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Arkansas...It Just Means More · The Standard Sportsman

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the Standard Sportsman Podcast, where duck and goose hunting's hottest topics meet a mission to leave the resort better than we found it.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: Lifelong Arkansas hunter conservationist Kasten Shark and Brett Burke bring you thought-provoking conversations with insightful guests before, during, and after the season.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_03: Glad you're here.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_03: Let's get into it.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, it's Brent and Case and back with another edition of the Standard Sportsman Podcast.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: We're uh doing this in mid-October, which means for the most part, harvest is wrapped up uh in Arkansas.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: And it's kind of a wide-ranging uh uh effort this year because people were able to get in uh with the combines early, early uh because it was so dry and and the harvest went really quick because we haven't had any rain.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, you you get your your rice knocked out of the way, and then uh you know most of the corn is out, uh, even though we haven't cut corn.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we will we will have by the time this airs, but uh that's still out there.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then of course you got soybeans.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: So uh where are y'all with with harvest?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: Y'all about knocked it all out?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're we're pretty well done.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, we got a we got an early start with our rice this year, so rice harvest got underway early and it has been dry, dry, dry.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: So we've sailed right through it.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um pretty I don't want to say pretty easy because when you're when you're buying record high farm fuel, it's not easy, it's painful, but uh quick nonetheless.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, no kidding, no kidding.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, I I've heard a couple different farmers uh, you know, in conversations with them, how quick harvest went.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: One, because it was dry, and you know, they didn't lose days to rain and and then the aftermath of rain, which is a lot of mud and and everything else, and wet crop and you know, whatever else you want to add up after a rain.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: But also there's there were enough of them that farmed far less acres this year due to you know the the economy of all this.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: So uh they were able to whiz through it.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, the the farm my dad hunts and has leased for I think this will be forty five years, somewhere in the ballpark of 45 years, uh they farmed a thousand less acres uh this year.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's tough.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, obviously rice acres were down a a lot, so that's gonna lend itself to a much quicker harvest because you can you can really walk through some beans with a combine, so that's a lot quicker.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: But it is tough.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: I you know, my farmer and I were having a pretty good gripe session the other day.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: We were talking about you know, diesel fuel right now.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think I don't know what it is right now.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't bought any because we haven't watered, but uh over well over four dollars a gallon this summer.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we I asked him, you know, what was the cheapest he ever bought a load of fuel?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't remember his answer.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: It was a little bit lower than mine, but I think mine was 79 cents a gallon, was the cheapest farm fuel I ever bought.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you got to keep in mind back then it was actually high sulfur fuel through all the refining and all that.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: We've gone away.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: So what we're using now used to be highway fuel in terms of the low sulfur versus ultra-low and anyway, without getting out of that road.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: But but yeah, it's difficult.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, because you look at you know, every other input that we use has gone up the same way, but our commodity prices have not, you know, haven't gone up 500%.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just, I mean, death I said this before, death by a thousand cuts, but man, it's just got you in a stranglehold right now.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's that was one of the questions I I wish that I could have gotten to uh with Congressman Crawford was you know, at one point you could make the argument that that rice saved ducks, right?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like we cleared all this bottomland forest and the ducks adapted to rice production.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, the question I look at now is can ducks save farming?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Can they save rice in this part of the world?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's a pretty bleak.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's pretty bleak, although rice prices are are coming up a little bit right now, they're pretty decent, which is amazing.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: You go back into the summer when all the reports came out about the down acreage and rice spots is reacted by dropping after that report.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And usually with a market scare like that, your prices are gonna sell.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I I don't know.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to figure it out, but it's uh it's not a great time right now.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's not.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's a that's a great question, uh, you know, whether whether the ducks can save rice because yeah, there's that uh kind of back end revenue for a farmer, uh, especially if they're in a situation where they're leasing ground, um that uh you know they they've got to have something out there for the the ducks to be drawn to and and justify the the lease rate that they're charging uh to their to their uh their duck hunters.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um now you know in the past that was considered kind of extra income.