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6 Ranch Podcast
6 Ranch Podcast
Waterfowling with Wade Shoemaker
Ever wondered what makes a great duck hunting experience unforgettable? Join Wade and I as we share the traditions that shape our passion for the sport. Also a great breakfast sandwich helps!
Authenticity is rare in today's world, especially within the hunting discipline. We explore what it means to be a genuine influencer and a valuable member of a community. This episode is a tribute to the joy of duck hunting and trying to enjoy moments in the great outdoors.
Check out Wade's INSTAGRAM and MIGRA AMMUNITION.
Check out the new DECKED system and get free shipping.
Check out NICKS BOOTS and use code 6ranch for a free gift.
I learned that it that if we didn't shoot duck, like if we weren't killing them, I still really wanted to go, you know, and and I realized that the way I process those things and the way I process the hunting was different than everybody around me. And I didn't say it out loud like back then. I always just wondered, like why do I know that like the way I feel about this sport is different than everybody around me?
Speaker 2:like all of my friends and my buddies and I and I these are stories of outdoor adventure and expert advice from folks with calloused hands. I'm James Nash and this is the Six Ranch Podcast. For those of you out there that are truck guys like me. I want to talk to you about one of our newest sponsors, dect. If you don't know DECT?
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Speaker 1:What's the ultimate duck hunting breakfast for me, I think my favorite is just like cooking on the boat, like not like you know, a lot of people go duck hunting and they they cook in the blind during the hunt and that that's cool, you can do that but I really because we hunt public, so we're out there early and I like we'll just have like a one, those Coleman propane tanks with a flame on them Just put like a pan on it, yeah, and we just cook jalapeno and cheddar deer sausage.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and my buddy, he's got one of them old biscuit makers. Like it's like a I don't know. It looks like it's an oval with a wooden handle that closes on top of it. It's a biscuit maker, is what it is Really. Yeah, and we'll throw the jalapeno cheddar sausage in that, cook it and then when you get the jalapeno cheddar sausage out, it's just a bunch of grease in the bottom of it. So we take the bread like a hot dog bun and like try to fry the hot dog bun a little bit with the grease from the sausage. Dude, I promise you like your cholesterol probably goes up or something, and and I promise that that it's it's not good for you.
Speaker 2:like I've probably stolen years of my life from eating it for breakfast, you're incredibly fit, though, like you look like you're ready to get up on the stage and start flexing and posing not I'm not, but I'll eat.
Speaker 1:I'll eat a jalapeno cheddar deer sausage cooked in a biscuit thing with bread fried with it, and then you dip it in the, in the grease, while it's still hot and you eat it like it's, like it's a au jus, you know like it's, it's horrible for you, dude, there's.
Speaker 2:No, it's not good, but it's delicious yeah, I think duck hunting breakfast is always like it's always a fun thing and a lot of times it's after you've got your decoys throw it out, yep, and you know your blinds brushed and you know you've got a little bit of time before shooting light starts and, um, you know you might hear some birds whistling over the top and uh, yeah, it's, it's pretty special. I I make like a pile of breakfast burritos at the beginning of the season and wrap them in tinfoil and I'll heat them up in the house before I leave. And I've got a little hand warmer thing that's like the like a muff, yeah, like the football players use or whatever, and I'll throw that thing inside there and it insulates it and keeps my breakfast burrito warm while I'm throwing out decoys. And, uh, then I've got a warm breakfast burrito to eat with my coffee and my little hand warmer is warm from the burrito.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah dude, so do that. But then put a hot hands in there and not the little bitty little hot hands like not the ones that are like this big, yeah, the super warmer, the big dogs, the big one, the not the little bitty little hot hands, not the ones that are like this big, yeah, the super warmer, the big dogs, the big ones, not the ones with adhesive on them.
Speaker 1:Those are terrible and it's because I don't know what it is. It's like when you have the adhesive. I've tried them because I've bought the wrong one before and I'm like it's the same size, it's going to work. Nope, it doesn't let it move around the way it should. But those big super warmers, they're life-changing dude. So I've got bad circulation in my fingers and I'll make sure that when I go, when I have those, I'll have them. Either, dude, if it's under 50 degrees, I open a pack of hand warmers because running a boat down a river or get your hands wet any of it.
Speaker 1:There's days I can't get the circulation back. But if I keep those big hand warmers on me, I'm good. If one hand gets cold, I just shove it in a pocket or something. But if you have one of those hand muffs for your waist or whatever that you're using, you throw a super warmer body warmer in there. It's a different game. Almost too hot. It'll get almost too hot Like it'll get almost too hot.
Speaker 2:Well, right now we are at 10,000 feet elevation at Parker's Resort. Parcher's Resort Excuse me, you know how I remember that. How's that Like if you're parched Like parchment paper?
Speaker 1:Well, no, like if you're parched, like you want to drink because you're too high of elevation.
Speaker 2:Facts. We all need to be drinking more water out here. So we're at Parkers Resort, uh, which is up from Bishop California in the Sierras. We're at the second decked ambassador rendezvous. I had a great time at this event last year. You didn't get to make it, but what's cool to me about this is that the ambassadors that work for DECT are at the top of their game from all different games, right. So we've got Tarpon guides, we've got Steelhead guides, we've got you. As the waterfowl expert, I wouldn't go that far with it, but I'm yeah, you know we've got.
Speaker 2:You know the superhuman that is Danny Bolton, that dude. We've got professional mountain bike racers. We've got, you know the superhuman that is danny bolton, that dude. We've got professional mountain bike racers. We've got trophy truck racers. Uh, we've got a professional skateboarder storm chaser bro yeah and yeah, and we've got uh, ricky forbes.
Speaker 2:Uh, we did a show with ricky last year, big year for ricky because uh, the movie twister's coming out and that's what he does in real life is chases down these monster storms and takes incredible photos and videos of them. Yeah, really interesting group of people that all kind of center around using trucks to do their job, organize their organizing and protecting their gear, index systems in their trucks and then sharing, like the, the hard use that they have for these items and then trying to develop products further. So we had the, the vp of uh product development, out here and you know he's listening to all of us pretty pretty freaking cool. Uh, we've done some fishing. We hiked up over 11,000 feet yesterday and fished a high lake. That was fun. Had some brook trout and some rainbow trout, did some rifle shooting instruction and everybody got to shoot rifles for the first couple days. Got to do some racing around in Chris Polvardi's Super Side-by-Side yeah, that was interesting, just been awesome.
Speaker 1:That was new for me, man, I I was pumped about riding it but I I get motion sick, like in a regular vehicle sometimes if I'm reading a book or looking down too much, and and I knew better. But when we took off I had the visor on my, on my, on my face and a lot of it's just airflow, like if I can have wind hit me in the face. I'm good. But I cut that off quick and that was a terrible idea. And we got way out and we're running. I mean this trophy truck you're doing I mean you're only getting up to about 55 or 60. But like, if you look over to your right, there's several hundred feet of a drop-off within I mean Inches, 24 inches. Yeah, you know two feet, inches, you know two feet. Like if, if a rock gets, if he hits a rock hard, you're gone. You know so. But I'm I trusted Chris, I did, you know. And we're running and we're riding and we're going around these curves and you come out of the curve, you know he's, he's on it as soon as you come around, I mean halfway into the curve, you, he hits the gas and you're coming out. So and I love that. You know my head doesn't, though, and and we come around that curve man and I felt it and he's like anybody want to get out. You know, if you feel sick, if you get scared, and you know I can handle like I might die part, like I'm good with that, but that motion sickness thing, dude, I just it gets me.
