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He’s a former NFL quarterback, a lifelong outdoorsman, a junior world duck‑calling champion, a YouTube creator, and now the founder of a new lifestyle brand. Today’s guest is the one and only Devlin “Duck” Hodges.
Hosts Matt Harrison and Jimbo Robinson sit down with Duck for a wide‑open conversation covering everything from his days with the Pittsburgh Steelers to his passion for duck hunting, bowhunting, faith, family, and building his new brand — Club Country — which connects the hunting/outdoor lifestyle with the golf world.
In this episode:
- How he got the nickname “Duck” (and why he hated it at first)
- Breaking Steve McNair’s passing record at Samford
- The wild moment he got thrown into his first NFL game
- What it was like hunting with Peyton Manning, Luke Bryan & others
- The YouTube boom and why he wants to be a positive influence for new hunters
- How Club Country was born — and why it bridges golf + outdoors
- Balancing business, hunting, and planning a wedding with Lainey Wilson
- His favorite hunts, biggest lessons, and where he’s headed next
If you’re a football fan, a duck hunter, or someone who loves the outdoor lifestyle, this is one of the most fun, wide‑ranging episodes of the season.
Listen now: www.ducks.org/DUPodcast
Send feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.org
SPONSORS:
Purina Pro Plan: The official performance dog food of Ducks Unlimited
Whether you're a seasoned hunter or just getting started, this episode is packed with valuable insights into the world of waterfowl hunting and conservation.
Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails:
Whether you’re winding down with your best friend, or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award-winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.
Listen now: www.ducks.org/DUPodcast
Send feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.org
SPONSORS:
Purina Pro Plan: The official performance dog food of Ducks Unlimited
Whether you're a seasoned hunter or just getting started, this episode is packed with valuable insights into the world of waterfowl hunting and conservation.
Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails:
Whether you’re winding down with your best friend, or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award-winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.
Creators and Guests
Host
Jimbo Robinson
DUPodcast Host
Host
Matt Harrison
DUPodcast Outdoor 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.
Would you sacrifice a whole duck hunting season
Matt Harrison:No. To go back and
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:play in the NFL for one season? Absolutely not.
Matt Harrison:Really? No. What about you're guaranteed to start all however many games on a regular season.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:You guarantee a Super Bowl? Maybe. Maybe. Okay.
Matt Harrison:Super Bowl
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Right. With an MVP. Oh, yeah. I'll do that for a year. Because then then I can go buy it.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Don't get by. Sign me up.
VO:The following episode of the DU podcast features a video component. For the full experience, visit the Ducks Unlimited channel on YouTube. Subscribe and enjoy.
Jimbo Robinson:Can we do a mic check, please? Everybody, welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, doctor Mike Brazier. I'm your host, Katie Burke. I'm your host, doctor Jared Hemphith.
Jimbo Robinson:And I'm your host, Matt Harrison.
VO:Welcome to the Ducks Unlimited podcast, the only podcast about all things waterfowl. From hunting insights to science based discussions about ducks, geese, and issues affecting waterfowl and wetlands conservation in North America. The DU podcast, sponsored by Purina Pro Plan, the official performance dog food of Ducks Unlimited. Purina Pro Plan, always advancing. Also proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and tails.
VO:Whether you're winding down with your best friend or celebrating with your favorite crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly.
Matt Harrison:Hey, everyone, and welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'll be hosting the show today, but we also got another host with us, mister Jimbo Robinson. But we got a very special guest with us, the one and only, mister Duck Hodges.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:What's going on? Duck. What an intro.
Jimbo Robinson:Devlin. I mean
Matt Harrison:Duck Hodges. Duck, Devlin,
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:pine juice. Duck, Devlin,
Jimbo Robinson:duck, duck, Devlin. Duck down, Devlin.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:What do you prefer? They it's like, I don't know. Now I feel like I prefer duck because, like, I think everyone calls me that except my mom and dad and my brother and select few people still call me Devlin. So anytime someone calls me Devlin, I kinda look at them like You know me. I know you from, like, my like, from way back?
Jimbo Robinson:From way back?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So I guess Duck, which I'll I'll admit the first, like, four months of having that nickname when I got it was in college playing football as a quarterback with the nickname Duck, and I hated it. Right. I mean, that's It was terrible. How'd that come about? Yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So nickname happened my second year in college playing football, and the coaches started calling me Duck, and I was like, dude, this is not good. Like, this ain't looking good for me, and then I ended up starting that year, and the whole team just started saying it's duck season, so the name just stuck So I I hated it, but then I just said, you know what? Anytime I throw a duck, which, I'll be honest, wasn't much. I'll I'll say that. Tight spiral.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But when I did, I just felt like, oh, that's my signature throw that, you know, put out there
Jimbo Robinson:every once in a while.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Just just keep y'all Keep me on toes. Yeah. Absolutely. But what's going on, guys?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Man. I know we've talked about doing this for A while. A while.
Matt Harrison:So It's great to have first time at headquarters. Right? We're here. Possibly. You came Maybe.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Can't remember. There's a chance I came when I was, like, 10 years old for a duck clang contest. So that would be I definitely came to Memphis for a ducks and lemon duck contest.
Jimbo Robinson:So we used to host it here probably in 02/1989, which would have been eighteen years ago ish.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's about when it was.
Jimbo Robinson:So we used to host it in the in the main conference room on a Saturday, and we had it here for two or three years, and then it went to Arkansas.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It was when y'all had it here. There's no doubt
Jimbo Robinson:about it.
Matt Harrison:Absolutely. The real question is, did you win it?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I think I did because in 2009 was the year I won the Junior World Duck Hunt contest, so I I really do think I won it here too. Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:And a nod to mister Buck Gardner, but he was instrumental in helping us with Facilitate. Facilitate the call and with the kids and and helping some of the other ones.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Also, the very first duck hunt contest I ever competed in was down in Alabama, duck call out of a goody bag, Buck Gardner. No way. And I won it.
Matt Harrison:Was it the double nasty?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It was. The the little poly little poly double nasty. I remember.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. I mean, from what I can remember, I mean, that because of where he sold that call, I mean, a lot of people, that was their first one.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. And he gave so many away to kids. I mean, that was his that was his thing. That's awesome.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I remember, you know, him and Rick Dunn and Butch Richen back then, they used to just give collars away to kids.
Jimbo Robinson:Mhmm.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. I enjoyed it every time I
Jimbo Robinson:If had you ever look at the the the tree, right, if you look at those three trees Mhmm. Oh, man. The duck collars in
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:it would be amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if there's another limb to that tree. No.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Probably not. I don't know.
Jimbo Robinson:Because John Stevens, I mean, he would fall under Under Butch. Under Butch and Yeah. Jimbo. You know, they were great in their own mind. Right?
Jimbo Robinson:They were great before him, but, you know, RNT and and that, you know, made them. So those trees are rooted deeply in
Matt Harrison:the duck calling world for sure. Well, Devlin, you just launched a business.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's right.
Matt Harrison:We're gonna talk about that here in just a minute. Yeah. But before doing that, we know that most of our listeners know who Duck Hodges is. But kinda give us a little bit of a backstory kinda about how you ended up where you are today because you had a a really good career, college, played some professional football, which is incredible now, launching your own business, but kinda give our listeners and watchers a little short back background on on Duck Hodges.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. You know, I grew up in Alabama playing playing football at an early age. Actually, played ice hockey was my first sport. Was my first sport.
Matt Harrison:Where's your chip toot?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Don't have that. Shout out to USA Yeah. Hockey gold.
Matt Harrison:Bringing on the gold.
