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
Ep. 14 Classroom to Wetlands: Agriculture Mechanics Teacher Zach Smith
A high school shop class turned into a conservation engine, and the results are changing a community. We sit down with Zach Smith, an ag mechanics teacher from California’s Central Valley, whose students built 70 wood duck boxes, partnered with California Waterfowl, and headed into the Grasslands to install and maintain them alongside refuge staff. What started as a woodworking unit became a hands-on lesson in habitat, stewardship, and the power of public lands.
Zach walks us through the ag mechanics pathway—woodworking, welding, electrical, and sheet metal—and how those skills translate directly to wildlife projects with real outcomes. We dig into why wood duck boxes matter for cavity nesters, the best practices for placement and predator protection, and how monitoring can guide better decisions season after season. The students don’t just build in the shop; they join U.S. Fish and Wildlife to brush up blinds, restore pollinator gardens, and see firsthand how wetlands are managed across the Los Banos, Kesterson, and San Luis complexes.
There’s also a forward-looking twist: an Ag Technology track that introduces ACDC fundamentals, motor controls, and robotics opens the door to conservation tech. We talk about practical ways to pair sensors and data logging with nest box surveys and water quality monitoring—turning shop projects into STEM-driven field research. Along the way, perspectives on hunting evolve as students and staff connect license dollars, volunteer labor, and habitat outcomes. Even those who don’t hunt leave with marketable skills, a deeper respect for wetlands, and a clear sense of how to contribute.
If you care about duck hunting, wetlands, education, or the future of the skilled trades, this conversation delivers insight and inspiration from the marsh up. Tap play, then share the episode with someone who loves the Grasslands—or a teacher who might bring a program like this to life. Subscribe for more stories that align skills with stewardship, and leave a review to help others find the show.
What's up, guys? Welcome to another episode of For the Fowlers. I'm Brandon. Man, can't believe it. Episode 14. Time is just absolutely flying by. And man, it's been an absolute blast the last few months working on this podcast. You know, been really enjoying some of the folks I'm getting to chat with and obviously some of the different topics and stuff like that. But really excited about today's podcast. We'll have a guest on here shortly, but uh today's guest, actually fan of the show, and we were chatting a little bit before uh we started recording, and he's actually listened to every episode, so we can't thank him enough for all that support. But yeah, a little bit about today's guest. I got a fellow duck hunter out of the Central Valley, but we're gonna have Zach Smith joining us here in a sec. And Zach is a high school agriculture mechanics teacher down at Delhi High out in the Central Valley. And wanted to bring Zach on here because we were chatting a little bit on Instagram, and Zach does a fun program with his students where uh they work to construct wood duck boxes and they obviously partner with like fish and wildlife as well as TWA to get them placed at various refuges around the grassland. So really cool program. But in addition to that, they do some habitat restoration, they do some blind brush-up projects, you know, kind of prepping for the season, just to name a few. So excited to welcome Zach to the show and we'll get it started. So, Zach, welcome to Four the Fowlers, man.
SPEAKER_01:How's it going?
SPEAKER_00:Good, good, man. I'm you know, good to have you on the show. I know we chatted a little bit before we went live here. Excited to hear kind of a little bit about yourself.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely. Hey, I'm I appreciate the opportunity to get on here and highlight the work that my students have put in. We're a relatively new program. This is our second year that we've had an ag mechanics pathway at Bell High High School. So we're actually gearing up right now to begin building our second round of boxes with the program. The kids are getting excited.
SPEAKER_00:That's awesome. Well, we'll jump into that, but before we do, let's hear a little bit about Zach Smith here. You know, tell us where where'd you grow up? You know, I know you're down in, I think you said down in the Central Valley, you live out in the grasslands area, but where'd you grow up and uh how'd you get into waterfowl hunting?
SPEAKER_01:So I grew up in Ceres, went to Ceres High School, was involved in uh the FSA there, and then went on to Fresno State. That's where I met my wife. But kind of backing up a little bit, the way I got into waterfowl hunting was through an girlfriend's dad uh when I first started college, uh took me out on what would have been if I you know had started earlier, would have been my last junior hunt, the last opportunity I had to get out as a junior. And from there, I haven't stopped. It's it's been amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's most of your so obviously growing up in Ceres. Did you spend most of your time waterfowl hunting down there in the grasslands? You know, mostly public land. Did you do some private hunting? Uh, you know, what kind of hunting do you do down there or were you doing growing up?
