Son of a Blitch
George Bowe Blitch has been a Wildlife Manager, 5th generation Texas Rancher, Professional Writer, Videographer, Photographer, Editor, Speaker, Brand Developer & Designer, Cartographer, Touring Musician, Teacher, Coach, Serial Entrepreneur, Finance Manager, and the owner of numerous businesses.
George has met some wildly interesting people in his lifetime, and this "Son of a Blitch” is sure to share some impactful stories, interviews, and messages that will be informative, educational, and highly entertaining!
Guests often include: #1 New York Times Best Selling Authors, Television Show Hosts, Leaders in the Outdoor Industry, International Touring Musicians, James Beard Award-Winning Chefs, Photographers, Filmmakers, Navy SEALS, Green Berets, Veterans and related Veteran Organizations, a Master BladeSmith, a Federal Judge, Professional Athletes, Business Leaders, Inventors, Survival & Wilderness Experts, Gunsmiths, Long Range Shooting Instructors, Actors, Publishers, Inventors, Cartel Fighting Game Wardens, other podcasters, and more!
"I've met some incredible people in my life, and I want to share their stories!" ~GB
Son of a Blitch
Ep. 119 w/ Jean-Paul Bourgeois - Duck Camp Dinners Season 4 - Tracing A Season Of Hunts, Meals, And Music To Show How Community Brings The Outdoors To Life
Join me as I sit down with my friend and famed chef, Jean-Paul Bourgeois, to discuss Season 4 of Duck Camp Dinners. In these exciting 8 episodes, JP starts us out with a familiar opening in Louisiana in episode 1, before throttling into a true Texas Tour for 6 episode, and coasting on back to the original DCD camp in LA for the season finale.
All throughout the season, Jean-Paul and his crew stitch together a patchwork story of people, plates, and places: flounder gigging with Vietnamese friends, rabbit spotlighting under legal lights, cranes in the snow, geese in the wind, woodcock in the timber, and all the while, creating late-night dishes that will set your taste buds on fire!
Every hunt is a future meal, and every meal honors the land and water that made it possible. Small-town cafes, shrimp markets, and backyard grills share equal billing with blinds and boat ramps. Music from Texas and Louisiana sets the mood, giving each episode a sound as local as the spices on the cutting board. The big theme under it all is conservation: marsh restoration, partnerships that rebuild habitat, and the everyday stewardship of hunters who trade sausage for shrimp and teach kids to clean what they cook. Sponsors and Partners aren’t just logos; they’re part of the chain from field to table, the tools and support that make ethical harvests and honest storytelling possible.
Watch the full season on the Stir The Pot YouTube channel, then let JP know what you cooked, what you learned, and where he should go next!
If the podcast and show moved you, make sure to subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with a friend—those simple acts help carry these stories to the next campfire.
www.youtube.com/@stirthepotstudio
Learn more about your host, George Blitch:
Jean Paul, welcome back to the podcast, man. How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_00:I'm good, George, man. I appreciate you having me on. You know, um, it's been good to see your growth on this podcast as we've now, this I believe our third time talking. And uh, you know, I just got back from traveling. I was looking forward to this call because I was like, man, I've been kind of been beating me under the road here uh the last few days. And I was like, now I'll get a little time at home, my family, get to talk to a familiar face today. Uh, so it's all good, man. Um, thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER_01:Man, I it it's always an honor. Seriously, I I love having you on. It's always fun catching up with you and you know, hearing about Duck Kent dinners and all the things you got kicking. And uh, you know, yes, welcome back. You're you're a third-time guest. You and Jesse Griffiths are are now the three Peters. So uh, like I said, you gotta get there's a jacket or a shirt or a hat in there somewhere. I gotta get something custom. But no, for real, I I that's good company to be in, right? It is, man. Good dudes, good dudes. Well, uh, you know, I I I want to talk all about this season, season four of Duck Camp Dinners. You got eight episodes. Start in Louisiana, roll through Texas, in Louisiana. And, you know, I just want to kind of give people a little bit of a background, man. I mean, you've you've obviously been in and around Texas before, but this is a really good uh example of a lot of different areas throughout this uh great state uh of hunting and fishing and everything that's flying and running around. I mean, you guys hunt almost everything there, and it's been fun to watch that throughout the season and uh kind of see the plethora of game out there. But you know, I was kind of curious as far as like when you guys decided to, you know, uh map out uh season four and having a strong Texas tie to that. What was it that you were hoping to accomplish and thinking about? I mean, I know Texas is near and dear to your heart, so yeah, maybe if you can just kind of lay that out for the listeners and kind of we'll dive into the episodes from there.
