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Sometimes the hunting is great. Sometimes it isn't. The best trips are the ones you'd take either way.

Recorded late at night after the final hunt of Paloma Blanco 2026, host Wade Shoemaker sits down with John Dunaway, Barton Ramsey, and Ryan Yarnell for an unfiltered conversation about friendship, family, traditions, and why one South Texas dove hunt has become a yearly reunion for some of the outdoor industry's closest friends.

What started as a small gathering of friends has evolved into a multi-generational tradition that now includes kids, grandkids, chefs, outdoor brands, nonprofit fundraising, and stories that grow with every passing year. The group reflects on the origins of Paloma Blanco, the people who make it special, and why meaningful traditions don't happen overnight. They are built one year, one friendship, and one memory at a time. 

Topics Covered
  • How Paloma Blanco grew from a simple dove hunt into a tradition
  • The role friendship plays in building meaningful experiences
  • Why the hunting often becomes secondary to the people
  • Raising kids around outdoor traditions and community
  • The Golden Ticket fundraiser and conservation impact
  • Lessons on hospitality, generosity, and building culture
  • Why anyone can create their own version of Paloma Blanco
  • The value of time spent outdoors with people you care about

Listen now: www.ducks.org/DUPodcast
Send feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.org

SPONSORS:

Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails:
Whether you’re winding down with your best friend, or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award-winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.

Creators and Guests

Host
Wade Shoemaker
DUPodcast Host

What is Ducks Unlimited Podcast?

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.

Barton Ramsey:

Eventually, we're gonna be the dudes that are old walking around and making very little sense. Yeah. And like walking around like, can you believe how this is going? Oh. And our kids will be the ones in charge of running this stuff.

John Dunaway:

Going. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Our

Barton Ramsey:

freaking dads.

Ryan Yarnell:

You know?

VO:

You're tuned in to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. Conserving wetlands, restoring habitat, and working to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever. From field tested hunting insights to the biggest conservation wins across North America, this is your front row seat to wetlands conservation in action. The DU Podcast is proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. Whether you're wrapping up a hunt with your best friend or kicking back with your crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment.

VO:

Enjoy responsibly.

Wade Shoemaker:

Cool. Hey, folks. Welcome back to Ducks Unlimited Podcast. My name is Wade Shoemaker. I am your host.

Wade Shoemaker:

Wade Shoemaker:I'm joined by some pals. We're down in pod... South Padre Island, Texas for the Paloma Blanco. I think I said that right. You got it.

Wade Shoemaker:

John, Barton, Jarnel, guys, I want you to introduce yourselves. I wanna start with Jarnel because, John, when you're done, I want you to kinda give everybody the history of what's going on here. Oh, Jarnel.

Ryan Yarnell:

Ryan Jarnel, Turtle Box Audio. How y'all doing?

Wade Shoemaker:

Folks, just for reference, it's... It is 11PM, and we're on the last day. All tired. All had a good time. We've shot some birds.

Wade Shoemaker:

We've sweated a lot. And

Ryan Yarnell:

I mean, I'm laying in bed with Bart and Ramsey, just so everybody knows.

Wade Shoemaker:

We're in the only room that's free. It's the only way. We apologize. And they're probably gonna edit a lot of Jarnell's comments

John Dunaway:

out, so

Wade Shoemaker:

that's okay.

Barton Ramsey:

We've left room for Jesus.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yes. But, Barton, please please start your intro because Jerad Henson is about to ruin this entire thing.

Barton Ramsey:

I'm Barton Ramsey. I'm from Guntown, Mississippi. I have Southern Oak kennels and fortunate to be here at PB. Yeah. It's my fifth year.

Barton Ramsey:

Fifth year and the ninth year. So I hate that I missed the first four, but

John Dunaway:

We got you here as quick as we could.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. And it's also crazy to think about five years of being here because I have all these stories from this trip, and then you have to start figuring out, like

Wade Shoemaker:

This specific one. Right.

Barton Ramsey:

This this every year, but then you have to try to figure out, like, what year was that one? When did that one happen?

Wade Shoemaker:

We were talking about been going to gym for four years.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. Four years in a row. Wade and I have gone to the gym and and the port right across the bridge.

Wade Shoemaker:

Shoreline barbell. Is that what it's called?

Barton Ramsey:

Shoreline barbell where they take weightlifting very seriously.

John Dunaway:

Yes.

Barton Ramsey:

And it's awesome.

John Dunaway:

You've done four years.

Wade Shoemaker:

I didn't know either, but he said '23 was the first one.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. Wade's done four. We've gone to the gym for years.

John Dunaway:

That I don't know that.

Wade Shoemaker:

I didn't either. I thought it was three.

Barton Ramsey:

We've also taken random people with us every time.

Wade Shoemaker:

Every single time, John. It's

John Dunaway:

like Wade and

Ryan Yarnell:

I always how many times have we gone to the gym, John?

John Dunaway:

Zero.

Ryan Yarnell:

I I wish him luck every time I see him go out the door.

Barton Ramsey:

You do.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yes. That was funny.

John Dunaway:

I've carried so many YETI coolers back and forth. I work out, six days loading up, getting here, run the thing, and then go home and unloading everything.

Ryan Yarnell:

So I loaded 12 bags of ice in the car today.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. That that doesn't count.

Ryan Yarnell:

I got my workout in.

Barton Ramsey:

It's your intro turn, John.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. John, go for it, dude.

John Dunaway:

I'm John Dunaway. These guys are real duck hunters and work in the industry. I drive ships for a living, and I run this little dove hunt that people talk about, and it's kinda weird. It's called Paloma Blanco. It started out as a way to just take dove hunting in a place that I grew up hunting since I was 12 years old.

John Dunaway:

I've been coming down here for twenty nine years. I just wanna add something different to it. Like, man, dove hunting is is... In South Texas is super cool to me because I grew up around it. I loved seeing people cooking in the field and hanging out with their dogs and all this.

John Dunaway:

And I just thought, let's add one little. Let's cook something. Let's have a signature cocktail. Yeah. And then it was like, why don't we add just a couple more friends?

John Dunaway:

And, oh, those friends happen to be Will Bradley at Turtle Box. It happened to be Kansas at pack meal. And we could put all our gear on the pack meal. We could listen to some music, and we just kept upping it up one one year at a time. We had no agenda.

John Dunaway:

We weren't trying to achieve anything. We're still not trying to achieve anything. And now here we are nine years in, which is crazy. Next year will be a a decade of doing this.

Wade Shoemaker:

Dude, PBX.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. PBX. Yeah. Right? And we were joking about it tonight that it's no longer like an event that you talk about for me, that it's a...

John Dunaway:

Like, it's a family reunion. Yeah. It's... Everybody has jobs and families and all this stuff going on. People have given up anniversaries and birthdays and their kids were doing stuff or whatever it may be.

John Dunaway:

Right? And people just show up, which with all of our schedules and everything that goes on to it, in the rest of the year, I might get to see Barton once, twice from unlucky. Yarnell is the same kind of thing, and you're the exact same thing. It's like, it might cross paths, it might not. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

But somehow, we found this little void where people don't have a ton of constraints yet. Right? If you're big game hunting and Yeah. Archery stuff, I I get it. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. We took him out of of the tag.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Whatever. You're from Texarkana though. You shouldn't you should know better.

Ryan Yarnell:

Well, we don't

John Dunaway:

we didn't force him to come. And very clearly, I told him. It's like, man, go go chase this tag.

Ryan Yarnell:

I will after

John Dunaway:

this. But anyways, it's a family reunion. Right? We all get together before the season and accumulate the greatest gathering of my friends that happen to be friends with each other. And then even today Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Being in the pool and listening to it was the two of y'all that had one degree of separation, and it's wild. So...

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Here we adding to this?

Ryan Yarnell:

No. I'm just thinking about how amazing this is, and this is for for year three for me of four years. I came one, had to miss one, caught two back to back.

Barton Ramsey:

I was just thinking about how immediately in this conversation, we've already pretty much designed all the merch for next year because someone said PBX.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yep. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Good job. Congrats to Wade. Who does it, Wade?

VO:

Branding. Wade

Ryan Yarnell:

is Wade is a branding guy. Yeah. That's me. I lean on this guy right here. He's great on it.

John Dunaway:

You should.

Barton Ramsey:

Renard's gonna hear that, and it's the... Whatever drops with PBX. Yeah. Unreal. You know, twenty

John Dunaway:

four seven is crushing it with the hats, but I'm gonna say, we pitched the Dove hat idea and he's like, yeah. Nobody wants to buy that hat. Like, oh, cool. Can we do it for this?

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm glad you put him on blast.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. He's been called out. Because he didn't think it would work. Like, dude, you could put your logo on anything and they're gonna dig it because it's just... It's a vibe.

John Dunaway:

You all selling something. And then did it, and then it went silly. Yeah. And so he allowed us

Wade Shoemaker:

Now it's every year.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. He allowed us that freedom to get to create these things together. So here we are. We all got basketball jerseys this year. Everybody signed them.

Ryan Yarnell:

The swag looks good this year. The swag looks good.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. It was a ton of fun.

Wade Shoemaker:

That is cool. Very good.

Ryan Yarnell:

What is that, Wade? Some Martha Spirit Co cup. I don't

Wade Shoemaker:

know what's in it, but I I scraped ice off of the ice maker in the free... Because we're out of ice.

