The Duck Commander Family (31 page)

At the time I started Buck Commander, we were selling a ton of duck DVDs to Walmart. I thought it would be an easy transition to selling deer DVDs. Boy, was I wrong. When I tried to schedule a meeting with the deer-hunting buyer for Walmart, I couldn’t even get him to return my phone calls. The big difference between ducks and deer was that Duck Commander
owned
the duck market. Deer were an entirely different
beast. There was much more competition in the deer market. My whole plan seemed shot—or was it?

When Buck Commander finally got off the ground, we were able to build a great spin-off business that complemented Duck Commander. Fortunately, the Lord gave me what I was looking for—guys who were busy with their regular jobs for about eight months out of the year and then off just in time for deer season. Of all things, I found the people I needed in Major League Baseball players. Many major leaguers are avid hunters. I think it takes a lot of patience to be good at both: When you’re riding a two-for-thirty slump, you have to remain patient and focused in order to hit your way out of it. When you’re deer hunting, you might go three or four days without seeing a big buck. But you have to remain patient, knowing that there are some big deer out there.

Deer-hunting season takes place after the baseball season is over, so many major leaguers spend the off-season in the woods. I firmly believe that God is the one who put me with the folks I needed. My partners make a great living playing baseball in the summer, and they make some great hunting shows in the winter. I was convinced we could make better DVDs than what was already out there. I was also convinced that something as fun as deer hunting should never be portrayed as being something bland. Buck Commander set out to change things.

The first group of Buckmen included Russ Springer, who is from Alexandria (or Pollock for the locals), Louisiana, and pitched for nine major league teams from 1992 to 2010; David
Dellucci, who is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was an outfielder for seven major league clubs from 1997 to 2009; and Mike DeJean, who is also from Baton Rouge and pitched for five MLB teams from 1997 to 2006. It was a coincidence that each of the first Buckmen was from my home state of Louisiana. Maybe it was because Louisiana guys are willing to take crazy chances. Word began spreading through the major leagues that something big was happening in the deer-hunting industry with baseball players, and these guys were the first ones to step up to the plate. Adam LaRoche, who was then a first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, was the next player to join the team, and he brought along Braves third baseman Chipper Jones. Chipper was a good friend of Matt Duff, who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2002, so they joined together.

Like a baseball roster, there has been some turnover with Buck Commander from season to season. My current partners are some of my closest friends: LaRoche, who is now a first baseman with the Washington Nationals; former major league pitcher Tom “Tombo” Martin; Los Angeles Angels outfielder Ryan Langerhans; and country superstars Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan.

Ryan grew up hunting deer in Texas and was teammates with Adam in Atlanta. Tombo grew up in the Florida pan-handle and pitched in the majors for thirteen seasons, most recently with the Colorado Rockies in 2007. They are just really super guys who have become good friends to me over the years.

Adam is really the guy who helped me save Buck Commander and Duck Commander. Dave LaRoche, his father, pitched for the Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees during the 1970s and early 1980s. His younger brother, Andy, was a third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Oakland A’s from 2007 to 2011. Adam was born in Orange County, California, but grew up in Fort Scott, Kansas, where there’s some really big whitetail deer. Hunting and fishing have always been in Adam’s blood. He loves being outdoors as much as he loves playing baseball.

When Adam was a rookie with the Braves in 2004, he lost his lucky Duck Commander hat. You know how baseball players are about their superstitions. Adam
had
to find a replacement hat. He went to the Duck Commander website and didn’t find one, so he called our headquarters, and Jase answered the phone. Adam told him he was a Major League Baseball player.

“Huh, I’ve never heard of you,” Jase told Adam. “We don’t sell that hat anymore, but I think I might have one in my closet.”

A couple of weeks later, Adam received a worn-out, sweat-stained Duck Commander hat from Jase in the mail. I became friends with the Rockies’ first baseman Todd Helton, who is another avid deer hunter, at about the same time Adam called the Duck Commander office. Helton invited me to one of his games against the Braves at Turner Field in Atlanta in September 2005. The Braves had wrapped up their fourteenth
consecutive division title the night before. Adam found out I was at the game, and I met him at home plate during batting practice. Not many people can say they met their future business partner at home plate at Turner Field.

Adam was a big hunter and told me he grew up watching Duck Commander videos. We quickly became friends and started hunting together. I was traveling a lot, getting Buck Commander off the ground, hunting all over the country with my partners and friends, Helton and other fellow Rockies players like Aaron Cook, Danny Ardoin, and Brad Hawpe.

I will never forget being on a deer hunt in Iowa with Hawpe and Ardoin. We drove through one of the worst snowstorms I have ever seen. We must have seen two hundred cars on the side of the road. You couldn’t even see the exit ramps off the interstate because the snow was so heavy. It was a tense car ride. After finally making it to the camp, I got so sick I had to stay in my room the whole time. We didn’t kill one deer on that trip. That’s when I realized making deer-hunting videos might be a little harder than I thought!

