WEBVTT - Ep. 404: This Country Life - The Project 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:08.719 Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.559 from coon hunting to trotlining and just in general country living. 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:14.400 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:19.040 my experiences in life lessons. This Country Life is presented 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:23.320 by Case Knives from the Store More Studio on Meat 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.280 Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast that 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:31.319 airways have to offer. All right, friends, grab a chair 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:35.760 or drop that tailgate. I've got some stories to share. 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:46.920 The project. Every successful project usually starts with a good plan. 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.040 It kind of goes hand in hand and you think 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.080 it'd become a knowledge, and it probably is the most folks. 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.680 But me and my brother Tim, we ain't most folks, 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.360 and our kind of knowledge, well, it ain't too common. 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:04.400 I'm gonna tell you how I finally got around to 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:11.840 making a plan, But this first story will illustrate why. 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:20.840 The definition of project is an individual or collaborative enterprise 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:28.119 that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim. I've 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.600 been involved in a lot of projects over the years. 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:35.320 Some would closely fit that definition I just recited, Some 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.280 wouldn't even come close. Some are borderline unsafe, and I 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.520 doubt I'd have much trouble convincing you to believe that 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:47.560 a handful were downright psychotic looking back, and fords me 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:51.600 a clear view of the results of ill conceived calamity, 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:56.760 regardless of the initial intentions. What it doesn't do is 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:59.840 explain the thought process that would have allowed a reasonable 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:04.320 like yours truly to arrive at the conclusion that whatever 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.320 this ridiculous idea my brother Tim would come up with, 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.359 they could convince me to join forces on yet another 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:17.800 of his inept collaborations. Oh yeah, now I remember. Here's 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:20.880 how he'd tricked me into helping him with one of 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:26.720 his crazy projects. Hey, Brent, what want to help me 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.639 with a project? Yep, I want to know what it is. 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:34.960 Don't care, Let's go. It might be dangerous, expensive, and 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:40.880 highly probable illegal in some states. Okay, we'll take my truck. 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:45.679 It has new tires. He would fall just as easily 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.919 to any of my ill fated ideas for wealth, famed 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:53.920 fund and adventure. And afterwards, when the smoke cleared and 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:58.360 the bandages had been applied, either literally or figuratively, we'd 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:02.800 reassess what had happened in and just our future endeavors accordingly. 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.040 Now that's just part of the process for starting a project, 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.880 at least that's how we did it back in the day. 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.480 Doubling the size of our duck camp was a prime 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.120 example of a project that was an unforeseen struggle that 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:25.120 absolutely no one saw coming, but one person hinted at it, 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:30.679 and that person was our banker. We were in year 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:33.359 three or four of guiding duck hunters from all over 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.720 the country, and we hunted public land and private land. 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:40.000 It just depended on where the ducks were. We hadn't 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:44.000 advertised at all. The Internet was new, and my first 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:48.520 experience for the hunting form was weird. I can't tell 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:51.720 you what form it was because I don't remember. I 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.680 was only there for about twenty four hours before I 0:03:54.720 --> 0:04:00.640 got banned. This website was all about hunting everything from 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:05.119 squirrels to giraffes. There was a form for everyone. Him 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.120 had seen it while at work, and since the only 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.360 online computers we had access to were at his work, 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.400 he showed it to me one evening when I stopped 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:18.840 by while on patrol. I dialed it up. That's right, 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.479 dialed it up, and in a matter of minutes, I 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.640 was connected to the interwebs and scrolling through the myriad 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.440 of topics being discussed by my fellow field sports enthusiasts 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:33.679 from all over the globe. This was going to be fun. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.520 I moved the cursor along until I found the duck 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:41.799 hunting part. I clicked in there, and a seemingly endless 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:45.360 list of topics ready to duck hunting appeared. Holy Moses, 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:47.920 I could spend the rest of my shift right here 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.200 talking to all these wonderful people who like duck hunting 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:55.280 just like me and Tim, instead of fighting crime. I 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:57.880 asked him how to write something on there, and he 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.640 explained how to register to get access to a post 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.640 or a topic, or replied to one that was already there. 