Chase White - Fowl Plains, Waterfowl Outfitting, Gundogs

He's a great friend , great waterfowl guy , has an awesome business and an even cooler family . This conversation goes through a lot of fun stories , a lot of fun hunts , some things that have tugged on our hearts over the last few months . We kind of cover it all . I hope you guys enjoy it .

As always , this podcast is brought to you by Cornerstone Gundog Academy . If you would like to learn how to become a better dog trainer and dog handler , we would love for you to check out Cornerstone

today . You guys enjoy the episode . Welcome to the Lab , a Cornerstone Gundog Academy podcast focused on all things gundogs , good times and the great outdoors . I'm your host , barton Ramsey . What's up everyone and welcome back . I am super excited about this one .

I've got my buddy , chase White , on for the podcast podcast we've talked about it a lot of times finally made it happen after

a very busy waterfowl season especially for him . What's up , dude ?

I won't even walk down with my feet to like winch the boat onto the trailer I make . Noah , do it . I'm like no , dude , you want to go ride ? I'm not getting in the water , not that's good , though , yeah he's learning . Yesterday was the first time I let him pick me up at the dock like I .

I dropped him in and I let him drive the boat to the dock and he did great , but I was like dude , just wakeboard boats aren't like duck boats you cannot hit anything like if you scratch it or ding the prop or any of that you're in . You're in for a world of expense . So he did great .

Anyway , yeah , it's definitely spring was it a nerve-wracking experience yes , and I tried to just stay calm and not say anything to him because I didn't want to make him nervous . I could tell he was already nervous . You know , as soon as I stepped in the boat he goes . Yes , I was like , all right , he did it .

This is the wind we need during duck season , that's right so you're not in kansas and I want to go through . I have a whole laundry list of stuff I want to talk about , but just for those that don't know , you do a quick introduction of what you guys do in the wintertime and then where you are right now .

So we do that from about October until middle of February and then we come back home to Virginia from essentially February to October . Megan runs a very successful photography business doing wedding photography , portrait sessions , family sessions , all that kind of stuff , and I coach . I coach , uh , jv baseball , um , at a private school here in the spring , um .

And then I also run a mobile detailing uh , paint correction and ceramic coating business , um , here during the summertime , which uh uh takes up a lot of time between uh uh that and baseball and then Megan's business and then having a , uh , an 18 month old running around , um , you know we stay pretty busy , so , um , but we kind of know that we've necessarily

ever want to live in Kansas full time . We both like the ocean too much . Our families are back home in Virginia , um , we love Kansas , um , you know , about a week after we leave we're wishing that we were back there again . But , um , um , you know we know we definitely like being home and , um , you know , we both love the water .

I love , absolutely love saltwater fishing , so we spend a bunch of time doing that sometimes too . So it's a good opportunity for us to , um , kind of go back and forth . We always tell people we're reverse snowbirds . You know , we go where it's cold in the wintertime and where it's hot in the summertime .

Uh , ken and my mother-in-law usually fly back and forth and then myself and my father-in-law uh drive our vehicles . So , um , keeping the 18 month old entertained for 22 hours in a vehicle's not and canon's a very energetic uh kid that doesn't like to be contained for very long . So same .

Um , how did you I think you reached out to me for a pup I can't remember where you were at the time um , I was in .

Um , and I was looking for a dog , you know , uh , uh , a biddable , steady , um you know dog that I could , I could guide with . Um , you know , in today's day and and age , I would say a large majority of guides are probably running american dogs . Um , I think that dynamic is kind of changing , um , especially with how nice british dogs are to hunt over .

They're , they're quiet , they're steady , um , you know , and they can do the work , um , but that's kind of how we , I guess that's kind of how we got introduced and then , and yeah , I remember the phone call and I do remember that was back when Dakota decoy pro staff was popping off man , that Facebook group was super active .

So while we were out hunting , while we were out hunting , I was like I'm just going to leave him in the kennel . But yeah , that's man , that was a long time ago . Dakota decoy pro staff .

There's still a lot of people in that pro staff that bought dogs from us and some super awesome folks Austin the moves in there , some really cool people on that , on the pro staff and I've got a few of those folks lined up for future podcasts , which should be fun . You guys got a prince pup .

Side note I had a lady come by yesterday and she had a 10-year-old dog for me and I couldn't remember how it was bred . I mean , it was a decade ago and she's wanting to get another one and hers is , you know , he's in good shape .

But she came by , she drove by the kennel and she wanted to meet some of our new dogs and um , and so she said hey , I've got cash in the car if you want to see him . And I was like yeah , and I said who's ? Uh , remind me who he's out of . And she said he's out of prince and I was like , dang , that's cool .

You know that's 10 year old prince pup . That was early on . And then I was looking . I was looking at the dog . I'll send you a picture . The dog looks identical to Apache Joe identical . And I said who's his mom and she said , uh , maggie , and I was like dang , that's like , oh gee , southern oak kennels litter right there .

So I mean , yeah , it couldn't believe it and the dog looked great . So anyway , I showed her Maggie , who's 14 now hobbling around , and it was good . So I put you on a list for a pup out of Prince and Angie , which is one of my first imports . So when you got your pup , I didn't make you come pick it up .

You were the first person that offered a duck hunt in exchange for a pup and I was like , dang , it's a long way out there . But Aaron and I went , aaron Carter , and uh , made the trick and it man , what all even happened ? It was like a flood and an ice storm .

Like you guys were supposed to get to lodge at like eight o'clock the night before and I think by the time you guys actually got to the lodge it was like two in the morning yeah , we pretty much got there

and went hunting yeah , I was like a kid on , you know , christmas eve . I mean , jet , was it , you know , was kind of my first real gun dog . Um , you know , and and by the time you guys made it into like oklahoma and canvas , it wasn't rain anymore , it was freezing rain .

So you guys were driving like like oklahoma and canvas , it wasn't rain anymore , it was freezing rain . So you guys were driving like on ice roads the entire way there . Um , but yeah , we went out and hunted that morning and it was like the coolest .

I remember trying to brush in the layout blinds and we didn't have anything to brush in the layout blinds with , because every piece of grass had like a quarter of inch of ice all over it .

You know , we shot our 18 ducks or whatever . It was um . But 70 kills poor shooting percentages for sure .

I'll never forget you had harry on that hunt with you and I think maybe you just kind of , maybe you just imported him or maybe you just started hunting him and we had a little bit of an issue across the pond where you want to take a cast or whatever .

But we we sailed a bird back to our right like 150 yards and you and I and aaron all thought we had a good mark on it and you were handling Harry and he was trying to take your cast . But he got to a point where he was like I think you were giving him like a right over or something and every time you try to cast him he would go left .

And it was like a battle and you were like I don't understand what he is doing . And lo and behold , you were just like enough and you let it go and he ended up going left and that's where the bird was the whole time .

But I got in this huge battle with him on the water . I remember that because he just totally self self-employed and I was like this dude's just bought a dog for me , had us out hunting , I've got my dog and this is like a pretty poor display of how this should be going .

