1 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to this Country Life. 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 2: I'm your host, Brent Reeves from cone hunting to trot 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 2: lining and just general country living. 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: I want you to stay a. 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 2: While as I share my experiences in life lessons. This 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,280 Speaker 2: Country Life is presented by Case Knives on Meat Eaters 7 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 2: Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast. 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: The airwaves have to offer. 9 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 2: All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate. 10 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 2: I've got some stories to share. The Dixie Mallard Duck cof. 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 2: There's an old saying that I've heard all my life 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 2: that goes like this, Every now and then, even a 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 2: blind hog will find an acre. Now, I've taken the 14 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 2: meeting to be that even the unskilled, unlucky, and generally 15 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 2: unsuccessful can achieve a modicum of greatness, even by chance. 16 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 2: I've done that on more than one occasion, my wife 17 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 2: and children being pinnacle examples of my fortune. I'm going 18 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 2: to give you another example of that old saying right now, 19 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 2: and the story is the whole episode. We've got a 20 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 2: lot of ground to cover, so let's get started. In 21 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty three, the hunting pressure on public land was 22 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 2: a lot different than it is now, but it was 23 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 2: still having to share the woods with utter hunters, and 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 2: my brother Tim and I shied away from those well 25 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 2: known public places like the ones that had made Stuttgart, Arkansas, 26 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 2: the place for folks to duck hunt. Green timber duck 27 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 2: hunting remains the experience of all experiences as far as 28 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 2: we are concerned, and we could do that right where 29 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 2: we lived, in our sacred saline river bottoms. In the 30 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 2: timber company land we were hunting on was as public 31 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: as it got except for the deer hunting in the 32 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 2: days before leasing hunting clubs staked out their areas through 33 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 2: generational gentleman agreements. Deer Camp A hunted from this map 34 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 2: feature to that map feature, encompason the hundreds of not 35 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 2: thousands of acres of upland and river bottom timber. Deer 36 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 2: Camp B started where Deer Camp A's claim stopped, and 37 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 2: so it went for all of the tens of thousands 38 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 2: of Timber Company acres owned by the Potlatch Lumber Company, 39 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 2: a timber concern that purchased the land and all the 40 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 2: timber that grew on it inheriting the deer Camp claims 41 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 2: from the Southern Lumber Company and the Bradley Lumber Company. 42 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 2: In nineteen fifty eight, both of which operated lumber mills 43 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 2: on each side of town in Warren, Arkansas. Coincidentally, the 44 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 2: train that ferried pine chips from one mill to the 45 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 2: other was the same one that I and a fellow 46 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 2: sophistic had hopped on in front of the West Side 47 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: Elementary shortly after getting off the school bus, trading a 48 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 2: day of sixth grade education for cigarettes, snooker, and cheeseburgers 49 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 2: from a diner in the middle of town. But that's 50 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 2: not what we're talking about, not today, So let's get 51 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 2: back to the duck hunting. Deer camps claimed deer hunting 52 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 2: rights only on potlatches, land. Squirrels, coons, turkeys, rabbits, quailed 53 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 2: and ducks were there for anyone who wanted to go. 54 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 2: Deer season wasn't nearly as long back in the day, 55 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 2: but really only the first week counted. That's when folks 56 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 2: took vacation businesses closing. 57 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: School let out. You heard me right, school let out the. 58 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 2: Monday on the first week of deer season. Whether you 59 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 2: deer hunted or not, you didn't go to school. Now, 60 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 2: on the flip side of deer hunting was everything else 61 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 2: most folks I knew had squirrel dogs or coon dogs, 62 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 2: or pir dog or any combination of them. The outliers 63 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 2: were the duck dogs. Few folks had them, and fewer 64 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 2: folks duck hunted. And while it would be years before 65 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 2: Tim or I ever owned the Labrador retriever, fetching our 66 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 2: own ducks in the flooded timber of the Saline River 67 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 2: bottoms wasn't a chore, especially considering that we were the 68 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 2: only folks there. We never ran into anyone, and we 69 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 2: spent a large portion of our time walking sloughs and 70 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 2: boughs and hardwood flats that fluctuated in depth with the 71 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 2: amount of rain. Beavers were our most valued allies, and 72 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 2: the dams they built in the fall shoved water out 73 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 2: into the flat woods, all the acrons of the red 74 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 2: oak family and the preferred varieties of mallards. They lay 75 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 2: patiently waiting