Duck Season Somewhere

Where else in the world might one find 4-gauge and 8-gauge shotguns, hard-to-find Winchester Model 12s, one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia, famous prints and other hard-to-find treasures unavailable elsewhere on the internet?! And whether shopping for that hard-to-buy-for special someone that has everything--or for yourself--just in time for Christmas! David Schuessler, Ducks Unlimited's Chief Event...

From ginormous Giants to mallard-sized cacklers, Canada Goose subspecies express tremendous size and color variability. Ever wondered why? Once lumped as 11 subspecies, they're now classified as 7 Canada Goose subspecies and 4 Cackler Goose subspecies--but it was once proposed that there be 200 subspecies! Confused? Don't be. Jim Leafloor is Head of Aquatic Unit for Environment and Climate Change...

Paul Conchatre's Birdtail Waterfowl in Manitoba isn't just another guided waterfowl destination. It's a whole 'nuther level experience. And it's all by design. Whether you're talking the best goose decoys money can buy, customized a-frame blinds, hand-carved diver rigs or even they efficient layout of the resort-like facilities, it's all about delivering superior experiences; it's all in the detai...

From a private goose camp somewhere in Canada, Scott Richard describes hunting ducks and geese in the Atlantic Flyway, going at it so hard that he might even have influenced changing Maryland's blind draw system. But that was before 1995 when he discovered Canada. He now seasonally spends lots of time entertaining friends and family at his long-time goose camp away from home. How does the goose hu...

Deep in the remote equatorial Amazon River basin, virginal black coffee-colored waters are seething with toothed, rod-bending fishes to include not only colorful peacock bass and piranha, but even "a fish with ribs like a pig." Sounds like a paradise as described by my buddy Brent Mooreland of Acute Angling. An avid and well-travelled duck hunter himself, Brent tells about a world-famous associate...

Mat Schauer's Northern Skies Outfitters in Saskatchewan, Canada exemplifies top-shelf hunting for ducks, Canada geese, snow geese and cranes. Taking time from his hectic fall schedule, he shares a few interesting things he's learned along the way to include mallard field feeding behaviors, snow goose inebriation, important client considerations, community involvement and lots more.    Related Link...

A seasoned veteran wildlife conservation officer from BC, Randy Nelson compiled game warden stories from all U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions for his book, The Wildest Hunt. The scale of poaching in modern-day North America is hard to comprehend. Describing why and how he wrote the book, Nelson shares some interesting stories involving polar bears, salmon, eels, raptors, cacti, whooping cranes, wat...

Let's talk snow geese past, present and future. As long-time wildlife research scientist for Environment Canada, Dr. Ray Alisauskus's expertise is arctic geese. From a small cabin in prairie Canada, he describes snow goose-related activities keeping him busy during the fall, events leading to the now 24 years-old Light Goose Conservation Order, why the geese have been "winning" for the past couple...

Following 3 incredible days of waterfowling, Ramsey meets with Prairie Limits Outfitters partners Brian Cramer and Ben Webster. Located in Saskatchewan and now in its 5th successful season in business, Prairie Limits Outfitters delivers total-package waterfowl hunting experiences. Cramer and Webster describe forming their collective vision for their service, telling about how they met and what all...

Chef Ric Rosser plies his local-sourced, field-to-table culinary art among sprawling live oaks at the impressive Spread Oaks Ranch in coastal Texas. Rosser covers a variety of interesting topics to include charcuterie, cooking coots, aging ducks, organ meats, hunting, simple recipes. Whether meticulously tending his garden or curing meats in an on-premises 15th-century style smoke house, and wheth...

Following the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which outlawed commercial sale of wildlife, the American public's demand for wild-harvested tablefare continued -- and there were folks that were more than happy to feed this lucrative demand, supplying barrel- and boat-loads of wild ducks and geese through backwater channels. In the second of this 2-part series, historic author Robert K. Sawyer describes a...

Sandwiched between the massive lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba, the vast region colloquially known as the Interlake forms a giant migrator funnel for "Churchills" and other waterfowl. Goose hunting culture thrives here. Meeting with Troy Bennet and Dustin Dola over dinner, Ramsey gains insight into what its like growing up here, why goose hunting is so important, how waterfowl are hunted here versus o...

