BIOGRAPHY

 

So just who is this rugged guy and where did he come from? Well, it all started in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, on March 21, 1962.

 

RD, "The Rugged Dude" (no, it's not his given name, ya dumb-ass!) spent most of his young years either fishing or hunting with his grandfather, the late, great Ewart (pronounced Youert) Carson. Ewart was a lot like Archie Bunker and he was also very rugged! He was so rugged in fact, that he used to clip his nails at the kitchen table using a pair of electrician's side cutters while ashes from his cigarette were falling into his egg yolk! (Almost a little too rugged?) All of RD's summers were spent on Limerick Lake, in Hastings County, south of Bancroft, Ontario. Ever since RD was old enough to stand and pee without falling in it, he was fishing every chance he could get.

 

"Grampa" was the main influence in RD's early years, since his parents were divorced when RD was just three and his father soon made a fast exit from the scene. Many days were spent eagerly learning about fishing, boats, motors and of course - guns. RD remembers how cool it was to sit and watch his grampa cleaning his guns, which were usually spread out all over the kitchen table. When it was RD's turn to get in there and handle the guns himself, he was in heaven. Even RD's grandmother, the late Lorna Carson was quite a shot with the 'ol Cooey single shot .22, which was used to teach RD the basic safe gun handling and shooting skills that are the foundation for all hunting knowledge that falls into place later on in life.

RD's Ultra-Rugged Pearl Drum Kit!

 

Around the age of 12, RD discovered the album Machine Head by Deep Purple. He then drove his mother half nuts while beating the daylights out of the chesterfield with a pair of wooden spoons. Then, (after plenty of begging) for his thirteenth birthday, a five piece, Westbury drum set was purchased, along with some drum lessons at the Canadian Conservatory of Music in Ottawa.

 

Before long, RD began jamming in people's basements and playing in local bands. His favourite drummer by this period in time, was Rob Bachman from Bachman Turner Overdrive. After a few months, his mother finally agreed (after more begging) to allow him to play in bars and clubs around eastern Ontario and Quebec. One problem was the other guys in the bands were always older and RD was under age. Therefore, a special permit was required from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Further, RD's mother had to drive him to most of the gigs. But, hey, $35 a night is pretty cool when you're only thirteen! His first job ever, was playing a gig with "The Moe Kelly Trio" in Mount. Ste. Marie, Quebec, in a greasy little, smoke-filled bar of which RD cannot recall the name of. In attendance? RD's mother and oh, about six or seven drunken hosers yelling out, "play something good!"

 

During RD's high school years, he played competitive hockey with the Ottawa West Golden Knights (goalie) and also spent some time in amateur boxing, at Ottawa's Beaver Boxing Club. One of his sparring partners was 1980 Olympic Silver Medalist, Ian Clyde. His trainer was Joey Sandulo, an Olympic Medalist himself, from the fifties.

 

After graduating from high school (barely, with an average of about 51% or so) RD's family was moved to Savannah, Georgia, by a Washington-based engineering firm, of which his then stepfather was working for. While there, RD played in a few local bands, but was not getting very far in the music business. Besides, he did not have a work permit. So after eight months, and with $250 in his pocket (that he 'borrowed' from his mother) he moved to Toronto, Canada, to try his luck there. At the time, RD was a big-time fan of Canadian rock band 'Rush' and could really lay a beatin' on the skins. By this time he was also listening and playing along to progressive rock bands such as Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Max Webster and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

 

RD's first day job in Toronto was working as a pizza maker at Frank Vetere's Pizzeria in Scarborough, a Toronto suburb. That job lasted only three hours. RD got fired for putting too many toppings on the pizza! His second day job was working as a grease monkey doing oil changes all day long at the Shell Rapid Lube at the corner of Sheppard and Warden. His pay? $3.10 per hour. But, it was enough to cover his rent ($185) in a one room bachelor pad at Havenbrook Towers at Don Mills and the 401, his monthly Metro Pass, food and drum sticks. RD also worked at various restaurants in the area and that is where he learned alot of the cooking skills he uses today.

 

After playing in various Toronto bands for a couple years but getting nowhere fast, RD decided to take another "day job" at G & W Rent - All. After all, needed to eat! He started off driving a propane delivery truck that he wasn't even licenced to drive. Later on (thankfully) he moved on to work behind the service counter, where he would repair equipment and deal with customers. He worked Monday through Saturday, from 8am - 6pm and his pay was a whopping $210 a week! One day he repaired a lawn mower for a guy named Scott Pearl.

 

"Mr. Pearl" was the General Manager for Don Howson Chev-Olds in Willowdale, another suburb of Toronto. Scott brought RD in for an interview and before you could say it... he was in the car game! RD has always had a big mouth and he could sell cars even though he didn't know anything about them! But, after a year or so, it was time for a change. "I couldn't stand wearing a suit and tie every day,' as he says now. But, RD did alot from his time in the car business.

