EP 466. The NEW Nayarit Mexico Duck Hunt Combo

RAMSEY RUSSELL GetDucks.com Duck Hunting Podcast

April 22, 2024 | GET DUCKS SOMEWHERE
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While putting boots on the ground last season, the authenticity, hunting quality, and surprisingly affordable all-inclusive rates of the new Nayarit Mexico duck hunting combo seemed impressive. But what would client-hunters think? Accepting weeks worth of reservations, we were fixin’ to find out! Hunters from all walks of life and coast to coast, ranging from experienced travelers to first-timers, describe their off-the-beaten-path, south-of-the-border Nayarit Mexico duck and dove hunting adventure. Whether just wondering what hunting is like beyond your own backyard, or thinking about chasing ducks further south one day, you’ll enjoy these honest conversations.

Finding the Real Mexico

We came here to hunt and do some, lots of shooting, and that’s exactly what we did. And this was just kind of icing on the cake, not even to mention the food that we’ve had. I’m fat, happy and tired.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah, that’s how I would describe this. Mazatlán is amazing, it’s a resort town. We’ve got combo hunt for the north up Sonora. But, man, when I came down and scouted this hunt last year, it was old school, laid back, unpretentious, immersive, real Mexico, like it’s out of a Cormac McCarthy novel or something, Mexico. And I just fell in love with it. And so, I’ve learned to take my time before I blew them up, before I built it on the web page and scaled it out or whatever we’re going to do with it. I said, I’m going to bring a group or two down here. And the phones started ringing, instead of a group or two, I got 5 weeks of groups down here, and you’re the first. We show up, and remember what I told you about the lodge. I said, you know, it ain’t fancy about a one star, nothing at all, you pull the garage door back, it’s comfortable, it’s hunting good, the food’s good, but then we pull up here to this thing, and we ended up being the first people to stay in a brand new estancia. You’re a home builder. What do you think?

Matt Barciski: I was very impressed, man. I think that was one of the first – only really questions marks we had coming out here was, where you were going to be staying and what the conditions were going to be and the food. And I’ve been traveled around a little bit hunting, but never been on this type of excursion before. So, yeah, just driving up to the whole thing was just amazing, just didn’t know what to expect. And we would have been happy in all the other places, of course. And we didn’t come here for a lodge to stay in and by a beach. We came here to hunt and do some, lots of shooting, and that’s exactly what we did. And this was just kind of icing on the cake, not even to mention the food that we’ve had. I’m fat, happy and tired.

Ramsey Russell: Give me a rundown of your hunting experience. What was your favorite hunt?

Matt Barciski: I think maybe that first one, just cause it was, didn’t know what to expect you to kind of come into a new spot and –

Ramsey Russell: 120 ducks and hours and done. 1 hour and done. 08:00 we’re sitting on the beach going, what do we do now?

Matt Barciski: Go to the beach. Yeah. It was amazing, man. And the fast and furious. All good, all great ducks. I love teal hunting, I love the way they look and yeah, it was amazing, lots of shooting, man. It was very rapid.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. Is it a hunt you would come back on?

Matt Barciski: Oh, yeah. I don’t want anybody taking my dates.

Ramsey Russell: So you already want to come back, seriously?

Matt Barciski: Yes, sir. And I got people attacking me.

Ramsey Russell: Really? Those of you all listening, we’re going to run this hunt, it’s going to be minimum 4 people, you or your buddies, or we’ll put you together with a couple other guys. But it’s going to be 4 people at the lodge exclusively. And since it’s an exclusive team, if you’d like to run up to 6, maybe 8, but we’re wanting to cap it around 6, it’s going to be a very boutique and small group hunt, very personalized service. Talk a little bit about the staff.

Matt Barciski: Oh, man, very open people, man. I met Spanish people, Mexican people are very open and hospitality has been unbelievable. The food, like I said, is great. Even the little dogs running around, man. Starting to be some friends there.

Ramsey Russell: Kind of want to take one home, don’t you?

Matt Barciski: Yeah, I got some mom in me thinking I’m going to give that dog a little food. But it’s been a great experience, man. It’s very safe. I didn’t feel unsafe or anything the whole time. Yeah, the views on this lodge, when you’re looking around on the hill here and overlooking the mountains pretty well.

Ramsey Russell: We got the mountains and rain, we got the river down below us, whistling ducks trading up and down the river, this accommodation right here, I just don’t think you can beat the experience. We get up in the morning, leave out and go duck hunting, regular duck hunting time. And then what happens?

Matt Barciski: Then you shoot in a hurry and sitting around laughing and joking with everybody, taking pictures. And then just kind of -the first day was, I don’t know, I can’t even fathom everything that happened there with the little island that we went to and the food and the roosters and everything there was just perfect. And then to top it off, I didn’t know what to expect with the doves.

Ramsey Russell: Do you all dove hunt? I know you’re a big goose hunter in Colorado, but do you all dove hunt?

Matt Barciski: Not too much Colorado, man. It gets too cold for those doves early on and they get a storm, usually the first week of season, and pushes them morning doves out for us. So heck, if we shoot a limit 15 doves in a season, I’m pretty happy, but I think fastest I’ve ever shot a box of shells.

The Many Ducks of Mexico

Ramsey Russell: What about the second morning when we got into lots of whistling ducks, but we also shot about a dozen cinnamon teal.

Matt Barciski: Yeah. And I think those are, I don’t know, those cinnamon teal are just something special about those birds. The whistling ducks, man. They’re a bigger duck.

Ramsey Russell: And had you ever shot them before?

Matt Barciski: I’ve never shot those before. We had a couple opportunities last year in Mazatlán, but just not being able to identify, and there’s a lot of birds in the air. I just want to –

Ramsey Russell: Was here for having a good time.

Matt Barciski: Birds and stuff, and we didn’t can tell. So once we finally, the last day, I think we got Jim, I probably shot the whistling duck on our hunt last year, but to shoot that, to see those, and I wish I could have heard them a little bit off to a little more than I could, but it was a great experience, man.

Ramsey Russell: And yesterday morning, your dad, Wayne put on a shooting clinic down there on the end. After all these years, did it humble you a little bit? He was having a mop up after you. Seriously, I heard you say something to him and Joey, pop, you ain’t coming back. I’m hoping you’re just kidding.

Matt Barciski: Oh, yeah, for sure. I think it was basically like, he’ll want to come back, you know, but, yeah, it was good, man. I don’t get embarrassed a little bit like that for shooting, but I’m glad, if anybody’s going to embarrass me, I’m glad it’s him.

Ramsey Russell: Thank you very much, Matt.

Matt Barciski: Thank you. The other thing is, Char dog man missed her the last couple days.

Ramsey Russell: Well, she’s a high performance dog. She’s having a good time down here. She picked up a lot of birds first couple days, but then her foot started acting up, so she’s in injury reserve for about another week.

Matt Barciski: Yeah, it was definitely a missing a team player on that one.

Ramsey Russell: You all be good.

Matt Barciski: Take care.

The Best Waterfowl Hunting Lodge in Mexico

And we showed up here, and this is a brand new lodge like you cannot believe.

Ramsey Russell: Brent Boland, this ain’t your first rodeo, but it is your first time down at Nayarit. What attracted you to this brand spanking new hunting adventure that’s not even yet on getducks, but coming soon.

Brent Boland: Well, whenever you started discussing it with me about how old school Mexico is not commercialized and all that and pretty much untouched, I mean, just wide open spaces in between the mountains and the beach, and I’m like, I’m in it. You did surprise me when I showed up, because you said, we’re staying in an old hotel that needed a little bit of work and stuff. But I was okay with that. And we showed up here, and this is a brand new lodge like you cannot believe.

Ramsey Russell: Brand new.

Brent Boland: Brand new. On top of the hill or the river.

Ramsey Russell: We’re the first people spending a night in it. I really didn’t know, they did not know if they were going to have this lodge completed in time for us to be here. So I didn’t know till we showed up, they surprised me, too, and I was as happy as could be. It is as nice a place as I stay ever in Mexico. But can you get the vibe of what I like when I say low key? You know, it’s just low key and unpretentious and uncommercialized and just like, we were sitting here last night eating dinner, and the cowboys, the local cowboys are just driving their cows back to the pastures. And I’m sure they’re the dad of the 8 year old little boy we saw herding cows the other day, that was impressive. These kids, they grow up working, don’t they?

Brent Boland: I mean, that’s their job. You look out in the fields, they’re all working and all that – this old school feel is just fantastic. I mean, it’s not anything commercialized here. It’s old school. The food is just out of this world with the advantage that we have right here on being close to the ocean. My two favorite meals were that first lunch with the shrimp and shrimp Pate. And then the other night we had tuna.

Ramsey Russell: Let’s talk about that first lunch, because that was kind of a surprise. We shot out a lot of ducks in an hour, we got our limit, very generous limit in 1 hour. I had nothing to do till whatever 01:00 or 02:00 to go dove hunting. And we hung out on the beach for about an hour, drank a little bit and watched the beach. And they said, all right, let’s go. So we drove a little bit and got into a water taxi.

Brent Boland: That was a little different. I was like, where are we going? We got in a boat, went over to another island, and we were the only ones in there.

Ramsey Russell: I’d say the island was maybe an acre.

Brent Boland: Yes. But it was nice.

Ramsey Russell: It was covered with this massive old school, family owned, open air restaurant that looks like they ever more have a party every night.

Brent Boland: I think they do.

Ramsey Russell: And with all the streamers and stuff. There was a at least a quarter acre of fighting roosters back off to the side. I would like to go back there on a Saturday night and see what’s what.

Brent Boland: I don’t know that there were a lot of roosters in there, but it was nice. I mean, they had a swimming operation, swimming pools and things for the kids and stuff. You could tell it was just old school, nothing commercialized, probably family owned and all that. But the food was just traditional and very good.

Ramsey Russell: Well, me not knowing nothing, I just sat down and started having a drink or whatever. And of course, they bought a whole metal pail full of coronas, because we were going to be there a while, iced down coronas. And they brought out shrimp pate, shrimp broth, it was pretty dang good. You put the little veggies and stuff in it, stir it up and then they brought out bowl shrimp, which were some of the best jumbo bowl shrimp I’ve ever had. And it wasn’t a Zataran’s flavour, it was just something, garlic salt and whatever they did it with. And then we heard that boat come up. We kind of walked back to the back of the building, and there’s this pango coming up with a guy who showed us the kind of the line marks on his hands where, with monofilament, he’d been hand catching snook.

