It was winter of 1971 when I read an article in one of the hook and bullet mags about hunting flooded timber in the Grand Prairie region of Arkansas. There were an estimated 1 million wintering mallards in an 800 square mile region. The four of us drove a VW micro minibus from Athens, Ga., to Stuttgart at low speed. According to the article, we could camp. We booked “Slick” McCollum’s outfit for flooded timber shooting. We arrived in a driving rain and stopped at the police station for directions to where we could camp. “Huh?” “I suppose you could camp in the city park”. It was covered with a couple of inches of rain. Neil got us into the Mallard Inn, four of us in one room. I had pre-cooked about 10 lbs. of chili to be washed down with PBR. We heated the chili on a Coleman stove. There is no description suitably accurate that conveys the air condition in that room after two days. Maybe there’s jargon in an EPA reg that would. Slick doubled as the local coroner. There may have been bodies stored under the motel beds come to think of it, judging from the room’s odor. The duck hunting was fabulous. We divided up the costs of the trip, motel room, 10 lbs. of chili, a couple of cases of PBR, gas, licenses and guide fees. My costs for two days hunting was $75, more or less. “Slick’s” family still runs the business and I understand it is still tops.
http://stuttgarthuntingclub.com/history
