Latest / Ducks Unlimited Podcast / Ep. 699 - Bid on Your Dream Adventure: A Deep Dive into the National Trip Auction

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Ep. 699 - Bid on Your Dream Adventure: A Deep Dive into the National Trip Auction · Ducks Unlimited Podcast

• 0:56
  Jimbo Robinson: Welcome back the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, Jimbo Robinson, and we have Scott Anderson on the other end today, here to talk about probably one of the most exciting things this summer as far as online auctions are, and that's our national trip auction. And as always, we have our world famous audio engineer, mister Chris Isaac, gonna join us today.
• 1:31
  Chris Isaac: Howdy. The people aren't used to hearing my voice.
• 1:33
  Jimbo Robinson: I know. That's why I asked. I'm new for them. So Hello, Scott?
• 1:38
  Scott Anderson: I'm here and ready to go.
• 1:39
  Jimbo Robinson: How many before we dive into this topic today, how many months have you spent on this?
• 1:49
  Scott Anderson: For sure, you know, it's really hard pressed to the last two to three months, but it's one of those things where we're kinda, you know, when we get into the details of this, we're kinda sourcing trips and looking for trips and talking to people even throughout the year. We're we we wanna try to find that unique stuff out there, so it's it's kind of an ongoing thing throughout, you know, the entire year, all three hundred and sixty five days, but it gets real serious in the last two to three months here, and it gets real serious the last week when when trips and and stuff just start pouring in at that last second.
• 2:17
  Jimbo Robinson: Wow. Well, not all hosts do this, but I love the flock shot. So we're gonna run through a quick flock shot with you. I'm gonna ask you questions. Give me your favorite really quick, so let's cue the button.
• 2:31
  Chris, what's your favorite color Gatorade? Blue. Do you know the flavor?
• 2:36
  Scott Anderson: Arctic? Is that blue? The light blue? It's like kinda that sky blue color.
• 2:40
  Jimbo Robinson: Jordan or LeBron? Jordan. Elway or Brady? Brady. Brady.
• 2:48
  Brady. Oh. Interesting. Interesting. Over and under or semi auto?
• 2:53
  Scott Anderson: Semi auto. For waterfowl. Alright.
• 2:55
  Jimbo Robinson: Alright. And last one, what's your favorite? Tequila or bourbon? Oh.
• 3:02
  Scott Anderson: I have to choose between those two.
• 3:04
  Chris Isaac: Or or a cold beer? Like, generally tequila, generally bourbon, or specific tequila, bourbon.
• 3:11
  Jimbo Robinson: I say either or. Like, we're in the summer. Right? So I thought you may say summertime, maybe. Yeah.
• 3:17
  K. Margarita.
• 3:17
  Scott Anderson: Generally tequila over bourbon. Okay. I don't think cold beer.
• 3:21
  Jimbo Robinson: Whatever. Good fun. Alright. Ranch water. Ranch waters are good, especially in the summer as hot as it is here in Memphis.
• 3:28
  Mhmm. Scotty, why don't you give us a little well, first off, you know, you're our director of nontraditional fundraising. Online fundraising is kind of, you know, what you do and and well, not what you do because what y'all do is so much bigger than that in today's world. But why don't you give a little history of nontraditional or the auction, kind of where it started, how it how it came to be, and then what the genesis of it for those that may not know what the DU National Trip Auction even is.
• 3:58
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. So it's it's it's in its fourth year here, and it's it's kind of intriguing what it's turned into and where it's gone, and it's exciting to where it's gonna keep going forward with it. But about four years ago, we were looking at a trip that actually came out of Montana from a local chapter that they used to just auction a a goose and mallard hunt around the local area in Montana off of their local banquet. And, you know, you're gonna do some field hunting there, so you're hunting kinda cut cornfields and stuff like that and in the snow potentially. And for anyone at that auction or that banquet in Montana, that's kind of an everyday occurrence.
• 4:33
  They they can go do it anywhere, so, you know, any day they wanted, the duck season. So, like, they it sold, but it didn't really sell impressively high. And one year, about five years ago, it dropped into a national auction called Into the Vault, and it sold for a crazy high number. And what we kind of realized from that is some person, say, I think it was down Southeast, maybe in Florida, who really doesn't have that opportunity to go out and easily hunt crop fields, ag fields, in the snow or for mallards in in Canada's, saw that, and for them, it was a bucket list trip, and they just jumped all over it, and it just started a bidding war amongst several people that were kind of in that same thought process. And so that just kind of kicked into our head is like, we have these trips that are sourced by volunteers and regional directors across the country at their local banquets that are just kind of a normal occurrence for them.
