Keep the Faith... The Ducks Will Come with David Pruett, Owner of Riceland Waterfowl Club

Originally aired on November 16th, 2025. Doug's investigative interview with David Pruett, for your listening pleasure.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well look into the crystal ball too. With David prut
from out there at Riceland Waterfowl Club. David, what's going
on out there this morning?

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Not a whole lot today?

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, well yeah, bluebird calm. What else do you want
for duck hunting?

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Huh?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Little cold weather?

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yeah, a lot of cold weather and a little bit
more breeze. Everything that you don't have for the last
what the last four or five days?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yes, sir?

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, So.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
What do you expect up for the birds to be
here when Pennsylvania's high at sixty six today Kansas is
almost seventy.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Oh lord, yeah, that's not going to help. No, that
won't help at all. Well, that's okay.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
We had some good shoots at that one little blast
of cold, we got the wind picked up, we had people,
I know, four or five days was anywhere for two
guys to four guys, was tens to twenty fours.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
That's not bad. H Yeah, that's that's solid and stuff
right there. That's what you're looking for. So so whatever
birds came through though, have kind of have already moved
south again. Well they warmed up again, too, didn't it.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, No, goodness warmed up?

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah. Well, the good news is I'm sure you've looked
at the forecast, but around I think it's Thanksgiving night.
If if it all works out right, we're going to
dump down into the low forties so and and then
have a couple of more days of that. So something's
got to give. We just got to get that cooler
weather up north, that's what's wrong. And that well that
and get them to turn off the heaters in their

(01:33):
little ducky spas and hot tubs.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Good heavens well that that would make a big difference.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
I believe, I know it's that was the main factor
that pushes birds because they when they kind of find
food to eat.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Hey, David, you've got a big echo. You've got a
big echo on your end right now. You didn't before,
but it just changes. You changed something or move or no,
oh that's wow. Okay, I don't know what's causing that.
Let's see if it'll go away, and if it doesn't,
we'll call you right back. But go ahead, okay.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
If the snow followers are really push as the burthen
but they can't find any food, soores and I got you.
Let you let him get like you know, six eight
ten inches of snow and get it covered up.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
They've got to go south further.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
There we go.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
We found a snow line.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Okay, yeah, yeah, that's a good point. The snow line
is really not far down.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yet, is it not yet? Not yet? It's kind a
friend up in north to south Dakota, excuse me, and
he's chasing pheasants this weekend, and he said, it ain't
nothing up there. They're up there in short sleeve shirts. Still.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's that answers a lot of questions,
because I've had a lot of people call me and say, look,
they're they're not telling us the truth. There's hardly any
ducks left. I'm not falling for that. It had to
be something. And I do think that you in your
fifty years and me and my twenty five thirty of
kind of semiamate semi professional watching this. If it's not cold,

(03:04):
they're not coming. They don't waste energy just to get
to a different place when they've already got everything they need,
do they.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Oh you get the nail on the head with that one, Doug.
I mean, you're absolutely right. They don't want to go
to you know, travel this far to go get something
to eat when they've got everything they want right there.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
They're they're sitting on a buffet that's almost endless. The
way that farmers practice up in the Midwest now, they
leave so much food on the ground for these birds
to keep them there so that they can hunt them
and that they can guide for them and make a
bunch of money. And those birds, it's it's conservation of energy.
They're not going to waste a wing beat moving down

(03:45):
here until they have to, until they absolutely have to.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
I've been preaching that for thirty years.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Man. Oh, you're absolutely right again. I mean, that's that's
the way it goes. I believe we're going to get
a lot of you know, weather change. We always shrew
and this year's probably just gonna come a little later,
about two or three weeks later, Like this coming week,
we're gonna get rainfall for it five six days, which
will help out the prairie. We really need some more.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Came into that your prairie in my yard. We both need.
We both need water. You need a little bit more
than I do, though you can have mine. If it'll
bring ducks down here, you can have the water I
was gonna get on my loan. If we can move
that cloud out there for you, that wouldn't be bad. No,
let me let me ask you this for water. Well, yeah,
that's a good point. Let me ask you this. So

(04:30):
we've got this third pintail that can go on the
strap if you can find it. Have have you seen
any decent numbers of pintails down yet?

Speaker 2 (04:38):
We had a one major push and I guess they
went to the coast. Uh, but they just disappeared. But
guys were shooting, you know, two. I've heard some guys
had up to their three they're living.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
But it was just for four or five days and
then it just disappeared.

