One Hell Of A Life Outdoor Podcast
The One Hell Of A Life Outdoor Podcast hosted by father-son duo Tony Vogel and Tristan Vogel, Owners of Zero Duck:30 and Zero Buck:30 . Our passion lies in bringing every hunter the REALITY of what it REALLY takes to hunt their target animal while equipping them with the knowledge to be a successful hunter and promoting the lost "old school values" that laid the foundation for the sport we love so much today.
One Hell Of A Life Outdoor Podcast
Colton Bailey on Coaching, Guiding, and the Real Joy of the Hunt
We sit down with our friend Colton Bailey—teacher, coach, and Arkansas waterfowl guide—to trace the path from the classroom to the pit blind and the values that tie them together. Mentors, faith, patience, and craft rise above limits and gear hype as we revisit hunts that changed us.
• Colton’s background as a teacher, coach, and guide in Northeast Arkansas
• Early mentors, first hunts, and the heyday vs the public land grind
• Coaching lessons that shape character and carry into the blind
• Gear costs, marketing noise, and skill before upgrades
• The turkey stalk, small windows, and teamwork under pressure
• Why film matters for memory and storytelling
• The 12‑year‑old phenom caller who learned on YouTube
• Duck calling like a band: timing, rhythm, and realism
• Working with Kade and the Delta Thunder ethos
• Youth hunts, family roots, and gratitude as a daily practice
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Looking to waterfowl hunt in Arkansas? Give our good friend Kade Weatherford, Owner of Delta Thunder Outfitters a call at (870)-926-7944
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On.
SPEAKER_04:You want to lead lead the charge?
SPEAKER_02:Yep. Remove your covers. That's what we said in the military. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation. On the God. Indivisible. Indivisible. With liberty and justice and justice and one hell of a life for all.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, sir. Alright, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the One Hell of a Life Outdoor Podcast. Today is kind of a special podcast for us because we're truly having uh really a friend of ours on. A lot of people we have on is like, you know, it's the first time we're talking to him. Colton uh and Tony and I have shared literally maybe hundreds of hours in a duck blind at this point. That's right. And have laughed, have probably pussed a lot. Understatement. Yeah, I don't even know, but we've had a lot of great times. Colton's like one of our best friends in Arkansas, and we're super happy to have him on. He guides for Delta Thunder. You guys have heard Kate on the podcast multiple times. So, Colton, thank you for coming on, man.
SPEAKER_05:Man, appreciate you guys having me. I've been excited, uh, ready for it all week. So don't kick the kids out so we can have some quiet and talk.
SPEAKER_02:But that's right. That's the thing he's most excited about. Getting the break from the kids, man. No, we've shared so much time with you, dude. And uh, you know, uh if you guys uh don't know, Colton will tell you, you know, but he's a school teacher, and thank you for doing that. Bumble coach and a hell of a mentor to a lot of young people, and and uh dude, uh we're just uh happy to share that part of you that you know that that makes us so connected, you know.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. I mean, go ahead, man. Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. No, I was just gonna say give us a little intro, man, on you know who you are. I know you're uh you know you're from Arkansas, obviously, but I think we're gonna actually learn a little bit tonight, you know, because I don't think we've ever asked you, like, you know, where you are.
SPEAKER_03:Do you like Mexican and do you like shitting ducks?
SPEAKER_04:What got you into some of those things, you know? So give us a little uh two-second or two two-minute commercial, if you would, uh on Colton.
SPEAKER_05:Well, y'all have already introduced me. I'm Colton Bailey. Uh, grew up here in Northeast Arkansas, originally from Batesville, so kind of the foothills of the Ozarks. Uh, live over in Jonesboro now, close to Cade here at Delta Thunder. Um, I'm a seventh grade health teacher at uh Brooklyn Junior High, coach junior high football with Brooklyn, help a little bit with senior high on Friday nights. And you know, it's it's great. You know, I joke with you guys all the time about uh being a teacher and you know, annoying kids and stuff, but it's really not. It's it's a blessing, uh opportunity to get to see these kids grow and uh seeing the faces, seeing their faces like between classes, you know, all of them are always like, hey Goosh Bailey, hey Goes Bailey. You know, they they love to clown on me, which is fine. Uh I had kids, I had kids today drawing goofy pictures of me in class when they finished their tests, and and I just laugh. You know, I I think it's funny. I don't take offense to any of it. Like if you want to clown on me, clown on me, it's fine with me.
SPEAKER_02:Well, then there's something to be said about creating an environment for success, right? And um, you know, you you're good with that, and you know, you're letting them have fun, you know, and that's what this is all about. And they get to learn a little bit along the way, you know what I mean? And it's much easier. We all remember, like, you know, when you think about how long a class was, it was like seven years. Yeah, it was seven years to get through a clash, you know what I mean? And then you're like, my God, you know, and and if you're having fun, it just zips on by. Yeah, you look forward to going.
SPEAKER_04:It's gotta be, it's gotta be fulfilling to be like like just kind of know low-key that like you're one of the fun teachers. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I try, you know, sometimes you get a bugle down and you know, we gotta get stuff done, but I try to have fun, we try to laugh. Like I said, I I let them clown on me. It's it's fun for me. I just sit back and laugh.
SPEAKER_04:So, so I don't even think I've ever asked you this, but so how did you because I know you coach football too? Like, how did you get into was it like you wanted to coach football and then you started teaching so you could coach football? Because I know there's some schools that are like that, or was it you were teaching and then it was like, hey, do you want to coach football too?
SPEAKER_05:Well, originally we'll start back to college. Okay when I went to college, I wanted to be a physical therapist, and uh my first year didn't go so hot. Um, you know, I had opportunities, you know, away from home, didn't have somebody tell me to go to class, didn't tell me have have somebody tell me to do homework, that kind of stuff. So my GPA wasn't real hot.
SPEAKER_02:Well, a lot of people ask you to go duck hunting.
SPEAKER_05:Yes, yeah, being here in Jonesboro, that was bad. I was I was easily manipulated to miss any type of class to do anything other than it. That's and so uh I started thinking, I was like, you know, physical therapy is probably not gonna be my thing. So what else was I am I good at? And I fought back to back in high school, we we had a football camp in the summer, and my head coach allowed me to work that from a ninth grader all the way up until I graduated, and I enjoyed it, and it was so cool because we would start them in third grade and they would finish in ninth grade. So we'd have two sessions, had third third through six in the first session, six through nine in the second session, and able to being able to see those kids go from third graders to ninth graders, like summer by summer, and seeing them grow, seeing them learn the game, seeing their skill levels change, and I was like, man, that is cool. And I was like, I that's something I want to do. I want to be able to to uh be an influence in people's lives, be able to help kids any any way I can, and then I love football on top of that, so I was like, let's let's do it, let's try that. And that's what I did, and I hadn't looked back yet. I enjoy it. Oh, that's awesome, man.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome, dude. No, I was just telling Tristan tonight um about uh you know, um, you know, he's in he's a sales rep and stuff, and obviously I was when I first started my career, and I got into management, and I said, you know, the thing that you at some point you just you're like, I don't want to be a teacher, I don't want to be a salesperson, you know, what's the what's the next challenge? And I said, you know, when I got into management, I didn't know that I was gonna love this so much, but being a part of their everyday lives to help influence what they do, you know, not only just from uh a work production standpoint, but from a personal standpoint, you know, how can this company embrace these great folks and and really just grow this business? And you're you're essentially doing the same thing with uh a team, no matter what that team is, you know what I mean? So good for you, dude. I know that I know this, and and I just talked to Hunter the other night, and I said, There's not one young man that came out of that program from down there in Bartram Trail with um with Coach Sutherland. He said the number one thing he was focused on is making you all good young men. And isn't that funny how that's the most important thing? Yeah, now it it's not the it's not the tackles or the the the plays you made, anything, it's all that other stuff, you know, and you remember those influencers, man. You do I mean they're gonna be like years from now, you're gonna be like a thousand years old like me, and they're gonna be like Coach Bailey, you remember that one time?
SPEAKER_05:I hope they do. That's that's uh that's one of my personal goals. I'm gonna continue that relationship with them, you know, throughout their lives. I hope to be able to run into them again.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_04:So yeah, you to your point, dude. Like uh, you know, Colton, you talk about like you know, feeling like you're uh, you know, what you were doing is like you're seeing these kids progress and stuff like that, and seeing feeling like you're leaving an impact. Like uh you mentioned my coach, like I don't know if we've ever talked about this, Colton, but just a quick like 30,000, you know, foot view on him. This guy, you know, he started with the school um in like 2001 and was there until like 2019, 2020. Uh I graduated in 15, but uh just I mean head of Bible study, yeah. Head of Bible study, just a unique, just I mean, you know, this this guy, like literally every week we had a character word of the week.
SPEAKER_02:Uh so like that was like the They made you all write personal cards to your moms on Mother's Day, Mother's Day, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:You know, our senior hot coach does that kind of stuff. It's cool.
SPEAKER_04:We had, you know, homecoming, and it was like, well, make sure you go uh shake shake the whoever your date is, shake the you know, the hand of the of the dad, and make sure you tell him, you know, when his daughter's gonna be home by and all that stuff. And it's it's just like just and it's not even just that stuff, but also just the motivational stuff and all that. It is really cool, like how looking back on those things, how many of those things I find myself thinking back on um just throughout my life, just the character stuff, and you know, as as you know, like one of the things he was always big on is like building that backbone through adversity, you know what I mean? Because you don't have that, like, and that's what's a great thing about team sports and football in particular, is you know, you're gonna get knocked down, you're gonna get your ass beat, and like injured. How do you respond to that? And it's like those kind of things what are really what make like strong-willed individuals. And um, I look back on that stuff all the time, you know, and this is 10 years removed, you know. So just just to your point, Colton, I mean, the impact that you're making, you know, you I mean, it it really, you know, there's kids that could be 10 years from now being like Coach Bailey, you know. You change you changed my life.
