WEBVTT - Ep. 244: This Country Life - Safety First, Usually

0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:08.639
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves

0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.719
<v Speaker 1>from cone hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:14.720
<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay a while as I share

0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:19.240
<v Speaker 1>my experiences and life lessons. This country Life is presented

0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:23.239
<v Speaker 1>by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you

0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:28.280
<v Speaker 1>the best outdoor podcast the airwaves have to offer. All right, friends,

0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.840
<v Speaker 1>grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some

0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:43.960
<v Speaker 1>stories to share. Safety first. Usually, safety is said to

0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.920
<v Speaker 1>be everyone's job. I believe that to be true, because

0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.000
<v Speaker 1>nothing can ruin a grand adventure quicker than someone getting hurt.

0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.400
<v Speaker 1>Being in the outdoors enhances the risk of accidents and injury.

0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:57.800
<v Speaker 1>But there are things we can do to put the

0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:01.160
<v Speaker 1>odds on our side. I tell you about some I

0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.200
<v Speaker 1>think you should know. But first, I'm going to tell

0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:13.400
<v Speaker 1>you a story now that it's starting to cool off somewhat.

0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:15.920
<v Speaker 1>A few days ago, it was only one hundred here

0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.720
<v Speaker 1>in Arkansas, but I catched myself reminiscing and longing for

0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.679
<v Speaker 1>time spent in cooler temperatures. I was also putting together

0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:27.199
<v Speaker 1>an outline for this week's podcast about safety and thought

0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:32.040
<v Speaker 1>which misadventure should be a good way to start the show. Well,

0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.600
<v Speaker 1>with a seemingly endless catalog of calamity and near missus

0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.600
<v Speaker 1>that grows bigger nearly every time I get out of bed.

0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.600
<v Speaker 1>I settled on this one that happened during a particularly

0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:46.640
<v Speaker 1>bitter cold front. Back around nineteen ninety five. Tim and

0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:49.080
<v Speaker 1>I were just getting necked deep in the duck guid

0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.680
<v Speaker 1>in business and had a group of hunters from North

0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.960
<v Speaker 1>Carolina on their first of what would be several years.

0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:58.480
<v Speaker 1>The majority of them would book hunts with us. The

0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.560
<v Speaker 1>big cold front had pushed in with their arrival, and

0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:03.440
<v Speaker 1>hunting in the woods was going to be hard to

0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.720
<v Speaker 1>do with everything freezing up. For those that don't know,

0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:09.400
<v Speaker 1>ducks prefer open water to roost and rest in, and

0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.240
<v Speaker 1>when the flooded timber and fields lock up due to

0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.280
<v Speaker 1>the water not moving to stay open. There was one

0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:19.000
<v Speaker 1>place you could count on them going, the Arkansas River,

0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:23.160
<v Speaker 1>and it was right out the back door. We had

0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:24.959
<v Speaker 1>a place that we hunted, a lot that was open

0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:28.560
<v Speaker 1>to the public, just like hunting on Wildlife Management Area land.

0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.880
<v Speaker 1>Whoever got their first claim the spot. Now, with that

0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.960
<v Speaker 1>in mind, somebody had to go early to claim it

0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:40.320
<v Speaker 1>for us. Tim volunteered and a pair of North Carolinians

0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.920
<v Speaker 1>would go with him. Tim and his charges hit the

0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:45.079
<v Speaker 1>river that morning, a couple hours ahead of when I

0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.799
<v Speaker 1>would be bringing the rest of the crew, and there

0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:51.680
<v Speaker 1>was nine of us total, seven hunters and me and Tim.

0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.080
<v Speaker 1>Tim took all the decoys in his boat and would

0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.480
<v Speaker 1>meet me back at the boat rent when I arrived

0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.519
<v Speaker 1>to help haul everyone else. Three hunters in his boat

0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:05.360
<v Speaker 1>and the other two with me. Now there was no

0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.680
<v Speaker 1>way to safely haul them all in, all the decoys

0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.640
<v Speaker 1>and two boats in one trip, so we knew the

0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:13.920
<v Speaker 1>seven mile round trip would take a little bit, but

0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.399
<v Speaker 1>it would be worth it to be on the safe side.

0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:19.960
<v Speaker 1>It was in the pitch black dark and in the

0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.000
<v Speaker 1>high twenties when Tim got to the point of land

0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:26.120
<v Speaker 1>that stuck out of the backwater slough that we hunted.