for the water to rise and the ducks 76 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 2: to find them as they rested and fed along their 77 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 2: migration and followed the ever the rising river water that 78 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 2: crept along the landscape, and good years with adequate duck hatches, 79 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 2: rain and coal fronts. The only difference between the flooded 80 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 2: timber of the self proclaimed duck capital of the world 81 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 2: of Stuttgart and the river bottoms where we lived was 82 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 2: the zip code. Some folks didn't believe me when I 83 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,559 Speaker 2: told them that they were running all over creation chasing 84 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 2: ducks while Tim and I were smashing them right out 85 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,239 Speaker 2: the back door. Of course, I didn't tell them until 86 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 2: it was all over and the leasing started. But for 87 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 2: several years when the conditions were perfect in Stuttgart, the 88 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 2: conditions were good at home. That's how it worked. We'd 89 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 2: catch the overflow of ducks during the big migration years, 90 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 2: and we named a fringe location that would be good 91 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 2: when the regular places were great. It was forty miles 92 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 2: one way trip from where we stood in the middle 93 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,559 Speaker 2: of the river bottoms in Cleveland County to ground zero 94 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 2: of the public shooting grounds near Stuttgart, and the average 95 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 2: flying speed of a Mallard duck is somewhere around thirty 96 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 2: or forty miles an hour. I know folks that drive 97 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 2: farther than that to work every day. Forty miles ain't 98 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 2: no step for a stepper, as they say, which explains 99 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 2: why on more than one occasion we killed ducks in 100 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 2: the bottoms that had crawls full of rice Why were 101 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 2: they leaving the food laden richness of the rice fields, 102 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 2: where their travel routes were undisturbed and wide open for 103 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 2: acres and acres to fly for an hour in pitching 104 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 2: the decoor through a hole in the canopy that required 105 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 2: acrobatics unmatched by the most skilled of test pilots. 106 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: Why were they doing that? I don't know. Why were 107 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: two boys that had the same thing out their back 108 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: door driving an hour and a half to walk into 109 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: a place they'd never hunted, just to say they went 110 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: hunting in a place so popular it had more than 111 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: one name. The Scatters by meta, the shooting grounds, the 112 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: public shooting grounds all referred to one seemingly magical place 113 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: that holds almost as many memories from me now as 114 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: my beloved river Bottoms do. Maybe that's why we went, 115 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: because of the romance of it. All the books we'd read, 116 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: Tim reading them first and passed them down to me. 117 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: Duck hunting was our thing, mine and his. 118 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 2: I learned to love it because he did, and I 119 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 2: loved him. I pestered and pestored him to go to 120 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 2: the Scatters, and finally he took me. 121 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: I was old enough to go by myself. 122 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 2: I wasn't eighteen, I was close to it, but we 123 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 2: always duck hunted together if we were able in this 124 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 2: trip would be no different. We pulled into the parking 125 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,559 Speaker 2: lot that had ten to fit fifteen trucks already there. 126 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 2: We'd gotten there later than we planned, and it was 127 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 2: close to sunrise. Seeing that many vehicles in one spot 128 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 2: where we'd be walking in behind folks in a place 129 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 2: we'd never been, well, it was more than disheartening. But 130 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 2: we'd committed and we were gonna check this box and 131 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 2: do the best we could. We had it out the 132 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 2: same trail to everyone else had, judging by the sloppy 133 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 2: boot tracks that led from the similarly swampy parking area 134 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 2: into the flooded woods. By the time the sun started 135 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 2: sneaking up, we'd walked about a quarter of a mile 136 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 2: from the truck and could hear folks calling, but none 137 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 2: were very close to where we were. We saw some 138 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,199 Speaker 2: preening feathers on the water floating and the ones that 139 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,239 Speaker 2: get left when ducks are sitting around relaxing, nibbling and 140 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:57,439 Speaker 2: fixing their clothes, the waterfowl version of primping. Tim found 141 00:08:57,480 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 2: a little hole in the timber and we dropped a 142 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 2: eleven decoors scattered around in the open, and number twelve 143 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 2: had blown out of the back of the truck somewhere 144 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 2: between New Edinburgh and where we'd parked. Avowed to look 145 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 2: for it on the way back home. Ducks started flying 146 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 2: and the others started shooting before we did, and I 147 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 2: felt like I had really wasted the morning. You only 148 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 2: get so many of these mornings, and at that stage 149 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 2: of our hunting lives, shooting ducks may not have been 150 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,880 Speaker 2: the most important part of the activity. 