Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ed Nixon Stories

Fellow 'Fire readers of Ed Nixon stories;
Good evening to you all, I hope that your season has had a good start to it or will soon.

In another thread - link here - https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...7112/who-wrote-this-article#Post14117112 a question was asked by 1Akshooter as to who wrote a story "Witness Trees".

It was indeed Ed Nixon and if I recall correctly one of the earliest threads on the 'Fire here that I started asked a question about him and John Barness - Mule Deer - gave me the answer as I recall. Anyway I've gone down to the shelves of the library and pulled out the following issues of Hunting to give this list of Ed Nixon stories printed back then. It's possible I've missed a few, but here's what I've got as a start.

- December 1985 - Page 60 - "Jonas and the Bull"
- February 1986 - Page 34 - "Witness Trees"
- March 1986 - Page 60 - "Witness Trees pt II"
- August 1986 - Page 72 - "Tribute to a Pack Horse"
- May 1987 - Page 30- "Trophies to Take With You"
- March 1988 - Page 76 - "The Old Decker Men"
- April 1988 - Page 62 - "The Old Decker Men pt II"
- October 1988 - Page 96 - "Mountain Goats and Purple Elk"
- May 1990 - Page 44 - "Bears in Remembrance"
- June 1990 - Page 62 - "Bears in Remembrance pt II"

If anyone has any published stories to add to that list, I'd appreciate them adding it.

Hopefully this is of interest to readers who appreciate mountain and horse hunting type stories.

All the best to you all this fall and good luck on your hunts, wherever they take you.

Dwayne

Thanks so much. I would love to have all them stories and been in on all the horse rides and hunts,

Dwayne,

Thanks so much for putting that list together. Ed Nixon was an amazing and talented writer and as a young man I read all his stories. His writing had such a profound affect on me I eventually moved to Montana and built a 338, Ed loved his 338.
Ed was based out of the Swan Valley and outfitted in the Bob Marshall. I have hunted in his area a bit and I always ask the locals if they knew him and so far nobody seems to recall him, I wonder if "Ed Nixon" was his writers name?

Hey thanks, Dwayne, he definitely had a way with words when paying tribute to his memories and life experiences. His love and loyalty to his friends and animals shines right thru via his written word. I read a lot of stuff and all that was 30-35 years a go yet I remember more of his stuff than a lot of others I've read. Thanks again. MB

irfubar;
Good evening to you sir, I hope this finds you and yours well.

Thanks for the reply and sharing a wee bit of what the stories meant to you.

In my case, I already had a .338 when I first read "Trophies to Take With You" which is - again without looking and as I recall - the story where he outlined his building a then wildcat .338 on a BSA action. Mine was a Liberty Model Ruger 77, which I intended to take to the Kootenays more often than we ended up going.

It was however, the first time I'd read of anyone using epoxy to affix bases or ring parts to a rifle, which I promptly tried and now do on every rifle through my shop unless the owner specifies otherwise.

As well, his word pictures of the pack horses and hearing the horse bells on the alpine meadows so struck a chord within me that it was a component in our going on a pack horse trip into the Wilmore Wilderness north of Jasper National Park. Shortly thereafter, we bought an acreage which we promptly modified so we could have horses of our own.

When the horses came into our lives, I managed to train both of them to put up with gun fire, but only my Appy mare ended up being willing to pack meat.

Between Ed Nixon stories and Joe Back's book, I managed to throw a modified diamond over at least one mulie a year for a decade on the mountain up behind the house.

Honestly ir, I know I'm truly blessed to have been able to both recognize a dream and then chase it down to realize it, you know?

Anyway, it's good to know I'm not the only reader out there who heard the horse bells in the stories loud enough to experience them in person.

Thanks again and all the best to you in your hunts this fall.

Dwayne

Thanks Dwayne. Someone should re-publish the Nixon stories as a collected works. Those times he wrote of are getting scarcer all the time.