I shot a beaver on Beaver Creek

Growing up on Beaver Creek was a blessing and a gift.  The tall cotton woods to the giant oaks and gravel beds then running water teaming with fish of all types and yes, some beavers.  I don't believe I ever walked the creek without seeing something God created and on rare occasion I would find an Indian arrowhead or and Indian artifact like the remains of a rock hammer or grinding bowl.  As for the animals, there were lots of raccoons and squirrels and in particular the very large red squirrels which were great for eating.  Countless birds of all types and opossums and skunks and coyotes and an occasional badger but not very many dear or turkey but lots of bobwhite quail.  Another of my favorites was the many types of turtles but that is for another story.

Back to the beavers on Beaver Creek.  About a half mile from the house was Soup's fishing hole as we called it because Soup Wade lived not too far from there before he and Letha moved to Shidler.  As a side note, Dad and I built an addition on Soup and Letha's house in Shidler while I was in the 8th grade.  Every day after school I would go help dad and Soup always bragged on me about how hard I worked.  Anyway, after a few months on the project when we were finished Soup decided to pay me for helping dad.  He paid me $5 and to say the least I was a little disappointed as I probably worked over 50 hours and probably over 100 hours as we worked on Saturdays as well on his house.  I loved Soup and in the end it did not matter cause (that is country for because) I enjoyed being around Soup and he was a special friend.  OK, back to the beaver.  Just past the fishing hole there was a beaver dam which is basically a pile of sticks and tree trunks with the majority under water. The pile sticking up was in the middle of the creek and that is where the beavers slept and hid out.  It was always exciting to me to find where and how the beavers got the material for building their houses.  Whenever you saw tree stumps that were sharpened like a pencil and a pile of wood chips, you knew there were beaver close by.

Well that day I was fishing and carrying a shotgun just in case I wanted to do a little hunting.  Suddenly I saw some movement in the water and about the same time that beaver slapped his tail which is very wide and flat and it made a loud sound warning the other beaver of danger.  He was right, I loaded my gun and was on the hunt.  I always wanted a beaver hat just like Danial Boone and now was the time.  What I can tell you is I never got that beaver hat.  And I can tell you I shot at that beaver around 20 times, each time he would dive under the water and escape my passion.  Either that beaver was one tough beaver and my shotgun was not powerful enough or I was a terrible shot but that beaver did not make it to beaver heaven on my terms.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Beaver hats are in short supply
• Folks that talk too much need to learn to hunt and fish
• There are more rewards for hard work than just money
• Never forget to look for the best in folks just like my friend Soup

Thanks for listening,

gary@thepioneerman.com or golson21@hotmail.com

Go get my book on Amazon and support folks with special needs.  Home on the Range by Gary Olson  ---- all profits go to www.wingsok.org ----- or send a check to me made out to Wings for $25 or more and I will donate the book and give 100% to Wings as a donation from you.  I will also ship it to you free as long as you are in the US.  I have no idea how much it would cost to ship overseas.