And then that was one of those moments where you learn the lesson of like sometimes you just need to trust your dog . You know , I'm sure you've seen that more times than most people can count .

But you know , sometimes it's like hey , the dog knows , and I should have just trusted him and I'm sitting here getting in the handling battle and I finally recalled him . He was like I'm gonna pick this bird up first , just picked it up and on he came . I'll never forget that drive .

I'm going to have Aaron over on here eventually , but sorry to throw you under the bus too , but he's like lactose intolerant and ate like half a cheese pizza . While we're driving through the middle of nowhere , arkansas , and by the time I started feeling it we're on just ice and flooded back roads and I was like there's nowhere to stop . You know it was .

That was a very intense trip , but we had a heck of a good time and brought little little Jetson out there . I think he was eight weeks old and , uh , I vaguely remember you had a bunch of of um , of deer antlers , and he loved those things . He was , he went , he went right to it oh 100 long time still to this day .

He loved them what's crazy about it is you got uh jet from prince and angie . Uh and alex britain . Angie and Alex , britain got a Prince and Angie pup as well .

You dropped Jet off around New Year's and at the end of December that year , um , and then I met megan in march or april . Jet was like six months old , um , my mom wanted to get some , wanted to get some family photos done . She was going through chemo at the time .

She wanted to get photos done before she started losing her hair , um , and so we went and did family photos and I just happened to take jet with me , cause I was like , you know , get a couple of pictures of you know , jet and I , um , and she was dating somebody at the time and you know I was kind of back and forth between Kansas and and and all that .

But we ended up , you know , starting to date later on that summer , um , but uh , but yeah , so I was in Southeast Kansas for another three years , um , and then it got to the point Megan was like hey , you either need to do this on your own or you need to maybe not do it .

So , um , you know , she was kind of the spark that kind of started the fire . Um , you know that is now foul plains for sure .

You didn't have the big beard and you had a cute puppy and , uh , I remember the conversation about you , you meeting her , uh , vividly . And you know , I'm sure I mean a lot of the people I've had on the podcast and we'll have on the , and a lot of the people that I do my life with . Uh , I met because they bought a dog .

You know that's why we did the bond and , uh , it is funny to see how much the dogs will play into like other things that happen along the way . It's like dang there's , there's such an important part of our lives and little , little things that you never think would be super significant , but , uh , they definitely , definitely make a difference .

I'll definitely take a little bit of extra credit on helping you find your wife , uh , for sure , by selling you a pup . That was uh , southeast kansas , and then I guess you went up to central kansas , which , coincidentally , that's the first place I ever went on like a banger . Waterfowl hunt was great bend . Uh , back in 20 , ooh , 2010 .

I mean a long time ago , 2010 , 2011 , maybe , um , the Mecca .

Kansas uh to uh , kansas to guide turkey hunts . I stopped down there with you guys when you were in Oklahoma , and Cody was down there with the guy that he was guiding with at the time , picking up his SOK pup , which was Iggy , and she's out of Max and Tess , that's right .

So I met Cody , who's now our business partner , which was Iggy , and she's out of max and tests , that's right . So only yep , I met Cody , who's now our business partner and one of my best friends , probably in the whole world , um , at S okay , in Oklahoma , right there by carwash .

We had one of the you know , you know , a pretty large , decently successful british labrador retriever kennel right next to where , I would say , the majority of uh methamphetamine was sold within chickasaw County Mississippi .

Yeah , so you met Cody out here and then you guys wind up in Great Bend , near where Cody lives , and at that point you're I guess you were at that point you were dating Megan . Yeah , because you guys were out there together . You guys were out there together .

And after the season I can't remember when you came here for the summit , if it was before the season , yeah , it was the one that happened in the fall you guys came down together .

When you guys , guys , yeah , you came here for the summit , that was really , I think , when well , that was when bethany got to know megan and we really became , instead of me being me having a buddy chase , we became friends with chasing megan .

Uh , that summit I don't get into too many details , but that was a riot of epic proportions that will probably never be seen again .

But it's a blast and we did one down and we did two of them down in Oklahoma and they were a lot of fun . Great people . There's so many people that have been so influential in our journey who were there , especially at that first one , which was just unreal . I mean , you got there early , it was like five days . I'll never forget this .

You brought a bag of fresh caught tuna from up there , remember , and I cooked it in the pool and I won't get into all that happened , but it was a lot . We hung . We hung the infamous banner up . You know , I think when a lot of people drive up here they're , they're kind of looking for that barn and the original sok .

That banner was like a staple , like , oh , the big black banner that hung right above all the girls , kennels and you and I hung that thing up . Uh god , that's crazy to think about . That was a long time ago , uh , long time ago I think it may have actually been me and miles .

I think I don't think I did a lot of work I think you might have been supervising from the ground shout out to miles . That is accurate . Yeah , miles . The chaperone he was here this last weekend for an event we did and it was a great . I was like anybody need a driver .

And at the end of that , right before'm not going to get into this , right before I got in a lot of trouble , uh , from miles , and my wife , um yeah , you pulled me aside and you were like , hey , end of goose season or end of the season in February , I'm going to , I'm going to propose to Megan . And I was like , heck , yeah , that's , that's amazing .

So that would have been fall of 17 , when I guess you guys got engaged , february of 18 . Is that right ?

I'm pretty sure she's the one that actually came up with it , but uh , I think that's when we did it . So , yeah , I'm pretty sure we got married and started foul planes in the same year yeah , big year .

It was kind of more like a buddy hunt than anything , but I gave you the ring and the ring box and I was trying to convince Megan to come out into the spread and I think she may have taken a mid , like a midday , like two or three hour nap , uh , in the truck waiting for the birds to fly , which they never did .

And she's like looks at me , I'm like , hey , babe , come out here and like take a picture of the spread or something like that . And she's like I'm not coming out there to take a picture of the decoys , what are you talking about ? I was like just come out here and finally I got Vince , finally convinced her to come out there and you know , call jet over .

And you like stuck the ring box in his mouth and I could just see the corner of my eye , like do not drop this ring , Hold , hold and I called Jed out and he brought the ring out to me . We did the proposal and Reagan was there and he photographed it and it was super cool .

You know , just another feather in the cap of things that you and Southern Oak Kennels has been involved with and mine and Megan's personal life not , you know also along the line with foul planes , which is it gets more and more the further we get into the conversation .

There's a photo of Megan and I in the middle of that hunt , just sitting in the field and she had cane in her lap . It's one of my favorite hangout hunt photos because we're just laughing our butts off no ge . It's one of my favorite like hangout hunt photos because we're just laughing our butts off . No geese flying . Uh , great times . That's a .

That's a memory I'll never forget . Uh , and I didn't know , I didn't know at that point just how how many life events for megan and chase I'd I'd be , I'd be present for um . But I do remember the conversation with you guys , guys at the old lodge right there off . Is it right off Cheyenne ? It's right off , yeah , right off the bottoms .