• 5:25
  What if we took all those and kind of put them into a nationally promoted auction that allowed anyone in the country to get the opportunity at these bucket list trips that they may be dying to go on, but they just don't know how to find the right outfitter or the right location or, you know, whatever setup is good for them. And we wanna put them all in one spot and give them that option to jump in and try to get those bucket list trips.
• 5:49
  Jimbo Robinson: And and do you only source them through do you only source them through regional directors or or volunteers, or can somebody just submit one to you if they are listening to this and and an outfitter, they're like, man, I'd I'd like to submit one to this if I'm gonna get national attention through through this online platform, can they submit one to you?
• 6:09
  Scott Anderson: They can. We it comes in trips come in through regional directors, volunteers, our approved outfitter system, and from just we you know, random outfitters reaching out. We do have a link on our website, ducks.org/nta, that actually lets them submit their their contact information for us to reach out to about getting on the national trip auction. There's there's people I'm calling, kinda just looking around, you know, go to different sports shows and talk to people. You just kinda see stuff on social media, see an ad for some outfitter, reach out to them, but it is open for anyone that wants to get in on it.
• 6:42
  All they gotta do is either just find their way to ducks.org/nta and submit their information or reach out to any volunteer staff member that they may know in their local area too.
• 6:53
  Jimbo Robinson: And so today, we're recording this. It's not open. It's in the it is, I guess, the public viewing phase. But when this comes out, it will be the auction will be open. What's the what's the time frame on the auction?
• 7:05
  Scott Anderson: So it is gonna open up August 14. The the like you mentioned, the public preview started August 1, and that's pretty much a standard every single year. August 14, 8AM Central Time is when the auction opens, and it runs until the August 25 and closes at 8PM Central Time. So you get quite a few days there to do some planning, maybe gather up the buddies you're thinking you may want to go on a trip with, or talk to the spouse, or look at kids' schedules, whatever it is. You got some time to figure that out, and they'll be open for that many days to to put your bid in.
• 7:40
  Jimbo Robinson: And so what what so is the website the same place as the auction is open? Is that what what's the what's the website so people can go and and
• 7:48
  Scott Anderson: The best the best way is travel right through ducks.org/nta. That's the quickest quickest way to get there. There's a big button that says view auction, bid auction. It's right there. You can't miss it.
• 7:58
  Jimbo Robinson: So let's let's kinda dive into the auction. First off, how many trips are there? What's what's the total number of trips, experiences, excursions, kinda whatever you're calling them? What's the total number?
• 8:08
  Scott Anderson: They're still trickling in. Right now, loaded is 242. I expect there'll still be more coming in. I've seen a couple emails since we've been talking come through, and they have trips on them as well. So, you know, we typically get north of $2.50 in that $2.50, $2.70 range.
• 8:25
  So there's there's definitely no shortage for people to pick from.
• 8:29
  Chris Isaac: That's I mean, if you can't find something in there you'd like to do, like, you must not like the outdoors.
• 8:35
  Jimbo Robinson: Well, I don't think so that's the next question. Is it just hunting trips? I mean, you've mentioned other things in this opener. Is it just hunting trips, or or what what are we offering?
• 8:43
  Scott Anderson: It it is not. It is it's far far beyond that. It it is not just hunting. It's not just fishing. It's anything.
• 8:52
  Kind of one of our taglines is, you know, trips for all interests and budgets, and I would I would vent I would really like somebody to get out there and try to find something they're not interested in in there. I mean, there's hunts, there's fishing, plenty of that stuff, obviously. We got sporting events. We have vacations, whether it's family or kids you wanna take on, or if you just wanna take off for a quick vacation with the with the wife and that's in country, out of country, over the oceans, you know, all in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, there's there's tons of stuff out there. If you're even into drinking drinking bourbon, there's some options there.
• 9:26
  You can do some tours or get into the exclusive Pappy tasting that we're doing with ducks and limousine and Pappy. They're great stuff to look at. It's you're hard pressed to find something that will not tempt your interests.
• 9:40
  Jimbo Robinson: Do you have piqued Chris' interest?
• 9:42
  Chris Isaac: Yeah. The pappy got me. I'm looking at that one right now.
• 9:45
  Jimbo Robinson: I saw it pop up on the screen that as soon as you said it, there was some excitement over there. So you did say all budgets. Like, when I when I sometimes I think people get lost in the fact that, you know, they think about a Ducks Unlimited dinner event and and and how high trips sell for, and and they may not think, listen to this riding on the road, they're like, man, I know I can't afford any of those. You did say something about all budgets. Like, what's the cheapest trip?
