Boondocks Hunting Podcast
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This is your hub for everything Boondocks Hunting, featuring our shows:
The Garden State Outdoorsmen Podcast, Chase the Unknown, and Echoes of the Hunt: Behind the Hunt — a deeper dive behind the story of the hunters.
From New Jersey whitetail woods to out-of-state adventures, we dive deep into hunting, fishing, conservation, and the mindset that drives it all. Join us as we break down tactics, share unfiltered stories from the field, bring on incredible guests, and showcase the passion behind the pursuit.
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Tune in… and get ready to Chase the Unknown.
Boondocks Hunting Podcast
What The Woods Reveal When Nobody Is Hunting
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We sit down with Paul from NJ Shed Hunters and dig into how he finds piles of sheds across New Jersey while turning every hike into real deer scouting. We also get into bear hunting, wild game cooking, and the strange things you can stumble on when you’re deep in Garden State woods.
• Paul’s backstory and how NJ Shed Hunters starts
• Logging miles and rotating properties for consistent shed finds
• What to do with sheds including giving some away and returning old chewed antlers
• How harsh winter weather pushes deer into cedars and pines
• Why edges, security, and pressure shape mature buck movement
• Using stomach contents and sign to learn what deer really eat
• First New Jersey bear harvest and how bear meat tastes and cooks
• Unexpected woods finds including trash, camps, urns, and a handgun
• A simple approach to asking permission for shed access and building trust
The link to his Instagram will be down in the description below. Make sure you check him out.
https://www.instagram.com/nj_shed_hunters/
Hope you guy's enjoy! Hit the follow button, rate and give the show a comment!
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bdhunting/
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Welcome To Garden State Outdoors
SPEAKER_00This is the Garden State Outdoors and Podcast. Muddy Boots and stories that only the woods can write. New Jersey is one of the most underappreciated states in the outdoors. And little do they know what it really holds. From hard-earned public land deer to waterfowl, predators, and everything in between. This state produces more than people give it credit for. Now let's dial in with the men and women around the state of New Jersey who live this life every day. In New Jersey, excuses don't survive. Only the grinders do. Welcome back to the Garden State Outdoors and Podcast presented by Boondocks Hunting.
Paul’s Origin Story And Instagram
SPEAKER_00I'm your host, Mike Nitra, and today we get the honor to sit down talking with Paul, better known also as New Jersey NJ Shed Hunters on Instagram. Paul, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, man. No, uh it's it's it's a pleasure having you on having you on. Um, you know, for for everyone who may not know you and everything like that, why don't you give them a quick rundown and and backstory about yourself?
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, man. I uh born and raised here in Jersey. Uh I grew up in uh in Summerson County in Bridgewater Township. And uh, you know, as a very young age, my dad took me out shed hunting and uh, you know, it was it was off to the races from there. And uh, you know, I've been pretty serious into it um the past like five or six years, um, you know, when it now that my schedule allows me to do more, you know, after college, stuff like that. And um and uh yeah, and then I you know I found I found uh I found a a cool set with like you know a split G2s uh a couple years ago. And at that point in time, my buddy was like, you know, we we we find you know anywhere from 50 to 100 sheds a year. We should really start uh start a start a uh an Instagram or something. You know, I'm sure other people would like to check this out. And I mean last I checked, I think we're just a little over 2,000 followers, which is crazy to think that there's 2,000 other people out there that want to look at you know antlers that you pick up off the ground.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, it it's a it's a crazy, it's a real crazy, uh maybe not crazy, but it's a real unique niche because it's like, yeah, like you don't think about it too much. It's like what you're going, you're going out for a hike, you're you know, whatever, you're you're you're doing a lot of scouting and you're just picking up antlers. It's not like you know, it's an animal, you know, whatever you find, like you killed it, and you know, you get the picture, the backstory, the videos that you see on Instagram, but it it's it's so cool to see. And I I think a big part why so many people love it, or at least in my opinion, so many people struggle to find antlers and and to find sheds and and stuff like that. Like it's not in my opinion, you know, it's it's not an easy task for your your common maybe outdoorsmen, you know. Um, maybe people who are in the big woods or something like that, they they have a little difficulty doing it. Um you know, uh it's like I I found a couple this year, nowhere close to 50 to to a hundred sheds. That's absolutely insane. But um, yeah, real, real cool and unique page that you that you guys got.
Miles Logged And Finding Volume
SPEAKER_01Thank you very much, man. Um, yeah, I don't know. I tell people it's like uh it's different, you gotta go in with a different mindset than going in, you know, just like a hike. You have to be going in, you know, just like when you go hunting. It's a you're going in with a mission and you gotta train your eyes to it and like you know, really get your head in that space to to be successful.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00How um how often usually are are you like how many pieces are you are you guys hitting? So like how many properties are you guys hitting? Um, you know, and on average, like a a hike out into the woods, like how many miles are usually you're you gotta be in great shape, you know, hiking wise and and every delay, especially in that. So kind of kind of go over with that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I um actually I log them. I should have brought my notebook. I think I I think personally I hit about 20 different properties this year. Um, and I mean, every property, I mean, there's days, you know, when I'm my where my work schedule allows me, I'll be out, you know, from seven in the morning to five at night, and I'll do 15 to 20 miles a day. And I tell people it's like the best thing in the world because you know, hunt season, you know, at least the way most people in Jersey hunt, it's very, you know, sedentary. You're you're sitting there, you're waiting for the deer, especially late season. There's going from bedding to uh you know to food and you're trying to intercept them in between. And uh, you know, yeah, the holidays come and then Christmas comes, and you're sitting around, you're sitting in the house, it's cold out, and then you get that first somewhat warm day, and it's like you get out there, and yeah, it's a great, it's a great way to drop some drop some weight, some of that winter weight, you know, and get you back out in the woods with something to do.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah, no, I I definitely agree with that, especially like I always tell people like me, I am off season, like right now, I know it's turkey season, but for me, like turkeys the just something I do to to kill the time until I'm back into the deer woods and you know, chasing deer, bear, whatever whatever it is. But you know, for me, I spend a lot of time working out, you know, staying in shape so I can do all these things. And during the season from September 1st till probably end of November, it's a full on grind. You know what I mean? I'm you're you're you're hiking, but then the holidays hit. And I, you know, me, I'm a big, I'm a big sweet sky. Like I love my desserts. I love, you know, I love all that. You're with family, you're you're having drinks, you're you know, it's cake, pie, this, this, that. You have things. It's it's a crazy time. And then before you know it, you look in the mirror and it's like, whoa, I just got big.
