Episode Transcript
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VO (01:41):
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, KatieBurke. I'm your host, doctor
Jared Hemphith. And I'm yourhost, Matt Harrison.
Welcome to the Ducks Unlimitedpodcast, the only podcast about
(02:03):
all things waterfowl. Fromhunting insights to science
based discussions about ducks,geese, and issues affecting
waterfowl and wetlandsconservation in North America.
The DU podcast, sponsored byPurina Pro Plan, the official
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always advancing. Also proudlysponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey
(02:24):
and Cocktails.
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Matt Harrison (02:49):
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to the Ducks
Unlimited podcast. I'm yourhost, Matt Harrison. Also,
joining me today is doctor JaredHenson, also host of the Ducks
Unlimited podcast. Doctor Jared,how are doing?
Jerad Henson (03:00):
I'm doing good
today, Matt. Happy to be here.
Had some cooler weather thisweekend, so kind of kind of
excited about what's going on.
Matt Harrison (03:07):
No doubt. No
doubt. We're gonna be bringing
y'all a migration alert updatehere in just a few minutes.
It'll be centered around theMississippi Flyway, but
specifically the Wisconsin area.But before we dive into that,
doctor Jared, you had aphenomenal weekend this past
weekend.
Correct?
Jerad Henson (03:27):
I did have a good
weekend. I mean, we had
Halloween and and great timewith the kids, and then I was
able to get up in a tree thisweekend after that and arrow a a
pretty good buck on public land.
Matt Harrison (03:38):
Beautiful buck.
Jerad Henson (03:39):
Really, really
happy about that. Now I got a
lot of work processing a deer,but
Matt Harrison (03:43):
But what a way to
kick off your hunting season. I
know. I mean, you're about to beable to chase some ducks, and
you just harvested a beautifulwhitetail on some public ground,
and I mean, just what a start.
Jerad Henson (03:53):
I'm I'm pumped
about it, man. I yeah. It's been
a while since I've been able toto put the time in to take a
deer, so with with young kids,and so I was really happy to get
that opportunity, and and it allcome together.
Matt Harrison (04:05):
That's awesome.
When I saw the picture, I was
like, let's go. It fired me up alittle bit.
Jerad Henson (04:11):
I was shaking like
a leaf after it. I was like, I
was all amped up. I had to climbdown out of the tree. I was
shaking so much. So
Matt Harrison (04:17):
Oh, that this
time we're around, it I just
gotta hear the full story.
Jerad Henson (04:21):
I will. Yeah. It's
a good story.
Matt Harrison (04:23):
That's awesome.
That's awesome. Well, like I
said, we're gonna be diving into a migration alert for the
state of Wisconsin, theMississippi Flyway. And I was
reading this, and it's gettingme a little fired up because I
know where I'm stationed at herein Mississippi, we've got a good
cold front that's moved in, somecrisp weather this morning. It
(04:44):
was around 38, 40 degrees, andit has me thinking about ducks.
And that's what they kinda talkabout here in this alert, saying
that they got a good cold frontand some ducks started to push
on through. So Doctor. Jared,it's it's that time. I mean, it
is it is here. I know that we'vetalked about it being close to
time, but I feel like a lot ofthese these states are really
(05:05):
starting to see a push of birds.
Jerad Henson (05:06):
That's it. That's
it. And if you look at that
report and jump in, one of thefirst things they say is, you
know, the ducks seem to be ontrack. Divers are showing up.
Yep.
You know, they're generallythere a little early. They're
they're waiting in some areas ofof Wisconsin to pick up, you
know, their big ducks and puddleducks, but they're seeing ducks,
and they're showing up. So thebig, I think the big thing there
that the, they were talkingabout on the report was, you
(05:30):
know, low water levels, at leaston the Mississippi side of
Wisconsin. That's no surprise. Imean, you know, I'm in Memphis,
and I look at Mississippi, driveacross it every day, it's real
low, real, real low, and been atpretty much record lows for the
past three, four weeks.
So so we need some water onlandscape to change that,
(05:50):
really. But it's it'sconcentrating ducks, and and
they go on to say if you reallywanna get out there after them,
you may have to get a littlemore creative about how you
access some of your favoritehunting spots.
Matt Harrison (06:00):
Yep. That's what
Brenda Kelly with the WDNR says
word for word. She says waterlevels are lower than what
hunters may be used to from thepast several years. This may
make some locations moredifficult to access based on
what type of equipment they areusing. So exactly what you just
said, you may have to get alittle creative of how you plan
(06:21):
on getting to your spots,because with that water level
node, we all know as waterfowlhunters, that creates its own
challenges itself.
Jerad Henson (06:28):
Oh, yeah, yeah. No
one likes to be stuck in the
mud. Nobody. But that sets youup for it right there.
Matt Harrison (06:36):
No doubt.
Jerad Henson (06:36):
But there are
ducks to be had if you can get
out there after them.
Matt Harrison (06:40):
For sure, and for
sure. And it also goes to say
this, you know, with thesechallenges, those that put in
that work and find thosecreative ways and can get some
extra time on their hands to goscout and get to those places
that a lot of people can't, youcan probably be a lot more
successful than in times pastwhere everybody can access any
(07:00):
part of the river or anylocation that you're trying to
get to.
Jerad Henson (07:03):
Right. Yep. That's
it. And kind of on the other
side of the state, when I talkedwith Dave Heath of Heath
Outdoors, that was kind ofgiving us an input on that east
half of the state. I thoughtthat was exciting to see long
tailed ducks showing up on the
Matt Harrison (07:16):
I know.
Jerad Henson (07:16):
On the bay, and,
you know, that's it's a cool
place. I've had some friends goup there and do do some layout
boat hunts and that, and sothey're seeing that, and then
seeing a few other big ducksshow starting to show up. So
it's happening.
