The best of the year's paddle fishing may be coming to a close in Oklahoma, but not before Steven McBride of Yukon reeled in a massive 114-pounder May 12 from below Kaw Dam near Ponca City.

  "This was a great catch," said Larry Green, game warden stationed in Osage Co. for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. "We are entering the time of year that offers some of the very best fishing for black bass, striper, catfish and others, but McBride's catch shows that getting out there and paddle fishing is still paying off for some anglers."

  McBride's paddlefish fell slightly short of the state record, a 121-pound fish caught by Shane McCleary out of the Kaw tail-waters in 2003. However, McBride's fish measured 54 inches in length from the front of the eye to the fork of the tail, about a half-inch longer than McCleary's state record.

  Coming shy of the record didn't seem to faze McBride. Though he's only been paddle fishing a few times, he loves to "feel the power" of a paddlefish on the line.

  "It's addictive once you hook one," McBride said.

  When McBride first snagged the fish, he thought it was a small one because the monster initially swam toward him. But eventually it turned and gave McBride and his 40 lb. test line a half-hour fight. McBride's dad steered the boat to shore, where the fishing line linking McBride to his trophy snapped in two.

  McBride scrambled into the water in time to grip his broken line and was able to bring the fish the rest of the way in by hand without a rod and reel.

  The fish is being mounted by a taxidermist.

  "This is an exciting story - one of those you tell your friends and family for years to come," Green said.

  One of Oklahoma's largest fish, paddlefish feed on tiny, microscopic insects and are caught during the spring by snagging with a surf rod, heavy test line and large barbless hooks. In Oklahoma, they are found in several river systems and lakes.

  To learn more about paddlefish and the extensive management and tagging program for the prehistoric fish, log on to wildlifedepartment.com.

  Green said that although paddle fishing is slowing down statewide, fishing for other species is just picking up.

  "We've yet to see the best fishing of the year," Green said. "When it comes to many of Oklahoma's most popular and readily available fish, the angling is just now starting to get hot."

  For more information about fishing in Oklahoma, log on to wildlifedepartment.com.

  It is hard to believe this happened 16 years ago, but I have always enjoyed taking new hunters out. My brother Jeff was 14 then and he had never killed a deer. I had never killed a big buck, though I had shot a few younger deer. I took my first deer when I was 19 years old. She was a doe that I shot 225 yards away with my grandpa watching telling me to shoot the little one ‘cause it would eat better. It was good eating and the .243 Winchester did the trick, even at that distance.

  I had to wait for Jeff to play a basketball game the Friday night before season opened so we left late, getting to deer camp with my dad, uncle and cousin's husband Doug already in bed.

  Jeff and I got up the next morning and walked down the mountain away from the camp. We hunted the Ouachita National Forest around Walnut Mountain, crossing Pigeon Creek as we ventured deep into the forest range to our yearly hunting area. It is very close to the Arkansas border with Mena, Arkansas being the largest nearby town from where we camped.

  Neither Jeff nor I saw anything we could shoot and back in those days you had to draw a doe tag. Neither of us had one so we were buck hunting, though I was in no hurry because my friend Todd was meeting us Sunday evening and we were going to spend the rest of the week hunting at my father-in-laws’ land.

  No one had seen anything of significance and since my Dad and Uncle Royce were big on breakfast they came back and cooked up a humdinger. We were low on cooking fuel and Doug wanted to pick up some things in town so Jeff and I rode with him. Well, we got to sight seeing and driving the roads and it was late when we returned (Okay, we did stop for a triple decker burger at Anderson’s in Smithville).

  When we arrived at camp, Royce was dressing a really nice 7 point buck. He said the deer started moving like crazy around 2 o’clock and he killed that one around 2:30. He said Dad was sitting in his stand now. Since it was getting dark, Jeff and I drove down to pick him up.

  We stood beside the pick-up talking in low whispers when the woods roared once from the sound of Dad’s .30-30, the echo rumbling up and down the canyons like ocean breakers. We looked at each other and then climbed the mountain up to where Dad was sitting. He was standing over a beautiful 11 point mature buck that he had shot right between the eyes at 10 yards. He told us how a bunch of does had been eating acorns around him all evening and then this big guy came up the hill and joined the party. He said he shot him between the eyes because he had stayed behind some brush and never would turn broadside and it was almost too dark to shoot.

