Sit, Stay, Retrieve: Training The Perfect Hunting Companion

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Alysha Azzariti shares her journey of training Huck, her black Labrador retriever, into a skilled hunting companion, highlighting the incredible bond that forms between hunter and dog through this process.

• Growing up with an outdoorsy father who sparked her interest in fishing and hunting
• Finding a local breeder who became a mentor in training Huck for hunting
• Building basic obedience as the foundation for all hunting skills
• Using methods like food association to introduce gunfire without creating fear
• Teaching memory skills by placing bumpers and having Huck retrieve them later
• Training with live birds to build drive and confidence
• Challenges of public land hunting, especially during pheasant season
• The role of patience and consistency in developing a hunting dog
• How genetics matter but aren't enough without proper training
• Preparing for an upcoming Montana waterfowl hunting trip

Follow Alicia and Huck's adventures on Instagram at LifeWithHuck where she regularly posts training updates and hunting experiences.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Garden State Outdoors and
Podcast presented by BoondockHunting.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
You know that's why you're your um, your tagline,
like JCL known perfect.
You don't know what thatmorning should have been.
You don't know what the lastmorning should have been.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
I accidentally drifted my canoe between a sow
and a cub and she, like chargedand like hit, hit like the back
of the canoe His head hit theground before his ass did
begging, begging and crying togo with my grandfather, go with
my father on these deer drivesyou know, the last trip over I
shot a great cape buffalo withmy bow, charging through grass,

(00:36):
and then the whooping.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
And then you hear welcome back to the garden, stay
outdoorsman.
Podcast.
I am your host, frank.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Bustica, I'm your co-host, mike Nitro.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
And today we've got a very special guest.
She's Alicia Azareti, is thatright?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yes, that's me.
Yes, All right perfect.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
She goes by LifeWithHuck on Instagram.
So, alicia, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
I'm excited about this one too, especially.
You know, we were just chattinga little bit before and you,
you know, come to find out thatyou're only like five minutes
away from me.
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
We're pretty much neighbors.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Pretty much so.
But for Alicia, for the peoplewho don't know you, why don't
you give us a little background,tell us, like how you got into
hunting, and just a littlebackground like where you're
from the floor, george,absolutely.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Um.
So I'm 25, I grew up in sussexcounty, pretty much born and
raised.
Um, I live in wantage now, butI did grow up in branchville,
not too far from here.
Um, I've always been a daddy'sgirl and my dad is very
outdoorsy and he's into thehunting and fishing and
everything.
So he pretty much created me,um, which I feel he created a
little monster.
He started the addiction witheverything.
Um, you know, growing up myaunt had a pond on her property

(01:52):
and that's where my fishingstarted, because every time we'd
go there, like I always had togo fishing and he taught me all
my ways and like catching thatfirst fish was like the
addiction right there.
Um, so that started that.
And then, you know, he alwaysgrew up deer hunting and
everything and, like you know,seeing like the mounts and stuff
like that, like it was justsuch an interest in me because,
like, I love animals but I alsolove nature and I love hunting

(02:13):
at the same time.
So everything is just so likeintriguing to me.
I never got to go with himthough, because, you know, life
got busy and he kind of lost hisinterest or kind of time for it
.
You know, as me and my brothergrew up because sports and
everything kind of took over um,so we never really got to go
hunting together, it was alwaysjust fishing.
And then eventually he wantedto stop fishing because I'd ask

(02:35):
him almost every single day togo with me.
So I think I burnt out thatinterest in him as well.
Um, so that's pretty much thathe.
He's the one who really got megoing in this outdoorsy
lifestyle.
Um, pretty much now it's justme and my boyfriend who kind of
do all the fun outdoorsy stuff,especially because of our dog,
huck, our black lab.

(02:56):
Everything we do is for him now.
So that's where all the huntingand everything started.
My dog is the reason I got myhunting license.
So that's pretty much where I'mat now, like just doing
everything for my boyfriend andfor my dog.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
No, that's awesome.
I think we can all relate to.
You know, having somebody that,like, we idolized, or having
somebody to grow up Cause Iremember, even when me growing
up with, uh, with my dad and myuncles and my grandfather, they
got started when I was fivegoing out with them and you know
, once you get hooked, you knowyou're hooked already.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, no, exactly, and that's the thing, like I was
telling you before as well,like going with my boyfriend too
, like now it's like getting outwith him.
I'm like, oh my God, this isthe coolest thing ever.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Like he's who I idolize now as well, you know
like I think he's like thecoolest thing, so like when
we'll go sit outside togetherand go hunting and everything
like that yeah, no, of course,and you know, I guess it's even
probably easier for you, so youknow, so to speak, because, like
you said, like your dad kind oflike dropped off a little bit
from going, so now it was easy.

(04:02):
You know that now that you'redating somebody that's kind of
likes the same stuff, it'seasier just to make that
transition and no, exactlythat's the thing.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Exactly, he makes it a lot easier because it's like
you know he wants to go.
Like of course I'm gonna go,I'm like his little shadow.
Wherever he goes, I go.
Whatever he does, I do.
So, um, this past fall we didgo deer hunting together.
Um, we'd go sit out in our yardand everything, but like I'm
just a shadow, I just wanted towatch what he was doing and kind
of see everything and like wewould sit out there and he'd
explain everything to me at youknow, five o'clock in the

(04:34):
morning.
Then I take my little napbecause you know it was dark and
I was tired, but you know itwas still an exciting experience
.
No, absolutely, and you know itwas still an exciting
experience.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
No, absolutely.
And you know, especially likejust just getting out there is,
like you know, the best part ofit all.
And just to touch base, like onwhat you're saying now, do you
guys like hunt off the floor?
Did you guys hunt in treestands when you first started to
go, Like, are you afraid ofheights?

Speaker 2 (05:04):
No, that's one thing.
I'm not afraid of heights.
We kind of do both Like we havea little area, we kind of have
like almost like a ledge in ourbackyard so we have like a
little pop-up thing that we willgo on and kind of lean up
against the trees over on theground.
But he did buy a very nicebuddy stand just for me and him

(05:26):
this year as well, so we will goup in that as well.
So it just, it just depends onthe day.
Truly, whatever we kind of endup in, um, I mean like I like
being on the ground, becausemaking me carry all the stuff up
the tree stand, I'm not a fanof that I wouldn't be either.
I feel like I'm like hisbackpack.
You know I try and carryeverything up like he's the main
one.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
You said hey, listen, I got a shoe.
So, like you know, here you go.
You can carry everything.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
That's how it feels.
That's how it feels he doesn'tmake you drag the beer too, does
he?
Oh, my God, no, thank God, no,that I would have a good excuse
to get out of that one.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, I think we can all relate to wanting to take a
nap, though, just like you weresaying, oh yeah, I need a nap
Halfway through the season, Iknow me and Mike were like we've
had enough, we're dying for anap.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
It's like you can't avoid it.
It happens.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
Yeah, absolutely, but I wanted to talk about more
about.
So I know, um, your Instagramhandles more about like the life
of Huck and seeing him go backand forth and, um, I just kind
of wanted you to touch base likehow, like how, um, for people
who don't know like, um, how didyou train him?

(06:41):
How did you get into traininghim?
Like how, how did that all go?
How?