SPEAKER_01Especially when, you know, it gets it gets dark so early, you know. So it's not even like after working, like go out for a walk or something like that. You're just you're just stuck inside so much. So, you know, that's that's the reason I love Shadown thing. It's like to for me, it's like it's like a place, it's a it's kind of a it was it started off as like a place filler between the end of deer season and you know, fishing season and turkey season, you know, it's kind of just like this dead area, and this fits perfectly into it. And I mean, last week was the last day I walked, and I'm out there and like, you know, I wear I wear, you know, brush pants and I'm wearing a car heart jacket because a lot of times you're walking through a lot of thickets and stuff. And it was like it was like 80 degrees last week, and I'm like sweating, I'm like going through water like you wouldn't believe. And I'm like, what are we doing here? You know, I'm like, it's I go next week's turkey season. Let's let's uh let's wrap this up. So this year I ended up I ended with 80 84 sheds. Oh my that's a lot, and my and my uh my shed hunting partner Joe uh finished with I think like 126.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, those are some serious, serious
What Happens To 200 Sheds
SPEAKER_00numbers. Yeah, what do you think about it? You walk to do a lot. What was that? I'm sorry. I don't know if you I don't know if you heard me. What do you guys do with all these sheds? Like you guys got a big inventory. Like, do you keep but do you keep them? Do you do you give some away? Like what are you guys doing with with these sheds?
SPEAKER_01So uh so at the end of the year, the past couple years, I've been doing like a year-end photo, putting them all in the bed of the truck, you know, take that year-end photo. Um, any that are after that photo, any that are, you know, chewed up, were old, chalky. Actually, I return them to the woods, you know, because like the squirrels and the, you know, it's kind of like a like an offering, you know, back to the woods. Hey, don't chew it, don't chew up the new ones. You know what I mean? So I return return all the old chewed up ones uh away. I I I you know, I return them back to the woods. Um, I give some away to like friends that have dogs because you know they're dogs love to chew on them. You know, I have a lot of friends that, you know, at work and stuff that don't hunt that have dogs. And you know, I'm like, hey, give this to your dog, you know, and then you know, the dogs love them, it's good for their teeth. Um, and then you know, any of the big ones, you know, I kind of separate out and I got them around my house. And uh, and actually um I'm I gotta do a post soon. Uh Gravel Jaw sent me two of the hangers to uh to hang them on the wall. So I'll probably invest in something like that. And but one day I hope to have enough big ones to do to build a Christmas tree. That's the ultimate goal.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's that's pretty cool. That's really unique. I I like I love seeing those. Like I yeah, it's always like, yeah, I wish I had that many where I could actually do it. Exactly. I'm not gonna go buy it. I'm getting I'm getting close. I'm getting close. I I I believe it. You know, like you said, if you're avering, you average 50 to 100, probably what probably a good quarter of them are probably like yeah, me. Yeah, I mean like good, good.
SPEAKER_01I mean in Jersey, you know, obviously we don't have the genetics of like Iowa or Kansas. You watch them some of those guys on like YouTube, yeah, you know, and they're like picking up, you know, just you know, 60 inch shed, 70 inch shed after 70 inch, it's like unreal. Um, you know, here in Jersey, I mean, you found you find like a you know, 40-inch shed. That's a that's a pretty good size shed. It's like a you know, you figure with a 60-inch spread tone, it's just about a hundred inch deer, you know. So anything, you know, 40, 45 inches and up, I you know, I consider a pretty good shed. And like you said, it's about it's about a quarter to a third, depending on uh, you know, on the year. Uh this year was it was a was a weird year compared to the past couple for sure.
Snow Years Change Where Sheds Lie
SPEAKER_01Why why's that? Uh so obviously this year that we with that all that real cold weather with all that snow and it really concentrated them this year. You know, in past years it was like, you know, you hit all the normal spots, southfoot extinct slopes, you hit your food plots. Anytime I'm I'm um hiking some of these public lands, if I see your feeder, you probably got me on camera hitting your feeder because I'm walking right in, I'm looking underneath your feeder. I can't tell you how many I've picked up, you know, under somebody's feeder. Um you know, so uh it it but this year with with all that snow and that real, real cold, uh the deer will really stick into thermal cover, a lot of cedars, a lot of pines. Um I found a lot under pines. It was a it was a very weird ratio, uh, you know, pines to cedars. Um, just because I think uh the, you know, when you walk in pines, the pine needles all drop and they create like a like a like a base layer. And I think those deer like to sit on that because it keeps them up off the cold ground. And then uh, you know, like I said, it's provides some thermal cover. And it and a lot of times when you walk in these pines and cedars, you know, I started back in January, right after the season ended. And, you know, you I was walking through, you know, some spots where the snow just were two feet deep, and then you get to the cedars, you get to the pines, and there's six inches of snow, maybe, you know what I mean? You could just see all the beds. And I mean, these deer, you know, if you if you had if you had a property this year and there was a quarter of it that uh that was cedars, that's where all your sheds were this year, you know. I mean, obviously some deer carry carry later, but uh I mean a vast majority were in the cedars. Yeah this year.
