Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Ascend is a multimedia platform that spotlights the millions of outdoorswomen across our country who go hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, biking, running, and perform important conservation work every day.
Our web series and podcast feature guests who share their experiences with a focus on entertainment, education, and authenticity. Our viewers and listeners will get to know them and learn all about their passion for the outdoors. Whether you've been in outdoor communities all your life or are just getting started, Ascend is the place for you to follow your story!
Brought to you by Ducks Unlimited.
Welcome to the ASCEND podcast, a podcast by and for women in the outdoors. Every episode delivers real stories, practical how to's, and a welcoming community to help you start, sharpen, or rediscover your passion for the outdoors. Authentic women, real stories, outdoor adventures, ASCEND. Presented by Ducks Unlimited, the leader in wetlands conservation. Your next adventure starts here, the ASCEND podcast.
VO:Don't forget to rate and review the ASCEND podcast. It's the best way to grow the podcast and help other women discover the next step on their outdoors journey.
Ruby:This week on the podcast, we're doing something a little different. My name is Ruby. I'm a digital media producer here at Ducks Unlimited. I am joined by Brandy Elrod, Ashley, and Blythe. They are part of Lady Outdoors Lifestyle, which is an outdoor women's media company.
Ruby:They do everything from newsletters to Instagrams to YouTubes. Yeah. Pretty much everything. Right?
Brandy:All the social media.
Ruby:In this episode, we're gonna be talking about two different hunts that these ladies have done. First one was a dove hunt, I believe, in Arizona. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Ashley:Quail. Quail.
Ruby:Quail hunt in Arizona. And then in Florida, we had an invasives hunt, which is my first ever hunt here at Ducks Unlimited to do some filming for these girls. So we're gonna discuss those two different hunts, and go check them out if you have the time. They're gonna be on our YouTube channel. So thanks for joining me today, guys.
Ashley:Happy to be here.
Brandy:We're excited to get you in front of the camera.
Ashley:It's time.
Brandy:Yep. Oh, no.
Ruby:Okay. So definitely not nervous. Hands are not sweating. First night, let's talk about Florida. So first night, pull up.
Ruby:I meet Brandy at the airport. I'm like, okay. What is this gonna be like? This is my first time ever doing, like, an outdoors videography. I've been doing, like, videography on my own for a long time and just enjoy doing that.
Ruby:I actually have a degree in biology, so this is definitely a skew from what I'm used to. And then not to mention just going into a group of girls that I don't know any of them. I'm like, oh my gosh, what's going on here? So I come, and I meet with Brandy and Lauren. And then we get an Uber.
Ruby:We drive back to the Airbnb. I'm gonna be staying with them for, I think, four nights, three day three nights, four days, something like that. And doing three different hunts. First one, python. Second one, iguana.
Ruby:Third one is invasive fish in the Okeechobee Lake. And then so we pull up and get to the dinner table. I meet everybody straight into conspiracy theories as we were discussing. And I'm like, this is great. This is gonna be a good time.
Ruby:We're already talking about conspiracy theories. I already know there's gonna be some off the wall conversations that I'm really gonna enjoy. And I'm currently editing the episode for Florida and just having a ball. Editing it, honestly, because I'll see you guys talking about certain things and I'm just cracking up. There's a lot of bleeping that I will have to do.
Ruby:Sorry. But that's okay. So how is it for you guys? Tell me a little bit about your Arizona hunt first, and then we can get into the Florida a little bit.
Brandy:So Arizona I mean, Arizona was a trip that we were there with Her Upland. And that is a nonprofit national organization where we take women hunting in the outdoors as far as on public land to hunt upland birds. And one of the things with Her Upland is you really like, you get to the hunts and the what we call them camps and clinics, and you really probably don't know anybody. And so it's a totally different experience. You're making new friends.
Brandy:You're empowering women. I'm on the board. I'm a wing shooting instructor. I've been what's called squad lead, which basically I cook all the meals, keep everybody happy. And so it's just a different experience.
Brandy:And we had Landon on that at that camp. And, you know, we were in the middle of nowhere. And I remember way back when doing all of the meetings with Clay and everybody, and they were telling me about Landon, and I'm like, oh, boy. So I I was like, I'm just you know, you've gotta be really physically fit, and you've gotta have the right gear. And so Clay was like, what do I do?
Brandy:And I was like, just give Landon the credit card. And so it was you know, that episode was absolutely beautiful. We were and in Arizona is beautiful, and everything that her upland does is amazing as far as education and empowering women. And so but it was different with you. I when Clay first told me, he had this, like, epiphany of to send you to Florida because at first, we didn't have a videographer, and we were getting pretty close.
Brandy:And I'm like, okay, Clay. Like, what are we doing? Ashley kept sending me names. I would send them to Clay. She would send some to Clay.
Brandy:And and he's like, no. I got I I think I got it. And so we've we stalked you.
Ashley:We We had to. As soon as we got a last name, we were like, let's find her. Yeah. We had to see what we were getting.
Ruby:You're like,
Ashley:I don't
Ruby:know how to pronounce it, but I'm gonna write it down. Exactly.
Brandy:Spell check. Yeah. We basically FBI'd you. And so
Ruby:I mean, digital footprint footprints these days.
Brandy:Exactly. Crazy. Yeah. And so we knew you were an outdoors person, but what that that was it. Yeah.
Ruby:No no hunting experience.
Brandy:Yeah. Yep. And so when you were telling us all of that, I was like, oh gosh. And but it was first of all, I didn't do the python hunt. I don't do rope ropes.
Brandy:You missed out. Yeah. No. No. Something about sticking the one perfectly good hand I have into a bush and it bites me, like, no.
Brandy:No.
Ashley:I don't even think any of us got bit this year.
Ruby:No. I mean
Ashley:By the water snake, but nobody got bit by the python. Last year
Brandy:By the water snake. I mean,
Ashley:all of them? Sharon got bit, like, three times. Yeah. Alexis got bit by the water snake.
Ruby:Sharon got bit three times.
Ashley:Well, yeah. Because she
Ruby:bit three times. That's just like you're trying to get bit. Right.
