Ducks Unlimited Podcast

JOIN US AT THE 2026 DUCKS UNLIMITED EXPO! July 31 - August 2 at the RENASANT CONVENTION CENTER in Memphis, TN 

Discover how preserving hunting stories can support firefighter health and cancer prevention.

Host Wade Shoemaker talks with Gray Schneider, founder of Season of Stories, a traveling journal project inspired by the loss of his brother-in-law, firefighter Wade Cannon, to occupational cancer.

What began as a way to preserve outdoor memories and family stories has grown into a fundraising and awareness effort focused on helping firefighters gain access to life-saving cancer screenings. Along the way, the project has become a unique collection of hunting stories, personal reflections, and outdoor traditions written by hunters from across North America.

In this episode:
  • How Season of Stories was inspired by a firefighter’s fight against cancer
  • Why handwritten journals still matter in a digital world
  • The connection between storytelling, hunting traditions, and legacy
  • How the project funds cancer screenings for firefighters
  • The journey of a traveling journal through the hunting community
  • Plans to expand beyond waterfowl into other outdoor pursuits

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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.

Wade Shoemaker:

But it honestly, for me, was almost unavoidable. And I can't explain it. It just heard it just started rolling, and I kept on going.

Gray Schneider:

It's cathartic.

Wade Shoemaker:

It it yeah. That word. We'll look that up later, but no.

VO:

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. Enjoy responsibly.

Wade Shoemaker:

Hey, folks. Welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. I'm your host, Wade Shoemaker. Today, we are excited to have a guest with us, Gray Schneider. Gray is the creator, curator, facilitator of a thing called season of stories, and it's interesting in such a digital world, there's actually a lot of talk about analog being the next big thing, and I'm not I'm not, you know, shunning the new stuff or anything, but absolutely clinging to to what's left or what's what's already been.

Wade Shoemaker:

So now this this isn't exactly the perfect contrast, but it does feel like like an effort to to slow down and and focus on the days of old while living in the fastest days that we've ever lived. Great. Man, it's good to meet you. For everybody else to meet you, I guess. But would you mind, man, tell us a little bit about yourself here?

Gray Schneider:

I appreciate you having me on. I appreciate Ducks Unlimited for for having me on. To tell you a little bit about myself, you know, I'm just a just a hunter here in North Texas and was met with an unfortunate family tragedy that has made it to where we want we wanted to make a difference in a way that might be able to be a little bit different than than what other people have, but we would do it just through bringing awareness and bringing and bringing a little bit of money in to a cause that is near and dear to us. In 2021, my my late brother-in-law, Wade Cannon, was diagnosed with late stage colon cancer. He's 31 years old.

Gray Schneider:

He was in perfect health, and he was a firefighter. He had started mentioning to his primary care physician that that he had some symptoms that were kind of problematic, that he wanted to get checked out and all that jazz for a couple months. And they were just like, man, you're you're too young. You can't get screened or or at least your your insurance won't cover your screening. And he was very adamant about it, ended up paying out of pocket for his for a colonoscopy only for them to give him a late stage diagnosis of colon cancer as a firefighter.

Gray Schneider:

They determined through all of all of the processes that they go through that it was considered occupational, which means that through his exposures to carcinogens and it was more than likely caused by his occupation of being a firefighter. And so I wanted to do something about it because he spent the last two years of his life fighting to get firefighters access to get screenings. These very, very comprehensive and easy screenings to help cover kind of the normal occupational cancers and health problems that can come about from those exposures. And so I just started thinking about what would be because let me backtrack a little bit. Unfortunately, while Wade was still with us, fortunately and unfortunately, his wife got pregnant.

Gray Schneider:

And so when he passed away, one of the things that I thought about was being able to share some messages that he had. We had found that he had started journaling and started telling some stories that he wanted to be able to share with his son and share with his family. He had left those messages on his phone and a lot of it was just about getting outside, getting in the outdoors, rather than being in the steel and concrete that we're in in our day to day lives to just get out in the dirt, get out in the air and just appreciate this beautiful world that God has given us. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Let me let me I don't wanna stop. I wanna continue that, but I wanna kind of kind of focus on a couple things real quick because you're answering every question that I have for you and it's it's incredible, and I'm starting to understand how all this come together because you and I have talked a lot in the past about it and and I I guess I didn't really it didn't really come full circle for me until you started talking about how your brother-in-law had had done the journaling thing as messages, you know, left, and now it's all starting to like really come full circle for me get put together. So I kinda wanna focus on a couple of things Yeah. Before we just start running with it.

Gray Schneider:

I apologize. I can do that.

Wade Shoemaker:

Nope. You're good. I love it, dude, and I and honestly, I wanted to hear it, but I wanna I wanna focus on these things just so you and I have had this conversation before, and I'm I really am understanding this more than I ever have just from that little piece right there. But but I wanna understand, like, season of stories, where let's start with the the the beginning. Like, I think it's obvious, but where did the name come from?

Gray Schneider:

I wanted something that because I wanted it to be something that could be printed in a monogram onto a journal, because I wanted a traveling journal. I wanted it to be able to convey the stories, to be able to convey a season of hunting, and be able to share. I think it's the most important part of hunting to me is the interaction with with my friends and family.