0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.880
<v Speaker 1>It was off the main channel nearly a mile, and

0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.720
<v Speaker 1>had we been hunting deer there, you would have called

0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:36.480
<v Speaker 1>this place a pinch point. Now, beyond that pinch point

0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.000
<v Speaker 1>of land it opened back up into a big backwater bay,

0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.160
<v Speaker 1>and depending on the river level, it could be as

0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:45.440
<v Speaker 1>much as twenty acres or more of water that was

0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:49.600
<v Speaker 1>perfect for resting ducks. Now, I can't tell you how

0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:51.680
<v Speaker 1>many times we watched ducks light out in the middle

0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:53.800
<v Speaker 1>of that big open water when there wasn't any wind

0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.880
<v Speaker 1>or ice. The first group of twenty or more of

0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.240
<v Speaker 1>a morning would sit down out there in relative safety,

0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.040
<v Speaker 1>and then we'd be in for a day of just

0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.400
<v Speaker 1>seeing all the rest of them fall a suit until

0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.200
<v Speaker 1>it was time for us to head back to camp.

0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.440
<v Speaker 1>Now we'd scrap out some here and there that buzz

0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.840
<v Speaker 1>the decoys, but if the wind wasn't blowing, you could

0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.480
<v Speaker 1>just about bet the hunting wouldn't be nearly as good

0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.320
<v Speaker 1>as the scenery. It's like watching the National Geographic Channel

0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.880
<v Speaker 1>before there was such a thing. But if you had

0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:27.080
<v Speaker 1>wind of any speed and in any direction, you could

0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.440
<v Speaker 1>hunt it just fine. There was literally no wind direction

0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.200
<v Speaker 1>that we couldn't set up for by moving around to

0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.920
<v Speaker 1>different locations in that bay. The wind direction that day

0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:39.960
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't play a factor on how the ducks worked into

0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.360
<v Speaker 1>the decoys. It would, however, play into how we got

0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.400
<v Speaker 1>back home. And hour before shooting ours, we were at

0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.279
<v Speaker 1>the boat ramp, backing the boat in before I could

0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.240
<v Speaker 1>get the truck and trailer parked. Him pulled up, having

0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.120
<v Speaker 1>left his two hunters at the hunting spot. We got

0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.040
<v Speaker 1>the spot, he said, but it's full of ice. The

0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:01.760
<v Speaker 1>hole is froze up, so we're gonna have to break

0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:05.599
<v Speaker 1>it open. No problem. We done that before, and breaking

0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:07.559
<v Speaker 1>ice and pushing it out with a boat is simple

0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:11.200
<v Speaker 1>enough task. Tham's boat had a SEMIV hole that means

0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:13.600
<v Speaker 1>that front of the boat comes to a point instead

0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.000
<v Speaker 1>of having a square front. The V hole is great

0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.560
<v Speaker 1>for cutting waves and makes for a smoothie ride, but

0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.080
<v Speaker 1>when opening a frozen hole for shooting ducks, the flat

0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.160
<v Speaker 1>nose on my boat was way more effishent and here's why.

0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.719
<v Speaker 1>I made circle after circle, breaking up the ice where

0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.440
<v Speaker 1>we wanted to sit out the decoys, and I made

0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.760
<v Speaker 1>a hole in the ice about forty yards across. Then

0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:37.760
<v Speaker 1>I pulled my boat to the bank and parked it

0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.400
<v Speaker 1>with the nose of the boat against a tree. I

0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:44.159
<v Speaker 1>kicked the outboard into shallow water, drive, put it in gear,

0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.960
<v Speaker 1>and just let it idle. It takes two trees for

0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.720
<v Speaker 1>SEMIV boat to stay in one spot. You just got

0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.520
<v Speaker 1>to poke the nose in between them. But there wasn't

0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:58.159
<v Speaker 1>two trees available where we needed one. Mine fit perfectly.

0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.080
<v Speaker 1>The small amount of her was pulling the broken ice

0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.919
<v Speaker 1>down stream and the thrust of the island motor was

0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:08.120
<v Speaker 1>pushing all the broken ice out to where the floe was.

0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.400
<v Speaker 1>It was also mudding up the water like ducks had

0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.360
<v Speaker 1>been feeding in it and keeping it open. If any

0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.480
<v Speaker 1>ducks flew that day, we should be right on the x.

