Running a Family Waterfowl Outfitter in Saskatchewan | Steve Strongman

Josh welcomes back Steve Strongman to recap a full Saskatchewan waterfowl season from the outfitter’s perspective. From managing dogs in the blind to building a new lodge and running an all-inclusive operation, this episode offers a real look at what it takes to hunt — and operate — at a high level in Canada.

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Transcript

Welcome And Season Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to the Build from Here podcast, a podcast for the hunter and sporting dog enthusiasts alike. Join your host, Joshua Farman, as he interviews retriever owners and discusses the trials and triumphs that lead to a great gun dog. Build from here is presented by Cornerstone Gun Dog Academy. Online resources to help you train your retriever. Now your host, Joshua Farman.

Saskatchewan Recap And New Lodge

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Welcome to the Build From Here podcast. On this episode, I'm so excited to be uh bringing back on a good friend of mine, Steve Strongman. You've seen him before, he's been on the podcast before. If you haven't, you should go check out his episode now. I'll be sure to link it up in the description on YouTube and on uh your Apple or Spotify podcast, wherever you listen to it, we'll be sure to link that episode up. But Steve is a great friend of mine, and um I'm really excited about this episode because number one, we're gonna do a recap on the season. And over the past few years, Steve and his wife and his brother have really been doing something amazing up in Canada that I'm excited to tell you about. But we'll get to that in a minute. Welcome back aboard, Steve. How are you? Good to be back. I'm doing good. Yeah. Good. I'm so glad you're here. And uh man, let's let's just dive in since people can get to know you on the other podcast. Let's just dive into season recap. How did how'd y'all season go? What were some notable memories? Anything that that stands out to you?

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Yeah, so our season uh we are up in Saskatchewan, Canada, and uh love being have been up there for a long time. Um just started outfitting uh I guess this will be our fourth season coming up. So this was our third, and we run mostly primarily in the month of October. And uh so this season was a little bit different. We just purchased uh a 10-acre yard and are looking forward to building our lodge this year. We just got the foundation in so it'd be ready for next year. And so this year we were running like a bit of a hybrid season. Um, so we ran for uh two and a half weeks, um, just a short season, but had our core groups come back, and uh I got to do a bit of hunting. Um season was pretty good. The birds were our big push actually didn't come until almost the end of the season, which was odd. So it was like we just we normally get a couple good pushes throughout the season, and then but for some reason this year they just hung up on in the Arctic there, the tree line. We hunt primarily snow geese, uh sandhill cranes, and some specks, Canada's greaters, lessers, and uh ducks, of course.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

And every species known to man.

Species, Flights, And Odd Migration

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Pretty much, yeah. We had uh a buddy of ours was hunting a pond and he was shooting diver ducks in the pond and shooting snow geese in the field. So it was uh you see a lot of different species, which is the amazing thing about Saskatchewan. So but this year, um some pretty good memories. Uh Ellie, if uh you listen to our previous podcast, you know she's been the problem child, and uh we've had to work through a lot of issues, but uh Cornerstone got us to the well, not quite to the finish line, but uh she hunted uh a couple times last season, and then this year she was out on uh quite a few hunts. We got her 75 retrieves so far. So um this year uh yeah, I took her out and she um obviously kept her leash this year so she didn't break.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

And uh yeah, Ellie's got some fire. Um I've seen Ellie many times at member weekend, and that dog has some go. There's no question about it.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Yep, and uh so she's putting more pieces together, and we had her uh uh one of my good friends that I met at the weekend, um, Matt Papke, and then Chris Rowland came up. He brought seven dogs to camp this year, brought his full dog box, and it's oh man, he just keeps expanding his operation.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

That's amazing. Oh yeah, he started with one and now he's got seven.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Yeah. So he was there for came up with his camper, and we put in uh RV site for him at the lodge and pulled in and all his dogs out there, and uh so he hunted with us quite a bit. And uh, but yeah, we got out on a couple hunts. I did uh with Matt and Chris and Ron and Luna and and Weatherby, and then uh another hunt with uh Nyx and um Ellie was we exposed some problems. Obviously, that's how it goes. Every last year we ran her by herself, really calm, quiet, just a duck hunt. And um this year we took her on a snow goose hunt a couple times and sent her on some birds, and Luna and Weatherby went out. We showed a uh a group of birds and found out that um we never trained with other dogs, like running out at the same time. So Ellie goes taken off after them and and uh goes over to say hi kind of thing, forgets all about the retrieve, but uh Yeah, there's a lot of excitement for a young dog doing that.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

You know, a lot of times at member weekend we're running two dogs at a time, but one dog picks, then the other dog sits and watches, then the other dog. But I've seen a lot on hunts where especially if it's hot, you know, you're sending both dogs real quick, trying to pick them up as fast as possible. Uh, it's easy for a young dog to get caught up in that excitement.

