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The Standard Sportsman
Lifelong Arkansas waterfowlers Brent Birch and Cason Short discuss duck hunting's past, present, and future with various thought-provoking leaders in the duck-hunting community. The guys will discuss days afield, waterfowl conservation, and stewardship with the goal of leaving the sport of duck and goose hunting better than they found it.
Presented by Yeti, Tom Beckbe, Lile Real Estate, Sitka Gear, Purina Pro Plan, and Ducks Unlimited.
The Standard Sportsman
Live from 2026 DUX in Memphis
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The Standard Sportsman Podcast took its show on the road and recorded live at Ducks Unlimited's annual event in Memphis. The show was recorded in DU's new mobile podcast studio with a rotating roster of guests. Radcliff Menge from Tom Beckbe, Karl Gunzer from Purina Pro Plan, Justin Reif from Create the X, Kale Flaspohler from Waterfowl Management Academy, Brett Maffett from Benelli, and finally Mike Brasher from DU updated listeners on the drain-tile setback issue. The show goes well beyond product talk but does include some exciting updates from the guests.
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Thanks to our sponsors: Tom Beckbe, Sitka Gear, Waterfowl Management Academy, Create the X, Purina Pro Plan, Ducks Unlimited, Lile Real Estate, Perfect Limit Outdoors and Noah Perry.
All Rights Reserved. Please subscribe, rate and share The Standard Sportsman podcast.
Welcome to the Standard Sportsman Podcast, where duck and goose hunting's hottest topics meet a mission to leave the resource better than we found it. Lifelong Arkansas hunter conservationist Kasten Short and Brent Birch bring you thought-provoking conversations with entifled guests before, during, and after the season. Glad you're here. Let's get into it.
SPEAKER_09All right, it's Brent Birch, Kasten Short, doing a Standard Sportsman podcast in person for once. Well, I guess for twice. We did this last year. Yeah, and in the same room.
SPEAKER_07And in the same room. Yeah. Doesn't happen every day. No. We're live live from Ducks. So uh some familiar faces from last year. Carl from Pure Arena. Carl Gunzer, welcome. Welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_03Good to be in the box.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. And Brent, you want to introduce your partner every year?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah. It's my good friend Radcliffe Minge, Tom Beckby, also known as Tom Beckby. Answer. Answers to Tom. Yeah. Yeah, that's a that's a running joke. But uh he actually is a real per not a real person. Ratcliffe is the the man behind the brand. But uh yeah, back at Ducks, uh very well attended event. Uh it's a packed house, a little different studio this year. Last year we're in what they call the Duck Den, big wide open area. This is a trailer. I don't know it. That's what it is. Is it truly a trailer? It's a mobile podcast studio, and that's where we're conducting the show today.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and we shoehorned everyone in here. That's why we have that nice tight shot of Carl over there. Sorry, Carl. That's what sponsorship on the podcast gets you.
SPEAKER_03I should I would have brought a makeup artist today, known.
SPEAKER_07Uh so I think we should start off with you guys, obviously, with your involvement here with Ducks Unlimited, and talk about y'all's role with DU partnerships. Uh we'll start with you guys. Uh you you emphasized his budget earlier, so we'll start with him. Uh tell us about Purina involvement in the show, connection with DU, walk us through all that because it's significant.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it it goes back, I don't know, 11 years now. We started in 2015, was sort of the the birth of the sponsorship, and it was a partnership for Purina to be the um exclusive pet food sponsor of DU. You know, they they always like some title sponsors in different areas, like a beer sponsor and a dog food sponsor and and that kind of deal. And they did not have a pet food sponsor for some time, and this was a perfect fit for Pro Plan, which is all about sort of performance dog nutrition. Um, you know, a lot of uh trainers and competitors in the sporting field trial world feed our products, so it was kind of a natural partnership and um Perina donates and spends philanthropic dollars with DU as well for um conservation uh support and um so it was just a great partnership. And then when we started uh DUX in I guess that was 2019, but then COVID interrupted things, uh I think it was gonna be in 2020, it pushed to 21. But um anyway, we've been the presenting sponsor of the DU Expo since it started. Um, you know, obviously the first three years in in Fort Worth and then the the skip and now uh second year here in Memphis.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, so in now, Tom, you guys just wait way way to perpetuate the confusion. Uh so you guys started really with Ducks Unlimited last year, is that right? We were talking about your your kind of launch with those.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so we launched our uh our partnership with Ducks Unlimited last year, and what that partnership is about is creating a uh a a new product line for us as an extension of the classic waterfowling gear that we've been making for the last 11 years, and what we what we uh have worked with the staff at DU and Volunteers is to create you know classic uh sporting gear that really works, works in all of America's uh four flyways. Um it's got a touch of vintage with uh mix of modern performance, and uh it's been a huge success for us. Um it's a real feather in our cap to get to work with Ducks Unlimited, uh to do something as a company, to uh support the resource. Um, you know, DE is just a tremendous organization with thousands of volunteers, an incredible staff based here in Memphis. And uh, you know, it's a real honor for us to get to work with them. Be here at DUX was just been an incredible convention this year. It was great last year. Uh super to be back with you guys, be back with Carl, um, who in addition to working uh with Purina is one of the most interesting men in the world. Um long history of dog training, he's a big uh great equestrian. So um, you know, it's just great to be here and to meet people like Carl, see you guys again, catch up, and a real real melting pot of waterfowlers from across the across the country.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, because you get with Memphis, it's it's in truly a hub of states that really care a lot about the sport. Uh and so the draw, it's it's pretty impressive. But um all right, so DU connections that we've established that we only got a short window. Tell us what uh what's the latest and greatest with Tom Beckby. New gear.
