By Gary Koehler
Our original plan is to hunt flooded timber, dutifully scouted well in advance by Elmo Halverson, who reports seeing ducks regularly using this hole just off the Arkansas River. Then a cold snap creeps into northern Oklahoma and the temperature retreats to 22 degrees overnight. Frozen tundra is one thing, a frozen beaver pond another.
Sure enough, after a hasty ATV ride from the truck to the secluded timber haven, Halverson returns with a somber face. His chin droops to his chest. “It’s all locked up,” he says. “Locked up tight. I’m not sure what we should do now. Everything but the river is frozen.”
This comes as no surprise to any of the four of us hanging out in the warmth of the vehicle. Hmmm. What we have here is a dilemma. The sun is on the rise. Our options are minimal.
“One end of the pond is not too deep, so maybe we should take another look and try to shoot it,” Halverson says. “We’re going to have to break ice, but I think we might be able to get in there and make a big enough hole.”
“That’s better than standing here,” Barnie Calef says. “We might as well give it a try.”