Speaker 2 (06:44):
did you train him?
How did you get into traininghim?
Like, how did that all go?
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, it pretty much he.
So he just turned one lastmonth, so he's still a baby.
Um, he's the best thing ever.
The way we got into it is like Imean, I've always dreamt about
having a lab for hunting.
I grew up having them my wholelife but you know, they're
always like my fun pets, greatfamily dogs and everything.
But it was always a dream toget a hunting dog because I

(07:06):
wanted something to really spikemy interest as well, to really
get into it.
And when me and my boyfriendfirst started dating, we always
had that same interest.
We always talked about gettinga lab one day when the time was
right, you know, when he wasdone with college and everything
.
We really want to get intohunting and get a lab.
So it pretty much startedbecause I cut hair as well.
So that's the backstory.

(07:26):
And I had a walk-in client oneday and his name was Ben Baker
and we got chatting and he waswearing a vest that had
something like pre and pro planton it and we got talking about
dogs.
I'm like you do something withdogs?
And he's like, yeah, I breedlabs.
I'm like, oh my God, what asmall world.
That's so crazy.
You know, me and my boyfriendwant to lab one day when the
time's right, yada, yada,whatever.

(07:46):
He's like, yeah, when the timecomes, let me know.
So I told my boyfriend thatnight and I was like, oh my God,
this is so cool and we're ready.
Like I got a guy now, he'slocal and his dogs are great.
So I ended up seeing Ben onemore time, like not too long
after that, and he's like I havean upcoming litter and I'm like
, oh boy, don't tempt me.

(08:07):
So you know, I can't say toknow, I can't say to know.
Like dogs, like I love them, Iwant them, I want a puppy
instantly.
So I somehow convinced myboyfriend while he was still in
college that we needed that labcoming up in the next litter.
So that's pretty much whathappened and my boyfriend won't
tell me no as well.
So we got talking about likeyou know, is the timing really

(08:28):
right?
Is it going to work?
Like should we do it?
So you know, we had a couple onand off, like talks with Ben
and everything about when they'dbe born and like getting into
it and stuff like that andpretty much he was born.
Well, he was born in May oflast year.
So we started discussinggetting him around March.
That's when, you know, thelitter was getting ready to be

(08:49):
set up and everything.
So you know, and this is, wewere not really into waterfowl
hunting a lot.
I've never really gone beforethat and my boyfriend was in
college, like I said.
So he's gone a couple times onand off in the past.
So when Huck was born, we gothim in July and pretty much like
we let him be a dog for likethe first month or so, like

(09:10):
letting him adjust and be apuppy and be cute and bad and
stuff like that.
You know we worked on the basicobedience and everything.
But at this point we ended upmaintaining a really great
relationship with Ben.
Like we became really goodfriends with him.
You know he wasn't just abreeder, saw him as a dog and
never talking to us again.
Um, we became good friends withhim.

(09:31):
So we'd reach out here andthere about like where we should
be at, what we should do nextand, like you know, kind of get
ideas like where I should be atand at, like three months old,
four months old, like what thenext steps would be.
So pretty much at that point itwas about August now my
boyfriend did have to go back tocollege.
So I was the one taking care ofthe puppy and in control of all

(09:54):
this training and I'm like,well, what do I do next?
So I would always reach out toBen as well and get ideas.
So pretty much at that age itwas a lot of obedience.
Like that was like the main keyfor everything, like just
making sure that he is going tolike be a very well-behaved dog
and like basic manners Like youknow, sit, stay.
He needed to know his name andstuff like that.

(10:14):
So I worked on that a lot withhim and then, like we would
intro to like do intro togunfire and everything, because
we didn't want him to be gun shyand afraid of gunfire as he's
growing up, especially if we'regonna hunt with him a lot.
So what we would do with thattoo was like basic things, like
obviously he's a lab, he lovesto eat.
When he was eating we'd feedhim outside and we chewed off

(10:37):
like a 22 or something like that, something very simple.
And you know, do it when he'seating.
So he associated that that wassomething good.
So we repeated that weeventually went up to like a 20
gauge and he didn't care at all,like he was totally fine.
So we're all right.
Like you know, building theconfidence, so that stuff we
would do like on weekends whenmy boyfriend would try to come

(10:57):
home during the week.
I did a lot of the obediencebut we did start puppy classes
with him because Ben actuallystarted a puppy gundog program
as well for Huck and like acouple of like his litter mates
and like other local puppieslike his age that people were
interested for hunting.
So we'd start attending thoseand pretty much it was basic

(11:20):
obedience again, like we woulddo a lot of place training,
which is pretty much like araised platform, like just
something a little bit off theground and we teach our dog
place.
So that meant like he could notleave that board unless we told
him to, because that plays arole in hunting.
You know when you got to besilent out there sitting,
waiting and stuff that we can'thave a dog running around like a
nut and everything.
So teaching him to be steady,pretty much.

(11:43):
So we would start off with likevery basic things like that.
Um, and we did actually getinto like live birds mixed with
gunfire as well, because we havea you know it's all about the
drive and the dog as well tomake sure he has it in him.
So we got some pigeons and wewould clip their wings and
everything so like they couldstill kind of flap around but
they can't really fly off oranything.
We let them run around andstuff like that, let the dogs go

(12:07):
after them and stuff like that.
And you know it really sparkedlike Huck's interest.
So I'm like, ok, like you know,it's a good thing he likes
gunfire, he likes birds, likehe's got some pretty good
potential Hopefully.
You know this is at like fourmonths old, so it's very basic
things like that.
We would use the pigeons a lotto keep the drive up, because we

(12:28):
usually use like bumpers, likeyou know, like the little round
things yeah um, so you know weuse that a lot for training,
like still, like that's alwaysbeen it, but we mix in the live
birds to really pull it out ofthem.
So then we'd also do that withwater as well, kind of get the
confidence going into water topick up the bird and everything
like that, and he, like he woulddo really good, because it's

(12:48):
pretty much a game.
It's like fetch to them.
Like you know, we're throwing abird out there.
If he brings it back, he getsit again.
So it's just, it's the samething as like just with like a
typical dog, like we're playingfetch, we're trying to get his
attention and get him out thereand build that drive up.
So that was pretty much that.
These classes went on from likeend of August, like September,
up until about November,december.

(13:10):
So you know we didn't reallyget a lot of snow this year in
the beginning.
So we kind of pushed it as longas we could.
So it was pretty much like justworking our way up with, like
in certain levels of like okay,like we completed this, now we
can move on with Huck and kindof go to the next level.
A lot of it was just retrieving, like pretty much just building
that drive to understand thathis job is to go out there and

(13:32):
get it.
We would do like time delayretrieving, like we would put
something down, walk away and dosomething else.
He would have to remember thatthat was there and go retrieve
it, cause you know, let's saylike in a hunt, if you know,
let's say like in a hunt, if youknow these birds come down and
we're not ready to go get thoseones yet, but we need him to go
get this one first.
He has to learn to remember likewhat's there.

(13:52):
So we worked on a lot of thatwhen he was younger, so like we
wouldn't do like super long ones, like it'd be like you know a
minute, and then we'd send themback for that one he's like oh
my gosh, yeah, there's somethinggood there waiting for me.
So I mean a lot of thattraining started in the
beginning, and then we do a lotof it at home now, because my
boyfriend finished college inDecember, so around that time it

(14:14):
was like game time like for him, like he was like ready to
train his dog, like all the time, like I got a break.
Finally, like I didn't have tobe in control anymore, that I
was messing him up because, um,my boyfriend's birthday was in
October and I bought him stufffor Huck for his birthday and we
had, um, a dummy launcher.
You know it's one, it has blankcaps in it and shoots the

(14:35):
launchers off and there's likethree different types.
There's like green, yellow and,um, red packs.
So, depending on, like, thedistance to launch them, and I
didn't know, I was just buying abirthday gift and I bought the
strong ones and it petrifiedhuck and I felt so bad like, oh
my god, I ruined the dog, likeI'm done training him like and
now he's gun shy and everythinglike that.
You know, um, but he wasn't.