Jimbo Robinson:Men's and women's.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. That's right. That's right. So, you know, just grew up hunting, playing football. I actually didn't start duck hunting until I was, I wanna say, like, seven or eight years old.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Like, my family first few years with us deer hunting, got into duck hunting. I remember the very first duck hunt we went on, shot one duck and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Like, it was like, oh my gosh. Like, we saw, you know, third inning, we shot one, and I was used to going deer hunting, and if you shot if you saw one, you shot it, and you may Yeah. You may see one.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And then, yeah, you know, grew up playing football from Alabama, ended up going to play college at Sanford University, small division one FCS school in Alabama, had really good teammates, really good coaches, had a successful career because of them, and ended up winning the Walter Payton, you good over there, Jimbo? Yeah. You've been trying to hold
Matt Harrison:a hand over there. Don't be loud.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Ended up winning the Walter Payton award in college, it's like the Heisman for the division, and then ended up having the all time passing record in college, FCS, beat Steve McNair, the late Steve McNair in college. His record? Yep. Beat his record.
Jimbo Robinson:Alright. Here's a hold on. Here's a media here's a question for you. Can you name me another quarterback in the NFL that came out of FCS that probably would have held that record? Oh, hold on now.
Jimbo Robinson:Hold
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:on. Hold on. What do mean would have held that record?
Jimbo Robinson:No. That that you would think of
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:as Oh.
Jimbo Robinson:That could've been that An NFC gas? Yes. Oh. I don't I don't know who the point is. No.
Jimbo Robinson:John Montana? Joe Flacco. Didn't go to did he go to North Dakota State. Right?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:No. Where? I think Joe Flacco went to Delaware State.
Jimbo Robinson:Delaware State.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Who went to Carson Wentz went
Matt Harrison:North Dakota State University.
Jimbo Robinson:No. Carson Wentz. But
Matt Harrison:Carson Wentz.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But they handed the ball off, like, 80 times a game. So did Wofford. Yep.
Jimbo Robinson:Hold on. Delaware State's FCS, though. Yeah. Yeah. So but Joe Flacco, I
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:mean Joe Flacco.
Jimbo Robinson:That's who I was like, when you think about when you think about how good of a football career he had, you think about the quarterbacks that are Yeah. Extremely good in the I mean Well, that was his record. That's Steven Nair's a record you broke. Right?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:And then, I mean, when you think about Joe Flacco and Carson Wentz coming out of the FCS, I mean, there's a
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:lot of I can't think on the top of my head, but there's a few of the FCS quarterbacks. Jimmy Grubhub? Yeah. He was FCS.
Jimbo Robinson:So a lot of great quarterbacks, and so Yeah. I just wanted to put Duck on a higher pedestal because that that is
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Thank you.
Jimbo Robinson:When we think about the guys that have come out of there, it's an incredible group of
Matt Harrison:of hall
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:of famers. Yep. Absolutely.
Matt Harrison:I'm pretty
Jimbo Robinson:sure that Jeff Flacco will probably be a hall of famer.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Probably. Yeah. You would think so. Gotta be. I mean, he won a Super Bowl.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Gotta be.
Jimbo Robinson:So sorry.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:You got us some stats. I was
Matt Harrison:trying to pull it up, but we're a little slow over here.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So There we go.
Jimbo Robinson:You gotta get on the d the d guessed Wi Fi back here in the in the studio domes.
Matt Harrison:Yeah. The three that came up, we've got Carson Wentz Yep. Steve McNair Yep. Joe Flacco
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Joe Flacco. Trey Lance. Oh. Yeah. He yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:He played at a
Matt Harrison:North Dakota State at Bison. Yeah. Undefeated national championship season. That's right. NFL draft pick, actually.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I threw them for more yards than they did. Yep. Anyways We're in a lead company back then. Played played, you know, played college, FCS, Sanford, went to Pittsburgh Steelers, made the team as a trout, on a trout, and went complete one eighty on me. It went from thought I'd never see the field the first year till week, I think, or five being the backup, and week six, that guy getting knocked out and me going in and then kinda playing the rest of the year.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I had some success my first year, kinda more more success, I think, just creating a little cult following in Pittsburgh. I think I I think I could run for mayor now and win, honestly. So shout out to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh fans. And that's not easy. No.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:No. I mean, I me just being a big outdoorsman and, you know, being blue collar, being from a small town, I mean, it it just fit Yeah. Fit the lifestyle. I mean, I used to always, like, say in interviews, like, hey, I'm a I'm a duck hunter that's playing football, you know, not a football player that duck hunts. And, yeah, it wasn't easy, but it was a lot of fun.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Absolutely. And then after two years, Pittsburgh went to LA for a little bit. Didn't really enjoy that at all. And then went to the CFL and was there for a year. Canadian Football League, it was great.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Man, people in Canada are full blown rednecks like us in the South. Mhmm. And then, man, just over those four years, like, I missed a lot of hunting and probably coulda kept playing a little bit, but just wanted to get back into the outdoors more and ended my football career. And for the first year, two years, didn't have a clue what I wanna do. I got into real estate, did some real estate, had some success, but I knew, like, real estate wasn't what I wanted to do forever.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And then in 2022, thought of this idea of my new company I just launched about three weeks ago today. So I don't know when this will air, but we just launched it February 6. It's called Club Country, and, you know, it's just it's a brand. I know I know we'll dive into it, but it's a brand that really connects the outdoors, hunting, country community kinda with Yeah. With the golf community.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I don't think there's a brand out there that's doing that and just trying to bring those two worlds together. This side, outdoor community and whatnot is growing so fast and exploding. Golf community is exploding, so just something that can bridge the two together. And I know you like to golf when it's not hunting season. You golf some?
Matt Harrison:Some. Not
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:very good. So everyone everyone golfs some. Everyone wears button ups, and everyone wears polos and hats, so, man, I'm excited about it. Yeah. That's awesome.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We're gonna
Jimbo Robinson:dive deep. We're dive deep into that in a minute, but back to the football thing,
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:was your best game? Or maybe most memorable? Definitely probably in college, it was probably we lost this game, but we played Florida State my senior year in college and, I mean, should've beat them.
Jimbo Robinson:At Campbell?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yep. At Doak Campbell. Had them by the ropes. Florida State's first home game of the year. They had that new coach.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But the coolest thing about that game like, I'll never forget what started that game I mean, what what made that game so special, not even us almost winning and throwing for a lot of yard a lot of yards and playing well and all that. What was so cool about that is we had a rain delay for like an hour. And when we went back on there, I'm not lying, the fog was probably this high off the ground and they had the chief Osceola or whatever do the spear in the fog and it was the coolest thing I've ever And seen a football I think they I think that game, they did some special thing for Burt Reynolds. Oh. So it was just cool.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:There's a lot of cool things happening at that game. So that was the coolest game in college and then coolest game in NFL. I mean, it had to be probably my first NFL start in LA against Philip Rivers, good, you know, good Alabama boy. And then we won that game, had a off week, immediately, you know, after that game, went back home, but then flew to Canada, go duck hunting. So it was, like, the coolest seven days of my life right there.
Matt Harrison:What's the adrenaline adrenaline rush like? Man. Getting to start your first NFL game.
Jimbo Robinson:Is it bigger than NFL or college?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I mean, probably NFL. I mean, I went to a small college and whatnot. I mean, it just it was something different about NFL because, like, you can't deny that it's the best of the best Right. In the world. And it's just I don't know.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It was me me being a first year player in the NFL, not expected to have even thought about seeing the field. I mean, the adrenaline, it was
Matt Harrison:Do you feel like you were just floating?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Kinda. Like, I I do remember, like, I've never been one to get nervous about stuff. Like, do I have, like, butterflies and, like, be a little kinda, like, anxious in a good way? Absolutely. But I remember, like, when that when that quarterback got knocked out and they had to just like, it it was him knocked out, me throwing on a helmet and going in there, and I remember going into the huddle, like, all the receivers, like, were my boys and whatnot, and I was like, like, y'all ready?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Like, it's it's ducks time, like, something like that, something stupid, and they were looking at me like,
Jimbo Robinson:yeah, let's do it. Let's And
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:You know what? Yeah. And I won't forget, like, two plays later or three plays later, it became third down and, like, we had this certain play called and I I had to go to the line to check the protection, and I couldn't think of what the name was that we called it to help, you know, everyone block, but I've one of linemen was like, what? And I was like, we
Jimbo Robinson:need everyone blocking. He was like, oh, yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's called seven up, seven up, and then we got it right, threw a first down, and then after the game, they all gave me some crap about it. They're like, hey, next time it's just it's called seven up. Don't tell us y'all that all of us need to block.