Ashley:No. No. No. No. So she went in, and the python was in a bush, like, kinda concealed.
Ashley:It was really difficult difficult to get to. And she pulled it out by the tail, which is what you're supposed to do. So step one complete. Then she goes to grab the head. Just the tiny little thing.
Ashley:Successful. Well yeah. Right. Grabbed a little bit far back, so she gets bit once. Well, she she doesn't panic by any means, but she kinda starts trying to get out of this bush.
Ashley:Well, somebody was in her way, and she ends up falling on top of the snake. So she gets bit. Totally not it was nobody's fault, really. They're just picturing Sharon. Know.
Ashley:I know. I think that's why she didn't wanna come this year. She's such a trooper. Like I know. That lady right there, if you wanna do any sort of hunting, like, that's No.
Ruby:She had a good attitude about it.
Ashley:She was her. Yeah. Yeah. But in a situation like that, you're in the Everglades. You're in the thickest brush you've ever seen, and you experienced it.
Ashley:Like, everything's poking you. Then they're like, oh, there's water moccasins. Oh, this fell
Ruby:in the water multiple times.
Brandy:Oh, yeah. Right now, doing it
Ruby:on highlight reel of You're Falling, which I have several shots of.
Ashley:Well, tip number one.
Ruby:One of the times I swear I tripped you. No. I think I did.
Ashley:You probably did. Tip number one, bring the right gear. I got to the airport that morning, and I realized I had my Crocs on. Okay. I had a very nice outfit on with Crocs.
Ashley:And then I only packed my deck boots that are covered in fish blood from bowfishing. Mhmm. I looked an absolute mess. I didn't have the right gear, but you know what? We got it done.
Ruby:Yeah. No hiking or,
Brandy:like No.
Ashley:I totally forgot them at home. I left them right by my door at the house. I texted them that morning, and I was like, guys, forgot my boots, forgot this, forgot that. I don't have anything. My delayed.
Ashley:My Crocs are literally covered in blood, and I had this very nice outfit on. I'm like Wait.
VO:Were they covered in
Ruby:blood when you were at
Ashley:the airport? Bathroom and rinse them off. At the airport. Yeah. Because I they were covered in hog blood.
Ashley:I didn't want I did not want to walk through the airport like that, and it was so early in the morning. I just I I didn't even
Ruby:think you'd raise some concerns if you walked
Ashley:through TSA with blood on table. Scared, so I went right to the bathroom. Yeah. I contemplated having my mom wearing my boots, but I was like, we'll make it work. How would your mom bring her?
Ashley:To the airport. Go home and get them and bring them back to me. Okay. That's what it
Ruby:worked out. We're getting off topic.
Ashley:We're getting off topic.
Ruby:So let's see what else. Do you wanna talk about us the hunt in Arizona anymore? Or anything about that? About yeah. Like
Ashley:Maybe about brand. Blythe, that's where we gotta bring her in.
Ruby:Yeah. Yeah. So let's talk about, like, were you a contributor to the hunt? Were you kind of facilitating? Were you just That hit for sure.
Ruby:Was
Ashley:were a scholarship recipient. Yes.
Ruby:Oh, wow.
Ashley:That would be helpful.
Blythe:About that. Okay. Yep. Yeah. Okay.
Blythe:Yeah. So for the Arizona Hunt, I was lucky enough to receive the college scholarship. So I got to go there and experience everything her upland had to offer and had had a great time, learned so much, met so many amazing people. It was a really cool experience. Thankful for that.
Blythe:Yeah. It was it was awesome.
Ruby:Yeah. How does that work? Do you submit something?
Blythe:Yeah. I've submitted an application, and they pick, I think, one one one person to go. Cool. And I was looking up to get it.
Ruby:Yeah. That's awesome. Is it one person a year?
Ashley:I think
Blythe:it's one person
Ashley:Every camp.
Brandy:Every yes. Every camp. Okay. Multiple Yeah. So her upland has what's called the Feather Foundation.
Brandy:And what the Feather Foundation is is women. They go hunt public land, upland birds, and then they harvest the pelts and make earrings and basically feather crafts, hat bands, and all that kind of stuff. And we sell them at Pheasant Fest every year. And then all of that money is used for scholarships. Every single camp and clinic, we give anywhere from one to three scholarships for youth.
Brandy:And then we have started this year doing 50% scholarships for adult women. We wanna make sure that it's And one of the cool things about the youth scholarships is that covers all their costs. And then if they have a, if they're a minor, it also covers the cost of their chaperone too. Wow. Yeah.
Brandy:And so Blythe, we also had another collegiate.
Ruby:And is this run by donors? How does this
Brandy:So Her Upland is run by a board.
Ashley:Okay.
Brandy:It's all volunteer based. Wow. It yeah. It's like I said, I'm on the board for Her Upland. I am the partnership co chair.
Brandy:So if you wanna partner with us, give me a shout. And then I'm also the communications chair. So I handle the newsletter, social media, all of that. And that's where Ashley comes in because she's our new social media manager now. She's, like, freaking killing it.
Brandy:She's also social media manager for LOL, So that was kind of like a no brainer because not only does she understand the analytics and everything, she understands the outdoor industry. And when you're talking about an organization that is ran through what we call partnerships or sponsorships, it is integral for people to know who we are.
Ruby:Yeah.
Brandy:And so, you know, Blythe getting that scholarship was huge because she's also a wildlife management major. Yeah. Is that how
Ruby:you sorry. Is that how you guys met? Blythe?
Brandy:Yeah. So Blythe actually is one of so I used to teach ag, and I was a high school shotgun coach, and Blythe was one of my students. I taught Blythe her freshman and sophomore year, and I started her as far as her clay target shotgun career, freshman and sophomore year. And then I retired,
Blythe:and she left me.
Brandy:Yep. I left her.
Ashley:All
Brandy:alone. And so But couldn't get rid of me. Yep. Blythe is what I call my rental kid. I'm fun mom.
Brandy:And so she gets to go on all these cool adventures with me. She so she went to Arizona. She's gone to South Dakota with me kinda everywhere. She's gonna go quite a few places with me this year. She's now so another cool thing about her upland is we find that a lot of the women, and youth that are participants become volunteers.