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:07.920 It seemed silly to a lot. I'm sure that there 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:12.200 was a time when we didn't all automatically know how 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:17.279 to do that. It's also something unusual seeing Tim was 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.080 ever in a position to give anyone advice on how 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:25.120 the Internet works. Anyway, after he showed me what to 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:30.080 do and I created and registered my Aol email account, 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.239 I got on there, and in two or three topics 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:36.400 where folks were asking about places to hunt ducks, I 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.960 took it upon myself to post something akin to my 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:42.800 brother and I guide for ducks and flooded Timber in 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:49.279 Arkansas message for details. The registration information for the hunting 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:52.320 site advised against publishing your phone number at any time, 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:56.000 so I didn't art, but I wanted to. But people 0:05:56.040 --> 0:06:00.840 could send you messages through the forum. Wow, this is cool. 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.200 I went back to the radio room to tell Tim 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.240 that I figured the clients would start rolling in after 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.680 I'd made those posts, and he agreed. I told him 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.880 i'd come back later that night and check it, or 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.120 if I had a bunch of reports while on patrol 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:17.839 that I just checked the next day. When I started 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:22.720 my shift the next evening, I swung by the headquarters 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:24.760 and went to the Spare office to dial up the 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.600 rest of the world on the Hunting Forum website. As 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:31.480 soon as I logged in, I had one message in 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.960 my inbox and nearly a hundred responses to what I'd said. Oh, 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:41.040 this internet thing is gonna make us rich. I checked 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.240 the responses to the topics I'd posted, and all I 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:48.279 saw was little pictures of cans of spam, one after 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:54.520 the other, spam, spam and more spam, some with cuss words, 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:58.600 others with acronyms and abbreviations. For cuss words and phrases 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:03.880 i'd never heard of. I know what spam was, but lol, 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.520 rofl and others I won't mention were all new to me. 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.960 But it must mean something good, because spam is good, 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:19.800 alas it did not. The message from the admin infored 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.680 me that I had been banned for two weeks for spam. 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:27.320 I walked in the radio room where Tim was and asked, Hey, 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:32.040 what spam? And he said, no, one knows for sure, 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.400 but I wish I had some frid right now. Why? 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.480 And I told him about what happened. He accused me 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:40.480 of talking ugly on the forum. I said, I didn't 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.880 say nothing ugly, and I didn't say anything about spam. 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:47.440 I would learn that what they were referring to was 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:53.080 advertising for free and that wasn't allowed. I didn't realize 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.800 what I was doing, but I was just as incensed 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.320 that anyone would defile the good name of spam as 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:02.920 being anything but wonderful. How do I know spam is 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.360 like manner from heaven? Because my city mouse wife, who'd 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.600 starved slapped to death before she knowingly had a squirrel. 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:14.880 Now I noticed, I said, knowingly, we'll wreck a plate 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.960 of fried spam as quick as I will. So not 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.880 only did I learn what spam means on the interwhells, 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.760 I also got a crash course on cyber bullying and 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:30.360 keyboard warriors. Why are all these folks so angry that 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:33.840 was over thirty years ago. Well, guess what, they're still mad, 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:40.559 and they've recruited help. Anyway, our business didn't need any advertising. 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.800 Word of mouth was getting us booked beyond anything we'd 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:48.560 ever imagine. We needed to enlarge our camp, our project. 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:54.840 We decided to double it. We went to the bank 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.640 and sat down with our banker, mister Freddie Mobley, the 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.520 husband of my sixth grade teacher, Mary Anne Mobley, who 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:06.120 I've talked about on here before. Anyway, we told him 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.000 what we wanted to do, and he looked at us 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.840 and said, well, y'all have been doing pretty good. I 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.080 hear he did some clicking on his keyboard and looking 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.080 at his monitor. I see you've been making you payments 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.080 in advance. That's good. You have a lot of folks 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:25.280 book this coming year, Yes, sir, what about the year after? Well, 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.360 people usually coming at the same time every year, and 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.960 we're growing fast. That's why we borrowed the money from 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.480 you to buy the camp in the first place. We 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.800 couldn't hold them all in that place we were renting, 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.480 and now we're running out of room in the place 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:42.599 we bought. He slightly nodded his head in approval. He 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.840 got quiet for a moment, and we could tell he 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.120 was thinking years in advance of the next duck season. 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.000 And even though he was a duck hunter himself, he 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.440 wasn't thinking like a duck hunter. He was thinking like 0:09:55.480 --> 0:10:02.320 a businessman. Tim and I were not. His eyes darted 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:04.960 back and forth to me and Tim over his computer screen, 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.640 and back to us. He folded his hand together and 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:13.600 he said, what if the ducks don't come? That was 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:16.920 a question I was not prepared for. He might as 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:19.679 well ask me what if the world stops turning a 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:21.920 the blink of a ny I was running a million 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.599 scenarios through my head of what I thought could possibly 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:28.679 stand in the way of mister Freddy denying our loan. