Ducks Unlimited Podcast

Katie Burke: Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Ducks Unlimited podcast. This is your host, Katie Burke. And today on the show, I have wildlife artist, Jared Ducote. Hi, Jared. Hi, Katie. And we have Whiskey here. Yep. All right. Can you explain why Whiskey is here?

Jared DuCote: So my day job, hey, bud, is I do pediatrics in adolescence, patient transitional care. And so he's a medical therapy service dog that goes with me to see all the kids in the hospital. So he goes with me everywhere.

Katie Burke: Okay. Did you go to St. Jude today or where were you today? Where'd you take him? St. Jude. St. Jude.

Jared DuCote: Yeah. We go around everywhere and he goes to all the DU events and kind of hangs out everywhere.

Katie Burke: Yeah. Oh, that's great. You're our first dog guest.

Jared DuCote: Oh man, how awesome is that?

Katie Burke: I don't know if we'll get another one anytime soon, so you might be the one and only for a while. Is he your first service dog? Yes. Okay. So what did that entail going through that and deciding to have him become a service dog? Did you buy him in the intention to be a service dog or did you decide after you had him?

Jared DuCote: It was kind of a last minute after situation. And it goes through obedience training, then service dog school. and go through a bunch of paperwork and everything else. And, um, they go through a testing cycle. Okay. But afterwards, it's really cool to take him everywhere. Yeah. He goes onto the plane. He goes to restaurants. I mean, pretty much everywhere.

Katie Burke: Yeah. And I'm sure, like, I mean, it's probably so rewarding also, like, getting to go in there and take him and see that.

Jared DuCote: It is. I do enjoy seeing people smile, even, like, at the grocery store and say, oh, my gosh, I used to have a golden. Can I pet him? Yeah, absolutely. And then just see him smile and lighten up. Right. It's one of the best feelings. Yeah. The kids, I really enjoy that in the hospital. The medical industry is a weird industry, and it can be very tolling on you. And so he not only helps the kids, but also the nursing as well.

Katie Burke: Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, I have lots. I don't know what it is, but I run as my other hobby. And it's full of also nurses and pharmacists for some reason. I don't know why medical professionals love to run. And I hear about their days and stuff all the time. So I can definitely see where that would be and much make things better for them too, because it's stressful. Yeah.

Jared DuCote: And then, you know, when I'm stuck in traffic, he helps calm me down.

Katie Burke: Yeah, yeah. Makes airports better. You want to get down off this box. Whiskey, you don't like it up there. So you chose pediatrics because you're already in pediatrics, correct?

Jared DuCote: No, I actually did geriatrics first. And then I did a transition during COVID to pediatrics. And it's very interesting because geriatrics, they're adults. But kids are so innocent. They don't really know what's going on. They just know, I don't feel good or it's… Not normal, but hey, you know, they still have this fun, positive outlook. Whereas you go see Mrs. Smith and she's just, oh, negative, negative, negative, I just want… But the kids are very positive and they can be very deathly ill. And just going into and visiting with them and they still have this positive outlook. Oh my gosh, you brought a dog in today. Yes. How are you doing? Oh, I'm good. I'm great. So it's really, I do enjoy the kids. It does take its toll on you. At the end of the day, if you have your own family, it does make you cherish everything more. And, you know, like there are times I go home and I hug my daughter and I'm like, you know what? I am extremely lucky. I am very blessed at the end of the day that things could be on completely different situations.

Katie Burke: Yeah. No, I mean, that makes perfect sense to me. I think about, you know, yeah, until you have kids, like, I feel like one of the ones things that you that you don't really realize about yourself is like your own mortality until you have kids and then all of a sudden you're very aware of it. Like you never really thought about it before then all of a sudden you think about it all the time. All the time. Yeah, it's very weird.

Jared DuCote: I tell everybody, they're like, whoa, some of my friends that don't have kids. And I said, what is it like? And I said, man, there is like this little gnome in my brain. And he just walked over and like flipped the switch and said, you're gonna have fun now.

Katie Burke: Yeah, it's very interesting. All of a sudden your mind just shifts into this completely different thing and you didn't even know you could do that. But yeah, you think about it all the time.

Jared DuCote: I think about it all the time, but it's so rewarding. I love it. I think one of my best accomplishments in my life is my family and my daughter.

Katie Burke: Oh yeah, 100%. All right, so let's go back into your background. So I know we'll start with just the outdoors first, okay? Okay. And then we'll kind of get into art, because I know that you're a self-trained artist, so we can kind of go into that a little bit too. But how did your relationship with outdoors begin? Did you start… Were you hunting at a young age? What was all that like?

Jared DuCote: Honestly, no. It was very odd. I got into the outdoors through scouting. So back in the 80s, Boy Scouts, I got into it. My parents, they did everything they could for my sister and I. And so they were hard-working, middle-class Americans. And so… My dad wasn't able to always take us out hunting, and there was a few times that I've got to go dove hunting with him. Very, very rarely. Fishing, very rarely. But my love for the outdoors was through scouting. And camping and just being outside was just the best feeling. I don't know exactly how to explain it to people, but It's kind of like when you're in the duck blind. And that little twilight before the sun comes up and everything's quiet and still and you see everything and it's like, oh my gosh, this is just so peaceful. And I fell in love with that at a young age. And I loved camping. Continued with it. And so some of the best, I would say, God's creations, you get to see his artwork out there. And it's like, man, you can't…

Katie Burke: No, it is. It's true. And we talk about that, like artists and carvers in particular. I don't know what it is, like maybe our brains just kind of hit that a little differently. It hits us a little different, but that's very prominent in what motivates us and things like that. Yeah, you're not the first one to talk about that. Oh, good. Yeah, it's kind of a common inspiration and that feeling. And I guess it's, and a lot of artists are trying to capture that a lot. Oh, absolutely. Because you can't describe it, right? It's not, it's hard to put words to that feeling. But yeah, and like the camping thing is like, we actually just got back from camping. Oh yeah, that's right. The day before yesterday with my kids. And it's funny because with kids, I make them go at least once a year and they don't want to go. They do because it's 2024 and I don't let them take tablets with them. We let them ride down there and once we get to the campsite, they have to put it in the car and they can't have it anymore. So they're always grumpy about it. And then within three hours, they're fine with it.

Jared DuCote: Oh, absolutely.

Jared DuCote: I love it because you're so disconnected from everything.

Katie Burke: Yeah, it's great.