Wade Shoemaker:

I think a lot of people would echo that, dude. I don't I mean, you say to me, you know, I think I think that's for the vast majority of people that do it, I think it is one of the most important things to the whole thing.

Gray Schneider:

And and so with that, I know that, you know, Wade would never be able to get to sit down and share these stories with his son. And so what I wanted to do was create something that was timeless, that had that feeling of walking into an old office with decoys on the wall, with journals gathering a little bit of dust, and just memories everywhere, and then, you know, have that feeling of that old leather journal that your grandpa would write in. Yeah. And be able to hand that around and have people just write about their days good or bad.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. So something physical, something that's tangible that right, that really kinda takes you back. Right? Like when his kids go to read it, his son goes to read some of this stuff that he wrote down, you want you want someone some stranger to have that same feeling when they pick up this leather bound journal and go, okay, this is real. This is something that actually happened.

Gray Schneider:

This

Wade Shoemaker:

isn't AI. Like, you know, this isn't, I don't know, Helvetica font, you know. Like it's it's written with its ink. Right? No.

Wade Shoemaker:

I I love that, man.

Gray Schneider:

You have to think about how much how much content do you have to go through on a day to day basis just to make one single post. Just look through and see what is perfect, where this right here is an echo of real life because days aren't perfect.

Wade Shoemaker:

Even the scribbles when they mess up on the ink. Exactly. You know? Exactly. I love that part.

Wade Shoemaker:

Very,

Gray Schneider:

You've very got you've got some people that that have taken because the the the only thing that we've said to all of our storytellers was, listen, you may not know exactly what you wanna write down. You may not know I mean, you can write it from any point of view that you want. I've got one really, really creative storyteller who's gonna be writing from the point of view of a tree on a hunt and be able to and really try and take on and and and show off that that that characteristic of of Sort

Wade Shoemaker:

of an if these walls could talk kind of perspective.

Gray Schneider:

Exactly. Exactly.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's good. Now that we have a really good idea kind of where the name come from and kind of how that ties into everything and and we we touched on it earlier but you mentioned kind of what you wanted to do like, I've got it. It's a two part question. So like, I think and I think it could be layered as what is the hope and what is the goal, right? I mean, maybe they are the same thing, but but I feel like I don't know.

Wade Shoemaker:

Don't want you to say it because I already know. So please, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. I would say that, like, if you were to if you were to ask me, like, what my hopes and goals are with this, the hopes are that we raise enough awareness and the right people hear about this to where no firefighter in the country should ever have to go without comprehensive screenings. Yeah. They're putting their life on the line, and they're they're literally every time they put their boots on, they know that that they may not be coming back. Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

And that's really, really powerful to me that they're willing to put their boots on and to get ready to go and protect people, and yet something that they don't necessarily think about, which is exposure, may be creeping up on them. You know? It's not the it's not necessarily the fire that they're fighting or the smoke that they that they may have been protected by with a respirator, but it could be the exposure to the particles that are contained on the exterior of their bunker gear. Maybe they only have one set of bunker gear. Maybe they have two sets of bunker gear.

Gray Schneider:

And I can go off on a tangent on that.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. It's good.

Gray Schneider:

But I'd like to be able to make it my hope is to make it to where we sound the alarm that this is something that is absolutely necessary, that firefighters need to be getting this type of screening. And then number two would be to help fund those fire departments that can't fund it. And that's where that's where season of stories comes in is we're utilizing the the proceeds from everything that we earn to get underfunded fire departments and get their fire firefighters screened. Yeah. Most typically that's gonna be with volunteer departments and ESDs.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. So I mean, would I would and this is you can correct me if I'm wrong, but what I'm hearing is like the hope, the overall hope is to sound the alarm on on firefighters being able to get these screenings, but the ultimate goal for Season of Stories is to be that alarm and to be kind of a vehicle to pay for some of those. Exactly. Very, very quickly. Okay.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that, man. So now we've kind of got an idea of of, you know, the origin story, guess, you will, season stories, man. I I had the opportunity to have this this case last year and we'll get to the extended stay that it had with me in a minute.

Gray Schneider:

And the year before

Wade Shoemaker:

because Yeah. You're It's true.

Gray Schneider:

You're one of the only two time Well storytellers.

Wade Shoemaker:

So that whole deal, when I so I didn't have it the year before. So Okay. It wasn't a handoff. I was with Ramsey in Okay. Alberta and we all come together and he randomly showed up like in a good way, like I'm excited.

Wade Shoemaker:

But he showed up and we hung out and hunted for a few days and he had it and we did an entry. So it was it worked. That was the first time I'd ever seen it in person. I said, this is cool, you know. And it was.

Wade Shoemaker:

And it was a cool experience for me because that was a week with people that I consider, you know, some of them are, I don't know if you titans would be the word, but I mean very people that are, to me, people that I look up to and whether it's the profession that they have or the life they've led. And anyway, it was a very cool experience for me to first time see the journal. But but with with that, like, there's specific pieces in the journal, right? And and I and I feel like it wasn't just kind of like a flip a flip of the coin or just like a random thought you have. I feel like there was a little bit of a thought process behind why you chose what pieces you chose.