SPEAKER_02:No, I mean, but really, I mean, you think about it, you know, there's always gonna be a few kids that were less fortunate that didn't have structure in their house, they didn't have maybe a dad or a mom, or you don't know where they came from. Yeah, you know, and and so those relationships, I mean, still today, you know, Coach Beck, you know, um was was I mean, he was so influent influential in my life, you know, and Coach Bradley, you know, even though he used to spit in my face when he grabbed my face mask, you know, but you probably deserved it. Yeah, I did. I did. Well, I threw too many interceptions, but um, but it's something it's it's it's neat when you are in a role like that. That's the deep, the deep meaning here is that it's it it it it carries on for years to come. Yeah, you know, and it's one of those things that especially when you get older, you look back and you go, good for good deed. You know what I mean? Like I'm so it could just be one person that you you changed their life, or you know, it's it that's that's the opportunity that you have, and I'm happy you're embracing it. That's awesome, dude.
SPEAKER_04:Man, I appreciate it. So, Colton, you know, we we touched on like the school and the football and stuff like that, but I want to hear a little bit about like you know, what what got you into hunting, dude? Like who who was that influence in your life that got you into hunting and like what's that journey been like?
SPEAKER_05:Well, I uh I think my first hunt, I think I was in third grade.
SPEAKER_06:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_05:And uh my uncle, Todd Burton, uh, he's hunted my whole life. And I remember being at my grandparents' house, and like he would be cooking duck, or he'd be cooking turkey or deer. And I was I was always, I guess the word would be like envious because I was watching him, and I'm like, I want to do that, I want to do that, I want to do that. And so I was blessed growing up. My grandpa has about 50 acres just north of where I grew up, and that guy took me hunting every time I wanted to go. Him and my uncle, I was sitting here thinking before you know, you guys called me up, and you know, there's never a time I could ever think in my young life, if I asked either one of those guys, hey, will you take me hunting? It was always yes. I've never, they never told me no.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, I want to be your age again.
SPEAKER_05:And you know, and so like I could call my grandpa the night before and was like, hey, can we go deer hunting after school? And he'd be right there. He parked in the same parking spot every day, every time he came to pick us up, and I was bolting out the doors and we were going to the deer stand. Man, and so I owe both of them. I I curse Todd more because he got he got me in the duck hunting, and now I buy a bunch of stupid stuff that I really don't need. Uh starting.
SPEAKER_02:Well, at least you're in the same basket as a bunch of other people.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, but uh, I do I owe them, I owe them a ton. You know, my uncle Todd, like I said, he's taught me everything I know about deer hunting, duck hunting, turkey hunting, and like I said, he's he's never told me no. And I I've never really personally got to just sit down with him and tell him and my grandpa both how much I appreciate them taking me and getting me the outdoors and feeling that love that I've gotten for it. And I'm super appreciative of them.
SPEAKER_04:Dude, that's that's super cool. And I mean, that's one thing that like I really kind of the one of the passions behind like why we do everything we do is like you know, you have you were fortunate enough to have people in your life to show you the outdoors, but like that I got a lot of friends that didn't, and like thankfully, through my dad, really like they got to see the outdoors, like they've came hunting with us, and like that I've always been so thankful that I've had somebody in my life too, like, and that's kind of the fuel, I guess, behind why we do a podcast or why we do a YouTube. It's like, you know, yeah, it's cool. Sometimes it's all about killing ducks, but like we really do the heart, the heart of what we do is like you know, trying to influence somebody to do things the right way and want to get into you know, yeah, and understand what what hunting really is, you know.
SPEAKER_02:It we want we want those folks that were that were previously influenced by big pictures, big videos, to understand that look, that isn't even the fun part. Yeah, there's something to be said about big deer, something to be said about a great day of duck hunting for sure. But those are far and few between.
SPEAKER_04:If you've only watched our most recent video, then you're like, then you're like, you guys are full of shit.
SPEAKER_02:But that yeah, no, but exactly exactly. But but no, but the fun, the fun part is everything else. Yeah, it really is, you know. It's it's um, and that's what you get addicted to. And so if we can spend more time like talking about like one of the things I loved that I think really made Steve Ronella blow up is his ability to dictate reality hunting, yeah. I mean, really, and and w the way he did that was because he's so incredible with his narration.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, he's so smart.
SPEAKER_02:Is it because he was a writer and he's so particular with his words and how he uses them, and I don't know, he's just relatable.
SPEAKER_04:I give him the credit for being like the first dude that was like not um I mean, the majority of the hunting community is like, and there's nothing wrong with this, is like, you know, from the outside looking in, right? Like I know a lot of these guys are smart, but you know, like the outside looking in, you see these guys and the way they talk or whatever, you're like, oh, that's just like you know, another southern redneck shooting or whatever, right? But Steve Rennell is that dude that's like it draws you in immediately. He's a journalist, he's a writer, like he's the way he talks, he says words I don't even understand. Dude, I I've watched probably I'm not lying, I've been on, I've been on this kick.
SPEAKER_02:Like, I got off the TV stuff for a long time just because um I'll just leave those opinions to myself. But but you know, I went back and I've just I've been really like drilling meteors lately. Yeah, and I've watched three episodes in the last week where nothing really happened at all. Some some rabbits got shot, a jackrabbit got shot when they were grouse hunting, and that was it. And gave Steve fleas all over his back. You know, but it it was just like I said, the the storytelling part of that. Um, I really feel like with what he has done, it's opened the world to more of reality because he's such a big stage for that, right? Yeah, he is. And Rogan's helped it. Rogan's helped that a ton as well. He's very humbled about what he's gone through as far as archery hunting and deer hunting and and understanding like the spiritual part of it and all that stuff, you know. So we are in, I feel like we're in our best time right now from a um from a social media standpoint, um, to really be on a platform to change lives with these young people and and and older people. I mean, it's amazing that you know, I used to my stepdad used to tell me, he said, back in the day, he goes, Do you know how many people that's never shot a deer with a bow? I was like, No, I've shot deer with my bow. I'm a 13-year-old kid. You know what I mean? He's like, There's people that have hunted for 10-15 years and have never shot a deer with a bow.
SPEAKER_04:Well, and back then, too, like to add context, like I don't know if like you've ever heard this, Colton, but he's his stepdad would say, like, it was something if you saw a deer track in Illinois. That was like a cool, like a cool day.
SPEAKER_02:Back in the 50s, I mean, they would all go to Shawnee National Forest. Which is crazy to think about. They would all camp up back in the 50s. Um, he said they would do archery expeditions at county fairs. So displaying archery, people were just like, wow, you know, and and and then he showed up one time and put a caveman, right? Right. He put a tree stand. I remember it went viral. He uh back in that time. It was viral viral in that time when it was a carrier pair. Yeah, viral. But check this out. He built a a portable, he like to our best of our knowledge, and you can ask anybody through. Yeah, but listen, I'll tell you what, there's some big names in the hunting industry that will swear to this. And that is when the companion tree stand came out back in the days. That's that's the tree stand that Jerry invented. It was the first it was the first um made in production portable tree stand that you could hang even on a leaning tree and stay level. And he showed that off at the Illinois State Fair and drove had a ramp going up to it with his truck tire on it. Wow, it held and it was made out of plywood, chain link, and and chains. Plywood seat, plywood platform, and then it had uh conduit that would hold both the top and the bottom together, wrapped around a tree with a chain link. And what that was unique about it is you folded the seat back towards the seat to give you the tightest link. Then when you fold the seat down, it bit, and it was in a V. And he was the first person to ever come up with that, and um, it was it was a big deal back then. And people were like, what in the hell is that? And of course, there was no safety belts or anything like that.
SPEAKER_04:But we just stood on a piece of plywood we wedged in between that split tree over there. That's right, that's right.
SPEAKER_05:So, anyway, that's uh really cool about getting to walk around my grandpa's place. Like, you can look up in trees and you see those deer stands, and you're like, My God, people sat in those.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, right. There's there's some memories, and and there surely is. I thought I I saw a meme the other day that just said, Would you climb up this? And it was an old deer stand. I was like, No, but I'm gonna hang my deer stand above that. Because a lot of times when you find those old deer stands, dude, absolutely, it's those people on, especially on public land. You walk by that and you're like, Yeah, I want to find my own spot.
SPEAKER_05:It's there for a reason.
SPEAKER_04:It's there for a reason. That's right. No, good stuff. Those dudes figured it out before you know every electronic tool we have now. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:That's right, that's right.
SPEAKER_05:If only he could climb up in those stands and get the memories. Oh, it would be would be crazy. Dude, I know, right?
SPEAKER_02:Dude, I just watched The Witch Hunter with Vin Diesel last night, and I have to say this. There was a friend of his that was a dream, she was called a dream weaver or something like that, and she had the ability to go up and suck your brain and go into your memory and go with you. That's what we would like to do.
SPEAKER_06:That'd be awesome. That would be awesome.
SPEAKER_02:I need that dream weaver lady.
SPEAKER_04:So, you know, looking back on like these memories and stuff like that, uh, I mean, I I can't help but ask, you know, like what A, I guess, would be your favorite memory, but um also like I want to hear about like what what the first like duck hunting experience was like because Kate always has like the the coin story of him and uh Hughie going out there and he shoots the two ducks or whatever, and there's I think one might have been b banded or something.