I remember having that conversation with you guys where you were like I think we're going to do this , you know , and that love for people to just hear from you , like what kind of stuff were you fearful of what went into , like the launch of Foul Planes . And you know . Here we are , I guess , six years later , like are you glad you did it ?

Do you have regrets on doing it ? Are you stoked that this is the route that you went down ?

Um , you know there's a lot to take away from that . Um , you know I would say , more than anything , I learned what not to do , uh , in the guiding and outfitting business . Um , you know , just just being

real with people , being upfront with people , being honest with people about whatever the situation may be , whether it's what the hunting looks like , you know what our expectations are of them , what their expectations are of us . You know a lot of those things kind of roll around in your head , you know , and can make you nervous for sure .

Um , you know it was a big step . We didn't know what to charge . We didn't know how many clients we would be able to get . We didn't know , um , you know , whatever what the client , how the clients would react to having a woman in camp . Um , you know Megan is an integral part of our business , but wasn't scary ? Yeah , is it still scary ?

Yeah , I mean , if you're a small business owner and you don't have a little bit of fear creeping the back of your mind at one time or another , then you're probably not focusing on the things that you should be focusing on .

We've grown exponentially every year and we try to add value every single year to make sure that the clients are getting their money's worth out of us and out of the experience , and that's what our brand was always kind of built around . When Cody and Meg and I were sitting there talking about starting Foul Plains , I'll never forget it .

We were sitting at Cody's dining room table and I'm pretty sure him and I drank a whole case of Coors Lights at night , sitting there talking about Foul Plains with Megan and I , just until I was blue in the face . I was like this has got to be .

This business model has got to be built on controlling the things that we can control Um , because that was what was kind of lackluster in some of the other places that I had guided at Um .

They focus so much on the hunting side of things , um , that they didn't they didn't take care of people outside of that , and that's what our business model has been from the beginning and will always continue to be . It's more than just a hunt and I think that that's why our clients have responded so well .

We're usually 85% to 90% rebook every year , every year , and that's a testament not to just the great job that our guides do and our kitchen staff does , hunting wise and all that stuff . But you know kind of the standard that we set as owners , that you know when you show up in camp you know you're going to get taken care of .

You know and we're genuinely interested in you know who you are , how many kids you have , what's your job . You know what's your passions . Um , you know , the conversations that you have with these folks over a three day period get way more in depth than what you would think they would .

You know from the outside , looking in , um , especially as a waterfowl outfitter Now , you know , like a deer outfitter or something where somebody is going to be sitting , like a deer outfitter or something where somebody is going to be sitting on a deer stand all day long . They come home and eat , go to bed . It's a different type of vibe .

You've spent enough time in waterfowl camps . You probably spend half the time of your trip at camp or at the lodge hanging out and eating . And the lodge , you know hanging out and eating .

And you know drinking old fashions and , um , just cutting up with your buddies , um , and there's a lot to be said for the value that that has as as a total experience , for sure . So you know there was a lot of fears . Um , you know , biggest one just starting , you know , where are we going to get our clients ?

Um , you know I had a pretty good rapport with clients that had hunted with me in the past that we were able to kind of transition over to foul planes . Um , cody had a bunch of clients . Um , you know , then , megan's done a great job . She does all of our photography , marketing , website , social media .

Um , you know my opinion she's probably one of the best female photographers in the business . I would just say even in general , probably just one of the best photographer photographers in the waterfowl industry because she brings a different eye to photography as a whole because of her background .

But you know , it's been nerve-wracking , it's been fun , it's been exciting , there's been laughs , tears , blood , sweat , everything . You know all the above to get to where we are now and you know , we're just going to continue growing and continue moving forward , for sure yeah , I love that .

You go to foul planes , you're going to eat , you're going to eat right . Go to foul planes , you're going to eat , you're going to eat right . And the overall brand . I tell everyone , you know we've talked about this actually a bunch of times .

You and I have discussed it and I've discussed it with several other guys that have , you know , outfits around Kansas , oklahoma , texas . But like , everyone asks what's the best place ? You know , where should I go ? And that's very difficult for me because I'm friends with a lot of folks . And then , where should I go ?

And that's very difficult for me because I'm friends with a lot of folks . So then they start nitpicking what's the difference in here and there and wherever ? And I tell everyone , well , foul Plains feels like home away from home .

The brand that you guys have created , you're like I'm going to hang in the living room with these people , that now kind of feel like family and they get to know us and we're going to eat around a table together and sit around a fire together and you guys are .

You're not just pop in , pop out , you guys are present , you know and , uh , we've talked a lot about it but for you for sure you might have a . I mean , I've been on some bangers with you in your area and then I've been on some not bangers where you're like dang with you in your area .

And then I've been on some knot bangers where you're like dang , and you're not going to leave foul planes , like disappointed , which I love that part , it's like all right . Well , yeah , I've had several trips where you're like , well , the hunting was just so , so this trip , but it was a freaking awesome time and I'm definitely coming back .

And then I've had trips where it's like , well , I don't think we could have had three better hunts and that was amazing and I'm still coming back and I love that about , about the work that you guys have put into control , the controllables , as you said the food , the experience , the lodging , perfect upstairs area for jujitsu .

Um , you know , with the understanding that if there's any safety issues or anything like that , that we might have to kind of pull back the reins a little bit . But you know that can be kind of appeasing to some people because you know you spend all this money and time and effort on a gun dog , you know , and then you want to go out of state hunt .

Well , you know , sometimes it can be difficult finding an outfitter that will allow you to hunt your dog . Number one Um and number two allow you to hunt your dog and have a dog from the same place where you got your dog . You know , so it's been .

I can't tell you how many conversations I've had about jet and jacks um in relation to uh clients that have come in and you know who's who's their dog out of and you know how many SOK dogs they have and you know . So that's been a really cool um you know , intermingling again of of foul planes and Southern kennels , for sure .

Well , I can't replicate that dog , but we can get you going on a , on a good litter , and try to find a good fit and see if you wind up with a jet or if you wind up with a jacks . Yeah , is he there with you guys right now ? He is Yep he is To catch up eventually . Down the road , Chase and I , Chase , really realized Jetson's getting older .

It'll be 10 in October 10 in October and that's mind-blowing to me and I'm sure you guys listen and understand . I mean , in my head he's like a five-year-old dog , you know , it's just so .

We realized he was getting older and took a while to figure out the right right pathway but ended up putting you guys on a bruno litter because bruno and and jetson not only were closely related , but megan was the first one to photograph Bruno when he came over here . We hunted that pond . We're going to get to that story in a second .

Megan fell in love with Bruno because he's got that gentle floppy ear climbing your lap . Then we bred Bruno to Sue . We did not get a floppy ear gentle , we got a little bit of a tasmanian devil out of that one , uh .

But I imagine he's probably maturing a little bit by now and probably settled a little more than he was and the last last three or four hunts this year he started like things started clicking in his head .