0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:20.240
<v Speaker 1>There would be no sitting out in the middle of

0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.240
<v Speaker 1>the bay that day. It was a solid sheet of

0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:26.920
<v Speaker 1>ice and we were the only game in town. We

0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.240
<v Speaker 1>put out two dozen decoys, stood our hunters beside the

0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:32.840
<v Speaker 1>trees on the bank, just a few feet away from

0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.640
<v Speaker 1>the edge of the water. They were hid, and Tim

0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.640
<v Speaker 1>and I anchored each end so we could call and

0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.400
<v Speaker 1>watch for ducks, keep control of the hunters and call

0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.599
<v Speaker 1>the shot. Ten to fifteen minutes of island, the boat

0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:50.039
<v Speaker 1>motor and we had the only spot that was sheltered

0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:52.520
<v Speaker 1>off the main channel and away from the strong current

0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:57.279
<v Speaker 1>that wasn't frozen. Ducks started bombing in a few minutes

0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.359
<v Speaker 1>before daylight, and the way the breeze funneled up that

0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:04.760
<v Speaker 1>slew it put them right in our face. We made

0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.000
<v Speaker 1>everyone keep their guns unloaded until the less than a

0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.640
<v Speaker 1>minute before shooting ears open. It was just to keep

0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.000
<v Speaker 1>the boys on the leash. The mallards were hovering within

0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:16.320
<v Speaker 1>a boat, paddling to the bank and hitting the water

0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.640
<v Speaker 1>like they were crashing, hoping to secure a spot in

0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:23.680
<v Speaker 1>our hole that was filling up with ducks. This was

0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.440
<v Speaker 1>fixing to get pretty sporty. We rang the bell and

0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:31.680
<v Speaker 1>it was an absolute feeding frenzy and the worst display

0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:33.960
<v Speaker 1>of shooting I believe I've ever been a witness to.

0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:38.680
<v Speaker 1>There was one cat shooting a ten gauge that was

0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.040
<v Speaker 1>running it to the plug on every volley. It was

0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:46.400
<v Speaker 1>like being in London during the Blitz. Nine folks shooting

0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:50.840
<v Speaker 1>ducks all at once and then boom, boom boomed that

0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:55.320
<v Speaker 1>ten gauge that never cut a feather. He was so

0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.240
<v Speaker 1>shook up by what was happening, and I'm not sure

0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.240
<v Speaker 1>he could have fell off a bucket and hit the grin.

0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.400
<v Speaker 1>He was even talking about one of us taking him

0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.360
<v Speaker 1>to Walmart to buy more shells up in the morning

0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:11.760
<v Speaker 1>after his second box ran dry. That's fifty shells of

0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.960
<v Speaker 1>shooting at ducks less than thirty yards away. They were

0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:18.400
<v Speaker 1>more or less stationary as they hovered looking for a

0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:22.960
<v Speaker 1>spot to light. It was brutal to witness. Well. We

0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.760
<v Speaker 1>finally got him and the rest of them calmed down

0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.760
<v Speaker 1>to agree, and with a barred shotgun and shells, he

0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:32.560
<v Speaker 1>started working on his limit. Now everyone was settling into

0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:36.000
<v Speaker 1>the once in a lifetime event. I know, folks that

0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.400
<v Speaker 1>have hundred dollar their lives here in Arkansas had never

0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.360
<v Speaker 1>seen what we saw that day. I promise you every

0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.080
<v Speaker 1>last one of them that was there remembers it just

0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.040
<v Speaker 1>as well as Tim and I do. We had to

0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.079
<v Speaker 1>choke them off the trough though before we shot all

0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.960
<v Speaker 1>our limits. Those cats were just shooting ducks and not

0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.640
<v Speaker 1>picking out the drakes. We warned them several times as

0:08:57.679 --> 0:08:59.560
<v Speaker 1>they were getting close to the hen limit, and if

0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.560
<v Speaker 1>they kept shooting them, we were going to have to

0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.719
<v Speaker 1>pull the plug on the hunt, regardless if we had

0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.760
<v Speaker 1>our total limit or not. Now we weren't about to

0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:10.760
<v Speaker 1>risk violating the law by shooting over the limit. Tim

0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:12.880
<v Speaker 1>and I both were in law enforcement and getting a

0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.520
<v Speaker 1>ticket like that could have been the end of our careers.

