EP 426. SPECIAL Into the Vault 2023

Ramsey Russell: Welcome back to Mojos Duck season somewhere podcast. Today, we are in the vault with Logan Nevins, Ducks Unlimited manager for national events. Logan, how the heck are you, man?

Logan Nevins: I’m good. Thanks for having me.

Ramsey Russell: Shoot, I’m glad to have you. Now, look, where are you from? That’s how I like to start with everybody, Logan, is who are you and where are you from?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, so, currently I live in Memphis, Tennessee, but I was born and raised in southern Michigan and grew up there for, my whole life, hunting and fishing and doing all the things in the outdoors and got real hooked on that, like most of us that with your listeners, and started taking that passion and really trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and moving forward with that and kind of led me down the road of working for Ducks Unlimited in a long way. So pretty cool.

Ramsey Russell: Did you? It’s funny how what I call hook and bullet, a hook and bullet youth will lead people into a certain field. We all kind of like to hunt. We like to fish. And then some of us take it seriously and end up in college trying to study it from there. Who knows what? Maybe we become managers or biologists or scientists, or maybe we sell duck hunts or work for a conservation organization. It’s always different. But what was your educational background?

Logan Nevins: Yeah. So right along those same lines, I took that passion. I was like, man, this would be something really cool to do for a living. So I went into school to work in the conservation field and fisheries and wildlife, settled in conservation biology, looking to maybe be a biologist for DU one day and going down that path, and, graduated with that. While I was in college, I really, started volunteering heavily with DU and got a passion, too, for the event side of things that DU does with our, local chapter banquets and things like that, and started to see myself maybe doing that someday as a regional director or something along those lines and still being able to give back to conservation and the resource and things like that. So when I graduated college, I had met some people through those DU things that I’ve done and ended up working, starting working for DU in the youth and education programs and working in that program for a couple years before I came over to the event, fundraising side and national events.

Ramsey Russell: When you enrolled in conservation biology in Michigan, did you see yourself like, we’re all young and when I went to wildlife school, I imagined myself doing the really fun stuff, going through the woods and catching animals and banding and tagging and that kind of field work, which is really, that’s kind of like entry level. That’s the funnest part. I think it’s what allures us all into the field. But, but you end up doing something different. Once you climb into state or federal government or working for an NGO, a lot of times, even if you’re a field biologist working for one of those organizations, you really get out of the field, end up more behind a computer, and it seems like. But when you were young, I mean, if you can remember back that far, did you see yourself working in Memphis, Tennessee, and being involved with fundraising, without which none of the science matters?

Logan Nevins: No. it’s funny you say that because, like you said, we all get into it kind of for being outdoors or doing the cool things like, duck banding or doing the research and being on the ground and all that kind of stuff. And then, as you get older, you kind of see the different sides of things and you realize that none of the actual work on the ground happens. Without the funding and being able to use, NACA dollars and all those different things that come from government funding and all that different type of stuff that, goes on and on. And it’s interesting that you start to see that there’s so many different opportunities with that. And, whether, you work in the conservation side of things and you’re a biologist or you’re a field tech or you work for the, like you mentioned, the federal and state governments doing it, there’s so many different ways you can go about it that I think people get into it for one main reason. That’s just the passion for the outdoors and being a part of things that can keep it going for the next generation and, experience the things that you experienced as a kid or, stuff like that. So it’s really cool to kind of see my own progression throughout my career to get where I’m at now for where I started from the conservation side to where I’m at now.

Ramsey Russell: When you became a volunteer for Ducks Unlimited, was it a student chapter?

Logan Nevins: It was, yeah. So, the school I went to is called Lake Superior State University. It’s in the upper peninsula, Michigan, on the border of Canada there. And we had a DU chapter there at the school, one of the school clubs, and it’s been around for, I think 2007 is when they started it. So I was there a couple years after it started, but, yeah, it was a student run organization, and we held an event every march and raised as much money as we could for the ducks and send it into Memphis. And then they took that money and put it to the ground.

Ramsey Russell: That’s how my involvement with Ducks Unlimited started. I was in grad school, and the first Ducks unlimited event I ever went to was run by the Mississippi state chapter. And it was amazing. I mean, it was fun. We had a great steak dinner, which is important to college kids, get it to get a good meal. But it was a lot of fun. I mean, there were a lot of events, and I tell you what was that? What else was good, wasn’t a bottomless beer cup, it was a bottomless brown water cup. And we had as much fun for $5 as a man ought to. But that really kind of started me down the path of going to Ducks Unlimited. Chapters, plural, regularly. And then I moved from Mississippi state, took my first job in Grenada, Mississippi. Did not know a soul outside the office. I mean, there were ten people that worked in the office there. I didn’t know a soul in Grenada, Mississippi. But becoming involved with ducks unlimited put me in charge. Put me in touch with a lot of duck hunters in that local community, and, birds with feather flock together. And I’ve noticed that other places I’ve lived, other places I’ve traveled, I can remember one time being in Manitoba. Of course, that was DU Canada, but at the same time, it was a totally different take on this place. We had been hunting for several years just to go to a local ducks unlimited event and plug into the people, I mean, what a great way to move around the world. Or, I talked to somebody the other day, Logan. I say the other day, it’s been a while, but they had just moved over to Salt Lake City and said, do you know anybody? How do I, man? Go to a ducks unlimited event?