Speaker 1:And Ricky was riding with us. And Ricky, at one point he was like hey Pavolari, I, ricky. At one point he was like hey Pavallari I don't know how to even say his name Like Pavallari or whatever. Chris, will you pull over? I want to get a shot of you riding, you know running through this curve. Cool, he did it. And then we got to another point and I was like, guys, can we stop? I got to get some air. You know I'm hurting, and we were sitting there hanging out for a, and then we swapped. I was in the front seat and I swapped to the back. Ricky got in the front, we take off, and I don't know how much farther we made it, but I like I raised my hand, you know kind of like I was like guys, we got to pull over again.
Speaker 1:And he did. And I had already loosened up my helmet because I knew like if we got to pull over again it's bad. So we did and I got out, separated myself from my breakfast. You know we and it was all over with. You know I got done when he let me ride back without my helmet. We just went back way slower, Like instead of doing 55 to 60, we were like 20, 25, like easing along. And when we got back, Ricky was like, yeah, man, you know, when I asked about that video, trying to get a shot, I was starting to feel kind of bad back there too. You know like I was he kind of had that thing because you could smell some gas while you're back there and I was like, dang rick, you made me feel like I was a punk. Yeah, you know, you could have been. You could have been like hey, man, it's all right.
Speaker 2:I felt that way earlier he had me feeling like a whole punk when I asked him to pull over it was funny, man, but it was a good time.
Speaker 1:Um, and that was. That was something I've. I've ridden side-by-sides in a four-wheeler ATV, a bike. I've ridden those things on trails and come sideways out of a curve. When those trophy trucks are a different animal. When he mashes on it, you know you almost have to pull yourself up and you're fighting it. There's a lot more force pushing back on you than what you're used to pulling up on Right and it's just a whole different animal. He said those things run around about 1,000 horsepower in a race. Wow, and I believe it. Yeah, yeah, I don't have any reason not to now. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Crazy but pretty cool. So you are a weight shoemaker.
Speaker 1:What do you do, man? That's, that's a loaded question. Um, I do a lot of things. I think I wear a lot of hats um full-time. I am a community manager for a waterfowl uh well, it's not just waterfowl anymore but for an ammunitions company. Uh, migraine munitions is based out of charleston, um for five or so years charleston south carolina.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, sorry, um. For five or so years they've been in South Carolina. Okay, yeah, sorry. For five or so years they've been a waterfowling munitions company. Made non-toxic stacked loads anywhere from steel shot, bismuth with steel shot and tungsten with steel shot. And then just recently, in the spring, we launched a turkey shell for a 20 and a 12 gauge. And then this summer we've've launched it's called ultimate field and then another one called ultimate dove and the only difference is the shot size. So the dove is a seven and a half and nine shot size. Both they're lead, and then, uh, the field is a six and eight. So you know bigger birds. Like, if you want to go after um, I would say you could shoot some pheasant with it. You could shoot, you know, quail for sure, um. But yeah, so we've done that. So now it's not just a waterfowl ammunition company, it's an ammunition company. So I manage their community. I've done that. Uh, they brought me in full time in may. What is a community manager? Oh, man, um, really.
Speaker 1:I guess the easiest way to put it is you build community. And when I say community, I mean I think that plays into the culture, but it's the people involved, like outside of the company, Okay, you know, like the people that you want representing you, the people that you want you know advocating for you, and then, honestly, just people in your corner. And the cool part about it is building a community is it's kind of the Wild West. I guess there's no real rules to it other than just to make sure that there's like authenticity, there's integrity, there's character, there's you know, anything you want your company affiliated with. You want people to see your company as that's the people you build your community with. If that makes sense, it does. The Six Ranch Podcast is brought to you by Nick's Handmade Boots. Your company as that's the people you build your community with.
Speaker 2:If that makes sense, it does the six ranch podcast is brought to you by nick's handmade boots, a family-owned company in spokane, washington. For many of my listeners, you've waited and prepared all year for this. Whether your pursuit is with a rifle or a bow, early or late season, big game or birds, another hunting season is finally upon us. Nick's Boots and the Six Ranch want to wish you luck as you head out into the field. This season I'm wearing the Nick's Boots Game Breakers beginning with the archery elk season. Having worn this boot throughout the summer around the Six Ranch, I continue to be impressed with how quiet the boot is. The rough out leather, leather laces and 365 stitch down construction create a simple boot that is supportive, durable, comfortable and, most importantly, quieter than most synthetic hunting boots.
Speaker 2:For 60 years, nix has been building work boots for wildland firefighters, tradespeople, hunters and ranchers, as well as heritage styles for anyone who values quality footwear made in America. Visit nicksbootscom today to find your next pair of high-quality American-made work boots. Add a pair of boots and a work belt to your cart and use the code 6RANCH that's the number 6 and the word ranch to receive the belt for free. So what do you look for? Say somebody is a waterfowl hunter. What are you looking for beyond that that makes you think, okay, this is a person that I think would be a good fit for Migra to work with.
Speaker 1:For me, man, I think authenticity is the biggest thing, and especially in a world of social media where, like, people want to be an influencer and I said it, we were talking about something yesterday but when I look at like bringing new people to the team, you know like, obviously influencers are going to be a thing, but that's not everything. I think. For me, it's like we want to find people who are influential but not influencers, and that's the easiest way I can put it, and I don't know if that makes sense to everybody, but the reality is there's a lot of people. If you think, if you're listening, it's like think about the people around you who influence your life on maybe not a daily basis, maybe it's a seasonal basis, but they, they're influential in your life because you trust them, because you, you know they're living the life that they're putting out, that they're living and because of that they're influential and no other reason. And they're not somebody out there being like given something or paid to do something or you know whatever.
Speaker 1:It is like they're putting up up a front trying to be an influencer for something that they really have no business pushing right. Um, and that's one thing, not to get off of it. But like what I've learned or what I've really appreciated about this, this deck rendezvous thing is I didn't know anybody when I got here. I met you the first, like when we got off the plane.
Speaker 2:yeah, right yeah, wait for my rifles to show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know so, like it's, it's, I didn't know anybody and normally when I go to something like this, it's very waterfowl centric and I know pretty much everybody there, whether they're in the industry or not, and when I showed up I'm like I only know of a couple people here, you know. But I've learned over a few days like the people that are here they're they're they're really strong and they're in what they do and they're each respective I'll say genres, you know, or niches or whatever. But like there's nobody here and I paid attention to this because I'll be completely transparent like showing up to something like this, I'm paying attention, like who has their chest stuck out, talking about how good they are and what they do and how they do, and that's not here. No, like there's a, there's a solid group of people that have a lot of people who follow them, who are like. These people are influencers, like everybody here.
Speaker 1:But the more important thing is they're influential, and I think they're. If they're influential in their, their immediate world around them, then they're way more impactful to the world. That's way outside of that, and, and for me anyway. I didn't mean to get off on that, but the world, that's way outside of that, and and. For me anyway, I didn't mean to get off on that, but for me that's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for people that they, if you can influence the people directly around you, like your, your world right there, then then you can really impact people away from that. Um yeah, so sorry I can. I'll go on a rant, but that's it.
