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1 month ago | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
I recently was invited to an industry product launch for new camping gear, including an inflatable camping mattress. Amy, the public relations executive who organized the event, said that it would be a Zoom video conference. It should come as no surprise that I sometimes struggle with Zoom technology. I thanked Amy, with whom I had previously worked, for the invite and said I would be happy to participate—or try to, as my past Zoom experiences had not always been flawless.
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1 month ago | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
I had planned a multi-day fishing trip for early April. It would have involved about a half-day of travel, then a couple of days on the water with an old angling friend and colleague whom I don’t see as often as I would like. While sorting through piles of gear that included waders, a float tube, two generic “fishing bags” and more rods than I could possibly need, my wife walked into my office carrying a cup of coffee and a slice of fresh-from-the-oven chocolate cake.
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2 months ago | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
April. It’s everyone’s favorite month, aside from those of us who are equally fond of October. The weather, in general, has tempered and steadied but not yet obtained the sauna-like layering of heat and moisture that’s coming.
Hiking trails are open, campgrounds are uncrowded, grass is green, forests are leafy, turkeys are gobbling, and crappie are spawning.
What’s not to love?
• • •
Let’s start with turkeys.
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Mar 5, 2025 | 
outdoorlife.com | Gary Garth |Matthew Every
Share Morel mushrooms are a mystery, a miracle, and a gift of the spring woods.
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Mar 5, 2025 | 
yahoo.com | Gary Garth
Morel mushrooms growing in mossGenerate Key TakeawaysMorel mushrooms are a mystery, a miracle, and a gift of the spring woods. This popular and easily-recognizable fungi remains something of a mystery to researchers and foragers alike. Where and why they grow is often the subject of woods-lore. But one thing is certain: There are certain conditions that cause morels to flush in the spring more than any other time of year.
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Feb 28, 2025 | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
I am not a native Kentuckian but have lived in Kentucky longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, so perhaps you’ll afford me squatter’s rights to talk about a program with which I haven’t a shred of personal experience but a great deal of secondhand information.
It’s the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ Conservation Camp program. The program is generations old, having started in 1949 at Camp John Currie on Kentucky Lake.
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Jan 30, 2025 | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
When Meriwether Lewis departed Pittsburgh on Aug. 31, 1803, and headed down the Ohio River toward Louisville and his rendezvous with William Clark, he carried a full agenda from President Thomas Jefferson.
One thing on the list: The president wanted some bones from Kentucky.
Specifically, Jefferson wanted a sampling of bones and fossils from a salt lick and marshy region about 80 river miles upstream from Louisville.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
A couple of months ago, the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers brought its annual conference to Kentucky Lake and Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park.
By all accounts, between the fishing, the food, the bourbon, and the camaraderie, the Kentucky hosts wowed their visitors, which included an eclectic mix of writers, broadcasters, podcasters, bloggers, social influencers, industry and public relations folks, and a few attendees who eluded specific editorial categorization.
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Oct 3, 2024 | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
The morning of Sept. 16, 1805, in what is today Idaho County, Idaho, dawned snowy and cold. Conditions were miserable and would worsen throughout the day. The Corps of Discovery, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, was attempting to traverse the rugged Bitterroot Mountains on its way to the Pacific Ocean and into American history. It was tough going.
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Aug 31, 2024 | 
kentuckymonthly.com | Gary Garth
With summer’s sweltering heat and humidity likely to bleed into September, it might not feel like hunting season, but it is.
Squirrels are legal now. Dove hunting opened Sept. 1. Teal, wood duck and Canada geese (early season); Virginia and sora rail, common and purple gallinule and snipe seasons open later this month.
Deer season for archers opens Sept. 7. Whitetail deer are Kentucky’s marquee and most sought-after game animal. Elk would likely claim that spot if more were available.
