Ducks Unlimited Podcast

00:00 Chris Jennings Hey everybody, welcome back to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. I'm your host, Chris Jennings. Joining me in studio today, once again, a continuing guest of the Ducks Unlimited podcast, Jim Ronquest with Drake Waterfowl. Jim, welcome back to the show. Man, thanks for being here. Appreciate the invite. Yeah, no, I mean, this is great. It's the perfect time of year to talk about some of the things that we're going to talk about today. We're in the middle of finishing our new guns and gear issue, our July, August issue, which will be coming out very soon. Some of you may have already seen it. What we're going to talk about here today is Drake's got a bunch of new products out, exciting stuff, some different changes, some cool things. But before we get to that, and we'll get to that, and that'll be the real nuts and bolts of this conversation.

00:42 Jimbo Ronquest First, I want to ask you, how was your duck season last year? That's a great question. There's lots of people asking. Instead of just saying fair, I'm going to say this. It wasn't great. It certainly wasn't bad. I give it a fair overall to a good for us. Maybe leaning more towards fair, but somewhere in that area, if that makes any sense. We had some really good days, had some bad days too, but that's duck hunting. That's why they call it hunting instead of killing, right? But there's always room for it to be better.

01:11 Chris Jennings My standards may be a little high. I'll be honest, that's on the same answer that I've gotten from a hundred different people that I've asked. Not one person has said it was the worst season they've ever had. Not one person said it was the best season they ever had. So it's just everything in between. And that doesn't just go from the mid-south region as well. That was Chesapeake Bay area. I think out west, they had some super weird weather, water coming and going. It was real odd for some of them. But yeah, it's been all across the board. And it was the exact same for me. Wasn't my best, wasn't my worst. But it was pretty good for me, just in the sense that we were able to capitalize on the specs. When we didn't have the ducks, we had specs. Well, it was good enough to make me want to go back again this year. That's right. That's all it takes is just a little bit of a tease there. And that's funny, we talk about that a lot at my place. We always finish the season really strong. The last week of the season for us, for some reason where we are, we seem to do pretty well. And we always joke around that that's just enough for us to come back every season, to be fired up, be ready to go.

02:18 Jimbo Ronquest That kind of goes along with when I was in the guide business and folks book, you wanted folks to book a three day hunt, because hopefully in that three day time period, you at least get them on a decent hunt. And preferably, if it's going to be bad, let it be bad the middle day. The first day, okay. If the second day is a little off, but the third day, you get them pretty good, they leave with a good taste in the mouth. No different than you said about duck season. The last few days are

02:42 Chris Jennings pretty good. That's what you remember. So now that's a lesson for all guides out there. You kind of sandbag the first two days, just a couple of ducks here and there. And then the third day, you put them on the good spot, right? Put them on a good spot. That's awesome. That sounds like something a fishing guide would do too. Yes, sir. So before we get into more of the kind of the technical gear that you guys have coming out, I want to talk with you because I think last time you were in here was, it would have been other than I think the duck numbers thing. But we had you on early in the summer last year. And we kind of talked about when you started with Drake. It wasn't too long after. I think that is right. So how's that transition been for you? I think our audience is familiar enough with you and your past. How's that transition been for you just going from Rich and Tone to Drake? Now you're dealing with turkey and deer and all kinds of stuff. So

03:29 Jimbo Ronquest that's been pretty cool. It has been. Of course, my other passion, my other hunting passion, I like to hunt everything, but my other hunting passion is turkey hunting in the spring. So that was kind of a natural piece for me. But it's been quite a big change. It's a good question. When I was at R&T and still great friends there, still got to rock and R there, so that's not an issue. But it is a, I hate to say bigger playing field because it's the same group of folks, but there is more, a little bit more to it. Seemed to have a little bit more on my plate as far as different aspects of the business. And I catch myself having to back up and regroup, be a better organization. Some of the certified smart people out there are real good at that. I've always flown by the seat of my pants. So it's kind of made me have to do things a little better. But it's been fun to be not only involved with duck calls, but the apparel side and trying to realize what people like and what works. And then offering some of my input from being in the field with the product design folks on, hey, what about this idea? What about that idea? And then learning what's practical and what isn't. And that's probably some of the behind the scenes stuff that we've never thought of. It's duck hunters go, man, why can't somebody do blah, blah? So in that position, hey, why can't we do this? Well, here's why. There's the production aspect and you got to ship it and you got to get it paid for and you got to keep the price here and blah, blah, blah. It's just way different,

04:51 Chris Jennings but it's fun. I enjoy being a part of it. Yeah. I bet there's a lot of ideas out there that just get shot down in some of these meetings where it's just like, we just can't ship it. Just can't do

05:01 Jimbo Ronquest it. It's not even feasible from a price point. Right. And the economics of it there, what are folks willing to do? And there's always somebody's willing to go way high and there's other people