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Well, we gotta we got to sit back. I think
a lot of people are. They're so spontaneous and so
right now, what's happening right now? You got to realize
we're only sixteen days into the season. It's not like
we've only got two days left to hunt these birds.
It's not teal season. So I think once this next
front comes through here and dumps it at least down

(05:17):
into the forties here, Dad's gonna push that snow lying
down up in Kansas and Nebraska and every place else
up that way. It's gonna get cold, it's gonna get
below freezing, and that just may be enough to get
them nudged our direction. I hope.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
So we have them every year, Doug. You've seen it
time and time again over all these years. We've had
struggle first part of the season and to bang out
in the end. And we've had it where it was
great in the beginning and slower in the end. But
I think this year is gonna be a bang out
the later we get into the season.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
We need to learn how to speak duck and tell
them what we need them to do. That's what we
need to do, David. I wish someone would tell me.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
I've got a lot of World Championships in Styton region
calling competitions and sometimes I still don't know the difference
between the come here and the get out of here.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
You know.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, they're like teenagers. They just really don't listen at all,
do they. Hey, I got it off. One more quick
question then I'll cut you loose. So what's the story
on geese? Are you seeing any geese at all? Or
what are you seeing?

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Last week, we've seen about a thousand around the Lizzie Prairie,
Okay of snow geese and probably three to four hundred
specs come through. Well that's not you guys, got a couple,
but they seem to kind of disappear too, you know.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
I just hate that the prairie has become what it is,
especially for the geese. The ducks still have. We got
good representation for duck hunting out there, as you well know.
But with the geese, I could when I was guiding
and we'd go scouting in the afternoon, if you drove
past a field that had a thousand geese and you
wouldn't even slow down. Now, that's not what I'm looking
for for my guys tomorrow morning. I'm just going to

(06:57):
keep scouting and keep looking. Now it is a big deal.
It's a legitimately big deal because if you're anywhere near
those birds, you got a chance, you know, you might
be able to pull a few over. Because when they
get up in the air, they're not going to see
a whole lot of They're not going to see a
right or a rag spread in every field like they
used to. So it's a little easier to hunt the

(07:19):
birds that are here, I think, if you're in their path.
But the numbers are just sadly, I think we're done
with that.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Oh yeah, for the big numbers, Yeah yeah, I agree
with that, But you're right, the birds that wouldn't get
here like last year. Yeah, I had some guys just
catching the traffic, you know is what we used to
call it. And they were shooting, you know, between half
in full limits every day for about two weeks.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
If you're where they want to be, you've got a
really good show. When I did that hunt a couple
of years ago with Mitchell up there at El Campo,
it was that way. There was a significant number of birds,
but it wasn't it wasn't old days numbers, but there
were a lot of them. And they, man, when they
saw our stuff, they came on and took a good
look exactly exactly. Be fun, it's gonna be okay. Let's

(08:12):
just you and I both tell them it's gonna be okay.
Just be patient, it will be okay. I mean, we've
I know, our club, we've got water.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
I've got three hundred and something acres on one farm alone,
fiction and put another one hundred or so acres on it,
and you know, the cutting the rest of the rice
right now, and you know we've got the stuff ready
for them when they arrive. I mean, if you don't
have the beds made and the carpet, you know, vacuum dough. Yeah,
they're not gonna be here.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
That's a fact. That is a fact. And you're not
gonna keep them there either. All right, Dave, David, I
know you got plenty of dudes, as you do every day,
my friend. Thanks for taking a little time with us.
I appreciate it. All right, we all have a good one, Yes, sir,
you too. Audios. That's David Putt from Riceland Waterfowl Club.
Good guy, he really is, and I I do agree

(09:00):
with him. These birds are coming. They're not gonna They're
not gonna spend all winter up there in the Dakotas,
in the Midwest, anywhere. They'll get here. It's just a
matter of getting the weather that it takes to push
them out of what has become a very comfortable bed
in the Midwest. They feed them, they keep the water warm,

(09:22):
for heaven's sakes. That's it's almost cheating. I think that
should be. I don't mind if they bubble it to
keep it open. But some of these stories I hear
about farmers and outfitters putting warmers in these reservoirs. That's
that's almost akin debating in my opinion, and I don't

(09:43):
like it.