(14:57):
We had been there to help us andtalk me out of it and realize I
did not mess up my dog, who gotscared once.
So, um, you know, we playedaround with that a lot and they
sell, like you know, like theyalmost look like deodorant
sticks, like it's like duckscent, waterfowl scent or like
upwind, and we spread that onthe bumpers a lot because, you
know, a lot of it is them usingtheir nose as well when we're
launching it out there that theyhave to go find that.

(15:19):
So there's like so many littlethings into it, like I could
like probably write a book onthings that we've bought to
train this dog, like there is somuch out there to help him, you
know, get his knowledge up andlearn everything.
So there's so much to it andit's a lot of fun.
Like it's literally become likemy favorite hobby at this point

(15:40):
is like training our dog,because it's just he's so smart
that it's so easy to takeadvantage of his brain and use
it, you know yeah, no, I couldsee, like when we, um, when we
had our, our conversations, Icould see like how passionate
you were about huck.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
That's why I was like we have to talk about him on
the show.
But I didn't know from you know, um, that I mean I knew.
I didn't know from you know, Imean I knew, I didn't know that
there was a lot that went intoit, but I had like no idea.
Yeah, there's so much.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
That's only the beginning of it too.
Like that's just like those fewmonths of training him Like now
it's like that he's gottenolder and everything Like.
There's just so much more.
Like it truly depends on theperson too, like how far you
want to get into hunting withand how trained you want your
dog.
Like you know, there's a lot ofpeople who like take it so
serious and this is like theirbest hobby.

(16:32):
They need the best dog possible, which is great.
And then there's other peoplewho are like as long as my dog
gets the duck or the goose orthe bird and brings it back, I'm
happy like you can stop atcertain levels and be content
with where your dog is, but likewe want to take advantage, like
I said, of him and use him andmake him more than he is,
because it's like he's so smart,why not make him the best

(16:54):
version of himself?
You know, yeah, so we likeevery day almost, it's like
maybe two to three times a week,we We'll train them on our own.
He has classes Thursday nightsthat he goes to, which is where
he's at tonight for training.
There's about like six dogs inhis class.
There's just so much to it andit's.

(17:15):
Like you know there's a lot ofgear that goes into it too.
Like you know, we have thetraining collars, the training
slip leads, we have whistles forhim.
You know he needs bells on hiscollar, like when we go upland
hunting, like there's just heneeds like his own closet of
stuff.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
I'm sure, and I know, I know it can't be cheap no,
it's not cheap, it's.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
It's a very expensive hobby, but it's like he just
makes it so worth it, like he'sjust so smart, so it's a lot of
fun training him.
Like now that he's a littleolder, you know his memory is
better and stuff like that.
Like he, he just knows so muchmore and remembers a lot of
things.
Like it's.
It's truly crazy what this dogcan do.

Speaker 3 (17:59):
So he's, he's a lot of fun yeah, no, it, it sounds
it and like, and I had no idea,like, and you actually brought
up a good point where he wouldactually like a lot of people
like that I've talked to havenever ever brought up about.
Like the dog's memory before,like I've always heard of people
training dogs but nobody's andI like I guess I never even

(18:22):
thought of it either, but that'sa very important key to it.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
No, it's like so important and that's the thing
too.
Like before we got Huck likesame thing, we had no clue that
there was this much into it, andit's like we learn every single
day about it too.
So we do like a lot of memory.
Things Like if we're liketraining him out in the yard or
whatever, we'll have our vest onjust to hold all the bumpers
and everything, and he alwayswalks in heel like right on our

(18:49):
side.
He's not allowed to stepforward to the side or whatever.
He has to be in positionbecause it's a main part of our
obedience that we wanted withhim what we would do is like you
know we'd have him sit and we'dthrow a bumper out in front of
us and say leave it.
So he knows that's there, though, and then you know we walk away
and go do something else, likewe'll work on like other
attributes, maybe more obedience, whatever, like 10 minutes can

(19:12):
go by, 15 minutes like max, andthen we'll line them up and
we'll get ready to send them,and it just like clicks in his
head, like you can tell, like ifhe doesn't know, if something's
there, he's like whatever, likelooking around, but the second
he like remembers and locks him,like his ears perk up, he's
focused, like nothing is likegoing to distract this dog, you
can send him across the wholeentire yard and he'll remember
that bumper that we left there,like it's crazy so it's like you

(19:34):
know it does come in handy whenwe are going to be out hunting
with them, like, okay, likewe'll get to that, like there's
so much going on over here, likehe knows that landed over there
and everything, like we'll sendthem later and it it it's crazy
.
Like he does remember, like whenwe do train with, like if we
have like dead birds that we had, like we'll use ducks here and
there too to kind of switch itup from the bumpers, from the

(20:01):
bumpers, same thing.
He just knows.
But it's also him trusting uson sending him there and him
using his nose and eyes and justremembering that scent,
remembering where it landed.
So that's pretty much like ifwe are out hunting, if we like,
you know, let's say, we drop abird over here and he watched it
and heard the gunfire andeverything and watch from over
here he's marking.
So he knows like, okay, there'sa bird over in my right corner,
like 80 yards out, and then hewatches this one.

(20:22):
So we'll let him go get thefirst one and he comes back and
brings it to us and he remembersthat second bird out there and
he will go get that.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
Wow, that's.
It's incredible, like wow.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
It is really cool.
It's like smart stuff and it'sjust like he amazes me like
every single day with being sosmart and, of course, like he
has his off days, which we alldo, you know.
So it's like there's days wherehe's like the dumbest dog out
there.
I'm like, are you even smart,like do you even know what
you're doing out here?

Speaker 3 (20:53):
But I'm like you have a brain fart, so it's okay yeah
, no, especially like um upland,burn hut and over in like
layton, like we were justtalking before on the show, and
it's just like there's.
It was almost like you saidit's all.
It's always chaos.
There's always so much going on,so that's actually really smart
to train him in that atmospherealready because, I've known the

(21:16):
prior experience, like there'sso much going on, like there's
times where, like, I don't evenknow which way to look, which
way you know, like no, exactly,it's overwhelming for us.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
I can't imagine being a dog.
That's exactly like when wefirst started taking him
pheasant hunting, that was also.
He was probably around sixmonths old, so he was a little
young.
But we really want to buildthis drive up then too, because
we're like, okay, we're going,we're going into winter, like
what are we going to do?
Wait now until next season?
What if he has no interest?
So that was something that Benrecommended doing was taking him
pheasant hunting and same thing.