Speaker 2:No, I like it. What does authenticity mean to you?
Speaker 1:Man, get it how you live, you know, like, if you say you're this, then you are this.
Speaker 1:Walk the walk, talk the talk and honestly, talk less, walk more. For me that's a lot of it, and in the waterfowl space it's really easy to put a front up that you are something that you're not, because you're in the woods, you know, as any any hunter, I think you know, can show up and shoot an animal or or go do something fun and make it look cooler than what it was, and um. So for me, having the network in the waterfowl space and knowing the people that we're going after, I can see somebody doing something cool that I really like. But, like, I'm not just going to go after them because I see it on the social side. I'm going to check with people around them that I know and ask them you know, hey, what's, what's up with this, or whatever. Or I'm going to have a personal relationship with them in some way, shape or form, and I'm going to figure it out. Yeah, um, but for me it's, it's doing what you say you're going to do.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of people out there who, who play a character for their, for their media, yep, uh, and like they have a, a personality that they've built up and it's an act like what. What they're showing people is is this constant act and it we've gotten to the point where in a lot of circles, that's socially acceptable and you'll talk to people and be like hey, is, is, uh, is so-and-so, really like that, and they'll say, oh, no, that's, that's just a character.
Speaker 1:That's just an act. You don't know them outside of that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And like no in in real life. This is the way they are.
Speaker 2:And and for a lot of people that's really acceptable. For me I'm incapable of it, so it's foreign to me to even consider something like that and it's not acceptable for me. Like, I far prefer people that are the way that they are and present the way they present, and I want to see, I want to see their mistakes and I want to see their failures and their struggles, and then when I see their successes, then I know that that's real too. Yeah, and in this world that we're in today, it's increasingly difficult to determine what's real and what's not, but it's still very obvious when something is authentic and is real, because I think we are better now than we've ever been at spotting those falsehoods, and that means that we're good at spotting and appreciating the rarity of that authenticity.
Speaker 1:And I think you can tell by like what, like the fruit that's around on man, like if it's authentic, like you know, quick, and the people that are around them know. And I had a case in point, like I'm not going to say names, but I had a conversation about a guy that's very at one point uh, I don't pay much attention anymore, but at one point was very influential or very, very much an influencer. I guess I should say I'm sorry, but very much so, but just the, the persona and the character that was played online was very um, the word I'm looking for starts with a just, but just very just brash and very um, arrogant. Uh, I would arrogant, maybe, but it's not arrogant, it's just very um, I don't know, just um, just very annoying, yeah, very annoying and very like, whatever you know, you know what I'm getting. If you're brash and annoying, you're just hard to be around.
Speaker 2:Abrasive, maybe, abrasive, uh, yeah, I think that could be it, but just very loud and I'm thinking all the words I can that start with a I know dude.
Speaker 1:I'm trying, I'm, I'm messing this up, but that's, that was the, the online persona, right and and had a lot of attention, like really big and has done really well for himself and that's great. But, um, we were talking about bringing these people to team and a friend of mine suggested this person and I was like you know, no, you know not really Well why. You know. I was like, well, this is what's going on and on the public side of things, like people see this and then they associate our brand with that persona. Well, he's not like that. You know away from social. You know he's really.
Speaker 1:I said I've heard that from a lot of people One of my best friends really likes this guy in his house. You know away from all that and I'm like you know that's. I appreciate that and I love that he is that kind of person. But the reality is the character that he puts out on social is the character that our brand gets affiliated with and associated with, whether he is different away. So it works both ways too, like you can be this cool person online and do everything this brand needs you to do and then away from it, just be a total jerk. You know we don't want that either, but on the flip side, just because, even if you are a really good person, if your character is just not, we don't want that either you. We want you to be the same on the so on, social and at home yeah and and I don't understand why.
Speaker 1:That is why people try to do different like. I feel, like and I've said it several times like, if you're just who you are, you're going to be a better version of yourself than anybody else, and you can be a better version of yourself by far 10 X than you can ever be of someone else. Like, if you're trying to be some, like act like this other person, like man you say it louder, it's just, it's just one of those things man and I get and I was raised and I and I've got a like a, uh, a background in public speaking. So like, I do understand.
Speaker 1:You know, if you hear something that somebody says like, absolutely, take it, but make it yours. You know, like, if you want to do verbatim, fine, but like the way you present it and the way you deliver, make that yours. You know, so like, but with that it's like on the personality side, man, the, the only, the only person good being you is you and the only person being good at them is them. And if you want to be a watered-down version of somebody else, that's up to you, but like, you're going to sell yourself short who's somebody that influences you in the waterfowl space?
Speaker 1:oh man, um, that's tough and I think and I don't know if it influences me, I think which may sound kind of weird because I've always like been the guy that just would want to be around people and I've just honestly stolen a lot from people, like pieces of people that I really like, like pieces of personality, and I'm like I like that part about that person and that part about this person Like chew the meat, spit out the bone, kind of thing, and honestly, that's my whole life. I didn't know that's what I was doing, but like, growing up, guys that were older than me or even younger guys that are younger than me, like Chris here. He's a great dude and he's got some cool qualities. It's like man I can learn from anybody, I don't care if they're 15 years younger than I am, you know, whatever Like, but I think if you I don't know if it would be influence me, but I think a real word would be like aspirational, strong, but like if I could look up to somebody and I'm really careful to do that because I don't like putting people on pedestals but like Jim Ronquist, he is a guy guy. He used to work for R&T. He was, as far as I'm concerned. Like one of the like public land guy hunts the way I like to hunt, does it the right way? Um, he now works for Drake Waterfowl. I don't know what he's doing there as a VP or something, but regardless, like he's, he's a guy that's done it like on on public he's, for whatever reason.
Speaker 1:Just when I look at him and when I'm around him and like see the things that he's done, I've just always said, man, that's a cool guy, you know. And he, just he carries himself the same way. Every time you see him Shout out to Jim, yeah, jimbo, and look him. And Miss Rosie, his wife, man, first time I ever met her, she hugged me. She's never forgotten who I was since that, for me, I've never forgotten her, obviously, but very, very cool people and I'm a fan of them.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying there's not other people out there Just for him. He's like that. I think he's that guy because he does everything the hunting side of things the same way. I would. Yeah, man, he's that guy Cause he, he does everything that's like the hunting side of things the same way I would. Um, yeah, man, I don't know that. That's that. That's a tough question, um, but I will tell you. There's a multitude of people that I've pulled pieces from and and put to my I wouldn't say it might like my, my, my, my tool belt, but like I've, I've tried to like take personality from a lot of places and like put that into me and know like, all right, well, this works. So why wouldn't I, why wouldn't I want that, why wouldn't I glean from these people?
Speaker 2:Well, that's, that's the power of leadership through example, because we naturally want to follow a good example and if people are setting that a good example and we're going to zone in on that- yeah and you know, try and try and you know, bring that into our lives. I think that that's why that leadership style is so fundamental and critical and important. What's the first duck hunt that you remember?
Speaker 1:so I've got probably a couple. I've probably got three different first duck hunts, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:And tell me about it.
