NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/873551
OCTOBER 2017 • NEBRASKAland 41 one year, and his pants were frozen by the time he made it back. "Then we see stuff like this trip, when it's too dang hot," Jake said last year, when the gang showed up at the shack wearing shorts, and on opening day it was 63 by 9:30 a.m. and the mercury topped 80 by midday. The one hunt Jake almost skipped is one of the stories. He'd torn his Achilles tendon before the December hunt in 2004, and told the others he wasn't coming. Yes you are, they insisted. Sands rounded up a motorized scooter so he could get around the shack and the yard and to and from the outhouse. And Jake rode around and sat in the car while others hunted. Keeping It Alive Jake, Sands and Schmidt readily admit that their bodies may not have that many hunts left in them. Jake, now 69, was relegated to blocker for most of last season thanks to serious knee troubles. He booked his surgery to have a new one installed immediately after last December's hunt, and is anxious to try it out this fall. Schmidt, 67, had surgery in February 2016 to have discs fused in a bad back. Sands, also 67, says the ground gets rougher every year. "I question my sanity every time I come out," he said wryly. Jim, 41, fights a trick ankle that often swells up. Even his chocolate lab, Guinness, his third bird dog, is slowing down at 9. On the eve of the 2016 opener, Jake broke out some of the good whiskey and made a toast. "Here's to 60 years in the same building," he said, adding later that, "I doubt there's going to be a 70th." Jim is more optimistic. "If he's careful, maybe he could be a blocker. Do it for old time's sake and just go stand at the end for a while. Like grandpa." But as long as they are able, they will keep coming. "We're good friends and we all just enjoy being out here doing it, getting out and walking and seeing the country and the challenge of trying to get a few birds even when pickings are slim," Sands said. Jim said that as long as the shack remains standing, he will keep coming with his son and their friends. That is what Jake wants to see. "It is more about the family tradition than it is about the actual hunt," Jake said. "My dad took me and he taught me pretty much what I know about pheasant hunting. I tried to teach Jim a few things here and there, and hopefully he'll pass that on to Joe." Thanks to family and friends, as time moved on, the trips to Scotia "just seemed more important every year," he said. "We didn't shoot a bird today but just being here, with these guys, means a lot," Jake said, choking back tears. Sixty-plus years of memories can do that. ■ Jim heads into a CRP field and the rising sun on the first walk of the 2016 pheasant season.