Jared DuCote: And I'm very fortunate. My daughter's an outdoors girl. Yeah. So she loves being outside and being outdoors. And it's great. I love it. But the camping, I loved it. And hunting wasn't introduced until my adult life. Yeah. And I'd gone here and there. But the funniest part was I've never been duck hunting until DU.

Katie Burke: Oh, really?

Jared DuCote: Yes. So I was at an event and this gentleman told me, he said, well, you know, what do you, what do you, you know, what do you see in the duck blind when you're out there? And I said, I have no clue. I've never been in one. And he said, you got to be kidding me. You're painting ducks and you've never been hunting. I said no. And he said, all right, we're going to go. So, he took me in South Arkansas to go duck hunting, and I was like, oh, this was bad idea. And my wife goes, well, why was it a bad idea? Because it's like, oh, I want to go again. I got to do this again. And I fell in love with it.

Katie Burke: Yeah. I mean, it's hard not to. It's expensive hobby though.

Jared DuCote: Hey, my wife has two things up against her. A duck hunter that's an artist.

Katie Burke: I mean, it's- Yeah, that's true. All right. You start with the Boy Scouts of the outdoors, but when does art enter your life? Like when was it always there? How does that kind of… Gosh. Become part of your identity.

Jared DuCote: No, the art has always been there. I've always been interested in it and always drawn, done different things. But my father, back in the 70s, they had what was called commercial artists. And so nowadays they have like a vinyl plotter that would cut and make the die-cast stickers and you put them on trucks and different things. Right. Well, back in the day, they had a hand artist. And he would take paint and he would hand letter everything.

Katie Burke: Yeah, like for signs and things like that.

Jared DuCote: So that's what my dad did. And he had his own sign business. And so I got a lot of my creative and art aspects probably from him, but I've always been interested in drawing and different things. And I guess I was seven, eight years old being in his shop after school and stuff. And both my parents had to work. And my dad, you know, oh, okay, here's some cardboard, here's some papers, you know, here's some pencils. And I've always been interested in drawing and doing different projects with them. And it just kind of constantly going. And I'm just, okay, what can I do here? What can I do there? I've always been interested in like, how can I make this so real? Okay. I was probably in middle school I was very interested into it and the only thing was I didn't pursue it because that stigma of starving artists. It's a true thing.

Katie Burke: No, it's a true thing. And it's funny that you didn't because you had a dad who was doing, I mean, making a living doing science and stuff, which is basically what graphic designers are doing now. now, right? Like that's still, so it's just funny because I, I was that kid. I was the same kid that drew and wanted to be an artist, but I had a dentist for a dad and a teacher for a mom. They're like, you can't do that for a living. Like you have to pick another career. And I kept doing it anyway.

Jared DuCote: So my, my mother was a teacher and my father was a graphic designer and they both said, Hey, look, you know, unless you want to teach it, you know, I don't, I don't want to say they didn't push me because they always supported me.

Katie Burke: No, they're practical.

Jared DuCote: Exactly. Very practical. And so they said, well, you know, you could teach it. But I'm like, hmm. And at that time, you know, a guy, a high school kid. Oh, no.

Katie Burke: Oh, no. I had no desire in that either.

Jared DuCote: So I just was my wife and I joke around that I was a closet artist Yeah, and I would do different things here and there and I give people paintings, you know for birthdays and different things and my wife and I were dating and I gave her a painting for Christmas and she she goes, oh Thanks. And I was like, all right, cool. And so today, she said, yeah, I told my mom. She goes, oh, this is so nice. You probably picked this up at Goodwill. It's real pretty. But, you know, whatever he does. And then a couple of months later, I painted of her nieces for her mother. And at that point, she was like, well, why don't you do this for a living? I said, well, I just don't know. I said, I've always wanted to. And she said, well, you need to go do this. And so she was the one that really pushed me. So that was, that was really cool.

Katie Burke: That is cool. Yeah.

Jared DuCote: I mean, you have your significant other and your best friend to push you for that. So a lot of it, I have a great support system of my parents and my wife. But she was the one that says hey if you want to do this go for it.

Katie Burke: Yeah, that's awesome Yeah, I I kind of I did go to school for it And then I've and I've heard they people listen to it, but I went to school for it. I didn't like it I think the formal training was really like it turned me off of it And then that's how I went to art history, and then I didn't want to teach Which is what people tell you to do when you go into art history. It's like, I guess you're gonna have to be a professor. And that's what I learned about museums, and that's why I went that direction. Yeah. And it's funny, because I was talking to, well, Mike, my fellow co-host, made me go to career day at a high school the other day. And I was like, Okay, I'll do it just for you because, you know, we're friends. But there was this one girl that came up and I guess the teacher said that I had like an art background. And I said, you know, the thing about having, my advice was like, you don't know what you can do, but you can be an art major. But the thing an art major teaches you is to be creative and to make up your own job. Like, you don't have to be, like, it could be an artist if that's what you want, but you're trained to be creative, so you can make your job whatever you want your job to be. Like, don't limit yourself. And she, like, kind of looked at me like a high school kid looks at you. And I was like, well, maybe one day she'll remember that.

Jared DuCote: Someday I'll come in. Well, there's this one lady that gave me this advice.

Katie Burke: It's like, don't, don't, just like, yeah, don't disasterage. You can figure it out some way. Like, who knew I was going to do this, like, and work at DU and deal with decoys and painting and, like, work with people like you. Like, who knew that was going to happen? Like, I could have never told you that would happen.

Jared DuCote: It's really interesting because I visit with people that I went to school with years and years ago. You know, with social media, you have those interactions. They're like, man, I remember you used to draw on the books and do different things. It's so cool to see you do that. Yeah. And then you have the people who are like, man, I never knew you drew that. That's funny. Or you messed around with that. I'm like, yeah.

Katie Burke: That's funny that, yeah, because I think everybody who likes to draw draws on, like, I mean, this thing's full of stuff.

Jared DuCote: Oh, I mean, I draw on everything.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, my hospital notebook is, like, filled with doodles. But then, you know, oh, I have stuff from Case Conference.

Katie Burke: Yeah, no, I mean, it's the only way I can pay attention, like, in meetings is to draw. I remember because in school I used to get in trouble for not listening. I'm like, no, this is how I listen to you. Yes. Yeah. No, that's cool. So you decide that, okay, so you decide to start pursuing after your wife kind of encourages you. So what? What were your next steps? Like, what were you choosing to draw for professional? Like, when did you start kind of entering that, like, wildlife artist space? How was that transition?