Brandy:And so Blythe is going to volunteer at the Nebraska Pointing Dog Camp, as on squads. So she'll be basically hospitality, keeping the ladies fed, all of that kind of stuff. And then she's gonna do the same thing at the California Wing Shooting Clinic in September. And then
Ashley:Wait. Is that a hard launch for that event?
Brandy:Oh, yeah. Come see us in September in California. And I'm the wing shooting instructor for that. So, you know, if you think I'm cool, come say hello.
Ashley:Hard launch.
Brandy:Hard lunch. Yeah. By
Ashley:the way.
Ruby:And then
Ashley:You heard it here first.
Brandy:Mhmm. Yeah. Hopefully, she'll be with us.
Ruby:I don't need to do social media posts for that. There we go.
Brandy:There we go. Hopefully, she's with us at Quail Camp in, December in Oklahoma. Yep. Hopefully. Awesome.
Ashley:Yeah. So that's one of
Brandy:the cool things about Her Upland is we are all volunteer ran and mostly women. So it's women teaching women, and that is huge. Yeah. I am so like, as a person, I am all about empowering other women to get outdoors and get to do the cool things that I've always got to do. And so that's why I always try to be with organizations that do the same thing.
Ashley:Yeah. So what I think it's important important to point out, and I think we saw a lot of that in the Arizona episode, but Her Upland is a very genuine women's group. I feel like even going to Florida with you, I was like, man, when you get a group of women together, like, honestly, you never know what's gonna happen. And it only takes one bad apple. And with Her Upland, the couple events I've been to so far, whether it's been photography or hunting or just volunteering and being involved, it's such a genuine group where you're truly learning something.
Ashley:Yeah. You're not there paying someone's bills. You're not there gossiping or any of that. Like, you're truly learning. And everyone wants to support you and wants to get you in the field to learn those things.
Ashley:Her Upland is just one of those organizations where I'm so happy we did that Arizona episode because I think it really portrayed that and especially starring Mindy. Mindy's first quail. Yeah. That was honestly like, she I had never shot a quail before that either. And watching her get to experience that and kinda do it together, incredible.
Blythe:Almost brought me to tears.
Ashley:It was awesome. So you should have seen it in person. It's I can imagine. Exciting to watch other women really thrive in such an educational, like, supportive environment for sure.
Ruby:The mission is higher. Like,
Ashley:there there
Ruby:is there is a goal, and it's a shared goal. And so you share the same goal of wanting to raise each other up, but in an outdoor setting where you're learning together and not only learning, but connecting. Yes. Yeah. It's a special spot.
Ashley:Well, when I walk up there with all my duck hunting gear. Right? I have no idea what's even going on. Like and that's why I say it's so important that it's such a genuine environment because quite honestly, I was like, I'm gonna become a pro uplander. Like, I talk a lot of crap.
Ashley:Right? I had no idea what I was doing. I had no like, I've shot at Planet Birds, but those were wild quail. I mean, I'm out there in the baggiest duck hunting clothes I own because that's all I own. And they outfitted me with a gun.
Ashley:Like, they made sure I had snacks and water and all the things. And Emma, the lady is that her name?
Brandy:Yes. Yeah. Emma Auto.
Ashley:Yeah. She was kinda coaching us through it. And, obviously, I was there for photography. So she was coaching another lady and Mindy through everything, and I was watching. I was like, oh, I might I might actually be able to do this.
Ashley:You're like,
Ruby:wait a minute. Maybe I don't know what I'm doing.
Ashley:Like, I really hope these ladies get a bird. You know? And they totally did.
Ruby:Were you super hot?
Ashley:Like, in your Oh, it was a mess. My pants were too big. Like, I had duck hunting clothes on. Like, I had baggy clothes on where I can climb in and out of boats and in and out of the marsh and things. I was not dressed for
Brandy:up and What
Ruby:time does
Brandy:the trip?
Blythe:None. Good. No.
Ashley:You're on camera.
Brandy:It was so I've been to Arizona three years in a row now, and this is the best weather we've ever had.
Ashley:It was beautiful.
Brandy:It rained. Nice. And even though the populations of birds were so much lower, the dogs could find the birds. Yeah. And that was one of the cool things, Not to cut you off about the duck hunting clothes, but one of the things whenever I sat down to do the interview, I my interview was, like, forty five or fifty minutes long.
Brandy:And I'm just like, okay. I'm selling, you know, her upland. Because I've been with the organization for a while now as a volunteer and as a participant. And so and then to see the edit of it. Holy moly.
Brandy:It's crazy what you guys do on the back end because, you know, we're just going through the motions. Like, because I ended up in Arizona. I was there to be squad lead and just cook for everybody, and then we had some issues with Arizona fishing game. And we couldn't shoot on the land that we were used to shooting on. So we had to drive 40 miles south, which meant that trying to make that happen with one wing shooting instructor was just not gonna happen.
Brandy:Because Grace Callahan, awesome, was there as a wing shooting instructor. And so they asked me. They're like, do you think you can handle both? And I'm like, why not? So we ran all of the ladies in one day.
Brandy:Normally, it's over two days. And we ran all of the ladies in one day. And, you know, having to be the squad lead and the wing shooting instructor, it was a lot. But I made it happen because, I mean, like I said, I'm always there. I wanna make sure that the ladies are having a good time and they're learning and stuff like that.
Ruby:You're very organized. Like, I realized that also on the Python Hunt, you're like, okay. What are we cooking? What are we making?
Brandy:Oh, yeah.
Ruby:We're gonna be here at this time, here at that time. You're coordinating with everyone. You're telling me what's happening. It was great because I, being like, first of all, first time going Right. On the hunt like this.
Ruby:Second of all, just not Yeah. Knowing where we were Yeah. I mean, you guys gave me a lot no. Not. Yeah.
Ruby:Yeah. But I felt prepared, and it was great. Yeah. You told me too much information. I'm just kidding.
Ruby:Shocker. Communication. It was great. It was great. I loved having that.
