Wisdom from the WOODS
With most hunting seasons closed, there isn’t too much outdoor hunting going on except for rabbits, squirrels and light geese. I have not heard of much activity with geese but there has been a tremendous amount of them flying overhead the last 10 days or more. Last Saturday, in particular, our dog stayed on the tailgate of our old pickup and kept her eyes on the sky. The birds were so high I couldn’t see them but there was an occasional honk that was carried to me on the wind so they were in the air.
With walleye fishing and the hardy winter crappie anglers fighting the wind and cold, there is very little fishing activity on most days. The warm afternoons should produce some good fishing as the shad move onto the mud flats and that is where the crappie congregates to feed on them.
While watching TV most of the time, I have thought back in time about some unusual happenings in my outdoor activities and one that just about has to top the list was about a high school classmate who wanted me to take him duck hunting as I was continually telling him and other friends about the joys of calling ducks to the decoys and getting them close enough to get some shooting that he wanted to try.
On this particular hunt, we went to Green Oaks, on the east side of the St. Francis River at Fisk. We decided to hunt along the Mingo Ditch as there hadn’t been much good hunting at Lake Wappapello.
We didn’t take a boat, as I figured if we got some shooting it would be while we were wading in the flooded timber. We stepped out on the ditch bank to see if there were any birds along the ditch and sighted a wood duck flying up the ditch. When it got in range, I knocked it down with the first shot. As it fluttered on top of the water, the friend said “Shoot it again, it’s still floating.”
He later said that he really thought it would get up and fly away if it didn’t get another shot. We followed the bird for about a quarter-mile before the current brought it near enough to the bank to retrieve it with the help of a long limb that we found.
I try to have some words of wisdom from time to time, this time it’s about your property insurance. If you have a well house away from your house, as most farms do, be sure that building is included in your coverage. Our well house caught fire and was totally destroyed about a month ago and to my surprise, I found out that the building had to be listed on the policy for it to be covered by that company.
Until next time, get out sometimes when the sun is shining and that might keep you from coming down with a real hard bout of “Cabin Fever”.