1 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to this Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Riggs 2 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: I want you to stay a while as I share 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,479 Speaker 1: my stories and the country skills that will help you 5 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 8 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 9 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: think I got a thing or two to teach me. 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: Cold fronts, Good night, nurse. It's cold and Arkansas folks 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: a lot colder than we're used to and it's all 12 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: because of a big old cold front. And normally we 13 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: look forward to them because they usually ramps up the 14 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: hunting this time of year, but these major ones they 15 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: do just the opposite most of the time. We're gonna 16 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: talk about coal from us today, but first I'm going 17 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: to tell you a story. This story is called Dynamite, 18 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: Ice and Rice. I know more dynamite. I don't want 19 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: you to think that my life was just full of 20 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: stories and incidents that involved explosives, but there were a few, 21 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: and it wasn't limited to dealing with beaver dams. And 22 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: flooded timber. Not this time anyway. This was all due 23 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: to a major coal front and duck hunting right after 24 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: the turn of the century. The most recent one. My 25 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: brother Tim and I were prepping for a group of 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: hunters from the East Coast. A large percentage of our 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: clients hailed from up and down the Eastern seaboard, and 28 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: they always seemed to travel in herds. Now, other than 29 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: a few exceptions, if we got one of those rascals, 30 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: we got a whole passl of them. Not a problem. 31 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: Tim and I would try. I had a limited number 32 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: of hunters booking at the same time, to about eight, 33 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: and we would split them up and hunt four to 34 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: a guide for safety, and it's easier to hide a 35 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: smaller number of folks in the woods, which is where 36 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: we did the largest portion of our hunting. After all. 37 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: That's why folks travel to Arkansas to duck hunt. They 38 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: want to experience what it's like to have large groups 39 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: of ducks falling into the timber and hovering above the decoys. 40 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: It's one of my favorite things, but seeing others see 41 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: it for the first time is probably my most favorite 42 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: of ault. It's one of those if you know you know, moments, 43 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: and it has to be experienced in the flesh. Pictures, 44 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: stories and even films don't do it justice. Feeling the 45 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: air generated from the thump of beaten wings here, and 46 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: chattering and quacking of drakes and hens as they jockey 47 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: for position to land during the final approach, the splashing 48 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: of feathered bodies as they turn graceful flight into what 49 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: resembles amateur night at the dim Anglicien Derby for the 50 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: final few feet of descent to the surface of knee 51 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: deep water. That's the ticket, man, that's the show. That's 52 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,679 Speaker 1: what you pay your money for. That's what you see 53 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: in your dreams when you lay down at night anticipating 54 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: the next morning's hunt. It plays over and over in 55 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: your head, and like that, one good golf shot out 56 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: of a thousand bad ones keeps a golfer coming back 57 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,519 Speaker 1: to the tea box. The thought of having a chance 58 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: to witness a spectacle such as I just described is 59 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: what keeps a duck hunter spending his hard earned money 60 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: to travel halfway across the country and the off chance 61 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: that they might see it again or for the first time. Now, 62 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: the group we had coming would see none of that, 63 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: not even close, but they would see something just as incredible, 64 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: record lows, the product of a blast of Arctic air, 65 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: ice and snow. The can we talk about down here 66 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: forever and folks up north would probably call a Tuesday 67 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: was forecasted to hit a couple days before they arrived. 68 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: In Arkansas and South Arkansas anyway, any mention of snow 69 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:20,160 Speaker 1: and ice was anticipated as eagerly as Christmas. Any ice 70 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: on the road meant school would be closed and the 71 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: whole state was shut down with a quarter inch of 72 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 1: ice or sleep. Literally, I ain't kidding. As a youngin 73 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: I'd go to bed with snow and ice forecasted for 74 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: the following day, having already made my plans on what 75 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: I was going to be hunting the next day, tracking rabbits, quail, deer, 76 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: whatever was in season or close to being in season 77 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:47,720 Speaker 1: was on the agenda. Then I'd wake up to find 78 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: that the weather man had missed it. Once again, I 79 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: waited for the bus and the cold matter than a 80 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: mashed cat hating school and the weather man. But this time, however, 81 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: he nailed it. Temperatures in the twenties and several inches 82 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: of snow locked up the flooded woods, and Timber. Now 83 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: we told our clients about how everything was locking up, 84 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: but they wanted to come anyway, So Tim and I 85 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: scrambled to find a solution. Now we had an eighty 86 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: acre rice field at least next to forty acres of 87 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,600 Speaker 1: woods that bordered the world famous by Meat of Wildlife 88 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: management area we called by a Meat of the Public 89 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: Shooting Grounds or the Scatters, among other local names. But 90 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: if hunters could get out to the main bow where 91 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: there was some current, they would keep the ducks moving 92 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: in and out instead of just sitting in there like 93 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: it was a sanctuary. There would be plenty of people 94 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: trying to get to those coveted open spots, so the 95 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: competition in there would be fierce, but it would work 96 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: to our advantage if we could just get some open water. 