Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

This forum is for general discussion that doesn't fit in the other topic-specific forums.
novacaine
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3605
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 pm
Location: Hernando-Gwood-Nola

Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby novacaine » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:30 am

I had a friend mention to me that he read a series of articles when he was younger (1940's or 1950's) about hunting in the scatters. He couldn't remember which outdoor magazine(f&s, outdoor life,orSports Afield) it was in but the series was titled "Miracle of the Scatters". He thought it was written by either Dr. Brister or Dr.Bright from Greenwood,Ms. Has anyone ever seen these articles? If have searched the web but i am not having any luck and thought one of you old heads may have had it passed down to you from family members. I am in the process of running down seasoned hunters of the area like Big Henry Flautt and others that may be able to lead me in the right direction. Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks
"You didn't happen to find that on the side of the road did you?"- One Shot
SWAG
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3209
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 1:07 pm
Location: TALLAHATCHIE COUNTY

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby SWAG » Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:56 am

Bill, do not have any of the mentioned articles, but I do have a business card of my wife's grandad (W.C. Cross) with a picture of him blowing a call and standing in some waders. It reads something to the effect that his waders are warm when he is hunting in the scatters. Do not remember the exact language or the brand of waders. Will have to look at it when I get home. I assume he was a paid endorsement for the company after winning world championship.
Are we gonna get wet?
novacaine
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3605
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 pm
Location: Hernando-Gwood-Nola

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby novacaine » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:11 am

"You didn't happen to find that on the side of the road did you?"- One Shot
Don Miller
Duck South Addict
Posts: 6430
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Holcomb/Money, MS
Contact:

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby Don Miller » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:38 am

"I'd still like to stick that shotgun up a mallard's as$ and pull the trigger!"---FRITZ RUESEWALD @ 93 years old...(The Arkansas Duck Hunter's Almanac, pg.91)
Don Miller
Duck South Addict
Posts: 6430
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Holcomb/Money, MS
Contact:

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby Don Miller » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:43 am

Swag, I had no idea that you were kin to W.C. Cross. :shock: My father used to hunt the Scatters some with him and Preacher Grantham back in the late 50's and early 60's.
"I'd still like to stick that shotgun up a mallard's as$ and pull the trigger!"---FRITZ RUESEWALD @ 93 years old...(The Arkansas Duck Hunter's Almanac, pg.91)
novacaine
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3605
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 pm
Location: Hernando-Gwood-Nola

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby novacaine » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:44 am

"You didn't happen to find that on the side of the road did you?"- One Shot
Don Miller
Duck South Addict
Posts: 6430
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Holcomb/Money, MS
Contact:

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby Don Miller » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:05 am

I don't think Tate has it or I would prolly know about it. I'm good friends with Dr. Andrews' grandson. I'll check with him to see if he can find out. You have really peaked my curiousity. I'd like to get my hands on those articles as well. The Scatters has changed a bunch since then. I've got an old Corps of Engineers topo map dated 1940 that shows a creek (Tippo Bayou) running through it. The Yalabusha River dredging, beavers and the floods of 73 & 74 have caused it to completely silt in but if you are wading in the right place you can still find where the channel was because you'll sink up to your crotch there. I'd love to see some old picture of it back in the 40's and 50's. It was choked full of buttom willow so thick back then, if you got off the trail your booty was lost. In the late 60's-the early 80's most of the button willows started dieing out and now it is just an open cypress lake.
"I'd still like to stick that shotgun up a mallard's as$ and pull the trigger!"---FRITZ RUESEWALD @ 93 years old...(The Arkansas Duck Hunter's Almanac, pg.91)
novacaine
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3605
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 pm
Location: Hernando-Gwood-Nola

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby novacaine » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:22 am

"You didn't happen to find that on the side of the road did you?"- One Shot
Don Miller
Duck South Addict
Posts: 6430
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2001 1:01 am
Location: Holcomb/Money, MS
Contact:

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby Don Miller » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:38 am

Another person that I just thought of is Spann Robertson. His cotton company is located in that strip mall by the Oil Mill across the the hwy from Kystals. Spann has been hunting that area since the 50's if not before.
"I'd still like to stick that shotgun up a mallard's as$ and pull the trigger!"---FRITZ RUESEWALD @ 93 years old...(The Arkansas Duck Hunter's Almanac, pg.91)
SWAG
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3209
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 1:07 pm
Location: TALLAHATCHIE COUNTY

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby SWAG » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:47 am

Actually married into the Cross duck calling of genetics. Her dad's (W.C. Cross Jr) ashes were dropped from an airplane over the Scatters. He himself was a fine duck caller, winning MS and World Jr Championships. Mr. W.C. Cross' competition jacket is a real cool artifact in that it has the old iron-on badges and patches from back in the day. Her dad made a lot of calls and enjoyed it as much as calling I am told. There are some records of her grandad and dad calling somewhere. Real scratchy but still incredible "meat" calling to say the least.