151 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: Pardon. 152 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 2: It wasn't far then, as if right on que. We 153 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,439 Speaker 2: got a small group to work, and after making loop 154 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,559 Speaker 2: after luke, they settled into the hole, each of us 155 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: calling begging him through the tree tops until they hit 156 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,839 Speaker 2: the water fifty feet in front of us. Tim holler, 157 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 2: get them, and we stepped out from behind the trees. 158 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: The ducks got up and we started shooting. 159 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,320 Speaker 2: He got two and I got one. That was the 160 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 2: only group that came in, and we couldn't have been 161 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 2: more happy. We saw a lot of ducks flying, but 162 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 2: they weren't working our area, and slowly we began to 163 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 2: hear the calling and the shooting from the other groups 164 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 2: subside until we were the only folks left. Not being 165 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 2: known as quitters, we stayed until we had to leave 166 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 2: to be out before the midday deadline. We slashed our 167 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 2: way back to the parking lot, arriving on a slightly 168 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 2: different course than we left on. The scatters are known 169 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 2: for that, and even today with the advent of GPS, 170 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 2: every year you hear about someone who wound up spending 171 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 2: the night because they were lost, some even burning decoys 172 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 2: to stay warm. Regardless, we'd made it back, and had 173 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 2: that parking lot been a indicator of the heavenly rapture, 174 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 2: it had happened, and neither one of us had made 175 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 2: the cut. Everyone was gone, just my truck, me and 176 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 2: Tim and an acre of ankle deep, sloppy buckshot, mud 177 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 2: and gravel. Well, if this was the rapture, that twelfth 178 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 2: decoy wasn't going to do us any good, because heat 179 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 2: that night and for the rest of eternity was not 180 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 2: going to be a problem. But in despite the fact 181 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 2: that we got a little off course on the way out, 182 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 2: I was feeling good about what we'd done. We followed 183 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 2: a road map to a parking spot, walked into a 184 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 2: place where'd never been, and brought out a mess of ducks, 185 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 2: calling them in and shooting them the right way after 186 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 2: letting them finish on water. Now, while I changed out 187 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 2: my canvas waiters i'd bought it the farmer's co op, 188 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 2: I saw the barrel of a duck called barely discernible 189 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 2: in the mud beside my tire. I picked it up, 190 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 2: and I could see that it had been there for 191 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 2: quite a while. I slung the mud off and out 192 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 2: of it, and I showed it to Tim, and I 193 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 2: dropped it in the left hand pocket of my green 194 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 2: army field jacket i'd bought at a surplus store. We 195 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 2: planned to clean it up and see more about it 196 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 2: when we got home, but I forgot about it. 197 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:02,320 Speaker 1: It's to ten. 198 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 2: It was set in the pocket of that surplus jacket, 199 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 2: hanging in the back of my closet for I don't 200 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 2: know how long before I found it again, and when 201 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 2: I did, I put it in a box, only to 202 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 2: be stored away with a bunch of hunting items and 203 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 2: keepsakes that got moved from assignment to assignment over the 204 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 2: next thirty years, until a few years ago when I 205 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 2: ran across that old friend once again. This time I 206 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 2: wasn't in a hurry to get somewhere else, and I 207 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 2: recognized it immediately by it still having some of the 208 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 2: mud from that parking lot stuck inside that wooden barrel. 209 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 2: Instantly I was back to that morning that started out 210 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 2: somewhat suspect but ended with a group of ducks decoyed 211 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 2: into the water that I can remember to this very moment, 212 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 2: as if it were this. 213 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: Morning, there would be one hundred. 214 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 2: It's more in our futures, Tim and I would guide 215 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 2: people there within the confines of the shooting grounds for 216 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 2: nearly thirty years, starting a decade after that first day, 217 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 2: the day I found this old call, I now held 218 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 2: in my hands a small piece of black string, still 219 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 2: attached to the barrel as a makeshift lanyard. The frayed 220 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 2: is telling the tale and the fate of the hunter 221 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 2: and how he lost that call, A wooden piece of 222 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 2: turned wood that was nondescript, with no high gloss finisher, 223 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 2: colorful decals, or engraving. Mud turned the powder when I 224 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 2: touched it, and wiped it away almost as clean as 225 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 2: if it had never been there, no cracks in the barrel. 