 Photo courtesy of the A&E Network |
Duck Dynasty TV Series
The Duck Dynasty TV show features the family of Phil Robertson, a close-knit, church-going Louisiana bayou group living the American dream as they operate the thriving Duck Commander business, while maintaining their family values and lifestyle.
Duck Dynasty was filmed in the Monroe area of northeast Louisiana, and aired on the A&E Network which premiered the show in March of 2012.
The show, produced for A&E Networks by Gurney Productions, ended 2012 as the most watched A&E telecast of all time with 6.5 million viewers.
In 2013, Duck Dynasty became the top-rated reality program on cable, with an average 13.4 million viewers.
Season 11 of Duck Dynasty premiered in November of 2016 on A&E. This was the final season for Duck Dynasty, with the final episode airing in the spring of 2017.
About the Company: Duck Commander
 Duck Commander and Buck Commander Offices and Store, West Monroe, Louisiana |
A homegrown mom-and-pop operation in northeast Louisiana, Duck Commander has grown into a sporting empire by manufacturing high quality duck calls and duck decoys out of salvaged swamp wood. While some might think the Robertsons to be a bit eccentric, they are in fact a loving family that has built a strong, reputable business.
The family has also expanded their focus from only waterfowl to create an allied business in 2006, Buck Commander, dealing with the deer hunting industry.
The company was organized in the 1970s by Phil Robertson.
Duck Commander Warehouse and Gift Shop Location
The Duck Commander offices, warehouse, and retail outlet - gift shop are located in West Monroe, Louisiana, at 117 Kings Lane, off Thomas Road, about five blocks south of Interstate Highway I-20. (see map below on this page)
Today, the Duck Commander offices and gift store have become a popular tourist attraction. Many people traveling on nearby Interstate Highway I-20 stop there to take photos in the front of the building, and maybe even have their photo taken with one of the cast members!
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About Duck Commander |
Located at 117 Kings Lane, off Thomas Road, about five blocks south of Interstate Highway I-20. Phone 318.387.0588 for more information or visit www.DuckCommander.com |
The gift shop has a variety of items for sale, including T-shirts, caps, apparel, duck calls, posters, cook books, DVDs, and more.
The Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau now offers a mobile website to guide visitors around the West Monroe to various locales where episodes were filmed. See discussion below for details.
Duck Dynasty Family and Cast of Characters
The Robertson family has filmed Duck Dynasty at locations throughout Ouachita Parish in the Monroe and West Monroe area (see details below).
The men on the show sport their signature "ZZ Top" beards, and are usually seen wearing camouflage outfits when shooting the scenes for the show.
Phil Robertson
Phil Robertson is the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family, a living legend in Louisiana in earlier years, and today as well.
As a high-school athlete at North Caddo High School in Vivian, Phil was All-State in football, baseball, and track which afforded him the opportunity to attend Louisiana Tech University on a football scholarship. He fielded offers to play football at LSU, Ole Miss, Baylor and Rice, but chose Louisiana Tech so he could remain close to his home town of Vivian.
He played first-string quarterback ahead of football star Terry Bradshaw at Tech in nearby Ruston in the late 1960s. I remember it well ... I too was a student at Tech at that time!
See photos of Phil below taken during his football career at Louisiana Tech.
Phil Robertson in the 1967 Louisiana Tech yearbook |
Phil and Terry were both drafted into the NFL. Phil did not enter the NFL, but stayed in Louisiana, married his high school sweetheart, Miss Kay, and built a house on the Ouachita River, where they raised four sons: Alan, Willie, Jase, and Jep.
Terry Bradshaw, of course, went on to success with the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, winning four Super Bowls, and is now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But Phil earned his own success; his love for the outdoors lead him to create the Duck Commander® Duck Call in 1973, the most trusted duck whistle ever conceived and manufactured.
Phil worked as a schoolteacher for several years after graduating from Tech. He also earned his master’s degree in education via night classes, with a concentration in English.
Not satisfied with the duck calls on the market, Phil began making a call that would reproduce the exact sound of a duck. His home became the "factory" where the calls were assembled, packaged, and shipped. Phil traveled store to store in the early days marketing his new duck call, with most ending in rejections. He persevered at marketing, and his hard work paid off. Today, Duck Commander products, including a successful line of videos, are sold in all 50 states and in several countries.
