Ducks Unlimited Podcast

MONTHLY SPONSORS

Old Timer Knives - https://www.theoldtimer.com
Savage Arms - https://savagearms.com
Weatherby - https://weatherby.com
Morton Buildings - https://mortonbuildings.com
Duck Club Bourbon - https://duckclubbourbon.com

The best partnerships in the outdoor industry aren't built at trade shows—they're built in duck blinds, dove fields, and places where people have time to connect.

In this freestyle episode of the Ducks Unlimited Podcast, Wade Shoemaker sits down at Honey Brake Lodge with Parker Amos (Duck Commander/Buck Commander), Brett Maffet (Benelli USA), and Stephen Findley (Vertical Marketing) for an unscripted conversation about hunting, business, authenticity, and the people who shape the outdoor industry.

What starts as a recap of a partner retreat quickly turns into a conversation about career paths, outdoor media, faith, mentorship, and the relationships that often matter more than the brands themselves. The group shares stories from dove hunts, private flights, Honey Brake experiences, and even a few reflections on Phil Robertson, Si Robertson, and the impact Duck Commander has had on modern hunting culture. 

More than anything, this episode highlights why genuine relationships continue to drive an industry built around shared experiences outdoors.

Topics Covered
  • Why Duck Commander brought partners together at Honey Brake
  • Building authentic relationships in the outdoor industry
  • Brett Maffet's path from cabinet hardware to Benelli USA
  • Stephen Findley's work with brands across the outdoor space
  • The lasting influence of Phil and Si Robertson
  • Why authenticity matters in hunting and business
  • Honey Brake's unique culture and guest experience
  • How hunting connects people from different backgrounds

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.

Brett Maffet:

And the colors are flashy when you hit it.

Wade Shoemaker:

Skip bow.

Brett Maffet:

No. Wasn't that. I don't It was black

Stephan Finley:

to have...

Wade Shoemaker:

Skip bow is the thing you skip. Simon Says.

Brett Maffet:

Yes. That's what that looks like.

Wade Shoemaker:

It does look like that.

Parker Amos:

All the colorful lights.

Wade Shoemaker:

That is cool. Like, my my ADHD does not do well. Look at

Brett Maffet:

this board.

Wade Shoemaker:

Because it's like so many colors, dude. I dig it.

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:

Folks, welcome back. This is the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. This is a freestyle. There is no script. There is no notes.

Wade Shoemaker:

There is no nothing. Whoever jumps in jumps in, and whoever doesn't, then maybe next time. But here at Honey Break Lodge, I've got mister Parker, mister Brett. We've been dove hunting out all weekend. Parker, I want you to introduce yourself to our people, and then just tell us kinda what we're doing here, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

What you do for Duck Commander and then this whole deal you put together.

Parker Amos:

Yeah. Well, Wade, thanks for having us here. Looking forward to good conversations. It's been a great week here at Honey Break. We love these guys and what they stand for.

Parker Amos:

It's for Duck Commander and Buck Commander. We just wanted to be able to have a chance to get together with some of our partners and get time together that we don't normally get at the shows and stuff like that. So everything's such in passing, but actually get to connect. And also, thank you guys for how y'all support what we do. So we couldn't do what we do without you guys.

Parker Amos:

So that was really the mission was just to let's hang out and get to know each other better.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'd say mission accomplished on that. I mean, walk walk us through, like, is this is this something you told them, like, hey, I'm bringing these some people in. We're gonna hang out. We wanna dove hunt or... Well, we wanna dove hunt?

Wade Shoemaker:

That was weird. Tired guys. We are sweaty and sunburned, and we smell terrible. But we're doing this because it's late. We're visiting to eat dinner, and I've got a two hour drive home.

Wade Shoemaker:

You guys have a full night of rest ahead, and then, you know, whatever. But when you called for the dove hunt and the group of people to come in, did you kind of... Was this like a a la carte thing? We're like, we wanna dove hunt. We don't wanna fish.

Wade Shoemaker:

We wanna police, which is... That was interesting. There was...

Brett Maffet:

That's that's an understatement.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Buddy, that was freaking That was memorable. Unreal. Those frisbee championships.

Brett Maffet:

Oh my god.

Wade Shoemaker:

But but walk walk us through it, like, what... How do you put something like this together?

Parker Amos:

I mean, it started with just... As our relationship's grown here with the guys at Honey Break, you know, we always look for opportunities to how can we help each other. And so I was like, hey, let's do something fun. You know, they invited some of their partners too. So, hey, let's just do something to get together.

Parker Amos:

Everybody's way too busy during duck season, it felt like. And then the shows are so hard in the summer as well. So it kinda felt like a good in between time of Yeah. Everybody likes to dove hunt and do fishing and just hang out. Yeah.

Parker Amos:

It's relatively low impact and and fun.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. No. That's good, man. I dig it. I I think you're right on...

Wade Shoemaker:

Spot on with the timing. I know when you called me, it was kind of like, hey. Do you think we can do this? And I I don't know. It was about what?

Wade Shoemaker:

Less than a month ago.

Stephan Finley:

You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

Because he was like, let's do it. I was like, I can make that actually, you know, but it's this time of year where it makes sense. So I I think that's cool. And so... But when you called them to put this together, when you called whoever you called here Mhmm.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm not sure if you organized this whole thing. I feel like you did. Yeah. Was it just like, I need a retreat for these people done? Or or did you did you pick from a menu?

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, how did you... Was it a menu you picked from? I mean, that's a bad way to put it. But you you know what I'm saying? Like, how'd you how'd you build it?

Parker Amos:

Yeah. I mean, we just talked to them and said, hey. We wanna bring some guys in and have a great experience for everybody. And Yeah. They do this every week.

Parker Amos:

Yeah. They know... They said, hey. This is what we recommend. And we said, okay.

Parker Amos:

Great. Y'all... They know what

Brett Maffet:

to do here

Parker Amos:

to help everybody have a good time.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah.