Logan Nevins: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Matter of fact, volunteer and become a part, because that’s the kind of people you want to meet in a local community. Have you seen that to be the truth?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, absolutely. And I tell people that all the time. Like, for example, my father in law, he lived in Phoenix for pretty much all his life and moved to Madison, Wisconsin, a few years back when I was getting out of college. And he, he wanted to get more involved and stuff. And I said, hey, go find your local DU chapter. Here’s some information. Reach out to some people and, go to the events, and you’ll meet a lot of people to do that. Now, he’s a part of a dog training club and all these different types of things. And, he’s met a lot of these people by just going and attending an event and then becoming a volunteer and all those, those pieces. So it’s a great way to meet people. It’s a great way to meet, duck hunters, learn the new marshes and things around your area where you can go and get public access. There’s a lot of resources that you can get from volunteering your time and going and attending events on top of, doing a great thing to give back to the ducks, by raising some money and things like that. So it’s definitely a really cool piece that you can do to give back and meet a lot of people at the same time.

Ramsey Russell: The way that volunteer organization is structured is beyond just a local community Grenada, Mississippi, or Brandon, Mississippi. I mean, it goes way beyond it. And I know I’ve got some close friends that have moved way up into the national at the volunteer level. So they’ve gone from their local community to the state level to the regional level to the national level to where, anywhere they go now they’ve got friends via ducks unlimited volunteers. And to me, that’s just amazing. Where else can you volunteer your time and say kind of the same thing?

Logan Nevins: Right. Exactly. And, with us being a volunteer run organization, our board of directors is all volunteers and our president and everything, it’s a great organization to be a part of because, like you said, you could meet so many people from across the country. I’ve met people that I’m still in close contact with now that are in California and Texas and the east coast, north, everywhere. You get to, have that camaraderie. You get to talk about duck hunting. You get to, check in with people, see how they’re doing. It’s just a really great thing to be a part of, to network and no more people and all that. It’s really cool.

Ramsey Russell: Logan, talk a little bit about growing up in Michigan. Were you a duck hunter? When did you start duck hunting?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, so originally I started deer hunting with my father when I was a little kid, and I was pretty beat up with deer hunting for a long time. I just don’t get to do it as much. And deer hunted a lot until I was in high school. And then I started duck hunting, and I went with a couple different people. My dad used to go a little bit here and there, so we would start duck hunting and goose hunting in the fields and at lakes and different things with the boat. I kind of got the drive to do it. it’s a great camaraderie thing. You get to talk in the blind and have a good time and cut up and be a part of a group and stuff like that versus, deer hunting, just sitting in a blind trying to be quiet, waiting for the next big buck.

Ramsey Russell: That’s what everybody says, too. Yeah.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, it’s a totally different game, waterfowl hunting, compared to deer or any of the other pursuits. And so I really started to enjoy that. And then when I went to college, we had a lot of public access, marshes and things like that, and meeting some of my friends that at the DU chapter there in college that I’m still great friends with today and hunted with a couple last week, actually, when I was back for thanksgiving. And that’s where it really took off, was that high school into college years, and we did a lot of duck hunting up there, for sure.

Ramsey Russell: Do you remember your first duck?

Logan Nevins: I do. It was a Blue-winged Teal.

Ramsey Russell: Really? In Michigan?

Logan Nevins: Yep. It was a Blue-winged teal. It was a hen, but, that was my first duck. I think I was 16, if I recall correctly.

Ramsey Russell: That’s a good duck to start with. Michigan has got a surprising amount of waterfowl hunting opportunities. You’ve got Mallard. You’re far enough north to have black ducks. It’s an amazing Canada goose culture. I’ve got a buddy up there, Connor Golf. I describe him as kind of in the center to stay up by the thumb, say with the thumb. That’s how I keep myself on a map, and that’s right. And it’s just unbelievable. Canada goose hunting, I don’t mean just a few. I mean, all season long. There’s a lot of Canada geese, but you’ve got marshes, you’ve got field. You got the great lake. I went with a boy named Joey Hale, and we shot greater and lesser bluebills on the Great Lakes. It’s an amazing opportunity resource.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, it is. And you mentioned the first duck. My actual first waterfowl that I killed was a Canada goose. So it’s okay. Like you mentioned, there are a ton of geese there. There is a ton of hunting opportunity. There’s so much public land. That’s one thing Michigan does a good job of is having a lot of different, public land access places.

Ramsey Russell: And I’m probably going to get a lot of hate mail for saying this, Logan, but I think one of the best kept secrets in the world of turkey hunting is Michigan. You get stampeded by them, and the state limits only one. So it’s an abundance of them without an over harvest potential.

Logan Nevins: Absolutely.

Ramsey Russell: And some of the reports I’ve heard from, namely from my son, who’s been up there to hunt with Connor. It’s unbelievable turkey hunting.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. And, you mentioned, some of the different species you’ve killed up there in Michigan. That, to me, Michigan is one of those places that you can. You can check a lot of those different species off your list. If you’re looking to, have that experience of harvesting a lot of different species, you can. You can hunt the Great Lakes and shoot a lot of the divers and, the blue bills, the bufflehead.

Ramsey Russell: Heads, the canvas backs old.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, redheads, like, all that kind of stuff is just very prevalent up there to hunt in those great lakes. And then you can go back in the marshes and, yeah, you can shoot your black ducks and your mallards and you’re kind of, your standard birds, but there’s definitely a lot of opportunity for a lot of different species in Michigan, for sure.

Ramsey Russell: Was it much of a cultural shock for you to move from Michigan to Memphis?

Cultural Importance of Waterfowl Hunting.

It was definitely a change of pace, and it was definitely cool to see the first couple years kind of what waterfowl means to the culture down here compared to what I grew up with.