Wade Shoemaker:

Mhmm. And if I'm wrong, tell me like, no, wait, it was just pretty random. But I don't I don't think I am, so if you can, tell me kind of why you chose those specific pieces for the experience with Seasons Stories and, you know, look, if there's no rhyme or reason, that's okay.

Gray Schneider:

So with the journal, we we have it all traveling around in a pelican case. In that pelican case, we've also got we've got a lanyard, we've got the bag. And so for the first season, the bag was donated by Shin Gear. Mhmm. And then then inside of the bag, we had a lanyard.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. And with that lanyard, we had the lanyard was made by Alex Johns, a brown water level lanyards. Yep.

Wade Shoemaker:

Alex is

Gray Schneider:

good. Just really, really one of the best out there.

Wade Shoemaker:

He is.

Gray Schneider:

And he decided that he was gonna just truly try and make it a really special lanyard. So outside of his normal lanyards that he makes for some

Wade Shoemaker:

of

Gray Schneider:

the best hunters in the world and most notable titans, as you would say it, then he decided to just make some one off lanyards. He made this lanyard, and then he made last year's lanyard, and then he's gonna make this year's lanyard as well. We've got three seasons going in the works. But the first two seasons, the lanyard was a duck call made out of Cocobolo by Josh Raggio. Sorry.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. Duck Call by Josh Raggio. It's gonna be a goose call by Andrew Haddon, a speck call by David Gaston and Gaston Farr, and then a whistle by Dustin Turner from Coon Creek. And then on top of that, there was a knife that was made by W. Crum.

Gray Schneider:

And I because I just didn't ever get to an opportunity to really get to know him because he was a friend of Dustin Turner's. But what made him such a special entry for this was he is a a widely known knife maker, but he is also a backcountry firefighter. Mhmm.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like like Pacific North, like Pacific Northwest kind of guy?

Gray Schneider:

He gets he gets traveled. He travels all around and he just does he's like a wildland firefighter.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, sick. Okay. But mostly Western, I would think.

Gray Schneider:

That he he lives in Alabama but yeah. Or no, no, no, or Alabama, but he he his fire season, so I guess summer, fall, that that whole thing Dry crime. Around all the big fires.

Wade Shoemaker:

Very cool. I don't know sorry. I don't know why I didn't get off on that. That just that No. It's okay.

Wade Shoemaker:

Those those guys like are just gangsters the way they do things. Like, it's interesting, but go ahead. Go ahead.

Gray Schneider:

No. I know. I love I love that. I love the camaraderie. I think that that's something that I've always felt connected to was the camaraderie of firefighters and the brotherhood that that comes with that.

Gray Schneider:

I got to see a lot of that with with the passing of Wade. All of his brotherhood, all of his brothers came in and they were like, we're here for the family, we're here for his son, and we're not going away. As Wade's brother-in-law, I felt like, how can I try and make a difference? How can I continue his message? And I just I saw how powerful his journaling was.

Gray Schneider:

And I felt like this was a great opportunity for people to just tone it down a notch and take it back to just write what you're feeling, you know? Write what is on your mind. You can't go wrong, you know? Yeah. And so that's what we've done.

Gray Schneider:

We've got, you know, probably fifty, sixty entries now. The journal we found is, you know, with it being 200 pages, it makes it really difficult to fill up in a season. It also makes it really difficult to fill up in two seasons, so we're gonna continue this journal until it completely fills up. Then we have a new style journal that we're gonna be doing moving on after that Okay. Which is about 50 pages, which will make a twirl fill up a little bit sooner than the others.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. I dig it, dude. I love that. And I love that there is a purpose behind all of behind every piece. And it's not just something regular that you made.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like you mentioned, know, Brown Water made one of, you know, a one of a kind for that. Like it wasn't just a normal braiding that he does, he'd done something different for it and does every year. Same thing with the cauls, you know, with whether it's the inlays, the wood, you know, the wood over the inlays or whatever. Like, I know last year's thing had it had it was, under the wood, but I know it was brass inlays, and I remember how heavy it was, and and and the difference in sound and how it performed, but also sticking to my lip every now and then when it was cold because I did blow it a few times and but it was just it was an incredible thing to to understand that.

Gray Schneider:

Do you know the story about

Wade Shoemaker:

I don't.

Gray Schneider:

Behind the background of that call?

Wade Shoemaker:

I

Gray Schneider:

don't. So a number of years ago, Brad was walking around in Downtown Charleston, and he was walking around on Cannon Street and noticed a firehouse that was being renovated, a really, really old firehouse. He went over to the construction crew and he asked, hey, can I get some of this old wood from the firehouse and take it home with me? And so he took some Cannon Street firehouse wood home, lined it with a with some brass and created a firehouse duck call for Oh, sick. Wade Cannon.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Okay. From Cannon Street. That's cool, man. That's very, very cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

I didn't know that. And that yeah. That makes it like, as special as all of it is, that makes it takes it a notch up, you know. Wow. That's cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

Okay. So like, we've been through all the, you know, the specifics really, but when and maybe you covered it in the beginning, but when did when did all this kind of like decide this is a go for you? Like what and, you know, you can I'm assuming like after your brother in law's passing and and through that, like you decided, okay, this is something I not necessarily just wanna do, like, I have to do this because this is it's just too heavy on my heart.