Ryan Yarnell:

We're down.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I just grabbed what was

Ryan Yarnell:

on the

Wade Shoemaker:

thing. That's it. So it's kinda like a slush.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. We had 2,000 pounds of ice, and we crushed through it in two days. And As part notified Our boy Austin has a thousand pounds a day.

Barton Ramsey:

I did my math. Honestly, at the end of PB, math is hard. But You you you said, hey. In two days, we used 2,000 pounds of ice, and I did, like... I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that's that's about a thousand pounds

Wade Shoemaker:

a About... Just about...

Ryan Yarnell:

Mark did quick math. He did really quick math. That's a thousand pounds a day. It's an

Barton Ramsey:

average age. Fingers or toes. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

And it's status quo seems to go with PB.

VO:

Welcome to the Old Timer Minute, sponsored by Old Timer Knives.

Wade Shoemaker:

Family tradition. Well, that's easy because we really... In the hunting space, we only have one and never had... And I was so stoked when this sort of happened. 2012, we built a duck camp on a lake in Louisiana, and I showed up.

Wade Shoemaker:

And it was two by twelves on the trailer and I beams on the ground, and we built that camp with the help of some other people over the course of a year or so. Show up, my off day was Monday. Since then, we built the Duck Blonde, and in 2014, we kinda had a piece together hunt with our... With, you know, some of our family. And then 2015 started the family hunt, and it's every opening Sunday.

Wade Shoemaker:

My dad, my papa, my uncle, my cousins, my best friend, my sons now. That's something that started in 2015. And last year, we did it for the tenth year in a row. And, man, I get butterflies talking about it because that's the only tradition we have as a family in the hunting space. Right?

Wade Shoemaker:

I hope that never ends. It's gonna evolve, obviously, because time is time and things happen. I hope my kids do that with their kids and so on and so forth.

VO:

Visit the oldtimer.com.

John Dunaway:

Everything seems to have to be a little bit more. So we, like, we look at the inventory on the beverages that are delivered, and every year, like, that shouldn't be humanly possible.

Wade Shoemaker:

Then then we run out, like, two hours before. Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. It's the first

Ryan Yarnell:

the first night, Friday, we walked in there, and I was like, the... We have Charlie McKenna here, one of our ambassador chefs at at Turtle Box and he walks in and he goes, there's 26 empty bottles in the windowsill that can't be possible. Was like, I'm sure there is a large cooler of something mixed somewhere. Please, Lord. It's bad.

John Dunaway:

Mean, when when the ice idea came up... Because... So last year, we got some ice, and we got a little bit of it just for day one, and we we cashed through it, and it was done. We had go pick up the rest of it. So this year when I was talking to Colin from YETI Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Crane? He's... Yeah. Crane. He's a pro.

John Dunaway:

Right? This is he does. He goes, man, twelve hundred pounds, I think, would be good. And yesterday, he goes, we actually had 2,000 pounds and it's gone.

Barton Ramsey:

Ice trailer, like it wasn't like we were wasting

Ryan Yarnell:

I mean, it was for real.

John Dunaway:

And it's not like what it normally is of 95 degrees. It's like 80, 85.

Barton Ramsey:

Well, let's talk about that for a second. Okay. Because I mentioned this to you when we were eating the the shrimp boil fantastic dinner.

Ryan Yarnell:

Those delicious.

Barton Ramsey:

Another great meal with PB. But we were talking about... I mean, gonna get made fun of because I say this, but I do... I wake up every day and check the weather.

Ryan Yarnell:

My grandfather

John Dunaway:

I know that's easy.

Barton Ramsey:

I know we all know the quote. Her grandfather's here. There's a quote there. But I do, and I'm like... I don't know.

Barton Ramsey:

Everything I do is weather related, whether it's hunting or wakeboarding or whatever. So Sure. I get obsessed with the weather. And then this year, I've really just been convinced, like, it's I'm completely wasting my time because

Wade Shoemaker:

It does not matter.

Barton Ramsey:

Doesn't matter. But this weekend, we're going in, and I'm I'm, like, texting you. You are moving ships around around the world. Well, now around the Houston Bay.

John Dunaway:

There you go. Yeah. Top me up.

Barton Ramsey:

That's in it. Well, we gotta explain that. Our friend Kent was in here, Navy Seal Kent, who asked John if he needed to top off, and John moved his microphone to his... His mouth to two inches from his mouth and said, Margarita. Margarita.

Ryan Yarnell:

Okay. You're So where did you hear was.

Barton Ramsey:

Okay. But the... Going into this weekend, I'm texting and I'm looking at the weather and everyone's kinda, you know, inside texting. And I'm talking to Connor Reddick and he's like, dude, you've seen the weather? And I was like, yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

It doesn't look good. And realistically, going into this weekend for everything, every model you could check, it was a 100% chance

Wade Shoemaker:

Terrible.

Barton Ramsey:

Of three to 10 inches of rain every day. Every day.

Ryan Yarnell:

I mean, Renard called me. He was like, you got any updates from from John? I was like

Wade Shoemaker:

Just that we're going.

Ryan Yarnell:

No. Yeah. We're going.

Barton Ramsey:

Nothing was going. Was 0.0% worried about it. He was like, oh, we're just gonna have to just go with it. And we did. But one of the things that really backs up what you said about this being a family reunion is no one was like, well, I'm just not gonna go.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Everybody... We're going.

Barton Ramsey:

No one was like, oh, I don't think we're gonna kill any doves. I'm not gonna go. Everyone was like, well, worst case scenario, we'll just sit around and hang out

Ryan Yarnell:

Kill some brains? My favorite people.

Wade Shoemaker:

And use all the ice a day. Yeah. Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

I can imagine that much ice. And then everyone showed up. And then we had the best weather I can ever remember. I didn't get hot. Today?

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. It was...

John Dunaway:

Every every day. All the months. We're gonna about it in comparison to to 20 mile

Barton Ramsey:

an hour wind, cloudy in the eighties. Yeah. Compared to scorched No

Ryan Yarnell:

wind. Because

Wade Shoemaker:

it's terrible down here when it's hot.

John Dunaway:

Oh, yeah. It's... Tough.

Barton Ramsey:

I didn't even deal with mosquitoes this year. So anyway, shout out to everybody for showing up because that's cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

And shout out to the good lord and the weather in general because we had... It was fantastic. It was as good as it could have been.

John Dunaway:

You know, like, in the early days, I would fret about having all the houses where I could keep at... I only booked as many people as I could put in houses right by it because I wanted to be able to control, hey. This is where we're hanging out. You go sleep there and come here. And I felt super responsible for everybody coming and go...

John Dunaway:

Yeah. The margarita showed up.

Ryan Yarnell:

We're good. And I

John Dunaway:

felt super responsible. Then I finally was like, oh, these people were adults. Like, I don't have the babysit them. Right? We do it in September.

John Dunaway:

And being all the way down here to there, generally outside of the hurricane zone, they don't normally get storms, but every once in a while. So we're actually on the ninth official PB, but it's been a ten year spread. We took one year off because of Harvey, and we got smoked out in Houston. We couldn't get down here. They were getting rained on.

John Dunaway:

I remember that.

Barton Ramsey:

Is that 2017?

Ryan Yarnell:

It was 2017. It was. Because I was there. I came there. I flew from Montana to Houston.

Wade Shoemaker:

I was down

Ryan Yarnell:

I flew to Texas. I was in my

Wade Shoemaker:

boat riding around during hurricane Harvey.

John Dunaway:

Same. Yeah. I was.

Barton Ramsey:

Hold on. What did they call you guys?

Ryan Yarnell:

Was like Cajun Navy. Was like they called it. Was like can say

Wade Shoemaker:

I was like b string.

Barton Ramsey:

You kinda still are. Cajun Cajun... Cajun...

Ryan Yarnell:

Oh, you

John Dunaway:

were at the Cajun Navy? No.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. I'm Cajun from Louisiana in a duck boat rescuing people.

Ryan Yarnell:

I'm with Wade. We were flat bottom. Yeah. We were we were b team. We should've always taken this boat.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. Mudboats Yeah. And

Wade Shoemaker:

Anyway, go ahead.

Ryan Yarnell:

We were

John Dunaway:

in Johnboats, like, going to neighborhoods. Yes. Take my kids to baseball practice. I literally have to go through the intersection where I took my buddy's boat and went through them, took people out of their house. It was nuts.

John Dunaway:

But, anyways, here we are. So a ten year spread. We're nine years into it of actually hosting the event. And this year, of all the things. Right?

John Dunaway:

I live outside of Houston. I'm constantly looking at hurricanes and weather and all that stuff that goes on from my own house and and livelihood. And you're like, oh, this is crazy. Nothing's going on. And a week out, like, there's a hurricane jumping from The Pacific into The US.

John Dunaway:

Doing a yo yo. There is a cold front dropping south, and there's a low pressure system that's randomly out of nowhere building. You know, like, they made a movie out of this called perfect storm. This is absurd. Except this is called the trio storm.

John Dunaway:

I sent an email, and I blasted everybody. It was a weather update. Like, hey. If you're concerned with the weather, I get it. Just send us an email.

John Dunaway:

Let me know that you're not gonna come or whatever we need to do. And every day, we would look at the weather. Barton looked at it. Addison showed me looked at it? Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Oh, yeah. Every morning. Everybody showed it to me. And I looked at it until the day I got here, and I finally said, it's not gonna do any good. It's either going to rain.