But he really started to put things together at the end of the season and I'm excited to see what he does . Um , over the next four or five , six years for sure , yeah , yeah , it's gonna be good .

He's definitely , I mean , look , you mentioned earlier about guide dogs and I've had a few American versus British podcasts and I think we're more helpful in building bridges than burning them down , so I don't want to get into that . However , you have two very different , like personality dogs and both of them are guide dogs .

I mean , I'd love for you to just touch on that a little bit because , yeah , you do , you do hunt a lot and you do you do pick up a lot of birds , but I think there's a lot more to it than that , than just picking up birds . So what are you looking for in a dog who's a guide dog ? What are the top characteristics that you would want to see ?

And I'm saying this because I have a lot of people who call and they're like I want a dog and we're going to hunt eight or nine times a year , tops . I don't need a dog who would be like a guide dog and I'm like , well , I don't know .

I don't need a dog who would be like a guide dog and I'm like , well , I don't know that that's necessarily true , because I don't know .

You know you don't want a dog that's going to decide in the middle of a volley to jump out of its blind and run through the A frames and trip somebody . You know it's a safety issue . So , number one , having a dog that's steady . Paralleling that is having a dog that's quiet .

You know , uh , sometimes on hunts , you know you may only get , you might get four or five , six volleys might be all that you're going to get . And if you're working a group of ducks and all of a sudden the dog starts whining and barking or whatever and flares all the birds off , well , there goes one of your big volleys you may have gotten .

So , uh , a quiet and a steady dog , um , you know , and , and for me , um , those would be number one together . Number two would be a dog that's got a good nose . Um , in my opinion , especially in the type of cover that we will hunt .

You know , we'll hunt everything from creeks , ponds , rivers , watersheds , uh , fields , sloughs , whatever it may be a whole variety of things that we hunt in kansas , um .

And being able to be as efficient as possible and finding birds that you know , a winged bird that sails over the hill , 100 yards and some and some heavy cover , you know , and and at this point right now , with the way jet and jacks are both , depending on what the situation is is going to determine which dog I take .

So if I'm taking , if we're hunting a wide , open wheat field , you know we're shooting snow geese or speckle bellies or Canada's , and it's something that may not require much handling or you know , but it needs to be all right , get out , get back , get out , get back . I'm taking jacks 100 . He's just faster and more efficient .

Now , if we're hunting , uh uh , like the river or pond that's got a bunch of cover around it right now , I'm probably going to take jet , just because I know if we sail a bird over the hill , I can cast him and get him over that hill and literally just turn around and walk back to the blind .

He knows where the bird is , or if he marks one that falls like into heavy cover if he gets downwind of it . You know , in my opinion he's probably got a better nose than any other dog I've ever hunted with . He has his downfalls . He's kind of slow . Sometimes he can be kind of , you know , a little bit of a prima Donna .

You know he goes out hard and then comes back slow or whatever it may be , but you know his nose is absolutely incredible . Um , so I don't really have to necessarily worry about us losing birds . I can just get him in the area . He's gonna find them , yeah , if they're there .

So I don't necessarily agree with I don't want a guide dog , because you know the nice thing about having a dog that can quote unquote guide , you know he's gonna do what . You know what I just said . He's gonna be quiet , he's gonna be steady , he's gonna be efficient at picking up birds .

He's going to find birds that you would have not found had you not had a dog or dog that was proficient finding birds like that . But the nice thing about British Labradors , which you know again , is an American versus British thing . You know some people say that you know British Labradors don't have the go that American dogs do .

I can tell you right now that I've never seen an American dog that runs you know , any harder than what Jax does . I mean he is full bore , 100% . But the nice thing is is I can take him out of the field , come back , rinse them off with the hose , dry them off and he can come upstairs and sleep on the couch .

, I do . I do love that aspect of it . I think that there are . I think there are . You know , there are going to be American dogs that are slow and British dogs that are insanely driven . You're going to have a wide range within that . But I just did a podcast with Luke where we talked about the off switch and that's the thing for me .

It's like I do think some people will imagine that guide dogs whether it's Jed or Jax or Seth's dog Maisie , you know there are .

Your area of Kansas , there are a lot of Southern Oak dogs guiding hunt or on a guided hunts , and what I love about it is when you run into those guys out and about the dog's just chilling on the front seat of the truck , asleep , you know .

Or you see pictures of the dog , you know , in the house , completely chill , and they're not the guide dogs , the best guide dogs I've seen . They're not go , go , go , go , go . You know they're not . Just I gotta work all the time they get the job done . But there's a whole element to like entertaining folks .

It's like , hey , this dog has to be able to be around people has to be able to not drive us nuts by making noise , like you said , or just going everywhere all over the place in the hunt .

And so , yeah , I do , I appreciate that about both your dogs , that , even though Jax is probably a little bit more more keyed up , you know what I mean um , that he's , he's still easy to be around , you know what I mean ? Yeah , now that he's not a puppy anymore . I mean , puppies are puppies , but , um , yeah , yeah , that's fun .

I want to talk about a couple specific hunts . Uh , first , the frozen pond with the island . That that , to me , is uh an all-time memory , good and bad , really . Yeah , so I'd love for you to set it up . And then I want to go through like what happened . I mean , tell us a little bit about that place . What'd y'all call it ? Junkyard ?

I can't remember what it's called . Uh , yeah , yeah , it was a little rundown that place .

Rarely are we going to ever hunt a roost , unless it's , you know , like day , last day of dark goose season , um , and there was I don't know five , six , seven thousand canadas in there , um , and it was cold , you know , most of the pond was frozen . It's a pretty big pond , it's probably two acres , um , you know . But it's a real weird shape .

It's kind of like the nickelodeon logo on those shoes , the big blob , and then there's an island in the center . Well , we wait , we , I think we tried to wait for the birds to leave to go feed . We sat in the truck yep , and did they leave , or did we end up pushing them out ? I ?

You know , we were kind of on a on a 90 degree turn and they kept wanting to want to land on the other side of this 90 degree turn , which was completely solid ice .

So in the middle of the hunt we decided to pick up the a-frames , turn everything 90 degrees and set on the ice and we put , like I don't know , three dozen dakota full bodies on ring bases out there on the ice and then all of a sudden , the birds just started working .

They started working a lot better for sure , working good , and we were shooting some birds . The wind was blowing it had to have been blowing 20 or 25 out of the south that day Ripping , and there was white caps on the portion of the pond that was open . It was ripping so hard .

So we shoot into a flock of birds and of course a couple of them sailed out into the middle of the pond and one bird in particular drifted up against the island which there was a sheet of ice probably about 10 yards wide that extended off of the island out to where the open water was , and you sent um , you sent red on the retrieve and he launches Kyle

Williams took an awesome video of it of him launching off the ice like five , six feet there , splashes in the water , swims out there and the bird had drifted up against the ice shelf at this point and grabs this big honker and tries to get out on the ice shelf right by the island , makes it about three or four steps and just breaks right through and so now

he is in the ice water with a sheet of ice it's about the size of a piece of plywood that's broke off of the whole ice pack , if you call it that .

