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Ducks Unlimited Podcast is a constant discussion of all things waterfowl; from in-depth hunting tips and tactics, to waterfowl biology, research, science, and habitat updates. The DU Podcast is the go-to resource for waterfowl hunters and conservationists. Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands conservation.
Can we do a mic check, please? Everybody, welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, Chris Jennings. I'm your host, doctor Mike Brazier. My name is John Gordon.
VO:I'll be your host.
VO:And I'm your host, Katie Burt.
VO:Welcome to the Ducks Unlimited podcast, the only podcast about all things waterfowl. From hunting insights to science based discussions about ducks, geese, and issues affecting waterfowl and wetlands conservation in North America, we bring the resource to you. The DU podcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome again to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, John Gordon.
John Gordon:I've got some very special guests today, and we're doing this from the the very cool DU podcast studios, the national headquarters in Memphis, which I always like to do because I get to see people face to face. You know? It's it's always nice to be able to, you know, talk to somebody in person versus on, you know, on the phone or on the computer. So today, my guests are very special guests today. We've got Henry and Lakeisha Woodard from Halo Hunting.
John Gordon:That's h a l o. Henry, break it down. What's Halo mean?
Henry:Halo stands for Henry and Lakisha Outdoors. And, yes, Halo is in the house. We're in the booth here at Ducks Unlimited, and, hey. It's it's awesome. I mean, they they got the place set up, and, I mean, I feel like I'm about to drop a track right now, but going straight back to Halo, it's really about me and my wife, Lakisha.
Henry:We've been married twenty one years, and it's about our episodes in Outdoors where we raise four beautiful kids, have three daughters and a son, and we just want people just to, you know, just to follow along on our adventures because the outdoors is the lifestyle. It's really what we love doing, and it's it's it's been awesome.
John Gordon:Very good. Very good. So you're talking about your kids. I mean, so how many children do y'all have? Lakisha, I'm gonna make you answer that.
Lakeisha:Alright. Yes. We have four beautiful children, and they range from age eight all the way up to 19, and we have Angel, she's our oldest. Then we have Trinity, then Ezekiel, our only son, and then we have our baby girl Harmony, and they all love being in the outdoors. They've all, harvested wild turkey, deer, even our oldest daughter, she's harvested a wild hog, so they really enjoy this lifestyle as, you know, being able to even also enjoy the harvest and eating it because they love some deer meat.
Lakeisha:They love deer steak. That is one of their favorites. So, we we we keep our kids involved in the outdoors, and this is something that they like to do, and we wanna, make sure that we, teach them being in the outdoors and good stewards of land and
Henry:To keep it going, I mean Yeah. Legacy and heritage, you know, is everything, you know.
John Gordon:Mhmm.
Henry:Just simple things in life, you know, about, trying to make the property, leaving the property better than it was when we found it, you know, are some of the principles that we stand up on. Of course, you know, we're a godly family and we put our faith above everything, and we feel that it's because of him that we can do what we do, and because of him, we are here where we are right now. Let's get it.
John Gordon:That's right. That's right, man. You know, and and and family is what it's all about. I've only got one child, but I I really brought him up, you know, in in the like you said, it's a lifestyle. It's not just, oh, you know, something that you do.
John Gordon:If you really take it seriously, it becomes your life. Anywhere, like you said, from from, you know, preparation to the actual hunt itself to the harvest to the to the meals, it's all great. And I've been really proud of my kid. He's a he he, you know, he he he can go out on his own and and hunt ducks and and really kinda take the lead and kinda, you know, guide his buddies around because I I taught him everything he really knows from the time he was a little child. And he and that's maybe the one thing he's listened to me on, I think, more than any others was was my my expertise on hunting waterfowl.
John Gordon:So, anyway, so speaking of kids, Henry, let's go back in time a little bit and talk about your influences in hunting and how you really got started and where. Just take me back to young Henry and going out for the first time.
Henry:Well, young Henry was just a a typical inner city kid here in Memphis, a great family. But my parents were from Mississippi, the country life, and so my dad, he's he's actually, he he farms soybeans, and so he would leave and and go to the country and and farm, and here my mother is from the city, and she would actually take me fishing. So I'll have to say it's a combination of them both. The fishing that my mother instilled at me at a very young age, and then my father going along, on the farm. However, I didn't really the tractors wasn't what got my gears going.
Henry:It was, I would look at those critters in the field, and I think all of it was just the perfect combination. My dad giving me a a BB gun when I was age 12, and, I mean, I took off from there. So, hey. That's really where it, originated from.
