Blog – Page 6 – Cochran's Cartoons

A real wall hanger

I have five beautiful, talented nieces.

Okay, I can already hear the bitching. “I thought this blog was supposed to be about outdoor stuff. You know…fishing, hunting stuff like that”.

It certainly is, and this post about my niece Mayo fits right in. Mayo made this big, beautiful FISH out of CDs! That’s right. Each scale is a compact disc. The kind old guys like me still listen to. It’s about four or five feet long, the fins and tail are bristles from a broom. The nose is a straw hat and the eyes are mini compact discs. Is that creative and original or what?

Mayo creates other interesting objects as well: bracelets, earrings, necklaces, pendants. In other words, “wearable art”.

Check out her attractive, easy to navigate website http://www.designsbymayo.com.

Ducks + Ice = Pooped Pup

Zoey, Jay’s golden retriever pup is learning that sometimes, in the real world, all retrieves aren’t as easy as retrieving a training dummy in the back yard. But it looks like she’s doing an excellent job.

Good morning at the Lone Oak Duck Club

The latest duck count at Four Rivers Waterfowl Management Area east of Rich Hill, MO is 147 thousand ducks, most probably mallards.

It looks like a few strayed too far from the refuge . After breaking a hole in 1 to 2” ice and braving 17-degree temperatures this morning Jay Lang and son Chuck bagged a goodly number of birds. Their many hours of work all summer on habitat at the Club are finally paying off.

Wish they could field dress one nice, fat mallard and mail it to me.

Back yard bucks

Long time friend and fellow Outdoor Writers Of Kansas member Dave Zumbaugh captured these whitetail bucks with a trail cam in his back yard. That’s right. His back yard! Dave lives in a semi-rural area of Johnson county, KS near Kansas City and is treated to sights like this on a regular basis.

No. He won’t let you bowhunt in his back yard.

Fishing On the White River

Long time, no blog. Apologies to my loyal followers …both of you.

Another fun two days on the White River with outfitter and philosopher Miles Riley. No huge wall-hangers but enough action…mostly rainbows… to keep the days interesting.

White River Beach

The first morning Riley’s son Gavin drove us to Rim Shoal where Raleigh Eggers and I stayed out of the way while Miles launched hi battered johnboat and we motored upstream toward Redbud shoal in dense fog, picking up a trout or two along the way. Floating back downstream, fishing was uncharacteristically slow through Rim shoal and lower Rim but picked up as the fog lifted. We finished the day in Riley’s home water. The bite had slacked off considerably but Raleigh and I were too pooped to care. Besides, a cold drink and a hot shower were beckoning.

White River Brown

Next morning, after a false start due to lightening, we motored from Riley’s Station upstream to buffalo shoal where we spent the entire day boating and releasing eleven to fourteen inch rainbows, most of which took a #16 sow bug imitation tied by Miles and Michelle’s 11-year-old daughter Jalen.

Lunch on the White River

After drinks in Raleigh’s “party room” at the Mountain Home Days Inn we headed for nearby Colton’s Steak House where we ate both nights. After dinner we retired to our separate rooms (Raleigh snores something awful) to rest up for the five hour drive back to Kansas City next day.

Want some beautiful Arkansas scenery with a mess of trout thrown in? Check out Miles and Michelle’s website at RileyStation.com. or email Miles at [email protected].

It’s shed time

It was nice of this 6-point whitetail buck to pose for my friend Dave’s trail cam in his back yard. Actually there might be another tine hiding back there. Anyway now it’s a 3 or 4-pointer. It’s a little early in our part of the country for bucks to start shedding antlers but maybe this guy just wanted to get a head start and beat the rush.

End of a duck season

The season ended so suddenly at the Five Guys And A Swamp Duck Club that we didn’t even have time to pick up our decoys. Then we froze solid, and now the water has finally thawed and we can finally get in to do the job we should have done earlier. When we waded in hundreds of mallards took flight. Where the hell were they in November and December? With this fall’s weather they were probably still in Canada or North Dakota.

Dave’s dog Mota

My friend Dave Zumbaugh has a German Wirehair Pointer named Mota. This loveable dog is the quintessential all around sporting dog. Dave uses her for upland bird work, waterfowl hunting, and for all I know she fetches the morning newspaper.

These photos of Mota were taken on a frosty morning at Clinton Lake near Lawrence, KS in 2014 when Mota was still just a pup.

Suburban bucks

These two bucks showed up on my friend Dave’s trail cam….in his back yard. Dave lives in the outer suburbs of the Kansas City area and sights like this are not at all uncommon.

R.I.P. The Old North Blind 1985-2015

The Old North Blind had a long and interesting life. Lab pups gnawed its door frames and Canada geese nested in it. Wet, gloved hands were warmed over its charcoal stove while sausage patties sizzled over glowing coals.

Like the men who hunted from it, it began to sag in the middle and its joints loosened with age. Rotten joists were replaced and new plywood flooring added, to be covered once again with muskrat droppings, spent shotgun shells and assorted feathers.

In spite of annual repairs the blind finally became so dilapidated we feared it could no longer support the weight of men, guns and dogs. So in 2015, like a faded, tattered old flag, it was honorably retired by burning.