  We helped him drag it out and field dress it. We hung the deer and walked into camp to find Doug and Uncle Royce finishing up the evening meal and getting ready to ladle it into plates. We were all eating excitedly when Jeff said if no one cared, he would like to hunt that stand in the morning. I told him two deer had already been killed out of it. He didn’t care. Uncle Royce and Dad did not mind if Jeff hunted it neither. I should say now that Jeff is my half-brother and belongs to my mom and step-dad. However, my dad had no problems with me bringing Jeff along with me.

  The next morning before daylight I put Jeff in the stand and I headed down the hill to where my dad's old stand used to be before it fell over. I found a good place and sat down, comfortable in my new heavy Winchester coat. I had been there about 30 minutes when a doe came running past me and hot behind her was a nice buck with his nose to the ground. I flipped the .243 to my shoulder and then lowered it knowing that the deer trail went straight to where Jeff was sitting.

  Twenty minutes later I was cussing myself for not shooting at the buck. He had been a nice one and I should've….

  The shot from Jeff's stand sounded like it was in my lap. I sat there for a full minute when he fired 4 more times, each shot sounding evenly spaced. I fired a round from my pistol as though answering him and headed up the mountain. When I got to Jeff’s stand I did not see him. I walked around in front of it when I heard a faint "David" and I looked up in the tall stand. Jeff was still there.

  I asked, "What the hell are you doing?"

  "Dave I shot a big buck!" he said, his eyes still big.

  Looking around and seeing nothing, I said, "“Where is it?"

  Jeff related to me that the buck had followed the doe up in front of him and finally presented him with a good shot. Jeff being a very good shot (he really is) decided to shoot the buck through the neck. He said he missed and it ran around him in a circle before it stopped and he shot it through the neck, knocking it off its feet. The buck thrashed, then jumped and ran off. Jeff shot three more times at it, though I never heard a lull in the shooting myself.

  I could not find blood so I told him he missed. In Oklahoma, under great stress, younger brothers will sometimes cuss an older brother. This was one of those times. So to mollify him I struck out in the direction he last saw the deer, making big circles looking for blood. I found a place that looked like four animals had bled out, a thick trail leading from it.

  I said, "Sorry Jeff, you hammered him."

  Jeff freaked about losing the deer and I told him with this blood trail he probably would not lose him. We tracked it back to the road. Looking down into the steep canyon below us, we saw Dad and Uncle Royce heading out. I told Jeff to stay up there and I would track the deer and tell them what happened. So down the canyon I went for about 300 feet. The deer had turned to the left and twice I found where it fell. I was moving slow, taking a step and looking around when in the distance I seen an ear flicker. Lifting the scope I could see the deer sitting on his haunches, looking around. I settled the crosshairs between his shoulder blades and popped him. He tumbled over and was finished kicking when I got there. Calling out, my dad and Jeff answered and I called for them to help.

  The buck was 8 points in perfect symmetry and had a 14 3/4 inch inside spread. We took turns dragging it back up the hill, Jeff taking his turn every time it was his turn. He didn’t shirk any duties. When we got it to the truck and put the deer on the tailgate the big grin on the 14 year old face shone brighter than the sun.

  He said, "I was afraid I lost him."

  Ruffling his hair, I said, "Nah, not with this much blood."

  We dressed the deer and packed him in ice as we broke camp to go home. Three nice bucks all out of the same stand in less than 24 hours. Jeff has that deer mount in his room now, the best deer he has taken to date, though he has killed a few bucks here and there. He was the first teenager I took hunting with me. Since then, I have been there when my daughter and my niece took their first deer. It is a trophy of a different sort and one that is probably more important than the trophies I have taken myself.

  We don’t hunt that area in Oklahoma anymore and there is a new National Park walking trail right through the area where we harvested those bucks back then. Times change and that is why it is important to take your niece, nephew, little brother or little sister hunting with you. Let’s keep our sport alive.

  I can't help but feel a certain amount of awe, fear, and pity whenever I hear someone announce, "I got chiggers!” Chigger bites are about as irritating as poison ivy, except chiggers target those sensitive, private areas, whereas poison ivy usually affects exposed areas. It's particularly annoying that they choose to feast under the elastic of undergarments. Socks are easy to leave off in summer, but going commando's a different story. And so, the maddening itch of the bites combined with the moisture that accumulates under elastic bands on clothing makes for rather distracted work days!

