Rick Griffin
Manager, Griffin Properties of Fort Smith, LLC, Fort Smith
Number of days you hunt a season? 20 to 30 — varies year in, year out.
Where do you hunt? Hildebrand’s Farm, two miles east of Humnoke.
Club name? Gee Ridge Duck Camp
Pump or semi-automatic? Benelli Super Black Eagle LH in Camo, 12 gauge semi-automatic
Duck call? Rich-N-Tone
Fields, reservoir, river or timber? Mostly flooded fields for ducks and dry ground for speckle belly geese
Rainy, nasty or bluebird sky? Blustery, rainy, wet and ugly with fronts blowing by; I like it cold ’cause ducks gotta eat!
Favorite hunting story/memory? The time I took all the shells out of Benson Cashion’s gun and we only saw one duck all morning. You should have seen his face when he squeezed the trigger.
Favorite place to eat during duck season? Sportsman’s in Stuttgart, but heard it closed this year. Shame – they made a fine cheeseburger and had cold beer.
What got you into duck hunting? Around the age of 28 or so, some buddies took me and I was hooked. I’ve hunted ducks ever since.
If you have children, do you take them duck hunting? If so, what are some of the highlights from these youth hunts? I have daughters and have taken them both, but they don’t much like it. I do get to hunt with Brent Birch’s sons, Reid and Fuller, and they are a hoot!
One day Fuller and I were hunting. It was slow and he got bored. He asked me to blow my duck call, which I did. A bedded-down, large, 10-point buck jumped out of the brush on the other side of the levee about 10 yards away, scaring us good. He was missing his antlers on one side (which looked like they had been shot off). He just stood there looking at us. I think he had a concussion, and he was acting goofy. For a minute I thought he might charge us, which would not have been good for him or us, but he finally bounded off across the flooded rice field, falling down every third or fourth bound. We never saw him again but it spooked Fuller and me a bit.
What is your most unusual “must have” in the duck blind? Camo face paint (we hunt off the levees, which can be scant of cover) and a tool kit to fix a jammed or broken gun
Which Arkansas executive calls ducks the best? Bob Birch. Unfortunately, I kinda suck!