SPEAKER_04What you got? Yeah, new gear. So we look, we've we kind of redid our product launch calendar to coincide with DUX last year, and we're doing it again this year. So the uh the collection with DU's got all new additions. We got a great new Fowler vest in the wetlands green color. It's a waxed uh vest, it's insulated with wool. Uh we've added a couple new bags to the DU assortment, you know, all field gear, whole new lineup of shirts. Uh so hopefully if you're at the convention, drop by and see it, or if you're hearing this online, it's all online on our website now. Uh but that's just the very beginning of fall for us. You know, over the next month we start to roll out the rest of all the new gear for fall, and by about mid-August, uh, you know, the first you know, drop for fall will all be live in our stores and online. Um and so we're excited to get that product out in the world. That's about 18 months of work that goes into producing a new fall collection. Uh, you gotta design it, then you gotta, you know, source it, and then you gotta make it, and then you gotta get it to Birmingham, and then we gotta get it out to you all. So uh excited to see it all come together.
SPEAKER_07So, Carl, I'm assuming there's not a lot of new developments in the dog food world.
SPEAKER_03There is, but um, you know, there's we've got some great stuff coming for 2027 that I think um are a good fit in the sporting and outdoor space. You know, it was interesting to hear you say that about 18 months because that's sort of you know, we figure idea to launch on just a general reformulation is about two years. Now we've got products that are 10 years in the making, but just to to get you know everything tested, get the bags made, get everything uh the formulations approved, test fed, all that stuff, we're at least two years from start till it's available on shelf. And then you've got to sell it in just because you know, working through the distribution channels, if it's gonna go to a retailer, it's gotta be sold in for a January launch. So we're we're generally at least a couple years on uh on a new product. Um but we have some great stuff coming in 27 that I'll talk to you about next year. Uh but it'll be fun. So I'm looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_07And you guys are always working on current products. I mean, you you've got a large team of nutritionists, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um if you look at all of our So Purina is owned by Nestle, or or what used to be Ralston Purina. Um, you know, there's also Purina Mills that makes a livestock feed. That's a different company. But um we were sold to Nestle I don't know how long ago now? 15, 20 years. And uh so we sort of have the benefit of a lot of their science and researchers. But to answer your question, there's about 500 either nutritionists, veterinarians, researchers on Purina staff that are either formulating products, working with uh veterinary hospitals, working with vet schools. So um we do a we do a lot of research in the pet food space.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and I mean obviously knowing you guys, you you're I know you care a lot and you're extremely helpful. I had a I my luck, I've got a dog that has grass allergies. So as he's like losing hair and going through issues, like I'm talking to Ray back and forth, and he's like, Man, try this, you know, try this food. And it turns out it was definitely not your food. It's just my dog. So but he's good now.
SPEAKER_03Well, I know that sounds crazy, but my goal is is always that Pirina does not feel like a multi-billion dollar company to any of you guys. Like, I mean, more people have my cell number than probably should, but that's just the way we are, and uh, we don't want it to feel like some big corporate deal because to us it's personal. You know, I I was in the dog game and had dogs just like you guys, and so I know what it's like to be sitting there and worried about a dog and you can't get an answer and you don't know where to turn. So that's what Ray and myself and my team tries to do is be that voice at Purina that anybody can call and reach out to to try and solve a problem.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, that's definitely how you guys have been for me, and and you know, I obviously know your backgrounds and all that, so I that's how I look at you guys. But uh it's a it's a great company. But both of you, I mean, like I really two different kind of avenues, you know. Like I you you guys have been in the business for forever, you know, and it's just a big standalone brand, but you have that that connection with people like we're talking about, and then the way that you guys bring in kind of that nostalgic feel with those fabrics that are up you know, updated and modern, like that thing that's fabulous. What what each of you all are doing in different ways, and then to be here and be involved with the Ducks Unlimited is a fantastic thing, and you can't do enough for the ducks. So thank you both.
SPEAKER_09Yep, appreciate it, guys. Thank you. Thank you. We'll shift to guests. Here we go. As the season changes, Tom Backby's Fall Collection delivers timeless apparel, outerwear, bags, and gear built for cooler days ahead. From iconic wax jackets and the versatile layers to classic shirts and everyday essentials, every piece is crafted with the quality, durability, and purpose that define the brand. Explore the fall collection at TomBekby.com or visit one of the five stores in Franklin, Tennessee, Oxford, Mississippi, Birmingham, Alabama, Middleburg, Virginia, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
SPEAKER_06ProPlan Sport is made to feel hardworking dogs like yours. For increased endurance, joint support, and muscle tone, it all starts with Pro Plan Sport.
