The Fowl Boys
The Fowl Boys are a group dedicated to improving methods and products for everyday water fowlers. Over the years they have tweaked and modified products in order to make them more beneficial to their style of hunting. It is their mission to offer a service to product manufacturers and hunters about the uses of certain hunting products. They offer an avenue for manufacturers to have their products tested in the most unlikely of hunting conditions and displayed on the Fowl Boys website as well as providing helpful hints to hunters about the uses of those products. The Fowl Boys' motto is "If it works for us..... It'll work for anyone".
The Fowl Boys grew up in a small town in The Great Basin. The two Lyle brothers learned of duck hunting along the shores of big water and in freshwater marshes, while Hamrey was accustomed to morning flights of ducks and geese along rivers and backwater potholes. They were all introduced to duck hunting by their old men at young ages, but it wasn't until one fateful afternoon in 1989 that they shared a blind together. On that day a bond was built.
As young as 12 years of age they were breaking away from the instruction of their fathers to hunt alone. Many a morning, they would set out to the blind in moon boots and old green Army jackets filled full of lead shot. With nothing more than a gunny sack of old blow-up mallard decoys rigged up with nuts and bolts, the Lyle/Hamrey connection managed to combine their childhood styles of hunting to create an entirely different style unique only to them.
Over time they have fine tuned their techniques but continue to stick to their roots, which is the basic formula for their success. The Fowl Boys are just regular guys with regular jobs who hunt regular places. NO private land and NO guided hunts! They hunt public land in harsh conditions with the belief that "hard work pays off". They eat, sleep, and breathe "DUCKS" and anything other than killin' ducks and catchin' fish really doesn't matter! "IF ITS GOTTA BILL, YOU GOTTA KILL"
Tommy Lyle Jr.
In 1980, at 6 years old, Tommy sat in a duck blind with his old man for the first time. He was hooked! At an early age he was fascinated with waterfowl and their sounds and habits. It has been Tommy's lifelong goal to sound exactly like a duck. He first picked up a duck call when he was 17 years old and went about his quest. Since that day Tommy has had many a flock turn and commit to the sound of his cadence. Tommy's ability to mimic the sounds of ducks has made him extremely successful in the field. Outside of being a successful duck killer, Tommy has made his presence known on the duck calling stage as well. In 2005, he placed 2nd in his state's first Duck Calling Contest ever attempted.
When Tommy isnžt talking to the ducks he has become a very successful contractor for FedEx. During the off season, if he's not painting decoys or fine tuning his duck call, he may be found wading in a swift creek in search of trout or jerking a crankbait along a dense shoreline hoping for that ten pound bass to latch onto.
Travis Lyle
Travis started killing ducks at the age of 9. At a young age, he was inspired by the stories of the "good ole' days" from his old man. He was hooked by the stories of snow goose tornados that used to fill the valley and flights of morning mallards that seemed to never stop. It has been his quest to be able to tell his children the same stories. Over the years, Travis has become skilled in hunting river systems for mallards and open areas for geese. He's become known as the decoy man among the group, always testing new types and implementing diverse spreads. Travisžs true fowl of choice is geese and occasionally can be found guiding goose hunts. For the past couple of years he has been a Pro Staffer for Avery Outdoors and loves being a part of one of the top waterfowl companies in the nation. In addition to hunting ducks, Travis also bow hunts for Big Game.
Travis is a true family man with his wife Temple, daughter Hunter, and duck dog Suzy. He spends much of his off season improving hunting products and scouting new hunting locations. The rest of his time is dedicated to chasing fish fillets to drop in beer batter.
Darren "Flash" Hamrey
Darren "Flash" Hamrey made his first trips to the duck blind with his old man as young as age 3. Visions from his childhood of constant morning flights of snow geese and flushing backwater mallards have driven him in his quest to be a complete and versatile sportsman. Flash enjoys the challenge of the hunt as much as the success and is always open to new tactics and products. He's known as the blind builder among the crew, specializing in concealment, and has recently become a very effective duck caller that complements the sweet sounds of Tommy Lyle beautifully.
Aside from killing ducks, which is his passion, Flash has established himself as a Big Game hunter, killing 2 Antelope and one Mule Deer that meet minimum requirements for the SCI Record Book.
When not battling the elements of the duck blind Flash can be found teaching high school Social Studies in a small town community. He spends much of his summers traveling throughout his region in search of trophy fish and improving local hunting habitats for the upcoming season.
Justin " Schniper " Manfredi
Manfredi was born with a dead duck in one hand and a Mountain Dew in the other. Although raised in the middle of nowhere, Manfredi ain't no cowboy-boot wearin', tobacco-chewin', country-music-listenin fool. Nope-Schniper boasts the largest, most comprehensive and obscure rap music collection west of the 100th meridian. A very busy guy, between killing ducks, playing softball, snowboarding, wakeboarding, golfing and bowling, he hardly gets any time at all to sleep. He's got it rough. When not out in the killing fields, Manfredi can be found in the mud room, carving, casting and glazing stomach-duck ceramic sculptures.
He is a very talented artist in 3D and 2D. Though he grew up hunting with Flash, Tommy, and Travis he didn't become an active member of the Fowl Boys until just a few years ago when he made the ultimate sacrifice to trade his gun for a video camera and became the main videographer and designer. If you ever want an entertaining evening full of really funny statements, take Schniper out for a couple of beers.