John Dunaway:

It's gonna... We're gonna build Noah's Ark while we're all hanging out here

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Or we're not. And they would show me these screenshots of it or they would like show me the actual footage, and it literally came off the gulf and it would just dissipate and it would spread around the pin in the field.

Wade Shoemaker:

It spread around it.

Barton Ramsey:

And this is day.

Ryan Yarnell:

It's crazy.

John Dunaway:

A 100% dry field. Yep. Saturday, a 100% dry field. All got to the tent, had dinner, did the raffle, and then it rained while we were in there. It rained all last night.

John Dunaway:

We went... It rained so much that the pool overflowed into the actual yard of the house.

Ryan Yarnell:

Do it really? Yeah. Yes. I was like, I walked the other day. They were in it.

Ryan Yarnell:

I was like, what is the pool overflowing?

Barton Ramsey:

Our whole backyard's a pool.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yes. Yes. Yes. Over here? Yes.

Barton Ramsey:

That was bad.

John Dunaway:

I was

Wade Shoemaker:

trying to breaststroke through

John Dunaway:

it, but it was, like, just a

Wade Shoemaker:

It's like little free.

Ryan Yarnell:

Just deep on top of the concrete coming to the back door. I was like, okay. John was like, yeah. It's just all a pool now. So here we go.

John Dunaway:

And then we went out there, and the roads were dry, and it... Sunshine all day long. And unreal. Like, this We is drove home

Ryan Yarnell:

in the golf cart last night to our place at three in the morning, and it was a hurricane. I was like, Charlie and I was like, okay. I guess we're not hunting tomorrow. Mhmm. We get to the fields, dry as a bone.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. I thought we were done. When I listened to it last night, hitting the house

Wade Shoemaker:

It was rough.

Ryan Yarnell:

And we shot the most of today. That that

Wade Shoemaker:

we shot. Today... I think today was the nicest day of the weekend. Honestly.

Ryan Yarnell:

And the best hunting.

Barton Ramsey:

We had a good one today. We found that picture. Though, Addison and

John Dunaway:

I That that pigeonhole is went

Barton Ramsey:

and walked in the field yesterday, though, and smoked them.

John Dunaway:

But I will be honest. This was... I've been coming down here since I was 12 years old. I'm gonna let it out, though. I'm 41, and this is the worst hunting I've ever seen here.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

To a point where I told somebody, was like, I'm the worst year it's ever been on a scale of zero to a 100. I would give this place a 70, the worst time I've ever been here. It's usually like a 90, maybe a 95. It's really good. It's historically good.

John Dunaway:

I'd give it a 10.

Wade Shoemaker:

A 10 of a 100?

John Dunaway:

Yeah. It was so rough and still slow. It was slow. Yeah. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

But then I'd go around and people managed to peck them out. It's like Yeah. Oh. Yeah. And and that's what this is.

John Dunaway:

Right? We used to say that it a hunt trip and I get worked up when Bonnie would call and give me an update on what the birds were like and go, you know what? The guys actually don't care. No. We all hunt so much year in, year out, around the clock.

John Dunaway:

This is what goes back to why it's a family reunion. People wanna get together. They wanna hang out with their buddies. It's like, yeah, if you're not hunting, where are going? If you can go to the best lodges, what does the best lodge do?

John Dunaway:

They give you incredible food. They give you, comfortable accommodations. They don't let the birds out of a cage. Mm-mm. It is what it is, and we do that day in and day out throughout the season.

John Dunaway:

So when you come here, it's no different. And if you have the personalities that enjoy being around each other, the hunting is the bonus. Yeah. Yeah. Everything else, I can't...

John Dunaway:

So it's funny. I I see these other events and stuff and they have like photos of their spreads. We have never taken a a spread photo. Right? So when we had, like, 20 people, now we have a 125 people.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

We have never taken

Wade Shoemaker:

a This... A whole group photo?

John Dunaway:

Never. And I... I've had people ask, like, do y'all actually shoot Doug down there?

Ryan Yarnell:

Dude, we've never

John Dunaway:

seen photos

Ryan Yarnell:

of him.

John Dunaway:

He go, no. We we actually don't. And it wasn't because we cared. It's because that's never... And to this day, it's not the purpose of it.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. And nobody actually cares.

Wade Shoemaker:

I didn't even take my gun out Friday. Yeah. And then Saturday, I I barely did. And it's just... I don't know.

Wade Shoemaker:

You just... This is probably... And I think something to touch on was I think a lot of us would agree this is probably a lot of our favorite event of the year to come to and hang out. I And think it's because we don't care about... I mean, we love the hunting, but we don't care about it.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. I can remember the fellowship for sure. I mean Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

It's actually a problem because it's the first... We've all probably done... We've dabbled whether it's Thiel or big game or whatever, but likely... I mean, this is the first hunting trip of the season for me. And I...

Barton Ramsey:

I've told several people this. I'm like, what really stinks is is the best one. Yeah. Dang it. Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

I started with this. Yeah. Downhill from here.

Wade Shoemaker:

Set the tone.

Barton Ramsey:

But it is like, I I don't even... Because the way my life is and, like, the way we kind of chapter everything off in seasons, I don't even wanna think about hunting or traveling to hunt or anything until I come here. I'm like, alright. I'm I'm in another mode. Then you come here and it's like the kick start.

Barton Ramsey:

And it doesn't have to do with shooting birds. I think I shot five dove because that's my choice. Right?

Ryan Yarnell:

Was like,

Barton Ramsey:

oh, there's one cool. I made a shot, I'm gonna just play with dogs and hang out and watch my son. Miss dove, you know, all that. But it is like the, hey. I'm with the gang.

Barton Ramsey:

We're getting geared up for the season. And, you leave here and like, alright. We're... This is like the the send off. Like, alright.

Barton Ramsey:

We're all ready. It's time. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. And I and I have a terrible problem internally. So this is my... Would be my twenty ninth year coming down here, and I have a single day I have never left without shooting my limit. Mhmm.

John Dunaway:

I got in the field and running the event. My thing is round to the field, go to the middle. Since I was a kid, my dad would sit on the edge, him and his buddies. That's where they hunted. They were like, dove hunting is easy.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Why do you wanna go stand in the sun? Like, I just... They're flying there. It's super concentrated.

John Dunaway:

I just wanna shoot them and get done with it. So I, like, I run out in the field. I've shot my limit every single day that I've ever hunted on that property until this year. And coming down here, I don't know if it was the weather or the recent trip to Mexico. I don't know.

John Dunaway:

Something clicked this year and was like, I actually don't care. I just wanna run around. I wanna check-in with everybody. I wanna hang out more and do all this stuff. And I think I finished with, like, 25 total over the weekend.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Didn't

John Dunaway:

matter. Yeah. No. And this is... For me, this is just a personal thing.

John Dunaway:

I'm not gonna leave here tomorrow and feel any better if I had 45 dubs in the cooler or had the the 20 something that I shot. Yeah. I had the best stories with y'all. Yeah. I got to laugh.

John Dunaway:

We went to the beach. You know? Like, we got in the riptide. We went to the field. We had great meals.

John Dunaway:

We're just told we had a family reunion.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. I think... But also something to note, and you didn't mention it, but got to watch. I wanna say that was your boy's first dove today. First two dove.

Wade Shoemaker:

And... But it was a twofer.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. How wild was that?

Ryan Yarnell:

He reminded me of that. I I told my son. I called Ira and I said, Hayden killed his first dove. And Hayden goes, my first two dove. Yes, sir.

Ryan Yarnell:

He was. That was

Wade Shoemaker:

awesome. Dude,

John Dunaway:

well, put him in the Can Am. We we ran around, and my wife was with with us and everything. And everybody we saw off with, you know, like, you run around this property. It's 400 acres, and you're, like, talking to people. And and he would lean out.

John Dunaway:

He goes, hey. I shot two in one shot. I said, I've heard this seven times now. Like, you don't... Stop bragging.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. But they've only heard it once when he tells them.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure. And he was so pumped, and that is what this is. Right?

John Dunaway:

Yeah. He will remember that ever.

Wade Shoemaker:

Your dad was with you too. It was you and your dad and your wife, like, and him. Yeah. Pulled up. He was there too.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. That was cool. Three generations, which is awesome. And you... Y'all...

Wade Shoemaker:

You've been there since you were a kid too.

John Dunaway:

I started coming here when I was 12 years old. Yeah. He brought me with him and his buddies, and that's where this whole thing came about. I watched what they were doing. It wasn't it wasn't this.

John Dunaway:

And I heard him telling somebody today, like, man, thanks so much for, like, giving him the idea to do this. He goes, uh-oh. This... We we... It was not this.

John Dunaway:

And look.

Ryan Yarnell:

He said, oh. Yeah. Uh-oh. Yeah. It doesn't have anything to do with this idea.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. And when we started this, I had no idea. And last year, I had no idea. This is constantly bring my friends together. Let the friends bring good humans together.

John Dunaway:

Even this. Right? Like... So this year, we had, five extra spots right at last minute, and Barton reached out. He had, two people he reached out about.

John Dunaway:

Like, man, I trust your judgment in personalities. You've been here enough. You know what fits. And they showed up and they were total banger additions. Worked out.

Barton Ramsey:

Shout out to Brock and Wade. Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

My roommates. Roommates. Roomies.

John Dunaway:

And that's that's all this is.