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.839 The absurdity of the ducks not migrting was on the list, 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:37.559 but it was way after meteor striking the eleventh Biblical plague. 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:41.200 Tim and I both literally lo eled when he said that, 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.720 And by then I knew what that meant. Why would 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.640 the ducks not migrate? They've been doing that ever since 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:53.360 ducks grew feathers. He didn't laugh, he just smiled, and 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:58.400 then he said, what if people quit booking? This dude 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:01.480 was a laugh a minute, a straight up comedian. He 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:04.000 missed his calling by going into bakon when he should 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.600 have been doing stand up. Well, we guide a lot 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.679 of corporate groups and business folks, and they're the ones 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:15.160 book in a year or more in advance. He loaned 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.520 us the money and we got two years into having 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:21.559 our duck camp doubled in size when the economy took 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:27.440 a nosedive, and believe it or not, the migration started changing. Now. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.079 I don't care what you call it, global warming, climate change, 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.600 freaking nature, years of bad hatches, loss of habitat, rest 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.679 areas up north, holding all the ducks, whatever, it doesn't matter. 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:45.280 What matters is the duck hunting got worse, and businesses 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.000 cut back on corporate entertainment due to the economy, and 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:54.040 some of them stopped it altogether. That was the biggest 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:58.120 project we'd put together that required a total reassessment of 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.280 how we did the admin's side out of our guiding business. 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:05.920 That project was that big, kicking the breeches before it 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:10.160 ever got squared away, And that was one of the 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.400 many reasons that guiding a duck hunting in general started fading. 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.920 And it's lure to me. I couldn't do one without 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.199 the other. If we were to keep that place, we 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.560 would have to work for it. There was very little 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.840 room for recreational hunting. We'd have to hustle up business 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.080 now before we were having to turn it away. At 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.960 any time your fund gets like work, well, it ain't 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:50.200 fun no more. We retired, we sold it, and then 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.400 a few years ago I started going again a little 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.720 here and there on the cash with my friends at 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.240 the coon camp and own some private land. And then 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:01.560 I went with the r into some public land last 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.600 year that I used to guide on and I killed 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.079 ducks both places, and I didn't have to do any 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.720 racing because I didn't want to go to the places 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.559 where people race. There's still some spots out there that 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:16.640 are good that don't get of a lot of attention, 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:21.080 and those are my favorites. But beyond anything else, I've 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:25.040 always wanted to develop and manage a place from start 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:29.000 to finish. A project of habitat enhanced for ducks that 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.400 will benefit all the creatures on the landscape that lived there. 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:37.719 That's the new project and an unforeseen opportunity that of 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:41.079 all people, my daughter Bailey arranged for me to have 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:46.960 through her love for competition dancing. Remember the episode where 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:48.840 a lot of us went to New York City last 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:52.000 year for the girls to see rockets and took enough 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:56.560 kids and parents for three basketball teams. Well, among those families, 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:59.920 as well as a few more, we've grown particularly fun 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.120 and close to. And when I say family, I mean 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:06.960 the whole family, brothers and sisters, grandparents, friends, the whole 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.920 circle of them. Their friends and family have become irish 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.200 and vice versa. I talk about them all the time. 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:16.040 But the guy that used to be known as Avery's 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:20.280 dad is now known to me as John. John and 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:24.160 I have become friends. Our girls initiated this a dance, 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.760 then we all tagged along. Now we all have a 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.400 standing date every Wednesday for supper. We used to go 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.840 out and eat, and we still sometimes do, but mostly 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:37.640 we take turns cooking for each other. It has become 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:41.560 one of the favorite parts of my week, a standing 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.000 supper date with a family and a bunch of people 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.359 who I look forward to see him at every opportunity. 