Jimbo Robinson:Blog them. What's crazy about I I thought, you know, that's a cool the adrenaline rush is when you play I played at a small school. What was your record against Wofford?
Matt Harrison:Were you four and o?
Jimbo Robinson:Are we all in the conference the entire time?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We were four and o against Wofford. It was like, when I played there, we beat Wofford every year. Wofford, I think, beat Chattanooga every year, and then Chattanooga beat us every year. So, like, none of us it was just none of us could separate ourselves.
Jimbo Robinson:Sanford wasn't in the conference when we were when I was there. I'm showing my age because we still had App State and Georgia Southern.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:And my my only claim to fame at Wofford was we beat App State the other
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:they beat Michigan. And Wofford hated me because I if there's any four games that I played my best every year, it's always against Wofford. Oh, yeah. It's just one of the dudes.
Jimbo Robinson:Well, we love you now.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Thanks.
Jimbo Robinson:Thank you. He wore the black and the yellow gold, you know, later on. But Yeah. That's a it we we played at South Carolina my senior year. Same type of story.
Jimbo Robinson:We had him on the ropes. Shadavion Clowney reaches out, tips the ball. He recovers it, the clock expires, and we lost twenty one seventeen. Mhmm. But we're about to beat him.
Jimbo Robinson:Gosh. And and, like, that that adrenaline rush was something like, you know, that you just can't Yeah. Yeah. You can't repeat, but there's nothing like seeing legends and hall of famers across the board
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. I would assume when you step on the field. Yeah. It was pretty crazy.
Jimbo Robinson:You wanna
Matt Harrison:hear my football story? Let's go. No. I didn't play.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's alright. Hey. That's alright. That's alright.
Matt Harrison:I was a baseball player.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Okay.
Jimbo Robinson:Come on. So what how did how did that season end? Like, how did
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:that rookie season end? Ended with a lot of injuries on the team. I think we lost our last three games, and the last game of the season oh, my phone's ringing. Let turn it off real quick. Sorry, y'all.
Matt Harrison:Oh. Busy, man.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Last last game of the year was in Baltimore. It was wet, cold, nasty. I think everyone was ready just to go home. I mean, just one of them yeah. I think it was honestly, it just we had a lot we had so many ups and downs, lot of good things.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We had a winning record that year, so that was good, but it just I think everyone was just like, hey.
Jimbo Robinson:So when you come out of that, right, you're you were the third string, now you're the starter, what did that summer look like for you? Did it motivate you to work harder? Did it did it give you that boost of, like, I can do it?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. I mean, I I knew that, like, I still wasn't guaranteed a spot. Like, if I was undrafted guy, like, NFL, like, you know, pretty easy to be replaced in the NFL. And I just knew that I had to come back and prove myself, and I knew that they were gonna bring in another quarterback to to compete, you know, for that spot and worked hard, ended up, you know, being on the team again that next year. So then the year after that is when they let me go and ended up in LA.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So, yeah, I mean, you got to you got treated like a business when you're when you're in that. You know, your off seasons are look a lot different because, like, everything's on you. Like, you don't have a team to go work out with. You know, you're gonna work out with you and maybe two of the guys in your town. So yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Wow. Here we are though.
Matt Harrison:But here we are. Wow. Just launched three weeks ago, Club Country. Kinda tell us a little bit how you said in 2022 Yeah. It was kinda when the dream came about, but what made you get to that point as far as wanting to go the brand route, right?
Matt Harrison:Because I know that coming
Jimbo Robinson:out of the NFL, feel like you can go
Matt Harrison:in many different ways, you know, business, you can go coaching, you can go real estate, what you do, whatever it might be, there's a lot of different routes you can take, but
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:For sure. Like, when I got done playing, like, that first year that I got done playing, man, like, if there was ever a low point in my life, it was that year because, man, again, like, I didn't know what I wanna do.
Jimbo Robinson:Like, I
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:thought I had a bunch of doors open, and I'm sure that they were, but I think just having so many doors, not not knowing which one to go through, it it was tough. And then, you know, I I thought of this idea, Club Country. Like, I'd always wanted to start my own, like, apparel brand and whatnot, Kinda didn't know exactly in what lane. Had people tell me to do hunting, but y'all know I got great relationships with people in in the hunting world and whatnot. So I was like, I don't wanna step on anybody's toes.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And then I just I kinda started, you know, playing golf a lot more. I'd go around Nashville, go to some of these country clubs, at these country clubs, my it would be guys that I hunt with, and they're like, hey, come golf with me. Like, oh, wait. You golf. And show up there.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:They they got polo on. It may not be tucked in, it may not have shoes on, and, you know, so many so many places now are more than just golf. Like, a country club may be, you know, may have three d archery ranges, may have skeet shooting, and a lot of them, like, they don't call them country clubs anymore. And Club Country, like, when I thought of this name, like, it came about because I'm, man, like, what? Everyone always says, hey, this ain't your typical country club.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I'm like, okay, well, what is it? So I thought of the name Club Country. And, man, to me, there's so many places out there in that space that are probably more club country than they are country club. And club country isn't a not to country clubs at all because there's a lot of cool, awesome country clubs. I just think that it's, in a way, kinda kinda more broad and bigger.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But, yeah, thought of the idea in 2022 and, man, like, put it into motion and whatnot, and it was just really cool. I mean, really, I paid attention to everything, like, as far as, like, the littlest details, making sure I got the right team, making sure I you know, all the way down to, like, the fabric, everything. And, like, you know, it took four years to really be at a place where I was like, alright. I'm really ready to launch this at, like, a huge level. And I did some small stuff, like, sold a few hats here and there and obviously, you know, try to get investors.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And I was traveling around, you know, from Nashville going to Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, meeting people, talking about it, and I feel like I got a good team and whatnot, but I'm just really excited about club country. We got a lot of cool things going on, and I think we got some good product, man, it's it's cool. Starting a business is it's been a lot of fun. I've learned, you know, it's been a lot of fun. I've learned a lot about it, but it's cool.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Like, I start looking like like, I may look at your shirt later on and just like feel it and be like, alright, what kind of yeah. What's that feel like?
Jimbo Robinson:So, yeah. So a country boy from Alabama decides to launch an apparel brand. What how do you learn fabrics?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Man, yeah.
Matt Harrison:Feeling another people's shirts.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. Was wondering. That's what it made me think of. Like, how do you learn
Matt Harrison:that stuff?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Man, I feel like I've always, like, just when, as me as a buyer and when I go shopping, like, you know, I've always kind of paid attention to Been curious. Yeah. I've always kind of paid attention to what fabrics that I kind of lean to and stuff like that, and man, I thankfully got a lot of connections out here, so, like, some people from shooting gear have helped me get connected early on. We got one of the original founders of Peter Mallor on board that really helped And, us get into some you know, once you find good factories, they may send you 20 different sample fabrics and then it's, you know or fabric samples, then it's just going through and kinda, you know, picking one that we like. And like the first fabric, like for this polo I got on right now, like, I picked this fabric because it's a little bit more of like a mesh performance, more so than that, like, kinda slick performance that you see because I think this mesh gives it more of a matte background, which I think fits our you know, fits Club Country more cause we're like earthy tones and stuff like that.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But it's cool. And and, like, I'm we just launched, but I'm already looking forward to, alright, how can we make this shirt better? You know, how can we how can we make the button up better? How can we make the hoodie better? How can we make this polo better?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Like, what is another fabric that we can, you know, launch and just, you know, I feel like I've been staring at this shirt for six months now, eight months before the launch that I like in my mind, I'm like, not in a weird way, but I'm like I'm like, I'm tired of seeing this one. I'm ready to see, you know, kinda
Jimbo Robinson:Something new.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. What's new and coming and, you know, like, for the fall, like, alright, what's what what fabric for a button up do we wanna have for fall? So I'm thankful I'm thankful I got a lot of people in my corner and in my circle that I can, you know, lean on and get connected, but it's been a fun process.