SPEAKER_09Alright, back to segment two. We've uh switched it up, we go from dogs and apparel. Now we're going to get into habitat a little bit. We got Kel from Waterfowl Management Academy, Justin, you may know him through Fallout Farms, uh, create the X app, all that stuff. So, how's DUX?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, it's uh just the environment and and all the different people here that uh that a lot of times you just follow them on social media, you you never get to really meet these guys and stuff, and then just to network and and get to see all everybody in one spot has been uh been a great experience. Uh a lot of a lot of great conversations, a lot of habitat talk, and uh yeah, you mix everybody together here and it's uh it's something.
SPEAKER_05What's been cool for me is the fact that everybody that you've seen on TV and grown up watching is absolutely the nicest people you've ever thought they were in your life. I I was getting coffee this morning and David Blanton's standing right next to me, and I'm like, David Blanton. And he's like, Yeah. He's like, should I know you? And I'm like, No, you shouldn't know me. I just know you because I've been watching you since I was like six years old. So it's been an awesome, awesome show, and the quantity of people, the volume is just unmatched.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah, for sure. It's it's we talked about a little bit in the first segment, just how well attended uh it is. But all right, let's just talk about let's talk about habitat for a second. Um people enjoy our show because we do talk quite a bit about that. Uh we're almost to fall, we're not quite there yet, uh, but this is when you know the the things start really churning. A lot of the off-season work starts to kind of you start seeing seed heads and and things that you know are gonna feed a duck. What's what's the latest and greatest and what's what's in your short term about to make happen, you know, habitat wise.
SPEAKER_05I mean short term for us, we're just kind of monitoring how our our moist soil is finishing out. When when a lot of a lot of folks probably recognize uh in the in the moist soil heads, a lot of times, if it gets real dry, they don't finish as good as you think they might do. So we're just driving around grabbing grabbing heads and doing that kind of thing right now. But uh just kind of we're in a waiting period right now. We're kind of in between work, everything's planted, everything's growing, but it's not time to get the tractors out just yet.
SPEAKER_01Well, us northerners are on a little uh little bit steeper timeline here. We're uh we're gonna be moving water here in the next uh starting in the next two weeks, getting to getting that early water shown, doing our doing our moist soil manipulation, gonna do some, you know, some pre-flood up tillage, a lot of mowing. Uh all of our all of our ag stuff is is looking good. And uh yeah, if we can survive the uh if our as far as our ag goes, if we can survive the blackbirds right now, all the corn's milking and uh yeah, they uh they key in on it hard there right along the right along the Lake Erie shore there. But uh no, uh other than that, that's what we're gearing up for is uh starting our early flood up and showing that early water. That's uh that's one of the most important keys to our uh to our success in the fall is is putting that water on as early as we can.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and Brent, I guess in our part of the world, you sent me I saw it later that day, but the rice harvest is underway, which is early. I don't remember. Do you remember July rice in Arkansas?
SPEAKER_09I cannot recall July. First rice crop showed up this week uh or this past week. Uh somebody's already harvested rice.
SPEAKER_07That's that's wild. I mean, we so we're draining some this weekend. Uh weather depending, we'll be in it pretty quick, but not not July. That was early. But anyway, it should be an early crop. I mean, by and large, what what got in. Uh, so we'll put some water back on it, try to get it the head back out again and see if we can make a little food with that.
SPEAKER_01So should have plenty of time.
SPEAKER_07We should, yeah, as long as it stays warm. You know, that's always that's the way it goes. Like the years you don't try it, it stays 90 to like November, and you're like, boy, we had plenty of time. Yeah. Um, all right, so talk to us about your own kind of individual. We'll start with that. Walk us through what you guys have going on on your side.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, absolutely. So we um, you know, over the course of the last 18 months have been building out a lot of content, just trying to build out our course library, which is our core offering. It's it's super inexpensive for consulting work. It's 29 bucks a month. And sign on if you have questions, you want to chat about it, you have a crazy idea that you don't really want to admit to your buddies, you call us and we'll tell you, hey, don't bring that one up or whatever else. Uh but uh we're really excited about that. Um, you know, and just to kind of add to what we're doing, we we just launched uh our own version of a podcast, and we're just gonna do high-level, just strictly management topics, you know, try to do every two weeks or something like that. But just been really excited to just keep doing it. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07All right, your turn. What you got going on?
SPEAKER_01Well, no, as far as as far as Create the X app goes, we've had we've rolled out a ton of new updates, and a lot of the all those updates have come from feedback from users in the field. You know, ever everybody's management style and how they log their information, how they log their management data, you know, changes drastically throughout the country. But any feedback that we've been getting, we've been continually updating, and we're actually getting ready to roll out a uh an advanced water management feature that's geared more towards the guys that are that are managing you know semi-permanent and or or even permanent uh permanent marshland. Uh one of the biggest things from uh a guy named John Simpson up at Wynus Point on the on the on the Sandusky Bay, they manage huge coastal marsh area, and that's what they do is log daily water levels and try and maintain that water level to uh you know to have a certain to bring about that that aquatic vegetation, that that good hemi marsh type uh aquatic vegetation. And so we're gonna be rolling that out in the next couple weeks so they can log those daily water levels and then they can graph it throughout uh throughout the course of the year. And yeah, and uh, like I said, everything else as far as user feedback. We've been we've been implementing it and uh and yeah, been growing growing steady. We have to uh I think to uh almost 125 different farms and properties that are that are using the app and uh and the feedback has been has been pretty positive.
