FOWL TO FORTUNE
‘Duck Dynasty’ family returns to seek buried ‘Treasure’ in the South
THE Robertson family of “Duck Dynasty” is back on the hunt — and this time, instead of ducks, they’re on the prowl for buried treasure. The Post spoke to Jep and Jase Robertson — the sons of “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil — about what “DD” die-hards can expect from the show in their brand-new series “Duck Family Treasure,” and how the idea came to fruition.
“We found some, I would say, eye-popping finds,” Jase said of the new series, which is now streaming exclusively on Fox Nation. “Duck Family Treasure” sees the Louisiana-born Robertson brothers, along with their Uncle Si, 74, and Murry Crowe — a treasure hunting veteran with nearly a half-century of experience — scour the South with metal detectors in-hand in search of riches.
Describing the premise of the show,
Jase, 52, said, “Treasure hunting, is what we do — a lot of it is based on stories. So you’re trying to figure out fact from fiction. What’s in the ground, now that’s fact.”
The siblings first got into treasure hunting after accompanying Crowe, who had just been diagnosed with cancer, on a fortune-foraging foray.
“He asked me if he could hunt at my place,” Jase said. “We went out there and he brought me a detector and we got started. This is like his dying wish to get detecting.
“So every time he called I would take him out there and we formed a friendship,” he said. “Then I’ve got Jep and I’m like, ‘This is fun, we’re finding all kinda old cool stuff and valuable stuff.’ And so Jep said, ‘I’m in.’ ”
They decided to turn their treasure-hunting dream into a reality show while discussing their new
hobby on their podcast “Unashamed,” explaining: “My cousin, who is the producer of the podcast, said, ‘Well this is what you need to do a TV show about. This is interesting.’”
Jase continued, “I said ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll ask the people listening to this podcast if they think it’s TV show-worthy. If we get 20,000 people to reach out to you, we’ll do it. Well, the first hour that that podcast was released, over 20,000 people had contacted the producer saying, ‘Do it.’ ”
“Duck Family Treasure” was born.
In the first couple episodes of the show, the would-be Indiana Jones bros embark on everything from searching for meteors in Kansas to excavating historical relics in Vicksburg, Miss. And while the gold diggers can’t divulge their specific finds, Jase says they’ve discovered those truly “eye-popping” artifacts.
“Some of the members of our family, who are guests on the show, they think we’re just grown men being silly,” said Jase. “When we found something of great value, all of a sudden, they got real quiet.”
“We’ve found something on the show that’s over a thousand years ago” he said — claiming that they’ve even gone to places with “paranormal baggage” and had to “overcome that fear.”
Jep, 44, added, “I would say, me personally, I’m the newest, as far as treasure hunting. I haven’t been doing it nearly as long. I’m pretty not great at it. I find a lot of junk. But I always say ‘I’m
cleaning up the earth.’ ”
For the brothers, however, the journey is just as precious as the metals.
“When you think about the name ‘Duck Family Treasure,’ most people are going to think, ‘Oh it’s about what they find,’ ” said Jase. “I think with most treasure-hunting shows, it’s all about what they find. By the time you get to the 10th episode, you’re gonna realize that treasure has many definitions.
“You see the relationship, interactions. That’s really what it’s about.”
Ultimately, Jase deems “Duck Family Treasure” a “family-based TV show that you can watch with the whole family that’s fun, and, in this case, a bit historical and it has a lot more heart in it than you would think.
“At this stage in my life, I don’t have the desire to be on TV other than something that I think
makes the world a better place,” he said.