Speaker 1:So, uh, I grew up hunting squirrels. We'd shoot squirrels or deer. Uh, behind my grandparents' house, like they've got 40 acres, 50 acres behind their house, it's hardwood bottom, there's a Creek that runs through it three different places and I would shoot squirrels like crack barrel 14, me and my dad I was was like seven I think when I killed my first squirrel. I remember I've got there's a picture on the on memo on pepaw's fridge, which all memo on pepaw, you know they've all every memo on pepaw in the country has a fridge with pictures on it, just about you know. And I've got there's a little bitty one. I mean it's the size, you know, a fourth of the phone, like my little phone screen right here, and it's it's in a, I think it's in a, I don't know what color, the plastic frame is around it, but I'm in like a blue flannel shirt and some jeans, like probably some rustlers is probably what I was wearing, some jeans and I'm holding up a squirrel. You know, like I was like seven on my first hunt back there.
Speaker 1:But I said that to say through that we would shoot wood ducks off that Creek that ran through that property and we would would, we wouldn't, we would say roosting them. But we didn't roost them, we just shot them off the creek at any time of the day. Um, but that that my first duck hunt was shooting wood ducks off a creek behind my grandparent's house. That's a quick duck for a first duck, but well, and I didn't shoot it when I was seven, I was older. I don't remember how old I was when I shot my first wood duck, um, but I did go back there doing that and then when I and I know when I was can't remember how old I was when this happened but my first actual, like going to a blind with decoys uh, I want to say nine, but I had to be older. I don't know, man the picture is, I mean my cheeks, I still got a bunch of baby fat on my face and I'm man.
Speaker 1:I was just an ugly kid and I mean like, just like this big puffy face, you know, and I, it was bad, I had the chili bowl haircut kind of thing and, dude, I had good hair, but that was about it. And uh, pep all he got in a lease in northeast louisiana and back then hunting in northeast louisiana used to be like mecca, like it was incredible. Yeah, and you, I mean, you'd shoot you know as many mountains as you wanted to shoot in a rice field out of a pit, blind. Well, pep all both got into this lease because his buddies and his cousins were doing it, I guess, and and he just you know he was, I was his and he just you know he was, I was his, like right-hand man, you know, I was the oldest grandchild out of all of them, and man he, yeah, I didn't expect to get that way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sorry, but we went up there and didn't throw dec decoys out. We did. There were decoys there, none of us met a blow, a duck call and we just go. We bought um some hip waders on the way out, on the way to the first one. We had a 1990, it was a 99 2000 era, because we had a 1999 honda ranger, the first one that ever, like the first year of time, first time they put that out and we drove it and we had the little mitts on the front that mounted. You know you could drive and you wouldn't get your hands cold. So we drove that out to the blind and we got in there and I went two or three times with him, I remember, and we didn't kill anything. There were ducks flying. We didn't even have a duck call at all, so we didn't have that. And then one day a guy come with us and uh, I remember he had a deer steak sandwich on white bread and he asked me if I wanted it and I was excited about it and then saw it had mayonnaise and immediately just lost interest because I don't eat mayonnaise. But um, I have the picture at the high my mom and pop boss fridge um is a me holding a duck and kissing. It's a mallard greenhead and I am certain that I didn't kill the duck, but they swore that I did and I know that they shot it and you know I shot at it. But anyway, that was my. My first mallard to kill was with pep on that blind and all that. So whether it was or not, we say it was. And so that was my second first duck hunt and then my third first duck hunt is what really, I think, catapulted me into wanting to do what I'm doing. It honestly changed probably the trajectory of my life as far as habits or hobbies go. And it was me and some buddies.
Speaker 1:I graduated high school in 2004, and I had some friends who graduated in 2005 or were graduating that year, and we used to go to town every weekend, you know, and hang out, you know, as teenagers, and we'd make the loop, you know, and we'd go to Walmart parking lot and hang out or whatever. And, dude, we got up there. My buddy, cody Morton is his name, he's a friend of mine and he was like hey, man, you want to go duck hunting? In the morning I was like, yeah, let's go. You know I was like, but what, what, what do I need? You know, like I didn't waiters, I didn't know. And um, I'd outgrown those, those hip waiters that I'd bought pep ball ball me in 99. You know I'd grown quite a bit, but um, they had. They said we got you, we gotaders, just wear your regular clothes. I said, okay, just bring a shotgun. Okay, so I did, and we called him His name's Alex is who we went with Alex and Cody.
Speaker 1:We went on this first duck hunt. We called him Rainbow and I don't really know why everybody called him Rainbow, but I have my suspicions, you know. But we went, he pulled out these waders and it was like these plastic waders that you put your boots on over and I had a pair of boots that were about a size too small that I could put on. It was the only lace-up pair of boots I'd ever owned, which was weird to me because I've owned rubber boots my entire life, just about up until four or five years ago since then. But anyways, I think they were size eights, I don't remember, but they were too small, short of the long, and I had to put them over those waders to go hunt and we hunted some public back home and, man, it was very, very cold. I do remember that and I remember the waders definitely leaked.
Speaker 2:They were not waterproof and your feet are, my feet are curled up like, like you know know, is it China?
Speaker 1:Or were the women like trying to make their feet smaller?
Speaker 2:Is it China? Yeah?
Speaker 1:So it looked like a Chinese woman's foot when it come out. We shot one green-winged teal Again same story. Don't know if I even killed it, but like I was the new guy I shot at the duck. They're like, yeah, you got him. You know, I was like all right, I'm 19 years old dude and they're treating me like a seven-year-old, you know whatever. So I grabbed it and I and and it was honestly dude, like what. It was a really really pretty green wing tail, fully, fully plumed, had the little dots on its chest.
Speaker 1:You know, it was gorgeous and I was like,300 to mount a duck back then and 19 years old that's not in my pocket, you know but we went and we got in the truck and I took the boots off, got the waders off and my toes stayed curled up for like a long time after that because they had to thaw out. And man, we got out there and did that and that was my third first duck hunt and that lit a fire and I don't know. Yeah, it just gets worse, worse and worse every year, or better and better, depending on who you ask. You know, but it's wild. So wood duck on the creek, a questionable mallard in a rice field and then a questionable green-winged teal on some public in like an hour and a half from my house and since then you've gone outside of the duck hunting mecca of louisiana and hunted all over the country.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and, you know, had tremendous duck hunts, whether whether that meant that you're just in good company or or with good folks yeah you've done it all over the country, so what was it about those early duck hunts? I mean, obviously, getting to hunt with your granddad meant a lot to you and continues to. But what was it? What else was it about that that made you decide? I want more of this, because to to a lot of folks listening like standing in in cold water that's leaking through plastic waders and the feet that are cramped up and, and you know, maybe shooting one bird.
Speaker 2:That doesn't sound good to them.
Speaker 1:No, but it don't sound good when you tell me what happened either, like it don't sound good at all.
Speaker 2:Right, but that can be such such an ignition it is for. For certain guys it was it's like no, I need more of this.