Barton Ramsey:

Hope by the time we listen to this that you're okay.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. We

Ryan Yarnell:

Hope your hope your shoulder's doing

Barton Ramsey:

good way. Is okay. And next time

Wade Shoemaker:

That way, not me. Next other way.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. Wade Hill.

Barton Ramsey:

Next time, just tap.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Not Wade. Not this way. Wade's not rolling around on a linoleum floor with a basketball court. Not happening.

Ryan Yarnell:

I videoed and witnessed all that.

Wade Shoemaker:

Did you really?

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. He's got

Ryan Yarnell:

Oh, yeah. I got it on video. I was like, well, wait. Don't don't do

Barton Ramsey:

this. But you do know. You're like, alright. What's the... And this is the kind of the encouragement because of all the things that I talk to people about, I have a lot of friends out around, like whether it's in the wakeboard world or wherever that that follow along with Southern Oak and the hunting space and all that.

Barton Ramsey:

If if you had to say, hey, what's the number one thing that people are like, dude, I wanna do that? It's PB. Yeah. That's the number one thing. 100% of

Ryan Yarnell:

people are like,

Barton Ramsey:

bro, if I could do any trip that you do, it's Paloma Blanco. And I'm like, alright. Alright. That's cool. But I remember you talking about this, John, and I tried to tell everyone this.

Barton Ramsey:

I'm like, hey. I don't know that I can get you to PB. Not everyone would fit in with this crew. Mm-mm. We probably would scare a lot of people.

Barton Ramsey:

A lot of people will come here and listen to our

John Dunaway:

It's intimidating.

Barton Ramsey:

Conversations and be like, man, I think realities. Our Yeah. And, like, if you really participate in this, at this point, the CIA is probably tracking

Ryan Yarnell:

tracking our text right here.

Barton Ramsey:

Just be clear there. Yeah. You're getting the p p text right. Dude, the government's watching all that. But

Wade Shoemaker:

They're whiteboard.

Barton Ramsey:

But... Yeah. But I do tell everyone, I'm like, hey. You could also do this. I was talking to a guy named Arch who lives up in Enid, Oklahoma.

Barton Ramsey:

He's friends with the Falco guys. He's a client. Super nice guy. We were talking about it. He was like, yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

I'd love to do that, but I've also just been encouraging my friends. Like, there's a place they could go and somewhere in Texas, West Texas, where he's like, buddy's got this place got dove all over. And I'm like, we could get like 12, 15 of our best friends. And like, one of them is a barbecue guy and we could cook. And I'm like, that's it.

Barton Ramsey:

Like, who are the 12 guys that you really want to hang out with? Go find somewhere. If it's dove season cool, if it's duck season cool, make it about food, fellowship, family, and then, yeah, we we also go hunt. Yeah. And man, you can replicate this stuff and make it doesn't have to be necessarily the social media, you know, all the stuff.

Barton Ramsey:

But, like, I promise you the experience that you'll have if you just do that.

John Dunaway:

We... Yeah. We don't have a secret sauce. There is... And I try to tell people all the time.

John Dunaway:

And for years, I would do that. I... I'd literally record myself and tell people, hey. We're probably not gonna let you get into this, but I want you to take the idea and go get your friends and do exactly what you're talking about. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Because we're not special. No. The property's not special.

Ryan Yarnell:

I mean, Michael Coughlin's pretty special. Well, that's true. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

I mean, look, there was my... Hold on. Identities.

Barton Ramsey:

Hold on. But let's tell people that part what you just said. We're hunting on a property that you could just drive down here in dailies.

John Dunaway:

You can come to Whitewing Fields anytime of the year, and you can hunt there whenever you want. On a dailies. And and... Yeah. On dailies.

Barton Ramsey:

Nothing's nothing's... It's cool. We're on the Mexico border. That part's cool. It's part the border wall.

Barton Ramsey:

It's fun. So don't get me wrong. It's beautiful, but, like, anyone could just come hunt it. In fact, Friday, I was like, hey. There's some randos out here.

Barton Ramsey:

Like, they're in my favorite spots, dude. Like, get them out.

John Dunaway:

Get off my points. So... Yeah. You you can literally rent the same house that we have. You can hunt at the same field that we hunt.

VO:

Stay tuned to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey after these messages.

John Dunaway:

So what's different about it?

Ryan Yarnell:

What if somebody books this all out now and next year you're like, you can't get it?

John Dunaway:

Don't worry. I lock it down. Bonnie knows. Yeah. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

I wanna say something about the hunting you were talking about about the dove and whatnot. Obviously, I hardly ever shoot. I think last year was the first time I've ever shot a limit in a day. I shot five probably this weekend, and I shot a lot of shells today to kill extra three. But I get about 500 hugs every day in the field from a bunch of wonderful people that I love, and I somehow only get to see when we're here.

Wade Shoemaker:

He didn't take... The part he didn't tell you is he gives 600, but only about 500.

John Dunaway:

They're like, what is this?

Ryan Yarnell:

Well said. Well said. Who who is this guy? But, you know, it's

John Dunaway:

Women and children beware.

Ryan Yarnell:

Women and children. I mean, we... Your your child beat on us today.

Wade Shoemaker:

Boy, he whooped on us. We tried to hang him from the rafters, but he didn't stick.

Ryan Yarnell:

No. He wouldn't stay up there. And your dad was encouraging. He's like, yeah. Hang him up.

Ryan Yarnell:

That's a good grandfather. Let's go. That's how mine was.

John Dunaway:

Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

But, you know, obviously, we love your family, your kids. All of y'all were watching Barton's boy grow up and take thirds in the... Third in the worlds and and wakeboarding. And, I mean, it's just been a wonderful group of friends to watch their kids' families grow up, and we all get to connect here. And we're grateful enough we get to see each other a couple of times at least throughout the season, at least the four of us sitting here for sure.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. And, you know, and that all started... A lot of that started right here in this in this area with this... With PB.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. I mean, look. We watched Noah. When Noah came here, like, I don't remember you ever talking about that he was wakeboarding. And he...

John Dunaway:

I'm sure that he was at that time. Right? Mhmm. I went to Barton's house for a summer, and we juggled like, man. I was like, I wanna go to Camp Ramsey.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Playing on trampolines, and they're wakeboarding all summer and all all that kind of fun stuff, and he progressed. And I used to do it when I was in high school, college, and barking

Barton Ramsey:

Don't let him understudy you. John's actually a good wakeboarder, dude. He did, like, deal three first go behind my boat.

Ryan Yarnell:

You're probably like, what? The day... He's John also

Barton Ramsey:

showed up on my boat in Mississippi and, like, look, everybody says we look alike, and I do the John impersonations. And we have the mustache and tattoos that are kinda like... Our tattoos are flipped opposite on our bodies. I got my left arm. He's got his leg.

Barton Ramsey:

It's like a whole thing. This bro shows up on my boat wearing the same swimsuit as me. Yeah. On purpose?

Ryan Yarnell:

No. We had

Barton Ramsey:

no idea, dude.

John Dunaway:

And I didn't even know until we took a photo on the back of the boat and then looked at it and was like, we're wearing the exact same trunks. And we've got no shirts on right, just trunks and tattoos. Like

Barton Ramsey:

Dang it.

John Dunaway:

Man, I could possibly convince my mom that that's me on the other side. Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

Dude. But... Yeah. I mean... And I'll speak to that too because Noah, you know, he's 13.

Barton Ramsey:

Been traveling with me since he was about Hayden's age, so like seven or eight. It's like, hey, let's let you start shooting a four ten and figuring the hunting thing out. I know, Wade, we've talked about kids in the field and like you getting your boys, you know, first ducks, that kind of stuff is super cool. You know? And Noah loves to shoot.

Barton Ramsey:

And he's 13 now and I feel like I've I've done a good enough job. He's responsible enough that, like, I can give him his gun and his ammo and send him with any of my pals. Yeah. And I'm never like, oh, I'm worried Noah's gonna make a gun mistake. Or, like, we've we've drilled that part in.

Barton Ramsey:

But what I really love is he knows all you guys.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Right.

Barton Ramsey:

All of y'all. And he's treated here like one of the bros. He's 13.

John Dunaway:

Oh, yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

I mean, bro, he text me. Yeah. He he text out. He's like, what's up, bro? I'm like,

John Dunaway:

what's up, Noah? You know? Like

Barton Ramsey:

Hey, man. Give me that ranger. Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. Give me the purple. He is.

John Dunaway:

But he knows how to work that day. He does.

Ryan Yarnell:

Oh, he does. Hey, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

You want me hold on the podium?

Barton Ramsey:

Just go on the podium at Worlds, man. Give me that ranger.

Wade Shoemaker:

I could have been holding a ranger

Ryan Yarnell:

over that

Barton Ramsey:

guy. But, no, it's like he... This is his his group of dudes, men who, like, are responsible, responsible, which is kinda scary to say, for, like, pouring in his life. Right? And he sees everyone all around the whole duck season.

Barton Ramsey:

And I I think he I think he would miss Christmas if it meant getting to come to PB. Yeah. Like, when he's thinking about what he's going to do next year, we've gone from homeschool to kind of hybrid to hybrid, but he can miss when he wants. He's thinking about public school next year and he's like, well, does that mean I have to miss PB? And like that's the thing.