Parker Amos:

So we relied on

Brett Maffet:

them. They are very good at it.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah. They are.

Parker Amos:

Let them do their thing. I was like, we can get people here, but you tell us what to do when

Brett Maffet:

we get here.

Wade Shoemaker:

So... So mean, so they they they gave you the recommendations, and you were like, okay. That. Yep. Sick.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that. I love... We've... And we've had a great time because we we got here... First thing, I got here later than planned because work just went over.

Wade Shoemaker:

And you guys... You were later too. All of you were. Mm-mm. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

So, like Delayed flights. Delayed flights. You're picking up at the airport. Homie here booked rental at the wrong rental. You know?

Wade Shoemaker:

You can't get it because they're closed.

Brett Maffet:

Alexandria is interesting. But we should place in airport. We'll leave it at that.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's right, dude. Well... And then we do If

Brett Maffet:

you're coming to Honey Breaks, get the shuttle.

Wade Shoemaker:

Get the shuttle?

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. Don't try to get rental car.

Wade Shoemaker:

I've heard that, I think, before from people too. It's just so much simpler, dude. Like, it's it's there and back, and that's all you gotta do. You're going nowhere else. That's right.

Wade Shoemaker:

And if you need to stop at a store, I bet you the shuttle would stop at a store for me.

Brett Maffet:

Would too.

Stephan Finley:

You know?

Brett Maffet:

You know, lessons learned. It's

Wade Shoemaker:

okay. Well, hindsight. Right? Yeah. But we did we did that.

Wade Shoemaker:

We didn't dove hunt yesterday morning. We got to see a lot of the property, which according to Drew, was, like, less than 10% of the property. It was a two hour tour, which is great. I loved it. I enjoyed seeing it, but just fathoming How big this place how big this place is.

Wade Shoemaker:

It's ridiculous. And then we did that. We came in. We had lunch, and then we hung out for a minute, and then we went dove hunting, 02:30, whatever. This morning, we woke up.

Wade Shoemaker:

We went fishing, and we had, know, different people had different results. We had a great time. We come in. What was after that? Went to the pro shop.

Wade Shoemaker:

Got to hang out a little bit. Mhmm. Oh, and last night, shot Luis. Man. First time for a lot of us.

Parker Amos:

All of us. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. And Mike said him too, I think he's a liar, but he did... No doubt. I I hope he hears this because I'm gonna be... You're lying, Mike.

Brett Maffet:

75%. Yeah. He looks a liar. Put that out there.

Wade Shoemaker:

One, yeah, thousand percent liar, or he's the Bionic Man. But then we just got through dove hunting. You know, great evening. Had a great time, all of it. And then anyway, so Welcome to the Old Timer Minute, sponsored by Old Timer Knives.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, man. I I remember a week back in, like, 2013 that was really, really good to us. It was nothing short of spectacular. On one day in particular, we got there over two hours before shooting time, which that's normal, but we walked all over the place trying to find our spot, and and at 05:30, we found it, which didn't give us much time. So we hustled and started throwing decoys out.

Wade Shoemaker:

We got our jerk rigs out. We set the spinners out where they needed to be, then we went and hid the boat, found a bush to hide in just in time, and and then the cool thing about it was my buddy, Harrison, one of the cool things, he shot his first solo pintail, and then while I'm watching Ducks come in, I I I forget that I'm holding my buddy John's tote. I let it go. I look down. It's gone.

Wade Shoemaker:

Sunk it. And... But we each shot our four Mallards. This was by far one of our favorite hunts and undoubtedly always will be. The last shots rang out 11:59 according to AT and T time, and that's a good thing because twelve was the cutoff, and we can just call that perfect timing.

Wade Shoemaker:

But for the record, I I thought John's tote floated. That's been Old Timer Minute brought to you by Old Timer, built for generations. Visit the oldtimer.com. Parker, we know what... Who you are.

Wade Shoemaker:

Did you tell people what you do for Duck Commander in that intro or no? No.

Parker Amos:

I will.

Wade Shoemaker:

Okay. Do that. Please.

Parker Amos:

Yeah. Absolutely. So I just handle our partner relations and just figuring out, you know, who is the best partners for us. Obviously Yeah. Heavy and Bonelli have been partners for us for a long time.

Parker Amos:

And so I just want to make those relationships deeper and more meaningful for everybody and also just see who else is is a good fit for us. So on top of that, I run the Buck Commander side of our business as well.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, wow. So you're pulling double duty. Yeah. Yeah. It's not it's not a little bit.

Wade Shoemaker:

No. I get it, man. So that's that's cool. So that that kinda leads me to Brett. Sir?

Wade Shoemaker:

Brett is a pal. He lives in the Northeast corner of the country. Not all the way, but way up there. About

Brett Maffet:

halfway up.

Wade Shoemaker:

About halfway up. Little further than me than he is from a lot of people that's gonna be listening, but he's definitely up there. Brett, why don't you introduce yourself, please? Let us know your full name and... Or, well, not your whole government name, but part of it.

Wade Shoemaker:

And then... We're tired, y'all.

Brett Maffet:

I am sorry.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm glad we're doing this in here, though, because if we'd have done this in the sun, that would have been

Stephan Finley:

Oh, it would have been

Brett Maffet:

prob...

Parker Amos:

We'd have

Brett Maffet:

It would have been memorable.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's right. Our our sound guys and our editors would have been really mad at me because there were some things... We solved world problems, talked through political just struggles, intentions, and we we know how to solve it. You just gotta get out there in Dovefield and listen. But, anyway, Brett, please go ahead and introduce introduce yourself before I say something embarrassing and incriminating about myself.

Brett Maffet:

You can say whatever want. Not fine. Keep on going. I'm enjoying this.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm gonna get in trouble.

Brett Maffet:

My name is Brett Maffet. I work for Bonelli. I run product development for the brand. Yeah. And then oversee it for Frontier as well.

Wade Shoemaker:

Very, very cool. And how long have you been

Brett Maffet:

8.5 with Benelli USA.