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:56.040 John likes to hunt and I like to hunt. John 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.920 builds houses and has a dirt business, both of which 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.840 take up a lot of his He told me I 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.040 could have the run of his properties. In the last spring, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.200 I walked onto a piece of bottom land property that's 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:11.000 as pretty a patch of woods as there is. There 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.400 was a little turkey sign here and there, but not much, 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:15.960 but I was thrilled to see enough squirrels there to 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.640 wear out a tree dog. There was water standing from 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.040 recent range. As I waited along with the ankle deep 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:25.720 water and swatted mosquitoes, and I saw how it looked 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:28.920 like the flooded timber that Arkansas is famous for, you know, 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:33.760 the duck hunting kind. Well, months passed it. As John 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:35.720 and I got more acquainted, I learned that he liked 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.760 the duck hunt and sold his oldest son, Ethan. Ethan 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.160 works in the family business with his dad, and they 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.720 have a lot of equipment, excavators and dump trucks, skid steers, 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:50.120 and bulldozers to do the jobs that they do. One night, 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.320 we were all eating supper at John's house and he 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.640 started telling me about a piece of property where he 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.880 used to duck hunt several years ago. It was the 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.680 property that I'd waited on back in this spring looking 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.000 for turkeys. I told him where I waited to that day, 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.520 and he mentioned that where I had turned around to 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:09.240 walk back out of the water was close to where 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:14.560 he used to hunt ducks. I wasn't discounting John's duck 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.680 hunting a buildy or knowledge, but duck hunting in any 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.200 area that I've never been to, or much less even 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:24.000 heard of in Arkansas always makes me wonder how good 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:27.640 could it really be? What are they comparing it a 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:32.200 quality to not hunting at all? Well, I didn't know, 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.640 and I didn't judge either. One man's trash being another 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:40.040 man's treasure is never more true than when talking about 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.080 duck hunting. There were times in my youth when I 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:46.360 wouldn't have walked across the road for anything less than 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:49.320 the limit of green heads in the timber, never thinking 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:52.000 about the folks who felt fortunate just to see a 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.680 wood duck buzz through at daylight. He kept telling me 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:57.880 about this property having ducks on it, and how he 0:16:58.040 --> 0:16:59.920 and the fellow he got it from used to duck 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:06.520 cut it, and I asked him finally, Mallards. Yeah in 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:11.639 that timber, Yeah, over there where I waited water in 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:16.800 that flat last spring. Yeah. And I've always wanted to 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.639 develop that into something good for ducks and wildlife. I 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:23.560 have the equipment and the desire to make it something special. 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:27.040 I just need someone with the knowledge of the animals 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.600 and the trees. Would you be interested in helping me? 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:34.680 I had to fight the urge to do a backflip. 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:37.240 Not that I can or could ever do one. I 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.760 just had to fight the urge to try it. Yep, 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.880 I sure would. And with that conversation from a few 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:50.040 weeks ago, we began to plan. Now here's the advantage 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.800 of doing anything with a house builder. They don't do 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.640 anything without a set of plans. Tim and I learned 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.879 that lesson the hard way when we didn't have a 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:04.639 planned for a downturn in the commercial hunting business. Now, 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.600 the best thing about making a plan with John is 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:12.520 that the equipment was already there. There was no overwhelming 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:16.359 initial investment for a kabillion dollars and stuff to work with, 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.720 most of it was sitting on that property. There would 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.760 be nothing to invest other than sweat equity, and what 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:27.320 brain power I could muster to start a planning Before 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:32.480 we ever moved a teaspoonful of dirt. We walked the 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.359 land from corner to corner and studied the topography and 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.000 John's extensive knowledge of the land's history, how rainwater moved 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:42.359 naturally along the flooding that they had taken advantage of 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:46.560 in the past. We researched the permits, the rules and 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:50.639 regulations about flood control, pumping, water levees, and everything that 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:54.520 a builder would have to research before starting construction on 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:58.000 any piece of ground for any kind of building. Now, 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:03.560 wouldn't you know it already holds every license required. How fortunate. 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:09.040 Several trips to those woods, long conversations on the phone, 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:12.639 and it supper had us last Saturday, starting early, clearing 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:18.680 the whole of infear and non acorn producing trees. Hackberry, ironwood, 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:22.000 and sweet gum were removed and stacked and set ablaze, 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.640 along with a massive red oak that had fallen due 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:28.399 to a windstorm a couple of years ago. It's what 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:32.680 led us to survey that spot, which is close to 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:34.800 the center of the property and not far from where 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:38.479 they eight hundred years ago. That big red oak hit 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.200 Mother Earth. The loss of that canopy opened up a 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:43.399 hole in that timber that was right for just a 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:48.639 little tlc. It's a natural opening that would attract ducks, 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:51.480 and there were native