Jeff-Widgnwhacker-Wallis
10-04-2006, 01:22 AM
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/571/prostaffnewsheader1dd.jpg
Hunter looking forward to returning friend's call
'Lucky' goose call given to Marine for his stint in Iraq
Saturday, September 16, 2006
D'Arcy Egan
Plain Dealer Columnist
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8959/brianlaux1copyoc0.jpg
Brian Laux can play sweet music on a goose call, luring a flock of giant Canada geese to a spread of decoys from what seems a mile away.
He has a half-dozen goose calls around his neck this season, but Laux wants to see his "lucky" call again before the regular goose season begins in October.
For the past couple of years, the lucky goose call - a Zink Paralyzer SR-1 - has been on a lanyard that hangs from the neck of Laux's best buddy, Mark Detrick. Laux and Detrick clicked when they met in the third grade in North Olmsted. They attended St. Edward High School, played sports, fished Lake Erie and hunted together.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2930/markdetrick2acopyzv3.jpg
The partnership was put on hold in 2004 when the Marines sent Gunnery Sgt. Detrick to Iraq. Laux sent the lucky Zink call with him. "When the geese were reluctant to come in, that goose call would seldom fail me," said Laux, who operates Waldo's Nursery in North Olmsted. "My friends used to say I'd be out of luck if I didn't have it.
"I knew that he'd need some luck a lot more than I would." After three tours of duty - and 12 years in the Marines - Detrick is expected to return home soon. Writing via e-mail from Iraq, Detrick said he is anxious to team up with Laux again, though he doesn't know exactly when it will happen.
"I can't wait to get home and go hunting," wrote Detrick. "I have a Colorado elk hunt locked up for November, but what I really miss is being in a goose blind with Brian calling in a flock, or spending all day on the Rocky River with Brian, fly fishing for steelhead trout.
"The best thing about coming home will be going deer hunting with my dad."
Detrick said he has played a few tunes on the goose call but admits he isn't even close to being a competition caller like Laux.
"Whenever the geese were stubborn, Brian would use that lucky call and get them to come in," he said. "Just about everything I know about waterfowling I learned from Brian." Detrick says the call's luck has rubbed off a bit.
He had it with him in Iraq when a rocket blasted through a garbage dumpster and glanced off his left forearm, leaving only a scrape and a bruise. An apartment room he was searching was hit by an anti-tank grenade, and his team escaped without injury. More recently, his truck hit an improvised explosive device planted on an Iraq road and slid into a water-filled canal, but Detrick and the driver were not hurt.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5086/markdetrick1acopybn5.jpg
"Everyone over here just looks at me funny and tells me to shut up," Detrick said when asked what the reaction is when he calls. "But I keep calling, anyway, just to tick them off."
I met Brian Laux, an avid hunter and competitive goose caller, on a unique work day. He helps John Beckwith and DeWayne Knight of Honker Bonkers Guide Service in Kent to guide goose hunters. He is on the pro staff of Avery, a maker of waterfowl hunting gear and Green Head decoys, and with Zink Calls of Port Clinton, Ohio.
He loves to compete in goose-calling contests and has notched some top finishes. Beckwith, Knight, Laux and I were a foursome in a hay field in Portage County during the early goose season, which ended Friday.
We were nestled in Finisher blinds, which are like camouflaged sleeping bags with tubular framework and spring-loaded doors. With straw tucked into loops on the blinds, we matched the field to perfection.
The early flights of geese were slow to arrive, giving us a chance to listen to Laux talk about goose calling, and the zany adventures he enjoyed with his pal Mark Detrick while growing up.
"We were two young sportsmen, eager to get up long before dawn to put out a spread of decoys," said Laux. Beckwith, Knight and Laux were in a nail- biting mood on this Ohio morning, with nary a goose in sight. Finally, long after dawn, a cloud of Canada geese appeared, winging their way over a tree line and heading to our field.
We slipped into our individual blinds, and it was entertaining to lay back with a shotgun across my lap and listen. With three outstanding goose callers in action, the wild flock was anxious to join the goose decoys. Minutes later, I could hear the whistling wings overhead and nervously waited for Beckwith's call to sit up and shoot.
When it came, we greeted a very surprised flock of geese, their wings beating madly as they switched to escape mode. Throughout the morning, flocks would arrive and shots would be fired until each sportsman had a limit of three of the big birds.
With the shotguns unloaded and in their cases, I was reluctant to pick up the decoys and head home. I wanted to hear more goose music, experience the excitement of Canada geese overhead - and listen to the Laux's tales of fishing trips and hunting adventures with his friend, Mark Detrick.