John Gordon:Well, that's great. And you and the great that you had that outlet, that you had access to the country. You know, so many kids, especially in the inner city, never see it. Right? So something we've tried to do at Ducks Unlimited, really instilling love for the outdoors within within young groups, within kids, know, and really bringing them into it.
John Gordon:So that was really good that your that your dad really brought you out there into the outdoors and and and show you the ropes, so to speak. And, you know, Lakisha, I know it was Henry that was your real influence, but what was your background growing up as a young person?
Lakeisha:Right. Unlike Henry, I did not have, that person or that father or brother, you know, that was in the outdoors or fishing and hunting and things like that. So it wasn't until after I met Henry and we got married, I had no idea that Henry was this big time hunter and he loved deer hunting, turkey hunting. I mean, he would go out every weekend to the woods, and I'm like, now he didn't tell me this when we first got married. So I had no idea that, you know, he was a hunter, and I really wasn't you know, I was a city girl.
Lakeisha:You know, I didn't really like bugs, and I still don't. You know, I wasn't really that country girl. And so after we got married, Henry, he was like, Lakisha, why don't you just come out and film my turkey hunt for me? And so I was like, well, you know what? I might as well just go ahead and give it a try because he used to leave me all the time, so I decided to you know, I wanted to be out there with him.
Lakeisha:I said, well, let me just see what what it's all about. He just want me want me to film for him. And so we went out there. We set up. This is a turkey hunt, and we were in the ground blind.
Lakeisha:And, we hit our decoys up. Henry had his, mouth call or diaphragm call, and it was a turkey. Henry, he did his mouth call. Go do it, Henry. He did that, and then the next thing, you know, I hear a gobble, and I was like, oh my gosh.
Lakeisha:And then, you know, Henry did it a little more, mouth calling, and then the turkey gobbled back. And before you know it, that turkey came into our setup, and the next thing you know, boom. Henry shopped the turkey, and I thought it was the most amazing thing. You know? I was like, oh my goodness.
Lakeisha:Like, this is what I've been missing out on. Like, I had no idea, you know, just the excitement. And, you know, Henry, he was so, excited and, you know, you could just see that he he just was so happy about it. And me to just see him being happy and how he was, I was like, wow. So this is what I've been missing all of this time that he's been coming out here every weekend, you know, in the woods.
Lakeisha:And so on the next adventure out, Henry said that, Lakisha, next time, you're gonna shoot the turkey, and I'm gonna, film you shooting the turkey. And so after that, I went out, and I shot my first turkey. We actually pulled a double on my first turkey, and I was pregnant at the time. Then we I think we had our, four year old, daughter with us. And so that was my first turkey and, I mean, it's been history ever since.
Henry:Yeah. That's when I realized that Lakeisha was was serious. I mean, I I took my turkey and then Lakeisha's turkey was about to about to get away. And I'm a tell you something, as that turkey was getting away, I I thought it was it was over, but Lakisha, pulled the man. She shot it from she shot the turkey.
Henry:It was so far. I mean, the turkey she she shot a a running away turkey, and, mean, she laid them smooth out, and, I mean, something something happened on that hunt, and so it's been it's it's been great ever since then. I'm gonna say today, a lot of people ask the question, you know, how do you how did what did you do? How did you get your wife involved? Well, I wanna say this.
Henry:I'm a I'm a I'm a get a secret out. You gotta be patient. I mean, that's what anybody that's in outdoors. You you can't start them off rough, you know, give them a gun big enough that they can talk, you know, hold this, shoot this, do this, don't do that, you know, but, it's it's about being patient, and I'm a tell you something, Once you be patient and that person gets to get to a point where they love the outdoors, I'm a tell you what it's all about. You have someone to open the cattle gates for you for life.
Henry:I tried. You're in the passenger seat, man. It's the cattle gate.
John Gordon:You know
Henry:what I'm saying?
John Gordon:It's that that's what it is. But, yeah, you may you brought up a very good point with that, Henry, and I've seen that with kids too. If they have a bad experience
Henry:Mhmm.
John Gordon:Off the jump, it's gonna affect everything going forward. So you've really gotta be patient with them, understanding, and really bring them into it correctly the right way. And so, yeah, that's a really, really important deal. And especially, you know, for female hunters, you see so much with fathers. Right?
John Gordon:You know, they got sons, and they're like, man, they're taking the sons hunting, and the daughter's sitting there looking at them going, man, I like to do that, and they're just being left behind. And we we filmed a a really, really good DUTV episode that's gonna come out this summer with four really great women down in Texas. And what really struck me was the fact that when the four of them were sitting there together, they all looked at each other and said, you know something? This is the first time I've ever been hunting with other women before in my life. Wow.