97 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: The evening our hunters arrived, we scouted the rice field, 98 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: which was fifteen minutes away from the camp. Now, ice 99 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: was already a quarter of an inch thick, and the 100 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 1: temperature wouldn't get close to thirty two for the next 101 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 1: few days. We drove a four wheeler out in the 102 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:07,559 Speaker 1: ice and in the water in front of the skid 103 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: blind we had brushed up in the middle of the field. 104 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: We were breaking up a large area of muddy open 105 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: water as we drove in circles and made it shine 106 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: like a diamond. Of ducks coming in with the coal 107 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: front and they were landing in it before we got 108 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,679 Speaker 1: back out on the turn road. To leave open water 109 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: would be the key to our success and a struggle 110 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: to maintain the blind would hold five people safely and comfortably. 111 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: Now that meant we had to stagger our groups. But 112 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: we had a plan that Tim would take his four 113 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: hunters and get in there at daylight. The trailer we 114 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: had for hauling the four wheeler would serve two purposes. 115 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: Once we arrived, he unload the four wheeler, then hook 116 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: it to the trailer to haul our hunters and all 117 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: their plunder along the turn row out to the blind. 118 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: He didn't hook the trailer and make a loop through 119 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: the ice where we were going to put the decoys 120 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: while our clients got in the blind. Now, once he 121 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: had the hole opened up, he'd parked a four wheeler 122 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,600 Speaker 1: behind the blind and start hunting. Ten would hunt from 123 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: the opening of shooting ires till around nine o'clock, and 124 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: then I'd have my crew there where we parked our trucks. 125 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: You're ready to swap out when he came out. It 126 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: was a good plan. The best part was I got 127 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: to sleep late. It had been a long season. My 128 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: Nokia fifty one to ten cell phone started buzzing before 129 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: seven o'clock. The message from ten was y'all come now, 130 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: all caps and with several exclamation marks. Well that wasn't 131 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: a good sign. It was barely shooting light outside and 132 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: my crew had just started getting up and moving around. 133 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: No doubt he's stuck or is having some kind of trouble, 134 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: I thought. So regardless, I needed to get them open, 135 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: get them moving with whatever had transpired at the rice field. Y'all, 136 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: get your stuff up and let's go. We got to 137 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: go right now. Something drong just now. If someone had 138 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: been hurt, he would have said that, so I knew 139 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: whatever the emergency was, it was hunting related and not 140 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: an issue of life and death. So like herding cats, 141 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: I finally got my folks and all their stuff in 142 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: my bronco and we took off. I'd messaged him a 143 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: couple of times to see if I needed to bring 144 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: anything other than what he knew was in my ride, 145 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: but he never answered. In my head, I'm thinking he's 146 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: elbow deep in cold ice and mud, and I figured 147 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: he couldn't answer. So about seven twenty when I pulled 148 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: up to the property and saw Tim with the trailer 149 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: loaded with all his hunters, making their way back toward 150 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: us along the levee. Immediately my mind raised as to 151 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: what we were going to do with these hunters. Now. 152 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: If he's driving back, he's obviously not stuck, so the 153 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: rice field must be frozen up beyond opening up. I figured, man, 154 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: they hadn't been there forty five minutes from the time 155 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: shooting ears opened up until now, and I had no 156 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: idea what we were going to do next. But Tim 157 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: must have a plan. Wouldn't have called me to come over. 158 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: We're sitting in the bronco and I turned to the 159 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: guys that were with me. I said, boys, I don't 160 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: know what's going on, but don't look like we're gonna 161 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: be hunting here today. Their disappointment was obvious, even though 162 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: they didn't say anything. But I was disappointed too. Now. 163 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,439 Speaker 1: As they got closer, one of them said, look at 164 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: all those ducks. I looked out across that field, and 165 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: ducks were piloted into that rice field from every direction. 166 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: I looked back at the trailers. Tim got closer and 167 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,239 Speaker 1: it was filled with mallard ducks and smiling duck hunters. 168 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: I started laughing. I said, y'all, get y'all, get your 169 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: stuff together. The B team is going in now. Tim 170 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: said it was an absolute dream. They couldn't spook the 171 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,439 Speaker 1: ducks out of the field. All his hunters were wanting 172 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: to tell their buddies about what they'd done, but I 173 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: was in a hurry to get them out there. Who 174 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: knew how long this would last, and I wanted all 175 00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: of them to have every opportunity to shoot ducks that 176 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: we could give them. So I got my boys loaded 177 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: up and we looked back at that rice field that 178 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: had a tordinata of ducks bombiting that muddy water. I 179 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: told Tim, y'all can wait here if you want. We're 180 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: gonna be back in a few minutes. He didn't wait, 181 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: but I wasn't wrong. Tim and his crew went back 182 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: to fix breakfast for all of us. It took us 183 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: longer to get ready at the camp and get there 184 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: than it did for us to shoot five limits of ducks. 