Matt Harrison (07:32):
It is. It's truly
that time of year, like I said.
Like, we've been talking aboutit, how we're close to it, we're
close to that time of year. Butlike I said, with this good cold
front that we've really hadpushed through, I truly feel
like even us, you know, downhere in the Southern part of The
United States, we're reallygonna start seeing here soon
some new birds show up. And evenJohn Klima reports, and he's in
(07:55):
the Southeast part of the state.
He said that they had, you know,a little cold front come through
this past week, and they hadsome new birds show up. But he
said, really hoping for somemore north winds and cheerleader
chillier temp temperatures thatwe have, you know, potentially
coming up here soon because westill haven't, you know, just
had that long spell of coldweather. Of course, we're still
(08:15):
just really early here, justNovember, very beginning days of
November. So hopefully here, youknow, within the next couple
weeks, especially some of thenorthern parts of The United
States, we'll really, reallystart to see some really big
pushes.
Jerad Henson (08:29):
Yeah. Yeah. Well,
and that's we did on on
Facebook, we went live and didsome some weather live episode,
Waterfront Weather Live. One ofthe things we talked about is
it's gonna be probably prettydry still for the next couple
weeks, but after that, we'resetting up for hopefully a
little cooler, winter, at leastfor the the northern half of the
the country. And so hopefullythat'll push the birds down.
(08:49):
You know? We should get shouldget a good push. We just gotta
wait for that weather to gethere.
Matt Harrison (08:54):
No doubt. And
that's this this article kinda
wraps up with that as saying,you know, the best stretch of
the season will soon arrive forWisconsin waterfowl hunters. So
they're, you know, they'regetting to a point where here
soon it should be really, reallygood, good hunting weather. But
hopefully hopefully, we allstart to see some good pushes
here soon. I know I'm fired upto to get out there and get
after them.
(09:14):
But one thing I do wanna talkabout now that we've kinda
walked through this this reporthere, now kinda going back to,
you know, like we talked about,just putting in that time.
That's really gonna be whatseparates, I feel like, a lot of
waterfowl hunters this year frombeing successful to not
successful is, are you willingto put in that time? Because
with the water level in certainareas being low, it's gonna be
(09:35):
tough. You know, it's gonna behard. You're gonna have to find
those those ways that can justseparate you.
Yes, it may be tough. Yes, youmay have to do some walking.
Yes, you may have to go borrow aa certain type of boat or motor
to get to these certain spots.But if you're willing to put in
that time, those areas, I feellike, are really gonna have some
birds.
Jerad Henson (09:54):
They will, they
will. Those birds, remember too
that we didn't have superproduction this year, so you're
gonna have smart birds.
Matt Harrison (10:04):
Smart.
Jerad Henson (10:04):
You're gonna have
a few, you know, you're gonna
have some you're gonna have someyoung. You know, they had some
reproduction, but it wasn't abooming year by any means. So a
lot of the ducks you're gonnasee, especially big ducks,
they've seen that dog and ponyshow before, right? So they're
gonna be smarter, so you gottaadapt to that, be better with
your concealment, your decoys,all of that, and hope the
(10:26):
weather's on your side, and youcan line up for probably some
really good hunts if you can getit all to come together.
Matt Harrison (10:30):
No doubt. No
doubt. And that's a very good
point with what you said is itmay be a little bit tougher, you
know, with these birds, a lot ofthese birds being a little bit
more educated, you know, a yearolder. And like you said, some
things that may help you is theconcealment, the the tips and
tricks that are just gonna setyou apart that some of your
experienced waterfowl huntersknow, you know, to kinda give
(10:53):
you that edge. I feel like it'sgonna be one of those years that
your your people that, like Isaid, put in the extra time, you
know, they do the little thingsright.
It's really gonna help them besuccessful this upcoming
waterfowl season. That's it.Yep. No doubt.
Jerad Henson (11:07):
100%.
Matt Harrison (11:07):
Well, we also
wanna thank Jay Anglin for being
the the freelance contributorhere that wrote this report.
It's a great report. You can goto ducks.org, search migration
alert to keep up. You can alsosubscribe to the email, and it's
a great way to stay informed.It's an awesome, awesome way to
just know what's going onaround.
It may not be, you know, thealert may not be specific to
(11:29):
your area or your location, butit's a great, great way to just
be informed about what peopleseeing, what people are hearing,
and it's for all flyaways. Soit's a great great tool and
asset if you're a waterfowlhunter that takes it serious or
just likes to know what's goingon. So if you haven't, be sure
to go to ducks.org, subscribe tothe migration alert. I love
(11:51):
getting updates. I love gettingto see them, getting to read
them.
I know that a lot of you as wellthat are listening probably
already have subscribed, but ifyou haven't, make sure you go
and subscribe. Like I said, it'sa great way to stay informed.
Chris, thank you so much, ourpodcast producer, for for
allowing us to hop on thepodcast. Doctor Jared, thank you
so much for carving some timeout of your day to hop on and
(12:11):
give us a migration alert, andthank you so much to all of our
listeners. Y'all stay tuned.
We will continue to give youmigration alerts here for the
upcoming waterfowl season. We'resuper excited. We hope that all
y'all have a wonderful wonderfulwaterfowl season. Take care, and
God bless.
VO (12:28):
Thank you for listening to
the DU podcast, sponsored by
Purina Pro Plan, the officialperformance dog food of Ducks
Unlimited. Purina Pro Plan,always advancing. Also proudly
sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskeyand Cocktails. Whether you're
winding down with your bestfriend or celebrating with your
favorite crew, Bird Dog bringsaward winning flavor to every
moment. Enjoy responsibly.
(12:51):
Be sure to rate, review, andsubscribe to the show and visit
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