1
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,719
Speaker 1: Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves

2
00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,559
Speaker 1: from coon hunting to trotlining and just in general country living.

3
00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:14,400
Speaker 1: I want you to stay a while as I share

4
00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:19,040
Speaker 1: my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented

5
00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:23,320
Speaker 1: by Case Knives from the store More Studio on Meat

6
00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,240
Speaker 1: Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast that

7
00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,319
Speaker 1: airways have to offer. All right, friends, grab a chair

8
00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,640
Speaker 1: or drop that tailgate. I've got some stores to share.

9
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:44,000
Speaker 1: Being on time it's a pet peeve of mine and

10
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,839
Speaker 1: has been for quite some time. Being on time is

11
00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:52,360
Speaker 1: important to me. For me, I don't look down or

12
00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,279
Speaker 1: judge others who may not find that as critical as

13
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,280
Speaker 1: I do. Unless we're talking about the fuse on a

14
00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,960
Speaker 1: stick of dynamite, then I want the tie. I'm calculated

15
00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,839
Speaker 1: down to the very second. We're not blowing anything up today,

16
00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,360
Speaker 1: just talking about being on time. I'm going to tell

17
00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:12,080
Speaker 1: you about a recent event involving someone not being somewhere

18
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,160
Speaker 1: when they said they would. But first I'm going to

19
00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:26,000
Speaker 1: tell you this story. Let's leave Carls at four point

20
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,800
Speaker 1: thirty in the morning. It's a forty five minute drive

21
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,720
Speaker 1: from there to the Beaver Pond. We'll get there at

22
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,200
Speaker 1: five fifteen. It's a ten minute walk at most, and

23
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,240
Speaker 1: we can be chunking decoys by five point thirty shooting

24
00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,440
Speaker 1: iurs ain't till six nineteen. That'll give us plenty a time.

25
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,440
Speaker 1: I was on the phone with my lifelong friend who's

26
00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,280
Speaker 1: more of a brother than friend. We grew up together,

27
00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,160
Speaker 1: played baseball, football. We're roommates for a spell back in

28
00:01:54,280 --> 00:02:00,200
Speaker 1: our younger years and have never not been close when

29
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,040
Speaker 1: we lived far away from each other. He's the friend

30
00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,240
Speaker 1: that you don't have to talk to every day, every week,

31
00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,080
Speaker 1: or even every year. You just pick up right where

32
00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,840
Speaker 1: you left off the last time, the moment you seem

33
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,480
Speaker 1: He's that kind of friend, and I love him dearly.

34
00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:25,160
Speaker 1: He used to be notoriously lated for everything, and he

35
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,079
Speaker 1: had been since I'd known him. We met in the

36
00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:34,320
Speaker 1: third grade and became friends immediately all through school and

37
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:39,200
Speaker 1: after this cat ran on his own caliber. He was

38
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,880
Speaker 1: and is loyal to a fault, but his clock ran

39
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:48,240
Speaker 1: anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes behind everyone else's. Dude

40
00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,720
Speaker 1: could take a nap at the drop of a hat.

41
00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,840
Speaker 1: I don't know how many times when we lived together

42
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,960
Speaker 1: that on a weekend evening when we planned to go

43
00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,520
Speaker 1: somewhere and do something together after work, that i'd be

44
00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:03,920
Speaker 1: ready in waiting in the living room for him to

45
00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:11,800
Speaker 1: get ready, waiting and wait and waiting, I mutually planned

46
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,800
Speaker 1: and agreed upon departure. Time would come and go, and

47
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,840
Speaker 1: the light would still be shining out from under the

48
00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,720
Speaker 1: bathroom door. I call his name and get no answer.

49
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,320
Speaker 1: I check his room and he wasn't there. No where

50
00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,679
Speaker 1: did he go. I called across the street to a

51
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,799
Speaker 1: relative's house. No, he's not here. I look out the

52
00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:35,720
Speaker 1: window and I can see his car parked in front

53
00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,400
Speaker 1: of y'all's house. Now, the first time it scared me

54
00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:41,800
Speaker 1: until I opened the bathroom door and I found him

55
00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,600
Speaker 1: asleep in the tub. I yelled at him, thinking he

56
00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,080
Speaker 1: was dead, only to have him confess that his lips

57
00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,000
Speaker 1: turning blue was due to the water being so cold.

