Following 3 incredible days of waterfowling, Ramsey meets with Prairie Limits Outfitters partners Brian Cramer and Ben Webster. Located in Saskatchewan and now in its 5th successful season in business, Prairie Limits Outfitters delivers total-package waterfowl hunting experiences. Cramer and Webster describe forming their collective vision for their service, telling about how they met and what all goes into making dreams a reality for themselves and for guests. Whether looking for your next great adventure or just interested in what hunting’s like elsewhere, y’all will appreciate their perspective.
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Saskatchewan Canada Waterfowl Hunts at Prairie Limits Outfitters
Chef Ric Rosser plies his local-sourced, field-to-table culinary art among sprawling live oaks at the impressive Spread Oaks Ranch in coastal Texas. Rosser covers a variety of interesting topics to include charcuterie, cooking coots, aging ducks, organ meats, hunting, simple recipes. Whether meticulously tending his garden or curing meats in an on-premises 15th-century style smoke house, and whether cooking for his family or guests, his approach to food and to cooking remains the same. It’s all about keeping it real.
Following the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which outlawed commercial sale of wildlife, the American public’s demand for wild-harvested tablefare continued — and there were folks that were more than happy to feed this lucrative demand, supplying barrel- and boat-loads of wild ducks and geese through backwater channels. In the second of this 2-part series, historic author Robert K. Sawyer describes a transitioning America, especially as it pertains to Texas, grappling with wildlife food versus conservation and later, conservation versus something that might only be described as recreation. Law enforcement may have started slowly, but culminated in a series of headliner busts that finally got folks attention. Part 1 of this 2-part series aired Wednesday, October 19, 2022. Refer to Sawyer’s related links below for more information.
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Robert K Sawyer’s 100 Years Texas Waterfowl hunting and Other Books
Sandwiched between the massive lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba, the vast region colloquially known as the Interlake forms a giant migrator funnel for “Churchills” and other waterfowl. Goose hunting culture thrives here. Meeting with Troy Bennet and Dustin Dola over dinner, Ramsey gains insight into what its like growing up here, why goose hunting is so important, how waterfowl are hunted here versus other parts of Canada, and how local hunters may differ from some non-resident guests. He also begins to understand why his new buddies regard their own back yard as pretty damned special.
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Ramsey swings through Joe Briscoe’s call shop to get an update on Briscoe’s new gadwall call and find out what in the world is taking him so long to complete the world-famous shoveler call prototype. Briscoe gives a good gadwall demo and describes using the baseball bats he keeps around – it ain’t for baseball – before the two buddies part ways.
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Preceding the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, waterfowl hunting was a huge industry in Texas and throughout the civilized United States. Everyday Americans went to the local market for wild-harvested tablefare. The finest restaurants fetched eye-popping prices for wildfowl. Business boomed. And wildfowl provided more than just meat! In the first of this special 2-part series, historian Robert K. Sawyer takes us on a deep dive into this interesting timeframe in American history, especially as it pertains to Texas. Tune in to Part 2 next Wednesday, October 26, and be sure to take a look at Sawyer’s related links below for more information.
Related Links:
Robert K Sawyer’s 100 Years Texas Waterfowl hunting and Other Books
Back to Oyster Bayou Hunting Club in Chambers County, Texas, Ramsey meets with Gene Campbell during an annual blue-winged teal hunting visit. Gene has been hunting the region since back in the 60s and is a treasure trove of entertaining information. Following a great hunt together, the couple hunting buddies discuss migrating blue-winged teal–and hummingbirds–alligators, long-time guide-staff, unique habitat management strategies.
D.I.’s Cajun Restaurant is an unassuming building out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by Tee Mamou Prairie rice fields in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. You know you’re in the right place because the gravel-and-beer-cap parking lot is filled with locals that have eaten here for generations, enjoying live cajun music 3-4 nights weekly. Owner Sherry Fruge tells why and how she and her late husband, D.I., started the restaurant when farming got tough back in the ’70s. Never dreaming that D.I.’s “special way of boiling crawfish” would become a local cultural icon that’s since been inducted into the Cajun Music Hall of Fame, she describes hands-on involvement, memorable events, and why restaurant and community are one in the same.
In 1868, in the remote backwater reaches of south Louisiana’s Avery Island, Edmund Mcllhenny invented Tabasco Sauce. While no one is sure how or why he came up with his proprietary elixir, the iconic company is now in its 6th generation of family ownership. Taking us down dark Louisiana bayous, historian Shane Bernard colorfully describes the Mcllehennys as businessmen, hunters and conservationists, telling amazing stories about the remote region; nutria rats, bears, plume hunting, duck hunting, bird sanctuaries, bird banding and much more. You’d have never thought so much goodness could fit into a tiny condiment bottle!
While chasing September blue-winged teal through coastal Louisiana and Texas, Ramsey meets hunters that take this special time of year very seriously. For most, it’s as much real duck season as any other. Who are they? Where and how do they hunt? What does blue-winged teal season mean to them? Listen to find out.