 

There was another benefit that came out of his time at Don Howson Chev-Olds. This was where RD met his wife, Carol, who also worked at the dealership. They were soon married and before long their first child, Heather, was born on January 14, 1986. The couple had already moved into a basement apartment in the Golf Club RD and Lawrence Avenue neighborhood in Scarborough.

 

If you can believe it, RD then spent the next nine years in the driver training business and actually went on to own three Young Drivers of Canada franchises in Collingwood, Orangeville and Sault Ste. Marie, all in Ontario. He also spent time training police officers, ambulance drivers and firefighters how to move through traffic as quickly as possible without wiping out. In 1989, RD sold the franchises in Orangeville and Collingwood, so he could open up a brand new office in Sault Ste. Marie. He then bought a nice home with 100 acres on St. Joseph Island, thirty miles east of the city. At first, the new operation went well in "The Sault" however, Algoma Steel, the city's biggest employer, closed 75% of its operation for ten months and the whole town had problems. RD's business went bankrup soon after.

 

That was a tough year for a guy who would go on to someday be called "The Rugged Dude." Not only did he lose his business, he and his wife lost their second child, Zachary, to a failed pair of kidneys. He was only five weeks old. Then after all the stress, a divorce was next. So, all in the span of one year... a five week old son died, a business fell flat on its face and a marriage went down the drain. Not a stellar year for RD. But he was rugged back then too!

 

By this time, RD was losing his hair and was pretty much burned out of the driver training business, but he needed to work! He was soon offered a job to work for the Young Drivers of Canada office in Thunder Bay, Ontario. That's how he got to the city in the first place. But, within a year, RD knew he had to get out of that crazy business once and for all, so he resigned. Oh, by the way, if you ever meet RD in person and want to see him start shaking,  just ask him about his days in the driver training business!

 

Next on the list of RD's past ventures was another shot at the music business. In 1992, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the band 'Anthem' was formed with RD on drums, Calvin Beale on bass and lead vocal and Steven Baric, who played guitar, keyboards and sang a few of the tunes. A full length album was recorded with Bogdan Blazevic producing, but the band broke up a few days after a sold out gig at the CLE Coliseum in Thunder Bay and the disc was never released. The time was not right for RD's rocker career. So what was next? How about a bus company? 

 

After getting thrown out of every bank in Thunder Bay twice, a loan was finally secured by Thunder Bay Ventures, a government sponsored, non-profit organization. In May, 1994, North Country Travel Lines made its first trip from Thunder Bay to Sioux Lookout, Ontario. But, after five years and a pretty good run, it was again time for a change. The bus company was sold and a restaurant was next on the list.

 

RD is not a trained chef, but he probably should have been. In his early years, he used to work in different restaurants in between bands and other jobs and to this day, he's a very good cook. So, a small restaurant was started up out in the country-side, a half hour from Thunder Bay and it went well for a while. But then, one day without notice, the building that RD was renting was closed due to some unsafe structural issues. ARGH!! Well, it all worked out in the end, because RD was getting restless once again and really wanted to get back to his roots anyway. The time was soon coming for him to realize his life-long dream of actually getting paid to go hunting and fishing!

 

Sitting at a friend's house one day, watching a duck hunting video, RD thought it was pretty poor quality. As a joke he stated, "Hey, I could make a way better video than that guy!" His friend agreed. So, there was the spark. The original idea was to simply produce some videos and sell them. RD being the perpetual optimist figured, "How hard could that be?"

 

After buying a second-hand, Sony VX1000 camera and a set of beat up wireless mics that worked "some of the time," some pretty good goose hunting footage was captured around RD's home hunting grounds. Eventually, the video called "Grey Thunder" was born on December 15, 1999, without any sponsors and very little money. RD didn't even have a professional cameraman. Between himself and a few of his rugged huntin' buddies, they somehow managed to pull it off all on their own. It was quite a job editing all that mess! It actually turned out fairly well, but if you ask RD about it today, he'll give you an "ewwwwwww" type response while shaking his head.

 

The VHS video was sold in relatively small quantities to Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop, Scheels All Sports, along with a few independent outfits in the US and Canada. Less than 1000 copies were ever made and the master is nowhere to be found. If you see one anywhere today, grab it as it could be worth a few bucks some day. RD himself doesn't even have a brand new copy of it any more. "I think I have one at home with masking tape on the label section with 'Goose Hunting' written on it in black marker," he said. "But I think I saw a few copies at my mom's place a few years ago."

