For the Fowlers Podcast
Introducing "For the Fowlers," a new waterfowl hunting podcast based in Northern California. Our goal is to dive into every aspect of this sport we're so passionate about.
We aim to create a valuable resource for new hunters, helping them get into the sport, while also engaging experienced fowlers with our stories and those of our guests.
For the Fowlers Podcast
From the Clubhouse: Early Season Hunt At CWA's Sanborn Slough
We’re at California Waterfowl’s Sanborn Slough in the Butte Sink—surrounded by private clubs but sitting in a blind you can actually draw or win at a banquet. Boats are ready, blinds are brushed, decoys are out. That’s by design, because when the logistics are handled, you can focus on birds, dogs, and the kind of stories that keep you in the marsh.
We meet George who shares the joy of taking his father-in-law on a first duck hunt and getting a young dog on its first retrieve, reminding us that memory-rich days matter more than numbers on a strap.
We sit down with Hunter from CWA to unpack how dinners, raffles, and partnerships fund habitat work that stays in California, from youth programs to biologists pushing for water at Klamath. You’ll hear why Sanborn is a rare private-style hunt open to everyday waterfowlers and how hunt camps, gear libraries, and guided opportunities remove friction for first-timers.
Lucas, an active-duty airman, walks us through CWA’s Veteran Hunt Program and Beale AFB’s on-base hunting—fully decoyed blinds, wood duck boxes, and mentorship for new and seasoned shooters alike.
We also meet Logan and learn from a hard safety lesson at YOLO and laugh about a near-disaster at the lodge back in the day—both proof that respect for people and places is non-negotiable.
We close with our morning on the water: honest early-season action, a few green birds, and a dog named Rooster making clean retrieves through thick tules.
If you care about ducks, habitat, and keeping opportunities alive for kids, vets, and new hunters, this one’s for you. Join California Waterfowl, show up at a local banquet, and bring someone new to the blind. If you enjoyed the show, follow, share it with a hunting buddy, and leave a quick review—it helps more folks find their way to the marsh.
Welcome to another episode of For the Fowlers. I'm Brandon. And I'm Caitlin. We're coming to you live from CWA's property Sanborn Slough. Yeah, what a good opportunity, huh? Yeah, what do you think, Caitlin?
SPEAKER_03:This is our second time up here. Uh, just super unique opportunity to hunt a pro or a a location that a lot of guys can't do. And good opportunity, good habitat. Honestly, it's all about the people though. If I'm gonna be 100% honest, every time I've come down here, it's been a good experience, good people to meet, good stories to tell.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for sure. Uh, this one's gonna be a little different than our last couple episodes. Uh, to be honest with you, we're up here at CWA's uh lodge and we're having a good time. You know, had a great dinner up here. We had some venison and some speck and some chicken and rice. It's cool.
SPEAKER_03:Every time we come up here, it seems like someone brings something to the table. And by that, what did we have last time?
SPEAKER_02:We had that venison lasagna that we had.
SPEAKER_03:Venison lasagna today.
SPEAKER_02:Someone shot we had some venison lasagna that he shot from Georgia, and then he, for appetizers, he had that halibut from Alaska.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, that's right. And then today we had venison little like broccoli beef essentially, but it was venison over uh rice and what else we have? That's for you right there. Sorry, we gotta we got one of our buddies here, George.
SPEAKER_02:Here, hold on. Yeah, we'll bring him here, we'll bring him on in a sec. But yeah, this one's just gonna be a little pretty chill episode. We're gonna talk a little bit about uh, you know, this property here and what you know we kind of expect to do tomorrow. It's obviously early season, and you know, we'll hopefully get a couple of these other hunters on and find out kind of how they were able to uh get on this hunt. But this is obviously one of CWA's California waterfowl's properties here. And you know, obviously they use it for their hunt program here where you have an opportunity to uh you know put in for you know draws for here, but obviously there's they use it at their some of their banquets as well where they will use these hunts to raise funds for California waterfowl for conservation.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, the I I'm a big fan of the dinners. I mean, uh shoot Brandon and I are always looking for an opportunity to go get some good food and talk with some like-minded folk, but the CWA dinners do a great job. They'll usually I think this dinner has been in the past, it's been buy this call, get an opportunity to win this hunt. Is that right?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, for sure. I mean, and and we'll get into that, but I mean it I'm sure some people, some of our listeners are probably like, how the hell did Brandon and Caton end up at at Sanborn Slough this early in the season? But uh yeah, no, uh obviously for myself, I uh try to do some volunteer work with California Waterfowl and I partnered with them, you know, through through my company. We've uh supported California Waterfowl um quite a bit this past year, and you know, the field rep that I work with, he uh was uh very gracious and invited me uh to come hunt today or tomorrow, and I was able to bring Caton on. But yeah, we'll kind of find out from some of these guys how they ended up on here. But uh yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, no, I'm I'm just excited to be out here. Like I said, it's I'm two for two with a great experience, and I can't wait to get the opportunity to come back.
SPEAKER_02:For sure. Yeah, no, this is gonna be like I said, a little different episode here. If we start to ramble a little, I'm looking at Caden, he's got a couple beers over there. I'm over here sipping a Jack Daniels, so we're having a good time hanging out with all these fellow hunters here. But no, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. We obviously hunted here last January and uh kind of a mixed bag of birds, but for by all accounts, it sounds like this past weekend they got into quite a few, it's kind of mallard holes, some wood ducks, the specks are out. What do you think tomorrow's gonna be like, Caitlin?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I mean it's still early season. I feel like I've hunted a lot of first Wednesdays, as I call them, which has often been a mixed bag for me. Some of the spots have been blown out, but from talking to some of the guys who are familiar with the guys who hunted over the weekend, it seems like there hasn't been a whole lot of pressure. Not a lot of guys driving through the through the property, so it seems like a lot of the ponds have been undisturbed for a few days. So I'm hoping to, you know, get into some, you know, early migrat migrators and maybe find a few greenheads, but at the end of the day, I'm just happy to shoot a few ducks. And yeah, for me, this is uh I think I brought it up early on the earlier episode. This will be my actual first hunt of the year. I missed the opener. So I'm excited to get my dog out there, get him on some birds. It's kind of knock some of the rust off, but this is probably one of the best opportunities to do so.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for sure. No, it's gonna be a good one. Yeah, I'm looking forward to tomorrow for folks not too familiar with this property. It's kind of an interesting hunt. There's a lot of boat in blind, so uh tomorrow morning the good folks here at California Waterfowl will turn us loose on a couple of outboards and uh we'll head out to the blind. And uh, you know, I was talking to one of the guys that uh kind of works here at this property, and he was saying that uh obviously it hunted over the weekend, but there hasn't been any boat activity out there since Sunday afternoon. So out in that marsh, there's some birds all rafted up out there. So I was kind of joking with you, Caitlin, that you know, we should just gun it out of the dock and then just let the kill the motor and let the stream just take us down to the blind and you know see if we can't jump those birds and shoot less.