Jared DuCote: Years and years ago, there were certain organizations that I fell in love with. And in the scouting deal, I knew about Ducks Unlimited. And I was like, man, I really, really enjoyed, like, the paintings of David Moss, Terry Redwyn. Those kind of paintings was like, oh, because when you're an artist, you have those people that you idolize and you like, okay, that's what I like and that's what you try to follow and I've always enjoyed those and I also enjoyed going outdoors and I was a man. I really would like to do more of that So I was visiting with some guys and they said well, you know Maybe you should just try to like see what you can do about these organizations that do outdoor stuff and so try to push more into like, oh, I'm trying to look into Ducks Unlimited or SCI or CCA. And most places just don't. They are like, oh, you're another artist. Right. And it's not really a big deal that they go after. But as far as the wildlife, I really wanted to The animals, because you can't really get to hold them and like, oh my gosh, you know, and just like hold it and just taking everything about it. And so that was, I was fascinated with things that I would like to paint that I could not physically touch or I could like look at and study because then that was another challenge. One of the ways that humans grow is by challenge. And so that was one of the things to kind of Challenge myself in the artwork is like all right. What else can I do with this? How can I look at this or I never heard of that kind of animal before? Like for an example was a wood duck and I was like, oh cool What is a wood duck? And then oh my gosh is beautiful and then start looking into it and looking at it more.

Katie Burke: That's interesting because, yeah, you come from a different background. So a lot of these wildlife artists grew up in the outdoors or hunting and things like that. So you're coming from it without that knowledge of those species and things. Yeah, that's interesting. At that point, are you using resource material through, like, photography? Are you, like, going on, like, using other artists? How are you working that way?

Jared DuCote: Some of it is other artists. Adam Grimm, Scott Storm have a great eye. on things and they're my contemporary artists that I idolize. I really like those solid guys and their art aspect is amazing. And so I look at them and it's like, okay, so this is how this is, this is, you know, the background for this particular species is here. Sometimes it's photography, sometimes it's like, okay, what is an elder? And I sit at Google and I'm like, I'm reading about it. Okay. And then I'll look at different reference photos like that. which in today's world, I mean, we have everything at our fingertips. Back in when I was in school, it's like, all right, you have the encyclopedia, you have a source and a dictionary, good luck.

Katie Burke: I had an art teacher who had, I had like a private art teacher and she had like a shelf and it was just like pictures from magazines and she had organized them by like ducks and you go through and that's how you would like find what you would draw is you would go through her magazine cutouts.

Jared DuCote: But composition-wise, National Geographic was one of the ones I looked in to get ideas with. And then when I was exposed to being out in the duck blind, that just completely opened the doors because I started hanging out with, I got to go meet some biologists and orthomologists. Hey, we want to go see this. Sure. Absolutely. And even it's from a distance or whatnot, it was really cool to like, okay, so that's how that wing works.

Katie Burke: That's how you're seeing behaviors and yeah, how they, yeah.

Jared DuCote: I think at that point, that's when my art changed because I was able to see it and it's like, okay, now I understand how it works in real life compared to like, well, I've just seen pictures and this is what they say in textbooks.

Katie Burke: Right. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense. And they, and I've heard that from many of wildlife artists, like getting out there in the field changes like what you're doing. Like it changes everything. Absolutely. So you, you started with ducks, just ducks first, and then you moved to dogs or when, how, what is your transition through? How did you start with, yeah, girl, what are you working on?

Jared DuCote: And then how are you moving through it? I started sceneries and portraits. And then I went into wildlife and in wildlife I did ducks and then I was visiting with people and they're like, hey man, can you do dogs? don't see why not. And so I started doing dogs. And then I finally I was really enjoy dogs.

Katie Burke: They have so much expression.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, they do. They do. And then on top of that, there's a connection there with other people that have dogs. And some of my best times visiting with people was like, you know what, I had a black lab that looked just like that. I loved him. And then they start talking about it. So you have that connection with somebody else that has a dog. And then seeing the dogs work in the duck blind is fascinating. There are several guys who will say, oh, Jared is a horrible shot. Actually, no, I've been sitting there staring, watching the dog work because I was fascinated. In my defense, that's what was going on.

Katie Burke: Well and then like you do and you have like dogs that when you see a good dog work it's very different than when you see a not as good dog work too. Okay so I want to go back because you just mentioned like you went through landscapes and then you went into ducks. So how did that help when you went into like the more specific, like going into ducks and dogs, like having that time spent on landscapes. I'm guessing that was helpful to kind of build that light and shadow and… It does.

Jared DuCote: It helps build composition-wise, the two-thirds rule, the Brahearn art, and then also having the idea of like, shadows in the background, how things are going to look, how you're going to blend things in with, you know, a focal point perspective. So horizons, different things like that. But I think it helped me more so into the idea of, OK, this kind of landscape goes with this particular animal. Yeah. That was something that I started realizing. It's like, OK, so this is what Mississippi Flyway actually, when somebody talks about what it is. Yeah. This is what a marsh looks like. Okay, cool. And then you start having that idea and you can merge those two together. But really a lot of my landscapes at the beginning was very postmodern impressionist. Yeah. So it was a lot of oils, palette style paintings.

Katie Burke: So you're really actually more doing more stuff than with like materials. You're learning your materials more than anything. Yeah. That makes sense. You know, you're actually, I just interviewed, it hasn't come out yet, but I did Rebecca Knight yesterday. Oh, yeah. And then I did Chuck Black, and all three of you are self-trained, like for the most part. So how, and it's been a different answer, so did you start reaching out to other artists at a certain point in time to learn from them or get advice from other artists?

Jared DuCote: You know, I have.

Katie Burke: And I'm guessing you get mixed results.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, you do get mixed results. Rebecca is a really nice, sweet young lady. And I got to visit with her at Seaweed at the Southeastern Wildlife Expo. And you never know because certain artists, they're either an extreme extrovert or an extreme introvert.

Katie Burke: There's no gray area.

Jared DuCote: And so, and I'm always interested, it's like, hey, you know what? What do you think of this? And I always want somebody's opinion, or hey, you know, give me some advice. And I know that certain people are not comfortable about talking about it, and if you kind of get their body language, and then you have those others, oh yeah, absolutely, this is where I would go get this, try this, try a quill brush, do this, do that. And Rebecca was really sweet, nice, and she was very open, talked to my wife and I. And so I said, Hey, I have some questions. She goes, Oh, absolutely. And we had a great conversation. Um, Scott Storm is another one that, uh, when I got to meet him, I said, Hey, I got some, I got some questions. He goes, absolutely. Gave me his number and said, call me anytime. Um, it wasn't until I, I would say very recent, probably in the last five years, five, six years, I started reaching out to artists and say, hey, you know what? I have this roadblock or what would you do on this? But it's very interesting because in the world of wildlife artists, everybody that I've come across is very open, very nice, very willing to help. They're not like, oh no, that's my secret. I'm not gonna tell you that.