SPEAKER_00:Sure, yeah. For those listeners who might be new to Duck Camp Dinners and myself, I'm I'm from Louisiana, born and raised. I don't currently live in Louisiana. Um, but you know, still a lot of the my work comes out of that state. But my second, the second state that is so close to me is Texas. And that's because my wife's from Texas, I have some family, a lot of friends in Texas. I used to live in Texas for a little bit before moving here in Florida, and likely we'll probably move back to Texas in the near future, too. We love this state for so many reasons. Um, and I felt like if I was going to take Duck Cam dinners out of Louisiana, which it has its first three seasons in, um, Texas seemed just a natural evolution for the show, considering my network and my people and what I've grown to really love about the about the uh the state. And so as you mentioned, we start in Louisiana, we take six episodes after that. It's almost like a very much like a road trip. We film it all uh continuing throughout the whole this whole time. Um and then we end in Louisiana, and so that's you know, Galveston Bay area, Rockport, uh, Rafario, then Lubbock for two days, then East Texas to Woodcock Hunt, which is the uh which is episode seven, and then we finished out in Louisiana. And so um, you know, it was part of the reason why we made duck dinners in the first place in the first three seasons in Louisiana, it's just to really feel like um we wanted to tell an authentic, really an authentic story about Louisiana. We know that it couldn't be done in just one or two episodes. It needed seasons, or at least one season. And um Texas is the same. I just didn't want to dedicate one or two episodes to it. It's you can make five, six seasons, that stay so big, and the out the and the number of like different things you can do in the outdoors, it's just so the spectrum is so large and wide. Um, you know, we just scratched the surface with five, six episodes here. So um it was just um one of those things where I felt like Dutchamp Dinners, I wanted to tinker with the idea of leaving Louisiana uh for just an episode, you know, for just one season. And because I do believe that, you know, Louisiana is very unique, Texas very unique. But I just I feel like folks, no matter where you're at, we have more in common with each other than we don't. And part of going place to place is, you know, the the the accents may change, the food may change that's on the table, even sometimes the species change, but we all just seem to love being in the outdoors and love being with other people that are in the outdoors and all the small all the small businesses and food ways that like thrive, like, you know, uh really lift up our communities within it. Because at the end of the day, like I've always felt duck camp dinners, you know, some people, depending on how you watch it, may look at it as a food show. Maybe it's they say it's an outdoor hunting show or something like that. I've always seen about a show about community, and that's just that could be the local Rockport community, the flounder gigging and hunting community that we do there, or the Vietnamese community that's in there. And it's just no matter which way I look at it, I just see these little communities that kind of blend in and out of each other in this area. And that's kind of how we look at every episode and how we take every episode, especially in Texas, where now we're we're also learning for ourselves. Because in Louisiana, we know it so well. We're kind of in it, we're in between all that stuff. We know all these people, and we're kind of just bring them in into the light. Where in Texas we're also learning with you as a viewer, you know, and we're depending on those people that are local to Texas, like like Brian Little from Sabine Skiffs and Galveston Bay, like for him to show us his world, right? So where we're learning because of him, it's not because of me or other people anymore who have in Louisiana. Now we're learning from real, you know, uh generational Texans that have small businesses there, hunt there, fish there, lives is there, and they're just sharing their community with us.
SPEAKER_01:So that's well said, man. I mean, it's it there's so much culture that comes together through travel, through food, through music, which is a big part of your show as well. And I think that brings community because it's it's interesting, like you mentioned. Like, yeah, there are a lot of different lenses you can go ahead and view it for. I mean, I know that I'm salivating 24-7 when I'm seeing all the amazing things that you guys are cooking as an outdoorsman. I love seeing you guys going out and checking out new places, but I think the people that you meet along the way and the cultural and the connection and being able to kind of share this way of life and the conservational aspects of things too, it's so rich in you know, multiple bountiful ways. And so that's something that I think there is something for everyone, no matter what it is, too. And uh I love that you know, you guys have gave a great representation throughout the state of Texas. So tip of the hat on that as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thank you. And you mentioned something that uh is is very was very important to me through all four seasons. That's the music. And um, you know, we you we have to use some um, you know, royalty free um uh music uh like for the transitional moments or you know, some of the stuff where we have big libraries, we have to use some of that. But every episode we fold in two or three different Texas musicians in this case, and then pass it the Louisiana musicians. Because just like Louisiana, like Louisiana has a very unique sound to it. Uh, Texas has a very unique sound to it, and we wanted to make sure it was represented even through um the music and the artists and the way things feel and sound. And so um, you know, we could have saved a lot of money and a lot of headaches from licensing music. Uh if if we didn't, but it just is one of those things that I just I never felt like we could engineer out for the sake of a budget. It was very it's so important to really set that vibe and that tone within every episode that it looks like it feels like it sounds like it, tastes like it, right? It needs to be really, really kind of dig into that that uh that place as a an entire culture, a holistic culture, if you will.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no, well, you know, speaking of digging in, I I'd love to dig into each one of these episodes to kind of give people an idea of if they haven't already tuned in, you know, one, where they should go into on your YouTube page. We'll kind of mention that too. And uh, you know, what you know, kind of let's let's just kind of walk it throughout this tour, if you don't mind. Uh, you know, season one, new season, I mean, episode one, new season, new camp. You start off in Louisiana, tried and true, and then you're kind of making your way across the bridge, man. Why don't you walk us off and tell us a little bit about you know where you went, what your experience was, and uh what's a highlight of episode one?