And this wind blowing out of the south is just pushing this plywood piece of ice up against red while he's still holding this goose , yep , um and and it literally pinned him and it looked like a triangle . It kind of pinned him in a triangle .

And and the way that was working is we were , like you said , we had a frames on solid ice , which made me very nervous , but we were there . I'm from the south , dude , you don't . You don't walk on ice .

So we were on the ice and then in front of us was this I don't know how deep that is , but there's a picture of bruno crawling out of it and , uh , the ice must have been six , seven inches deep , thick , but on the other side , where the um , where the wind was pushing the white caps , that that all had become like almost like a slush ice .

You know well , I didn't want to try to get my dogs up on that side . So , yeah , we had shot , I don't know , 20 or so , 15 , 20 geese , and several of them were just sitting on solid ice way out . I don't know 20 or so 15 , 20 geese , and several of them were just sitting on solid ice way out . I don't know how far , 110 , 120 yards , I mean .

When you shot them , that wind was sailing them , it was really blowing . So I remember I had Max , bruno and Red and we walked all the way around the levee to the side where , uh , I guess there are all these like broken down rvs and farm equipment and I was just boats , yeah , boats , um .

So I went out there and started sending my dogs to pick up these birds and that one over there , that big one , red , he , he did a pull to red .

He was like I don't want the one you're sending me on , I want this one over there , and just launched and got that bird and I was , I don't know how far , I would guess like 150 yards , maybe 200 yards from you guys , but the walk was a lot further because you had to go around .

I had to go back down the levee and back around and I was so far from red all I could see was you know , you guys have seen your the dogs try to break ice and their feet are just kind of going .

You know , he's just , he's just kind of up and down with his feet , but he's got this goose in his mouth and I've got bruno and max at heel and I literally had , I think , seven or eight geese in my hands .

He was just stuck in that slush and I was looking at my phone like , okay , he's been in there at least two minutes , it's . I don't know how cold it was . It was cold , very cold , yeah , um , I mean cold enough that the only thing keeping that water open were warm goose bodies and a massive wind .

You know , and man , I was like doing math , I was like he went , his core temperature's got to be like plummeting , you know , and he's in here and that's the kind of dog that's not going to give up on the bird . You know what I mean ? I think I told you I was like we would have found him at the bottom of that pond holding on to a goose .

You know what I mean , yeah , so I started taking my clothes off , trying to figure out because I'm going to go around the ice , get on the island and try to jump in and get the dog . And so I vividly remember as I'm trying to think okay , what layer should I keep on ? I don't have waders on , I just had bibs .

Everyone started to clap and they were all like yeah , and megan's like , oh , he's up . He climbed up the ice on the other side . I'll never forget this . He gets up , can't see me , turns , sees me at the blind and jumps back in the water , dove back in with the bird , climbed up the shelf on the big side , and I was panicked .

I was like we got to get him warmed up . So I grabbed him , I ran all the way to the trucks and for you guys listening , you know , if you get a dog , that does go into hyperthermia , it's it's a hypothermia , it's it's listening . You know , if you get a dog that does go into hyperthermia , it's a hypothermia , it's very .

You know , time is of the essence , you know . So I was kind of freaking out . I carried him , I wrapped him up in my Hudson jacket , got him back to my truck and I was like I'm going to sit him on the ground , get the truck cranked up , walk him to the passenger seat and just crank the heat .

Well , I sat him on the ground and you guys shot into a volley of geese . And I looked down and he's not there anymore and I go around . And he'd run around a boat on a trailer and was sitting there like perked up , marking birds fall and I was like this dude's fine , like she's not even cold , cold .

So I did put him in the truck and made him sit there for the rest of the hunt . But it was terrible .

It was the first time that I was in a situation where I thought I think I'm gonna lose a dog like I think and man , if you're gonna send a dog out on ice , you need a surefire plan for how you're gonna get them if they fall through and can't get out , because otherwise just don't do it , because it's not worth it .

Yeah , if he hears that he doesn't even turn around , he just stops and starts walking backwards like it's the weirdest thing , like he'll go until I'm like like if I know that the pond's only 18 inches deep and I can get to him , no problem if I need to and I can keep sending him and sending him .

He'll go a little bit further every time , but if , if he's on ice and he hears it or feels it break , he will literally just put it in reverse . Put it in reverse , terry , and just back up . Smart dog , that's all he does .

Short story is I needed an Uber and instead of ordering an Uber , I signed up to be an Uber driver and there's a picture of me and chicken and waffles with my driver's license on a counter signing up , and I got an email yesterday that my driver's license is expiring and Uber wants me to update it so I can keep driving for them .

I get emails once a week . It's like you're missing out on money you could be making in the Tupelo area . Oh my gosh . Apparently they passed me , which that's questionable . But , you guys ended up getting married in early June 2019 , right June 1st June 1st look at my memory . I barely remember my own anniversary , um and uh , yeah .

So I was there for the proposal there for the wedding probably the one of the most epic wedding selfies ever taken . I'll post it where I post this , uh , and then fast forward . You know you guys are blowing and going with foul planes . You've got all this other stuff that I'd love to hit on , but we don't want to talk for five hours .

I mean , I drove up there one time and came to hunt with you just on , just passing through for an afternoon duck shoot . And I pull into the field and the mayor of my town is on the hunt . He's my dad's neighbor and I'm like what are you doing here ? And he was like what are you doing here ?

And he was there with Mike , you know , with a whole group of guys from here . So that's one of the things I really love is I'm running to people and they're like yeah , we did a hunt with Chase and Megan . I'm like that's really cool , like it's the smallest world .

Know , not everybody and they don't owe me this , but not everybody calls and says , hey , we're going to hunt at foul plains . I just see it on social and I'm like dang , those guys are hunting there too and it's my friends

. It's sok great lakes friends . It's uh bracken creek guys . It's like a whole , whole big crew , um . But I end up back out there , uh , with a fun group . Shout out to Johnny Nichols , john Pardee , shout out to the awesome crew who lost their keys in the field . But I wind up out there and we had just made the decision to homeschool our children .

So Bethany , who loves Megan the Death likes you , I'm sure , but really loves Megan the Death Bethany wanted to come and bring the whole family on a duck hunting trip . So we all came to foul planes and had a blast , having fun , eating good food , watching UFC , and we get ready to leave to drive home , and Bethany just disappeared .

And for those listening , don't know .

And anyway , they came out of you guys' apartment next to the lodge and I look and Megan's like boohoo and crying and gave Bethany a huge hug and I knew I was like oh , I know what this is . So Bethany gets in the car and I was like she's pregnant and it was . She was like , yep , she just found out that morning .