SPEAKER_00I had a uh a fun, uh I'd say probably two weeks ago. I still had a buck with with both his his uh antlers on and everything like that. Oh yeah um, but it it was we actually had like a normal winner this year. We haven't had like a normal winner in 2013, 14 maybe we had that we had that one year, I think, during COVID or right before COVID, I I think it was, I think the last year of the the bear season. If I uh before they they got rid of it, suspended it, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and then opened it back up. I think we had those two major blizzards. Because I remember those because I because I was out hunting in in those uh in those storms and everything like that. But yeah, it's it's been lacking. And then how much of what you've seen and you know, through the years, you get a lot of scouting done doing this. You know, it's it's a double-edged sword oven. You get to stay in shape, it's something to to kill the time, but it's also you're finding out so much information, like the cedars, like the pines, and and everything like that.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And a lot of the a lot of the properties
Pressure Proof Bucks And Edge Security
SPEAKER_01I walk are are off limits to hunting. And um, you know, but you still just collect so much intel, you know. Every time you find a shed in a bed, you know, you I sit down in the deer's bed and I'm like, why was this deer here? You know, you find them on the trail between bedding and cover, bedding and food, rather, you you know why that deer was there, you know, it doesn't matter what property you're on. But if you're on a piece of property that's you know off loads hunting, something like that, or your own property, you find a shed and it's not on a trail going from cover to food, you just sit down and take a second and be like, why was this buck here? And I mean, obviously, if it's a mature buck, you know, there's a reason he was there. It's not like he just was got tired and that's where he bedded down. You know, these these bucks don't uh these bucks really go somewhere for a reason. And yeah, you could extract a lot of information from it, which is awesome. You know, that will hopefully correlate to your hunting season.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And and you know, it's something that, like you said, is you know, a lot of the the properties you're walking, you you can't hunt on and everything like that. Is it is it also, I mean, there's many reasons to it, obviously. Like there's you're gonna get a lot more bucks, a lot less pressure, a lot less people probably walking and trying to find sheds on there too. But you know, when you're looking at it and you you're comparing the two, of like, do you see any deer sign or maybe behavior that is different than on a piece that is, you know, like a public plea piece that is that is hunted or and stuff like that. Like, what is kind of the difference that you if you've noticed uh in you know sign and pressure or in and deer uh behavior?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I you know, we got a you know I got some public property that I hunt. I got I've I have some private property as well that I hunt. And yeah, I find uh the the pressure does affect deer a lot. I mean, obviously we all see it, you know, you you know, once the once gun season, especially once gun season starts, you know, you start getting a lot less daytime pictures, you know, and it's not like those deer left the property because they're still hitting your feeder at night, you know what I mean? And you're like, where are they during the day? And a lot of and you know, mature bucks, they say spends like 70% of its day bedded down, right? So, you know, on these pressured spots, you know, it's funny. Sometimes I've I found them within view of of the parking area. And you're like, oh, this buck, this buck, this buck's here because this is the only parking area for this for this property. And if it sees you pull in, guess what? That buck's not moving from that spot until after it watches you leave, you know, or uh, you know, maybe they a lot of times they stick up a lot closer to the houses, you know. So a lot of these uh a lot of these properties, you know, when they're sticking closer to houses, all right, it might be gun season, but might might might pay off to take your bow out, you know what I mean? Because you can get a lot closer to the houses legally with the with the bow than you can with the gun. And I mean, I've I've intercepted some deer, you know, coming from bedding down almost in people's backyards, coming back onto the property, you know, and and if you know you catch them that last little bit of light, last 15 minutes of light, you know, and if you were sitting at the over the feeder, they'd be there a half hour after it's dark. But because you're you're up closer to the houses with your bow, you know, you can intercept them. So it's uh you you learn a lot of stuff like that as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I I remember, you know, always when you're when you're taught or when you're younger, you know, if you don't, if someone's not really showing you, I was the first one in my family to bow hunt. Um, you know, everyone's up in Maine, gun hunting and everything like that. So it's a completely different world. And you know, it took me a long time to to learn and understand that there are a lot of big bucks that sit right by the pocket parking lot. There's a lot of big bucks that hang on that private property and that border of a of a public land and go back and forth. They know the safety, um, you know, and how much big bucks watch you and learn your patterns. Oh, yeah, yeah. Just like you're trying to do to them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a thousand percent. And uh the I think the biggest takeaway I've noticed, especially this year, um, with with bucks and big bucks, stuff like that, is uh you got to find the edges, man. You know, you could you could have you could have 10 acres of cedars and you'll find all the all the sheds within the first 30 yards of those cedars. They like to they even though they want they want the thermal cover, they want the less snow, they're still on the edges. And I mean, you know, you think about it, you know, a lot of a lot of the property lines, what do you have? Edges, you know what I mean? Because you know, the farmer's field's right up against there, you know, it goes because he wants to farm as much as possible. So he he's he's cleared it out right up to the property line, and then there's a there's a hedgerow, and then it might open up to open timber because that's what it used to be before they cleared that property. They're gonna be right in that right in that hedge row because that they have the security, you know, they got the wind coming off their back with the field, and then they're looking down into the timber and they can see you walking in and out of your stand. And uh, you know, they're they're secure, and that's that's ultimately what these what these deer are looking for is just security.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Security, yeah, is probably you know one of the most important things, obviously. Like, and I always tell people, like, especially in New Jersey, a state like New Jersey, we do have so much food sources, especially without like, you know, if we don't, if we have a mild winter, then it's like really like all right, these deer are constantly eating good. You know, you look at, you know, anywhere from, you know, we a lot of ag fields, a lot of cornfields, um, you know, some of a lot of the places I I hunt, you know, they they do beans and and everything like that. And then you you literally look at um especially West Jersey, you look at the acorn flats and how many acorns are are are there. And maybe something that I've noticed too is and we go back to to the whole winter thing, is since we've had these milder winters, these flats have been just raining acorns, and it seems like every single year, and all of them, you know what I mean? Maybe next year moving forward it it'll be a little different next year because of the the more brutal winter and everything like that. But you know it's it's one of those things that like these deer eat well, so their their number one thing, yes, is going to be is going to be safety because at the end of the day, they really don't have to go that far for a good food source. They kind of have them all all over the place, especially in a real prime time area. So security is is is yeah, definitely number one to them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's