Ellie’s Progress And First Challenges

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Yeah. And uh but anyways, it's uh that's uh the beauty about cornerstone and the and the trainers, like the handlers that are in it. So Chris and Matt or and I just talked and I just said hold Luna and Weatherby and uh let Ellie pick up the the short ones in front of the decoys, and then Luna and Weatherby are far ahead of uh where Ellie's at. So they did the blinds and the long retrieves, and it worked out perfect. But uh Wow. We got to work on that this year, so something else to work on, and our steadiness, of course, we definitely have to work on, but uh I expected that with being our first year, and uh this is the first real real year, especially with other dogs.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

I was uh we were talking about this before, but I think it's worth noting uh at the previous Birmingham chapter meetup, we did a similar thing, but just without the real birds, which are doing we did a mock setup, but we started doing that where we ran kind of both dogs at a at a time. And one of the things that I think a lot of people don't think about is you like you you're used to running your dog by yourself and you're thinking from that perspective. But when you're hunting with other people and other dogs, uh you've got to start thinking like, okay, I'm gonna run my dog in this environment too. And so what we found is that at the chapter event, and I've seen this on many hunts myself, that uh handlers were struggling with communication at first because there's like so much going on, and I intentionally make the mock hunts that way. I make them chaotic because that's the way hunting is. And we we paused for a second and I was like, hey guys, this is exactly what I wanted to have happen so that we can work on communication. Because when you're hunting with six guys in the blind or eight guys, and you've typically the dog people are going to be on the end. If you haven't communicated prior, there's a problem. There's a lot of space between you and the other handlers. So communication between handlers is one of the biggest things that you can focus in on. And uh, it sounds like you you all kind of experienced that out in the field firsthand.

Multi-Dog Hunts And Handler Communication

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Yeah, and you're exactly right. Like they were out and they were Matt was we were running, I think, six, six guys, and I was on the right end of the blind with Ellie, and then Matt was in the center with Luna, and then Weatherby and Chris were on the end, and so it's uh but like I said, I I I love Cornerstone for that reason, is like always super patient, and they knew exactly what the situation was with Ellie. They knew it was like her first main year and she was new, and Luna and and Weatherby had got tons of retrieves so far, and so they just held them back. And Chris and and Matt literally said, Whatever you want, Steve, just let me know. And so it's uh but communic communication like going forward, um, that's something that like you suggest or you just said is I think we need to talk about if we're running multiple dogs, where each dog's at and what type of experience they're looking for. Because uh, I mean, you know yourself on when you're hunting a new dog, it's like so many different things. I've used real birds, but Ellie's never had a duck flapping its wing when she runs up to it. And so, you know, she ran up to one and it just whacked her right in the face, and she was just like, whoa. And uh luckily it didn't it didn't uh affect her at all, but probably got her more fired up.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

I bet based on her personality, I bet she's kind of like, uh-uh, we're not gonna let this happen.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yeah, but uh she uh she did pretty good. She's a little it's something we gotta work on too. She's a little like fresh killed birds, she's not super like excited to pick them up. So we had to encourage her a little bit, but she's getting better and better as we go on, and then uh yeah, something else that we kind of experienced was um using a winger or a launcher, um, anything that makes that duck noise, she would always turn her head and look at it because that's the direction of where the bumper is going to be launched. And so when she was in the blind in the A-frame and the guys were blowing their duck calls, she would turn and look inside the blind instead of keeping her head out. And so that was something I never really thought of like kind of like training repercussions going into hunting. So it took her a little bit to figure it out, but then once she started to hear the birds or see them, like then she would stick her head out. But I was like, well, that's something we gotta work on is keeping her attention looking forward instead of looking at the duck call or whatever the noise the the duck noise is is uh coming from.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

So yeah, that's amazing. I I'm glad we're talking about all this, especially this time of year. There's probably a lot of people that are hunting dogs that are kind of going through some of these things. And that's the big thing. You know, you do all you can before you go hunting. Then when you go hunting, you learn more and you pay attention to these things. So I always like to say that first season is really you know, the first real season, like where you're really getting after it. You know, a lot of times the first season may be like a hunt or two, but when you're actually getting after your hunting multiple times, that's when you're starting to really develop your dog. And by that third season or second season, depending on what if the first season was like one hunt or if it was multiple hunts. You said you got 75 birds under uh her belt, so a lot of experience now, you know, anywhere that 50 to 100 bird range is typically like a good place to be where the dog like it things are clicking. So y'all are y'all are getting there. But for those hunters out there with dogs, like you know, those first few hunts, the first, you know, multiple hunts, you know, it may take you a while to get to 50 to 100 birds, but those first few hunts, you really gotta, those are things you just learn on the job. And the cool thing is you're prepared to respond to that so that you make your dog do well. But what you don't want to do is go and having these expectations. You want to have high standards, but your expectations need to be open to whatever happens so that because we're always working toward the standard. And when you uh get, you know, keep that in mind, instead of being disappointed, you're able to say, ah, this is something easy to fix. Like that's a very good lesson. A lot of people get those wingers or they get the the sounds out there and the oh, this is cool. It's good for young marking to get their attention, but that caused a problem for you because in the real world, you know, you the the dog's looking the wrong way, so you got to get that fixed round. But it sounds like Ellie figured that out pretty quick on like, okay, I need to actually be looking out in this scenario instead of looking towards the sound.

