The Duck Commander Family (34 page)

Of course, you never know what the chef is going to come up with out in a blind. Uncle Si likes to say he’s the MacGyver of cooking. Si says if you give him a piece of bread, cabbage, coconut, mustard greens, pig’s feet, pine cones, and a woodpecker, he’ll make a delicious chicken pot pie! My favorite duck to eat is a wood duck, or woodie, as we call ’em. They’re acorn eaters, so their meat is very clean and tasty. Most of ’em are local ducks, and they live in trees. Our place is full of ’em and you can now harvest three a day (it used to only be two). They typically fly at daylight and fly really crazy, darting and dodging to avoid trees as they fly through. They also don’t fly very high in the air and stick to the treetops. Wood ducks are hard to call, although I have seen us peel ’em in from time to time. They squeal and make a noise in the air, but when they sit they have a different set of sounds. We always try to mimic the sitting sound so they think their buddies are on the water in front of us. They really don’t leave the woods much, which I guess is why they have their name. They are some of the most beautiful ducks, but I just love the way they taste. They’re my favorite ducks to eat hands down.

Growing up like we did is scary to think about now. We did some dangerous things; there’s really no other way to say it. I shudder to think of my kids doing the things we did back then. It was a different time. I always feel like I came up in the last
days of the good ol’ days. Now you would never think of letting your children do what we did. There seems to be so much fear nowadays. We’re concerned about lawsuits and predatory people, and I guess we know more about our surroundings and it’s caused us to see danger everywhere. When I was a kid, we always rode in the back of the truck on the way home from town. No one ever thought about what would happen if we got in a wreck or if one of the kids simply fell out. I drove for years without a license. We just survived. I guess God was looking over us. He had a plan for my family. He always provided for us, and we always gave Him the glory for what we had, and we still do.

I believe our faith is what sets us apart. It’s not about our beards, our success, or our hunting skills. It’s the Lord. He keeps us in line. That’s why we don’t fight and bicker much, like a lot of families do. And when we do, we forgive one another because the Lord forgave us. That’s why we don’t let our own selfish desires pull us apart. We not only read the Bible and study it, but we actually live by it. We believe that what’s in the Bible is the truth. We live our lives trusting that God’s promises are real.

When Phil came to the Lord and began to live differently, we witnessed it happen. We saw how Phil turned his life over to God and how it changed him and our family for good. We had a crazy life growing up, but I wouldn’t change any of it. My parents may not have been the best parents in the world all the time by parenting experts’ standards, but they did the absolute best they could in the circumstances they were in.
And despite the obstacles, they set the bar high for us. I am so proud of them and all they’ve accomplished. I am proud of each of my brothers, and I have a super relationship with each of them. I really love getting to see them every day at work. I realize that so many people will never know what that’s like.

I am the most proud of my children and my wife, Korie. Without her, none of this would have ever happened. She took a chance on a cute boy with dimples in whom she saw potential. Our life together has never been boring. We endured hard times with hopes and dreams of doing the inconceivable. We were content when we had very little and when we had a lot. Our kids are strong, spiritual, and well disciplined. They will have their hopes and dreams as they grow, and I will be right there beside them cheering them on.

Sure, the Robertson family has its flaws, but we’re pretty good at quite a few things—like duck hunting, frog catching, fishing, and selling worms. But most important, we’re really good at being a family. Like I say in one way or another at the end of each episode of
Duck Dynasty,
at the end of the day, we’re a family first, and everything else is just not worth getting that worked up over.

We’ve enjoyed showing our family to the world through the TV screen. Best of all, it’s actually fun for us to watch the show, because the Robertsons always find a way to laugh at themselves. We’re the ones laughing the hardest when one of us
does something stupid, which, as you can see, happens quite often!

My advice is: Don’t take yourself too seriously, laugh a lot, enjoy your time with family, and appreciate the unique talents of others. Trust in God, love your neighbor, say you’re sorry, forgive, and work hard. Sit down to a good meal, turn off your cell phone, respect your elders, and, of course, get out in the woods and enjoy some good ol’ frog legs. That’s the Robertson way!

We feel blessed beyond measure to have been able to put our life into a book. Really, how many people get to do that? It doesn’t just happen, though. Our sincerest thanks to John Howard, not only a great father and father-in-law, but also an excellent book agent who knew we could do it and helped us work through this process with lightning speed. We want to thank our editor and friend, Philis Boultinghouse, who sweetly encouraged us along the way. Also Amanda Demastus, who kindly kept us on schedule, not always an easy task. Thanks to Mark Schlabauch, who helped with the writing process. A special thanks to our assistant, Angila Summitt, who, along with the other things she does for us daily, helped us gather and choose the pictures to include in the book. Narrowing your entire life to just forty pictures is tough! Thank you to A&E for believing in us and allowing us to show our crazy family to the world. Thanks to our children for being patient while we added one more thing to our already busy lives. Thanks to our big family: our brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins with whom we are blessed to be able to work hard and play hard. And last but certainly not least, thanks to our parents who gave us this story with a life well lived and who continue to be an integral part of our story and our lives. We couldn’t do it without you.