Reading Diet Clues From The Stomach
SPEAKER_01what I don't know. I tell anybody who's just like getting into hunting or something like that, you know, after you feel dress your deer, you got them, you know, splayed out, drain out the rest of the blood from the you know the blood cavity. So one of the most one of the like wealths of knowledge inside a deer, cut that stomach open, you know, because you cut a deer's stomach open, don't stand over it, get that waft of uh hot air coming out of there. But uh, but I mean you you you figure out, all right, this deer's this deer might hit your feeder and beep have some corn in his stomach, but you find 90% of his of his stomach's full of, you know, he's he's eating, he's in Mrs. Johnson's lawn up there, you know what I mean? Or she's eat her groom, her her hedge, her hedge row, you know what I mean. You you learn on and you're like, okay, well, this deer clearly spends a lot of its time up in someone's backyard, and then at night's coming and hit your feeder or something like that. So it's uh it's a there's a wealth of knowledge. Uh if you take the time to cut open the stomach and check out what that deer's eating, you can find out where he spends the time where he's not in front of your camera.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, uh perfectly said, and you know, I've never really thought to to do something like that. I I kind of know, and yet again, you know, if I was going back in time and you know learning this all over again, like that is a very credible advice because it's like, yeah, you don't you've always learned you never pop it, you never pop it, you don't want to pop it, you know, especially while you're gutting and everything like that. But hey, you know, as long as you don't gut it while gutting it, take it out, cut it open, and then see. You know what I mean? Um it it's like it's like with turkeys. You always kind of, you know, you always see the, you know, everyone, you you kind of look at what they're what they're eating, and it's usually a lot of bugs and and stuff like that. You'll see some you'll see some rocks and stuff in there for you know the to help with digestion and and all these different things, but you know, you learn so much from deer hunting. I I think probably of yeah, the food sort. And same thing with bear, like when we're we running on bears. Like you, yeah, well, you know, we'll occasionally run like a bait site, you know. This year I think we're gonna do a little more than that um and and run some more bait sites. But you know, when we when we go out like a week before, you know, season, maybe two weeks before the season, like we're looking for their poop, you know what I mean? And what is in their poop. And it's going to tell us where exactly where they're at. And you know, a lot of the times we get we get certain bears that you you can tell they're only eating berries and they got all those seeds. Then we have the the corn poop. Well, we obviously know what what that is, you know what I mean? And then you know, when the when the flats are going, listen, I I've seen I was like, what what is this? I was like, what is that? I was like, are those acorns? And it was digested into acorns. And it's like, all right, if you can find that you have a better odds of getting on a bear or a deer or a turkey or you know, whatever, you know, it could be a coyote and fox too. You know, if you find a fresh kill or you know, you for foxes, you know, rabbits, squirrel, you got a abundant number. You put yourself in those areas, you're gonna come across uh, you know, and that's that's one on one.
First Bear Story And How It Tastes
SPEAKER_01It's it's funny to say that though guy I shot my first bear this year uh with the bow. Congrats. It was it was awesome. And uh, and so you know, my first year really seriously getting into bear hunting. I've always like you know, dabbled in it, but mostly my concentration is on whitetails, and uh I shot and but I shot a very early series. Season deer this year. I shot him like September 18th, I think. Something like it's like the first two weeks of the season. So like I didn't have anything to do until extended. So my buddy was like, dude, we got this bear. I can't even put my trash can out. Uh, you know, the the night before. And uh, so I shot this. I shot, you know, I shot it was a good bear, too. It was Popin Young. Uh, it was like 328 pounds dressed, and I cut the stomach open and over people's trash. There was food wrappers in there, there was napkins. There, and it's like, well, this is just an urban jersey bear that's good, that's knocking over everyone's trash cans at night and eat eating their food.
SPEAKER_00Did you did you that's a tough one? Did you eat any of the bear? Oh, yeah, I ate it. Yeah, how how was it? You know, I always get the you know, when whenever I talk to people, like I love I'm a big bear hunter. Love bear. It's one of my favorite meats to eat. Everyone on the show knows that. You know, we talk about bears constantly, you know what I mean? Did you and it's hard to to range of, you know, obviously, I don't I don't know if you've had it before or anything like that, but did you notice anything with the taste because you officially did have a a trash bear and everything like that? Did it did it have a a unique taste to it?
SPEAKER_01I did it didn't. It didn't, you know, it it I mean uh there wasn't, you know, there was more than just trash in there. Obviously, I shot him on an acorn flat. Um you know I shot him, I shot him at a at 11 yards and literally, I mean, he came through eating acorns, you know, and I could hear him. He was so close. He came out, it was a kind of a hillside, and uh he was uphill of me. So he was almost eye level, which was you know, a very, very cool way to shoot your first bear. Um, but uh, I mean, he was flipping rocks over, you know, pulling, pulling these giant rocks over. And I could literally, and there was all these uh acorns had, you know, settled on this hillside, and he was just on that line of acorns, and you I could literally hear him crunching the acorns. And uh, no, I I I ate them up. I mean, I still got some left. I got some cool stuff made with it. Like uh the local butcher here does a uh does like a smoked ham with it. And I mean, it's like it's like spot, it's it's a it's it's honey glazed. And I mean, I've dude, you know, you get four of them from your bear. And uh, dude, I I've I crushed them, you know. I mean, I don't have any of those left. You know, I got some ground meat. Yeah, no, those were the first to go. Um, actually, I ate the heart from it uh because my buddy my buddy my buddy was like, dude, you gotta eat the heart from it. And uh, you know, I I I double longed him so there was no hole through his heart. And uh yeah, that that literally that that day when I got home, or no, the next day when I got home, I uh I was off and I you know I skinned out the bear myself, me and my buddy that night. And the next day for lunch, got a nice Kaiser roll, fried him up, fried onions, you know, some horseradish sauce, some provolone. It was, I mean, I ate it for two days, you know. I had a lunch for the next two days.