Brent Boland: Yes.

Ramsey Russell: And I guess because it’s a locally available wood, they don’t have mesquite nowhere around them, they had cut and seasoned mangrove wood, put it in that pit, got it going, and then cleaned those fish and butterflied them and laid them out, covered them with tin, and smoked snook. And I was really wondering if I was going to like that. And it was amazing. It was unbelievably good. And I’m sitting there thinking, holy cow, this is real Mexico. This is real Mexico. And it wasn’t even nap time yet. It wasn’t even siesta time yet. I’m thinking, man, it’s like I told Pocho, I said, it can only go downhill from here, son.

Brent Boland: It did not go downhill, but it got better and better.

Ramsey Russell: The second morning is, it’s all dry blinds but on the second day, it was, whatever, ankle deep or so water. And they brought out the rubber boots. We walked out to that blind and I cannot hear whistling ducks with my naked ear, but I had already put in my Tetras, and the sky was alive. It was with whistling ducks.

Brent Boland: It was.

Ramsey Russell: And that ended up being my favorite hunt of the day.

Brent Boland: I could tell.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. I really enjoyed that. You know, of course, we shot, we were looking up kind of high, and those birds were working in high, coming back from towards the mountains and working in. And we shot plenty of whistling ducks, but you had to keep your eyes kind of low, too, because out of nowhere would come the cinnamon teal or blue wings or green wings low on the deck into the decoys.

Brent Boland: They did. Some of the best shooting the team I saw was that day, because they were spot on and they were moving right through there. But we did well. I mean, it was very exciting and it was kind of like a dream. You could have made that up.

Ramsey Russell: At that first lunch we were at, we had only had one duck hunt, we’d eaten lunch, and you and Matt and pop said, we’re coming back. Do you still feel that way after 3 days?

Brent Boland: I already told you to put us down.

Ramsey Russell: Put you down. You all are coming back.

Brent Boland: And I got a buddy coming in with me the next time.

Ramsey Russell: Did you have a favorite hunt? What was your favorite hunt?

Brent Boland: My 3rd duck hunt.

Ramsey Russell: 3rd duck hunt, yesterday?

Brent Boland: Yes. Because we all knew each other. We all knew how everybody was going to act when the birds came in. Wayne put on a shooting clinic on the right side. And then after we limited out, which we were trying to drag it out and didn’t take too much longer than the first hunt, but then they started picking up all the birds and cleaning everything up and everything. And then the real shows started when all those ducks came in there wanting that fresh water, and they didn’t care we were there.

Ramsey Russell: Now, that’s what so amazes me is here versus anywhere I hunt in the United States. It’s not bait, it’s water, it’s fresh water. These birds are making their living in brackish saltwater, they get thirsty. And did you notice how it was foggy and ones and twos, a pretty steady trail was coming in from left to right. Taking turns, whatever we’re shooting. But then the fog started to thin, and it picked up. And right about the time the hunt, we were limited, the fog had vanished, and they started just pouring in, hundreds of ducks coming in while we’re sitting there picking up, getting loaded, drinking a diet Coke, taking pictures, and they never heard a gunshot go off. And they acted like park ducks. They would land just feet away from the truck, start drinking.

A Shoveler’s Paradise

I can count on one finger the number of times I’ve seen shovelers walking around a pasture, bugging and sunning and hanging out. I mean, way off the bank, I’ve never seen that. But they were glad to be there.

Brent Boland: One of the neatest things that I remember on that is whenever we backed up and got the blind pulled down and cleaned up, if you look down there, all those ducks and flocks were hitting that fresh water, and they were over there washing the salt off of their feathers and stuff, and then they’d walk up on the ground because others were jumping right in there. And I’m kind of like, why are all these ducks doing that? But it was pretty interesting.

Ramsey Russell: No, I mean, because how many times really, I can count on one finger the number of times I’ve seen shovelers walking around a pasture, bugging and sunning and hanging out. I mean, way off the bank, I’ve never seen that. But they were glad to be there. Is there anything non-hunting related you’ll take away from this?

Brent Boland: The old school here, there’s no pressure. I love this lodge. I think it’s called on the hill, by the river. And just fantastic. And they’re still working on it, but you can tell they put a lot of effort into it. People are not bothering you. You’re out in the country. It is just very low key, very relaxing. I can’t say anything better about it.

Ramsey Russell: It’s somebody that’s in the business. Because, Brent, you own acute angling, one of the top Brazil, Amazon basin peacock bass fishing excursions. And you’ve got a lot of staff. I mean, you’ve got different camps going on, you’ve got a lot of staff, it’s a hospitality business, same as this. What did you appreciate most about the organization and the people themselves that are running this?

Brent Boland: Everybody that I’ve had any interaction with were professional, spot on. They pretty much knew what I wanted before I even asked. And that just shows that they’ve been around, they know how to take care of people, and just everything’s laid out and it’s right on spot.

Ramsey Russell: Last question. You’re from Texas. How did their margarita stack up?

Brent Boland: A+, man. It’s the real deal. It doesn’t have all that sugar, doesn’t have all that other alcohol in it and everything. It’s the real deal. And, boy, they are good and smooth.

Ramsey Russell: Good tequila, pure lime juice, a little sweetener and ice, that’s exactly what a margarita’s supposed to be. Nothing else.

Brent Boland: And they got those little limes that I like.

Ramsey Russell: Those little bitty, juicy limes.

Brent Boland: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Enjoyed it, Brent. It was always good to see you. And it sound like I’m going to see you down here next year.

Brent Boland: No problem. Thank you.

Ramsey Russell: Mr. John Sandbeck, the filthy spoon himself, down here in Nayarit, Mexico. What’d you think, John?

John Sandbeck: Man had a great time down here, Ramsey.

A New Nayarit Hunt

And for me, the first day was great because it was a spoony extravaganza.

Ramsey Russell: You say that, but why? Why did you have a great time? Because you’ve been to Mazatlán twice. We’re 2 hours south of Mazatlán, looking at the same beach line, just a lot further south. What was it about this hunt, not this new Nayarit hunt that attracted you here instead of back to Mazatlán?

John Sandbeck: Well, Mazatlán was great. I loved every minute of it. But you’re staying in a big city, touristy a little bit, which is good. There’s plenty of good to come from that. But when you offered this hunt and I seen, it was like old Mexico.

Ramsey Russell: Boy, you ain’t lying.

John Sandbeck: I mean, it looks like you would think Mexico in the movies does, and everybody’s nice as can be. We stay on the beach in Mazatlán, too. But we’re on the beach here, and you’re down there. There ain’t 100 people down there. A couple people down there selling oysters and a few dogs running around.

Ramsey Russell: Hey, you know this little community, we got two camp out, this little community here we’re staying in is like we’re staying in a beach house. But this ain’t some fancy billionaire beach house, man. This is where regular country folks come and stay. If you look around this little cobblestone town here, it’s where regular Mexicans come. It reminds me of what Mazatlán might have been 100 years ago.

John Sandbeck: That’s a good way to summarize it, I would say, yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Especially when you’re going down these little communities got these cobblestone streets.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, they’ve been there for who knows how long.

Ramsey Russell: And I love when we go through them little towns, just looking, I look, just watch the houses go by, see how simply they live. There’s one community we go through, the man’s got about a dozen fighting roosters stacked up on the front porch of his house right there on the road.

John Sandbeck: I saw that.

Ramsey Russell: But anyway, talking about the oysters, I’ve tried to make an appointment. There’s these little motorcycle, little bitty buggy vendors that come by with fresh oysters. And we were out there one afternoon we got here and they come by, and when I found out it’s is practically all you can eat oysters for $20 or $30 for all of us. I’m like, I’m in.

John Sandbeck: Oh, yeah, so was I.

Ramsey Russell: And they were better oysters. I had some oysters one time that were very briny. And I would put them on par with those oysters. And I don’t understand it, but they were good.

John Sandbeck: They were good. Yeah. And like I said, you didn’t need to add salt to them, but they had it if you wanted it. And then they had a little hot sauce there and lime. And then we just sat there and gorged ourselves till we had our fill and $20. And you just know you ain’t going to get that in the States.

Ramsey Russell: Talk a little bit about the hunt. What’s the hunt like down here?

John Sandbeck: Well, the hunting was every bit as good as Mazatlán, that’s for sure. Similar type situations. They do a little bit different here with a blind. I think they really work hard to give you a good blind and good cover. We had plenty of room to swing in there. And for me, the first day was great because it was a spoony extravaganza.

Ramsey Russell: But the people ask about those spoonies coming down here to Mexico. And in western Mexico especially, but all the way. Yeah, in western Mexico especially, the shovelers almost like the national duck.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: But the thing about it is, is that first day, we absolutely spoon a palooza – and as we were picking, I think we shot a few blue wings and whatever. But as we were leaving, the blue wings started piling into that duck hole. Gazillions of them. It’s just the shovelers had moved first.

John Sandbeck: They moved first. And it was our first day, this group, us, Brandon and Wade and Preston, our first day, we’re ready to pull the trigger.

Ramsey Russell: Oh, that’s right.

John Sandbeck: And if we would have been a little more patient, we would have, if we wanted to wait out wings, we could have waited out blue wings. But coming from the states and it’s pretty bad year for most of us in the states this year, we’re ready to pull the trigger.

Ramsey Russell: That’s right.

John Sandbeck: It’s whether it’s a shoveler or what, we’re pulling the trigger. So, if we would have maybe got that hunt the 2nd, 3rd day and we felt like being patient. When I say patient, wait until 08:30, 09:00, not waiting all day, we could have hand picked a lot of blue wings, but we were ready to pull the trigger and we did.

Ramsey Russell: And then the second day we show up and like right now, we’re sitting on my veranda up in my room and it’s foggy. I can’t even see the surf. I can’t even see the surf out there about a hundred yards. And it’s that way every morning.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

A Steady Stream of Ducks

And about an hour into it, they pulled us, took it to another spot, and all hell broke loose.