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't really trying to put food on the table.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: That was stuff to allow them to go on vacation and you know do whatever else uh they wanted to do uh on top of their farm income, but with the farming so tough, uh they're gonna be counting on some of these dollars, so you know they they they can't can't leave that out or or they're gonna be uh losing their their duck hunters uh because you know, guys aren't gonna show up to hunt over dirt.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: So um it's an interesting kind of push-pull with all that.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that makes me think of something a question to pose to you.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we hear a lot, even our little text chain there with a couple of our friends, you hear a lot about outfitters, and typically when you talk about the commercialization of the sport, it's always outfitters that get brought up.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: But but the economy of duck hunting is substantial, and uh so many people uh really do you know benefit from the economy of of duck hunting, be it you know, even you with the book, uh you name it, like so many of us are are tied uh you know, maybe tangent tangentially to this, even if it's not directly receiving uh you know a payment for a hunt.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm curious kind of your thoughts.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you separate that?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and I'm not saying good from bad, but where do you how far reaching is the economy that we're discussing right now?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: Well, uh in in East Arkansas, it's it's uh everywhere substantial, everywhere, everywhere.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you think about all these little towns that uh don't have just a whole lot of activity in uh the months outside of duck season, uh, and then what they become when the season is here.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, Congressman Crawford referenced it, you know, how how um the the non-resident dollar, how much more it amplifies the uh the economy and the spend.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um you know, you take a town, I mean, a hundred hunters obviously a little bitty spot on the map, Almira, places like that.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you got the co-op there in Almira that's not got a whole lot going on outside of the uh duck season.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: But when duck season is going on, it's it's a buzzing, happening place.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so you're right, it's not just the outfitters.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, all these little towns and all their little restaurants and and convenience stores and and even you know, little hardware stores, auto parts stores, uh all that has a substantial uh rise in activity when duck season's going on.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: And um God, you you just wonder how many of them would shrivel up and go away if if it weren't for duck hunting.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and I think they fully recognize that too, and and do their best to capitalize on it.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's yeah, it's not just the outfitters, you know, charging however many dollars a head to come hunt.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I just think the outfitters are viewed a little different because it's directly tied to a a take for them.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's a there's a there's a take of the resource where another business isn't directly going out there and and piling up a bunch of ducks or geese uh for a dollar.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but they they're definitely benefiting from it.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's no question about that.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I think it's a I think it's a fair thing that you said there definitely tied with the with the harvest uh and usually kind of front and center with promoting that too.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's usually always the outfitters.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So um this is kind of interesting, funny story.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: My grandfather years ago, uh one of the churches here in Hunter would have a you know fundraiser, whatever meal every year.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: It always happened in around the first week in the duck season.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: So whatever clients he had here hunting, they would all load up and go to the church for that meal, and he would always joke with them, you know, on the way there, like go ahead and get your wallets out, boys.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: And he kind of leaned on them to contribute to that church, and that was part of their fundraising was the duck hunters that were here when they did it.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it really is a big part of these economies, and and you know, a lot of in a lot of ways contributes to the overall culture of these small towns.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, our uh ours isn't even in a town uh where our farm is.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Now, there's a little unincorporated community uh there, and there's a volunteer fire department uh in a cemetery, then you got three or four, five permanent residents on each side of the highway.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: But the that fire station, as a fundraiser, somebody in the area, I can't remember who it benefits, but every other Friday they put on a big fish fry and people come uh far and wide.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it the grass parking lot, uh, everything around there is completely full of vehicles on those Friday nights.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's a similar kind of deal.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they don't draw near the crowd when it's not duck season, but you you you take all the little duck clubs and and camps that are around there.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we're only two miles north of Byomita, the wildlife management area.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: So you got a lot of public land hunters that are that have camps in the area.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and you take the the locals and you add them up during duck season, and all of a sudden the fish fry is a packed house uh that uh is raising some dollars for for uh whoever the benefactor is of that.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: But um you definitely see it uh on these little towns and and just the the the change of of what go I mean I'm down there uh plenty during you know the month of July when nobody's around.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and then you see that how that compares and contrasts to November, December, January, and it's pretty eye-opening.