SPEAKER_03:That's the way to do it. I mean, it seems like if you can get into a spot that hasn't been undisturbed for a little bit, some of the birds have been circling back, going out and feeding for the day and coming home and loafing. You can get into some good hunts. I mean, I know I've had some good experiences over the years, and anytime you get into a fresh spot that holds some birds, it's the less undisturbed it is, the better it is.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's pretty funny out here. I'm laughing. There's no service out here, you know, and your money's no good, but people are out here using zins in Copenhagen as current as currency out here.
SPEAKER_03:So you're it's like uh back in the days of bartering.
SPEAKER_02:It's like, hey, I'll give you a couple of zins if I can go hunt your blind tomorrow. Well, it's funny, and we're down the street from the Indian reservation here, so I'm smelling the flavors coming out of these cans over here. So well, Reno, so did we uh bring our first guy on? Yeah, he's up to it. Who do we got here? All right, is that Mike on there? No. Go ahead, give it a little test.
SPEAKER_05:Hello?
SPEAKER_02:All right, we go. So we got our good buddy George here. We hunted with him back in uh January when we were here, and just by you know random chance, I walk up to the clubhouse here at San Born Slough and he's like, Hey, did you hunt here last year? And sure enough, yeah. So we're back at it again.
SPEAKER_03:So George and his new pup. Come on now.
SPEAKER_02:George, George and the new pup. Uh remind me your pup's name. Uh Goose. Yeah, goose. Goose. Last January when we were out here, George had to cut the cut the horse hunt. Excuse me there?
SPEAKER_06:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:Sorry, the uh the jack's coming through. No, he had to cut his hunt short a little bit because he was actually gonna go pick up goose from the breeder there. So uh George, welcome to For the Fowlers and how's it going, man?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's going good. We're looking forward to the hunt tomorrow and get my pup out and my father-in-law who's never duck hunted.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, no way. Oh, what's his first duck hunt?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, first duck hunt ever.
SPEAKER_03:First real duck. Not even in the rice with you.
SPEAKER_05:No, first real hunt. Got him some waders, nice sitka jacket, gave him a shotgun, said, You're going. Let's go.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, he's already set up better than I am, for sure. Yeah, so is he looking forward to it? What's uh I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, he's he's real excited. I'm glad it's not raining. He's not a guy who likes the rain or the cold. So be a nice warm hunt for him tomorrow, get his feet wet, get him walk around, have him throw some decoys, and hopefully get to watch the pup bring back a couple wood ducks.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so the nice thing is, and you know, Caden's got a couple blinds. You know, I've gotten blinds in the past, but you know, I do a lot of refuge hunting these days. But um, your father-in-law is in for a good treat with this being his first hunt, and I know you have some blinds that you lease as well, so no, if he enjoys it, uh, he's set up, man. He's gonna have it pretty pretty easy out there. Pretty high expectations, though.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. A Sanborn slough, north side of the butte sink. I mean, you can't get a better first hunt. This is a great last hunt, let's be honest.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and we got invited up here this year. We bought the hunt last year at a dinner or the year before, and then got a couple cancels. Yep. We got it done, and then we've been to about four dinners this year for CWA and support them by a table, spend a bunch of money, drink a bunch of alcohol, have a good time. Right on. And you spend enough money to get the invite every once in a while.
SPEAKER_03:And that's a big shout-out to these dinners. I I've already mentioned it once, but the dinners it's a great opportunity to meet good people, like-minded people. It's people who care about the sport, they're willing to donate some of their money, whether it's businesses or private guys. And I mean, you get people from all wakes of life, whether you know it's the richest guy you ever met, or just some guy down the street, and we're you everyone feels like equal as you get good drinks, good good food, there's some good auctions. My luck has been a little dry lately on some of those raffles and auctions, but every time, I mean, I bring my wife there, she says I'm not allowed to spend a single dollar, and every year we end up donating a good amount of dollars towards the cause, so it's a good time, and George is a living testament of what comes out of that.
SPEAKER_02:So, you know what, and I'm probably going down with like George's mindset is at those dinners, but you know, I remember when we used to first go, it's like, hey, how many raffle tickets can I get so I can get some of those prizes? But I got tired of going home with like the you know, three different blind bags and five pairs of socks and a Yeti cuff you know, cuff, and it's like, you know, I'd rather go there and you know bid on a shotgun or get up one of these hunts or something like that. So yeah, when you go to these dinners, it's always a good thing when you know get together with a few of your buddies or you know, your father-in-law or whatever, and just be like, hey, this is a great opportunity, you want to go in on it, definitely take advantage of it. But are you a raffle guy or are you an auction guy?
SPEAKER_05:Uh we do everything.
SPEAKER_03:Love it. What do you have more luck in?
SPEAKER_05:Well, we usually walk away the last time.
SPEAKER_03:So the auction's not luck, it's how much are you willing to do that? So that's true, that's true. But are you a lucky raffle guy, though?
SPEAKER_05:Oh, yeah. The last CWA dinner we went to last year when we actually bought this hunt, our table walked away with nine guns. See, there's a lot of about 13 blind bags, uh, a couple shotgun holders, and the last hunt for$800. And anybody going to the dinner, you need to buy this hunt.
SPEAKER_03:And that's a huge shout-out. And all that money goes right back into CWA. It's not paying for guides or anything like that. That that money is going right back into the CWA fund, which goes toward uh habitat rehabilitation, whether it's here or other, you know, California. I I like CWA because it keeps the money towards California and California waterfowl. I mean, there's a lot of good organizations out there, Ducks Unlimited and stuff, but us being California folk, I mean, I love keeping the money as local as I can, and that that's where that money goes. So we appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I know we want to talk a little bit about California waterfowl on this on a future episode. Uh, I was already kind of talking to a couple of the reps here, um, and we'll get them on uh later, you know, when you know we're not all drinking, you know, uh's and well if my wife's listening, I haven't had a beer yet, so I don't know what you're talking about. No, hey, it's it's good. We we took tomorrow off, so we're uh we're having by all accounts it's Friday, Saturday night. But it's a good point. Yeah, I if you know my uh I know we kind of live in the same area there. So do you um you're from outside Sacramento? Um, so you know, do you go to different banquets or you kind of go to just that one, if you don't mind saying it, like Folsom, right?