Brandy:Yeah. I am very much a itinerary person. Like, I have everything planned out to a tee. Even if it doesn't go that way, like, I'm I also don't freak out if stuff doesn't go the way that it's supposed to, but she can even ask Blythe. You know, whenever I was her high school shotgun coach and ag teacher and we would prepare for the big tournaments where we would be gone for three, four, five days, I would, several weeks in advance, send the parents out this full on itinerary down to clothes, snacks, everything.
Brandy:Who's doing what? Because I also had like, we would stay in Airbnbs and we would have chore charts. So, like, the kids would have chores that they would have to do. Like, they cooked. They cleaned.
Ruby:I There's a lot to go into it. Yeah. And we Not only that, but the gear and you're doing things that are kind of extreme Yep. And maybe dangerous and yeah.
Ashley:That's what I was gonna add. And when you're hunting, you have to be that way. Right. When there's guns involved and there's that many people, obviously, we're not all together, but safety is such a priority. Even python hunting.
Ashley:Like, we had a game plan and we kinda knew even though guns are not involved, you still have to be safe. Yeah. Like, if I fall in the canal, again,
Ruby:you and that kind of stuff.
Ashley:I was a little
Ruby:worried about Candice there for a second. Yeah. Because she was turning red.
Ashley:Yeah. But yeah.
Brandy:Yeah. No. And that's the thing. Like, with her upland, you're talking that you're feeding upwards of 25 to 30 people. So you've gotta be organized with all of that.
Brandy:And then going back into Florida, I've treated that like a trip of that I am there entertaining people. You know, Dave Miller is a good friend of mine, and he is a world record holder and lean shooting instructor and all of that kind of stuff. And he was we got to talk him one day about instruction. And, you know, I've been teaching for quite a while now, not near as long as him. But he was like, you know, you're an entertainer, and it makes so much sense.
Brandy:And whenever I'm all on these hunts, these organized hunts, I'm there to entertain you. I wanna make sure that you are having a good time. You are fed. I'm keeping you alive, and and you're learning. And I kind of, you know, approached the the Florida hunt the same way.
Brandy:The cool thing about it is Ashley had already done it, so we knew what to expect. Right. But this time, it was with friends. So it was kinda one of those things of I at least wanted to make sure that, okay, you know, we knew everybody's flights. We knew how everybody was getting there.
Brandy:We knew where we were staying. It had a kind of a game plan as far as food and stuff like that because of the mere factor of I didn't want to have to worry about those things once we got there because I wanted everybody to have fun.
Ashley:Yeah.
Brandy:I also I'm not gonna lie. I was already organized before you we were bringing you into this, but then I felt a little bit better because with you being kinda new to that world, I wanted to make sure that, like, I could be there to help you do whatever you needed and all that kind of stuff because I'd already been through this.
Ruby:Right.
Brandy:Right. So, like, even though it was different with her upland because it was all educational and there was two videographers there and I was just, you know, would randomly get pulled aside or have a, you know, a camera stuck in my face or whatever and, you know, just keep going and stuff like that. It was just one of those things that just making sure that you were comfortable.
Ruby:I'd never done a hunt before, so that was new for me. I've I've done outdoor stuff. I've done a lot of hiking and outdoors things, and I have outdoor gear in certain ways. But there's other things that I, like, definitely don't have gear for. I'd never been to Florida before.
Ruby:So well, maybe when I was younger. But basically, I just had no idea what I was getting into. So I was like, at Bass Pro Shop, just like, what am I doing here? And then I was texting you guys. I was sending you photos.
Ruby:I was like, what about this and what about that? And you guys were super helpful with that. So you definitely gave me the whole rundown of everything. And I can imagine also for just women going into hunting for the first time. I mean, that's what ASCEND's all about is getting women outdoors and having people like you guys who are just so willing to share and so willing to give your expertise and kind of pave the way for women and give them even if it seems like too much detail, it's not.
Ruby:Yeah. And to you, it's like, oh, that's I've done this for so many years. This so normal to me. But to people that are just coming in, they're like, I don't even know how I'm supposed to lace up my shoes. You know?
Ruby:Yeah. So stuff like that where it's like, you you gotta give them the details. It is good. Yeah.
Ashley:Well, I think even the three of us, like, we are pretty close. I'd consider us all really good friends. We hunt completely differently. Mhmm. Like, I'm definitely kinda more of, like, the redneck.
Ashley:Let's make it happen. South Texas. Like, I'm gonna have the gear, but I'm definitely going to redneck it a little bit.
Ruby:Quail hunt and duck gear.
Ashley:Yeah. You know? If I've got it, that's what's gonna get done. Yeah. Definitely more like South Texas down and dirty.
Ashley:I think these guys are definitely more upland hunting, which is a totally different ballgame. Mhmm. So when we come into these environments, whether it's Arizona quail or Florida, I think between the three of us, we all kinda have advice in these different gear lists and these different must have products. Like, Brandy's gonna think of sunscreen and bug spray. It's probably not gonna cross
Brandy:my nose.
Ashley:Yeah. Snack. Snack.
Ruby:Yeah. You're using that sunscreen, though.
Brandy:I sure was.
Ashley:You see this?
Brandy:I should have used the deep. Came home with
Ruby:Yeah. Okay. So we can tell that story. I was a little anxious about ticks. I'm from Washington State.
Ruby:So I was like, I do not like ticks. I would rather run into a bear than a tick. No. Thank you. And so I was just checking myself, you know, I wasn't gonna stress about it, but I was definitely checking myself for ticks every night.
Ruby:And then I was like starting to get sick by the third day and I was then getting anxious. I was like, okay, what if I have a tick on me and I just don't know canal water. Yeah. Exactly. Or the canal water.
Ruby:There's a lot of things that could have caused sickness. But the tick eventually I didn't get a tick.
Brandy:Oh, I did.
Ruby:But Brandy did. Yep. And she was making fun of me because she was like, oh, you don't have you don't have a tick. You don't have a rash. It's fine.
Ruby:It's fine. And then she gets home and she has a tick on her.
Brandy:Yep. And sand fleas. So, yes.
Ashley:Is that what it was?
Brandy:Yep. Yes. So I had to call Teladoc twice. Got the same doctor. He told me I must have had a lot of fun in Florida.