Training Gaps Exposed By Real Hunts

SPEAKER_02 11:59

Yeah, and one of the things that I notice too with, and you've talked about it multiple times on the podcast, is like your your uh patience or your demeanor, and that's the dog can feed off your energy. And one thing for me that I have to really work on is because like you're getting up at four o'clock in the morning, you're driving out, you're setting up all these decoys, you're tired, and then this dog is doing not what it's supposed to do, and like patience is uh that's something that I this year I was like, I need uh to make sure that my head is in the right space, and because Matt and Chris are watching me and I'm getting upset with Ellie because she's doing something wrong or whatnot, and they're just like, Praise her, praise her, be calm, and I'm just like dressed out because I'm tired, and and uh, but that was it is it is interesting, like uh how uh like the hunt kind of points out a lot of the flaws in your training, but or things that you didn't uh didn't experience, and that's what we're working on with Ellie. She gets just fired up when she hears that duck noise, thinking things are coming and she's jumping off the walls kind of thing in in anticipation. And so one of the things we're doing now is is bringing the duck call out because like we did exposure to gunfire, but I never thought about exposure to the duck call. And uh so we're just getting her used to that and making sure she's calm and steady. And because in training, it doesn't bother her, and then you take her to the blind and she's just fired right up, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Well let's uh let's let me say this too, because you know, this is something important to consider, right? You you're you have a guide service in Canada. So part of that getting up early is you've got two priorities, right? You're thinking about your clients, but you're also thinking about that dog. And you've got this younger dog ringing along, but I would probably say your first priority is gonna be let's take care of the people that are here, right? And then you want your dog to fit into there. So Ellie kind of is seeing that, she's like, like you said, reading into your excitement, what's going on in your mind, and starting to say, oh, I've got a gap here. I can I need to be thinking a little independently. So having the community like you know, Chris and Matt up there with you to encourage you along, I think is is invaluable. But I I do wanted to throw that out there. And we're gonna dive more into your your outfitting service here in just a bit. Um, because guys, if you're listening to this episode, like this is something you gonna you're gonna want to hear, because this is this is a guy you need to know, especially if you want to get up there into the mecca of all waterfowl hunting. It's this is your this is one of your main points of connection, especially if you have a good dog. But we'll we'll talk more about that in a minute. But I wanted to kind of throw that aspect in there for people that may have you know missed out in their first podcast or or just have missed that. I want to make sure that they know like when you're going out in the field and you're setting up those decoys and all that, like you've got this dog too. So you've got two priorities versus someone just going out with just a dog, maybe going on a hunt that's guided. You know, their primary focus is the dog. You have you have no other option. You have to have two primary focuses, people and then and then the dog.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Yeah, yeah, 100%. Yeah, and it's uh it's uh there's a lot of working pieces in the morning in that, and and uh it's a great time to work on place because you'll put her in the blind and and try and get her to sit. And but like you said, it's it's very hard to balance, but that's where um like my wife Sherry or my brother or Matt or Chris that are there and they know the CGA um aspect and they can correct her while I'm doing other things, but uh that's cool. Yeah, it's uh it's it's a lot of fun, a lot of stress for sure, because you there's only so so many things you can control, but uh you can control what you can control and and hope for the best after that.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

So yeah, I think by next season, after 75 birds or so under plus your first season under the belt, by the time you get to next season end, you know, working on the things that you've learned, that stress will be gone. You'll have that dog that you s leave right there on place, and then you you know, Ellie will just know what to do by the time it rolls around. It just takes time for everything to click. And I think some people need to hear that out there. That you know, they put a lot of work into their dogs and they're concerned it's not fully clicking. Um, but be patient, you know, once you get the right amount of reps, all of a sudden it's lights out. There's always details to clean up, right? We can always aspire for better, and that's part of having that higher standard. You put a weight on your shoulders to achieve a higher standard. But as I like to say, you don't get what you don't ask for. So you might as well ask for that higher standard.