After Adam was traded to the Pirates in 2007, Korie and I took our kids to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We were walking around the Magic Kingdom when Adam called and told me to meet him in Tampa. He was going to drive from Bradenton, Florida, where the Pirates were having spring training. Adam had a tee time and wanted me to play golf with him. I was always up for an adventure, so I let Korie know I was going. She gave me that classic look I’ve seen many times before, but knew I had to go.

Korie:
We were on family vacation at Disney World with four young kids, literally in the line for Splash Mountain. Willie hates waiting in lines, so I wasn’t really surprised when he jumped at Adam’s offer. I had never met Adam, but I knew that Willie liked him a lot, and they had talked about his being a part of Buck Commander. While the golfing trip would be fun, it could also be an important business meeting for Buck Commander, but really? Forget the fact that I was going to be left alone at Disney World with four kids. He had to get to Tampa and we didn’t have a car! Willie would figure it out, though. He always does, and the kids and I had a great time that day at the park.

I was wearing running shorts and a T-shirt. I jumped in a cab outside Disney World and told the cabbie to drive to Tampa. The cabbie started looking at his fare chart to figure out how much it was going to cost. “Turn your meter on, son,” I told him. “Let’s get there.”

After more than two hours in a cab, it cost me $360 to get to Tampa. Adam was standing outside this super-nice country club waiting for me with the golf pro. “This is your friend?” the pro asked. “We’re going to have to get him some clothes.”

I dropped another hundred dollars on a collared shirt. But the expenses were well worth it because during dinner, Adam told me he wanted to invest in Buck Commander and become a partner in the company. I was really happy to have him on
board, and Buck Commander probably wouldn’t have survived without him. Again, God’s timing is always perfect.

When we were finished with dinner, Adam broke the news that he couldn’t take me back to Orlando because he had a spring-training game the next morning and had to be at the park very early. He still had a good drive to get back to Bradenton, so I was going to have to figure out how to get back to Korie and the kids. When we couldn’t find a cab to take me back to Disney World, Adam walked up to a hostess at the restaurant and offered her a hundred dollars to take me back to Orlando. He even called Korie and asked her if it was okay for another woman to drive me back.

Korie:
I was just happy Willie was going to make it back. It was getting late, and I was worried he might have to spend the night in Tampa. I told Willie to hurry back and meet us at Epcot. The park was open till one
A.M.
that night and the kids and I were still going strong.

I ended up riding back to Orlando in an old Honda Civic with a waiter and waitress from the restaurant. The car’s radio didn’t even work, so these eighteen- and nineteen-year-old kids were wearing iPods, singing and smoking the entire way. I was sitting in the backseat, wondering how in the world I get into these situations. Fortunately, I arrived at Epcot shortly before midnight and was able to ride Soarin’ with the kids.

Korie:
I was so happy to see Willie. I was carrying Bella, who was asleep in my arms, and pushing Will in a stroller. There were still a few rides we hadn’t gotten to, and John Luke and Sadie weren’t ready to stop. My back was killing me, so when Willie walked up I couldn’t have been more excited. I passed Bella over to him and we closed the park down!

It ended up being a really great day and set the stage for Buck Commander. It was classic Adam. I think sometimes we do this kind of stuff just so we’ll have a great story to tell. He and I have had some epic adventures. In the early days, Adam and I, along with Langerhans and a few other buddies, got into a massive food/forty-ounce-drink fight outside of a restaurant chain in Texas. Adam was buying drinks at a drive-through window and was throwing them at us in the truck behind them as fast as he could!

Adam is a great friend—he’s like another brother to me. What I’ve learned from Adam, more than anything else, is to have
confidence
. For Adam, if you can think of it, you can do it. That motto has led to some crazy late-night arguments, where I find myself being the practical one! But I love that he’s a big thinker and that he pushes me to step across that line. Adam is also a great connector. He makes friends and holds on to them. That’s how Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan became
involved in Buck Commander. Adam met Jason when he sang the national anthem at a Braves game in 2005. He met Luke the same year, when Adam and a bunch of his teammates went to see him play at a bar in Atlanta. They arrived after the show was over, but Luke came out and played a two-hour set just for them.

Growing up in the South, Luke and Jason have both always been hunters. Jason grew up in Macon, Georgia, and started pursuing a music career immediately after high school. Luke grew up in Leesburg, Georgia, and is not only a great singer and performer but also an awesome writer. Now Jason and Luke are both producing platinum albums. They’re pretty much as big as you can get in the music industry, and I’m so happy for both of them. Jason has done everything you can do in country music. He’s never afraid to take a chance and do something different. Jason does it his way, and I like that about him. I just recently surprised Luke in Nashville and showed up for his platinum party for
Tailgates and Tanlines
. In person, Luke is exactly like he is onstage: the life of the party and a blast to be around. He’s also the kind of guy that really cares about his friends and has given me some really great advice as the success of the show has taken off. I don’t give him the satisfaction of knowing I’m actually taking his advice, but I am listening.