Gray Schneider:

This is so Wade passed at the end of 2023, and I would say it was weighing heavy on my heart through the end of 2023 and, you know, the beginning of 2024. And right whenever the beginning of 2024 happened, I went out, I went to so John Stephens and the RNT group, RNT calls, they put on an event every year called Callapalooza.

Wade Shoemaker:

In May.

Gray Schneider:

It's a wonderful event. It is full of all the most fervent and just eclectic duck call makers that are in the world. You'll have people that come in from Russia. You'll have people that come in from all over the world just to be at this event, and it's just full of collectors and full of call makers, and they just kind of come together almost like a like a Comic Con, but for duck calls. Exactly

Wade Shoemaker:

what it is.

Gray Schneider:

I got to hang out with a number of buddies and really kind of go over some of the things and the ideas that we had. And by that point, we'd already figured out that Josh Raggio was going be doing the call, and then I got to talk it over with just a couple of the final call makers and artisans for it. And I would say that by the end of July, we had everything come together. But this typically is a really, really at the end of July, everything gets real hectic as we try and, like, get it all packed up and photographed and sent over and try and get it with Joey D'Amico, and then Joey D'Amico's who takes it off into Canada.

Wade Shoemaker:

I talked to Joey this week or last week. Sorry, random. But I was on phone with Joey last week.

Gray Schneider:

Joey is I can't say enough good things about that guy.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. He's a good human.

Gray Schneider:

He's absolutely one of the best humans out there. So Joey would be is the one that typically he's the first storyteller. His father was a firefighter, in fact, was a fire chief in the Eastern Shore Of Maryland for a lot of years. And so this whole mission has meant a lot to Joey as well. Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

And he's been an awesome, awesome person to be able to to echo things off of or bounce ideas off of and hear what he has to say and and kinda calm me down whenever I'm not whenever I'm freaking out or this or that.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. I love that.

VO:

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

Wade Shoemaker:

Moving forward, I wanna know and I and I feel like this answer has to be obvious, but I'd like to know from your perspective or your point of view, how has this entire thing, this movement, how has it been received by the hunting community?

Gray Schneider:

Oh, it's been incredible. It's been absolutely incredible. I've had firefighters reach out and ask how they could help. I've had fire chiefs

Wade Shoemaker:

These are firefighters and fire chiefs that are duck hunters, not just

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. Okay. Oh, yeah. That have reached out and asked how they could help out. I've got one fire chief that's in Ohio that truly believes in this cause, and he was the first first storyteller in The United States this past season Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

Before it got to you. And then I would say that a lot of this stuff, you know, it's another good friend that I've gotten through all of this would be mister Ken Thiessen, and he was a firefighter for a number of years before he started working as a cardiac nurse. And he, so he knew the importance of everything that we're doing. He knew the goals that we had and he was, you know, he When I asked him for this or for that, he was like, nope, not a problem at all.

Wade Shoemaker:

Doesn't he? Kent makes duck calls, doesn't he?

Gray Schneider:

He makes some of the best in the world.

Wade Shoemaker:

Okay. I thought so. I just when you said that name, was like, man, I think I know. I've seen Okay. Very, cool.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that. Well, so I mean, so overall, you would say this has been very, I mean, encouraging for you, but like super impactful into the community for people to wanna be to be moved enough to reach out and go, hey, how do I get involved?

Gray Schneider:

Mhmm. Very cool. We've we have gotten this into the hands of one deer hunter. We're gonna be trying to take the next journal, not this particular journal, but we're gonna take the next journal and have it start going on big game hunts and going with, you know, bighorn sheep, going with, you know, basically everything, you know, that you can pack out on a mission. We're not gonna we're not gonna try and do anything that takes away from anybody's normal packs because everybody takes that very, very personally.

Gray Schneider:

So we're just gonna include the journal for that.

Wade Shoemaker:

We can write the duck hunting stuff, you know, like because we do. We go through these emotions or whatever, these layers that are peeled back when we're in the woods. But like going on a big game hunt and going after like a once in a lifetime tag draw or something like that. Like when you if you if they can put that on paper and and you can read that, I think that'll be some probably probably some of the most impactful things that have ever been written in those journals because that's literally a once and only one, you know, once in a lifetime. You know, people say once in a lifetime and then ten years later they figure out they can go do it 14 times.

Wade Shoemaker:

But like truly once in a lifetime, to be felt again probably by that single person or any or many people on earth. If somebody can put that and articulate it in a way that it goes on paper well, I think that'll be that would be some cool stuff to look at and read. Absolutely.

Gray Schneider:

And so the goal is to to to do it with big game hunting. Down the line, we're gonna try and get it into some big sport fishing, do an entire journal that would just be fishing, sport fishing. Heck, we would throw people noodling in there if they had a great story, you know? Yeah. You know, it really is just about who can put a great story in there that is gonna make it to where people want to read it.

Gray Schneider:

Because ultimately, and we haven't shared this with everybody yet, but we're gonna be making a digital copy of the journal, and then we're gonna be making small copies of the journals just to send out to all of our storytellers as a thank

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that, man. I love that everybody is excited about it, and it seems like it's a growing thing, which is a perfect segue to the next question I have is, would you say that SOS or Season of Stories is something that could be an evergreen thing? And I and I feel like you've already answered the question without like on on accident, but like, it seems like it could be a forever project because you're talking about the expansion and going in different ways. Yeah. I mean, this is legacy type talk, you know, so is this something you see as being possibly forever?