Speaker 1:Man, I learned a long time ago that it wasn't for me, it wasn't just shooting ducks. I think I have an advantage and I don't know how it came. Maybe it's just wisdom imparted, maybe it's just a blessing, one of those just God-given things. But I learned early, even when we were shooting ducks, pretty good, like when I first started duck hunting, there were way more ducks in the area and I know that for a fact, because we had no idea what we were doing and we were still shooting a lot of ducks. But I learned that if we didn't shoot ducks, like if we weren't killing them, I still really wanted to go, you know, and I realized that the way I process those things and the way I process the hunting was different than everybody around me. And I didn't say it out loud, like back then I always just wondered, like why do I know that? Like, the way I feel about this sport is different than everybody around me, like all of my friends and my buddies and I and I'd never and I still don't really have an answer of how I knew it was different, you know, other than just like maybe the optimistic or optimism after, during and before, I mean, I don't know but, um, but I think what made it was just like being with friends, like being able to hang out, and I guess I was raised deer hunting and squirrel hunting, where it was like, you know, you gotta, you gotta talk, you gotta be quiet, you can't move around. If you step on a stick you're going to get in trouble, kind of thing you know. So I think for me it was just like being with buddies, hanging out, laughing, having a good time and making fun of each other. Um, if you miss and but's got to be it, dude, I mean just being around, the experience. And now and I maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but now it's you know, I was talking to uh casey yesterday and I think it was casey, but I was just telling him like man, and it was in matt too, matt and k. I remember talking to him.
Speaker 1:It's like I, if I go to it like a destination, or if I go to a certain spot me and you talked about this the other day like the eider and stuff like that, it's like I know that the mallard duck is like what. That's the duck that I want to go after, no matter where I'm at. I just can't, I can't not want to go after mallards, but where I'm at and how I do it and what's going on is the driving force behind that. But where I'm at and how I do it and what's going on is the driving force behind that. Not that I'm shooting the duck right.
Speaker 1:So now that I've gotten, I think the experience of just being out there and seeing new things and and doing it different ways, I think really really kind of helps. I don't know, it just kind of helps me, uh, see it different every time. I guess I don't know I'm kind of I had a direction going with that and I can't know. It just kind of helps me see it different every time. I guess I don't know, I'm kind of I had a direction going with that and I can't. I'm kind of in a circle right now. But does that make sense? Like it's about the people that are there, it's about the experience in it. And the ducks are definitely a plus.
Speaker 1:And let me back up, let me say this transparently If I went 30 days in a row, I didn't shoot a duck for 30 days, I'd probably not want to go as much on day 31, you know right.
Speaker 1:But if I can go four or five days and not have a good hunt, or a week and not have a good hunt and have a decent hunt on day eight, like that's all I need to keep wanting to go as long as I've got my buddies around me and I'm hanging out doing that thing with them and new people even, like people that I don't know. If me and you were to go on a duck hunt like I, would love that, you know, because it's like there's so many things around that I've never experienced and then I can like watch how you react to those things, because I've never hunted with you, you know. So that experience whether it's how I like, how I uh see it or how it like translates to me, is one thing, but then like watching you or somebody else and how they take that in, is a totally different thing. It is, and I love that.
Speaker 2:And it's almost like you get to experience the freshness and the newness of it again through somebody else.
Speaker 1:Yes, sorry, I was taking a swallow. But so I have kids, two kids one, both boys, one's five, one's seven. And I have a niece and I think I've mentioned her to you and everybody else up here because she's like, like, raised her till she was about three and me and my wife did, but she's, I mean, she's a different, different category than most everybody else's nieces. You know, for me, um, and I've got to take them hunting a lot, you know, and um, my son, my oldest son, he gets to go with me, he's, he goes to public with me sometimes now and then, but all the time if I go to the lake, if I'm hunting the lake blind, like he's going, unless it's like testing at school or something, but he misses school for it too.
Speaker 1:Like I do pull him out, yeah, and um, and I'll tell the teachers when I signed him out, when it says reason, I said hunting. You know, like I'm not going to lie to him, um, but the reality is like seeing him go out there and like, just, we got a little stool or something he can, or bucket, or I can't remember what it is, it's changed throughout the years, but he'll stand on it and he is just out looking out the blind, like we're in the blind, and so our blind is. We have a camp in central Louisiana and it's on a cypress lake, and when I say cypress lake I mean it's a lake with a lot of cypress trees in it.
Speaker 2:And a camp in Louisiana is different from the way a lot of people use the word camp.
Speaker 1:And depending on what part of Louisiana. Yes, yeah, so our camp. You pull up, we're on a something loop road and you pull in. And you pull up, it's a little pipe gate. You come in and we've got like a little on the right-hand side there's like a metal shop, you, and we've got like a little on the right-hand side there's like a metal shop, you know, like a, I don't know, it was just a metal shop, metal roof, walls and back, but it's an open front with a pipe gate on the front of the shop. Then we've got a lean-to shed beside it that we store our decoys in a boat. And we've got two other boats in the other one, which is one is my dad's one's my pepaw's, oh, the tractors in the other one, but then sometimes my uncle puts his boat there too.
Speaker 1:So, and then the camp itself. Uh, oh, we also have a portable building on the left side of the property, right right by the road. That's got like a washing machine, dryer, a lot of random things, you know, like it's almost like like the junk drawer in your home. That's the portable building. You know, it's just kind of like oh, we'll see if we got it or not. Right, but the camp itself, uh, we built it and we started building it in 2011. Um, we pulled up and it was a bunch of tuba, tuba 12s laid on the ground with some eye beams, and we just drilled holes in the eye beams, drilled holes in the tuba 12s, and that was the start of the camp, and we got the whole floor built with on the eye beams, we used some chain hoist or motor hoist on chains and wrapped around some limbs, and one was wrapped around a limb or, and one was wrapped around a tractor, I think, but they're on.
Speaker 1:The camp is on eight foot stilts, so we had to pick it up with a motor with two motor hoists. It's probably not the safest thing, but whatever, we did it. And and then when we set it on there, duncan, which was Pepal's best friend he died a couple years ago he welded the I-beams to these pipes, the stilts, and these are like big, big pipe. And then, just, we built the camp on top of it, and then we had a guy Melvin was his name and he came in and did the work that we're just not good enough to do, and we built it literally, literally, from the ground up in 2011, 2012. And you can walk under there. We've got an outdoor kitchen under it now. There's grills, there's patio furniture, there's swings.
Speaker 2:Anyway, that's our camp, so a duck camp in Louisiana is a cabin in the Northwest yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think so and honestly picture if you took a single wide trailer and set it on stilts. Yeah, that's kind of the size of it and that's kind of the floor plan we went with, except it's a solid you know it's not going anywhere.
Speaker 1:No, and then you go down the hill and you have to build it up on stilts, if you don't know. Like, the reason you have to put it on stilts is insurance, because water rises and falls based off the river and when that river backs up, the lake comes up and you have to have it eight foot off the ground before they'll insure you. Is this Mississippi? No, so it's a little Beth River is the name of it. It's a little tributary. It actually flows into the Ouachita River, okay, and then the wash tall goes down and goes into something else, something else. Then it goes into mississippi, but, um, the mississippi is probably two hours east of where I live, gotcha, um, it is two hours east of where I live, but we've had, and we've had it come up where the water's under the camp you know like, and we live. I mean, it's an acre, well, it's a couple. We got about 12 acres there now, but from the camp to the lake we're at the top of the eight, the first acre that we ever bought there, and at the bottom of the hill is where the lake is, and that lake is backed all the way up under the camp before, and we're talking, I mean 10 to 12 foot of you know rise and you've had to, like you had to park your truck at the end of the road and drive a boat to the camp before, so that's why it's got to be up.
