“Reb’s Wild Ride” By Doug Fincher

July 2, 2018 - My brother Joe (lives in Orange, Texas-retired from DuPont) has always loved to quail hunt and during his years at DuPont searched out the coveys of birds in the Orange/southwest Louisiana area.  One day, he, his dog “Reb” and his hunter/friend Jim planned a hunt in Starks, Louisiana.  

They were to meet at an Orange service station and drive in separate cars to Starks. Joe hooked his trailer to his ’71 Pontiac, loaded Reb in his pen into the trailer and drove to meet Jim. But since Jim was not there, Joe assumed  he had already left. “I pushed the pedal to the floor and drove wide open in an attempt to catch up to him,” Joe said.

Joe had just crossed the Sabine River at Deweyville when the familiar flashing lights suddenly appeared in his rear view mirror. “When I looked down and saw I was doing an even 95 miles per hour…. and knew I was caught….I just pulled over, got my driver license out and waited,” Joe said.  But instead of asking for his license, the Trooper told Joe to “come look at your trailer.” “When you crossed the river, I noticed that the door of your dog pen was open and your dog was about to bounce out of the trailer.” “I thought I’d never catch up with you.”    

Moments later Joe and the Trooper found a stick in a nearby ditch and secured the latch on Reb’s pen.

When Joe finished telling me the story, he said, “That all happened before cell phones came out.  If we had them back then my story would be different.” “That was one wild trip…a trip I’ll never forget.”  That’s right,” I laughed.
 
“And Reb probably never forgot it, either.”