Latest / Ducks Unlimited Podcast / DUTV Roundtable: The Season, The Stories & Behind-the-Scenes (Ep 755)

Transcript

DUTV Roundtable: The Season, The Stories & Behind-the-Scenes (Ep 755) · Ducks Unlimited Podcast

• 0:26
  Fred Zink: Can we do a mic check, please? Everybody, welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. I'm your host, doctor Mike Brasher. I'm your host, Katie Burke. I'm your host, doctor Jerad Henson. And I'm your host, Matt Harrison. Welcome to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast, the only podcast about all things waterfowl. From hunting insights to science based discussions about ducks, geese, and issues affecting waterfowl and wetlands conservation in North America. The DU podcast, sponsored by Purina Pro Plan, the official performance dog food of Ducks Unlimited. Purina Pro Plan, always advancing. Also proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. Whether you're winding down with your best friend or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.
• 1:32
  Matt Harrison: Hey, everyone, and welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. I'm your host, Harrison. And today, we have a very special, not just guest, we have a whole group. This is actually my first time to host a group this big. But let me tell you, there are some guys on this podcast that I'm extremely excited to be able to just hop on here and talk to these guys.
• 1:57
  This is gonna be a podcast that is around our DUTV host and also producer. So we've got the whole cast. We've got Jimbo Robinson. We Larson. We got Fred Zink.
• 2:10
  We got John Tatum. We got Preston McDaniels. We got Joe White. We got Rusty McDaniels. We've got the whole lineup here that we're gonna just dive into a roundtable discussion about the year that was had as far as the t DUTV show goes.
• 2:28
  So without any further ado, I know that it was a season that y'all spent a lot of time on the road filming, recording some highs, some lows, and we're gonna dive into all that. But Jimbo, I'm gonna come at you first. This this last season here, I know that you gotta do a good bit of duck hunting, also got to do some goose hunting. We got the Sherablind doing some some conservation goose hunting there. But as far as just the overall season goes, especially DUTV wise, how was it for you?
• 2:58
  Jim Ronquest: Well, me, it was I was the rookie of the bunch. This was my first season being a part of DUTV, and had a had a great time working with with John and Jimbo and Rusty, the whole crew was just a big time. So I really can't complain. We had some pretty good hunts. We hit some hit some places just right.
• 3:17
  You know, had some ups and downs, of course, as camera hunting goes, but, man, it I had a good one. I think we wanna kick off with I don't know how many episodes that we got that I'm part of. I don't know. Two or three anyway. So it it went very well, actually.
• 3:33
  It went very well. Great folks, great people, different parts of the world. Hey. Let's I'll sign up to do it again next year.
• 3:40
  Fred Zink: Hey, Jimbo. I got a question for you. I heard you got quite of a taste for that bird dog whiskey. What's your favorite flavor there, big boy?
• 3:47
  Jim Ronquest: I I did. I kinda like that peach. Bird dog was pretty good. Yeah. You know,
• 3:51
  Fred Zink: it it was Jimbo Robinson's pounding it. Yep. It was on
• 3:55
  Jim Ronquest: point. Yeah. It's pretty good. It's good stuff. I have no comp I'm out now, so I swore off that stuff since duck season's over.
• 4:04
  So had had to go and put myself in a dry out tank.
• 4:07
  Fred Zink: Yeah. That's right. And ice bad.
• 4:09
  It's pretty good. I like that caramel myself.
• 4:11
  Jim Ronquest: I don't think I've had the caramel.
• 4:13
  Rusty McDaniels: The ice is now officially broken.
• 4:15
  Jim Ronquest: Yeah. I haven't had the caramel. The the I had the peach, and the blackberry wasn't too bad either.
• 4:21
  Fred Zink: Yeah. How how'd it go for you, Doug? I know you we were going back and forth. I know we were supposed to have a hunt here in Ohio, but how how'd it end up for you?
• 4:29
  Doug Larson: I think I sort of bookended the season. I had it I started in North Dakota with Doug Spallow. We hunted pheasants and ducks. I always loved to get a hunt in before the Ohio duck season. You know, we started home, sort of takes the heat off, finished the year with the brant hunt in New Jersey.
• 4:44
  But as you know, I don't have to tell you, you know, the Ohio hunting, we got about you know, we'd we had we bought a full ticket. We only got about half the ride. Yep. I think we were pretty well done right around Thanksgiving time instead of Christmas time, but I think most of the reports for that the season was, I would say, mixed, but we managed to scratch out. You know?
• 5:06
  Again, camera hunting, we had a couple of really great opportunities, and our hunting at home was was decent. So I'm already cleaning up decoys and looking forward to next year just like every year.
• 5:16
  Jim Ronquest: What about you, Freddie? We had we
• 5:18
  Fred Zink: start we started off good. We our first little get up was down at a place called Rice Pond Preserve. That was a good place to knock the dust off the cleats per se. We had a great hunt there. Just unbelievable spot.
• 5:32
  Go to show you. It was 2,000 acre place right there in Chillicothe, Illinois. And when we were there, they're holding about 65,000 on their land alone. And the week or two weeks after that, I think they got a report. I know they sent and I a text.
• 5:47
  I think it was over a I think a 107,000 on that place, you know, just we within ten days after we left. We had an excellent hunt there, but, you know, Jimbo, you get to go to a lot of places. And, Doug, we all have on this call in this podcast here. But, you know, the people that can control their pressure and the people that understand that giving is better than taking, they they had a dang good duck seat. And I know the places where we went, those kind of places tended to do really well.
• 6:19
  Other places, based upon the weather, to Doug's Point right here in the in the East, kinda like on an angle, almost like a 45 degree angle, we had we had a heck of weather. Probably the coldest winter we've had in this area since probably 02/1415. Oh, wow. But when you headed west, I know we went out there. Tatum and Preston and I, we went out there, and we hunted out west.
• 6:43
  And, man, I'll tell you, it was oh, no. Was actually Joe. Joe White was on that one. We were hunting in Wyoming, and they hadn't had any snow. We landed in in Denver at the airport, I believe, on around, I'm guessing here, January, somewhere in the January when that hunt took place.