Barton Ramsey:

And it's like the... Because the community and even that for a 13 year old for you guys is so encouraging because I'm like, heck, I send him anywhere and know these guys are... They're treating him like a like a man with dignity even though he's a kid.

VO:

Oh, yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

And probably teaching him words. His mom wishes he didn't know. Oh, buddy. Buddy. Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

And making jokes. But at the same time, teaching him about life, and he's learning all these life lessons here. And we come home from PB, and he has a whole new level of respect for everyone here. And it's that part's cool because... And and, I mean, him upstairs playing, was it air hockey with With Hayden.

Barton Ramsey:

Hayden's... He's like...

John Dunaway:

Hayden's seven.

Barton Ramsey:

He's seven. So he's six years younger. That's a lot when you're kids.

John Dunaway:

That's a huge spread.

Barton Ramsey:

But even there, it's like Noah's like, alright. We're gonna... I'm I'm a hang out with Hayden. I'm a play basketball with him in the pool. That's the next level of kid that's coming up.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. And it's cool. I thought about today because your dad came up. I was eating some

Wade Shoemaker:

shrimp and Lots of shrimp. Oh, I'm hurting right now.

Ryan Yarnell:

Big time, buddy. Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

But but dad came up and he said something, and to be honest, I tried to kinda interpret it, but

John Dunaway:

It didn't make sense. Yeah. I get it.

Barton Ramsey:

I don't

Ryan Yarnell:

know if it was Paul. Big daddy Paul.

Barton Ramsey:

Know if it was English or not. Spanish. He, like, had... He reached for something in the shrimp pile from behind me as I was reaching for it, and he apologized, and then he just said some words. And then he walks off and and your wife, Kim, was sitting next to me, she goes, sorry.

Barton Ramsey:

It's John's dad. I was like, I know. And she was like, kinda rolled her eyes like he's... And I was like... And then the same time, Hayden and Noah over there are cleaning crab legs, just breaking them in half and getting meat out of them.

Barton Ramsey:

And I'm like, alright. Eventually, we're gonna be the dudes that are old walking around and making very little sense. Yeah. And like walking around like, can you believe how this is going? And our kids will be the ones in charge of running this stuff.

Wade Shoemaker:

Going, oh.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Our freaking dads.

Ryan Yarnell:

You know?

John Dunaway:

I always joke, but it's realistic. It's like, eventually, the, like, PB hype, which is wild that it even has a hype to it. Right? It's like, it'll die. And what's gonna be left?

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Oh, we will.

John Dunaway:

And and I walked into this room tonight, and I joked to y'all. Yeah. It's like next year's a ten year. It's gonna be y'all and your children. And Bart goes, so we're shrinking PD?

John Dunaway:

Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

Well, look, man. You're you're like Darnell and his kid. Wade and his son.

Barton Ramsey:

Vibe, man. It's the... You know, it's... Don't get me wrong. I I do love everyone being here.

Barton Ramsey:

It's super awesome. But

John Dunaway:

It... It's fun. But

Barton Ramsey:

That small core group of guys that can bring kids and

John Dunaway:

Guess we're like,

Ryan Yarnell:

we're gonna all have ours next year for sure.

John Dunaway:

Like, yesterday....

Barton Ramsey:

Kansas though

John Dunaway:

and this kid. I... Let's talk about

Ryan Yarnell:

that kid.

Barton Ramsey:

That's dope cute. That kid is awesome. He's grown up here. Yeah. Right?

Barton Ramsey:

Oh, yeah. Every year....

John Dunaway:

Grown up here.

Barton Ramsey:

Well, what's crazy is five years ago, he was, like, a little younger than Noah, my son is now. Right. And very similar and respectful and talking to him. And then now, you tell... Like, he showed up this year and it's it's freaking rad.

Barton Ramsey:

So

Ryan Yarnell:

He's a grown man.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Is he 18 now? He's 17. 17. So this year, he showed up, drove himself.

John Dunaway:

He's 17 years old. They're having family weekend at LSU for one of his sisters. He's got two sisters. So his

Wade Shoemaker:

dad's there.

John Dunaway:

So Kansas, Kansas' wife, Frankie, the two daughters, and Gunnison doesn't show up. And he tells him, he goes, hey. It's my birthday during PB. I wanna go to PB. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

He said... And Kansas told him, you know, it's it's parents weekend. We're we're going to LSU to see your sister. And he said, yeah. But I...

John Dunaway:

Do I have to

Wade Shoemaker:

go? Yeah. But it's parents weekend, not brother.

Ryan Yarnell:

Like, I'm gone. I'm not a parent. I'm going to PB.

John Dunaway:

So he sends him down here, and he has been here from the very beginning. Kansas showed up in the first year. Gunnison has never missed one. He came when he was seven years old. He turned 17 yesterday.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. And we had the mariachi come in and sing him happy birthday in Spanish.

Barton Ramsey:

I got it on video.

John Dunaway:

And got it on video. And today, he walked over to me, and there was, like, five people at the field when I showed up. And he goes, man, thank you so much for doing that for me. Yeah. That That's wild.

Barton Ramsey:

But This is about you. This is about dude. It's like you and your dad. Shout out to him too because not only has he been here all weekend, he has been here... This this is what is so meaningful to me.

Barton Ramsey:

His dad is is... Has pack mule. So for those listening, the freaking best trailer hitch luggage rack you can have Period. Hands down. His dad has Pack Mule.

Barton Ramsey:

He's brought his son along for the ride, building this brand, a part of this journey. I'm very much in that boat. Right? I'm like, alright. Noah's coming.

Barton Ramsey:

And every once in a while, it's like, You gotta represent Southern Oak Kennels like we're letting the dogs out. You know, whatever that looks like. Right? Sure. Kansas is awesome, but he didn't have to be here this weekend.

Barton Ramsey:

His son represented the brand like Yeah. Their stuff was set up.

John Dunaway:

Did you see that?

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. Real. On real real.

John Dunaway:

Tailgate of that Ranger setup. Was. The Ranger setup. Perfectly. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

So Like, he could've gone to any convention anywhere and set it up and go, this isn't a convention. There aren't people off the street showing up, but he gave him the responsibility to take care of it.

Barton Ramsey:

A 17 year old. A showed 17 year

John Dunaway:

up, and he took care of it, and he never missed a beat. No. He got out there, and he hunted,

Ryan Yarnell:

and he hung And

Barton Ramsey:

he had conversations and talks to you, like, that's a real man.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh.

Barton Ramsey:

17 years old yesterday, and he talked to me like...

John Dunaway:

You think he's like 25 years old?

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. He's just Shout out to that family.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. For doing that.

Ryan Yarnell:

That's pride and himself and a hell of a raisin from his father and mother. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. It truly is.

Wade Shoemaker:

It was good. Y'all got this significant birthday. You got this significant birthday too, the Mariachi band. And and I know he's 17, and he told me, like, he thank you for doing the thing. Like, he told you that.

Wade Shoemaker:

But when when it got done, I don't know if it was just, you know, eyes watering, but he he was wiping tears away. So, like, I think it got him in his gut, dude. Like, he got choked up, because I think it... I think this place probably means that much. Mhmm.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know?

John Dunaway:

Yeah. It's... You know, I started saying it, the family reunion thing, but I'm probably gonna roll with that because that's what I truly believe.

Wade Shoemaker:

And Yeah.

John Dunaway:

I feel like I'm part of their family because I watch his kid grow up. And then I watch Kansas watch my son and daughter grow up. And the same thing that happens here. We've got Noah showing for multiple years on a time, and we're watching him develop to really, oh, he's tolerant some of the grown adults that are here. Know?

Barton Ramsey:

Shout out Connor Reddick. Yeah. Yeah. They're Connor and Addison and Noah are walking through the field yesterday, and I was like, dang. Noah's taller

John Dunaway:

than both of the fools.

Ryan Yarnell:

So good. I mean, look. Ricky Nichols brought his dad and his two boys. Yeah. He did.

John Dunaway:

He did.

Ryan Yarnell:

I mean, how many kids were here this year and people that I've met here that, you know, and seeing their kids now coming and

John Dunaway:

You know, like like, coming down. Kim wasn't coming, and she asked us, what are you gonna do with Hayden? You know? Like, Harper and I have something going on. I can fly down later.

John Dunaway:

I can bring Hayden. I was like, hey. My dad could take care of him. Disclaimer, my dad didn't watch him

Ryan Yarnell:

one bit. But Hayden hung with you.

John Dunaway:

And you know what happened? There were so many kids here. Didn't matter.

Ryan Yarnell:

Didn't matter.

John Dunaway:

He got with the other kids. Like, today, we rolled by. My buddy, Trip Webb, was here. Yeah. And his his son...

John Dunaway:

And he goes, hey. Can I stop and just stay with them? Yeah. Like, oh, yeah. And he played with his son.

John Dunaway:

And his son is three years younger than Hayden, and I watched him play with 15 year olds. I watched him play with five year olds. And this is the beauty is that these kids look, Wade, Barton, myself were close in age, but we've got some spreads. And it's no different. If you looked at kids and you put those ages, you'd be like, oh, well, they're not the same age.

John Dunaway:

But it's weird when you become an adult, you can have these spreads and it's completely acceptable. Yeah. When you're kids, you think they all do the same age. And you watch them, like, have their own little reunion going on Yeah. Of hanging with each other.

John Dunaway:

And it's so rad. I left Hayden for multiple hours on it. You can call me responsible if you want.