Katie Burke: Yeah, that's kind of what she said, too. She said she had some issues with wildlife foresters who are anti-hunting. Oh, yes. Yeah, you'll have those. Yeah, she's had some issues there. And I wonder, and I didn't think about this until last night when I was at home, I was like, I wonder if some of that has to do with her being a girl, too, being a woman, and that they're more willing to tell her how they feel. No, I come across several people that'll tell you exactly their feelings. Good, I'm glad it's not that. But yeah, it was just, I felt, I was like, oh, that's, it's hard to hear.

Jared DuCote: Yeah. It is hard to hear. Say for instance, I did a painting of a lab with a duck in its mouth. Yeah. And I had this couple rip me. Oh, no, that's horrible. You know, how dare you? Why would you do that? And I was like, well, and I just kind of sat there and I just did not know what to say. And so finally I came back and I said, well, the only thing I did say, well, did you guys like the technique?

Jared DuCote: I mean, we've got to move this conversation somewhere. So what do you think of the technique, minus the subject? What do you think?

Katie Burke: Yeah, we get that a lot at the museum because, I mean, it's in the pyramid, right? So yes, it's an ambassadorship, so most of the people who visit are hunting friendly and that sort of thing, or at least adjacent. They know about it. But of course, we get, as a big stop, we get people who aren't, and they ask questions. And I always tell my staff, I'm like, the answer is, I'm sorry you feel that way.

Jared DuCote: Yes. Art is so subjective nowadays, and not one piece is gonna go satisfy everybody. No. And I was visiting with this one gentleman, and he told me, he said, no matter what, you could have a blank canvas. and somebody would still complain about it. And after he told me that, I was like, you know what, that makes sense. And on top of that, you know what, I'm going to just, I'm going to paint what I feel and what I like. And if they don't like it, that's fine. And it's, if I could teach that to kids and other, anybody else that's pursuing art, it's like, look, there's going to be people just like on Facebook, that's not going to like it. They're going to, you know, talk bad about it. Move on.

Katie Burke: Yeah. Not everybody's going to agree with you and it's okay. Yeah. Yeah, and it's so funny because when she said that, I was caught off guard. So today, it's easier for me to talk about it, but I was like, because I guess we're so blinded here at Ducks Unlimited, because when I think of wildlife artists, most people are either… They're submitting their work to us. So they're either hunters or they are at least adjacent to that and are fine with it, right? Because they're submitting work to Ducks Unlimited. So obviously, they're not against hunting. Because that's what there's who's buying their work. So I didn't even think about it. And then like, I was like, Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Now that I think about that you would have, especially like probably with African art and things like that, you would have these conservation, the other side of conservation side. And I was like, that makes sense. But I just it didn't didn't occur to me right away. Yeah.

Jared DuCote: I think the biggest one that I had in Ducks Unlimited, I was at a table at an event and I was talking to these people and they're real big into the wetlands conservation aspect of it. And I said, oh, okay, you're the artist. Yes. And that's all we talked about was the wetlands conservation. And then they said, so where's your piece? And I said, it's that one over there with the black lab. Oh, with the duck in its mouth.

Katie Burke: That's rare. I mean it's coming more and more like it's definitely becoming a bigger thing and a lot more people come to us that way now, but No, it's definitely a small percent.

Jared DuCote: It's a small percentage, but it just got to me It's whereas oh, you know what you have to have your mind open all the way around with it in it and it really honestly doesn't bother me my The people that when I paint for something for somebody like a commission piece And I put all this work in, say, for instance, it's like, for instance, you commissioned me, hey, I want you to paint my kids. And that's where I get my anxieties, like, okay, this is exclusively for Kate. Okay, what, you know, has her kids, you know, is your son's face okay? You know, what, that's where it gets completely…

Katie Burke: I would never do people I knew because it would, it scared me. Like I was so scared to do somebody that I know or that somebody knows because you'd get there if you don't get their face just right. Like we have a picture at our house that my aunt did of the three of us for my mom and we still make, I mean it's good but we all laugh about it all the time. Like we make fun of each other like, oh Jennifer you kind of look like a dude.

Jared DuCote: You'd have a five head instead of a four head.

Katie Burke: Yeah, and it's really good, but we still kind of always, we still make fun of it. I love painting people because- I liked people, but I just wouldn't do anyone I knew.

Jared DuCote: No, so I even liked the ones, it just has that higher sense of acceptance of liking the piece. Where other people are like, I don't like that piece. And it's like, okay, whatever. But if you're coming to me and it's something special for you, I want to make sure you like it. And that is my, that's my downfall into the art world. But otherwise than that, you talk about, you know, what people don't like about pieces. That is the only time that I struggle with it.

Katie Burke: I wouldn't say it's your downfall. I would say, I would, cause that's what made me leave. I didn't want to do anything for other people. Like I wouldn't only do what I wanted to do, but you're wanting to do something for other people, which is good. Cause that's the way you make money. So like, I, that's what I realized pretty quickly. I was like, I'm not going to ever make money cause I don't want to do anything that other people want me to do. So this is not going to work for me. Like that. Yeah.

Jared DuCote: Like that's not going to work. Painting people. I don't know, I haven't had a chance to really visit with other artists.

Katie Burke: Yeah, because you're in, that's a completely different field.

Jared DuCote: It's a different deal, and a lot of people say, oh, so you do just ducks and dogs, and then they start looking at my work, and they go, oh, you do people, and I say, yeah, I actually did people and portraits before, but, um… It's very interesting when I started getting commissions, that my first commissions were people. The stories behind the person or when that photograph was taken or, you know, well, you know what, this lady's name's Helen, you know, she was a type A, she told the cow how to eat the cabbage kind of thing. And I was like, oh, cool. So you kind of get this idea of how that person is. And I really enjoy that, especially when I did paintings for my parents and my grandparents. And it kind of brought back some memories. And then my mom would tell me, she goes, Oh, yeah, I remember at that time what happened and what was going on. Oh, cool. So I do enjoy that.