0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.200
<v Speaker 1>It also didn't look good to be in the guiding

0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:22.480
<v Speaker 1>business and breaking the law. The biggest reason is it

0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.720
<v Speaker 1>just wasn't right to begin with, and we weren't about

0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.360
<v Speaker 1>to let that happen, even on accident. So if it

0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:31.560
<v Speaker 1>meant airing on the side of caution. That's what we

0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:35.599
<v Speaker 1>were going to do. The same caution didn't apply to

0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.800
<v Speaker 1>navigating the river in a big wind, but it would

0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.839
<v Speaker 1>from that day on. But the lasting lessons, the good ones,

0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:46.480
<v Speaker 1>come with a high price, and we were about to

0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:57.120
<v Speaker 1>run our credit to the limit. The way we were

0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.840
<v Speaker 1>positioned on the point of land facing the duck Hoole

0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.040
<v Speaker 1>had our backs to a narrow shute that you could

0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.400
<v Speaker 1>see out toward the area that led out to the

0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:09.080
<v Speaker 1>main channel. Twice, just before we had the end to

0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:12.760
<v Speaker 1>hunt because of the hen count, Tim called me over

0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:14.720
<v Speaker 1>to look at the waves that were now moving in

0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.800
<v Speaker 1>the opposite direction from how they'd been moving when we

0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:21.440
<v Speaker 1>got there. The wind was still blowing in the same direction,

0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:24.080
<v Speaker 1>although it was much harder now, but I assumed it

0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.679
<v Speaker 1>was because of how it was funneling up that big

0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:30.280
<v Speaker 1>slew that we were hunting on, not because it had

0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:34.360
<v Speaker 1>totally switched directions out in the main channel. On the

0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.480
<v Speaker 1>section of the river where we were A west or

0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:41.640
<v Speaker 1>north wind of any magnitude was all good. It could

0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:45.400
<v Speaker 1>have blown forty miles an hour down the river, no problem.

0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.200
<v Speaker 1>But anything stout enough to fly a kite out of

0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.800
<v Speaker 1>the south or the east, or any combination thereof was

0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:56.280
<v Speaker 1>no bueno, and this wind was now kicking hard enough

0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.720
<v Speaker 1>to fly coffee table. The problem with wind in that

0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.920
<v Speaker 1>direction is that it's blowing against the downward current of

0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:06.880
<v Speaker 1>the river. The wind was pushing big waves against the tide.

0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:09.680
<v Speaker 1>We could see that the ride back to the boat

0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:14.880
<v Speaker 1>ramp was going to be cold, wet, and dangerous. Both

0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:17.679
<v Speaker 1>of our boats were sixteen feet long and forty eight

0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:21.120
<v Speaker 1>inches wide, mine with a twenty five horse fire tiller

0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.920
<v Speaker 1>handle and Tim's sporting a console steering with a forty horse.

0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.559
<v Speaker 1>They were dependable, just not big enough for what we

0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.400
<v Speaker 1>were asking them to do that day. Neither one of

0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.000
<v Speaker 1>us would forget that day, and a bigger boat for

0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:39.520
<v Speaker 1>hunting Arkansas was our next purchase. Tim started the first

0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:41.719
<v Speaker 1>leg of what would be his round trip with four

0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.840
<v Speaker 1>hunters laying in the bottom of the boat. Life jackets

0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.960
<v Speaker 1>buckled up and looking like sardines packed in a can

0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.280
<v Speaker 1>from above, and the waves were two and three foot high,

0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:54.120
<v Speaker 1>making it slow going as we convoyed down the river.

0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.720
<v Speaker 1>The three hunters I had with me riding the same way,

0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:00.360
<v Speaker 1>and the two guys who left all the bank, had

0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.679
<v Speaker 1>no idea what was in store for him as the

0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.640
<v Speaker 1>wind grew with intensity, out of sight from where they

0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.960
<v Speaker 1>waited at the duck over where hundreds of ducks were

0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:13.720
<v Speaker 1>still falling in. The three and a half miles down

0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.680
<v Speaker 1>river was some of the roughest water I've ever been off.