John Gordon:All four of them had the same experience that they were the only, you know, girl in the blind. You know? It was all a male dominated deal. I thought to myself, man, that's what this show is all about. It's about inspiring people to get their kids involved and especially their female children involved in the outdoors.
Henry:I don't really know. You know, I ended up with three daughters, and the thing is, you know, I I wanted this son starting off, which, you know, I had an old guy, old preacher, he looked at me and he said, Henry, he said, God's teaching you love. He said, when your love get right, you have that boy. You know? So so I I can kinda understand it, you know?
Henry:It's a different type of love, you know, that you develop and a different type of patience that it took to make me where I am today in the outdoors. But my daughters, I mean, I mean, my oldest daughter, she she is a crack shot, I mean, from no matter what it is, whitetail, hogs, quail, it doesn't matter. She's always been good at listening. Women are are very good at at listening, and and, you know, sometimes guys, we we can get caught up in the macho thing trying to, you know, say, I I know how it's done or I can do it like this, you know, but that's what that's what make, women special. So, the outdoors, has a special place for for women.
Henry:And, I mean, even through hunting Lakisha, I have more confidence in her ability than I have in in some guys that I that I turkey hunt with. I ask her questions about, you know, should I hunt here, or should I do this, or or or what do you think? So, it's it's it's a beautiful relationship.
Lakeisha:Right. I definitely have to agree, Henry. And even, you know, getting girls or, you know, women introduced into the outdoors, our daughter, Trinity, when we go out and sometimes we may take one child at a time, sometimes, you know, it just kinda depends, she really wants to be out there. She was like, you know, sometimes we have to make way for her to come along too if that wasn't part of the plan, but she really, really wants to get out there. I mean, she really loves it.
Lakeisha:So and I definitely know her seeing me, outdoors is inspiring her, and then her sisters as well. You know, they're getting out there, so I think it is very encouraging when other women see other women participating in the outdoor.
John Gordon:Right. It's it's it's one of the it's the largest growing segment, I believe, in the outdoor segment. It is is female hunters. And and you see it in the industry too. From the time I was a kid, there was nothing, no clothes for women, no guns for women, no bows for women, no nothing for women, you know, and it was just like you're respected as a boy.
John Gordon:Oh, yeah. Here you go. You're going hunting, but she's not. And and so I've really enjoyed seeing that change over the years that and some of the some of the best shots and hunters I know are are female. You know?
John Gordon:I mean, it just y'all just have a better you know? I think because you go into it with an open mind Mhmm. A lot more than some men do that that you just become better at it. And dog trainers too, I know some really great dog trainers that are women. They just you know, I think it's I think it's great.
John Gordon:I had a couple of questions for you. You know, I know y'all are big deer and turkey hunters.
Henry:Oh, yeah.
John Gordon:You know? Is there a favorite between the two?
Henry:Between the deer and the turkey? Yeah. My take on it, I like shooting. I mean, I like taking whitetail, but I really enjoy going after big, mature bucks. I mean, that's that's really what is exciting.
Henry:However, I think it's probably gonna be we're gonna give it to the wild turkey. Yes. Wouldn't you agree, Lakisha?
Lakeisha:I definitely agree. Something about just going after that turkey, you know, it's a challenge and you really have to think about what you're doing. You have to think about, okay, so do I go this way? Do I go that way? Do I do this type of call?
Lakeisha:You know? And it's just I think it's just so you know, it really makes you think, and it's just a good challenge.
Henry:I mean, even the interaction, you know, I would say, you know, when you're out there whitetail hunting, you know, let's say you there's a particular buck you're looking for or, you know, you're just trying to take a nice, mature buck. Well, you have so many questions, and it's it's it's it's so many things that go through your head. What happened to the deer? Is the deer still alive? Is the deer gonna come in?
Henry:You know? So sometimes, as skilled as you are when it comes to being a white tailed hunter, I think it sometimes is just just the luck of the draw of that buck just just stepping out at that particular time. But with, turkey hunting, even when you lose, you feel like you were at least about to win. I mean, the turkey gonna give you, you know, it could give you a little hope, you know, by gobbling back, you know, interacting with you, and and you know what's going on. You know, it's a it's a chess game, so you're trying to make the right move.
Henry:And like I said, even even if you don't get that turkey, I mean, hey, you live to hunt another day, but sometimes with whitetail hunting, it's a lot of unclosed chapters.
John Gordon:Yeah. Isn't that the truth, man? You know? Because sometimes deer just, you see them on camera or whatever, you see them in passing, and you never see them again. Mhmm.