Gray Schneider:

Well, would I hope not. I hope that we hope that that we get enough stuff going on. I hope that we raise enough uproar about all this to where it's not needed. And so I hope, to answer your question, no, I hope that we don't have to do this. Hope that we make it to where the funding is generated, that we have legislators that get on board that hear about this.

Gray Schneider:

We've already changed the law here in the state of Texas. Had an incredible That's huge. Legislator that has been side by side with us, Benjamin Bumgarner, who is our local state representative, went down to Austin and created the Wade Cannon Law signed by Greg Abbott, our governor last year, went into effect in June of this year.

Wade Shoemaker:

So cool.

Gray Schneider:

And that law makes it to where every city that employs professional firefighters for longer than five years, they get covered health and cancer screening for their firefighters.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's a big deal. Look, I and like I love your answer because it it lets me know that you're laser focused on the goal that you have, you know, and it's it's this, but I'm I'm gonna be completely honest with you. I I see the the goal or I see the I see it expanding into other things. And I could be wrong, I mean, this is your thing, but I whereas I see it if it if it does grow at the rate it grows and it becomes the impact that it and has the impact that it looks like it's gonna have across the board, that you're gonna find something along the way that probably puts a check-in your spirit in a sense where you're like, hey, man, we need to we need to do this. And then not necessarily that your goals shift, but I think you accomplish that one and and then you go to another and and you just keep on blazing a trail.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I could be wrong and you could tell me, Wade, nope, already too big of a headache, but I just see that as something that could that could be continual. And and I see it as something that that I think just knowing you and the conversations we've had, that if something does check your spirit, you're gonna be motivated enough that you're not gonna stop.

Gray Schneider:

So my background, I worked Before COVID, I worked for about fifteen years as a mechanic in professional motorsports, working in the Emsa series and other forms of professional motorsports here in The United States. One of the things that I see from this is I don't see any reason why we couldn't have a season of stories that would be professional motorsports, professional professional snow sports, Just because there's a season of everything. There's a season of this. There's a season of sports, fishing, hunting, whatever. I mean, everybody goes through seasons in their life.

Gray Schneider:

And being able to do that and with a cause that is about raising awareness for the need for comprehensive health and cancer screening for first responders. Like I said, I hope that the need goes away. I hope that But they're if not, then I'll continue the mission.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Love that, man. Very, very cool.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. I appreciate it.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah, dude. I love it.

Gray Schneider:

I appreciate you being a storyteller.

Wade Shoemaker:

Well, that's debatable, but I will write, you know. I know how good the story is gonna be, but it'll be be written down for sure.

Gray Schneider:

Oh, there's definitely I I had to go back and look at it, and and I don't know if you did or not, but look at the difference between your first story and your second story. You know, it's

Wade Shoemaker:

Different.

Gray Schneider:

And I think that that's what's gonna happen too with new storytellers is as the proof of concept of this thing comes around and more people hear about it, more people are going to become more open to putting more onto paper.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah, I agree with that.

Gray Schneider:

I think that like the more validity added to it and the stronger that this snowball grows, the more you're gonna I mean, I think that at some point we're gonna have some writer get in there and decide to write 10 pages.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. No. I I do think and, you know, and you and I have had several chats like in text about this. Like, and I had and earlier I mentioned I had this way too long last year. I was on the road and and I promised that and like, you were super grace like gracious about it, but I know I stressed you out because I was holding this whole thing hostage and but I but it worked out in a sense where I was able to get several entries in there from some people Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

That were able to hunt, you know, around it and with it. And it's people I consider some really incredible humans, but being transparent, I read a lot of the entries in there because I had it and I was able to open it and look at it and and I was moved pretty strong by some of them because of the things they said, man. But because of those entries, when I started writing, it kind of gave me an idea of like, you know, I do my own thing but I love reading these other people so it kind of got my creative juices flowing. Anyway, when I started writing, it just kept kind of coming out like and I and I didn't stop. And it was late dude because I ended up handing it off to Gaston Farr that night.

Wade Shoemaker:

But but it was late when I was writing it and I knew I had to hand it off to him but I started writing and and I think by the time I finished, I inked like two whole pages Mhmm. In the journal. And that's not normal for me to just write like that and Yeah. But it honestly for me, it was almost unavoidable and I can't explain it. It just started it just started rolling and I kept on going and

Gray Schneider:

It's cathartic.

Wade Shoemaker:

It it Yeah. That word, we'll look that up later, but Okay. Okay. So I feel I feel like that I'm I'm probably not like the only guy that felt that way or girl, whoever had it and wrote in it. And they may not have let their emotions like sucker them into writing two pages like I did, but but I feel like there's some some in there that are probably pretty strong.

Wade Shoemaker:

So I want to ask you this, and you may not know off the top of your head, you know, but whatever comes to your mind, do you have any entries that sort of stick out in in the journal? Some of the coolest, most impactful, craziest, I mean, you know, maybe, I don't know, I don't know, maybe they trapped a pig or something. I don't I mean, something interesting.