SPEAKER_05:But well, uh my first duck hunt, so my uncle took me and uh before it got the way it is now, yeah, he was in a duck club and they had pits everywhere. So all back behind Valley View School, you guys know what I'm talking about, and you've been here enough. There was pits, they had pits all back there. And so, like I said, he never told me no. If I wanted to go, there's always an opportunity to go. And the first duck hunt I remember, I was so excited. You know, I've I've watched everybody go. I was finally old enough, and I remember sitting in the dog box on a five-gallon bucket because I wasn't tall enough to stand in the bottom of the pit. And right at first light, our favorite two spoon bills come in and they lad on the water, and it's me, my uncle, and some of his buddies, and uh, you know, of course, they're like, Hey, Colt, shoot it, shoot it. So I shoot my first spoon bill off the water, you know, and and it's it's back to that time where duck hunting was still really good in Arkansas, and uh we were we'd shot a few ducks, and you know, we look up and there are I don't even know, 200, 250 mallards, all you know, locked up, and they're just working just like you want mallards to do. And I'm like shaking on edge, and like, okay, we're fixing to shoot anytime, we're fixing to shoot any. And I I'm kind of like peeking down the pit, peeking down the pit, and you know, nobody's doing anything, they're all just sitting, and I finally I whispered, I was like, What do we do? And he's like, We're just enjoying the show, man. He said it's uh, you know, we don't get to see this all the time, especially Mallards. He's like, We're just gonna sit back and watch. And I remember sitting there going, We're not gonna shoot any of these, and we watch these ducks work and work and work and work, and they all hit the water, and then they all kind of look and like, all right, shoot them, you know, and we pop up and we shot them, and I was like, Why are we not why we're waiting so long to shoot these things? But they're like, No, like we we want you to get all of this, we want you to see the ducks work, and we want you to see them decoy, you know. Like you've gotta learn now. If you want to do this, you know, you've got to watch the ducks, you gotta understand like what they're listening to, calls we're making. And I didn't see it at that at that point. I was just like, no, let's kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Yeah. And it it's that's my first first duck hunt memory. And you know, like I said, it it bit me from there, and I'm in debt up to my eyeballs because of duck hunting now.
SPEAKER_04:So I mean that just opened up like a like a I don't even know. Like, I got like seven questions in my brain now. But you know, I guess the first one, you know, I'm always curious to hear anytime we have somebody on here that's like Arkansas native, like I I wanna like I'm curious to hear, like, so just tell us a little bit about like what was it actually like back in the day in the heyday of it, dude. Like, because like from an out-of-stater perspective, like you've heard us talk about this, like we get excited over the dumbest shit. Like, like, oh, we shot four teal, like, all right, cool.
SPEAKER_05:Like, you know what I mean? I mean, you know, you've heard Cag's stories. Um, mine are mine are kind of the same. Like, you know, you'd get out, there would literally be ducks everywhere, and you're like, you're walking to the pit, or you're on the four-wheeler, or at that time they had the Argos, so they're the six-wheeled heels, and I remember sitting in the back, and you could just hear ducks just everywhere, quacking, flying up out of your pit, like out of your uh spread, and like you get in, you get set up, and within 35-40 minutes, an hour, you know, you're done. And and like I said, I was blessed. I was blessed to have that opportunity to start. And you know, as I got older, things got more expensive, the guys didn't start buying as many pits, and so I didn't have all those opportunities, and I had to go public land. And that was a grind. When I first went public land, I was like, oh, this would be fine. It's like I've I've hunted fields for years, like you know, you just go out there, you smash your ducks, you come back, and then you go public land, and you're like, Oh, I saw a wood duck fly by this time. You know, and it it was tough, but you know, those early days uh getting to hunt fields, you know, it it was it was it was crazy. You you know, you'd kill your ducks quick and you'd be out. And by the time I had to go public is kind of when the decline, I guess you would say, started and it started to get hard.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, and then I mean you make a great uh um point here, and that is like I'm comparing this to deer hunting right now, Tristan. So, you know, here we grow up in the the around the hunting the golden triangle of Illinois, the most popular place, Pike County. You know, everybody knows it. Um deer hunting was much easier. Um you had the opportunity of seeing just just play it from a numbers like a funnel game, right? Right you know, versus now, you know, we hunt um which we're super thankful for. We hunt on a small track of land. Some friends of us let us hunt there, but you know, for us to see like a good hundred and say 10, 20 inch eight point or something like that, bro, we're doing backflips. You know what I mean? We're in Illinois. We're in Illinois, like you don't even talk to your friends about 120 inch eight point because they'll slap you. You know, they'll be like, listen, actually, I saw a guy, I saw a guy get shunned for shooting 140-inch uh eight point during during shotgun season. Dude, like literally he said he was gonna mount it, and a guy walked up that I know said, You do not mount a hundred and forty-inch eight point with a shotgun. What a deal. He goes, That's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, at least you're a mountain. But but this was in Pike County, you know what I mean? But I mean, I've thought about it's funny you bring that up, like you know, it's kind of like a loaded thing you brought up because like the pressure on certain areas is like definitely a consideration, but like you know, one thing like we were such a late adopters of the cellular trail camera. We we we got them last year, and really I'll take credit for this. I got them, and I still did, and I paid the monthly payment for on behalf of us.
SPEAKER_05:And that time you're doing something.
SPEAKER_03:And how much money do you think I've spent, Colton? There's a lot, there's a lot, there's thousands and thousands of dollars before I made that little f pay for anything.
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SPEAKER_04:So, yeah, that is true. So um, but you know, we hunt an hour away, even here, like wherever we hunt's an hour away. And it's like the ability, like we wasted so much time in tree stands before this, like just going out, like not having an idea of what deer were doing, because you had to go out and trek the damn trail camera, it's an hour away. Oh, well, that's a b we had to go out and check to see if a piece of string had broken a trail.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I mean so if you cuss one more time and make me edit out one more F-bomber, you know, I'm gonna I'm in trouble. Yeah, we're gonna fight. Listen, which I don't care.
SPEAKER_02:I for the record, I'm just saying, you know, I we like to be family friendly as well and we we bring you the reality, and the reality of this situation is that my son is browbeating his father live on the air. So guess what? But you know what?
SPEAKER_04:I can't argue with you. All right, so anyway, back to it. Uh, yeah, so uh the the whole thing of like saving the gas of like, okay, we're gonna spend$15 on gas each time we go to check these cameras. It's like it makes it like a no brainer over a period of time to invest in them.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's no different than like honestly, and and old timers will will agree with me on this is that we hunt. For so many years without safety. I mean, like to the point where it seemed odd to put a safety vest on. E even though in the risk. Like we it all started with the technology when I mean I say technology, what it all started with is that you just put a belt on. And that was something to hold you in, you know. And thank God the tree stands uh manufacturers association, um, they've been a very vital part in making that a um um um a requirement that when they sell a tree stand that it has to have a safety harness in it, at least at least you're like saying, hey, look, don't get up there without the safety in place, you know. But we just never had that. Yeah, you know, and honestly, it took me a little bit when you're trying to afford, here's where I'm going with all this. These things all cost money, especially, you know, like Colton, I was your age, you know, and we had when Tristan was little and stuff like that. And I mean, when you have kids and stuff, gosh dang, like five dollars is something, you know, that your wife's like, we needed, and you don't need scent spray, you know. I mean, you know, but when it comes to those extra things, like I remember like how dumb was I to like not recognize that$65,$85 was important to my life, right? You know what I mean? I mean, just silly, you know, uh how that goes, but but to your point, you know, about how things cost money, dude, and every little thing costs more money, you know, and so it makes it very difficult.
SPEAKER_04:What um Colton, I'm curious to see what you think about this. So I feel like the hunting community and what stuff is costing. I know everything's going up, like everything all the time is costing more money, but I feel like some of this stuff, like shotguns, bows, um, some of just the more high-ticket stuff. Like, dude, like who has like who's out here buying the two these two thousand dollar books? Well, like I did that shotguns every single year. Like, I just don't understand about bows. Like, and obviously you don't need to do that, but like, do you feel like it's kind of out of control? Because I do personally.
SPEAKER_05:Absolutely, absolutely. It's marketing driven. I mean, we've we've we just talked about it. I'm a teacher, we know we ain't got that much money. Um so yeah, yeah, I feel like it's getting out of hand uh with uh everybody thinking they gotta have the newest, nicest stuff. Um, I think it was Tony. I saw your uh short or whatever it was the other day talking about you're you know shooting a bow that was from 12 years ago, and like that's fine. And it and and I understand like they develop new stuff and it's quicker, it's quieter, you know, but 12 years ago you killed that you were still able to kill that 180-inch buck with that bow.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_05:And so I mean, it's it's it's just like you said, it's marketing.
SPEAKER_02:They're they're trying to make you feel like you know, this is better, this is the it's in the teens that morning, and maybe you're chasing ducks or geese, but now it's September and it's 85 degrees and you're hunting early teal or geese. As a waterfowler, you need dependable weather protection that will not break the bank. Founded in 1996, Frog Togs is not only the leader in breathable weighter technology, but a company you can depend on to keep you warm and dry, head to toe, no matter your hunting environment.
SPEAKER_05:Best thing, you've got to have this. Uh, you're not cool if you don't have this, you know, all that stuff. So, yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_02:Here's what on that point, here's what's gonna blow you guys' mind about this. And this is I'm I feel like I just came up with a great idea.
SPEAKER_04:Oh god, listen. This could be really great or really bad.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it's gonna be great.
SPEAKER_04:Listen, there's no in between.
SPEAKER_02:I will challenge anybody listening to this. That as far as a bow goes, when you see videos of somebody shooting something incredible with a bow and arrow, how many times is a compound versus a recurve or a long bow? Not very often.
SPEAKER_03:It's a compound, right?