05:12 Chris Jennings who always want to stay down low. So you got to find that ground that fits your niche. Yeah. And that's kind of the interesting thing, which is cool and exciting about this conversation is I do all the gear editorial for the magazine and online and things like that. And I get a lot of stuff and I get to see a lot of products, hear about everything that's new and the latest and greatest. And there's some wild products out there. Oh yeah. There's some wild stuff that I think a lot of people have never even seen or heard of. But the cool part about this is we get to see it not only from a partnership standpoint with Drake, but we kind of get a sneak peek on some of the new products that you guys are coming out with every year. I know last year you guys sent us a bunch of new stuff around the office. It's like Christmas morning. We get to get this big box and we start our photo editor, John Hoffman. I started digging through like, what's this? Oh, this is cool. Cooler or whatever it might be, but it's a really unique opportunity for us. And I appreciate that that you guys send it. But today we can talk about what's new for 2023. And a lot of people are going to see a lot of this in the magazine very soon. But I think it's a good opportunity to be able to talk through some of this and see some of the things that not see, but really explain some of the things

06:28 Jimbo Ronquest that you guys have new and the direction that Drake's going. So cool deal. I'm excited about a lot of the new stuff coming this fall and fall 24, 25. And that's the other thing I should say too, before I get into that. One of the things I learned separate from being in the duck call business is we could come up with an idea and we could shape a tone board and not go hunt with it, blow it, or John and I would blow on it, Harry blow this. What do you think? And you could have a new product pretty quickly and bring it to market, at least through the shop or whatever. With us, in the apparel business, you may get the idea now, then you've got to get it drawn and designed properly. Then you got to get it built. Then you got to have some samples. Then you got to get it sized. Then you need to field test it and make sure everything works and stays together. So if you can get something out in a year, and I've only been here just a touch over a year, so a lot of stuff you won't see some this year, but next year you'll see more. So the stuff that you were involved with. Yeah. And some of it you'll see some this year kind of on the back end of things. But that being said, there's a big timeframe time you the ideation of it. It's a new word I've learned. I like ideation. Once that's done and then you get it designed and built, prototyped, then fit sampled and changes made, you're sometimes the best two years before you can offer that product to the

07:52 Chris Jennings general public. So that's been kind of a big learning curve of mine. Yeah. And the exciting part is some of these new things for 2023 you talked about earlier, those things are already

08:01 Jimbo Ronquest shipping to you guys and to potential vendors now, correct? They're at least getting on our way to us now or shortly will be. We're getting a little past that COVID supply chain issue. There's still some of that out there. We struggled with it last year, but that's starting to get better.

08:19 Chris Jennings So I think everybody will be able to ship better this summer. Yeah. And I think everyone dealt with that for at least two years. Right. So that was pretty much every manufacturer I talked to because we were trying to get, we like to get the product in hand. I'd give it over to our creative team. They shoot the images for the new guns and gear issue. We like to have all those products in hand. Well, there was a while that we didn't get anything and that was a lot to do with, couldn't get things off docs, couldn't get them out of different areas, different countries. It was a real mess. So I think you guys are not unique in that manner, but it's good to hear that it's starting to clear up. It's getting better. It's certainly getting better. But I think everybody's dealing with it. Yeah. Figuring a way around it at least. So just to get it started, one of the most exciting new products that you guys have are your new waiters. Those will be featured in the magazine obviously, but let's get into the details of what you guys changed with

09:11 Jimbo Ronquest your waiters. That was one of my big things coming over to Drake, was waiters. When you're in an everyday duck season pretty much and then traveling and all the stuff that we get to do, you appreciate a pair of waiters that one holds up and two stays together, keeps you dry and warm and comfortable. So that was a big part of coming on. So the updates for fall 23, they're not quite brand new to the TZip, but man, it's a big improvement. One of my best things that I got to say about them is the boots. Newly redesigned boots, lighter, more comfortable. I got to wear them some last duck season. Super warm, super comfortable. We also got that same new boot on our hip boots. I was moving a floating blind yesterday, so I got to use them, wear them, walk in them, walk in the mud. They're just so much better to me than the old boots. They're going to be warm. They're going to be comfortable. They're again, they feel almost like wearing a tennis shoe, but I said almost. They're still a pair of boots, right? But just so cool that improvement alone is huge. The TZip part of the Zip waiter, we made that Zip for longer based on some of the other waiter manufacturers. We made that longer just to, it just makes it easier when Mother Nature calls. You don't have to make as many, it's not quite as difficult. Inside hand warmer pockets, outside hand warmer pockets, outside shell pockets that stuff doesn't fall out of. Just those changes alone are huge. A little better shoulder strap, a little better waist strap, just really trying to improve the general fit, feel and finish of the current TZip waiter. So I'm excited to see how folks are going to like those. Are you guys going to come out with those that'll be insulated or all breathables? These are all breathables. I believe there is going to be some SMUs that may be insulated, but for the most part, uninsulated. One of the other things too is our sizing is going to be different. So instead of slim, regular, big, they're going to be sized more similar to your jacket size. Medium, large, extra large, 2X, 3X, and short, regular, and tall. So that's just going to make the fit way better for everybody. I think folks are going to enjoy that so much more that they can buy a pair of waiters that's going to fit and you can adjust. Some guys like to wear their insulated jacket underneath their waiters. Some folks like to wear it on the outside. I want to be able to do both. So it's a little snug when I put something warm underneath it, it's fine. I typically am the best guy underneath it in a waterproof, windproof jacket on the outside. But I think folks are really going to appreciate the new waiter. And then warm, fuzzy inside the top. Where do you typically put your hands when you're wearing a pair of waiters when ducks ain't flying? Either right there or stick them down inside the front. And boy,

11:55 Chris Jennings them little hand warmer pockets right there are sweet. Yeah, that's awesome. Now, I'm the same way I always keep my hands here. But one thing that you talked about earlier as well is the straps.

