Larry, Dr. Larry Olson and my brother, loved to hunt and fish. In fact, I would say we hunted at least once a week during quail season, and we hunted those giant red squirrels when we were not hunting quail.
Larry was always a great shot, and he used a 410 shotgun and then a 20-gauge bolt action as he got older. I always had a pump 12-guage and Larry could shoot faster and get more birds every time. Frustrating! Now part of the reason he got more is probably the fact I was his birddog. I was always the one crawling down the creek jumping the covey while he was on the ridge. Now that I think about it, when he came home from South Carolina and we went fishing every time, he would guide the boat and he was always in front with the best position. He also caught more fish, every time. Something about jumping the covey of quail was great fun for me. I truly enjoyed listening for the rustling of leaves and grass as the quail would try to run rather than fly. It was also interesting to me that when you would stop, they would stop running and then if you walked really slow you could get close and then they would fly. If you have never experienced it, it is hard to explain the thrill of hearing them pound their wings to get started then as they got going, and they were exceptionally fast, they would stop flapping their wings and just float between the trees and brush. Incredible! Another facet was you could hear them chirping, bobwhite-bobwhite. It was as if they were talking like a human. It was so clear and distinct.
We hardly ever hunted with bird dogs like Larry Travis or Cam Lanier or Dr. Merrifield (from Ponca) but we had loads of fun. One time we were over at the gambrel barn across the road from Don Conner's house and I heard a tremendous noise in the grass. I promise it was the largest covey of quail I had ever seen. I believe it was close to 200 quail. Being a kid, it was probably closer to 50 or 100 but it was exciting. I bet Larry and I hunted that group for over an hour with NO dogs.
What may surprise most folks is when I first remember hunting, I was about 7 and it was for squirrels. Larry and I both used 22 rifles back then. Mine was a bolt action single shot and Larry had one that carried about 10 shells maybe 16. He and Billy Snyder (my first cousin) had fancy rifles. The hardest part of that was cleaning the squirrel. But mom could fry it and make gravy that was the best eating you can imagine.
Well, I better go, but what do you learn in the Osage?
- Bird dogs are for fancy hunters.
- Country life is the best life.
- You cannot avoid the fact that only God could create something so great as the outdoors.
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