Matt Harrison:That's awesome.
Jimbo Robinson:What was launch day like? Man, launch day was Because I think now in the social media world, a lot of brands, a lot of companies build up to this launch day. Yeah. And I can't and so I I I've never launched any things, but I don't know what, you know, what that what that feels like. What is what is that buildup look like, and and and did you get nervous, and and and what was the what was the feeling?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. And there's no doubt, like, there would be some days I'd wake up and be like, man, like, you know, is this gonna work? You know? I mean, it's it's human. It's human to have those those moments where you're just so negative and you're like, gosh, should I just walk away from this so I don't embarrass myself?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But, man, launch day was it was really good. It's been a really good three weeks. I'm thankful to have people again to talk to and whatnot, like because I didn't know what to expect. Like, I didn't know if we sold $2,000 or if we sold $200,000, like, what what is good? You know, what is good for launch date?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And I've always from this from the start, I've tried to make sure that I keep, you know, keep telling myself, alright, how are you gonna define Club Country and this, you know, this success and this business? Because, you know, lots of times with business and whatnot, you know, it's like people define it like, oh, it's it's a $20,000,000 company. Well, I'm not even close to being there right now, so like, how can I define success this first year, two years, and whatnot? And I think it's like, you know, getting the team getting the right team in place, making sure the product, you know, post launch is, you know, getting better and, you know, trying to do cool collabs with people and whatnot, like, not not worry about the numbers game. And sometimes it's hard.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I mean, it it is hard when I'm I got close relationships with people that I do ambassador stuff for and help them and, you know, know what they may do in a single day at a turkey banquet, it's like, oh gosh, man, am I doing the right thing? So it's been really good, a lot of fun. I'm excited about where it's going. We got a bunch of awesome big plans, you know, might might be at Ducks Unlimited Expo, you know, might might be there.
Jimbo Robinson:Got a bug? Yeah.
Matt Harrison:I tell you what's awesome though, you mentioned a minute ago when you first launched your brand and talking about how you paid attention to detail with a lot. One thing I was actually reading on the way up here is the names that you have for your stuff Mhmm. Is really neat. Yeah. And kind of the story behind it.
Matt Harrison:Like, was reading
Jimbo Robinson:about the Eddy. Yep. And then the, you know Absolutely. Yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Like The River Of Eddy. Yeah. One's the White River. Like, I I made this one a White River because this is like, all this is, you know, mallard feathers. Mhmm.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:White River, I would argue, is like the King River for duck When when the White River gets to 26 foot, it's the best place in the world to duck hunt.
Jimbo Robinson:And that's in Mississippi. Right? Alabama.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Oh, yeah. Mississippi.
Matt Harrison:Yeah. Yeah. And
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:then, you know, I named one that's got the rainbow trout. It's the Madison, you know, a little nod to the Madison River. Yeah, like you said, I mean, all the all the names, like like, man, like, my fabrics, my my stuff, all that's good and whatnot, but I'm not trying to sell The story. I'm well, I'm trying to sell a story. I'm not trying to sell just a shirt.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I'm trying to sell the story, the lifestyle, everything. Like this orange hat, I named the uncle Gary. Backstory is my uncle, we used to always go deer hunting, me, my uncle, my dad, and I just for some reason, I always remembered, like, he used to always have an orange hat on. I'm sure that I was supposed to, but he always had one on. And, man, just trying to you know, stories, community, lifestyle because, I mean, club country, I do think is bigger than just a shirt and whatnot.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's a community. It's a lifestyle. It's I think it's something that we've all kind of been a part of and then it's just, you know, kind of bring it to life.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. But it's it's 365 in that it it for a lot of us, it's it it defines us. Absolutely. But there's also more parts to life that you want to to represent, and
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:The golf world has become you know, I think the lifestyle seeing duck hunting as a lifestyle, and I think you're you're at the tip of the iceberg right now with launching this, and and and just the way that duck hunting has become a part of people's lives and and what they do and lifestyle is there's so many people coming to it. We talk about the country music industry and how big duck hunting is in the country music industry, and but it's also really big in the golf world. Absolutely. And there's a lot of golfers that are that are big duck hunters, and and it brings those two worlds together, which are your favorite two things. But I think what's what's cool is is your inspiration for different things like the White River and others, and and as you travel the world, I'm sure you're getting inspired by lots that you're getting to experience, and those are gonna inspire new Absolutely.
Jimbo Robinson:You know, branches to the tree of Club Country.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:No. Absolutely. And, like, man, like, the best pitch I had, like, if there's one pitch I can try to sell in Club Country, whatnot, like, I usually always draw a circle. And in that circle, you know, I'll put Can Am, Takova, Shingear, Sitka, Massey Oak, Montana Knife Company, Turtle Box, Yeti, Ducks Unlimited, like, all these, like, what I consider kinda high end kinda y'all know every brand now is hunting slash lifestyle. Turtle box is a speaker.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I mean, everyone's a lifestyle. So, like, all these people that I feel like are in the same community, to me, like, you know, if you if you got a Yeti, you're probably driving a Can Am, probably wearing Sitka or Shin or something like that. And, man, I what I do is I I draw that circle, underneath that, I'd put what I feel like are high end golf brands. And there's a lot of people that could be fit to this circle, a lot of people that could be fit underneath the circle, but, you know, Peter Mallor, Turtleson, Grace, and Johnny O, all great brands and whatnot, but Johnny O can't fit into this lifestyle. Peter Mallor can't fit into this lifestyle, and that's where I feel like Club Country can like kinda be that missing little piece of the puzzle to where, like, hey, if you have all this stuff, you know, if you wear Shin, Drake, Sitka, whatever it is, and you, you know, you golf, hey, you know, you're wear club country on a golf course, or you're gonna if you like wearing polos in general, you're gonna wear that.
Matt Harrison:So you said a while ago too, it's actually surprising when you really step back and see too is the hunting circle overlaps a lot with the golf side, with the sports side, a lot of your duck hunters. I mean, Jimbo, going to Ole Miss games. A lot of your devoted waterfowl hunters are sports fans or golfers or No doubt. Going to church. Like, they're gonna be wearing a polo too.
Matt Harrison:You
Jimbo Robinson:know, Drake did it first.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. They used to make polos way back then.
Jimbo Robinson:Well, know, and then they
Matt Harrison:got all the college coaches wearing. Yeah. I mean, I remember,
Jimbo Robinson:you know, the the original Drake vest and seeing all the college logos on that shirt. Right? You can see it. You kinda so when you saw one, you didn't know. Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:You're always like, Zeehunt? Zeehunt is wild out because right?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:But when you see, you know, I mean, you, Shin, or Massey Oak, for example. When I went to the Sugar Bowl this year and, you know, we're in the middle of duck season, and you saw somebody walking around, had a Shin hat on, you're like, probably duck hunts.
Matt Harrison:Yep.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:You know? Or a Massey Oak, you know, something, probably duck hunts or deer hunts. Right? So you had that connection. So that's what but And
Matt Harrison:normally you always start a conversation with those guys like
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:You do.
Jimbo Robinson:Right? You sit at a bar or something in in a
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And that's one thing that I've always, like, said is I want you know, when someone sees someone wearing a club country polo on a golf course or wherever, like, it may not spark a, hey, what'd you shoot today? I'd be like, hey, man, you hunt? You know? That that's kind of my goal with it. And like, we're using club country, we're using golf as, like, the roots, but, man, I think it's gonna grow into Because so much so much happens on
Jimbo Robinson:a golf course. So much. I mean, let's be like, I mean, that's the stories my dad told in the medical sales field as a kid is, like, my dad played golf because he had to. Yeah. Because that's that's where business took place.