Ramsey Russell: And we really didn’t see a lot of ducks until later. It’s like the mist burns off and then the birds start coming in. Yesterday was a prime example of how we really didn’t see a lot of birds until what, 30, 45 minutes an hour into it. Remember, they were just ones and twos yesterday. And then the sun started to clear, the fog clears and hear them son of a guns come wham, wham. It wasn’t big flocks, but it was like a steady stream of them, like an ant trail.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, that’s almost. That’s a good way to describe it because –

Ramsey Russell: Yeah, it was coming in to see us. But the second day we went to that spot and for whatever reason, they decided to not wait on the ducks. And about an hour into it, they pulled us, took it to another spot, and all hell broke loose.

John Sandbeck: Yeah. I mean, from the time we got there. Yeah, I think we got some videos of them flying when we got there.

Ramsey Russell: Black bellied whistling ducks.

John Sandbeck: Whistling ducks. And I never shot any of those before. And then after shooting them, spoonies and fast moving teal, those are just like meatballs hanging in the sky there.

Ramsey Russell: When they get low, it’s like shooting a bunch of flat screen TVs, lesser hearts, they just kind of hang in there. And then yesterday, I thought was a really good way to end. I would describe that little stock tank they took us to as about the size of a regular middle class family backyard swimming pool.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And there were lot of, just gazillions of acres of marsh just to our left, quarter mile away, and they were just trickling, and bam.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, they know that pond, they go there all the time, so little pressure down here, they only hunt everything about once a week or so, they say.

Ramsey Russell: Well, about the time I looked to my left and I’d see them, they were already locked up.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Coming right in. And that was a good way to end it.

John Sandbeck: That was.

Ramsey Russell: What do you think about the afternoon dove hunt, John?

John Sandbeck: The dove hunt? Yeah, I thought it was great.

Ramsey Russell: I mean, you dove hunt back home?

John Sandbeck: Oh, yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Okay.

John Sandbeck: Oh, yeah. I always say that. Dove seasons like the Daytona 500 for hunting. First time, you get your shotgun out, weather still good group activity. You can have 20 out there in the field if it’s good, it’s good for everybody. So me and my hunting buddies back home, it’s a tradition with us. We get out, we got a public land spot we got to go fight for every year, and it’s kind of fun, and we just spread out and shoot it. So we love dove hunting. It don’t last long, only a 15 day season in California, but we love it. So that was part of why I want to come down here, was do the combo.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah.

John Sandbeck: And no, my first day dove hunt, you were pretty close to me, and I think I was half box through before I hit one.

Ramsey Russell: Oh, man, come on. Doves will absolutely make an ass out of you.

John Sandbeck: About anybody.

Ramsey Russell: Like, a duck will barrel roll a little bit, do that herky jerky stuff sometimes, but, man, those doves, they’re on such a steady arc, and the minute you go to shoulder your gun, they start, they change things up.

John Sandbeck: They’re all over the place. So, yeah, it took a little while for me to get my angles. I ended up doing all right. I think I went through about 5 boxes, shells, but I had a heck of a time, and I was trying to keep him out of the river because my poor guy, getting me the birds, I mean, he was like an NFL wide receiver. Some of them going down, he’s diving before it gets in the riverbank, getting me my birds. And that’s another thing down here, these guys work their butt off for you.

Ramsey Russell: They really do. And there’s not a single person on staff I don’t like.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, me neither.

Ramsey Russell: I think they’re all just really good people.

John Sandbeck: That’s how it feels to me.

Ramsey Russell: Working hard and doing right. It’s just a real low key. I’ve described this hunt to a lot of people are hitting us up on social media asking about this hunt I’m on because it’s not on getducks webpage. Of course, it might be by the time this podcast airs, but it’s very low key, very yesteryear Mexico, off the beaten path. Nothing fancy. If your wife hunts or your girlfriend hunts, heck yes, you’ll love it if she doesn’t there ain’t nothing to do.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, there ain’t nothing to do here if you’re here to pretty much hunt. I mean, I wandered around town a little bit just because that’s kind of guy, I am. I’ll wander around anywhere. But, yeah, there’s not a whole lot to do.

Ramsey Russell: What was some of your favorite meals, John?

John Sandbeck: I had to be them poppers that Brandon made.

Ramsey Russell: Brandon knocked it out of park with that, didn’t he?

John Sandbeck: Yeah. I really thought so because none of us ever had those black belly before, and that guy knows what he’s doing. And the staffs, that’s probably going to be on the menu down here, I would think, because they wrote down.

Ramsey Russell: They wrote down a recipe.

John Sandbeck: Yeah. And I really like them pork.

Ramsey Russell: I think Hilberto’s dove poppers are amazing.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, those too.

Ramsey Russell: Speaking of which, every time that truck pulls in the driveway, you look to your right, there’s a patio, there’s already frosty margaritas waiting on you. Pork skins and doritos and quesadillas and ceviche. We had ceviche one day for lunch, and I’m a ceviche fan. That shrimp ceviche, and I know it was fresh caught somewhere around here. Because it’s a fishing community. Every little store and every little beach house, everything you go by is advertising Marisco’s shrimp for sale. So I know it was fresh caught and everything else, I enjoyed that.

John Sandbeck: I did, too. I mean, the service, because I’m just a working guy, so the amount of the level, this isn’t an overly fancy spot, but the level of service you get from these guys, anything you need, I mean, they’re on it. I mean, everyone knows I’m a beer drinker now, and I ain’t kidding, I’m putting another one down, and they’re bringing me another one. I mean, quesadillas. I mean, they would keep making them till we quit eating them.

Ramsey Russell: Look, part of the Mexico program is cold beer.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Cold Pacificos. And every time they load up your little ice chest, they put a couple of beers in there. When you get back, there’s plenty of little cold beers. And you told me, you asked me on the way down here, they got plenty of beer.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And I laughed. And he goes, what? I was down here. And I said, big John is asking, you got plenty of cold beer? He literally got on his phone and said, make sure we got plenty of beer for this guy. Did you run out of beer?

John Sandbeck: I did not run out of beer.

Ramsey Russell: Was it ever hot?

John Sandbeck: Nope. Never.

Ramsey Russell: Which did you like best, the heavy Pacificos or the Suave? You look kind of like a suave guy.

John Sandbeck: I’m pretty suave. But I got to say, the regular yellow can Pacifico is the ones I like. Suaves are fine, but if I had a choice, I’d take the regular Pacificos.

Ramsey Russell: Well, Uncle Beer 30 as you got to be known down here. I read this scripture one time, one of my favorite stories in the Bible was about how Jesus made all them loaves of bread.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: How did you never run out of ammo? Seriously, tell me your secret.

John Sandbeck: I’ve been hearing this this whole trip. Yeah. I’ve been accused, I’m over here, this might have been just picking my shots out, and yeah, somebody started a rumor that, I was taking shells from poor old Wayne next to me.

Ramsey Russell: Well, I noticed every time you got in the blind, everybody moved their ammo somewhere else.

John Sandbeck: Yeah. I ended up never running out. And if I did, I was the last one.

Ramsey Russell: I just remember the first morning you saying, well, I’m almost out of ammo. I’ve been through 4 boxes, and I had only shot one, so I shot another box. And you were hanging in there with me, shot for shot and I’m like, whose ammo is he shooting? And then we get out, and they counted box. I’m like, no, I did not shoot 4 boxes, you laughing like a guilty man.

John Sandbeck: Oh, not me. Then the next day, everybody’s suspicious of me, and I’m running out, and I’m down there almost at the end, because I’m out there doing the Lord’s work, helping out with cripples and stuff, because I’m in the end. And luckily, old Brandon, out of the kindness of his heart, gave me a pocket full of shell.

Ramsey Russell: Oh, gave you a pocket. Okay. That’s what it is.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, he gave them to me that time, so it worked out well.

Ramsey Russell: Man, I listened to some of your episodes of the Filthy Spoon. Could you do a special episode down here? Because there’s a lot of shovelers down here.

John Sandbeck: Oh, yeah.

Ramsey Russell: There’s something about these little habitats we’ve been hunting, there’s gazillions of shelters down here. Not that I mind shooting them.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, some people get their nose up in the air about it, not me.

Ramsey Russell: But I used to know an old guy that would – in his own duck camp, would just criticize everybody shooting shovelers, but he come off on trips like, isn’t he never, never faltered. Who doesn’t like shooting shovels, man? A duck’s a duck coming in. Come on.

John Sandbeck: I mean, they just do it perfect. I mean, we had them coming straight in, they almost whacked in the nose of their big old bill.

Ramsey Russell: A lot of people want cinnamon teal, and Mexico is the place to come for cinnamon teal, and they’re in the same genus as shovelers, and their habitats overlap. You know what I’m saying? But they’re not an extremely abundant bird. You don’t see as many cinnamons as green wings, blue wings, shovelers, none of the above. Everybody that wanted a cinnamon, got a cinnamon teal down here, they’re going home with cinnamon teal.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, yesterday we got, I think, what, 4 or 5.

Ramsey Russell: 4 or 5. One morning, last date set, we killed 11 one morning.

John Sandbeck: That’s pretty good.

Ramsey Russell: That’s pretty dang good. Everybody that wants one gets their hands on them. But you’re not going to just see them every hunt, every play, every time, everything, you’re just not going to see them like that, these shovelers, definitely going to get a be like that.

John Sandbeck: But I’ve done 11 hunts in Mexico now, and I think that 5 was the most cinnamons on one hunt, I’ve seen.

Ramsey Russell: Really?

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: I’ll be dang. Any other parting shots? I hadn’t seen that orchard cart come back or just only 7 in the morning?

John Sandbeck: I know. I would like to see him before we get out of here.

Ramsey Russell: Yesterday it was a little dicey now because for the first time, I’ve been out to western Mexico for a long time, and it’s a little warm when we get back and of course, some of them no see and stuff. And I said, man, I’m going to go out there and get in that Pacific Ocean. I was expecting it to be ice cold. It was extremely comfortable.