SPEAKER_00:Sure. So yeah, the whole the the whole season. Um it typically we would spend like an episode or two episodes in each camp. And we did that in the first episode, and we did that on the sec on the last episode, which is the only the last episode, which is the which will is the the camp the floating camp that we've gone on in other episodes that other seasons, that's the only camp we've ever been to before. All the rest are new, and so um the first one in in the um um uh Chaflaai Basin, Chaflaya, Chafflay Delta, excuse me, which is the Chaflae River where it meets, kind of starts meeting that salt and marsh on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico or Gulf America, whatever you're calling it these days. Um yeah, that was my funeral, my friend Hunter. I've known him for a couple, like actually I've known him for a long time, but we weren't we haven't been really close in set for the last couple years. He invited us down to his camp. One of the awesome things about that camp is that it doesn't stay there year-round for the duck season, it's there for four, five months, and then they take boats and tow it back upriver and dock it over the winter for different repairs and so on. But just a killer, you know, and uh it was a really fun hunt and kind of really old school, dragging P Rogs into the into the pond, really working to get out there for a 300-pound man, gravity isn't isn't on my side, but we made it happen. And then shooting like just really good ducks and having a fun hunt and and and sharing that camp with those folks and getting to know them a little bit. Um that was that was essentially without giving it all away. You know, one of the things about Louisiana is you can do these cast and blasts like you can in like you can in coastal Texas, you know, fairly easily as well. And so we got to do a little bit of that with ducks and speckled trout and uh some setting crab traps and jug lines, you know, all that fun stuff we do in Louisiana almost every episode. So um from there, uh we travel west and we cross Sabine River and we get into West Galveston Bay at Hall's Bayou and home of Brian Little. This is like episode two. You know, I think the story of mostly Louisiana and Texas as a whole in duck season was that it was rough. It was, it was, it the weather didn't really get ducky north enough for it for some stuff to push down. They had good early seasons, but as we got into the meat of big duck season, and towards the end, we just never could get that second and third wave migration to really hold ducks. And that that goes from everywhere from Louisiana uh to Texas. Now they had some outliers, right? Of course, they had some people who did really well, but um Hall's body was one of those ones where I was like, man, thank goodness there was good people at the camp, you know, and we ate good. But that's that's the story of hunting, that's the real story of hunting, right? Like, yeah, I mean we can all we've all been in that place where, like, oh, I've seen that way many more times than I've seen these, you know, drag out, bang up hunts. You know, that's just the story of it. So, um, but Brian Little, Marco, all that crew, I mean, over there, incredible hosts, gracious, kind, uh, and just willing to really like show us, let us in there from their part of the world. And so, you know, from there, that's that's that's episode one. And within episode one, we go to you know, El Campo, Prov uh Providence City area, um, do a sandhill crane hunt, uh, stay at camp one time, you know. And so already, if for those who have seen Duck Game Dinners one through three, you you'll see, you'll know that again, we spend like one camp, one or two episodes. Already in episode two, we're at two different camps. And so we looked at this season as kind of like a running gun. And, you know, if it was if it was good, it was good. We're not gonna get too many shots at like hunt after hunt in one place. If we hit it on the right time, then we hit it on the right time. So we kept cruising um into Rockport, which was one of my favorite episodes because um love Vietnamese food, uh, spent time in Vietnam. Uh, so we really got to dig in a little bit there with Brandon Nguyen and his family from Flowers uh trip market there in Rockport. Flounder gig with him, um, stabbed a couple flounder, um, but um not as, you know, uh the the weather started, that's they had a big front that came through or was coming through, and it was starting to play that effect on the coastal uh coastal part of uh Texas at that time. But got on a good um, got on a good redhead and and pintail hunt with Mason Matichik, Mason Matich and uh Brandon Wynn Flounder Gigan. And you know, I'm trying not to give everything away when it comes to the episodes, but that's basically Rockport. And uh again, and we start to see like we start to see this, because even from even from um Paul's Bayou to uh El Campo, we stop at a little place called Jay's Cafe, and I forget what town it's in. Um put a lovely little like small town Texas like diner cafe that the whole town was at when we were there. Um and then Flower Shrimp Market in Rockport. And that's one of the things that I really love is finding little small businesses within the community that may or may not have anything to do with why we're there. Again, the show's so much about community that it just makes a lot of sense for me to when we're on that road trip, if we're naturally gonna stop somewhere, let's film it because that's part of the trip. Whether that could be a meat market, again, a shrimp, shrimp market or whatever. Uh and so I just I just love that. And I just I'm a small town boy by birth, and I typically live in a lot of small town, aside from New York City. And uh, you know, it's that's always been really important. So um Riferio was next, which I never heard about Riferio. I didn't know anything about Riferio, and of course I'm saying it like a white boy. Um, and uh but rif Riferio, Riferio, maybe how would you really say it?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'd I I've heard Riferio, and then some people say Riferio as in like the refugee, right?
SPEAKER_00:Like yeah, right. So yeah. And there was like, you know, really fun. Hogs, whitetail, ducks, rabbits. One of the things you can't do in Louisiana is spotlight rabbits at night. And so when they were like, yeah, let's go spotlight rabbits at night, and I was like, You sure that's legal? I don't know if that's legal. And they were like, I hope it's legal. We've been doing it since we were nine years old. So uh yeah, and so to come to find out it is very much legal in Texas to spotlight rabbits at night. So that was that was fun to better do, you know, it was fun. I love rabbits. We cook, we, we, we cleaned them, we cook them in the later episodes, and um, you know, it was one of those things that also I love about the show is that we typically we go, you know, our goal is to have meat halls. Like we're we're I mean, we we we're meat hunters, we hunt for meat, we put them in coolers, we're gone into the we're gone, put them up in our freezers, whether that be the butcher shop or ourselves. And so um we tend to we end up a lot of times taking whatever things that we hunt to catch, kill during episodes of Doug Came Dinners and bringing them throughout the season into later seasons to share with the rest of our friends or with people that weren't even on those hunts. And I also think like that's kind of like a little, you know, untold story of sportsons, right? They're kind of sharing their game with other people, uh, whether community, friends, or family, other camps, yeah, uh, throughout the year. So um, you know, from there, Referrier was fun. Then we love it for two, two hunts, and that's a great Catherine geese episode uh hunt, a great, you know, a slow but snowy uh sandhill crane hunt, which is completely new to us, hunting in the snow and gosh dog, it was cold. Um and then we go to East Texas to Woodcock hunt with Brian Little again, and then we get into Louisiana, um, bow fishing, and then finish out on episode eight at the camp, the camp that we all come to love and uh know from all the seasons. So and you know, if I haven't bored y'all from listening so far, if I haven't bored y'all by now, you can catch all these seasons. So, my my YouTube page, Stir the Pot, um, you can just type in Stir the Pot on YouTube, is the only place you can find all four seasons of Duck Camp Dinners. So, seasons one, two, three, and four are all now on um the YouTube channel, Stir the Pot. There are other places where you can watch season one and two. If you want to go there, go watch them. All good with me. But um, and then the YouTube channel obviously has all the duck camp dinners episodes. There's all kinds of other, I think, kind of fun food, culture, travel, kind of kind of stuff that I'm deeply into. So I think I'll, you know, what's funny is like a lot of people knew me for being, you know, a professional chef or a barbecue guy or or a Roman or Italian guy or whatever, as as throughout my career. Now so many people see me as this, as this duck hunter, which I I am, but I'm always like food first. So everything I do is throughout the lens of who, whether I travel, uh I'm traveling for it, or whether I'm hunting or fishing for it, uh, whether I'm just trying to learn, just learn from other people that I know nothing about core. You know, it's like it's all uh and so that YouTube page through the pot, you can find duck hands, all kinds of other stuff you might be interested in.