Wade Shoemaker:

Okay. So where you... Where were you at before Benelli?

Brett Maffet:

Well, that's interesting. We just talked about this. So I

Wade Shoemaker:

And I'm asking out of curiosity because I don't mean you've actually ever had that conversation.

Brett Maffet:

Not to incriminate myself, but I

Stephan Finley:

did Oh, no. Right.

Brett Maffet:

I did product development for a home decor hardware company. A what? Home decor hardware company.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, that's pretty.

Brett Maffet:

Not what you would have I would say. Yeah. Right. So I I used to manage Home Home Depot's cabinet hardware aisle for them

Wade Shoemaker:

Very cool.

Brett Maffet:

As an exterior.

Stephan Finley:

Have you heard

Wade Shoemaker:

of Buster and Posey? Random.

Brett Maffet:

Yes. I have. Why?

Wade Shoemaker:

Because that's that's home... That's handles and things

Brett Maffet:

Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

For cabinet. Dude, so weird thing. I'm gonna eat I'm gonna eat crow right here. Sure. I'm...

Wade Shoemaker:

That's like, I love their stuff. Like, I'm not weird. I just... I appreciate good design. I appreciate aesthetics.

Wade Shoemaker:

I appreciate... And, dude, they they crush, dude.

Brett Maffet:

So I No. It's Buster and Punch, I think. Buster and Posey sounds right.

Wade Shoemaker:

Buster Posey is something, I think. I'm gonna look this up while you're talking so we can figure this out.

Brett Maffet:

I used to work for a company called Liberty Hardware

Wade Shoemaker:

Okay.

Brett Maffet:

That we did about 99% of Home Depot's cabinet hardware for them as an external vendor. And when I left, we did about 67%.

Wade Shoemaker:

Buster and punch.

Brett Maffet:

Buster and punch.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know that? Have you seen those, dude? Check that out. If I ever get new cabinets, go into

Brett Maffet:

these guys. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Probably not.

Brett Maffet:

Did a fair amount for Lowe's as well and then also Amazon Mhmm. Walmart, all the all the big names. I had been trying to get into the outdoor space for years because this is where my passions lie.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Cabins ain't cutting it.

Brett Maffet:

No. Corporate corporate America is not all it's cracked up to be. Mhmm.

Stephan Finley:

For sure.

Brett Maffet:

We'll we'll leave it at that. Yep. But this job kind of fell out of the sky. Yeah. Call it what you want.

Brett Maffet:

I'm just very, very fortunate that found found a role with Fronky doing product development

VO:

with them.

Brett Maffet:

That was about eight and a half years ago. And a little over three years ago, I took on the Benelli role. Yeah. It's it's... Yep.

Brett Maffet:

It's truly, I mean, frankly, it's a dream come true. Yeah. Fronkily, you mean? Yeah. Right.

Brett Maffet:

This sounds cliched, obviously, because it is cliche, but it's very... It's it's worked. Don't get me wrong.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. Right? But it's... I get to do something I'm passionate about and love every day, and that takes the edge off of work.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's right.

Brett Maffet:

So it's it's... I'm truly blessed, fortunate. Yeah. And, god, man, this type of stuff, were talking about this in the field. It's just the coolest part about it is it takes you to so many different corners of the country you never would have gone to otherwise, and you get to meet so many different people.

Wade Shoemaker:

That you would have never met in

Brett Maffet:

a while for sure. Completely different backgrounds, completely different walks of life. Guys sitting in a dove field if we used to hawk cabinet knobs and poles. Right? Like, that's true.

Brett Maffet:

We saw that coming. Yeah. So it's just... It's it's a super cool Yeah. Super cool role.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I've heard you talk about, like, you talking to your dad and you're talking about what you're My doing out here and dad is. And he's like, you're lying.

Brett Maffet:

He doesn't think they have a job.

Wade Shoemaker:

You don't have a job. No.

Brett Maffet:

He he's he loves it. Right? You know, it's... He's he's retired. It's one of those things now.

Brett Maffet:

He's just... It's it's a mixture of of pride, but also, man, I wish I'd known those types of opportunities

Wade Shoemaker:

existed. Right.

Brett Maffet:

So there's there's a living vicariously aspect. I think that that comes with it. But, know, we talk on the phone all the time, and I'm I'm eternally grateful to him because he's the one who introduced me to hunting and kinda got me into this this lifestyle.

Wade Shoemaker:

Y'all come in

Brett Maffet:

here as a kid.

Wade Shoemaker:

Y'all can get in... Like, no. We're not worried about that. Y'all... Somebody...

Wade Shoemaker:

If one of y'all want to, y'all can jump in too. I'm listening. I'm sorry.

Brett Maffet:

No. You're fine. Yeah. So it's just... It's...

Brett Maffet:

I tell him up once or twice a week, and I tell him stories about what's going on, or he asked me where I'm going or where I was last week, and I tell him, and he's like, that's not a real job.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah.

Brett Maffet:

He said, you're you're sitting you're sitting in a dove field. That's... That sounds like vacation not working. I'm like, you know?

Wade Shoemaker:

You know what's interesting too? Like, because I don't think that what we do or what a lot of us do, even we've got a new guy here that I wanna go and introduce himself here in just a second, but I don't think those opportunities existed twenty years ago. I think they were there, but it was a very different world.

Brett Maffet:

100%. Without flesh.

Wade Shoemaker:

And the the path to that career was very different. Right?

Brett Maffet:

Yes.

Wade Shoemaker:

So, like, you having that conversation with your dad saying you wasn't sure that was a thing. Well, it it wasn't. Right. You know? And now it's like On a very

Brett Maffet:

on a very different, more minimal scale. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

And access to it was, you

Brett Maffet:

know Right.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Very, very

Brett Maffet:

Obviously, there there were opportunities. You know, Phil Robinson's a perfect

Wade Shoemaker:

Right.

Brett Maffet:

Example of that.

Wade Shoemaker:

But you ain't got people doing what he did to get there.

