Jase Robertson - Good Call: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Fowl

A clean-shaven Phil from the mid-1970s, right after our family moved to the river. Phil made that old wooden boat himself.

Since I come from a family that doesnt take a lot of pictures, this is the earliest photo of me (1972) that I know of. Showing Alan, me, Miss Kay, and Phil.

Me around first or second grade. I had just learned how to use a comb and was so proud of my hair.

At my birthday party. Thats my granny in the background and me looking at the camera as I stuff my face with cakethough Willie is the champion cake eater now. Hes the other one stuffing his face.

A flood hit West Monroe around 1979, so naturally we took the opportunity to go fishing right up under my grandmothers house. Of course, we had no adult supervision. Thats me standing up; Willies in the middle next to one of our neighborhood friends.

My football picture from the fifth or sixth grade. I was on the community team and never showed up for practice because I never could catch a ride, but they let me play in the games because I was the fastest.

Me in about the seventh grade at Pinecrest Middle School. I was the shortest kid on the basketball team, so I worked to excel at the long-range shotshey, it worked!

Here I am with my cousin playing dominoes. Well, I wasnt actually playing, but my cousin was placing the dominoes down too gently. I had to jump in and show him the proper domino-slamming technique.

Taking a ride in the cool green Jeep. Thats me in the back with a random couple. Phil was driving, and Miss Kay held Jep in her lap, with Willie beside her.

Jep and I with our dog Gabemy best buddy. When Gabe was older, he saved Jeps life when Jep wandered out too deep in the river. I was about eleven years old when I caught this giant catfish.

Me out by the cook shack in front of Phils place. We actually cooked things out therewe had a fish fryer, a grill, and a smoker. Out in front you see a bunch of decoys, and Im picking a duck.

Me as an intern at Whites Ferry Road Church right after high school. This was one of those self-discovery times in my life, and I quickly discovered I didnt want to be cooped up in an office.

The guys out on an air boat in the winter of 1987. Thats me in the middle with the Mickey Mouse ears. This is a rare photo of Alan (right) with a beard and me without one. I was still courting Missy, so I kept my face clean for her. But that soon changed.

I had proposed to Missy not too long before this photo was taken. She was a senior in high school and I was twenty. I had my best handsome-dude face on to impress my girl.

I walked up the aisle with a smirk on my face, dreaming about the honeymoon. Missy seems pretty happy about what was coming, too.

Me and my dapper-looking groomsmen. (Back row, left to right) My good friend W. E. Phillips; my frog-hunting partner in crime Mike Williams; methe man of the hour; my good friend Rovance Lewis; the first guy I converted to Christ, Blake Gaston; Al on his knee, sporting a mullet. (Front row, left to right) A young Jep; Missys cousin Chris; and Willie, doing his best to look debonair.

This is Missy in our second year of marriage and the beginnings of our Robertson family tradition of annual vacations together. Missy had to learn early on that if she was going to be married to an outdoors guy like me, alligators would be a part of her life. I was in the pond hunting for frogs.

This was a typical scene in 1996 after we bought our first house on Swiss Street, as we shared together in Bible study.

I was actually Duck Commanders first paid employee. Here I am looking less than happy, happy, happy because I was overworked and underpaid. I needed more help!

In the early days (around 2004), the Duck Commander business and workshop was at Phils place. Weve always tested every call we makeeven from the startand I always prided myself on my organizational skills. You can see the insulation on the wall next to mewe never did finish the place out. Years later, Miss Kay turned this building into a playhouse for the grandchildrenpretty cool.

Christmas morning, early 1990s, and fresh from the hunt. Phil and I are peeling shrimp in the kitchen and preparing to make crawfish pie.