185 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: Wave after wave of ducks being pushed into the area 186 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: where that coal front were falling into the decoys. It 187 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: was too cold to have my lab out there, so 188 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: I was picking up dead ducks and live ones were 189 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: still dropping in. As high as you could see a duck, 190 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: you could call at him, and immediately they locked up 191 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: and fell like a rock. Wings were pressed close to 192 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: their sides, and they sounded like a jet engine as 193 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: they gained speed, getting closer and closer. No circling, no, nothing, 194 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 1: straight down, like they were on a string. We were 195 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,199 Speaker 1: back at the camp before Tim could get the biscuits done. 196 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: We'd shot ten limits of mallards tag team style. But 197 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: what about tomorrow? What were we going to do about tomorrow? 198 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: Most folks are judging their jobs by their last performance. 199 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: A duck guide has to sell himself on what he's 200 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 1: going to do next, and I had no clue what 201 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: we were going to do. That ice would be too 202 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: thick to break with the four wheeler. Tim had a plan, though. 203 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: He knew what we were going to do next, and 204 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: what we were going to do next was going to 205 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: be just as entertaining as what we had just done. 206 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: We planned to hunt after the sun came up the 207 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: next day. It would give us time to safely put 208 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: our plan into action. We had acquired two sticks of 209 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: tovekx tovax more or less replaced dynamite than that. It 210 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,719 Speaker 1: was safer the store and handle back then you could 211 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: legally buy it. That's enough of that. That's not the 212 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: important part of the story. Anyway. Our plan was to 213 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: blow a hole in the ice that had become a 214 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: lot thicker through the night. Breaking it with a four 215 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: wheeler wasn't possible any longer. We could do doughnuts without 216 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: even trying. All ten of us were walking on the ice, 217 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: jumping up and down, trying to make a hole, slipping 218 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: and falling and generally risking life and limb. At one 219 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: point I looked around and everyone had fallen and was 220 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: on their backs, flopping around like someone had kicked over 221 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: the shining bucket in the bottom of the boat. It 222 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: was slick, and I'm not sure we could have broken 223 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: through with a truck. Enter tovex Tim with the explosives prepped, 224 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: He lit the fuse and we retreated to the relative 225 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: safety to witness the festivities. How long you cut that 226 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: fuse for tens old about any time now, And with 227 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: that it detonated with a large boom. Our clients were 228 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: cheering from the levee After they had all taken refuge 229 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: behind the four wheeler trailer about one hundred yards away. 230 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: Tim and I had tucked in behind the duck bline. 231 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: The results were less than we'd hope for, but we 232 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,719 Speaker 1: had managed to knock a hole in the ice, a 233 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,440 Speaker 1: hole almost big enough sticky foot in. Now we had 234 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 1: one more stick left, but decided against putting it in 235 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 1: that hole for fear of reckon the laser level filled 236 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: that we had leased. Doubtful the farmer would have appreciated 237 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: a big low spot in this dead center where we 238 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: were hunting the coming spring when planting time came, So 239 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: we all worked as hard as we could to make 240 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: that hole about the size of a kitchen table. The 241 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: biggest chunks of ice we slid into the ice that 242 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 1: we could that we couldn't break, or just lay it 243 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 1: on the outside of the hole. Then we threw three 244 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: decoys in it and called it good. It was all 245 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: we could do, and it worked like a charm. The 246 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: wind was steady, and the ducks that were coming in 247 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: were all migrators and looking for a place to sit, 248 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: no matter how small the hole was they wanted water. 249 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: It was literally the perfect storm. Temput all our hunters 250 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: into the blind and we stood behind it and we 251 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: shot another full ten man limit that afternoon, just like 252 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: we'd done the day before when we alternated groups. On 253 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: the third day, we were frozen solid and our guests 254 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 1: got an early start back home. We tried to talk 255 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: them out of coming at the beginning, but they wanted 256 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: to experience an Arkansas duck on now. While they didn't 257 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 1: get it in the classically historic sense, what they did 258 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: get was an experience with some Arkansas flare, and that's 259 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: just how that happened. Cold fronts, Man, We looked forward 260 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: to cold fronts as much as anything done. Number One, 261 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: it's going to start giving you some relief from the 262 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: heat that is the south. And number two, if you're 263 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: a duck hunter, it usually means more ducks are coming. 264 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: Ducks only go as far south as they have to. 265 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: They're fueling up to make it through the winter, select 266 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: a mate and travel back north to make more ducks. 