0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.720
<v Speaker 1>Waves and spray coming over the front and the sides

0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:22.880
<v Speaker 1>of the boat had my hunters soaked and freezing. The

0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.680
<v Speaker 1>front of my coat and waiters was a solid sheet

0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.640
<v Speaker 1>of ice. We finally made it back to the boat

0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:30.560
<v Speaker 1>ramp and a couple of them said they would have

0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.040
<v Speaker 1>kissed the ground that they could have been over in

0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:37.040
<v Speaker 1>the frozen clothed to do it, and we unloaded everything

0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:40.319
<v Speaker 1>and everyone from Tim's boat pulled it out and drained

0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.480
<v Speaker 1>the water, checked his gas, then put it back in

0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.160
<v Speaker 1>the river. He headed back up the river into a

0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:49.640
<v Speaker 1>gale that was blowing so hard now that even the

0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:54.760
<v Speaker 1>slack water just up from the boat ramp was white capin.

0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.880
<v Speaker 1>It seemed like it took forever for them to come back,

0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.400
<v Speaker 1>and I had my boat drained, ready to go, and

0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:02.720
<v Speaker 1>had already made a plan on how I was going

0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.319
<v Speaker 1>to go check on them. When we saw them heading

0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:09.160
<v Speaker 1>our way, the boat coming almost out of the water

0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.040
<v Speaker 1>at times as they ramped from one big swell to

0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.559
<v Speaker 1>the next. They pulled onto the trailer and both of

0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:20.440
<v Speaker 1>Tim's passengers slowly crawled out of that boat into the truck.

0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:23.120
<v Speaker 1>One of them tried to sit on the front deck

0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.880
<v Speaker 1>as they pulled away from our hunting spot, after Tim

0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:28.440
<v Speaker 1>told them both the better lay down in the bottom

0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.160
<v Speaker 1>of the boat. He was setting up front facing Tim,

0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:34.920
<v Speaker 1>and after the first two or three small waves, he

0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:37.440
<v Speaker 1>grabbed a rope in his hand and started spurring the

0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:39.640
<v Speaker 1>air like he was coming out of a bucket shoot

0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:45.360
<v Speaker 1>on a bronck at a rodeo. Tim said all the

0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:47.839
<v Speaker 1>color drained out of his face when they hit the

0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:50.319
<v Speaker 1>next series of waves that pitched him a foot or

0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.280
<v Speaker 1>so off the deck, and before he had time to

0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:56.000
<v Speaker 1>regain his seat, the boat dropped a couple of feet

0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:58.920
<v Speaker 1>and old cowboy Bob hit the deck flat of his

0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.520
<v Speaker 1>breeches so hard he said he thought he chipped a

0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:06.480
<v Speaker 1>two ooths. That was how the whole ride back to

0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:11.400
<v Speaker 1>the boat ramp went. And for a little extra spice,

0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.720
<v Speaker 1>the throttle cable froze and broke on Tim's motor. Not

0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.640
<v Speaker 1>long after they got in the main channel. They bobbed

0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:21.880
<v Speaker 1>around out in the current at the mercy of the

0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.480
<v Speaker 1>elements until he rigged up a leather ductote to the

0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.720
<v Speaker 1>throttle on the outboard and had it over his shoulder

0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.520
<v Speaker 1>controlling the gas while he drove one handed back to camp.

0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.800
<v Speaker 1>His passengers were rattling around in the bottom of that

0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.200
<v Speaker 1>boat like two beans and a coffee camp. Now, we

0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.840
<v Speaker 1>still talk about that day, and that day was over

0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.400
<v Speaker 1>twenty five years ago. We still talk about it with

0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.320
<v Speaker 1>the two guys that were in the boat that day

0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:53.960
<v Speaker 1>with Tim, and we never mentioned one without the other.

0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:57.960
<v Speaker 1>Remember that day we all nearly died on the river.

0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.280
<v Speaker 1>I mean today that we killed all those ducks. Yeah,

0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:05.960
<v Speaker 1>I remember, and I won't never forget it. And that's

0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:18.480
<v Speaker 1>just how that happened. Use enough boat. That's what we

0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.680
<v Speaker 1>learned from the story I just told y'all. And that's

0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.600
<v Speaker 1>a veiled reference to a book mister Robert Ruark wrote

0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:28.000
<v Speaker 1>about big game hunting. He was talking about, if you're

0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.000
<v Speaker 1>hunting dangerous game, you better have a gun big enough

0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.200
<v Speaker 1>to do the job. Well. The same applies for boats

0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:38.600
<v Speaker 1>on the Arkansas River. My maternal grandfather find a sly