• 10:12
  Like, what do you what what's the price range of of a lot of these trips?
• 10:16
  Scott Anderson: In the end, we've sold trips on auctions as low as $300 and up to $30,000. Like, obviously, some of that stuff is you know, some of the high end stuff goes big. You know, I think that that record that we had over that was $30.30 plus maybe was for a two person, two grizzly bear hunt right up in Alaska. Big big dollars, you know, fun trip to go on. A lot of inclusive stuff with that.
• 10:38
  But, I mean, we got stuff that goes down to that $300 range and is just like a day trip, you know, fishing or something like that. Easy stuff that anybody can get on no matter what kind of budget you're looking for.
• 10:49
  Chris Isaac: I imagine the phone calls. Alright, honey. Canceling Disney. We're go
• 10:56
  Jimbo Robinson: you and I are going to shoot a grizzly bear. That would not end well in my household by any means. Well, Scott, let's let's run through some of the the let's go through the auction now. I mean, this is out when this airs. The auction's live, and and people are gonna be viewing it.
• 11:13
  And and I can imagine that going through that many trips, 247, I'm sure by the end of this, it'll be over $2.50, but going through that many has to be a daunting task for somebody. What does it look like? What's some of your most unique ones? What what do you think people and let's go top and bottom, and then we'll kinda share some that I've seen on here today as well. But what's some of the new unique ones that you like?
• 11:35
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. And and actually to that first point of it's kinda daunting when there's that many, it is. But there are a lot of features on the site that help you get through that. There's a search bar, and we tag every single trip title with, like, the state it's in or the country so that, you know, if you're if you're like, hey, I wanna stick to Tennessee or Florida or wherever state you're kinda maybe close to or in, you could just type in Florida in the search, and it'll pop up every single trip that's in Florida. If you're into upland hunting or waterfowl, you can sort by categories that lets you sort just down to those trips as well too.
• 12:07
  So going through top to bottom individually, it's worth it, but it can be daunting, but there's a lot of ways that you can kind of sort through it. When I kind of look at it, scrolling through some of these, some of the unique ones that are kind of really those different ones that would classify as a bucket list trip for some people, there's an Oklahoma paddlefish trip for four where you are just catching massive slob paddlefish down in Oklahoma that, I mean, are just I mean, I've seen pictures of people that I know in there, and they're big guys, and they look tiny next to these fish. Kind of a crazy looking fish too to catch. Iguana hunting and python hunting down in Florida.
• 12:44
  Chris Isaac: That's terrifying.
• 12:45
  Scott Anderson: It is, but it's also one of those things that's a huge benefit because they're invasive species down there. You can do it year long, so there's not like there's a season. In most cases, you don't need a license either. Some some vary some things do vary depending on where you're doing it, but, you know, just different stuff that you you don't necessarily get anywhere else in the country outside of Florida.
• 13:05
  Jimbo Robinson: How do you Well, hold on. Hold on. This is the python cowboy.
• 13:08
  Scott Anderson: It is. You it's you're you're not necessarily going out with him, but you will be with his his outfitting crew, the python cowboy for the iguanas and the and the python hunt.
• 13:17
  Jimbo Robinson: Do you follow him on Instagram, Chris? No. Oh, man. You have to. It'll make you squirm.
• 13:22
  It'll It'll make make squirm.
• 13:23
  Chris Isaac: Yep. I don't like snakes.
• 13:24
  Scott Anderson: Well, and they and they got they have And
• 13:26
  Jimbo Robinson: this guy jumps on them.
• 13:27
  Scott Anderson: It's crazy. And they they're they have python trained dogs to be using that for, and it's I mean, everything that I've read and seen is it's just a crazy blast, and it's a lot of fun.
• 13:37
  Jimbo Robinson: That trip will bring that that I bet that one brings a lot. There'll be some good there would be some people that jump all over that trip. Just I mean, even though it's his crew, he his he has a really big following.
• 13:48
  Scott Anderson: He does. And you can actually so while it's, you know, it's with his crew, there's no guarantee that he can go with, but you do have that option if you're the end winning buyer where you can upgrade and guarantee that he is your guide on those trips.
• 13:58
  Jimbo Robinson: I want the iguana hunting.
• 14:00
  Scott Anderson: That that looks like a lot of fun too. Well,
• 14:02
  Jimbo Robinson: so a fellow employee's been on it, not this one, but he's been down there, he's like, man, we were in city parks. They were riding along, you know, roads shooting them, but apparently they're so invasive that they've become a massive problem. And you shoot them with air guns, I believe, right?