• 7:02
  And the first day we were there, we were wearing T shirts. It was 64 degrees, and we had about a three hour drive north. Of course, I think Joe made it a four and a half hour drive, but it was supposed to be three. And we got up there. And
• 7:18
  Joe White: I gotta get you there safe.
• 7:19
  Fred Zink: It was twenty twenty five degrees and blowing out of the Northwest, and I never seen so many tumbleweeds. It was to be honest with you, it was probably gusting seventy, eighty, sustained sixty, sixty five, and it was a total sand. It looked like desert storm in the tumbleweeds. I got some really good video on my cell phone, but it was crazy. And but, yeah, I mean, it was I mean, we had some good hunts, but kinda like you, Jimbo, it was either real, real good or kinda average at best.
• 7:51
  And we actually had to shut a couple hunts down due to either lack of birds or, you know, in in the East here because because of weather. It was cold. We we had a cold weather.
• 8:01
  Jim Ronquest: Yeah. We had one of them. You know, we had one trip. Didn't pan out. Just because we hit the moon wrong and, you know, just wouldn't was no sense in putting the effort and time into it because it just it wasn't gonna happen.
• 8:12
  But that's hunting. Right? You gotta go and Yes. See what happens.
• 8:16
  Fred Zink: Yep. Yep.
• 8:17
  Doug Larson: And that's always been the case. I mean, I think we've always you know, for years, we've all had hunts like that, but I think I don't know. I get the sense that in the last decade, those are a little bit more frequent or the highs are higher or the highs are just as high, but the lows seem like lower. And I think to Fred's point, those who can manage their pressure and those who can go on the day. You know?
• 8:39
  Don't go on Tuesday if just because you you got nothing else to do. Go, I know, go on the day when the wind is right. Go on the day when the weather's right. Go on the day you think the birds are moving. I think you're gonna have to be more of an opportunist than you've ever been if you wanna be successful going forward.
• 8:54
  Fred Zink: Well, I think your ducks are much older than what you know, we're we're having some hat. But let we all know that it's dry up north, and we're hunting much older duck than what we were three, four, five, ten years ago. And I was thinking about today, and we all been chasing these ducks a long time. But you think about all the tech this is what I was thinking about today. You think about all of the technology that has came about in the last twenty years, and you look at how ducks, especially my other duck, has been able to no matter what we throw at them, they always figure it out.
• 9:29
  They always evolve. And if we were able to hit a button and all of a sudden put all this technology that we got on now, whether it be the clothing and the guns or the shells or dogs, the decoys, the motion decoys, all that stuff, you know, we put a herd on them in one year, but these dang ducks, they got smarter every year. They're smarter. They're older. And, man, they they're able to adapt.
• 9:53
  And that's the one thing about ducks is their ability to adapt and find safety and return to there. And, Jimbo, I've been watching a bunch of your stuff, you know, and and and Gamekeepers and Cohen Labs and and watching that telemetry. We're doing a I know y'all are familiar with this point right here. I know Jimbo, you hunted there a couple years, and Doug is kind of his backyard type of deal. We're doing a lot of telemetry deal here research here as well and understanding you know, the the old days of a of a leg band, it shows you where they were banded and where they got shot, but it'll tell you the story in between.
• 10:32
  Mhmm. And that story is starting to come out. It's pretty interesting to under start to understand where these ducks are doing and and all that stuff. But, you know, it really has opened our eyes when we're selecting areas of where we're gonna go, what we're trying to do because as we all know, filming TV is very difficult. It ain't like going with your buddies and treetop them at 25, 30 yards and having a big time and going and getting a biscuit.
• 10:56
  We gotta get them down there so where the boys can can get them on camera and and do their job. You know? And it's becoming it has became come a lot more difficult in making sure that we're picking up areas that we're we know we're somewhat hunting some rested ducks or some areas where they're not pressured every day because what we're trying to do is you know, we're trying to push an amble uphill with filming as it is. So trying to trying to pick them spots has been real crucial to our success.
• 11:25
  Jim Ronquest: You bet. And you talk about DUCs adaptability. You know, that's evolution. You know, if we could back up and take all that stuff away, it'd be interesting to see what it would be like. I was looking at some stuff
• 11:35
  Fred Zink: I like I like to go there.
• 11:37
  Jim Ronquest: Yeah. I
• 11:37
  Fred Zink: get that truck and
• 11:38
  Doug Larson: go back here, Jimbo.
• 11:39
  Jim Ronquest: Yeah. No kidding. I'll drive. Let's drive. Yeah.
• 11:41
  It sounds good to me.
• 11:42
  Fred Zink: Yes, sir.
• 11:42
  Doug Larson: That reminds me of a story because I I talked to some fishing guides in Florida, and this may take me a second, but I'll be real quick. The Florida the Florida fish are very pressured. Then COVID happened. No one could fish. No one could go out and boat for about eighteen months.
• 11:56
  When they came back after COVID, the guide said it was like the nineteen seventies. It was like they had a thirty year rollback. Interesting. Think about that in the duck hunt scenario. If we could roll back you know, if we had a you know, god forbid, we had a closure or a, you know, or a techno you know, a technology closure, a motion decoy closure, something.
• 12:18
  You know? Because it's interesting talking about telemetry. Before, we had we had the beginning, the banded duck and the dead duck. Now we've got that duck with telemetry. We understand what he's doing day to day.
• 12:29
  Now we can see that duck flew six miles to this field. He flew six miles back to this roost. I mean, we could basically pattern those ducks electronically. It's it's amazing, but, you know, in kinda in a way, mean, I wonder if we aren't our own worst enemy.
• 12:43
  Jim Ronquest: No wondering to it. I was gonna say, you know, talking to us, what about the guys behind the cameras? Tatum, what what what were your takeaways from some of our stuff?
• 12:52
  Preston McDaniels: Nebraska was fun. That's I mean, that was the hot and and the the Arkansas stuff that we did at your place, the whole health of the the red oak trees, and that's gonna be a cool story to see
• 13:05
  Jim Ronquest: Mhmm.
• 13:05
  Preston McDaniels: For sure. And we had a good hunt on top of it.
• 13:07
  Jim Ronquest: Yeah. That morning with George and and the and the family hull at Raydale was pretty special. That's
• 13:12
  Doug Larson: pretty good.
• 13:13
  Joe White: It was. What
• 13:15
  Jim Ronquest: about you, Joe?