SPEAKER_02:No, I'm talking about hitting aspirins out of the air, shooting doves. Oh, yeah. I mean, just crazy. Crazy, like a guy splitting an arrow that's coming at him. I mean, what and that's not made up, dude. People really do that, yeah. And it's an incredi I don't, I mean, I think it's like some David Copperfield, David Blaine. Why are their names both David? Maybe David's the best shot with a bow. I don't know. But point is wait, wait, you don't see people with compound bows uh doing that shit. Hey, David and Goliath, bro. That's what it is. That's right. But no, but think about it. So we're talking about technology changing, why it's so important, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, is like, how come some of those folks using traditional equipment, no sights, nothing, are able to perform that way?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So maybe you suck at performing with your equipment.
SPEAKER_05:That's true. If you have, yeah, right. I mean, there's if you ain't working on the craft, you ain't gonna get better.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, Colton, you'll be the first one to say how good I am at shot with my Frankie.
SPEAKER_03:You kill all of them.
SPEAKER_02:I know I kill every duck, every single one of them, some bitches. I I shoot them all with a camera. Every single one.
SPEAKER_05:You are you kill them all.
SPEAKER_02:Now, listen, this is a great point time to transition to listen, when we first got to let's talk about Colton from our perspective. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Wait, wait, wait. I had one more Colton backstory question that would lead perfect into what you're about to say. So I want to know. Um, he was about to ask, like, when Colt we started meeting Colton from our perspective, but I want to know um how did Colton and Cade meet and how yeah like talk about this journey, journey to now guiding for Cade.
SPEAKER_05:Sometimes I wonder if it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_02:Wait, hold on, say that again so I can video this and say it to Cade real quick. No, I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_05:Um, well, it it went back to duck hunting was hard in Arkansas, and I had some buddies, we were going, we were grinding it out and not being successful. And I have, you know, that's this is when I was still living in Batesville, and I would be driving over here to see family and stuff here in Jonesville, and I would see geese everywhere, you know, and I was like, you know what? Forget these ducks, there, but there's geese everywhere, so let's try some geese. And so I I got on Facebook, kind of scary I did, but I got on Facebook and I got on Arkansas, I think it was Duck Hunter Guides and whatever, and I just put on, you know, looking for a goose hunt. And I'm gonna doubt it was Cade because Cade's not real active on that, or wasn't at that point. He's getting a little better now. I'm gonna say it was probably Colin that commented on it and said, you know, they had a split a place. And so I went, and I think we killed, I don't know, two or three specs that morning. And I was like, okay, this is cool, this is cool. And you know, so I was paying, and I was like, okay, now I need to save up because I want to do this again. And it just kind of went from there. Like, I kept going with Cade, I kept going with Cade, like I appreciated how he treated me. Um, I know there's a couple times that I went and you know, we weren't successful in the morning. And you guys know because you've been around him long enough, he's like, Man, we can stick it out, we can try something in the afternoon, we can move here, and you know, and I I appreciated like his honesty, and I appreciated the work that him calling, and then later when Grinder came into the picture, the work that they did to at least try to make sure I was successful, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Give you the opportunity, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:And so I was like, you know what, I like these guys, so I kept coming back, kept coming back, and I like you guys have said, I enjoy of course I love shooting stuff, but I enjoy the before, I enjoy the after, I enjoy the putting out the decoys, I enjoy the picking up the decoys, and so like I got to where hey did you hear that that Colton's gonna pick up all the decoys this year? I will, I will.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not I don't have as much love for it now as I did, but I was no, but we're we are close enough that you turn around and go, Tony, get your ass out here and help me get these decoys.
SPEAKER_05:But so I got to where like I was showing up early to the hunts and I would help put out decoys and I would stay after and I would help pick up decoys, and so like I was just trying to emboss yourself in the experience, yes, and so and then I guess it was two or three years ago. My wife and mother-in-law decided you know, what's a good birthday present for him? And I don't want anything because I tell everybody when they're trying to buy me stuff, like if I want something, I'm just gonna go buy it. Yeah, like if I can afford it, I'm just gonna go get it. Like, I'm not gonna wait for my birthday. So I'm like, don't worry about getting me anything.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Well, they behind my back got a hold of Cade. And Cade sold them a membership for me to come hunt whenever I wanted. Oh, and so I was gonna bring that up.
SPEAKER_02:That's what I remember. Yeah, that's about where where I came back.
SPEAKER_05:That's about where we we all kind of met then, and so it went from there. So I I would still What's up, guys?
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SPEAKER_05:And then I guess it's two years ago, three years ago now. Cade, I I came back because I got a job over here, and Cade's like, hey man, you're moving back to Jonesboro, right? Yeah, I'm moving back. And he's like, Do you want a guide for me? And in my head, I'm like, absolutely I want a guide for you. You know, because like I said, I I liked how he handled his business. Now I I get it, you can't make everybody happy. You're not gonna make everybody happy. Yeah, but he to me always tries to his best to put you on ducks, put you on geese, put you on dove, you know, whatever it is. And so I was like, I can stand behind that dude, and he works his tail off for people, you know, you know, he gives away veteran hunts, he gives away youth hunts. Like, I can get behind that dude. I was like, I'm I want to work with this dude, I'll I will work with this dude, I'll put my name with his name, you know, and let's go. And so I I told Erica about it, and she was like, I don't know, you know, I don't know. I said, Well, let me put it this way I live in Jonesboro now, I'm gonna be duck hunting. Yeah, do you want me to get paid for it? Or do you want me to go do it for free because I'm gonna go do it? And she said, Well, if you put it that way, uh, she said, I'd rather you get paid for it. And I said, Okay, that's what I thought. And so, you know, I I went from there and it's it's been a blast and looking forward to this year. And we'll we'll see what kind of crazy memories we can make again this year.
SPEAKER_04:I I just I love hearing the backstory of that, dude. It's it's honestly so cool.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, because I mean, kind of like y'all started as a client and then and made a friend, uh a lifelong friend.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, no doubt. And I think that's what resonated about hearing that story from you is like even from somebody that's came from like you came you came from the heyday of like Arkansas, but still like had to go through like the struggle and the grind, and then like you know, you meet you meet Cade and you know XYZ happens or whatever. But um kind of kind of yeah, it definitely resonates with the our kind of origin story with Cade of just you know going out there and it's like Cade will tell you it was the worst year since like I might be the worst year in the last 10 10-15 years of duck hunting. Like we went and uh we shot two ducks that day, and it was a uh Gadwall and a ringneck, I think, and Mike shot them both. Yeah, our buddy Mike, and uh then we went and goose. No, I shot him.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, they always shot him when the game warden shows up, Tony killed them all.
SPEAKER_02:Nope.
SPEAKER_04:And then and then goose hunted in the afternoon with uh him and Colin and some other guys or whatever.
SPEAKER_02:That's why I fell in love with Delta, you know.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, Delta was young then. That that was Delta was like less than a year old.
SPEAKER_02:That's the first time I saw a dog work, and I still love her today. And she I keep telling Ike, I'm like, you're gonna meet like the queen.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. And Kate, Kate, uh, I know I'll never forget. He like walked over, we're like wearing our GoPros or whatever on our head.
SPEAKER_05:He didn't say anything mean, did he?
SPEAKER_04:Oh, yeah, he did. I don't know if he I don't know. I just remember him looking at us. He might have had a dip in his mouth or whatever. He's like, So y'all got a YouTube and stuff?
SPEAKER_02:And yeah, he goes, he said over to everybody else. He goes, Hey guys, these guys are filming this this goose hunt.
SPEAKER_04:No, he wasn't a smart ass or anything. I just remember him being like curious. Like I remember him being like he was very curious.
SPEAKER_02:Like, what do you guys got going on?
SPEAKER_04:And I didn't know he had been trying to like GoPro. Yeah, yeah, he'd been doing some GoPro stuff or whatever, and then I think you came, he invited us for a spec hunt the following year. I couldn't go. You and Mario went, right? Yeah. And Drew?
SPEAKER_02:Yep. And how I filmed under extreme conditions.
SPEAKER_05:I wasn't there, but I do remember that video.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, the extreme conditions were um I drank a lot of bushlights. Let's just say that, but I still produce the video.
SPEAKER_04:Well, and I mean, and just to see where like our relationship has evolved with Kate as well as we've like, it's been like the perfect thing because we have been able to like you look at our early videos of what we've done out there, yeah, and I mean, my god, like I'm I mean, they're not sometimes it's embarrassing, they're not terrible in this in the grand scheme of like YouTube. Like, there's some shitty hunts on YouTube, and we always did our best to try to tell a story, but like the quality was not there, and like over the time we've had to like like we upgrade like things, you know, as well like everybody else, dude.
SPEAKER_02:We're busting our ass to try to make this work, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and like oh, and the great thing about Cade is like he's been there along the way to allow us to like you know continually like upgrade things and like try things out, and it's like we we don't get it right. Like sometimes we screw up the whole thing, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, Colton was there when I screwed up the whole thing.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, oh yeah, you you forgot the video.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, the GoPros. No, the GoPros were work. It wasn't I it was the first time instead of like hitting record on the GoPros that we had, I I came with like a thousand GoPros. And what's ironic about it is the weekend before this is a great lesson for anybody listening to this, is that even if you have a guide or an outfitter, they can't control the ducks. And the weekend before that, we didn't even raise our guns, didn't raise them, and then next thing you know, me and Colton are shitting our pants with like ducks.
SPEAKER_04:Colton, like was that like the good old days, Colton?
SPEAKER_05:That that was kind of like it like cable driving out of the field, and there are spoonies like trying to land in the back of the side by side. Yeah, dude. We have to shoot you first before you go back.
