Keeping Stories Alive
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.”
Matthew Puckett, a Texas born bird dog man, has been named the new state director for the Oklahoma division of the National Bird Hunters Association (NBHA) and is using his passion to preserve the sporting tradition throughout the state.
Pat Hooper may have grown up in east Texas, but he has been a part of rodeo culture all across America. His father James Hooper owned and operated Rawhide Productions and was one of the leading producers in the black rodeo movement of the early 1970s. The rodeos ranged from Memphis to D.C. and attracted greats such as the Bobby Blue Bland and B.B. King to add melody to the magic. These adventures continued at RFK Stadium and even led to a Saudi Arabian sheik calling the elder Hooper and asking him to come produce a rodeo. Pat traveled across the U.S. with his father and followed in his footsteps as a calf roper.
A native of Sulphur, Oklahoma, Treptow didn’t start out walking the cowboy way. He spent his earlier years with a distinctive skater punk style, enjoying the adrenaline of four wheels over four legs. A time of transition started during junior high when he purchased a film camera at a local pawn shop and quickly became the kid carrying it around and taking pictures of everything in sight. Repetitive practice, paired with YouTube videos and internet tutorials, slowly took him beyond the point and click phase and gave him an interest in furthering his knowledge. His determination and dedication served him well, and his talents began to grow.
When I first met Mike Kemp, he was by the front entrance to the arena of the Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka, Kansas with a black felt cowboy hat and a presence that seemed to indicate he was an integral part of the passion that keeps rodeo alive.
His dedicated offering of time and talent helps several different rodeo associations and his love for the sport has now led him back into the bucking chutes after a multi-year hiatus.
As a child growing up in Iowa, Mike had an attraction to horses from an early age. He was able to explore this interest and gain exposure to the rodeo world while spending summers with his grandparents and their horses. Rodeo was a family-wide hobby for the Kemps, with his mom’s uncle a competitive roper and his brother David a bareback rider in high school rodeo.
If you’ve ever wondered what 14-year-old cowboys do in their free time, it may be shooting armadillos to keep the horse pastures hole free or chasing after the ranch goat “Baaatman” on foot while swinging a rope.
At least, if you’re Dugan Caldwell this might be true. This fun-loving young man is a team roper and budding horse trainer in Wynnewood, Oklahoma.
A good queen is well-versed in many areas and shares her passions as a leader in the field. Whether it is dogs or horses, Emm Evaristo is proud to wear the crown.
Not yet 20 years old, Emm has traveled the country as an equestrian competitor, rodeo queen, mustang trainer, and dog handler/breeder.
Growing up, Emm loved watching the Westminster dog show. Her enthusiasm for the show led to her begging her mother to let her get a dog they could take through the ranks. Her mother bought into the dream with the condition that it would have to be a hunting dog for her dad’s sake. So, their search began, and they found themselves enamored with a UKC registered black and tan coonhound named Lulu.
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.
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.
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.