• 13:16
  Joe White: I think just when you're on the road, this year being a little bit like Jimbo being my maiden voyage, really, you know, working on a lot of the Ducks Unlimited TV show with Fred and Doug and and Jimbo, It was really interesting to me. I have a kind of a passion for the conservation, side of everything, mainly in turkey and deer. And but this year really opened up my eyes to the duck the duck world and a lot of the good things that Ducks Unlimited is doing across all the flyaways and and how the ducks have responded to that. That was really just eye opening to me, and it was refreshing to know that, you know, all these dollars that they're that you guys are raising and the guys that are putting it to work, whether you be, you know, a rancher in North Dakota all the way down to, like, Jimbo's area, you know, hunting those bottomland hardwoods. Ducks Unlimited has their imprint on a lot of different landscapes, and, yeah, it's just fun to see.
• 14:20
  And when it's done right, you know, the waterfowl, whether it be ducks or geese, they're responding to those projects.
• 14:27
  Jim Ronquest: So Yes, sir.
• 14:28
  Rusty McDaniels: One thing I'll throw in about the production and planning of this whole this whole deal is what's interesting is we all collectively make this schedule in the summer prior to duck season happening, and that's like, you know, throwing a dart at a moving bullseye kinda like Doug and Fred were talking about earlier. I mean, you just it's just best case scenario based on history and time of year that you've had success in previous years and stuff like that that we have to do our best guessing on when we when and where to hunt. So that's always a challenge. And then the ability the the ability that all of us somehow work out when we have to adapt when something goes haywire, like when it froze up. Freddie, in your part of the world, and you were like, hey, dude.
• 15:08
  It ain't happening. We gotta do something different, so we have to cancel and pivot. Next thing you know, you add a hunt or or whatever the case may be or, you know, like late season Jimbo. Remember, we were trying to do something and, you know, we had just crazy freeze up. It just wasn't gonna happen.
• 15:22
  So it really is a miracle in a lot of situations that we pull off what we pull off with the cameras because Trey said it best a while ago. It ain't like you just going out with your buddies and just shooting ducks. Filming them is a totally different challenge to say the least.
• 15:34
  Jim Ronquest: It's a whole whole different deal. And it's I can remember the early days of of being around video outdoor video production. Heck, you wouldn't turn the camera on. The ducks started flying, and, you know, you you had to realize that that part of it comes first. So that that's kinda a big learning experience, I think, for a lot of folks who haven't been around it.
• 15:55
  But you pull the cameras out, you gotta realize, hey. We're making a TV show here. We're doing a video. Whether it's short form or long form, it it the the first first responsibility is to the camera.
• 16:05
  Fred Zink: Hey, Doug. When when did you how how long you've been doing DUTV? I know you've been you've been at it before longer than I. I I think I'm, like, five years into it.
• 16:14
  Doug Larson: I think I've I maybe even more. I might be six or
• 16:18
  Fred Zink: Five year or
• 16:18
  Doug Larson: a year more. Into it, but it's been it's been five, six anyway, and and you know what? And it's been it's been one of the great thrills of my life, and the beauty of it is by, you know, having several hosts is that we're still able to hunt at home with family and friends. I think the toughest thing in the world would be if you were if Fred if you were the host of DUTV, you you know, you might as well just close-up shop in Ohio because you're not gonna get any hunt done at home. You're gonna literally become a road warrior.
• 16:48
  And, you know, been the great blessing of this is that we're able to be at home for opening day, but then go someplace you know, go to Missouri, go to Nebraska, go someplace exciting later in the year, extend our season, go someplace south, you know, in December and January when we're frozen typically. But but, yeah, I think six years, somewhere somewhere around there.
• 17:08
  Fred Zink: Yeah. So, you know, for all the listeners out there, how how we usually try to do a DU hunt is we're always throwing ideas out there, trying to figure out, you know, what states we haven't done, where in Canada we haven't been, and then we rely on people like Jimbo and Doug and myself or other hosts to reach out to our connections. We all been in this business a long time. We know a lot of people. We know also know people we can trust and trust that we can somewhat come in and take over the can't because just like what Jimbo was talking and Doug was speaking of, is you gotta be able to have total control over the environment in order to conduct a really good TV show and to get all the different things you need to get.
• 17:48
  You know? And that's where Joe and Preston and and Tatum come in. They're on the ground getting that, and it's not always the easiest thing to do. You know? You got people showing up with the wrong camo or the wrong gun or wrong this, wrong that, whatever.
• 18:02
  So we gotta jump through a lot of hoops. I mean, we gotta make sure that we're sitting in a a fellow's duck blind that's willing to give up two to three days of his little piece of heaven for us to come in there and somewhat tell him what we're going to do. So it's pretty cool. It's good. I'm I was glad when I heard Jimbo was coming on, I knew that was gonna be a really, really good thing because, number one, Jimbo's been around a long time.
• 18:26
  He got a lot of street tread, a lot of street tread, and he's also been around the video and the TV side as much as any of us. So bringing him and his relationships, and then also Jimbo's, you know, down in that Stuttgart area, it brings that southern duck hunters voice in the Ducks Unlimited. So we thought that was really important. That was great. Don't wanna have all Yankees up here running this stuff, Jimbo.
• 18:49
  You gotta do that. That's right.
• 18:50
  Jim Ronquest: You know, it kinda makes everybody wonder a little bit. You gotta have a redneck somewhere to screw things up. Right?
• 18:56
  Fred Zink: Oh, there's rednecks in the Gnar too, big boy.
• 18:58
  Jim Ronquest: Oh, I know. Hey. I've been I've hung out with some of them. I was telling somebody a story the other day. I said, man, I remember Freddie before he was Freddie and I was Jimbo.
• 19:07
  His wife and my wife and
• 19:08
  Fred Zink: I were You were Jim.
• 19:09
  Jim Ronquest: Going to some contest somewhere, hanging out and having a big time just back in the early days. So been fortunate to to unfortunately, I got a few few miles on me, but at the same time, I I wouldn't change nothing. And I also
• 19:24
  Fred Zink: What day what? I'll tell you one thing. If you're ever in a a desert storm or bad driving conditions and it ain't safe, you need Preston McDaniels at hand because that sucker, I'm telling you, Trump called me. He said, I want I gotta I gotta get him over there to Iraq because we need some somebody to be able to drive them big trucks through that snowstorm and ice storm and sandstorm. We were in a heck of a deal up there, weren't we, Preston?
