Robert Earl Keene's Merry Christmas from the Family

Yes, we've all heard this little masterpiece from the great Robert Earl Keene many times, but it always helps me get through the season - or to Christmas Eve night when I finally get into the spirit of things.

Enjoy!

If in doubt...

The evidence: osage orange cuttings.

If you wait until conditions are perfect, you'll rarely hunt. I know that.

Still...

Tueday before Thanksgiving, I'd put in a good day at the word processor and had a couple hours to hunt. Wind was howling in out of the west. Treetops were whipping. A bad time to squirrel hunt, but it was the time I had.

We hunted for an hour or so without a strike. Then Cate treed a bowhunter. Fortunately, he turned out to be friendly, but I felt bad about disturbing him. Yes, we were hunting public land and I had as much right to be there as he did, but he'd picked an excellent spot overlooking a stretch of dry creek lined with oaks. Acorns covered the creekbed. I had seen several deer in the area on previous hunts. And he'd obviously lugged his portable tree stand a long way.

Then the wind really picked up so that I doubted I could hear Cate if she treed more than fifty yards away. Feeling low, I decided to call it a day.

I started to unload my shotgun as we started to head up the trail to the truck. Then Cate raised her nose and bolted into a thick stand of cedars. Since she usually yelps when she strikes hot scent, I assumed she was either cold trailing or smelling distant air scent. Moments later she treed.

I found her on an unuually large bois d'arc (osage orange or, in local parlance,"bodark"). The whipping branches revealed a fox squirrel hidden near the top.

I let her carry that one back to the truck.

Just go.

Something to keep in mind...

Wisdom from an unnamed 'coon hunter who occasionally sips beer at a certain watering hole on the Red River in Northeast Texas:

"Messin' with a man's wife is a good way to get your ass kicked; mistreatin' a man's dog is a good way to get killed."

Magazine Updates

In case you're interested:

"Reviving the Trinity," published in the November issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife, is now available online.

I've uploaded text file versions of "Woodcock Dogs" and "East Texas Woodcock," published in the October 2008 issue of Texas Wildlife, to my website.

I recently received word that "Water or Woods," published in the July 2007 issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife, won first place in the "public issues" category in the 2008 International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA) competition.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To the blog roll with him!

I've long thought that my buddy Wyman Meinzer should have a blog. In fact, I had thought about trying to talk him into guest blogging here at Home Range. He's a hunter, trapper, pilot, writer, publisher, all around wild man, and the best wildlife photographer in the country. (And you should see his hand-carved predator calls.) Wyman has kept a field journal since he was a kid, and now he'll be sharing his thoughts, experiences, and photos with us at his new blog.

So stop by, get to know Wyman, and check out his books. He's a sure-enough Texas original.

Gurf Morlix live @ the Granada Theater in Dallas Tx

This Gurf Morlix tune always leaves me shaken, makes me think of a certain someone. Hang in there, gal. Hang in there.

More Tough Going

Cate after a short hunt this past Thursday. Folks who think squirrel hunting is a kid's sport have never tried to spot a fox squirrel flattened out on a branch near the top of a mature oak.


Temperatures dropped here in North Texas, thank goodness. Then the wind picked up. But if you wait until everything's perfect, you'll rarely hunt.

Cate and I got out a couple of afternoons last week. Late Thursday, with the wind howling in the treetops, she disappeared into a patch of cedar and Osage orange. I heard her strike and wondered where a squirrel would hide in such low scrubby stuff. Moments later, Cate emerged with a fox squirrel which she efficiently dispatched with vigorous head-shaking and much impressive growling. You'd have thought she was fighting a bear. She handled the two squirrels in the photo in a more traditional manner.

We're heading for deep East Texas tomorrow. Soon, it'll be time to head west for quail.

Bone of Conciliation

I wrote a piece on Comanche-Texan conciliation for the Sept/Oct issue of Orion. It's now available online. I've long sensed that simple acknowledgement and proximity - stepping outside of comfort zones - promotes healing far better than official proclamations. It's hard to resent someone or remain indifferent to his concerns after you've shared a meal and a few laughs with him.

You can see more of Juanita Pahdopony's fabulous art in the print edition.

Chauvinism or Hard Truth?

From Associated Press:


STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- The man who announces the Nobel Prize in literature says the United States is too "insular" and ignorant to compete with Europe when it comes to great writing.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Horace Engdahl said Tuesday that "Europe still is the center of the literary world."

Engdahl is the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, which selects the literature prize winner. He is expected to announce the winner in the coming weeks.

Engdahl says the U.S. "is too isolated, too insular" and doesn't really "participate in the big dialogue of literature."

Since Japanese poet Kenzaburo Oe won in 1994, the selections have had a distinct European flavor. The last American winner was Toni Morrison in 1993.

Is there an American novelist or poet who deserves serious Nobel consideration?

HT Bridgette Williams at Texas Pages.

Tough Going - But Good

Cate after a very warm morning hunt in the Red River breaks.

Squirrel season opens October 1 in most East Texas counties. However, in the timbered hills and draws along the Red River, in a few north Texas counties where Blackland Prairie and Post Oak Savannah meet to form some of the best fox squirrel habitat anywhere, the season never officially closes, though summer heat keeps hunters out of the woods June through August and most of September.

Last week, with early morning temperatures in the low 60s, Cate and I hit a certain section of woods - post oak, blackjack oak, pecan, elm, cedar, and Osage orange - for a couple of warm-up hunts.

We did, in fact, warm up.

We started at first light, and by 9 o'clock I was drenched in sweat and Cate was stepping on her tongue. Compared to gray squirrels, fox squirrels are late risers.

Still, we had a fine time, and Cate worked well in spite of the heat. She treed several times, but the squirrels were very hard to see up there in the dense leaves. It's pretty tough for a single hunter and a dog this time of year. I blew a couple of easy shots.

But cooler days are coming. We'll try to get out a day or two this week.

Little Scrappers

How's this for precocious?

A few posts back, I wrote that Donny Lynch, my hunting buddy and dog training mentor, has pups for sale. Here's a very recent photo of four of his pups on a tree. Yes, there's a squirrel up there. The gorgeous feist highest on the trunk is Sponge Bob (named by Donny's grandson Eli.) He's 11 weeks old. The little rat terriers are 8 weeks old. Some of his pups are for sale and some are not. Again, if you're interested, drop me a line and I'll put you in touch with him.

Goose Throwdown

Actually, I'm most impressed by the Chessie. She clearly knew how to take care of the goose but backed off at her master's command.

HT to the boys at Field Notes.