“Some of these trips could be once in a lifetime for me.” That’s what my dad told me when we were about to head out for a guided waterfowl trip to the legendary Stuart Ranch in Southern Oklahoma. My dad is only in his mid-sixties—a relatively young age in the modern world to make such definitive claims, but he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) several years ago.
Though my dad is fortunately still in the early stages of the disease and maintains a very active lifestyle, that’s the reality of those living with PD. With effective medical management, someone’s experience with PD could be a long and gradual while they live a somewhat normal life. For others, things can suddenly take a sharp downward turn. From my understanding, determining which experience someone could have is a moving target.
A diagnosis of any incurable disease affects everyone’s family differently, but I would be willing to bet that there is one common trait shared by all of those families—time becomes more precious than you’ve ever thought it before. Our response has been to pack as many memorable opportunities in as possible over the indeterminate amount of time we may have together.
Many of my childhood memories with my dad and brothers surrounded hunting and fishing and those are things we still bond over. Waterfowl and upland hunting also happen to be among the very few activities when my dad’s PD doesn’t bother him. So it’s not uncommon for our trip-planning sessions to start with chasing birds.
When we connected with the family at Stuart Ranch with ducks in mind, it was a natural fit. For them, ranching and outfitting are a family affair. The ranch bears the brand 7S, representing the seven generations of the family that have lived and worked the land since 1868. Clay Forst, representing the 6th generation to make a life and home on the ranch, relayed to me the incredible history.
Though the land was occupied and improved upon by the family since 1868, because it was owned by Choctaw citizens, it made its way through the infamous Dawes commission and became a tract of Choctaw Allotment land. It’s this specific parcel of land that still holds the original home-place and current headquarters to Stuart Ranch. “A big part of our heritage is the Choctaws. That’s where we established, that’s how we more or less started, and we’ve carried that all the way through until now. It’s very prevalent in my family’s lineage and history.”
Forst, who holds a degree in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University and completed the Ranch Management program at Texas Christian University, heads up the hunting operations of the 32,000 acre section of ranch near Waurika, Oklahoma.
It’s on that section near Waurika that my family and I spent our time. Atop a hill set against a scrub landscape of mesquite and sage grass sits a lodge bearing the 7S logo. Ornate wooden doors hung on a face of picture windows and stone give way to leather furniture, a beautiful fireplace, a kitchen staffed by a private chef, and a window backed bar to round things out. Guest rooms and lockers on the right, billiards and the pro shop to the left. In short, it’s exactly what you want out of a “once in a lifetime” hunting lodge.
In fact, when I sent pictures of the lodge and my guest room—specifically the oversize, clawfoot soaking tub—to my wife (who does not hunt), she promptly said she’d be coming along with a book next time. Which, Forst tells me, is actually a pretty common occurrence.
Over the next few days we hunted, played games, ate incredible meals, and met some genuinely wonderful people. Most importantly, we just spent time together.
Forst described the ranch to me as a “generational legacy.” He said, “I hope that anything that I’m doing today is something that one or all three of my boys could grab ahold of and make it their own.”
The ranch is indeed a very tangible generational legacy, but we all have the more intangible legacy of the feelings handed down to us and that we in turn hand down to our children. As it happens, the very tangible stewardship of a family ranch started in 1868 has now had a very real, albeit intangible, impact in building memories for my own generational legacy.
For some, experiences like what my brothers, dad, and I had at Stuart Ranch could, in fact, be “once in a lifetime.” For others, it will become a staple trip every year. As for my family, I know we’ll be planning on the latter for as long as time allows.
I hope that anything that I’m doing today is something that one or all three of my boys could grab ahold of and make it their own.