Mindset, Patience, And Handler Energy

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Yeah, no, a hundred percent. And I even we had a phone call with um with you like in last season when we just took her out for those few duck hunts, and and like like I said, she's had a bit of an issue with picking up the real birds, and it's uh I've had real birds in training, and and once she picks it up a couple times, then she's fine with it. But that first like initial new bird, and uh, you know, by the time we got to the the 75 and that or or further on she gets used to it and uh and she's doing better, and I think that's the same like you said, it's just repetition. But last year I remember you saying to me, it's just like, hey, when you get to probably 35 or 50 retrieves, you'll see difference in her because they just it starts to click. And it's been a lot of fun to see her like putting the pieces together like as we go out every hunt, and you know, 75 birds. I think she's we've only been on four hunts. And uh so wow, that's hot and heavy, that's awesome. Yeah, and so that's what I'm excited about too, is like going forward, like putting her on more and more hunts. And you know last year they were duck hunts, and then this year they were snow goose hunts, so it's uh it's a lot of fun, and but I mean it would be awesome to see her sit perfectly, do everything perfectly, but then we wouldn't have anything to work on.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

So that's right, man. Well, y'all get there. Well, that's a great it seems like you had a great season recap, great community, great friends, and uh you know let's speaking of season, let's talk about the waterfowl dispatchers in Canada, which is you and your brother, but it's y'all's outfitting business. Um, I actually let's I kind of want to just go back, like what why did you guys start this? What made y'all want to start this? And then let's kind of dive in because I know we've got the new lodge coming for this coming year, and a lot of pieces falling together that are going to be fantastic. So I think there's uh and a great value, all inclusive. We'll get to all of that stuff, but but I want to go back to the heart, the vision behind this, like why did you start this? Like what got you and your brother so fired up to start uh your outfitter?

Balancing Guiding Clients And Running Dogs

SPEAKER_02 18:50

Yeah, so I think basically the main reason why is uh our dad took us out to Saskatchewan on our like a guy's hunt. His dad took him and his brother out there uh to hunt because it's the best place in the world to hunt waterfowl. And then when we got to 16 and 18 year olds, he took us out on a trip and we just got hooked, been going out every year, and uh love it out there, love the people, and the farmers are amazing people. And one of the things that we we always saw was that the farms were run by families, and they were like they have this thing called field dinners, which is I've always loved is the guys are you know, five, six o'clock at night, it's dinner time, and the wives drive out and they all pull up the machines and they have dinner in the field. But that family aspect was uh something that we saw for years uh hunting out there and got to know a lot of the farmers in the area, and and Phil and I both work in the trades, and I've always hated the fact that you know, six, seven o'clock in the morning I leave for work, and then I don't get back until five, and and we see you know our way. Wives and kids in the in the evenings for three or four hours and then they go to bed. And so Phil and I were out there and combined our love for hunting and uh finding a business that we could run as a family and do something together where everybody was involved so that you know we weren't gone for eight, nine hours a day. And it's not all year, but we're out there for almost two months and and it kind of fit perfect. My brother Phil, he's a videographer part-time, um, but really good at filming and photos, and and uh then his wife is an amazing cook and uh baker, and then my wife, she loves doing office administration type things, and and so I've run a business myself for a while, and so we kind of combined everything together. And Abby, Phil's wife, she does all the cooking and and meals, and um and then Sherry books all the clients, looks after the client experience and makes sure everybody's getting the information they need. And then Phil, he guides all the hunts and films them all, puts everything in the package for our clients, and then I do all the scouting and and uh sales as well, talking to the potential people. So that was we kind of saw it all come together, and uh it was something we could do as a family. And uh we keep it nice and small, we're not looking to grow huge. We want to keep that family aspect and and raise our kids up in that, and that's something that's kind of why we started it, is just to have something as a family that we could do together. So and share that uh with the people that come up.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Man, that's an amazing story. I like the legacy aspect. So your your dad was so your granddad took your dad out and he got hooked on it, and then uh your dad took you and your brother out, and then you guys got hooked on it. I love that legacy aspect. That's incredible. And now here you are and you own your own piece of property out there, and now you're about to have your own lodge out there. That's incredible, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Yeah, it's uh I it's it's so fun to like you said, the legacy part, and and then, you know, my brother has four kids and three boys that are young, and they're I think they're all under six years old, and the boys are are out there, and I say to people, you know, if you don't like to see kids around or wives in in camp when you're hunting, I was like, we're not the people for you. So the boys are and and the families involved, we go and pick them up, and you know, they're picking up decoys in the field and getting to know the clients, and and uh that's something that we want to raise them up in it. And uh so I'm just hoping they hurry up so they can guide and clean all the birds for us, so it's a little less work.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

That's pretty smart, yeah. There you go. That's uh I love the family aspect though that y'all have going. I think that's a a huge you know opportunity really in the waterfowl market because you know being able to have your family up there, having that small tight-knit uh operation, that is that is wonderful. So how many so y'all been doing it, you said about four years is how long you've been doing the outfitting or at the recording of this episode?

