Old sparkleberry swamp

[bigtimeduckhunter]

Billy Goff?

Did he hunt Parr? I remember being introduced to a gentleman that Dad called Moon. I never knew his name, but dad and he hunted some together.

[bigtimeduckhunter]

Me, my cousin and a hunting buddy of of ours hunted the swamp in the mid-70's. He ran a Parsons call. Our buddy's dad was president of SCNB (or some such bank) in Columbia, last name was McDougal. They had a cabin on Santee and foolishly left an old Ithaca M37 and a LeFever SxS on the wall. There was one of the rarer Herb Parsons calls hanging from a lanyard on the Ithaca. Someone broke in and stole the guns and the call along with them. He told me what bothered him most was that the punks, not knowing what they had, probably threw the call out the truck window somewhere, and it was probably worth more than both guns.

We called our buddy Dookie cause his name was McDougal. He had polio when he was younger and was crippled, had been the Easter Seals poster boy when he was young. He could walk but his legs were short and weak so he was kinda slow. He would cuss you out if you waited on him when wading. I used to let limbs hit him in the face just to listen to him cuss. But the boy could flat call, shoot and knew ducks.

He was a hoot to hunt with too. We hunted a cypress "island" on Rock's Pond on morning. Set the spread out on the lee side of the island and 3 of us stood separate in the cypress trees. Dookie was around to my right and had brought his big block headed, stubborn ass black lab. Damn dog was bigger than he was and much stronger. I couldn't see Dookie but I heard him cussing the dog a lot. Later that morning just after shooting light I heard him yell at the dog then I heard a loud splashing. A few seconds later I saw the dog swimming out through the decoys then Dookie came floating by with the wind. He wasn't yelling cause his head was mostly under water, only his ass end and legs were bobbing up as he floated by. I waded out and righted him and got his feet back under him. He was sputtering but alive. My cousin, who had seen us too, and I about fell in the water we were laughing so hard at his crazy ass. He just cussed us and started threatening to shoot the dog. But he did that every time he carried the beast.

He said the dog saw a sea gull dive down and broke to retrieve it. He had tried to hold on to the lease and the damn dog dragged him out head first. I guess since he had a weak lower body he couldn't get his feet back under him to stand up.

Hell I saw that dog drag his little crippled ass down a boat ramp and into the water one morning when we were loading up to go home. Dookie was cussing all the way. It was my fault cause I threw a chunk of gravel in the lake while the dog was watching me and Dookie wasn't paying any attention. I told my cousin to "watch this" before I threw it.

Those were good times and we killed an ass of big birds back then.

This is one of the funniest posts I have ever seen on SCDUCKS!

[bayou pirate]

They have accounted for the death of a pile of mallards

Yes they have that is surely a fact. It's the ways and means that they went about it that is the issue. Now if your the kind that is only after numbers, then they are to be emulated.

[willyworm]

This is one of the funniest posts I have ever seen on SCDUCKS!

Holy shit Merg, that may not win the funniest post ever prize but it's gotta be on the Top 10 list.

[JABIII]

Did he hunt Parr? I remember being introduced to a gentleman that Dad called Moon. I never knew his name, but dad and he hunted some together.

He hunted Parr often. If you were in his spot he would come over and ask to join in or vice versa. Rare to nonexistent to see out there these days...

[bigtimeduckhunter]

I remember dad talking about Parr back before they cut the trees. He said at times the black ducks would out number the mallards.

[Catdaddy]

Anybody know or remember two boys from Sumter, named Rusty and Eddie? They showed up toward the end of the mallard period.

[willk]

If you were in his spot he would come over and ask to join in or vice versa. Rare to nonexistent to see out there these days...

I have done that many times.

[Tmbrhntr]

Anybody know or remember two boys from Sumter, named Rusty and Eddie? They showed up toward the end of the mallard period.

last name Riles??

[DRDUCK]

We hunted with Eddie if he was from Sumter. Him and a guy we called bullshit Bob. His son could flat call a mallard

[Catdaddy]

Don't know their last names, but they followed the shooting and were the worse hole jumpers I ever saw in 40 years. They were never on any ducks they found. When you found the ducks, you had to have a backup plan because they were most likely going to be in your spot the next day.



