Ducksouth has evolved and changed throughout the years, but through all of the change it has remained a site that is loved by many. Micah Walker, the founder of Ducksouth, has begun a partnership with Rocky Leflore to launch the site forward into the future and help it to continue to grow.
With the beginning of Ducksouth in 1998, Leflore was there from the beginning, joining the site a few months after it was created; but his relationship with Walker goes far beyond that.
“My family moved to Holmes County when I was six years old, and I grew up about eight miles down the road from Rocky. Everyone knew everyone, but our dads were really good friends, so we shared a lot of common experiences together. I never had a brother, but Rocky was about the closest thing I ever had to one,” Walker said.
From their times together spending the night at each other’s homes while parents were out of town, or Leflore helping out on Walker’s family farm in the summer, the two have always been extremely close.
“You only have a few friends in your life that you can pick up the phone and call if you haven’t talked to in a while, and it’s like there was never any time apart. Micah is that friend for me,” Leflore said.
Out of all their shared experiences together through the years, one special memory, in particular, was their father’s annual dove hunt.
“Both of our dad’s put on an annual dove hunt that was the by far the best that any man had witnessed in years,” Leflore said.
Through these annual dove hunts, Leflore and Walker’s relationship not only grew, but Leflore’s thoughts and views were being shaped as well.
“I saw how much joy that sharing the outdoors with other hunters brought to my dad and Micah’s dad. They lived for that. They were the first ones that I ever really witnessed that would rather you kill something than them killing it. That’s the whole reason I do what I do today,” Leflore said.
Those memories stayed with both Leflore and Walker, and the two continued to remain in touch and stay friends as life pulled them in separate directions into different cities and starting families of their own.
“I’ve always had a passion for Ducksouth; but between medical school and family it was hard to devote as much time to the site as I wanted to,” Walker said.
While the site was experiencing technical difficulties in December of 2015, Leflore called Walker offering to help him run the site. However, both men having busy home lives with children and it being the holiday season, their talk of the partnership was put off until February when Leflore gave a call to Walker and started a decision that would change Ducksouth and launch it into its new era.
“Micah is one of the smartest and most modest men I have ever been around in my entire life. He has been that way since we were kids. He is a genius with common sense, and that’s a rare thing to find. But I knew that a grown man with four kids didn’t have the time to invest into the site that he would have liked. So I called him one day and said ‘Look, why don’t you let me help you take this off your plate.’ And after talking it over, we knew that we both had the same vision for the site and decided to become partners,” Leflore said.
Since this change, the site has evolved in many ways. With the help of their technician, Jay, they have been able to update the site and keep it running smoothly. While Leflore runs the everyday aspects of the site, Walker is still very involved with the company.
“I am involved in the vision and planning for the future; Rocky and I share the same vision for this company. We talk on the phone and bounce ideas off of each other. I have so many ideas for this company, but sometimes it’s hard for me to be able to get feet on the ground to make an idea take off. Rocky has been a tremendous help with this,” Walker said.
Through this partnership, Ducksouth plans to continue growing into the future, expanding with more articles, profiles, and reviews; but both Leflore and Walker both feel that no matter what comes, the community and friendships will always be the main goal behind Ducksouth.
“The community always has and always will be the driving force behind Ducksouth. Rocky and I both agree that the members, the community, the friendships, the interactions; those are the core values of a site like Ducksouth,” Walker said.
