When God was passing out hunting and outdoor living skills, I must have been absent because I, honestly, am lacking in those departments. Case in point, I went camping for Squirrel Day a couple years ago at Corney Lake and left to find the nearest hotel in Ruston.
My grandfather, Robert Bennett, took me hunting a few times growing up, but I never got into it. I would rather listen to his hunting stories like the time he shot his toe off at Thistlewaite.
My grandmother’s brother, Jimmy Brou, was also an avid hunter in his day who had his own stories. One of his stories was even recorded in a 1986 article for The Heartbeat by Gene Buller called “You Tell Me.. It’s Your Cigar..”
My mom, Kathy, cut out that article and kept it in my scrapbook.
Being this is our Hunting Edition, I thought it appropriate to share this story with a new generation of readers.
“All of us I’m sure can call up memories of past events that gave us a good laugh. I do know that it is impossible to spend a lifetime in the outdoors without the ‘funny’ moments.”
“Last week, I was in C.J. Dardeau’s store, and I ran into Jimmy Brou and “Doc” Daire. They were picking up groceries for a ‘supper’ and card game. We spent a few minutes in conversation, and Jimmy reminded me of one of those ‘funny’ stories.”
“Several years ago, I worked with Jimmy at the then Evangeline Parish Office of Public Welfare. There were several of us who often went on camping, fishing and hunting trips together. We were quite a crew back then, and our trips to the outdoors came around often. I’ll bet that Sammy Lemoine, Burke Guillory, Cecil Duplechin, Don McDaniel, Allen Savant and others could tell you stories of their own.”
“We were in the store when Jimmy reminded me of the ‘cigar.’ I do not know if Jimmy still smokes cigars, but he did back then. He always kept three or four extra cigars in his desk drawer and therein begins a series of curious events.”
“I can’t remember who it was but someone had a package of cigar loads. It did not take us long to hatch a plot. We set up ‘lookouts’ and when Jimmy was out of his office, a couple of us sneaked in with the ‘loads.’ We carefully un-wrapped one of his ‘Florida Queens’ and inserted not one but two loads into the end of the cigar. We re-wrapped it very carefully, and everyone sat back down to watch the show. This was done about the middle of the week, and we spent the rest of the week waiting for the ‘Bang.’ Would you believe that he smoked cigars everyday and we had no explosion? We finally came to the conclusion that one of two things had happened. Either the loads were no good or the cigar had exploded elsewhere and he was not about to tell anyone.”
“All of this took place in the month of October. I can remember so well because the squirrel season was in full swing. It was one of those years when you inhale mosquitoes and have to use 100% coverage in insect repellent. Well --- the weekend came along and we had still not had our explosion. It is at this time that the extraordinary chain of events began.”
“One Saturday morning, Jimmy went to Thistlewaite Game Management area on a squirrel hunt. The mosquitoes were terrible. It was barely possible to hunt. I don’t remember if he killed anything, but his hunt was nonetheless interesting. Sometime during the morning, he met a fellow hunter in the woods. He too had a running fight with the swarms of mosquitoes. Like hunters usually do when they meet in the woods, they stopped to chat for a minute. The fellow complained about the mosquitoes and asked if Jimmy had any insect repellent with him.”
“Jimmy answered, ‘No, I borrowed some from my hunting partner and sprayed myself before coming into the woods.’”
“The other hunter said that he thought he would have to give up the hunt and go back to his vehicle. Jimmy, being a kind and generous soul, said, ‘I’ve been smoking one of these cigars now and then and the smoke seems to keep them away. Would you like a cigar?’”
“‘I’ll try anything,’ said the fella. Jimmy handed him the cigar and gave him a light. They stood there talking for a few minutes -- all of a sudden ‘BANG,’ there went the loads! The fellow stood there with a stunned look and shredded cigar sticking out of his face. Jimmy stood there with his mouth open not knowing whether to laugh, cry, or run. He asked the fellow..
‘What happened?’ The hunter looked at him and said,
‘You tell me, it’s your cigar.’”
Jimmy says that he never talked that fast before in his life. Luck was with him, the guy bought his story and believed that he knew nothing about the loaded cigar. After all -- who would be fool enough to give a stranger a loaded cigar in the woods -- especially one with a shotgun in his hands?”
“We all heard the story in the office Monday morning. Jimmy said that it was too good to be kept a secret.”
“What we never did find out though -- who was the hunter he met??? Mister, if you should read this story, please contact me through the Heartbeat -- we’d love to hear the ‘Rest of the Story.’”
I am not sure to this day if that other hunter ever came forward. So, I would like to echo Gene Buller’s call for the other hunter, or one of his family members, to contact me here at The Ville Platte Gazette. I would love to have the other side of that story in next year’s Hunting Edition.
August 25, 2026
