FAYETTEVILLE — I’m not a duck hunter. I’ve been plenty, just a mediocre fly fisher. I don’t go for the hunt. It’s the camp fellowship and the food that do it for me. If I could release the ducks, I would.
I’ve learned a lot about cooking at duck camp, thanks to J.C. Carr. They taught me to use a Weber Rockey Mountain Cooker, nicknamed “The Bullet.” They also taught me about Dutch oven cooking, especially desserts.
Most of my duck hunting through the years also has to do with my wife’s brother, Steve “Spider” Ashcraft, and his relationship with the Double Deuce Lodge south of DeWitt. It’s owned by former Arkansas baseball star Kevin McReynolds. There is no place better.
Writing that means I must apologize to Tom “T.L.” Lauerman, my fly fishing buddy who hosted me three days last week at his duck club near Corning. We were at the G&G Club on the Black River. The closest landmark is Jim Holland’s Lodge. We were a few cabins down from Jim, a former power broker in the state legislature.
When I write we were on the Black River, I mean that, literally. The Black was out of its banks by about 50 yards on the East side.
My truck was parked on the gravel road in the parking lot with water lapping onto the rims. You put on your waders before you drive down to camp, so you could make it to the steps of the cabin, then walk up 12 feet.
The drive in was dicey since we almost drove into the Black River. The road to camp dead-ended at a boat ramp. We were on the cell phone with T.L. as we arrived. It was night time and we beat him to camp.
“Go on across the water, it isn’t very deep,” he said. “You’ll pop out of that water. Just put your waders on now.”
I know not to drive into moving water, so we were about to put on our waders to test the depth when we saw two men wading from behind the cabins at a 90-degree angle from the ramp.
“You guys looking for T.L.’s cabin?” one asked. “This is the road. You can make it. But if you go straight down that ramp, that’s the main channel of the Black.”
In the dark, you can’t see roads under water, even 8 inches of water. We trusted them, took a hard left and made it to the cabin. Or, at least close.
That means my smoker was on cinder blocks, in the river. I sent pictures to Weber bragging about how well it did. It should make a nice ad campaign: smoke your meat on the river.
I hauled in three nights worth of meat. There was steak the first night since it was too late to smoke. I cooked ribs, chicken and pork shoulders the next two days — together.
My secret is to baste the chicken (on the bottom rack) with the drippings from ribs or pork shoulders (top rack).
That was a good idea, because not enough ducks were killed. I could blame T.L., but that would be lying. He called them in. I shot over, under or waited too late. His calling was fantastic mallard music.
I had not hunted with T.L. before, just fished and tied flies. A Mountain Home resident, T.L. has met me on the Norfork and White rivers many times. Most of my fl y fishing technique are from T.L.
It was a beautiful hunt. He called them in, me and another guy missed them. They were gorgeous flying in bright sunshine.
Oh, we killed four the fi rst day, until some uninvited guests crashed our hunt at the Golden Hole in the Black River Wildlife Management Area.
It’s Arkansas Game & Fish Commission land, which means it’s public shooting grounds. It’s fi rst come, fi rst served by hunting tradition. What that means now, I’m not sure, since one of those who came in on us late that first morning works for the AGFC.
He and four others asked if they could hunt with us. We said, “We’d rather you didn’t.”
They didn’t leave, so we did. When there is a standoff with everyone holding shotguns, it’s best to unload your gun and make a boat ride. Since their hunting dog was perched on a log in the middle of the decoys, the hunt was over anyway.
It could have been interesting. We were supposed to be joined that day by Ron Duncan, the Springdale resident and AGFC commissioner.
And we could have had my college roomie, Hal Hunnicutt, along, too. He joined us for lunch minutes after we got back to the cabin. Hal is a former commissioner. I wonder what they would have said?
That didn’t ruin the trip. It just made it more interesting, a topic at camp the rest of our stay. You have to talk about something all afternoon and evening. We discussed these fi ve guys.
Or, we talked fl y fi shing. Or, we talked about the smoker sitting on the cinder blocks. When a boat passed on the river, the wake lapped onto the bottom of the smoker, but never high enough to dampen the fi re.
To check the meat, I went down the steps. One was under water. Ice developed on the next two. But the meat turned out perfect.
So did our boat rides down the Black. There’s something crazy about getting up at 4 a.m. for a 6-mile boat ride with temperatures in the low 20s. The boat driver has one hand on the motor, another on a flood light. His two hunters sat on the floor of the boat, facing backwards.
Three layers of head gear, including two masks provided little warmth.
You turn up the Little River, then back into fl ooded timber to find the hunting hole. It’s deep in the woods. You cover the boat and walk a trail to get to the hole. I’d call it swamp hunting.
Lauerman was the operator one morning. The second day I rode with Brad Hatcher of Knoxville, a partner in the cabin.
I will say Hatcher gave the better entry ride, but I’m glad I didn’t return with him. He hit a log in the Black River and had to be towed back.
That’s the first time I’ve hunted with T.L. Lauerman. I give him credit for being a great caller and cool under pressure. He handled an uncomfortable situation, strangers walking through your decoys with guns. I was happy to get back to my smoker.
CLAY HENRY IS THE PUBLISHER
OF HAWGS ILLUSTRATED. HIS
COLUMN APPEARS EACH FRIDAY.
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robMc says...
realistic writing clay. 'been 4 or 5 years since i've been down that flooded
gravel road(?) to TL's cabin on the Black!
December 21, 2009 at 9:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pigman08 says...
Excellent writing Clay. The dinners were perfect and the company/conversation were even better. Hope you enjoyed the chili and the ameretto cheesecake as well... M. Hatcher
January 9, 2010 at 4:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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