Logan Nevins: Oh, man. Let’s just start with the temperature perspective of the heat and humidity was kind of the first thing. Right, with the weather. But in terms of the hunting culture and stuff, it is. It’s hard to describe what it is unless you experience it moving from a place like Michigan. Who up there, it’s deer capital. Going north to go to Deer camp is, is a national holiday in the state of Michigan around November 15. So, when you move down here and it’s kind of that same way, but it’s for duck season opener, whether you hunt in Arkansas or Missouri or Mississippi or, stuff like that, it’s a holiday down here just as much as deer hunting was up there. And it wasn’t like that as much for waterfowl. Like, a lot of people do it, but deer is kind of king up there. Yeah, it was definitely a change of pace, and it was definitely cool to see the first couple years kind of what waterfowl means to the culture down here compared to what I grew up with.

Ramsey Russell: You, I’ve had other people point that out to me. It’s like you go to, I’m thinking of Salt Lake City, for example. It’s a tremendous amount of duck hunters and duck hunting opportunity in the freshwater marshes around the Great Lakes, a surprising amount. And a lot of duck hunters and a lot of good and hardcore duck hunters. But one of my close friends up there, Kevin Booth, he said, Ramsey, we got a lot of duck hunters. We got a lot of duck hunting, but we don’t have the duck hunting culture that exists down south. And I’m like, wow, I thought about it that way. And to hear somebody like yourself say it, there are a lot of hardcore savvy duck hunters and water fowlers in Michigan. But to hear you say that they don’t really have the culture, the lifestyle that just revolves around it like we do here in the deep south. And Memphis is the man, it’s the epicenter, physically and literally. Speaking of mid south duck hunting, for-

Logan Nevins: Yeah, and, the water fowling in Michigan, I think it’s kind of like that early fall, that’s kind of what you do to start the year. it starts up there early first September with goose season kind of rolls in. If you’re in the very northern part of the state, that’s the first duck season that opens and it kind of trickles down. And I think the guys that do it, they hunt it hard for, 30 to 45 days. And then once that 1 November rolls around, everybody shifts to deer. Like that’s the big thing up there. So it was definitely a different sight to see when basically, waterfowl is the only focus for so many people down here that they’ll deer hunt occasionally there on a weekend or two, when it’s duck season, that’s all they’re focused on, man.

Ramsey Russell: Well, let me ask you this. Have you found some good Memphis barbecue?

Logan Nevins: I have, yeah. I think, now it depends on what you’re looking for. Everybody’s kind of-

Ramsey Russell: There’s a lot of choices.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, that’s the thing. There’s so many different places, and when I first got down here, I had it quite frequently, and then you kind of, you get used to it. You have it more. When you have work meetings with people coming from out of town and stuff like that. It’s not as frequent as it used to be, but, you can’t go wrong with, rendezvous. Downtown or commissary central is always a good one. So there’s definitely plenty, and then there’s all the, small ones that you see around, too, that aren’t the well known ones that people can kind of find everywhere.

Ramsey Russell: They’re everywhere. It’s like, I can remember years ago hunting in a camp in Arkansas, and one of the neighboring camps and friends of mine, on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of every duck season, they had an open house, and a lot of us would go over and they would have a Memphis barbecue night, and I was thinking, okay, we’ll go eat some rendezvous ribs or some commissary ribs or central ribs or something. They would have racks upon rack. They went and scoured Memphis, all the nooks and crannies, and it was like a blind tasting. And, in fact, after the first year, rendezvous didn’t make it.

Logan Nevins: Oh, wow.

Ramsey Russell: No, it never did. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t real barbecue. And they would have a whole lot of these different racks, and it’d be a blind taste, and we kind of vote. We’d eat a rib or two off each rack and vote. And some of the ones I can’t even remember, they were just literally little hole in the wall trailers or little vans or something that cooked barbecue, and it was just unbelievable, the variety of Memphis barbecue that exist to this day.

Logan Nevins: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And it’s some of the best.

Logan Nevins: It’s funny. Barbecue is like, rooting for your college football team, right. Everybody’s kind of got their own. Their own loyalties, their own region, depending on where you’re at. It’s definitely one of those things that it can be great for conversation sometimes it can cause a little bit of heated discussion of who’s got better ribs or who’s got the better pulled pork or whatever, but there’s definitely no shortage of it around here, that’s for sure.

Ramsey Russell: No, it’s not. Have you duck hunted any this year?

Logan Nevins: I have, yeah. So last week, actually, I was up in Michigan for Thanksgiving and went down and hunted with a buddy down in southern Michigan for their last couple weeks of the season. There they end, I think, this Sunday. So did a little hunting there, and it wasn’t super plentiful. There was, there was some birds around, but nothing too crazy, I think a lot of the birds are still, still north, hoping this cold front will kind of push things through. But it was nice to get out at least and give it a good effort nonetheless.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. You were telling me before we recorded that you do hunt public land.

Logan Nevins: Yeah absolutely.

Ramsey Russell: Don’t dare say the name of where you hunt. Oh, no fighting words. Those are it. What, how does, how does duck hunting public land in the south compare to duck hunting public land up north?

Logan Nevins: Well, so public land hunting in the south, I have to admit to, I haven’t hunted public land in Arkansas or Mississippi yet, but I have followed it kind of heavily just to see kind of what it’s about and kind of it’s that culture shock. It is night and day different from what it is up north from what I’ve just seen. Heard stories of that kind of stuff. In Michigan, we had a lot of public access. We would, sleep in our trucks at the parking spots and stuff like that in college to be able to get out to the part of the river or wherever that we wanted to be in the morning. And it’s like that down here, but it’s multiplied times ten.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah.

Logan Nevins: From everything, there’s hundreds and hundreds of people trying to get into the different WMA’s and all those different types of things. And it’s definitely a different ballgame, let’s say, going and hunting public land down here than it is up north.