Back to the Scatters, if you look at some of the old aerial photos (look farther north) you will see a drain coming from Hatten to the north end of Heyward Jack's. That drain is called "East Prong" and no doubt sent a lot of water through to the Scatters and adjacent wetlands. That drain was nothing but a duck killing when hard freezes occured so I am told. Could enter the drain from the Scatters end or the north end during high water. Now it is hardly nothing more than an indention.

Dad hunted the Scatters some back in the 60's and 70's with Greenwood friends. Said he never hunted with either of the Cross men. 20 years later I married the daughter. Funny how things work out.
Are we gonna get wet?
SWAG
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3209
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 1:07 pm
Location: TALLAHATCHIE COUNTY

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby SWAG » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:53 am

You mentioned the button brush.....I have heard a lot of stories about people getting lost and also about having to shoot yourself a shooting lane.
Are we gonna get wet?
novacaine
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3605
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 pm
Location: Hernando-Gwood-Nola

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby novacaine » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:01 pm

Actually married into the Cross duck calling of genetics. Her dad's (W.C. Cross Jr) ashes were dropped from an airplane over the Scatters

Now that's cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what you call "making history".
I talked to Tate W. and he said he had someone in the literary/editing department that could possibly help with a search.

I read an article recently about W.C.Cross and 2 others that use to hunt and make calls together and it told how Mr Cross decided to enter the calling comps. I will have to dig that back out.
"You didn't happen to find that on the side of the road did you?"- One Shot
novacaine
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3605
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 pm
Location: Hernando-Gwood-Nola

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby novacaine » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:20 pm

I pulled this from Delta Farm Press- hope they don't mind! :D
Son Jordan ranks high in the history of duck calls
Sep 22, 2006 12:00 PM, By Wayne Capooth Freelance Writer wcapooth@gmail.com

As long as C.M. “Son” Jordan can remember, he has hunted ducks. He is now 81 years old and lives in Greenwood, Miss. He still whittles out a few duck calls for friends and goes duck hunting when he gets a chance, but not by himself.

His duck call-making ambitions began when he visited R.R. McPherson (Mr. Mac), who began turning out duck calls for sale in Greenwood, Miss., in 1951 at the old Delta Sporting Goods. Son and W.C. Cross, a fishing buddy of his Daddy's, frequented Mr. Mac's shop, where they held calling sessions in preparation for tournaments. Cross did much of his duck hunting with Son, blowing a “Tamer” call by Mr. Mac.

With the Mississippi State Calling Contest looming in 1956, Son decided to make his own call. A few weeks later, he entered the contest at Clarksdale, Miss., and came in third behind Cross, who won, and Mr. Mac, who came in second. After that, Cross began blowing Son's call instead of Mr. Mac's.

Cross got so good with Son's call that he went on to win the World Duck Calling Championship at Stuttgart, Ark., in 1957 and again in 1958, blowing a Son call. Then everyone wanted a Son call.

At the state championship at Clarksdale in 1959, Son beat all challengers. He traveled to Stuttgart that November, but didn't place.

His hunting buddy, Cross, couldn't compete in Stuttgart in 1959 because the rules had changed after Pat Peacock, a woman, won back-to-back titles in 1955 and 1956. The rules-makers thought it was time for a man to step forward and recapture the title. The rules stayed this way for 10 years, then changed back to allowing a caller to win three championships.

The next two years, there was no state contest, but Son represented Mississippi. In 1960 he came in second at Stuttgart behind Ed Landreth of Joplin, Mo. The following year he came in third behind the winner, Pete Claett of Kansas City.

During the mid 1950s and early 1960s, Cross and Son traveled the duck calling circuit, taking in most of the major, sanctioned events: the International Duck Calling Championship at Crowley, La.; the World Championship at Stuttgart; the Gulf Coast Regional at Port Arthur, Texas; and a regional contest held at Beaumont, Texas.

Son credits Mr. Mac with getting him started in the duck call making business. In fact, he fashioned his first calls after Mr. Mac's. On a duck hunt at McIntyre Scatters years ago he lost the call he used in his very first contest at Clarksdale.

No one knows exactly who invented the first duck call or when or where it was constructed. Howard Harlan and W. Crew Anderson, coauthors of Duck Calls: An Enduring American Folk Art, don't know, but I venture to say that none that followed can rank any higher than Son Jordan, Mr. Mac and Speedy Tharpe.

I wonder if Greg Hood of Clarksdale, owner of Southern Game Calls, knows about these sports. Gregg is a third-generation master call maker and champion caller. He holds 15 world sanctioned event titles and more state and regional titles than anyone else. In fact, he is the only person to hold major titles in duck, goose, deer and turkey calling.
Swag- I didn't know if you had seen this or not. Pretty cool though
"You didn't happen to find that on the side of the road did you?"- One Shot
deltadukman
Duck South Addict
Posts: 7779
Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2003 11:04 pm
Location: Crunksippi

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby deltadukman » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:27 pm

novacaine
Duck South Addict
Posts: 3605
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 pm
Location: Hernando-Gwood-Nola

Re: Ask Don Miller...or other scatters hunters

Postby novacaine » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:33 pm

"You didn't happen to find that on the side of the road did you?"- One Shot

Return to “General Discussion Forum”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 57 guests