SPEAKER_00I I'll tell you, like uh I didn't we we eat a lot of heart here, you know, obviously deer heart during the season, you know, whenever we get a chance, bear. Man, I don't know. And I yeah, I've talked about this before, but yeah, I don't know if it was how my buddy cooked it. Like he's a phenomenal like cook. I don't know, like if we're just starving because it was during bear season and he didn't eat all day. It's but it was the best thing like I ever had. Like it was by far the best heart. Like I always try to keep bear heart and everything like that. I don't know. But again, for me, I always tell people like bears for me, you know, they they don't eat a lot of meat. Yeah, if you get a garbage bear and a junk bear, like especially at like a dump or something like that, I get it. But if you really look at the things that they eat, you know, it's acorns, it's gonna be corn, it could be a lot of grubs, so a lot of a lot of insects. They eat a lot of insects. I don't think as many people realize is how much insects are they're actually eating. And then if you get you know, you throw bait, and a lot of people love the sweets, you know, my bear that that I killed, the minute like we got it all back and butchered, like you I'll never forget opening up and it was just sweet. It was a really sweet smell, and I was like, I love this. I love yet again, it goes to the desserts. So, like I like to do, like, even when I'm when I cook venison, I like to do it like a black bear or a raspberry like sauce with it because I I like my sweets, so I like that little sweet. So, like having this hair, I was like, Yeah, this is this is one of my favorite meats of like this is so sweet and it was so tender and it doesn't dry out. Obviously, you gotta cook it. You can't really have it medium rare unless you I think it's called souffle it or whatever, however the hell you you souffle it. Um that's the one way that you can that you can cook it to to medium rare. And I'm paranoid, so I'd be cooking my I'll take it in there a little extra and everything. But because of all the fat, you just see it just like melting off, and it it keeps it, you know, way more moist than you would like with any other meat out there. And it's yeah, it's it's one of the favorites for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I uh like I said, it was my first bear that I ever shot. The only other bear that I have ever eaten was uh yeah, my my senior of high school, me and my father went to Maine bear hunting, and uh and uh it was you know, big woods, it was all uh timber, timber property, and um and the bear that my father shot. I didn't harvest a bear that that uh that that time that we went, but my the my father shot a bear and it was and it was a sweets bear. You know, the the guide uh said some bears prefer meat, some bears prefer sweets. And the bear my father shot, um, they were baiting it with candy, you know, kick hat bars and graham crackers and reese, peanut butter, cobs love. And yeah, it was a it was a very sweet bear as well. And I mean, I would say my my bear, my bear tastes as I remember, that bear, you know. Um, it was my father shot a sow in in uh in in um Maine, and I shot a a boar here. I didn't really notice any difference, um, other than that I got I got more meat. I think my dad's bear dressed out at like 250, you know, and they say it's less it's less dense of a meat. Um, but everything I've eaten, I I haven't uh I would shoot another one, you know. I I have no uh I I liked it, you know. Uh it's it tastes good in everything I put it on, but I also, you know, I also season my food, you know. I'm not not one of those white people that I'm not one of those white people that don't season their food, you know what I mean? I love it. I got all I got all the all the seasonings, you know, and uh yeah, I mean it was it was very good. And uh yeah, I recommend anyone who hasn't tried it to get out there and shoot a bear and eat it up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, a hundred percent. Now, you know, something uh I'm I'm pretty curious about of doing, you know, you're you're out in the woods so much, you you know, you're you're looking for
Weird Finds In Jersey Woods
SPEAKER_00sheds. What are some of the the cool things that you've found that are aren't sheds, especially I imagine in New Jersey? Like I imagine you've come across uh a couple of crazy like different things. Um, you know, so what what what you got for us?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, I always say the toughest part about hunting in Jersey, you know, you you you once you start doing it, you start like training your eyes to pick it up, is you got to be able to train your eyes not to pick up trash. I mean, there's I I walk out, you know, I carry a backpack. My backpack, no normally, you know, my backpack's full of people's just trash. I mean, hundreds of if not thousands of golf balls at this point. You know, I give them to all my buddies that work that that that uh you know take them out to the driving range, whatever they do with them. I don't even know. Um I found I found some weird stuff. I found like shrines made to people. I found someone's uh someone's urn with their ashes in it. Oh my god. Yeah. Uh the I was like, it was uh it was in like this uh green like stone box, and I just uh it had a brass like uh name tag on it. And I was like, and it and it just the the way the sun hit it, I was like, what is that? I you know, I walked over there and I was like, what is this? And I I opened it up and it was it was it looked like it looked like ashes, and I was like, and then I closed it and I looked at the name and I was like, oh, this is someone's final resting place. This is I'm gonna leave this. This is gonna stay right here. Like clearly, someone that's that's where they wanted third. I I I hope that's where they wanted to be. I hope you hope, right? You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Like, like my thing is like one, you should probably should have they should have brought done a better job burying it. You know what I mean? Um yeah, I would have dug that thing deep and and and put it in like at least like six feet deep so it doesn't come back up.
SPEAKER_01Nope, that thing was sitting right right on the top, man. Sitting right on the top. They didn't burn it at all. It was sitting, it'd have been there for, you know, yeah, I could you could tell it had been there for a while, you know. The the the uh brass nameplate was all varnish, you know, like uh yeah, like oxidized, you know, and uh it but yeah, maybe they wanted their you know their grandfather, whoever it was, to uh you know have the sun on them every morning or something. I don't know. Yeah, I just left that. Um I have found one handgun um in in the woods and uh down by uh in Piscataway. I found a handgun many years ago.
SPEAKER_00Um did you what what what what happened with with that whole set? Did you did you not touch it? Did you leave it? Did you have to call anybody? Like I don't, you know, I mean that's a that for that's a tricky situation in in my books.