Speaker 1:But we've got a boat ramp there and we launched the boat from the camp and it's just a big cypress lake. We've got a boat road because of all the stumps. We've got stumps marked with like metal poles with reflectors on it. You run the boat, you make sure you don't hit the stumps, especially if you're an outboard, because it will. You're done if you hit it, going wide open and, man, we pull in. We've got a pontoon boat that's. It's a 20 foot long pontoon boat that we just ripped the whole top off of it and built a blind on top of the pontoon pontoons and when you you pull up under it, we call it a boat shed. It's just an overhang on the back side of that thing and you your boats under there, hidden from anything that flies over, and you've got it brushed in with like cypress or cypress moss and limbs and all this other stuff and, um, man, if you look out, we've got six shooting windows and you're you're looking at a couple hundred decoys that stay there the whole year.
Speaker 1:You put them out before and pick them up after, and you've got uh so your decoys flow it out all year long yeah, we leave them sitting there the whole time because you're putting a couple hundred decoys out in anywhere from eight to twelve foot of water.
Speaker 2:Oh, I've got questions yeah well it's, I probably don't have a good answer, but I'll try, you know so when you're setting out a spread that is going to sit there all year long, what are you thinking about in terms of, like, how you're setting that spread?
Speaker 1:you just thinking leave room for ducks to land, yeah, and honestly, like that's really it.
Speaker 1:I mean, like you, you people have different, different ways, like the. The best way that I've found is like on the left side you've got a pot of decoys and on the right side you've got a pot of decoys and dead center. You've got a pot of decoys okay, and sometimes that don't work and you take that dead center one out and you just spread it and you just got a couple of pods there and the ducks will come in and you leave the center of it open and you've got to. You've got to have it big enough for them to get in, like like where they feel like it's room to land, yeah, but you don't want it too big to where they feel like something's up, right, you know. And then in the middle of those pods you've got square tubing stuffed down in the ground, you know. So it's eight to twelve foot of water. Then you've got to have that square tube and go down another four to six feet so it doesn't fall over, and that's your spinner tree.
Speaker 1:So you put your spinners in the square tube and you've got basically three. You've got your square tubing that goes all the way down. Then you've got a thing. You sit on top of it. That's got three branches and so you can put three spinners on one square tubing, tubing, gotcha, um. But yeah, you're looking out and you've got. You got this wide open lake with cypress trees behind you, beside you, and you've hopefully got a big enough hole in front of you where the cypress trees aren't like clogging up and man, it's, it's, it's lake hunting, there's it's flight days and a couple local birds that get tired of flying, but most of them just give you the middle finger. You know like you ain't getting them down obviously you're incredibly passionate, knowledgeable about duck hunting.
Speaker 2:I know you are about religion as well.
Speaker 1:Tell me what the two have in common um, I think the two have I don't know if it's a, it's a common thing. I think it's just like relating it to this had to come from something. It didn't come from nothing and there's no possible way that all these things just appeared. You know, the, these ducks are ducks and these, you know these scenes are scenes. But like, if you think, like each duck and this is a way to look at it, like each duck is different, when you're hunting you can you know, if you've done it before, I'm sure you look at your buddy and go, man, why didn't those do it like? Why didn't they do it right? Are we doing something wrong?
Speaker 1:You know, and this goes by for a half an hour. Every, every, every group of ducks comes by and they just don't want to do it. And then another group of ducks come in. They just just sit right down. You did nothing different, they just sat right down. And for me, that just is like a confirmation of, like, every duck is different. And if this come from just nothing, then there's no possible way that everything is so unique if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:And then when you get to even just the physical side, the aesthetics of all these birds like, and not just species, I mean like Mallard, mallard, teal, teal, pentail, pentail, gadwall, gadwall, they all look different.
Speaker 2:The individuals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, each one of them, dude, and it's, it's. There's no way that just thin air said, hey, I'm going to you know, this is what it is, you know.
Speaker 2:I think it's cool that you recognize that visually, recognize that visually.
Speaker 2:I found it interesting when I was getting deep into research about scent for elk hunting, I learned, uh through, through some of my reading, that a dog could smell the difference between one individual duck and the next, which makes all the sense in the world, but what I'd found something that was happening is my dog would go and pick up a duck and be bringing it back and then make it. Maybe a cripple takes. Go and pick up a duck and be bringing it back and then make it. Maybe a cripple takes off, and she dropped the duck that she had take off after the cripple and I could send her back out after that duck that she'd already picked up 20 times and she wouldn't do it. Sometimes she'd stand on top of it and she'd know that she was supposed to be hunting for a bird, but in her mind she'd already picked up that duck like she already checked it off.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so she wasn't just going out and trying to smell for a duck, she was trying to smell for a new, different duck, for an individual animal, and I think that that's so interesting, fascinating and and right in line with what you're saying yeah, yeah, I think uniqueness is a very like a key indicator of intentional creation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Last year was the first year that I ever shot stacked shot, okay, and I loved it Really. I loved it. Was it micro? It wasn't Okay, no, it wasn't, and that's neither here nor there. I didn't understand much about it and I still don't understand much about it, but the concept was there and I was like, hmm, that's interesting, is this a gimmick? Let's see, put it in my shotgun and roll, and I found that I was not only. I think I was killing a few more birds, but what I really found is that I was crippling fewer birds, so the birds that I was hitting were just dying in the air like they'd been struck by lightning. Talk to me a little bit about what stacked shot is and kind of you know, whether you think that there's an advantage to it or not, and what kind of hunter it would benefit to it or not, and and who, what kind of hunter it would benefit.
Speaker 1:So I would. I would say that the reason you saw a difference in cripples. So the whole deal with stack shot. There's a lot of different. There's a lot of things that go like the positives to it. What is it? Just to start? So, stack, stack loads?
Speaker 1:Um, migra is was filmed like 2019. They patented this formula, we'll call it to load these shells a certain way and the win for the way they did it, because it's not the first time it's ever been done. It's just that Migra was the first ones to and I'm not going to say nobody's ever done it right, but I think Migra was the first ones on a large scale to get it right. To say nobody's ever done it right, but I think migra was the first ones on a large scale to get it right. Um, the first. I know remington had a stack load back years ago and it just they just you know the technology wasn't there and and it I never shot it, so I can't speak to it, but it didn't last. You know so. But but what is a stack? So the stacked load is taking don to not be confused with blended or you know something like that. It's not blended, say. We'll say shot sizes are different, so you take a number two shot, a number four shot.
Speaker 2:So the BBs that are inside of the shell are different sizes. Different size BBs, yep, and the higher the number, the smaller they are. Correct, yep, yep.
Speaker 1:So what you'll do is you stack them on top of each other, literally like a number two and a number four are stacked on top of each other, and the idea is you'll stack the smaller one behind the bigger one. Okay, the reason for that is if you think about drafting or like wind resistance, like if you're the winds blowing out of here, but if you go stand on the side of that house or that cabin that's bigger than you, you're not going to feel that wind anymore. Right, so there's no drag, there's no resistance, there's no, there's no chance to like spread you out as much. So you stack that smaller one behind the larger one to keep that wind resistance off, that shot off the, the, the pellets that are behind the larger one that's super interesting.