SPEAKER_01:I think that's it it's true to point, man. There's a lot of really cool things that you can see there where it's not you you hear duck camp, and I think that is while it is the basis of everything that you know this show is about, it's so much more. There are you're hunting so many different other species, you're giving a an insight into different. I mean, you know, like talking about the refuter episode, you know, you got I I can't even count how many turkeys came through in that time, and you got hogs and you got deer, and you and then you guys are utilizing those. And I mean, the the bounty is very diverse of all these amazing species. And really, I think you're honoring uh the wildlife in such a great way. The dishes are incredible. So, like, yeah, there is so much to it, but I love that you have all these other things that you know you've done over the years and that you've had these trips where people can join you and different special dinners, and there's so much to it. So I feel like Stir the Pot really encapsulates a lot more than just this show. And I think that's a very important thing that you noted and that I I kind of want to echo because there is so much rich content uh and delicious content. That I just warn people if you haven't had lunch and you're watching this, you're you're just doing yourself damage, man. Because it's like all I wanted to do is like drive home and hit the freezer and you know start pulling out my wild game, man. You it's very inspirational and uh mouthwatering.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thank you. And look, that's 100% intentional. But you know, in the end of the day, like people ask me for recipes and a lot. Now I have no problem giving out recipes. I just don't. Here's my problem is like even my own recipes, I break and I change and I evolve throughout time. So, you know, I feel like if I ever give somebody a recipe, next time I make it, it'll be a different recipe. And so I try to encourage people to just take that pure inspiration, use what I've given you throughout the show or throughout other pieces of content that I've made, and just have fun with it and make it for yourself. Like, um, you know, people were like, ah, like I get the sandhill crane thing all the time. Like, can I get some more sandhill crane recipes? And I was like, What do you like to do with steak? Like, well, I'd like to make kebabs with it. And I was like, How about you make kebabs with it? You know? How about you just treat it like beef? If you want to call it the ribeye of the sky, treat it like beef. And if you want to make meatloaf with it and grind it, make meatloaf with it. Like, you don't need me to tell you that. Just say, okay, if it tastes like beef, maybe there's some recipes that I can make it like like something else, and make it your favorite thing with that that it is. So um, because if I give you a recipe, you know, I'll just make it up anyway, and then and the next time I do make it, it's I'm gonna put something different in it. I might add some Dijon lustard to it or just gonna change it completely, you know, or something like that. So I'm glad that you're inspired because that's the main goal is just inspire people to go out out, go outdoors, consider. If you're not somebody who hunts and fish and you like going to the grocery, that's fine. Like, put maybe go outside and consider what it means. Even if it starts with just foraging for mushrooms or wild plants or being or or or or planting a garden in your in your yard, start with that, you know. Um, you don't need to go out and wing shoot or hunt alligators or fish for redfish or shoot whitetails, but start with something that comes from your hands where you know where it's at, where you can take full accountability for it. I think it's I think it's at the very least, just go outside and try to find you some food, you know? Uh because there's a lot of it, a lot of it out there that just grows in the wild, probably in your in your neighborhood park, uh, or in the or in some you know federal federal land or federal trails and you know, whatever. Wherever you're at in this in the country, there's something there outdoors for you.