SPEAKER_05:Uh so we do most of the CWA when we did the bingo this year in Roseville, which is a good time. Yeah, I lost up that one too. We did the blue goose. We always do the blue goose, that's like a mandatory event every year. We do the blue goose for Ducks Unlimited also, and then we try to, we're gonna hit Woodland next year. Everybody, you need to hit the woodland event if you want to win some real guns. Yeah, real guns. But we try just to hit the local events, try to support the locals.
SPEAKER_02:No, that's awesome. Yeah, you mentioned the blue goose one. That's how I got to know these guys at California Waterfowl. So that's kind of like my home banquet, if you will. And yeah, I've tried the one that and the Placer one. Yep, yeah. So trying to be uh more involved over there. But like the listeners know, I had a uh I had a kid this year, and and I just said, hey, I'm willing to help out on the committee, you know, and support any which way I can, but obviously the just the time commitment stuff like that. But yeah, no, it's it's no matter which bank you're blue goes.
SPEAKER_05:That's your go-to. I'm definitely a blue goose guy. I live in Lincoln.
SPEAKER_02:Was he at the one we were at? Yeah, it sounds like if he's going every year.
SPEAKER_05:I mean it had to have been Lincoln Natives. We always have the table up front. Shout out to R V Max.
SPEAKER_02:That's right, you're Lincoln. I thought you were full, so I'm sorry. Yeah, no, that makes sense. So dude, R V Max. That's the one right there.
SPEAKER_05:R V Max, if you need a quality, pre-owned, used trailer, hit up R V Max and Rockland and Loomis.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, dude. Right, you're not even seeing Oh, he's got the glasses on. We've got the duck, we've got the old school duck camo.
SPEAKER_05:It's okay. Hit up R V Max and quality pre-owned RVs. I was here no free show.
SPEAKER_03:I was here five minutes and I already sent him my my specific request of my next trailer.
SPEAKER_02:That makes sense. You came in here saying, hey, like I'm gonna get a trailer. I thought maybe you were selling it up those marketplaces.
SPEAKER_03:I'll give it uh as you guys will get to know me, I kind of ramble, but I'll give you the my best attempt at a 15-second fill-in. So I had a trailer last year, it was a my family loved it. Brandon and I had a few uh You do that. Yep, couple of guys night out uh duck hunting, it was right by the blind, and then I made the terrible decision of selling it, buying a fifth wheel, and it wasn't the best purchases of I've ever made. And we pull up, I pull up to dinner tonight, or uh I guess cocktail hour tonight, and I run into George here, and I was like, Mother. Oh, I can't say that. Uh here here's a guy I know who sells RVs, and I literally I told him and his old man here, I was like, this is what I want to buy. And so right off the bat, RV Max, they already sent me a text, they're like, We'll get you a listing by the end of the week, and that's all I need. You can't beat that. I know we're not doing a this is not some big plug for anything, but waterfowl and trailer. Anytime you need a trailer and waterfowl and that these these might be your guys, because I'll tell you what, they've already serviced me well. That's gonna go over well on the podcast. See, see, Brandon took his headset off.
SPEAKER_02:No, that's what I was gonna say. Um I'm sorry, I'm back here. No, we already need to talk about that. You know, give a shout out, RB. I already did. I gave the whole Spiel for the Lord.
SPEAKER_03:It was a ramble, it wasn't appropriate, and it was good.
SPEAKER_02:So you're from Lincoln, George, where do you do most of your hunting?
SPEAKER_05:We hunt at a place called the River Ranch, just a rice field in Pleasant Grove, and then we hunt rice up in Calusa at the Ash Ranch. Just basically rice for the most part, but you know, we're gonna hunt the marsh January 3rd. CWA acquired a new property. We're doing raffles.
SPEAKER_02:The uh the first come, first serve one right now, right? Yeah, it's the Petrero Ranch, right? Petroro Hills, yeah, something like that, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:300 bucks for a three-man blind. I mean, you can't beat it. It's like it's such a good deal.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:If you want to hunt, definitely hit up CWA's website, buy a hunt, apply for a hunt, try to win something.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, oh, for sure. And like Caden said, it all goes back, great cause, stays local, all that stuff. So um, so you know, did your your your dad hunt? Or, you know, I know your father in law is just getting into it, but how did you get into hunting?
SPEAKER_05:All my buddies from high school, they duck hunt. Okay. You start going to duck dinners, you win all these cool shotguns, and you start to do something with this. And you're like, oh, I should probably start using this, and then you go down the rabbit hole of buying your first sitka jacket, and then you end up buying everything sitka.
SPEAKER_02:So we're having a little side conversation you're no one.
SPEAKER_05:You know, just one of those where you start wearing a shotgun, you should go duck hunting. You go to duck dinners, you need to go duck hunting.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. And that's I mean, we've we've touched we've I'm gonna say this a bunch, but we've touched on this before. I'm one of the Brandon hunted a lot longer than I have. I'm newer to it. But when you when you get into duck hunting, I was a little bit older. I mean those dinners are a great spot to start. You uh meeting people who are have the same interests, they give you pointers. I mean, I think everywhere I go, including tonight's dinner, you meet people who are you're crossing paths, what is seven degrees of separation in duck hunting? I feel like it's like three degrees, if not two degrees of separation. I'm already getting invites to cool new hunts in different areas and just meeting new people.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I love it. Yeah, and that like you said at the beginning, that's what's cool about here. I walked right up here when I pulled up this afternoon, and everyone like I'm not even halfway up the ramp, and everyone's got their hand out introducing themselves and everything. So it's it's a good time and good group, and uh, you know, we had a good dinner.
SPEAKER_03:It's a little different though. I I'm a big refuge guy, and I I'm gonna go off tangent here, but that's what's different than going to like the I'm gonna use Sack Refuge as the go-to. Like you're gonna go to Sack Refuge, you're gonna lottery on, or you're gonna have a reszi. You're probably not gonna talk to a whole lot of guys about duck hunting. Uh we're very protective about our spots, even though it's public refuge. We're protective of what blind we're gonna draw. But you come out to a place like this and it seems like all that's out the window. Like we're all having a good time. I think we looked at a map like 10 20 minutes ago and it's like, hey, I'm gonna hunt here. Are you sure you want to hunt here? I think I could go ask anyone here and be like, Can I hunt your blind? And they'd like that we'd all swap.
SPEAKER_02:It's a different person, it's a different vibe. Everyone wants to have a good experience here, everyone wants to have a good hunt. But going back to that refuge thing, I think about it all the time. You know, we'll shout out the Filthy Spoon podcast. John said it a couple times that when you go to the refuge there, that check station, man, it's like Gen pop at a prison yard, you know, everyone's all like flexed up. But there's also there's nothing better. Oh, yeah. No, it's it's a good time, but I just think that's absolutely hilarious. So, George, we'll let you go here in a sec. What are you looking forward to about tomorrow?