• 19:50
  You're dang right.
• 19:52
  Preston McDaniels: Joe K. Drive? What they lacked they lacked in snow, they made up for with wind and sand. It was one of the most insane things I'd ever seen. When I was laying in a layout on a fence row and I had cornstalks hitting me in the back of the head at, like, 50 miles an hour, all those knocking me out, that's when we decided it's a little too strong of wind to be hunting a goose.
• 20:13
  Rusty McDaniels: I had sent a text, hey. Give me a report, guys, and he sent a quick little selfie cell phone video, and I could see how bad that wind was. I said, what in the world are y'all even doing out in that? The goose can't even fly.
• 20:23
  Fred Zink: Was crazy. Sent that I sent that same video to talk to you. I said, I don't know what you've painted, but you better up it.
• 20:30
  Rusty McDaniels: So so Fred Fred, Doug, and Jimbo talk about you know, you mentioned the producers. Fred every all of y'all have mentioned the producers at this point, but the guys on the ground actually, you know, getting it done with the cameras. But it's one thing to be good with a camera and know what it takes to produce television quality content, but how important is it as a cohost for you guys kinda be in their eyes and ears running the show? Because y'all are mic'd, and y'all are y'all y'all are saying, hey. Hey.
• 20:57
  Right here. Front front left, Preston. Coming up, these are gonna do it. Or if Joe's on the bird camera or if Tatum's on the bird camera or whatever it is, hey. To the right, to the right on these.
• 21:06
  How important is it to know that you also have hunters behind the camera that know what you're thinking as a hunter? Talk about that.
• 21:12
  Doug Larson: Well, you know, in the in the hour or in the minute, the host is basically subservient to the cameraman. You know, the it doesn't matter if I make this terrific left to right shot on a mallard duck or a pintail or whatever. If the cameraman doesn't get my terrific shot, it's like it never happened. You just roll back the clock. So you have to communicate with them and say, you know, do you think these are if these are gonna do it, they're gonna come in from this angle or whatever, and you keep him, you know, keep him informed.
• 21:40
  In the meantime, you're talking to the people that you're hunting with. The other thing that I I feel like we should mention is also a safety factor. So if you're hunting with you know, we're hunting with guests or with or landowners or somebody who'd never done this before, they're not used to having this camera guy who might be a step or two behind us or behind the blind or what have you. So you sort of have to be field general and keep an eye out, not only, you know, for general safety like you would on every hunt, but, you know, you also have a producer and or a cameraman, you know, with you that you're I always feel was very responsible for.
• 22:13
  Jim Ronquest: Absolutely. And I think having guys that's been in the field, whether they're deer hunters, turkey hunters, duck hunters, whatever, they've all spent time in the field. So that kinda to Doug's point, we're really working for the camera guys. Joe and Tatum, everybody, they're good about pointing out things that need done, things that need said, putting things together to make it flow. So I'm paying attention to what they what they're saying as much as they may pay attention to me or or really, they don't need to pay attention to me.
• 22:40
  They just need to watch and and point the camera in the right direction. So my hat's off to the whole production team on keeping and, like, I can't speak for Fred and Doug, but they keep me on track to do what I need to do to make it
• 22:52
  Fred Zink: all work. Yeah. So I I started I wasn't hosting, but I was doing DUTV shows in the early to mid two thousands. Right? And DU has went through had went through quite a few different production companies, and it's never been as good as it is today.
• 23:10
  I will say that. And it's not to be honest with you, it's not even close. I went I went through, you know, California producers coming out to a duck call in Canada or Kansas or wherever with big beta cam and had no freaking clue of what's going on. You know? They would have a big beta cam.
• 23:28
  They would have two big big beta cams. They'd have a sound guy. Was the production quality really good? Yeah. But the birds were flaring at 80.
• 23:35
  Mhmm. Right? And they didn't know what to do or how to do it or when to do it. So it's been a breath of fresh air. When when I heard Moose Media was gonna take over Ducks Unlimited TV, I knew it was time for me to maybe apply for a a hosting job because in years past, they'd call me and go, man, that was a really good hunt.
• 23:56
  You want wanna do it again next year? I'd I'd tell them no. I I told Ducks Unlimited TV I don't know how many times. No. I don't wanna go with you guys.
• 24:04
  That was back in the old days because it was not because of DU. Was because of the production company. Right? Mhmm. And I'm I'm you know, we're there as as hunters to try to get the birds as close as possible and laying in the decoys.
• 24:18
  We don't we're not past shooters. We all like to decoy. But when you got two Volkswagen sparkling your decoys spread with cameras, you know, it ain't gonna happen. And it just makes you look bad. It makes sport look bad, and and I applaud Ducks Unlimited for continuing to try to find a production company that can do right, and I think they found know
• 24:38
  Jim Ronquest: they have.
• 24:38
  Rusty McDaniels: Well, we all know we all know Cudd Strickland, right, a pioneer in the in outdoor television production world years ago, he would say, you gotta be a sniper to film hunting TV. That's what he used to say and still says it to this day. Mhmm.
• 24:53
  Jim Ronquest: I remember being a guest on DUTV years ago, and the, one of the camera guys wanted to get out in front of the blind about 75 yards or so. I said, man, I I can't let you do that because I I want you to continue to have your eyeballs when this is over with. You know? It's nice to have people to know. That being said, on our Nebraska trip this year, we had Tatum kinda on a point and and, you know, had to remind people you can only swing so far.
• 25:22
  You know? Then just make sure everybody knew where he was at. And we were with a bunch of guys that, you know, spent a good bit of time in the field, but camera guys still pushed the limits a little bit on where they need to be to get the best footage and the best pictures for sure. My hat again It
• 25:37
  Preston McDaniels: was the only place you could be.
• 25:38
  Jim Ronquest: Right. My hat's off to them.
• 25:40
  Preston McDaniels: Due to the sun shining straight in my I couldn't see anything unless I was
• 25:44
  Rusty McDaniels: Talk talk about that more. Expand on that, John Preston and Joe, about sun and wind and how important that is.