Phil Robertson has also built a reputation all over the country for his faith and belief in the Lord God Almighty. He speaks to hundreds of different churches and organizations every year, explaining what the Lord has done for him, and can do for them.
Miss Kay Robertson
Miss Kay is the revered matriarch of the Duck Dynasty family. What she says goes. She was 16 when she married Phil and since then she’s been keeping him and the boys from spending too much time in the woods, bringing them back to civilization each night with a home cooked meal.
Miss Kay believes her cooking talents are a gift which she must share, so she often ends up feeding all of the family and most of the neighborhood. Her most famous dishes are banana pudding, fried deer steak, crawfish pie, and sticky frog legs.
Louisiana ducks and waterfowl ... what Duck Commander is all about! |
Phil and Kay have four sons: Alan (the oldest), Willie, Jase and Jep (the youngest).
Willie Robertson
Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander. He is a graduate of nearby University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) with a Bachelor's Degree in Health & Human Performance with an emphasis on business. Using this degree, Willie has grown the company from a living room operation by the river to an outdoors corporate giant. Willie has been CEO of the company for about 10 years.
He also produces and stars in a number of outdoor TV shows, and a popular series of DVDs.
Korie Robertson
Korie, Willie’s wife and business partner, has helped him grow the company into an ever-expanding enterprise, and serves as the Duck Commander office manage. Korie met Willie in the third grade, and got married a year after high school.
Korie and Willie have five children: John Luke, Sadie, Lil' Will, Bella, and a foster daughter named Rebecca. John Luke and Sadie have been featured in several episodes, including two Season 2 shows entitled "Driving Miss Sadie" and "Truck Commander".
Jase Robertson
Jase Robertson is Willie’s brother and his polar opposite. While Willie enjoys making deals behind the desk, Jase would much rather be out in the swamp hunting ducks. Jase’s job within the company is to fabricate the duck calls that have made Duck Commander famous. When pressed, Jase can churn out a thousand new calls in a flash, but he likes to take his time so that Willie doesn’t expect the same performance every day.
Missy Robertson
Jase has been married for 21 years to Missy, whom he met in high school. Jase and Missy have three children, one of whom, Cole, has been featured on the show. Phil affectionately calls this grandson "Cole Man".
Si Robertson
Si, aka "Uncle Si", is Phil’s brother, best friend, and partner in crime. Si fashions the reeds that are inserted in every patented duck call. It’s a pretty easy job, made needlessly difficult by the fact that Si can never seem to stay on task.
The Vietnam vet will often share his war stories with the guys, which usually gets the crew behind schedule, much to Willie’s dismay. He starts many sentences with his now well-known line "Hey!", and his favorite drink is iced tea from an old blue glass.
Si's new book hit the market on September 3, 2013, entitled "Si-cology 1: Tales and Wisdom from Duck Dynasty's Favorite Uncle ".
Jep Robertson
Jeptha "Jep" Robertson is the youngest of Phil and Kay's four sons, and the video expert in the family. He functions as cameraman and video/DVD editor. He's married to Jessica, and they have four children.
Alan Robertson
Alan Robertson is the oldest of the four sons, and he returned to the family business in 2012 after working for 22 years as a pastor at the church the family attends in the Monroe area. Alan is married to Lisa, and joined the TV series for Season 4 in August of 2013.
Family Friends and Co-Workers
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Also seen on the series are family friends and co-workers, including John Godwin, a worker at Duck Commander since 2002. Justin Martin also works at Duck Commander. And slow-talking Mountain Man, a neighbor, appears in several episodes, working his magic with air conditioners, and running a radio talk show.
Filming Locations Around West Monroe
Many of the Duck Dynasty episodes are filmed at the Duck Commander warehouse and offices at 117 Kings Lane, off Thomas Road in West Monroe.
Other episodes have been filmed around the Monroe and West Monroe area.
Those of us that regularly watch the show know about those other filming locations, such as Haskell’s Donuts, Excalibur Family Fun Center and Landry Vineyards. We remember the Twin City Pawn Shop, Debbie's Snowballs, the Corner Coffee House, and of course the Bridal Shop & King of Hearts!
And the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau has announced the “Official Duck Commander Hometown Tour”. The tour includes a brochure and mobile website (see link at the bottom of this page) that features 26 locations filmed during the first three seasons of the show.
