Duck Season Somewhere

"Splash limits" offer hunters the option to bag any 3 ducks regardless of sex or species. Through 2025, the 2-tiered duck hunting pilot program in South Dakota and Nebraska gives hunters the choice of licenses entitling them to either convention bag limits or splash limits, and was intended to grow future waterfowl numbers.  Dies it seem to be working as intended? Who would choose to bag fewer duc...

"It's the art. It's the art more than anything else that's impacting people, connecting non-hunters to ducks," says 3-time Federal Duck Stamp Contest winner Adam Grimm. Grimm became the youngest federal duck stamp artist and has since won twice more, including the 2025 stamp that will depict a Spectacled Eider.  An ardent waterfowl hunter himself, we discuss how hunting influences his art and vice...

If you think hunting is expensive now, just wait until you start taking your growing-like-a-weed youngsters to the blind! To make things worse, they outgrow last season's clothing quicker than it takes 'em to knock out a sleeve of white donuts! David and Camille Kent grew up hunting in generational hand-me-down clothes same as most. As parents themselves, they recognized a need to affordably keep...

Following an incredible full-of-firsts hunting visit to the United Kingdom, we meet in host James Maunder Taylor's game room, sharing tumblers of sloe gin and recounting the eventful, whirlwind trip. Don't know exactly what I'd been expecting, but it wasn't at all this--flighting ducks, moonlighting geese, punt gunning, driven woodcock, Chinese water deer, game biologists, renowned artists, absenc...

Anna Van Nostrand grew up in Georgia hunting small game and deer with family, but her introductions to feathers--shotgunning, waterfowl, upland birds, retrievers and pointers--launched her full-steam ahead into the future with newfound purpose. After talking about our recent experiences at Safari Club International convention (hint, it's more than worlds-largest hunting show), we discuss getting i...

BOOM! Our discussion with a last-of-a-dyring-breed punt gunner continues! Banned 107 years ago in the United States pursuant to the Migratory Bird Treat Act of 1918, punt gunning has since persisted in the United Kingdom. It's practiced by a few hardy old salts like Ginger Blayney, who gives us proper introduction. Where'd punt guns originate, what are the components of a punt gunning, under what...

Harkening a bygone era, Tom Beckbe's lifestyle products just keep getting better and better. Meeting with Tom Beckbe's Radcliffe Menge is always a great time, and in today's discussion he catches us up on the meteoric growth in several directions this small lifestyle company from Alabama has experienced for good reason in just a few short years. Whether a die-hard fan of legendary Tom Beckbe gear...

Banned 107 years ago in the United States pursuant to the Migratory Bird Treat Act of 1918, punt gunning has since persisted in the United Kingdom. It's still practiced by a few hardy old salts like today's guest, Ginger Blayney, who gives us proper introduction. Where'd punt guns originate, what are the components of a punt gunning, under what environmental conditions are they most successfully u...

All the time and effort that goes into putting waterfowl on the strap--travel, scouting, walk-ins decoy placement, calling, early wake ups--all boils down to a crucial moment: the perfect trigger pull. Is your shotgun throwing its best pattern when that time comes? Joel Strickland went down a deep rabbit hole on the topic for his Surviving Duck Season YouTube series. Firing tens of thousands of ro...

A die-hard Arkansas public land duck hunter since forever, Arkansan call maker Bryce Decker describes the stark realities and absurd challenges of public duck hunting Arkansas. How do thing seems different now than back in the good ol' days? When and why did it change and how do today's hunters differ from the old-timers that introduced Decker to hunting? What the heck is "shooting the raft," is i...

British wildlife artist Terrence Lambert's work has been reproduced in more than 40 publications, selected for many of the world's most prestigious wildlife exhibitions, and collected by such prominent families as the McCartneys and Astors. A hunter and fisherman since boyhood, his story reflects a lifestyle we can all appreciate, and provides cultural context to traveling and hunting in the Unite...

"Because the ducks aren't going to let you [overharvest them]," replied Mike Swan matter of factly when asked how there could still possibly be healthy waterfowl populations in the United Kingdom. The UK is not quite twice the size of Mississippi, bag limits and shooting hours are nonexistent, baiting is allowable, and anything with a bore diameter less than 2 inches is considered a shotgun--yes,...