John Sandbeck: Oh, yeah. I got in too.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. And I went out, and I was kind of standing on the beach drying off. And, of course, yesterday was Sunday and all the folks going up and down the beach and locals and therefore the vendors and the one armed guy come by. And I’d heard about the one armed guy in his oysters wanting to sell some oysters and I had not seen Lucho, the guy with the cowboy hat, the little straw hat that we had cut a deal the first day. I told him, hey, I’m going to be here a week, come by every day, and I’ll buy oysters. And I had not seen him. So we ordered from the one arm guy, and right about time, before I could even get back over here to get my billfold, here comes Lucho with his cart. So we doubled up on oysters. About halfway through, you looked at me, said, I can’t eat no more. I said, you got to, John, you got to.

John Sandbeck: Then the one armed guys showed up with his oysters, and we were committed to them because he went and got them for us. Part of the reason I wanted to see how he was going to shuck oysters with that one arm. But we didn’t get to see how him.

Ramsey Russell: No he shucked him and then brought him down.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Lucho, on the other hand, after seeing us hit him the first time, he brought help.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And it was like a conveyor belt of oysters. They were piling up. I couldn’t take them and slurp them quicker than, as quick as they could chuck them and hand them to.

John Sandbeck: He had his little boy helping him with them there, and they’re doubling them up, and you and I are just shoving them in our mouths fast as we could. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I didn’t even eat lunch after that.

Ramsey Russell: Oh, no, that was my lunch and most of my supper. But only because I know the secret of eating shellfish, whether it’s crawfish or oysters, you never eat sitting down, you stand up because you can hold more that way.

John Sandbeck: That’s what you told me. And you were right. And we stood out there and ate them for, I don’t know, 25, 30 minutes.

Ramsey Russell: John, this new Nayarit hunt one you’d come back on?

John Sandbeck: Oh, yes, most definitely.

Ramsey Russell: Mazatlán or here?

John Sandbeck: If I had to pick, I’d probably say here.

Ramsey Russell: For a guy trip, it’s the one, isn’t it? Because you got a full day activity laid back, and I love the midday siesta.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, me too.

Ramsey Russell: I’ve left my veranda door open, my window’s open, the ceiling fan going, and I sleep like a baby hearing them wave and just that ocean breeze blowing in. I’m just so sedate, so relaxed all day long.

John Sandbeck: And I haven’t seen another American besides our group, have you?

Ramsey Russell: No, I don’t think there is one.

John Sandbeck: And I go to a foreign country to see people that live there, not people that look like me.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah.

John Sandbeck: And I mean, not the Mazatlán’s bad, you’re going to deal with a lot of tourists, which is fun in its own right. But I want to see Mexico.

Ramsey Russell: Mexico is definitely a resort town, a tourist town, it is absolutely foolproof for bringing a non-hunting spouse or groups of non-hunting spouses and having a good time. And the planes are loaded with white gringos coming down and loaded with lobster red gringos going back. And this is like climbing into a little country town in Mexico and just kind of immerse yourself. And that’s really what appeals to me last year and this year about this hunt.

John Sandbeck: Yeah, I love going through these little towns, seeing all the people, the dogs, people on bicycles a little. I mean, it looks like National Geographic. So I know I’ll definitely be back. Nothing wrong with Mazatlán, but I’ll definitely back this one.

Ramsey Russell: John, I appreciate it. I look forward to hunting with you again over here.

John Sandbeck: All right, thank you, Ramsey.

Ramsey Russell: Brandon Roy down here in Nayarit. Tell me about these amazing black bellied whistling duck poppers you made the other night. How did you make those poppers? I asked big John uncle beer 30 what his favorite meal was, and he said it was them Poppers. I got to admit, they were dang good poppers, son.

Brandon Roy: Man, they were, they did come out good. First time ever having any of those whistlers. Yeah, just marinated them in some –

Ramsey Russell: What did you marinate them in?

A Delicious Duck Popper Recipe with a Mexican Twist

But then also some fresh lime juice, a splash of tequila, a little bit of oregano, a little bit of black pepper, let them marinate for about an hour. And then we wrapped them.

Brandon Roy: Well, in some soy, they call it Maggi down here. Some Worcestershire sauce, obviously a lot of sodium in those three items, but then also some fresh lime juice, a splash of tequila, a little bit of oregano, a little bit of black pepper, let them marinate for about an hour. And then we wrapped them. They were probably about, the pieces of duck, probably about 2oz a piece or so. And then just wrap them like a normal popper, and then I just kind of slow roasted them over the charcoals and eventually, kind of, as they started cooking more, moved to the hotter side of the grill to kind of crisp them up at the end.

Ramsey Russell: But you put some other stuff on there, too. What was that?

Brandon Roy: Yeah. So the finishing glaze was like this mixed berry.

Ramsey Russell: That’s right.

Brandon Roy: Because a lot of times, a lot of people love to eat, like, fruit with duck, and it just goes really well. I know you said you like figs, right?

Ramsey Russell: A little bit of fruity, a little bit of sweet, little bit of heat, that was the perfect combination of all of it.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. So we had those jalapeno, we had the duck, and then we had just really just mixed berry, had some raspberry.

Ramsey Russell: They had a berry chipotle sauce anytime they serve poppers down here. It’d be good on anything. And I think you told me yesterday, I can take some chipotle peppers canned.

Brandon Roy: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Put it in a blender, put some thawed frozen berry, mix in a blender, little bit of honey, blend it up. Boom, it’s done.

Brandon Roy: It’s pretty much done. What they do is they actually take the little, I mean, the frozen smoothie bags that you get at the Sam’s or whatever, like, they have them in individual servings.

Ramsey Russell: And that’s how they do it.

Brandon Roy: And you take, like, one package or two package, you put it in a skillet, you cook it down a little bit, you reduce it, and then you add your blended chipotle, and you add just a little bit of sugar, and that’s it.

Ramsey Russell: And as it was finishing low and slow over live coal, you just brushed that on there.

Brandon Roy: I was brushing them on there just to get that little last bit of caramelization. So, like, as soon as you bite it, you get everything. And then at the very end, when I took them off, here’s how I finished them. Fresh lime juice, you know how good the limes are down here. Fresh lime juice, and some of that Tajin, that Tajin seasoning that you can get everywhere, pretty much.

Ramsey Russell: Little lime, little pepper, it’s kind of what they put on some of these margarita glasses sometimes.

Brandon Roy: I mean, those two things as finishers just knocked them out of this park.

Ramsey Russell: What do you think of the black belly whistling duck? I know you’ve cooked duck before, but that was the first time you’ve probably ever eaten that.

Brandon Roy: Absolutely. It was.

Ramsey Russell: It tasted more like beef, didn’t it?

Brandon Roy: Totally tasted like. It tasted like beef filet mignon.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah.

Brandon Roy: It didn’t taste gamey one iota.

Ramsey Russell: I think that one of the top eating ducks in North America are these whistling ducks.

Brandon Roy: What would you say the top eating fowl is in other parts of the world, outside of North America?

Ramsey Russell: Rosy bill pochard, green winged teal, everywhere in the world that you go.

Brandon Roy: No, but those whistlers, I mean, that should be on everybody’s tables. That is some good stuff. And it’s interesting how those birds, they roost in the trees. We got into them a little bit our second day. I mean, there were just so many of them.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah, no, it was amazing. That was a fun day. That may have been one of my favorite days, because anytime you get into that many whistling ducks, I enjoy it just the way they work, just the way they fly over – when I’m wearing my tetra hearing, I cannot hardly hear those birds without it, but when I’m wearing it just unbelievable the sound they make when they’re trading overhead. Change the subject. You talk about those limes. What’d you think of the margaritas down here? Cause I think they got the margarita recipe dialed in.

Brandon Roy: I would say it’s dialed in and optimized.

Ramsey Russell: It ain’t nothing but fresh squeezed lime, little bit of that syrup and tequila and ice.

Brandon Roy: That’s right. And seriously, the second we pulled up to the lodge, every time after every hunt, I mean, they were literally handing them to us as we stepped out of the vehicle. So, I mean, just warm welcome every time.

Ramsey Russell: I like it a lot. I drink my margarita down here, son, I’m going to tell you, I love it.

Brandon Roy: Well, I mean, I’m telling you, when you get limes as fresh as these limes are – and they kind of remind me of like a key lime, because they’re really small in size, but they’re so flavorful, and they just have so much, they’re just juicy.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. You brought your A number one sidekick, Preston, down here.

Brandon Roy: I did.

Why Duck Hunt in Nayarit?

And the fact that we were hunting twice daily, I thought that was a good piece or a good reason why we shot ducks in the morning, a lot of ducks, all three days. But then also every afternoon, we went white wing dove hunting.

Ramsey Russell: And how did you choose, or why did you choose Nayarit for this important trip?

Brandon Roy: The reason I chose this one is because, he and I, we connect in the blind. And the fact that we were hunting twice daily, I thought that was a good piece or a good reason why we shot ducks in the morning, a lot of ducks, all three days. But then also every afternoon, we went white wing dove hunting. And obviously, I like shooting ducks more than I like shooting doves, but shooting doves is fun, too, especially when you’re just kind of relaxing, hanging out next to your son. Like, he and I hunted literally next to each other every day. He took 85% of the shots, which is fine. He shot 85% of the ammo, which is fine. But I hope he had a phenomenal time, I’m pretty sure he did. And it’ll be a senior trip that he will remember the rest of his life.

Ramsey Russell: I guarantee it will be. What do you think about this part of Mexico? How would you describe this part of Mexico? Because we fly into Mazatlán and drive 2 hours south. And how would you describe this part of Mexico?

Brandon Roy: Well, it’s extremely remote. We are right, literally right on the Pacific Ocean. It is as authentic Mexico as it gets. A lot of times, just being here for a few days, it reminded me so much of the show Narcos. Narcos, Mexico. It did. I would see cattle getting herded down the road. We’d have to detour around the curve, and the whole time in my head, I’m hearing the Narcos theme song going, the whole time. If you want authentic Mexico, if you want an authentic Mexican experience like this trip, and you’re an avid hunter, this trip is like, as good as it gets.

Ramsey Russell: We talk about Narcos, and everybody on earth has watched Netflix Narcos. And I get asked a lot. How safe is it? So I’ll ask you. You brought your high school senior son down here for his trip, took him out of school for a few days, brought him to Mexico, Narco’s theme song has run through your head the whole time. How safe is it? As safe as Dallas, at least?