 

The video was sent out to a half dozen industry-related companies in search of product sponsorship for the following season. Outlaw Decoys, Mossy Oak, Tim Grounds Championship Calls and Final Approach all provided product for RD's next video. However, Outlaw Decoys, from Spokane, Washington showed the most interest. Then President, Jim Cripe, really liked RD's style of entertaining people while hunting. He saw potential in RD and after many very long phone calls, a trip was planned for the following goose hunting season to hunt with RD in Ontario and participate in the second video. So Jim, along with Vice-President of Marketing, Tim Cripe, made the trip. During that week-long hunt, discussions began and RD was eventually offered a contract to produce a series of videos for Outlaw Decoys. RD couldn't believe it! "What, who me?"

 

Not long after, RD was guiding some people from Wisconsin on a local goose hunt. After the usual chit chat, RD quickly found out that he was hunting with some heavy hitters. In the foursome, were two television producers, an entertainment attourney (who is RD's attourney to this day) and a venture capitalist who works mainly in the TV business. RD 'casually' mentioned the Grey Thunder video to the guys. They asked for a copy and on the next day, RD brought one along, not thinking anything of it really.

 

A few weeks later, there was a very long message on RD's home answering machine. It was the attorney from Wisconsin and he wanted RD to go down to Milwaukee for a meeting. RD barely had enough money to make the eight hour drive down there, but before long, RD found himself on the 21st floor of a very fancy office building. Then, on to a board room with about six businessmen and two accountants. RD was wearing jeans and a camo hat and all these guys were wearing $1000 suits! When asked about this, he said, "It was sort of like when the Beverly Hillbillies first arrived in Beverly Hills!" To make a long story short, these people offered RD a job of hosting a new show called "Gotta Go To Canada." It was a pilot project that would feature the great hunting and fishing of Canada. RD was floored!

 

There was a problem however. RD had just signed a contract with Outlaw Decoys and in it, was an exclusivity clause. RD's hands were tied. But after some negotiations between the Milwaukee group (who really wanted RD and Outlaw knew it) and Outlaw Decoys, it was agreed that Outlaw Decoys would jump on board and help fund the show. Unfortunately, after about six months, due to a lack of investment capital, the plans fizzled out. But, by this time, Outlaw Decoys really wanted a show, so they put up the original $100,000, USD they were offering to the Milwaukee group of investors. The show name, "Gotta Go To Canada" was released to Outlaw Decoys and RD's new task was to host and produce 26 television episodes about hunting and fishing in Canada. Good break there, Rugged Dude.

 

So after five months of having a phone growing out of RD's ear, enough money was raised from new sponsors to get the show off the ground. The first show ever taped with RD was at Ogoki Frontier in Ontario , which is a top-notch walleye and northern pike outpost operation owned and operated by Paul and Judy Boucher of Thunder Bay. Ogoki Frontier is still one of RD's all time favourite and most highly recommended fly-in fishing destinations in all of Canada - and he's been back four more times!

 

After about two years of non-stop travel and very hard work, and just before the debut of the first show on The Sportsman Channel, USA, RD was shocked by Outlaw Decoys who notified him that a possible bankruptcy was on the horizon. Tim Cripe, who was then President did what he could to save the show and RD's future career. So, a deal was made and RD was now running solo. The first thing he did, was change the name of the show to Officially Rugged.

 

RD was completely broke at this point, since Outlaw was no longer there to fund the show or provide him with a pay cheque. Somehow, he managed to sqeak by. These days, when RD is speaking at colleges or high schools, he often tells the young people the story of how, in the year of 2002, his home mortgage of only $383, either bounced or was late five times in that one year! But, somehow, he managed to keep the show on the air!

 

A lot has happened since 2002, including the aquisition of investment capital from a firm in Texas, who not only put a lot of faith in The Rugged Dude, but a lot of cash too. RD could not borrow even one single dollar from any bank in Thunder Bay! Kind of ironic that he had to go all the way to Texas for funding. The show's distribution quickly grew to a staggering 55 million households all across North America.

 

RD's groundbreaking style of mixing comedy with great action has quickly made his show one of the most popular hunting and fishing shows today. Back Channel Media Research from Boston, MA, consistently ranks Officially Ruged with RD in the top twenty out of more than 1000 hunting and fishing shows being aired in the United States. Further, the show is the ONLY Canadian-based fishing or hunting show to crack the US top ten in history.

 

On January 7, 2007, Officially Rugged with RD was the third most watched program of any of the shows being distributed by The Turner Media Group on Dish Network, DirecTV and cable in the US. The show has now been seen by millions of people from all across North America and the Officially Rugged website brings in thousands of visitors each week. RD has received thousands of emails from fans from every corner of the continent and surprisingly, from other continents of the world as well. "Every once in a while I get an email from someone who hates the show and hates me even more! I don't get why people have to call me names, though. That's not very nice," he says with a grin. "Once, I got a death threat from an anti-hunter in California who said he'd kill me if I didn't stop killing animals on my show. So, I emailed him back and told him to go fu** himself! That was the last time I heard from that guy!"