John Gordon:It's just like and because they travel so much, they could be five miles away from your property. You don't know it at the time. Right. And and turkeys, on the other hand, are a lot more you know, you know where they are.
Henry:Right.
John Gordon:Pretty much. They're gonna be in that same area. Mhmm. One thing I really love with waterfowl is calling. Mhmm.
John Gordon:Okay? Mhmm. Figuring out what to say and when is just as important in turkey hunting. Maybe it is more important than what to say and when with them. And so I think you're talking about chess versus checkers.
John Gordon:It's very much a chess game with turkeys Right. That, you know, you can make a misstep on it and they're and they'll vanish on you, you know. I think it makes you a better outdoorsman for sure to be a turkey owner.
Henry:100%. 100%. Knowing the lay of the land, sometimes, you know, it's about learning what a turkey wants to be. And, you know, like you say, I gotta agree. You have to really think like a turkey, and and I imagine that even when we went waterfowl hunting, I mean, you have to know when to call, how to call, how loud.
Henry:You know? You have to predict the mood that they're in, so that's very important.
John Gordon:Yeah. Extremely important. Lakisha, are you a good turkey caller?
Lakeisha:Oh, yeah. I am. Well, not with the mouth call just yet, but I love the slate call. That's one of
Henry:my
Lakeisha:favorites. Normally, Henry does the mouth call. I run the slate, and sometimes we'll just kinda, you know, go back and forth, and it has been working out, great for us. You know, we when we hunt together, we hunt as a team, so we kinda know when to do which call at what time, and we kinda rely on each other. So
Henry:Takesha, she's a a a better mouth call yepper. She she then she then she gives herself credit for, you know, but what it is, you know, she's you know, she said, I sound so good, you know.
Lakeisha:Oh, Henry does.
Henry:You just gotta come out. You just gotta let it go, you know.
Lakeisha:When I'm by myself, I do. Yeah.
Henry:I remember one time I was hunting, turkey hunting around Preston and Preston Pittman, and I was a little I didn't wanna call him in front of him, you know what I mean? But when I started calling, he said, man, you sound good. He said, you do the calling, you do the calling, you know? So sometimes it's just about just about having that confidence and and just going forward.
John Gordon:I know exactly what you mean. I was just I hunted with Jim Ronquist
Henry:Mhmm.
John Gordon:Drake Outdoors and formed a Rich and Tone. And that can be intimidating because, I mean, this guy's a world champion. I mean, you're like, I mean, do I really sound as good as I think I do? Right. To where we impress a guy like Jimbo.
John Gordon:And, you know, and but those guys are just like the rest of us. You know, they just are very good at a particular thing. They don't judge, I don't think, on on on how you sound, you know, because hell, let's face it. Ducks and geese sound different with they have different voices like people do. So it and and same with turkeys, you know, that they just you know?
John Gordon:So you really can't make a mistake, you know, as as far as it goes. Here's a question for you. What do you think is the biggest gift that the outdoors has to offer people?
Henry:First of all, the the camaraderie of of meeting people in the outdoors, you know, you just gotta think. Here I was, a inner city child, and I I remember, you know, seeing even the Ducks Unlimited headquarters, and I thought it you know, the logo looked so special, and I was like, man, I wonder, is is that a place where I can go, or what do you have to do to I just didn't know, but the outdoors have allowed me to meet so many different types of people, from all kinds of various backgrounds, and I mean, and it's been life changing. You never know when you're gonna be in camp with someone that's gonna say something that's gonna change your life or or alter your path, you know? And so, I mean, God has given this to us, I mean, and and as far as to being out there to to enjoy or to see it, it's free. You know?
Henry:You know, god, he he gave it to us, and it's up to us to be stewards. And just just that fellowship, it has awakened even my senses. You know? I understood. I can hear the the birds chirping in the morning, and I can hear the different animals, you know, waking up, and so, you know, you're at a place where you're using all of your your senses, you know, and, I mean, that's it makes you feel so alive being in the outdoors.
Henry:That's that's that's what I take out of it.
John Gordon:It's a very good point. Very good point. You're talking about the camaraderie aspect of it. Let's face it. The three of us wouldn't have met each other.
John Gordon:We wouldn't be sitting here talking about it if it weren't for our common love of the outdoors.
Henry:Exactly. That has
John Gordon:brought so many people together from all walks of life over over, you know, hundreds of years
Henry:Right.
John Gordon:That never would have interacted with each other without it. And that to me, that's the most important thing of it. Like I said, it it's God's gift to the world, and you just you've got to enjoy it. I I feel sorry for folks who don't get an opportunity to. So Right.