SPEAKER_05So I'll I'll add something to his his app. I am pumped about your water management app because I've I was almost gonna build one myself because we are super aggressive on on water management and we do it to the tenth on on all of our structures and everything, and it gets super hectic um depending on who's there of a morning and things like that. Like, hey, go read that structure, and then it's like, oh, you need to get water moving over there like now. And so it's just nice to know um where it's at. And one of our rules, and I don't know if you guys do the same, I'd be interested to hear this, but once we put water in a pool, we do not want it to go backwards. So like if you put you flood your pool to one foot two, we don't want it to we don't want to show up and it be at eight tenths anymore. You know, we want it we want it to stay there or be increasing. So it's just in our experience, it seems like birds don't like water going backwards very well.
SPEAKER_09No, yeah, yeah. I would say that typically here they will they will move off of if they feel the water's falling out, they're gonna be gone. And they're and they're gonna, you know, the way, especially the way they work in the woods, they kind of follow the feathered edge. You know, as water pushes out, they're gonna be right at it, and they do it the same when they're feeding in fields too. Uh they're that water expands out and they're gonna keep following that edge, and they'll leave the deeper stuff or the stuff they've already picked through behind. But once it starts falling, they move.
SPEAKER_07That's what it's gonna compare it to to following the crest. I mean, they want to follow the crest of the river, and I think the same, you know, they don't know if we're holding a flood control structure or not. They just know the water's falling, it's time to go. Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_09That's it. That's it. All right, so water management, this we can kind of wrap up with this. How are you preparing for the potential El Nino? Uh I mean, are we gonna have a ton of water on the landscape? Is it gonna underwhelm us? But it's still it's gonna be a little if it hits, it's gonna be a little different than we've been dealing with.
SPEAKER_01Well, if it hits uh and we're and we're wet, that's that's pretty cheap. Cheap water is the best water. Free water is the best water in in our experience. I mean, there's some years where this year I think we're all right, especially Lake Erie. We depend on Lake Erie, you know, for our water pumping into our units and stuff, and uh it's been wet. I mean, we've there's there's been two different storm systems that have hit, have dumped over over a foot of rain over over top of Lake Erie. So lake levels are up. Uh as far as getting free water in, we're we're gonna be all set for that. But I mean, come fall, we'll we'll take all the free water we can get. If it's if it's wet, the wetter the better, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_07So yeah, so I'm gonna jump in real quick and then you can take us out. I'll say even from a rice production standpoint, surface water is better for our rice. Like the the field we're gonna cut first was actually planted a week later, but because it got surface water, it took off, it grew well, it did great. You know, like so you've got nutrients in that runoff, um, it's warmer, it's all these things. But I think the same applies to ducks. You flood a field with well water, they're gonna use it, but if you can flood it with surface water, they're gonna use it more. And it they know the difference too. So, how will El Nino affect you guys?
SPEAKER_05You know, I the same thing. Free water is the best water you could possibly get. I could care less. Um, but well water is fine. I mean, it works obviously. Most a lot of properties are on well water. I just hate the iron. I hate my dog swimming through it. I hate the dog coming out with you know that red, crusty stuff all over it. So, you know, if we can get from the river or whatever, that's that's great. We do have some wells too that you know, we but we're able to get both. Um, you know, so I will say from from our perspective, we do manage uh we stage water throughout the season. And so if we get a six-inch rain coming, we'll we'll make we'll we'll make sure we go out and pull boards to where it's like, okay, you know, I want to get to like maybe maybe one foot five. I don't want two yet. And so we'll just pull all the boards to that. So if it wants to keep raining, we'll take as much free water as we want and then let it go on.
SPEAKER_07So all right, guys.
SPEAKER_09Thanks for your time. Enjoy the show. Yeah, absolutely. Appreciate y'all. Yep. Waterfowl Management Academy was built to turn passion into stewardship. With over 75 years of combined wetland management experience at the private, state, and federal level, our biologist team helps landowners build better habitat and hold more ducks. From the management community and course library to one-on-one coaching, they give you clear, practical tools to manage with confidence through every season. WMA is for landowners who believe their property is about more than just a place to pull the trigger. It's about building habitat that gives back to the ducks and strengthens the resource for everyone. If that sounds like you, visit Waterfowl Management Academy and become a member today. Serious waterfowl management isn't about reacting day-to-day. It's about making better decisions every season. Create the X is a waterfowl land management app built for the real work in the field. It's not meant to replace your journal or notebook. It allows you to access your past management history in real time right in the field. Track water movement, log field work, and GPS overlays, mark blinds, drop land damage pins, and record equipment maintenance documented by location and date so nothing gets lost over time. Instead of flipping through pages, you can reference past seasons directly on the map while you're standing there, giving you clear management history to guide future decisions. From your first field to the farthest fence line, manage it smarter with CreateTheX. Learn more at CreatheX.com. Available now in the App Store and Google Play.
SPEAKER_07All right, segment three. Back with uh Brett from Benelli. Brett, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_08Thank you. Happy to be here.