SPEAKER_02:Colton, this is all I remember. Is Colton goes, Do you hear that? And I go, hear what? And he goes, Look, and all of a sudden I start hearing and you can see him in the the light of the taillights, just but man, when we rocked off those first couple shots and missed the first volley, I go all three of us were so shitting our pants because K goes, get ready, get ready. There's 75 spoonies dropping from right. Colton's like, get ready, there's 55 teal dropping from the left.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, it was just 55.
SPEAKER_02:But there was, but what I didn't realize at the time, yeah, that was happening like right directly around the Arbline. But when we rocked off that first, I mean, it makes me sick. I don't have the footage, dude. And that's what we're talking about. Dude, I said, Kate, how many ducks was that? He goes, probably like 10,000. And I was like, what the f and I don't have anything to show for it.
SPEAKER_04:You know what's crazy is like I've been on some really good ones out there, but I haven't seen that. Dude, it was it was it was insane.
SPEAKER_02:So for three days in a row, we went in, we shot um the next morning, or maybe it was that morning. Yeah, it was that morning, we shot a three-man of all spoonies. All spoonie hens.
SPEAKER_05:The the ultimate, the ultimate one.
SPEAKER_02:That's that picture of me on the the John Deere tractor.
SPEAKER_04:I think I think Grinder used to say that he wanted a dead mount of 15 spoonie hens and one coot.
SPEAKER_02:The perfect one. But dude, it was just crazy how that trend continued because also I knew, and let me take a step back here, is that you know, we're talking about like the the your relationship with Cade and where that came in, where we came in, our perspective, all that stuff. The thing that started it off with is like I knew I heard Colton's name, and I was like, who is that guy? He's like, Oh, he's uh uh a member. And so that's all I knew.
SPEAKER_04:I think his your name and his phone is still Colton, my duck hunter. It is my duck hunter, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Hey, his name and my phone is still K Goose Guy.
SPEAKER_02:So it fits.
SPEAKER_05:It fits.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and then all of a sudden, me and Fred, me and Colton meet or whatever, we become friends on Facebook, and he posts this gigantic buck. He shoots this giant hang on, hang on, pause, pause, yeah. You got him?
SPEAKER_03:This one, uh let's go. All right, that's what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_02:But anyway, he posts this picture, and I say, Cade, I go, geez, Jesus God, I said that's a giant dude. He goes, Luckiest mother I've met. I'm sorry to say it again, but that's exactly what Cade said. So then I go on this hunt with Colton. Yeah, and I'm like, dude, he that's great. Then for three days in a row, we just kept like four man, five man, six man, and just shooting everything uh under the skylights. I mean, it was just it was an insane three or four days, you know, where it just was right, everything was right. But I said, you know what? I'm not ever hunting without Colton.
SPEAKER_05:Well, okay, so I I'm gonna I'm gonna touch on that real quick. Go ahead, go ahead. Um, so back in 2001, uh November 18th, uh, lost one of my best friends. He he was a police officer in Batesville. He's responding to a call on a rainy night, lost control of his cruiser, and uh passed away. And I I got that call, or not call, but I I guess I'd seen it on Facebook that morning. And like, you know, I was gonna hunt that afternoon. I was kind of shook up. I was like, I don't know what I want to do. Do I want to hunt? Do I want to go home? Do I want to maybe go see his family? Because he has a a brother that I was really close with too in high school. And I was like, you know what? I'm gonna go hunt. I'm gonna go hunt. That's what I'm gonna do. And I got to my grandpa's farm and I pulled up to the bottom gate, and before I got out, I was like, you know, I'm gonna pray. And I'm I'm not the best Christian at times, and I I definitely can be better, but I was like, I'm gonna pray. And so, you know, I didn't pray to kill a deer, I didn't pray, I just prayed, you know, Frank, his name was Frank. I said, Frank, come sit with me tonight, just be there with me tonight. And I ended up that that night, I killed two eight points, not the biggest of deer, but so I shot the first one, it was maybe 30 minutes in the stand. And the second one came out right before dark, and you know, I'm sitting there and I was like, I'm gonna shoot this one too. I pulled the trigger, and just instantly in my head, uh, I heard Frank's voice say, Good job, Colt. And he's he was he was a huge Texas Longhorn fan, loved Colt McCoy, and so he called me Colt all the time. And so I heard it in my head that night, and I was like, you know what? That is something I'm gonna do before every hunt. And I I do it every morning, like when I'm going to hunt with Kate or whatever in my truck on the way over there, is you know, I pray and I give thanks for the opportunity. I never asked to kill lemons, I never ask to kill ducks or you know, any of those. I just I'm always thankful for the opportunity, the place to go, the people I get to go with. Um you know, I'm always asking, you know, because we're guiding people from all over the country. And I'm always asking, you know, I put on put on your show, you know, the reason why they come here. You know, if we don't kill them, we don't kill them. But I I want them to see that opportunity have that opportunity, the 200 pentails locked up and fly off at 65 yards because they won't come any closer.
SPEAKER_02:But you know, so you know, I'm always what you really want to see is a bunch of mallards come close and just run off, don't you?
SPEAKER_05:Exactly. But but so that is that is something I've started doing, and I've I don't know. I just I have been blessed, I feel like more to show up and have opportunities to kill ducks, have opportunities to kill this uh 140-inch deer that I killed a year later to the day that he passed away. I killed it on that day. Wow, and I was I was kind of struggling in life at that time. I uh I'd lost a job at Batesville where I was coaching, didn't really know what was gonna happen. Uh super thankful for my cousin, Courtney, and her husband. They brought me in, let me help them on the farm. Like they couldn't pay me a lot, but they could give me something. And he got me hooked up with these people that had this property. And this buck walks out that more or that afternoon, was lucky enough again to be let off work early that day. The boss came in, he's like, Y'all done? I was like, Yeah, man, we're done. He's like, All right, he didn't no more say you're good to go, and go got out of his mouth and that door was slamming because I was in the truck driving to the stand. Yeah, and so when that deer walked out and I shot him, you know, I haven't really told many people about this, but I saw him run off and like I cried, like boo-hoo, like cried because you know it to me it felt like like my life was changing, my luck was changing, and you know, after that, like everything kept getting better. Like I I got a job, I got another job, steady job that I knew I was gonna make money. Um, you know, Cade helped with that situation too, allowing me to guide, allowing me to, you know, make a little extra money to help with my family. Like I haven't told him I should I need to tell him thank you more, you know, because he helped pull me out of that rut and you know, let me hunt and have those opportunities. So, you know, you guys tell me like I I smile, I smile and I laugh every time you tell me I have that that horseshoe. But I I honestly think it's for what I've started that morning or that afternoon in 2021 when I decided, you know what, I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna give thanks every opportunity I have to come hunt, dude.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, there's a lot of people that's gonna relate to that.
SPEAKER_04:So I gotta say, so you know, I I can right now. I uh you know, there there's a pastor in Jacksonville that I've spoken about before, Joey Martin, but he always talked about like, you know, like you should the people like the Bible talks about like when you're like the boastful, like the braggy person, the that's that's not when you're blessed, man. Like when you're when you put my favorites, when you put your heart and you put your like put God first, put people first, put everybody first, and just like what you're praying, like literally what you're praying. That's why I'm thinking of this. You know, let them see your show, God. Like those are the opportunities when when the blessings come. And you know, I I'm gonna say like I'm not the perfect Christian either, but like, you know, I I find a lot of especially as I get older, those opportunities to like be thankful and talk to God as like out in the woods, you know, and uh that's my favorite 100%, dude. And hearing hearing you say that, like it it totally makes sense to me. And like I like I just I'm thankful like to have this time with you to like talk about this stuff because like every time we come out, like you know, it's always like the next thing we gotta do. We're on a mission when we're on a mission, man. And it's like always the next thing, like we never have this time to like talk about each other's like backgrounds and stuff like this. And I'm just like, I love hearing that, man.
SPEAKER_02:And well, and I'll just it's just so cool, dude. I'll say this in a quick nutshell. I'm not saying I know it all, but I've been where a lot of you are trying to go. And I knew from the beginning when I met Colton, his demeanor, his success. It's really easy to tell when somebody's live living their life right, you know, and and that's what you do, bud. I mean, you really do. You're you're a good, good person. And you know, I didn't know that about the prayer part, but I'm not surprised. You know, I mean, I'm really not. I mean, because when you really get to that point, you know, sometimes God shakes the ground you walk on to get your attention, you know. And I remember a pastor of mine one time saying that, you know, we all have a different sanctification process. You know, for my mom, it was me acting like an idiot that brought her close to God, you know, and she tells everybody every day, she goes, if it wasn't for Tony being an idiot, I wouldn't be so close to God, you know, and so that was hers. You know, for me, I had to flip a truck and almost die. You know what I mean? Um, for Colton, it was you losing a close friend, you know. I mean, we all have that, and that's what's so incredible about the community of this sport that we share, is that we remember earlier on we were talking about it's not about the limits, it's not about the deer, it's not it's about these times, it's about these things that you that you learn about people, and I'm not surprised, Colton. I mean, you know, you have a beautiful family, you beautiful kids, beautiful wife, and you know, you're on our heart all the time. You know, it's one of those people that you meet in your life and you're like, I swear I've known him since grade school. Yeah, you know, I mean it's it's that easy, you know, and for Cade to have you, I'm sure he's super thankful for that too.
SPEAKER_06:I hope so.
SPEAKER_04:Well, dude, you know, and I I don't want like where I was about to bring this up was before we got on like all of this stuff, because I have another lucky story, you know, that sounds like Colton's a lot of people.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, we got a thousand Colton lucky stories, dude. All I know is if Colton's going, if it's one of those days where you're like, dude, I drank until 5 a.m. and we have to get up at 6. If Colton's going, I'm getting up. If he's not, I sleep till 10.