Gray Schneider:

I would say that each of the stories are very, very special, but there are some really, really cool stories in there. I would say that, like, getting two up and coming hunters together, up and coming call makers together, we had Grant McDougall and Lane Dunning. Yeah. They got to hunt together, and they got to do it at the end of the season. That was a really really special that

Wade Shoemaker:

I brought that well, there was a guy in Arkansas, wasn't gas much. Were was this last year? That this happened?

Gray Schneider:

The year before.

Wade Shoemaker:

Okay. Because there was another one we had talked about or maybe that's another one we had talked about. There was one call maybe.

Gray Schneider:

The one after you is was the next one I was gonna bring up. It was Logan Logan Revolt who is who is an active duty serviceman That's right. That's right. Who got to take out three of his buddies and got to go on the veteran hunt for this season and they all put in entries for for veterans weekend.

Wade Shoemaker:

So sick. And that why? Was it buzz saw calls? Bonesaw. Bonesaw.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's what it Anyway, sorry, I just had to get that thought out.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. Yeah. Bonesaw, which is Logan Revolt's call making company. That's right. I'd say that's a really great story.

Gray Schneider:

One of the other remarkable things is looking at looking at everybody's handwriting and not and this isn't poking fun at anybody, this is saying, look at if you look at Ramsey Russell's handwriting

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

There is something really special about that. There is a penmanship. It's almost like calligraphy to his Yeah. Handwriting. It's beautiful.

Gray Schneider:

The emotion that he talks about, the descriptors that he has, I'd say that that Ramsey is an incredible storyteller.

Wade Shoemaker:

I agree with that.

Gray Schneider:

I would say that Joey D'Amico. Joey D'Amico set the tone off really early with his first story talking about his dad. Yeah. That's that right there is truly, truly one of my favorite things. I think that nobody better could have have done it than than Joey.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. I would say having Gaston Farr be a storyteller, that is a really great you know, him hunting with his grandpa and his grandpa is a mountain of stories. If you've ever gotten to know David Gaston, he just demands your attention because he is one of those old timers that, you know, he sat and he worked alongside some incredible duck call makers. But it's, you know, his relationship with Alvin Taylor is just absolutely incredible. So hearing the stories from him firsthand, hearing hearing all of the special things that he is passing down to Gaston, I think that's why we're doing why I decided to do all of this.

Gray Schneider:

I remember growing up and having these core tenets that my grandfather or my dad gave me. These core ideas in life, be fair, be trustworthy. Your word is your bond. Be good stewards of the land. All of these things are what you learn out in the woods with your family and your friends.

Gray Schneider:

And that's what I think is important about this is imagining that each of these storytellers is going to impart this little piece of wisdom, this little part of their day on this on the reader.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love hearing that and I love that you've got a few that you've picked out. What you said about Ramsey and and Joey, think, is spot on. I think Ramsey's lived a thousand lives and and it shows, you know. I mean, duck hunting probably 300 days a year at one point, you know. It's it's incredible, dude.

Wade Shoemaker:

And then Joey, man, he he thinks you can just tell when you're having a conversation with him the way he processes things is a little bit is a is a different level. And I don't want to say like and and slower is the word that come but it's not slow, it's just processed deeper, I guess is the best way to put it. Now and you answered this earlier about going into different sections and going into different you know, rounds. Yeah. That's a good that's the best way to put it.

Wade Shoemaker:

And I I wanted to ask you about Turkey and Upland specifically and I guess it's an obvious answer is, yeah. You know, it just because to me it feels like the the aesthetic of of the leather and the old and the nostalgia and the legacy, it feels like it fits in that Turkey and upland scene so well. You know, the sports there are inherently rooted in the traditions from like a hundred years ago. Right? It was it was introduced I was introduced but to a pal.

Wade Shoemaker:

I was introduced to a guy named Hunter Lemoyne through a pal named Steven this past spring. Hunter, he reached out one day and was like, hey, I'm gonna send you something that you can use next spring, you know. And it's like April, you know. I'm like, well, you know, I guess, I don't know what that what that is, you know. I had no idea what he meant.

Wade Shoemaker:

Anyway, one day, a box showed up and it was a wing bone call. And and look, I'm not a great turkey hunter. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna sit here and act like I know everything that's going on. I I know barely half of what's going on when I'm turkey hunting. I just know I'm sitting there hoping for something to hoping for, you know, one that's not smart to come through.

Wade Shoemaker:

The thing Anyway, it showed up, and the wild thing is how you you use it, like, don't blow in it, you can

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. Just suck

Wade Shoemaker:

the air And and it it blew, dude, blew me away, threw me off for a really long time. And But but my whole point of of it is this, like, I really appreciate those aspects of of the turkey scene and and the old the old stuff of the upland, especially the waterfowl world because that's my passion, but but it all makes sense to have these type things. It just it just ties To me, it ties in to like the I said the aesthetic, but really to the roots of the upland in the turkey world.

Gray Schneider:

You know, people will add things as they get them, like Jimbo Ronquist's nephew, Caleb Ronquist

Wade Shoemaker:

Caleb, yeah.

Gray Schneider:

He's been big with us and he was like, man, know what you don't have is a turkey tote.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. There you go.

Gray Schneider:

We just made one and threw it in.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's nice. Very, very cool. Well, that answers my question. Then, yeah. But it but it makes sense, man.

