When I was first approached by my friend and industry colleague Robb Watts about the opportunity to co-produce and post-produce Drakeʼs Migration Nation, I was very excited and eager to have the chance to become a part of something greater than just a "skip to the kill" television program. Drake is the kind of company that makes tactful "makes sense" kinds of products, and over the last year I have learned that they achieve such great products by simply asking the question - "How can we make a good product GREAT?" Our television program is treated no differently than the next great Drake product. To be involved with such a forward thinking, successful company like Drake means you have to stay on top of your game and be prepared to bring your best to the table each and every time.

And that is what we strive to do with Migration Nation. As a producer, videographer, and video editor, I have been given the green light (and actually nudged firmly), to not only present an entertaining television program to our viewers, but to also educate, and tell the story of our experiences. It is not often (in my case anyway) a companyʼs wishes are geared more toward the viewerʼs benefit than theirs! You can definitely look forward to seeing a lot of great Drake products included in the program throughout the season though.

The Migration Nation is more than just the kill. Itʼs about having what it takes, and doing what it takes to accomplish the task and be successful. And success comes in many forms, not just filling your duck tote. But donʼt worry, we fill ours often this season!

Enjoy!

David R. Weldon
Road Dawg Media, Inc.

When J Paul called and let me now that The Migration Nation was going to make the trip up to Maryland to hunt with us, I was really excited.  To me, this hunt really is what it’s all about.  We got to hunt with some great friends, watch some amazing dogs, visit the historical areas on the Shore, eat some great meals (thanks for cooking J Paul!) and, last but not least, experience some great mixed duck and goose hunting.  J Paul and I had some time to talk and catch up while rigging the Double Duty Decoys we used and it dawned on me just how much fun we were going to have!  Despite the weather, we managed a limit of ducks and/or geese every day we were out and just had fun.

My very first hunt was on this farm with my Dad and it’s a place my Dad would hunt with my Grandfather when he was a kid.  Needless to say it’s a very special farm and we work hard to preserve and improve the hunting.  Managing the land, leaving standing crops, building impoundments, and limiting hunting pressure are all steps to preserve this farm and its ability to produce limits of birds.  They are also steps to ensure our future generations can have the same great hunting we enjoy today.

Although we had some challenges with the weather, it was a very successful week.  Being part of Drake’s Migration Nation has been a wonderful experience.  If nothing else, it finally brought J Paul to Maryland to see what the Eastern Shore is all about!  Enjoy the show.

We experienced some pretty harsh weather last year while hunting. As a matter of fact, that is probably and understatement. It seemed as though snow and ice followed us everywhere that we went, and in most places the hunting conditions were anything but normal. Of course, atypical weather can trigger some pretty atypical behavior when it comes to ducks and geese as our episode this week demonstrates.

It is not unusual to see ducks dry feeding in the fields of Canada or even the northern tier of the United Sates. On the other hand, dry feeding ducks are pretty uncommon in southern Illinois, so when we arrived in Union County we expected to be hunting over water. When we got there, however, we found that the extreme cold that had pushed down from the upper Midwest had the ducks hitting the dry fields hard, and the result was a southern Illinois dry field hunt that was as much fun as it was unique.

During our Missouri River goose hunt with Wade Walling last week we got to see a master goose caller at work. On numerous occasions Wade brought in geese that we would have never dreamed of calling, and he put them right in our laps for the taking.

This week we continue hunting with Wade, as we travel to the suburbs of Chicago to chase snow geese in the area that Wade calls home. This is a truly fascinating hunt because it not only highlights the great calling ability of Wade and his friends, but it also shows us how much these guys know about the behavioral patterns of geese.

The night before our hunt Wade took a look at the weather forecast and decided that the conditions (single digit temps, sunshine and snow cover) indicated that we should put out a very large spread. To that end he got on the phone and rounded up as many of his buddies as possible and told them to bring all of their decoys to the field. The next morning when we got to the field Wade had us segregate the dekes into feeding groups, resting groups and sleepers. He explained that in these brutal conditions any migrating geese coming to the spread would join the sleepers and lie down as soon as they came in. Therefore, the sleeper decoys were to be placed right in front of the shooters, since that would be where the geese would want to land.

All of us who are part of the Migration Nation know that that you have to be where the birds are to have a chance. But sometimes the hunt is about more that just taking game. It's the excitement of chasing the birds. It's the camaraderie with friends, old and new alike.

Our hunt this week was meant to be a duck hunt at Eagle Bluffs WMA near Columbia, Missouri. We went to Columbia with high hopes, but when arrived we found out that the refuge was frozen solid and there were no ducks. Luckily for us, my old and dear friend Barry Grazkewicz called to say that there were lots of geese in the area, so we began this show on a farm that he hunts regularly for big Canada geese. While there were lots of geese in the area, they proved very hard to hunt. Our first two days were just mediocre as far as harvesting birds goes, but we still had a great time in the field with an old friend.

On our third day Barry had to go back to his job as a Missouri State Trooper. With so many birds in the area we were reluctant to leave, so rather than going back home we hooked up with Drake Elite Team member, Wade Walling, and moved an hour down the road to the farm of Drake Field Expert Mark Schupp.

In addition to being a decoy carver for Drake, Mark is a VERY serious waterfowler. He had not been hunting in the days prior to our arrival in mid-Missouri, but he told us that since we knew there were geese in the area, we might be successful on his farm if we put out a good spread and hunted hard.

Even though he had to go to work that day, Mark came out on our third day and helped Wade, Kyle Dudley and me set out a beautiful spread for Canada geese. What followed was not only a great hunt, but also a lesson in how important hunting hard and actually knowing how to work the geese can be. During that third morning our new friend Wade Walling put on an exhibition of calling and flagging (with an old black backpack as a flag), the likes of which few people have ever seen.
We hope that you will enjoy accompanying us on an exciting Missouri River goose hunt with both old friends and new that we will not soon forget.

This week's show is extra special to me for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was getting to hunt with one of my oldest friends, Rob Miller. I have known Rob since preschool, and some of my oldest memories are of evenings spent at the Miller house playing with Rob and his sister while our parents cooked and played cards. As too often happens with friends, Rob and I grew older and drifted apart. After high school Rob moved to south Texas, but we still kept track of one another through mutual friends. Then a few years ago Rob called me about training a dog, and before I knew it we were hunting together again. Today Rob still lives in Texas, but he operates a guide service called Waterfowl Control here in West Tennessee. He leases some tremendous spots each year, and we hunt together every chance that we get. Rob has a real appreciation for waterfowling, and he is a true conservationist. His late father, Billy, introduced him to hunting early on, and taught him to have an appreciation for not only taking game, but also the entire hunting experience, which brings me to the second reason this hunt was special.