• 14:19
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. You you got air rifles, you're right. I mean, they're destroying just like, you know, riverbanks and driveways, and they lay crazy number of eggs and hatch. You're doing them a favor by going down there, and the reality is is both pythons and iguanas, you you can't hunt them enough to actually, you know, get rid of them. It's just it's it's an ongoing issue for them down there.
• 14:39
  Jimbo Robinson: Chris, you buy that for us, and I'll drive you. Okay? I'll drive you. You buy it.
• 14:43
  Chris Isaac: We'll see.
• 14:44
  Jimbo Robinson: Wow. So what's a mule deer?
• 14:47
  Chris Isaac: Are they the, like, the short deer? Are they short?
• 14:51
  Scott Anderson: They're the Western Prairie Mountain Range deer. They just they look a little bit different, but you're you're gonna find them in most of the the mountain like, you're you basically gotta get to, like, the mountain time zone to kinda find them.
• 15:03
  Jimbo Robinson: Oh, okay. I mean That's cool. I know people can buy you know, some of these trips you can't buy, except in here, but Monday night football experience to watch the Cowboys and the Raiders in Vegas would be awesome. I can imagine that's on a lot of people's bucket list.
• 15:18
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. I mean, going to those sporting events, especially, you know, people love traveling to new stadiums to go watch your team. Vegas is never a bad place to go and have fun even if your team loses or maybe it's not a team you're cheering for, but you still got plenty to do there. So
• 15:54
  Chris Isaac: I'd wanna do something exotic. Like Really? Yeah. The Argentina duck hunt, that would probably be amazing.
• 16:01
  Jimbo Robinson: But you're not a big hunter, so True. That's kinda crazy that you would say that because I thought you would pick something, like, domestic.
• 16:08
  Chris Isaac: I love going out of the country.
• 16:11
  Scott Anderson: So if you're talking exotic, one of the ones I would look at is the South Africa Vita Dart white rhino encounter. Oh, boy.
• 16:20
  Jimbo Robinson: And this
• 16:20
  Scott Anderson: is kinda obviously, you can't you can't hunt rhinos. Right? They're they're off the table for hunting. But this trip is you are darting them for research purposes. So you get to go out like you're hunting them, but it's all it's all monitored by by vet veterinarians.
• 16:37
  They pull research data from it to help better the population and and the the species. It's crazy. And you So
• 16:43
  Chris Isaac: you just, like, tranq them and then study them?
• 16:46
  Scott Anderson: Yep. Yep. And they
• 16:47
  Jimbo Robinson: take on that. Yeah.
• 16:48
  Scott Anderson: Genetic data, a lot of stuff from them when they're when they're tranqed, and it's kind of it's kind of a cool situation where it's it's beneficial to the species, and it's a a unique way of going about it.
• 16:57
  Jimbo Robinson: Man. I mean, I'm just going through here and looking at mean, the
• 17:01
  Chris Isaac: Rican crocodile bay fishing.
• 17:03
  Jimbo Robinson: The king eider hunt for two. I mean, if king eiders aren't on your bucket list.
• 17:08
  Scott Anderson: The musk ox hunt up in Alaska.
• 17:10
  Jimbo Robinson: That's always a big one, isn't it, Scotty?
• 17:13
  Scott Anderson: That is that one and the Iowa specialty deer tag as well. But that, I mean, that musk ox hunt is a draw only. DU gets it for purposes of fundraising, and they they have a less than 1% draw to get that tag. So this is a guarantee. You buy it on that auction, you're walking away with that tag.
• 17:36
  Jimbo Robinson: Are these bids we're hearing come in? Every time it goes, is that a bid coming in? Because I'm there's a lot of people bidding on this, I guess.
• 17:42
  Chris Isaac: Already?
• 17:42
  Jimbo Robinson: Yeah. Well, they
• 17:44
  Chris Isaac: Make it rain.
• 17:45
  Jimbo Robinson: When this comes out, it's already open. Man, I'm just going down here. I'm I'm getting lost in in
• 17:50
  Chris Isaac: Now something romantic, Sunset and Chuck, Top Sail Island Oyster Cruise.
• 17:56
  Scott Anderson: Spring to school. Beach there's some beach vacations if you're looking for a little getaway with a spouse. Oh, gonna go up here. Out of Mexico or The Bahamas, wherever you're looking to go.
• 18:06
  Jimbo Robinson: I'm gonna go to the search bar here. Well, that's that you know, it's interesting. Interesting timing here, Scott, because as Scottie, as a lot of people are as a lot of people are gearing up for their hunting season, the wife it's gonna be a good time to buy a trip for the wife. Oh, Palmetto Dunes, Hilton Hilton Head Island. Like, that's a great, awesome trip because Hilton Head is awesome.