Wade Shoemaker:

Like it just it feels like that same same vibe, and I think I think that that's just an easy easy transition for that. Does that go in the same journal, or does that does that swap over? You use the same journal, just different stuff, or do you pick a different journal for the church?

Gray Schneider:

So for the first the first two seasons that we've had, we've had season one of Waterfowl and season two of Got it. We've only had about three or four entries of Turkey, so we've had it all on the same journal. Yeah. Once we auction these off to go towards the different areas of the country for screenings that we're going for, then we're going to come up with a journal that would just be for upland and turkey hunting as well. We've got I've already had it sent off, but we've got three additional leather bound journals here that'll be for, you know, next steps after we fill this journal.

Gray Schneider:

So we're already preparing for four, five, six years from now.

Wade Shoemaker:

Got it. Got it. And I I there's some some guys in the turkey world that I think would be great for this. I mean, even if it's because there's you know, the entries are gonna be a little bit harder because there's there's just not they're not as open as waterfowl hunters are. I guess I should say like, and as far as like, yeah, just let me let's let me do it.

Wade Shoemaker:

You know? Like, they're they're very open in who they are as a person but like, they're just a little quieter, you know, and they don't they don't want necessarily by knowing what's going on which I respect and appreciate. Especially a

Gray Schneider:

public land turkey hunter.

Wade Shoemaker:

That well, yeah. I mean, but even that these days, man, even like private, like they don't want anybody knowing any of it because there's so many people that might try to come in and do the same thing. So I I get it. But but anyway, I'd love there's some people out there that I know specifically that I think might be good folks for you to connect with them on the Turkey side. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

Love And even the Upland if it ever goes that direction. But I I'd I'd love to connect you guys because I think it would be a cool, very very cool meshing of worlds.

Gray Schneider:

That would be

VO:

great.

Wade Shoemaker:

Anyway, so earlier you mentioned you that people could could buy these things. Right? Like it's it's a fundraiser. The funds have to go somewhere and Mhmm. For that.

Wade Shoemaker:

You mentioned something to me last week that I thought was very, very cool. One one I wanna point out, this thing will be at the at the the expos coming up. Correct?

Gray Schneider:

Yes. It will be at the DU Expo. I will whether I'm walking around and showing it off or just setting up at random different booths, I like to carry it around in the Pelican case just to show that it's what's going on with everything so that people get an opportunity to read and see what has been there because it's kind of a hard thing to explain. There's a pelican case of gear and a journal coming around.

Wade Shoemaker:

With some bubble wrap in there, you know?

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

I like that. No. You're you're spot on, dude. So let so you explained to me, like, how it's gonna be auctioned off and who's gonna do it. Where where could where could somebody, if they were interested in buying this or, you know, at least following along and seeing Yeah.

Wade Shoemaker:

What it goes for, like, where could they watch that at or where could they see that at?

Gray Schneider:

So we have a website. We have seasonofstories.org. We also have season of stories on Instagram, and we have season of stories on Facebook. I'm not very technologically savvy.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's fun.

Gray Schneider:

So getting things to to properly post in each of the different rooms, I'm still working on.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

But I'll also be updating things on my my private page, which is Gray Schneider on Facebook and Yeah. And and Instagram. Pretty open book here.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Yeah. So No. That's good. Season of Stories across the board and Gray Schneider when you feel like Season of Stories isn't updating right.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. Exactly. Just try to bring as much awareness to this as possible. Yeah. Like I said, we're trying to take this as high as we can get it.

Gray Schneider:

We're working with a national legislator right now, a sitting congressman to try and make it to where the Wade Cannon law can go nationwide.

Wade Shoemaker:

Love that. So let me ask you this, it is being auctioned off, correct? Mhmm. Can you tell us who where or who's auctioning that all? And and the cool fun fact about the place that's doing it.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. So we've got Gaia and Dieter who is widely known for auctioning off some of the most valuable decoys and firearms in the game, they're going to be doing the auction. I've just gotta do an itemization of it and send it off to them to do some photography. And then we're gonna have it up on their website. The goal is to have it up by the end of July, and it's gonna be season one of season of stories, season two of season of stories, and then it's gonna be the turkey season of stories.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love it. I love it. Tell me, and you told me this, what was the what they just auctioned off, I think you said like the most expensive decoy ever.

Gray Schneider:

We did. They did.

Wade Shoemaker:

What did that decoy go for? Or do you know? 1

Gray Schneider:

point I think after the the premiums and everything, think it was like 1,200,000.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's so cool, man. So I mean, you've got the premier I mean, I I don't know if it's premier. I don't even know that world at all in the auction world, but very capable people handling this situation where they can get it in front of the right people and hopefully raise the amount of money that needs to be raised to do the things that this season of stores has set out to do.

Gray Schneider:

And the guys over at Gaia and Dieter have been absolutely so

Wade Shoemaker:

helpful. Good.

Gray Schneider:

And a lot of this has kind of gotten me to kind of break out of my own shell and try and introduce myself to people that I wouldn't I normally introduce have to really, really put myself out in the open in the the sphere for all of this. Yep. But a lot of it is you seem, at least me, approaching this, in some ways I get a little bit fearful because you never know how people are gonna respond to somebody that just I don't don't have a blue check mark next to my name. I know either. You know?

