Job title/position: Vice president/director of digital
Company: CJRW
Number of days you hunt a season: Ten to 15.
Where do you hunt? All over; Cache River, Brinkley.
What kind of gun do you use? Remington 870 Super Mag pump.
Duck call? Echo.
Fields, reservoir or timber? Fields and timber depending on the conditions.
Rainy, nasty or bluebird sky? Considering the few days that I actually get to hunt, I tend to take what I can get. When talking about ideal conditions, many of my best hunts have been late season with gray skies and a light flurry.
Favorite hunting story/memory? My favorite hunting story comes from a youth hunt that was organized by the youth hunting organization Muddy Bayou Young Gunz. We had a group of about 10 kids all in a large blind. It was a clear morning with some decent action. myself and Cody [Alberson] were reloading kids’ guns about as quickly as they could fire them. We were joking around with the kids since there was some seriously poor shooting going on, and the kids had all kinds of excuses: “They are too quick,” or “We need bigger targets.”
Well, like clockwork we could hear them in the distance; a flock of about 10 Canadian Geese appear on the horizon with only one thing in mind, landing in our hole. We readied all the kids, everyone was locked and loaded and aware of the “larger targets” on their way. We waited until they got just in range and gave the command to fire. You would have thought a war was going on — every kid unloaded.
As the smoke from the guns cleared and the ringing of the ears stopped, I looked up to see a beautiful and unbelievable sight: 10 Canadian Geese still flying, exiting the hole back toward the horizon. The poor kids never came close, but they couldn’t stop talking about that one volley for the rest of the night, messing with each other. It was a shared experience they will never forget and neither will I.
What got you into hunting? My dad got me into hunting in general; he’s the one that taught me just about all the fundamentals of hunting and set me up on my first duck hunts. Without him, I probably would have never been exposed to the world of hunting.
Also, my good Arkansas State college buddy Cody Alberson was the person that really got me hooked on duck hunting specifically. We would go hunting before classes in the mornings near his hometown of McCrory and then speed back to Jonesboro to catch classes. Cody ultimately left school to start his own guide service, Bayou DeView Guides, and also films for the outdoor channel. Talk about getting paid to do what you love.
Anyway, those two guys probably had the largest impact of anyone on how hunting plays a role in my life.
If you have children do you take them duck hunting? If so what are some of the highlights from these youth hunts? My son will be two years old in September. As soon as he’s ready, he will definitely be going on some hunting trips.
What is your most unusual “must have” in the duck blind? Red bull is a must. As they say, it gives you wings. Not a bad situation when duck hunting.
Which Arkansas executive calls ducks the best? This is a good question, and one I’ll avoid answering. Most of the hunting executives I know all feel like they are the best.
