Duck Season Somewhere

Ridr Knowelton grew up in New York's Catskill Mountains, cutting his teeth on small game like the rest of us.  He's since spent the past 30 years fishing and hunting around the world. Interestingly, it isn't so much critters hunted that he most remembers but hunting guides--and especially their stories.  Today he shares stories about a harrowing arctic rescue mission during a whiteout blizzard tha...

Dave Gaston Custom Calls' origin is a winds-like-a-snake duck hunting story that begins with western Alabama childhood, meanders through memorable friendships while chasing ducks in Mississippi and Arkansas, finds him apprenticing under one of Arkansas's most legendary call makers, and leaves him at home right where it all began. Only nowadays he spends his time carrying on on the tradition; turni...

Renown waterfowl photographer Gary Kramer is back with lots of amazing new stories gleaned while putting together his legendary Waterfowl of the World and beyond. He takes us 'round-the-world, covering recent bucket-list trips like Antartica penguin watching and Greenland king eider hunting, as well as photo safariing India wild tigers, Morocco red-crested pochards and ever-elusive masked ducks. B...

Nearly 9,500 miles away from the US, the heated battle between Australian duck hunters and anti-hunters has hit a fevered pitch. Sustainable duck hunting for future generations seems dire. Providing an update from the front lines, my long-time Australian duck hunting associates, Glenn Falla and Trent Leen, describe what's going on, why the ongoing season is a critical juncture, and how antis have...

Here's the deal: You plan the absolute hunt-of-a-lifetime many months in a advance and then--BAM--when you least expect it, expect it. Life happens! Your long-awaited hunting trip is interupted, cancelled or worse. Now what? After 20-plus years organizing hunts worldwide, we've seen it all. Global Rescue's Justin Walker and Ramsey discuss sticky and unfortunate clients experiences they've seen ove...

"There's hardly been a day in my life I've not owned a bird dog," says 100-years-old Garrett Lockee while telling about chasing wild quail for most of his life. The National Bird Dog Museum in Grand Junction, Tennessee, became his tribute to yesteryear bird hunters and the beloved bird dogs that define a bygone American era. Describing in colorful detail stories about his family, fondest memories...

Waterfowl historian Dr. Wayne Capooth describes duck hunting in America way back in the 1600-1700s when the first colonists arrived to a real-life Garden of Eden. Describing their growing pains, how they hunted, what they hunted with and how natives taught them to hunt better, we end up discussing hunting George Washington's duck hunting experiences and other famous duck hunting US presidents.   _...

How does pressure affect duck hunting success? Or does it? Is it just the shooting, or do other related disturbance factors affect hunting success? How do ducks respond to hunting pressure? And what about busting out refuges -- or changing sanctuary areas up to ensure ducks fly over our decoys instead? Dr. Bradley Cohen is back to explain the complex relationship between hunters, hunting pressure...

To hear old school Mississippi wildlife photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick tell it, the passion began while duck hunting with his father in Louisiana swamps but quickly evolved. Countless hours immersing himself in neck-deep water, getting eyeball level with wild ducks in a home-made muskrat hut, changing film rolls with frozen fingers, snapping photos a single frame at a time culminated in 1989 wit...

You'd about have to figure that "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" likely has tremendous waterfowl hunting history. It sure does! One hundred sixty years worth of duck club history and then some! Steve Knutson grew up an avid duck hunter in Otter Tail County, that has more lakes than any other county in the US. In today's episode, he takes us on a colorful tour of famous lakes, prominent yester-year water...

Established in 1895, Dockery Plantation was a sprawling 25,000-acre property in the primeval Mississippi Delta, employing 2,000 laborers and now deeply entrenched in blues music history. In describing Dockery Plantation's colorful past, local historian and avid turkey hunter Bill Lester shares his own artistry with listeners. It's certain to be familiar music to the ears of anyone that enjoys the...

Listen up, folks! Lucas Mashtare has been with Tetra Hearing since the very beginning. And in the world of pursuit-based hearing protection, they're now at the very top of the heap. But why? Lucas explains how Tetra Hearing systems work to protect the only only set of hearing the Good Lord gave us, how their innovative systems have evolved, and what systems are available. He also describes how Tet...