SPEAKER_01:I think that's a a very important thing, man. I mean, just I encourage people to get foraging books for their area, right? Like I know in in like Central Texas where we have a ranch, I'm always looking for different things. Man, we got wild persimmons, we've got you know, dewberries, we've got mustang grapes and all these things. And I'm always trying to um the thing I find fun about that is also if I'm hunting something there, like if if it's a wild turkey, then I'm trying to incorporate some of those things that maybe that turkey ate too, and kind of bring it into a meal and things with the garden. And like, like you said, too, it kind of starts there too. I see a lot of folks who, you know, maybe you don't have the space for the a garden or you don't have that time, but you can certainly walk around a park near you and you will find some things that are very edible and kind of have that you know a local vor movement of sorts, you know. It's like find it in your backyard or somewhere around you, and uh, you know, then you can kind of build upon that if you aren't. But if nothing else, I think one of the things too that you talk about and when you bring in in the wild game aspect, uh, you know, whether it's in in the water or or above you know the ground or flying, there's you do teach uh and and kind of uh highlight this aspect, and you've done this for many years, something I've admired, of just the conservational aspect of things and that approach of how we need to take as best care we can of these resources and the areas around that and the habitat. And that's something that I feel like you've always driven home and it's it's such an important piece of that. Some people are, oh, hunters, maybe they're just knocking down anything they can. No, man, we're trying to keep this for future generations and build this way of life that can sustain itself for hundreds of years beyond ours, you know. And I think that's something that you've done a great job of kind of leaving a great foundation of knowledge and leaving it better than you found it as well. So I've always appreciated that. I just wanted to kind of mention that as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thank you. Thank you. That's kind of like a use it or lose it approach, right? Like you got to teach people how to use it and where to use it, and you know, whether that's generational or that's a new hunter or so on, because there's, you know, there's certainly people that are would, and you're seeing this a lot for unfold in politics as of recently in public lands and so on. Um, there's gonna be people that always try to uh get more dirt, right? There's the only thing they're not making more of, right? And so if you're whether it's whether it's your own private stuff that you have, maybe that's past, maybe that's your ranch, you know, George, or it's public lands that the American people own. Uh there's always gonna be someone out there likely trying to pay for what you got. Uh, because again, so I mean, uh from that aspect, I think it's kind of really interesting. From the hunting aspect, you know, it's like I don't know. I'd be like, okay, like let's take whitetail, for example, right? We all know that you need to you you need to get a population of does off of your off, you know, and most most of the time, right? You need to get a population of does off your ranch. So I don't know, breeding uh you you you're gonna know more about that than I. The only thing I know is when people have those problems, I'm like, call me. I will go shoot, I will go shoot two or three does because you know, I I am all I am 100% there, like, all right, I know those one or two does, three does can feed my family for 18 months, right? Yeah, especially shoot them the right way, harvest them the right way, butcher them the right way, put it up the right way, and make, you know, and whitetail meat may be the most like you can do more with white tail meat than maybe as far as North America goes. It's plentiful, it's there, whether it's a grinds or roast or sausages, you name it, stew meat, so on. There's just so many meals that can come from that. The bones making making bone broth, so many things that can come from that one animal. And so, like, I'm always I I just firmly believe that in my in my bones that we should be feeding people with what we what we kill. Um, ourselves, our family, yes, but sharing that with others, trading. You know, I love that I love this thing of like, hey, I mean, I got a bunch of whitetail sausage on eight, deer sausage. You you got like maybe you go rabbit hunting or whatever and trading that, you know, for things that I might not do. That's how I grew up. Yeah, like we didn't, we were duck hunters, we would we fish for redfish, but we always had rabbit, hog, whitetail, squirrels in our freezer because we had so many ducks we would trade with other hunters who did other things who didn't maybe duck hunt. And so, um, which kind of gave me at an early early on, even though I didn't like always hunt those things, we didn't have a lot of wild hog in the 80s and early 90s in Louisiana, right? I mean, but they had people in different, you know, in my dad's circles that did. And so that's how I even became familiar with that, right? And as a at a young age, even without being a hunter, because I hunted other things that we were able to trade for, you know. So, anyways, there's a lot of good things that can come out if you just open to it, open, you know, open your eyes and heart to those type of conservation efforts.
SPEAKER_01:No, I think that that's huge, man. I mean, even last week, my new next door neighbor brought over a bunch of shrimp from Louisiana that his his dad uh works uh with with the guy who who runs that boat there. And I'm like, here, here's some Vincent tamales. You know what I mean? It's like it's a trade-off, and then we get to get together, and I get to hear his stories about how he grew up and you know his love for Louisiana. And like it was just it's a great, it's a it was a great medium. It's like, hi, I'm your new neighbor. Here's some wild game meat. And then, hey, next thing you know, you get invited over to the barbecue, you know, it works out, and I'll I'll bring some to that. But it's a man, it's that connectivity, right? And that's food has always been that it's like sitting around the campfire, right? That's our original social networking is kind of this food and family and friendship. And so it's uh it's such a great thing to see. And like again, I I love how you've highlighted all sorts of different things in different places and people. Uh you know, who knows, man, in my mind you mentioned like stopping at diners. I was like, is there duck camp diners as well? There may be. There, I could see a little spin off, right? All the cool places you go. Um, one thing I I did want to talk about too is the different uh uh sponsorships and partnerships you have because you've really teamed up with some incredible people um throughout the seasons. Who are some of the folks that you teamed up with through season four that you'd like to highlight and maybe tell us a little bit about them, if you wouldn't mind?