SPEAKER_07And so, all right, tell us, I don't want to get your title wrong. You what is your role at Benelli?
SPEAKER_08Uh I run product development for the Benelli brand specifically, and then I oversee it for Frankie as well as Chapuis, which is a kind of a French bespoke um shotgun/slash uh rifle manufacturer.
SPEAKER_07So that sounds like a fun aspect to me, product development.
SPEAKER_08It is a lot of fun. It's kind of a dream job.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. That sounds better than marketing where you have to go out and shake hands and do stuff like this.
SPEAKER_08Well, you know, you mean with me in here? Right. Yeah, so it's kind of the same thing, right? The marketing guy voluntary to come do this, didn't he? Well, you know, it's always fun for me. I enjoy I enjoy it. It's good to have conversations. Yeah. Um, but it is a lot of fun. I'm I'm very fortunate in terms of what I get to do on a on a regular basis. Um, obviously, I get over to Italy a few times a year. I work with the engineering team there to design all the new products that make their way into the U.S. market as well as worldwide. Um, it is kind of a dream job, if I'm being perfectly honest. I love traveling. I love hunting. Right. I get to put it all together. Obviously, there's you know, a lot of the stuff in between that's not always so fun. Uh, but that's any job.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I was gonna say I'm sure it's still work, but uh, it's it's it's fun, I bet.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, a lot of people don't want to believe it's worked. Like my dad is convinced I don't have a real job. Um which, you know, he was successful guy, worked in you know, finance. And he'll call me up and be like, You're aware today? I'm like, well, it's uh you know, it's a work trip. He's like, Yeah, but you're hunting. I'm like, yeah, I know. He's like, you don't have a job. I'll talk to you later. Somebody's got to test those guns. That's right.
SPEAKER_07Yep, yep. Well, so on that note, we we we couldn't quite make this happen last year. Scheduled in the line at duck. So you you rolled out AI last year, but this year it's available on a lot. Is it more platforms or just more gauges?
SPEAKER_08Um so this year was the first year for 28 in AI. Last year we launched it, we actually launched it two years ago um on just sporting them. So it was a sporting configured sort of soft launch.
SPEAKER_07That's right. Excuse my water foul. No, no, you're you're fine. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08And then la last year we first brought it, it was the first year we brought it onto the SV3, um, as well as some Upland specific Ethos variations. Uh, but that was in 12 and 20 only, and then this year we we doubled, I want to say doubled down, but really tripled down with the 28 gauge, which has been incredibly successful.
SPEAKER_07All right, so I know you've covered it ad nauseum, but walk us through a uh I'm fairly familiar with it, but tell us what it is, what it does. Sure.
SPEAKER_08So it is um at its core, it's a complete redesign of the internal bore of a shotgun. Um so the factory is essentially finest firearms engineers in the world. I don't I don't care what anybody else says, they they they truly are. It's unbelievable to work with them. But what they effectively did is they sat there and they said, All right, we know what's going on in the marketplace. Um we want to figure out a way to maximize the energy from a standard shot shell. So instead of just lengthening a forcing tone or something, they said we're we're literally going to design the optimal system to take advantage of the shells that are out there on the marketplace. So it started literally as a map map equation. What is patented is actually a map equation. So the barrel itself that are upstairs on the guns, they aren't patented in and of themselves, but the formula behind it, which I can't understand because I'm not that smart, um, that is patented worldwide. Uh so they then, once they did that on paper, said, this is the optimal delivery system. We will maximize the energy that is a standard shot shell uh in terms of energy retention at muzzle, velocity retention, well, really velocity retention at muzzle, which will then um lead to a greater energy downrange on target. Um so once they did that, they had to then go figure out how to manufacture it. So that part took a little bit longer because it's a totally entirely new manufacturing process uh versus what they had been doing. Um, but that is what it it does, is there's the least amount of resistance possible to allowable to still maximize sort of the the performance of the shell because you obviously have to have good pattern density and all that fun stuff too. So you make it too wide and it's just it's gonna be a statter gun. All right. Um so you can't do that. Uh, and then it has to be within certain tolerances, too, because obviously you can't have an uh internal board construction that's gonna not let the wad do what the wad does. Right. So it would it is purely uh an optimization of existing shell technology that ultimately delivers greater velocity retention downrange when compared to standard barrels, and that is what then allows for greater energy on target, which gives you much more devastating takedowns of plays, but also burns. Um I've really seen it increase the the uh propensity to have doubles and triples because yeah, you you tell ducks in close, you're popping up. Obviously, you're probably gonna shoot one with a normal gun too, but then as they scatter and fly away, you have a better chance from behind or from the side of penetrating through those harder feather areas, right, and bringing them down. I've seen a lot more, uh lot cleaner wound channels um coming out on birds. So it they're they're actually penetrating through all the layers sort of into the chest cavity. Um almost in the way you talked about rifle hunting, right? It's it's really taking out the internals and just dumping out of the sky at a rate I've never seen before.