SPEAKER_05:Shooting some wood ducks and seeing my dog retrieve her first duck of the year. Yeah, and her first duck of her whole life. She turns one next month, so it's kind of cool to bring her back for her first hunt. Even when I got to hunt here last year and I got to go pick her up after the hunt to bring her back for her first hunt, is something pretty special.
SPEAKER_02:What's your father-in-law looking for? Does he has she shot before? You guys gonna get some trap racing?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah. We've shot, he's shot. I mean, we shoot guns all the time, ARs, handguns and everything like that, but he's never shot a duck. And I told him it's literally the most addicting thing you'll ever do in the world. He's in trouble in entire life.
SPEAKER_03:He's your wife's okay with him spending a bunch of money over the next rest of his life. All right.
SPEAKER_02:Well, right on, man. Well, hey, uh, maybe we'll have George on tomorrow after the hunt, find out how he how he did. But no, in the meantime, we thank him for jumping on and uh we'll take a quick pause here and we'll get the next guy on. So thanks for coming on, George.
SPEAKER_05:Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02:All right, we're back. We got our uh next guest on here uh that'll be out hunting tomorrow. Actually, one of the uh two hosts here from California Waterfowl Association. We got Hunter. Welcome to For the Fowlers, Hunter.
SPEAKER_00:How's it going, guys?
SPEAKER_02:Good, man, good. Uh, appreciate you having us up here at San Born Slough.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm happy to have you guys. It's gonna be a good time tomorrow and looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so excuse me. Uh Hunter's one of the field reps for uh California Waterfowl, and you know, he works on the fundraising side, if I'm not mistaken. I met him a couple months ago, and good dude. You know, we're having a good time up here tonight, kind of just chatting a little bit about California waterfowl and and their mission. But uh, you know, he's kind of been organizing the hunt for tomorrow and uh yeah, looking forward to it, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, same. Looking forward to having all you guys out here. We have a beautiful property here. Sanborn is one of a kind, and really looking forward to it just because you know there's a lot of birds out here, and there's a lot of private clubs around us, but we're one of those few that if you're just the normal hunter, if you're used to those public land refuge hunting, so like you could come out here and get a little bit of a taste of the private life, and yeah, get a little taste of it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for sure. Like we were saying earlier. I mean, obviously you can get this through a dinner, or you know, you can get it through the hunt program, but I mean, like he was saying, I'm literally looking at a map of the butte sink here and all the uh multimillion dollar. Yeah, and you know, here we are right in the middle of it. So, yeah, this is a huge opportunity for just like the uh average Joe to get out here and uh hunt one of the uh most beautiful, most uh coveted. Yeah, exactly. I mean, tons of birds.
SPEAKER_00:And it's such an easy hunt, too. It's like the best part about it is you bring yourself, you bring a gun, a buddy, a buddy, a dog, and that's all you gotta bring because decoys are here, blinds are brushed, and you know our staff does a great job at at making sure you guys are gonna have a fun time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for sure. So I know we weren't gonna put you on the spot too much when it came to California Waterfowl, but uh you've been with them for a couple years now, and uh why don't you tell us a little bit about what you do for California Waterfowl Association?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I started out as a hunt tech, so I started out working for these properties and brushing these blinds and getting all the low man. The hunt yeah, low man on the total pole, you know. Somebody's got you gotta start somewhere. I mean, if you don't start somewhere, you ain't starting at all.
SPEAKER_03:So I'm gonna stop you right there just because I'm curious. Does that so you were working from property to property, brushing blinds, doing hand you a weed whacker and some head shrimmers, and you were at you were at it?
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Got I got put straight to work and and went straight to work and had a great time. I mean, you know, you get to see some amazing things come to life, and there's nothing that you can say that's bad about it. So I had a great time.
SPEAKER_03:And it got you some hunts along the way as well. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, the people you meet, the places you get a hunt working for California waterfowl are amazing. So you can't you can't say nothing bad about it.
SPEAKER_03:Was that a full-time gig in the beginning? Yeah, how'd you get started? Yeah, I mean, obviously, it was a part-time.
SPEAKER_00:I I actually worked as a engineer doing land survey before that, and then I jumped into this. Part-time work, part-time work for fun, just like some hunts along on top of it. Yeah, and then as as the story behold is I jumped into the fundraising side and now you got a job. Now I have a big time job.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, that's awesome, man. Obviously, you know, tomorrow we'll be out hunting and everything. Uh how long have you been hunting for?
SPEAKER_00:I've been hunting for Wow, since I was young. I mean, I I remember going out to the blind with my grandfather. We'd go out to the Glide in Ranch, and I'd sit there with a little airsoft gun and shoot at those ducks with that airsoft gun and think I was dropping them dead, but you know, went out to Yankee Slough as I as I grew and killed the pheasant, but you know, I've been hunting since I was like 10, 12 years old, and then So it's been a life a lifelong pursuit for you. Yeah, you'd say that, but I I I kind of got out of it. I joined the military. Oh, we didn't care. Oh, yeah, thank you guys. Joined the military, went out the the army. Oh, army, okay. Yeah, I was in North Carolina and had a friend take me wood duck hunting. On the East Coast. On the East Coast, yeah, and got the itch right there.
SPEAKER_03:I know nothing about that. That's cool.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, it's it's insane. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_03:Wood ducks out there, everything good to go.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, wild. It's it's nothing like you've ever seen. It's like the teal. Really? Yeah. Just swarming in. Swarming.
SPEAKER_03:And I was just occasionally seeing one out on public land out here.
SPEAKER_00:And I came back home and I was like, I need to I need to figure this out. And that that's that's what got me right back into it.
SPEAKER_02:Nice. So I know you'll come out tomorrow, but you've already been out this season. Uh how was opening weekend for you?
SPEAKER_00:Opening weekend was great. I mean, I I I hunted YOLO, big YOLO rat, so YOLO alert for everybody that's out there. It's not that good, right? No, it's terrible.
SPEAKER_03:Don't go to Stop Burning Podcast and don't go anywhere. That we never talk about.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, YOLO sucks. So no, I had a great time. I mean, my brother. Did you ride a bike? No bikes. We walked, we hiked it.
SPEAKER_03:Good, good man.
SPEAKER_00:We shot some birds, had a great time, and then I took my girlfriend out to Grizzly Ranch for the f her first hunt, and that was a blast.
SPEAKER_02:So a lot of good first hunts. That's what I was just thinking. George took his taking his father-in-law out here, Sanborn Slough. Hunter's girlfriend's going to Grizzly Ranch, man.
SPEAKER_03:My first hunt was at Grizzly Island. They they do call that the poor man's grizzly ranch. So I guess I had it good.
SPEAKER_02:I got a pit-blinded Delve in my first hunt.
SPEAKER_00:So you got it real good.