Brett Maffet:

You know? He wasn't he wasn't much older than my dad is now. Yeah. And it it... But it but it is a completely different world and opportunity in the way that, you know, traditionally, we've we've marketed these types of products has then evolved given the advent of of social media into this type of event where creating content and being out here with buddies and and all that is...

Brett Maffet:

It it is part of the job because it's... You need the offense... Authenticity of what we're doing with each other as as representatives of of leadership brands in the industry, you have to have the authenticity to communicate to the to to the consumer. Yeah. Yeah.

Brett Maffet:

You know, we we we know what we're doing because we we live this That's right.

Stephan Finley:

You do it.

Wade Shoemaker:

That... That's very, very factual.

Brett Maffet:

Spend, I mean, everybody who dove hunts knows this. Right? This time of year, you're sitting outside for hours on end and 96, 97 degrees. Yeah. He just like, what am what am I doing?

Wade Shoemaker:

Days you're praying for 96 degrees.

Brett Maffet:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. You're right. Like, give me that back. Depending where you are in the country.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. And all of sudden, those little birds start flying. Totally forget about us.

Wade Shoemaker:

Dude, we were in Texas last week. It was one zero five. Like... I mean, like, after your truck cools down and you're going on the road twenty minutes later Right. That thing said 105.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I was, man, no.

Stephan Finley:

You know? Miserable.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm I'm I'm used to it, but I don't love it. But anyway, mister Finley Yes, sir. Incredible camera guy. Known you for several years at this point. Actually, come up here for a one day photography job with you one time years ago.

Stephan Finley:

It was on, like, Christmas day or the It was the day before, day...

Wade Shoemaker:

It was the day after. And he was like, can you do this? And I'm like, well, sure. You know?

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. My kids just opened their presents. Yeah. Santa Claus Santa Claus just came. This dude's like, I'm flying to Honey Break tomorrow.

Wade Shoemaker:

See you.

Stephan Finley:

Could you do some stuff? Could you do photo and video? I'm like, I can, but I can only do one. It's very hard to focus on if if you don't do Yeah. And and I was like

Wade Shoemaker:

They... This... They called you and asked you that.

Stephan Finley:

They called me. Yeah. And I'm like, it's Honey Break. It's Louisiana. There's one guy who I've been wanting to meet.

Stephan Finley:

He might do it. Hey, Wade.

Wade Shoemaker:

As our kids are like... And my kids open a presents too. Hey.

Stephan Finley:

I think I think Santa brought them the same PAW Patrol

Brett Maffet:

It's true.

Wade Shoemaker:

Freaking... I was putting it together when you called.

Stephan Finley:

I just... I do remember that.

Wade Shoemaker:

Now, god, that was a pain, dude. I'm the torque you had to put on those screws. I shoulda had a drill.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. I'm not good straight stickers. No. Not good. Let me rephrase it.

Stephan Finley:

I'm not good at putting stickers on straight.

Wade Shoemaker:

There you go. Straight stickers are okay.

Stephan Finley:

Straight stickers.

Wade Shoemaker:

They just end up crooked when you put them on. Yeah. Me too, though. If it makes you feel any better. But anyway Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Open presence. You got a call to do it. You called me.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. That was... So that was actually my first time at Honey Break. We hunted the Sammy. It was really cool.

Stephan Finley:

Since then, two years ago... First of all, I'm a marketing agency.

Wade Shoemaker:

Let's go introduce yourself properly. I'm sorry.

Stephan Finley:

I'm Steven Findley. I'm the CEO and owner of a marketing agency based out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We do a lot of work in the outdoor industry specifically, and then what I would say, sort of the blue collar industry. So coal mining, conveyor belts. I'm just fascinated with with dudes to do hard work outside because I think they're...

Stephan Finley:

I think they're It's what I'm underappreciated. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

I was nervous.

Stephan Finley:

My nerves got to me. You take your hands, dude.

Wade Shoemaker:

They clammy.

Stephan Finley:

So I... I've been doing interviews all day.

Wade Shoemaker:

I've been on You have.

Stephan Finley:

On Yeah. The backside of the camera, so I'm a little... My brain's a little shot. But anyway, fast forward from that day, for about eighteen months, we worked on some honey break stuff, and this place is fascinating. The people are great.

Stephan Finley:

Yep. They're really trying to love Jesus like the rest of us. Yep. And what a great place.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. All around. Yeah. To the core.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. This has been a cool this has been a cool weekend to, you know, meet you guys, some some new faces, some old faces, and and kinda see all the, you know, the the collaboration.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. That's cool. That's cool. So we met for the first time here, like, officially for one day. I came here.

Wade Shoemaker:

I slept. Was in the room with us. And then I don't wanna say there's somebody else here, but don't matter. We photographed the next day. It was a slower morning, but we had a cool time, great time.

Stephan Finley:

Yep. And our guide was Cody Frasier.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yep. That was the first time I met Cody, actually. Yep. Same. He's been around for a while, you know.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. And then we went home. Did you... You left that same day too, didn't you, or the next day?

Stephan Finley:

I think so.

Wade Shoemaker:

We were literally only here for a day, dude.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. So here's a crazy thing. So the guys that I came with flew private.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, okay. And now I remember it now because I met y'all at the airport.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. And they were shocked at how much equipment I had, and I was shocked at how small the plane was. I'm like, guys, I got a job to do. I... I'm I'm sorry.

Wade Shoemaker:

Did you think I just kinda come with, a Nikon point and shoot?

Stephan Finley:

Like, what... You know? I've... Yep. The Polaroid.

Stephan Finley:

Mhmm. So, anyway, I've on the way back How this one turned out? Worst flight I've ever been on. I was literally folded in the back. Mhmm.

Stephan Finley:

Sweat was pouring down my face. Mind you, it's it's Christmas. And and I'm holding my too big for the the cargo part camera case. So I look like Donkey Kong sitting in the back of this, you know, plane. Yeah.

Stephan Finley:

My wife's like, how was it flying private? I'm like, I would have rather walked.