• 18:28
  I think it's it's a it's beautiful. I'll I've, you know, I've lived in South Carolina for a good portion of high school and college, and Hilton Head is awesome. So that's a and that course is great, man. Oh, that's a good course. That'll be a fun one.
• 18:42
  I think that one will do well. Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach. You got lots of Pebble Beaches in there. I had to go to I had to go check out the golf. Those look interesting.
• 18:53
  Chris Isaac: Pine courses.
• 18:54
  Jimbo Robinson: Scotty, let's have fun with this one. What's the weirdest? We've talked about some unique, some things we'd go to. What is one you look at and you're like, who in the world would take this trip?
• 19:05
  Scott Anderson: You know, personally, me, I'm kind of open for anything. Obviously, I think that the Python one, I'm sure gets a lot of people that are like, who in the world would want to actually go in the dark chasing a python through the, basically, the Florida jungle?
• 19:18
  Jimbo Robinson: Do you get insurance on that?
• 19:21
  Scott Anderson: I would I would guess it doesn't qualify. If you're putting yourself putting yourself in the jaws of a python, it's kinda free game at that point.
• 19:28
  Jimbo Robinson: Well, know, I've always heard that you don't have to be the fastest when you're running from a bear, you just can't be the slowest. So I'm imagining it's kind of the same thing with Python. You wanna go with guys that are slower than you.
• 19:41
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. You know, another one too that's kinda crazy is the catfish noodling down in Kentucky. That's a trip you can get on where you're, you know, you're that's where you're underwater, basically in muddy stuff that you can't even see. So you're going down blind and you just shove your hand through the mouth of a catfish that's sitting in a pool or a box and then just pull them up.
• 19:59
  Chris Isaac: Wow. I have a
• 20:00
  Jimbo Robinson: best friend that does that all the time, and and they wear special gloves, but he loves it. Him and his kids love it. I mean, his daughter and his son, they love doing it. And Okay.
• 20:11
  Chris Isaac: I want this Belize dream vacation freight.
• 20:14
  Jimbo Robinson: See, was looking at some of the well, I can I mean, the dream vacations are constantly a huge Mhmm? Discover European soccer for two.
• 20:24
  Chris Isaac: Oh, that's cool. That is really cool.
• 20:26
  Scott Anderson: Chris, I kinda see you as a guy that's into this one of these glamping getaways where you get, like, the old air
• 20:31
  Jimbo Robinson: Dude, it is
• 20:31
  Chris Isaac: a glamping percent.
• 20:32
  Scott Anderson: Like, that that seems like a Chris Isaac kind of thing is just the the glamping payaway for two.
• 20:37
  Jimbo Robinson: Well, as you as you Where is that? Let me As you build on this, Scott, don't forget that our man Isaac, you know, he he needs to put his trip in here at some point. Uh-huh.
• 20:47
  Chris Isaac: What does that mean?
• 20:48
  Jimbo Robinson: Uh-huh. You have a really cool destination Oh,
• 20:51
  Chris Isaac: I do.
• 20:51
  Jimbo Robinson: In your back pocket that would be fun. European soccer, though, you could tour a stadium.
• 20:56
  Scott Anderson: Yep.
• 20:56
  Jimbo Robinson: It has the blackout dates are are those will be updated before this comes live, I would assume. But because the blackout dates are may have been in the past.
• 21:09
  Scott Anderson: Oh, yeah. We'll have to double check that. You know, another one another one that's kinda interesting too, it's not, you know, weird by any means, but especially if you're looking there for a kit that got kids you wanna take out, there's that astronaut adventure down at the Kennedy Space Center.
• 21:22
  Jimbo Robinson: I just saw that one. That's was actually in there. That's cool. And that's a that would be fun.
• 21:27
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. I mean, they get a they mean, you get obviously lots of tours and all that, but you actually get to meet an astronaut. Like, it'd be pretty, you know, pretty cool for any little kid that's kinda into that stuff.
• 21:35
  Jimbo Robinson: So, Scotty, what bidding how does the bidding work on here? Because I I don't want if somebody hasn't bid on one of our online blah blah. If somebody hasn't bid on one of our online auctions before, I don't want them to get on there and be overwhelmed by the proxy and kind of how that explains it. Will you kind of talk about how the bidding works on here?