SPEAKER_01So funny story, I found uh there was actually a pretty decent deadhead laying there. And I took pictures of the deadhead, and I always take my deadheads and I hang them up in the tree, and I put up in the tree, and then that night when I'm home, I was looking through photos, probably to post on Instagram, and laying maybe two feet from the from the deadhead. I'm like, what? That looks like a holster, like a leather holster. And uh I went back the next day and uh and sure enough, there was a holster, and I picked it up out of the mud, and there was a handgun in it. And at that point in time, I was like, okay, we need to call the police on this one. And uh and I mean, it was 20 yards off a road. I don't know whatever came of it or if they I mean it was pretty it was pretty rusted. It had been there a while, so I'm not sure I'm sure they somehow got the serial number off of it, but uh yeah, it was uh that was a sketchy one.
SPEAKER_00And I I joke every year, I'm like, this is gonna be the year I'm gonna find a dead body, you know, because right that is being in Jersey, it's kind of like you know, for the people who are listening and you're not from Jersey, like listen, we we love our state, it is a great state, but a lot of crazy things go and it's a small state, and you know, like being you know, if you're going to look for shed, especially for sheds, like you can go look for sheds kind of almost anywhere because I've seen deer everywhere, I you know, on the parkway in these little pockets in Newark and in all these places. Not saying, you know, we don't recommend going to Newark to to find sheds, not not at all. But like at any point, like I know my buddies um their their parents are were troopers and and and stuff like that. And I'll never forget uh right by me. It's called Lake Surprise. And I think they're they're draining it one year and they're they're going through and you know they came across a body, and you know, they usually find bodies, especially back in the day, they usually find a lot of bodies and and the South Mount Mountain Reservation and like all the watering reservation and all these places and everything like that. So, like as as you know, it's a joke, but it's also like you never know with being kind of where we where we live and everything like that.
SPEAKER_01If I if I were a betting man, it what because it will happen, it's only a matter of time. I imagine it'll be a homeless person or something, because I find a lot of homeless camps out in the woods, you know, in these little pockets, you know, you're walking through and then all of a sudden you see they're like, What? And then you realize, you know, it's like kind of a a little campsite, you know what I mean? And then you know, I always check the tents, you know, especially if they look like they haven't been in anyone's been in a while, you know, they're all ripped and stuff. And I imagine that that'll probably be the way that I'll I'll find it. Hopefully, I hope it's not uh more more uh sinister than that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, definitely not. I've always seen some videos and stuff like that, and they're like, This is it's one of the sketchiest things is going into you know a homeless camp, whether it's abandoned or not, and always like you know, always be very mindful and everything like that. Watch out for need. Obviously, you always want to watch out for your your surroundings and everything like that, no matter what you're you're doing. But you know, it it's just one of those things. Like, I'll never forget. I I ran into out scouting, and it was a camp, and I'll never forget like the baby. There was a baby doll head that was like hung up. You had lots of doll heads there. Oh yeah, it's and I don't understand like that. It it always seems like I'm in a horror movie when I whenever I see like the doll heads or the legs and and everything like that. I'm just like, all right, I this is no longer fun anymore. Yeah, it's time to like back out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you start feeling the the hairs, start feeling the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, and you're like, yeah. And I mean, I've I've I've met some you know some homeless people out there, and for the most part, they're they're very nice people, they just want to be left alone, you know. You know, and and and it does help when you're you know when you've when you've already found a shed, when you found a shed antler, and you can go to the person be like, Oh yeah, hey man, no, I'm not out here before you don't look. I'm just picking up deer antlers, and I've actually I've I've been I've been handed uh a deer antler from a homeless individual.
SPEAKER_00Oh, really?
SPEAKER_01Wow, yeah, yeah. I gave them an uncrustable in exchange. It was a it was a good trade. It was a good trade, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Great trade. Yeah, I might have to start carrying
Uncrustables And Field Snacks
SPEAKER_00those around with me just in case. Uh the uncrustables. Anytime I'm in the woods, man, I got an uncrustable zombie. It's so um, but you know, we usually ask people this, you know. So that's your go-to hunting snack. Is it is a uncrustable?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uncrustable, man. Great grape and grape and uh and peanut butter in the freezer, so keep it inside, it thaws out during the hunt. You know, by the time you pull it out, it's it's it's you know, the bread's soft, but a lot of times the the jam and the uh peanut butter inside still frozen. That's the that's the sweet spot right there.
SPEAKER_00I love it. That's great. Look, look at that recommendation everywhere. If you're if you're not doing that, start start doing it. Yeah, those are those are one of a kind of a of a snack for oh absolutely. Um and then I I imagine, you know, off of the you know the the craziness and everything like that, like I was actually going through your your page and looking at it right now. Um I don't know if you ever found his shed, but uh let me see from what day it was. If you'll remember it's a video that the buck is on the bank, it's a big wide deer.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, I do I do remember that. That was uh that was in like uh I don't know if I don't it was in uh technically Union County. I don't want to give away the town. No, no surprise. And it's not it's not a spot that I it's not a spot that I hunt. Um, but no, I actually never even made it to that property. Uh I just ran out. That's that's always the thing. It's like such a rush against time, you know, for the green up and and when it gets warm. And that that was uh I never I saw that buck and he was hanging out there, and but I never made it to that property.
SPEAKER_00That's a that's a great buck. And you know, I fun funny story is you know, when I was taking my my bow test, the guy saw that I'm from Union County, and he goes, Oh, where are you from? And I'm like, Hey, you know, I'm from summer. He goes, feel bad for you. He goes, You got a lot of giant deer and you can't hunt them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's uh that's uh this every year uh you know I got uh like one of the sheds I got sitting here, it's from uh is a nice book that I picked up in Princeton. You know, I tried to make it down to Princeton because Princeton hunt. And this year I was planning on going up to Bergen County. I heard the competition's tough up there, but uh for the same reason because these deer can get some age on them and they're not hunted, they're they're eating well, you know, everyone's backyards and the rhododendron bushes, you know, and uh they can they can really get some some good uh some good genetics up there and uh like anything else, you just need the genetics and time, and uh so I I tried to get up to Bergen County this year, didn't make it, but uh but did uh but did pretty well, you know, around here. I'm from Somerset County, did mostly Somerset and Hutterden County.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What um, you know, when you do get to go to to some of the other spots in in you know New Jersey, you know, you leave your area if you ever go, you know, south, ever to the to the west, you know, north, you know. Excluding the the the places where you can't hunt, like do you ever see like a a different with the the shed that you're finding of a of a class? Like does one part of the state kind of outshine the the other at all? If if you you know how much you know, I obviously in your area it's a lot easier for you to get out and everything like that, you know what I mean? It's but when you do go to these other places, like you know, what what what are you kind of seeing?