SPEAKER_03:No, I think I'd take a Grizzly Island and a Sanborn Slough over some of those, but at the end of the day, as long as you get an opportunity. How'd the girlfriend enjoy uh Grizzly Ranch?
SPEAKER_00:She she liked it. She didn't like the whole watching the ducks die, but that's all part of the game. It's all part of the harvest. Exactly.
SPEAKER_03:I'm gonna say harvest to keep us, you know, for some of those listeners out there who don't want to hear that.
SPEAKER_00:It's all part of doing the Lord's work, so it's like we gotta we gotta make sure people are getting fed.
SPEAKER_02:So I I know out there at Grizzly Ranch you guys do like the hunt program and whatnot. So like did are there things for her, like you know, like waiters and different stuff, or do you have to go out and spend all that money and get her all set up?
SPEAKER_00:I think that's the best part about the ranch is that we have this big mud room that if you want to bring somebody out that's never hunted before, we have waiters for everybody. Anybody could get out there. It's a real easy hunt, and our hunt program's set up in a great way for people to, you know, buy these hunts and get those people out that have never hunted before. And you know, we do a great job at getting those youth hunters out there as well. So anybody that's new to hunting, it's a great way to introduce them to hunting because it's uh that it gives them that private feel.
SPEAKER_02:No, for sure. I I actually shouted out on our last episode uh California Waterfowl's hunt camp. You know, the the two like weekend hunt camps that are coming up this season, and uh it's a heck of a deal. Uh don't quote me, I want to say it's like five hundred dollars per guest, something like that, maybe six, but you know, you guys will you know teach them waterfowl ID, you know, go over some duck calls, decoy setups. But um I think if I was looking online that you know, I think everything but a gun, like you come out with a gun and a hunting license, but you guys have everything else for these guys, right?
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, and that that's the great thing about those hunt camps is a lot of them they'll go into those hunt camps, and Jeff and Carson do a great job at at teaching them everything from waterfowl ID to handling a gun properly. They they they come out of those hunt camps with with their hunting education. They're they're all ready to go once they're once they're out of there, and it's a good time.
SPEAKER_03:And we were talking about it off off the podcast here, but dude, getting the juniors out there with Grizzly Grizz Grizzly Ranch, anytime you can get the kids out to a hunt, that junior hunts are all about success. We go out there and hunt. We've we have good days, we have bad days, whether it's private, public, whatnot. But at the end of the day, in my opinion, if you if you've got a spot that shoots well and like you can get juniors out there, that that's what grows the sport, because at the end of the day, that's what's gonna pass we're gonna pass that torch on to them. They're gonna pass it on to their kids, and no one wants to start off with a rough hunt. So when you get the opportunity to hunt Grizzly Island, whether or sorry, Grizzly Ranch, or Grizzly Island, if you know a guy, but uh or Sanborn Slough or some private property, take those juniors out there because I mean I I wish when I was a kid I had that opportunity, and I know I'm gonna give that opportunity to my children. Brandon's gonna do the same. Though that's what passes on this sport.
SPEAKER_02:For sure. And uh speaking of kids, one more shout out to CWA is I was looking at obviously membership's important to you guys, and obviously got the Sprig program as well. So I'm excited to get my son uh he's only three months, but you know, I'm gonna get signed up for the biggest thing.
SPEAKER_03:I think I've I think I see two or three memberships a year. I don't know how they keep track of it, but every dinner I go to, I sign up for a new membership. So I'm not gonna go.
SPEAKER_02:That's included in your ticket. Yeah, I'm always in. Yeah, you're probably a member through like 2035 already or something.
SPEAKER_03:I'm always in for a CWA membership, don't get me wrong. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think that's the that's that's the good thing, is like with the kids especially. Like I told my girlfriend when we were out there, it's not about uh harvesting birds. It's more about those memories you get to make in those blinds where I've been out there on those youth hunts with the kids, and you know, we we might kill one or two ducks, but it's about the memories that I gotta I gotta sit there with those kids and make with them and see the see that smile on their face when they when they shoot the body.
SPEAKER_02:When the dog brings the bird in or hey, before we let you go, what can we expect to get into tomorrow?
SPEAKER_00:You know, the big hope is to get into a few mallards. I know a few of us are gonna be in some wood duck holes. Sanborn Slough is right on that that slough right there. So we got a bunch of wood ducks out here, but you know, we stack up in the mallards, we're at that top of the sink, so we have a lot of birds, and it's a good amount of fun right here.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, for sure, man. Well, either way, man, it's gonna be a great experience out there, and we can't thank you enough, Hunter, for uh, you know, having us up here. And you know, shout out Eric from CWA having us up here as well. But no, we really appreciate everything that you guys do on the fundraising side and everything everyone at California Waterfowl Association does for the sport that we love so much, man. So we appreciate you jumping on for the Fowlers.
SPEAKER_03:We might have to get you back out here. I got some questions about all that fundraising. And yeah, because I I think I've we've talked about it a bunch on this podcast, but dinners, donations, things like that. I'd be curious to get some pick your guys' brains, whether it's you or someone else you know, about how how all that money gets for sure. Yeah. It's a good opportunity. We talk about I'm not curious about where the money goes. No, no, no.
SPEAKER_02:I think it's a good opportunity, and like at the end of the day, it's it's what we want to make sure the word gets out because obviously the stronger California Waterfowl Association is, the better the sport is. You know, obviously the better the opportunities are, not just at these private ranches, but you know, we have a you know and I know you guys I mean there's a ton you guys do just beyond putting water on properties and things like that.
SPEAKER_03:So we're we're just scratching the surface.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm just curious about it. We we won't name drop them on here, but you know, we know a mutual person that has property just south of here, and when you guys do it, when he bought it, yeah, he bought it a few years ago.
SPEAKER_03:And you guys do a ton just to like support the habitat. You get there's opportunities to hey, you got private property, we're gonna help you guys supplement whatever it is to get water on that property to help the wood ducks, whatever it is. There's a lot of lot of conservation happening, and I don't think people realize what you guys do as an organization beyond just yeah, hey, here's a hunt, here's a dinner, here's a hunt, here's a dinner. There's a lot more being done than you guys do. So it would be good to get you guys back.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, definitely. And just to just to finish it up, I think the best thing about California waterfowl looking at I mean, I support all of the Conservation agencies, whether it's Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, all of them. But the biggest thing with California waterfowl is all this money that we raised here in this state is stays in the state, goes to projects in the state, so goes to conservation in the state, which is huge. I mean, you look at Klamath right now, and Klamath is thriving. And that's that's a that's a big part of the state. Shout out to CW California waterfowl, and it's what we do, and those those got water this year. Exactly. And it's those biologists that work real hard to make sure this that this this state has water and those ducks can thrive. So be on the lookout this year, because those ducks are up at at Klamath and they're they're ready to come down. So we're gonna have a good year.