Why Good Dogs Make Better Hunts

SPEAKER_02 23:15

Yeah, three years or three seasons we've been outfitting, and we we've grown it just small, and um that's the way we wanted it. Like we both have businesses back home yearly, and this is kind of our passion project, and and so that's what we said. We're not gonna rush out and just take, you know, anybody and everybody uh we possibly can, grow it with the good people and and try and have repeat clients every year so it makes it easy for us and we get to know them really well. And the dog aspect was is uh is something that kind of that part of it came when Sherry and I got our two dogs, Ellie and Diesel, and then got into Cornerstone. And I I told mostly everybody that came out and and uh I'm not sure if I told you, but like I didn't grow up with dogs, and I never knew there was people that would go hunting like waterfowl and they would put their gun down and not shoot all hunt and just run their dog. Like that was a foreign thing to me, because like I've only been around guys that are just fired up to to kill ducks and and to hunt. And and I was just like, that's crazy, but you know, I went on all those hunts with Ellie this year and never pulled the trigger once because I understand that I'm like, hey, this is this is the main focus and this is what it's about. And uh so that's where that passion came too, and I noticed that there is a lot of, especially with the cornerstone going to the members' weekends, which is a huge help for us, is that there's a lot of people that spend an enormous amount of hours training their dogs, and then you know, they struggle to find places that they can go and actually put everything they've trained for into real world situations in hunts. And so that's what I talked to my brother and my wife, and and you know, we say we gotta make we gotta make a place, like a part of the season at least for dog owners and and or handlers and their dogs to come and and you know see their work pay it off and be accommodating for specifically that. And uh, we've had quite a few dogs come up and my brother who guides all the hunt, he loves it because if there's no dogs, he's running, you know, a hundred times out of the blind, picking up birds and trying to do everything. And he said, when there's you know two or three dogs in the mine, I just sit there and call the shot. He's like, I love it.

Ethics, Retrieval Speed, And Safety

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Man, a good dog makes the hunt so much better. I feel like you kill more birds with a good dog, right? Um, I do know you know it's times you know, those hardcore killers can can think, oh, we're we're missing some birds, right? Especially if you just shoot a volley of birds and now you're picking and there's more on the way, but the dogs are out, um, that can make you think, oh, we're gonna miss some birds. But the reality is if you've got well-trained dogs and people that know how to handle them, you are so much more efficient than having dudes walk out there. The dogs are just so much faster than some dude in uh some overalls or some heavy boots, it just takes forever to get out there, especially when birds are selling out there a couple of hundred yards. Uh a nice retriever can cover that ground extremely fast. Uh, I do want to talk about that for a second, about or about the accommodations that you guys are doing with the dogs, because I think, especially for a lot of you guys listening to the Bill From Here podcasts, like if you've got a dog that you're really wanting to get out there and prove that it's trained, it's you want to put it on birds, or maybe you don't have a lot of birds where you hunt. Maybe we talked about that earlier, that 50 to 75 bird number is where you want to be reasonably quick because it's gonna help you get more birds under and more experience under your dog's belt, which is gonna help it click better. Um, you know, you could that's something that we could probably have with you guys have an experienced dog in the blind and maybe one of those up-and-coming dogs in the blind and coordinate all that, especially if you go as a cornerstone group, you can get up there and hunt with you guys and get your dog the birds that it needs because y'all are in prime location. I'll we'll talk, let's talk about that for a second, but then we'll I want to kind of tie back to how you guys hunt and the value that you guys provide. But uh that's something I think that could be worth going. So if you're like, man, it's gonna take me forever to get to those 50 birds. Well, it doesn't have to go hunt with Steve and his group, and you can probably get your 50 birds with by the time you head back home for the one dog. Uh, so I think that's a a good thing that you guys are doing there.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Mm-hmm. Yeah, and one of the things going back to picking up the birds, um, that is I'm not I'm not I don't hunt many other places, so I'm not sure how it works, but in Saskatchewan, we've actually like the game wardens, they watch, they'll pull up on a field if they see you hunting, and they'll watch, and it's called a reasonable amount of time where you have to go and pick those birds up. And they're pretty sticky on it, and that's what my brother loves, is because like he can send those dogs, even if the birds are coming really quick, the dogs just run out, you know, out of the dog door of the blind, and just in the decoys, he can pick up all those birds, and basically nobody gets out of the blind. And so it's it's a big help there. And like you said, he's a lot slower than than a lot of dogs running back in three or four hundred yards, and Saskatchewan's pretty flat, so if they're coming, they're coming, they can see that. And we we've noticed that they don't really a dog doesn't really bother them if they're coming in. So it's 100%. It's uh a lot of fun. The dogs.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

