Country Lifestyles
Cowboy Culture – Grabbling
By Clay Reid
Poacher: A person who, to most people, ranks right up there with cow thieves and people who slap their mama. As I grow older, I guess I can say I kind of lean towards that way of thinking, but at the same time I think about all the poachers I know, and how on many occasion I was unknowingly lead into poaching. This is where I have the conflict.
I will explain by giving a few examples. The first time I was led astray, I just happened to be over at my aunt’s house and she was married to an outlaw named Randy.
I was sitting on the porch enjoying a Dr Pepper when Randy said, “Hey, boy, you wanna go fishing tonight?” To which I replied, “You bet… I love to fish.”
Then old Randy tells me to meet him here at midnight, and we would head on out. Man I was excited and was counting the minutes for midnight to get there.
At midnight I came walking up, and as I did I noticed that Randy’s dad, Rolo and a friend of his named Homer was there, and I thought, “Well good; we’ll have a grand old time just me and the big boys.” Boy, if I only knew.
You see, as I was standing there, I was watching them load up beer and other stuff into the boat, but I noticed they had not loaded any fishing poles into the little 14-foot john boat. I thought well that’s strange, but I figured oh well they must have the poles at a lake cabin or something, then I never gave it another thought.
Soon we found ourselves pulling up to the boat ramp at Lake Kickapoo, west of Wichita Falls. Still no poles, and I was getting a little concerned, but I was committed so I got in the boat, and we sailed our butt to the backside of the lake in the pitch black dark.
After arriving to the backside, we pulled into a little cove and everybody jumped out into the water except for my little, skinny butt. I was thinking what in the h-e-double-hockey sticks are these fellars doing?
To read more pick up a copy of the October 2018 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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