226 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 2: I wiped it off with a damp cloth until no 227 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 2: dirt or residue from that day I found it remained. 228 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,320 Speaker 2: I went to the hardware store and bought a can 229 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 2: of linseed on I put on a coat when I 230 00:13:57,840 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 2: got back home. 231 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 1: That's when I saw it. 232 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 2: On the insert, the part that holds the read at 233 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 2: the end of the call, you know where the where 234 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 2: the sound comes out, are three thin, close parallel lines 235 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 2: cut into the wood as it spun on the callmaker's lead, 236 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 2: and one more during the collar where the insert and 237 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 2: the barrel met, and then three more at the widest 238 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 2: part of the barrel in. 239 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: Another setting near the end. 240 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 2: But in between the two decorative sets of thin lines 241 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 2: on the barrel of the call, there's a brand, a 242 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 2: one word brand the callmaker burned into the call, and 243 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 2: it reads Dixie in all capital letters. And when I 244 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 2: saw it, I sat back in my chair. Could this 245 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 2: really be what I'm looking at? Could what I found 246 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 2: forty years ago? That languished in the pocket of an 247 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 2: old hunting coat and moved from home to home as 248 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 2: I stumbled my way through life, each time shedding myself 249 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 2: of items that I didn't want to include in the move, 250 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 2: but miraculously hung on to a piece of real Arkansas 251 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 2: duck hunting history. 252 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly what I'd done. 253 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 2: I'd found an original Dixie Mallard duck call, a highly 254 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 2: collectible assault after call made by the man himself in 255 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 2: the nineteen forties. That man's name was Chick Chick Major. 256 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 2: Chick was the nickname of Darcy Manning Major. He was 257 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 2: born in eighteen ninety four and was a well known 258 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 2: figure in the world of duck hunting and duck calling 259 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 2: in Arkansas. He was instrumental in the development of the 260 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 2: distinctive Arkansas style duck call, an absolute legend not only 261 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 2: in the annals of Arkansas duck hunting, but to the 262 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 2: call making and collecting world at large. The Chick Major's 263 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 2: Dixie Mallard duck hall has been a staple for hunters 264 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 2: and collectors since he started producing them for himself. 265 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: When other hunters heard them, they wanted them too, and. 266 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 2: The first production calls started in nineteen forty one at 267 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 2: a time and completely by hand, and for. 268 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: Ten years he burned Dixie into each barrel before they 269 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: left his workbench. 270 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 2: That would continue until nineteen fifty, when the decorative decals 271 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 2: replaced the Dixie brand. Now, fortunately for me, By this time, 272 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 2: the interwebs had been invented, and I found the contact 273 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 2: information of a man named Don Cahill. Mister Cahill married Brenda, 274 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 2: one of Chick Major's daughters, and had continued on the 275 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 2: legacy of the call making. 276 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: After mister Major passed away. 277 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy four, Don Cahill continued on the legacy 278 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 2: of building the Dixie Mallard calls starting in the next year. 279 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy five, Now I contacted mister ky Hill 280 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:07,679 Speaker 2: and described the call I'd found way back when, and 281 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 2: then rediscovered a couple more times in my trove of 282 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 2: treasures as I moved around, and I sent him a 283 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 2: picture of it to see if it was in fact 284 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 2: an old Dixie Mallard call. He said, yep, that's an 285 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 2: old one made during the nineteen forties. And we talked 286 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 2: about it for a while and visited about duck hunting 287 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 2: in general, and tried to make plans to talk in 288 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 2: person where he could see the call for himself. Our 289 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 2: schedules never allowed for the visit. Time marched on and 290 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 2: mister k Hill passed away in November of twenty twenty three. 