0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.200
<v Speaker 1>to those who knew him and Pap all to a

0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.880
<v Speaker 1>wagon load of grandkids, and several close friends of mine,

0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.360
<v Speaker 1>believe that if two nails would hold an item in place,

0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:53.640
<v Speaker 1>that six would be three times as good. I'm exaggerating

0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:55.320
<v Speaker 1>a little bit, but to anyone that knew him, they

0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:59.360
<v Speaker 1>know it ain't an exaggeration by much. I got some

0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.359
<v Speaker 1>folks working on a boat for me down in southeast Arkansas,

0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.360
<v Speaker 1>and it's going to be wide enough that the Arkansas

0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.400
<v Speaker 1>River will have to work extra hard to get inside it,

0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.320
<v Speaker 1>like the old one I had in the story I

0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:14.120
<v Speaker 1>just told y'all. Also with the information that I can

0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:16.720
<v Speaker 1>get off my phone and at any given time to

0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:21.080
<v Speaker 1>garden weather the river ain't gonna get a chance. I'll

0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:24.360
<v Speaker 1>either leave before he gets bad where I'm hunting, I'll

0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.000
<v Speaker 1>wait for it to pass, or I just won't go

0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.920
<v Speaker 1>because of it, live to hunt and fish another day.

0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:34.080
<v Speaker 1>It took years for me to actually put my priorities

0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:37.360
<v Speaker 1>in place regarding when the weather was too bad to hunt.

0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:40.160
<v Speaker 1>My drive to get a turkey had me and a

0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.720
<v Speaker 1>friend of mine hunting through a tornado that blew up

0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.960
<v Speaker 1>in the most inopportune time. A turkey was on the

0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.680
<v Speaker 1>ground gobbling his brains out, and slowly strutting towards us

0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.840
<v Speaker 1>at one hundred and fifty yards away. I told that

0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.280
<v Speaker 1>story on our newest edition of Me to Campfire. Stories

0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:02.600
<v Speaker 1>about close calls. Accurate on demand weather forecasting would have

0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:06.679
<v Speaker 1>kept me from putting myself in that situation to begin with. Unfortunately,

0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.520
<v Speaker 1>that technology was still years of poor decisions away from reality,

0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.040
<v Speaker 1>and maybe even then it wouldn't have mattered. There's a

0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:19.320
<v Speaker 1>calming and a maturity that comes with stacking birthdays up

0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:23.560
<v Speaker 1>in a pile. For most, it's wisdom from lessons learned.

0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.640
<v Speaker 1>In my case, it's more like wonder, Like I wonder

0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.399
<v Speaker 1>how in the world I managed to make it this

0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.119
<v Speaker 1>long without falling off a cliff or zigging when I

0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.280
<v Speaker 1>should have been zagging. I can only chalk it up

0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.040
<v Speaker 1>to divine intervention and having not yet fulfilled my duties

0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.600
<v Speaker 1>here on this side of the river, Jordan, I'm thankful

0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.119
<v Speaker 1>to still be stumbling around out here and doing my

0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.080
<v Speaker 1>dead level best to figure out what my purpose is.

0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:53.120
<v Speaker 1>Financial support system for a twelve year old competition dancer

0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:57.719
<v Speaker 1>may be it, who knows, but putting yourself in positions

0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:03.000
<v Speaker 1>to fail will always increase the risk. You don't lay

0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:04.680
<v Speaker 1>down on the highway at night to look at the

0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:07.800
<v Speaker 1>heavens unless you're a total bozo. The same way you

0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.920
<v Speaker 1>don't drive down a long, straight stretch of deserted highway

0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:13.439
<v Speaker 1>with your lights off because the moon is so bright

0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:17.679
<v Speaker 1>you can see without them. Now, who does that? No

0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:21.800
<v Speaker 1>one does that? I mean besides me? Who is dumb

0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:26.560
<v Speaker 1>enough to do that? My partner. My partner and I

0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.280
<v Speaker 1>were working in the graveyard shift and had been patrolling

0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:33.119
<v Speaker 1>all over the county. Now nothing was going on and

0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.080
<v Speaker 1>no one was out. It was the middle of the week,

0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.600
<v Speaker 1>in the middle of the night. Spring was in full

0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:40.680
<v Speaker 1>swing and the nights were still cool enough to wear