Gray Schneider:

Getting people to respond to my text messages is can oftentimes be kind of difficult. But most of the time what happens is I'm kind of like a slow burn. Once people get to know what is going on, it's it's really gaining some momentum.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. I like that. I like that a lot. It's like a candle that finally burns out and you realize you missed the smell but does didn't know that that's what's going on the whole time.

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. Exactly.

Wade Shoemaker:

That's cool. Very very cool, man. I love that. And look, I got one question I wanna end it with. I I try to do this with all of with, you know, going forward with all the guests.

Wade Shoemaker:

There's couple of things you you you're a very observant person. You process things in a way that, you know, if it comes out, it's because you mean it. I would like to know if if there 's a couple of brands or couple people out there, maybe even a couple of missions like Season of Stories that that you love, like that you wanna give flowers to. Just end on a positive note, what are a couple people, brands, campaigns, whatever's out there that you love, that you've that you've been seeing lately? Can it even be a couple of people that have been that you think are impacting right now?

Gray Schneider:

One, I would say that John Stephens and the R and T crew, for what they give back to the call making community and putting on Callapalooza, I think that I think that that right there is such a gift to because they're not charging some crazy exorbitant fee, they're just doing it for the love of they're actively inviting competitors of theirs to come out and open up shop in their parking lot. That right there is a bold move and it's a powerful message to say, hey, we welcome everybody. And I appreciate that. So I'd like to do the same for Joey D'Amico and Tekton Outfitters and Tekton Game Calls.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

I would say that I have without Joey, I don't think that this would be what it is. Yeah. And I sincerely appreciate everything that he's done and the same to you. I appreciate everything that you have done. I I could go on forever, but I would say that those are the three.

Gray Schneider:

I got one more. Yeah. Do it. BC from Ren and Ivy.

Wade Shoemaker:

Oh, we have BC Rogers?

Gray Schneider:

Yeah. BC.

Wade Shoemaker:

I like

Gray Schneider:

yeah. BC has said that he would do the SOS bag for this season, and so and he did it absolutely without question just having a conversation, just sitting, you know, sitting at Collapalooza. Him and I just sat there and he was like, yes, I'm in.

Wade Shoemaker:

How in. BC's top tier, dude. That's very, very

Gray Schneider:

cool. That love would be my handful of roses to hand out.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love it, man. I love the perspective with John's deal. Just, you know, love it love it or hate it, like, you know, r and t. I'm a huge fan of John and r and t, but like whether you are, you aren't. You can't discredit like what he is doing for the call making community because whether we want to admit it or not, it's it's not, you know, thriving or it hasn't been.

Wade Shoemaker:

And the fact that he's inviting these people to help add some more energy to that that community and hopefully get it back going where it was, like, man, I I love that. From the outside looking in, I'm not in that I'm not in on the interior side of that call making community because that's a that's a sub niche of of culture that I've it's just sub sub niche, you know, like it is and I love it but but I do think that he's trying to help help it thrive again, you know, because he understands the importance of it and loves it and I think, you know, you see that through Jay Stevens calls. I don't think that would have ever been created if he didn't appreciate that aspect of it. Yeah. And and Joey, of course, we both know how we each feel about Joey.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that guy in BC. He's BC three in my phone. It's it's be You know, it's BC Rogers the third but I just had him as BC three. Like I don't, it's the only way I can remember that. But no, great man.

Wade Shoemaker:

Look, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah. You've given us your social handles, we know where to get this thing at if we want to buy it or we want to follow along on the auction. I'm excited, man. I'm pumped to actually, for everybody else to know the full story of Season of Stories, I'm grateful that you decided to take some time out of your day to join us.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah. Anything else you want to end on or leave with?

Gray Schneider:

You know, this whole thing is about community coming together. We've created a fundraiser that doesn't rely really on donations, it's just relying on participation.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

And anybody that is out there listening to this that feels like they know somebody that would make a great storyteller that's a hunter, that just needs a place to be able to tell their story. I mean, reach out to me. I would love to try and and make it to where we can get this package into their hands. The best way that we've been able to to make this effective is whenever we do something similar that's happened with you is where we get a bunch of storytellers altogether at once. Mhmm.

Gray Schneider:

And so, you know, the logistics can oftentimes be a little bit difficult where if it's somebody that's across the country that we need to do this, you know, I've I've had some storytellers in line for two years that we're gonna get them on this year, and it's it's it's simply about it's one journal that can only go and it can only be in one place at one time. But we're always looking for storytellers, always looking for a story to teller or a story to tell.

Wade Shoemaker:

Yeah.

Gray Schneider:

We're gonna be starting to do some online posts on the Instagram side that's gonna be more about the really about the needs and the facts behind this is who is affected, this is how it's affected, just kind of, you know, an awareness campaign on on our Instagram. But all of that to say that that we're just out trying to tell a story in a way that is a little bit different and a little bit more slowed down Yeah. And a little bit more raw.

Wade Shoemaker:

I love that. Very, very cool. Gray, thank you. Season stories. Excited about where it's headed, where it's going.

Wade Shoemaker:

And everybody listening, that's been your Ducks Unlimited Podcast. We'll talk soon. Thanks.

VO:

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