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A century-old duck club, a family ranch under the big sky, and a season that swings from teal swarms to a 360-class elk—this conversation with Clay is a full tour of a hunter’s year. We kick off at Newman Gun Club in California’s grasslands, where cabins ring a well-kept marsh and members measure time by the migration. Clay shares how he grew up in the blind, earned his own membership, and why even a down duck year can feel rich when the roads are graveled, the water’s right, and the clubhouse hums on closing weekend.

We shift north to Montana, where his family’s 6,000-acre ranch sits above rolling breaks and winter grass. Clay breaks down his best bull yet, explaining rough green scoring, what it might mean for the books, and how weather, patience, and timing decided the day. He gets candid about the realities of tags—points, odds, landowner advantages, and why draws feel tighter post-2020. Along the way, he compares the rush of a finishing flock to the adrenaline spike of a close elk encounter, and why bow season during the rut can be the most electric window on the calendar.

There’s practical insight throughout: how teal and wigeon shape a Central Valley strap, why mallards remain a prized rarity at the club, what out-of-state trips to Washington, Arkansas timber, and Missouri taught him, and how farming almonds and walnuts frames a workable hunting season. We wrap with the future—food plots for deer recovery, stewardship of water and roads at Newman, and the community that keeps both places alive. Hit play for a story that blends public refuge grit, private club tradition, and mountain country grit into one season-long arc.

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