Parker Amos:

It was

Wade Shoemaker:

that bad.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. It was that bad.

VO:

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

Brett Maffet:

Was it better or worse than setting up Paw Patrol trucks?

Stephan Finley:

Oh, give me that PAW Patrol truck.

Parker Amos:

Dude, is it really?

Stephan Finley:

It was

Wade Shoemaker:

it was That's tough, dude. Yeah. I know how bad that is. That's tough.

Stephan Finley:

I I was I was just, like, cramped. I'm gonna sound like a weenie, but the camera case is really big. I was folded in the back. Everybody else looked comfortable. I'm like, oh, this is flying private.

Wade Shoemaker:

This is not

Stephan Finley:

for me. So can you tell

Wade Shoemaker:

me what mean? Stuff, dude. At least I got a seat.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. So, anyway, yeah, just walked in the room, and you invited me. So...

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Well, the thing... The whole deal was like, this is gonna be like an open thing and everybody... If you see you you see got something you wanna say, just come grab the mic or come grab the headset and shut

Brett Maffet:

They shut the door.

Parker Amos:

Well, I

Wade Shoemaker:

saw that and I was like I was like, no. No. No. But I think she I think she thought I was going thank you. Right.

Wade Shoemaker:

I was like, no. No. No. It's okay.

Stephan Finley:

I I am fascinated. What was Brett talking about when I when I came in?

Brett Maffet:

Who? Me. No.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, dude. They're... Well, I

Brett Maffet:

was We

Wade Shoemaker:

got a you come in, but you could... We were we were

Stephan Finley:

You're talking about Phil. You said something about authenticity.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, just being in the field and... Yeah. Go ahead. Take them back.

Brett Maffet:

We we were we we jumped around from my my checkered career path, or past to, you know, we we had talked in the field some about my dad finds a comical when I'm out at stuff like this. He's like, that's not a job. And I'm like, well, no. Yeah. It is.

Brett Maffet:

But then it sort of pivoted to we're talking about how these types of opportunities didn't exist thirty, forty years ago. Like, my dad and Phil were around the same age. I'm like, well, they did. It just... You kinda had to really seek him out or make him for yourself.

Brett Maffet:

And then that kinda pivoted the the conversation too. But the reason why this is worked is because we're we're stewarding coveted leadership brands in the industry forward. Right? And and there has to be a large degree of authenticity that comes with that because consumers, they trust us to deliver what they want, what they need. And you can't do that if you're not living this life as well.

Brett Maffet:

So... And, I mean, Phil's a prime example of that. Right? Was there ever a more authentistic guy? I mean, I I don't think anything about that persona that we all saw and loved on TV was out of the the day to day norm for him, which is pretty amazing in today's world, frankly.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. You know, we we live in such a manufactured fake environment from a pop culture standpoint, and that whole family... I don't I don't know them. Right? I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Si two nights ago, which was wild, but he was exactly like what we saw on TV.

Stephan Finley:

I actually... That's I'm, like, five years ago. Right? I see you making tea right now. Do you, do you drink as much tea Dude, was it was the

Wade Shoemaker:

entire gallon jug or whatever.

Stephan Finley:

He goes, I drink two gallon today.

Wade Shoemaker:

He's not making it up. But

Stephan Finley:

he says, no. It's not sweet.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm like, you don't drink sweet tea. I knew that.

Parker Amos:

None of them do. It's all unsweet.

Stephan Finley:

And then he started trying to tell me about... His doctor's asking me. He starts trying to say, it's got antioxidants.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I'm like, Si, you're gonna hurt

Brett Maffet:

yourself, brother. Hey. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

You ain't gotta convince me, player. I already know that. Hey. You got it, bro. Whatever.

Parker Amos:

Puts about eight packets of that powdered lemon flavor

Stephan Finley:

That's what he...

Parker Amos:

That's amazing. In one glass.

Stephan Finley:

Oh. It's about

Wade Shoemaker:

eight packets.... Drinks it. He needs a ghost. They got that lemon iced tea stuff. I bet he would love that.

Stephan Finley:

I saw him. He's sitting there shaking them back. Then he's dumping it. I'm thinking, this this man Yeah. The the the the tea carnoisseur, the tea sommelier is over here making his batch, and I'm like, is that real?

Stephan Finley:

And he's like, oh, it's just lemon packets. I'm like, it's not even sweet. It's got antioxidants. Stop there. He said...

Wade Shoemaker:

Somebody said something about they they were listening to sigh or something. He was having a car. I was like, dude, you can't not listen to him when he's in the room. You know? It's like, you're gonna hear whatever he's saying.

Brett Maffet:

That that was like a bucket list dinner Yeah. Listening to him down the table. Like, I I wasn't even party the He got fired up. Yeah. I was I wasn't part of the conversation.

Wade Shoemaker:

But it was just You were. You did. Yeah. I just didn't... I didn't know it.

Brett Maffet:

You're right. You were But, dude, it was it was so cool listening to him because, you know, that... I don't grow up waterfowl hunt. Yeah. I grew up doing all sorts of other other types of stuff in outdoors, other...

Brett Maffet:

Mostly upland, but a lot of lot of bird hunting. But not not waterfowl. And, you know, that that Duck Dynasty, like, that really encouraged me to to go out and try it because it's... That wasn't what my dad did.

Wade Shoemaker:

The Dynasty side or the Commander side? Like was it Duck Dynasty?

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. Was was Duck Dynasty.

Wade Shoemaker:

Cool. I said, I'm just curious.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. No. It's... I love hearing. My my dad didn't waterfowl hunt.

Wade Shoemaker:

Mhmm.

Brett Maffet:

So I had no real exposure to it. I up in Connecticut. Hunt is not overly prevalent up there anymore. And so that that encouraged me. It's like, dude, I would I would absolutely love this.

Brett Maffet:

And this should be a pretty easy transition from the other hunting I was doing, like, most of the upland stuff. Right. It was not. Right? You need, like, a thousand times more gear.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. That's a fact.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. But it but it was it was a super cool window into that world to be like, alright. I need to I need to get out there and and figure it out. And then all of a sudden, it became my career and my job and my my life.