• 25:50
  Doug Larson: That brings up a whole another yeah. Talk about that whole sun and light and that sort of thing.
• 25:54
  Preston McDaniels: They were set up hunting where where they had to be due to the wind. It was a bar pit, a lot of ducks on it. The point the first time we hunted, it was kinda set facing I don't know which way it faced. North. And I was kinda behind them to the side, and everything was fine.
• 26:11
  Second time we hunted it, wind shifted, and now they're facing back into the sun. So the ducks were I got tried to get behind them, thought the clouds might take care of me, but they didn't. I couldn't see anything. So I called an audible, gotta move. I'm going around there.
• 26:28
  Me and Jimbo talked about it. I don't know. But that's just where I had to get. So and he told everybody, do not shoot right over there. Just right here.
• 26:37
  And it worked out.
• 26:38
  Rusty McDaniels: How long does it take as a how long does it take as a producer like Preston when you pick your first bird angle, bird camera spot before you have to say, alright, stop, guys, whoever it is, Freddie, let's figure this out. This ain't gonna work for me. I mean, you know pretty quick, don't you?
• 26:54
  Preston McDaniels: Yeah. I mean Three minutes. You know within the first yeah. First couple ducks, you know if it's gonna work or not. And now going back to Wyoming with Freddie and Joe and I, you know, we had really strong winds out of the North Northwest, and we were having hunt in the evenings.
• 27:11
  So Well, thank the sun and wind just never worked. So every hunt, we're fighting wind. But, you know, sometimes it's just what you gotta do. And the good thing about it is, all of us, Joe and John, we've all done it and we've all hunted. You know, it's easy to adapt on the fly and to be able to, you know, hey, I need to move here and kinda communicate with everybody.
• 27:32
  That's what that's what makes it nice is all having guys that are like minded, and it makes it easy to make those changes, but they happen a lot. I mean, you're trying to film a wild animal that's got wings, so it can it can be tough.
• 27:45
  Fred Zink: I think in general, we got a pretty good group with Jimbo and Doug and myself being around, not only hunting waterfowl, but filming waterfowl for a long time. And then you got guys, the DU producers right now, they're also hunters. You get you get the right minds at the place. It don't take long to figure it out. Because a lot of times, we're going in the dark.
• 28:05
  Right? We're going in. We we're in a place we've never been before in some cases. We don't know the layout. We're asking the out there, the guide, the host, the the whoever we're that's invited us to go hunting, trying to get a lay out of the land.
• 28:17
  And I always like to scout the night before so we understand where to put the camera. And, you know, the most important part I I know Preston, when we were up here in in Wyoming, it was freaking cold. Right? Like, it got down when it got down cold, it got, like, 10 degrees, and it was blowing thirty, forty. You know?
• 28:36
  So it was ten, fifteen below, wind chill factors. And the main and the main thing with a video camera or anybody is you gotta be able to do your job. And we were gonna put Preston in a hedgerow. We're gonna do this, whatever. I was like, there's no way he can be out there all day long and function and do what do his job correctly.
• 28:54
  Not in those those conditions. So we actually pop pressed him down a heated pit, and he's able to film 300 cc degrees. And, yeah, we had to film into the sun a little bit, but that was part of the hunt because we had to look into the sun himself ourselves. So, you know, I always go into extra distance, and there won't be there's not a person on this podcast that will tell you the most that will not tell you the most important part about any hunt after you're in the right spot is camouflage, being able to hide. You know?
• 29:24
  And when you put cameras in there, you get lens flash, and these guys know when to move the camera and when not to because you're gonna get lens flash if you're filming in the sun. And so there's a lot of things we did. We even took some full bodies and put just off to the angle of pressing just the hair so we could get a shadow on this camera to keep that lens flash from happening because the birds are coming right out of the sun right to us. You know? And so always making that move and as well, we always say, if it's not working, we're here for one reason.
• 29:54
  That's to get a a TV show. If it's not working, say stop because you can't it is the same bass fishing. Me and catching them and throwing them back. And when we reach our limit, we head to the house. And so understanding that if it's not going to work, we can make it we can make a shift on the fly.
• 30:11
  It might take five or ten minutes, but it's what we gotta do. It's what we gotta do. We're not there to we're there to have a good time, but they're we're there to work. We're there to make sure that we represent Ducks Unlimited in the sport of waterfowl hunting. And and and if we don't capture it on film, I don't care how good a story you got.
• 30:29
  It just don't doesn't come off. Right?
• 30:31
  Jim Ronquest: Yeah. If you don't have pictures, it didn't happen. Right? And, you know, sometimes it's hard it's easy to get caught up in the idea that it's a hunt. And, you know, there's only so much time.
• 30:40
  And like Freddie said, there is a limit. However, you sometimes wonder, okay. This first setup is not working, so we gotta switch things up a little bit. And you're like, alright, boys, we're burning a lot of time. Ducks are flying.
• 30:52
  Ducks are working. This is not gonna happen forever. So you gotta make that decision pretty quick, and you gotta have confidence in your decision. And when you make that change, make it right, get hit, get set, so you can pick back up where you left off.
• 31:14
  VO: Stay tuned to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast sponsored by Purina Pro Plan and Bird Dog Whiskey After these messages.
• 31:31
  Rusty McDaniels: But another thing too, viewers another thing that viewers may not really quite get, and they're getting a a a very cool look into what it takes to execute filming kills, right, for TV. But, you know, like, take Joe, for example, that is the lead producer of the TV show that there's so many other personnel involved from volunteers to local biologists, DU biologists and stuff that are a part of the storyline of the hunt. One of the many things about Ducks Unlimited television that makes it so great is, yeah, the action is great. The killing is great. And that's what we've been talking about.
• 32:07
  But there's also conservation success stories involved with each thing. Right? We build a schedule out. We do it collectively with killing in mind, entertainment in mind for the for the, you know, the duck hunter that wants to tune in and watch killing. And then, obviously, we wanna paint a great picture for Ducks Unlimited television too on the conservation efforts and and that that that they're putting on that Joe mentioned earlier.
• 32:29
  Maybe, Joe, dive into that a little bit about the preparation and time on the phone and emails with so many people involved to make this happen. We talk about outfitters. We talk about host. Sometimes it's just a local biologist that has a great public piece of water to hunt, and we go hunt that. Right?
