Brandon Butler drove three and a half hours on Jan. 4 to see what remained of his hunting cabin. He then watched the still-flickering flames for five minutes before leaving the fire to its task and retracing his drive home.
He had seen enough. He knew a short, memorable chapter in his life was over. Every tangible part of those memories was now ash.
Butler, 41, lives in Columbia, Missouri. He cherished his cabin and 43 acres in the Ozarks of...

Thievery has its tools of the trade. Muggers wield handguns; burglars, glass-cutters; and cattle rustlers, wire-cutters.
And timber thieves? Chainsaws, of course.
Big-time timber thieves—those who rustle lodgepole pines, or oak or maple saw-logs—also require a serious truck to haul their bounty. It’s not uncommon for unscrupulous loggers to write landowners a check for seven loads of pulpwood when they actually got paid for 10 loads by a mill...

Most hunters and anglers old enough to fantasize about retiring can’t wait for that never-ending vacation so they can spend every possible hour outdoors.
Some retirees live out those recreational dreams, smugly heading for the boat ramp or tree stand each morning while younger folks mope off to work. That’s great, but those die-hards are the exception and their self-satisfaction likely won’t endure. Their endless vacation fantasies usually fade...