"The Mailman" with a display of trophy bucks he delivered to the wall of his home in Ruston, La. Photo by Glynn Harris.

A prized Tennessee mountain cur named Boss was giving his owner undivided attention, responding to each command with immediacy and precision.

"The thing I love about Boss is that no matter where we are in the woods and what's going on, he responds to me," explained the owner, retired National Basketball Association legend Karl Malone. "We have a special bond."

The setting for Boss' performance was Malone's spacious back yard in Ruston, where he has lived since retiring from pro basketball.

As much as I was a Karl Malone fan during his round-ball playing days, my interest is in another part of this man. He is a very serious student of hunting, fishing and the outdoors, not just since his retirement, but his entire life.

"It started early for me," Malone noted. "We had to make do with what we had and if I wanted to go fishing, I'd cut a green cane pole and when it dried, tied on some line and a hook and sneak off to a neighborhood pond or Corney Creek.

"A little later, my brother, Terry, and I became interested in hunting squirrels, but there was no gun in the house. My mom took us down to Palmer's store and put a little .410 single barrel on lay-away for us. That's what we started with and I killed my first squirrel when I was 9 years old. I ran out of the woods with my squirrel as fast as I could to show it to my mom."

Malone, who grew up without a father in the home, credits his mother for providing the means and motivation for him and Terry to get to enjoy hunting and fishing.

"She knew how important getting involved with the outdoors was in raising youngsters out in the country and she saw to it that we had the chance to start enjoying these experiences at an early age. When I was 14, I moved up to a 12-gauge Winchester pump, a gun that I still have," Malone recalled.

"After I started playing professional basketball, the idea around was that hunting wasn't 'politically correct,' wasn't cool. You tell that to a kid who grew up in Summerfield, Louisiana! My attitude was and still is: I'm going to hunt. It's a passion I grew up with, one that never left me."

Karl Malone literally can hunt anywhere in the world he wants to. Yet, hunting squirrels with his dogs is the one sport that emerges as his favorite and it, undoubtedly, is a throwback to his years growing up in Summerfield.

"I have hunted lots of places and taken my share of big game, and I love it all," Malone said. "However, my overall favorite hunting sport is to take my three dogs, Boss, Newt and Missy to my property near Farmerville and squirrel hunt.

"My four kids are getting into squirrel hunting with the dogs," he added. "It's something we look forward to every fall and winter. Although my business schedule keeps me busy, we get out to the woods every chance we get."

A gaze around Malone's trophy room at his home validates his passion for hunting. As many as half a hundred mounts grace the walls and floor of the room. Many are full-body mounts, including bear, mountain lion, antelope, bobcat, fox, raccoon, mountain goat, bighorn sheep and caribou. Shoulder mounts of dozens of other species gaze down from the walls.