Monte grew up on a farm in central Missouri where he first learned the fun of trapping, hunting and fishing with his family. His father's favorite pastimes were river fishing and quail hunting. In those days fishing in central Missouri was either farm ponds or rivers. Later, as Truman Reservoir changed the river fishing, Monte fished this new reservoir as it filled. Since then, Monte has fished and hunted across much of the North American continent and written about deer hunting, turkey hunting, upland game, small game, fresh and saltwater fishing. He is also an established expert on ATV's and boats, testing and writing about them for numerous magazines.

Beginning his work in the woodworking field at the knee of his father, a cabinetmaker; Monte became an associate editor of 'Workbench Magazine' after college. Seven years later he and his family moved to the Missouri Ozarks and began a freelance career in both the hunting and fishing and woodworking fields.

In the 80's Monte (under the pen name of Mark Gregory) was the author of 'The Good Earth Almanac,' a back-to-the-land, nature comic strip which appeared in the comic section of newspapers across the country.

Monte and his wife Joan still reside on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks where he continues his passions for woodworking and furniture building, hunting and fishing, photography, illustrating and writing for numerous national magazines in several fields. Their farm is managed extensively for wildlife and a cow/calf operation. He is the proud father of three children, and a very proud grandfather of two grandkids.