Following an eventful morning duck hunt in the Louisiana marsh, Ramsey joins General Manager, Mike Baccigalopi and General Manager, Fred Stewart, to discuss their experiences at Oak Grove Hunting Club, that was founded in 1932. They provide interesting insights into the historic club, duck hunting and local culture in their little corner of Louisiana.      Visit MOJO's Duck Season Somewhere Podcas...

Chicoteague, Virginia's outgoing mayor, Arthur Leonard is a lifelong duck hunter and decoy carver that recalls his family being among the first to inhabit the little island along Virginia's Eastern Shore, where he grew up plying nearby water for fishes and waterfowl. He takes us on a tour of his storied back yard, discussing island life, duck hunting species, tides, boats, decoys, carving, wild ho...

For combat veteran Andrew Biggio, who's now on the Boston Police force, a relative's hand-written letter from the WWII Pacific battlefield compelled him down an interesting life path. He's collected WWII combat stories from over 500 veterans as told through a M1 Rifle. Through book proceeds and donations, the Rifle Project has returned with over 50 Veterans back to their former battlefields in Fra...

Following a duck hunt along Virginia's Eastern Shore, Ramsey meets with father-son carvers, Ian and Mark McNair, who are committed to crafting wooden waterfowl decoys using only traditional hand tools and methods.  More than simply turning out beautiful decoys, their decoy carving story is about a classical approach to duck hunting as well as to life.    Visit MOJO's Duck Season Somewhere Podcast...

With legions of die-hard customers, Dave Smith Decoys have long been regarded as the most realistic and utterly effective decoys available. But who is the man behind these legendary craft decoys, and what does his functional art say about him as a hunter and a human being? You'd have to figure him a serious goose hunter if nothing else. Legendary decoy maker Dave Smith describes growing up hunting...

Roland Cortez talks about being born and raised duck hunting in South Louisiana's marshes, his earliest influences and introductions, how and why he's been guiding duck hunts for a very long time, and even why coots--yes coots--are among his favorite game birds as tablefare. We talk about then versus now, raising young hunters, prevalent species hunted, favored hunting techniques, hopes for the se...

Jack Miner Bible-verse-inscribed leg bands have long been revered as holy grail momentos among in-the-know waterfowl hunters. Formed in 1904 by a former fur trapper and market hunter, the Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary once garnered international attention and was Canada's foremost tourist attraction, connecting legions of both hunters and non-hunters to wild geese and ducks. But times change...

Saying that museums tell stories, Chesapeake Bay historian and preservationist, C. John Sullivan, takes us on a personal tour of one of the largest private collections amassed, where each artifact represents one of the most storied time periods in American waterfowling history. After a brief visit--where I actually shouldered a 22-pound, 4-gauge, side-by-side blackpowder shotgun--we talk about gia...

"Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River," go the John Denver lyrics. The iconic song never mentions ducks or duck hunting. For good reason. Because they're few and far between, but not impossible. State 48 was a huge, successful adventure thanks to friend Mike Smith. Following a couple eventful days duck hunting West Virginia, we crack open a couple Busch Lights, reca...

Rob Shaw's ancestors moved to Prince Edward Island 5 generations ago. They've since made their livings and fed their families by seasonally availing themselves of the island's inherently abundant natural resources--namely tourists, ducks and seafood. A memorable pair black duck used as live decoys are recalled among many other things. Island life still revolves these resources, black ducks are a r...

This season's 6-province Canadian part if the tour terminates 8 miles into the Atlantic--as easterly as personally ever been in North America--on the picturesque Prince Edward Island where my host, Geoff "Woody" Wood welcomes me with fresh Malpeque oysters and kicks things off with as traditional island-style decoys as it gets. Following a couple days memorable black duck hunts and eats, and with...

Our beloved retrievers are our ride-and-die best friends, but they're also high-performing athletes with singular life missions to recover downed birds regardless of weather conditions. They deserve the very best nutrition. With an if-you-know-you-know, almost cult-like following among serious US retriever circles, Inukshuk Professional Dog Food is sold directly to consumers and has no ambitions o...

A month-and-a-half and 11-plus-thousand miles after starting this year's North American Waterfowl Road Trip finally arrives to new territory, to the land-time-forgot (so described for reasons discussed herein) province of New Brunswick, Canada. Joining local go-getter hunters Matt Wilson and Stephen Margison, am immersed neck-deep into Maritime Canada waterfowl hunting culture where distances are...