Passing of a friend; an outdoor hero

By Staff
June 29, 2001
I only knew Ralph Irby for a few years before he died last month. But I learned enough about him in that short period to acquire an immense admiration for him.
This Clarke County man was one of the down-home heroes of my generation of southern boys who tramped the woods and fields after wild quail and who were born between the two world wars. We younger ones found scattered populations of "birds" in the fields in our earliest hunting years, and then saw numbers plummet steadily season after season. But Ralph was young in the heyday of quail hunting in the South, and many have coveted his life afield.
But his generation of hunters were our heroes not simply because they had the finest wild quail hunting ever known and thus became masterful shooters, but largely because of their life circumstances. Bagged birds, or all game for that matter, were a much more important food source then than for subsequent generations. It just meant more when a plump bobwhite folded in a cloud of feathers and fell in the soft broom sage. It was important food for the table.
A good bird dog was valued then more than we could ever value one now in these times of plenty. Gun shells were not as easily acquired. The Great Depression limited almost everything connected to quail hunting and all the outdoor sports.
Quail aplenty
We wish we could have lived when one would flush a dozen coveys in a short day afield and then go back the next day and flush another dozen. And we wish we could have brought home as many birds for each box of shells as Ralph Irby did.
Because of his long life, Ralph saw another golden era in the hunting world he cherished. Whitetail deer and the eastern wild turkey both thrived in his latter years. He lived to see both these fine game animals grow to maximum numbers in his beloved Mississippi woodlands. And he learned to hunt them with the same mastery that marked his bird hunting.
One of the outdoor life's most heated debates would be to determine the greater sport between quail hunting over pointing dogs and calling wild turkey gobblers in the spring. Few men or women have ever mastered both. Ralph Irby did. He would tell of bagging a hundred quail in a week and hardly denting the population. And he could recall countless successful encounters with wily gobblers that eluded him and others until they attained legendary status.
I marveled at his hunting stories. And when I visited his wife, Corene, and his son, Terry, after his passing, together we opened a couple of paper bags in which Ralph had kept over 70 turkey beards. "There are more," said Corene. "One day I'll find them."
Terry, is a retired Baptist minister who is building a home near his mother, overlooking the field where his father grew huge watermelons, many of which he gave away to friends. Terry bravely delivered the address at his father's funeral at the Rolling Creek Baptist Church where Ralph was senior deacon, having served for 49 years.
Well thought of
An important part of one's life is what folks think of you while you are with them and after you have passed on. Around here we often say of an esteemed individual that he or she is "well thought of." That was Ralph.
I think of Ralph Irby's hunting accomplishments and how grateful he was for his experiences and how willing he was to share his stories. I think of his remarkable energy right up until he left us. Of course I remember the squirrel hunt we made together when he was well into his 80's. I also recall his generosity. I still eat a spoonful of his tasty cane syrup on special occasions, savoring each drop from the bucket he gave me – sweet syrup from cane he raised himself and milled and cooked to perfection. He once gave me a huge watermelon from his patch that aggravated an old hernia when I loaded it.
Ralph had been married to Miss Corene Mazingo for 65 years, 5 months and 13 days. She told me she wished it could have been longer. I too would have cherished more time with this man who lived wonderful times afield, some of which we will never see again.