Back in my college days I became friends with and hunted with the famous Jimmy Riddell out of Jackson, Ms. I used to help Mr. Jimmy tune calls when his eyesight started failing, and I also became one of his spotters of flight ducks coming down one of the flyways here in Ms. First I will post a picture of one of my orginal Jimmy Riddell calls that is 48 years old, and my go to duck call, tell a story of one of my hunts with Mr. Jimmy, and then post a link to the calls being made by Mr. Dick Reed. The call was one Mr. Jimmy used for 3 years and put in a drawer for 2 more before I was able to buy it from him. It is burl walnut with bodock bands. (I think most on this site say osage orange)
. You can see the bands have turned orange with age.
I was hunting with Mr. Riddell back in the late 60’s. His eyesight was getting poor and I was along to spot the flight ducks coming south from the North. This was usually before, during, or just after a front. Back then, before the shortstopping by the big refuges north of here, the ducks would line up, sometimes flight behind flight coming south to find feed and resting areas. Mr. Jimmy said there were 3 flyways back then. Along the Ms. River, Along the reservoir line, and along the hill line. He hunted a resting duck marsh hole on the hill line south of Greenwood. He had been hunting this one hole since the 40’s. The hole was approximately 60 yards long and 40 yards wide sitting on a flowing spring fed run. Anyway, that particular A.M. Mr. Reed could not go, and I was fortunate enough to go along as the chief spotter. His blind was a box car blind with 3 shooting holes on the front with a boat garage on the back. It was so well camouflaged that you could stand in your boat 25 yards in front of the blind and not see it. “Flock coming from the North” I would shout, and Mr. Jimmy would go to work on his favorite homemade call. You could only see the flicker of sunlight on their wings they were so high, but after his hailing, they would set their wings, and start their circling decent. What seemed like 5 minutes latter he would have a flock of 20 to 25 lighting all in the swimming Herter decoys and drinking water first as flight ducks will do. He would shirt pocket that Riddell call, turn to me and say, “pick you one out on the water”. -- We had just picked up the last duck and Mr. Jimmy said “Let’s have some fun.” “Find me a flock” Since it had been non stop since about 8:00, I did just that and Jimmy lit the first flock in the hole bout 10 minutes later. With that flock on the water he started working on the second flock and lit it. The third trailing flock didn’t need much calling having seen all the previous activity and I watched as Mr. Jimmy pocketed that call in his shirt pocket and listened in enjoyment as a loud mouth hen took over. With the last duck on the water Mr. Jimmy then stood up and shouted “ IT’S YOUR LUCKY DAY,GIT OUTTA HERE”. He then sat down , lit his pipe,and told me that he invited Nash Buckingham down for a hunt one time from Memphis. I had just read The Best of Nash Buckingham and was all ears. He said he put him in one of his best flight duck blinds. He said the ducks were coming from the North just like they were that day. About 9:30 or 10:00 he could hear Nash at the other blind because the wind was just right. He was playing Home on the Range, Yankee Doodle and just about anything you wanted to hear on his duck call. Then he said “But he could not call flight ducks.” He said he was a fantastic shot though and killed a few that day that came in range of his Bert Becker. --- Sometimes I step into my own box car blind , and reflect back on those great times. Those were the GOOD OLE DAYS!!!
