Chuck Cook
City President, Regions Bank, Little Rock
Number of days you hunt a season? 25 or so.
Where do you hunt? Mill Bayou, Arkansas County.
Club name? Drakes Landing. Mill Bayou cuts through the heart of the property with ridges and timber on the perimeter. It’s a special place filled with great memories.
Pump or semi-automatic? SA – Benelli. Light with no kick. It gets tough treatment and is very durable.
Duck call? Rich-N-Tone.
Fields, reservoir, river or timber? Mainly bayou but will slip into the timber when the water is right.
Rainy, nasty or bluebird sky? Definitely bluebird with a nice breeze.
Favorite hunting story/memory? My favorite memory was watching my son, Collins (9 at the time) kill his first duck, a green-winged teal. All duck hunters know how fast and erratic teal fly. It was a fine shot.
Two quick hunting stories: While a member of Po Boys, five of us took Greg Steinbeck’s jeep (the heater was not working) to the White River Refuge. We wore all (gloves included) of our gear to stay warm on the 30-minute ride. It was a bluebird, high teens morning and the refuge was frozen solid. We drug the boat out over the ice, cracked open a hole and used the outboard motor to periodically spray water onto the ice to make it look like an open hole. We about froze but it worked and we ended up with quite a few mallards.
Another was an afternoon hunt with Mike Henley and Chester Phillips at Drakes Landing. We went to a bayou blind mainly to enjoy the afternoon and just hope to see some ducks flying around. After about an hour we called it a day and as I looked at the boat it was FULL of water. The gas container was floating. Yes, I forgot the plug. After a bit of well-deserved ribbing, I slowly got it back to the boat landing and then went and retrieved my two good friends and to this day have yet to live it down.
Favorite place to eat during duck season? While there are some good places to eat on the “Prairie,” nothing beats the grilled duck appetizers, steaks, Béarnaise sauce and Oysters Bienville at Drakes Landing. Stephen Harris is the King of Béarnaise and Oysters Bienville.
If you have children, do you take them duck hunting? Collins (28) and I have hunted together for about 20 years. In the very early days, before having a gun, he would ride piggyback out to a field blind and just watch the action. Since then, we have hunted countless times together and I have treasured each one.