You know, it really in a lot of the places that I've hunted, it really just depends. Like sometimes we get repeat volleys. If the birds are dead in the decoys, that's not something to worry too much about, right? Because they're they're not going anywhere. But if you've got one that's wounded, that's the case where you there is no time to wait. You need the dog out there immediately because a bird can get away. I have seen one time a bird was shot, landed out there, ended up getting the dog almost got to it and then it just took off and flew off again. So I don't know what ended up happening, but it did fly, like it didn't land again. So who knows, maybe it flew another couple of miles and then landed. But having the dogs to get out there quickly, I think, is is a good thing. And especially like you said, hey, if the people are watching, we gotta we gotta make sure we do it right. But even if they're not watching, we still want to be ethical. And if you shoot a bird, you wanna you wanna pick it, right? You want to a burden a burden hand and on the ground is better than 20 out there that may not even that may end up flaring off. You want to make sure that you you get all that you pick up. All that you shoot.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Yep. Yeah, and they find them a lot easier, and like running out after a wounded bird as a person, you're a lot less likely to get it because that dog will be on it so quick, and even if it takes off a little bit, it'll you know, I've seen dogs jump and grab them out of the air where not many guys are getting that close and jumping them, and jumping and grabbing them out of the air. So and it's yeah, a lot safer too with outfitting I've noticed too, is like when you have dogs working versus a guy out in the decoys with a with a firearm, you know, there's a lot less chance of something happening, you know. God forbid that, you know, anything happens with firearm, but that dog just coming in and out and everybody stays put, nobody's moving around in the blind, it it works well. So it's uh it's a good part of the the for an outfitter anyways, having good dogs is important.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Wow. I completely agree. Um there's a lot I want to cover here, so I'm gonna move this to another component of your outfitter. Let's talk about the value that you guys provide because you and I taught before this, and when you're explaining, hey, we we do it all inclusive, right? The sh so shells are included. Um the only thing you need to bring, right, uh is a gun, or do you are you guys you just need to bring a gun?

The Origin Story Of The Outfitter

SPEAKER_02 31:00

You don't even need to bring a gun or no, all you have to do is get yourself to the lodge. So that's amazing. Yeah. Um in the past, I like coming across a lot of our clients are American, and so a lot of the feedback that we've heard is is, you know, if it's your first time coming up, obviously crossing the border with with a firearm, with a dog, getting licenses from being out of the country, buying ammunition in in Canada from being a U.S. We have you know different gun laws and different licenses that you have and whatnot. And it's fairly simple, but if you've never done it before, then it's obviously intimidating. And so just talking to clients, they would prefer that it's you know all inclusive. And so this year we're gonna buy um you know six, seven gun shotguns and top of the line shotguns too. So we're looking hopefully gonna be getting that new Beretta um, I think it's AS 800. And uh that's a beauty.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

I've been seeing them post about that. Beretta, if you're listening, uh you need to talk to this guy. Let's uh let's get you talking to Mr. Steve.

unknown 32:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:03

So hopefully we'll get six or seven of those, and and uh if not, it will be uh super black eagle or A400, and but something that is a nice gun to shoot, and then our all your licenses will be included, so Saskatchewan, game bird, and and uh stamp will be included. We'll have those at the lodge and two boxes of shells uh per hunt and uh that'll be included.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Hey, we need to talk about this because that when you say per hunt, different lodges and outfits do it differently, but for the value that you guys are providing, you're not just doing one hunt a day, right? Talk everybody through that because I I think when you start thinking about shelling out some money, I I just want y'all to like hear what he's saying because this is one of the best values that I've heard. It's absolutely incredible.

Building A Family-Run Hunt Experience

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Yeah, so our package is we run three-day hunts. So you arrive at camp the night before, and then we hunt um five times in three days. So three mornings and two afternoons. And if you're still wanting to kill things, we can go find some upland to shoot. But uh usually the guys are pretty wore out, so we hunt we hunt five times, and usually how it works is you know, um half hour before sunrise we can shoot, and then we usually cut the hunt off at 10 o'clock, unless the birds are you know going crazy. But the girls like to know when we're coming back to the lodge for food, and and uh but yeah, um so five hunts and your two boxes of shells per hunt, and guns and licenses are included, lodging, and then all your meals and uh bird cleaning is included too. And uh we like help if we shoot uh you know a hundred plus snow geese or something like that. We usually like some help, but uh other than that, we process them all and get them ready for uh for transport, or in Saskatchewan, um we have two food banks and they'll take all the meat as well. So there's a lot of people out there that that we work with and and and give the meat to, especially for our clients that are flying. So but uh yeah, it's uh it's uh we try to add as much valuable as possible, and something I always forget is that especially dog uh owners is that like the the hunts are all filmed. So my brother who's guiding the hunts is um he films it, and then you know, dog photos are always a hit. And uh that's what he says. He's like, I love it when there's dogs because it's something else to film or or take pictures of other than dead birds and you know landscapes. So he uh we usually talk to them and if it's the birds, if it's the dog's first hunt, we always try to get, you know, if it's their first snow goose, we get a picture of them with the snow goose, their first snow goose, or picture of them with their first, you know, sandhill crane or a speckle belly or whatever they're targeting kind of thing. We try to make it special and include that too. So build value that way, and then you know, a month or so after your hunt, then Phil packages those all sends them to you, and and uh it's always a lot of fun to see.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