(21:46):
Like we were gone, like there'slike people like bumping into
you and stuff like that.
There's so many dogs runningaround and there's gunfire
everywhere.
So I'm like I'm getting, likeI'm overstimulated looking this
way and this way and my dogs.
I'm like expecting the samefrom him.
But he knows his job, he knowswhat he's doing and it's just so
much fun watching him work outthere for that too, because it's
like that is so different.
Like training him for thatversus like waterfowl, like

(22:08):
they're like polar oppositethings, like of course you know
the similarity is him going toretrieve his bird, but like just
like the technique of huntingand like what he has to do for
like the pheasant versus likethe ducks and the geese.
It's just like crazy that heknows his job, like he knows
words, and it's like it amazesme because I've never had such a
smart dog before wow, that'syeah.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
I mean, yeah, they're definitely smart and, like we
were talking before, I thinklike a huge part of it,
especially for, like state landhunting, is, like you were
talking about, like making surelike you have a vest on them and
the bell.
Because, like I've, I'vepersonally been in situations
where, like people have come upto me and been like, hey, like

(22:53):
you know, like they'll, they'llget on a scent and some dogs
will just go, or you knowthere's so much scent out there,
they get confused.
Like I watch dogs where I'm,they're like you could tell
there was like three or fourbirds there and they're like
they're going nuts, you know,and it's, it's amazing just to
see them work.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
No, absolutely it is amazing, and yeah, it does get
very crazy and amazing.
And yeah, it does get verycrazy and yeah, I've seen some
dogs take off you know theowner's screaming at them,
losing their dogs out in thosefields, I'm like, oh boy, it's a
crazy day out here.
So it gets a little insane outthere, but it's still worth it
at the end of the day, watchinghim get his birds and, you know,
being happy bringing them back,so it's it's cool.

(23:33):
It's a lot of fun, and that'swhat makes it fun for me, and
that's why's like I can't waitto get out and go, because it's
like I know my dog is going tobe doing his job, you know.
So it's like okay, I have to begood.
I have to get a bird because mydog wants to do his part, like
he does get mad at us if wedon't come home with anything.
Like you.
Just know he's upset yeah.
He was like look, you better notmiss he gets very upset because

(23:56):
it's like in his mind heunderstands like gunfire means
something.
Now, like it either means likehe's going to retrieve something
, like there's a bumper or abird out there.
So if there's gunfire andthere's no like reward for it,
he's like well, what was thepoint of that?
Why'd you do that?

Speaker 3 (24:09):
like I can see him thinking that, because like we
actually go ahead, what were yougonna say?

Speaker 2 (24:17):
no, go ahead oh okay.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
So like um, we actually, because when I was big
into pheasant hunting, I waslike I almost had to train the
same train of thought.
I'm like, oh, like, I'm gonnago get a dog and I'm gonna train
it, and so like we ended upgetting um a poodle pointer.
We still have her.
Her names are oxy, so, um, youknow she's half german, short

(24:40):
hair pointer and the other halfpoodle, but she she's very tall
and lanky.
She like she'll go on point ina second.
Like I let her out in thebackyard like it's on like the
squirrels and everything she'sall over yeah, yeah so but it
just like I, I guess, like Ididn't understand how to go
about it.

(25:01):
And it was just like I think forme it was too much work for
them.
What I had time for, yeah.
So it was like, yeah, and I waslike that's why, like, when you
were saying, I was like, yeah,like it's, it's all about having
the time to and learningpatience and working with the

(25:22):
dog because, like you know, Ihave, I have two kids.
So like it wasn't happening,like I tried it, just like
between everything else.
It was like, but she wasn't gunshy, like I brought her out, I
used to shoot the gun around her, try to get her.
You know, um, yeah, oh it was.
We used to have a blast andlike, but I just I couldn't, I

(25:45):
just kind of fell off from itbecause I was like look like I
just with kids and everything.
I was like I just don't have thetime, but it makes it a lot
easier for you, you know.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
I'm very lucky that I don't have kids and it's like
he pretty much is my kid, so alot of my time did go to him.
But like back when my boyfriendwas in college, that was his
fear about getting him was likenot having the time to put into
him, like well, what if he justbecomes nothing?
And like we don't have a gooddog.
So I'm very lucky that we didmaintain a relationship with Ben
and I did have the time,because when we did get him my

(26:16):
work schedule was like so mucheasier at the time too, like I
had like two and a half days offduring the week.
So I'm like, okay, these arefull days, like to train my dog,
like I have all the time in theworld.
And like even the days I didwork, like I either went in late
, so I had all morning, or I washome early, so I had the whole
night to do stuff with them, andthen the weekend.
So it's like Huck got verylucky that I had a very lenient

(26:37):
schedule in the beginning whenhe came home, so it made it a
lot easier.
And then even now, like I meanI work all week and then I'm
home by usually like fiveo'clock and my boyfriend is
working nights right now.
So it's like our schedules liketotally overlap, like perfectly
for Huck.
So it's like he has Huck allmorning and all day to do
everything with him, and then Iget home and it's like I have
him now.

(26:57):
So it's like, you know, if hecouldn't get to something now
it's my turn, like I could dothis and that with him.
Like Huck has a really goodlife, hence his Instagram handle
good life so yeah, oh,absolutely like, and he's, he's
a beautiful dog.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
He actually he almost like, resembles mine a little
bit, so like mine's all black,blue, brown eyes, like you
know's gorgeous.
She's a pain in the butt though, yeah, no, of course they
always are Like he drives meinsane.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
I'm almost glad he's not home tonight, because he'd
probably be sitting right herewhining, so I'm not giving him
attention.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, oh, of course, Especially after you know all
this training and stuff.
He's like hey, like come on,like, like what are we doing
here?
You?

Speaker 2 (27:41):
know, that's, exactly that's exactly it.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
Yeah, no, no good.
Um, I was gonna ask you now forthe people who don't know, like
, what are like the traininglevels, like like are they like,
are they expensive?
Like what's like the basic,like where?
Because I wouldn't even knowwhere to start, I just try to do
it on my own.
That went nowhere.

Speaker 2 (27:59):
So it really depends, honestly, like we pay like a
monthly payment for our classes,so it's like every every
Thursday night we'll do it, andit usually starts on five
o'clock till like sunset, so weget a decent amount of time in
with him.
Usually, for these classes it'scloser to like what do we pay?

(28:20):
Like 300 a month usually, um,and in my opinion, that's on the
cheaper side for certain things, because you know there's a lot
of people who don't want totrain their dogs on their own,
which is fine because you knowtime and everything.
They'll um board their dogs anddo training that can start
going into like the thousands,like monthly.
So it really depends how greatyou want your dog to be, how

(28:44):
much time and money you want toput into your dog, um, and
that's where a lot of people dokind of train on their own as
well too, like you know, back tolike, depending how great they
want their dog to be, um, that'swhat these classes are great,
though, because it's, like youknow, it is very helpful if you
kind of feel lost, like whereyou are, like you need some
guidance or whatever.
It's nice to have something,just like once a week.

(29:06):
Like you know, it doesn't haveto be anything crazy.
You don't have to put so muchtime into your dog.
Get together once a week, getideas, get tips and everything.
Train with your dog and it'slike you know, continue stuff at
home versus you, you know,sending your dog off, spending a
lot of money Because somepeople too, like don't send
their dogs, like local, likewe're very lucky that Ben is
local to us and that we have him, but there's people who send

(29:27):
them like upstate New York, theysend them down south and
everything.
So it's like you're paying alot of money to get involved
with training.
So it's really interesting.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
One second, sorry guys.
It's really interesting.
One second, sorry guys no worry.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
So you know, on on on that topic and discussion, you
know you always hear, like a lotof people who you know get into
waterfowl, like one of theirdream sayings is to get a dog
and everything like that, andeven pheasant hunting.
Like I, I don't even gopheasant hunting anymore, just
because it's such a a pain inthe butt to do it without a dog
and everything like that.
So, yes, um, what, what?