Katie Burke: Yeah, that's neat. I didn't think about that. You're kind of getting to know a person not really like, When you get to know someone and people tell you about someone, you know, you get like their, their resume type thing. But you're getting to know, you're getting to ask questions about their emotional point of that part of their life and what they felt about things and their characteristics versus, so it's kind of a neat way of getting to actually understand other people. It is. Which is why I do this. I like doing this for that reason. I enjoy getting to know other people and why they, like, I always ask, like, questions about, you know, like, why did you get this way? I like to know why you do what you do versus what do you do.

Jared DuCote: I really, as far as, I also like seeing the reaction of people's face. Yeah. When I unveil, one of the things I struggle with people is, oh, can you send me pictures of what I'm, what's going on? I'm like, And I did that once, and I texted this lady, I was painting her grandkids, and I was sending pictures of the process, and there was no text message. And I'm like, oh, this is not going good. What's going on? And then I was like, well, maybe she's busy or maybe it's this. Yeah. All right. Two weeks had gone by and I've sent four images at her back. So I finally called and I say, is everything okay? And she goes, yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. Just seeing how this is looking. I was like, well, Just trust me, it'll work. And then at the end of it, you know, she goes, oh, this is great. But after that, I never really did that because it just gave me so much, oh, my gosh. And I put so much overthought into it and the anxiety. I was like, oh, my God, this is gonna be horrible. Right. But at the end, when they don't know it, it's a better reaction, especially if it's a deceased person. That, I love seeing the reaction of that.

Katie Burke: And I don't think, I mean, some people would know, but I don't think everyone would know the process of like how you, you're building, you know, like color on, you know, you're building on top. So that's, it's not going to be what it is in the end. Like, and not everybody understands how color builds and things like that. And you're, yeah. And you can't really explain that.

Jared DuCote: Like my, my question is not peanut butter.

Katie Burke: Why does it look like this? Well, to get to the end part, yeah.

Jared DuCote: Right. So, I mean, in you being in the art world, you understand that, but not everybody does, so it makes it a little difficult.

Katie Burke: Yeah, that would be a hard thing to kind of grasp, like, if you weren't there. And it's your loved one, right? So, something you see every day, and you're seeing, and you're like, well, it's not quite right. And then, yeah, it would change. Okay, so how many dogs have you done at this point? I just want to go back.

Jared DuCote: Oh, gosh. A lot. A lot. A lot of dogs.

Katie Burke: So do you get commissions for dogs now? I do. I was going to say, I bet you get a lot of commissions.

Jared DuCote: I do. And I have a tally mark of like, okay, so far the top breed is Lab.

Katie Burke: Yep.

Jared DuCote: Well, that's what everyone hunts with you have for the most part. And then it goes, I keep a tally mark on Black Labs, Chocolate Labs, and Yellow Labs.

Katie Burke: Black Labs first.

Jared DuCote: Black Labs is number one.

Katie Burke: What's next?

Jared DuCote: Next is chocolate.

Katie Burke: Okay. I wouldn't have known. That one's kind of back and forth.

Jared DuCote: It's very odd. I think I've done a total of three yellow labs, and when I post a yellow lab, everybody goes, oh, it's finally a yellow lab. And then the black lab people are always like, well, where's the next black lab coming out?

Katie Burke: You did a Boykin recently, too. Yes, I did a Boykin. That one was really cool.

Jared DuCote: I've done boykins, GSPs as well.

Katie Burke: Yeah, they're funny that people hunt with them now.

Jared DuCote: Those are really… I always want to draw a beard on them.

Katie Burke: Well, you need to do a poodle pointer. Poodle pointer, yeah. My brother has one, and he duck hunts with it, and I'm probably gonna get flack for this, but it's a good dog. It's not a duck dog. Dog, no. But he's all right.

Jared DuCote: So, and my next one I'm working on is, of course, a golden retriever. Yeah. But yeah, I do enjoy painting dogs, painted several. The most challenging about Black Labs is the

Katie Burke: The color, yeah, I was gonna say. Because we always talk about that, like, one thing, like, with carvers and, like, decoys and painting, like, one thing, like, most people don't understand, like, white and black are the hardest things to paint, yeah. Because they're not white and black, yeah.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, and one of the paintings that I did of a black lab, nobody believes me, but there's not an ounce of black in it. Yeah. The actual lab is painted with purples and blues.

Katie Burke: I had the art teacher all through, a private art teacher, because I went to a tiny little private school, so we didn't have art at school. And I would go to her every Thursday. And when we got our oil set, she threw away our black paint. She just threw it away. She was like, you don't need that. Wow. Yeah, she threw it out. And so we never were allowed to use black. So I knew that from the beginning, like, oh, you don't use it. You have to make black. You don't, you don't. That is cool. She threw it away. Yeah, she threw it away immediately. And yeah, so we never had any black paint.

Jared DuCote: That's my only problem is mixing paint and then you have all this like, what color? I'm like, well, what am I going to do with that?

Katie Burke: Right. And then you like can't, if you can't remember the next day, what you did, you have to go back. Oh, that's the worst. Yeah. It's always a thing.

Jared DuCote: My wife will go visit her mom and she'll take Isabel. And so it's just the boys at the house. So Whiskey and I are there and yeah, you know what? I have no distractions for the weekend. So I'll pour myself a good bourbon and then after a while, and then the next morning I get up and I'm like, I love that. I don't remember how I made that.

Katie Burke: I never did either. No. And yeah, it's, yeah, I don't know. And I think colors is also just like, some people are just good at it. Like they can mix colors really well. Like they're just good at mixing colors and some people just aren't. It's definitely an alchemy. It is.

Jared DuCote: It's very interesting because I think it also pushes you as an artist. Yeah. So instead of like, oh, well, you know, this water is going to be cobalt blue. Well, not all water is cobalt blue to go through it. And when you sit there until I really push yourself to the limits and mixing things, painting glass or painting metallic surfaces, I think has been the thing that kind of pushed me.

Katie Burke: Yeah. I want to. Hey, Chris, can you pull up the still life he did of the whiskey? Because this is a good example of him painting glass. And I was thinking about this when you were just talking about water, because y'all do such realistic things and I've never done anything like where you can see the bottom as well. You're not just painting water, you're painting the reflection on the water, you're also painting what's below the water.

Jared DuCote: Absolutely.

Katie Burke: Which, that I can't fathom. Like, I've never done that.

Jared DuCote: But it makes sense because water's clear.