John Gordon:That's one thing at Ducks Unlimited we really, like, once again try to do Mhmm. Is introduce new people, bring, you know, kids into it and adults both Exactly. Into the outdoors and to enjoy what nature has to offer.
Henry:Yeah. It's amazing, you know, when you we're talking about duck. Some people may look at a duck and just, you know, think, oh, it's just a bird, or it's, you know, it's just an animal you may see, but somebody cares so much about ducks that they decide to put forth an effort to make sure that the ducks are still here and they have a habitat. So by them caring for the ducks and and doing all these things, here we are. And and that's just mind blowing, you know, that, someone can look out and just see an animal through an animal such as a duck, you know, these relationships and these bonds have have been created.
Henry:So it's it's awesome.
John Gordon:Very good. Very good. Alright. We're gonna take a little break here on the DU podcast, but we'll be right back with Henry and Lakeisha Woodard. Hey.
John Gordon:Welcome back, everybody, to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. My guest today, Henry and Lakisha Woodard, Halo Outdoors. We recently filmed a DU Nation segment with Henry and Lakisha at at doctor Ronald Robertson's place in Tippo, Mississippi. Shout out to doctor Ronald. He was he was incredible.
John Gordon:He was a gracious host, and he's been such an incredible part of Ducks Unlimited for so long. We just can't thank him enough. So here's a question for both of you. Henry, I'm gonna start with you. What did you what was your perceptions about what duck hunting was going to be like, and what were they in reality?
John Gordon:Well, I thought that, first of all, I was
Henry:gonna I'm laughing. I thought I was gonna just be blasting. Boom. Boom. Boom.
Henry:Boom. You know? And I thought I was gonna be laying on my back, and I'm gonna all of a sudden pop out of a, out of a blind, and someone gonna say, take them. You know what I mean? And But I understand that there are several ways of of duck hunting, but I'm a tell you something, I was not disappointed at all.
Henry:I mean, man, it's it's it's it's so much just just to take in and and to digest, but it just was amazing. Just, you know, we were standing, we were hunting in a slew. You know, you hear people saying, I'm not gonna stand out there in the freezing cold weather, but, hey, we we had the gear. We we had the gear, the the waiters, the the jackets. You know, all of that makes, all of it makes it it different, and, actually, the difference is, you know, when you're deer hunting, you're kinda sitting still, but it wasn't it actually wasn't that bad because we could move around, we could talk.
Henry:Man, it it actually was was was pretty cool overall.
John Gordon:Yeah. That's one aspect I really love about waterfowling is being able to talk to each other. Mhmm. The camaraderie aspect of it. Just being and be able to cut up with each other and grip each other about, hey, we missed that shot or
Henry:Yeah. Did this, that,
John Gordon:and the other. That's something you can't do when you're hunting whitetails or turkeys. Right? You just you don't get that opportunity because you have to be so quiet and so and so immobile in a lot of ways. But duck hunting, doesn't really matter.
John Gordon:Now, when the ducks are working, you know, you need to be as as, you know, calm and and quiet to see keep them from from seeing you, but it's overall, it's it's a much more open experience to me than than water in you know, than than whitetails or big game in general or turkeys. Akisha, what do you think? I mean, what what was your thoughts coming into it, and how was it in reality?
Lakeisha:This is something that Henry and I, we have been waiting so long, to be a part of is duck hunting. And so I when I first, you know, I was thinking that it was gonna be we're gonna be hitting every duck that comes by. I just like I was like, okay. If we can shoot turkeys and, you know, quail and other things like that, was like, oh, duck hunting, this is gonna be a piece of cake. You know?
Lakeisha:I'm used to the cold and you know? So we get out there and, you know, I was like, okay. We may not hit every duck, you know, but, I it's it's kind of what I expected a little bit, as far as, you know, the weather and, you know, just, being out there and and, know, being able to talk with the others that you're hunting with, you know, having conversations and, just, you know, being able to do more than one thing while you're waiting for the ducks to come in and then just watching those guys do the, duck calls and, you know, making those ducks come our way. You know, kinda like turkey hunting, you're calling, then the turkeys are gobbling and everything. That's kinda what I was kinda, like, thinking it, was gonna be similar to even though, you know, they're flying in the sky.
Lakeisha:So I was looking at it like, okay. You know? So that's kinda pretty much how I thought it was gonna be.
John Gordon:Very good. You're talking about that, you know, expected to hit everything. The best shots in the world don't hit them all, and and that's one thing you have to really embrace, I think, with with wing shooting a lot of times is the failure. Okay? Because you you have to have a real short memory with it.