SPEAKER_01:Uh so growing up, no hunting, like nobody in my family hunts, did a little bit of fishing, camping, but definitely had that impact from a girlfriend of mine, her father. Yeah, took me out. Uh they had a a blind at a club. I think it was the East Gusteen. Took me out on a junior hunt, and then from there I I haven't stopped. Uh now my wife hunts with me, but uh it's uh it's been fun, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man, it it it's pretty addicting, and yeah, it's obviously a lot of fun and and I'm sure makes things a little easier, a little more uh opportunistic for you to get out, you know, being that your wife hunts with you too. That that's freaking awesome, man. Good for you.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely. Yeah, she started getting out more this season. She started last season, went out a couple hunts, and then now she's been uh she's been out almost every weekend with me.
SPEAKER_00:That's awesome. What what does she enjoy about it?
SPEAKER_01:She enjoys getting out, getting out for one. She really enjoys actually she's stuck, started working the dog now. We've got two uh two labs, uh one that we got from my hunting partner who he's been a big mentor in the last I think we've been hunting together for about five years now. He's been hunting the grassland since he was a kid. He's I think he's 76 now. Um so he's hunted some of the refuges when there were still ranches, and it's interesting to hear the stories and kind of see where things have gone over the years.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, that that's awesome. Well, let's fast forward a little bit. You said you went to Fresno State there, uh, your bulldog, right? Did I get that right? Yes, sir. So did you know going down to Fresno State that you wanted to become a teacher, or what what made you, you know, decide?
SPEAKER_01:Uh so I had a big impact uh from my high school ag teacher, the opportunities that she gave us to students. I wanted to do the same for students myself. So I I knew in sophomore year of high school, that's what I wanted to do. Took a roundabout path to get there. I worked as a cheat nutle worker for a little while through school. But you know, I've been in the classroom now four years. I taught my first two years in the classroom at Oris Gymbo High School in Newman, and now I've moved over to Del High High School and we're starting the program there. I've got a great team behind me as well.
SPEAKER_00:So it's uh Yeah, no, that that's great, man. I know we talked a little bit offline, you know. Obviously, I I grew up in kind of uh urban, like city, suburbs type type community, but you know, we didn't have agriculture ag classes at my high school. And to be honest, I think that this is great hearing about this. Tell me a little bit about ag mechanics and you know, one, how you got into that, but sounds like a little bit of inspiration from your teacher while you were in high school. But but what does that education or that program look like today before we kind of dive into some of the specifics that your group's working on? Let's see. So uh can you can you repeat that question? I apologize. Like ag mechanics, like I like for me, like I I think like I don't want to sound naive or whatnot, but you know, I'm thinking like more like machinery and whatnot, obviously related to the agriculture like field. But tell us a little bit about what that program and that education looks like for your students.
SPEAKER_01:So there's some different pathways students can select, and they all for the most part with ag mechanics programs throughout the state, they start with an introduction to ag mechanics as the ninth grader. So they get kind of the basics. We do some woodworking, some plumbing, electrical, sheet metal, cold metal. If we have time, we'll do a little bit of concrete at the end of the year. Um, and then from there, they get to make the decision going into sophomore year. Okay, do I want to take some programs offer an ag mechanics too? Um our program. I don't really want to get into the specifics quite yet, but our program offers kind of a different offshoot where they can take the welding pathway, or we offer a different program. It's called Ag Technology.
SPEAKER_00:And and what what what sort of students like participate in these programs? Because like I know just some of my friends that live down in that area, friends that like from Patterson, Crow's Landing, you know, you got guys in Hillmar, and they all actually are from farming families. Is that most of your students that participate in this program? Do they come from an agriculture or maybe a farming background, or do you have some students who maybe their parents have nothing to do with agriculture but they find an interest in it? Is a little bit of a mix of both?
SPEAKER_01:I would say where we're at in Delhi specifically, we have a handful of students that come from an ag background, a farming background, but the majority of our students have no background in agriculture other than their parents might work in the industry in some connected fashion. No, I myself, I I didn't necessarily come from an ag background. I did, but I didn't. My grandparents ran a welding shop for 55 years in the desktop. My mother is the teacher, my father's a sheet metal worker, so I like to think I took the best of both worlds and being able to still be hands-on and as well as the teaching.