Ramsey Russell: Like, what kind of habitat were you hunting up in Michigan on public land? Was it, when you say marsh, was it cattail marshes? Was it deeper water? Were you hunting divers or what was typical setup and what was it like? What was the habitat like? What were the species y’all were targeting?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, so it was kind of a mix. So up in school, there’s some big bays off of the rivers, the cattail marshes, things like that, that we would hunt and we’d also set up kind of out in the middle of the bays with diver rigs and stuff, shooting buffleheads and old squaws and things like that. But a lot of it was hunting river edges, backlink marsh cattails, some different pothole ponds, things like that, as well as, private ag fields and those types of things is primarily what it is. Arkansas is famous for, rice fields and flooded timber. We don’t have rice fields in Michigan or really flooded timber, for that matter. If you have a flooded timber hole, it’s kind of a rarity. And usually, if the birds are using it, you’ve kind of got a gold mine for a little bit, but it’s a lot of, bringing a boat or walking into a little backwater marshland off of a river bank or something like that. For a lot of the public land up there’s some state game areas and stuff that have, management units in Michigan. There’s some real big popular ones on each side of the state and stuff like that. Shiawassee and different ones. But yeah, there’s definitely a lot of diversity. You can go and shoot your mallards and do that on public land, or you can go out and shoot a lot of divers, too. We did that a lot in school.

The Real Hunting Experience.

I hunt a lot of public land myself, and I’m a member of a camp, been a member of a camp for 23 years. Me and the late Mr. Ian got in at the same time, and it was kind of a forever deal for us.

Ramsey Russell: I hunt a lot of public land myself, and I’m a member of a camp, been a member of a camp for 23 years. Me and the late Mr. Ian got in at the same time, and it was kind of a forever deal for us. I had to reach real hard to get in that thing and drive the same truck for 15, 16 years to make it work. No shame in that, either. But I was out in California, of all places, and we hunted some private land, some different clubs with some different folks. But one of the boys had a draw. And you want to talk about the boat ramp being full. I mean, a competitive environment. He had a draw, and so we got to go the short line. But about a mile away, pulling up to that place, it looked like a factory. There was so much light now. It looked like a kid rock concert letting out. And I’m like, what is that? He goes, that’s the line. That’s the sweat line. I said, you’ve got to be kidding me. And there were people on the blacktop because there wasn’t room in the sweat line. I guarantee you, Logan, we drove, had to been a mile past people that had been there since the night before waiting. There were people had grills out since the night before, just to spend the night in it. And we got up because he got a draw. We got to the short line and went in, and it was a foot race. There were a lot of people out there hunting, and then if somebody would leave, boom, somebody from sweatline would go in. And there were people that didn’t get in till 03:00 or 04:00 in the afternoon with an hour and a half left to go of shooting time. Still, they waited it out because the hunting was good. We had gotten back, we shot not quite a limit. We shot some ducks, and I was getting back, pulling off my wader, and some guy come up and he recognized me and said, man, I’m surprised you hunt public land. I said, why? He said, I don’t know. I just assumed he did. I go, dude, I love public land, and if you want to get a real taste of local hunting, by God, go public land hunting. That’s as real as it gets. And I swear, I think it makes you a better duck hunter. I think that public land, duck hunters, you have to work so hard on the scouting and getting to the location and setting up just right, you’ve got to compete with a lot of other teams. I really think it makes you a better duck hunter than just going to the same pit blind. I’m not knocking anybody that does anything. I’m just saying I think that the competitive nature of public land hunting, especially in the deep south, makes you play an A game if you’re going to kill ducks and succeed. And I’m proud to say that both my sons, even though we’re in this camp, one of them is more into squirrels and deer, and he found him a little public land honey hole. My other son is mourning the ducks, and he goes to several different public lands not only in Arkansas and Mississippi, but shoot out in the midwest, too. And I think the world, I can say I’ve hunted public land from the Atlantic Ocean out to the Pacific, all points in between. And it can be a lot of work at times, but I think, the effort is worth the reward is worth the effort.

Logan Nevins: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Get in and do it.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. There’s something that comes with it from a reward standpoint of you put the time and effort in and you go and you do the two days worth of scouting to be able to figure out where the birds are at, to get in there for that one morning to be maybe the hunter of a lifetime, if you find that magical hole. Or whatever it might be. And it’s definitely different than having a lease or, private fields or whatever the case is. Those are great, too, but there’s definitely something a little different about public hunting. And it’s different everywhere you go. Every state, has different access and how many people are public land hunting and things like that. And it’s definitely cool to see that there’s a lot of people out there that regardless of how many are going to show up, they’re still going to go do it, because it’s kind of the culture. It’s what they grew up doing or whatever the case is. It’s a really unique thing to see and to experience.

Ramsey Russell: I hunted a spot in Mississippi public. One time, a buddy of mine took me and we walked into his hole. And it was just amazing to me because he was a grown man. He must have been 40 years old at the time. And he described hunting with his daddy in that same exact little spot. And it wasn’t even like the main hole. There’s a lot of other spots around us that people are really competing to go to. This was just a tiny, tiny, tiny little beaver pond and could not have been a quarter acre opening. But he described me remembering his daddy carrying him in when he was just a child, didn’t even hunt, and carrying him in, and his dad putting up on his shoulders. He could look up over the brush at the ducks swimming around in the water, and he’d been hunting it all those years. And that’s pretty, pretty heavy stuff right there, man.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, it’s cool tradition to see, and I’ve hunted with some people that have, a similar story to that, where they’ve got this one hole that they only hunt on a certain weekend every year because that’s, when they had the best haunt of their life with their, family or whatever the case is. It’s cool to see that stuff still lives on and gets passed down from generations to experience those things and have the ability to go out and do it every year or, even if you only get back every couple years because you moved out of state or something like that, it’s great to look back at those times with those friends or those family members and experience it over again. It’s definitely one of the things I love about waterfowl hunting, for sure.