12:06 Jimbo Ronquest You guys changed the straps a little bit. A little bit. The material and the elasticity of it's going to be a little different. I think folks will appreciate that more. You can have them too stiff, I think, but you can also have them too loose. If it's too floppy and they won't hold up, that's no good either. But at the same time, if you need to pull them down a little bit, you want to be able to do that. And you don't want them to hang. If you're catching limb, you don't want them to yank you out the boat. Yeah. And I'm a jacket inside my waiters until it starts raining. And then you got to have your jacket outside. You have to have it both ways. You know what's funny? A lot of folks don't think about that, but that's a recipe for getting wet. Oh yeah. I've seen people do it a hundred times. If you can have all the waterproof good stuff on you want, you put your waterproof jacket inside your waiters, it's going to run right down your

12:53 Chris Jennings waterproof jacket and get your feet wet. Right into your feet. That's right. Well, yeah, it'll end up at your feet, let's say that. And it's going to be cold. Along with everything else along the way. That's right. Kind of moving on with some new products. Another thing that goes along with this is with those waiters is you guys came out with some merino wool, McAllister under layers. Fantastic. I mean, everyone is kind of shifting, it seems like, to these uninsulated, breathable waiters. And what comes along with that with me anyway is being cold when I'm hunting the timber. I better be prepared. So now I'm starting to see companies come out with these different wool under layers that are absolutely fantastic. And for me, a must, especially if you go up north and you're hunting in those same waiters, you need those under layers. But it makes your day so much more comfortable. Is that kind of where you guys came with that? You saw a need there and

13:43 Jimbo Ronquest just filled the hole. And I think that's what a lot of other folks are also doing. If you spend a lot of time hunting in the woods, say you're hunting, you know, white river bottoms late in the year, you're dealing with some colder water. So if you just got your breathable waiters on, your legs will likely get cold. In fact, if you're in, say, thigh to waist deep water, when that water pressure, at least for me, gets around them thighs pretty good, it just sucks the heat out of you. So a layering system that includes merino wool, maybe some fleece line pants, maybe even a little heavier outer bib or wader pant over top of that, and you don't feel the water. Yet, let's back up in the mid September tail season, and you need a pair of waders for wherever you hunt and not hit boots, you don't want to have to put all that stuff underneath it. So you want those waders to breathe so you can be cooler. So that gives you an opportunity to have one pair of waders to get

14:32 Chris Jennings you through the whole season. Yeah, now that's great. And we're going to run through several more products, some of the new stuff, and it'll be awesome. Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show. I'm here with Jim Ronquest from Drake Waterfowl. Jim, we kind of touched on the waders and then we made a little quick transition into the Macalester under layers. They're one of my favorites, but you guys also come out with an MST Ultimate Wader bib this fall. That's a cool product. It really goes perfectly in line with what we were talking about, the uninsulated breathable waders on those cold days when the ducks aren't flying. I know my legs, next thing you know, you realize your legs start shaking a little bit in the water. Not bad, adds a little motion in the water, but you don't want to be

15:36 Jimbo Ronquest shivering out there. No, you want to be comfortable. Part of the pursuit of Wildfowl is to have fun and be comfortable while you're doing it and that'll make you more successful. We talked about how to layer up underneath everybody doing these breathable waders. The Ultimate Wader bib, there's something everybody's going to enjoy. I can see some bow hunters maybe also appreciating that because they're so quiet. They're fleece, they're warm. That over your base layers or that over a mid layer, it's going to have to be really cold water before you get cold. I just don't see it happening. They're super for what we're talking about for a layering piece. Maybe even if you're wearing them under your bibs, goose hunting, if you're hunting layout blind or something like that, put your uninsulated waterproof bibs on over top of them, you'll be even more comfortable shedding that wind, shedding the water where you don't necessarily need waders, but those bibs

16:29 Chris Jennings along with the fleece wader bib combined will keep you warm and dry. Cool. Yeah. And then you guys also have the new LST jacket and vest. You mentioned both of those are some of your favorite

16:43 Jimbo Ronquest products that you guys are coming out with. With the Double Down fabric, the new face fabric on those, those became my go-tos last year. If it really got bad, I would put one of our windproof waterproof shells over the top of it. But the outside fabric, instead of the shiny looking, it might be camouflage, but we've all seen it. I don't know the proper name of the material, but it's kind of got a shiny nylon look to it. It snags really bad. This stuff is really satin. It's got kind of a light canvas feel to it. It doesn't shine, doesn't sheen. It hides good. Just general briars will kind of roll off of it pretty good, yet it's not really stiff and noisy. Those two combined together, the vest and the jacket, I wear the vest in large, the jacket in the XL. If it gets cold and you've got that on and you're still getting cold, you might need to

17:31 Chris Jennings get your blood pressure checked. Yeah. I think that's one thing that people will notice right away, especially when the July, August issue hits and they're able to see. That's kind of the first look for anyone, really. I'm sure you guys will have it on your website and stuff. You bet. But really the first look to a large audience there that you'll notice that matte finish. That's what you're talking about. It's that matte kind of finish-based fabric that it's not real shiny or anything, but I think that'll jump out to people because it's unique.