SPEAKER_03:One good north wind.
SPEAKER_00:One good north wind. Maybe two. Maybe two.
SPEAKER_02:Whoa, whoa, whoa, there's no birds up there. I know, just saying, let us know when they're on their way down.
SPEAKER_03:I'll just little text. Maybe I'll send a pigeon. I'll send a duck.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, send a duck out. Send a duck down. Well, well, right on, man. Hunter, thanks for coming on for the Fowlers. And once again, shout out California Waterfowl Association. Any of the listeners that aren't a member, join. 35 bucks a year. It's super easy. Is that all it is? No. Simple as that. You guys gotta raise the fees. It's nothing.
SPEAKER_03:How much is my dinner ticket?
SPEAKER_02:No, no.
SPEAKER_03:Let me let me say one thing.
SPEAKER_02:Actually, I I was out at one of the local refugees the other night, and uh dinner. No, you guys had some volunteers out there, and they were actually doing free membership, raffle, stuff like that. No way. Yeah, they did it last year. And no, I think it's great because I mean, you know, get out there, but hey, membership is just the beginning. Go out there, support your banquets. There's other volunteer programs that you can do. Do the wood duck wood box program, wood duck program.
SPEAKER_03:Bring your wife to the banquet.
SPEAKER_02:Go out to eggs alvage. I'm actually pumped for when my son gets old enough. I want to go out and do those uh banding uh projects. That'd be pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00:With Brian, Brian, I mean, that's a blast right there.
SPEAKER_03:But a big fan of bring your wife to the banquet. It could go good, it could go bad, but it's a good opportunity to show her, like, hey, we're not that crazy. There's other people who like what we do.
SPEAKER_00:You just gotta tell her it's date night. That's all you gotta do.
SPEAKER_03:Date night. Prime rib, maybe some salad, a lot of drinks. CW. Hypothetically.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Or not.
SPEAKER_02:Well, run on, man. Well, Hunter, appreciate you coming on. We look forward to tomorrow. Thanks again, man. Thank you. All right, we got our next guest out here. This one I'm excited to have on. Just met him outside. Uh this is Lucas. Welcome to For the Fowlers.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh, so Lucas and I were chatting out there, and I gotta say, appreciate your service. He's active duty Air Force. He's stationed out here at Beale Air Force Base. And uh he's able to get a little time off to come up here and do a little duck hunting.
SPEAKER_01:Kinda, kinda, kinda. I gotta go to work tomorrow night.
SPEAKER_02:So okay, so he'll come out and hunt, have a good hunt tomorrow morning, and then go out and uh do some work out there. We were talking a little bit. How long have you been in the Air Force?
SPEAKER_01:Nine years.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, awesome. And you're originally from Indiana, you said, but you've only been stationed at Beale.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I've only been stationed at Beale for the last eight and a half years.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And did you pick up waterfowl hunting since you've been out here, or is it something you did a little bit before?
SPEAKER_01:I did it, I hunted a little when I was younger, hunted, did waterfowl hunting when I was younger as well with some family, and uh stationed out here, didn't really realize how good it how good we have it out here. For sure. The Pacific Flyway, it's pretty good. Picked it back up and haven't stopped.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's awesome, man. Well, uh, you know, we're obviously out here as guests, the California waterfowl, and I know you're familiar with the Veteran Hunt program, but maybe uh for our listeners that are not, but I'm no expert on the veteran hunt program, but I obviously I know the importance of it and how they take care of our active and um retired vets. But maybe if you can just give us a quick spiel on that.
SPEAKER_01:About three, four years ago, I got involved with the veteran hunt program with CWA. About two, two and a half years ago, I got pulled on as a guide to help them out. We take vets, active duty, retirees, we take them out, basically a free hunt. All they gotta do is be a member of CWA. We do all the calling, we do basically a full guide, a full guide for free. So if any vets are out there and they're in California and don't know about it, go to CWA, go to their website, sign up for the hunt program. It's a great time. We get people kind of all over the state. I met people from out of state that hear about it, so no, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_02:Do you uh have folks on base that you know have participated in it?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so Mike Kellogg with the VHP has helped out the guys at a Beale, the guys at a Travis. He gets a lot of us out. We just had two guys out last week at Moon Lake. I shot, I think, six ducks or so. We had a brand new hunter and a guy that's been hunting for a couple years, so they had a good time. Uh we also have a hunt program at a Beale.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I wanted to hear a little bit about that. Sorry to cut you off, but yeah, I'd love to hear about that.
SPEAKER_01:So, yeah, we have a program at a Beale. It's kind of an all-a- all-around. We can hunt pretty much anything. No predators is about the only thing we can't hunt, like no coyotes, no mountain, obviously no mountain lines in California, no bears, but uh, we have deer, quail, sneaky pheasants every now and then. Most of them kind of stay hidden. Big on ducks, big on geese. Uh we get a bunch of Canada geese as well, which is kind of like a little rare for Uba City. They don't get them as much anymore as if they used to.
SPEAKER_02:I was looking, and it's funny, I was kind of looking at you know, some public land uh turkey hunting and whatnot, but I think right on the north side of the base there, Spenceville up there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so we got we have a ton of turkeys.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:So our program's owned by CE Environmental, and they hate the turkeys because they they try to plant new plants, new trees, and they just tear everything up. So we have we have turkeys galore. Nice. I think last year we had I think like 25 young with two two hens just running around, and we're like, man, what a year.
SPEAKER_02:Dead the Beal Hunt program, that that's interesting. How many folks are you know experienced hunters versus how many are like, hey, first-time hunters and I want to check it out?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's a mi it's a mixed bag on that one. We get a bunch of new guys that have never hunted before, and we kind of got to like coach them up, or we pair them, we pair them with somebody that doesn't know what they do if they're if they're willing to take them out or if they can. We've got about 12 blinds on the base. Every blind on the base, as starting this year, now is uh supplied with decoys. So they got 12 mallards, 12 widgeon, and uh three to four honkers or so, depends on what blind it is. So you're hunting on the base. Yeah, we're hunting on the base.
SPEAKER_02:That's crazy. Um, and I don't know why I'm just throwing this out there. Now my father-in-law was actually stationed at Beale uh years ago, and I'm gonna have to pick his brain on that. He's not he's not a hunter by any means, but he was a stationed at Beale Air Force Base for a while, and I'm about to be like, hey, you never told me that there was uh waterfowl hunting out there, but that's it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's it's good. Uh last year we did pretty good. We shot about 450 birds total. Uh that's probably amongst about 30 hunters or so, maybe 40. Wow. Um we get a few uh a few people that come in that are family, like retirees and their kids can come hunt. Some of the kids will come in and we get a bunch of creeks to jump shoot, ton of wood ducks. We're part of the CWA's Wood Duck program as well. So we report all of our numbers of them. So if you're looking at CWA magazine, you'll find Beale in there with whoever's part of the program or whoever's ran that, you'll find it in there.