SPEAKER_05:I've heard that question asked multiple times. You ask Kate Colton going in the morning. Is Colton going in the morning? Yeah, I'm I'm getting up.
SPEAKER_04:So so Cade calls me. I forgot what you were doing. Job stuff, probably. You couldn't go. And Cade's like, hey, you coming turkey hunting? And I was like, Oh yeah, I was at a show. Yeah, I was like, I mean, yeah, dude, I'll come out there. Like it's April, like I don't got nothing going on. I'll get out of here.
SPEAKER_02:And I told you, I go, that's the best chance you're ever gonna have to film it something because Colton's going.
SPEAKER_04:Well, well, no, what no, no, no. What happened was I go out there and I'm just like, I have zero expectations, honestly. Like, I really don't care. Like, I'm just going to like hang out with buddies, go and argue, like, because every time we go out there, it honestly I love going out there when it's not hunting season because I want y'all to know like we like you outside of just like duck season.
SPEAKER_03:We could be buddies outside of duck season.
SPEAKER_04:So to me, it's like, you know, whatever. I don't even care what happens. I'm going to see these guys, like, whatever. So we go out there, and I we get there that night, and Cade's like, Well, I already shot my Arkansas turkey or whatever. Uh, wait, I'm trying to think about the story.
SPEAKER_05:Did you shoot yeah, it was, yeah, that's what I'm saying. He had shot you can kill one a week in Arkansas. So he killed his for that week.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, he killed his Arkansas turkey, and he's like, Well, are you are you hunting? I'm like, Well, let me let me see or whatever. I look up the licenses, it's like so expensive for out of state. I'm like, bro, I ain't hunting. And he's like, Well, Colton wants to go took uh wants to hunt. I'm like, sweet, let's all go hunt. So, you know, we uh we went to Missouri at the beginning of the day. We went to his you know his family property out there, and like I think we you know scared a turkey off the roofs and saw a freaking possum in a field that we walked right up to. But you know, I and I'm about to turn the story over to you in a minute. I'm just setting the preface here. So, you know, we were like, Yeah, whatever, you know, it was just like we saw a turkey at least, and that was the morning, and then Cade had this uh property in Arkansas where he'd killed a turkey off of, and he's like, Well, you know, by the time we get down there, it'll be like 11:30, 12 or whatever, and let's just see what's going on. And uh, we get down there, and I'm gonna turn the story over to you, Colton.
SPEAKER_05:Well, you know, we're we're driving back to Jonesboro, and he's like, Hey, hey, so we can take this road right here and we can drive by that property that I have permission on. He said, There's been three birds in it. He's like, I and you know how Kate is, he's like, I almost guarantee it. Yeah, that them birds are in that field. Um, and so you know, I You all always kind of take Cade with a grain of salt sometimes, but I mean the dude does know what he's talking about. He does his work, does his homework. And so I'm like, let's do it then. Let's check it out. And I remember we roll around that corner and there's two of them standing out in the field. He's like, see, I told you. I told you they're out there. And so we're like, okay, then uh so we park and we're like, you know, we're deciding, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna get to these birds?
SPEAKER_04:How are we gonna approach these turkeys from what 700 yards?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, we were way out there. Yeah, and as luck should have it, they decide to start walking to the corner of that field to the woods. And Cade Cade was like, Hey, let's cross this ditch, get across this field, get in this other ditch, and we just walk down this ditch right to him. He said, Surely we can call him right back. And we're like, Okay, well, I don't know the property. Cade does it, and of course, I'm if Cade jumps off a bridge, I'm gonna jump off a bridge behind him. So, you know, we we uh suit up and we take off across this field, knee deep water, try to we try to cross around some briars, couldn't get through them. We were like, nope, let's go back. We went back, found another spot, and we get down in this creek and we poke our head out, and sure enough, right down there in the corner, Turkey's standing there with his head up. And so we're like, I'm thinking this isn't gonna work.
SPEAKER_04:This never works, dude. You know, no, I I'm sitting here like the coolest shit about all this is I have all this on film, by the way.
SPEAKER_02:And by the way, I've I was getting uh somehow you were like explosive with your hands because you were giving me play by play. Kristen's texting me play by play while he's filming, and I'm like, I'm sitting here, I'm like, dude, everybody's gonna stop pinging them, dude.
SPEAKER_04:I'm just like, dude, what's going on down there? This isn't out west stalking a mule deer when, like, yeah, you know, you got the wind in your favor. This is a turkey that can see you from a mile away. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, the our luckily that ditch we were in was pretty deep, so we were concealed, but I just the whole weight down there is like, this is not gonna work. This is not gonna work. We're gonna poke our head out. He's gonna be standing right there, and he's gonna take off front. Yeah, and we poke our head out and look, and sure enough, he's just far enough away. And so now we're like, okay, this might work. How are we gonna get positioned that Tristan can film this? Cade can see the turkey, I can see the turkey, I can shoot the turkey. And so I don't know, we moved like two or three times. I was on this tree, and Kate's like, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_02:It's not like you guys ever ever prefab this, you know. I mean, it's qualify.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and so I remember Tristan, you were, I don't know, 20-ish yards back behind us, and Cade was like, No, go to this street, no, go to this street, no, you go back to this street, I go to this street. No, you go here, you go, and I'm like, this is not gonna work because we could not figure out what we were gonna do, and then he calls, and then I hear you go, hey, he's walking this way, and I'm like, No way, no way is he walking this way, he's not he's not walking this way, and Cade just yelps a little bit more and he keeps walking. And I was like, I kept looking at Cade because we were far enough away, and I was like, I can't see him, and he's like, No, he's coming, he's coming.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, because you were like basically a parallel to brush, yeah. Like, give people a visual of like what this was. Colton's like, here's the ditch, here's the field, the turkey's over here, uh to our right, like extreme, and Colton's like basically parallel with the brush and the the turkey. I'm over here, kind of like I can see it all because I'm back at this angle. Cade's like up here, so I'm seeing Cade, and then I see Colton over here, so I can see the turkey. I can see Cade. Colton can't see anything. I can't see nothing.
SPEAKER_05:And then Kate Cade keeps telling me, he's like, hey, he's like, You don't have him until he's flopping.
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, well, I don't have him right now because I can't see I would smack Cade right then, dude. I would be like, Are you stupid?
SPEAKER_05:Which that's that's in the video, and that's probably one of my favorite parts. You can see me looking over my shoulder to him saying that. Yeah, I'm like, this is not happening. And I keep I kind of glance back at him, like, is he coming? He's like, Yeah, he's still coming, he's still coming. And he and then he's going, Can you see him? Can you see him? I was like, I can't, I can't see him. Yeah, and I don't know, he's like 25, 30 yards at this point. Like, we've been in this ditch for 35, 40 minutes. And he's like, dude, can you see him? I was like, I can't see him. He's like, he's right here. I was like, I can't see him. And he was like, step out. He said, Hold on, and I guess he stuck his head down to to eat or something. I don't know. Like I said, I couldn't see him.
SPEAKER_02:He's like, Move now, and I was like, Dude, it's like the part on the matrix where he's like, Neo, do you want to live? Yeah, move now. Yeah, he's like hiding in the freaking cubicles.
SPEAKER_04:Well, it was, dude, because like I'm I'm sitting there, like, I got like all the like footage of this turkey the whole time, and you know, like he's like on a mission to come see what's going on, and then it was that point where he said it got to that point, he's like, I don't see what's called, it should be here.
SPEAKER_05:I can pinpoint it to it's not here, and so he by the time I find how many yards is turkey at this time from you, Colton? Uh 20, 25, maybe. By the time I see him, he's in that posture, like head up looking, like he's fixing his bolt. Yeah, like he's like, This is not right, she should be here. I've heard her, she should be here. And so I'm looking at it and I'm looking at Kate and I was like, Do you want me to try it? Because I could see, like, I had brush all around me, all around the turkey, and there's like a hole literally about this big, that its head was perfectly in. And I was like, and I looked at Kate and I was like, Do you want me to try it? And he's like, Yeah, try it. And I went boom, and I pulled the trigger and the bird disappeared. And I was like, All right, I got it. And I stepped out of the creek real quick to look, and that thing is flying, you know. And this is where the part of the video where you guys really are. I started to get embarrassed because I'm like, I've never missed a turkey in my life. And Tristan is here videoing, and I have all the evidence.
SPEAKER_02:Like, I cannot say this did not happen because I'm watching this bird, and he's that funny what you think about in those split seconds, right?
SPEAKER_05:This bird is like flying high, and I'm like, okay, he's out of here. Like, you know, he's flying like, and then all of a sudden he starts dropping like like a wounded goose. Yeah, we kept saying, and he just kept dropping and getting lower and lower. I was like, I kept looking at Cade. I was like, Did I hit him? Did I hit him? And he's like, I don't know, I don't know.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, he's walking the binoculars.
SPEAKER_05:He hits and he starts to walk, and Cade's like, he's bleating out his head, go! And I was like, No, and we take off sprinting. It's like, I don't know, 100 yards. It may not even be that far, but it's a good thing. Dude, you guys were throwing you guys.
SPEAKER_04:Like it was half a mile. No, seriously. If I had to ballpark it, dude, it had it was easily 150, 200 yards. Really? It was well over 100 yards. Oh my god, 100%. No doubt. We take off speed.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I know they can soar forever, dude.
SPEAKER_04:Well, and this bird, like as soon as they shot, just straight up in the air, like 12 feet, and just boom. Wow, that's wild.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, I missed like this is embarrassing. And we're running, and I'm running behind Cade, and Kate is shedding his vest as he's running, and this guy's falling out of his pocket.
SPEAKER_04:You should just hear that the audio dudes.