SPEAKER_00:Um, let's talk a little bit about you know some of those projects that I, you know, kind of teased in the opener. And you know, you've mentioned a lot about welding and you know, different things when it comes to the mechanics part, but you know, these conservation projects that you're working on with your students, was this kind of your brainchild to become part of this program, or how did that come to be?
SPEAKER_01:So when I uh when I accepted the position at Dell High, we we knew that we had a unique opportunity being a brand new ag mechanics program. A lot of these programs have been established for well over 50 years in the state, and they have so much institutional knowledge there that's kind of the communities rallied around their programs that we wanted to kind of take a different approach there and offer something unique to our students.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, well, no, that that's cool. And then obviously, is there uh like how many students? Like, is it is it something that the program continues to grow? Like, was it like uh highly sought after once the students found out that this was going to be made available? You know, maybe some kids were you know like freshman sophomore, and they're like a it just all of a sudden they saw that this was gonna be available as a course that they can take and they jumped all over it. What's been kind of the reception?
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes and no. A lot of students uh well, a handful of students kind of didn't really know what they were walking into, but they thought, okay, I'll give it a chance. We had some that they didn't stick around for another year. We had a lot that decided, okay, this is for me. I want to return and are really bought into it. I have students that helped build boxes last year that are already asking me, okay, when are we going back out to hang them? I'm ready, I'm prepared now. But yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well, cool. Well, let's talk about the wood duck, like the boxes that your your students like that you're working on with them. You know, I'm not sure like how much like you know about like the wood duck box program that like CWA does, but you know, I was kind of doing my own research a few years ago and I was like, that's so interesting. Like what why do they need these boxes and whatnot? And obviously, hear a little bit about you know the habitat, just that habitat or that nesting being so vital to their population. And obviously, we see these boxes kind of put all over, you know, these nesting or waterfowl areas. Maybe you could talk a little bit about you know why you decided to jump into like the wood duck box program.
SPEAKER_01:So jumping into it, I it really started with okay, I need a project for my students to build in our woodworking unit. I didn't want to just build a birdhouse or a project that you know has been seen before, that's more common. So I decided I like the hunt. I enjoy the conservation work as well. Let's try it. And I'm lucky that I had a team behind me that said, go for it, do it. If you think this is a great idea, run with it. Going from that though, in our area here in the grasslands, I know that I've seen boxes, but most of the boxes I found are I mean, they're in states of disrepair, they're 20, 30 years old, ready to be swapped out. So it was definitely saw a need there. I didn't anticipate that we would produce 70 boxes last school year. That was uh Wow, good for you guys. Surprise to all of us, but it's um yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um Yeah, so as far as how your students build them, I mean, obviously, like the materials, the design, all those tools, like uh are those things that like you know, the school funds. Do you guys get funding from any of the various organizations in the state, whether it's California Waterfowl or or anyone else? Like how's the support for the program been? How's that support been?
SPEAKER_01:So currently the boxes I fund the purchase of the materials through instructional funds. I I've talked to a couple different organizations to see if there was possibility of gaining some support and interest and still kind of reaching out trying to figure that out as we've sort of established that we're going to continue this project into the future here. But as of now, it's paid for through instructional funding, and uh we're using the set of CWA plans that are available on their website. Yeah. Um I cut I got in contact with Eric Kore, he was the local the area manager for the Wood Duck Project. So we partnered with CWA, and 30 or 40 of the boxes that went out last year were through CWA to different locations. We did 20 at Salt Flu, Wild Life Area, and I can't quite remember where the remainder ended up, but they are I know they're all out at this point.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, and and you mentioned CWA, and I know you know through their program, but they also do you know some of these wood duck assembly kind of gatherings, these box assemblies, like whether it's like local chapters, you know, that would maybe put on a banquet, maybe halfway through the year they'll get together and they'll get some local sponsors and they'll you know build have a box building party and then CWA will pick them up and they'll go deliver them or or install them and whatnot. But you had mentioned to me before we started recording that that your students actually get to go out into the field on occasion and and install these. Did I hear that right?
SPEAKER_01:Yes. So we we partnered with uh Candace Sigmund at the Grasslands Environmental Education Center, located there at uh Los Panos Wildlife Area. We started working with her, just doing some habitat restoration work, worked in some of the pollinator gardens there at the refuge, did some small projects, and then it's grown to going out and actually installing those boxes with the the help of staff there at the refuge as well as Candace.