Brandon Roy: We felt extremely safe here, if not safer than Dallas. And as soon as I booked the trip and I told his mom about the trip and other family members, that’s the first question everybody asks, is that safe? Are you all going down there? Is that going to be safe? And I’m like, I wouldn’t put myself nor my son in danger if I didn’t think so. And honestly, Ramsey, a lot of it is your name. You wouldn’t put a trip on the map if you were going to put clients lives at risk.

Ramsey Russell: But what do you think about, like, the people here? I mean, not just here at camp. Because we’re in a small little cobblestone beach community where all the locals come in for vacation. What about interacting with the bird boys out or the public or the people you see out just when you’re driving through? How would you describe them? Green acres maybe.

Brandon Roy: They’re just trying to live their lives. There’s nothing. And it’s not like people were staring at us or anything. I mean, we drive by and they would just go about their business.

Ramsey Russell: The biggest crime I saw perpetrated in a long time down in Mexico was when Uncle Beer 30, went out to the beach and one of them ladies come walking by trying to sell him stuff and sold him a magnet that is like a free publicity magnet for a local politician. But it said, Nayarit and he paid $7 for it. And that’s the most crime I’ve seen maybe in forever down in Mexico.

Brandon Roy: Yes.

Ramsey Russell: He paid $7 for a free magnet.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. $7, basically 140 pesos for that, right. I mean, that magnet. And I’ll tell you one more thing, talk about authentic. We’re in a little fishing beach village. They’ve got all these pangas, those long kind of boats, and they go out overnight. One of the guys was telling us that they basically launched the boats from the beach, they launch them.

Ramsey Russell: Well, we walked out in that beach yesterday, and you got to walk about 100 yards to get in belly butt in deep water.

Brandon Roy: I know, because the beach just goes on forever. But they basically have these old trucks, like, just a 1500 truck. This was a Dodge Ram. That thing was rusted out all the way through. And this guy was just launching boats right and left.

Ramsey Russell: He wasn’t easing into it either.

Brandon Roy: No, into the seawater. It was kind of like a demolition derby meets surfing.

Ramsey Russell: What impressed me the most is that he would line perfectly up in the face in the truck, away from the beach, and would floor it. I think what impressed me the most is that he could keep that trailer so straight for a football field length, building up speed to however fast a Dodge Ram 1500 rusted out like that wheel would go, punched to the floor in 100 yards. And when he slammed on brakes, he was up above the floorboard of that truck, and off came that panga, and the boys caught it, turned it around, and off they go, fishing.

Brandon Roy: And just effortless going from reverse to forward, because basically he didn’t even come to a complete stop, and he was all already pulling out of the ocean. Keep in mind that he’s battling waves that are crashing and coming in against the boat as he’s trying to launch it. So I was telling Beer 30, I was like, you know, if we’re here one afternoon, we should just pack up the cooler with just a bunch of Pacificos, bring a couple of chairs out there and just sit and watch this, because this is magic happening right here.

Ramsey Russell: It’s real people doing real work. And that particular day, I don’t know, we was all sitting there in the little beach house watching him, little beach hut, I should call it. And I could tell that that passenger side wheel was at about a 45 ° angle, like that wheel bearing fixed to come off. And sure enough, it did.

Brandon Roy: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Because I saw it sitting on its axle, and somebody asked, wonder what they going to do with that truck now? I guess just leave it. And, my God, it was backing up yesterday. They popped it up on the cinder block or something got it fixed.

Brandon Roy: That sucker was out of commission one day, and one day only.

Ramsey Russell: That’s how they make their living down here.

Brandon Roy: Yeah, well, time is money. You can’t be sitting around for a day or two not working.

Delighting the Palate

I thought everything else I had was just absolutely fantastic.

Ramsey Russell: You cooked the best damn steak in Dallas, Texas. But what do you think about, not the steak they cooked that night, but everything else. And here’s what I’m going to say in their defense is, a lot of places I go on earth to include rural Mexico, Africa, Mongolia, that doesn’t have the sophisticated refrigeration system, the lifestyle. I mean, we take refrigeration for granted like a cell phone signal, and they don’t. And what I’m saying is, around the world, outside the United States, Argentina, prime example. The local Argentines do not eat medium rare beef, they want it well done. It was a little well done for our taste, but all the other food they cooked, the guacamole and the meals and ceviche. What did you think about it?

Brandon Roy: I thought everything else I had was just absolutely fantastic. Especially just the shrimp ceviche, super fresh. We got to talk about the oysters, but we’ll get back to that in a second, let me finish on some of the things we had. Breakfast every day, we’d come downstairs, 04:30 in the morning, there’d be eggs, bacon, all this fun stuff. But the dinners at night, one night we had chicken adobo, and I thought that chicken was absolutely incredible. I’m actually going to take that marinade recipe and bring it back home, and you’ll probably see it on the channel at some point it was that good. Yesterday for lunch, we had some grilled snook fish tacos.

Ramsey Russell: Oh, God, I forgot about that.

Brandon Roy: Every meal, Ramsay, like, you just have to go back and think what we had the first night we sat down, we had some Mexican pork spareribs, they were really delicious. I would have never prepared them the way they did, but they did come out very good because he boiled them first, like, and that’s just something that I –

Ramsey Russell: Me neither.

Brandon Roy: I never done that. But they were really tender. They were delicious.

Ramsey Russell: So that’s how you got them so tender.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. Last night we had, what, beef, basically, like steak. Yeah, beef fajitas.

Ramsey Russell: What was that green sauce he had on it?

Brandon Roy: Some kind of, it was like a spicy verde sauce. And he served it over like a salad, and we had, like, these little kind of onion kind of crispers off to the side. We had some fresh tortilla strips. We put them in some tortillas and just went to town.

Ramsey Russell: That’s kind of what it was.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. I mean, the food and the salsa, the guacamole, my goodness.

Ramsey Russell: Oh, bet best.

Brandon Roy: The guacamole. I mean, and then the drink, the little fruit drink. You know what I’m talking about?

Ramsey Russell: Well, every morning they slice fresh fruit, mangoes and pineapple and papayas and that’s just, I mean, everywhere you go, you see it growing out there, and they slice it up for breakfast. And then midday, whatever hadn’t been eaten for breakfast. They put the blender, boom, blend it up into a fruit. It’s basically a fruit smoothie. Fresh fruit smoothie. When I put a little tequila in there, we talking.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. I mean, the fruit.

Ramsey Russell: Be healthy.

Brandon Roy: The food was phenomenal. The guides were fantastic. I mean, they worked their butts off to make sure you’re having an amazing time.

Ramsey Russell: Well, the last question I got, did you got any takeaway pointers on shooting, having hunted with Preston? Cause, I mean, I know he tried really, to give dad some points.

Brandon Roy: The only thing that I will take away from that is I need to be ready sooner, and I need to pull the trigger first.

Ramsey Russell: You damn right.

Brandon Roy: Because if I don’t pull the trigger, I’m not going to get a shot.

Ramsey Russell: I realized when my sons were about Preston’s age, that they could, in fact, outdraw me. I was no longer the fastest gun in the west, but they could not out hit me.

Brandon Roy: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And so that’s what I would do.

Brandon Roy: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Is back up like it. You are going home with a couple of cinnamon teal, you all got you cinnamons.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. I kind of wanted one, and I just luckily got one yesterday. Shot one the day before yesterday. The one I shot yesterday was just, he’s perfect.

Ramsey Russell: It helped that he landed on dry ground. There wasn’t a feather out of place. It was a stud.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. So we’re going to take him back and do something with him, and going to cherish him for a very long time.

John Sandbeck: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: Be a good memory.

Brandon Roy: Absolutely.

Ramsey Russell: Of a great father son trip. I noticed you all talking yesterday at the truck, and obviously, Preston had a good time. Obviously, you had a good time. I learned when my kids were that age again, Brandon, I just learned that with all the cell phones and Snapchats and sports and teenager life in general, the one time I really got a shot to connect with my kids is in a duck blind.

Brandon Roy: Yeah. And that’s what we did. And we even roamed together, which is, that don’t happen every day either, so it wasn’t too bad. Hopefully, he didn’t think it was too bad either.

Ramsey Russell: I enjoyed hunting with you all. Thank you very much.

Brandon Roy: You’re welcome. I really appreciate you.

Mexican Hunts to Remember

The whistlers. The first morning whistlers. Just the noise, it’s just like a giant chorus of whistling ducks in the dark.

Ramsey Russell: Ryan Dister from Wild Wisconsin Ryan, what brings you to this part of the world? And with other Mexican hunts we have, why this hunt? What was it about Nayarit that you said I got to do this hunt for Mexico?

Ryan Dister: Well, I knew it was something new that you were trotting out, and I kind of wanted to get in on the ground floor of something great, and I think I have. It’s been great this whole time. Right from the start, the staff’s been great, the hunting’s been great, the weather is great. I mean, there’s not much that isn’t great about this.

Ramsey Russell: Being from Wisconsin, it’s got to be a pleasure to go out, and it’s 60 ° in the morning and 75 °, 80 ° in the afternoon? That’s got to be a pleasure, especially when you’re shooting birds.

Ryan Dister: Yeah, it’s beach weather at home. That’s shorts and t shirt and go swimming in the lake. That’s beach weather for us.

Ramsey Russell: What was your favorite hunt?

Ryan Dister: The whistlers. The first morning whistlers. Just the noise, it’s just like a giant chorus of whistling ducks in the dark. It was a little foggy, too, so you couldn’t see all of them, but you could hear all of them passing overhead, flying around. And then when it got light enough to see, they were just all over the place.

Ramsey Russell: I like shooting the whistlers. I was telling Poncho just the other day, that was some of my most memorable hunts down here, was two or three times we shot whistling ducks. I don’t know why, I just enjoy it. A little bit taller shot, but I just really enjoy hunting them.

Ryan Dister: But they got that big wingspan and they’re slower flyers, so I think they’re even a little easier to hit than, that fast flying teal or the bluebills.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. Did you see any whistling ducks? The view right here overlooks the river. Did you happen to catch any of them coming into the river in the evening?

Ryan Dister: Yeah, the first night we got here, I heard them, and I’ve hunted in Florida a little bit, so I heard the calls before, but I could hear the faint, and then all of a sudden, here they come running, flying up the river, and they roost right down the hill from the house here.