Jimbo Robinson:But, you know, I mean, I I laugh about we sent Duck a picture from the first playoff game in Oxford, Yeah. And I'm sitting next to a guy, and he has a club country hat. And Tripp's like, dad, isn't that mister Ducks brand? And I'm like and I look down like, yeah. How did you get that?
Jimbo Robinson:You know? I'm like, I don't even have that hat. And anyways, it was somebody I think that's in your inner circle that's helping with the brand start launch, and then Mary Morgan knew. Mary Morgan was a a sorority sister with his wife,
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:and they knew each other really well.
Jimbo Robinson:It was like crazy small circle. It's 87,000 people
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:This is a small world
Jimbo Robinson:that and we live I'm sitting next to, you know, somebody that's highly invested in, or I don't know if he's invested, but he's a part of Club Country from the beginning, but is also, you know, you know, my wife knows it was bizarre. It was really cool. We sent him a photo from the game, and and so I was talking to him about duck hunting, and so that connected us. Right? Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:Club country and the duck hunting, and I was telling him that, you know, we share a lot of same similar interests, and it was really neat. Yeah.
VO:Stay tuned to the Ducks Unlimited podcast sponsored by Purina Pro Plan and After these messages.
Matt Harrison:And what I'd tell you too and kinda going off that and just how it's a small world, and how you wanna overlay the upcoming generation as well as our age, and we'll talk a little bit about how old Jimbo is over there in a minute, but Old. No, I'm kidding. But one thing I have seen, and even in just my area in Mississippi, is the younger generation, golf is becoming It's huge.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Very popular. Mean, golf is just blowing Like,
Matt Harrison:it's unbelievable. Like, whenever I was in high school, you know, golfing was golf. You didn't do it a ton and it wasn't super cool, but now, like, my nephews, everybody that I'm around, like, what are y'all doing today? We're going golfing.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Like, we're
Matt Harrison:going golfing. We're going to film it with our iPhones or our GoPro. Like, everybody's now golfing. Like, it's a cool thing. So I think it's just really cool to see how you're gonna be drawing
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:in feel like it's a good time in a Oh, long yeah.
Matt Harrison:It's perfect because like you said too, the hunting industry is just is booming, the golf industry is booming, and there's a need for the country. Bridging the
Jimbo Robinson:collab. Absolutely. What you launched it at Waste Management. Right? No.
Jimbo Robinson:No.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We were supposed to. We changed because we kinda got delayed on our apparel, so we got nervous that we wouldn't be there. So we actually ended up launching in Nashville. Oh, I'm sorry. No.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's all good.
Jimbo Robinson:Because that connected you with our
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Well well, we were I mean, we were supposed to launch there and just had some things happen. We're gonna be there next year at waste management. We got a good relationship with In the DU booth? If you want us there. Always.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I mean, come on. I know.
Jimbo Robinson:Maybe some club shirts people wear here.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Hey. I mean, look. If you go
Jimbo Robinson:to D, then you
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:get A club country a club country Ducks and Lemon collab should happen one day. They're throwing it out there. If you think so, leave a comment below and say, you agree. If you
Jimbo Robinson:think Ducks should hurry up and do it before DUX this year Oh.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Call him. If you think I should, like and subscribe for the benefit of podcast. What were you saying? Yeah. Waste management next year.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Yeah. We got time.
Jimbo Robinson:See, that tournament, that's a lifestyle. Exactly. That that encompasses. And when you told me that, and I was talking to to our managing director that kind of runs our Proved Outfit, I was like, he's gonna nail it. Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:Like, that is encompasses what you're trying to do. Would Yeah. I think so. Because that sixteenth hole is it has to be a lifestyle. Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:There's a lot of people there that yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:If you're if you're a if you're a a golf fan watching golf, and by the traditional standards, I'm not taking anything away from that, and I love Augusta, and the Masters are cool too, but it's not Augusta. No. And so it kind of it's the fun and the golf, and I think to what you
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:just feel said pretty strong saying that they probably don't wanna be a
Jimbo Robinson:good guy. No. No. No. But I think, to Matt, to your point, I think tournaments that are are are bringing in more than just golfers to the tournament, to to golf in general is what's helping.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. Like, my my kids love to watch the TGL on TV. I mean, Justin Thomas just came back, well, you know, this week and and played on that the the on the Luke
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Luke Bryan played in the other night. It was fun. Yeah. I don't if they were He was there.
Jimbo Robinson:He now he owns I I saw that part, and he is a a a part owner of the Atlanta team.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Okay. Cool.
Jimbo Robinson:I saw that. And
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And then, like, YouTube golf is
Jimbo Robinson:huge. Huge.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I mean, there's guys that are
Jimbo Robinson:Who are the Bryan brothers?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:There's guys on YouTube golf that, you know, aren't very good at golf. Like, they're not scratch golfers, but it's they're just fun to watch. Interesting. And I was like, when I started my YouTube channel this past year, because I mean, YouTube is just huge in general, like hunting, golf, whatever it is, I mean, YouTube is massive.
Jimbo Robinson:It really is. It's become a part of everybody's life. Yep. And it's fun
Matt Harrison:to learn.
Jimbo Robinson:Right? If you don't know how to do something, I mean, what do people say?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:YouTube it. YouTube it. Right?
Matt Harrison:I mean, it's
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Well, maybe it's chat GBT now.
Jimbo Robinson:It's I love I
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:love it.
Matt Harrison:Microsoft Copilot, isn't that right?
Jimbo Robinson:Producer. Click. But we we it is. You're right. Like, the way to learn I mean, my starter went out on my vehicle a year ago, and and I'm one of the the first thing I say is I'm a DIY.
Jimbo Robinson:I'm do it myself. And so I got on YouTube. I didn't realize how hard it was Yeah. And and, you know, but YouTube didn't and did it. It was
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I wonder if YouTube in, like, ten years, like, what if there's, like, no TV?
Jimbo Robinson:Would it be like AOL? Think we'll ever, like, completely transform? Like, AOL was the thing, like messenger.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Right? Think about it last night.
Jimbo Robinson:That's
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:bad that's before. Oh my gosh.
Matt Harrison:That when dinosaurs were on?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:AOL. I
Jimbo Robinson:was like, what? He said LOL? What? Yeah. Y'all didn't
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:know what 67 is, Jimbo?
Jimbo Robinson:Do. I do. That's 41. Still hadn't 40? No.
Jimbo Robinson:67 says 40 different. My kids know that.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:No. You're 40, not 48. I know.
Matt Harrison:Don't get
Jimbo Robinson:ahead of your kids. I do I say 52 just to make fun of them and do some, like, weird dance that makes them feel really weird. They're like, stop it, dad. You're not cool. Oh.
Jimbo Robinson:No.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:You're cool. Don't let them tell you that.
Jimbo Robinson:Well, I mean
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:If you weren't, we
Jimbo Robinson:I wouldn't be hanging out
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:with me. You wouldn't be on a podcast.
Jimbo Robinson:No. Not with YouTube. God forbid. Y'all But,
Matt Harrison:yeah, YouTube is it's unbelievable. I mean, and Clay can attest to it too. You know, we started putting an emphasis on
Jimbo Robinson:it on trying to grow it,
Matt Harrison:and Clay's done a phenomenal job just with the DU one.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. Through DU Nation and through other clips, through shorts. We will have, you know, crazy hunting story clips that
Matt Harrison:we post, and they'll get hundreds of thousands of you, like and you'll gain so many subscribers from it. It's crazy where YouTube is going. Yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:And you take the booming in
Matt Harrison:the hunting industry, the golfing industry, the young generation Yeah. And you combine all those together.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And it's And I know y'all talk about young generation a lot. That's like one of the main reasons.
Jimbo Robinson:No. I know y'all are talking about young generation a lot. Well, I mean, say sorry.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We Ducks Unlimited, you know, that's why, like, I really put an emphasis on YouTube this past duck season, man. One, I just really wanna be a positive. We were talking before all the drama that goes on and what we what I thought was just a duck hunting world that is in every hunting category you can think of, and that's why I put a strong emphasis in YouTube this year just to try to be a positive role model. And, you know, as people come into this sport of hunting, like, man, there's some people that their dads may not hunt. Like, they gotta have people to look look up to and whatnot, and God's gave me a platform, so I'm trying to use it.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Man, YouTube, it's it's been great. It's been cool.