Katie Burke: Right, yeah. Well, clean water's clear. Clean water's clear. Hopefully it's clear, yeah.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, it's, when you sit down, I think one of the coolest things is also Water and like chrome are a lot the same. Because you have the form shadow, cast shadow, you also have the highlight on there. And it's so dramatic from extreme white to extreme dark. And you have to catch all that. Okay, is that a light? What is that reflection? And to get all of that in there. But yes, painting on glass and water, I always love doing that. And some of my ducks,

Katie Burke: Yeah, can you put up the duck, the flying one with the water?

Jared DuCote: That was awesome. I really enjoyed this one. This one was a lot of fun to paint and at the time it was my most challenging one to paint. I wanted to make it look so real.

Katie Burke: Yeah. What was, so was this the first time you did the water coming like at like the splash up like that?

Jared DuCote: That was one of the first ones I did of a splash up. Yes. Because it usually there, it's always the ripple where the ducks are sitting on there, but that was the first time splash.

Katie Burke: So what, what made you want to give it a go?

Jared DuCote: I saw, there was a Japanese artist I saw on Instagram that was doing pencil sketching of water. And I was like, oh, that is cool. That looks surreal. All right, I don't want to do that, but I want to do it in paint. And I sat there and… As my daughter was taking a bath, I would hit the water to like take a look at it. And I was like, well, that doesn't look right. And so I would go out in the backyard, mess with water there. And finally I had to go out to a nearby pond. And I was looking at it so I can get the idea because the lighting of no matter where you're at and water takes in the color of whatever's nearby. So I had to sit there and look at that. And I was like, all right, this is cool. Now I have an idea of what I want to do. And so I wanted to make meticulously go into each little droplet and make sure, okay, there's a highlight, every single one of them.

Katie Burke: Because also, what you can't do, so you're hitting the water, right?

Jared DuCote: But the duck, he's sitting on the water, it just pops up, so you can't mimic that and look at it, unless I guess you like… It took me a while to like, okay, this is how a duck takes off, this is how a duck lands, and okay, this is how the water reacts when something hits. It was very difficult to kind of sit there and look at it and look at how everything works. Oh yeah, so this is a more recent one, but that gives an idea of how the water is with the droplets, the highlight of each droplet and how it would take the color from the wood duck. Okay, you're gonna have more reflection on the back end.

Katie Burke: Yeah, I didn't even think about that. Like, yeah, because whenever I did water, like, yeah, you have to do water and then like pick up because you're doing so realistic. And I never painted that realistic. So it just wasn't my style. So it's just a much different approach because you have to think about it. Not only like, what is it like you visually want to see, but you're having to think about what's actually happening, right?

Jared DuCote: Like you're having to really… Because I mean, you can paint it like that, but it's everybody's going to say, well, it kind of looks weird. That doesn't look like that would actually happen. Yeah. Adam Grimm does a really good job of doing water, so does Scott Storm. But Adam Grimm did one of some canvas backs, and the reflection and how you can see… Is that the one, the ocean one? Yes. And he did such an amazing job with that. I reference a lot of his water paintings, and I'm like, okay, so I think that's probably what he's looking at. But yeah, he's one of the references I look at a lot of his work.

Katie Burke: Yeah, and he does a lot like talking about like seeing under I was thinking I guess it's the It was a DU ours of the year the family of pintails Yes, and you can see into the water like the water is really clear and you kind of get That and we'll say dementia, but it doesn't look like That's the thing is like a lot of times people will do these like below water like you'll have the duck and then you'll have like you'll see their feet and stuff, but it almost looks like a you're underwater, like you're underwater looking at them versus where that's not realistic, you would be looking down into it, right? So, yeah, and that's more difficult to do. It's easier to kind of look at it from like what you think what the water view would be like under the water, but versus looking down into it.

Jared DuCote: And see that in the now how we have AI incorporate those things now, it just makes it even really strange.

Katie Burke: That's interesting. So how have you dealt with AI? Have you had to deal with AI at all since it started to be a thing as an artist? I've never even asked anybody that.

Jared DuCote: I've had people say, you know, this looks like an AI generated deal. I'm like, well, no, I've done this. AI is very interesting, but it does have its glitches on images. But you can sit there and say, you know, a duck drinking coffee, and it might have this cartoon character on it. I personally don't care too much for the AI aspect of it. I think it takes away the human touch on it. I think, honestly, a lot of artists would agree with me on it. Some artists, I think, get offended when they say it looks like an AI-generated deal. To me, I kind of go both ways. I'm like, well, yeah, all right, cool. Then, you know, I— They're just trying to say it looks realistic, I guess.

Katie Burke: That's what I take it. It looks like a photograph. Yeah. Exactly. You got to kind of think of it that way. Like, it's the same— It's basically the same comment of them saying, oh, it looks like a photograph.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, it's a generation compliment is what I'd take it.

Katie Burke: Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it. I haven't thought about that or asked anybody because I mean, I haven't interviewed that many wildlife artists like, I mean, I had Rebecca Knight and just recently, but yeah, the AI, since the AI thing became a thing. And I guess it also depends. Carvers don't have that problem.

Jared DuCote: No, I guess it depends on the medium that you're doing because acrylics are going to be a little bit more brighter and you have that feel on it. But I know you can't, I really haven't messed with it a whole lot to be honest with you to kind of get the idea, but I just know that acrylics seem to be a little bit more, in my aspect of it, a little bit more brighter than the oils.

Katie Burke: Yeah, I mean, I prefer oil. It's just easier to work with.

Jared DuCote: Oh, oils are so forgiving.

Katie Burke: Yeah, it's so much easier.

Jared DuCote: So, I mean, I love how Bob Ross, we have happy oil mistakes. My paintings is a plethora of mistakes.

Katie Burke: Well, yeah, and you can take away too, like you can pull back on oil. Yes. Yeah, no, that's the best part.

Jared DuCote: But I think watercolor is probably the most difficult to do.

Katie Burke: Yeah. Oh, it's not forgiving at all. No. Yeah. And that and like color pencil is like also ridiculously unforgiving. I don't mess with color pencil. It's fun, but it's like, yeah, you can't, you can't fix anything. You can't.

Jared DuCote: I don't mess with that, but I've, I'm starting to mess with watercolor more.