Parker Amos:

Well

Brett Maffet:

And now I'm getting dozens of e... Detoys on my my driveway all the time. My wife is sending me angry texts from from home while I'm in the office. Yeah. You know, it's

Wade Shoemaker:

Too late now, babe.

Stephan Finley:

It was Facebook Marketplace, babe. Calm down.

Brett Maffet:

No. No. Marketplace

Wade Shoemaker:

Marketplace got got these these cool boxes that have never been cut open before. Yeah. They package well from Marketplace.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. The reason I ask about what you were what you were saying as as a marketing guy, I was having a conversation with somebody the other day, and it was like, every brand wants to be authentic. Mhmm. And I'm like, okay. What makes somebody authentic actually?

Stephan Finley:

Mhmm. Vulnerability. That's the answer. Mhmm. Like, being able to show weakness.

Stephan Finley:

But I was all... I was also asking because I was curious because you said something about social media, and I was like, are we having one of those social media talks? I know what's going on here.

Wade Shoemaker:

I don't feel like I'm on the prowl. Yeah.

Stephan Finley:

So that... Yeah. Thiel Robertson. Great guy. I didn't get to meet him.

Stephan Finley:

Also, that was my first run-in with Sai, which is slight icon status. Oh my god. So cool. Later in the night, I... Because I didn't sit by him.

Stephan Finley:

Across the table and I just heard him being loud.

Wade Shoemaker:

You you sat at the other table.

Parker Amos:

Yeah. He's... Yeah. Still... We still heard everything that he said.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. I I actually set my partner here Yeah. And got to meet him. But there was entertainment in here. Guy playing guitar.

Stephan Finley:

So I was just sitting there. I was like, Zad, do you like live music? He's like, what? Do you like live music? He's like, I do.

Stephan Finley:

I do. I was like, okay. Cool. So I said... I mean, I I used to play music, so I was just sitting down listening.

Stephan Finley:

Well, then he plays an old song. I wanna say it's like... I think it's David Allen Cove.

Parker Amos:

It was.

Stephan Finley:

Okay. Mhmm. It was the... The ride. The ride.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, yeah. I heard that.

Brett Maffet:

Sigh probably...

Stephan Finley:

Was belting it. Really? Yes. And he was hitting he was hitting the notes, and he was, like, legit into it. I was...

Stephan Finley:

I I felt bad because, like, it's... He's a big deal. I don't do much social media, but I'm I'm gonna film this. So I just kinda hit camera sideways, kinda lying down. I had a I had a cup.

Stephan Finley:

I kinda hit it behind the cup, and I'm recording it just to send to my wife because it's hilarious because he's So? Screaming. He's got his oxygen, you know, on his belt of notes. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

And so I'm recording...... Up for the song.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. Yeah. I'm recording it, and and I had... I didn't look at it, and I just stopped it later. But later before I went to bed, I was like, I'm gonna watch that.

Stephan Finley:

And he hits this note and he looks over it. He knew you were doing He knew knew if I noticed you. Yeah.

Brett Maffet:

And I

Stephan Finley:

was like, dude is a performer and he can't turn it off.

Wade Shoemaker:

He knew it, dude.

Stephan Finley:

It's probably why it's so good on TV.

Parker Amos:

You probably...... Know he had a band? No. Like, he actually sang and they performed for a short set of time. I'm pretty sure it was signed the Cycloptics.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh my gosh.

Parker Amos:

We'll make sure... I will put it in the in the notes or whatever. Oh my god. But...

Wade Shoemaker:

I'll sing that song. It makes sense, dude.

Brett Maffet:

He didn't stop on that song. He was he was singing along at a lower clip for most of that guy's performance.

Wade Shoemaker:

But I bet you guys all got up and filmed it, like, and let him know, you probably would have got all the notes. Like, he probably would

Parker Amos:

have put on

Stephan Finley:

for I did say something about karaoke, and the guy was like, hey. I'm I'm down. And, you know, and didn't really take it. But then the guy played Toby Keith should have been a cowboy, and then I'm like, everybody knows this. Right.

Stephan Finley:

If you're over 25 or 30 or whatever. So I didn't say anything, and I was kinda like, did we lose the... Did did we just lose the magic?

Wade Shoemaker:

Well, I mean, after the ride, where do you go, dude? Like, where do you go from there?

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. I mean, you you went down 65. I mean, there's nothing

Wade Shoemaker:

else to

Stephan Finley:

come back to. So...

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh my

Stephan Finley:

gosh, dude. Yeah. So that was that was that was really cool. Also, first day I got here, we got to go out there and and and kinda see him.

Brett Maffet:

Did you get to film them? Duff on. Duff on out in the field?

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. So I I showed up to do some stuff, and then, of course, Duck Commander, Buck Commander has has their guys. So I, of course, yielded to them, but I was like,

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm not gonna miss an opportunity.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. Like Sure. Kinda see That's awesome. Seaside. Super cool.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. It was really cool to see. You know, he's... How old is that now? 79, I believe.

Stephan Finley:

79. He has... He's he's 30 years old mentally. Clearly, belt in the nose. I'm a

Wade Shoemaker:

sure 30 year old. Not a childish for sure.

Stephan Finley:

He hasn't let the old man in, basically. And he was just, like, still, like, boys, I'm I'm ready to kill something.

Brett Maffet:

There you go. Yesterday.

Stephan Finley:

And so I was like, man, he's the real... Just like you said.

Brett Maffet:

Dude, there... There's... There were no

Stephan Finley:

It was real deal.

Brett Maffet:

There was nothing fake clearly

Parker Amos:

Yeah.

Brett Maffet:

About the about the Robinson's. And that's... It's it's amazing. It it truly is. And just to see that firsthand the representation of it, it is purely authentic.