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I can highlight all of them because one of the things with Duck Hand Dinners, we really commit to um if you're gonna be a sponsor, you're gonna be a sponsor in the whole season, not just one episode. We want you there for the whole thing. We want you around. I don't want to be like talk, I don't want to have five different shell, like two different shell sponsors. I want one that believes in the show and that is going to be invested in the show so we can invest back into them. Uh so that's boss shot shells right off the bat. I mean, they for two years they have been a huge sponsor. Like honestly, literally, I mean this and wholeheartedly, could not have made seasons three and four without them, right? Uh they were just that huge from a from a financial point of view, from a just you know, paying for the show, just flat out getting it done. People don't understand how expensive one show's over this show specifically, and I don't want to go into details of why, but um, it's it's it looks and feels different from every other show for a reason, you know. Um so Boss Shotshell's one of those people, one of those brands, Dirk Sor Sorrells, uh Sorrels, um, specifically, who's believed in the show um throughout. over the last few years. You know, Browning shotguns came on us. We've never had a shotgun sponsorship um in the in all in any season. And um, you know, um I've shot Brownings all my life, not not exclusively, uh, but all my friends did. Um so I was super familiar with the gun and knew they were reliable and I've seen them shoot them for years and years and decades and be collectors of them and so on. And so um you know Browning Firearms and of course is an American you know as an American company has been around you know forever. So um I was grateful to partner with them um because you know at the end it's not everybody comes abo comes along so fast to the idea of the show that it's not just like a straight pure hunting show where you just you're gonna show like these great hunts because I think you know that's historically hunting media just shows great hunts because that's what they're that's what sells their sponsors like you know nice buck on the ground or whatever like that's a you know you get you get where I'm going at and so yeah it takes it it takes a different mindset from the from some sponsors to look at Duck Camp Diddle and be like okay I I holistically love this story because I know it's just not and although Browning see that's what bro I think some people sorry I just want to get on this just for a moment I think when some people think of Browning firearms are like well why would they invest money into this show? Half of it is cooking Browning has nothing to do with cooking my rebuttal to that is like I couldn't disagree more because a lot of the things that we we're cooking are things that we're shooting catching killing sometimes that's a whitetail or a hog with browning and a browning firearm or browning ammunition why isn't that just as is as important to the dinner table or to the to this idea of food and that's just a disconnection that not just not just the outside world of non-hunters have but actually hunters because they watch the show and be like oh why is brow you know well browning has a lot to do with the food on the table because this hog wouldn't have died without a Browning rifle in my hands. Yeah it's part of the ingredients part of the ingredients right and that's I think what I've always tried to really really harp on with with any outdoor company is that y'all have done such a great job of telling the story until that until that hog hits the dirt and then after that but there's a whole other story of why your firearms are important that happens after the kill. And um and I can say the same with Shin Shin Gear Shin um brand that I'm wearing right now big supporter over the last two years love those guys Dylan Farrell the the marketing director at Shin was my camera one and two camera uh two for seasons one and two of Del Camp Dinners and so you know he's he's known the show even before he was part of Shin. Before that he was a part of it he did he helped build this show because of his work behind the lens and now he's building a brand like Shin uh which I just came back from their film festival. And so like they're they're you know that's our that's our camo guys right and so like there was going to be no other outdoor technical camo or anything that goes along with this you know um Slacky Mama again last two years have been a great partner with us and you know we carry it around we and no it's not just like you know we cook a lot of Cajun food because that's what I do whether wherever we're at but it's also like um sharing that seasoning that flavor that spice that that I mean they're they're from the 80s man they have that's that brand has been around since the 80s sharing that with other people that may not know uh so much about them so they've been awesome um so you got Browning you got boss shot shells you got Shin then there's Conico Phillips and Ducks Unlimited um who work together in partnership in South Louisiana to rehabilitate broken marsh saltwater marsh that needs to be you know whether that be mangrove plantings or finding or building uh land terraces to break up um that saltwater surge that happens from hurricanes specifically they're just doing their conical village is one of the largest landowners in South Louisiana they lease a whole like thousands and millions of acres of duck property to Louisianians to give them access to that to that to that land. And they you know they conical village does not drill or produce oil in Louisiana anymore. They are they are simply there for conservation in partnership with Ducks Unlimited. And to me that was one of those and and our backyard in terrible in Paris right on Homa. And so um one of those things that I was really proud to have a local person really um you know company uh invest in the show because as you mentioned conservation especially like land conservation habitat you know is is obviously really important to ducks all wildlife of course but um you know not just ducks but Louisianans in this case lastly you know lastly um the sponsor who who this season would also not have been able to do um we wouldn't be able to do without is uh Sonac toeing and Coco Marina who's also owned by the Sanak family um you know if anybody even just googles Snac in Louisiana they're gonna see just philanthropy philanthropy people giving back to the community um you know how to Mr. Benny and his family and the the all you know all the Synaxes have so just have their hands in a lot of like really just blue collar work and communities and have built that built their businesses and they like individually love camp dinners and when I came to them I was like you know I don't know if I'm gonna better make this season because it's we're we're kind of that we're we're at this point actually making season four where I have to say at this date if we don't have the funding that we need then we just can't make it you know um and it like we're right at that date and and we end up um talking to Mr. Benny and the Coco Marina folks and you know and they just really want to see the show continue. And so it's like again just some people it's it's like these brands that have that you can kind of fold in because it makes sense and then there's these folks like Conco Phillips DU the Sonac family and Sonac toe and Coco Marina that was like man we just love the show and just love what you've been telling the stories you've been telling about our people in Louisiana and now in Texas like we want to see this continue. And so um it's been great and that's it you know it's like it's like you know you can even put in enough money to help move the needle but you got to believe in the show because it's it's like I can give you all the photos and and videos and not do like I try to really provide in that way. But in the end like you have to be bought in you know to the story and to the message of the show. And um I feel like that's the kind of brands that gonna can kind of sustain you over the periods of seasons, you know?
SPEAKER_01:Certainly and that's they're there for the right reasons, right? It's not just it it's it's people who are believing in that mission and they're coming around and these are all great brands who have done some amazing things. You know I can speak to to many of those myself. I was probably in the late 80s rocking the Slap Your Mama man. I mean that was something that was a a staple in our coverage at their ranch. And then you know that's something I've I've thoroughly seen uh you know Bosch got shells continue and I've used a lot of their ammo and it is second to none. It's amazing. And they always have different things like cutting edge you know innovations that they're making every single year. So um you know that they these are brands that I think people are going to be familiar with and they're the ones who get behind and I love that man. It's a great synergy and uh that's that's kind of folks you want along for the ride. You know thinking of of that, you know, you got a new season as far as hunting season coming around what do you have planned here this uh you know and and without maybe giving anything away of maybe a potential season five but uh what what's uh what are some some uh journeys you're going on in the near future is there anything that you're looking forward to this uh hunting season that's coming in yeah well I I'll I'll get the elephant out of the room and say I'm not filming a season five this year.