SPEAKER_07So I've long been involved, or not involved, uh interested in shotgun modification, I guess you'll call it. So 40 plus years ago, my father was trying to backbore and do kind of you know some of the wizardry that you you only knew through trial and error, and very few people were doing it, and it wasn't widespread, and then you know it kind of takes off into these custom shops. But it sounds like you guys have taken all that momentum and then tested and perfected it.
SPEAKER_08In the easiest phrase? Yes.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. I mean, just but not piggybacking off anymore. No, it's been out there, but but none of those, the the small mom and pop shops, even in the custom shops, don't have the wherewithal to test. Like you're not sure.
SPEAKER_08No, they don't they they don't. They don't have I mean you go to the factory, and it's it's unbelievable how how advanced technically advanced it is in in so many ways, right? You go down to RD and everything they're doing down there is on like stop motion phantom cameras, that types of stuff. Like they have they've got freezers down in the basement in RD where they they will freeze guns before they test them. You know, they'll heat them up, and then obviously there's all the manufacturing technology or capabilities within the factory itself. Not to mention the fact that you walk in this place and it frankly looks like it's clean enough to eat off the floor, yeah, which is frankly a little off-putting in times that feel like I'm in a hospital. Um but yeah, they they have these capabilities from an engineering and then a RD proof of concept standpoint that you're right, mom and pop shops certainly do not have, but also uh uh quite a good number of even some of the larger manufacturing brands don't necessarily have the stuff that they have invested in. Um, because at its core, Benelli is innovation, always has been, right? It started in what we now consider to be common, but the inertia bolt when it came out was revolutionary, right? Right. And then um the retoil reduction that first came out with the original Comfort Tech on the uh the original M2 and the SP2, that was revolutionary in its own right. And you know, everybody has been chasing those types of innovations since they came out through other other formats.
SPEAKER_07Um the three and a half inch chamber, right?
SPEAKER_08Exactly. Yeah, quite possibly the simplest thing you could have done. Yeah, but yeah, it revolutionary was revolutionary within the industry um in terms of just how people went to the field and how they hunted. And this is just the next evolution, the next step in that innovative process for the Benelli brand.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. All right. Well, so I've got to take this opportunity because I've been leaning on Tom for a while. Since you're the product guy, you gotta make a wood SB3 and 20 gauge.
SPEAKER_08I don't dis I don't disagree with you.
SPEAKER_07I'm sure you don't probably all the 12s you've sold have come to me because I've got more than one. We're not gonna tell it me. Uh but I need a 20 to match it. Okay.
SPEAKER_08Well, I I would say um, as somebody who knows some stuff, hang on just a little while longer.
SPEAKER_07That's good, that's good news. Yeah. The older I get, and that's funny too, you know, because everything's come a long way. Sarah Coat and the way you manufacture guns and the the best treatment, all those things are great. But when I when I look at my grandfather's guns, I've got some some old guns that have never been shot, and I've got some that been used really hard. And it's the ones that were used really hard, have that patina that way. I'm like, that's a cool shotgun. And I know my kids are sitting here watching us record this. I know in time they'll be like, that's the it's the wood guns that develop that character.
SPEAKER_08So and it's I can empathize, empathize with that. Quite a quite a good bit. Um, my first love in this space was was over-under's, right? And there's nothing like a gorgeous gun that is as much a work of art as it is a tool for in the field, right? And you get a nice piece of wood combined with that, and even a nice piece of wood on a beautiful gloss, you know, side gloss blue side of a receiver or barrel. Like it just there's something old world and extra charming about it. And it just, and you're right, as it ages, as you get that kind of warm look, that natural patina, um, the combinations of you know, skin oils, messing with gun oil, it just it it it becomes yours, right? It becomes a part of you.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it just gets that character. It does. I think it just means I'm getting old, Brent.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, but yeah, I mean you're right. It's it's the character of those guns, you know, black plastic guns are practicality. Functionality, yeah. Great. They're fantastic. But they're they're not they don't have that that same feel, that same look that uh kind of bring either brings up some memories or hunts you had in the past or some you know, family member that used it, that kind of thing. It feels more pure. How do we get that out of a black plastic gun?
SPEAKER_08It feels more pure, yeah. Right? True to kind of the roots of everything because polymer didn't exist 500 years ago when you know my parent company, you know, started making barrels.
SPEAKER_07Right. Yeah, I'm sure I'm in the minority though. I would be uh it would probably hurt my feelings to figure out how few of those wood SB3s you'll sell, but I'm sure it's not a lot.
SPEAKER_08It's not a ton. Um probably a few more than what you would expect, but it's not a huge volume driver for us. I'm trying to uh but you've got to remember too, we have the whole ethos category. Oh, that's right, right? So we sell a lot of ethos guns. Yes. Um and then obviously Manofeltro as well, including the Monty Silver, which we have a if you haven't seen it, it's a brand new variation that we launched this year upstairs. Absolutely gorgeous. Um we have it in 12 here, but it is offered in 12 and 20. It's it's a beautiful gun, beautiful pieces of wood.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Um kind of that classic look. So we are we are still taking advantage of it. It's just the the quintessential American waterfowler in today's world is not gravitating on a large scale to wood guns because we know how we all hunt, right? We're not we're not particularly gentle on this stuff.
SPEAKER_07No, it's we're not. Uh we'll have to circle back after this and go check that out upstairs. Oh, you please.
