Baker's Branch

  We live on the edge of the Southern Plains; some of us by accident, some of us on purpose. The Arapaho, Southern Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa lived here on purpose. They wintered here. They knew a good thing when they saw it. The hunting was always good, the weather never bad for more than two or three days at a time, with long sunny stretches in between, and the fishing which, truthfully, didn't much interest them, could be unbelievable. It still is most of the time. Great fishing, I mean, even in winter. One year a few duck seasons back, Dave Hladik and I were hunting mallards on the east side of Blackberry Island up on Grand Lake. The birds were in, rafted up by the thousands in the mouth of Horse Creek, making daily runs that made the air rumble into nearby milo fields. It was bitter cold, a light wind out of the north, and a good day to get a sunburn. Once the sun was high, the cold seemed to melt from the air like midmorning frost. The shooting was good, but sometime aroun...

  January is deep down into the waterfowler’s season. There will be a few odd goose seasons into February, but the duck and crane season for this country ends January 25th. So long, boys, it’s been good to know you. Hope to shake your hand again next year. Any bird that turns into as good a dinner as a duck, goose, or crane is a treat, but shooting one of the same that has been banded for research becomes every waterfowler’s ultimate trophy. I’d as soon shoot one as I would an eight-point buck. Really. You think I’m kidding; I’m not. Every waterfowler wants the “jewelry”, the “bracelet”, the mystery of the far wanderer, a leg band represents, and it has been many, many years since I picked up a duck, goose, or crane without first looking at its legs before I did any other part of it. The government agencies that band waterfowl to plot their travels will send you a nice printout, suitable for framing, if you send in the tag’s number, and of course the band itself becomes yours, ...