foot-tall sandhill cranes. His
interest in these “ribeyes-of-
the sky” culinary treats has
never been deterred by the 15-
pound cranes’ formidable
defenses— their sharp beaks,
leg spurs and powerful wings.
Once he locates the cranes in
cover, Bubba dutifully drags
them to me.
One day, toting my
Remington 870 over my
shoulder to open the gate, I
spied a formation of sandhills
lining up on approach to an
adjacent wheat field, and
quickly took a knee on the
caliche. When I stood for a
shot, I selected a single bird
and let fly with a load of No.
2s. The bird crumpled and
plummeted to earth, but as I
watched it descend, I noticed
a second bird fold and suc-
cumb to gravity. Two cranes
with one shot—my personal
best! As ever, Bubba is always
at my side, and when the ‘dou-
ble’ fell to earth, he was quick-
ly upon them.
And if his hunting skills
aren’t enough, Bubba has
saved me from rattlesnake
encounters. Famed rat-
tlesnake handler Jackie Bibby
trained Bubba with a live rat-
tler. Thanks, Jackie! Mowing
the grass, working in the gar-
den, or riding the fence in the
Polaris, I was accustomed to
packing my Taurus Judge
loaded with No. 7, .410 bird
shot for venomous snakes. I’ve
come to recognize Bubba’s
peculiar bark when he
encounters rattlers, and I am
able to shoot the varmints
before I step on them.
And if all this isn’t enough,
Bubba blood-trails wounded
deer! I was hunting Pecos
County a few years back and
shot a nice 10-point white-
tailed deer. The buck dropped
but immediately got up and
effected its escape into the
thick West Texas brush. I
promptly went to my truck
and got Bubba out. I proceed-
ed to put him on a leash,
grabbed my flashlight and
took him to the spot where the
deer had dropped. Bubba
picked up the deer’s blood
trail and in minutes, in the
cover of early evening, he
stood panting over the deer.
Bubba received some special
treats that night! In Texas Hill
Country, Bubba trailed a nice
Axis buck I shot with my
BowTech compound bow.
I have too much invested in
Bubba to expose him to feral
hogs. However, while riding
my Polaris one night, I
sneaked up to a feeder to get a
shot at a pig with my .243
ranch rifle. Sure enough, as I
edged around a mesquite
thicket, I spied a pack of feed-
ing pigs. I raised the ranch
rifle—a sure signal to Bubba
that I meant business, and
shot the biggest porker. As
pigs are wont to do, the dan-
ged pig ran off, with Bubba on
its tail! I nearly lost Bubba that
night…but after I searched in
the dark for an hour, he
returned. I believe he must
have lain beside that pig won-
dering where the heck I was!
I’ve never seen an expen-
sive bird dog snag a dangerous
sandhill crane—or alert to a
rattlesnake! Yes, sir, that
dog—my dog, will hunt!
Bubba may only be a blue
heeler, a working dog for farm
and ranch animals, yet he is
every bit the pedigree champi-
on retriever, in my book, as
an expensive, professionally
trained German short hair.
Each day, I learn how incred-
ibly smart and resourceful
Bubba is and with time I have
learned how useful dogs can
be, if properly cared for and
trained. I don’t subscribe to
stereotypes or preconceived
notions. Like people, dogs can
be put in boxes they should
not be in……and suffer for it.
Taste and See
Bakery
Thursdays 4 - 6pm
• Organic spelt, hard white wheat berries.
• Rye and kamut freshly milled in my
stone burr mill and baked into
delicious breads, pizza crusts, cookies
and other goodies.
• Stone ground flour milled to order for
home bakers.
We use no white flour or
white sugar in our products
us on Facebook
802 E. Brown St. and Cockrell
Alpine
432-386-3772
gingerhillery@mac.com
B ALMORHEA
R OCK S HOP
102 S Main • Balmorhea
432-375-0214
Jim and Sue Franklin,
Owners
Shop with us
on-line
facebook.com/
balmorhearocks
Donate to the Alpine Food Pantry
at its new location: 108 1/2 S. Neville Haines Road
Radio f or a Wide Range
Serving F ar W es t T e x as a t 9 3.5 FM
Bec ome a member a t www . marf apublicr adio . or g or 1-800-90 3-KR T S
Cenizo
Fourth Quarter 2016
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