Ramsey Russell: One of the hunts or type hunts we get asked the most about is Arkansas flooded timber. And, boy, I tell you what, there’s some amazing private land I’ll never set foot on. I’m not going to get lucky enough to get an invite. There’s some great ones I do get invited to, and I’m thankful every time. But I tell them, I say, truthfully, some of the very best flooded timber in the state of Arkansas is public. State or federal.

Logan Nevins: Absolutely.

Ramsey Russell: And it’s prone to nature. the river’s got to get up or whatever’s got to get just right. The weather’s got to be right when you get there. The ducks don’t just use the timber every single day of their lives. They want the right conditions, too. There’s days like real heavy, cloudy, raining. They might sit out in the fields all day instead of coming to the timber and hide up in the shadows. But the only way to really figure it out is just to invest and commit yourself to figuring it out. Just go up in there, play by the public land rules. Don’t crowd up in somebody. Don’t drive up through their decoys ten minutes before shooting time. Behave, but get up in there and figure it out. I mean, that’s just like we talked about earlier. It’s, the reward is worth it if you’re just willing to commit the time. And I know some folks that have hunted in it their whole lives and know it like the back of their hands, and they wouldn’t have it any other way, then go and do what?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, I find it really interesting, the groups of hunters, especially in Arkansas, that they will only hunt the timber. They won’t go hunt ice field. If they’re not going to go into a timber hole and run the boat and spend the time scouting, even if it’s just to shoot one mallard or no mallards, that’s what they love to do. I find that so interesting, that there’s the ability to hunt in so many different ways for waterfowl to where, those people have that drive to go only in that one way. And there’s guys that are fantastic at it, and they spend a lot of time doing it. And, they’ve put in there years and years to know all the holes based on the water levels. And all that kind of stuff. It’s fascinating to read the articles or watch videos and stuff like that of those people that do those types of hunts.

Ramsey Russell: If I had access to beautiful green, flooded timber, I would hunt it every day of my life, too. And it’s like I love the nuances of hunting waterfowl and all the varied habitat they exist worldwide. I mean, I’ve literally shot them at about 16,000ft elevation in the mountains. I’ve shot them 400 foot below sea level. I’ve shot them on oceans, I’ve shot them at night. I’ve shot them by light, depending on what the cultural traditions all around the world. But the thing about a flooded timber hunt, and I’m not talking cypress, because I truly love to hunt cypress ox boats. I love it. I may like it more than anything else, and certainly when I met at the duck or flying, I do. But the thing about hunting flooded green timber is, say we go out, mean you go out and hunt a flooded field or a marsh and we shoot half a mile or duck limit. Well, that we’re thankful for. That was good and fine. But if we go into flooded timber and don’t shoot with one or two ducks, those sons of guns came through the trees and landed in our laps. And that’s what makes flooded timber hunting so special. I find up that when the ducks are working and they finally get downwind and tip and they’re coming and they start kind of threading their way through the limbs up top and those tight holes, I find myself holding my breath. It’s so spellbinding to see that every time.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, for sure. It’s definitely a sight to see. If you’ve never seen it, get a chance. If you get a chance to go do it, definitely do it, because, it’s a once in a lifetime thing. If you’ve never experienced it or you may not get to frequently. If you can, go do it, definitely do it.

Ramsey Russell: Logan, we talked about all the ducks unlimited events around the country and how fun they can be to plug it into local and regional and national communities. And, I can’t think of a single camp house in the United States of America I’ve been to that didn’t walk in and recognize a print or decoys or artwork. But y’all’s biggest auction of the year is presently underway, and it’s called into the vault, the perfect gift at Ducks Unlimited’s largest auction of the year. And you’re in charge of that, aren’t you?

Original Artwork and Collectibles Galore.

And it’s like you mentioned, it’s our biggest auction of the year. It’s over 650 items this year. So it’s got everything you can think of, from firearms to trips to original artwork to collectibles.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. So I work on the team, that does that. We have got a group of people that manages this. And it’s like you mentioned, it’s our biggest auction of the year. It’s over 650 items this year. So it’s got everything you can think of, from firearms to trips to original artwork to collectibles. There’s a lot of really cool things that if you’re looking for the perfect gift for someone for Christmas or you need something to add to the wall at your duck club, or you, have a old DU commemorative gun of the year that you remember bidding on with your father, your grandfather at a DU event when you were a child, there’s a chance we might have one in this auction that you could purchase. And once this vault closes, these items, they’re not going to be around. We get different items every year, and we never know what’s going to be in it. It’s always kind of like Christmas morning when we, get a box that comes into the office here and we all kind of gather around, what’s it going to be? And we open it, and it’s an original from somewhere across the country that someone sent into us. Or it’s a unique collectible, something that you probably would never think has a DU logo on it, but somewhere there was a DU logo put on it back in the eighties. And we’ve got one of them to auction. So it’s a really unique piece to get involved with. And it runs until this Saturday, is when it closes at 09:00PM eastern. So you’ve still got some time to get in there if you’re looking for some cool items.