58
00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:55,680
Speaker 1: For the love of humanity, how could anyone sleep in

59
00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:00,080
Speaker 1: cold water, I don't know, but he did it. I

60
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,480
Speaker 1: believe he could have slept just as well on top

61
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,640
Speaker 1: of the stove or in the oven for that matter. Now,

62
00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 1: he's a good duck hunter, and a pretty good shot

63
00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,440
Speaker 1: as well. It was good to have along to help

64
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,800
Speaker 1: put ducks on the stringer. He's also a lot of

65
00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,640
Speaker 1: fun to have around it makes me laugh, and has

66
00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,920
Speaker 1: enough nervous energy to never slow down until he literally

67
00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,320
Speaker 1: falls asleep if you'll never rollerskate on empty holes in

68
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,240
Speaker 1: the duck climb when he's around, because he never met

69
00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,320
Speaker 1: a mess he didn't want to clean up. Now, who

70
00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,599
Speaker 1: couldn't love a guy like that, not to mention that

71
00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:42,040
Speaker 1: he's an absolute wonderful human being, which is just another

72
00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,680
Speaker 1: attribute of why he's so well thought of by everyone

73
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,039
Speaker 1: that knows. It wasn't for that being late thing I'd

74
00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:55,599
Speaker 1: adopted myself, which reminds me of this little story, so

75
00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:01,440
Speaker 1: bear with me. Once upon a time, moons ago, when

76
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,839
Speaker 1: we were roommates, my friend and I stopped at a

77
00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,040
Speaker 1: convenience store to buy some potato chips and cold drinks

78
00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,480
Speaker 1: on our way home to watch the Arkansas play basketball

79
00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,880
Speaker 1: on TV. Now, my buddy has a baby face and

80
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,839
Speaker 1: has since he was an actual baby when we graduated

81
00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,360
Speaker 1: high school. He could have turned around and gone undercover

82
00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,279
Speaker 1: in elementary school. Is a six foot fourth grader. Me,

83
00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,120
Speaker 1: on the other hand, I started shaving in the seventh

84
00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,800
Speaker 1: grade and you could see gray hair on my knocking

85
00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,640
Speaker 1: in my senior pictures. We were born less than six

86
00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:41,720
Speaker 1: months apart. Anyway, there we are standing together at the

87
00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,200
Speaker 1: counter when the lady who's ringing up our purchases says,

88
00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,560
Speaker 1: and what are you two gentlemen up to on a

89
00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,279
Speaker 1: Friday night? I told her, as I handed her some money,

90
00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,640
Speaker 1: We're going home to watch the razorbacks play. She looked

91
00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:57,880
Speaker 1: up at both of us, who were standing side by

92
00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,800
Speaker 1: side looking back at her, and this is what she said,

93
00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:05,040
Speaker 1: and I quote, I think that's so cool, a father

94
00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:09,240
Speaker 1: and son spending a Friday night together watching a ball game.

95
00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,880
Speaker 1: I looked at her and tell she was serious. I

96
00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,040
Speaker 1: looked over at my pardner, who was now grinted like

97
00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,960
Speaker 1: a baked possum, who then looked over at me and said,

98
00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:26,720
Speaker 1: thanks dad. Anyway, back to the original story, old babyface,

99
00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,000
Speaker 1: me and another couple of folks were planning on thinning

100
00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 1: the duck population down by four limits the following morning.

