The Glue that Binds Us

Every veteran Ozark turkey hunter has been there – late in the morning, sitting up against a large oak tree with the warm sun rays beaming through the newly bloomed canopy overhead. The early morning prime-time hunting has slowed and the warm sunlight is slowly taking advantage of the drowsiness from the 5:00 am alarm. In hopes of hearing a late gobbler to chase, you teeter just on the edge between sleeping and consciousness and drift in and out of memories of friends and family from hunting seasons past. These are the memories that honor and keep our loved ones alive in this physical world. These memories, retold time and again around the spring and fall campfires, are how we surviving outdoorsmen pass the torch to future generations while preserving the names and adventures of those who have went before us to join the ranks of the outdoors fraternity immemorial. In our great outdoor heritage this is the glue that binds us.

More so than any other group, outdoorsmen understand and accept the circle of life, it was our beginning and it will be our eventual end. Mother Nature’s perfect design lays out our only two inescapable requirements on this earth, an entrance and an exit. And, while we do not know the exit date, it is up to each of us how we fill in the time in between. For those who knew Bob Duncan, as far as hunting in Great Outdoors of southern Missouri is concerned, we know that he understood how to experience all that Mother Nature had to give. This year for all that knew my friend ‘Arkansas’ Bob Duncan, the spring turkey woods will be a little emptier compared to years past. Bob enriched our lives with more outdoor stories than a person could possibly tell in a year of campfire story telling. Our naps under the oak trees will be visited by the memories of times we spent with Bob in the great outdoors. It is how he would have wanted it. I know because he told me so himself in many of our conversations. Bob knew that one day he would pass through door number two. He also understood the glue that binds us in the brotherhood of outdoorsmen.

Bob loved to laugh and tease with all his friends who participated in his outdoor exploits. Case in point, he tormented me incessantly about a trip that he, Leroy Frizzell, and I took to Iowa pheasant hunting in November 2004. After I scored the first pheasant of the trip on the first morning, Bob and Leroy had the nerve to tease me because I hit the bird too good. Can you imagine that?! I shoot the first bird of the trip and all I can figure is that those two are so jealous that they have the nerve to tease me because I hit the bird with too much shot. They made references to “feather pillows” and “Swiss cheese” when referring to my pheasant. If I had any feelings they would have hurt them! On the other hand, right in front of Leroy and me, Bob spotted a bird standing at the edge of some crop residue and fired off a shot. When the dust and vegetation finally settled to the ground, the bird was still standing there. Bob fired again, and again the dust and corn stalks flew, and again, the bird was still standing there. Bob had fired twice and missed a bird standing still! He never told that side of the story when laughing about my “feather pillow” all over town. Bob got the title of “Arkansas Bob” on that trip. And that’s my side of the story and I’m sticking to it. The only way a person might ever hear any more of the story is from me around my campfire,… or from Leroy Frizzell, but he’s been known to stretch the truth!

This year Missouri turkey season starts April 19th and extends through May 9th. As you sit at your oak this spring teetering between sleep and consciousness I hope you are visited by the bittersweet memories of seasons past. These memories are part of the continuum of the reality that is real life in Mother Nature. Just as all other living things must pass so must we fulfill the second of the two inescapable requirements of life. In life Bob always laughed loudly with that big smile he had and he would say, “Hey Greg, when you gonna write about the Iowa trip?” (I think he wanted to edit the story himself and take some liberties concerning his interpretation of the true happenings). Arkansas Bob is now for the Ages and the Ages are better for it. Senior citizen season will never be the same. God’s speed Bob on your journey to the other side, you are part of the glue that binds us. So says the One-Eyed Hillbilly. Good Luck, be safe, and get a big one.