Fuel YTH2348 Wont start without starter fluid

Greetings from Oklahoma City. I have a Husqvarna YTH2348 and it wont start without a shot of starter fluid down the intake. When I do get it running and pull the throttle back to slow it runs very rough and pops through the carb. It has always been a bear to start after sitting through the Winter but this year it wouldn't start on its own at all. Before you ask, 100% gas, no blended gas. I'm no stranger to carbs and small engines. I have looked at the rebuild kits for this carb (Carb PN 796259) (Rebuild Kit 792455) and it looks like the kit is nothing more than a gasket kit wit a float valve. The jets are not included. My question is this, where does the fuel come from for startup? There isn't a startup jet that I can see. Even after the engine is warm, it will only start with the carb choked so obviously something is plugged. Could somebody point me in the right direction? I have looked at a replacement carb but they range between 150-200 bucks so before I pull the trigger on that, I want to see if I can clean this one out.

You need to clean the carb. It is a real pain in tha arsh but it has to be done. I use compressed air, carb cleaner, and copper stranded wire.
First take pictures and you disassemble. Then find the tiny holes at the carb throat and blow compressed air back into the bowl part of the card. Do not blow from bowl part to throat. If anything is stuck in the passage ways you will make it worse. Now repeat the process with carb cleaner. Then air again. Please ware safety glasses. Now if any of the holes do not seem clear now is the time to break out copper stranded wire. I just find some old speaker wire and strip the outside coating off and use that to clear the holes. Sometimes you need to use more than one or 2 pieces of wire together to clean out the holes. Take your time this is to save you lots of money on a new carb.