Ramsey Russell: David Schusler put this on my radar, and I go back and watch it now. I’ve already been through there. And one of the first items that caught my attention was an item I had described to him when I was a kid back in the seventies. My grandfather was an old land attorney there in Delta, and somebody come up light and gave him a shotgun and partial payment of some services he had done. And it was a Remington model 1100, ducks unlimited gun. And David told me that was the first DU gun. It was a Remington 1100. And that’s the first item that caught my eye when I went on the website the other night was a 1973 special DU edition Remington model 1100 shotgun. And let me tell you what, I want it.

Logan Nevins: Well, you still got some time to bid.

Ramsey Russell: I know my grandfather, he didn’t appreciate stuff like that. Boy, would I love to have that gun. But he ended up selling it some years down the road. And I can’t help but wonder myself what a small world it is. What if that was the same shotgun he got rid of back in those days?

Logan Nevins: Yeah. This auction is unique because a lot of people never get to see what those firearms were from, back in the early seventies when that program started. And, continues to this day with, what we have. And people see them each year rendition of what? The gun of the year is a shotgun of the year. Now, since 2012, we’ve done rifle and pistols of the year as well. Not just shotguns, but, looking back at some of the ones that we’ve got this year with, kind of the, the cream of the crop or the one that everybody really is looking for. This most sought after one is that 1987 50th anniversary browning a five with the, the engraving on it, it’s a beautiful gun. And that’s kind of the most sought after.

Ramsey Russell: And that’s the 50th anniversary.

Logan Nevins: Yep. So that was the 50^th and to me, it’s one of my favorites. That we get to, uh, to put in this auction. The engraving is so nice. The wood is beautiful. I’m also, kind of partial to browning myself, but it’s a great firearm, and we’ve got a lot of them in here. We’ve got everything from different rifles and shotguns and over unders and handguns and all kinds of great stuff.

Ramsey Russell: Talking about that 50th anniversary gun, I’m sitting there looking at it. Even the wood is upgraded. It’s got a really, uh, fancy wood and forearm stock. It’s beautiful.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. There’s also the browning sweet 16 that they did in 1988. So it’s kind of the same kind of look and wood grain and everything just the next year. But it was in that 16 gauge that was really popular as well. And there’s. There’s a lot of great guns. There’s a lot of, different Remingtons and Berettas and this year, we’ve got some of the Benellis and different things like that. So there’s something for everyone when it comes to firearms, if that’s what you’re looking for this year.

Ramsey Russell: Into the ball, I’m sitting here looking at that 1987 gun of the year, 50th anniversary, and, buddy, that’s a high demand item right there.

Logan Nevins: It is. We’ve sold a couple in the past years, and then this year, we’ve got another really good one in excellent condition. So it’s going to be exciting to see what do you end up going for?

Ramsey Russell: What do you think drives the demand for those guns? Is it just the pure collectibility? Are there people that try to collect all the ducks, unlimited guns or all the guns within a certain gauge? Or is it just something unique about it besides the year and the making, the model?

Logan Nevins: I think it’s kind of all the above. Sometimes people really get drawn to the year that they started waterfowl hunting, if they started in, 1988, then that’s the one they might look for just because of the year that’s when they started or when they went to their first du event in 1992, maybe that’s something that draws them to it. I think that’s a big player with it. And, there is definitely a little bit of collectability behind it. If you’ve bought one or two in the past, say, at your local DU dinner, you want to kind of keep adding to that collection. And there’s definitely people out there that have good sized collections of DU guns, and they’re purchasing some of these this year or in years past to kind of add to that collection that they can’t find out there. Because once these, DU edition guns are used, that given calendar year for fundraising, they’re not out at the stores. You can’t just go buy one off the shelf. So there’s definitely a draw there for kind of exclusivity of what it is and where you can get it for sure.

Ramsey Russell: One thing I’ve noticed in the vault this year, and boy, tell you what, talk about somebody did something right for Christmas if their wife gives them this for Christmas. But I imagine a lot of folks are buying it for themselves or want to buy it from is y’all got a 1748 boat with a freaking nice motor? And, I mean, we spent so much time talking about Arkansas flooded timber. Here you go, buddy. You ready to roll? 100 gauge aluminum hull flotation pods, two gun storage boxes, 40 hp surface drive. I mean, that son of a gun’s ready to roll, man.

Logan Nevins: It’s ready to rock. It’s got, lights on the inside. It’s got everything you need to drop it in and get ready to go duck hunting. So it’s a great piece. We’ve done some great video work of it. So if you go on there and check it out, you can see the whole layout of the boat, where all the storage is and all the different things for it. If you need a boat or your boat broke down after you’ve listened to this episode and you’re in a pinch for a boat for the season, this might be the one for you.

Ramsey Russell: Well, boats are funny like that. It’s like, I was up hunting on the Olympic peninsula with a buddy of mine. His wife give him a hard time about all the boats. He’s got big boats, little boats, self propelled outboards, long-tailed. I mean, he got them all. He got all the boats. And it’s like, how he asked a question? How many boats do you need to. Which I answered for him. All of them. You need all them boats, man. You never have too many boats if you’re a duck hunter, am I right?

Logan Nevins: That’s right. I’ve got a buddy that does the same thing. He’s got an offshore salmon boat for Lake Michigan. He’s got a duck boat that he also uses as a river boat for salmon. I mean, you can never have too many boats in my pitch. Just like shotguns. You need different guns or different shotguns. Regular guns for all kinds of different pursuits. You need different boats for everything you’re doing not every boat’s going to fit the same need.