291 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 2: Don's son, David, had taken over the business several years 292 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 2: prior to this passing, and has now as a little 293 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,880 Speaker 2: over a year ago, turned the reins over of the 294 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 2: call company to the fourth generation, his son, Tyler Cahill, 295 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 2: the great grandson of Chick Major. I spoke with each 296 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,679 Speaker 2: of them about this call I have recently and was 297 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 2: pleased to find out that they still have a legacy 298 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 2: passion for call making that runs deep, not only in 299 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,719 Speaker 2: the history of their family, but in the history of 300 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 2: Arkansas and duck hunting as well. That makes them a 301 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 2: part of my family, or me a part of theirs, 302 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:24,159 Speaker 2: however you want to. 303 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 1: Look at it. 304 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 2: And while talking to Tyler, I skirted the question of 305 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 2: his manufacturing progress in today's world of CNC machine and 306 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,880 Speaker 2: three D printing and AI generated content. I didn't want 307 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 2: to hear that something his great grandfather could have never 308 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,880 Speaker 2: envisioned would be how these calls were being made today, 309 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,359 Speaker 2: So I skipped forward to Hey, Tyler, I have a 310 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 2: first generation call. How do I go by getting one 311 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 2: of yours? A fourth generation called to match it? I'm 312 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:04,439 Speaker 2: sure I expected wasn't what I received, He said, Well, 313 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 2: mister Brennan, I picked up a lot of orders and 314 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 2: it takes about three and a half hours to make 315 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 2: one that doesn't include the tuning. And I stopped him 316 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:18,120 Speaker 2: right there, You making these by hand, Tyler. Oh, yes, sir, 317 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 2: just like my great grandfather. 318 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: Man. 319 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 2: I can't tell you how happy that made me to 320 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 2: hear him say that in today's world where just the 321 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 2: other day, a friend of mine sent me a picture 322 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:35,639 Speaker 2: of me from high school that he turned into a 323 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,360 Speaker 2: video of me interacting with the camera. And I never 324 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 2: know exactly what to believe, what's right and what aim 325 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 2: But this man, this was different. Here's a family legacy 326 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 2: and heritage built on craftsmanship and a utilitarian arnt that 327 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 2: is continuing now in its eighty fifth year and fourth generation. 328 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 2: It's better than that. Nothing, nothing's better than that. These 329 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 2: are the stories of the people that deserve to be 330 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 2: told and remembered, not just for the sake of nostalgia, 331 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 2: but for the sake of how we got where we are. 332 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 2: In a way, that duck call is a cave painting. 333 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,159 Speaker 2: It's a piece of Americana that continues to tell a 334 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 2: relevant story just by being I met the third and 335 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 2: the fourth generations of Ca Hills this week, and I 336 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 2: talked to both of them about our common interest and 337 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 2: love for duck hunting. Several years ago, I had the 338 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 2: pleasure of sharing those same thoughts with the second generation 339 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 2: of that call making family. The only one I never 340 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 2: had the pleasure of talking to was the patriarch, the 341 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 2: first generation, mister chick Major himself, as I was but 342 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 2: a slip of a lad of eight when he died. 343 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 2: I'm sitting here looking at this old piece of hand 344 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 2: turned walnut and cedar. I can feel the cold wind 345 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 2: of the day I found it forty two years ago. 346 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 2: I can hear Tim and I call them those ducks, 347 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 2: and the sound of their wings as they settled into 348 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 2: the decoys with a splash. I can hear our boots 349 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 2: as we waded through the timber back to the truck 350 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 2: and fill the wet, gritty, muddy barrel of that call 351 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 2: as I snatched it from the mud and gravel, like 352 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 2: King Arthur pulled Excalibur from the stone. I may not 353 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 2: have had the pleasure of speaking to Chick Major. The 354 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 2: Chick Major speaks to me every time I look at 355 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 2: that call. I thank you so much for listening. I'm 356 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 2: gonna post some pictures of that old call on my 357 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,119 Speaker 2: social media and if you're interested in learning more about 358 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 2: the folks who made and make them, check out Dixie 359 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 2: Mallard duck Calls on Instagram and Facebook. If you're a 360 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 2: duck hunter, you owe it to yourself to find out 361 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,119 Speaker 2: where we came from. And there's no better place to 362 00:21:55,119 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 2: start than with Chick Major and his family. Now, the 363 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 2: Public Timber Project is another page I. 364 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 1: Encourage you to check out. 365 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 2: They've got a great mission and a goal of all 366 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 2: of us working together to better share the places we 367 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 2: all love so much. 368 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,119 Speaker 1: There's some good folks doing some good things. 369 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 2: They really could use your support and your help and recognition. 370 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: We need to get the word out there about it. 371 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 2: Check out Clay Bow's Bear Grease the Render, and Lake's 372 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 2: news show Backwards University. 373 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 1: How could you not like it? His name is Lake 374 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: forbidness sake. 375 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 2: So until next week, this is Brent Reeves signing off. 376 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 1: Y'all be careful