0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.800
<v Speaker 1>a jacket. We'd stopped to check an old church beside

0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:45.960
<v Speaker 1>the highway, and I walked out to the pavement for

0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.480
<v Speaker 1>nothing better to do than The night was bright and clear,

0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:53.280
<v Speaker 1>and the moon was crystal clear and bright. I sat

0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:55.240
<v Speaker 1>down on the edge of the asphalt, and within a

0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:58.080
<v Speaker 1>minute I was laying flat on my back, watching the

0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.480
<v Speaker 1>moon like it was a TV. The pavement was still

0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.600
<v Speaker 1>holding some heat from the sun, and it felt good,

0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.480
<v Speaker 1>and I could feel it radiating up through my jacket.

0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:11.119
<v Speaker 1>My crime fighting comrade joined me. We talked about what

0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:12.920
<v Speaker 1>it must have been like to walk on the moon,

0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.159
<v Speaker 1>and my friend said, hey, you hear that? And we

0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.680
<v Speaker 1>both sat up, straining to hear, and what he said

0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:22.359
<v Speaker 1>sounded like a car well off we could see for

0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.040
<v Speaker 1>nearly a mile in both directions. Neither one of us

0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:30.080
<v Speaker 1>saw any lights. We each laid back down, but this time,

0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:33.040
<v Speaker 1>after a moment, I thought I heard something. About the

0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:36.600
<v Speaker 1>time he said, I hear a car. We sat up,

0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:39.080
<v Speaker 1>each looking up and down the highway and said nothing,

0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:41.520
<v Speaker 1>but I could hear the unmistakable sound of an eight

0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:47.359
<v Speaker 1>cylinder engine shifted into overdrive, getting louder closer, and we

0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:49.520
<v Speaker 1>both stood up and stepped away from the highway in

0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:52.440
<v Speaker 1>time to feel the wind rushed by us as a

0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:56.320
<v Speaker 1>black Chevy Nova blew by us. It mocked too, with

0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:01.000
<v Speaker 1>no head, the moonlight stillhouating the un mistakeable shape of

0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.520
<v Speaker 1>that car, as I tried to remind myself I wasn't

0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:08.080
<v Speaker 1>wearing a diaper. No. We looked at each other, both

0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.680
<v Speaker 1>full of adrenaline and happy to be alive, as we

0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.560
<v Speaker 1>put as much distance as we could between us and

0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:16.960
<v Speaker 1>the highway. A fool was driving one hundred miles an

0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:18.639
<v Speaker 1>hour with his lights off. Do we need to go

0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:21.480
<v Speaker 1>get him? Do you really want to put in the

0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:24.040
<v Speaker 1>report that we were laying in the highway when this happened.

0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:30.280
<v Speaker 1>We decided to let him go. The reality of all

0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:34.399
<v Speaker 1>three principal players in those two scenarios, the duck guides

0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.880
<v Speaker 1>whose boats were moderately up to the tasks they were

0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.640
<v Speaker 1>asked to perform, the deputies that put themselves at risk

0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:45.560
<v Speaker 1>by laying down on a highway, and the nameless driver

0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:49.560
<v Speaker 1>who tempted fate by driving only with the moonlight needlessly

0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:54.640
<v Speaker 1>put themselves in a position to fail. Laugh at those

0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.800
<v Speaker 1>events now, because we lucked out. We didn't sink a boat.

0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:02.199
<v Speaker 1>No one got run over. As far as I know,

0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.400
<v Speaker 1>that guy driving in the dark didn't have an accident,

0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:09.400
<v Speaker 1>Not in our county anyway. There are a lot more

0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:13.199
<v Speaker 1>examples of these calamities that so many. In fact, I

0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:16.640
<v Speaker 1>think we'll talk about some more next week. I got

0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.320
<v Speaker 1>a couple of stories that I still have flashbacks about

0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:24.359
<v Speaker 1>scary tim too. Let's continue this series and talk about

0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:29.439
<v Speaker 1>things that we did and folks shouldn't. Thank y'all so

0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:32.440
<v Speaker 1>much for listening to this country life and my goat

0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:36.120
<v Speaker 1>smashing homie Klay Bold, Nukem, and Bear Grease. I gotta

0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:39.639
<v Speaker 1>get you one of those goat hacks. But until next week,

0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:43.520
<v Speaker 1>this is Brent Reeves signing off. I'll be careful.