SPEAKER_02:I'm about to take a look at that next time that magazine comes out of that that uh surveyor report comes out. That's pretty cool. But um, are there like any sort of like restrictions as far as hunt days go during the season?
SPEAKER_01:No, that's what's kind of nice. I know other some of the bases have hunting as well. Other a little more restrictive, or they allow, or they have they have more rules to allow more people. So we strictly only allow active duty, so that's either guard reservist or just your active duty from any other any base, okay, any service. Government civilians, they added those in there, and then also retirees. We don't allow vets right now. I think it's just because like it's kind of like an area thing. We don't have that much of land, like, yeah, Beale's big, whatever, but we don't have that much hunting land that we can use. Yeah, so that kind of if we you know added two or three hundred vets on there, I'd love to have them out there. We're actually working to get vets out there like on guided hunts with us, but I think it would it would a little ruin it a little bit for active duty. But uh we're we're working there to get more more vets involved out there because I know they're very interested.
SPEAKER_02:No, that that's awesome that there's that kind of outlet or you know, that opportunity for you guys. And is this unique to Beal or is this something that maybe like Travis does something out in the Sassoon Marsh? Are you aware of anything like that?
SPEAKER_01:I don't know if Travis will. We do have some hunters that come up from Travis. Okay. Uh I could ask them about it as well. But like I know you can hunt at Vandenberg, Pendleton. Uh there's some bases like in Florida you can hunt. There's Barksdale. So there are bases that you can hunt. Alaska's one as well. It's just kind of like any base that has land, it there's probably an opportunity or there could be an opportunity.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, that's awesome. Well, uh before we uh let you get out of here, I know um you've hunted uh quite a few of the CWA properties through you know the veteran hunt program, but uh you were telling me you've never hunted Sanborne C.
SPEAKER_01:I have not, I have not. I think last year I was tagged to go on the vet weekend, but I think last year it was flooded out. Okay. Uh poor normal, you know. California likes a flood in January, so yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So you're looking for obviously you're looking forward to tomorrow. What do you uh what are you most looking forward to about this property?
SPEAKER_01:I'll just see what it's like. Just get some birds on the ground, and I've got my pretty young dog with me. See, see how he handles it. You know, he didn't like this past weekend very well on public land, so we'll kind of see what's going on. First season for him, or it's first full season. I had him out last year trying to get him acclimated to public land because I go out with quite a few people. Multiple guns going off. You know, some dogs like it, some dogs don't. So this will be his like first full season. He went out quite a bit last year, but we'll see how he does. He we'll see how he does by the end of the year.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's awesome, man. Well, um, we really appreciate you coming on uh for the Fowlers here, and more importantly, we really appreciate your service and thanks for everything you do. Yeah, appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you.
SPEAKER_02:All right, have a good one. Hey two all right, we're back. We got our next guest here, probably our last guest of the night, but uh I wanted to bring this guy on. I went outside here, and we're having a good time up here at this handborn slew clubhouse, and uh I was talking to Logan here, he's another Sacramento guy, he's from Folsom, but uh he had a couple good stories out there, and I said, Hey, do you want to come jump on the podcast? You gotta share that with the listeners. Uh one's kind of a story from the Sacramento area, YOLO to be specific, but another one is about one of his experiences early on here. I'll let him tell the story, but I think it goes back to when he's about 10 years old. So uh next up on For the Fowlers here, we got Logan. Logan, welcome to the show, man.
SPEAKER_06:Thank you, sir.
SPEAKER_02:Well, hey, you know, obviously uh you're up here at San Bourn't Slew. You're looking forward to tomorrow getting out there and getting after some ducks.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely. Hope we uh each shoot seven of them, and uh no matter what, we'll go home a lucky man.
SPEAKER_02:I love it, I love it. Well, uh, we won't keep the listeners waiting. You know, why don't we kick it off? I walk outside and you know, Hunter, who was on earlier, said, Hey, you gotta have this guy on. He has a story about how he almost died out hunting, and and I don't mean to make light of it, but when you kind of hear the story, some of the listeners might be like, you know, shaking their head or rolling their eyes or whatnot. But uh do me a favor, let's not throw any like names out there or you know, those connections to those folks. But uh I'll turn it over to you. Why don't you go and tell us that story about uh that experience out at YOLO?
SPEAKER_04:Alright, so a little background story, you know, everybody goes out, you know, young hunter, name's Logan Grundy, you know, been hunting for about two or three years, just learned basically how to hunt all the refugees, went out to YOLO one of these days. Not everybody gets out early in the morning, got out around 10. It was about 10, 11, went and took a blind with uh a couple of my my guys, and we're sitting there in the parking lot, pulled up, getting our waiters on. All of a sudden we hear a gunshot go off, and we turn around, and the backside of my truck is peppered with BBs. Left side of the another truck that we didn't know, luckily, was also peppered with BBs, didn't have anybody there. Everybody was okay, dogs run around barking, turn around again, and there was a lady that had unsafely unloaded her gun in a in the parking lot. She came out of the uh what what would you call it? It's the uh the the parking lot where like all the blinds. Yeah, yeah, you got the blinds, which she came from the the free room area. Yeah, she walked out of the free room area, put her gun in her Subaru, and went to go unload her gun, accidentally clicked the trigger, went off, blew a hole through the side of her Subaru, peppered the left side of my tailgate while I'm sitting on the right side. And yeah, luckily we're all okay, and yeah, that's just yeah, man, that's absolutely insane to hear.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, one, like the fact that anyone's walking back to the parking lot with a loaded shotgun, and two, the fact that they're, you know, the way that they're unloading it, and she had it racked in her in her trunk there. I'm gonna see if I can't get that picture from Logan. Maybe we'll post it up on the Instagram page. But uh yeah, he showed me the picture, sure enough. It's blown out the side of her car, and you know, he's got a couple BB marks in the side of his truck, and man, that's crazy. Fortunately, uh Logan's alright and the rest of his group's good, but uh man, that's a scary, scary story, you know. Especially, you know, you're in the parking lot and you're getting ready to go out, and just to hear that. I mean, we all hear those gunshots off in the distance when we're out in the lot, especially when we're sweating on. But man, that's that's insane, man. So uh glad you're all right. And like I said, not a funny story, but man, I was like, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_04:But everybody make sure you unload your guns before you get in the parking lot. Make sure you know you're safe when you're going out to those uh refuges and hunting those free room areas, blinds, doesn't matter who you're with, you don't know anybody next to you.