SPEAKER_05:So the microphone was hooked up to Cade, and we're running after this bird, and I see him step down in the ditch, and we finally run up on him, and we think he's a little further away, and he's like right there. And Cade's like, shoot him again. I'm like, We're we're two steps, like he's gonna disappear if I shoot him again. And so Cade walks over there and grabs him, and like we drag him out into the field, and Cade stands on his head for a while. I'm trying to get my get my breath, thinking if I need to call 911 and get oxygen or not. And I look up at Tristan and he is still filled, but this whole thing just laughing. And I'm like, this is gonna be perfect. This is another one of these situations where you're like, nobody's gonna believe it happened, and now it's all on film. Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_04:So that's the thing, it is all on film, so it's like there's no like it happened.
SPEAKER_02:And let me let me tell you guys this. Listen, this is what began my whole passion for what we do. Was that years, dude? You guys, I I hunted everything under the planet from a cardinal bird to uh to squirrels, deer, everything. DNRs, but but but but seriously, all those years of incredible hunts that I have nothing. I have nothing, nothing to put out there except what's in my brain, which is very limited at this age. Um and that's what makes me tickled to death, and you guys will get there too, is that I know like it's like a passing thing for me. Like, like, you know these things that you want to make sure that you do before you you move on to the next world, right? Yeah, that's it for me. Is that to see you guys like be able to have these opportunities and be filmed, and when you guys get my age and you look back on this shit 30 years from now, 20 years from now, you're gonna be like, bro, can you believe that shit happened? And you have every detail of it, you know. And um, I love that for you guys. I love it. I love it.
SPEAKER_05:Uh you put out your duck the last part of the duck video, and when I shared it, that is something I mentioned to Tristan and thanking him. And again, I need to thank you guys more because you guys are able to you know capture my memories, yes, and your memories as well. But now I can go back and I can watch Twisted Teal, I can watch Spectacular, I can watch this turkey video when it comes out in the spring, I can watch the hunts in the snow again and relive it all over again. Yes, and I'm super thankful for that, and I'm I'm ready for more. So yes, thank you, dude.
SPEAKER_02:And and it's crazy is the older you get is that those every year that goes by, those memories are harder to remember the details of, right? And I know you guys like like one of the things that our whole group gives me shit about is that Tony's probably sitting down in his studio doing one of two things watching um duck hunting videos that we've done, or rocking out 90s uh hairband classics, all right?
SPEAKER_05:Exactly, or 80s. Well, maybe both at the same time.
SPEAKER_02:But when I sit there and I watch those videos, dude, every time for me, it I don't forget about every night that I do that. Honestly, it it means so much to me. Like, it's hard to explain, I guess, because you didn't grow up in my position. You didn't have trail camera pictures, you didn't have none of this shit.
SPEAKER_04:And I watched it a lot more cooler to you versus like me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and you guys will get there, and and I know you'll you'll you just don't know what what to be um thankful for yet, honestly. I mean, not that you're not taking hold of it. It's I know you guys possess those moments, but it's just that I can't get enough of it. Yeah, I mean, when I watched this shit, and I look back at some of the stupid shit that we used to do back in the day, Tristan. Yeah, and like with like that video that I did, our spread sucks. And I was like, I like our spread sucks, and it really did suck, and that's why we didn't shoot the ducks.
SPEAKER_04:Have you ever watched any of our like non like early like non-Delta Thunder videos that are just like it's been a while, but yeah, I I have been through all of y'all's y'all, yes.
SPEAKER_02:But even those mean something to me is what I mean.
SPEAKER_05:Is that at least your growth, it shows what you've learned, it shows that you know you you guys are about capturing the reality of hunting. When you first started, you guys hadn't duck hunted much. You didn't know, and no, just marsh from where you started to where you are now, like your duck knowledge, your decoy knowledge, like everything to me, it takes me back to why I decided to be a coach, you know, because I've it's kind of weird. I've gotten to see y'all's y'all grow as duck hunters, and as much crap as we give you, like I'm almost to the point where I could give you like an honorary Arkansas duck hunter like license. Like, hey, you guys are almost there.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and then let me just piggyback on that one last thing I'm gonna say that I want to get you back. Well, I just gotta say, one of the most one of the one of the smartest things that Colton has ever taught me when it comes to duck hunting is he saw me struggling with calling. I was hail calling, I was nothing to call. I don't know what I was calling. Honestly, I had to cut down, I had everything else, and Colton's like, Colton's like, I remember and it was that weekend that we shot all those ducks, Colton. You just said it was just me and you, and you just said, look, man, take a duck call, pick that call and learn it. Just don't worry about what everybody else is saying is the hype. Buy this call, buy that call, find one you're comfortable with, and just stick with that. And just and mude that, I mean, just that little bit. It's funny how sometimes somebody says something to you that really impacts you, but that, and I still have the exact same call today. I'm not a great caller. I'm not, I'm not gonna say that I am, but I have become a good enough um you know when to call. Yeah, no, right. I became a good enough better.
SPEAKER_04:I try to play the role too. I'm not saying I do it.
SPEAKER_02:I try to play the role in the blind of like the the um the rhythm guitar. The rhythm guitars, yeah, yeah. The rhythm guitars, which is a very important because when you think about and Colton, I know you'll agree with this, is that if you got a hundred decoys out and ducks are coming in, you better not just be blowing them out or call. Yeah, because that's not what a bunch of ducks sound like, right? There needs to be a peep, there needs to be a whistle, there needs to be a uh a widget, whatever it is. You know, we hear those all the time from a distance when we see like those thousands of ducks over on um whatever reservoir or whatever, and what do you hear? Yeah, you know, I mean, so I just try to play that role and hopefully I'll advance. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_05:I mean, that's that's what I was taught when I first started blowing a call. You know, I was told find one, get good at it, and then once you get good at that one, if you want something else, get something else. Yeah, but um that stuck with me. And I mean, I that's my defensive coordinator, you know, in junior high. That's my thought process coaching. Like, you know, people want to get fancy. Me, I want to do what are we good at, and we're gonna be good at it. Like, I'm not gonna change everything I do for everything somebody else does offensively. We're gonna be good at what we're good at, and so I I mean I carry that throughout life.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. No, but I personally Colton, I mean, it meant a lot to me. Like, it's just sometimes it's not what they say, it's what how they say it. Yeah, and that hit me like so clear because uh if you guys know me, that's why my name's HD Duck Hunter. I'm HD with everything, and I'd watched hundreds of videos and never heard it that way.
SPEAKER_04:Well, I know I think one of the things like another like outsider looking in thing is like where the way we like view y'all in Arkansas is like you got like I'm trying to like make this as like relatable as possible, but like it's to us outside looking in, it's like super intimidating to like go to Arkansas and do anything, blow a duck, like especially public landing. We're not the friendliest when it comes to the duck and landing stuff. Dude, just like blowing a duck call on a blind fur full of killers. How do you earn the right? You know what I mean? Like just like anything. Yeah, it's like it's all intimidating. So it's like thankfully, we got like a friend group now where it's like not, you know, as like intimidating as it was, but like that that's how we look at it. So like I can imagine like why that meant you know what it meant, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, and and I've gotten to the point where you know, and keeping in mind uh, you know, Cade's uh incredible um weight of of comedy, um but I've gotten to the point to where now I've gotten at least enough con confidence in what I can call, what I can do, that even if he tells me to shut up, I tell him to shut up. You know what I mean? Because I feel I listen, dude, I've got I I understand, I've I've done enough where I'm not gonna ever be Cade Weatherford or Colton on a duck call. I mean, you guys both blow different and you blow the same, but you guys play off each other. And it's like I love watching that instrumentation. It's like watching a band play to a perfect tune. Yeah, you know what I mean? And a lot of times I just sit back and and I'll just be like, you know, if it was just me and Colton Cade, I'm being the middle guy and just watching these two, you know, and playing off of that. How can I kind of play that rhythm guitar? You know what I mean? That kind of stuff. And it's a great learning experience, it really is.
SPEAKER_04:Well, and one thing I'll piggyback off that is one of the coolest things I've seen and learned over the years is like everyone talks about like ultimately it's yeah, you want to sound a certain way, but it's more about like when you sound a certain way. And like I've seen you and Cade like multiple times, like which I think is really cool, is like ducks are landing like out in the field where you don't want them to land, and it's like like because you're but the reason you're calling so loud is to get their ass up off the water. Like off the water.
SPEAKER_05:We want to sound so bad, they're like, oh god, not here.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, exactly. And then you get them back up in the air, and then you know, when they're close, you guys start talking sl slower, and then you know that you get them out on a turn, they're not really looking at you, why, why, and then you get their head to turn, and then back, same kind of soft thing.
SPEAKER_02:Flight control, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You just watch like you guys do that over and over again over like we mentioned hundreds of hours of hunting with you guys. You you start to learn, like, you know, it's it's the body language of these ducks, you know.
SPEAKER_02:It's a fun, it's a fun experience for especially for me. Like I achieved everything I wanted to do bow hunting. Yeah, I really did. And I mean, there was thank God Tanya stayed with me because I mean there was years that I spent 200 hours in a tree stand, which is unthinkable. Yeah, you know, especially with little kids that she allowed me to do that and that kind of thing. And so for me to to learn the things that I've gotten to learn from you guys, you know, I really do take that with a grain of salt. You know, I mean, I mean I really do, and and just try to be better and learn and just fill my place. And when Cade gives me shit about blowing my duck call, I go over and kick him in the nuts, you know, or whatever it is. But but no, it's it's a great um, it's a great learning experience. And um, Colton, there's no way I can't think about and Tristan, please. I'm gonna send you the video for this to throw this on this podcast if we can. But Colton, from your perspective, please tell the story about the 12-year-old boy.
SPEAKER_07:Oh man.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, listen, you guys want to hear a good story about a kid that is never duck hunted in his life, never, and and shows up and asks the owner of Delta Thunder if he can blow his duck calls.