SPEAKER_00:Uh nice. Well, I know there's probably many organizations and and different folks that you know are supported of those wood ducklings and whatnot. But I know I think this past year that California Waterfowl celebrated their historic milestone of having one million wood ducklings being hatched out of this wood duck program. So that's awesome that you guys were part of that, you know, even to the tune of 70 wood boxes. That's freaking awesome. But do you guys, do your students get an opportunity to kind of follow up on like, you know, the boxes that they install, like you know, monitoring them, like maybe success rates, kind of you know, hearing from that or or not so much?
SPEAKER_01:That's something we're we're looking to get the students more involved with. We'll get an opportunity to to do that here in the uh next couple months. We have some dates scheduled with the Grasslands Environmental Education Center to go out and not only hang boxes, but kind of survey the boxes we were able to hang last year with the students and get an idea if there was successful nesting, if not, if we need to move that box and what that looks like here in the next month or so.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Right on. Well, anything else about the wood duck program that we didn't touch on for you know what your students are up to at Del High.
SPEAKER_01:See, I think that's that's about it for the Wood Duck Program. We've also volunteered with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now for the past two uh school years. We've gone out and done the blind brush up at Kesterson prior to season opening, which is Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I wanted to chat a little bit about that, like you know, whether it's a brush up or even some habitat work that you guys have done. That's really cool that you guys are doing that. Talk a little bit about that. Is that your your same group of students that are working on these boxes, the same class, just going out and doing some different work, or do you guys kind of open it up to more kids at the school?
SPEAKER_01:So, yeah, so for the habitat restoration work, the blind brush-up, those are open to all of our students and our program at Dell High. Um so first come, first serve, and I usually can only take 18 students. That's what I'm limited to as far as vehicles go and drivers. So it fills up. I'll announce it one day. We'll all announce it, my teaching partners, myself, and then by lunch that next day, it's usually full, and I've got a wait list. They're excited, they want to get out. Most of them have no idea that the refuges are right in their backyard.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I was gonna ask like how many of these students, whether in the the wood duck, the the box building in your classroom, but also you know, that sign up for this blind brush up, are many of them waterfowl hunters themselves, or maybe their folks are, or not so much?
SPEAKER_01:Not so much. None of them are engaged in waterfowl hunting. I have a couple students that they'll deer hunt with their families and do that, but none that are really involved and are pursuing the sport at all. Which it might change. There's I give my students the the same offer every year. Once you graduate, you get your hunter safety. I will gladly take you out and show you what it's all about. Okay, very cool. It's been been fun that way. I I act I laugh. My cleanup bill in the shop is actually a duck call.
SPEAKER_00:Um that's funny.
SPEAKER_01:No, that they're I mean, they're they're into it. If we're working in the classroom and they're doing an independent assignment, I'll actually put the sack refuge live feed up. And now it's gotten to the point where I'll get them started and they go, Well, can we watch the ducks today?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So it's it's been fun to see the interest grow already in the short time that I've been there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I don't have it up right now, but normally I have that up as what on one of my screens uh at my desk here. You know, I'll just have that up there, that that SAC Refuge live cam and uh just kind of keep a look at all those birds out in the closed zone that don't want to come fly over the uh hunt area. So well, cool. Well, so what sort of things are you guys doing? I mean, I've done the blind brush-up before, but what sort of things does U.S. Fish and Wildlife have have the kids out there doing?
SPEAKER_01:So the majority of what we're doing with U.S. Fish and Wildlife is the blind brush-up. We're we're hoping that we can work out an agreement to where we can get some boxes on some of the federal refuges here in the grasslands. That hasn't hasn't quite happened yet, but there's a possibility of it. We'll see.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, no, that that's really cool. But obviously, I'm I'm sure like a lot of skills that are being learned, you know, not through the brush-up, but going back to just like the uh the wood duck box program and whatnot, you know, I figure some like stewardship of the land, you know, just kind of caring for the habitat. Uh definitely.
SPEAKER_01:Sure. Definitely. I I was looking for a way to I mean, with the ag industry, I mean we're directly connected to to really wildlife and natural resources, right? And we have to be good students of the land, like you said. I'm trying to get my students to see that connection of hey, what we're doing in the industry, the decisions we're making, they're uh down the line, they're going to affect these places. They're going to affect our wildlife, our natural resources. We need to make sure we're maintaining that. Uh and it's been exciting to uh to see kind of that light bulb turn on and see these students get really excited. There's a possibility I might have a group of students. Working on a research project at Merced Refuge here in the next few months. So more and more they're they're getting excited and kind of gearing up to do these things. I have students that are kind of they're researching careers in the field now, which is amazing to see.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and that that's what I wanted to ask was a little bit about like the impact, either short term or long term that you've seen. Like, have you seen any of your students kind of pivot? Maybe what they want to do. You know, they probably came into the class thinking they were going to go one way down the ag, but maybe they agriculture kind of lane, or maybe they kind of pivot and they get more into like waterfowl biology or you know something to do with habitat or something like that. Have you have you seen any of that?