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• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it definitely is.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you and you you're kind of touching on it, but you you look at a lot of these old duck hunting hotspots, and there's restaurants, you know, there's things that exist there that without duck hunting otherwise wouldn't exist.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that kind of becomes a point of contention when we start talking about non-residents, right?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because that those the first thing those guys say, and I don't really blame them.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: They talk about, well, if you won't let us come hunt there, then you're not going to get our revenue either.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a real thing.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think uh I think Crawford said that it would turn over five times the non-resident dollar and something like that, which was Yeah, five, seven, something.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: It was something like that.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: It was a it was a noticeable number.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: It was surprising, yeah.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: I and never thought of it like that.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: But that was pretty interesting to to think about how much more that would change hands when it came from that source.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: But um, you know, there's catering places here close to us, uh there in Wheatley, the Cajun Express.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's in a I think it's in a double-wide trailer.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: But man, during duck season, that place is hopping.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's not a lot of the places to go eat.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know how much that makes up for in their yearly revenue, but I would imagine it's substantial.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And there are I mean places like that all up and down the the MAB here in Arkansas.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I don't think it's I don't know that it's like that anywhere else in the country.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: Now I know uh you know different parts of the world get activity uh during duck season and little towns benefited from it, whether it's in Missouri or Mississippi or you know, Kansas Oklahoma, wherever.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I know duck hunters contribute.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: I just don't know that it matches up with how much how many dollars are spent when you add up leases and you know gas station stops and restaurants and grocery stores and everything else just because of the volume of people that descend on that part of the world, you know, for that that time period.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um did you happen to catch the the episode of True South uh on Arkansas?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was on Hazen, Arkansas.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: No, I saw the trailer for it beforehand, but I have not watched it yet.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I I did watch it, and uh it's kind of i it explains a lot about this this particular conversation that we're having.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: It was really good, it was a really good piece.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, if people aren't familiar with True South, it's kind of a mini, you know, food and culture, southern food and culture, many little documentaries, and they were coming to Hazen to do a story on there's a couple of catfish places in the Hazen area.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then once they get got more info about this part of the world and how big you know rice economy is, and then then they found out the duck hunting economy, they were like, well, let's let's do the whole thing.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so they they did a show.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they went they hunted at Greenbrier, which is between Hazen and Carlisle, uh famous, famous place.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: It's the old Winchester Club.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh founded by uh a guy named Roger Crow, who's who's from Stuttgart, and then um he found it and basically developed it for John Olin, who is Winchester uh Arms uh that that company.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: So that was their that was his place and uh super super nice place.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: I've I've been fortunate to hunt there a handful of times, uh kind of known for their 410 hole and their north woods and and all the all the holes have really cool names.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um Philip Crow's done a ton of paintings there, but anyway, so they they hunted there um and then they visited some of the restaurants, but they they kind of connected all these dots we're talking about of just how much that part of the world relies on the ag economy and then how impactful duck hunting is.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: And they went to Murray's.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: If anybody's ever been in that part of the world, they they would be familiar with Murray's, uh, Stanley Young's, you know, catfish and steak place.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's just phenomenal food.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but you were talking about you know the place your granddad would take uh his customers to, and I and and this is similar to the the um volunteer fire station catfish cookout.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: There's a restaurant, it's not even a restaurant, they do it in a farm shop that's in Hazen that uh I can't remember the months, it's not the entire year.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: I want to say it's like October through February or March, where every Friday night they serve catfish.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: They set up tables in the farm shop and they make piles and piles of catfish.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: And the line will be long as you can, yeah, as long as they can show on camera of people that come in there and and uh have catfish on Friday nights at this place.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: And and like I said, it's not a year-round restaurant, but on Friday nights, that's what everybody does.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: They show up and go uh go have catfish at uh at this place in this farm shop, uh, which is which is pretty wild.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: But um it just kind of lean it kind of leans into that impact that uh these little little towns and and their economies count on um both of those industries so much.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I just don't know that anywhere else in the country duck hunting has that kind of that kind of impact.
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• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's interesting that you you mentioned that show because as we were sitting here talking you know about these little spots, it kind of reminded me of going to college in the SEC and how many little unique places, you know, every campus or even on the outskirts of a campus, you know, that that exist.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say a lot of those A exist m mainly because the university is there, and then two, because of when you look at sports events and the influx of people on certain weekends and the business that they're able to uh you know create um because of that influx of people.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it was in my mind, kind of drawing the comparison, uh, and then obviously that show kind of travels a lot of SEC hotspots and and talks about culture and and places like that.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll have to check that one out.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: I hadn't seen it yet.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it's it's definitely worth a watch.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's only I think it's a 30-minute show.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I watched it off Disney Plus.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you you can stream it in various from various different uh streaming services.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: But uh but yeah, it was good.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean they they did one on Little Rock a few years back, but it's and it's interesting.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: We've got some some culturally significant restaurants here and and and all that, but it was cool to see them take it to you know a little little place like Hazen and and uh tie all that together.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, being a duck hunter it made it even even more interesting, and and standing in those same woods that they were hunting that that made it interesting.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I think every everybody would enjoy it.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: They talked about you know some of the stuff that's popped up in in Stuttgart because of it all.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you have Max, which is now you know, at some level Bass Pro.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they talked about the big shin store.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they they showed inside of RNT, you know, with the the store and the and the uh the the beer join inside.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: So uh you know, I think it probably will open a lot of people's eyes.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: If they didn't already know about all that stuff and they're a duck hunter and they watch that show, it it's it may ratchet Arkansas up on their bucket list a little bit.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: So all you guys uh discouraging non-residents from coming, I don't think this show is gonna do you any favors.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: I think it only will uh entice people to you know make a trip down here if they haven't been here already.