Ramsey Russell: The food was pretty darn good and they served dessert every night. But a couple of nights, the first night especially, you were full from eating, your words, not mine. You were full from eating humble pie. What was that about?

Ryan Dister: Doves. Palomas. Wind aided palomas. Yeah, that was a big slice of humble pie for me, the dove shooting. I get a little full of myself shooting shovelers over decoys. And then you go out and hunt doves in a 15 miles an hour wind, and it’s a different experience altogether there.

Ramsey Russell: But you all don’t do a lot of dove hunting back home, is it?

Ryan Dister: No. I mean, it’s legal, there is a dove season, but there’s just not a dove hunting culture in Wisconsin, not like in the south or the southwest.

Ramsey Russell: The thing about you, you were tough on yourself about shooting dove. And doves are a game, they will make an ass out of anybody, I don’t care who you are, how many times you’ve been to Cordoba, how long you’ve dove hunted, it’s totally different. A duck has got just a pretty smooth trajectory, even the teal, unless they’re breaking down or something crazy. But it’s just an arc. But the doves, they’ll barrel roll for no reason at all or they’ll flip. They’ll zig and zag and their speeds change up.

Ryan Dister: There’s a couple times, I think they just ducked my shot. They seen it coming and just dove right off it.

Ramsey Russell: You were out by that big snag and there was about a 12 mile an hour wind that day. And a white winged dove with a tail wind, that’ll get the best of anybody.

Ryan Dister: Yeah, it’s no joke. It’s no joke. And it’s almost like sensory overload sometimes, too. There’s so many of them in the air, it’s hard to pick your one target and stay on it. And that’s kind of the first rule of wing shooting, is pick a bird and stay on it. And sometimes those big flocks come rolling through and there’s just too many.

Ramsey Russell: And then the second afternoon we went dove hunting. You all were hunting across road from some of us. And when you got back, I met you at the truck. You said, I’m eating seconds dessert tonight, I don’t have to eat no humble pie.

Ryan Dister: There’s no humble pie the second night, I had kind of redeemed myself on that one. And my buddy Matt, I shot as many shells as I wanted to, and taking some recordings of him, and he was struggling a bit.

Ramsey Russell: Dove is just tough man for everybody. I think it is. But I think it’s good practice, too. You know, we had a young man here, Luke, in high school, that I think he was humble the first day. We all got humbled. But the second day I was watching him from across the field and he was lights out. He got dialed in and did good.

Ryan Dister: Yeah, he’s a good shot. He’s a much more patient hunter than I was at that age, that’s for sure. It was all about shooting shells and getting birds at that age, and he seems to be a little more advanced than I was at that age.

Ramsey Russell: You’ve hunted a lot of different places. You were telling me you’re well on your way to having collected the North American slam.

Ryan Dister: I’m 3 short.

Ramsey Russell: What do you lack?

What Ducks Can You Hunt in Mexico?

Ryan Dister: So Barrow’s Goldeneye, Brants, and then the Cinnamon Teal, which was one of the reasons they wanted to come here.

Ramsey Russell: They were non-existent. We shot them every hunt down here until this time. But this morning I was optimistic because they, on the drive out, they said, we saw some cinnamon teal, and they took us to a pothole about the size of this patio.

Ryan Dister: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And as we were driving in, a flock of ducks got off. And there were two drake cinnamons in it.

Ryan Dister: Yes, sir.

Ramsey Russell: We showed up. No see them in the universe was waiting on us. Built a couple of smudge fires, and the hunt was slow, to say the least. There were 5 of us in a blind, and it was just slow. And about 07:00 they radioed and said, we got a plan B. And I said, no, let’s just stick it out a little bit longer because it was getting warmer. The warmer it gets, the more they fly. And then 07:30 came. They said, plan B in action, and surprisingly, you and Matt said, we’re going to stick it out.

Ryan Dister: Stick it out.

Ramsey Russell: I mean, you come this far.

Ryan Dister: I’ve paddled a canoe 3 miles back into a swamp in Florida for one fulvous duck, what’s sitting on a comfortable chair, over a swimming pool sized pond.

Ramsey Russell: As long as there’s a smudge fire going to keep the bugs off.

Ryan Dister: And it was a good hunt, too. I mean, there was plenty of blue wingers that came in and some shovelers. It wouldn’t have been, I don’t think, enough birds for all 5 of us, but for the two of us, it was plenty. I mean, we were more than entertained shooting those and still kind of holding out hope for us.

Ramsey Russell: Paint a real pretty picture afterwards.

Ryan Dister: Definitely. The beautiful white crescents, and we were backlit this morning, so those white crescents really showed up in that sunshine.

Ramsey Russell: And that’s one thing I can say, the cinnamon, maybe because of the drought, I don’t know. The cinnamons have not been, they’re not a particularly abundant species anyway, but they’ve been slim this season. The whole season they’ve been just a little more slim, and all the outfitters and guides are saying that they’ve been just a little hard to come by. But there’s worse consolations in coming back down here, you and Matt had already said you all want to come back down here again.

Ryan Dister: Yeah, definitely. Bring along a couple more and book the whole lodge up just for us and our friends.

Ramsey Russell: The limits down here in Mexico are extremely generous by American standards, and a lot of people can’t get their mind wrapped around it. We were talking about it on the drive down, I would dare say by Wednesday lunch of the Arkansas season, day 3 or 4 more ducks have been killed in the state of Arkansas than get killed in Arkansas the entire year. And I have done the math and extrapolate and everything else, I think I’m pretty dang close to saying that. But I got a question for you. How important are the numbers to you? Because I already know the answer. But how important is getting a limit on a hunt like this to you?

Ryan Dister: Well, I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like to pull the trigger as much as anyone.

Ramsey Russell: We all do.

Ryan Dister: But at the end of the day, I mean, if it’s 30, if it’s 20, 15, it’s more of the experience, just seeing the numbers down here is amazing. Just the pace that the birds are flying in, decoying in your face tight, it’s just amazing. It’s something you just don’t get back in the US, and if you want to shoot the numbers, they’re there today. We kind of had a number of boxes of shells in mind that we wanted to shoot. And when we shot our shells, we were done. It didn’t really matter how many ducks we had. We shot enough. My shoulder is stiff and tender from all the shooting ducks and doves, that was enough.

Focusing on the Experience Instead of the Numbers

It’s a lot of shooting in 3 days. Look, I’m the same way to me, the limit is oftentimes a stopping point. Just because the ducks are flying don’t mean you got to kill them all. Lord knows, down here you can shoot way more than you’re supposed to.

Ramsey Russell: It’s a lot of shooting in 3 days. Look, I’m the same way to me, the limit is oftentimes a stopping point. Just because the ducks are flying don’t mean you got to kill them all. Lord knows, down here you can shoot way more than you’re supposed to. But sometimes if you’re not careful, you get too hung up on the numbers instead of just enjoying the total experience for what it’s worth. For a guy that comes down today and said, they had a hotter hole to go to for plan B, and you said, I’d rather wait out just in case those two cinnamon teal drakes come back. And it does happen, Ryan. We were in Mazatlán last week, and when we pulled up to a duck hole, there were 5 drake cinnamons, and by 09:00 in the morning, one of them had died. And we retired, we limited, two of us did limited and retired, and they let two more come in, and by gosh, they shot all 4, the next one between 09:00 and 10:30. It happens. But you don’t know till you go. If you ain’t there, it doesn’t happen.

Ryan Dister: And I know, the staff here, they want the super fast paced action and all that stuff, but every 5 or 10 minutes, there was a single or a pair, a blue wing teal came in, and I think, like, 75% of them were drakes. So, I mean, it’s just beautiful.

Ramsey Russell: That’s what I started off saying a minute ago is just, in the last 7 to 10 days, the blue wing numbers have spiked because we started off down here several sets ago, real heavy to the shovelers, some blue wings, some cinnamons, few green wings, full moon hit. Boom. And now all of a sudden, it’s jumped real high. Just in the last, I’m telling you, last week, it’s jumped real high.

Ryan Dister: You were saying you think it is migrating north from –

Ramsey Russell: Southern Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras where have they been heading north, it’s that time of year. But you know what surprised me is you did shoot two really nice pintails here.

Ryan Dister: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: I mean, nice adult drake pintails. Those are the first two I can recall having shot. Because we come in, out here late, if you want to shoot pintails, you got to come in here earlier in February to really get to see a bunch of pintails. When that full moon hits, they’re gone. I mean, they’re pretty much all gone. But, man, those were two really nice pintails you shot.

Ryan Dister: And while you guys were on plan B, we did see a couple other flocks high and wide while we were out there, too. So, I mean, there was still a handful around, at least.

Ramsey Russell: So where do you taking home? What bird are you taking home?

Ryan Dister: So, taken home two drake blue wings, and then the leucistic blonde shoveler. I mean, I’ve shot some shovelers. I’ve never seen one – I know you are a shoveler aficionado.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. Put that on my headstone one day.

Ryan Dister: Shoveler aficionado, Ramsey Russell.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah.

Ryan Dister: And you said you’d never come across one either.

Ramsey Russell: The bad thing is Char was busy going back and forth. I didn’t notice it come in with the rest of them, but when she brought it up, it was obviously leucistic. I mean, it was, wow, look at the color of this bill. It wasn’t quite pinkish, but it was pale. No color in the wings, just a very extremely once in a lifetime bird as far as I’m concerned. I’ve never even seen one.

Ryan Dister: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And I went through a lot of shovelers.

Ryan Dister: You hear about blonde mallards and stuff like that. And I know somebody that’s actually shot a blonde blue wing teal, but I’ve never heard of a blonde shoveler before.

Ramsey Russell: I posted a picture on social media and everybody asked me, will you mount it? And I’m like, I guess it went to Molly Pile. And I was proud to hear you’re taking that bird home.

Ryan Dister: Yeah. Do it justice.

Ramsey Russell: It’ll look good in somebody’s game room, I guarantee you. Why are you coming back to Nayarit?

Ryan Dister: It’s fun.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah.

Ryan Dister: First off, and it’s just relaxing, it’s just the pace of the area around here. Nothing’s rushed, it’s not the US rat race stuff.

Ramsey Russell: It’s just sitting here on a patio drinking a few margaritas, it’s something about the ambiance of this area, you just want to crawl up one of them hammocks and stay.

