Gueydan Hunt

Posted on December 7, 2006 by Chris Quebedeaux, The Crowley Post Signal 

Duck hunting is a way of life for many Louisiana residents, especially those who live anywhere in the vicinity of Gueydan.

People from all over the state, as well as from various parts of the world, make their way to this small southwest Louisiana town every year in hopes of not only hunting, but also getting a taste of the community's culture. Such was the case recently with Shannon Nardi, producer of the Waterdog and Super Retriever Series. Nardi made the trip from Little Rock, Ark., with Waterdog host Justin Tackett to film a hunt with prominent Lafayette businessman Ronnie Prudhomme. The show will air next fall.

"Waterdog is a 30-minute show that airs on the Outdoor Line Network, primarily about ducks and dogs," said Nardi. "Ronnie invited us to come down here and have a good time together and it was just a trip that we couldn't pass up."

Nardi has been in television production for 11 years, 10 of those at JM Associates, before starting her own production company, Dancin Dog Productions, last year.

"A lot of hunting shows, I think, always have certain big name people that they use," said Nardi. "We like to use just the everyday guy who likes to just go out and hunt. I think that relates to a lot more people because a lot of people can't afford to go to the big luxury lodges. It's nice to put a story together that will relate to the majority of people who watch it." Prudhomme seemingly fit Nardi's bill as the average every-day guy.

"I was born and raised in this part of the country," said Prudhomme. "Heck, I didn't realize that there was anything much more than the marsh for years. "I've duck hunted, snipe hunted and even quail hunted down in South Louisiana, but my love has always been ducks and geese. As a matter of fact,

I thought deer had webbed feet at one time because the only deer I had ever shot was marsh deer."

Even if Prudhomme wouldn't have fit Nardi's bill, the area definitely fit Tackett's.

"I've been fortunate to hunt just about all over the country, in Canada and South America, you know," said Tackett. "There are five or six places as a duck hunter that you have to come to and Gueydan, La., is definitely one of the top three that I think most people around North America would consider the cr©me de la cr©me.

"I think it's the lifestyle and the fact that waterfowl hunting is such an intricate part of life here. That's what makes it so exciting because it is so important to everyone. It's an every day way of life for folks who live here. It's the place to be if you are a duck or goose hunter."

An added bonus to the hunt was the fact that both Tackett and Prudhomme own labs that have impressive track records.

Tackett's yellow lab, Yella, and Prudhomme's chocolate lab, Roux, are both Grand Hunting Retriever Champions. (GRHRCH).

Yella is the youngest in history to pass a UKC HRC Grand. She passed her first at 15 months.

This is considered the Super Bowl for hunting retrievers.

"Roux is the offspring of Cody, which is one of the all-time greatest hunt test dogs," said Tackett. "Roux is an extremely talented dog and is a Grand Champion. He's as good a dog as there is in the United States."

Roux, also a Master and Upland Hunter, is the youngest dog to pass the Spring Grand in 2004 and the youngest dog to get his GRHRCH Title in 2004. He is also the youngest dog to place in the Super Retriever Series. He placed 3rd. This also allowed him to qualify in the Super Retriever Series Crown Championship, held in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was one of 12 dogs to qualify for this Championship.

But with credentials like that come distractions, especially when people all over the world are willing to pay top dollar for the chance to breed their lab with Roux.

In fact, it was Roux's status of being a ladies man that got him into trouble on the last day of taping.

"The dogs were just horrible on the last hunt," said Tackett. "And it's understandable because both dogs have been hunting pretty heavily since the beginning of the season. But I don't think you can blame Roux's performance on Roux, you have to blame it on Ronnie.

"Roux is a successful male dog and successful male dogs breed to successful female dogs. So the night before the final hunt, this guy from Illinois shows up with a female dog and she is ready for love. Now Roux has his night of passion and Ronnie expects him to come out the next day and be a Grand Champion."

Needless to say, that wasn't the case.

"No dog can burn the candle at both ends so to speak. You can't be a ladies man all night and then come out and be a stud in the field the next day," said Tackett. "Roux was just in another world all morning long. He was banging his tail up against the blind and it sounded like a base drum. We're trying to call some specks in and it sounded like a marching band in the blind. And Ronnie can't make Roux stop. It was a rough morning."

"To make matters worse, Tackett also had problems with his equipment on the final hunt, mainly the shells he was shooting.

"I was hitting the birds, you could hear it, but they just weren't falling," said Tackett. "About 90 percent through the hunt, I reached down and looked at my shells and realized that I was shooting 6's. Most eight- and nine-year-old kids in this area know that you can't kill anything with a 6. Obviously I don't."

But despite all the adversity, Tackett and Prudhomme were able to salvage the last hunt by limiting out on specs.

Tackett and Nardi were also treated boiled crawfish and raw oysters while in Gueydan as well as a trip to G&H Seed's well-stocked sporting goods store and a visit with legendary spec call maker Mervis Saltzman.

As Tackett wrapped up his final thoughts on his trip, he had to also throw in a little something about the Cajun humor that seemed to fill the camp late in the evening.

"I heard some of the best Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes while I was down here," said Tackett. "I knew a lot about Boudreaux and I knew a lot about Thibodeaux, but I did not know anything about Clotile and Madam Marie. I never heard about Clotile so I'm excited about that.

"Clotile, I love that name. I might name my next dog Clotile."