18:01 Jimbo Ronquest You'll see that across the line on several other outerwear garments that we have. Again, camouflage print does great, but if you can matte up. How many people here talk about taking their

18:13 Chris Jennings layout blinds and mudding them up? Oh yeah. So you've kind of automatically mudded it up at first. Yeah, we talk about that all the time. Along those same lines of when the temperatures do drop, you guys have a new hoodie. I know a lot of people don't think about that and you just mentioned before we came on air, that's not your normal hoodie. So it's called the LST Silencer

18:34 Jimbo Ronquest Hoodie is what the actual name is. But kind of share what that thing is. Yeah. So that would be something that you would use over a base layer, maybe even a base layer in a long sleeve shirt, but it's really thick performance fleece, wicks moisture very well, huge insulating properties. I forget what the number is, but super warm that combined. 400 grams of 100% polyester fleece. Yeah. Sucker super warm. But the best thing about it is even for as what we would call, I wouldn't call it heavy, like a lot of the old heavy cotton hoodies that we all love to wear, but it's light and flexible. You can move in it and it's quiet and super, super warm. One of our main product develop person, Justin Carper and I were moving some decoys last year on pretty chilly morning. It's kind of froze up a little bit and he had his own about the first trip in and out. It was gone because sweat was dripping off his nose and out of his ears and everywhere else. But it also breathes well too because it's polyester fleece. So it wicks moisture well, insulates well. It is just a super, super good for the folks who like hoodies. It's awesome.

19:43 Chris Jennings There's a lot of them out there. I think in our new guns and gear issue, we have an entire category dedicated to just hoodies this year, which is the first time I've ever done that. So it's kind of interesting that there's a lot of different hoodies out there and you see people rocking them. Now, granted, there's some people who don't ever wear hoodies, but there's a lot of people that do. As far as hoodies go, it is top shelf. Yeah, it looks like it. Next category here is probably my favorite and the one that my wife wishes that I would give up this complete, I'm not even going to call it like a collection at this point, but it's bags. I'm a bag aficionado. I have backpacks and bags. Like my cohost, Dr. Mike Brazier asked me for a waterproof backpack the other day and I was like, okay, yeah, I got one. But I'm technically, I'm using it as a pickleball bag right now for my pickleball paddle and balls. So I was like, all right, man, and just because I have so many bags, but these two new bags that you guys come out with this year, H&D blind bag, awesome design, cool stuff, super durable. It's a pretty good size bag. So where did this kind of come from?

20:53 Jimbo Ronquest Just kind of spin off one of the older bags and you guys just kind of took it under? Just kind of a redesign, kind of how can we make this more useful? And to your point, I think a lot of people more so than we realize, dual purpose or repurpose these bags for other things besides going to the duck blind or the goose blind or whatever. You use it for your ball team. A lot of people use them for their turkey hunting gear. A lot of people use them for storage. If you're a pistol or rifle shooter, we use it to store magazines or ammo or whatnot in to go to the range. So there's a lot of ways to use these bags. We have several of them, depending on what you like or how light you like to run or how prepared you like to be. We've got something for everybody. The newer stuff, it's been again, pockets redesigned, make it a little bit more ergonomic, easier to get stuff in and out of and stay organized is kind of one of the big things we got going moving forward.

21:41 Chris Jennings Yeah. And the next bag you guys have is the swamp pack. And you guys have always had some really solid backpacks. I've got probably one of each one. You just have this huge monster bag that I ended up using it as a tackle bag for a period of time. It has since transitioned back to hunting gear, but this one, the swamp pack, it's like a 100% waterproof. It's like they got the TPU

22:07 Jimbo Ronquest bottom. It is a waterfowler pack. And you can pack your extra clothes in there. I think that's something you keep in a boat with that in mind. Yeah. You get wet in the boat, hypothermia could be an issue. So pack you some extra things in there, use it for storage. If you're walking in, it's something you can pack everything but the kitchen sink in. Extra clothes, lunch, coffee bottles, it's all right there. It's big, it's roomy. I forget how many cubic inches of storage is in it, but it's big. And again, I think of that piece as something to put extra change of clothes in, extra jacket, extra vest, something to help keep your core body heat up that you might put in the boat, put it up in the boat box that you might need it for down the road. But again, use it however you want to. It's cool that it is waterproof. If you're in the rain or something, it's going to keep everything dry. Yeah. And you said it's huge. It's not as big as the one you was talking about, but it's probably, I don't know, probably 15, 16 inches wide by maybe 24 inches tall. I don't know if we have the dimensions. I don't have the dimensions right here, but it also has like five main outer compartments that are waterproof straps as well. Put your thermoses, your Coke bottles, your water bottles, whatever you need. You got a place for it,