Brandy:So, yeah, I came
Ruby:are sand fleas.
Brandy:They're literally I don't know. They you can get them off of seaweed and all kinds of stuff. How I got attacked, but nobody else did, I do not know. But, yeah, they wreaked havoc on me.
Ruby:They there was more than one?
Brandy:Well, so I mean, they literally, like, got all over my neck.
Ashley:And we shared a room. No. Yeah. Like, we were in the same room.
Ruby:Then wait. You had bumps all over your neck this whole time.
Brandy:Well, they apparently, whenever I was I think what happened
Ashley:They're like, actively crawling over. No. No.
Ruby:No. She's never gonna go back to Florida
Brandy:again. No.
Ruby:No. They're
Ashley:not, like, not actively crawling. She showered. Yeah.
Brandy:I I
Ruby:was, like, picturing her in the bed next to you just, you know, crawling all over.
Ashley:I did. How did you not notice?
Brandy:No. I think whenever I got Sharon's like, we gotta get in the in the ocean. And I'm like, no. And she's like, no. We gotta get in the ocean.
Brandy:And then a big wave, I got slapped in the face with all this seaweed, like, all down my, like, face and neck, and that's literally where everything was. And so I started talking to a couple of friends of mine, and they're like, you know they're sand fleas, and they can be in the seaweed. It makes total sense. And because it started, like, a day end of day two, day three. Yeah.
Brandy:Had to go get some cortisone cream, ended up having to get some steroid cream. And then I got you know? And then the tick literally sitting talking to someone, and I'm like, I feel something on my arm, and it was a tick. So then I had to get some antibiotics. Looks like I had too much fun in a college party.
Brandy:But yeah. So I that was karma.
Ruby:I guess so. That's what I was thinking.
Brandy:That was totally karma, and I will so own that one. I gave you so much crap in Florida about all the things, and I was the one that got bit.
Ashley:Yep. I mean, honestly, you came pretty close. Like, between concrete pillars,
Ruby:alligators Alligators. This is true.
Ashley:Mouth, full speed boat. There were some things. I didn't know
Ruby:that the canals there, you could, like, literally get diseases from, and I'm not used to that. Even here in Memphis, like Yeah. The water here isn't that great. And there's certain places that you can go, but I recently just swam in a river near Memphis and found out later that there's e coli or something in it. Anyways, not used to that.
Ruby:I was just at the end of the boat trying to get some shots, you know, talking with my mouth open. Brandy's like, you don't wanna get that in your mouth.
Ashley:I jumped in the water last year and did not get sick. But I will tell you, the water is thick.
Ruby:Like Yeah.
Ashley:It's not just normal water.
Brandy:It's brown for a reason.
Ashley:Yeah. It is brown. But when you're swimming in that water, like, it's like swimming in syrup. It's the weirdest thing. I don't know what it is.
Ashley:I did not jump again this year probably for that reason, but when it's that day
Ruby:nasty. I've seen people I've
Blythe:seen videos of these type of hunts. I wasn't on the Florida trip, so I'm kind of learning as y'all are talking. But I've seen videos of people jumping in after these iguanas before all over Instagram. Is that not what
Ashley:you do? I mean, yeah, if you
Ruby:Are you I guess you can just choose not get her to do it.
Ashley:Yeah. You choose not to, but it's also kind of like, you know, when you are shooting at these iguanas, one, they're so tough. Like, they're so hard to hit as we learned. And when you do hit them, if it's not directly in that head, they will jump off those rocks, and they go into the water for safety. So but what they like to do when they're injured is they stay kinda surface level, maybe a foot deep.
Ashley:Right. And you can see them from on top of the boat. So you'll jump on them and catch them before they get away. Like, you don't want them just to die. Like, you've gotta try to get them.
Ashley:So that's what would provoke one of us to jump in the water. We didn't really run into a situation like that this year, so we were lucky. If we woulda had a perfect situation like I did last year, probably woulda jumped in. But I was trying to avoid that at all cost.
Brandy:Do not agree. Just like the whole no broke thing, which going back to that talking about, I thought you shot them with shotguns, and then whenever I found out you don't do that
Ashley:You you thought we shot the snakes with shotguns? I don't know
Brandy:why I thought that. I I don't know.
Ruby:Wait. What do you mean? Catch them with them when
Brandy:You catch them with your hand.
Blythe:And then what?
Ashley:And then you put them in a bag.
Ruby:Oh. My reaction exactly.
Brandy:Yeah. No. Who wants to do that?
Blythe:I mean, I'd be down, but, yeah, it's pretty crazy.
Ashley:Honestly, you would love it. I think I would.
Ruby:You would love it.
Brandy:Well, it was so funny because You're three.
Ruby:I I also wonder if that's why partially what the reason why it's hard to maintain them. Well, actually, no. That's not why. That's because they're separate, and they're all just all over the place.
Ashley:Well, they have so many babies at a time. Yeah. Yeah. We got on a a nest last year, and there was 20 or 25 eggs in it. Oh my gosh.
Ashley:I mean, they repopulate so quickly. And when you think about the Everglades, you're talking about hundreds of thousands of acres. Those snakes can be anywhere. Like, if you ask Mike, you wanna talk about conspiracy theories, there's a lot of things that go into, one, how the pythons got there, how they're being regulated, and some of the less desirable laws that are on regulating them. But what Mike and them are doing, it makes a dent, absolutely.
Ashley:And the more people that get out there and go on those hunts, one, it it's just a badass time. Like, you're having a lot of fun. It is like nothing else I've ever done, which is why I've been back two times in a row. But to manage them, unless the state of Florida really gets involved, I don't think you're gonna manage that population the way it needs it.
Ruby:Yeah. Yeah. It's just it's not only the python. It's like so many other things. Yeah.
Ruby:It's just the perfect place for invasive species because it's warm enough so that there's no cold winters and they don't freeze, which actually, the winter, you you you were talking about Yeah. How it did freeze. And a lot of the iguana and python died, and they haven't been seeing as much.
Ashley:Well, I could say you definitely could see that in the iguana population. We went in June of last year, and they were every Every rock had an iguana, every tree. So being back this year, obviously, I mean, we still shot, like, thirty, forty, 50 of them between the two roads. They're still in abundance. Mhmm.
