Luke Cramlet

Marketing Manager, Lucky Duck | Co-Host, The Grind Waterfowl TV | Waterfowler

Meet Luke Cramlet — lifelong waterfowler, Marketing Manager at Lucky Duck, and co-host of The Grind Waterfowl TV. Luke grew up diver hunting with his family in north central Minnesota, chasing bluebills, canvasbacks, and redheads from a boat at the family cabin. Those cold mornings, old traditions, and time spent with family ultimately shaped both his career and the way he still approaches hunting today.

Now working professionally in the outdoor industry, Luke has seen how easy it can be to get caught up in gear, content, and everything happening online. His perspective remains refreshingly simple. Remember why you started. Hunt with good people. Tell honest stories. And never lose sight of the traditions that made you fall in love with it in the first place.

Where did waterfowl hunting start for you, and what was the hunt that really got you hooked?

Waterfowl started for me at a young age, diver hunting with my family. We have a cabin in north central Minnesota where we grew up boat hunting bluebills, canvasbacks, and redheads.

That is really where it all started for me.

You’ve turned hunting into a career. Has working in the waterfowl industry changed the way you experience opening morning when it’s finally just you and your buddies in the blind?

Working in the outdoor industry definitely has moments that can take away from the passion because, at the end of the day, it is also a career now.

The biggest thing I try to tell others, and always remind myself, is to focus on what made this a passion in the first place. Focus on the family, the location, and the camaraderie.

Enjoy every moment without worrying about what is happening online, what gear you have on, what gun you are shooting, or, most importantly, what other people will think.

Working at Lucky Duck puts you around new gear constantly. What separates something that actually earns a place in your blind from something that is just another piece of hunting gear?

This one is easy. Performance.

Does the product perform time and time again without fail?

You’re joining Jake Terry on The Grind Waterfowl TV. What are you most excited to bring to the show?

Jake and I will be hosting The Grind this season. Together, we hope to bring authenticity to the show and make each episode relatable to the everyday hunter.

We want to show people the fun and camaraderie that happen within hunts with friends.

What makes a hunt worth filming even when the birds do not cooperate?

The story.

How do the location, the people, the travel, and everything else play a role in the episode?

It is not all about the pile at the end of the day. Was the hunt authentic? Was it fun? Were memories made?

If the answer is yes, then it is worth filming.

Waterfowl hunting has a pretty distinct culture around it. What part of duck camp means the most to you outside of actually pulling the trigger?

The history.

An old school family duck camp will always have my heart. The table in the kitchen or living room where stories have been told. The laughs, the beers, and the meals.

Those are the parts you never forget, and the memories that never blend in with all the others.

What species of duck still gets your heart rate up when you see it working the spread?

A drake wigeon.

The way they look. The way they sound. The way they finish.

There is just something special about them to me.

You get one perfect waterfowl hunt. Where are you, what are you hunting, what does the weather look like, and who is sitting beside you?

My perfect hunt is a cold, rainy day. Getting beat by wind and waves with a large spread of bluebill decoys extended by long lines of drake canvasbacks.

It would be back at the cabin point. Unfortunately, that spot has been taken away over the years by development and changing water levels.

In the two boats would be my uncle Mark on the tiller and me in the middle, followed by my dad, brother, and uncle Jim in the decoy and bird retrieval boat.

Just like how we grew up.

What is one lesson you have learned from years of hunting birds that applies surprisingly well to the rest of life?

No matter what you do, someone or something will not agree.

Do not let that alter who you are as a person. Enjoy every aspect of it for yourself and for the people you hold closest.

What is something you obsess over before a hunt that your buddies probably think you take way too seriously?

Timing. I hate being late.

I get up earlier than most of the guys I hunt with just to make sure we have everything, nothing is forgotten, and we are as ready as we can be.

You spend your professional life marketing the outdoors. What do you think hunting brands sometimes get wrong about the people they are actually talking to?

I think some brands forget to include everyone.

Be a "Switzerland" and enjoy all people. Do not allow your brand to become so isolated that you miss the opportunity to work with some really great people.

Those relationships are what help you succeed instead of staying stagnant.

What is one piece of waterfowl gear you will happily spend more money on because you have learned the hard way not to cheap out?

A good set of rain gear.

Skimping in that area can absolutely make a hunt miserable. Nobody wants to get soaked.

What Williams knife has earned a spot in your hunting kit, and what do you find yourself using it for most?

The Heritage Glide 6.5" in Ironwood and Matte never leaves my blind bag.

If you know me, you know I love tradition and heritage. A great wood handled knife paired with a wood stock Benelli. Those are the kinds of things you pass down for generations.

When the guns are put away and waterfowl season is over, what are you usually chasing?

When waterfowl season comes to a close, I spend my time fishing for walleyes with my dad.

From Ontario to Minnesota in the spring and early summer, you can usually find us on the water.

Twenty years from now, what do you hope still feels exactly the same about duck hunting?

I hope I am still chasing ducks with my friends and family and enjoying that time together.

Favorite quote or motto?

“Good people > The Brand.”