Jimbo Robinson:And, you know, coming from a little different perspective of that is having a kid that is absolutely obsessed with duck hunting and my son, and and at nights Does
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:he does he watch the channel?
Jimbo Robinson:Oh, gosh. At nights, I'll go in the room to to lay down with him to go to bed, and it'll be I'll hear, you know, Carter and Duck on TV, and I'm just looking up and laughing. And but to him Look
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:at these idiots.
Jimbo Robinson:Well, he thinks but it's but I don't have to worry about it.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Right? I don't
Jimbo Robinson:have to worry about you two and what he's watching. Yeah. And that's where, you know, guys like you, you know, using your platform is what we need because I I don't we don't let our kids watch YouTube on their own. Mhmm. They can watch, you know, certain channels.
Jimbo Robinson:Like, they'll both my both of my kids enjoy watching DUTV. They they watch y'all, and there's a couple other, you know, hunting channels to watch, but but, you know, I have to I have to vet them because what not everybody is taking the approach of, I wanna be a good role model on this platform.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We man, like, I always I knew YouTube was big, but, like, it wasn't until the NWTF banquet or convention that was like, oh my gosh. YouTube is, like, really massive because we started in basically November. I had done, like, two videos on my own, but, like, we really started this November, and I think we gained almost 10 subs this past duck season and which is another thing. I didn't realize that was going mean, that's that's hard to do on Hard. But I had so many people come up to me at NWTF.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Was like, man, I really enjoy your YouTube. And, like, they didn't know me from social media or anything, they knew me from YouTube. Wow. Like, wow, man, YouTube, like, is powerful. So you
Matt Harrison:would be blown away at how many people Yeah. You know, use it like
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's it's almost like, I don't know, I feel like social media, like, you could have 200,000 followers and only 10% really care. I feel like YouTube, like, if if there's 10,000 guys, you got 10,000 True loyal followers. Yeah. So
Matt Harrison:I learned that too. Like, I never really realized how powerful YouTube was too until we every year, I'm over some of our media camps. So we'll bring in a Sydney Wells or, you know, somebody, and we'll host for a couple days and teach them about conservation, what Ducks Limited does in those areas. So we did one with Kendall Gray who's a YouTuber, and he does a lot of educational style stuff, outdoor style, but he kinda tracks the, you know, little bit younger age, but it's I I literally probably cannot count on my I probably can't even count that high how many kids have come up to me and was like,
Jimbo Robinson:you took Kendall Grey duck hunting? Yeah. Like, you took Kendall Grey. I saw
Matt Harrison:you on YouTube with Kendall Grey. I'm like, oh, y'all, like, watch
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:YouTube Like, that
Matt Harrison:every little kid that's in the outdoors
Jimbo Robinson:that I know, I think, has mentioned that. Well, I mean, I can vouch for them because YouTube Kids, my I mean, probably the most famous influencers in the kids' world
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:are on YouTube Kids. Yeah. They're they're other kids. Right?
Jimbo Robinson:They're like other kids, and they're doing their
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:own Like, what's what's the one kid that, like, opens up GIFs and stuff? You may not know what I'm talking about.
Jimbo Robinson:I don't
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:it I know. 40.
Jimbo Robinson:There's The Ninja Kids I mean, the Ninja Kids, there's Ninja Kids birthday parties. There's, like, four kids, and they do ninja you know, like, they have fun, and and and they're they do they have mats and stuff, and they do Ninja Kids stuff, and, like, my kids, there's Ninja Kid stuff, like, that you can have a birthday party for it off four kids on YouTube. Like, it's huge. My I mean, my when we're traveling, the kids I hear them scrolling YouTube Kids all the time, and and and then, you know, Trip will say, dad, can I watch YouTube? And, you know, alright.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. Yeah. You can
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:go watch Duck Hodges official YouTube.
Jimbo Robinson:I know. He can almost he can tell you almost every place y'all hunted this year.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's so cool. That's awesome, man.
Jimbo Robinson:We only have one place that he was like, dad, didn't that did you hunt there? I was like, yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:They did better than me.
Jimbo Robinson:But we don't talk about that.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We'll have to get them on the channel next year.
Matt Harrison:What would you say, Duck, with the launching of your brand
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah.
Matt Harrison:Really launching YouTube, having a lot going on, what's been probably one of the most difficult, you know, things to really adjust to? Because Yeah. Also planning for
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:a wedding Yeah.
Matt Harrison:Coming up. I mean
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I think I think it's been the most difficult thing is just trying to make sure I really, like, manage my time, like, with not getting so scattered brain that I may forget. Like, I'm I told y'all before, I'm I'm I'm the anyone that's watching this that knows me knows I'm the worst texter. And if I tell you I'll call you back in five, it may mean five months. I don't mean five minutes. I couldn't like, I know Fred Hill's watching this laughing because I've told him so many times, hey, let me call you back in five, and he'll text me the next one, hey, man.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's been a long five minutes. So, man, just, you know, trying to stay organized and whatnot. And then, you know, also too, like, as as I'm growing, trying to grow YouTube, trying to grow club country, you know, still do, like, real estate and whatnot, it's it's it's a lot. It's a lot of good things. And, yes, you know, all that being said, I mean, the most important thing is, you know, getting married, you know, this year.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I mean so there's there's a lot to navigate, but it's it's a lot of fun, and I've it's been cool to see some of the challenges that I've been facing with it that I almost feel like God's putting in front of me more so for my marriage and whatnot, and not even you know, he's using this to, like, challenge me so I'm, you know, a better husband and whatnot. So it's it's been cool. It's been a lot a lot of good, but it's been cool. And then you got, hey. When am I gonna go turkey hunting?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:When am I gonna go golf? So there's not enough time in this world, unfortunately.
Jimbo Robinson:Speaking of the wedding, I mean, Mary and Lanny Wilson, she has a busy schedule, probably busier than yours. How do you all find time for each other?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's tough. Sometimes it's tough. She was gone this whole month of February. I told her next time that she's gotta go overseas, you know, make sure it's January that makes it, you know, makes me not feel as bad about, you know, going duck hunting the whole month. I mean, we're we're good about, you know, making time and whatnot.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Like, it it does get tough and like, gosh, I I really she would probably say that she feels like I've been almost busier than she has just right now with everything I got. But you've been married, so this is more so of a question, but I imagine it's just a the most important thing, you just gotta you gotta find a way to to make it the most important thing.
Jimbo Robinson:If I can give you any marriage advice Give
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:me some marriage advice. I've been married fifty years.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. I would say that somebody told me early on there's gonna be a lot of distractions, a lot of things are gonna happen in life. Kids are gonna come along, job changes, jobs, but at the end of the day, you are married to her for life.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's
Jimbo Robinson:right. And she's the most important person in your life, and she is always in your corner. And so no matter what, yes, I love my kids to death, but at the end of the day, I have I get to instill all of the values and things and morals that I want for eighteen years, and then they they're going to their own lives. Yeah. And I still have Mary Morgan.
Jimbo Robinson:That's right. And so she always has to be the most important person in your life.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And I've had a lot of people, I mean, I don't have kids one night, Lord willing and will have kids one day, but so many people just told me, like, even like, hey, when you start having kids, it's like, hey, bring them into your life. Absolutely. Like, bring them along with you, keep doing you, and stuff like that. So a lot of lot of lot of good things to look forward to over, Lord willing, the next ten years.
Jimbo Robinson:I don't own these kids, you know, God owes these kids, but, you know, I can only just instill what I what I was taught by my parents.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's right.
Jimbo Robinson:But, yeah, I mean, that's that's great advice. Bring along. I've always Trip's always been wrong. Leila's always been along with me, and they run around and Gosh,
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I thought you said that they've always been wrong.
