Belt buckle featuring the "Western Sportsman's Association" --- "Securing Your Outdoor Heritage.” On the heavy 1976 pewter Bergamont Brass Works buckle, you see a fishing pole, a rifle, a couple of fish, a deer, what is probably an elk, and a ram's head in the middle. The WSA was founded in Colorado Springs, Colorado, by my Aunt Louise and her husband, Walt Sharp. In the late 1970s Walt was expanding to California. I secured a write-up for him and his association at the Bakersfield daily newspaper with outdoors writer Cec Wilder. Louise babysat me regularly in Galena, Kansas, at home on Amherst Street when she was 10-years-old. Louise grew to be a renowned big-game hunter.

                                                                Louise

Louise was a “gamer” even before starting the WSA. She fished in Alaska and as a hunter bagged grizzly, moose and caribou, some of whose heads are mounted on walls of her Colorado Springs home. She hunted with then-husband Walt who devised a special-made .357 rifle for her, to cut down on recoil impact. On an African trip, she brought down several animals, including a spiral-horned kudu, a large antelope. A close call was when a herd of cape buffalo headed in the direction of her group, turning away at the last moment. It was a scene captured by a cameraman they took along. -- Bryce

Buckle Up For The Great Outdoors