Barton Ramsey:

I wasn't gonna say anything. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Was like, here we go.

John Dunaway:

Here we go. I guess, look. Played in the pool. They were playing basketball. They were in the field.

Ryan Yarnell:

In the ocean. Oh, they had to say, where were. The riptide.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

And the riptide

Barton Ramsey:

is floating

Ryan Yarnell:

down the street. I was watching it very closely. Some... I do have to rip

Barton Ramsey:

some credit because he did come back, and he was like, are all the kids here? Yeah. He did look out. It's a big riptide, Todd,

Ryan Yarnell:

and I just I was stressing when

Barton Ramsey:

I left. Like so worried that one of our children got sucked out to see you. Just... I mean, I was like

Ryan Yarnell:

He was counting heads. I was with him. I was counting heads. That's that rap guy in me. Right?

Ryan Yarnell:

And I was counting heads. They're like, no. I saw I saw Hayden go with his dad. Noah went up, and I'm like, are we sure? Are we sure?

Ryan Yarnell:

Like like, you know, so I got back, and I had to double check. You know? I was like, I wanna make sure my kids are here. I need to go back and drown myself in the ocean if they're not because I'm gonna swim looking for them.

Wade Shoemaker:

Right. I think it's cool too, though. Like, you can leave them, but it's not even just you gotta leave them with a kid. Like, I think

Ryan Yarnell:

they're so comfortable with all

Wade Shoemaker:

the adults too. Oh. That... If they were like, hey. We're gonna go with you.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, was your dad know you're coming, mate? Yeah. Okay. Well, come on. You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

And then it's like, we'll shoot you a text. Like, hey. They're coming with us.

Ryan Yarnell:

Also, Michael's son, Larkin.

John Dunaway:

Oh. I

Ryan Yarnell:

mean, the kids... I mean, he was gonna catch a giant catfish and just, you know

Wade Shoemaker:

Is that the one the one the cat daddy? Yes.

John Dunaway:

No. No. No. It... This...

John Dunaway:

I felt terrible hey, Larkin. I shot two dove with one shot. And Larkin goes, man, that's more dove than I've ever shot

Ryan Yarnell:

in my entire life. And I'm like, oh my... He's like,

John Dunaway:

they have better game than I do Right. In my forties. Yeah. And these two fools at seven and eight years old are just jaw jacking back and forth. Man, I

Ryan Yarnell:

was done. Well, dad is an awesome dude. I mean Oh, yes.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Props to Michael. Yeah. Let's work. There's a reason his kid is that good.

Ryan Yarnell:

Oh, yeah. And he said he shot one out of the air today.

John Dunaway:

Oh, he's only did?

Ryan Yarnell:

So he killed one out of the air. First one. Props to him. So at eight years old. You know?

Ryan Yarnell:

So First one. Yet again, PB. You know? Great thing. Memories that

Barton Ramsey:

will never be forgotten. You bet.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's cool. So cat... The cat daddy championship belt. Like Who won that?

Barton Ramsey:

Who was... This other kid caught one. They had to go compare pictures of the fish. Right? I don't

John Dunaway:

care if actually weigh them. So this is Was it Josh's son? Yep. So also another kid. Don't get me wrong.

John Dunaway:

I think he's 14.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. He was older.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Two years ago, nobody ever

Wade Shoemaker:

I remember this.

John Dunaway:

Nobody spent time fishing. Right? And so we're back. We're all get doing dinner and everything, and I see these photos. Like, did you see the photos of this catfish that Leon caught?

John Dunaway:

I was like, what? And he caught it out of the Wasaka, which is

Wade Shoemaker:

Explain to that what

John Dunaway:

that is. Yeah. So down here, they called them Rusaka, which is pretty much just like a drainage ditch.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

You know? And has this hammer. So last year, Ford from Zilker Belt shows up and catches an absolute hammer. Dude. Mean, it's like Donkey.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. This is a record yet to be topped. Like, that's the new staple.

Ryan Yarnell:

Next year, baby. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

You gotta bring a rod.

Barton Ramsey:

I'm fly rod.

Ryan Yarnell:

I'm I'm told you to bring me a rod. I was like,

John Dunaway:

come on.

Ryan Yarnell:

So so Ford

John Dunaway:

catches his giant thing, and he goes, man, we should have, like, a catfish tournament. Like... I'm like, well, it's already, like, a food and beverage festival with a hunting problem. I guess we could start fishing, you know, while we're at it. So we get a wrestling belt.

Ryan Yarnell:

Which was hilarious. That's so awesome. Great belt.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yes. Yeah. I got a picture of it.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. And now they get to keep it for a year. And this is funny. Right? So I told Larkin because he was on a roll.

John Dunaway:

He had... Oh, yeah. Yeah. Cat day. Banger banger photo.

John Dunaway:

So Yeah. Larkin had four catfish on the bag, and they're a good size. We gotta give them credit. And I told him, I walked up to him and said, you see this belt? You know, the biggest catfish is gonna win this belt.

John Dunaway:

You get to keep it for a year. And without missing a beat, he goes, well, that means you gotta invite me next year.

Ryan Yarnell:

Michael, he's done so good. Eight.

Barton Ramsey:

That's two...

Ryan Yarnell:

I'm like, well, guess you

Wade Shoemaker:

can invite me next year.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. I'm like, there are 40 year olds that aren't that smooth asking for an

Barton Ramsey:

invite. Golly. You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

No. North Carolina boys. Oof. He...

John Dunaway:

He's got it going. So let's talk about

Wade Shoemaker:

this golden ticket. Very cool thing. You kinda let... That's, like, everybody have a chance to get in. Right?

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. You get one, and then there's... But there's more to it. It's more than just they get in. There's also, like, a bigger a bigger piece of that puzzle.

Wade Shoemaker:

Right?

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So this event never had any intentions of growing to what people might think it is or whatever you wanna call it.

John Dunaway:

I still look at it as I got a bunch of friends together, and we get to hunt at a place that's really special to me, and I love that. So people were getting annoyed. They were like, how do we get in? Well, we're not opening spots because it's... We have to curate it because we're hanging out.

John Dunaway:

We're in very close proximity. And if you just start bringing in random people to a giant mix, you lose the camaraderie that can go on. You you could easily build that. Yeah. But there's a faction of that that's different.

John Dunaway:

Right? When you bring people in that you know very well, that you just don't get to keep up with, and everybody's got busy schedules, and that's what it was about. Mhmm. And because of that, I just didn't open the books. So people were getting annoyed.

John Dunaway:

I thought, man, what could we do? And we reached out to TPWF, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, nonprofit arm of the department, said, hey. I'm not a five zero one c three. I don't wanna be one. But if y'all would handle this, I would love to find a way that we would give away a ticket.

John Dunaway:

The people donate to a cause that's better than us, and then they raise some money. Yeah. And we let somebody in. Yeah. And the next year, we did it again.

John Dunaway:

And so here we are. I gotta look. Five, maybe six years of golden tickets. It's five years.

Barton Ramsey:

Let's take a look. Yeah. Because my my first year was the first year of a golden ticket.

John Dunaway:

And so when we first gave the golden ticket away, we had zero... I always say we, let's be honest. Like, I run it by myself. I run it by myself, but I have a ton of help now.

Barton Ramsey:

Let's give Kim some credit

Ryan Yarnell:

for it.

Barton Ramsey:

Come on,

John Dunaway:

man. Kim does actually does nothing for me. I mean, she kinda stops.

Barton Ramsey:

But here's the deal. You're home from work, and you should be off, and she's keeping up with those feral children while you're doing PB stuff. Yes. So we'll give her credit.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Sorry, Kim. Yeah. Kim's making it.

Ryan Yarnell:

We love you, Kim. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. She's she supports the crazy ideas that I have.

Wade Shoemaker:

They could probably beat us up if we said anything different.

John Dunaway:

Oh, true

Ryan Yarnell:

that. She'll definitely whip our butts.

Wade Shoemaker:

She'd whoop my

Ryan Yarnell:

tail. Yeah. Yep.

John Dunaway:

She will. And so the intention was never to give that person another intro to PB. It was like, hey. You donated to a great cause. It's a five one two three.

John Dunaway:

We have no touch with that. They draw the name. You get to come. Cool. We'll see you later.

John Dunaway:

Thanks for coming. They show up. Banger.

Barton Ramsey:

They were rad.

John Dunaway:

Editions. They were rad. Were so good. Like, well, I guess we have to invite them. Year two, year three, year four.

John Dunaway:

And, like, they kept being such good humans

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

On a random drawing that I don't know if this is mathematically possible, but they've all returned, and they have a standing invite. Mhmm. So here we are now, five years in. We've raised over a $100,000 this year to two different nonprofits. And with a golden ticket, this is also really wild.

John Dunaway:

The person that won this year, TPWF, was... Happened to be from New Orleans, and he's a direct friend of the first ever golden ticket winner.

Wade Shoemaker:

No way. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Because they came together.

John Dunaway:

And it's a random drawing. Like, we have no say so in this. Yeah. They just dip... Did their hands in the pot to see what we got.

John Dunaway:

So That's right. That's where it's gone. We we weren't trying to build anything. We're still not trying to build anything, and all we did was look for, hey. And and on my end, I'm having the best time.

John Dunaway:

It's my favorite weekend of the year. I get to see all my friends that I might see in little groups, maybe singularly, but never again in this year will I put all these people in the same room and get to hang out. Yeah. And so what happens here, this is why I do it. And so we open the doors, like, man, let's let some other people in, and we'll take the gamble.