John Gordon:I learned that a long time ago when I was a kid, but I used to beat myself up about missing the birds. And I'm like, man, the best shots in the world don't hit them all, so you just gotta you just gotta forget about it and move on to the next shot. And and that that probably helped me more than anything else. But, you know, we'll get y'all on the Sporting Clay range and stuff, you know, we'll we're gonna work on it. Okay?
John Gordon:To where, you know, y'all will be confident wing shots the next time we go out for sure. You're talking about different types of duck hunting. Okay. What we did basically was good old Mississippi style, standing in the trees kind of deal. Right?
John Gordon:And you've got your you got you got fixed blinds that you hung out of. You've you know, like, were at Beaver Dam on DU Nation. That's an incredible blind right there. It's it's got a kitchen and everything else in it. You go you can go as elaborate or as unelaborate as you want to.
John Gordon:I think what you were talking about, Henry, is a lot of people layout blinds, which is a lot of people wave goose hunting goes a lot of times in fields, you know Mhmm. Where you're where you're laying out in the blind and you pop up to shoot. So what we introduced y'all to is just one little small aspect of what it of what different types of duck hunting and goose hunting are. Welcome to the world of waterfowl hunting. It's all I can say about that.
John Gordon:It's a it's really a great experience all the way around. What advice would y'all give to beginning duck hunters?
Henry:To a beginning duck hunter, I would just say find someone that that has already been duck hunting and has that experience that can that can help you out, you know, because just having someone that's that's that already knows the ropes, it'll it'll help you out, and it and it'll keep you out of trouble, and it'll it'll you'll be safe with it as well. Lakisha?
Lakeisha:Right. I have to agree with you there, Henry. And, you know, being with that experienced, duck hunter, you know, you're able to learn hands on from that person and just kinda watch them, how they work the ducks and how they call. All of this is gonna be very important. You know, I think that was the biggest thing is having someone else out there with us who has already experienced duck hunter.
John Gordon:Doctor Ron Robertson is great. He he's done so much mentoring with kids especially, and so he's really patient with it and tries to tell you what you're doing wrong, what you should do right. And, you know, I noticed that with him. He was really interactive, you know, and you can see that this, you know, from day one to day two, I I think y'all were a lot more prepared, you know, when we were in that slew for what was, you know, gonna happen than than the first morning, you know, and and that just that just you just you gain experience, and you get better and better at it over the years. So it it it's just a growth experience, and I think, yeah, having a mentor to really guide you through it is pretty important because it's it's really there's so much to waterfowl hunting and so much to the nuances of of hiding, calling, decoy placement, decoy selection, spread types, everything.
John Gordon:There's a huge amount of stuff to it where I think the deer and turkeys, you just kinda have to be where they are and just and be set up in the right Right. In the right spot. And in certain aspects, the right things with turkeys especially, but it just doesn't have near it's gear intensive as well, duck hunting. You know, you've got everywhere from boats and decoys and guns and dogs and everything else, so it's a different world.
Henry:I'm gonna say one more thing. You know, when I first started hunting whitetails or turkeys, I would I would read, you know, resources, and I mean, I say, check out Ducks Unlimited. Look at the resources, and I'm pretty sure they have tips and all kinds of things, you know, to to point you in the right direction, but I think that's a great place even to get started by finding those resources as well.
John Gordon:Yeah. You can go to to our website, ducks.org, and you've got tremendous amount of waterfowl hunting tips, migration reports. Everything else is right there at your fingertips to really to really help you be a better hunter, and that's something that we've really we've really strived to do. And it's not but DU is not all about hunting. Right?
John Gordon:It's you know, we're an organization for wetlands conservation, and what that means for people too. What we do affects people's lives just as well as as wildlife with clean water, with with helping communities. So it's something that that we've really worked on is is trying to get that message out as well that we're we're not just about duck hunting and that we're a wetlands conservation organization, and that trickles down into into a lot of different things. So when are gonna eat your kids out of duck hunting? I know that's that's the next step.
John Gordon:Right? You gotta get you could bring the kids into it as well.
Henry:I will say this. I think we're pretty fortunate. We have some land in a in a delta to fly away, and we have a place where ducks tend to normally just congregate naturally, you know, so, you know, you hear people talking about how expensive it is. I'm pretty sure that land is probably one of the great expenses of That's having
John Gordon:a big one.
Henry:So so okay. We got that covered. I guess we gotta give it to the range, you know, maybe do some some Yeah. Shooting. Practice shooting, and I mean, how old is she?