SPEAKER_01:More so I I've seen students where they didn't realize there was an opportunity to work in that field. That's not really something that gets highlighted as much as I feel like it should be. So I have I have students that are they've mentioned an interest in it, nothing overwhelming as far as oh, I'm gonna go do this after high school, but definitely they're gaining interest at the very least. For sure.
SPEAKER_00:For like, and I imagine maybe down in the Central Valley things, you know, hunting, outdoor recreation, that kind of stuff is probably a little more prevalent than maybe like in the inner city. But as far as like perspectives on hunting goes, like have you seen like your students or the community or even fellow teachers, have you seen their perspective change on you know the positives that come with waterfowl hunting?
SPEAKER_01:I I have. I have. I've seen an impact. Oh, the students, I was surprised at their outlook on on hunting and outdoor recreation. It was actually fairly positive. That's good. But the on the other hand, the staff, I've seen actually a a very big change in kind of like, okay, I understand now why you do it, what the whole point of it is.
SPEAKER_00:But definitely it's yeah, I don't have any of any students or staff become because of the work that you've been doing and and the exposure you've given, like have any of them become hunters or maybe advocates for the outdoors?
SPEAKER_01:Definitely advocates for the outdoors, not necessarily hunters. I I'm hoping that's a goal I have for this upcoming season. I'd like to get a couple new hunters out and expose them to what goes on and not just where they hear about it or I mean yeah, sweet.
SPEAKER_00:And then kind of like the impact beyond just your school grounds, like have you seen programs like this and and even like ag mechanics, the ag technology, all that stuff. Do other schools like in your area or you know, maybe throughout northern California, have you seen schools with similar programs? And and do you do you check in with those folks, network, you know, kind of hey, here's something we're doing, or maybe something you learn something they're doing? Like, especially I'm thinking more up here, like in the Sack Valley, you know, like obviously you guys are down there in the grasslands, that kind of Central Valley area. Do you know of any other programs like this going on?
SPEAKER_01:I'm not aware of any other programs. The first time we went out and actually hung boxes, we were replacing some boxes, salt slough. Okay. And the ones we had pulled down, they were actually built by another FSA chapter, so that was good for our students to see. And I was surprised by it, but I don't think anybody's currently running a program like this. I'd love to find out if they are and pick somebody's brain. I have students that went home over the summer and they thought of ways we can modify the boxes to service them better, and they're really getting excited there. But it would be interesting to hear of another program in the state that's doing this as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, I always think it's great when like the conservation side can meet like the hunters, but then also we factor in, you know, education, but also, you know, these young minds, especially, you know, obviously you're you're with these students all the time, but you know, we always kind of hear folks say, like, we're in trouble with the next generation and all that stuff. But you see these kids that are doing some good in the community, they're out kind of you know taking care once again, taking care of the land. You know, I I think it's awesome what you're doing with them. And I think it's great that you know you mentioned like you have the sign-up for the habitat restoration. You have kids that aren't even in your class, like, Mr. Smith, I want to I want to come do that, I want to help out. Like, I think that's so cool that kids are doing this. And yeah, kudos to you for developing this kind of project.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate it. It's it's been it's been fun so far. I I really didn't have an idea of what it would turn into in such a short time that I've been at Del High. I'm really hoping we can continue the program. I I have no plans of of stopping. I I figure we'll build boxes every year until I'm no longer teaching there or teaching at all. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, beyond the boxes, and and sorry if I put you on the spot here, but let's say you know you you're going to the principal for next year's, he's planning out next year's budget or whatnot. And you know, what what's kind of the next thing you want to do with with this group, whether it's through ag mechanics, whether it's tied into obviously your passion for waterfowl, you know, if you could do anything, what what's kind of the next project or or a dream project that you'd like to do or implement at at Dell High High?