• 20:16
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• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, and you just kind of opened that door, so I'll walk through it.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think that's something that we need to be cognizant of as Arkansans.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like we are the Arkansas Game and Fish is selling an experience, right?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: When they sell a hunting license to a non-resident.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I'm not sure that we're framing it the right way when we tell them they're not welcome at certain times.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand everyone's argument one side or the other, and I'm not really taking a stand one way or another, even though I've I can come down either side of that fence, depending on what mood I'm in.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: But ultimately, you know, when you sell that experience, it should be a quality experience.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: And why would you not want, if you're from here, why would you not want the rest of the world to want to come experience?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: what what you get to do all the time.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: Trevor Burrus Well that's a valid point.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: And you cannot be naive enough to think it's the duck hunting, it's not a part of the tourism industry for our state.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean it's it just is and it has been for a long time.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_02: I've got ads back when I was researching the book, I've got ads from the 60s where you know they put in newspapers in St.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Louis or New York or you name big city basically recruiting duck hunters to come to Arkansas to duck hunt.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I understand where our resident is coming from.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: We've had countless conversations on this topic.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think most of them, I don't know most of them truly want to ban non-residents.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's more from the angle that residents should have priority at some level because we're from here.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean this is you know I'm I'm I'm an Arkansas and this is an Arkansas um you know public hunting um opportunity and I should have priority and you know you you can get you can get all over that one both sides of it just like you said but um but yeah you got at the same time you got to realize how much you know our state benefits from it and how different the landscape may look if it wasn't for you know this the supplement of income that that comes through that plus uh the branding for our state is is incredible.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know uh Congressman Crawford referenced it in DC once people figure out he's from Arkansas he said it inevitably conversations turned to duck hunting well I mean I I've experienced that same thing and uh I even had yesterday I had an insurance adjuster at my house uh on some some water damage that we had and he goes downstairs in my uh game room and the whole thing is one wall is all prints it's all the covers of greenhead framed and then the other side is hunting pictures from when I was a little kid all the way up until modern day so it's I mean it's hundreds and hundreds of pictures from hunts and of course he was completely blown away with but but he immediately goes well this is really cool man you're a big duck hunter I I live in Carlisle which and uh know so and so and do you know so and so and it and it was like yeah I oh yeah I know him and then uh you know conversation goes on and on where if I would had a bunch of pictures of playing golf I mean he might have come in there and spent like one minute looking at our ceiling that's got water damage and walked right back out.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you know so you you think about those kind of things too just how how the identity of of duck hunting and uh tied with Arkansas is and it's it's it it it spreads so far um that you just don't realize it until you you really you know kind of open your eyes and ears to even if people don't even hunt this guy didn't even duck hunt uh he said he hadn't duck hunt in 10 years he's a big deer hunter uh but man he he knew all about it and new places and new people and all this other stuff and I realize he's resident and you know lives in that part of the world too but still it's uh pretty far reaching.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh absolutely it's I mean it's it's huge.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think I told you about uh twenty twenty-seven years ago now almost picked my now wife up for our first date uh over there in Memphis which is not far away but you know within a few minutes her mother realizes who my grandfather is and then calls her husband to come talk to me and he and I are sitting there talking duck hunting while my now wife was a little impatient that we hadn't left already but uh yeah it's it's it is a big deal and I think if you're if you're outside of this area and you haven't really seen it or experienced it's hard to to grasp the level of of tourism that it really is.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it's substantial.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean the impact is substantial the people that that come here it's significant um and even though and I'll admit to this even though we complain about it and certainly there are months of the year particularly snow goose season we roll around to February and I can't go into the part store without bumping into hunters I'm like man won't you guys just go home um you know I think we all can get frustrated with the the extent that people are here but we really we shouldn't we should be thankful that that people do want to come here and that you know we get to live in a spot that is that sought after.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah well it is that and and I I also think that it's hard um for people to understand that either have spent no time here very little time here um I don't I don't think they realize just how important the sport is to our state um and I I think that gets a little unfairly judged or not it uh maybe the passion and it whether the passion comes out the right way or the wrong way um either you know for example you know some of our passion and and you know sometimes frustration and and and whatever else you want to throw out there comes across on this show you see it with people on social media in Arkansas is real easy to judge from afar.