Speaker 1:So the reason you saw less cripples is because the whole premise behind stacking shot is to shorten your shot string.
Speaker 1:So there which I'm huge on right so when it's just number twos, they're just going to get spread out right like it's going to just keep going this way. But when you've got the two and the four, it's still going to do that, but it's going to be a lot slower of an of an act. So when you hit that bird it's with way more of the of the. I want to say it's more force, because there's more bbs in it, like you're hitting it with the whole force of the shot right.
Speaker 2:So a lot of people, and this is a massive, massive mistake, and I understand why it happens, but they pattern their shotgun on a piece of paper or an old barn or something like that you know, and they see what their spread looks like and if there's any gaps in it anywhere. And that's how they're sort of analyzing, how the you know which is an advantage, Right?
Speaker 1:It is an advantage, but Right.
Speaker 2:But that's how they're looking at, like how the forcing cone and the choke are interacting with that specific shotgun show. But that only tells you a two-dimensional view of what's actually going on. So there is not only a difference between the left, right, top and bottom of your shot swarm. There's a difference between the first BB to get there and the last BB to get there, and typically the longer your shotgun shell is whether you're shooting three and a half compared to two and three quarter your three and a half is going to have a longer shot column than your two and three quarter yeah, tends to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know that I can't speak on that, I don't know, but I do know that what the point you're trying to make is 100 correct.
Speaker 2:so the the way that people test this is they'll have a piece of paper that's moving like, like moving on a roll is the way I've seen it tested, and we did this with tank munitions right. So we had a tank cartridge called a canister round that had, I think, 1,100 one-and-an-eighth-inch tungsten ball bearings. Gracious oh boy.
Speaker 1:Boy, that was TSS, probably like 18-weight tungsten, something like that. Yeah, that's nuts.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was hell on Honda Civics and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So the way to test it is you have this sheet of paper moving and then you look at the difference between the first shot that hits and the last shot that hits and then you have an idea of how long your shot column is. If you shoot out onto the water, you can also see that, like you can see that your shot column, your shot string, is really long. Yeah, I've never considered putting that heavier shot that has more inertia because it has more weight per BB in the front so that it can disrupt that air and create turbulent airflow with less resistance for those smaller bbs to fall, fall behind right like that makes a lot of sense that there's more bbs hitting that bird at once like yep, I love that and that that's the, honestly, a lot of the reason why a lot of birds get away is because that shot string gets strung out so far that you may.
Speaker 1:You may have 198 pellets inside that 30-inch circle. You've been patterning but you've only got like 33 getting there before the bird moves where you're shooting at Right. You know what I'm saying. So, like it just matters, there's a whole lot more force if you can triple or double or triple that pellet count, that goes to that bird Like that's a win. Yeah, and that's where we set ourselves up.
Speaker 1:Funny thing talk our founder so much sense our founder drew, um, he's 36 or something like that and he I don't know where it come up, but it was basically a defense sector kind of thing where he got the idea for this, because they stack loads like in for people, you know. Like, I mean, right, and there's a reason for that. Yeah, uh, you can shoot farther, you can shoot harder, but like, we made it to like make shots better. You know, we don't, we don't promote the length, we don't promote like you can shoot farther, like we like you hear a lot of shotgun shell companies talk about you know better down range kind of thing you know, which to me says, uh, we're better when you shoot farther. You know like, and we don't want to do that, we don't want to tell people, hey, you know, go ahead and send it out there at 50 and 60 yards, you know, look, do you need a different choke to shoot this than you would to shoot a load that's not stacked?
Speaker 1:no, I mean I will say that like I've pulled mine back, like I used to shoot fools um, I think that's a young man's game man, it is.
Speaker 1:But I do understand why people do it, yeah, because, again, it's more of that like you're just tightening it up and when you hit them, you hit them. But for me, when I started shooting this and actually paying attention, I moved from that to just like a modified yeah, and that's all I use now. Well, I shot some tungsten last year and I went to an improved mod yeah, but like I don't see a need for a full and truly, now that I'm working with an ammunitions company and I do some work with a shotgun company with Benelli, like the risk of blowing something up, trying to choke it down too tight, just isn't worth it. And there's things like there's wad stripping technology on some of these chokes. That works, it just works.
Speaker 1:But if you don't clean this is just random information If you don't clean that choke tube, like the inside of it, eventually there's a plastic buildup, like a microplastic buildup. Sure, and that's why people have a lot of issues is because they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Never had a problem. And and what sucks is like it's not us. I mean like it's not just us, I mean we. We talk amongst each other like we're friends in the ammunition space, believe it or not, like I've yeah, my friends work for other ammunition people and we talk about and it's like they'll swap a brand just to try it, and it blows a barrel up and they blame the ammo company. And there is some times where the ammo company is at fault.
Speaker 1:For sure, we're not going to say it's not, but the reality is that there's possibly a microplastic buildup on your choke tube and it finally just strolled, it broke the camel's back come through there and blew it up. Of course it finally just strolled, it broke the camel's back, come through there and blew it up. You know, of course that's very like a very one one uh scenario. That doesn't happen all the time. But just to give you an idea of like the variables that go into that thing and why I would rather shoot a modified over anything tight. You know, even with our tungsten, um, we've got a tungsten stack for turkey, it's sevens and nines and it is unreal, but we don't shoot the big extra full. Like we found that if we back off of it a little bit it does better. Yeah, and it's nuts.
Speaker 2:When I was in college, I shot the tightest choke that I thought I could safely shoot out of my gun and, moving forward since then, I've opened my choke up more and more, and now I shoot improved, modified or improved, yeah and it doesn't seem to have as much to do with the range that I'm shooting, although I don't take the long shots like the Hail Marys that I shot when I was a bloodthirsty college kid, but still I shoot birds at 40 or 50 yards sometimes which is a long shot on a duck and you can shoot more fives.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it works great. And then when I'm shooting that duck, that's at you know 20 yards, I'm not ruining the thing. I've still got a duck to make a sandwich for the next day.
Speaker 1:You are ruining them with a full choke at 20 yards. Absolutely, that's a fact dude, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I do think it's a young man's game to over choke and you learn over time that you don't need that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I don't. I don't disagree with that, dude. I've got, I've got a lot of guys that are, you know, my age and older, that still shoot, fools, it's just. But they've again, it's it's, they've hunted like a rice field or something like that their whole life and they're shooting. You know, 40 and 50 yards is their normal shot, right, and and I don't know if I can blame them for that, you know, but, like for me, I just don't like it. Yeah, if they're not, honestly, 35 or less, you know, I just don't care for me. That's not.
Speaker 1:Again, we talked about you know why we love it and it's experience, but it's also like winning the game. Yeah, and if I can get ducks to commit, then that's when I shoot them. Yeah, I don't. I mean, have I shot them floating out or moving? Yeah, for sure, but honestly, like people get upset at me that I hunt with because I won't call the shot a lot of times, you know, I'm like, no, they're not where they need to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean, I've got friends if they hear this, like they may or may not hear it, but they will vibe like, yeah, that's wade, yeah, you know. And I mean, wait, what are you doing? You know well, man, what are you talking about? They weren't there, you know. And it's just, if you want to shoot them while they're doing some other things and you call the shot like not being a jerk, I'm just saying, like we do it to win the game and that's that's also why I mean you didn't ask for this, but like that's also why if they land on the water while I'm hunting, I'm shooting them on the water because that means I won the game. Like I fooled that duck to thinking I was a duck. Yeah, and there he is, like why wouldn't I?