101
00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,320
Speaker 1: I'd already called the other two and said, we're pulling

102
00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,839
Speaker 1: out of cars one stop in the morning at four

103
00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:44,680
Speaker 1: point thirty. Be there or be square. Now, my buddy

104
00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,080
Speaker 1: with the slow running internal clock and I were grown

105
00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,280
Speaker 1: and living on our own By this time, we were

106
00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,680
Speaker 1: knee deep in separate careers, making house and car payments,

107
00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,080
Speaker 1: and doing all the adult things that adults do. So

108
00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,320
Speaker 1: when I said be a Carls, which was a bait

109
00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,080
Speaker 1: shop and forting goods retailer on the south end of Warren, Arkansas,

110
00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,680
Speaker 1: where like minded folks would use as a meeting spot

111
00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,640
Speaker 1: for hunting and fishing trips, I assumed everyone would be

112
00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,280
Speaker 1: at Carls by four fifteen. Heck, I got there at

113
00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,200
Speaker 1: ten after four, and I was the third one of

114
00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,360
Speaker 1: our group to get there. It was the three of

115
00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:23,640
Speaker 1: us hanging out and waiting on old babyface. We cracked

116
00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,880
Speaker 1: open one of our thermoses of coffee, combined, I gear

117
00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,760
Speaker 1: into one suv for the forty five minute ride over

118
00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,360
Speaker 1: to the Beaver Pond and discuss where we'd set up

119
00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,720
Speaker 1: in the beaver pond once we got there, where the

120
00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,520
Speaker 1: recent rains had pushed water out into a hardwood flat

121
00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:44,119
Speaker 1: where ducks were known to congregate. Four point fifteen turned

122
00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:48,880
Speaker 1: into four twenty five. Where is this dude? There were

123
00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,200
Speaker 1: no cell phones back then. When you hung out with people,

124
00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:54,200
Speaker 1: you actually had to look at them and talk to them,

125
00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,040
Speaker 1: unless there was a payphone close or you barred someone's

126
00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,360
Speaker 1: house phone. There was no calling any away from the crib.

127
00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,520
Speaker 1: At five am here he came sliding up in the

128
00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,600
Speaker 1: parking lot like he was late for work, which, as

129
00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:13,200
Speaker 1: far as I was concerned, he was, I overslept. Sorry man.

130
00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:15,880
Speaker 1: He threw his stuff in the back and we lit

131
00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,600
Speaker 1: a ship for the duck hole. We took turns trying

132
00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:21,600
Speaker 1: to make him cry for being late, and had to

133
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,280
Speaker 1: paint the road red to get there. With enough time

134
00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,040
Speaker 1: to get exactly where we wanted set up, just like

135
00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,600
Speaker 1: we talked about before. Shooting time came and we barely

136
00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:35,760
Speaker 1: made it. It was cold, clear, a bluebird day, with

137
00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,559
Speaker 1: a north wind just stout enough to push the three

138
00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,360
Speaker 1: dozen decoys around that we brought with us. It was

139
00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,520
Speaker 1: a morning that you hear about, one of those mornings

140
00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,240
Speaker 1: you read about high flying ducks that broke down when

141
00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:55,319
Speaker 1: you started calling to him from we up there that

142
00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:58,199
Speaker 1: circle just long enough to slow down then drop through

143
00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,760
Speaker 1: the trees and bunches of thirty fifty landing all around you,

144
00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,920
Speaker 1: while some hovered above the gaggle of ducks that had

145
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,600
Speaker 1: just lit, looking for a spot to light themselves. We

146
00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:13,200
Speaker 1: had four limits in short order. The beginning of the

147
00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,840
Speaker 1: morning all but forgotten as we rode back home, still

148
00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,880
Speaker 1: talking about the grand adventure we'd all just shared. We

149
00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,880
Speaker 1: pulled back into Carl's parking lot, divided up the ducks,

150
00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:28,080
Speaker 1: took possession of our guns and gear, and collectively agreed

151
00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,640
Speaker 1: we'd do it all over again in the morning. I

152
00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,280
Speaker 1: dressed the group, but was looking at old babyface when

153
00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:40,920
Speaker 1: I said be there or b square. At four five

154
00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,320
Speaker 1: the next morning, I was once again the third man

155
00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,079
Speaker 1: of our forsom to pull in, having been beaten by

156
00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,400
Speaker 1: the other two by a matter of moments. We started

157
00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,000
Speaker 1: our routine of combining all our plunder into one ride.