23:26 Chris Jennings put it on your back and go. Yeah. No, and that's awesome. And being such a gear head, I'm sitting here while you're talking, I'm thinking about, I wonder, do you bring these recommendations? You've been with Drake for a year now and now you're, like you said, you're kind of learning how these processes work. And do you bring some of that when you guys are having new product conversations, are you like, yeah, man, that pocket will never work because it's not this. Or like you said, man, this pack, it's a swamp pack. It's a great backpack, but it's also like, this can be storage in a boat. This is your dry bag. Do you bring those kinds of conversations in? Is that kind of your

24:06 Jimbo Ronquest cup of tea? That's pretty cool. Yeah, absolutely. And there's some stuff that I may not use that you might. And I always try to keep that in mind too. What's beneficial to everybody, because we all use that stuff a little differently. I can remember back in the day where I would tell folks, they'd ask me, said, man, we got room to put our bag anywhere. If you can't keep it in your coat pocket, you don't need it. And there's some truth to that, but through time and think, man, there's nice to have extra stuff around. Oh yeah. Have stuff where you can get to it. I'm bad about toolboxes in my truck. Same thing in a boat. I keep a bag or a box with different stuff in it that that's where it stays. It's where our waterproof stuff really comes in the hand, because you don't want that stuff getting wet. So tools, screwdrivers, whatever is right there in case you need it. Always packed for that. If I'm hunting, I'm hunting light, but in the boat

24:56 Chris Jennings might be them extras that I'm going to need. Yeah. And there's always a time and a place for everything. I've transitioned over the last probably 20 years to different bags. And what I've learned with myself is the bigger the bag that I get, the more crap that I'm going to bring. Next thing I know, I'm trying to pick up my blind bag and it weighs 70 pounds because I've got, now I've got six boxes of shells, but because I can fit them in there or I've got this extra thing that I don't need that I'm just like, oh, this will go in the bag. So I've kind of downsized and then I went real small. Like you said, like if I can't get in my pockets, I don't need it. And then I realized that didn't work for me either because I got too much stuff. And so I've just continued to transition from bag to bag to where I've kind of found the middle ground, which is kind of where the H and D bag really fits. It's kind of a middle tier bag as far as size. It's

25:45 Jimbo Ronquest not too big. You can put it in a pit with you. You take, or, you know, put it in a boat with you, then work out of it. If you're hunting slight public woods, you know, you keep your ammo or whatever in there and odds and ends that you're going to need during the day, but just work out of it, you know, get you two handfuls of shells and go, if you shoot them up, go back there and get some more. So you're not carrying a, trying to hide a big bag, but you can work out of it. And that's, I've kind of found traveling. I'm bad when I go places. I like to drive because I got my truck. I've got my everything set up in my truck. I know what's where that being said, I try to keep a bag put together. That's kind of like what they call a bug out bag of sorts to where there's a Leatherman in there. There's a paracord in there. There'd be shells in there. There'd be odds and ends that I need. If I don't have my truck, I won't feel like I'm just totally left out. So I try to put one of them together to keep, if I have to swing in hot in the truck with you, I'm going to try to grab that bag along with one of my others.

26:42 Chris Jennings Yeah. Oh, that's so funny. You said that I was just talking to somebody about that same thing where I always want to drive because I know that I have like three extra headlamps under my back seat. I know that I have, I know where everything is. I get out, I've got my waiter straps, I got everything goes in its spot. And as soon as I get in someone else's truck and go hunting, I'm lost. Just like, where's this? Where's this? It's funny that you mentioned that.

27:05 Jimbo Ronquest Stuff like that drives me fruit. I was in Montana, got to go to Montana turkey hunting this spring. And my first plan was to drive for that very reason. I wound up because of timing. I had to fly. I had to borrow a gun when I got out there because I didn't want to fly with my gun. I tried to pack all my stuff, extra stuff in the extra vest. Okay. What's my basic needs and what's the stuff I like to have just in case. So you're trying to get under that 50 pound airline. Try to be under that 50 pound bag limit, man. I was coming in at 45.