Ramsey Russell: Do you think it’ll be a regular item on your list? I’m sitting here looking at it, man, and I’m thinking, boy, I might need a bit on this thing. I need a boat like I need a hole in the head. Cause I got plenty of them right now for what I do. And that’s a good looking boat that’s just ready to roll, man. Back off and go.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, it’s ready to go. I don’t know if it’s something we’ll have more of, that’s the unique thing about the vault. It’s when it opens, what’s in it, what’s available, and once it closes, there’s no guarantee that we’ll have something again. this boat was donated to us from a dealership, Hickland power sports. So, they generously donated the boat and the trailer and the motor and everything to put into the vault this year and auction it off. And there’s no guarantee that something like this would be available again. So if you’re in the need for it, now’s the time to hit that bid button.

Ramsey Russell: It seemed like a great price for all. That boat is, I mean, just ready to drop and go. I guarantee that’s a good deal for somebody. Let’s talk about some of the hunting, fishing, and vacation packages, because I expected to see some of the hunting trips on there, but there’s some pretty cool trips on there. Pretty cool experiences a little bit for everybody. NASCAR.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. Rusty Wallace, driving experience. you can go to Argentina and go dove hunting. You can go to Costa Rica, go fishing. We’ve got, dream vacations. We’ve got our trip for the, the Garth Brooks DU concert that’s going to take place in Vegas in 2025. So there’s kind of trips for everybody, whether you want to, take your spouse and some friends and do a vacation somewhere or go on a photo safari in South Africa. There’s a lot of different options, and they’re great trips that we offer through a lot of our events. And we’ve got some for the vault this year, as well.

Ramsey Russell: Well, back up just a second. Tell me about this Rusty Wallace racing experience, because it’s not just going and watching a race, is it?

Logan Nevins: Right. So with this one, too, you get to do ten laps of a driving experience. So you also, you get to kind of get in the car and drive it around the track. I believe there’s a couple different tracks you can pick from, and you can, be a NASCAR driver yourself, get behind the wheel and, go around the speedway.

Ramsey Russell: All 80 miles an hour of it. I wonder how many winters are really going to air out like Rusty Wallace.

Logan Nevins: That’s right. It’d be interesting to see how many people actually put the pedal down versus they get in there and think it’s a little bit more intimidating than it looks like on TV. So, yeah, it’s a really cool opportunity to get behind the wheel of a car and go around the track, for sure.

Ramsey Russell: I’d be something kind of fun to do, I think. I see a Plains game, safari, and I don’t play golf, but I guess if I did, going to Scottsdale, Arizona, one cold winter day would be a pretty good, pretty good experience, wouldn’t it?

Logan Nevins: Yeah. That’s a really cool package plan at TPC Scottsdale. It’s in 2024, so you’ve got some time to plan there, but includes, a couple days of accommodations and some rounds of golf with some buddies and things like that. So if you, uh, if you’re a golfer or you’re a NASCAR fan or a concert goer or a fisherman, hunter, whatever, there’s a trip for you within the vault, for sure.

Ramsey Russell: What are some of the special artwork you got? You were telling me a little bit about it, and artwork is always a big deal for Ducks Unlimited and for us ducks unlimited banquet goers. What are some of your real special pieces because I see an eye popping keepsake on here.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. So artwork is definitely something that DU is kind of known for. There’s always great artwork at events and things like that people, love to purchase for their homes and things. And one of the unique things we have this year is a Terry Redland original.

Ramsey Russell: Boy, sure is, man.

Logan Nevins: It’s a beautiful piece. It’s called Winter Wind Break. It’s an original from Terry that really, you can’t find originals from Terry Redland anymore. So back in, I believe it was the mid eighties, his son, approached him and basically said that, I think we ought to try to hold on to these originals instead of selling them like he was doing at the time. And that’s when the museum that they have kind of got its start was all these different original pieces. So to have a Terry Redland original in the auction is a kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity piece that we have that we’re very fortunate to get. Get the opportunity to sell. And it’s a beautiful piece, and I’m going to be a little jealous of whoever gets to take that one home, for sure.

Ramsey Russell: I really am, too. You see a lot of his prints. I’ve seen his prince around, and you’ve never seen even the prince themselves come up and be circulated. It’s like once somebody. Back in the day, there were Terry Redland prince being auctioned. It was always a hotly contested item because, he doesn’t just make a picture of a duck flying in. It’s a story within, on the canvas. You can sit there and just stare at it. Just imagine what those guys are doing or who’s that going on with that, who drove that old truck or, the conversation or what they were cooking for dinner inside that cabin at sundown. I’m saying, yeah, but to see an original is amazing. I’ve never seen one for sale anywhere.

The Exclusive Hand-Colored King Buck Edition.

There’s other people that say the same thing is the 1959 federal stamp, King Buck, the color edition by Maynard Reese.

Logan Nevins: No, I haven’t either. And a lot of us here haven’t. And the Terry Redland it’s kind of one of those timeless pieces, right? Wherever you go, no matter how long it’s been since that one was released, it seems to carry that same, feeling for people when they see it. They remember, something like that when they were hunting on the farm or they can picture themselves there. It’s whatever the case is with Terry Redlands, it’s always, very well remembered by everybody that they’re just great pieces. And he was a great artist. And a couple of other things we’ve got in here is we’ve got a couple Jim Killen originals, which are great pieces, but another one that’s really unique, this is the only one that I’ve seen. There’s other people that say the same thing is the 1959 federal stamp, King Buck, the color edition by Maynard Reese. So they only did 90 of these. He actually hand colored all 90 of them. This was the fourth edition print that they did. And this is the only one I’ve ever seen. And it’s a really cool piece. King Buck is the one and only duck stamp with the dog. With the mallard in its mouth. So it’s a very well recognizable duck stamp and art piece. And to have a colored edition, one of the 90 that was produced is a really unique piece.

Ramsey Russell: What have you got? Your aisle.