Katie Burke: Yeah. That's interesting because like it's exciting that you are actually because and now you have a portrait that is the first one you've done. Can you pull up that watercolor? This is the first one, but the reason I it's exciting for me the watercolor of Jesus As you as you said Yeah, so this is your first which is very thank you but There aren't that many wildlife artists that have done watercolor, and they're some of my favorite. Like Chet Renison's watercolors are fantastic. Brett Smith's watercolors are so cool. Like, there's a lot of really cool watercolors, and I think those artists have never really… They're very popular, but they've never, like… Because watercolor isn't gonna win the duck stamp. Correct. It's not going to do those, it's not going to win those competitions, but it, and it doesn't always get like, do you artists of the year or like those things, but on a print side of things, they do. They do very well. They do very well.

Jared DuCote: And I noticed, um, visiting with other, especially tattoo artists. Yeah. Um, the watercolor style is very popular.

Katie Burke: Yeah, you can, I feel like in watercolor, I think what's neat about it and what makes Chet and Brett's stuff so impressive is that you get that emotion from watercolor in some ways, like, cause it's not as, it's not as going to be always, that was really realistic, but most of the part, it's usually not going to be as realistic. So I feel like people can imprint their place and time with it. Like it's not so much like, another view of someone else's experience in the outdoors, they can kind of take that image and make it more of their own. They can kind of imprint their memory of a time in the outdoors in watercolor in a way that you can't with the more realistic stuff.

Jared DuCote: I do. Which is cool. It is really cool. And then it also pushes you. Yeah. And it challenges you, and that's how you grow, whether it be subject matter or media.

Katie Burke: Yeah. And that, yeah, I was talking to Rebecca yesterday about, we were talking about pushing like, how she, cause she was very interesting in that, you know, she started so young and did the million dollar duck and, and as, as a, she won the duck, the junior duck stamp and her growth is kind of like been online. So we've been able to actually watch her grow. And she was talking about like, going and taking classes with paint techniques where they use a lot thicker paint and put way more paint on the canvas. Yeah, that's not ultimately what I do, but I've never done that before. And that really, I took a lot from it because it was hard for me to kind of like switch over to this completely different painting style, which I'm sure you're getting the same with. Absolutely.

Jared DuCote: Yeah. Different styles and different things. One of the reasons why I wanted to try watercolor besides the effect of it, it's watercolor. It's because when you explain it, when you paint oils, you have oils and you have all the fumes and everything else. If you don't have a very well ventilated studio, you're going to be feeling great. And so watercolor, it's okay, I can do that. I can also sit down with my daughter and play with it and be okay with it.

Katie Burke: It's also more mobile.

Jared DuCote: It is. It is. And it also has a different effect. I do like it. It's easier to have a piece of paper than the canvas. So, it's interesting. It's really interesting, but I do… I'm not going to lie where I don't get frustrated. I do get frustrated, but it's a good frustration.

Katie Burke: Yeah, because instead of like… Instead of with oil where you can cover up your mistake or take it back or whatever, in watercolor you have to learn to live with your mistake. It is. Yeah, you're having to… Yeah, the mistake is there. You can't get rid of it. So you're either gonna have to learn to live with it and kind of work with it.

Jared DuCote: There's an artist, her name is Jane Drawn, that was a friend of the family. And she always told me that Watercolors is like your life. And for the longest time, I was going, whatever. And now when I start messing with it, I understand because it's just like you say, you have to, all right, you made a mistake. You're going to live with it. It's okay. It's not the end of the world. You have a mistake there. So I do. So when you say that, it reminds me of her. But yeah, it's very, very true.

Katie Burke: No, that's true. I didn't think about that. That's lovely. Yeah, it's that's cool that you're doing that, though, that you're kind of like keep pushing. So what do you want to do next? What's your next? Are you like so you got you got your do you artists of the year, which is this year, which we haven't even showed people. But this is the magazine cover. And it's awesome. Thank you. And I love all the The thing I love about him is the way the fur is all matted. It's like perfect. That's exactly what they do. What are you working on next? Do you have shows you have to go to and get stuff ready for?

Jared DuCote: I'm getting jewelry for the Southeastern Wildlife Expo. And then they just released what the federal stamp subject matter is. So I'm going to start working on that. There's a few shows in Texas that I'll be going to and working on.

Katie Burke: Yeah, so do you, so for like South, for Siwi, do you, so how many paintings do you have to get ready for that? Because you're selling at Siwi, right? Or are you just exhibiting?

Jared DuCote: I'm waiting to find out. Okay. I'm waiting to find out. I don't know.

Katie Burke: Because are you going on a DU, for DU, or are you going for like as just a regular artist, for a featured artist? Both.

Jared DuCote: We're working out the stuff for DU. Last year I went for the first time for DU when they did the President's Council. That was a lot of fun, had a great time. It was really neat to meet the donors and the supporters, come up and talk to them, visit with them. And so it was really interesting. I did enjoy that. And it merged perfectly with Siwi in itself. And so I definitely want to sell some paintings at Siwi. It is a process. A lot of people think that, oh, well, you have a show, you just go take stuff. I'm like, nope. No, no, no. You got to fill out applications. You know, where are you going to be at? What you've done? The, uh, I would say, um, Siwi and Society of Animal Artists is probably very difficult.

Katie Burke: What's Society of Animal Artists? I don't know that one.

Jared DuCote: Society of Animal Artists, um, is basically a society of artists that specializes in animals. There's also the, uh, Cowboy Artists Society.

Katie Burke: Yeah, I've heard of that one.

Jared DuCote: So it's just same thing, but it's for animals and they have, uh, jury twice a year and you have to submit things and it goes through a panel and they vote on it and they look at everything from subject matter to composition to medias and it's everything from sculptors to painters to drawings and it's focused around animals and It is very difficult because you have okay, you submit these digital images. Well, they have to be in this size Yeah, you have to submit a bio the things you've done the awards you've been at What places are you gonna go to? I mean is a very well in detail. It's like applying for a job. Yeah, and I think it it's really hard because you have your portfolio of all these images and You only take in three

Katie Burke: Yep, you only get three. You only get to pick three.

Jared DuCote: And so it's like back in the day, you're like at Toys R Us, all right, you can choose one item. And you're like, no. So, and then you have to sit there and like, all right, I'm going to do these three. And then when you do submit it and they say, well, okay, well, you didn't get selected this time. Then you have to sit back and go, all right, so. That doesn't mean you don't get to resubmit, you can resubmit, but you sit there and go, okay, was it my bio that I wrote? What did I do this? Did I choose these wrong three? And then you start overthinking of like, all right, what am I going to do? How am I going to put this in?

