Old School North Dakota Diver‪s


RAMSEY RUSSELL GetDucks.com Duck Hunting Podcast
November 11, 2020 | DUCK SEASON SOMEWHERE PODCAST
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It’s snowing and blowing, temps plummeting North Dakota-style when I wheel into Jeff Pelayo’s driveway during the 2020-2021 North American Waterfowl Tour. North Dakota duck hunting usually conjures mental imagery of mallards and Canadas pouring into dry fields, but I’m meeting Jeff to experience a lesser-seen-side of this cowboy state: diver ducks. Bluebills, canvasbacks, redheads, buffleheads, ring-necked ducks, occasional goldeneyes are Pelayo’s obsession. The way he hunts them harkens a bygone era. I get my first inkling of this after entering his prairie lakeside home. At first glimpse it resembles a waterfowl decoy museum – until I notice that most of his decoys are rigged for action. What are Pelayo’s  duck hunting origins? How’d he go from banding Stellar’s eiders in Alaska to owning a collectible waterfowl gallery along Maryland’s Eastern Shore? Why’d he “swear off plastics” in the pursuit of diver ducks, and why do old school methods mean so much to him? Like a bluebill ripping off open water into a protected cove of soaking wood duck decoys, this fascinating episode speaks genuine American Dreaming.

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