Eddie and Rusty followed Toy around so bad, he could claim them as dependents on his taxes.

[Tmbrhntr]

A few more killers from back in the day Kell Watson, Jim Smoak, Wilbur Carol Avins to name a few more.

[Arrowman]

Don't know their last names, but they followed the shooting and were the worse hole jumpers I ever saw in 40 years. They were never on any ducks they found. When you found the ducks, you had to have a backup plan because they were most likely going to be in your spot the next day.



Eddie and Rusty followed Toy around so bad, he could claim them as dependents on his taxes.

That's the kinda shit that'll make me fighting mad.

[baldpate]

Mr Randy Osteen is another to add on the killers list. He has killed a pile of ducks and caught unimaginable amounts of fish out of sparkleberry.

[Catdaddy]

A few more killers from back in the day Kell Watson, Jim Smoak, Wilbur Carol Avins to name a few more.

Kell Watson, Jim Smoak, and Scotty Scott did a lot of damage to the mallard population.

One time on high water Scotty drove the boat from the landing,....down the bank ,took a 45 angle to the left and ran wide open dodging trees. We ended up in the top of snake creek. He never went through the ditch or Sparkleberry Lake. He had a flashlight and no Q-beam. Killed ducks that day too,..............it was cold.....I'm talking artic cold.


I think JAB told a story one time about Watson coming on their property and claiming those ducks as his.

[Catdaddy]

Mr Randy Osteen is another to add on the killers list. He has killed a pile of ducks and caught unimaginable amounts of fish out of sparkleberry.

Yep, we used to meet in the creek around Indigo and talk. They always passed the bottle. Good times.

[DRDUCK]

The GameWarden back then was known as Fat Leo. Sneaky as they came and wrote me the ONLY ticket I ever had for INTENT. Last I heard he had lost all the weight and still kickin. Retired of course.

[Professor]

Kell came along later; he and I hunted a lot together when he was a young man. I remember he and I walking into a hole off the Pine Island Road (Sumter/Columbia Hunting Club) that was LOADED with Mallards. There was only one way out for them. I was shooting an SKB and killed 5 when they flushed and were getting out; Kell was shooting an Ithaca Model 37 and he killed 7; he had 2 shells in between his teeth and reloaded in time to kill the extra two. He could really shoot. He could flat blow a call, too. Jim Smoak told me duck hunting was an addiction. I know what he meant. Wilbur Carroll used to hunt a hole called the "Crown Royal" hole. He and his A-5 caused a lot of death. Carroll claimed there was a "Honey Bear" that lived around there. He never took me there. All of these people still live around Sumter, but don't hunt as much anymore (except me and I don't hunt Sparkleberry anymore).

[Professor]

Scotty's name was Cecil Scott. He was a student of mine at Sumter High School in the early 70's (I use the term, student, loosely). Scotty spent more time in the swamp than anyone I've ever known. He thought like a duck and it paid off. He caught more fish above the tressell than anyone. When he and Jim Smoak teamed up, wildlife didn't stand a chance! Scotty doesn't chase them like he used to.
Randy Osteen, from Pinewood, was another one that haunted the Swamp. He used to hunt and fish with Randy Horne and Joe Avins, from Summerton. Both Randy's have since passed away.

[FBT]

My dad, Tom Taylor is from Florence. He grew up fishing the swamp. He is now 73. I just read him this entire thread and he was tickled to death. Recognized so many names and told a few stories as well. He knew moonman, randy Horne, joe Avin, and the McCords. He said he had a newcomer in the boat with him one day and billy Goff boated close by. Dad said "moonman, show me a ten pounder". He said he went to the live well and grabbed a bass that would break the ten pound mark with ease.

My favorite story of all time is one he told of fishing up mill creek one winter. He was deep in some thick cover and someone said "tom" in a loud whisper. He motored over to a guy and ended up being a friend of a friend. They continued to talk and my dad then fished back into the direction the guy came from. He came up on two other guys and one hell of crime scene. He said they had been there for 3 days and had 100 or more dead mallards. He said feathers were absolutely everywhere.




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