A Quack, Quack Here!
Phil Taunton
Friday, August 17, 2007
Old MacDonald had a farm but I bet he didn’t have as many animals as the Cabela’s store has on display!
Besides trophy mounts, all types of critters living on several continents are portrayed in actual real-life situations. This alone makes the place a must see.
Starting this evening and running through the weekend, Cabela’s is hosting its Waterfowl Classic. I know several duck hunters who are frothing at the bit already!
Calling for Beginners with Buck Gardner, Sporting Dog and Pet Training, Problems and Solutions in Dog Training, Decoy Spreads, Blind Placement and Concealment are just a few of the free seminars that will be offered. Free seminars, prize giveaways and more! The whole weekend is just loaded with activities and events. There will even be a Missouri and Kansas individual state duck calling championship. Cabela’s is located at I-435 and State Ave. West in Kansas City, Kan. For more information about the event, times and schedule of activities, call 913-328-0322.
When I think of the waterfowl calling legend Buck Gardner, I think of the time I met him doing a Hunter’s Specialties waterfowl calling seminar called “For Sportsmen, by Sportsmen,” sponsored by Bluestem Farm and Ranch Supply. Buck had been an avid waterfowl hunter and caller for as long as he could remember. He is a past World Champion Duck Caller and has won the Champion of Champions contest. He was forced to retire when he won these prestigious titles and now travels the country giving demonstrations, answering questions and being an overall goodwill ambassador to the sport of waterfowling.
We had quite a conversation. I just love talking to these outdoor, down-to-earth, good ol’ boy personalities who have been so many places and done so many things.
I was about to get called to go to work and, like so many people these days, my day job required me to be tied to a pager. This was before the cell phone rage. I have been out in the sporting fields with the dogs in pursuit of upland game and also filling the boat with crappie when that dreaded “beep, beep, beep” would call me back to the real world. An inconvenience, perhaps, but work is a part of life — until you retire anyway — and I found getting out and doing things better than waiting at home for the phone to ring.
During Buck’s presentation at Bluestem, I sat on a stack of boxes and listened to Buck blow sweet music through his duck call — all the things ducks and geese like to hear! I could just picture being out on the marsh with wave after wave of greenheads responding to his calls and decoys, dropping down from the skies, wings cupped, chattering, feet extended, eager to land.
Several other waterfowl enthusiasts joined in the calling and would ask Buck for advice. We were sure having a good old time telling stories and enjoying each other's company. Duck calling and stories galore, right there in Bluestem.
I soon found myself daydreaming — I think I really am related to Walter Mitty. I was in the swamps of Louisiana amid flooded timber with these championship callers and having the duck hunt of my life when out of the corner of my eye I saw a water moccasin swimming my way.
About that same time, the pager I had set in the vibrating mode for the first time as an experiment went off in my pocket. I reacted as if I were snake bit and shot out of a cannon. I mean to say, I jumped, tipped over boxes and was quite rattled to say the least. And just as Buck got me settled down and all the callers quit laughing, the reminder mode that I had failed to reset kicked in and scared me again. I’m sure glad I wasn’t hunting with Buck and waterfowl was circling the blind!
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