Ryan Dister: Right. And I’m not a huge amenities guy. Like, I don’t lead a plush lifestyle. I don’t get into lots of fancy hotels and stuff like that. But when you get out of the truck after a morning of hunting and you’re handed an ice cold margarita, two steps out of the truck and it’s the best margarita I’ve had. So, that’s hard to beat, and there’s food waiting for you on the table and the food here has been amazing. Every meal has been better than the last.

Ramsey Russell: Good luck. I’m really hoping that when you come back, you’ll get that cinnamon teal or a few of them.

Ryan Dister: Right. Yeah. I’m looking forward to it.

Ramsey Russell: Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate you.

Ryan Dister: Thank you.

Does Mexican Hunting Meet Expectations?

Hunting ducks in the morning and then shooting doves in the afternoon, and I don’t think we really probably expected the dove chutes to be as good as they were.

Ramsey Russell: Kendall Kilborn from western Kentucky with your son Luke, 18 years old. What a pleasure it was hunting with you all. Kendall, you’ve hunted all over the world now, why did you all choose this hunt for a father son getaway down here in Mexico? What was it about this hunt? Because it’s not online yet, but it will be. What was it about this hunt that attracted you?

Kendall Kilborn: Well, I talked to you a couple times about different hunts, Ramsay, and we were looking for something different. We went to Argentina with you a couple years ago, and we had not been duck hunting in Mexico before, and best I remember either, I think I heard it on a podcast maybe you were talking about this hunt, first time I heard it, and I just got interested in it and called you. Sounded like something that we would like to do.

Ramsey Russell: How did it match your expectations?

Kendall Kilborn: We’ve been very happy. They’ve got a brand new place here. They just have built to stay in. The food’s been incredible. Hunting ducks in the morning and then shooting doves in the afternoon, and I don’t think we really probably expected the dove chutes to be as good as they were.

Ramsey Russell: As good as you want them to be.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah. But we’ve had a really good time.

Ramsey Russell: I know you and Luke have room together. What was it like for him? I’ve just got this heartfelt belief that young people, especially everybody in general, but young people specifically, need to travel, get out of their backyards, and go see. Besides the hunt, what do you think a kid like Luke will take home with him? From an experience like this.

Kendall Kilborn: I agree with you 100%. Luke’s traveled a fair amount with me. And getting to see how other people live, getting to see other cultures, that’s a big deal in how we perceive the world.

Ramsey Russell: It makes me feel lucky being down here to be just to be where I’m from and who I am and live like I do. A lot of us take for granted how we live.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah.

Ramsey Russell: And these people are simple. I’m not pitying them at all. I mean, but they live simple. You drive through these little cobblestone villages, and in some senses, Kendall is almost better than modern day America. I mean, 05:00, 05:30 in the afternoon, we’re coming out. The whole community’s out talking to the neighbors, sitting on the front porches. We drove by this evening, and the headlights were on, and there were still kids in the street playing stick ball, remind me of the 1970s. Guys on horses, you see the old man out there today? There’s the old man out there with a hoe on his walker.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah. 2 days, I think 2 days in a row we’ve passed him there in that field working. But, yeah, everybody that we have come in contact with, I mean, the staff has been amazing. Anything that you wanted or needed, they were doing their best to get it for you, but everybody’s extremely happy. Everybody you see has got a smile on their face, they’re glad you’re here. But, yeah, it’s very humbling, I guess, compared to things we take, maybe take for granted at home that these folks don’t have, but everybody’s hard working and just super nice.

Ramsey Russell: I can tell you and Luke have spent a lot of time together, you got a strong relationship. Yesterday, we were stepping out of truck, going dove hunting, and he said, the only thing that makes my shooting look better, Luke, is yours. But now Luke is a pretty capable shotgunner. Who shoots better, him or you?

Kendall Kilborn: He shoots better than I do. I like to tease him and give him a hard way to go. He shoots me every day.

Ramsey Russell: The only way I could get ahead of him was if the ducks were coming from, like, he’s sitting next to me, but the ducks come from my direction. There ain’t no way I’m going to catch up. I wouldn’t even flinch if they come to his direction first, he’s quick as a snake. And this morning, the bird that come in on his side never made it to me or you, never did. The only shot we had if they come in on our side.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah, he usually does pretty well.

Ramsey Russell: He likes it, doesn’t he? How long has he been duck hunting?

Kendall Kilborn: We’ve only been duck hunting about 4 years, and to be honest, I had no interest in duck hunting. We’d always hunted a lot of big game, but had never done any wing shooting at all. And he kept pestering me to go duck hunting and had a buddy, and we made a trip to real foot that was close for us, so made a trip to real foot, and then after that, just became addicted quickly. And we’ve made, I think we’ve hunted 7 states plus Mexico this year.

Ramsey Russell: And you get to socialize a lot better wild duck hunting than you do wild deer hunting.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah, 100%.

Ramsey Russell: It’s important his age. I mean, he’s in high school, and I don’t know about your teenage kids, but mine were, it’s tough to have time with their social demands for just talks that fathers and sons need to have.

Kendall Kilborn: Yes, sir. Yeah, it’s much more social and you get to spend much more time with each other. Duck hunting versus if you’re deer hunting, usually tree standing by yourself and you can take some buddies and he’s had friends go with us and what have you. It’s much more social, for sure.

An Action-Packed Waterfowl Hunt

I have no idea how many birds come in.

Ramsey Russell: What was your favorite hunt, of the 3 morning duck hunts, what was your favorite?

Kendall Kilborn: This morning was my favorite.

Ramsey Russell: Why? It was action packed hunt. Once they moved it to plan B, it was action. What was it like when we pulled up that little hole?

Kendall Kilborn: I have no idea how many birds come in. There were almost like several hundred birds on that little –

Ramsey Russell: Like somebody kicked a wasp nest or something.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah, they swarmed out of there and we got in there and got set up pretty quick and they started trickling back in and singles and pairs and then we had some 5s and 6s that came in that we train wrecked, too.

Ramsey Russell: So I’m from the deep south and we’ve got mosquitoes, we got bugs. But I added to my two bring list a bit lighter so I can make me a smudge fire and Floro had a couple of them going on plan B this morning, and I didn’t think it was that bad. I mean, there were a few little bugs, but, boy, we stepped about 50ft away from that fire after the hunt and it’s like they were seeking revenge.

Kendall Kilborn: Those mosquitoes were absolutely no joke.

Ramsey Russell: No joke.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah. In fact, we all piled in the vehicle and went to pick up the other guys so we didn’t have to stand there in them.

Ramsey Russell: I was glad to get out of it. But that was a fun hunt this morning, a lot of blue wings. Luke got him a really, he got the best shoveler I’ve seen down here in a while. And absolute stud adult blue winged teal to take home. But it looked like you all had fun the afternoon blue bill hunt, too.

Kendall Kilborn: Yeah, we did. We had a really good time. We was expecting a dove hunt this afternoon and they said, we’ve got a better plan. You guys want to go shoot blue bells instead? And we said, we’re in. So, yeah, had a good time.

Ramsey Russell: Well, Kendall, I’ve enjoyed it. I really have enjoyed meeting you all and spending time with you all. It’s just been a pleasure to see you two hunting and having a good time together.

Kendall Kilborn: I appreciate it, Ramsey. We’ve really enjoyed it and enjoyed spending some time with you as well.

Ramsey Russell: Thank you.

Kendall Kilborn: Thank you.

Ramsey Russell: Wrapping up Nayarit Adventure is Mr. Steve Richardson from Maryland. Delmarva Sporting Clays. You all own that?

Steve Richardson: We do.

Ramsey Russell: I couldn’t tell. You all never shot a shotgun before you and your brother.

Steve Richardson: Work in progress.

Ramsey Russell: Work in progress. What’s the theory? I kept hearing one of you, you and your brothers once said about how do you kill a duck? Built in. What was that adage?

Steve Richardson: Forward allowance.

Ramsey Russell: Forward allowance.

Steve Richardson: Forward allowance.

Ramsey Russell: Every time I miss a duck, it’s because I’m shooting where he was instead of where he’s going. And I need that forward allowance.

Steve Richardson: Forward allowance. Either you’re going to miss either above or behind, that’s for sure.

Ramsey Russell: What brings you and your brother down here to Nayarit? We could have gone to Mazatlán. You could have gone to Obregon, you could have gone anywhere else. But you all called way back when. You all called last year, right when I got back from last year’s scouting report wanting to go on this trip, what was it about it?

Steve Richardson: The biggest aspect in my mind was the ability, chance to kill three species of teal in one hunt.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah, the teal trifecta. I don’t think we did that here now. We killed cinnamon teal all 3 mornings.

Steve Richardson: We killed the teal trifecta 2 out of 3 days.

Ramsey Russell: 2 out of 3 days.

Steve Richardson: 2 out of 3 days.

Ramsey Russell: 2 out of 3 days. Shot a few shovelers.

Steve Richardson: Just a few.

Ramsey Russell: Are you a shoveler fan?

Steve Richardson: I love them. If it’s a duck, it’s worthy.

Ramsey Russell: What did you all think about the white winged dove hunts down here?

Steve Richardson: Oh, phenomenal. There’s no question that it breaks up the hunt. You can come back, laugh if they’re a morning duck hunt, chill a little bit. They said they had margaritas here. I think they did. And drink a margarita and take a nap and head out to a dove field, phenomenal. Plenty of dove to shoot here, that’s for sure.

Ramsey Russell: This program here is a real laid back version of Mexico. Not touristry, I hate to say, not professional, but it’s just real laid back low key.

Steve Richardson: I would say, it’s not commercialized. This is certainly something that anybody can come here and say, wow, this is what old Mexico is all about. If you think, and you look in your histories back into the 1940s and 1950s, you’re walking into it around here, I mean, it is something that was a pleasure for me to observe, to see and to interact with.

Ramsey Russell: What was the safety like? Because you come from a pretty grown up area out there, and I’m from Mississippi. How did you perceive your personal safety in old, off the beaten path Mexico?

Steve Richardson: As safe as it can be. There were no issues or no concerns of – But until you just asked me that question, I never thought of any aspect of, wow, this is a little sketchy or that, nah, I don’t like being here. This was until you asked that question, absolutely was just laid back, friendly, accommodating, perfect.

