Underwood has a few friends in the forest. Some are owls, some coyotes, and some are deer or insects. His talent for documenting the subtle glances and intricate behaviors of wild animals has turned into a storytelling business: Kyle Underwood Photography.

His photography is easily recognizable, his trademark darker tones a combination of editing and choosing to shoot on days where rain, fading daylight, or wintry weather prevail. Not only does this represent a part of his personality, but also reflects his desire for his photos to evoke emotion in their viewer and create a bond between the natural world and its observer.