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Oregon, USA – We talk to Jeff Foiles who’s rise in the waterfowl world was a grind and turned into Rock Stardom once he hit. He was the face of the brand for years and had his own signature series blinds and gear. He was an integral part of the evolution of FA. We talk about his early years working as an iron worker and doing waterfowl on the side and how getting involved in the waterfowl business changed his life.

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Oregon, USA – We talk to Lee Kjos, one of the hunting industry’s master photographers. Lee is a marketing genius and was instrumental in the next step of the Final Approach branding with logos, videos, print advertisements and more. This is also the time that Kolpin and Final Approach are sold to Bushnell outdoors and it begins a new era for FA as they get into the decoy market and start building other items. There are a ton of changes at the brand and Lee is involved in a lot of them including having Jeff Foiles become the face of the FA Brand.

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Oregon, USA – In this episode we talk to Duke Levan who helped Ron with the original frame design and he built the first Eliminator frames for Ron on the samples and the first run of production blinds. Duke was a very close friend of Tim Grounds and they hunted and filmed with each other for years and created a special bond. You will hear some great stories about Tim and the crew and a lot of insight into the beginning of the FA brand and how the waterfowl industry grew after the creation on the layout blind.

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Oregon, USA – We talk to Dave about the timing of Final Approach’s launch and how that helped push Dave and the DSD decoy line into a national brand. This all happens at a time when innovation in the waterfowl category is at an all-time high and other brands emerge and that makes the waterfowl category’s growth tremendous. We talk about our original FA Eliminator blinds and how incredible they were and how ours are still in working condition after 25 plus years. Lots of great stories and info in this podcast.

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Oregon, USA – We talk to Fred Zink of Zink Calls and Avian-X on the early years with Ron Latschaw and Final Approach, and when he left FA to go to a new company called Avery Outdoors. They would end up being FA’s main competitor and this would turn into a retail war. This was the start of the boom of the waterfowl industry with all the icons and big names in the industry that would be in charge of a lot of major companies in the future. Fred also has more Tim Grounds stories than anyone in the industry and once you hear one Grounds story you think that is the funniest you have ever heard, until you hear the next one. LOL. This is a podcast you do not want to miss.

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Oregon, USA – We talk to Darren Lundy who is one of Ron’s closest friends as we look back at the start of the company. They traveled together and hunted together so get an inside look at the start of the company that really was created out of one hunters idea to hide better and be more effective at hunting waterfowl. We will talk about the next evolution with Kolpin, growing a national brand, dealing with shareholders and the corporate side of the business and what he saw Ron and the crew go through.

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Oregon, USA – We talk about the progression of the FA brand and how things changed after Ron sold the company to Kolpin Outdoors. He was designing more products and had help from a bigger company with marketing, research and all the assets of a big company. There were some tough times as well dealing with corporate America but those were all challenges Ron fought through. We talk about all the marketing of the Videos like Full Moon Fever that were cornerstones of the industry. Tim Grounds of Tim Grounds Calls, Bill Saunders of Bill Saunders Calls, Cory Hamrick and Marcus Flesher of the Original Hardcore decoys in Idaho and more. It was a great time in the industry and the start of things to come.

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Oregon, USA – We talk to Ron Latschaw the Father of the FIRST Layout Blind. He first created the Slider Blind that turned into the mass produced Eliminator Layout blind and this changed waterfowl hunting for years to come. We will talk about the original slider blind and why he created it and what he was thinking when he did. We also talk about all the other companies that were pushed forward in the waterfowl category with the emergence of FA. Learn about the start of a great company and how it changed the waterfowl world and the whole hunting category.

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Oregon, USA – This week’s FA Podcast join Mario as he talks to Rob Reynolds from Ranchland Outfitters in Alberta Canada about crossing the border this year with Covid and all the protocols. It is not as hard as folks think so we run through all the things you need to know and what you need to prepare for before heading across the border and also returning to the U.S.

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Oregon, USA – This episode of the FA Podcast is all about getting better with your camera in the field. We are joined by Lefty Ray Chapa, who is an award winning freelance outdoor photographer/writer from San Antonio, TX. His focus is very narrow as he only covers anything to do with a shotgun or a fly rod. Currently he pens the “Lefty’s Blind Bag” column for the American Waterfowler magazine and is the contracted photographer for the Clay Target Nation magazine. We will cover everything from using your cell phone to stepping your game up with a point and shoot camera and then the ultimate photo geek cameras with different lenses and options. This is for the person who wants to start taking photos in the field or someone who wants to get better.

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