Jimbo Robinson:No, no. They've always been around, and, you know, like most people know them and have watched them grow up because they've just been a part of my life at Ducks Unlimited for eighteen years, and and you'll do the same
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:probably learned so much just from always being around.
Jimbo Robinson:I think they absolutely
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:have. That's awesome.
Jimbo Robinson:Well But
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Thank you for that advice.
Jimbo Robinson:I mean, you you'll be you you are both of you two since I'm so much older than y'all. But, I mean, it's impressive to listen to you two talk because when I was in your age at your shoes, I don't think I had that same type of of drive. Right? I mean, I had a lot of drive. I was regional director then, but, I mean, what you're doing is gonna be life changing for you and for you know, it's gonna bring two cool worlds together, and I'm excited to watch it grow.
Matt Harrison:The Lord has blessed you.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's right, man. He's he's blessed us all. He he he has. I mean
Jimbo Robinson:So what's what's what's your favorite hunting what's your best hunting memory from this past season?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Oh, this past season. Man It could be
Jimbo Robinson:a big game, and I'd be a duck.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I mean, I I did shoot my first elk. That was cool. I would say my favorite memory was there's two. Taking Peyton Manning was that's up there. I mean, man, you're talking about someone that you grow up watching and then kinda started becoming friends a little bit while I was playing, but really kinda connected more when he started hosting the CMA Awards, and Laney hosted it with him.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And
Matt Harrison:How'd that come about?
Jimbo Robinson:I wanna know how that, like So I know y'all met.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. So, like, he was supposed to come with us the year before, and we I texted him and said, dude, it's better get four inches of ice, and it's not gonna be good. Like, more than welcome to come down, but it's gonna be a hangout, and it's not gonna be fun. And he said, alright. Let's just reschedule for next year.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So it was originally supposed to come. It was just one of the things that, like, we kinda when I when I was playing football in NFL, we'd connect some, texted a little bit, and kinda rekindled the flame when he was hosting the CMA Awards with Laney and whatnot, and I was just like, man. I said, I've heard, you know, heard people say that you duck hunting out in Idaho, and I said, I'm I know I've seen a video of you duck hunting in Stuttgart. I said, man, you wanna come duck hunting with me? And he was like, yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Let's let's do it. And we just, you know, did that and went hunting. So That's awesome. It it was cool. Hopefully, going down to the masters with him, that that that'd be fun.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But, I mean, that that was probably pretty special. I mean, was the that was the first time we hunted the Lacey Farm, by the way. Because we funny story, the first day we hunted, hunted the crane farm, shot 16 mallards, like, really good hunt. The next morning, we hunted somewhere on the crane farm, didn't shoot nothing. Phil goes, I'm not sending Peyton Manning home with a goose egg.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We drove to Lacey Farm, first hunt. It's on YouTube. You can go watch it. And it was real I mean, we we shot him and coolest thing is Peyton Manning on the video is like, greatest audible ever. And it's like, Peyton Manning just said greatest audible audible ever, so gotta gotta be.
Jimbo Robinson:Not one from his Super Bowl days.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's right.
Jimbo Robinson:But but And
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:he's such a normal guy, man. Like, gosh. I mean, he is such a normal guy, we had such a good time, laid back, jokes. He's such a big fan of music. Like, he's literally just he's one of us.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So, I mean, it was just so cool.
Jimbo Robinson:Being in Memphis, being living in Memphis, he's a big part of this community. Married a Memphis girl. Yeah. And so he's a big part of Absolutely. Of kind of even though he went to Tennessee, a lot of Memphis people, you know
Matt Harrison:I saw
Jimbo Robinson:think a
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:lot about him. So that was up there and then
Jimbo Robinson:But you're not so you the people you've met, you're marrying one of the biggest, you know, stars in the industry right now, but you don't get starstruck. I mean, you were a student under Ben Roethlisberger. Yeah. I mean, like, it doesn't get much bigger than Big Ben, especially being in Pittsburgh.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it I mean, there's still some people, like, you know, at least for, like, five minutes, I'm like, oh my gosh. I got this I met him.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's pretty cool. But then it's like, man, there's just I feel like it happened so fast. Some of these guys just become my buddies and become my friends and whatnot, and then they're just they're just another good old boy that likes to do what we do.
Jimbo Robinson:In the duck hunting industry, there's a lot of guys like that in it. Oh, yeah. They all all like to duck hunt. And I've had the opportunity to meet and hang out with a lot of really cool people, and and and, yeah, there's a there's a Mount Rushmore of guys that I'd love to meet that would, you know, be incredible. But, I mean, probably shooting ducks with with Peyton Manning would be It's pretty cool.
Jimbo Robinson:Not many
Matt Harrison:places can say they did that.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:No.
Jimbo Robinson:Is he a good shot?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Yeah. We'll put him in there tight for him too. That was cool. And then, man, when when Field shot that double banded Jack Minor band, I mean, that's, you know, you'll probably I don't know if I don't know if I'll ever see another Jack Minor band killed ever.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And for it to be double banded in Arkansas, that was cool. But, man, we cool. It was cool taking a lot of you know, took a lot of cool people hunting this year. And like you said, a lot of a lot of people that duck hunt, that love duck hunting, Sam Burns duck hunting, Chandler Phillips, you know, two PGA guys, and you take Zach Top, took Lainey, you know, the year before he took Jordan Davis always comes hunting a bunch, Thomas Repp. I mean, there's so many people that just enjoy being around it.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Me and Luke Bryan went up to his place in West Tennessee. I mean, a lot of cool people that that just love duck hunting, you know, people people say like, oh, you know, don't don't meet your heroes, man. I've never met anyone that I'm like, I wish I wouldn't have met him. Like, everyone's just been good old boy. Yeah.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's always the people that love love hunting. They're they're always good as gold.
Matt Harrison:That's so cool. Absolutely. What was your other top moment that you were gonna say one man a guy? Peyton Manning.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Peyton, and then when Field shot that The double banded Yeah. I mean Jack Miner. That was that was pretty
Jimbo Robinson:that was pretty Was Lainie a hunter?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. I mean, she she grew up she don't have time to hunt much. Right. Like, when she she gets to go once a year, it's always fun. That I mean, that was that's always a special hunt every year.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:But she did grow up. Her and her sister used to put on, a dove hunt to raise money.
Matt Harrison:That's cool.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I think for their own funds, but they they did. Hey.
Jimbo Robinson:Been a lot there'd have been some Septembers where I'd have paid them.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I don't
Jimbo Robinson:care if it for their own money
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:or not
Jimbo Robinson:to go shoot it up.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Absolutely. But, yeah, I'm I'm excited to see what 2026 brings in the in the hunting world. I'm really I'm really gonna put a lot of effort into archery hunting for a big big buck. I've never I've killed some doe, killed a small well, one too small buck, but I'm really going after some big ones. Like That'd be awesome.
Jimbo Robinson:A lot of bow hunting is special.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Man, I grew
Jimbo Robinson:up bowhunting. I loved it. Started when I was 18. Like, that was my late in life
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:job was probably I just started, like, two years ago, like, really getting into it. Like, last year was the first year I really, really, really got into it. I'm hooked on it.
Jimbo Robinson:I think I think, and I may not, but I've said this before, but I think bow hunting and hunting in flooded woods have a very similar thing because of you gotta be still, it's right in your face, it's and I think that's what drives me to to bow hunt, and and I can't wait to teach Tripp how to bow hunt. He owns a crossbow. I haven't haven't I haven't been able to take make myself take him that crossbow hunting, but, yeah, I mean, I love a compound bow. I mean, I still have the original bow that I bought twelve years ago. Because if I need the speed How
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:old were you twelve years ago?
Jimbo Robinson:The same age as Matt.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Golly. My My bad. I forgot.