(30:04):
What are some of the you knowafter you know doing it and
everything like that?
What?
What can you see for peoplethat get a dog and just they
don't have that success?
Like what?
What would your recommendationfor for someone when they first
get it?
Like, what is?
The is the most important thing.
I know a lot of it wasobedience and everything like
that.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
But what is something that's a very crucial step that
maybe people misunderstand ordon't just nail because they
overlook it biggest assumptionwith people getting like a gun
dog or like a lab bred forhunting is assuming that their

(30:42):
dog instantly knows their joband is going to be perfect just
because they have good genetics.
They're bred for waterfowl, youknow retrieving and stuff like
that.
It's.
It's not that easy.
Yeah, genetics play a huge rolein everything.
Like we're very lucky that huckis so smart and everything.
But like you know, let's sayyou get a dog just as great as
him, but like well, he's a lab,he's going to know to go out and

(31:04):
get the ducks and he's notscared of gunfire, he's a
confident dog and everything.
You can't just assume that andthen just throw your dog out
there and be like, oh, I took mydog hunting and he's petrified
of birds, he's petrified ofgunfire, he took off, he doesn't
listen A lot of it.
It's like almost like it'ssilly kind of how much really
goes into it that you don'trealize.
Like, yeah, obedience is great,but it's just truly like

(31:28):
getting.
You have to build theconfidence.
They don't come with it Likethey do, but you have to pull it
out of them.
Like you can't just throw yourdog out there, you know, and
assume that they know their job.
That's like starting a job thatyou just got and you have no
idea what you're doing and justbeing like, oh well, I know how
to do this.
And you sign up and go andyou're like, oh my god, I don't
know how to do any of this stuff.
I can't just like, just because, like I said, I could type on a

(31:50):
computer doesn't mean I couldtake the ceo job and work in a
huge office and do yada, yada.
You know, like I can't justassume that huck wants to go
pick up a duck because he's alabrador retriever.
He might be petrified of ducks,who knows?
so that's that's like the mainthing.
It's just like don't be tooconfident in your dog.
It's a lot of.
It starts like baby steps, likeit's just, it's patience, it's

(32:12):
a lot of patience, and it can besuper simple.
It can be super complex.
Some dogs are very hard-headed,so it really be super complex.
Some dogs are very hard headed.
So it really depends Like, yeah, even if they are very well
bred, if you get a tough dog,they're going to test your
patience so hard and really testyou and it's going to drive you
insane.
Or you're going to get like theperfect dog that wants to work
for you so perfectly that theirjob is to please you and they

(32:36):
make everything a breeze, whichis kind of huck.
Like we got so lucky that, likehe wants to do his job, he
knows if he's like he gets usupset and we're mad at him or
something.
Like he knows he failed, youknow.
So it really it does depend onthe dog, but it really depends
on the person, like everythingcomes back to, like the handler.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
Yeah, no, that makes sense and like it's probably a
lot more rewarding for you guysto, you know, to say like hey,
like I trained huck, you know.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
like yeah I mean, yeah, he did, he did attend
classes, but for most of it,like it was us that did it oh
yeah so like way more rewardingand that is like the biggest
reward possible is, like whenpeople compliment him and I'm
like thank you, like we made him.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
Like that's our dog.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
We did that you know it's such a confidence booster
for us.

Speaker 3 (33:29):
Yeah, no, it should be because that's you know, like
you said, it's you're puttingin a lot of time, a lot of
patience, like there's a lotthat goes into it, so like you
earn that too, just as much ashe did, like you guys also
earned it.
you know, because I know yeahgood, no, because I I know, like

(33:49):
guys who try it was just likeyou said like with with the
whole black lab thing they would, um, they would go by black lab
and be like okay, okay, likethe dog's just gonna flush birds
, you know, and then they'regetting mad at the dog because
the dog's way ahead of them, youknow, and they're watching the
dogs flushing the birds becausethe dog's running like it picked

(34:11):
up the scent, but then they'remad because the dog's like,
they're like, oh, like he's notwaiting for us, but like they
didn't put in the time thoughyou know, so it's like he
doesn't know exactly and the dogdoesn't respect you.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
That's like the main thing.
Like they have to respect youand it's like if they don't,
they're not going to listen toyou, they're not going to care
about what you want, they're notgoing to work good for you out
there.
Like that, literally, respectis like the number one thing
coming from your dog.
Like you have to prove to themlike you're the owner, you're
the person, you're in control.
If that dog controls you,they're not going to do anything

(34:47):
for you.
You're going to be like gettingdragged behind them.
They're going to be off doingtheir own thing.
You know it shouldn't be likethat.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
No, I agree, and like I say, like going back, going
back to it was like you know,there have been guys who I know
like would take they would gopheasant hunting.
They would take like the scentof the bird and they would put
it like on like a tennis balland just throw the tennis ball
and like that's how they wouldtrain the dog, they would just
throw it, let the dog go, get it, bring it back, do it again you
know, and it was like almost onrepeat yeah, how effective it
is.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
I'm not that sure, but you know like kind of like
it depends like a lot of thingstoo.
Like, um, dogs are funny, likethey go through phases where
it's like they don't likesomething anymore.
Like huck would get bored ofhis bumpers so we had to switch
to a tennis ball.
So, like, in certain situationsit does make sense because it's
also bouncing.
So it's leaving that scentevery if it's landing in

(35:43):
different places.
That scent is landing here,here and here.
So now the dog's gonna think,well, the bird's there, but it's
not actually there.
It bounced 10 more times andit's 10 feet further, you know.
So it kind of gets them working.
So and it's like, like I saidto you, like, if they don't like
the bumper using the tennisball, that it's kind of like a
fun game of fetch and it's likescented to them.
So it it's what really getstheir interest.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
Yeah, I mean, that was very well, you know, that's
very well said on how to put it.
Because now, like I'm like yeah, you know, like I never thought
of, like, when the ball bounces, okay, like it's still leaving
scent, but that that's.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
That's a good point exactly, and a lot of things are
done like that to kind ofdistract the dogs too.
Because it's like you know,like if something like let's say
, we're sending the dog out on aretrieve, like just a test one,
like that, and if it's a tennisball, it's bouncing here, like
that scent is all in that area.
So that's like they kind ofknow like, okay, something
smells really good and it's inthis area like I need to hunt,

(36:41):
like this section, like I'm.
If I leave here, like if I go10 feet out, that way the
scent's not out there.
If I come back over here, thesense over here I know my reward
is going to be within thisradius, kind of yeah, absolutely
, I was going to ask you.

Speaker 3 (36:55):
So hunting state land right with with?

Speaker 1 (36:58):
was with Huck was there ever?

Speaker 3 (37:00):
was there ever a situation where you felt like
like unsafe for Huck or anything, cause you know, like some
places you go to like people,people will say, oh, it's like a
war zone.
You know, have you ever runinto anything like that where
you felt like, oh man, likemaybe we should leave?

Speaker 2 (37:20):
Back to like what you're saying, though, about
like unsafe um public land.
The only time I could say I didwould be pheasant hunting over
in reedon, because you knoweverybody does like to pile up
there as soon as it's sunrise.
It's like a line of men on thefield and their dogs going crazy
and everything like that,especially holidays.

(37:41):
That would be the biggest thing.
Um like, we went I think it wasNew Year's Eve or Christmas Eve
and it's like you're gettingpushed over shoulder to shoulder
, and you know it was the nightafter they just stalked birds,
so it's like fire over your headover this.
My dog is running through andpeople see movement.
They just want to shoot it like.
Thank god he has his orange onhis bell, but it's the only

(38:04):
times that I'm not a fan of likepublic land hunting, but it is
what it is.
What are you gonna do?