267 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: So if stut guard Arkansas is as far south as 268 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: they need to go to have food and water, that's 269 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: where they'll spend the winter. If it stays warmer further 270 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: north will be their cold weather home. It's been my belief, 271 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: not from schooling, but from observation over the past almost 272 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 1: fifty years of chasing them, that ducks are energy hoarders, 273 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: and they're only going to burn enough to sufficiently stay 274 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: healthy enough to do what ducks do this time of year, 275 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: which again is to prep for making more ducks. Snow 276 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: and ice that cover and freeze all the food sources 277 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: up yonder force all the waterfowl to make tracks to 278 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: my neck of the woods. I remember watching the weather 279 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: man talking about all better bundle up and have plenty 280 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: of firewood on hand. There's a big coal front coming now. 281 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: My wife can hear a forecast like that, and she 282 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: starts inventoring wool socks and seeing how many she can 283 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: put on at the same time, just to stay inside. 284 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: All I hear him saying is Brent, you better get outside. 285 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: The critics are stirring now as I'm telling you all this. 286 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: I've been locked in the house for the past three 287 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: days because a particularly big coal front came through, bringing snow, ice, 288 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: and single digit temps in a historically low water year 289 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: that froze the water. We did have while giving the 290 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: lowest duck numbers recorded in the past twenty five years, 291 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: the old boot in the breeches, kicking them on down 292 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: the road. The light at the end of the tunnel 293 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: is it'll start warming up in the next day or 294 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: so and the ducks should start moving back in before 295 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: duck seasoned plump slips away. Now that's the ebb and 296 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: flow of coal fronts. Low duck numbers and unprecedented lower 297 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: There was a time when I wouldn't have missed a 298 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: minute of it, and Tim and I would have been 299 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: somewhere where there was open flowing water, even in this 300 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: severe cold, because there's one thing that's one hundred percent 301 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: guaranteed in nature, and that there is no one hundred 302 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: percent guarantees all the water doesn't freeze, all the ducks 303 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: don't leave, and all the duck hunters don't stay home. 304 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 1: Derek Reynolds a man who was first introduced to me 305 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,119 Speaker 1: and Tim when he was a teenager. He wanted to 306 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: duck hunt and needed someone to take him, and we did, 307 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: and Derek became a member of our family. He now 308 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: has a beautiful family of his own, and he became 309 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,560 Speaker 1: a staple at our guide service when he was a kid, 310 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: and if we'd ever had an official mascot, it would 311 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: have been him. And once they got to do with 312 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,680 Speaker 1: cole fronts, well, I'll tell you. Derek sent me in 313 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: tim a pitcher this morning. It was ten degrees and 314 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: Derek and a friend of his were posing with two 315 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: limits of ducks. There was some open flowing water in 316 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: the background. The picture made me shiver just looking at it. 317 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,360 Speaker 1: An aluminum boat with frozen mud, dirty snow, and covered 318 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: with ice. The mount of clothes those boys were wearing 319 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,159 Speaker 1: reminded me of Randy in the movie A Christmas Story. 320 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: My response to this text was heck yeah, But in 321 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: parentheses I wrote, I'm glad I wasn't there, but that 322 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 1: was a lie. I would have been there. I've been 323 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: stoke for the past three days to get out and 324 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 1: see what's shaking in the woods. And I'm not sure 325 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: if it's habit and learned behavior or genetically ingrained in 326 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: me to be outside when it's cold, but that's where 327 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,239 Speaker 1: I want to be. Maybe cold fronts affect me just 328 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: like they do other creatures. Now, I don't have any 329 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: scientific data to back that up, but I bet there's 330 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 1: something to it. I do know the coon stay in 331 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 1: the den for the most part where I live when 332 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 1: it's this cold, so cutting whaling loose would be more 333 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: like an exercise and futility. If I wanted to tree 334 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: a coon outside of his den, and with my duck 335 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: holes frozen up and dear not moving much, I've had 336 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:16,919 Speaker 1: to lay up in the house and wait out the 337 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: cold TIMPs, just like an old boor coon, getting more 338 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: anxious every day. Then, when I thought staring out the 339 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,920 Speaker 1: window at iced over roads and snow was going to 340 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: be my new hobby, a road greater and a salt 341 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: truck passed by my house. Then Michael Rosemand called and said, 342 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: get your stuff together. I've got some beagles and we're 343 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: going rabbit hunting. Man, old man, how I love a 344 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: cold front in this country life of mine. Thank y'all 345 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 1: so much for listening. Chuck a big log in that 346 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: fireplace that'll still be burning when you get back home. 347 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: Bundle up and get yourself outside, take someone with you, 348 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,400 Speaker 1: and enjoy the gifts of winter. We don't know how 349 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,640 Speaker 1: many of these we're going to get, and we need 350 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: to take advantage and revel and the ones we did 351 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: Until next week This is Brent Reed signing off. Y'all 352 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: be careful.