SPEAKER_00:I have a um almost a four-year-old and a newly one year old and um and I'm building the YouTube channel and I just felt like this was a good season to take off yeah spend more time at home really take some intentional hunts that I've I've never could take because of filming and also like you know really focusing on building that YouTube channel up so when we do a season five which I fully intend on doing the next duck season after this one um that that channel has a really really robust platform to be on that season has a really robust platform to be on excuse me and so I'll be taking it that but you know right now man I'm focused on just tying up those loose end on season four I'm taking my family to Italy um on November 17th we're staying through Thanksgiving having an Italian Thanksgiving and it's into early December uh throughout Rome and Tuscany um I'm working on a project in New Orleans um with with some investors on a restaurant I won't run the day to day but my name will surely be associated with so that all has to do with some of the Italian stuff I'm I'm kind of which I don't reason why I'm going to Italy in the next couple weeks. So like I'm supposed to go on a wild boar hunt there in the in the olive groves of Tuscany which I mean really that's gonna be fun there's got they got some red stag and roebux as well that I may I may target if I have the time to do it. But and uh as for the duck season you know um I'm basically I've left a lot of my December and January open just to just to be on call for when somebody says hey migration's really good right now you got you got it in your calendar and then and then you know I'll see what's happening at home and then maybe I'll go. So I'm you know I've never been able to really do that uh especially in the last five years like just be on call you know and like my friends in Oklahoma say the widgets are in the dry field you got to get here tomorrow I'm like I am in it because like widgets in a dry field is one of my like kind of dream hunts. So you know there are those things but really just honestly George excited to spend um a little bit more time at home maybe hunting around Florida with some friends with like where I can make you know house hunts you know hunt from home if you will then go into a camp for a few days. So trying to spend some more time with the family making some more intentional hunts that I haven't been able to do and then um eat a whole bunch of pizza in Italy. That's great.
SPEAKER_01:I I can't think of better plans all of those uh accumulated man I'm excited for you and that's great and you know like you said too you got two young kids man this is a great time these are those years you don't get back I mean you have a beautiful family and uh it's it's always I I see how much they mean to you and and vice versa and that's a a wonderful thing man so I know that you're creating that balance and you know it it is a lot of work for those who hadn't really thought about all the planning all the trips all the editing all the things that go into each one of these seasons and that's why I think it's you know paramount that everyone go and check it out. Make sure you're subscribing to Thur the Pot YouTube page and seeing all these and of course you're gonna be doing all sorts of different things throughout this next year of building more of a foundation for that platform and you know all sorts of great videos so I can't wait to see those and uh especially I can't wait to hear more about the uh Italy trip.
SPEAKER_00:Uh I'm yeah that's gonna be phenomenal man yeah filming is funny man uh YouTube is even funnier when you think about it like Duck Camp Jenner's takes a year to make it takes about five four or five months of discovery research fundraising takes about 20 days to make eight episodes 15 to 20 days depending on how you cut it up uh to make eight episodes then it's in edit for six to eight months about a month an episode like it's it's a huge undertaking like it's a and you know people at different sections of the year it's a full-time job right like from from fundraising to discovery to tax is is a full time for me then I get into production which is like double time triple time and then editing like I'm I'm writing voiceover and stuff like that and it's up so it's another group's full-time job huge where where sometimes I can make a video that takes an hour to make about cheeseburgers in my in my garage and it like triples the amount of views that anything on Duck Cand Dinners gets which is like I'm like all right I guess I guess that's cool. Whatever um so you know it's a it's a it's a thing man um it's uh certainly one of those shows where uh I you know I tell people all the time even about being a chef and cooking I was like you better love to cook you better love feeding people because don't get into it because of the money. You know you get you gotta love that other side of it because the money ain't gonna take you through that's duff camp dinner it's like you got to love making the show you got to love telling the stories you got to love being with other people and new people because it's it's not you know nobody getting rich off a duff camp dinners but it sure is a good ride.
SPEAKER_01:Well it it is amazing man it's it's phenomenal content I love every single year when a new uh you know season gets announced and just the anticipation of where you're gonna go what you're gonna highlight who you're gonna see is fluff dog going to make an appearance all the important things that people are looking for man and just really celebrating the culture the cuisine the friendships the camaraderie and the conservational mindset. I mean all in all uh Jean-Paul I'm I'm I'm a big fan of all the things you're doing love being you know a part of this and having you on here to talk about it. And you know it with that in mind as we're wrapping up you know before we give like kind of the socials where people can you know kind of remind them of where they can follow you and everything else I wondered if you had anything that you'd like to share to those you know friends, family, supporters, viewers, all the people who have been behind this sponsors, partners as we kind of close out, what was it uh that you maybe as as you're leaving as these episodes are kind of coming out and you're getting feedback, what is it you'd like to share um you know maybe words of thanks that you might have for all those people um you know it's really obviously the sponsors the family the friends my family at home that say like yes go go do this thing that you love leave this house leave us um talk to us for 30 minutes a day go do it you know like they obviously owe them everything for giving me that free not not it's not like freedom like they want me but like a free mind a free heart to chase that without any guilt right like um obviously my wife that is is has been an unbelievable supporter of the show all the sponsors that I mentioned past and present um unbelievable supporters but really like the people that watch for three seasons for in Louisiana seasons the I mean the overwhelming response of Louisianians that say thank you for making a show about us and for us and not you know making us look like you know this is some sort of circus you know like as many people have right let's just say it's current and past have it was super important for me to get Louisians on board with this show because it meant that I was I was telling the authentic real true stories that people could be proud of and the same thing for Texas my hope is that Texans can say this show is about us and for us and something that accurately portrays who we are and the kind of people who we are and I've gotten that same response and so just like thank you to the viewers who let me know that because it is the north star of the show.