• 32:48
  It's not always an outfitted type of hunt. I mean, they're all needed, but maybe, Joe, talk about kinda some of the prep work that it goes into gathering all the correct personnel for these hunts.
• 32:59
  Joe White: Yeah. For the most part, you know, we started when I took on this task, you know, it was shortly after Guy Shepherd had moved on, and that was around the the March time frame when I found that out. And, you know, you're looking at trying to create 13 to 15 shows for the fall. And so it took me a lot all summer long, you know, with locations that, you know, maybe Doug Larson turned in, Jimbo, you turned in some hunts early on. Fred Zink, you did the same thing.
• 33:34
  And then you gotta start really working on the storyline and building that out, you know. We know we're gonna have some hunting, but maybe like our Wyoming trip, Fred Zink, you know, that was with the Utah Ducks Unlimited folks that were all volunteers. Right? Guys that were and gals that were working on, you know, putting on banquets, the behind the scenes. That was kind of an appreciation hunt for them.
• 34:01
  So Ducks Unlimited wanted to tell that story, so we had to work for several months and figure out who those people were because that's part of Ducks Unlimited as well. Doug Larson, you got on a New Jersey trip. That's probably not an area that a lot of people are going to every year saying, hey. I can't wait to get back to New Jersey on a on a duck hunt. You know?
• 34:24
  But there's a lot of rich tradition up there in what I would call the concrete jungle and what they and the challenges that they had to come across. And we had some really good DU folks on the ground doing that homework for us that we communicated, you know, month in and month out so that way when we did get on the ground, the storytelling could could happen. Jimbo, you did a you know, working with all the Arkansas Game and Fish, the Ducks Unlimited biologists down there in your backyard, the folks over at Five Oaks and Jodi Pagan, you know, we made an early trip over in October. We weren't even thinking about hunting then, but it was the only time that Stuttgart, Arkansas didn't have water on it, you know, and we went over and we captured that. And that was a team effort to be able to get that.
• 35:14
  And, you know, we kinda worked on that for a couple different weeks and finally, you know, found some dates and went over there. And that's gonna be the big part of the whole story. And it really has nothing to do with, you know, the ducks, but without those, those red oaks and, those water structures and knowing when to put the water on and take it off, I mean, that's been a big game changer in in your backyard in Arkansas. So there's so much storytelling that goes on, and I gotta give it to, you know, all the hosts for stepping up and doing their homework as well, knowing what they gotta do when they get on when they get on these locations because it is three or four days, and, you know, we're just we're working our tails off the whole time, you know, that we're there. So I appreciate that.
• 36:03
  And John Tatum and Preston always killing it on the bird cameras, you know, and and helping out and and having my vision and being able to help execute, that's a big deal. So
• 36:14
  Fred Zink: I tell you, the the the quality of the camera equipment that's available today with DSLRs and a lot of the stuff that we're shooting on is quite a bit different than when we started hot Jimbo. Yeah. Absolutely. Just the ability to hide the cameras. And, man, these young guys are so good at running them, keeping everything in focus, and the quality of the footage and the quality of the film and being able to go in and be able to pop out colors of the birds and stuff like that.
• 36:42
  Because, hey, in the end, Ed, yeah, we all like to duck hunt. We all like to eat ducks or whatever, but they not like seeing them. You know? I know the first thing I do is when I get a Ducks Unlimited magazine in my mailbox, first thing I do is I flip through and look at all the photos. And then I always gotta find Doug's articles so I can read what I need to be doing or read all that.
• 37:03
  You know? And then but getting back to the honesty is the cameras and the qualities and the microphone and drones and everything that Ducks Unlimited has at their disposal to show the areas from a bird's eye view. And to be able to tell that story in different light conditions is crazy. I know when I first started filming way back in the day in the early nineties with Mossy Oak and the Whistling Wings series, we were running a little camera called the Sony v x 1,000. And that was simply because, number one, they were good.
• 37:35
  They were damn durable. They were good in dust and dirt and snow and rain, but they were small, and you could hide them. But, man, you get on a cloudy day or rainy day, we we we didn't even go hunting because all the birds just it was almost like watching black and white TV. You just simply didn't have adjustability in all the things that we have today. So when you get on a location of three days, you know, that's what that DU is.
• 37:58
  It's usually we show up. We hunt approximately three days, sometimes two and a half days, and then we roll out. So we gotta be able to take advantage. And, you know, all the boys always have trash bags in their in their bags. If it's raining, we're hunting.
• 38:12
  It doesn't matter. We're gonna go. And and I know Preston took his own life in his own hands when we're in Wyoming sitting out there in that wind and cold, but that's part of it. But these guys work hard, and we all work hard to try to get it. But the quality and the and the technology today just delivers a much better product.
• 38:31
  Thank god for that.
• 38:33
  Doug Larson: No doubt. And, you know, I would add that the that the drone technology, it's these guys all travel with the drone, and what I love about that drone is it it takes it gives the cameraman the ability to show the viewer the process of if you get out of the truck, then you get into the boat, and then you travel through these you know, through this habitat or down this road, and it brings the story full circle, which I just love.
• 38:58
  Jim Ronquest: Yeah. I I look forward to seeing seeing some of it, especially from some of the stuff we did here on on the timber health part of of the Arkansas stuff from the drone perspective and teaching folks what's going on with why you can't put water on the woods every year in August and September and October, and and showing it from not only ground level, but eye level and above that, and you can show what's going on. I I think it should tie into some pretty good stuff, and I look forward to seeing some of the hunt footage.
• 39:26
  Doug Larson: And I would tell you the other the other thing that I would add that from a from that I think would be a a tip for people is it's amazing how decoys disappear looked at from a drone. Depending on the sun angle and the light angle, either decoys appear white or they appear black or they're gone in the sun. And that's something to think about in your own home hunting is, you know, if you can get somebody with the drone, you know, get over your your usual spread and have a look at it and see how it looks in different conditions. It's amazing. Yeah.
• 39:57
  Sorry, Fred. Go ahead.
• 39:58
  Fred Zink: Yeah. I'll tell you one thing. We we've been using drones for, and I think it just takes pressure off birds whether you believe in it
• 40:05
  Rusty McDaniels: or not or whatever, but
• 40:06
  Fred Zink: I I don't believe in pushing birds out. I I like to let them beat. Right?