grasses growing in that open that 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.199 had flooded. The ducks would have surely found. By opening 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.040 that canopy even more, we were going to let in 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:02.080 more sunlight. Now. Initially you think, ah, the ducks will 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.640 have more room to fly in and land, which which 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:08.960 is true. But that's only part of the reason. Sunlight 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.200 on the floor is going to help tremendously with what 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:15.320 we're planning next year. You get the grocers on the 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:17.760 ground that they like to eat, and the size of 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:21.160 the opening won't keep them out. Ducks will start dropping 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.040 in a coggleline, wearing safety goggles and tolding the hatchet 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.359 if they have to. I still hadn't been completely sold 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:30.840 on the mallards in that area. I never doubted John's word, 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.600 but still, this ain't the River bottoms where I grew up, 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:38.560 or the Mississippi River Delta, you know what, They ain't 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.800 far away. So I sat on my computer a couple 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:44.560 of nights before we were set to start clearing out 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:47.360 that hole, looking it all X and getting the lay 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:49.960 of the lad with the photography and how the water flows, 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:52.720 and what creeks slews or bios that would be close 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:56.240 enough to be our co conspirators, and the flooding. John 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:59.280 talked about shooting ducks in years ago and that I 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:05.239 witnessed the spring. That's when I saw it. I'd been 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:08.760 living here for over a decade oblivious to some key features, 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:11.080 and that it wasn't like I didn't know where they were. 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:13.840 I just I just hadn't paid any attention to them. 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:17.320 As far as waterfowl go. I have places to do 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.359 that that I've been going to forever, way before I 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:23.240 ever moved here, and those are the places that I 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:27.960 go because I didn't need anything else. Then, after looking 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.719 at the satellite view of the natural land features, the creeks, 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.200 the rivers, and the boos, and the government waterfowl rest 0:21:35.280 --> 0:21:38.240 areas and the thousands of acres of rice, soybeans and 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:43.320 corn that surround that spot, it became abundantly clear that 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:48.680 John knows exactly what he's talking about. I'll tell this 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:50.639 a little funny on the both of us as to 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.840 how excited and dedicated we are to be working together 0:21:55.119 --> 0:22:00.720 on this project, but John running the heavy equipment, Ethan 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:02.679 and I were in charge of running the chains all 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:05.159 getting the fire started on the brush he was piling 0:22:05.240 --> 0:22:08.480 up in the middle of that hole. The morning turned 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:12.879 into afternoon, and afternoon turned into night. We continued on 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:15.920 through the night, watching the fire as it slowly ate 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:18.720 away the brush, limbs and logs we piled on top 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:22.240 of each other. Ethan took off around one thirty the 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:26.720 next morning. I'd gotten up the day before at four thirty, 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:30.920 and not on purpose, just by sheer excitement and enthusiasm 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:34.160 to get started. I couldn't wait to get in there. 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:37.720 Twenty hours in and I was starting to feel the 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:42.560 drain on my batteries. At three am. We'd been sitting 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:45.920 in silence for quite some time, staring at the flames, 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:49.960 a glance occasionally at John and looked just as tired 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:52.240 as me, but never mentioned or made a move. The 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:55.840 call of the day and go home. The fire couldn't 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:58.760 get out. There was nothing for it to burn and 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:02.359 nowhere for it to go. We've seen to that well 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:06.640 before we struck the first match. I wanted to go home, 0:23:07.000 --> 0:23:12.119 rest awhile shower come back, but John he didn't budge 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:15.680 if he stayed. I'm staying. It's a privilege for me 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:18.440 to be there. There's no way I disrespect him or 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:22.840 what we're doing here by suggesting we go home. We 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:30.880 were leaving Bee when John said we want three thirty three, 0:23:31.040 --> 0:23:37.359 forty five finally four a m I was gassed, still excited, 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:43.720 but plumb wore out. John been a long time since 0:23:43.800 --> 0:23:50.520 four thirty yesterday morning. Yep. A few minutes went by 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:53.560 and I got the gumption to ask him, how long 0:23:53.600 --> 0:23:56.160 do you want to stay? John looked at me quickly 0:23:56.160 --> 0:24:00.560 and said, oh, I'm here for you. Love it, madity. 0:24:00.680 --> 0:24:03.200 We could have been home hours ago, but neither of 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:06.720 us wanted to be the first to holler cafro. I 0:24:06.960 --> 0:24:09.919 was as wolved as a rended mew. And we saddled 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:13.280 up and we went to the house seven hours later. 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:18.520 Who are right back at that project. It's gonna be fun, 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:23.320 and it's gonna get funer. And I hope y'all enjoy 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:25.560 the reports from this endeavor that I'm going to bring 0:24:25.640 --> 0:24:28.160 you throughout the years we worked through the different stages 0:24:28.200 --> 0:24:34.359 of preparation and anticipation of next season. Thank y'all so 0:24:34.720 --> 0:24:37.120 much for listening, and if you really want to help 0:24:37.200 --> 0:24:40.159 meet Clay at Old Lake, just consider writing her. If 0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:42.760 you were better, still sharing our shows with others you 0:24:42.920 --> 0:24:46.800 think might enjoy. Until next week, this is Brent Reeves 0:24:47.000 --> 0:24:49.159 signing off. Y'all be careful.