Speaker 2:yeah I, I don't blame you for a second for that yeah yeah, I and I think you know sometimes like that can be, that can be a good way to go is water spot one of them, and when the rest of them get up, oh, that's the way to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah I've just I've gotten into some discussions, and I'll say discussions. I've never gotten a real argument about it. But they want to jump them off the water to shoot them because it's more sporty, and I get that. But, like like, you also have the opportunity to like not shoot the duck right and wound it and let it get away, because you're trying to shoot a duck leaving right, which is way harder than most people think yeah, especially if they're crossing.
Speaker 2:You know all, all of my really early duck hunting was done jumping ditches. You know we didn't have a duck dog, we didn't have decoys, didn't own a duck call, so I was shooting everything in the back. But I was shooting them in the back as they were going up and it was great because I was never messing up any meat. That's a relatively thin part of the bird as far as the way their feathers go and you know getting really good shots on them. There's no fat back there, right yeah, and you're you're just going straight into vital organs and you know breaking the back of wings and you know, it was.
Speaker 2:It was fantastic. That's cool. I like that. Uh yeah, the the decoying and and having duck dogs, that that stuff didn't come until later in my life and now it is just a. It's a wonderful experience for me to wake up really early, no matter what the weather is, and you know, get my decoys, get my dog, get my gun, get my breakfast burrito yeah head down the blind, throw out some decoys, sit there in the dark and drink a cup of coffee and, you know, start to see the steam come off of it.
Speaker 2:Hear those wing beats whistling over the top, hear a couple of little splashes out there, those birds that are flying before first light. You know, my my watch buzzes at me when it's shooting light yeah and it's like all right guys.
Speaker 2:Next one that comes in, it's on you're up, you know and, uh, you know you, you have your hunt and you clean your birds and you know you've a lot of times got a whole day ahead of you just to kind of think about what a great start you had to that day. And it's really special in the community aspect of duck hunting where you can still talk with with the folks that you're with. That adds so much to it and there's so much rich culture around it. And duck is something that I think, more than any other hunting in america spans bums to billionaires yeah, like the fact, the poorest and the richest among us love duck hunting.
Speaker 2:That's fact and there's just something about it, yeah, so what advice would you give to somebody who's listening to this show right now who's never been duck hunting?
Speaker 1:and they think you know what this sounds like, something I want to try yeah, um, I think the best advice if you've never done it and I know this is going to be like almost beating, beating you know, like the same, or playing a broken record but like find somebody else that has like do not, and I'll like do not go out there on your own and think you're gonna do it. One, you're not. If you're gonna, if you're trying to go hunt, like you're gonna go out there and be upset. But two, it is not a safe thing to do by yourself, depending on, like, how you're doing it. So, like the best piece of advice I can do I can say is find somebody that does and just connect with them. They don't have to be local to you, you don't have to go with them, you know, but like if you can do that, but like learn all you can and glean all you can and then truly like there's some great educational stuff on YouTube. Like look that up, whether it's how to blow a duck call.
Speaker 1:Educational stuff on YouTube, like look that up, whether it's how to blow a duck call, whether it's how to set a decoy spread the amount of Google searches I did as a 19 to 22 year old dude like would baffle a lot of people like how to set decoy spreads and how to do this and what about this situation? And what about, like this pond versus a big water, versus a timber stack versus a, you know, a bayou type setting, like even dry field setups? Like that was foreign to me until I was probably 25, 26, you know, like never done that before. Uh, because we just hunt water back home and it just learn all you can and and then find, and if you can find somebody with like local to go with, go with them. Yeah, um, and never be scared to ask questions, because if you don't ask questions you'll never know.
Speaker 2:And the reality is that if you hold back on those questions, it's going to take you a lot longer to learn what you need to learn and man just go Like find a way and go and, whether it's Ducks Unlimited or Delta Waterfowl or some other conservation group, get involved with them and that will be a wonderful place for you to find that mentor who's willing to help you out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with that. I think so. And then also, don't get on Facebook and think everybody's telling you the truth.
Speaker 1:Just know, don't go, get on like Hardcore Waterfowler and think that's the duck hunting community. Don't get on you know something else and think that's just the way it is. Don't get on the du app that's the migratory tracker and think they're telling you the truth because they're not. I mean, I know I'm telling you. I know they're not because I've I've had local guys post on there. They didn't have names, but I knew the area they were talking about and they would say these things about this area that were just asinine, like not true. And I'm just like the. The app was built out of a good place and with a good, really good intentions, but it just gets hijacked by people that don't want you knowing what's going on their area and I get that too, you know from as a public land guy. You don't want a bunch of people knowing that you got tens of thousands of ducks and then everybody shows up at your place. But the reality is like man, make sure you find somebody that you can trust and have those conversations.
Speaker 2:I think that's great advice, great advice. Well, wade, I've had a just a joy of a time getting to know you over the last couple days. I look forward to an opportunity to either get you out to my country to duck hunt with you or we meet up someplace else, and I'm sure that we're going to get to. Oh yeah, it's happening. And uh yeah, there's a lot of duck hunters um here at decked as well that are real passionate about it. I appreciate your passion and dedication to the sport. Yeah, and now we are going to go get out on a boat and hopefully go catch a little I hope so.
Speaker 1:More fish. Maybe they didn't leave me.
Speaker 2:No, no, they're going gonna come back for us all. Right, brother, where can people follow along in?
Speaker 1:your adventures. Oh, man, um, I'm at wade shoemaker on just about everything, uh, instagram, and that's that's where I'm more most, um, uh, I'm, I do more on instagram than anything. And then wade shoemaker facebook, wade shoemaker five, on tiktok, which I don't do a lot of, yeah, um. And threads, which is the instagram twitter, yeah, I, I don't do a lot of. And Threads, which is the Instagram Twitter. I do get on there a lot and just kind of peruse and write a few things, some one-liners, that I don't put anywhere else.
Speaker 2:And if people are interested in a stacked shot, where can they find Migra?
Speaker 1:Migraammunitionscom is the website. We are retail only so we don't sell it. Online can buy, you can look at Merge, you can look at Gear and then you can find your local retailer on our website and just give it a shot. It's, it's great. I'll never tell people that we are the best, but I will tell you it is my favorite and I believe in it and it's Migra like migration. M-i-g-r-a, the and migra is what we went with. Cool, cool. Appreciate you, brother.
Speaker 2:No, thank you man I just want to take a second and thank everyone who's written a review, who has sent mail, who sent emails, who sent messages. Your support is incredible and I also love running into you at trade shows and events and just out on the hillside when we're hunting. I think that that's fantastic. I hope you guys keep adventuring as hard and as often as you can. Art for the Six Ranch Podcast was created by John Chatelain and was digitized by Celia Harlander. Original music was written and performed by Justin Hay, and the Six Ranch Podcast is now produced by Six Ranch Media. Thank you all so much for your continued support of the show and I look forward to next week when we can bring you a brand new episode.