Speaker 3 (38:11):
yeah, no, listen it's , it's all a part of it.
But uh, you know it is like Isaid, I've personally been there
.
So like it does getnerve-wracking at times you're
like you start second guessingyourself.
But yeah, um, especially likeyeah um, did you ever experience
a lot of people like shootingbirds like on the floor, like?
Because I noticed like a lot ofpeople don't even let them like

(38:34):
get up.
They'll just as soon as theysee them running or whatever, or
just holding, still they'llstart shooting right away.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
Yes, and it's it scares me because it's like you
know, if my dog sees that birdon the ground too, he's gonna go
do his job and try to get up toit.
So it's like, let's say, thatguy over here sees the same bird
and he's shooting my dog'sright there, like it's like my
biggest fear about being onpublic land.
Yeah, people go crazy and it'slike you know, a lot of people
come from um, out of state,honestly, on the holidays.

(39:02):
So, like back to like the twodays that were with so many
people who aren't familiar withthis fields and the property and
everything like that, um, they,it was a game to them.
There was like 20 of them allpiled up, like they had their
little kids with them.
So it's like you know they'redistracting the dogs, they're
running through the field andeverything like that.
I'm like this is just so likeoverwhelming and scary, like I

(39:24):
don't.
I didn't like at all.

Speaker 3 (39:25):
That was one day I did want to go home early yeah,
I think we've all had those days, and you know, because, like
I've been, I've been almost shota few times hunting on state
land, so I don't even bothergoing out anymore.
No, no, I think that's one ofthe reasons why I got away from
it.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Yeah, that's, it's the thing.
And it's like I liked it atfirst, like getting hugged used
to it and going out and stufflike that.
But the more we went I'm likeis this even really worth it at
this point?
Like when I'm like is this evenreally worth it at this point?
Like I don't want to get shot,I don't want my dog getting shot
, like these people, like Idon't trust them with guns right
now.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
any movement they're just shooting at it doesn't
matter if it's you walkingthrough the woods, you know I
think I was told by a warden I,I was told by a warden that, um,
their busiest time is usuallyand where the most shootings
happen during the hunting seasonis during the pheasant season.

(40:24):
Um, I'll never forget.
I've told this the story on thepodcast and everything like
that before.
But, um, a, a warden told meone day he goes yeah, I, I have,
like you know, this guy'sclothes and the evidence,
because he was, he was pheasanthunting.
So we had a guy at the bottomof the hill, there was a bird at
the top of the hill, but therewas another guy at the other

(40:48):
side, at the bottom, so the oneguy shot up.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
Hit the guy in the ass.
The guy turned around.
Oh my God, the other guy pumpedanother shot and it hit him
right in the face.
Wow.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
Oh my God, that's yeah, no, and it's like it's so
avoidable too.
So it's a little scary outthere.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
Yeah, I mean, I've been, I've been rained on tons
of times from pellets.
You know, you're just walking,you hear the shot, and then you
just hear everything, just youand you hear the shot, and you
just hear everything.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Just you're like you're like, oh, is this worth
it?
Yeah, exactly, no, exactly, Itotally agree.
So who knows how next pheasantseason will go, if we're even
really interested in it at thatpoint.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
But yeah, I mean, it's the one thing that I wish
um obviously like you, and youcan buy birds, like I know a lot
of um hunting clubs do it,where they they'll privately
stock birds and stuff like that,which is a much different
situation.
Like I, I want a oh yeah um atwo hunts for for pheasant hunt.

(41:57):
Unfortunately, um the this yearwas the last year that that um
hunting uh property was was open, so I missed out on on two
pheasant hunts, but like that'sprobably the only way, unless,
like I traveled to the midwestor something like that at this
point that I would do a pheasanthunt in like anywhere around
here.
I know maine, thepartridgesridges and stuff like

(42:19):
that, so there are certainstates where you can go to I'll
do that, but no more like thewhole stocking thing and
everything like that to me, it'sjust it's not worth it it's
just utter chaos.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
Everybody's like in competition with each other.
It's not nobody having fun.
It's like you know, people arerunning in front of you and it's
just like, all right, I'm overit yeah, no, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
That's actually like before we went pheasant hunting.
We did have a buddy and wesplit.
It was like eight pheasant orwhatever, and we did it on a
private property.
I'm like this is fun, this ishow it should be.
It's so much easier.
It's just our dog, it's justthe four of us that you trust
and you know aren't going toshoot and get all hyped up over
the bird Cause.
It's like we know we put thatbird there, you know, cause it

(43:09):
was.
Yeah, that was a lot safer, alot more fun.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
No, I bet, I bet, no, I was.
I was going to ask you what'syour go-to gun for pheasant
hunting, you and your boyfriend.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Um.
So my favorite one right now Ihave an American tactical 20
gauge.
Um, I love that gun.
It's comfortable, it feels likea toy Honestly, like I.
It's so simple.
Used it's literally the kind ofdream gun.

(43:49):
It's so simple, it's perfect.
I don't get tired carrying itaround the field if there's no
birds out there and I have towalk around.
So I do like that gun.
I also do have an 1187.
I like that gun as well.
It's just a little heavier forme.
It's not that it's even heavy,I'm just weak.
So I don't like having to carrysomething heavy and trudge

(44:10):
through the woods.
That you know it's not for meand it's like you know, my
boyfriend has his gun.
He's not going to carry it forme.
So that's what I did like whenwe went.
Oh, here you go.
You know you'd be my backpacknow, as simple as I can.

Speaker 3 (44:31):
Yeah, no, sometimes that's the best way you know, I
would think, but I was going toask you.
What did you?
What do you think of NewJersey's two bird limit for
pheasant?

Speaker 2 (44:47):
Do you agree with it?
Do you not agree?
I guess I'm very 50-50.
I know they had like a petitionthis past fall as well about
changing the stocking and thelimit and everything like that.
I guess it really depends onthem.
I feel like like what they canproduce for us and how many
birds they can stock for us.

(45:09):
I feel like two is somewhatfair, realistically.
When you are having a good dayand you're out there getting
them and stuff like that, youkind of are just like wow, I
wish I had more.
So that aspect as a game, Iwish it was more.
But realistically I do feellike two is fair.
Especially, we'll bring ourhome our soul cook with them and

(45:31):
everything like that, and it'slike I feel like we get enough
of them to make something funand everything like that.
So I feel like two is fair.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
But yes, I do wish it was more game wise, like I wish
that we could spend the wholeday out there just shooting them
and yeah oh, I would have toagree with you on that,
especially when you're whenyou're on fire and you're like,
ah, this is, this is great, andthere's birds everywhere.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
You're like, ah, there's two limits, this two
limit thing sucks yeah, we hadlike one perfect day and like
one was like just like theperfect, like it was just so.
Like there's like out of amovie, I'm like, oh my god, this
was like great, like I want toshoot another, but I'm like,
well, I can't like I'm done,like you know, not get this

(46:16):
perfect little shooting againand everything's like the birds
now.
So it's like, in that aspect, Ido wish that we could shoot
more, but, um, I guess it's fair.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
Um, it is what it is no, I hear it um, but I guess it
depends how many people you gowith, like you know, if there
was true me, my boyfriend andtwo of our friends, and it's
just huck and that aspect.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
I'm fine with the limit too, because like he's
still getting more birds, youknow, but me personally, like
I'm fine with two yeah, no, no,I mean, that makes sense For my
next Go ahead.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
Yeah, real quick on the water, you know, before we
move.
If you were for moving out thewaterfowl topic, you know, have
you thought about getting him onon any geese?
I mean, goose hunting is justabsolutely a whole nother thing,
and it's so much fun.