Parker Amos:

People obviously may think I'm biased, but people do ask me that a lot, getting the chance to work with them, like, are they really that way? Yeah. You know, because you assume for TV, everything's put on a little bit. And, of course, it was exaggerated a little bit. It's reality TV.

Parker Amos:

But they really are authentically themselves. They're understanding about their faith just like they say they are. They love their neighbor. They do business well. Like, they really are genuine and, like, feel just like, hey.

Parker Amos:

How can we impact the next generation to do what we love to do? Yeah. And That's good. It is... To y'all's point, it's hard.

Parker Amos:

Like, it's harder to be that way maybe in this era, social media and everything. Everyone wants to put on this It's unquestionably, Connor.

Brett Maffet:

There's no way

Stephan Finley:

it's not harder. So here's something that's interesting. And and I don't... You... You're the emcee here.

Wade Shoemaker:

I'm here.

Stephan Finley:

Wade, I don't wanna take...

Wade Shoemaker:

There's no script. I have no notes. So I want y'all's thoughts

Stephan Finley:

on this. So one of the things in in filming today, we were talking about... You know, two years ago when I came... We we were we're working with Honey Break. They've went through an acquisition and all this all this stuff.

Stephan Finley:

It feels like a brand new place here. John McInnis has done an amazing job. Drew's done an amazing job. One of the things they kept talking about was being faith friendly, faith forward, doing more of that. They...

Stephan Finley:

Essentially, they went on to the JH Ranch, really found out what their purpose was. It's really fascinating. You should check it out. But one of the questions I asked was, when y'all have guests that come here, do you feel like there's men... So think about the idea of, like, you go to church on Sunday, you live your life the way you do in front of your family.

Stephan Finley:

Mhmm. Well, Monday comes and you go to work. Mhmm. You wanna still be the Sunday man. Right.

Stephan Finley:

For sure. Mhmm. You know, you're trying to hold that down. Well

Wade Shoemaker:

Monday still comes.

Stephan Finley:

Monday still comes. Then there's Tuesday. By the end of the week, you're like, I need some church again. Yeah. When when people come to, you know, a fine establishment like Honeybreaker somewhere else, I feel like there's kinda two modes.

Stephan Finley:

There's a sort of spring break mentality or

Wade Shoemaker:

Tighten the top.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. Yeah. And so the the question was, how have you seen the the pivot you guys have made to basically infuse, you know, being purpose driven and and and being faith forward? How have you seen that with the guests? Do they come and feel like they can show up and, like

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, how's it affected their demeanor and their posture?

Stephan Finley:

Could they be the man that they wanted to be? Yeah. Or did they feel like they needed to change to fit in?

Wade Shoemaker:

To be... To... Can they be Sunday, or do they feel like they need to be Thursday?

Brett Maffet:

Yes. Yeah. What was the answer you got?

Stephan Finley:

So, actually, one of the people that was here was David Huckabee.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, yeah. Him and his son. Mhmm.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. Yep.

Stephan Finley:

Great guy. Yep. For those that that are listening that don't know, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of Arkansas, is his sister, Huckabee, the Former governor of Arkansas. Former. Okay.

Stephan Finley:

I believe I live in Alabama.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Mike, her... His dad's that, like, used to be governor for Yeah. That and

Brett Maffet:

now his sister is.

Stephan Finley:

Oh. Oh. Mike is a former governor. Yeah. Yes.

Brett Maffet:

He Of Arkansas.

Stephan Finley:

He is the Did

Brett Maffet:

I say Alabama? Sorry. No. I want Islam today. No.

Brett Maffet:

You're good. Ambassador Israel. Right?

Stephan Finley:

He is the ambassador... US ambassador to Israel. He actually is.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Mike is.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. Mike is.

Stephan Finley:

Yes. I actually said, hey, David. Will you humor me? What was your dad really thinking with that Tucker Carlson interview?

Brett Maffet:

He's asked

Wade Shoemaker:

about it. Yeah. I did. I'll tell y'all about this right now.

Stephan Finley:

I'm gonna turn...

Wade Shoemaker:

As the MC, we're not going into that.

Stephan Finley:

I will say he was very kind. He was very kind. Yeah. Oh, for sure. But, yeah, we'll talk about that later.

Stephan Finley:

Anyway, David... I asked David that question, and he was saying one of the things I noticed here about Honey Break is that I brought my 15 year old son, and he mentioned the idea of so many of the people here, the staff, you know, because he he he said, like, staff and your guides, those are normally the guys that kind of almost have to be chameleons to kinda fit in. So that's where some of that behavior came in. But he's like, I was so impressed with how there was never really any locker room talk.

Wade Shoemaker:

Mhmm.

Stephan Finley:

Everybody was cutting up, poking at each other, you know, having fun, missing shots. He said, I I don't think I hit any Hallease

Wade Shoemaker:

last night.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. He was loving it.

Wade Shoemaker:

He drank so tough.

Stephan Finley:

He trashed himself pretty good.

Wade Shoemaker:

And his boy hit a couple of them. I was like, he's... I'm not I'm not gonna stop you,

Brett Maffet:

but No. You're good. He...

Wade Shoemaker:

I hit one. Hardly anybody hit me a bunch except Mike, the liar, but then Huckabee's son hit two, I think, didn't he?

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. Hit two or three. And then

Wade Shoemaker:

he come back, and he he just... He's high fived his daddy. He high fived his daddy. He goes, hit way more than you.

Stephan Finley:

He was twice

Wade Shoemaker:

as much as you did. Anyway, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Stephan Finley:

No. You're good. I was just saying, by the way, if you haven't played it, if you haven't done Hallease, it's awesome. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

You should make sure you get lot of jails.

Brett Maffet:

It is awesome, but

Wade Shoemaker:

we can't expect to be humbled. Exactly. Oh, boy.

Stephan Finley:

But he's... He was just saying how impressed he was where the people that were here, both both Honey Break and and you guys, it it just felt like everybody was the Sunday men.