SPEAKER_08Appreciate your time. Plus, Kevin wants to see you.
SPEAKER_07So yes, somebody, uh Kyle Brossario told me he was looking for me. So I gotta come back and see Kevin.
SPEAKER_08Yes, you've been officially summoned.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. All right. I got volunt. Full circle, perfect. All right, thanks for your time. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_09Thanks, Griff.
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SPEAKER_09The Standard Sportsman is brought to you by Noah Perry, financial advisor with Raymond James and Associates. Just like a successful day in the field starts with preparation and a solid plan. Building a strong financial future takes clarity, discipline, and the right guide. Whether aiming for retirement goals, seeking professional investment management, or planning your children's future, contact Noah Perry at 501-313-7313, or send an email to noah.perry at raymondjames.com. Noah Perry with Raymond James, helping you plan with purpose. The Standard Sportsman is brought to you by Perfect Limit Outdoors, the creators of the designated Puller Automatic Jerk Rig. This is one product creating motion throughout your entire decoy spread. Check it out at perfectlimitoutdoors.com and make the water move. Situated along the renowned Big Creek Flyway between DeWitt and Ethel, Arkansas, this 162-acre two-track hunting property offers an exceptional combination of prime waterfowl hunting and quality deer hunting in the heart of one of the most productive duck corridors in the region. The property boasts a diverse and dynamic wetland habitat, featuring a rich mosaic of cattails, willows, cypress trees, and buckbrush that naturally attract and hold ducks throughout the season. Whether you're chasing mallards or managing deer, this property delivers on both fronts. For more information, visit LyleRealEstate.com or call us at 501-374-3411. All right, we're back with a final segment of this whirlwind uh ducks uh standard sportsman podcast collaboration in the trailer. We just now figured out this thing has air. So it's made a huge shift in the boat in the temperature in here. Uh because we're in close quarters, if you can't tell, real close quarters, and uh now we're now we're cooling off. It's funny how it starts working when the DU guy gets in the business. Yeah, the VIP gets here.
SPEAKER_02Sponsors don't count, but you get here when we turn the air on. I had nothing to do with that, let me just say, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did.
SPEAKER_09Yes, yes, for sure. All right. Ducks, again, pretty impressive turnout.
SPEAKER_02Dude, it's amazing. It is amazing. Um, I've heard epic, incredible. Um yeah, it's lots of I'm I cannot wait to hear a lot of the statistics that come out of this in terms of from our vendors, from our from the attendants here. I've already heard some from our vendors. It's how much farther ahead they were at the end of the day on Friday than they were last year. This I was coming down the escalator a few moments ago and it was just packed both ways. And you know, it was always one of the unknowns, is like, okay, we're adding a uh a showroom on the on the bottom floor. Right. How well is it gonna do? It's packed. It's packed. It's awesome. And you know, it's because of our vendors, it's because of the people that have shown up, our team, uh, the event fundraising, national events team. Man, they've just done an amazing job. And it's another reason to be, I mean, just as a staff person for Ducks Unlimited, another reason to be to be proud to work for this amazing community right now.
SPEAKER_07For sure. I mean, the turnout looks unbelievable. We were here on a Friday last year, so I know it's you know, Saturday crowds are different, uh, but there are a lot of people here. Yeah, it's you know, in our last conversation, we're talking about a very serious topic, but to be here today and see this many people show up who obviously uh enjoy our sport enough to come here gives me hope for the future. Um so it's great to see the crowd.
SPEAKER_02It's really great to see the crowd. Uh it's also reassuring, refreshing, energizing to uh to to think about the number of people that have come up to me. Thanked us for what we're doing with regard to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service request for information on the drain tile setback rule. Um they see Ducks Unlimited as a leader in this in this very important issue. We're doing our best to educate people about why it's important, why it's important to ducks and duck habitat and the investments that they've made with the purchase of their of their duck stamps. Um and I've never been more proud to be a Ducks Unlimited employee, to have the to be fortunate to have an opportunity to help spread that that news and that message and it's getting to people, whether it be other people that have podcasts, whether it be some of our social media personalities that are coming to us saying, How can I help? I know the importance of this because Ducks Unlimited is out here speaking about it. How can we help? We want to use our platforms to do it. Man, that's incredible. And I I I've told many people as we've done a half a dozen to ten podcast episodes over the past week that it's it's easy, easy to get emotional when you see that response. Um y'all are part of it too, because y'all were some of the first out the gates to want to help get the message out there. We got seven more days to go, and we're gonna use every one of those days.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, I thought it was pretty interesting. I saw a deal with Adam Putton, CEO of Ducks Unlimited, saying we don't we don't raise the alarm bell. I don't know what his exact quote but some along those lines, but this is this is a big deal. And uh there's no question Ducks Unlimited is out you know out in front of this by leaps and bounds. Now, a lot there there are other organizations uh related to conservation that have that rallied in as well. But Ducks Unlimited was at the forefront of this. I even noticed I even had a couple people come by with a clipboard, sign the petition here at the event. There's QR codes everywhere, you know, save the prairie pothole region, all that going on. So you use all these different channels and you get this groundswell of support that hopefully shows U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Let's let's think about this.