John Dunaway:

Like, we could deal with one person at a time, you know, or or their friend. And so here we are. It's worked out so well. It's... Well, I would have never imagined this is what it would come to.

John Dunaway:

So Yeah. Over a $100,000 for two nonprofits. Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, which is a nonprofit arm of the department, and Hogs for the Cause, which is pediatric brain cancer Yeah. Which is... Man, if you just think about what it is and what those families have to deal with Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Grant Pinkerton has cooked for us for multiple years now, he brought it to my attention. I I didn't know what it was. Yeah. And he said, man, look. I've been supporting this for a long time.

John Dunaway:

I'd love if we could get that involved. Like, dude, sign us up. Like, how much can we raise? And so we started raising some money for the food. Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. I was gonna say shout out to all the food.

Wade Shoemaker:

Kit too this year, that Pinkerton barbecue thing. So pretty excited about that.

Ryan Yarnell:

I hope that fits in my suitcase. I'm a be carrying it on under my arm.

Wade Shoemaker:

Did... Wasn't there something last year... And correct me, like, if I'm wrong, maybe this isn't something I think we talk about a lot out loud, but the lady that we... That you rent the fields from Yeah. Like, because there was also something with the brain cancer.

Wade Shoemaker:

Cancer or something. Right? So so... Touch on that.

John Dunaway:

So it wasn't her. So

Wade Shoemaker:

It wasn't her.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. So this event is not a business. Mm-mm. It's not a profitable event. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

We run it just a touch over cost so that we can roll the money forward. Yeah. And I've always been clear to everybody about that. Like, man, I wanna keep it as low as we can so that everybody can come. We got we got the 50 people, and I called a chef buddy, Sessegil Gardner.

John Dunaway:

Shout out to

Wade Shoemaker:

Which is like a very conservative way to call him a chef buddy. Like, he's he's he's gangster, dude. Yeah. Worked official and stars. Can't fit through them door frames right there.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, he's running his own... Wade's jacked, but he makes Wade look like me.

Wade Shoemaker:

They make Diary of a Wimpy Kid is what I look like.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. This is Seth Stout.

John Dunaway:

Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

That dude is swole up.

John Dunaway:

That dude is jacked. And so I called up Seth. I was like, hey, man. We got 50 people coming. What do you think Morgan and I could cook for everybody?

John Dunaway:

And without, you know, saying the exact wording that he used, he's like, you're crazy. And with the deep voice that he uses, it's like, now they're all like, look. We've always figured out. This is why PB has always run even now. Like, we'll just figure it out.

Ryan Yarnell:

Sell some burgers.

John Dunaway:

No. You need a professional. That's me. You know what I said? We don't have money to hire a professional.

John Dunaway:

I know what a professional's gonna cost. It's gonna cost, like, $15,000 to cater out over all weekend. Like Yeah. That's like 65% of the money at the time that we even had for the whole thing. That was like lodging, food, booze Yeah.

John Dunaway:

You know, field hunting, everything. Like, there's no money for that. I'll show up. And he showed up, and he cooked this absolutely absurd seafood paella.

Ryan Yarnell:

That was my first year.

Wade Shoemaker:

And he goes hard, dude. Bro, like

Ryan Yarnell:

That was unbelievable. Was like He was growing up.

John Dunaway:

Here last year. Yes. He brings his son all the time, Levi.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. Yep. They they stayed next to us, yeah, last year. Anyway. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

And that elevated to the next stage to where we started adding chefs in. And because we didn't have enough money in the kitty without raising the ticket price, And my goal is always, like, keep the ticket price as low as possible so that everybody could come. We needed to run a raffle. Yeah. Because we had all these brands that were showing up and doing stuff or just wanted, you know, some kind of exposure.

John Dunaway:

And so if we run a raffle, we can generate some money, and we'll take that money, and then we could give it to the chefs. And that's how it started. It was just about paying the chefs Mhmm. Because we didn't have any money. And then the money started growing, and people were throwing in larger ticket items like s o k puppy.

John Dunaway:

Mhmm. You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

Keep this going

John Dunaway:

everywhere. Last year, we got to the point where the the Luke family that owns this property, White Wing Fields that we've been... I've been hunting at since I was 12 years old. It was terrible news. Her brother was sick with cancer.

John Dunaway:

You know, they're farmers. They just salt of the earth kind of people. They've always taken care of me. He was really sick, and we finished the raffle. I walked over there.

John Dunaway:

I took a check out of them... Out of my center console, and I wrote him a check for... He cut it out, but whatever. I wrote him a check for $4,000. No.

John Dunaway:

I didn't. Paloma Blanco wrote the family a check for $4,000. I walked over there. I've been coming here since I was 12 years old. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

I was 40 at the time. I've never never met their mom. I've never seen her ever. She happened to be there. She was sitting in the swing next to him, and I walked over there and said, listen.

John Dunaway:

Thank you so much for taking care of the fields. You've always done a great job. You've always helped us out. I just want you to know that from from our side, from PB, we wanna do as much as we can for your family to help you out. And his mom stood up and gave...

John Dunaway:

Look. It was a check that was folded in half. She didn't see it. Yeah. It could have been $5.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. She had no clue and he didn't open it. And she stood up immediately and she walked and she hugged me and started crying. I started crying. I might start crying right now.

John Dunaway:

She's like, thank you so much for what you're doing for the family. It's like, we are doing something that is greater than us. Yeah. We come to play and hang out and be around our friends. And the nonprofit side that we've been able to support has become a whole other op...

John Dunaway:

Like, identity of it that I love pursuing. So we throw this raffle. We raise a bunch of money, and we cut checks people. So it's like, you know, the Loop family was struggling last year with with the cancer. Great friend Owen Gaylor was struggling with his own cancer issues.

John Dunaway:

We donated a great sum to them, and we just went through the buckets. We're like, well, let's up Hogs With The Cause, you know, whoever we give to, let's pay all the chefs. The chefs show up without getting paid.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Which is That's wild. Yeah. It's crazy. Because it's work, bro.

Ryan Yarnell:

And listen, like, every dude.

Barton Ramsey:

Everyone listening to this who has followed along on social media, you all know the number one thing that you guys respond

Wade Shoemaker:

to Yeah. Is the food.

John Dunaway:

I would

Barton Ramsey:

show up for the food. Every time. Was like... And and dude, for them to show up and do what they do without saying, hey, I need a huge check It's upfront is... Honestly, it's asinine.

John Dunaway:

Look, it's... I I have used some of these outfits for other events that I do with with friends or business outlets, and they send an invoice. Yeah. An anti heavy invoice. And like And it's not we don't have enough money without charging everybody Double.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. A lot more, and they show up just to be here. And then we give them a little raffle money and and cover the cost of some things. We we look, we cover all their expenses

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

But they don't make a profit on it. And and I wanna give credit to all of them that have ever showed up. Yeah. Whether it's Good Company or Grant Pinkerton Seth. You know, Seth, Morgan and Marty doing the Sunday throw down.

John Dunaway:

They don't have a restaurant.

Barton Ramsey:

Old Bart doing breakfast for us, slinging it off the back of a Can

John Dunaway:

Am's. Yeah. Yeah. Right? It was...

John Dunaway:

This is what what PB is. Right? It's a bunch of friends showing up to help each other out. So

Ryan Yarnell:

I mean, Yeti showed up with their trailer, hooks, pit hole pitch.

John Dunaway:

Look. And that's the whole thing. Barton comes down. He brings his dogs because he wants to come, and we'll get as much content possible to talk about the dogs because what... The event in PB is not a brand.

John Dunaway:

It has nowhere to go. If it dissolves into the ether, nothing will change. It'll just disappear, and we'll all still be friends. But y'all have real livelihoods and businesses. And so from the PB front, it's let's push the people that made this possible.

John Dunaway:

It's the chefs that show up. It's Barton bringing a bunch of dogs that help all these people out that don't wanna walk out on the field today.

Barton Ramsey:

Especially on a muddy day, bro.

Wade Shoemaker:

Especially on days

John Dunaway:

like tonight.

Ryan Yarnell:

Thank you, Barton.

John Dunaway:

Turtle box dropping the music. Pack meal bringing in the pack meals. Yeti covering up all the coolers and the ice.

Ryan Yarnell:

Heavy with the ammo.

John Dunaway:

Dead showing up. Heavy with the ammo. The... I mean, the list Yeah. Will pull the roster out and go.

Ryan Yarnell:

JJ goes to someone like 20 guns.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. He shows up with

Ryan Yarnell:

a paw.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. But we're like, oh, what's a sponsor fee? And this is the thing with PB. We charge no sponsor fee. Correct.

John Dunaway:

Because it's not about making money. We're like, hey. We wanna highlight your brand, and you take that forward because what you did show up here and put that brand in the real identity where it lives Yeah. In the outdoors and let them all shine, and then all the friends hang out. Like

Barton Ramsey:

And everybody's taking pictures of everybody's office setup. Everything. What's the tent company?

John Dunaway:

Padre? Yeah. Padre Outdoors.

Ryan Yarnell:

By the way, I... No.

Barton Ramsey:

Go ahead,. No. The Padre guys, I met them last year.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

They showed, like, a brand new idea. And lo and behold... No. No. No.

Barton Ramsey:

It was two years ago.