SPEAKER_01:So with the addition this year, we started an Ag Technology Pathway. We're one of the very few schools in the state that offers this curriculum. It's actually in line with one of our local community colleges. So I have students there that are they're taking a college-level class that we go from basic ACDC electrical systems all the way to motor controls, robotics. I would like to find some way to include the ag technology into kind of what we're doing with the conservation work, whether it be sensors being placed at refuges, water quality, monitoring, that sort of thing, which is kind of where we're going with that Merced refuge research project, possibly, which is exciting. But yeah, it's we're still in the infancy of our program. So building our program and uh having a real strong pathway there for these students to leave after graduation with some marketable skills and go out and enter the workforce would be what we're primarily focused on. But somehow marrying those two together with the tech and the conservation work that we're doing would be a dream.
SPEAKER_00:Very cool. Well, you know, obviously we have listeners all over California, but also, you know, the Western US and you know, kind of throughout the country, to be honest with you. But you know, if there's anything else you want to kind of tell the folks out there about the program, or uh if there's anything that, you know, if they wanted to support it, obviously I know you know you said you get your funding through like your education budget and whatnot, but um, even if there's someone listening from California Waterfowl or or DU or Delta Waterfowl right now, you know, any anything that that we didn't talk about, or anything that they should know or that you want to share.
SPEAKER_01:Man, I think if there's really one thing as far as support that we could receive from the community, my students, when we go out, we provide all of our own tools, all of our own material to install these boxes. So my goal was, which it hasn't quite happened yet. It's been a busy year. I'd like to create some kits for install that we can throw into the truck, head out, have everything that we need. And that's that would be the one thing. But the these students wouldn't have this opportunity without ag education and their involvement in the FFA. It's that's the reason we're here, really.
SPEAKER_00:No, that that's that's incredible. Well, cool. Well, before I we'll wrap up this part, before we jump off, I I'm curious, kind of pivoting here. How's the season been for you?
SPEAKER_01:I was off to a slow start, but it's it's ramped up here. Kind of the same thing. I feel like everybody's been saying get a group of birds to work, and they just aren't quite finishing. And we still, I think we've I my last hunt was Sunday. I went out, and that was my first hunt this year. I've seen teal.
SPEAKER_00:Oh wow, okay. Where do you guys hunt mostly, you and your wife mostly uh public land? And I forgive me if I asked you this at the beginning, but or do you guys lease property or or have access to private land? How do you guys prefer to hunt?
SPEAKER_01:We uh we hunt all public. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And not looking to burn any spots here asking for an ex, but what's kind of your favorite refuge? Where do you like to spend your time? And and is it your wife's favorite too?
SPEAKER_01:Oh, man, and that's uh that's a good one.
SPEAKER_00:I uh we were talking Kesterson, and I know you use you were talking about all the work you did. When I hunted the grasslands, I used to like to hunt Kesterson all the time, but I know a lot of folks like Banos, some people like going up for San Luis. You know, I I haven't been down well, I I have been down, but I haven't hunted it as much as I used to. But what's kind of your favorite area?
SPEAKER_01:I mean, we'll we'll bounce around this year. My wife put in for reservations, and I I mean, I I laugh because I've put in since I started hunting, and I think I've pulled the same amount she's pulled in a year. I've pulled my entire career hunting. So it's been it's been an interesting year there. We've kind of bounced around. We've shot San Luis quite a bit. San Luis, my wife enjoys Kesterson, just the space blinds. Yeah. I mean, we do we do hunt out of a boat a fair bit, hunt the river here. Awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Well, right on. Well, no, I really appreciate you know, one, you reaching out, but two, I'm glad we were able to connect. I think that this is a very interesting program. I think it's great the work that you're doing with these students. Obviously, you know, more at more agriculture focused, but obviously that waterfowl component. So I thought it would be great for you to come on, and I'm glad that we chatted about this. And uh, I really appreciate your time today, Zach.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. I I appreciate you having me on and allowing me to share the work my students have been up to these last two years.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man. Let's stay in touch and and keep me posted on anything else, like anything new you have coming up. And you know, we'd love to uh feature that as well. And yeah, if there's anything else that we can do or any of the listeners can do to support, please reach out and we'll put something out on Instagram. Definitely. I appreciate it. Cool. All right, guys. Well, that's gonna end our conversation here with Zach. But before we jump off, you know, please rate review on Apple Spotify, check us out on YouTube. If you haven't already, check us out at ForTheFowlers on Instagram and hope everyone has a great week. We will chat soon.