Wade Shoemaker:

They're just here to hang out. They don't have anything to prove.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. And and maybe that's what it was, but I was like, man, that's... And so ultimately, what what Honey Break is doing is trying to con... Trying to cultivate that sort of guest experience and culture Yeah. It's...

Stephan Finley:

Which is super fast.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's good. If you can go somewhere and not I... The the... I've said that. I've I've talked to my wife about it, like, going to certain places and doing certain shows.

Wade Shoemaker:

And honestly, hunt hunt camps, it's like, you can go in some of them and you under... You know the dynamic is different. And and I and I don't... It doesn't matter which way. You know.

Wade Shoemaker:

And if you can go into the ones where you don't... Like, you you know that nobody has anything to prove. Yeah. Like, some of my favorite places to go, like, aren't... I don't know.

Wade Shoemaker:

It's not always somebody else's favorite place to go, but it... I'm not gonna name them. Doesn't matter. But it's like, you go when you show up, and they're there just to have a good time. They don't care.

Wade Shoemaker:

They're not having to prove themselves to you. You don't have to prove themselves or yourself to them because everybody knows who they are. They're comfort... Comfortable and confident in who they are. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

And they're just there to have a good time, hang out, build the community, and just add value to each other's lives. Mhmm. And and that's it. Like, putting this experience together that you put here, nobody here came thinking they had to be something that they weren't or act like they're further along than they were. We all know who we are and who we work for.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like... And we all know we're friends. So, like, to hear you put it into those words to articulate it that way and to understand where we're coming from as guests of this establishment. Right? It's pretty cool to see full circle.

Wade Shoemaker:

Is it your guy like that to come in who we did... We were like, because we didn't know who he was at first.

Parker Amos:

I didn't even know coming.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? We had no idea they were

Brett Maffet:

who he was till the sport.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's what I'm saying. Like... And and the cool thing about that is I just went, like, I just thought they were part of the group. I thought you brought them in. I'm like, well,

Stephan Finley:

they're with us.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? So we're just hanging out. But homie went and shot alligator yesterday, and I'm like, well, we didn't shoot alligators. Right.

Brett Maffet:

They're not

Wade Shoemaker:

with us. You know? But didn't matter because the the dude... The... His boy was cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

He was cool, and we just hung out. You know? Yeah. And I think that that that piece of the culture has a lot to do with it because if it was in other circles, it'd be like, what? Who?

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. Who's this guy

Wade Shoemaker:

think he is? You know? But it's not that way here. And it's not that... When a lot of places...

Wade Shoemaker:

Let me clarify. But intentionally trying to build a culture like that and cultivate something like that at a at a place like this is pretty impressive.

Stephan Finley:

Yeah. Because they're they're gonna have 3,000 hunters here. Which

Wade Shoemaker:

is bonkers. Also so clear.

Stephan Finley:

One of the details they added, as I'm sure you noticed when you went to your room, there was a bible on the thing, which is a fascinating story.

Wade Shoemaker:

Which is like the third place they've placed it. Did you tell

Stephan Finley:

you that? Yeah. That's what I was gonna say. Like, they they put they put it on the nightstand, but nobody would take it because they thought it was a Gideon bible.

Wade Shoemaker:

Well, they also thought it was just, like, for the room.

Parker Amos:

Yeah. Like, you read it while you're there.

Wade Shoemaker:

Mhmm. Yeah.

Brett Maffet:

And then

Stephan Finley:

they put notes on it, and nobody took it. So then finally, Drew's like, we're sticking it on the bed. Yeah. And I still text him. I'm like, bro.

Wade Shoemaker:

And they're nice too. It's not like this

Parker Amos:

Oh, it's a nice one.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, it's super nice. Soft leather. Like, I picked it up. Was like, oh. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

This isn't, like, cheap. You know? Yeah. Shouldn't expect it to be, but it does go through your head. This...

Wade Shoemaker:

They put some effort into that.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. That's that's the first thing I did when I walked in here. Check-in, obviously go to the room, saw the Bible, took a picture of it, sent it to my wife. She's like, oh, I like this place.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. It's nice.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah.

Stephan Finley:

Another funny story. Before they got those, John ordered some, and he he came... John's, you know, the owner. Yeah. He he came, went down to the water.

Stephan Finley:

He's like, Lord, show me what what I need to read today. And he opened where you're headed. Yeah. He's like, thou this... Thou thou shalt, you know, this Yeah.

Stephan Finley:

Like, he's like, oh, King James version. Probably need to do an IV.

Brett Maffet:

Yeah. We're gonna give we're

Wade Shoemaker:

gonna give these our folks, but we're doing new ones. Yeah. We can spell these words without having to, like, figure it out.

Stephan Finley:

But Yeah. Exactly.

Wade Shoemaker:

Anyway, I think they're getting ready to serve dinner. Eviction? Yeah. Well, not really. I mean, I was hoping everybody just come in and hang out, we would just swap headsets with people.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, I really... That was the goal, but they were, like, being too polite. So we're gonna let it ride, but I think I'm gonna end it here. We're at, like, almost forty minutes. I think that's great for this.

Wade Shoemaker:

Guys, I know this was kinda, like, not, like, put on. We didn't have a script. I didn't really know how this was gonna go. I'm glad you joined us. This added a great dot...

Wade Shoemaker:

Like, great layer to the conversation. Thanks for having me. Yeah, dude. But, look, I wanna thank you guys for being here. Parker, thank you for putting this together.

Wade Shoemaker:

Thank you for the invite. Thank you for getting everybody here. I think we're good. What do you think?

Brett Maffet:

I don't know.

Wade Shoemaker:

You're the boss. I think so. Cool.

Stephan Finley:

Well, guys, we're best. If you hit that red button, we're done.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, well, we'll go with that.

Stephan Finley:

Master of the red button.

Brett Maffet:

It's all you.

Wade Shoemaker:

Well, look. I'm gonna close this out. Folks, thank you for joining the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. Simon says we're done. Simon says we're done.

Wade Shoemaker:

My name is Wade. We'll see you next time. You have a good time. 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/du podcast 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.