• 40:10
  Jim Ronquest: And so
• 40:10
  Fred Zink: if we go scalp for birds, a lot of times we'll use a drone just to scalp, not not a boat, not a four wheeler, not a truck, not on foot. We don't wanna we don't wanna spoof the birds. We don't wanna spook them. Keep pressure We just wanna make sure that they are what's going on from a bird's eye view and just let them be. And we all we, you know, we use it for we use a drone a lot for habitat improvement.
• 40:35
  So hear me out on this. So certain times a year, I use it on a whitetail when we use it on waterfowl as well. We'll find fly different types of habitats and see what they're using, when they're using it, and where they're using it, And we document all that information. And then when we go to build our wetlands or our habitat or whitetail habitat or whatever, we understand, and we try to mimic that as much as possible. So we're using that using that drone for a lot of conservation types of things based upon knowledge, just understanding what birds like certain times of the year.
• 41:09
  So very helpful for us.
• 41:11
  Rusty McDaniels: Hey. Another thing we we definitely need to make sure we mention, we're talking a lot about behind scenes, and we've got field producers and and cohosts and, you know, folks that are actually out doing the hunt. We cannot forget about post postproduction people. They're even more behind the scenes than than a field producer and a camera guy. Notice how the editors aren't on this.
• 41:30
  So, I mean, for the viewers at home that are watching this, you know, please understand how much of a gauntlet and a time consuming type of situation it is for postproduction people to to put together these TV shows. It really takes a lot of time and a lot of talent. We have two really, really good ones in the industry, Ben Bachman and Alex Byers, and they tackle all 13 episodes as a team together. So, I mean, again, everybody's talking about production quality and this and that, but we definitely don't wanna forget about our post production editors because without them, anything anybody does in the field is is useless. So
• 42:04
  Jim Ronquest: Well, they're they're the ones that that on the final end put everything together and make it all click. Absolutely. Hats off to those guys. And, you know, nowadays with shooting everything on digital, can just take a card out and plug it into a drive and you got it. I remember the days they have to digitize everything.
• 42:21
  So if you had an hour long tape, it took you an hour to digitize it. So you'd end up season with three, four, five hundred hours of footage, and you'd have all your notes taken, and then you gotta ingest all that into the system. So if you're talking 13 TV shows, that's thirteen weeks. There just 26. You burn up a year producing two quarters worth of TV pretty easy.
• 42:42
  Rusty McDaniels: Preston and John have heard me talk about those old days, and they were like, how would we even function if we had to actually digitize in real time nowadays? Because it's so much content that those guys bring back. How many how many terabytes of footage or hours Preston, give me an example. I mean, give us an example. Like, let's just say a three day dunk or goose hunt for DUTV.
• 43:04
  Preston McDaniels: I mean I mean, on a on a three day trip, and we hunt all three days, you know, it'll vary back anywhere from two to four terabytes worth of footage. You know, that's two cameras running, you know, for thirty six hours straight, essentially. Mhmm. And then you go on a trip. Like, me and Joe went to Quebec this summer to go on a snow goose hunt.
• 43:27
  We were there for seven days. So we made, you know, several episodes. I mean, we're we're traveling with terabytes and terabytes of footage, so it's it's a lot.
• 43:38
  Rusty McDaniels: And then you have to get back yeah. Get those guys get back to the office, and then we we store that footage on hard hard drives in at least two places just from a safety standpoint because hard drives fail. There's corrupt files. All kinds of stuff can go haywire. So if you don't save it in multiple places, you're gambling.
• 43:55
  And we've all been down that road before where footage's media has been lost, that's something nobody ever wants to experience. I promise you, especially with the work and time and money and effort, everything that's been put in of anything that you're doing for for outdoor hunting video production, and that takes forever just to dump media. And then back again to another shout out for post production, and those guys get those editors, when they sit down on an episode and get started, a, there's a meeting with the producers involved. There's notes that are taking that's another thing. The producers literally take daily notes on what happened, who, what, when, where, how many how many different groups of kills, how many impacts on camera, how many off, all the remote cameras, the Osmos, the GoPros, all that media.
• 44:40
  We make notes as detailed as we can for those editors, and they sit there and have to dive into that hours and hours and hours of media. And it's just it's just a gauntlet. It can be overwhelming. It take it truly takes pros to get that done. And then that's why we start like, here we are early March, and we're within three probably three, three and a half weeks away from actually starting the editing process for DUTV for the summer for third quarter twenty twenty six.
• 45:09
  And the first air week is the June, so, like, June 29. So that far ahead of time, we're already starting the editing.
• 45:17
  Jim Ronquest: Well, in that first episode first episode has to be into the network, you know, two weeks or three weeks before. That's right. Three weeks before it airs. So and there's a lot going on. And back to the editors and the post production crew, they had a meeting with the field producers, but, really, they don't have any familiarity with the footage or the hunt or nothing.
• 45:37
  They gotta build that all in their head whether they're suit. Those guys got a lot on them. Absolutely.
• 45:42
  Doug Larson: They they weren't on the they weren't on the trip.
• 45:44
  Fred Zink: Yeah. The coolest part about DUTV, for for my experience, is being able to under the DU envelope, being able to go to places that normally you wouldn't get the invite to or that had not. Right? Come on in. And I've learned so much.
• 46:01
  I manage three different duck hunting clubs, and I've learned a lot being on the road with DUTV into these some of these places. A lot like Jodi Pagan saying come up. Right? People like Jodi. There's people like Jodi in a lot of places.
• 46:16
  Right? And their amount of knowledge of managing their their little piece of habit, you know, whether it'd be a 100 acres or it could be five, ten thousand, and understanding and learning what those folks are doing to create better habitats for certain types of year and just pressure management, blind management, how to use the decoys, miss or whatever, I'm always trying to learn a one little piece of thing everywhere I go. Every day, trying to learn something new so I can come back here and try to implement what I'm doing. And when you cook it all down like, Jimbo and I, we've been at this calling contest stuff for a long, long time, and we've got to be able we've had the opportunity to go and hunt with some, you know, other world champion collars or guys or outfitters or whatever all over the world, all over Canada, United States, whatever. I've just learned so much.