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know you guys are whining and complaining but you kill you still kill more mallards than anywhere in the in the continental US you know or or you know statements like that.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, that's true.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: But you know there's a lot of us that know what a good duck season looks like and what a what a okay duck season looks like and what a poor duck season looks like.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you don't if you have experienced all those things here in a place where it's so important not only to our identity and our economy but you know to us personally um it's a it's a different level than it is most places in the United States.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying there's not pockets of of passion for this sport elsewhere because there are uh but man it's a different gear here and and I I I think people that want to jump all over a guy from Arkansas because he's he's frustrated with his duck season um maybe give a little pause there and and think about man I didn't realize I didn't realize how uh how passionate these these guys were about this sport.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah I think it's pretty easy to care so much about it when it is such a big part of who you are and what you see and experience year round.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know because it is whether you are working in the summertime developing whatever like you you just don't get very far away from duck hunting if you live here at any one time of the year.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it drives a a lot of who you are and and who you're what your identity is yeah and that bleeds over into that passion that you mentioned.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah for sure and and and it would be unfair to say everyone is like that um and you got some you got some knuckleheads on social media that I don't know that they represent our state that that well um but I mean you have that everywhere regardless of topic but you know not everybody is just you know as aid up whether it was maybe as as we are or or most of our listeners but um there's definitely there's a there's a contingent that is Uber passionate about it and then there's some that are you know both feed in but it's it's not all they do.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: Then maybe they have another hobby that's their their thing and then there's some that are very passive about it.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: But um those that are in that upper tier of uh passion and dedication to sport uh it hurts it hurts pretty bad I mean it's like a kick in the nuts when you know the season doesn't go so great.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Or you know whether with a a harvest that doesn't go so great if you're in a situation where it's it's the food you're trying you're gonna try and feed ducks with uh yeah you can feel pretty beat up when when harvest doesn't go great.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: So uh you know all those things kind of funnel to uh Arkansas is just it's in it's a different gear uh than than pretty much anywhere else on on the planet when it comes to comes to the sport.
• 30:29
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• 30:35
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• 30:57
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• 31:05
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• 31:09
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• 31:14
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• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Everything from radiant sun hoodie to rides or active shorts even sitka sandals look I'm a pretty big fan of flip flops in the summertime I got those last year when they first came out and legitimately like legit good sandals love them.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: Go check it out man from rain gear sun shirts you name it uh even fishing waiters their line has expanded greatly and definitely deserves checking out you know I would I would compare it to maybe your favorite sports team you know it's really easy to sit here and say oh we should go have fun and be thankful for every chance we get to go hunt and that's true we absolutely should be but if you told the fan of a team with a losing record you should be thankful for every game you get to go to even if it sucks and you lose they'd probably punch you in the face and you know I guess for a lot of us duck hunting is kind of that sports team right like you eat sleep live and breathe and and you you you hang so much based on the success of your hunts and I don't think that's a bad thing.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean sometimes I have to remind myself to to appreciate the small things um because that does matter but kind of the same as as rooting for your your favorite team when it's not going good it's hard to find the bright spots.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah that's that's a good analogy uh it's very very similar in that regard um yeah because I mean you can follow a sports team year round if you if you're into you know if it's college sports you're into recruiting or into transfer portal and you know coaching coming and going and then you know the offseason and then the season uh it can go pretty much around the clock too and duck hunting can definitely be that way especially if you're in the in the business of touching the habitat part of it um it it never stops so um yeah it's a that's a good good analogy and and you see that same passion um in both.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: I just I just hope that you know it's uh those that haven't experienced it and and like to you know dog cuss a guy online because your market saw he's a little bit frustrated uh come experience a couple of couple seasons here and and understand and and see how people how much effort people put into it uh might have a little bit different stance uh on those things yeah I would say it's it's probably like listening to Alabama fans complain about the state of their program right now when they're still going to playoffs and still ranked in the top ten.