Jeff sits down with Mike Cole—CWA Gold Benefactor, rice grower, lifelong duck hunter, and serious decoy collector—for a grounded, from-the-bootstraps story of how passion turns into habitat, community, and a legacy worth passing on. From carving lessons after school to developing clubs in the Butte Sink, Mike maps the moves, mistakes, and mileposts that shaped his waterfowl life—plus why he and his wife poured so much into Chesapeake Bay retrievers and California Waterfowl.

What’s inside

• Roots & mentors: the early days that hooked him on ducks—and the carver who lit a lifelong fascination with working decoys.
• Chasing birds north: leaving the Delta for the Butte Sink, joining a club, and learning the realities of leases, partners, and  ...