I felt for Bret Bielema this week. He coughed his way through a speech at the Baxter County Razorback Club in Mountain Home. He could only finish with the assistance of a cough drop.
It's been like that for me the last four weeks. I've been sick ever since leaving Charlotte, N.C. Some might argue it was caused by the second half of the Belk Bowl loss to Virginia Tech.
I have another theory: climate change.
I see green stuff in my backyard. So all of my coughing and sneezing could be from allergies.
There was even more grass and weeds when I got to a January duck hunting camp with college roommates, Conway's Leo Crafton and Hal Hunnicutt. I'd just been through a round of antibiotics.
I have just tried a second round after a Saturday visit to the walk-in clinic. It was obvious something was needed after I coughed my way through the last six radio shows with Bo Mattingly, along with a bluegrass concert last Friday at the Walton Arts Center.
The duck hunts were unusual. We did wear long sleeve T-shirts and fleece just because we were out before daylight, and camouflage is required. We could take a couple of layers off to short sleeves just after the shooting began. It was that warm. We worried about mosquitoes, in January.
Now this is five hours away from Fayetteville and much further to the south. When it's warm at home, it's even warmer in Arkansas County. It was nearly 80 that weekend, as it is expected to be this weekend in the Ozarks.
The hunts were split between two camps over a long weekend, Thursday night until Sunday afternoon. There was a morning hunt at Whiskey Chute, south of Elaine on the east border of the White River National Wildlife Refuge. Ducks were killed.
Then there were two days at Ward's Reservoir, perhaps the best duck hunting in the world. Yes, I know that's a big statement, but when you kill your limit by 7:10 in the morning, I don't know if anyone can shoot down my claim.
The Ward's Reservoir hunt, just south of DeWitt on the other side of the refuge, was special with a new hunting partner. Crafton Fowler, grandson of Hal Crafton, showed me how to spin four duck decoys with a jerk string. Crafton, 5, was in the blind next to me, grinning as he sat just below the brushed part of the blind.
Young Crafton would see the ducks rolling around the hole, duck his head and grin. He was into making those decoys spin, pulling on the cord almost non-stop.
My congratulatory thumbs-up sign was flashed to him after the ducks had been knocked out of the sky.
“How many that time, Grand Daddy?” Crafton said.
I beat Grand Daddy. I signaled three. Crafton pumped his fist and grinned.
Crafton doesn't hunt yet. He's willing, just not big enough for the lightest of shotguns. I figure it's going to happen in the next two years. He's motivated. When any meal is served, a mention of “getting bigger so you can hunt” is all it takes to produce a clean plate.
There is little doubt Crafton will be a good hunter soon. He follows direction, is patient and well-mannered. He is by his grandfather's side for everything. It's a sight to see.
Then there's Ward's Reservoir, certain to be the best training ground for shooting ducks. Crafton doesn't have a clue that he's being exposed to the world's best.
Hal Crafton and Bryan Ward, the partners there, manage it perfectly. The ducks are rested except on Saturday and Sunday. The mostly mallards in the biggest section of the reservoir are never bothered. You leave ducks alone, they'll stay. And they do at Ward's, by the tens of thousands. It's been that way since 1939.
The hunting is just a fraction of what takes me to Ward's. When I'm with the Crafton brothers and Cutter, it's priceless. Our stories from college would bore anyone else. We play '60s music, sing along and laugh.
Some are from duck hunts long ago. There will always be one about the former duck hunting partner who got lost in the fog at Bell Slough below the Lake Conway dam. He sloshed back towards us asking how many ducks we had shot, not knowing he had twisted and turned until he was back with his buddies. We played him for several minutes until he recognized a voice through the fog.
Generally, there will be Razorback football talk. The bad play in the second half of the last two games was covered on this trip. I gave my reasons, including lack of punch in the offensive line. Mostly, everyone nodded in agreement. Lack of speed on defense was the weakness noted by my hunting partners.
A frequent question was about the defensive redshirts? Are there any difference makers there? I told them about Michael Taylor and Briston Guidry in the defensive line.
These are men that know sports. Of course, Hal Crafton was the great point guard with Marvin Delph at Conway High. They grew up playing and their fall weekends are often spent at duck camp preparing for the hunting season, but with time budgeted to fit in TV games.
They protect me from too much football talk. They know my time at duck camp is to get away from work. If someone rolls into camp the second or third day and asks football questions, they stop them short, citing that I'd already covered that the first night.
Tommy Nabholz had that happen to him a couple of years ago. Leo told the man they call “Tinker” that I'd covered the entire offense and defense three deep after dinner the night before and there would be no more questions. Nabholz just dropped his head.
OK, I gave him a little bit. We had not covered the kicking game.
To be honest, Leo and Cutter don't require any football talk on these trips. But how can you not talk about the Razorbacks? It's life in Arkansas, whether in a duck blind, a deer stand or around a dinner table.
There will be a day when young Crafton Fowler will ask the questions, or answer them. And he will be shooting ducks soon, too. I can't wait to watch.