And uh , yeah , I just came home from scouting , went up in the apartment and jet was in the apartment , which I thought was really weird , because normally during the day he's down in his outdoor kennels and you know , megan makes me like close my eyes and I'm , like you know , got to put my hands over you know myself thinking she's going to like pull a prank

or something on me and she like says , open your eyes . And she's got the pregnancy test there , it's just pregnant . I was like , in that moment , my whole like world just changed right . Like I'm sure you , you know , felt the same way , naomi , you know , it's just like , uh , what am I gonna do now ?

We have now been there , for we've been together for your proposal , your wedding and the moment you found out that you guys were having a baby , which is was awesome , uh yeah and I remember when you guys had canon , you facetimed me . I was like man , this , I hate to miss this .

You know , I feel like I should be in the room like you should have caught the baby , yeah it would only be fitting , oh man , um doctor come in .

We had a lot of fog on that trip uh , driving out , but it was the . Was it the next year that we hunted the pond with Wally and Ozzy , or was it that year ? It was the next year Dude for you guys . All right look .

We had three , you know which I tell people all the time , like the fortunate part of getting to hunt with guys like you and a lot of my friends is , every year I get on a few hunts where you're like if I were just a casual waterfowler , this would be like the hunt of a lifetime .

You know you get to do that on a weekly basis , you know , or multiple times a week , which is super fun , do you ?

I missed being at the right place at the right time . And the season before I felt like I couldn't miss . Everywhere we went , we were right place , right time . That was the year we were talking about just then .

But last year , even with you guys , it was like this should have been a banger , but it was like just , stuff happens and you're like wasn't , they didn't do right , or they didn't come back , or this , they shortstopped or whatever . And like that happens when you're waterfowl hunting , no matter what .

Yeah , it happened to me everywhere I went last year and so I got in this kind of like well , noah , my son was the one that was know . This is one of the things makes me so pumped about the way canon is growing up with you guys .

Like noah grew up doing this stuff with me and we had a hunt we killed , like we killed like 24 geese and this was down with um , this is down with cadillac creek , toby , yeah , and the scout . It should have been a hundred bird day , like it was no reason , it shouldn't have been . But we set up , a little strange , like there were bird day like it was .

There was no reason , it shouldn't have been , but we set up a little strange , like there were some wind issues . It was just one of those deals where it was like dang , man , everything that could have gone wrong went wrong and we couldn't really control it right .

And uh , I mean they , you know , first big group loaded up 800 yards from us and you're like you know , when you see that , you're like dang , that's , that's how today's going to go , that's right , not on the X . And I was driving home and I wasn't mad , I just was like dang , you know , shoot . And Noah was like that was awesome .

I kind of looked at him . He's like we killed like 30 birds , dad . He's like you had those big retrieves . He's like it was a great hunt . And I was like yeah , and he was like what's wrong . And then he was like it's not always about killing a hundred .

I was like I need to be more like you when I grow up , man , cause you get , you get kind of used to it . So I think now it's not necessarily the numbers that make it special , it's like special little things , you know . It's like that was epic because xyz happened and that just made it like really fun .

You know , uh , whatever that might be , because you can have a one of the most epic timber hunts in your life and it's only 16 ducks , right , and then you can go out in the field and if you kill 16 , you're like , well , this was a complete bust , yeah . So that perspective yeah , that hunt on the pond first year I had just gotten ozzy that pond .

I don't ever really want to go back there . We we kill a lot of ducks , but every time I take a first-time dog there it's just an awful . The dogs are awful . Uh , I took ozzy and he wasn't awful , but he wasn't great . He had never been on an american waterfowl hunt before ever . That was the first one . He'd never seen a decoy .

Listen , I know this is the lab . Do as I say , not as I do here . Like this is like the cobbler's children need new shoes , kind of thing . I just never introed him to anything right and it was cold , it was a little skim ice on the water and we shot into it . But I need to hear your perspective because from my perspective we shot into a group .

I sent multiple dogs . You sent Jet . I think you had Jet or Jax , I can't remember , or no . Wally had a dog . Wally had a dog ?

You see them like flare off and like you know what the heck are they doing .

And I hear you from the other end of the blind , you know , calling ozzy and yeah , and , and he runs up to the front of the A-frame and I think you may have just given him the sit whistle and so he just sits down at the front of the A-frame , in front , right in front of like literally on the other side of the mat from me and Wally , and I think he

I think he was sitting for a minute or two and the ducks were still and I was like , all right , just call him back . And you recalled him again and I have no idea what was going on in his head .

Instead of going around the A-frame , he decides to go right over it and just completely launches over top of the A-frame , right over Wally's head , and as he's clearing , I can see it like slow motion as he's clearing Wally's head , his back , two feet catch the front of the A-frame and he just pushes off and like full extension , off of the top of the A-frame

right over the top . Yep , and it was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life dude , I , the dog , was freaked out because he , he didn't find a bird .

And he had no idea how to find me in an A-frame . He just knows I'm whistling hard . I'm like here , ozzy and man , I felt three A-frames down . The whole thing shook so hard that my gun fell over and I was like what just happened , wally's ? Like holy hell , man . The dog just jumped over the apron , straight , flat-footed , right over that thing .

He came walking to me and he had you know , if you guys have dogs , you know this look , he had the eyes like when a dog has been chased by something you know , like sheer panic in his eyes . Oh , that was quite the hunt .

It's always with you , though it's always a hunt where I'm like this dog is completely , absolutely lost his brain . Oh , that was also the same hunt where and this is a lesson , but I have a very tough time sitting still , like I got to move all the time . So anytime it slows down , I'm like I'm getting up .

And anyway , I went down to your end of the blind and I had Ozzy Do you remember this ? And Duck started working . So I just laid down you know , science , nothing got my gear on . I just laid down . Science is nothing Got my gear on .

I just laid down and I told Ozzie to sit and we're working ducks , working ducks , working ducks , and Wally this time goes here , comes Ozzie and I sit up and look and he's swimming across from the other side of the pond with a mallard .

So while we're , working now he just decides to leave where he was run around the pond , hunt in the cover and find the duck I guess he never found earlier that morning and he was so proud he just comes walking up like got it . Dude , I was like my dog is the worst , worst ever .

Aaron was like let's go get them . I was like dude , this , these ponds are special , like at shooting light , like that's when it's really , you know , it's so fun to watch Like gradient pants got soaked . It was fun , though it was fun every time . Uh , just even then fletcher had never been on a duck hunt in america .

Megan's on my list if she's willing . So I should just have a podcast with Megan Cause . I really want to .

I really want to dive into , like , what it's like having your wife or being a woman helping with a waterfowl guide outfit and like she guides , like she goes out , sets up uh , she set up way more decoys than I ever have and she , she's got , she's got waterfowl guide hands . You know what I mean .

She's , she's out there in the elements , and so maybe we'll save it for Megan Cause . I do want to have her , uh , I do want to have her , you know , on the podcast at some point , because I think she's , without a doubt , the most badass girl in the waterfowl industry .

Uh , you know , you can be an influencer , you know , but megan's out there doing it , you know .