John Dunaway:

Two ago.

Barton Ramsey:

And we set up on that corner of that field, me and JD, and it starts raining.

John Dunaway:

I do pull out. That's a good one.

Barton Ramsey:

He's like, I gotcha. He sets this tent up, and I'm like, dude, I've never heard of your brand.

John Dunaway:

Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

It's brand new, and we're using it in the wild.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Barton Ramsey:

And AD is just crushing photos of this thing. And I'm like, I'm shooting dove, and I'm dry. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

In the rain.

Barton Ramsey:

This... Yeah. And it's pouring. Yeah. Pouring.

Barton Ramsey:

But this tent is set up. My gun's dry. And you... Dude, I just remember sitting there like, oh, this is rad. We're gonna post the mess out of this because you're...

Barton Ramsey:

We're using your stuff. And the next year, we're using it to just keep people cool because there's a 110

John Dunaway:

degrees.

Ryan Yarnell:

I'm bright.

Barton Ramsey:

Dude setting up tents. So, yeah, I do love that there are so many different

Ryan Yarnell:

And Yogi bins.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Yogi showed up.

Ryan Yarnell:

How many cell holes we put in there?

Barton Ramsey:

Up and, like It's

John Dunaway:

because real thought

Barton Ramsey:

of, hey. You got a 125 people out here, Duff, honey. You know much trash we produce?

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, gosh.

Ryan Yarnell:

Gave us all one last year. Like, everybody that attended.

Barton Ramsey:

Yeah. As like a, hey, we love you guys here. Yeah. That was one. Use it.

Wade Shoemaker:

And then we know the cool thing is they showed up, and I didn't know what they were the first year they were here. Me either. And it was just big 55 gallon, like, old drums with a wrap on it. I was like, well, that's... Maybe it's a service.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? Nope. That was just like branding, and then it worked out because everybody knows what it is now.

Ryan Yarnell:

Yeah. Just You know what I did not get a picture of?

John Dunaway:

What's that?

Ryan Yarnell:

The new logoed speaker.

Wade Shoemaker:

I bet you there's one

Ryan Yarnell:

or two places. I'm just saying I didn't even... I saw them, but I never got a picture of one, but it turned out

John Dunaway:

It kinda goes back to the whole thing of PB. Like, we're... The brands are here. We're encouraging brands, and we're pushing each other. And people just don't look at it like it's an event that they have to, like, showcase it.

John Dunaway:

No. Because it's it's not an event. Right? And one thing I would tell people Gathering. Two things I I would like to push people.

John Dunaway:

Find your friends. Mhmm. Find what's important to you, and then take the baseline of that and go, hey, if we all got together, what could we add to it? Just take one element. What we add to it that make that hang out Yeah.

John Dunaway:

Better? Yeah. Then from there, go the next year. What could we add to it? Make it a little bit better.

John Dunaway:

Mhmm. And just keep taking that and roll with it.

Wade Shoemaker:

And know you that you can't start this year one.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. And and the other thing I wanna say is don't reach out to brands because you want stuff. Mhmm. Because that's not... Okay.

John Dunaway:

You're not helping a brand, and you're not helping yourself. Yeah. You're asking for something. This isn't... PB is not a charity.

John Dunaway:

And whatever you choose to do in life, it's it's not a charity.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

John Dunaway:

It's a two way street. If you're helping other people, it has a, you know, what... Whatever you wanna call it. Right? Like, you're generating effort for them, and in turn, the effort that they put forward is beneficial to you.

John Dunaway:

It's a relationship. Because everybody wants a handout, but this isn't about handout. This is about helping each other grow in whatever it is you do in life. It's no different whether you're getting a free cooler or whether you're looking for somebody to hang out with. Yeah.

John Dunaway:

If that person has something that you're looking to take because it's on the backside of that, you're not looking for their for their friendship. Mhmm. You're looking for what they have. No.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that.

John Dunaway:

It's

Ryan Yarnell:

like Absolutely. No.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's good. I wanna... We're just over an hour here. I'm gonna go

Ryan Yarnell:

ahead and try to get...

Wade Shoemaker:

We'll wrap this up. It went quick. It was good.

Barton Ramsey:

Well, we've... I've counted over sixty minutes, and there are three types of people in the world. Yep. Those who can count and those who can't. And John just said he was gonna give two pieces of advice, and he gave four.

John Dunaway:

No. No. No. Number one was actually... Number one was broken down into components.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, so it was a list of It was number one, but this is one point... This is one of. Yeah. One point o.

John Dunaway:

There were bullet points on this one.

Wade Shoemaker:

One a. Yeah. One a sub subsection. One subsection a.

Barton Ramsey:

We're an hour into a podcast midnight after three days

Wade Shoemaker:

of week. Man. And this is the earliest bedtime I think any of us is gonna have.

Ryan Yarnell:

I got

Barton Ramsey:

a 5AM to park.

Ryan Yarnell:

You bet.

Wade Shoemaker:

I got a five... About six. Yeah. That's good. Let's...

Wade Shoemaker:

Anybody wanna say anything before we go?

Barton Ramsey:

Well, if anyone's listening to this, I just want you to be encouraged that I hope what you've heard is that this isn't some sort of, like, exclusive thing. The encouragement is you can do something like this. And whether it reaches crazy social media hype levels or not, you can create something that's really fun and has a generational impact. Yeah. Because that's what I think John has done.

Barton Ramsey:

And it's... And John wouldn't want all that credit. I can see it in your eyes right now. John's like, I don't I don't need the credit for this, but in a lot of ways, you do get that. But it's also just choosing the right people with the same values to be around you.

Barton Ramsey:

And so it is a multigenerational thing that you can create, but... And and I think there's a temptation to say, I just really wanna be a part of that.

Ryan Yarnell:

Mhmm.

Barton Ramsey:

And instead, use that energy to say, I just really wanna create something like that.

John Dunaway:

Yes. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Or I I really want something like that for my pals Yeah. Which I think is really kinda where this... What this stemmed from beginning.

Ryan Yarnell:

I'd like to say, get your kids outside. Look at what John Dunaway started from his dad taking him dove hunting in this field since he was 12 years old. Look at the friendships that have developed from just that little task that his dad did that many years ago, and all of his friends here with a 100 people here at this trip, a 113. Go outside, get yourself outside, get your kids outside, get your friends outside, have fun. Go enjoy the environment.

Ryan Yarnell:

You never know what may come of it in your life and where you may lead you and where your kids may end up because of it. And I sure enjoy the time I spend with you guys and what you... Watching you guys be fathers in the men you are.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Ryan Yarnell:

So just wanna remind everybody that go have a good time, enjoy the outdoors, and treat it treat it well.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's good. Be diligent.

John Dunaway:

Yeah. For me, it's just the only thing we have is time. And so what are you gonna do with it? Find the greatest people that you can spend it with. If they...

John Dunaway:

I would say, if you can add value to somebody else's life, that's a relationship you you should have. Mhmm. If they're adding value to your life, you're looking for something. Go out there and find the people that you can deploy whatever it may be to make their life better. And in turn, you just take that grander than anything.

Ryan Yarnell:

Mhmm.

John Dunaway:

So if you take this for anything, don't look for glory. Don't look for, you know, people talking about it. Don't look for a partnership. Find the people that you wanna be with. Find the things you wanna do, and then go, what can I add to that?

John Dunaway:

And let it roll.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Let it rip. Very cool. Very cool.

Ryan Yarnell:

Of course.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. I think I'll just close it out, and I think we've all kind of communicated that this is probably a lot of our favorite event of the year, right, no matter what. And and I think it it is our favorite event of the year because we get to come here and we get to turn our switches off, and we get to be with the people that we wanna be with. Not that we don't wanna be with people... Other people everywhere else, but these are the people we choose to be with if we have a choice.

Wade Shoemaker:

Right? Like, this... We would be with these people any other day of the year. And I think that's kind of the... This...

Wade Shoemaker:

If there's not a sauce, but if there is something you can consider the sauce, it's doing it with the people you wanna do it with, and you can be who you are, and you don't have to worry about having a big smile every time you show up even though you do naturally. Right?

John Dunaway:

Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

And then the coolest part isn't... I think it's... Another piece of it is it's not because of what... Of, like, what happens here. It's because we don't care what happens here.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like Right. We're gonna come in and have a good time no matter what happens, no matter the weather, no matter the hunting, no matter... The food's always gonna be great. But even if it wasn't, we would still have a great time. So, yeah, I I think we love this place more than anything because it's...

Wade Shoemaker:

It doesn't matter what happens here. We know that we're gonna be here, and that's all that matters. Right?

John Dunaway:

Yeah. It only matters about the people that show up.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's right.

John Dunaway:

So It's gonna be good. In between is what matters the most.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's good. Fellas, look, I'm gonna end it there. One hour. We're about seventy minutes. Folks, if you're still here, thank you so much.

Wade Shoemaker:

Glad I got to share this with you. John, Barton, Yarnell, thank you all for joining us on the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. I'm your host, Wade Shoemaker. Stay smooth.

VO:

That's a wrap for today's episode of the Ducks Unlimited Podcast brought to you by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. From post hunt unwinds to celebrations back at camp, Bird Dog delivers award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe, and check out ducks.org/dupodcast for more stories, science, and all things waterfowl. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited.

VO:

Until next time, stay fired up, stay focused, and stay tuned to the ducks.