Ramsey swings through Joe Briscoe's call shop to get an update on Briscoe's new gadwall call and find out what in the world is taking him so long to complete the world-famous shoveler call prototype. Briscoe gives a good gadwall demo and describes using the baseball bats he keeps around - it ain't for baseball - before the two buddies part ways.   Related Links: JB Custom Calls https://www.instagr...

Preceding the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, waterfowl hunting was a huge industry in Texas and throughout the civilized United States. Everyday Americans went to the local market for wild-harvested tablefare. The finest restaurants fetched eye-popping prices for wildfowl. Business boomed. And wildfowl provided more than just meat! In the first of this special 2-part series, historian Robert K. Sawyer...

Back to Oyster Bayou Hunting Club in Chambers County, Texas, Ramsey meets with Gene Campbell during an annual blue-winged teal hunting visit.  Gene has been hunting the region since back in the 60s and is a treasure trove of entertaining information. Following a great hunt together, the couple hunting buddies discuss migrating blue-winged teal--and hummingbirds--alligators, long-time guide-staff,...

D.I.'s Cajun Restaurant is an unassuming building out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by Tee Mamou Prairie rice fields in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. You know you're in the right place because the gravel-and-beer-cap parking lot is filled with locals that have eaten here for generations, enjoying live cajun music 3-4 nights weekly.  Owner Sherry Fruge tells why and how she and her late husband,...

In 1868, in the remote backwater reaches of south Louisiana's Avery Island, Edmund Mcllhenny invented Tabasco Sauce.   While no one is sure how or why he came up with his proprietary elixir, the iconic company is now in its 6th generation of family ownership. Taking us down dark Louisiana bayous, historian Shane Bernard colorfully describes the Mcllehennys as businessmen, hunters and conservationi...

While chasing September blue-winged teal through coastal Louisiana and Texas, Ramsey meets hunters that take this special time of year very seriously. For most, it's as much real duck season as any other. Who are they? Where and how do they hunt? What does blue-winged teal season mean to them? Listen to find out.    Podcast Sponsors : BOSS Shotshells https://bossshotshells.com/ Benelli Shotguns ht...

For Jared Serigne, returning home to Chalmette, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina was an awakening. He didn't grow up duck hunting, but newfound awareness of the vast wetlands resource outside the levees eventually lead him into it. It was then that he began understanding that the land outside the levees was an imperiled part of Sportsman's Paradise. And that by using his professional film backgro...

Southeast Louisiana duck hunting spawned some of the most collectible decoy folk art in America. Fashioned from nearby natural materials, they were originally made to feed families, communities, and an entire culture. Brian Cheramie grew up on the banks of Bayou Lafourche, where at a young age he developed through his grandfather an interest in old wooden decoys and the legendary duck hunters who...

Back in the day, describes Billy Johnson, Leland, Mississippi swelled to 4x its present population on Saturday nights. Live music and food carts on every corner down by the tracks. That was way back when a national magazine described this little Mississippi delta hamlet as "The Hell Hole of America." Things like blind tiger booze, chitlin circuit clubs, skin balls, cathouses and card games abounde...

Albertine Kimble has lived in Carlisle, Louisiana (population 1) for her entire life.  From her stilted home a lofty 23 feet above the ground (for good reason), she remembers growing up nearby, what duck hunting was like back in her grandfather's day, hunting "French ducks" with her dad and brothers, earning the Duck Queen moniker. She describes how and why things have since changed in this vanish...

Now 80 years old, Sid "Boweevil" Laws has only been away from his Lake Washington home in the Mississippi Delta home for 8 years of his life. The river is integral to Boweevil's life and lifestyle. "Nowadays, it's about just being there," he says emotionally about duck hunting after first describing memorable times on the river, the few years spent away from home, "masacrating 'em" back in the day...

There's more to South Africa than ducks, geese and guineafowl. Way more. Way bigger. Following an action-packed wingshooting spree in South Africa, Ramsey joins long-time friends and associates to scratch off a few non-feathered bucket-list biggies that have stalked his dreams during the years he first met the husband-wife team. Great conversation about the stuff most folks associate with South Af...

From the Levee Board headquarters in Washington County, Mississippi, legendary storyteller and historian Hank Burdine tells about lifestyles and livings made "between the levees" of the nearby Mississippi River. Burdine's story winds like the mighty river itself through the extremely lucrative moonshine and tugboat industries, flowing as smoothly as only he can tell it! Bottoms up!   Podcast Spons...