Ashley:But those freezes make a big difference. And Mike said it too. You know? We love to see them dead, but we wanna be the ones to
Brandy:kill them.
Ashley:Yeah. Okay? We wanna be the ones to kill them.
Brandy:It was weird because, like, the iguana hunting was up a bucket list for me. And then we get there, and there's not a lot of them. So from that standpoint, like, I love the fact of the conservation side. I learned so much, especially because the dogs you know, that was such a cool thing too watching the dogs, learning about how much it you know, how much goes into creating, quote, unquote, an iguana dog. But then there's we our boat maybe saw 20 to 25 iguanas total.
Ashley:Yeah.
Brandy:So it was just it was like, man. You know? Which I was terrible at it. Like, give me a shotgun. I'm your girl.
Ruby:You hit one at least. How many did you hit? Two.
Brandy:And I shot God knows how much. I don't know how to look down a scope. Gave me a shotgun. They're done. But yeah.
Brandy:So it was just so weird because you're on a moving boat. You're trying to look down a scope. It was just such a weird experience.
Ruby:I think you got a really small one too. Right?
Brandy:That was Mindy.
Ruby:Oh, okay. Really?
Ashley:Yeah. Think Mindy got the smallest of the day. Was pretty impressive.
Ruby:Yeah. It was teeny. Yeah. Teeny little one. Yeah.
Ruby:The other boat said that they got a smaller one, but the dog didn't find it. Uh-huh. So they were like, so we got the so they had a bet going on where the there was two different boats, a boat of four women and a boat of five. Right?
Ashley:I believe so. Yeah. And
Ruby:then they would see who got the biggest and who got the smallest, and you guys got the smallest because you two were in a boat together.
Ashley:The biggest.
Brandy:She got the biggest.
Ruby:I think
Ashley:we got the biggest and
Brandy:the smallest on us. They got the most.
Ruby:Yeah. They said they got the smallest. I have something in my eye. I'm sorry.
Brandy:They actually did they saw way more than we did, but they could also get into not making excuses. But they could get into Sounds like some excuses. They could get into tighter places. We were on a pontoon boat. So, like, there was a couple you know, we had to turn around a couple times, and couldn't go certain places.
Brandy:And so I think that also from what Mike was telling me, that did make a difference because we couldn't get into some of the places that he likes to go because of the boat we were on. Because it was also Florida Expo weekend. So he had a couple of boats in the shop, and his good boat was up at the Florida Expo. So we were stuck with the boat that he just rammed right into a tree. Just kept I on
Ruby:forgot about that. The boat literally breaks on a tree.
Ashley:We're all like, oh, and he's like, it's about time I put a hole
Ruby:in it. So
Brandy:Yeah. He didn't care.
Ruby:He's like, I don't even like this boat.
Ashley:Yeah. Well, in touching back on the dogs, I think that plays a pretty heavy role, like, role in it also. You know, last year, I was with Otto, rest in peace. Well, these are his kids. Like, these are Otto puppies that they're training up now.
Ashley:Yeah. And I was talking pretty in-depth with Jimmy and Mike, and they go into detail how it can take three or four years to really get these dogs trained up. Like, one, they're color blind. Like, they can't even see these iguanas half the time.
Ruby:And then
Brandy:they don't really have a smell.
Ashley:Yeah. So they're going I mean, it just is practice, and they're learning it. There's nobody else that I know of that is training these dogs to do python and iguana. Mike's kind of one of a kind in that aspect. Yeah.
Ashley:And or the original at least. So when you have these puppies coming out there that are less than a year old, that plays a big role in it. But quite honestly, that's one of my favorite parts of the hunts. Obviously, working with Auto, that is a legend right there. Last year was absolutely incredible.
Ashley:But seeing Uzi in Blue and Trigger, those are all his puppies. It was honestly pretty incredible to kinda see them learn and come up and and see what they're capable of. It it adds to the hunt for sure. Yeah.
Brandy:For sure. It was pretty funny because they're so high drive.
Ashley:Yeah.
Brandy:They kept jumping off the boat. And so and, I mean, and they would have, you know, collar and leash on, and they would just go over. Or, you know, when we were going under the bridges and the, the water pipes and stuff like that, you're like, are they gonna get down? Kinda like you. Are they gonna get And then it's like, oh, and then the last minute, they duck.
Brandy:So, you know, it was pretty cool to see that such high drive. But then it was also we saw the puppy. You know? One of the puppies literally ran right over the top of an iguana on a tire, but they're color blind. So it's like, you know, you can't smell them.
Brandy:Yeah. And so we got to see their training moments too, and it was pretty neat. And then there was one of the puppies doesn't have the drive. So, you know, that one stayed on the boat just trying to, you know, instill that drive because it's it's not like you can you know, whenever you're training a bird dog, especially like the upland dogs and, like, I've I've got a puppy right now or even whenever I was training Ellie, you know, it's so easy to get chucker and pheasant and all that kind of stuff, and they have a smell. Yeah.
Brandy:It's not like that with iguana. Right. So it was quite interesting. I I learned the I I'm such a woman. I love to learn about the weird things and research it and everything like that.
Brandy:And it's so it was super cool to not only learn about Florida conservation from the invasive side, but how they're doing it and the dogs behind it. So I'm super excited, know, the episode and all that kind of stuff because I also you don't associate something like that with a bunch of women. So, I mean, we got down and dirty. You know? And it was like, I am very I live life very fearlessly.
Brandy:I have this rule that I will do try anything once as long as it doesn't break my left arm. And so that was just kinda one of those things. Like, I marked it off the list. The bow fishing, I have been bow fishing so much, but I there were so many fish. And it but it's, like, also sad because they're just ruining the lake.
Brandy:They are ruining the lake.
Ruby:Yeah.
Ashley:But I got to
Ruby:invasive species are just, like, ruining Yeah.
Brandy:I got to harvest my what I called my aquarium fish. But so yeah. No. It was it it the the learning side of it was pretty awesome. Yeah.
