This young guy learned on lakers. This young hunter was mentored by his dad.

My first magazine article was hammered out on an old Royal manual typewriter in October 1967, and was sold to Sports Afield that fall. The story with photos appeared in September, 1968.

Between the first and the sixth magazine articles was a steady stream of success stories. Everything I wrote was sold to a paying magazine, and two of my six pieces went to Sports Afield magazine.

I've been at it now for 44 years, and have written scads of stuff: 7,300 magazine articles, 23 fishing or hunting books, 14,000 newspaper articles and columns, and I did a radio show for several months. I've sold thousands of b/w and color photos here and there, and spoke to large and small audiences as a platform or seminar speaker.

Selling free-lance stories is a way to start outdoor writiing but it’s not easy.

And then, I began writing internet articles on my personal website. This has led to the publication more than 4,000 illustrated articles over eight years.

Do I enjoy writing and photography? I love it; it is the best job in the world, and nothing makes me happier than to help educate anglers and hunters to this outdoor world that we enjoy so much.

I write some of the how-to stuff, and everyone else in the outdoor writing game also has to write some of it. I also write some where-to stuff for the same reason, but I'm a firm believer that part of my calling is to write why-to stories.

People need to read why we fish or why we hunt. People, judging by the fact that readers are hitting my website like crazy each month, means they enjoy the why-to. New sportsmen need to know why ducks circle into the wind; why low-lying wet spots in the middle of a cornfield are so important to ducks and Canada geese; why cottontails run a tighter circle while snowshoe hares make an elongated oval trauks; and why trout have different rise-forms ... plus much more.

Outdoor writers have an obligation to inform, but we have no obligation to lead our readers by the hand to a small pothole lake brimming with 5-pound bass that would easily be fished out in a week if publicized. We have an obligation to help protect our natural resources rather than to take a do-nothing approach that could cause catastrophic harm.

We need to be willing advocates of our sport, and help make these great pastimes of fishing and hunting even more respectable than they already are. We've made great strides in pointing out that poaching is wrong, but it takes far more effort to inform our readers why it is bad.

Fifty percent of a free-lancer’s income goes toward paying bills.

We need to work hard, you and me, to mentor children and adults who are just getting into fishing or hunting. One doesn’t need to be a writer to mentor people. A new hunter who gets lashed up with a person who winks at our fish and game laws, shoots game after legal shooting hours have ended, or killed more than their limit of ducks have not learned what following the rules means.

They have not learned respect for the fish we try to catch or the game we hunt. Without respect, not only for other sportsmen but for the fish or game, we have reduced our angling and hunting population to a point where only a limit catch or shooting a big buck is important. That, my friends, is far from being true.

The question of why we hunt or fish is sadly lacking in much of today's outdoor literature. People want to know the latest way to catch more walleyes or become better at deer hunting. We, as outdoor writers, must take our readers beyond the how-to and where-to, and try to teach them something about the seldom talked-about, why-to elements of our pastimes.

I had a phone call some time ago from an old friend who also is one of the most prolific outdoor writers I know. He was talking about respect, and doing something to help those outdoor writers who are no longer active. The organization he and I belong to wants to give something back to writers who helped mentor him and other budding writers.

It's a great idea. I still write, and continue to mentor writers. I've had a major hand in helping three Michigan outdoor writers achieve full-time status in this business, and have helped at least 50 other writers across the country, and about a dozen Michigan part-timers. The idea of them helping others is great, and I will also continue to help in many own way.

Much of what being an outdoor writer means is giving something back to what we've enjoyed for so many years. It can be giving publicity to organizations that do good work for our lakes and streams; mentioning local hunting clubs who build wood-duck boxes; it means helping out with local Hunter Education programs, and it also means lending a hand when something needs to be done.

I held night-school classes for years to help mentor adults, women and children.

And I'll bet you thought this outdoor writing gig was easy. The writing and photography is reasonably easy with the proper mind-set, but the most difficult thing of all is to get through to our readers and make them think, and that's one reason I enjoy writing "think-pieces."

Instead of wondering what the DNR is going to do for you this year, consider what you can do for other anglers and hunters, and our natural resources. That mind-set will help our fish, game and the environment we share with them.

And, to discourage those who think this is idea, allow me to state with heavy emphasis. This job isn’t for sissies, or those folk who think it is a walk in the park. It is difficult, and unless you’ve done for 44 consecutive year, it can be very difficult, and did I mention the pay is lousy.

One must love the outdoors, our fish and game as well as sound scientific management of it and those who do fish or hunt, to continue coming up with fresh stories day after day and week after week. It ain’t as easy as it looks.