  Believe it or not, chiggers are actually larvae of the harvest mite, Trombicula Alfreddugesi, and are related to ticks and spiders. The adults have eight legs, are bright red, and may be seen crawling over the soil surface when spading the garden on warm spring days. They appear as small velvety red spiders and smear red when crushed. They feed on insect eggs, small insects and other organisms found on or near decaying wood. Although the adults are not a threat to us, they lay as many as 400 eggs in a single group in moist, well-drained areas. Upon hatching, the flesh-hungry larvae crawl onto nearby vegetation to await passing prey. Although some believe a single chigger will bite multiple times, the numerous bites are actually caused by the vast number of chiggers from one hatching that were lying in wait on the same leaf.

  Chiggers are active from spring to late fall and are most abundant in shaded niches near the tips of grass leaves, weeds, sticks and other objects close to the ground. They can detect movement and sense the approach of prey. Upon contact, they quickly crawl aboard and begin searching for a preferred feeding site. They prefer the safety of confining spaces such as under socks, belts, and elastic bands of underwear, but have been known to feed behind the knees and in the armpits. Since they may search several hours for a feeding site, you may want to consider showering immediately after possible exposure to eliminate or reduce the presence of these little parasites before they can feed. Wash all clothing as soon as possible to kill any chiggers that have not begun to feed.

  Another common belief is that the chigger burrows into our flesh. The chigger feeds on the surface by piercing our skin, usually around a hair follicle or pore, and injecting digestive fluid that liquifies our skin cells. Our body reacts to this intrusion by swelling around the bite. You'll notice a characteristic red welt with a white, hard central area. Sometimes you can see the tiny red chigger in the center, but usually it is camouflaged by the swelling of the surrounding cells. Although swelling starts immediately, there is little itching at first. This delayed effect allows the chigger time to feed undisturbed and also gives other intruding larvae time to begin their feeding.

  The larvae gorge themselves on our liquefied flesh. This may take hours to several days. When feeding is complete, they drop off, burrow into the ground, and develop to the nymph stage. Like adult mites, nymphs do not feed on animal flesh, but on other insects and organic material.

  The itch of a chigger bite seems to develop only after the chigger drops off. Perhaps these little parasites add a chemical to prevent the itch until they are done feeding and have escaped to safety. Since many people don't notice the bites until the itch begins and the chigger has dropped off, it is thought unnecessary to attempt to kill a chigger. However, if you do find the bites early and want to try to interrupt the feeding, here are some methods you may use to try to kill the larvae. The most popular methods involve asphyxiation or smothering the chigger. A dot of clear nail polish applied to the center of the welt is one of the most popular means; however this may be irritating to already inflamed skin. Mineral oil or Vaseline applied to the welt can also block the airway without causing irritation. Some use a drop of antiseptic to kill the chigger.

  Once the itch hits you'll probably need some relief depending on the number of bites you have. Warm, soaking baths followed by applications of over-the-counter itch cream can provide some relief. In severe cases, Benadryl or its generic, Diphenhydramine, may be taken orally to help relieve the maddening itch and promote rest. This is also available over-the-counter and should be taken according to package directions.

  A severe case of chigger bites may last 2-3 weeks. So, as usual, prevention is the best medicine. Consider using an appropriate insect repellent, especially around your feet and ankles. Walk in the middle of paths to prevent brushing up against foliage. Consider wearing light clothes as chiggers are attracted to dark colors. Choose a sitting spot carefully. A dry, sunny spot will be less likely to have chiggers than a shaded area. Swim, spray off, or shower as soon as possible after potential exposure to wash off any roaming larvae. Bag up potentially infested clothes and wash as soon as possible. Inspect your skin carefully, checking for welts (while you check for ticks), since itching does not occur immediately. The sooner you find the bites, the quicker you can intervene and thus minimize the effects of the attack.

  Chiggers may be pesky, but by planning ahead and intervening early we can minimize the amount of aggravation they inflict on us. They are just one more thing to deal with as we continue to enjoy the outdoors. Until next time...Maggie B.