 

In 2005, RD placed 3th overall out of 112 shows, as "Favourite TV Show Host" as voted by the viewers of The Sportsman Channel, USA. That year he also won an award for "Best Magazine Contribution" for The Sportsman Channel Magazine. He said after being notified of his achievements, "I didn't even know there was a competition or anything. I found out when I got my awards in the mail." He has taken several trophy record book animals with his bow, but refuses to enter them into the books. "I'm really not all that interested in the whole trophy thing. I just like a good, fun hunt. I'll shoot a whitetail doe any day. They taste a whole lot better than a big old buck!" RD does not fish tournaments either. "That would be way too intense for me. My partner would likely throw me out of the boat for goofing around too much!"

 

RD lives by himself back in the bush, thirty miles southwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario on a quiet piece of property, within just a few minutes of a great walleye and bass lake. Surprisingly, he is a very private and quiet guy and his unlisted home phone number is practically unobtainable. He often jokes, "My home phone never rings because no-one has the number."

 

One thing that has become a problem in the past is when fans of the show stop by his house and knock on the door wanting an autograph, picture or just to simply say hello. "Back when I first started, I really appreciated the feedback from people, because I didn't get it very often. But these days I really need my privacy. Once, I had a crazy, drunk chick show up at my house at 11 pm who had a luke warm Tim Horton's coffee for me! It was a very thoughtful gesture, I guess. But I wish people would respect the fact that this is my home and I'm not "The Rugged Dude" 24/7. These days, if someone knocks on my door, I don't answer it if I don't know who the person is."

 

RD refuses to discuss his religious or political views but there is one point he will make. He is sick and tired of criminals getting away with murder, so to speak. He is in favour of the death penalty, provided there is absolute proof that the accused did in fact carry out the murder. RD added, "I remember back when George Bush was Governor of Texas, and during a press conference a female news reporter asked him a direct question." She looked right at him and asked, "When are you going to stop executing prisoners in the state of Texas?" With a puzzled look on his face, Bush replied, "Uh, um... when they stop murdering people, I guess?" RD would like to see the death brought back to Canada, but he realizes this will likely never happen.

 

RD has two grown daughters who he is very proud of, Heather and Holly. His parents, Sandra and Don are retired and live in the Trenton/Belleville area in Ontario. RD has one brother, Terry,  who is a very successful commercial pilot working for Air Canada and he lives in Toronto.

 

The Rugged Dude spends whatever spare time he gets fishing, hunting and beating the living b'jeepers out of his huge, full-camo Pearl drum set. He hates smoking, drunken slobs, cell phones, materialistic people, big cities, shopping malls, heavy traffic and ironically - computers. 

 

RD is NOT known to be politically correct and "couldn't give a rat's ass" what people think of him. He does not have a cell phone and he does not have a computer in his home. He likes living in the bush the old way with his two woodstoves, taxidermy mounts, furs, handmade log furniture and coal oil lamps. He rarely buys meat from the store and he doesn't have a modern-day electric coffee maker. He uses an old aluminum "cowboy coffee" pot that he puts on the woodstove! Why? Cause he's RUGGED!

 

Rugged Dude Fast Facts

 

Born:  March 21, 1962, Civic Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario.

 

Given name at birth:  Sorry, that's a secret! His legal name was changed in 2004 to Rugged Dude Carson. Honestly!

 

Education:  High School Diploma... barely. Nepean High School and Woodroffe High School, 1980, Ottawa , Ontario.

 

Hobbies:  Hunting, fishing, woodworking, cooking, gardening, drums/music, sleeping, letting silent farts in crowded elevators, telling anti-hunters to shut up and mind their own business, while at the same time - giving them the middle digit!

 

Favourite Food:  Tie between venison prime rib and fresh walleye cooked over an open fire.

 

Favorite Bands:  Rush, Max Webster, Yes, ELP, (early) Genesis, The Beatles, The Tragically Hip, The Guess Who, April Wine and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

 

Favorite Snack Foods:  Ruffed grouse fingers, hot wings, nachos, Twizzlers (red).

 

Favorite Restaurants:  Loco Coyote, Texas...
Up In Smoke, Thunder Bay... The Prospector, Thunder Bay.

 

Smoking:  Never! "If you smoke in my house, I will pee in yoor pool and take a crap on the seat of your car!"

 

Drinking:  The odd beer, two gets him drunk!

 

Favourite TV Shows: The Sarah Silverman Program, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Trailer Park Boys, Blue Collar Comedy, A&E Biography, The Simpson's, MAD TV, America's Funniest Home Videos.

 

Favorite Hunting or Fishing Show:  Tie between Road Trips with Michael Waddell and The Fishing Musicians with Glen Ferguson.

 

Favorite Movie Stars:  Clint Eastwood, Jodie Foster, John Wayne, John Candy, Jim Carrey, Brad Pitt.