158
00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:56,480
Speaker 1: Other hunters were meeting there as well, and with every

159
00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,040
Speaker 1: new set of headlights that turned in off the highway,

160
00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,840
Speaker 1: we looked for our s straggler, only to see a

161
00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,360
Speaker 1: different group of folks gather all their shooters and take

162
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:15,520
Speaker 1: off four point fifteen for twenty four twenty five. Anybody

163
00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:19,040
Speaker 1: talked to him last night? No, The last thing we

164
00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,480
Speaker 1: said was the same time tomorrow before we all left

165
00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:31,920
Speaker 1: yesterday four thirty four thirty five, four forty and here

166
00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:37,320
Speaker 1: he came, same deal as the day before. Sorry, I

167
00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:42,080
Speaker 1: overslept again. We tried to make him cry. He did not.

168
00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,120
Speaker 1: We headed to the same spot as the day before,

169
00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,240
Speaker 1: after getting a late start, had to settle for a

170
00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:58,120
Speaker 1: different spot because we'd been beat to our first choice.

171
00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,280
Speaker 1: They were walking away from the parking spot as we

172
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,000
Speaker 1: were pulling in. We scrapped out a couple of ducks

173
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,760
Speaker 1: at our spot and were forced to watch and listen

174
00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,800
Speaker 1: as clouds of ducks dropped in that hole, only to

175
00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,720
Speaker 1: get goosele chopped by a bunch of strangers before a

176
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:19,360
Speaker 1: cat could lick its behind. Duck hunting is like real estate.

177
00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,480
Speaker 1: It's all about the location, and when they prefer a

178
00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,600
Speaker 1: different spot, there's nothing you're going to do to change

179
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,320
Speaker 1: their minds. We were watching a duck hunt instead of

180
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:36,720
Speaker 1: participating in one, all because of mister Sleepy. Someone suggested

181
00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,080
Speaker 1: leaving earlier in the morning, several rude comments directed to

182
00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,679
Speaker 1: mister Sleepy later, and we'd all agreed to leave at

183
00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,200
Speaker 1: four point fifteen from Carls the next morning. We want

184
00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:49,760
Speaker 1: to make sure you we'll get there in time to

185
00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,360
Speaker 1: beat those folks. As the whole look pal at four

186
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:57,319
Speaker 1: fifteen in the morning, we're leaving Carls. If you're there

187
00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,920
Speaker 1: at four sixteen you'll be by your he laughed, and

188
00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:06,640
Speaker 1: he said, I'll be there the next morning. I leaned

189
00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,440
Speaker 1: up against the tree. I was sidled up to two

190
00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,920
Speaker 1: mornings before the sky was waking up with the astronomical

191
00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:18,040
Speaker 1: term of civil twilight. As whistling wings and silhouettes and

192
00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,480
Speaker 1: ducks began their daily ritual of leaving the flooded fields

193
00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,560
Speaker 1: to rest in the confines of the timber we waited

194
00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,800
Speaker 1: past legal shooting to get started, watching group after group

195
00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,959
Speaker 1: falling through the hardwood canopy, slapping limbs in each other

196
00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,280
Speaker 1: as they splashed down into the decoys and beside us.

197
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,079
Speaker 1: Once the light got good enough to see clearly, we

198
00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:46,080
Speaker 1: went to work, taking our time, even taking turns, trying

199
00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,800
Speaker 1: to stretch the morning out to more than just a

200
00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,480
Speaker 1: few minutes on this last day before the season closed

201
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:57,360
Speaker 1: for a week during the mandatory split. Once the last

202
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:02,120
Speaker 1: of the limit was reached, the three of us sat

203
00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,040
Speaker 1: back and someone said out loud, I wonder what mister

204
00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:11,440
Speaker 1: sleepy's doing right now. I responded with learning not to

205
00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:24,560
Speaker 1: be late, and that's just how that happened. Being late

206
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,400
Speaker 1: to anything drives me crazy. I have a condition about it.