SPEAKER_01So you find you find two different things. You either find these little
Knocking Doors For Shed Access
SPEAKER_01patches of woods that you know, maybe it's in like you know, the middle of a neighborhood or something like that, that obviously you can't hunt, you know, and you can't hunt in a in a pretty good size area, you know, like you like summit, you know what I mean? Um, and those deer can grow old there. And then also like as you head west, you find these bigger tracts of land, you know, and these and these deer that have more places to hide. So it's uh I I I tell people, you know, Jersey doesn't matter where you are, you know, if there's good bucks somewhere within probably half an hour of your house, you know, whether you can hunt them or not, uh one thing is uh is one thing, but that's what's so great about shed hunting, you know. You can, you know, and people are a lot more receptive when you go and knock on their door and you're like, hey, you know, listen, I I do this thing where I cut deer antlers, you know. Do you mind if I just you know walk around your property real quick, give it a once overlook for some deer antlers? Most people are like, Yeah, no problem. Or, you know, a lot of times, you know, I knock on people's doors, like, hey, there's a deer antler in your side yard. Can I go pick it up? And they look at me like I got three heads. But at the end of the day, they're like, Yeah, sure. You know, because at the end of the day, they're gonna pick it up and either throw it into the woods or they're gonna throw it in the trash 90% of the time, you know, because to them it holds no value. Whereas uh, you know, someone like me, it it it holds uh extreme value.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, it it's it's something too that like, yeah, like it's what it's you're not hunting, you know. A lot of people they'll they'll get right behind it. Oh, you're just going to walk, just collect antlers, like cool. That like no big deal. You know, a lot of the problem when you know, when it comes to, oh, you know, they they look at it as a whole different way. Like you're gonna be shooting, you're gonna be killing these animals, walking around with weapons, you're on my property, maybe, you know, with with weapons and and everything like that. That's where people are like, yeah, no, like it, it's it's not, it's not our thing, and everything like that. Well, you you're you just seem like that, yeah, just that like that crazy guy. Like, why the hell is he looking for for antlers? Like, well, what's the point? What's the point?
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And people are I found it a lot more receptive. And I mean, and you know, that's one thing I was trying to do. I tried to convert that, you know, shed hunting piece. If I find, you know, good good sign, you find maybe pick up a good antler, you know, you try to try to work that into deer into a deer hunting property, you know, and you know, and say, listen, you know, listen, I'll just be back to my bow and arrow. I'm gonna be here, you know. I might even mark a spot on on the on X, you know, and show the show the landowner, look, I'm not gonna be anywhere near your backyard. I know you got kids and a dog, you don't have to worry, you know, get to kind of really uh you really put a lot of people at ease, you know, that because they didn't grow up hunting, they don't have any friends that hunt, you know. That's to them it's a very foreign concept. Um, but uh a shed hunting's a good uh good way in the door, you know, a lot of times.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So like if any anyone listening, like and that makes complete sense. And I never thought of it that way, too, as well. Is yeah, you you you start with you know, with that, you knock on the door, don't even ask, you know, hey, I want to go, you know, can I can I go hunting? A lot of people anyway get get told no anyway during the season. You know, you'll you get the guys that show up with camo and everything like that. But if you start it in the off-season way into the off-season, like, hey, you know, I just want to go, you know, find some some antlers, da da da, and then you you get it's a conversation starter, and then it slowly builds, and and you know what I mean, and then you can work your way into it. You know, it's actually that's a great, and I don't think any I don't think I've ever heard of anyone, you know, talking about that as being a method into getting your way to to gain some private uh access to it and everything like that.
SPEAKER_01Yep, you know, especially if you especially if I do good, you know, a lot of times the homeowner will come out and then see me come back to the truck and be like, oh, did you find it and you show them? And they're like, Oh, it's awesome. And then it's like, it's like, oh, well, you know, have you ever do you have anybody who hunts the property? You know, you can work away into that, and a lot of times a little bit, like, all right, let me uh, you know, can I uh you know put a camera out? You know, then you just you just slowly but build it, you know, to build it up a little bit. And they by the time you know September rolls around, now you're a familiar face, you know, and they see that you're respectful. Maybe you drop off a bottle of wine, you know, you know, you build you build it up, and then you know, by the time September rolls around, you know, maybe you share a couple of trail, a lot of people like me to share trail camera pictures with them or get anything cool, you know, even just something as mundane as a fox to someone like us who runs trail cameras. You send them a picture of a fox, they're like, that was in the woods behind my house. You're like, yeah, it's awesome, isn't it? And then, you know, then it gets them a little more interesting. And before you know it, you're you're not just the guy that who knocked on their door in February. Now you're kind of a friend, you know, and you can build up a lot of trust that way. And then just transition that right into then, you know, listen, where that camera is way in the back of your property, you know. Do you mind if I just, you know, bow hunt it once or twice a week, maybe, you know, and I Know I I try to have as many hunting property as possible. I tell some people like listen, if there's not a class of deer back there that I want to hunt, your deer herd is gonna make it through the season because I'm gonna feed them all winter, you know. And yeah, you're your deer, you're gonna they're not gonna have to worry about deer out there starving. And people, you know, even if there are animal lovers, which I mean, I think you know, even hunters, we're I tell people we're we're animal hunters lovers through and through, you know what I mean? We all want you know the most ethical, clean kill that an animal can get, you know, and then the food goes the you know, the meat goes on to feed our families. And um, you know, I tell people, uh, you know, listen, I'm gonna take maybe one deer out of the herd, you know, and the rest of the herd's gonna be better off for it. And you know, a lot of times people can understand that, you know what I mean? So it's a good uh it's a good tactic.