Katie Burke: Yeah. And Siwi, you're doing more of an exhibit, right? Like you have more than that. You have like a few paintings you get to put in for Siwi, right? You're filling a booth, basically.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, you fill a booth, but then you also, to be part of the gala and the exhibitors deal is really big. I do a lot with Over Under clothing line at Seawee. Okay. And so last couple of times I set up and I'll paint on their products. Okay. And people come by and watch and then some people would like to purchase that. So it's a little bit different, but I really enjoy that because you're outdoors, it's at the park, and you're painting on not just a canvas or paper, you're actually painting on it, like I was doing on a wax briar jacket. Oh, cool. So I was painting a duck on there. And people come up, oh, this is really cool.

Katie Burke: Oh, they would love that at Seaweed. That's like right up their alley. And at that point… Seaweed's a fashion show.

Jared DuCote: Oh, it is. And that's when I was introduced to the Boykins.

Katie Burke: Before we go, because I completely forgot, but talk about your lure thing with your dad.

Jared DuCote: Oh, okay.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, the lures, oddly enough, is how that opened up DU for me.

Katie Burke: Oh, really?

Jared DuCote: Yes. So, um, my father being an artist, um, I was approached by a guy in Texas and he says, hey, you know, you do real well in painting, maybe you should paint fishing lures. And I was like, dude, I don't know anything about fishing lures. I don't know much about fishing. I mean, it's like, this is silly. And I was like, you know what, this might be fun to do with my dad. I sat down with dad and I'm like, hey dad, you know, typical when you're a kid, you have this stupid idea and a parent goes, no. His dad said no. And after a while he was like, all right, we'll give it a shot. And we sat down and looked at research and that was into introduction of airbrush for me. Yeah, okay. So you're doing a lot of airbrushing and painting lures by hand as well with brush. So we got into that and then we were on a, a TV program, we were in some publications, and at that same point in my life, that was when I was like, you know what, I want to get involved with DU, that's what I really wanted, you know, be a DU artist, that was one of my goals. And I reached out, I was like, I don't know, no one's calling me back, I don't know who to talk to, and so I kind of shelved that idea, but then I got a phone call from a lady, And she goes, I would like to order some lures. And I said, all right, cool. She goes, I saw you on TV. And she goes, all right, cool. This is awesome. And she goes, my son would love, my son-in-law would love this. I said, cool. What does your son-in-law do? Well, he's a big outdoor guy. He's real big duck hunter. And so she says, yeah, he's in Jacksonville, Florida. I was like, okay, well, I'm in Texas. All right, cool. And she goes, you're really interested in this, you know, because the phone call went from ordering some lures, like I was picking her brain. She goes, why don't you call him? And she gave me his number. So I reached out to him and he said, yeah, I'm the area chair, Jacksonville. It's Andy Davidson. And so he goes, yeah. I'd be very interested in, you know, you want to be a part of it? Yeah, sure. Awesome guy. And I was like, you know, all right, cool. He's going to give me, he's going to let me do something. I said, look, I want to be a DU artist. He goes, well, I said, I'll donate a print for you. He goes, cool, all right. And we made a family trip to go out there and that was my first DU event. I was ecstatic. And I remember… It's funny you went to one in Florida and you're in Texas. Yeah, it's real funny how everything fell in place. And I remember they had it up on a live auction and everybody was going up there. Well, that's a pretty picture. And that was, they went up for auction and they said, no, there's the painting. He's here from Texas. And at that point, It was a great feeling. It was wonderful. And then I came back to Texas from the event and that's when I started getting phone calls because I put some social media and I started getting phone calls. Hey, oh, I didn't know you were an artist here. You know, you did DU stuff. Well, that was my first one and then it just shot off from there. Painting the fishing lures with my dad has been great because Growing up, my father did everything he could for the family. And so he wasn't, he was there. I'm not gonna say he wasn't there for everything, but he was there for things. But then there were things like, hey, you know, I have to work, I've got to do this. And I do the same. I have a lot of respect for the man. But it was really cool to go to fishing shows, tournaments, and also sit there and paint with him, and do that, and learn this whole process of what he did. Because he airbrushed before and did things, so it was kind of really neat to do that. have conversations, be in the car with him, and learn the whole process with it. And so now he still does it. He's retired from his day job so he paints fishing lures and now we also do fishing replicas.

Katie Burke: Okay. So we do that as well. Yeah, that's cool. You need to do, have you done fish decoys yet? Not yet. Yeah, that's a whole thing. Another idea. That's a whole thing. Not far from what you're doing. All right. Well, is there anything before we go that we haven't talked about that you want to talk about? Did we forget anything?

Jared DuCote: No, just thank you for all the supporters in DU, all the volunteers, the staff of DU is amazing. I mean, what an I don't know how else to explain the organization to people because they say, oh, you know, it's just Duck Hunters. No, it's so much more. Oh, yeah, we're a family.

Katie Burke: It is a family.

Jared DuCote: And it is, it's really, a lot of people will see my daughter at national conventions, state conventions, and she loves it.

Katie Burke: I'm so glad to hear. So I was a national convention kid. And that makes me really happy because yeah, I loved it.

Jared DuCote: Oh no, she loves it. So she collects the pins and she goes, yep.

Katie Burke: That's mine from when I was a kid. Oh, nice.

Jared DuCote: So no, she collects the pins, she likes wearing the shirts. Now her biggest thing is she loves saying the pledge at the events and I'll take her to an event. Daddy, who's the area chair? Oh, it's this gentleman over here. And she'll dart off to him. Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are we doing here? She goes, I'm gonna go ask him a pledge. I said, babe, we don't know if they already have stuff already set up, man. But you can go ask, just to let you know. Oh, no, absolutely. She loves it. And the friends that we've met that have become like family, the people in Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, all the way up into Saskatchewan.

Katie Burke: I mean, it's amazing.

Jared DuCote: Yeah, it's so wonderful. The friends that we've made and the staff of DU has been amazing, too.

Jared DuCote: So I mean,

Jared DuCote: I would say at the end, thank you so much to everybody, to the staff of DU, to all the supporters of DU. Without you guys, I would not be where I'm at today. So I really, really appreciate it.

Katie Burke: And to many more DU artists of the years for you.

Jared DuCote: I hope so. I really hope so.

Katie Burke: Well, thanks for coming on this show, Jared.

Jared DuCote: Thank you, Katie. I greatly appreciate it.

Katie Burke: Thanks, Jared, for coming on this show. Thanks to our producer, Chris Isaac, and thanks to you, our listener, for supporting wetlands and waterfowl conservation.