Henry:She's already ready. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Well, I guess it's a matter of when when they can handle the gun and hold it up properly, you know Right.
Henry:To lift it up. Click enough. Yeah.
John Gordon:That's a different aspect. It's a lot easier with turkey or deer to to control a gun because you're not swinging it all over the place like waterfowl. Right. So, yeah, I think you're right. You have to have, you know, be old enough and have the motor skills to handle the gun properly and safely.
John Gordon:Mhmm. It's a big and that's a huge part of
Henry:it. Right.
John Gordon:You've really got to pay attention to to what you're doing. So, anyways, so here's something I like to ask everybody, ask you about their favorite hunts. Lakisha, I'm gonna start with you. Is there is there a hunt in your mind that really stands out?
Lakeisha:This this is a one of one of our most recent ones. Henry and I, we were actually on our way home. You know, we were done hunting, for the day, turkey hunting, and it was still early, though, but we were done for the day. So on our way home, we were just driving, you know, past the fields and see if we saw anything, and it just so happened that as we were on our way out, you know, just riding through fields, of some land that we hunt, there were turkeys out in the field. We didn't know if there were long beards or if there were hens, jakes, you know, we had no idea.
Lakeisha:So Henry, we said, okay. Let's just, you know, let's just sneak our way up there, and they were pretty far. And so Henry and I, we went from wood line to, the edge of the woods, going through the woods, trying to sneak around on these turkeys When, we finally got to where we can visibly see with our eyes because we had no binoculars with us, Henry, he said, Lakisha, they're long beards. He says, long beards out there. He said, we're gonna have to, you know, sneak around and go this way because, like I said, it was open field and the woods were only on the wood line, then it was like another little patch of woods that we had to try to hurry up and sneak to without the turkey seeing us.
Lakeisha:And so, we ended up going into this little, maybe I don't it's like a tree where a tree had fell over, then it's like a hole in the ground. And so we got in this, in the hole that was in the ground because the turkeys were over a little small ditch. And by me being inside the hole, I really couldn't see, as tall as Henry could because we were on our knees. And, Henry, he was like, okay, Lakisha. That long beard is right there.
Lakeisha:You need to, shoot the long beard, when you can see him. So, you know, like I said, Henry's a little taller than me, so I'm like, I don't see anything. I don't see the, long beard. You know, I saw the hens, but I didn't see the long beard, and I couldn't see his beard. He was like, okay.
Lakeisha:You're gonna have to raise up right now. And keep in mind, I'm in a hole in the ground where a tree fell from, And so I raised up, and I was like, okay. So I just see the turkey, the back of his, fan, you know, because he was fanned out. I was like, okay. I see his fan.
Lakeisha:So as soon as that moment where I saw his head, I was like, okay. I know I better hurry up and take this shot. As soon as he turned, like, from the back of his fan, turned toward the front side, then he turned in the front. That split of a second, I hurry up and I pulled the trigger, and he went down. And I wanna say it was about maybe 40, yards estimated, something around there, a little over 40 yards.
Lakeisha:And so I was like, you know, he flipped, and I was like and I still couldn't see because, like, the way the ditch was made. I just knew he went down. So, you know, we hurry up and get up to try to make sure, you know, that I got him and everything, which I did. And Henry, he was like, wait. Lakisha, wait.
Lakeisha:Because we had no idea that there were, like, maybe six other long beards because Henry was gonna try to take a shot, but we had no idea that it was that many long beards still right there. But I think I kinda busted them up when I started running toward them. So I think that was, like, one of the most, we really had to go after those turkeys, you know, because they kept moving. Every time we'd get close, he was like, okay. I think they're gonna stay right there.
Lakeisha:They'll move down some more, so we had to sneak to another, tree or another part of the woodline. I mean, it was that was like the most memorable in the most re in the recent years. So
John Gordon:Man, very good. That's a great story. And you talk about that, especially in the middle of the day sometimes, yeah, groups of of of, you know, long beards will group up together and hang out in the middle of those fields, you know, kinda hanging out with with hens and stuff like that, and so you can really see those birds a long way. Henry, so I'm gonna throw that question to you again in a turkey hunting context. What what's a what's a turkey that was really giving you the slip, you know, and you really had to stay after it?
Henry:Let's talk about I wanna talk about something embarrassing. Okay? Okay. Okay. Do you Everyone wanna talk about the turkey they kill.
Henry:Let's talk about the one that
John Gordon:we The one got away.
Henry:The rios. Oh. Now, know everybody like, Rios? They're like easy. Okay.