• 47:10
  I feel so blessed to be able to have been able to hunt with as many people as I've been able to hunt with and learn so much about different things. You know? And I always say I always tell the guys, I never guide the guide. If if we get invited somewhere with DUTV, I let that guide or that that that person, whoever it is, the host, run the whole thing. Now we'll run the filming part of it.
• 47:37
  We understand what we got. But as far as where we're going in the duck hunting and how to set the decoys or blowing the duck calls or bring your dog or whatever, we let it we let it go. And a lot of times, it works out. The only time we'll step in or I'll I'll say something or whatever when it's not working out. Right?
• 47:55
  But because of that, I've been able to personally learn so much about the sport of waterfowl hunting. You take a guy like Jimbo Robinson, and the way you can blow that duck call, he might not be that good at setting decoys, or he might not be good at at the way he hides because he don't have to be, because he's so good at one aspect of it per se. I'm not saying this is true, but he might be so good at one aspect of it. He's not really good at the other thing. So a lot of people we go with are not world champion duck collars.
• 48:27
  Right? They can't blow a duck call or a goose call as good as as us in most cases, but they may be damn good at picking a blind location or hiding their blind or building the blind or or setting their decoy rig. And I'm always gonna be part of that to understand why is this guy successful day in and day out. Is it because of how he manages, the way he sets these decoys, pressure, time of day he hunts, when he leaves, when he unloads a shotgun, head back to the camp. And you boil that all down, fellas, and you can learn a lot.
• 48:58
  I damn sure have.
• 49:00
  Jim Ronquest: Amen. And, you know, to your point, when you're with somebody in their part of the world, they know their country. You know? And I I try to I tell people that I'm a practicing duck hunter, kinda like doctors and lawyers. They always practice in trying to learn their their trade, and I'm always trying to learn my trade better.
• 49:16
  And I try to work hard at all those things Fred mentioned, you know, decoys, concealment. How you hide, where you hide, where you put them, where you don't put them, as much as anything where you don't put decoys. But to I've learned so much from having the opportunity to hunt with several other people in several different parts of the country. So that's been a big part of it. I think that's what makes DUTV successful.
• 49:37
  When you look at the entire team of folks here that's involved from post production, field production, to the guys out in front of the camera, to the places you get to go hunting, we're pulling together a a pretty pretty cool team of folks that make this all work.
• 49:51
  Doug Larson: I agree.
• 49:52
  Fred Zink: That's all we got to add. I know you're world traveler. You're talking all over.
• 49:55
  Doug Larson: You know, I I think a couple I'll add I'll add a couple things. The first one is I think we've all been doing this a long time, and the tendency is to stop learning, and you can't do that. Because as we discussed earlier, the ducks are older, they're getting more difficult. You have got to keep showing that you've gotta shuffle the cards every hunt, every season. Show them something different.
• 50:17
  I know, and I don't know whether it's calling, the tone of duck calls, the kind of decoys you use, how you hide, when you hunt, I think has a lot to do with things. I I'm I'm seeing much more success later in the morning than I ever have. You know, it used to be that first half hour. That first hour is when we really got them. And secondly, I, you know, I think about every season, I'll have one just an amazing memory.
• 50:40
  You know? And I think you have to go into every thing every single episode, every single destination with the with the you know, with that in mind is is to have an open mind and say, look, I'm just gonna I'm gonna take what comes. And, you know, I always think when you know, I know when I go to North Dakota given any kind of set of weather conditions and that we're gonna have a nice hunt. But, you know, I was in New Jersey this year, and, I mean, of of all the hunts I've done in the last couple of years, I'm hold I killed a brand in New Jersey and looked up, and there was the the skyline of Manhattan. And I think that is so sort of symbolic, you know, and so iconic to think about, you know, that's the way the world is.
• 51:22
  You know, we can't all be hunting in the most remote corners of the big Western States. A lot of us are are hunting in the suburbs and hunting near major cities. I mean, I know Fred, don't wanna tell you that. You're right outside of Cleveland. And so that to me was just one of those things that really stuck with me.
• 51:40
  I thought, man, if I can pursue my passion this close to a city that large, you know, there's just there is absolutely no limit to the horizons in waterfowl hunting, and I'll leave with that.
• 51:53
  Rusty McDaniels: And, you know, guys, we've talked about for what? Fifty minutes here, fifty five minutes about what all it takes to make DUTV, and hopefully, the the listeners are are getting a good grasp of that. And it it truly is a team effort from from planning early on in the summers like Joe talked about, the logistical part of everything, you know, that Joe and I do at the beginning, and obviously, you know, host, submitting hunts, and locations, and ideas, and gathering personnel, and figuring out what DE personnel are gonna be involved, what volunteers, all of that. We've talked about that, but one thing I I feel like we need to mention is without our great partners, sponsors that help us out on the TV show, we couldn't pull any of this off. Because in the world of making television, you gotta be able to have sponsors, and we've got some wonderful ones.
• 52:42
  We all know who they are. Mossy Oak, Drake, Tetra, Browning, on and on and on. Higdon, some some really good ones. So I I think that would be the last thing to mention is, you know, big thanks to the sponsors and partners that help us pull this off.
• 52:55
  Fred Zink: Yes, sir. And, you know, for all of us here at Ducks Unlimited TV, we enjoy it. We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we like to make it. And remember, conservation is number one when it comes to hunting, and Ducks Unlimited is definitely number one in conservation. So please support Ducks Unlimited, and please tune in to Ducks Unlimited TV.
• 53:17
  Matt Harrison: Thank you so much, Fred, for those kind words, and we also wanna thank everyone for joining in on the Ducks Unlimited Podcast today. I know that it was a lot of us, but I hope you all enjoyed it just as much as we did. We also wanna thank our podcast producer, mister Chris Isaac, and thank you all so much for tuning in to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. Y'all take care, and God bless.
• 53:45
  VO: Thank you for listening to the DU podcast, sponsored by Purina Pro Plan, the official performance dog food of Ducks Unlimited. Purina Pro Plan, always advancing. Also proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. Whether you're winding down with your best friend or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.
• 54:07
  Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the show and visit ducks.org/dupodcast. Opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited. Until next time, stay tuned to the Ducks.