Jimbo Robinson:Since we don't have the button pusher over there to hit all our buttons. But, yeah, I mean, that's that's it's it's intimate. Right? It's it's and it's the adrenaline rush from from bowhunting especially. I think you you're gonna fall in love
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:with it. I'm I'm I'm so hooked already. Nice. And, man, I met some of the, you know, I guess, the big names in the archery world on YouTube and whatnot, and, again, just cool, good old boys that are just like us. So it's
Jimbo Robinson:It's amazing that the archery world, I mean, it's blowing up too. When we went to French Hook, Indiana, they have amazing three d archery course, and people go there from all over the world.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And I tell you what's cool about I feel like the archery world, I feel like it's similar to the duck calling world as far as, like, you got people that are big in the archery, shooting archery that may not hunt as much just like you got people that are big in the duck calling that probably don't duck hunt as much as like what you would think. Right. So it's really cool. A lot of similarities there.
Jimbo Robinson:What is your what's your fondest what's your best memory from traveling the world with Lainie outside of of kind of in a different world, right, than what you're used to.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I don't know. That's tough. I'd say I'd say going to Italy. I mean, that was pretty cool, going to, like, Tuscany. Actually, going to see the Vatican was one of the coolest things It is.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That I've seen. That was like that was really, really special. And then, like, what's crazy is, like, you know, you hear, you know, in the Bible they talk about, you know, upon this rock Peter, upon this rock, I'm building my church, and then, like, you go to the Vatican, and literally, like, directly below where the altar is is where Peter was buried. It was like, bro, that's crazy. Wow.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So that was pretty cool. That is awesome. The Vatican, if you didn't know, is like its own country. Like, you have a passport to get into the Vatican. Really?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. That's crazy. That's cool. That is nuts.
Matt Harrison:Yep. That's super cool.
Jimbo Robinson:Yeah. That's and and and the what's what's and did you watch when they elected the new pope? Yeah. And it it gives you more of a different feeling when you watch that after you've, you know, you've you've seen it.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:100%.
Jimbo Robinson:It's it's it's a cool thing.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's cool. It's cool.
Jimbo Robinson:I got to go when I was about y'all's age.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Did you? Heck yeah.
Jimbo Robinson:Hundred years ago? Mhmm.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Jimmy, you you look younger than your age. I'll give it
Jimbo Robinson:to you.
Matt Harrison:He does. I thought when I first got home, I was thinking probably 35 Yeah. 33, somewhere
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:in there.
Jimbo Robinson:I don't feel that. And he's gonna start to he probably a whole lot worse than I did. But, yeah, I mean, that's I don't feel that. I mean, I wake up in the mornings and it takes me, you know, ten minutes to get moving in the right direction, but college football puts a it does a and NFL, totally different. The best players in the world chasing him, you know, that that what he's gonna face and what I, totally different.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I threw it up all the way before they hit. I I didn't get hit much. Thank goodness.
Matt Harrison:Had a good o line.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's right. Had a great o line. Shout out.
Matt Harrison:Wolf, for our listeners, where are some good places they can go to find club country?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. So you can go to the website Mhmm. Clubcountryco.com. Yep. Can check us out on Instagram at at club country co.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Go go to website. Are there
Jimbo Robinson:any events you will be
Matt Harrison:going to anytime soon? I
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:opened DUX. DUX?
Jimbo Robinson:He has a booth there.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's right. You better be We're gonna be at DUX and working on, you know, planning a few few events, maybe a little little roadshow, so y'all stay tuned for that. So we're we're in the works, but, you know, right now, we're just a DTC brand. Check us out on the website, clubcountryco.com, and then, yeah, d u x, maybe a collab. Who who knows?
Jimbo Robinson:Who knows?
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Who knows?
Jimbo Robinson:I mean, I will say it first on YouTube, but and nobody knows it, but Devlin Duck Hodges will be the featured speaker this year's That's right. Ducks Unlimited third term collegiate symposium here in Memphis.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And I bet you'll be What a lot
Matt Harrison:better than last year's guy.
Jimbo Robinson:You have big shoes to fill. Matt did an amazing job.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I know, man. Y'all gotta have to tell me what I'm talking about. How how long am I speaking for? This is like
Matt Harrison:Thirty minutes.
Jimbo Robinson:Thirty? We could do question and answer.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Okay. Alright. Can we spend, like, twenty five minutes question and answer? We'll
Jimbo Robinson:do whatever No. You
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:No. We'll we'll put something together cool. I'm excited, man. How many people y'all have come in?
Jimbo Robinson:There's 300 students. There's 350 college students, and they are rowdy. And they're from across the country, they're leaders. I mean, they're true business leaders in their own DU chapters across the country, and and and They're awesome. It'll be cool.
Jimbo Robinson:They'll be, you know, super excited to hear your story and and to hear about Club Country.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:We could we should do a Club Country special shirt for them. Maybe we can do some giveaways. Come on. Some special exclusive giveaways. We can figure out something.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Oh, that'd be awesome. But I'm excited. Yeah. May make it on the seventeenth?
Jimbo Robinson:Yes. Remember him talking about his social media and his phone earlier? I mean, he put it on his calendar. He did.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:I I put it on my calendar.
Jimbo Robinson:And now that I've announced it and you don't come, these kids will be very despair.
Matt Harrison:The one that's fresh.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That would be 300 less
Jimbo Robinson:YouTube subscribers.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Like, unsubscribe.
Jimbo Robinson:I bet you most of them have seen your YouTube channel.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. If you haven't, go check it out.
Jimbo Robinson:Go check it out.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Subscribe to the what? Is it just Ducks Unlimited YouTube? Ducks Unlimited. That's it? Ducks Unlimited.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Ducks Unlimited. Subscribe. Ducks Unlimited. Subscribe to Duck Odges officially.
Matt Harrison:There you go.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:So The duck.
Jimbo Robinson:God, this has been fun.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:It's been great.
Jimbo Robinson:We're not done yet.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Can we Joe Rogan this and stay on for, like, four hours?
Jimbo Robinson:Well, what our listeners don't know is earlier, we How long have we been
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:going for? Our merchandise our
Jimbo Robinson:Wow. Our merchandise selection meeting is here, and somebody sent us a a motorcycle, an electric motorcycle that makes sounds and Duck. Duck on it. Can I borrow
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:that for just one turkey hunt?
Jimbo Robinson:I'm sure we can make a deal
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:with His e bike. Come on. Come on.
Jimbo Robinson:That was funny. God was hilarious. That's great. I pushed almost pushed him into one of the mounts
Matt Harrison:here in
Jimbo Robinson:the building and but we got him back on the right track.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:And look. There's a 100 y'all Ducks Unlimited has a 150,000 subs, so we should expect 150,000 people at DUX this year.
Jimbo Robinson:No doubt. Mean I'm all in.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Let's go. You heard it here first.
Jimbo Robinson:We're gonna do some cool stuff, so maybe we do some cool stuff with with duck on in one of our time slots at the duck den. Absolutely.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Yeah. Count me in.
Jimbo Robinson:What would
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:be cool
Jimbo Robinson:too is we have a new well, we haven't announced this yet, but we may have something that travels around that resembles the duck den. It does. That'd be fun to let's go somewhere cool and Okay.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Have you on there and Hey. Help out anyway. I love Ducks Unlimited. Love what y'all do for conservation and the duck hunters and for the ducks themselves because for that duck, I know.
Jimbo Robinson:We're doing our best every day.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Y'all doing a good job. Every day.
Matt Harrison:Well, Duck, thank you so much for taking time and coming in, and we've enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing with our listeners a little bit about your story and your company.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Y'all be sure
Jimbo Robinson:God. That's cool.
Matt Harrison:To go and check
Jimbo Robinson:out Driver
Matt Harrison:Club Country. Subscribe on our YouTube. Subscribe to the podcast.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That's
Matt Harrison:right. Thank you all so much. We also wanna thank our podcast producer today, mister Clay Baker.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:Come on, Clay.
Matt Harrison:The one and only. And thank you to you as well for tuning in to the DU podcast. Y'all take care, and God bless. Watch out for geese.
Devlin "Duck' Hodges:That was great.
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