So you're getting that included too. I mean, that's insane. Like I said, guys, this is an awesome value. That's awesome, man. That's uh and y'all do so well. You're you're prime look at it. You know, for as a waterfowler, one of the things I've learned, people ask me, I this is I do get this question a lot. They're like, you know, are you doing much hunting down there? And I'm like, I'm doing some deer hunting down here in Alabama. While there are birds in Alabama, most of my waterfowling is gonna be done traveling because uh if you've ever watched Duck Commander, the any of those series, you always hear Phil talking, Phil Robertson talking about, or any any waterfowl that's avid talks about you want to be where the birds want to be. And so you guys are pretty much where the birds are gonna be. So uh you're you're stacking the odds in your favor with where you guys are. So it's Saskatchewan, it doesn't get any better than that.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

No, and the variety, that's what I always love is like it's it's fun to to see different people because we'll hunt snow geese in the morning, then we'll hunt ducks or darks, dark geese in the afternoon, sandhill cranes, you know. Obviously it depends on this year, it was strange too, because uh Matt was up with us last year and we hunted sandhill cranes almost once a day this year. The the high majority of the cranes went through early, and so but then the ducks were a lot heavier this year than they were last year, so we hunted more ducks than they did sandhills, but so it's just the variety is a lot of fun to see, and and um another thing with dogs is just switching up the you know the different types of species, and Matt had to train Luna with the Rex specs on because uh you know, hunting cranes, you always want to try and make sure they're dead, but having those on are definitely uh a safety thing too. So keep your dog protected, but um yeah, and but it's I think for a new dog, one of the best hunts you can be on is like I mean snow goose has advantages and disadvantages because when those birds fall, they're bright white, and if we're hunting in uh pea field or a a cot wheat field, they can see those really easy. Disadvantages is there's a lot of noise when they're coming in, and we run electronic calling too, so that's new for the dogs. But um like I was telling you, this year we're building a brand new lodge. Um we can house up to eight guys, but primarily they'll be if they're it's a if it's a dog group, then we'll just have six. And if there's a couple of people that aren't shooting, we'll go up to eight. But we'll also have a five-acre yard. We have a nice uh field in the back that uh we'll have a mock hunt set up, and if the dogs never you know experience being around electronic snow goose call, then uh we'll expose them to that, or if there's something that goes on in the hunt, then we can you know work on it back at the lodge too. So Matt was doing that after the one hunt. Luna had some issues going over a hill in the wheat field like to get a bird, and I forget what happened. She was pulling right or left or something, and so he just took out a steak and a bird we had shot that morning and basically set up the same scenario right outside the lodge and and ran her on it and and got her corrected. So it's uh it's a lot of fun having those different people because Chris and Matt are you know their dogs are awesome, and uh so having Ellie, they're giving me instruction and and we're running through different scenarios, so it's a lot of fun.

Dog-Forward Hunts And Real-World Reps

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Man, I mean this is awesome. So you got guys, if you're listening to this, you've got to what October to get your dog ready to go hunt with Steve. Is that is that when your season gets rolling? So you better get to work. You better get to work and call Steve and get your br get your dog out there. Um if you're a cornerstall member, by the way, just reach out to Steve. Uh, there's a there's a special deal set up for you guys for cornerstall members. And we're gonna put up your you know your stuff in the description there. Uh if you're on YouTube or if you're on just wherever you listen to podcasts, uh, we'll have everything you need to link up and connect with Steve. But Steve, what's uh what's been one of your your greatest um moments so far in outfitting and and involving the dogs and in the the hunt as well? Is there any like standout moments? I know we didn't talk about that question, so I'm just curious if there's anything off the top of your mind.

SPEAKER_02 39:32

I think uh I I don't like so far with Ellie, um just speaking for myself, I think she's been a l uh a big chore to get to hunting, and uh every time she doesn't make it easy, but uh I love her to death and it's fun. But I think the first duck that we shot was like I was so stressed about her because she had an issue. With picking up the live birds and that, and we had these ducks coming in, and it was just a slow hunt, just Sherry and I, and Phil he was doing some filming and that while we were running her, and we shot that first duck, and she ran right out, and it was in a lento field, so really, really flat, and picked up the duck and brought it back. And that still so far is is like because it took me like or took Sherry and I like almost two and a half years to get to that point, and uh I think that is still you know I know there'll be other experiences with her running blinds and whatnot as we go forward, but that's definitely like the highlight because starting from a pup and then to that point was just pretty special for me. So man.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