• 21:51
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. So it's it's pretty it's pretty simple. It's it's kinda runs like a checkout process like any on any kind of ecommerce site, but you you go to the trip, you click on the details of it, allows you to place a bid. You can obviously just say, wanna bid this, and there's there's increments that are different that are minimum increment increases. But you can go in there and you can just place a set bid, or you could also what we call a proxy bid, place a max bid or a proxy bid that says, alright, I'm willing to pay up to this, and then the system actually bids for you as those competing bids come in.
• 22:25
  It's a nice little touch if you can't sit by your phone or computer all day every day when those trips, but especially at the last minute because in every auction, that last hour, ten minutes, five minutes is crazy, and bids are coming in so fast. And the benefit to that that proxy bid or max bid is it only bids if you need it to. So as somebody else is competing against you, it's bidding for you, and it'll always recognize that max or proxy bid at the very end. So if if someone's going against you, going against you back and forth, back and forth, and the the deadline of 8PM central hits on the twenty fifth, if it needs to it'll that max bid will push you to adjust the amount you need to to win as long as it's there. If it if it's someone bid over top of your proxy, your max bid, then then they're gonna win.
• 23:07
  But it'll always bid for you, which is a really nice feature that you don't just have to worry about sitting there all the time watching it.
• 23:14
  Jimbo Robinson: So if you're not around when the auction closes, or you've got you're busy or something, you just put your max bid that you want it to to that you potentially want to pay for it, and and it'll take you there, but it's not gonna bid unless you absolutely need it to, if somebody's outbid you, I guess. Yeah. Yep. That's a cool feature. Yeah.
• 23:32
  Because, I mean, if somebody was gonna buy this trip no matter what, they can put a massive amount of money in there, but at the end of the day, it's not gonna take them up to that to that dollar figure unless somebody else is bidding against them.
• 23:42
  Scott Anderson: Correct. Yeah. It's just just enough to make you the winner. That's all.
• 23:45
  Jimbo Robinson: And I guess nobody really knows what other people's proxy bids are. So I bet if you're going bid bid bid bid bid somebody, they both put I guess it couldn't do that because then you'd be out beat, or it would have taken them both up.
• 23:56
  Scott Anderson: It just keeps going up. So if, like, somebody was, you know, $2,000 proxy max and somebody was 1,999, it would wherever they're at right now, it would ding them all the way up to that point until they're it just gives you off to be the winner, whatever it is, whatever your max is.
• 24:14
  Jimbo Robinson: That is awesome. Wow. This is going through this website here, this is this is fun. I mean, this is you could spend a lot of time kinda researching and going through these, and there's been a lot of time put into this auction and and and very the details on it, and I think the ease of it and, you know, earlier we talked about it being daunting with how many trips, but the ease of being able to hit the drop down menu and select kind of what you're interested in or what you may wanna do actually makes it really easy to navigate. I mean, obviously, there's a lot of waterfowl hunts, but they're so different.
• 24:48
  You could scroll by the ones that, you know, don't really have an interest in. But, man, it's it's a really easy site, Scott, that that you and your team, I guess, have put together. Will there be trips that'll be added throughout the auction?
• 25:01
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. There there's like I said, there's some that have come in since we've been talking. We'll get those added. You know, there's always a last second one. There's even some that we typically add during I mean, the reality is is we wanna put these opportunities in front of people.
• 25:14
  So if something comes in and the auction's still running, we'll drop it in because it doesn't hurt to put it there. I'd rather have someone have the opportunity to buy it than just not not put it there at all. And, you know, you know, like you kind of talked about those the search or the or the the categories you can kind of go through is the is definitely the way to go. You know, and once you kind of start honing in on some trips, pretty much every trip, as long as it's given to us, you know, provides a link to the Outfitter site or Facebook page or social media page of some sort. So if they want to do a little more research in on it and see exactly who they're gonna go to, they they can do that research themselves.
• 25:48
  And, of course, there's always the contact organizer button that's on the auction site where it shoots an email to us with any questions somebody has, and we'll, you know, get back to them as soon as we can. It's we're pretty quick in responding because we just know the short run time, it's important to get back to people so they can make their decisions.
• 26:05
  Jimbo Robinson: Yes. And and that brought up another question that I kind of thought of. What happens, like post auction, what happens? I guess if you're buying this trip, you're not gonna contact the outfitter immediately and start booking it. Kinda what does the after auction kinda look like?
• 26:19
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. So, you know, August 25, 8PM central, it's done. Right? It's gonna hit all the if you're the winning bidder, it's gonna hit your card at that point, And then we start getting a report. It ends at 08:00 at night.