Speaker 2 (47:08):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (47:09):
Bigger, bigger of a bird.
Has he just absolutely a wholenother thing, and it's so much
fun.
Yes, uh, bigger, bigger of abird, um, has he done it yet, or
do you?
Is there any plans on him?
Uh, getting on some, um, somegeese coming up?

Speaker 2 (47:17):
um, my last thing, what I heard you saying about
the goose hunting um, we didtake huck on a goose hunt with
us, um, once this year.
Um, he's probably about likeseven months old.
Um, we were with buddies onprivate land and it was just
there was one other dog therebut we didn't want huck to like
go because he's never been onone yet, so it was kind of just

(47:38):
for him to like shadow, becausethere's probably about like
eight guys there, um, so youknow it's a lot of gunfire and
everything going off too.
So that was his first timebeing in something loud like
that.
So pretty much like I was there, my boyfriend was, then a
couple of his buddies and theother dog at the other end, I
pretty much just held him thewhole time like in our blind and
like we got him used to hearinglike the the goose calls and

(47:58):
everything and watching like theflocks come in and land and
stuff like that.
And he got nervous at firstbecause you know there's a lot
of gunfire going off andeverything like that.
Um, but then I showed him likeI literally picked him up and I
was letting him watch the otherdog go out and retrieve the
birds and he started doing likethat excited tremble.
I'm like I was telling my bird,I'm like he wants to go.
Like you know they're all dead.
Like there was no, like um,crippled.

(48:19):
So I'm like let's just let himgo.
Like let him go sniff the birds, watch the other dog pick them
up.
So we and an eight month oldpuppy really cannot pick that up
.
So it was the funniest thing.
He was trying so hard.
I have a video of him likedragging one back, like partial,
like you know what he's got theright idea, so I think he

(48:39):
understands what his job is.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Yeah, that's I'm I'm excited, that's the goal right
there.
That, yeah, unfortunately, Imean and you guys might be good
in in the northern zones um, Iam hearing early rumbles that
they're dropping back your limitto one.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
I did hear that as well, yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
But in the northern and the extended or late zone up
in the north, everyone's goodand it'll be five still, which
is a huge bummer because all ourzones are are, you know, on the
southern part.
I mean, I don't.
To me it doesn't make sense, butwhatever, I'm not gonna get on
that now because I'm just gonnaget frustrated and angry, so, um

(49:21):
, but it's just like I don'tknow, like I've, I've, I've
gotten big into, uh, waterfowlhunting, especially goose
hunting and everything like that.
And though they're goose are nojoke, especially come winter
hunting and everything like that, and though they're goose are
no joke, especially come wintertime and everything like that
when they got that extra fat andeverything on them.
You know, and we've done it, wedon't.
We don't have a dog.
So like we're, we're chasingbirds.

(49:42):
Like you know, we're trying tograb birds and everything like
that.
And I will say, like they,they're big and they're not as
easy as as what people reallythink they are to to get even on
the ground and everything likethat.
And yeah, for some seven monthold dog like it's a, it's a tall
task but yeah, coming I imaginethis year and everything like
that, he'll you'll probably loveit.

(50:03):
And I don't know.
I feel like, as a dog, likeit's more exciting because it's
a bigger animal.
You know, it takes probably alittle more effort.
I think it's more of anexciting like.
I don't know me thinking aboutit like, yeah, as a like.
Yeah, ducks are fun, but ducksare.
I love ducks, don't get mewrong.
But something about geesebecause of their size and
everything like that does makeit more exciting.

(50:25):
I wonder if, if dogs like havethe same thing, they they're
like.
Oh my God, like this is like awhole other chase.
Oh, I feel like they have to.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
Like when we went that one day like watching the
other dog work and everything,like he was so hyped up and,
like you know, chasing thecrippled ones jumping in the air
, kind of get it back down.
Like I feel like it becomesliterally like a game to them,
like no, you're mine and likeI'm bringing you back, like
coolest thing ever.
And yeah, they're birds, soit's being able to like carry
that thing back is like amazing.
Like I props to the dogs, likeit's really cool.

(50:58):
I'm really excited for thisyear with huff yeah, it's
probably amazing just to seethem.

Speaker 3 (51:02):
You know, half the birds in his mouth, the other
half is dragging.
He's like I got it, I got ityeah exactly.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Yeah, we, um, we train.
We have like a, um, a goosebumper.
This thing's heavy, like youknow.
When I'm trying to wing it outthere for him, I'm like grunting
, I'm like this thing is huge.
And he drags that back, like hepicks it up no problem.
Now carries it back.
So I'm like, all right, youknow, you got a little stronger,
your jaw got better.
Let's see how this season goesnow.
So I I think he's gonna dogreat.
I'm really excited to see howhe does with a live goose.

(51:33):
And we do, like you know, whenwe did go like we kept playing
like fetch with the one andeverything and he's like he
would pick it up for like twoseconds and drop.
I'm like it's fine, you'regonna do great next year now?

Speaker 3 (51:46):
do you have any plans like in uh this upcoming season
to hunt like different states,or are you just going to stay in
Jersey?

Speaker 2 (51:53):
Yes, actually, we have a trip to Montana planned
in December and Huck is going.
I think there's going to beabout six or seven of us and
three or four dogs.
So this is going to be hisfirst like out-of-state hunt.
We're going to do two waterfowldays and one upland day.
So I'm really excited, um, fromwhat like we've talked about,

(52:14):
like we're going with Ben and acouple of our friends and they
do this almost as like a yearlytrip.
It's like the for the waterfowl.
They go to like a pretty heavyriver where the ducks come in
and everything, and Ben, likeyour dog's got to know his job.
Like he has to be confident toget out there, swim fast, get
that duck and come back becauseBecause if not, the duck is
washing away, he could wash downthe river.
Like you know, it's all aboutspeed and timing and everything.

(52:35):
So we're really excited to seehow he does this winter Because
we've been working with him.
Because you know, the WallkillRiver is right here up the road,
so like we'll go to publicareas and where it kind of gets
pretty rough in some spots, likeyou know, we'll throw those
bumpers out there and kind ofbuild us confidence because
we're, like you know, you got abig thing coming in december, so
we're really excited for that.
It's gonna be my first timeheading out west, so it's gonna

(53:00):
be really cool.
Yeah, that's pretty sick.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
I love that.
That is sick man.
It sounds like a blast.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
I'm jealous the second we got invited.
I'm like I don't even care whatmy plans are that week.
I would cancel everything andI'm going to Montana.
It's such an experience for meto get to bring my dog and go
with my boy.
Who could say no to that?

Speaker 3 (53:22):
Yeah, no, exactly, I don't even know who would, but
that's you know right, Exactly.
That's definitely awesome.

Speaker 1 (53:36):
I would love to do something like that, but first I
got to get into more waterfowl.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
Yeah, I'm hoping this season I can get into it
because I've done the upland andstuff.
So you know I'm watching mikehaving all the fun and I'm just
like I got got guns Like come onman.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
I could do this.
You got us right up the roadnow too, you know, especially
with us getting more into it.
You're more than welcome tojoin us.
We'd love to get together.