Phil Robertson ... the Star Louisiana Tech Football Quarterback
Phil Robertson was a star quarterback at Louisiana Tech in Ruston during the late 1960s. We watched him play for the Tech Bulldogs when we were also attending Tech. Shown below are excerpts from the Louisiana Tech yearbook, the "Lagniappe", showing Phil in his football days.
Louisiana Tech Lagniappe Yearbook, 1968 Standing in the back row, at left ... Terry Bradshaw Back row, third from left ... Phil Robertson |
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Louisiana Tech sophomore quarterback Phil Robertson throwing a pass during a 1966 game |
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Let's Bow Our Heads and Say a Prayer
Together, the family members run a booming business that employs half their neighborhood, but at the end of the day, you can find the whole family around Miss Kay's dinner table.
The McKaig Chevrolet pickup with Duck Commander Logo |
The family motto has always been "God, Family and Ducks". And Phil leads the family as they say grace and give thanks at the table, a tradition we like and respect! Every Duck Dynasty episode ends with a prayer.
Duck Commander and McKaig Chevrolet
You've seen those trucks on Duck Dynasty that say "McKaig" on the side, and wonder what the story is. Gladewater, Texas is the home of McKaig Chevrolet Buick, which has worked with the Duck Commander and Deer Commander groups in West Monroe for several years.
McKaig designs custom trucks seen on the Duck Commander DVDs, and on the TV series "Duck Dynasty".
Duck Hunting in Louisiana
Louisiana has perfect habitats for hunting ducks and waterfowl |
Louisiana is the most important wintering area for waterfowl in the United States. Hordes of ducks and geese have utilized the coastal bays and marshes, flooded swamps, agricultural fields, inland lakes, river backwaters and oxbows for hundreds of years.
Those habitats provide for the needs of a large proportion of Mississippi Flyway waterfowl during migration and winter, and for those of breeding wood ducks, mottled ducks, and a growing number of whistling ducks. The wetlands of Louisiana and their associated waterfowl attract hunters, birdwatchers, and scientists alike.
Waterfowl hunting is incredibly popular in Louisiana, and the harvest ranks at or near the top in the entire nation. That duck-hunting activity brings a lot of economic activity to the State. Hunters spend money on guns, ammunition, gasoline, clothing, duck blinds, lodging, transportation, and yes, duck calls and duck decoys!
The latest evaluation of the economic impact of waterfowl hunting in the United States showed that hunters spent 1-million days and $105,000,000 hunting ducks in Louisiana in one year. read more about the Louisiana Waterfowl Program at the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries
Louisiana ... A Popular Destination for Reality TV
Louisiana is a popular setting for the movie industry, and several hit reality TV shows on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, A&E, CMT, and other cable networks.
The state has become an exciting location featuring a diversity of towns and subjects for reality television for three main reasons:
- 1) tax credits and incentives
- 2) mild year-round weather
- 3) interesting, likable, real-world characters
According to a report prepared by the Louisiana Office of Entertainment Industry Development, Louisiana has had five consecutive years of economic growth in the film and music industry.
The report also recognizes Louisiana as ranked third in film and television production nationwide behind only California and New York.
Map of TV Shows Filmed on Location in Louisiana
Map of West Monroe Showing Duck Commander Headquarters
Popular Destinations Today in
Louisiana
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Monroe and West Monroe
Louisiana Swamp: Duck hunting paradise (courtesy of the Louisiana Office of Tourism) - Pierre Part Louisiana
- Louisiana Crawfish: Photos, Season, Recipe
- Ruston ... Home of Louisiana Tech
- Breaux Bridge: Crawfish Capital of the World
- Henderson on the edge of the Atchafalaya Swamp
- Morgan City on the banks of the Atchafalaya
- Lafayette Cuisine
- Baton Rouge: The Red Stick
Duck Dynasty Links of Interest
- Read more on the A&E Network website about Duck Dynasty
- Visit the Duck Commander official website
- Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau's mobile website "Duck Commander Tour"
 Boiled Louisiana Crawfish from the Atchafalaya Swamp ... it's nearly crawfish season in Louisiana ... can you taste them? More about Louisiana crawfish |
Links of Interest about Louisiana and Reality Television Shows
- History Channel
- Swamp People on History Channel
- Discovery Channel
- A&E Network
- Troy Landry's website ChootEm.com
- Liz Cavalier Choate "Gator Queen"
- Louisiana Film Commission
- Louisiana Crawfish