And there's every dog's different. So there's some dogs that are wonders and dreams to work with. There's other dogs that do are challenging. You know, Violet was one of those dogs that was quite challenging, thankfully for everybody watching the videos. But in your case, right, having those challenges, but it it's worth it. Like those types of dogs too. Like sometimes the problem childs, the dogs that you work with, when you get it to all click, those are sometimes some of the most amazing dogs in the field. So it's just it's that nice balance. Not to say that the dogs that are just easy to work with aren't great and amazing in the field, but I will say at the very least, it's that much more rewarding when it all comes together. You finally get that amazing retrieve, and it's like, this is what we've been doing. Like it does work, like we finally, we finally got to where we're going. So man, that's a that's a great. I'm so glad y'all had that experience and glad to hear that uh it sounds like Ellie in just four short hunts was able to really get a ton of birds under her belt for you guys this year. I know that has been monumental and that'll be huge by next season when it rolls around. That's gonna be that's gonna be huge.

All-Inclusive Value: Guns, Shells, Licenses

SPEAKER_02 41:47

That's the goal, yeah. Get it ready and and uh our other goal for this this winter is like we're week like forty-eight, I think. And so hopefully by the the this members weekend, we're hopefully gonna have a right through the whole s the whole course, and uh that's another big goal for me because I've it's been a long way coming, but uh it's the community and you and and uh you know Matt and Chris, I've talked to a lot, just different problems and working it out and and encouraged me along and and I know I've said it before, but if anybody's listening and on on the fence about coming to the members weekend, it's something that you need to you need to do because that has helped us astronomically with just seeing different dogs and in the different scenarios and different people telling us, you know, good things that they've had and bad things that they've had and how they fixed them. And it's it's uh Keith said the first time I your dad said when I called him the first time about coming, I said, Is it gonna be worth it? Because she's so young and he's like, It's gonna be you'll learn more as a handler than she'll learn. And it's very true. So yeah, I'm we're pretty excited for it.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

So man, we can't wait and can't wait to see you guys here again this coming member member week or it's member weekend, member week, it's gonna be both. It's a little bit longer now for those that still want to come for the weekend. That's a possibility as well. But it's coin this is gonna be a very special one, and I'm very excited about it. So there's we're we're kind of up in the ante even more so at this coming member week with uh the standards testing and all that. It's gonna be incredible. So that'll be perfect for Ellie. It'd be a perfect time for Ellie to come through. I remember last member week was kind of a big like a milestone for for Ellie to like handle all of the excitement and you know do as she's supposed to do. So um this coming member week will be a pinnacle for her, I believe. This is gonna be and for you guys, it's gonna be a a big moment that you're that you won't forget, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02 43:45

Nope. It'll be it'll be good. I'm pretty excited, like you said, the expansion of it. And uh hopefully Diesel, our our younger one too, he'll be uh he'll be ready to go too. So yeah, um, it'll be good. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Well Steve, let's uh we haven't mentioned so we mentioned your name, the waterfowl dispatchers. How can people find you? And like I said, I'm gonna put this in the description so that you can find it. But be sure to give Steve a call. And if you're again, if you're a Cornerstone member, let Steve know. Um we'll make sure that you get connected up on that because there is uh even a special offer for you guys to get connected up and hunting with Steve. But Steve, how can people find you, whether they're cornerstone member or not that's listening to this? How can they find you and get in cut and in touch with you?

SPEAKER_02 44:28

Yeah, we're um basically the easiest way to get in touch is just on Instagram um or Facebook at the Waterfowl Dispatchers. And uh we're monitor those pretty close. Our website, we're just updating all the information, but uh um I can also put or we can put the my phone number in uh in the notes there and just give me a call or text or a message on Instagram or Facebook, and Josh has my number too if uh if uh you know you're really stuck, but uh we're pretty easy to find. So it uh we'd love to have anybody up and and get them, give them the Saskatchewan experience and uh help them out as much as we can.

SPEAKER_01 45:09

Well, Steve, that sounds great. I know I'm excited for next year. I can't wait to see some of the the pictures and videos that are gonna come out of next season for you guys, especially for the cornerstone members that make it up there. And uh, you know, I'm sure uh Chris and Matt will be making their way back up there again, and then hopefully I'll be making my way up there as well. But I just want to say thank you for for hopping on this episode and uh man, we're excited for what you guys are doing. I'm excited for your passion and the legacy and the family uh traditions that you're carrying on and the way that you're doing it, right? Uh it's a very family-friendly environment, so that's a big component too. So if that's what you're looking for, like this family friendly, like this is gonna fit you guys really well. So uh, but excited that y'all are doing that because it's much needed out there. We so love what you guys are doing, man.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

Well, thank you very much and for everything that you guys done and uh love being a part of the cornerstone community for sure.

Five Hunts In Three Days Explained

SPEAKER_00 46:04

So thanks for listening to the Build From Here podcast. To learn more about retriever training or our podcast, visit Cornerstone Gun Dog Academy.com slash podcast.