Ramsey Russell: I realized last night I was packing up, getting sorted, getting everything going squared away. And it just dawned on me as I shut the door to go to bed that I’ve been sitting in this lodge for a month, sleeping in this lodge for a month, and I’ve not even locked the door one time. Now I haven’t even locked my door in the room I’m sleeping in, call it a hotel door. I’ve not even locked the door in a month. I lock my door at home, and if I don’t, my wife does.

Steve Richardson: The key was in my door and I never took the key out.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah, on the outside or inside?

Steve Richardson: It was on the outside. I never took the key out.

Ramsey Russell: Well, you did lose it, did you?

Steve Richardson: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, one time.

Ramsey Russell: Have you and your brother been hunting together a long time? You seem to have. You seem to work real good together.

A Lasting Love for Duck Hunting in Mexico

This is the first time that we’ve been to Mexico. And it won’t be the last.

Steve Richardson: We have our whole life. Our father kind of set a tone for duck hunting when we were infants and been doing it our whole lives. Been fortunate to travel a little bit, not a lot, a little bit. To Canada, to Africa, to Argentina, but never to Mexico. This is the first time that we’ve been to Mexico. And it won’t be the last.

Ramsey Russell: Won’t be the last. We were talking about those not locking the door and talking about the people local. We were talking about this conversation last night. We stayed out, did a special afternoon duck hunt yesterday afternoon, and stayed late, stayed later than normal. And we came back through, and we were coming through that little village, little cobblestone street, right at dusk. And everybody, all the neighbors were out talking to each other, little old ladies sitting there talking to each other, kids playing stickball, a man sitting on a horse talking to some other countrymen. It almost felt like 1930 America. I don’t even know all my neighbors by name. My wife probably does, I don’t, and they know everybody. That little community right there.

Steve Richardson: It was really refreshing to see. When you think about it. At home, you hear, man, the good old days are gone. Remember the good old days? Well, riding through that cobblestone street, you saw some good old days, because you’re exactly right. There were people sitting out on a porch or out by the street and conversing right at sundown.

Ramsey Russell: How does Mexican food like we had last night of tacos compared to something which you might buy near Ocean City, Maryland?

Steve Richardson: I don’t know that you can find that there. And certainly, wow, there’s something to be said for authentic Mexican food we had it last night. In fact, every day here, there was a little twist, whether it be steak or tuna steaks, chops, ribs, whatever it was we had that was a little touch of authentic Mexican. And the food was phenomenal here.

Ramsey Russell: There was always guacamole. There was always some kind of – Last night was tomatillo sauce for the tacos or picante sauce or jalapeno, grilled jalapenos, grilled onions. There was always something. Lots of fresh fruit. There was always just a touch. Just like what these guys eat all the time back home.

Steve Richardson: Absolutely. And that, to me, is refreshing. They weren’t trying to create a meal that we would have in the states. They wanted to show us, hey, this is our style. And they did a great job doing that.

Ramsey Russell: Did you have a favorite hunt or a favorite day?

Steve Richardson: No, I really can’t say that I did. Hunter hunts. Been at it long enough. I was pleasantly surprised every hunt, whether little pond at the beach, the ducks were different every time. The look, the scenery was a little different, made it special. I’ve always been under the attitude of, hey, next duck hunt is going to be the best, whether I kill a duck or not. Just being out in nature and out in areas. And this was a new venture for my brother and I. It’s our birthday today. Today’s our birthday.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. They brought a heck of a cake out last night.

Steve Richardson: That was special. But it was something that we don’t have a chance to do in the states because the season’s been closed for a couple months. So this was something that I kind of conjured up, like you said over a year ago, talking to you.

Ramsey Russell: So Ilberto the chef, was going to come out singing you all’s birthday, and I think he ran out of English words when he said happy birthday to you. And that was it. That’s the only four words he needed.

Steve Richardson: That’s all he needed.

Ramsey Russell: That was a heck of a birthday cake, son. It wasn’t a birthday cake at all. It was like lattice chocolate and caramel and cream and just all kinds of good things.

Steve Richardson: It was the perfect ending to a phenomenal hunt. That was a surprise.

Ramsey Russell: You all didn’t get up and have some for breakfast this morning, did you?

Steve Richardson: I think they set it out just a few minutes ago.

Ramsey Russell: I think they did. How are you going to describe this hunt? You go back home, you at your Delmarva Sporting Clay shooting range, how are you all going to describe the hunt to a lot of people you know are going to ask about this?

Steve Richardson: Sure. I would say, don’t hesitate. There always is speculation when you try something new or you don’t know exactly, what to expect. I couldn’t ask for any better of, whether it be accommodations. The shooting was phenomenal. At no point in time did you have to think, hey, are we going to get some shooting? It was absolutely top notch. I’m going to show them pictures, I’m going to take a look. If you haven’t seen your website and your Instagram account, take a look. There are a lot of photos on there and they’re real, and I can show you.

Ramsey Russell: You’re taking some mighty pretty birds home, too.

The Teal Trifecta to Take Home

… I love shooting teal just never had the chance to shoot full plumed out birds because we don’t get the cinnamon.

Steve Richardson: We are. And that was the goal that the teal trifecta, as you call it, is something that my brother and I love shooting teal just never had the chance to shoot full plumed out birds because we don’t get the cinnamon. And when we get the blue wing, he’s not pretty when he comes by our area. But this is going to be, yeah, it’s going to cost me a little bit more money.

Ramsey Russell: I hate it, because the last crowd that was here, all 4 of them guys wanted cinnamon teal we hunted hard, we went to some good areas. We saw two drakes in the air that never came back. And one morning, to include hatchier birds and hens, we shot 22 cinnamons.

Steve Richardson: Yeah, phenomenal. Our second hunt was cinnamon, a cinnamon haven. It was just, oh, there’s another one. Oh, there’s another one, too. You just expected the next bird over the knoll was coming into water, was going to be a cinnamon. And yeah, it was beautiful birds. First time I’ve ever shot them, and I cannot complain at all.

Ramsey Russell: Steve, I appreciate you and Stu coming down. I appreciate hunting with you all. It was a pleasure hunting with a couple of twin brothers. You all are twins in a lot of ways. The way you take turns shooting, the way you shoot together, the way you work over the flock, it was a pleasure to be around you. Enjoyed sharing camp with you and enjoyed the stories. It was just a good way to wrap up this trip. Poncho said something to me last night as I was getting my stuff out of truck. He said, Ramsey, you’re a lot different now than you were when you showed up a long time ago. I’m a lot more relaxed. This hunt relaxes me. It’s no hurry. There’s no go. We do make some drives out to the field. Could be 45 minutes to an hour yesterday morning to get out to where we needed to go. But the only real traffic jam is going to be getting behind a herd of cattle, and a cowboy or a mini bike. I don’t know how the cowboy hats don’t come off those guys on the moped, but other than that, it’s just nice and relaxed. Lebo has margaritas waiting every time that truck pulls in twice a day, there’s margaritas waiting on me. We had gone out, shot, limited ducks driven back, eating what I call my second meal of the day, that big appetite, or drinking to margaritas, taking a nap. I woke up the first day, and it was 11:00 in the morning.

Steve Richardson: That was unbelievable that we had done all that, and it was 11:30, and I was watching Band of Brothers.

Ramsey Russell: I got to go finish the last few episodes of it because we had a real good time. Thank you very much, Steve. And folks, thank you all for listening to this episode of Duck Season Somewhere podcast. I’m down in Nayarit now you see what the buzz is about. And we ran a first season this year. It’s not even online as I talk. It just people saw it, people want to come experiences, we wanted to walk everybody through it to see what their opinion was going to be, to see if there were any kinks. It’s kink free. It’s just laid back, low key, authentic Mexico. Ducks in the morning, doves in the evening, it’s what Mexico, old Mexico, should be. Check it out. See you next time.

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Mojo Outdoors, most recognized name brand decoy number one maker of motion and spinning wing decoys in the world. More than just the best spinning wing decoys on the market, their ever growing product line includes all kinds of cool stuff. Magnetic Pick Stick, Scoot and Shoot Turkey Decoys much, much more. And don’t forget my personal favorite, yes sir, they also make the one – the only – world-famous Spoonzilla. When I pranked Terry Denman in Mexico with a “smiling mallard” nobody ever dreamed it would become the most talked about decoy of the century. I’ve used Mojo decoys worldwide, everywhere I’ve ever duck hunted from Azerbaijan to Argentina. I absolutely never leave home without one. Mojo Outdoors, forever changing the way you hunt ducks.

BOSS Shotshells copper-plated bismuth-tin alloy is the good ol’ days again. Steel shot’s come a long way in the past 30 years, but we’ll never, ever perform like good old fashioned lead. Say goodbye to all that gimmicky high recoil compensation science hype, and hello to superior performance. Know your pattern, take ethical shots, make clean kills. That is the BOSS Way. The good old days are now.

Tom Beckbe The Tom Beckbe lifestyle is timeless, harkening an American era that hunting gear lasted generations. Classic design and rugged materials withstand the elements. The Tensas Jacket is like the one my grandfather wore. Like the one I still wear. Because high-quality Tom Beckbe gear lasts. Forever. For the hunt.

Flashback Decoy by Duck Creek Decoy Works. It almost pains me to tell y’all about Duck Creek Decoy Work’s new Flashback Decoy because in the words of Flashback Decoy inventor Tyler Baskfield, duck hunting gear really is “an arms race.” At my Mississippi camp, his flashback decoy has been a top-secret weapon among my personal bag of tricks. It behaves exactly like a feeding mallard, making slick-as-glass water roil to life. And now that my secret’s out I’ll tell y’all something else: I’ve got 3 of them.

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It really is Duck Season Somewhere for 365 days. Ramsey Russell’s Duck Season Somewhere podcast is available anywhere you listen to podcasts. Please subscribe, rate and review Duck Season Somewhere podcast. Share your favorite episodes with friends. Business inquiries or comments contact Ramsey Russell at ramsey@getducks.com. And be sure to check out our new GetDucks Shop. Connect with Ramsey Russell as he chases waterfowl hunting experiences worldwide year-round: Insta @ramseyrussellgetducks, YouTube @DuckSeasonSomewherePodcast, Facebook @GetDucks.