SPEAKER_02I hope it gets their attention, and I'll use a little metaphor that our chief policy officer shared with me last night, and he's like, this is important for people to hear. It's important for us to for people to see us doing this occasionally, he said, because Ducks Unlimited and our and the way we work on policy, it's a lot like a duck that you see on the water. When you see a duck on the water, you see this calm duck that is kind of swimming around. What you don't see is the duck's feet under the water just constantly pedaling, and um, and the faster the current goes that it's fighting against, the harder those feet are are pedaling. And that's what our policy staff does all the time. Most of the times we don't see that. We don't see what's happening underneath the water, and that's strategic because when you're a conservation organization like ours, you have to work with everybody and you want to work with everybody, and so you have to be careful about which fight you pick, if you will. And the fact that we are so visible on the surface of the water right now, bringing everybody together, tells you how important this issue is, and it guarantees you that there's a lot of work still happening underneath the water. A lot of work happening. The the folks that came up asking you to sign the petition, some of those are uh are our policy interns that were flown in from Washington, D.C. They didn't get the notice that they were coming to Memphis until like Thursday or Wednesday. Some of them are former uh DU policy interns that are working for other companies now. And we asked them, hey, what are y'all doing this weekend? No, didn't have a whole lot of plans. We're paying for your flight to Memphis. You're gonna be working for the Ducks this weekend. So we have people that are volunteering their time that are working for other companies right now, and um they're on that in that policy realm. And it's it's I've had people ask me, are we making any progress? I can tell you that we're getting people's attention. We're getting people's attention. I can also tell you that there are other groups that are starting to ask how they can get involved, that are wanting to get involved, that are wanting to engage their audiences. We're not done. You're gonna see a lot more this next week.
SPEAKER_07All right, so for our listeners, people that are in the audience can hear us right now. What if they haven't signed the petition, they need to go sign the petition. Absolutely involved. So tell them how to how do they get involved? What do we do? How do we make the next seven days count?
SPEAKER_02You can learn more about this issue if you haven't heard it already. Going to ducks.org forward slash save the duck factory. I want to say the last time we had a discussion with y'all, we tried to include all the dashes and all that. And it was like, nope, no, we gotta be quick, we we gotta be smoother than that. So ducks.org slash save the duck factory. There are our talking points on there. There is a description of the issue. There are two links at the top of that page. One says sign the Ducks Unlimited petition. We ask you to go there, add your name to that petition, and that was all of those names, it sort of describes what it is you're signing in support of. And all of those names will be shared with the with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as expressing support for the letter or the comments that we're submitting. We also ask you to submit comments to the Federal Register, individual comments. Um that's really important. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that you support that 2024 rule that establishes those setbacks for drain tile installation. It's a science-based rule. It provides landowners with legal safeguards if they follow those follow those recommendations and it's transparent. It's an understandable process. And we want it, we think it does, we think it strikes the right balance. We're afraid that if they repeal that rule, they're going to weaken those restrictions and they're going to end up compromising the integrity of those conservation investments that we as waterfowl hunters have made through the purchase of duck stamps through all these generations. So ducks.org forward slash save the duck factory.
SPEAKER_07And I want to share something that I think you and I maybe I said to you over a phone call this week, you know, these easements were voluntary. The landowners were compensated. And I know the argument is there's a lot of arguments there. But as a landowner and a farmer myself, I think I said this to you, I know somewhere generations from now, there will be someone in my family who may not agree with some of the conservation programs that we enrolled in and we were compensated for. But I hope that they can't go back and undo the bonds that we've created. That's what in in my lifetime right now, what I see is best. And I hope just coming from that side of the fence, I hope people that are kind of siding or taking a side or choosing who to believe, somebody originally wanted that easy, wanted that in place. So to go back and change those rules just kind of goes against, I think, their wishes. It would go against mine and anyway.
SPEAKER_02I I also hope, Casey, that that the market for land prices and so forth does a better job reflecting the limitations that are put on those lands in some cases, because these are legal agreements that dictate what can or cannot be done, subject to the constraints of what are laid out there. That runs with the title to the you know, to the deed, to the property, and that's completely transparent. It's filed in the courts. And I would hope those market prices reflect those those restrictions. It should, right? And so it's not it's not realistic to assume that every piece of property that you buy is going to be of the same value for whatever it is that you're wanting to use it, and that should be reflected in the price of the market, and that's the way all of this is supposed to work. I'm not saying that's not the issue with any of what's happening right now, but I'm just I we've had some discussions and people are thinking about this issue and talking about it, and well because an easement does place some restrictions on some property, and if you have an easement on your property, there are you have sold off some of some of those rights of what you can do, and that should be reflected in the market value. That's the way this is supposed to work. And like you, when all of those things work together, when it's voluntary, when the market reflects the restrictions that have been placed on that property as a result of those voluntary agreements, then we shouldn't have to worry about those things being undone generations down the road. That's right. Yep.
SPEAKER_07All right. Well, I think we gotta get out of here, Brent. I think they're waiting on someone else. Did the buzzer go off? We're closed. Thank you for all you do. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys.
SPEAKER_02It's a pleasure being here with you. Thank you all for being part of Ducks Unlimited.
SPEAKER_09You bet