D'Arcy Egan
Hunter looking forward to returning friend's call
'Lucky' goose call given to Marine for his stint in Iraq
Saturday, September 16, 2006
D'Arcy Egan
Plain Dealer Columnist
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8959/brianlaux1copyoc0.jpg
Brian Laux can play sweet music on a goose call, luring a flock of giant Canada geese to a spread of decoys from what seems a mile away.
He has a half-dozen goose calls around his neck this season, but Laux wants to see his "lucky" call again before the regular goose season begins in October.
For the past couple of years, the lucky goose call - a Zink Paralyzer SR-1 - has been on a lanyard that hangs from the neck of Laux's best buddy, Mark Detrick. Laux and Detrick clicked when they met in the third grade in North Olmsted. They attended St. Edward High School, played sports, fished Lake Erie and hunted together.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2930/markdetrick2acopyzv3.jpg
The partnership was put on hold in 2004 when the Marines sent Gunnery Sgt. Detrick to Iraq. Laux sent the lucky Zink call with him. "When the geese were reluctant to come in, that goose call would seldom fail me," said Laux, who operates Waldo's Nursery in North Olmsted. "My friends used to say I'd be out of luck if I didn't have it.
"I knew that he'd need some luck a lot more than I would." After three tours of duty - and 12 years in the Marines - Detrick is expected to return home soon. Writing via e-mail from Iraq, Detrick said he is anxious to team up with Laux again, though he doesn't know exactly when it will happen.
"I can't wait to get home and go hunting," wrote Detrick. "I have a Colorado elk hunt locked up for November, but what I really miss is being in a goose blind with Brian calling in a flock, or spending all day on the Rocky River with Brian, fly fishing for steelhead trout.
"The best thing about coming home will be going deer hunting with my dad."
Detrick said he has played a few tunes on the goose call but admits he isn't even close to being a competition caller like Laux.
"Whenever the geese were stubborn, Brian would use that lucky call and get them to come in," he said. "Just about everything I know about waterfowling I learned from Brian." Detrick says the call's luck has rubbed off a bit.
He had it with him in Iraq when a rocket blasted through a garbage dumpster and glanced off his left forearm, leaving only a scrape and a bruise. An apartment room he was searching was hit by an anti-tank grenade, and his team escaped without injury. More recently, his truck hit an improvised explosive device planted on an Iraq road and slid into a water-filled canal, but Detrick and the driver were not hurt.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5086/markdetrick1acopybn5.jpg
"Everyone over here just looks at me funny and tells me to shut up," Detrick said when asked what the reaction is when he calls. "But I keep calling, anyway, just to tick them off."
I met Brian Laux, an avid hunter and competitive goose caller, on a unique work day. He helps John Beckwith and DeWayne Knight of Honker Bonkers Guide Service in Kent to guide goose hunters. He is on the pro staff of Avery, a maker of waterfowl hunting gear and Green Head decoys, and with Zink Calls of Port Clinton, Ohio.
He loves to compete in goose-calling contests and has notched some top finishes. Beckwith, Knight, Laux and I were a foursome in a hay field in Portage County during the early goose season, which ended Friday.
We were nestled in Finisher blinds, which are like camouflaged sleeping bags with tubular framework and spring-loaded doors. With straw tucked into loops on the blinds, we matched the field to perfection.
The early flights of geese were slow to arrive, giving us a chance to listen to Laux talk about goose calling, and the zany adventures he enjoyed with his pal Mark Detrick while growing up.
"We were two young sportsmen, eager to get up long before dawn to put out a spread of decoys," said Laux. Beckwith, Knight and Laux were in a nail- biting mood on this Ohio morning, with nary a goose in sight. Finally, long after dawn, a cloud of Canada geese appeared, winging their way over a tree line and heading to our field.
We slipped into our individual blinds, and it was entertaining to lay back with a shotgun across my lap and listen. With three outstanding goose callers in action, the wild flock was anxious to join the goose decoys. Minutes later, I could hear the whistling wings overhead and nervously waited for Beckwith's call to sit up and shoot.
When it came, we greeted a very surprised flock of geese, their wings beating madly as they switched to escape mode. Throughout the morning, flocks would arrive and shots would be fired until each sportsman had a limit of three of the big birds.
With the shotguns unloaded and in their cases, I was reluctant to pick up the decoys and head home. I wanted to hear more goose music, experience the excitement of Canada geese overhead - and listen to the Laux's tales of fishing trips and hunting adventures with his friend, Mark Detrick.
D'Arcy Egan