Writings
Tale of Two Turkeys and the Gobblers They Got
Matthew Mitchell and I met around 2018 when our daughters went to the same pre-school. We immediately become best buds and hunting partners. I say partner in every sense of the word. Matthew would come out to the ranch and work alongside me, not just seeing what it took to run a ranch and the benefits that it provided, but he would work just as hard as I did on the land...and that's not a small ask. The cool thing about that, is that I never had to ask, he just smiled and went to work. During his first season at the ranch, he got a great doe for his freezer. During those deer hunts, Matthew spotted a lot of turkeys and he told me he really wanted to hunt them someday, as that was something he hadn't had the chance to hunt, previously. We agreed that the next spring, we would try to get Matthew on his very first turkey! This is the story of our journey to fulfill that goal, as well as a little history into my turkey hunting career.
Click here to read the full article, which was first published in The Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunter magazine, May/June 2023
Click here to read the full article, which was first published in The Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunter magazine, May/June 2023
Black Beauty
I wrote the article, "Black Beauty", about a very special encounter I had with a melanistic whitetail deer at our family ranch in Texas. Since then, I have written a handful of articles about the buck, the ranch and how our fateful encounter came to fruition. The versions of this story have been published in Quality Whitetails (produced by the Quality Deer Management Association), Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters (TTHA), LAND, Wide Open Spaces, and many other online magazines and publications.
Click here to read the full article about "Black Beauty".
Click here to read the full article about "Black Beauty".
Bob Lemmons - The Original Mustanger (book in progress)
I have a book that I am writing that is gradually in the works right now about a famous Black Cowboy from Texas, by the name of Bob Lemmons (1848-1947). He was born into slavery, but later emerged as one of the most famous Black Cowboys of Texas, aka the "Most Original Mustanger" (J. Frank Dobie) and "The Horse Whisperer," as he would single-handedly round up countless Wild Mustangs in the Wild Horse Deserts of TX, before barbed wire spider-webbed the lands. He is truly a Texas Legend. Our families would become close friends, ranching together and living side by side, in Carrizo Springs, TX. In the last decade of his life, as his eyesight continued to fail, Bob lived alongside our family, with a guide wire that was attached from my great-grandparents house to a guest house they built for him, so he could easily make his way over. He would spend countless hours retelling his legendary stories. Our family has passed those down, and we want to share them with the world. Click here to learn more about Bob Lemmons.
Editor's Intro from the book, "Have You Thought of Leonard Peltier Lately?"
I would like to take a moment to share my story with you about how I found myself on this miraculous journey with Harvey Arden and Leonard Peltier, and the millions of you who tirelessly hope, pray, and work for Leonard's freedom...
It was a frosty afternoon in Boston, chilled by autumn's stinging winds, when my friend Adrian Velasco decided we should watch “Incident at Oglala,” a brilliant documentary of Leonard's case, produced by Robert Redford. I had heard about Peltier’s plight in the past, but was still very unfamiliar with the details involving his case. The documentary was about to change that, and my future path…in many ways.
We turned on the documentary and about fifteen minutes in, I insisted my friends restart it so I could take sufficient notes on Leonard's case. After about eight pages of notes and questions I wanted to have answered, the credits rolled down the screen and I was off to the library to learn more about Leonard Peltier, the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and the "Reign of Terror" that took place near the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1970's.
Click here to read the full Editor's Intro from the book, "Have You Thought of Leonard Peltier Lately?"
It was a frosty afternoon in Boston, chilled by autumn's stinging winds, when my friend Adrian Velasco decided we should watch “Incident at Oglala,” a brilliant documentary of Leonard's case, produced by Robert Redford. I had heard about Peltier’s plight in the past, but was still very unfamiliar with the details involving his case. The documentary was about to change that, and my future path…in many ways.
We turned on the documentary and about fifteen minutes in, I insisted my friends restart it so I could take sufficient notes on Leonard's case. After about eight pages of notes and questions I wanted to have answered, the credits rolled down the screen and I was off to the library to learn more about Leonard Peltier, the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and the "Reign of Terror" that took place near the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1970's.
Click here to read the full Editor's Intro from the book, "Have You Thought of Leonard Peltier Lately?"
Remembering Harvey Arden
On Nov 17th I received a text that one of my dear friends, and mentors, Harvey Arden, had passed away at his home in DC, after being in hospice care for a couple weeks. For those that don’t know, Harvey Arden has been a very important person in my life since the fall of 2000, when I reached out and asked if he would come speak at my school, Northeastern University, in Boston, for an event I was hosting called “In Pursuit of Justice: the Leonard Peltier story”. Harvey Arden was the editor for Peltier’s book, “Prison Writings”. I knew that this 23+ year veteran writer for National Geographic, author of many books by/about Native Americans and Indigenous People was a total rock star, and it was unlikely he would be able to make it to the event. But I decided to email him after finding his contact information online. I had secured some funding for the event, so I told him I could cover his airfare, hotel fair and a speaking fee, or honorarium. 10 minutes later, I get a reply and he says, “send the honorarium money to the Peltier defense committee and book my flight. I’d be happy to come speak and meet you in Boston”. Needless to say, I was VERY excited!
Click here to read the full article, "Remembering Harvey Arden"
Click here to read the full article, "Remembering Harvey Arden"
The Blue Marble
(Published by The BridgeKeepers Project/World Peace & Prayer Day 2021)
The above picture of the Earth was taken by NASA in 2015, 5 years ago, today. I came across it the other night when I was looking for the first full picture of Earth, from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. I was thinking about an observation many astronauts described when they looked back at Earth for the first time. They shared the impact of personally witnessing the visual of a borderless world. From space, Our Earth is just land, water and atmosphere, united in a giant marble, floating around with a bunch of other marbles. But our Earth is very unique and provides life for all humans, and billions of species of other life forms. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the shelter we make - it all comes from within that giant blue marble.
The Human Race is obviously the most advanced of any species on our planet. But I feel that collectively, we are not respecting the sacredness of the lives of ALL human beings, and we are treating our planet as an unending resource, instead of The Source. There are many things out of balance in the world right now. That is evident in some many ways. It's weird that the biggest thing to unite us has come in the form of a global pandemic. Yet, it secludes us all at the same time.
Click here to read the full version of the "The Blue Marble"
The Human Race is obviously the most advanced of any species on our planet. But I feel that collectively, we are not respecting the sacredness of the lives of ALL human beings, and we are treating our planet as an unending resource, instead of The Source. There are many things out of balance in the world right now. That is evident in some many ways. It's weird that the biggest thing to unite us has come in the form of a global pandemic. Yet, it secludes us all at the same time.
Click here to read the full version of the "The Blue Marble"
Blast From The Past - Erskine Rhodes, by George Blitch
(featured in Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters)
(featured in Journal of the Texas Trophy Hunters)
Remembering 9/11
I started out writing a post on Instagram about 9/11/01 today and when I went to submit, I was told it was far too long for the space they provided, so I decided to put that post here. It felt good to write it out and share my thoughts and feeling about a day that changed so many lives in an instant. I continue to think about and pray for all the people who lost their lives, their relatives and friends, and to the first responders that, like many days in their daily lives, rushed towards all the chaos, danger and death, to try to help. God Bless them all. Read on....
Map My Ranch ~ Blog
Over the years I have written a serious of articles, product reviews, and stories of outdoor adventures. Some of those can be found on the Map My Ranch BLOG page....click here to read some of them.
Permission to use any text or pictures from this website must be granted by contacting George Blitch at gblitch@sonofablitch.com