27:34 Chris Jennings Yeah. If I get under 48, I'm doing something. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I'm always on the same way. If I drive, even just going over to my camp, I'm bringing two pairs of waiters. Oh, of course. I'll be over there for like three days. You know, I'm like, well, you know, I might need another pair of waiters or something. You know, I've got two guns. I've got, you know, I've got double of everything to make sure that if something, or if a buddy of mine shows up and

27:54 Jimbo Ronquest you say, Hey, I forgot my gun. That's happened before. Or how many times have you had a guest that is flying in bag got lost. Well, here I can help you out buddy. I'm right there with you. I

28:04 Chris Jennings like to be that guy. Yeah. Yeah. I try to be, although with the bags, my wife laughs and I have duffel bags. So I got to figure something out. That's, that's the answer to that is I got to figure out how to get rid of some of them. Yeah. I'm, I'm kind of somewhat a bag nerd too. I got all different sizes. Yeah. That's a little skip. We'll get away from the bags. We probably talk about that all day. So the next one is McAlister heavy duty three in one jacket. It's, it's pretty versatile as far as before we came online, we were kind of talking about it. And I was like, man, that's a, that's a heavy jacket. That'll be a great, you know, late season jacket,

28:38 Jimbo Ronquest but really you can strip that thing down. You bet. It's a three and one, you can make it work for early season, mid season or late season, however you choose to use it, use each part of it separately or together. Yeah. And that's kind of the beauty of that kind of stuff is you can

28:53 Chris Jennings take this one jacket and use it in three different ways. Yeah. And you had the, you had the three in one launch. Yeah. That's not necessarily a, anything new. Yeah. You had it with the Drake line, but this is the first three and one McAlister. You bet. In a solid. And there's probably some people out there that may not know that McAlister is a Drake waterfowl product.

29:13 Jimbo Ronquest That's correct. And all the, all the McAlister stuff, the wax cotton stuff that we're working on, it's like the old original McAlister stuff. So it's, it's the same designs. We're trying to make them all a little better. You know, evolution being what it is, always trying to make things

29:29 Chris Jennings better. But it's the same old McAlister stuff. Yeah. I have a guys, a couple of guys that I hunt with have one of the old original McAlister jackets and they love it. They're still, they're

29:39 Jimbo Ronquest going to have to get a new one. Eventually they're wearing that thing out. Well, that's, that's, that's cool about stuff like that is it's kind of like an heirloom that you wear all the time, you know, and if you eventually wear one out, well, you've put it through the test, buddy.

29:51 Chris Jennings Yeah. One thing that you guys also have out is the new timber strap. And I, I still have one of the old timber straps, but I noticed a couple of new things with the new timber strap. You went to

30:03 Jimbo Ronquest metal hooks, which I think that that was probably a no brainer. Yeah. Everybody broke those plastic hooks and, and even metal hooks. You didn't want them to be too pointy. I mean, how many times you try to get your gun off and if you're using it, it's hung on there. You can't, God dang it. I can't get my gun. Those straps work really well. The shell pouch on there, you can put a box of shells in it. You can hang your ducks on it. It's truly a good working tree

30:27 Chris Jennings strap for timber hunters. Yeah. Yeah. And it's got the, got the duck strap. So, you know, you can hang ducks if you need it. I mean, I think it's, it's a good design. It works good. One thing, and people see this in the magazine as well is the goose flag. You guys have always had goose flags, but you guys just went back to the drawing board with this thing, redid it. The one that I think that we have in the magazine has old school camo on one side, black on the other.

30:54 Jimbo Ronquest Have you used flags like that for specs or is that primarily, you know, I have, I have not. That's typically a Canada thing. Although that being said, I don't know why it wouldn't work. Yeah. I was just curious. I was thinking about that. You know, that's a great question. I'm, you know, I don't know why it wouldn't say it's the same idea. You're trying to, trying to use that natural looking motion to attract their attention. Yeah. That's what it's all about. Another thing we got, you may not have is some new hard goods. We got a new duck stand coming out for a Marstan type thing where you can, that's going to be really nice for places to set your gun, hang your shells, put your coffee, whatever. If you hunt a buck brush slew or a willow break or even in wood, sometimes there's not a tree where you want it to put your stuff on. This thing right here, you stick it in there. It's pretty heavy duty, but yet wouldn't take, don't take up much room in a boat, folds up nicely. It's something that I think everybody will use to keep in their toolbox for when they might need something like that.

31:52 Chris Jennings Yeah. And another thing, which you guys actually came out with last year, but you had touched on it on a phone call a couple of weeks ago, you know, the pit toppers, that's kind of unique. It's a very unique, cause you know, not every region has pits like that. But something that definitely caught my eye as a solution, especially with the guys that I hunt with, the area that I hunt in,

32:12 Jimbo Ronquest those pit toppers could be, it could be a game changer for some people. Could be, and a little story of that. So that same top we use on our, what we call our ghillie blind. And the pit tops comes in, I think a 16 or 20 foot length. It might just be 16. I need to brush up on that. But here's what I'll say about it. Went to Canada last fall, first big hunt and was using the ghillie blinds. And I was concerned about how that was all going to work. Made no bones about it. So yeah, I don't know how this is going to work. You know, once I got it set up and got it hid and used it and the way that it folds and the way it flips up when you come up to shoot, the way it hides, we had, we had birds, of course we're in Canada, but tried it again at home. We had birds lighting down there on top of us, you know, cause taking away that black hole from the top of the pit, top of the layout blind, whatever it may be, you eliminate that black hole, yet you can still watch birds and see the show. I was extremely impressed with how well it worked in a hunting situation. Yeah, no, that's cool. So you apply that same technology back to, you just buy the pit lid and you, you want to take it off during, when duck season is over, you're going to go put it up somewhere. You're not going to leave it on the pit all summer long, but it can be a game changer. Once you make it, once you get it set right and it can open from either side and you take, how many times, if you ever gone flying over duck country and even a roll top, what's the first thing you see at the little thin strip black line. You see it from a mile away. You take all that stuff away.