SPEAKER_07:Oh god.
SPEAKER_02:You can just only imagine what me and Colton and Trist, me and Colton and Cade did. But Colton, tell him.
SPEAKER_05:So I guess backstory is the the young man's mom cleans Cade's lodges, and the dude is ate up with duck hunting. Yeah, and so I'd seen him around around the lodge before. 12-year-old boy, 12 years old. He had calls on, but he never blew them, he just had them around his neck, and so it's one of those deals you're like, this kid wants to hunt. You you can tell he wants to hunt. Um, you know, I think mom was, you know, wanting to ask Cade, but you know, just kind of a weird situation.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, if you think he's running a business, I want to ask you for something for free, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and so I think if I remember right, Cade asks him. You know, we didn't have any clients. Uh, Tony was in town and he was like, Hey, he's like, Do you want to go duck hunting?
SPEAKER_02:Yep, that's how it went.
SPEAKER_05:And it was absolutely like there was no, and I think he almost fell running through the lodge to go ask his mom if it would be okay to do and go with us in the middle. And so, you know, of course, it worked out, he got to go. We show up that next morning, we get in the pit. Um, ducks aren't flying that great. And so me and Kate are kind of playing, you know, blowing duck calls and stuff. And he's got a lanyard full, he's got spec call, he's got ducks, he's got a snow goose, he had a snow goose, he had it all.
SPEAKER_02:And so I bet he had eight, six, eight calls.
SPEAKER_05:He had a bunch, and he, you know, it's slow, and he looks down there at Kate and he goes, you know, he's like, Do you care if I blow my call? And we're like, you know, there's nothing really fine, you know, whatever. Go ahead, man. Now, mind you, kids never hunted before. Yeah, dude, he picks up that duck call and just rips it, just feet just and I'm like, dude, we started crying laughing.
SPEAKER_03:I looked at the couple of things. All of us were crying.
SPEAKER_05:I looked down the pit at Cade and I'm like, who is this kid?
SPEAKER_03:And I'm like, I think I think Colton even said he goes, Damn, he blows the call way better than you. I did, I did, and so I looked at I looked at the dude, I was like, Where he's never hunted, and he's like, No, sir, I've never hunted.
SPEAKER_05:And I was like, Where did you learn? He's like, I watch YouTube all the time. Yes, all I do, and he he taught himself on I just like the sound and and I wanted to learn, and so he had a spec call, and he was like, You want to blow it? I was like, you know, sure. I mean, I'm not great on a spec call, I can make enough noise to be dangerous. And I remember when I first picked one up and I blew it, and I was like, What in the world? That you don't blow this like a duck call at all.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:This kid picks it up and rips the spec call. And I'm like, and I'm like sinking down in the blind at this point because I was like, That is way better than I've ever thought about doing. And same with the snow goose call. He's like, I'm snow goose too, and he just and you're just like, dude, he was throwing Rossi's nose.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, dude, he was just like varying it, and I'm just like, holy shit, like that became the highlight of the day for all three of us.
SPEAKER_05:Was like, dude, he he loved it. It was surreal so much that he taught himself, and not ever knowing if he was gonna get an opportunity to duck hunt. Yeah, he loved the how unique is that the the challenge, I guess, of of blowing a call, making different sounds on calls, blowing a pet call, blowing a snow goose call. And to me, I was like, that it it took me back to like myself. I was like, that was me.
SPEAKER_02:Like, yeah, he treated it like a musical instrument.
SPEAKER_05:Except the part I was fortunate to be able to go at that age, and almost always have a place to go at that age. But the way he fell in love with the call, this this kid is he's gonna be something. He's good, he's good on the call. And Kate told him when he gets a little bit older, he's got a job at Delta Thunder if he wants it.
SPEAKER_02:So actually, he said in the blind when he was blowing it, he goes, You can blow the call way better than my guys. Do you need a job? Is what he said is what was said. You're right. And you know what's cute is uh uh probably about a month ago, didn't he reach out to one hell of life and he said, Yeah, hey Mr.
SPEAKER_04:Tony. Well, he's on TikTok, his name's Colton, and uh as well. And uh he he's always like on TikTok liking our stuff and messaging us. He's like, Tell Kate I said hi or whatever, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's so cute, man. But that's what it's all about, isn't it?
SPEAKER_05:We need we need to think about getting a youth hunt set up for him.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that'd be really cool. Youth hunt, is that at the beginning or is it also at the end?
SPEAKER_02:It's split, I think.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, there's a I think between the first and second split, I don't know, the day.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think they do it at the beginning of season, right before, and then yeah, at the end of season one day or something. Yeah, the weekend before the same, and they do they do now that they've got the veteran hunt like one day, I think they do youth the same day.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, okay. Yeah, and it it'd be cool if you guys could come down or you know, we're available and like we film him, like youth hunt, like he gets to shoot. Let him let him be the guide, let him guide us for real, dude. Like, let's let's see what you got, buddy.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, dude, that would be killer. Like, we've one of the things we've always wanted to do is like you know, we're so big on this, like trying to tell the story thing. That's one of the things we've always wanted to do is like do the youth hunt thing. That would be neat if we could could connect on that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, heck yeah, man. Heck yeah, man. But but dude, listen, we can go on all night long. But yeah, um, the thing that um that I wanted to end this with is that you know, obviously, you know, we all just love Cade to death, and he runs an incredible business out there and stuff. And and Colton, just give us give everybody from your perspective, from an honest friend to friend, day in, day out. You're there with Cade, you work for Cade. Like, what's the experience like out there?
SPEAKER_05:Exper if you haven't got to experience Cade Weatherford, you're missing out. You know, the dude never meets a stranger, always has a story, you know, and he's he's super knowledgeable about ducks, uh, geese, deer, turkeys, like, you know, and he's he's never afraid to like help you. Like he's gonna help you in any any possibility, you know, he can, he's gonna try.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_05:And so, you know, like I said earlier, that's why I decided, like, you know, when he gave me the opportunity, like, absolutely, I will jump on board with this brand and I will crash and burn with you if that's what happens, or we'll take it to the moon if that's what happens. But the way the way he treats people, and you know, we've seen a few comments and stuff, but you know, like I said, you can't make everyone happy, but 98% of the people are gonna leave Delta Thunder happy.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_05:Whether you kill a duck or not, like he works his butt off to give you that opportunity.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_05:And to me, when I was doing that, was going with a guy, like that's what I wanted. Like, I I knew, like, as a hunter, like you're hunting, you're not killing. And so the way Cade worked, you know, that's that's what stuck me with him.
SPEAKER_02:So in the biggest fear of anybody that when we're out of state and we're you know, we want to get a field with an outfitter, or the first time we booked Tristan, remember when we were there, I was so skeptical. You know, the Venku thing and Cade and all I was asked Tristan, dude. I was super skeptical. And but the thing is, is that because you're spending your hard work and money, yeah, yeah, you know, it it costs money to do this shit, and you're like, is this the right person? Is this the right fit? That kind of thing. And for$250 a day, listen, show me someone else's new to go hunt the Super Bowl state of the world, uh, of duck hunting. You not you're not gonna give any works like that.
SPEAKER_04:And and uh as Mr. Glenn says, if you don't have fun, it's your own fault. It's your I mean that's true. Like it's crazy.
SPEAKER_02:That should be Kate's new Cade's new statement, his new uh his new business.
SPEAKER_04:That should be his Delta Thunder State.
SPEAKER_02:Mission statement, right? Yep, for sure, man. But um, but no, Colton, um man, I hope the the the kiddos are doing great and and the wifey's doing great, man. I mean, I know we we got on this podcast, but that's always the thought of us as you know, you and your family and and all that stuff, man.
SPEAKER_04:But I wish we had more time more time to spend together at the ducks thing, man. We were just yeah, freaking I mean it's that's crazy.
SPEAKER_05:You guys have the you know market and get yourselves out there, and that's great. I'm glad you guys get that opportunity. You know, I'm I'm happy to see y'all grow and you know, your subscribers grow and your content grow, and just everything you guys have done has been is it's crazy. And just like seeing you guys there with the frog talk booth, and you're like, all right, hey, these guys might be going somewhere. Just stick stick with them. It's some big things might be happening.
SPEAKER_02:So well, but people like you are a vital piece of that. Yeah, no doubt.
SPEAKER_04:And that's why it was cool to be like there for a moment. It was like Cade, you like the whole crew, yeah. The kiddos were there, and kids, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:No, that's what it's all about, man.
SPEAKER_05:I had a I had a mad kiddo a few weeks ago. I took him dove hunting, and she could not shoot a dove because I don't have anything small enough for her to shoot. And so now we are on the search for her to have a gun to shoot a dove. So I'm I'm excited about that part. So I know I got one that's wanting to. The youngest one, I'm imagine he's gonna follow right in sister's footsteps because he does with everything else. So I'm excited for for that future to to begin.
SPEAKER_02:Hell yeah. Well, dude, well, you you just keep pumping that influence that you put into those young people, and thank you for what you do for that. And I know that those kids are gonna look back someday and just be like Coach Colton, my my teacher Colton, and everything. You're gonna you're gonna it's it's a it's an incredible position that God has put you in to influence people. So good for you.
SPEAKER_05:I appreciate y'all. Thank you all for having me on. I've been been looking forward to it since you since you texted me a month ago.
SPEAKER_02:Well
SPEAKER_04:Um well sorry it took so long to line up, dude. Just freaking Well, and honestly, guys. When you're as famous as y'all are, I I get it.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know about that.
SPEAKER_01:I've been southbound, I've been hellbound, riding on a midnight train. Goin' too fast now, think y'all so down, standing in the pouring rain.