Brandy:And it was so cool, like, to watch you because you could just see, like, you were so focused on what you were doing, but then you were also, like, so focused on learning too. So it was pretty cool because, you know, even though I had never done something like that as far as the iguana, I've you know, the hunting and it all goes hand in hand. The conservation, all of that goes hand in hand. So it was just a, you know, it was just another species of something for me. But for you, it was something like, oh my gosh.
Brandy:This is so cool. And just watching My
Ruby:jaw dropped, like, 20 times, partially at you guys and partially at the hunts. Yeah. As you're telling me about the things that are in your kitchen. I
Ashley:should have brought it.
Brandy:Oh. I should have brought it. No. You took the head of a lizard cub In in a
Ashley:a Burger King cup. No. Really? Okay. So it thawed.
Ashley:Because remember we went from bow fishing at, like, 1AM. Well, my flight was at, like, 5AM. Yeah. Went to the hotel, slept for, like, forty five minutes, put the iguana in the fridge. Okay.
Ashley:And melted.
Ruby:Just casually put the iguana in the fridge.
Ashley:No problem. Really nice hotel too. Like, hooked it up. And I'm, like, walking through the lobby. It was bad.
Ashley:Another, like, croc covered in blood at the airport type of situation. So, anyways, I go to the airport and it's, like, in my bag. And I was like, dude, this is gonna start to stink. Like, I have, like, a three and a half hour flight. Like, I have to do something.
Ashley:So I tried to put it in my Owala. It didn't fit. And I was like, well, thank God because I don't wanna ruin that. So I go to Burger King and I put it in a cup with some ice. Totally made it home.
Ashley:I, like, put it in a bag. I, like, had it in a little, like, grocery plastic bag. It I had it all wrapped up. It was good to go. And when I got home, I cleaned it up, and I put it in formaldehyde to, like, wet specimen it.
Ashley:Because I'm big on okay. I'm not eating this. Like, I can't get past the smell. I don't wanna
Ruby:eat it.
Brandy:Oh, that smell was awful.
Ashley:It's so bad. And everyone's like, my gosh. It tastes so good. I'm not eating it. But I'm very big on using what I harvest.
Ashley:So what else was I gonna do with it?
Ruby:Right. You
Brandy:have to wet specimen.
Ruby:Eat iguana. People do iguana. But They say it tastes
Brandy:yeah. Did y'all try No. The smell was so bad. So we stopped the Chick fil A with this iguana in the cooler. And there's no words on the smell of it.
Brandy:But it's so funny. We're all, like, lounging in the pool.
Ruby:I'm so not used to this too. Like, I was like I'm so not used to hunting in general. But then to just walk outside to my right, she's literally, like, pulling open an iguanas chest.
Ashley:Get a little redneck.
Ruby:I'm like, is going on?
Brandy:Ashley, Mindy, and Sharon sitting there on hopefully, the lady that owns Airbnb doesn't see this. We cleaned it all up.
Ruby:Yes. She was very respectful. Yeah.
Brandy:Yeah. So they're literally, like, harvesting and trying to say you know, get the skin, so the leather, and all of that of this iguana.
Ruby:And then they'll as much as possible.
Brandy:The rest of us are lounging in the pool with a nice adult beverage just chatting away. So I can only imagine what you were thinking in all of this.
Ruby:It was definitely an experience.
Ashley:I'm gonna send you a piece of the leather when it's done. It's almost What am gonna do with that? Make a keychain. I don't know.
Ruby:Make her some earrings. Yeah.
Blythe:Yeah. Make walnut ears. Yeah.
Ruby:I'll take it. Was it the big one? Yes.
Ashley:I have the belly, about half of the tail, and then I have Do know if it's a
Ruby:male or a female?
Brandy:That was a male.
Ashley:It was a male. Okay. Yeah. He was a male. So it it's kind of my way.
Ashley:Again, I'm not eating it. And when you pull into the conservation act, like, you gotta use your animal.
Ruby:Right.
Ashley:So for me, is it disgusting? Yeah. Do I you know, I make jokes like, oh, it's gonna be in my living room forever. Is it really? The tongue's a little swollen.
Ashley:It's a little nasty looking. I don't know. The mouth's wide open. So I don't know about that. But even if it's in from out of
Ruby:high Clearly, the first night that I showed up there, I I had no idea people even did this. Not gonna lie to you.
Ashley:I don't think you really do it.
Brandy:Oh, okay. Oh, her formaldehyde lizard?
Ruby:I was like, is this normal?
Ashley:So I know this lady No. Could definitely
Ruby:theories, formaldehyde heads,
Ashley:iguanas. I followed this one lady on Instagram, and she's up in Michigan. And she does all these really cool wet specimens. Well, when I was thinking about what to do with my python or my guana, again, I wanna use it. So I messaged her, and I was like, hey.
Ashley:If I cut a python head off, can you do it for me? And she's like, absolutely. I'd love to. And then I kinda started doing research, and I was like, well, I'm very much a home taxidermist. Right?
Ashley:Like, self Clearly. Self proclaimed. So I was like, well, I'm gonna try this. Like, I could totally do it. So I got some formaldehyde, and brought the iguana home.
Ashley:We know how that happened.
VO:Can you
Ruby:give me the update?
Ashley:Honestly, it's just brown water, right, or brown formaldehyde, I guess, right now. I'll text you a an update picture when we
Ruby:get I want that.
Ashley:It's I put a rock in its mouth to, like, keep the mouth open. She
Brandy:was texting us pictures. The pictures of it in the Burger King cup as she was making her way back to Texas, There are no words.
Blythe:I can't imagine what people would say.
Ruby:Yeah. Just in the cup by itself.
Ashley:Yeah. Was You,
Ruby:like, put in a backpack or something?
Ashley:No. They didn't even stop me. They're really scared, actually. I got They didn't even stop me.
Brandy:I got stopped for seasoning. You didn't get stopped for Aiguana.
Ashley:Freaking time. Brought my turkey home from Alabama. I got stopped for the Spurs, and the guys were so clueless. They were like, what is and I was like, well, it's like it's nail. I didn't know how to explain it.
Ashley:Like, they had no idea it was even a foot. Like, they had no clue. The iguana didn't even blink twice. That's how good I had it packaged. Professional.