• 26:32
  We're going to kind of work through that report, but it's obviously late and it's a lot to go through, so we will take some time that night to do it. But then starting the next day on the twenty sixth, we will start compiling all the sales. We will start emailing every single buyer, and we connect them in that email with their outfitter. So we send them an email saying, hey, appreciate this, you know, the support. Here's a link to your trip on the auction just for reference.
• 26:59
  Your outfitter is copied as well. Here's their contact information. And at that point, it kind of just turns over to the outfitter and the buyer to work the details out of, you know, booking and setting up and getting all the details figured out they need to.
• 27:13
  Jimbo Robinson: Wow. If you're an outfitter, I mean, this is a great opportunity. I mean, I'm sitting here scrolling through going, man, if I own a business, and I mean, this is great advertising because you're gonna click on Yeah. On almost all of them. I mean, that's what's really neat about it is you're kinda clicking through them all.
• 27:28
  Chris Isaac: I know. They're all so unique.
• 27:30
  Scott Anderson: And we we have heard that feedback from some some of the outfitters in the past that, you know, they get calls and emails and questions, and then a lot of times they get secondary bookings based on people just asking more questions and maybe not winning the bid, which is which is great. We want that too. Right? We want the ones that support us. We want to be able to try to support them back, and that's a good way to go about it.
• 27:49
  So it I mean, it's definitely a neat process of how it's kind of beneficial to everybody. We get money for conservation to put the habitat in the ground, and outfitters get promoted. And I mean, it it reaches I mean, we're talking about it on the DU podcast. Right? I mean, it hits the full gamut of all DU's social media, emails, messaging, app pushes, whatever it is, you know, we're pushing it out there.
• 28:12
  So, you know, they're getting a wide swath across the country of promotion for sure.
• 28:18
  Jimbo Robinson: Yeah. I was talking to somebody internally that I mean, somebody externally that's not in the office that said, man, I saw the I mean, do y'all ever slow down over there? Do you? Like, I think they think we have an office of 60 people here. But they're like, do ever slow down?
• 28:30
  I said, you know, DUX two weeks ago, and now you got this big national trip auction going on. And they had seen it on social media. They had seen it on Facebook. A video popped up on their on their social media. So, yeah, you're right.
• 28:45
  There's a lot of there's a lot of buzz going on right now, and now the auction's open, there's probably a lot of people talking about it and sharing it and kind of especially behind, maybe not on social media, but it's probably the talk at football practices and and others of people that are checking it out because, I mean, if you can't find something on here, I I think you're you probably just don't enjoy traveling. I mean, that's the bottom line. Mhmm. Because there is something for everybody, and and that's your team and and you, Scotty. Congratulations on this, man.
• 29:19
  It is it is one heck of an auction, and I'm excited to see kinda where it goes and and what the what the bids are because I think that's an interesting one. What what what normally happens? Do people wait on the bidding? I mean, obviously, when this is out, the bidding's already happened, and and I know people can preregister. They've they they did preregister.
• 29:38
  Obviously, you can't preregister now because we're there, but what do you what what it normally looks like in the auction bidding? What what has happened in years past with that initial auction? Do people come in and bid, bid, bid, bid, bid? Are they kinda wait? What what have you seen?
• 29:53
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. You know, there's that initial flurry. You know, when people kinda ask about it or or inquire on stuff about it, you know, I always suggest, like, just just get in and bid and put your max or proxy bid in because then you're just kinda set and protected. But there is no doubt that in most auctions, typically, bids double, if not triple, in that last, like, the last day, let alone the last hour. Like, it's it's intense, and it's fast.
• 30:18
  And and that's again where that proxy or max bid just comes into into into play because it doesn't make you pay any more than you're willing to pay. It just goes as far as you need to to win it and up to your max. But there's so many bids that come in in that last thirty minutes that if you're not taking advantage of that proxy that you're you're potentially gonna miss out. But, you know, it's fast and furious right in the beginning, kinda slows down a little bit through the middle, and then really picks up hard at the end. So, I mean, I I would just suggest get in there, make your bid, set your proxy to what you're comfortable with, and, you know, keep an eye on it.
• 30:53
  Like, check back. You just you know, you'll get emails or texts if you if you opt in for that when you do get outbid. So you you're getting notifications, but it's it's something you just don't wanna totally ignore, but kinda get get in every once in a while and pay attention to what's happening.
• 31:08
  Jimbo Robinson: Awesome. Well, Chris is gonna put our bid in on our iguana hunt that he's gonna buy and I'm gonna drive him to, so I'll make sure he puts in a nice maximum bid for us. And maybe when the now that this when this is airing, we'll be the winning bidders at the current time on our
• 31:22
  Chris Isaac: We'll we'll have to do
• 31:23
  Jimbo Robinson: a follow-up after after this is done. Discuss our iguana hunt that you're buying? Something like that. Hey. Yep.