Henry:Yeah, they are. I'm gonna say this, me and Lakisha, we we have done a lot of doubles. We've taken a lot of doubles, and we have never raised our guns on a group of turkeys where at least one of them wasn't taken. It it has never happened. Well, so we we, you know, we go down to Texas.
Henry:I think it's Hondo, Texas with a friend of ours. I'm a call his name Chris. Chris is so excited to be hunting with us. When we first got there, Chris busted a turkey with Gus, like, what's taking so long? These Rios normally come in.
Henry:That was Chris number one. He gonna listen to the podcast and be but
Lakeisha:That's Henry Chris.
Henry:Yeah. Yeah. And then Chris, he was like, man, man, we ought to get up and look, and and I think that Chris was so excited. If we just probably would've just stayed put more, we probably would've would've taken the turkey. And finally, when we me and Lakisha, it's like the last day and the last moment.
Henry:And I mean, I mean, there's so many turkeys out there that it it sounded like a gospel choir of turkeys gobbling on the roost. I've never experienced anything like it before. And so finally, here comes these rios. They're coming, and alright. This is where things go wrong.
Henry:Okay? We're trying to film, which we always film at hunt at the same time, but the the turkeys are coming like a hard, left, and Lakisha's on my left, and it's kinda hard to swing that way. And, I mean, that was our last moment, and those Rios came in, and something happened. I don't know if, at the last moment, one moved, and we counted off and shot, and I'm a tell you what, everything went left. I mean, I'm not gonna talk about I'm not gonna even talk about the footage when we looked when we looked at the footage and saw everything that we were doing wrong, but I'm a tell you what, those two rios got away, and, I mean, we've we've been
John Gordon:Yeah. You like you said, anybody with experience at at Eastern Turkey is out there all are. Rios are, oh, that's a piece of cake. Yeah. But they're still turkeys.
John Gordon:Right? So they can still be a problem, and they can still be very tough Yeah. No matter which which species you're after. Yeah. Is that a goal of y'all's grand slam?
Henry:Mhmm. It is. World slam. Sure is. Yep.
Henry:We we gotta go out and we gotta get it done.
John Gordon:I mean, I've only hunted eastern birds. I'm in Oregon, and I lived in Texas for Mhmm. You know, many years, and I've just never I was always, you know, chasing waterfowl all over the place, and I never really cared about the turkey hunting aspect of it. But the, know, the whole world of Rio's, and then another turkey that I'd really love to go after is Miriam's. You know, the country is beautiful where
Henry:they live.
John Gordon:It's out west. It's really great. And and then, you know, the the swamp ghosts that the Osceolas are down in Florida, and that's a really unique turkeep because it's such a limited range. You only got them in one spot in the in the entire world. Right.
John Gordon:So you have to go South Florida to get after those. Osceolas. Yes. Right. Okay.
John Gordon:I'm sorry. Osceolas are only in that narrow corridor, and so you gotta go we we've got a really great conservation easement down there, the Deluca property, which is like 20, I think, 27,000 acres. That's our largest conservation easement Mhmm. In the country, and it it's it's it's Osceola country as well, and and so it's really unique. So what we've done there is is really benefited.
John Gordon:Once again, than waterfowl. Mhmm. You know, a lot you you you get a lot of benefits for other wildlife involved in that. Anyway, so I would encourage everybody to watch DU Nation. We we know that episode just came out a couple weeks ago with with Henry and Lakisha with with Ronald and his daughter Katie Burke at their place in Thippo.
John Gordon:It's it's really it's entertaining. I'll check it out. And how can they how can people find y'all on both the social media and or, you know, where to see your films?
Lakeisha:Alright. You can find us on our website at halohunting.com or on Facebook as well as Twitter Instagram. Instagram all at Halo, h a l o, hunting Halo Hunting Outdoors or you can type in also Henry and Lakisha Outdoors. It will come up there and we're also on YouTube, so make sure you check us out on YouTube as well, under Halo Hunting.
John Gordon:Very good. Very good. Man, this has been great. Y'all have been great. I tell you what, you know, this I think this is just the beginning of of a great DU Nation relationship.
John Gordon:I wanna I wanna, you know, introduce y'all into different types of waterfowl hunting, and really we'll, you know, we'll we'll get into this, you know, for years to come. So, you know, really great to meet y'all and great to have you here on the DU podcast.
Henry:Yeah. I'm glad to, glad to be here. It's been, almost definitely been a pleasure, and, hopefully, this is not the last time that we can, hey, have make more members in the field.
John Gordon:That's right, man. That's what it's all about. So thanks everybody once again for tuning in to the Ducks Unlimited podcast and supporting wetlands and waterfowl conservation.
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