33:39 Chris Jennings And that's, that's the beauty of that pit lid. And that's one thing to touch on the, the realities, you know, when you said you've ever been flying over duck country. Well, I never, I mean, I have flown over duck country, but not, not recently in an airplane, but really with technology now, everybody's got a drone. Oh yeah. So I've flown drones all over where our farm is really to look at our pits and to see what like, and you can look down and you're like, that looks awful.

34:04 Jimbo Ronquest Some of the places I've seen, it makes me wonder how we even shoot a duck.

34:08 Chris Jennings Like, why did a duck fall for that? Yeah, how do we do that? But that's definitely a solution. A lot in this region, you know, there's probably a lot more pits than other places. I don't know, out West, there's quite a few California. They, they hunt from pits as well. But that, we have battled that for 10 years. You know, do you want a roll top? We've got, you know, do you want a flip top, the A frame looking flip top that we've just struggled finding the

34:33 Jimbo Ronquest right solution. So I'm excited to see that. And there's a debate on all of it. Oh yeah, absolutely. You know, we try to help build tools to add to the duck hunters toolbox to help him be more successful, but I like to think of that as tools. You know, you might not use the same tool for every application. So you may try something else in a different application. So that's kind of the way I like to think of things. What, what all am I going to need for all the different things I'm going to do this year? If I only do one thing, if I only go to the woods every day, well, I don't need as many tools, right? But although that's my favorite, I do more than just that. So you got to

35:06 Chris Jennings be prepared for it. So Jim, you had a couple more products that, that you really wanted to kind of touch on before we get off here. Go ahead and just kind of talk about those different new Drake

35:16 Jimbo Ronquest products that really jump out. One that comes to mind is we got a dog stand this year. It's going to be pretty handy for whether you hunt in the woods or hunt in the field. It's a nice fold up dog stand. You can adjust the height of it, adjust the level for the water depth. You can put a blind on top of it, put your dog in the blind or if you're in the woods, you can just build cover over the top of it. It's going to be, be a good piece. There's, there's others like it. We've got our own twist to it. I think people will enjoy that dog blind. It's going to, the new field blind field house. I forget the exact name. I deal with what the product is to the names of it, which is bad on me. I'll get chastised for that down the road. Just be looking for the new dog blinds. I think people enjoy them. All the new hard goods is kind of getting a redesign. Again, they're different tools to add to your duck hunting, goose hunting toolbox,

36:05 Chris Jennings but there's, there's some nice stuff coming there for sure. Cool. That's exciting. And I know, you know, one of the biggest things that we talk about, you know, this time of year, and I know that you really have your kind of ear to the ground of this as well. Obviously you did the B-Pop survey shows with Mike Brazier last year. You know, are you getting, do you get questions from people like, Hey, have you heard anything about duck numbers? Have you heard anything about this? Like what, what kind of feedback or really questions are you getting? Just cause you know, you, you kind of, you have a pretty big audience, especially in social. Are you getting a lot of

36:37 Jimbo Ronquest that? It's starting to, you know, I do get it throughout the course of the year, but it's funny how things change, you know? So as I mentioned earlier, my other passion, hunting passion is turkey hunting. So, you know, we just eat during duck season, you're talking about turkey hunting, you know, get closer to the end of the duck season, talking about turkey season. As you get closer to the end of turkey season, in the summer, we're talking duck hunting. So we're in that time frame right now, mid May, you know, we're thinking about the May pond counts coming up and I'm starting, everybody's gears are starting to switch a little bit to what are ducks doing. But I always get people ask, Hey Jimbo, what are you hearing about duck numbers? What's duck population looks like? Are there going to be any ducks this year? You know, I can't, I don't have my own personal crystal ball. So I kind of listened to a lot of folks, but kind of from what I'm hearing, talking to folks from here, Ducks Unlimited, Fish and Wildlife, different game fish folks, it sounds like maybe things could be at least the same as last year, maybe in some places a little better. I was just in eastern Montana a couple of weeks ago, turkey hunting, but we're in the Prairie Pothole region there and there was, you know, I've seen moutard pairs and pentapears, grass was short, a lot of places kind of concerning. You could tell the water wasn't up, you know, flooded into those pastures, but you could also tell there wasn't a big mud flat to the edge of the water. So things that come back and talking to the locals, they said, yeah, it's been bad dry. We're just getting enough rain to get some of these things kind of at least to this level right here in full. So they're talking to Duck Hunter, things are looking better here than they have been in some time. I know the Dakotas have gotten pretty good moisture lately up into Manitoba and parts of Saskatchewan have. I don't know what that's going to mean. We'll find out in another, what's it, about another month. We'll have an idea of what things are looking like. And then hopefully Mike and I can do the same thing we did last year, kind of discuss all that.