Duck Unlimited's David Schuessler is back in the studio! We recap the past duck season, agreeing that for many reasons it was the best its been in along while. He also gives an update of the Into the Vault online auction, hinting at what items are already showing up for next year! "You can see, try and buy anything duck hunting related under the sun," he says about the upcoming everything outdoors...

Lt. John Nores, Jr. (now retired) grew up duck hunting in California. He was still a young game warden when accidentally stumbling into his first illegal marijuana grow in the heavily wooded outskirts of California civilization.  His career remainder was defined by Marijuana Eradication Taskforce investigations throughout California.   The scope of illegal grows in California and throughout the en...

Hunting destinations attract certain hunter mind-sets. During a recent Mazatlan Mexico duck hunting adventure, guests came from all walks of life, a real US coast-to-coast representation of hunters. Most were solo hunter bookings. They describe how duck hunting in Mazatlan compares to hunting back home, what they enjoyed most, favorite species, meals, lodging, and, of course, the people they met....

Mallard ducks, absolute rockstars of duck hunting universe. Found throughout Northern Hemisphere, they're prized for their beauty, size, and succulence. Practically the entire dabbling duck hunting playbook was scripted for mallards. But did you know there are 13 mallard-like species worldwide (both hemispheres among 5 continents)? They share similar habitats, vocalizations and behavior, but why d...

Howard Harlan lives on the outskirts Nashville, where he grew up duck hunting and has been a hunting memorabilia collector for as long as can be remembered.  At one time, his duck call collection was world's largest and depicted in his book, "The Legacy of the American Duck Call."  In discussing American duck call origins, he describes where and why the duck call was likely invented, how and why i...

Hunting is conservation, and we all preach its merits.  Unfortunately, too oftentimes we're mostly just preaching to our own choir members.  Introduced by her immigrant father to the great outdoors while a child, it wasn't until pursuing a journalism degree that Gabriella Hoffman embraced guns and hunting--and found footing in hunting advocacy. The myriad ways anti-hunters undermine hunting value...

Guatemala is a new up-and-coming, work-in-progress GetDucks hunt. It'll eventually get there, but while visiting recently, was reminded of just how challenging these start-from-scratch hunts can be. In today's episode, I meet with a couple longtime, been-there-done-that associates to hear their thoughts. It's a candid, behind-the-scenes glimpse that social media posts don't really depict.     Podc...

A lifelong Virginian, 22 year-old Chris Lacativa cut his teeth hunting with his dad and was first introduced to Safari Club International at age 10. He's now their digital marketing specialist. Our conversation spins around hunting in Virginia, how a young person became involved with the preeminent First For Hunters organization in America, and its importance to all hunters of all ages--or damned...

Last year's plans were derailed when we received positive test results on the way, but we finally made it to Azerbaijan happen. Meeting with father and son operators of North Dakota's oldest waterfowl resort, our long awaited Azerbaijan duck hunt is discussed. Tun in to hear about this unique hunting destination.   Podcast Sponsors : BOSS Shotshells https://bossshotshells.com/ Benelli Shotguns htt...

The Great Confluence is North America's largest, occurring just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, and comprised of the Missouri, Illinois and Missouri rivers. There are 75,000-100,000 acres nearly contiguous habitat managed by private landowners and clubs dating back to the 1800s. In a state that's lost 90% of its wetlands habitat, the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance was created to hold the fort. Long...

The world's a whole lot bigger than our own back yards, and about half-way around the world nestled right up against the Caspian Sea is Azerbaijan. Find it on a map. We all had to the first time.  There are surprisingly long-standing duck hunting traditions. While there chasing unicorn duck species, there's no ignoring cool-factor surroundings.  Back for the first time since the pandemic, Ramsey m...

Coffee-colored water teaming with colorful, hard-fighting fish was just the tip of the iceberg. From a floating fishing camp smack in the middle of the Amazon jungle, Ramsey meets with Acute Angling's Harold Regis to discuss his amazing bucket-list fishing adventure.     Related Links: Contact Brent Moorland at www. AcuteAngling.com for more details about peacock bass fishing. Podcast Sponsors : B...

YOU'VE WON!!! Whopping 75% discount if you order today!!! Click Here to claim your prize! The list goes on and on and on. It's a sign of the times and social media platforms are the perfect environment - for fraud. And it's getting worse. Everyone's candidate for being scammed, and you don't have to be insta-famous for your account to be hijacked, either. Following a rash of run-ins, I reached out...