SPEAKER_02:Well said, man. Um that's crazy. But uh I think this next story is actually kind of funny. As you guys know, we're out here at Sanborn Slough, and uh this goes back. I don't know how you are how old you are now, Logan, or how far back this goes, but this goes back before California Waterfowl actually owned this property. Yeah, you were out hunting it. So uh we're gonna hear a story real quick about how Logan actually almost burned this clubhouse down.
SPEAKER_04:So I won't take all the credit, but me and my buddy Jake LaSath. Shout out to him.
SPEAKER_02:Like I said, you were about 10 years old when this happened.
SPEAKER_04:We well, we were, I think we were 13 years old. And how were you coming out here? How'd you have access to these? My best friend, Jake Lay Sath, his dad is Scott LaSath, who uh used to have the show Hunt Fish Cook turn into dead meat and uh numerous other shows. So he's actually been out here recently cooking some some cooking segments, but we came out here when I was like 13 and you know we showed up to the place, had dinner, went to bed, and these beds that we were sleeping on had rollers on them. And it we couldn't determine who it was. It was either Jake or me. We rolled up, we rolled a bed, you know, it was probably four or five in the morning. And we rolled one of the beds up to the space heater the the wall heater, and we're you know, we're sitting there hunting, and I still have a bird that I shot out there that one day. It was a greenwing teal, and it's still on my wall today. Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_02:And something to remember uh that day from.
SPEAKER_04:That's cool. Yes, and all of a sudden we're we're sitting out there and we see a plume of smoke out in the distance, and the dads are like, oh shit, we gotta go take a take a closer look at that. That's kind of where we were staying. Dads drive the boat back, and they get there, and I'll just speak for the dads. They had to run the house. This is the best part. Go for it. The freaking whole house was filled with smoke. They ran into the bedroom, found the flaming bed, and chucked it out the main room. And, you know, if it wasn't for them, this whole place would be down in history. We wouldn't be here right now.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I know that that's the crazy part, is like, you know, this is my second time here, and I think it's an absolute blast. What a cool opportunity. And the fact is, man, this almost never would have happened because Logan and Andor's buddy decided to try to try to torture this place. Well, yeah, well, that's crazy, man. Well, I appreciate you coming on and sharing those stories. You've obviously hunted here before before we let you go. What are you looking forward to about tomorrow?
SPEAKER_04:Well, tomorrow, if you know, if I'm looking forward to something, me and my buddy almost brought Jake Lace out. Shout out to him again. We almost brought down a honker when we were 14. It was our first goose. Me and him were gonna shoot together, and I'm hoping to get a honker tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I I was driving around the valley over the weekend, man, and um they're they're up here right now. I'm I've seen a handful, and I know it's kind of a slow opening weekend, but some folks were getting into a couple honkers, so uh right on, man. Well, we wish you the best of luck tomorrow, and thanks for coming on and sharing those stories. Glad you're all right from YOLO, and you know, glad you didn't you know totally burn this place down to the ground. But uh thanks for coming on for the Fowlers, man. We appreciate it. I'm glad we could be here, baby. All right, man. Thanks. All right, we're back, and uh Caton's back here. He's got a fresh beer. I just poured another jack, and you missed out on a couple good guests there, Caitlin.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I can't wait to hear it myself. I I definitely stepped away from the podcast for a second, but that's the the joy of the old Sanborn Slough.
SPEAKER_02:No, I told you to take a microphone with you, man. You're out there uh holding cord out on the patio. I definitely should have. No, well, uh, we're gonna kind of close things up here. Uh the party's kind of uh dying down a little bit here. Folks are starting to head off to bed, but uh you know, we really look forward to tomorrow. Uh it'll be a good hunt. Caitlin and I know where we're going, so we'll boat out there tomorrow, and uh I think we'll uh check in with uh Well, afternoon.
SPEAKER_03:Who knows how it'll be, but a little afternoon after the hunt podcast?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, yeah, we'll just kind of check in real quick before we hit the road. And yeah, what you think about today? It's been pretty cool, huh? Second time in Singapore.
SPEAKER_03:That's all duck hunting is about. I don't care what anyone says, but you gotta come out and experience a situation like this where you're with your buddies. Or actually let me rephrase that. Other than you, I don't know anyone else here, and it's it's been a good time. It's like meeting old friends, even though I just met them and no, for sure.
SPEAKER_02:We were just talking to some folks, and it doesn't matter where you're from, what you do, whatever you come up here, we're all bonding over waterfowl hunting, and it's been a good time.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, it's been good, and I hope the listeners got some good insight and got some of the excitement I have for tomorrow morning. So we'll see.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so thanks to the guys that came on. Uh we had George and Hunter and Lucas and Logan and uh shit, that was gone for a while, wasn't it? Yeah, no, but it was a good time, and uh we'll check in with you guys tomorrow. All right. All right, we're back to close this episode out. Uh here we are morning after the hunt. Pretty good morning overall, you know. A little slow out there, but still it's it's a fun experience out here. Thanks again to California Waterfowl for hosting us out here. Um it's a good time. I definitely recommend folks, you know, put in and try to come out here. You know, it's a it's a cool experience, unlike any other. You know, you take some side by sides out to the boat ramp, and most I think all but maybe one blind are all boat in, so it's it's it's a fun experience for sure. But yeah, we got into some ducks this morning. Overall, not really a banger for anyone here that was hunting today, but everyone had a little bit of success. But that was a good time. What'd you think, Caitlin?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, it was awesome. It was nice getting out there. First hunt of the season for me, uh, where I'm actually shooting, and uh took a couple shot shots to knock some of the rust off, but once we got it dialed in and it was fun to see the the duck start falling. Shout out to my pup Rooster, he had a good day. It's been quite a learning two and a half seasons with him. He's he's a ball of fire, got a lot of energy, so sometimes getting out in that blind is a little bit stressful. And he, I mean, he handled it like a champ. And once the bird once he star started getting on the birds, I mean there's no stopping him. It's cool not losing anything, and it sure is nice not walking out in that disc field, uh letting the dog do all the work.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man, for sure. I was really impressed that last bird we got, just the way kind of off to my left there, and we both saw it. But obviously, when I knocked it down, it just it fell right into some thick uh tulies, and you had eyes on it the whole time, but Rooster definitely didn't. But as soon as we kind of put him on the right direction, he was on it. So yeah, no, he he looked really good out there today, uh doing good in the blind. Yeah, really good pups, so nice work with him. But yeah, we just wanted to wrap this one up. It was fun meeting all the guys up here, a lot of fun, you know, kind of hanging out with them last night. But yeah, thanks again to California Waterfowl, and yeah, we'll uh see you guys next time.
SPEAKER_03:Have a good one.