38:25 Chris Jennings We definitely did. And we talked about this before you came on air. It's that time. Now you did mention you'd go from turkey hunting mindset to hunting. At the Ducks Unlimited podcast, we only have one mindset. So we stick on with ducks and geese year round. I'm just kidding. But you talked about this earlier where you notice when you were with Rich and Tone and you noticed even when you were guiding and now even especially with Drake, you noticed that that July timeframe kicks in and you start, Duck Hunters start looking at duck hunting. It's just that change, that mentality.

38:58 Jimbo Ronquest I've said it before and I kind of got away from it. And then I've seen it again. Fourth of July, the Monday, if, let's just say for conversation purpose, I think this year it hits during the middle of the week, but let's say fourth of July is on a Friday and we have fourth of July weekend. Everybody has a big time. We're cooking and having fun and doing all the things you do on fourth of July. I think everybody gets around and talks about duck season. And I can remember being in the guide business, my phone would start ringing on Monday, people talking about booking hunts. And as I grew more into the general outdoor industry, you see the same thing happen. And that's when people like to ship catalogs. That's the beginning, you know, beginning of quarter three, all the new hunting shows start coming out, magazines coming out with fall products. Everybody starts thinking fall. So I have come to the conclusion that duck season starts. July 5th. July 5th. Yeah. Pretty much when duck season starts. If you think about it from a hunting club or getting stuff ready, think, all right, so you're already into the first week of July. So you're say six weeks from there, you're getting close to the first of September, right? You're getting plump all the way through August. You're coming close to fall and dove season opening. The Northern Tier States have early goose season opening early September and the Northern Tier States regular duck season is going to start late in September. So really even at home here, if you got a duck club to get ready and you got woods to get ready and you got blinds to brush and you got things to do, you need to start getting organized after the 4th of July. But if you got a boat, get you, if you duck boat, you've been water skiing and fishing all summer, start thinking about getting your boats ready. Start getting, what do I need? Do I need ammo? Do I need clothes? I've seen them new Drake waders. They look pretty cool. I need to order a pair of them. Start thinking about that because it'll bite you in the butt. Yeah. And if you're planning any early fall trips, you think, okay, I'm going to Canada in late September, October. Well, that timeframe is going to come out of your get ready time. The more you can do to get ready, starting after the 4th, that's reasonable. Yeah. You'll be better off for it because there's nothing worse than going into duck season, having to act like you're killing snakes up all night, rigging decoys. That being said, I do it every year. I've done it. Yeah, I did it last. Pumping pits and yeah, it was a disaster. We didn't get our decoys in until the day before duck seasons, or two days before duck season. So everybody's outside trying to get decoys tied and set decoys. I don't necessarily like have to do that. Yeah. But I always wind up doing it. So I figured the more I talk about getting started early, the more you're going to motivate yourself. More and more motivate yourself to be done. So I always appreciate some of the managers that's getting, it might be a hundred degrees and dry in a popcorn fart, but thinking duck season's coming,

41:48 Chris Jennings it's going to rain again. It's going to get colder. It's going to change. Get it done now. Yeah. No, I mean, that's kind of how I am after 4th of July. I'm not a big hot weather guy. I say that living in Memphis, so that's not good. But once after the 4th of July, maybe middle of July, I'm about done with summer. Yeah. I think most folks are. All right. We've had a good time swimming and doing all this, but I think that's not just me. That's like you said, a lot of folks, especially duck hunters, hunters in general, you start transitioning, but the reality is by the time you hit August, man, it's coming. It's coming quick, buddy. Faster than you think it is. That's right.

42:27 Jimbo Ronquest I think what myself, I get to think, well, gosh dang, it's 105 in the shade. It ain't time to do

42:33 Chris Jennings all that stuff. Well, yeah, it is. Cause if you wait, it's not going to wait on you, buddy. Nope. It'll be here. And we're always trying to do, you end up on a teal hunt in Louisiana or Texas. So you got five days out in September and by the time October hits, you got-

42:47 Jimbo Ronquest If you're going to bow hunt any at all, if that's something- Yeah, if you're going to do anything else. If that's something you do.

42:51 Chris Jennings Yeah. You're going to eat up time. So it's better to go ahead and take advantage of some of those hot days where you're not doing anything anyway, and cleaning decoys, stuff like that. We talked about a lot of that. Good things ready to go. Yeah. No, that's cool. Well, Jimbo, this has been awesome. Appreciate you coming on. Thanks for sharing all the information about Drake's new products. I know we're excited about it. As an official partner of Ducks Unlimited, it means a lot for us, means a lot for you guys, and man, we better start getting ready. You bet. I appreciate you giving me time to start talking about it. All good. I'd like to thank my guest, Jimbo Ronquest, for joining me on the show today and talking about some of Drake's new products, talking about maybe the possibility of the duck numbers. We kind of just covered the gamut there. I'd like to thank our producer, Chris Isaac, for putting the show together and getting it out to you. And I'd like to thank you, the listener, for joining us on the DU Podcast and supporting wetlands conservation.