She's truly , you know setting spreads and calling shots and and no one gets more excited when you rain out a big group of birds than megan , every single time and she rubs , and she rubs , and she rubbed her hands yes , every time , and it's taking some amazing photos .

When people come together behind something , I think there's something magical about that that can truly happen . So , for those of you who don't know , chase and Megan lost a friend , lots of friends , in the plane crash that took place in Washington DC . I'm sure if you're listening to this , if you're from America , you know about this .

That happened , but it was the one that hit the Blackhawk helicopter and crashed in the potomac .

I was watching the news , um , I think I was actually watching sports , but like it interjected , right , it was all over tv and I was like dang , you know , and and there's something about human experience where you see something like that on your , on the news , and all I thought was that's really bad , you know , I mean that's super sad , uh , and then , and

then you're kind of on to the next thing , right , you're just like all right , well , back to the hockey game or whatever . Um , but you texted me and said our clients were on that flight and and it was clients that you guys I think either they found out about us through you or they found out about you through us .

What's the background of David Whedon , who's the largest human I know , and that group coming to Foul Plains ?

group , uh , was mikey stovall and mikey had hunted with us the year before um and I think was entertaining the idea of getting a dog and ended up coming out and hunting and hunted over jet a couple of times and I think that kind of sealed the deal on him wanting to get a dog from SOK just with .

You know the relationship that he had with David , obviously , and then the relationship that he had with us and getting to see our dogs work , and so Mikey ended up getting a dog from from you , right .

Megan and I were , um , I think we were watching Ted Lasso or something on Apple TV and I got up to get her and I like a bowl of granola or something to eat for dinner , and my mom texted me and said , hey , there's a plane crash in DC and they're saying that the plane originated out of Wichita . Do you have any ? Did you have any clients leave today ?

And I went through my head and I said , well , yeah , I said guys leave three hours ago or four hours ago from Southern Maryland . And then the immediate thought went through my head like oh shit , they probably flew into Reagan or DCA . And I was like no , it can't be them .

I literally got on Wichita's Dwight D Eisenhower Airport and looked and it showed Wichita to Washington , washington , washington DC landed . And I was like , oh well , I mean , their flights already landed Right . And so I immediately tried to call Mikey and his phone just didn't ring , it just went straight to voicemail . I was like that's , that's strange .

Maybe there's not off the plane yet . And then I called David and he was in a panic . So David , cliff and Bo drove from Virginia out to Kansas because David always brings his dog , his dogs and I called David and he said hey , I know why you're calling me . I don't know anything yet . I'll call you back as soon as I find out .

And so I went back on Wichita's flight log and there was only one flight out of Wichita that day , that was going to DC , and it was the flight that those guys were on . It was seven of them . So David called me back and he's like dude , that's their flight . He's like that's their flight , that's them .

And you know it was uh , it was tough , it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with . Um , the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with as a business owner . Right , like not something you know that would ever . You would ever consider being like on your bingo card for business .

Like if , uh , if , if somebody wrote me a list of a thousand things I would have to deal with as a business owner , that would not be on the list ?

I mean , I've taken groups of guys to foul planes that only a few of them even knew each other Right , and by day three they're all cracking jokes , everybody's talking smack and they're buddies , you know , and like they want to plan a hunt together the next year with maybe a couple exceptions , you know .

But like this past weekend , um , I had Patrick here who met Brett at foul planes and like Brett showed up after dinner Cause , like you know , I told him Patrick's in town . Like the only place I've ever met was on a three-day hunt with you and they become bros .

When you do six days at a lodge , especially at Foul Plains , you're like family at that point . I mean that's an incredible amount of time to be in close quarters together . You guys eat dinner with the crew , hang with the crew , and then you've repeated three years of coming out there and then doing six days .

I mean you feel like those people are really a part of your family . So yeah , that's not a . It's not like you're . You're a tire shop and somebody bought tires and left and passed away Like you've . You've forged some really cool intimate bonds with people when they've spent that much time there .

You're like , well , you know , that happened today , you know , doesn't bother , you know , I don't know anybody , but then you have something like this happen and it just hits you more , so , differently than you could ever imagine , right , um , you know , and the in the , it's obviously a horrible accident .

Um , and you know , megan and Cody and I , you know , feel , you know , quite a bit of guilt , honestly , that you know , well , if they weren't here hunting with us , they wouldn't have been there , or whatever that may be ,

you know , and that's a hard pill to swallow , right , but at the end of the day , those guys , you know , god rest their souls passed away , coming back from a trip doing something they absolutely love to do with some of their best friends in the world , right , like and it's a difficult , it's still difficult conversation , for sure , you know , having David and if

you've never met David , he is bigger than life , like in all facets .

Yeah , and for him to be , you know , he had to go to seven funerals . We went , meg and I went to one . I can't imagine going to seven . Yeah , and the strength that he's had to be able to , like , traverse this tragedy and and work with the , the families and the kids , I mean it's just I can't imagine the weight that he feels .

You know , like they were clients of his and friends and you know family and , um , he has handled it , you know , far better than I think anybody else ever would have handled it .

Yeah , um , and he is a shining light , you know , a beacon of hope that people can kind of turn to in that situation of like , okay , if I need something , I can call David and he's going to take care of it , he's going to make it , he will move earth to make it happen , you know , and that those type of people are not as prevalent in the world today as

what you know . I feel like they should be like they should be . So it's , um , you know , and , and man , it's just a , it's a hard . It's a hard thing to deal with , you know . Um , it's tough and stuff and it's indescribable .

Um , and I'm thinking that , based off conversations David and I've had , it sounds like when he comes back out next year , it's probably going to be some of the wives are going to come back out , some of the kids are going to come back out , and that's going to be tough .

And he is large , I mean I'm six , five to 25 and he makes me feel tiny .

I'm like this is what people must feel like around me , and I know for him driving , you know , shout out to you david , we mean all the things we've said here and uh , him driving home and having , I just felt just so much sadness and empathy for him having to finish that drive home , uh , knowing what he was driving home to and losing those guys , and he

really helped us .

It was hard but moving and it was more of a celebration of life for Steve Johnson and it was , to see , one of the biggest takeaways that I've gotten from this whole ordeal .

You know , as a whole , right , the waterfowl community can be kind of polarizing , you know , from the outside , looking in , like this outfitter is better than an outfitter , that outfitter , this duck call is better than that duck call , these decoys are better than the , you know , and it can be a polarizing , you know , community for sure .

But to see how the waterfowl community has come together , you know , has been incredible , Gives me hope .

But obviously one way you can try to help is financially . And you and Megan , you know , as you processed Bethany and I reached out and said , hey , let's do , let's do something , anything we can . Blake Allen was the first one that mentioned it .

You know we had this litter of pups out of his grand hunt retriever champion and the first text I got after I posted was Blake saying hey , I would be willing to auction off one of these pups , you know , to raise money . And I was like , oh , that's a great idea . So , man , between the puppy and training , and it was .