Speaker 3 (54:01):
Yeah, no, absolutely that's, it Just hit me up and
that's the thing Like.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
This is the one time where it's like you want as many
people coming with you in yourblinds or whatever, because it
just increases the limit,increases the fun, like with
deer hunting, and that's what Ialways tell people like.
There's just a completedifferent.
And don't get me wrong, nothingto me compares to deer and bear
hunting and everything likethat, but it's a grind.
It's a complete grind.

(54:28):
I don't want to be bothered byanyone, I don't want to see
other hunters.
I I get it.
I love hunting with my buddiesand stuff like that, but I go on
my.
We all go on our own.
We meet up at camp or something, but we go on our own way.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
Waterfowl hunting is the opposite.
Yeah, yeah, I totally agree.
I know it's like we went um.
Since we live right on theborder of new york, my boyfriend
also has his New York huntinglicense, so we went on public
land and something about.
I forget what day it was orwhatever it might have been
opening day.
Honestly, where we went, I'mlike there's orange.

(55:00):
There's orange, like you know,you see, like a little hat or
something like that.
You see all these guys gettingout of the trucks.
Like this I'm not enjoying,like this deer hunting.
It's like I don't want to seepeople.
But yeah, bird hunting, you cancome, the more the merrier.
Get everybody in the blind.
More birds, more work for Huck.
That's the way I look at it now.

Speaker 3 (55:18):
I feel that let's do it Like I said.
I'll hit you guys up.
Hopefully you can teach me alittle something.
Hopefully Mike can get up andjoin us too.
Listen at that blast rate, andyou know, hopefully mike can get
up and join us too.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
I mean, listen right with with only one freaking bird
in the southern zones, and youknow by the season ends I'm
gonna have to be going up northanyway to hunt, because, like I,
I just generally can't believeit yeah, yeah, now you have to
come join us no, no, definitelydefinitely.

Speaker 3 (55:55):
But, you want to stop there, Mike?
I mean, I could talk aboutwaterfowl all day.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
Absolutely we would be here another hour, but we
definitely.
I think the game plan would beto, you know, get you back on,
especially like if we all go outand do a group hunt and
everything like that.
We can.
We can all do a podcast liketogether and everything like
that.
You know, the dog be there, theboyfriend be there and like

(56:19):
everyone who is who is huntingand just have like a.
You know, maybe if I could,figure it out do a podcast in
the blind, exactly so, like thatis like I I've've, I've had a
blast, like, and you know, andthis is too like you know,
learning now getting into thewaterfowl, like like we me and

(56:41):
frank and like a lot of our guyswere diehard, um, deer hunters,
you know, bear hunting, um, allthose other stuff.
Waterfowl for me, like hasbecome another, like huge
passion of mine.
But not doing, not having a dog, knowing nothing about having a
dog, doing the training,everything that goes into it,

(57:03):
this was very like eye-openingand like it now makes me even
more excited to get a dog.
But also learning that likeit's not just like, yes, you
have a pet and everything likethat it's part of the family and
everything, but it's afull-time job, training this dog
to be able to perform andeverything like that.

(57:24):
It's not just like, hey, I'mgetting this dog, you know we're
gonna go on walks andeverything like that.
Like this is it's a fullytrained hunting dog and it's a
completely different step, butit's a step that a lot of people
, I imagine, want to get into itat some point yeah, no,
absolutely.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
It's like.
Yeah, if you ask me all thesequestions a year ago, I would
tell you I have nothing to talkabout and I don't know a thing
about any of this.
If you asked me six months ago,I'd be like, yeah, like I have
a dog.
I think he knows how toretrieve.
Then asking me today it's likeyou learn so much that you don't
know about this stuff thatexists.
Like it's like almost funny,like you wouldn't know.
Like a year ago I didn't knowanything about waterfowl hunting
.
I didn't know anything abouttraining a dog.

(58:02):
Like this is literally justwhat I do in my free time and
this is how much I've learned.
Like there's so much to it andit's like and if you talk to me
in a year from now, I might knoweven more than this it's like
insane, like there's just somuch to it, you know.

Speaker 3 (58:15):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
And like the knowledge that you, that you have, you know like
that quick is like amazing, likeI don't think I I could have
did it.
Like I said, like I tried itdidn't work for me, but I mean
you, you taught me and you open,actually opened my eyes to like
a lot of things that like Inever even thought about, like
training a dog and stuff.
So you know, I appreciate yourknowledge, I appreciate you

(58:38):
coming on, it was uh, it was areal pleasure oh, thank you.

Speaker 2 (58:41):
No, I appreciate it.
Yeah, I'm so glad you reachedout.
It was fun for me too.
Of course, I'll never say no totalking about my dog, so that's
how I knew I was going to getyou.

Speaker 3 (58:51):
I was like, yeah, I was like we'll talk about Huck
now.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (58:58):
But definitely, hey, listen, I'm probably going to
take you up on that hunt one daythis year.
We'll have to figure it out,but before then we'll have to
get you back on with theboyfriend.
Hopefully Huck could be here.
We'll get him on too.
Yeah, but we appreciate youcoming on.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
No, thank you.
I appreciate this a lot.
I'm sorry that my Wi-Fi wasn'tthe best tonight as well.
Listen, it happens.

Speaker 1 (59:28):
No, we did one a couple weeks ago where we
couldn't even get through thefull episode and it wasn't like
he would look randomly, justlike things were good, and then
all of a sudden, yeah, youcouldn't hear anything coming
from him, so like we had to stop.
At least, I think, like 10 timeswhere we really only got about
I think 37 minutes through likeand listen technology up in a

(59:51):
day, like it happens, likethere's it's yeah after doing
this podcast for five years andnow you know starting to I mean
listen and frank frank isstarting to see, like you know
now that you know, frank hastaken over like he started.
He's like man, he's like now Iknow the things that you're
going through.
I'm like yeah like I had oneepisode when I first started and

(01:00:14):
it's like it was one of myfavorite episodes I've ever done
.
Like I got the um you go by,obviously outdoors, but now, and
everything like that bighunters, but um, we got his mom
to come on and his mom killedlike a giant bear, everything
like that loves bear hunting andit was this phenomenal episode.
But, holy hell, it was somessed up with the wifi and like

(01:00:37):
all these different, like ahuge echo was coming.
I was, I lost my mind I was likeyou've got to be kidding me.
A full lost episode.

Speaker 2 (01:00:47):
It was a huge pain in the butt, it's always how it is
yep 100%, but whole lossepisode.
It was a huge pain in the buttit was the best one.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
It's always how it is Yep, 100%, but it was an
absolute pleasure getting you on.
We'll hopefully link up forsome hunts and everything like
that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:01:05):
We'll be following along and can't wait for to see
all the progress pictures,videos of Huck and everything
like that during this season anddefinitely looking forward to
it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
Yeah, definitely.
If you guys follow him onInstagram, it's LifeWithHuck.
That's where I post everything.
I try to post a lot all thetime of his training and videos,
so definitely keep up with that.
My Instagram's boring, so hisis the better one.

Speaker 3 (01:01:28):
I think all ours are.
But I did send you a followfrom my Broadside Ambush account
too, so you know that way.
You know, hey, listen, don't bea stranger, you're only right
down the road.
You know we'll make this happen.
But again, it was a pleasurehaving you on.

Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
Thank you so much.
It was so nice meeting you guys.
Have a great night.
Have a great night.

Speaker 3 (01:01:47):
All right, you too Appreciate you guys tuning in
no-transcript.