207
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:33,120
Speaker 1: My wife, Alexis, has a phobia I thought I did

208
00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,040
Speaker 1: until I met her. She stone cold serious about being

209
00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,520
Speaker 1: on time and will leave me just like I left

210
00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,200
Speaker 1: my buddy on that duck hunt way back yonder, not

211
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,600
Speaker 1: to mention that it's downright rude and socially unacceptable. I

212
00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,240
Speaker 1: was reminded of the story I just told you all

213
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,760
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago by some friends of mine. Now,

214
00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,600
Speaker 1: these are college ads, young men who have the drive

215
00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:59,000
Speaker 1: to go day after day when they have the opportunity

216
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,480
Speaker 1: to do so, and sleep to be able to find

217
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,560
Speaker 1: the spot of their own to chase ducks. I know

218
00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,240
Speaker 1: these young men, and they are not the cogs in

219
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,880
Speaker 1: the wheels of calamity that is modern day duck hunting

220
00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:14,400
Speaker 1: on public land in Arkansas. Quite the contrary, they are

221
00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,480
Speaker 1: an example to not only their peers, but to the

222
00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:21,120
Speaker 1: adults who have helped perpetrate the chaos over the last

223
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,120
Speaker 1: decade that has driven a wedge between public land users

224
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,680
Speaker 1: and cause the divide we all find ourselves in now.

225
00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,640
Speaker 1: I have no desire to bandy words with anyone on

226
00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,440
Speaker 1: this subject about who's the fault here, But there's two

227
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,840
Speaker 1: things that I can bring to light. The young folks.

228
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:41,920
Speaker 1: I'm talking about couldn't hunt by themselves when the public

229
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,520
Speaker 1: land duck hunting war started, and a big portion of

230
00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,160
Speaker 1: the folks working to try to change the dynamic of

231
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,880
Speaker 1: what's happened today to what it was years before it

232
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:58,240
Speaker 1: all started, Well, they couldn't either anyway. Two of these

233
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,800
Speaker 1: young men had planned to meet up with two more

234
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:04,800
Speaker 1: folks of their same generation the following morning to go hunting.

235
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,800
Speaker 1: The father of one of these boys and I were

236
00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,840
Speaker 1: going as well, but we decided a long time ago

237
00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,320
Speaker 1: that worrying about getting somewhere first was a lot less

238
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,960
Speaker 1: problematic when you have a private spot to go to.

239
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,600
Speaker 1: I realize not everyone has that luxury, but I also

240
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,880
Speaker 1: don't care. I work and save to be able to

241
00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,720
Speaker 1: afford it, and I've leased land to duck hunt on

242
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:33,040
Speaker 1: twice in my life. The first time was when Tim

243
00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,200
Speaker 1: and I were guiding and the state made it illegal

244
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,360
Speaker 1: to guide hunters on the public land. Even then, we

245
00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:41,440
Speaker 1: had to take guests to be able to afford it,

246
00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,920
Speaker 1: so we never went by ourselves. It was always like

247
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,080
Speaker 1: being at work. Now I have friends that I like

248
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,560
Speaker 1: to hunt with, and we found a place close to

249
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,560
Speaker 1: the camp that we can sleep late drive over to

250
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:57,960
Speaker 1: climbing our spots in the blind and shoot a duck

251
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,720
Speaker 1: or two down again. It's quite a more relaxed way

252
00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,480
Speaker 1: of enjoying this time of year. I still have the

253
00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:07,480
Speaker 1: desire and the fire to sit in the wet and

254
00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,080
Speaker 1: the cold, hoping for just an opportunity of poking the

255
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,880
Speaker 1: business into my scattered gun, up a mount of ducks behind,

256
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,120
Speaker 1: and turning it loose. I have sat for hours before shooting,

257
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,720
Speaker 1: time to the last second of legal light in the

258
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,640
Speaker 1: evening to do it, having never busted a cap, eyeballs peeled,

259
00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,200
Speaker 1: having to make myself blink thinking I might miss something.

260
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:35,120
Speaker 1: Now I don't care. Ducks quit flying for forty five minutes,

261
00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,200
Speaker 1: How would I know I've been gone for thirty of them.

262
00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,840
Speaker 1: I'm back at the cabin, trying to drown a biscuit

263
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,560
Speaker 1: in salt milk gravy while eating the whole setting of eggs.

264
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,640
Speaker 1: My priorities have shifted from the stringer to the couch.