It was cool to see how , every time I mentioned that we might do something , every person that could was texting , like Gunner was like , hey , we want to , we want to do a full kennel setup . The guys at cornerstone were like , hey , lifetime training access , you know . And obviously the guys at great lakes , they , lifetime training access , you know .

And obviously the guys at great lakes , they know mikey and and ashley and and had met their family and so , man and you guys being willing to do quite a bit to have a group out there hunting , and then everybody that , everybody that donated .

So we did we , you know , we did tickets and did a fundraiser for the families and raised over $230,000 total , which blew me away , I know the first night . I don't know what you were expecting , but I wasn't expecting that . I told Bethany I was like I would be so pumped if this got to 100 grand and that was like day two . It was amazing to see .

But how many people . I went through the list , right , I put the list together . It took me forever . It took me forever . It took me longer than I thought . I was like I promise I'm working on it . But when we got all that done , I saw so many people on that list that don't need or want a puppy yeah , they just got a puppy .

And I saw so many people on that list that could easily buy a four-day trip or a three-day trip or a 10-day trip for their buddies to cal planes .

And it was so amazing to see how many people were like we just want to help , yeah , and and then other people that were like I can't afford to do these things and I just want to contribute any way I can , even if it's just a little bit , and so if you were a part of that and you donated to help those families out , thank you from the bottom of our

heart , uh , for being a part of that and and absolutely , yeah , it's appreciated . And they're still in the thick of it . Uh , ashley , uh actually came over with um , with david , uh , I think I think the whole crew came and they dropped their pup off for training .

And yeah , man , for all those families that are still walking through that , our hearts go out to you , and I know that money doesn't fix any problems , but I hope that alleviated some of the stresses that come and I hope that you guys are able to grieve well through the middle of it , cause it's I can't imagine , just can't imagine .

Um , you know , and I think , um , I think it's , it's just the way our relationship has kind of evolved . Oh , hold on .

you know , mikey's dog up there to Wally . He said how epic would it be if Jake came out next year and was able to retrieve birds with Mikey's dog or his dog now on the last place that Mike ever hunted . Yeah .

Like not not , obviously not not a plane crash , right , but like the fact that you knew those guys , the fact that they were all of that , and I'm always in wonder at just how , for me , how the good Lord weaves together these stories .

And , yeah , I'm immensely grateful for your friendship and for Megan's friendship and for being able to be a part of so many cool aspects of your life and for having good friends to be able to walk through difficult stuff with .

You know , like Seth and the guys at Salt Plains , you know JD and Josh , the guys at Falco , like you know , we just we'll have conversations throughout the season , you know , bouncing ideas off of each other , trying to help each other out best way we possibly can .

But it's , I really feel , like your , your relationship and my relationship is , you know , is kind of the cornerstone of what this industry , dogs and waterfowl hunting should be about . Yeah , you know , too often it gets lost in translation that , um , you know who's got the better again , who's got the better dog , who's got the better ?

You again , who's got the better dog , who's got the better ? You know , whatever it may be , and I don't want , I don't want the waterfowl industry to continue to trend down that path .

Right , like I want Cannon , you know , my son to be able to look back when he's my age and say , you know , this is what dad was talking about , how this , how waterfowl hunting is supposed to be and what dogs are supposed to be about . Right , like that should be . A goal of everybody's is do everything you possibly can to make it you know .

Make waterfowl hunting what it's supposed to be , you know and and keep it going down the right path . Don't get lost in the pile pictures , don't get lost in the Instagram posts or the videos or whatever that . Whatever . Is that all fun and cool ? Absolutely that's not what waterfowl hunting in Labrador is about . It's really not .

I mean , we got iced in together at Falco your family , my family , jd , and , as the world would see it , you guys are competitors , right , but that's not how you guys see it and that's not how it works when you're together , and I love that ability to say , hey , there's so much more than competing over a little bit of business .

There's enough out there for all of us , right , it's not . It doesn't have to be cutthroat , but at the end of the day , friendship matters . Your enemy is not the guy that's doing what you're doing . You know . The enemies for us are people that hate what we do and they don't want . I mean , you want to see some , some nasty people out there .

Go look at the posts about seven duck hunters that passed away on a flight home from duck hunting , and there are people that literally say , good , glad they died because they kill animals . I mean I can't even go down , that I'll be irate , but that that's the people that don't . Those are the people that we should say hey , forget those guys .

I don't want anything to do with that . But if you're in this industry , you're breeding dogs , you're guiding , you're making decoys , making duck calls uh , you know crafting shotguns , whatever that looks like know how to hunt together . I want my grandkids to go duck hunt in Kansas and experience it , and if we're not careful , we'll lose that .

And working together , having all these friendships that are mutual and that want the best , like David Whedon , that want to see other people happy and succeeding . And if you want to know what really matters , look at what happens after an event , like in February , when people that you love die and there's a tragedy that happens .

No one is then worried about what brand you work with , right ? No one's then worried about what territory you cover or where you got your dog from . That's when people are like , okay , well , there's more to it than that .

We should work together , and I appreciate that aspect of you and your friendship with me and so many other people throughout that and throughout just mundane every day . I mean , I've I can't go into the stories for legal reasons , but you help people out when they don't have to be helped .

And and uh , instead of calling the game warden , you call the guys and and uh help them sort through , you know , whatever they need to sort through . So I you know for you being a fair friend and uh being a guy that's a very respectable and a standup guy to anyone . I respect that a lot and I appreciate your friendship .

You know you should ask yourself anybody that's listening what can you do to positively impact your fellow waterfowl hunters or your fellow dog trainers or your fellow dog handlers ? Like you know , now that I have a son , that's something that sticks in my head day in and day out .

And talking about that trip , when we all got snowed into Falco and my grandfather , you know , was there with us and he didn't let the fire go out for four days , but- Stoking the fire every 30 minutes for four days .

JD Blagg's son Bear you know , there was a bunch of kids there and JD black son bear , um , I don't know , they had like some little tiff or something , maybe with his sisters or something like that .

And watching JD be a father to , um , you know , to to bear , watching you be a father to your kids , and the approaches that you guys have with how you raise your kids , right , like that's , that's what I want for myself with my son .

Right , like raising a young man , that the way you guys raise your , your boys , you know , um , and that I wouldn't have that relationship right Without dogs and waterfowl hunting , right , so like it's right without dogs and waterfowl hunting , right , so like it's it's a full circle that it gets the depth of the , the depth of our relationships get gets deeper and

deeper and deeper every year and you can literally trace it , like on a map , back to certain events and it's , it's incredible , right like there's so much opportunity for that in this industry and people just don't take advantage of it because there's so much they're so worried about you know what their social media picture looks like or what .

You know how many birds they kill or what that may be , and that's unfortunate because that's not again .

And Chase man , I really appreciate you taking the time out of a very busy day in your spring car detailing and baseball season and all that stuff , and raising kids to sit down and chat , dude .