• 31:29
  Well, find if anybody wants to buy the iguana hunt and needs two people to tag along, call call us. We're in.
• 31:37
  Scott Anderson: Could I could imagine a a live on-site podcast of Python Honey would be intriguing to
• 31:43
  Chris Isaac: listen Oh my gosh. It would just be full of screaming.
• 31:46
  Scott Anderson: It would be. It'd be kind of like Blair Witch Project without the video.
• 31:49
  Jimbo Robinson: Oh, boy. We'd scare a lot of people off. Maybe we need to get our boys back for that. Yeah. Expanded perspective guys to come on and take it stay it live on the road.
• 31:59
  They would be a blast to have for iguana hunting. Yeah. Well, Scott, anything else? Did look at the Iowa specialty deer tag. What what what what's it?
• 32:10
  What is that? I mean, I think you kinda mentioned it earlier. It's something special that Iowa gives us, or or how does that one work?
• 32:15
  Scott Anderson: Yeah. You know, we get you know, every state kinda terms it differently. Some some people kinda call them governor's tags, but this is a little bit different than that. But, yeah, the the state the DU chapters in that state kinda earn some of those tags to help fundraise for the state and for us. It kinda loops in the whole conservation message and and circle there.
• 32:35
  And, like, for this one specifically is, you know, the the nice thing is it's it's nonresidents can own it and buy it. Right? So it guarantees you a tag in the zone with the weapon of your choice, And this one actually is two years available, so you can use it for the 2526 season or 2627. So Iowa set that up really nicely that it really gives the person the freedom of when they can use it and how they want to use it. So it's a big tag.
• 33:01
  Obviously, it's one of the top sellers in dollars every single year, but, you know, if you're familiar with bucks, Iowa's a decent place to be. So it's
• 33:08
  Jimbo Robinson: And they have a lot of public I mean, they have a lot of public land, or is the person that's buying it kind of I'm not familiar with Iowa and their deer hunting. Knew they have massive bucks, yes, but I'm not familiar with how their deer hunting works. I didn't know if if just if you bought it, if there if there is ample opportunity to go and hunt there in Iowa.
• 33:25
  Scott Anderson: There there's a there's a fair fair chunk of public land in Iowa. It's I I would definitely say probably more than the average state. You know, the one benefit there is a lot of people are nonresidents that either have a lease or own land in Iowa for hunting. Well, if you own land in Iowa, but you're a nonresident, you have to draw a tag still to get and hunt your land.
• 33:45
  Jimbo Robinson: Wow. Okay.
• 33:45
  Scott Anderson: Well, this, you know, like, this could be somebody that either leases or owns land. It's it guarantees them a tag. Now it's no. They better have a nice big buck probably if they're if they're if they're hoping for it. But, I mean, Iowa's definitely a a place where a 200 class buck is not not out of the question.
• 34:00
  So
• 34:00
  Jimbo Robinson: So people aren't shooting a doe with this tag? I
• 34:03
  Scott Anderson: it allows you to.
• 34:04
  Jimbo Robinson: You can certainly pass all that antisex. That's crazy.
• 34:07
  Scott Anderson: But but I'd I'd maybe let those ones pass for a year or two before you better be a big dough.
• 34:13
  Chris Isaac: Right. Let them grow.
• 34:14
  Jimbo Robinson: Well, we're excited, Scottie. Appreciate you again for for taking the time to come on the Ducks Unlimited podcast. Thank you for allowing us to kind of just scroll through it and discuss the national trip auction because, man, it is so interesting and it's so awesome, and and if you can't find a trip that you wanna go on or take your family on, then you don't like to travel. That's gonna be my tagline for this one because there is something for everybody in everybody's budget. Yo.
• 34:41
  Never underbid on your passion. I love that tagline they have on the thing, on the main webs website because that's that's right. If there's a trip of a lifetime on here, bid it up, buy it, take it. You're supporting waterfowl and ducks and conservation, and you're also supporting this outfit or whoever the trip is going on. So we're very excited to see what it's doing.
• 35:02
  Chris Isaac: Traveling is underrated for me. Absolutely. I love it.
• 35:04
  Scott Anderson: There's only so many sunsets we get. Take advantage of them all.
• 35:07
  Jimbo Robinson: There you go. Man. Nothing. That's absolutely the truth. Well, thanks again for taking the time to listen to the Ducks Unlimited podcast.
• 35:15
  I am your host, Jimbo Robinson, and we are out. See you.