265
00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,520
Speaker 1: But we ain't talking about me. We're talking about these

266
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,800
Speaker 1: young men who I had invited to come stay at

267
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:56,600
Speaker 1: the cabin with us so they could get a head

268
00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:01,360
Speaker 1: start on the foot race the following morning. They were

269
00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,720
Speaker 1: counting on their other two pals to beat feet to

270
00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,919
Speaker 1: the spot, while they came in later with one of

271
00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,959
Speaker 1: them's younger brother. All three of them were staying with

272
00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:14,520
Speaker 1: me all evening. I watched them trying to get hold

273
00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:16,680
Speaker 1: of their friends who were gonna be the early birds,

274
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:19,560
Speaker 1: the ones who were gonna save them a spot, to

275
00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:21,600
Speaker 1: bring the little brother too, so he could have the

276
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:26,440
Speaker 1: opportunity that big boys did. Looks like they dipped us.

277
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,720
Speaker 1: One of them said out loud, Now is that good

278
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,199
Speaker 1: or bad? I don't know what that means. Well, it

279
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,440
Speaker 1: turns out it's bad. They ghosted them. They left them

280
00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,760
Speaker 1: in a lurch. They left them behind and dry. They

281
00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,240
Speaker 1: depended on those two to help them take the little

282
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,080
Speaker 1: brother to a good spot, and had been abandoned at

283
00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:47,840
Speaker 1: the second most critical time of the whole operation, the

284
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,480
Speaker 1: night before. The only thing that would have been worse

285
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,560
Speaker 1: was waking up the next day and walking into the

286
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,959
Speaker 1: spot to find other folks there that you didn't know,

287
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,919
Speaker 1: Your friends nowhere to be seen, and it too late

288
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:05,520
Speaker 1: to find your own spot somewhere else. Your pals peed

289
00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,720
Speaker 1: on your fire, didn't they. He looked at me and

290
00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:10,919
Speaker 1: did the math in his head, figuring out what I

291
00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:14,959
Speaker 1: just said to him and answered, oh, yes, sir, I

292
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,280
Speaker 1: think they did. We all just come go with us

293
00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,440
Speaker 1: in the morning. We can sleep late. We can drive

294
00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,399
Speaker 1: the canem to the blind, unload all our stuff, and

295
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,640
Speaker 1: sit in comfort while we hunt. Someone beats us to there,

296
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:33,120
Speaker 1: they're trespassing and they ain't gonna be in there very long. Well,

297
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,160
Speaker 1: they liked that idea. Now I like that idea. My friend,

298
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:39,800
Speaker 1: who was already going with me, like that idea even

299
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,600
Speaker 1: more because one of those young folks was his son.

300
00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,280
Speaker 1: Would be an opportunity for them to hunt together that

301
00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:50,040
Speaker 1: he didn't know was coming. None of us knew. It

302
00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,199
Speaker 1: was just the way it all worked out. And we

303
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,600
Speaker 1: watched TV for a while, and then I headed to bed,

304
00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:58,720
Speaker 1: and I told the youngsters on my way that we

305
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,720
Speaker 1: were leaving the cabin the next morning at five thirty.

306
00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:06,480
Speaker 1: They were ready to go at five thirty one, they

307
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,040
Speaker 1: wouldn't be hunting with me. And if they didn't believe

308
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:15,520
Speaker 1: I'd leave them, they could ask mister sleepy. I hope

309
00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,240
Speaker 1: all of you are on time for visits and hunts

310
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,720
Speaker 1: with your family and friends for the holidays, regardless of

311
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,080
Speaker 1: what or how you celebrate. I hope you find the

312
00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:25,919
Speaker 1: time to share it with the folks that love you,

313
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,359
Speaker 1: or is in my case, we'll tolerate you up to

314
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,000
Speaker 1: a point. Thanks so much for listening, and I hope

315
00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:34,800
Speaker 1: to see you out on the road at one of

316
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,040
Speaker 1: the live shows that are starting up here pretty soon

317
00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,840
Speaker 1: until next week, This says Brent Reeves, signing off, y'all

318
00:19:42,840 --> 00:20:00,840
Speaker 1: be careful movies