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: I get it uh you know they're not where they once were my wife went to school there so I can talk about them um but there's still the the envy of a lot of other programs so it's tough I get I mean yeah yeah you you find those and and every fan base has knuckleheads right and and we certainly do too but yeah you find those guys online that are bitching um it's kind of like guys south of us the state that still kills a ton of ducks and they're fired up right now and and I understand their passion too um you know and the the big question I guess is how do we how do you direct that in a meaningful way and and I don't I was about to say I don't know that Arkansas is going down quite the same path as Louisiana but yeah probably we are I mean you you look at a lot of the debates over non-residents and some of that is you know aimed poorly uh I understand the debate you know we've kind of touched on it here a little bit I I think right now to to ban from certain areas at certain times of the year just pushes people to other places so it's not it's not fair and it's not equitable.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it needs some overhaul and no I don't want to go to a draw system and I do agree with you I think the state should value residents first.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Most states do that in in all that they do uh that's kind of the way it's supposed to be but I don't think we are not sure we're there yet uh in terms of how we're approaching that and that's not really what this episode is about but but yeah you you know it would be easy to to look at the guys online and just think wow what a bunch of jerks um but yeah I think you should come and see it.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah for sure and and that's uh yeah but you just have you truly do have to experience it and I'm not talking about coming out here for a weekend every year I'm talking about uh uh almost integrating yourself into the the culture and and everything that goes with it and I think you I think you would have a different outlook.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: Now what's going to be interesting well one uh kind of two points I may one I I don't I I agree with you I don't see Arkansas uh going down the same path as Louisiana at least not as rapidly uh now the the if the rice industry continues just to limp along maybe but I you gotta believe that's gonna bounce back at some point we're gonna stop importing as much rice as we do uh prices are gonna get better uh you know all those things you you know you kind of cyclical kind of deal and it'll it'll bounce back and we'll continue to farm rice uh like we always have once we get over this this hump that's what I want to believe where you know Louisiana went to a a pretty rapid decline and theirs uh their rice farming and and the ducks took notice and obviously the speckle bellies took notice um so uh yeah we may be on uh some some decline it's just not as rapid so and so there's that but then how how are Arkansas duck hunters going to act when a season goes really well and and bounces back uh because we've we've seen it bottom out uh over time if you if you go back and you know the history of this whole deal it's it's been worse than it is now uh you know as far as duck numbers go and and things bounce back no and we we all are fully aware that the landscape looks a lot different um that uh prairie canada is not the same as it was uh back in those days they might have gotten really dry back in those days but when it did rain there there was no such thing as drain tiles and there was no such thing as uh these wetlands all just plowed under and now they're farmed because the equipment modern day equipment can get right through that stuff so we're fully aware the landscape looks different and we'll we'll have to see what happens the next time it gets really good and wet up there and if the production can match it.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: But um yeah if if Arkansas's able to bounce back with a you know really good quality habitat I mean a harvest year you know double what we're shooting now mallard wise if we get back in the 700 000 range uh it's like kind of like that uh those those jokes people make that you know if if uh if I if I won the lottery there will be signs.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know you'll know it.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think it'll I think people will know it if if duck season down here jumps back like uh like a a lot of us would like to see it do and we've we've had some experiences with that in the past you you may not be able to stand being around a guy from Arkansas if it gets gets that it's like some of those fan bases we were talking about.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah exactly uh no no question you think about it some some college football programs that were relevant at once upon a time and had a long lull in our back yeah he he uh they're quick to reclaim their their former glory uh with arrogance or on the flip side a team that's never been relevant that now is you know just a world beater that everyone needs to look up to oh well yeah yeah we're we're seeing that a little bit too yeah yeah uh recent success changes everything yeah yeah well I know we're all ready for it uh yeah we gotta we gotta get production up and then let's go from there um because that's that's the key.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's yeah that's the driver 100% you know duck production rising tide lifts all ships.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know all these death by a thousand cuts become really insignificant when population is is growing and doing well.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: No that that's it and and we got to start there.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about all the time you can identify all these other problems and there there are other issues and problems and hurdles and but let's start there.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: Let's get production back up and and then let's then we'll take on the next one uh but all the rest of them are inconsequential really until that gets going.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 39:53
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• 40:06
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• 40:15
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• 40:20
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• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well I'm gonna take us out of here I gotta see if maybe it'll rain eventually because it's dry and I need to plant stuff and there's no rain in the forecast.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I know it brutal go outside go outside and do a rain dance.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yep there you go all right we appreciate everybody listening you can find us online at standardsportsman dot com or anywhere you get your podcast