Logan Nevins: Oh, man, that’s a hard one. Honestly, that King Buck, if I had to say, for art perspective, that King Buck’s probably my favorite art piece. Firearm wise, that’s sweet 16 is something that really catches my eye because my father and I both have some original sweet 16, that are not DU additions, but just originals. But, even in the collectible category, we’ve got all kinds of really cool stuff that if you’re looking for some odds and ends things for the duck club or as a gift, there’s a lot of really, really cool stuff in here of different, plates and decoys. And we got just fixing.

Ramsey Russell: I was just fixed to mention decoys because to me, it seems to be a very active part of this in the vault. And y’all got some great stuff on. First off, a 1973 Canada goose by Madison Mitchell. That’s a doozy. And then the one that really caught my eye were the 1930s Johnson folding fiber board. And the reason it caught my eyes, because I’ve got about eight of them that were my grandfather’s. And that’s something. I can’t remember seeing anything like that outside of these are ducks. But it’s just what a heck of a keepsake to have and put around a game room. Or knowing me, I’d probably go out and hunt with them just for old time sake, I’m saying, I.

Logan Nevins: Would not be surprised that decoys is always the category that really interests me every year to see one. What the prices of each decoy go for, because decoys are such a unique piece that, you might look at it equally and go, man, that thing doesn’t. That thing has been beaten in the back of someone’s truck or in their shed or, banging around in the duck boat for the last 30 years, and it doesn’t look like anything, but it’s something really valuable, either because of the carver or because, to that person, maybe that was what they used to hunt, like you mentioned, they used to hunt over, old wooden carved decoys when they were kids. And it’s cool to see, kind of what the decoys do because. They’re great to put on the mantle at the duck club or at the cabin or wherever as a neat piece. But I’m sure there’s some guys out there that they buy a couple of these decoys and put them on the stringer every year.

Ramsey Russell: I wouldn’t be like that 1940s diver duck collection. Uh, I guarantee you somebody’s going to put those out?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, we’re surprised.

Ramsey Russell: But it’s decoys all over the board. If you want something decorative, you want something new. If you want something contemporary looking, if you want something, man, take. I must have missed this one in 2023. It’s a Alaska decoy, the year a king eider or decoy.

Logan Nevins: Mm hmm.

Ramsey Russell: And you just don’t, you don’t see those everywhere, right. And a Steller’s eider. Excuse me, a spectacular eider. You just don’t see that kind of stuff everywhere.

Logan Nevins: Yep. That’s one of the things that we say about this auction. The end of the vault is you never know what you’re going to see, and you may never see it again. So if it’s something that really catches your eye, this is the opportunity to get that piece and get it home and put it on your mantle or at your duck club or give it to your father, your grandfather, as a keepsake of the time that you spent in the field with them. Or something like that. There’s tons of different pieces here for-

Ramsey Russell: Here’s what you do. You, pick your favorite decoy and you give it to your wife because then she’s going to have to hang it on the mantle so you get to enjoy it, too.

Logan Nevins: That’s right. Yeah, that’s funny because she’ll appreciate it more.

Ramsey Russell: She appreciates a new shotgun or fishing pole. I guarantee you that.

Logan Nevins: Yeah, that’s right. If I brought another decoy home, though, I think my wife would probably make me sleep in the truck with the dog because we’ve got enough of those decoys around the house for decoration. I think she’s sick if you give it to her and just-

Ramsey Russell:. She’ll appreciate the thought.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. We’ll have to get another one and try that and see if it works.

Ramsey Russell: Well, I tell you what, I appreciate you coming on board and walking us through the vault this year. It’s this end of the vault ducks unlimited auction just keeps getting bigger and better and better, doesn’t it?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, absolutely. Each yea. This is our fourth year that we’ve done this. We started it back during COVID when our online auction stuff was really popular and we were able to find some really unique things. And it’s only continued. We get stuff sent in to us from all across the country, and there’s some stuff you’ll see in this auction that you’ll probably never see again. And if you do, I’d be surprised. So if you’re looking to find the next great present or, just something that really catches your eye, check out, the vault at ducks.org. And you’ve got until Saturday at 08:00 p.m. Central time to, to get your.

Ramsey Russell: Bids in Saturday, December 2nd. That’s coming up. So now’s the time to go and look. And here comes Santa Claus. I’m saying, send a link to your wife or heck, just do like a lot of us old guys and buy yourself a Christmas present. Put her name on it. She’ll appreciate not having to shout for you. I think a lot of us listening are hard to shout for when you-

Logan Nevins: Absolutely.

Ramsey Russell: I think duck hunters are hard to shop for.

Logan Nevins: Yeah. Because everything that we want or need, we just go ahead and get it because we know we need it for the hunting season or whatever.

Ramsey Russell: So I never underestimate the value of feeding your family. That’s the way I look at it.

Logan Nevins: Absolutely.

Ramsey Russell: Well, thank you very much, Logan. And, folks, thank y’all for listening this episode of Duck season somewhere. Go to ducks unlimited fundraising into the vault. Or better yet, what is the address? What I do to go to is I just Google into the vault. Ducks unlimited. Is there, is there a direct link, Logan?

Logan Nevins: Yeah, ducks.org into the vault will get you there and you’ll be able to get all your bids and review all the items. There’s over 650, so you’ve got some time to take a look at all of them and get your bids in before for it’s too late.

Ramsey Russell: And for those of y’all listening, you got about three days, 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 13 seconds to jump on that duck boat, jump on one of those collectible guns, and don’t not go look, what you want to do is you want to go look at the decoy. I’m telling you what, there’s some cool stuff on there, folks. Thank you all for listening to this episode of Mojo’s Duck season Somewhere podcast, we’ll see you next time.

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