SPEAKER_00:It's the north star is to whether we are going um to Louisiana or Texas or to whoever else to represent those people authentically to represent their stories and their culture and their community authentically and for them to be proud that we came and shined a light on their little town or their restaurant or their meat market or their place that they hunt or their camp or whatever. And that's been that's been more than more than any other gift that Duck Camp Dinners has given me it's been given that gift to others to have something that they see themselves in. And I and I think you see that even with people that aren't from Texas Louisiana and people in rural Minnesota, Wyoming, California, Nebraska, all up and down the East Coast that say, I've never been to Louisiana. I don't know anything about Cajun food but I feel like I know you and your friends right it's the same friends just different last names and different food and different accents and be able to represent all those people in and out of those, you know, in and out of the in the ends and the crevices and the corners of different you know off the outskirts of the cities and so on the little towns that you never heard of the public land the private land you know all that stuff that people see us in and so on is been it's just it's just an honor you know to represent represent Louisiana Texas and all those outdoorsmen that say that's how our camp is we don't know that food and we don't know that species of duck but that's how our camp is you know so um you know it and I I say this to everybody like I was at the film festival this weekend you know I love it people come up we love your show we watch it every night me and my son at seven o'clock on Saturdays we're tuning in uh just he and I he you know he's he's 10 years old he loves the show and it's one of those shows and yeah like man my heart melts thinking about that but I and I I have to say like I always have to tell him thank you for the view thank you be for the view for the comment for the thumbs up you know people don't realize how much that matters just for the algorithm sake right it's like it's not a pride sake it's not like oh yeah pat him myself on the back it's like you know obviously you want this show to get to as many people as possible you know for your sponsors for your community for the people that you're trying to make proud and what helps the comment the likes the subscribes the notifications all that stuff especially on YouTube um uh help in that in that effort so thank y'all for honestly everybody who's listening right now thank y'all for the view if you're new to this and you're going watch Duck Camp Dinners any season thank you for that view it really does help me more than anything and uh and it allows the show to get out to more people and and more communities and to tell a tell those people who don't know anything about us something about us you know something real so that's important to me and hope it is to everyone else.
SPEAKER_01:Well said man and those all accumulate to be able to have more content like this coming forth. So if you like it you support it show your support and then you're gonna get more of those things that you love and learning about new things that you will come to love. So I think that's very important.
SPEAKER_00:For those who are looking to tune in if they haven't before or if they have you know I'd I'd love for you to give kind of the socials websites how they can follow you uh Duck Camp Dinners and Stir the pot why don't you go ahead and lay those out where people can uh join the uh the movement there yeah yeah you know unfortunately I don't have like an easy name like Tom Smith and so I'm gonna spell a bunch of stuff out uh my website you can catch you know just basic things about me links to the shows at jeanpaulboujois.com j-e-a-n p-a-u-l b-o-r-g-e o I s dot com uh that's my website then um Instagram I'm fairly active on I love answering people's questions on Instagram when and if I can like sometimes you know sometimes I can't sometimes I can't for other reasons but hit me up at chef Jean J E A N underscore Paul uh and then lastly a little bit easier to spell stir the pot YouTube channel on YouTube uh just type that into the search bar stir the pot you'll see it it's growing we love it and I'm putting a whole bunch of different content out there I just went interview a Nigerian lady on Facebook Marketplace uh in Memphis Tennessee and uh one of the things I'm really excited about as you know everything I do is revolving around food is finding food on Facebook Marketplace in the different cities I go especially when that food doesn't feel like it really fits this place and so my last I've done Filipino food here in Pensacola I've done I've now Nigerian food in Memphis we're gonna go every place that I travel and try to find this Facebook marketplace food and and and try to meet the people who are cooking it you know I think it's super interesting so I and my point is like bunch of different content like that to you know I'm learning how you're learning you know my point is like I constantly want to learn I constantly want to be around people that can cook just as good if not better than me and this Nurian one was one of them right and um Christina was her name and so um anyways check it out if you like Dell Camp Dennis you can go to stir the pot plus there's all kinds of other content on that YouTube channel. But I'll say Outdoor America Waypoint TV outdoor channel streaming linear broadcast and and um um through um video on demand it'll be on all those different um platforms so if you don't want to watch on your computer or your phone on YouTube Duck Camp Dinners season three and four is coming to many if not already on those channels so just go into your smart TV and search duck hand dinners and you'll find them excellent and I will have all the links below especially for those who might not be the best spellers they they are here and uh I know you got Duck Camp Dinners on on Instagram as well too so there's another one that I'll I'll I'll add on there.
SPEAKER_01:Make sure you guys go give it a follow a like subscribe share with your friends this is amazing content from you and your team and uh I think there's something for everyone there. Once again Jean Paul thank you so much for joining me today it has been a true honor and looking forward to having you back in the near future man.
SPEAKER_00:All right George appreciate you having me on man thank you cheers man take care brother
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