Ashley:I worked hard.
Brandy:I did.
Ruby:At the Burger King.
Ashley:I was, like, in the bathroom in the airport, switching
Brandy:cups. I feel
Ruby:like Taking off your bloody Crocs.
Brandy:Yeah. Literally. I feel like that airport, there's no telling what rolls through there because West Palm Beach was very interesting.
Ruby:I've never seen worse. Yeah.
Ashley:Well, let's preface. I never have anything illegal or wrong. I have TSA pre check. Please don't come take it. These are just I mean, it's it is it's necessary.
Ashley:It has to be done. Should I have brought a cooler like a normal person? Yeah. But I didn't think about it. It's necessary.
Ashley:I forgot.
Brandy:Yeah. I always travel with a little hackable cooler for that reason. Like, when I came home from Montana a couple years ago, grouse hunting, I had Gerald the grouse in there, and everybody was like, what do you have? I was like, this is Gerald.
Ashley:Yeah.
Brandy:Didn't ask what Gerald was. Just told him it was Gerald.
Ruby:And there's so when you take animals to different states, is there any kind of, like, procedures that you have to go through?
Brandy:Depends on the state. So, for example, three years ago, we went Blythe and I went hunting in South Dakota for the first time. Mhmm. And we flew, and we flew our meat home.
Ruby:Yeah.
Brandy:And you have to fly with a wing still attached and, and it labeled.
Ruby:So Why are wings still attached? Just to oh, identification. Yeah.
Brandy:And and, you know, all of the states have different, as far as permitting laws and and harvest or bag limits and all that kind of stuff. And so we came home with six birds each and the pelts and tail fans and all the things. So, you know, I've gotten really good. I am not big on full body mounts. It's just not my my thing.
Brandy:I'm not a big game hunter. Have I harvested some big game? Absolutely. But it's not really my thing. I'm a let me go hang off the side of a mountain and chase little birds, and I like I like to call them armed hikes with my dog.
Brandy:And I love every single state I go to and every species that I harvest. I bring home a pelt, and I have this wall that that goes on. And you have to I mean, there's just ways to go about it. And so that's why I always travel with Borax. We know what Borax looks like.
Brandy:And a little fold up cooler that fits in my backpack, and I just walk right on through TSA. Done it out. Numerous times. Perfect. Oh,
Ruby:Ellie. Ellie just She
Ashley:said we're done. We're done.
Ruby:It's over. Alright. Wrapping it up. Just kidding. I mean, we
Brandy:can't Alright, Ruby. So now that we have you got to Bowfish.
Ruby:I did. I got my first armored catfish with a bow.
Brandy:Yeah. That was pretty cool. How many shots did you take? Two. Two.
Brandy:That's freaking crazy. I probably shot 200 times that night, and I think I shot well, spotted gar were my thing that night and a cup couple of the of my aquarium fish.
Ruby:The gar are way skinnier.
Ashley:So They were much harder to
Ruby:have, honestly.
Brandy:Yeah. Oh, man. I was
Ruby:nailing the scar. Below me. It was, like, the perfect shot. Yeah. Yeah.
Ashley:Well Don't discount yourself.
Blythe:Say you're a natural.
Ashley:Yeah.
Ruby:Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Brandy:Or whenever the alligator came under the boat and you're literally hanging off the boat and I'm like, Ruby.
Ashley:GoPro, like, half in the water.
Brandy:Yeah. GoPro in the water, and I'm like, Ruby. Ruby. Yep. Yeah.
Brandy:So where do you go next? Could you see yourself going on one of these adventures as a participant and not the person behind the camera?
Ruby:I do want to. I've never gone hunting before, but I really wanna go on one of these hunts. I wanna go turkey hunting. I don't know why, but it just seems really fun. And everyone talks about how fun it is and how the turkeys kind of taunt you.
Ruby:And I don't know. That's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking I might do it. Ashley. You guys let me know.
Ashley:Come to South Texas.
Brandy:That is all Ashley. I am too ADD for that. That's why, like like I said, that's why I'm an upland hunter because you're constantly moving. Whereas turkey actually, Blythe and I were talking about that early today. We passed turkey calls, and I was like, I don't even know how to use one of those.
Brandy:And it's like, oh, that's Ashley.
Blythe:Like, go, Ashley.
Ashley:To be fair, this was my first, like, hardcore year really chasing it myself. I've always been helping others or tagging along. Oh, okay. I'm obsessed with it. I am absolutely heard.
Ashley:It's, like, addicting. Well, and there's a strategy to it. Yeah. There's a strategy to all hunting. Right?
Ashley:But with turkey, it's just so different. Yeah. And it's something that I was fortunate enough to go on a hunt with Beretta and shoot like a girl in Alabama this year. That opened up a whole new door. Like, you start bringing in the group aspect and other women teaching me and help.
Ashley:I'm sold.
Ruby:Yeah. I had so much fun just shooting and being with you guys. Like, I can't imagine you guys too. Like, just hunting as well. Like, just adds to that fun.
Ashley:We'll get you down in South Texas. Fun.
Ruby:So I had an awesome time. Thank you to our guests who are joining me today. We've got Brandy, Ashley, and Blythe. Go check out Lady Outdoors Lifestyle. The episode Florida is gonna be out.
Ruby:It's already out. Go check it out. It's gonna be awesome. We're also doing a we're doing a first, we're doing a python hunt video, then we're doing a iguana hunt video, and then we're also doing a bowfishing hunt video. So all of those, go check them out on our page.
Ruby:It's gonna be awesome. These ladies were a total hoot. I laugh constantly while I'm editing this footage. So go check them out, and as always, thank you. Thank you to our producer, Chris, and the rest of the team that makes this happen.
VO:Thank you for listening to the ASCEND podcast. New every week, the conservation driven podcast one week and our adventure video series the next. Watch the ASCEND adventure episodes on the Ducks Unlimited YouTube channel, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited. Until next time, follow your outdoor story wherever it leads you.
VO:ASCEND. Don't forget to rate and review the ASCEND podcast. It's the best way to grow the podcast and help other women discover the next step on their outdoors journey.