SPEAKER_00I I think
The Emotional Reality Of Hunting
SPEAKER_00that's always a misconception with with a lot of people who do not understand what we do, you know what I mean, is how much we actually love animals. I love like it's I always tell people always ask me if I feel bad. Like that's probably one of my biggest questions I get when I when I discuss this with people, and they say, Do you feel bad? And I always, yes, I do. There is a moment where I just you just took a life, no matter what what it is, like you you just took a life. But there's also I always tell them the adrenaline, it's the how proud you are about yourself. There is a lot of emotion. I was like, I haven't cried yet. I go, maybe if I shoot a 160, 170 plus inch deer, there will probably be some waterworks, you know. I mean, but I go, it's a very emotional thing to do, is to hunt and then to take an animal's life. I go, it it is it is the uh I it's so hard to explain to you. Understand, you know, when we talk to it's so hard to explain it to them without them doing because it's something I I think you you just truly have to experience that words cannot put together the actual feeling and all the different emotions that go through hunting, you know. I mean, it is not all happy and sad. It's it's anger, it's frustration, it's stress, it's anxiety. It's you you're at the highest of the high, and you are you're at the top of the mountain, then you could easily just come crashing down and be at rock bottom within like like it within a flash. So it's it's uh it's crazy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and uh, you know, my wife, uh, you know, she didn't, she grew up, she grew up in a family that you know that doesn't hunt there. As my father-in-law says, he's an avid indoorsman. And uh so she doesn't she, you know, she understands it now. We've been married for you know a couple years, and she understands it now a little more. And I say, imagine if you only, you know, you put in all you you're practicing in the backyard, you know, you're doing all spending all this time filling features, running cameras, scouting property, do all this for maybe one opportun, maybe, maybe one opportunity a year. Maybe, you know, you know, some years, I mean, you might shoot everything you go out and hunt for, which you know is a great year. And they're rare though. I mean, a lot of times, you know, there's a lot of a lot of seasons, you know, that one buck on that property that I wanted to shoot never presented a shot, or you know, came in who's reading the script perfectly. And at the last second, instead of coming right down the trail, he diverted up and around, never presented a shot. It's like like you said, it's the highest of it's the highest of highs, it's lows of lows. And uh you you do all that for that one moment, and it's like that's why it's it's that's such an emotion, you know, because you put you just it's all the like you said, it's the grind, and it's like it all comes to that one moment, and in that one moment, everything could go right or everything could go wrong. And it's and like you said, I'm I don't think I've I've cried. I mean, I remember as a kid, you know, once or twice. Um I'm in I've taken a lot more time now, you know. A lot of I remember as a kid, it was like, all right, we shot the deer, we gotta get a gutter, we gotta get out of the woods, we gotta do the processor. Now it's you know, I I spent I spent some time, you know, sitting with the animal and like you you feel connection, especially when you're hunting one particular animal, you feel a connection to it almost, and you're like, the game's over. It's like a it's like a it's a hollow victory almost to an extent, you know what I mean? Because the game's over.
SPEAKER_00I I shoot, you know, I've shot a lot of bucks, I've shot a lot of deer in the evening, shot shot a good amount in in the day. I always tell people like I much rather always shoot my deer in in the morning. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a deer at any at any point, doesn't matter. But you for me, you get more of that that personal time with with the animal, you know. You're not, you know, especially if you shoot it, you know, at at sundown, you know, at that last light and everything like that. You the the panic now sets in of like, all right, I really need to get this, I need to find him. You know, I need to to fill out obviously my tag, that's the big one here in New in New Jersey. You know what I mean? I gotta get him gutted. You know, if it's a warm day, you know, you don't want the the meat to to waste and everything. So if that is causing things for the morning, you don't get that. You got you, you know, you can take your time, like, okay, like you can reflect. Yeah, and I love shooting deer in the morning because I'm like, all right, like I could sit here, I can honestly knock another arrow. And you know, if another deer comes out, you get to reflect, you you get down, you slowly walk, you know, you track, you get you're like, I got hours. Yeah. And then when you find the deer, it's like, okay, you you like you you sit with it and you just you know, I you thank it, you do whatever your your process is is what you do. You know what I mean? And you know, the the uh the rushing really isn't there like it is in the uh in the evening and and and everything like that.
SPEAKER_01100, 100. And like you said, it's especially here in Jersey, a lot of times, you know, the the morning opportunities aren't aren't as plentiful as the afternoons, but yeah, they're they're sp those those morning or midday kills are are special, especially if you don't have to rush up to work or you know anything like that. You got all the time in the world, and yeah, it's it's it's it's very fun. I agree with you 100%.
A Year Of Firsts On Film
SPEAKER_00Now, but before we you know we're getting close to that that that hour mark, we gotta talk about your well one you you did something I I believe last year. You shot two Toms, shot a great buck, and you shot a a great bear. Or yeah, the last season, you know. Hard to do in in New Jersey. That's the the the the right there. That is everything that you want in the big game species that we have to offer. You know, yeah, it's especially coming from where where where you you grow you grew up and everything like that, you don't have the bears down there. You know what I mean? So, you know, the this is your first bear and everything like that. So doing all three of those those animals and getting the the triple trifecta, what what was that like? That is a a just win-win win, like that is just a a hot season.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was uh, you know, it my dad always says, What have you done recently for the first time? My dad always said that to me. He says, What have you done recently for the first time ever? And I've never turkey hunted until last season, like seriously. Like I did a little bit when I was a kid, you know, messing around as a as you are with kid as a kid, um, you know, but never like took it seriously. This year I was like, all right, I'm gonna shoot, I'm gonna shoot, I'm gonna shoot a Tom with the bow. And that opening day got it done. Couldn't have played out any better, you know, called him in off the roost. He actually worked past me out of range, came up into the field, and then I had some hens and some jakes come in, and he didn't like that. Came back down in the woods, you know, passed. I was in a blind, passed my blind at five feet, you know, and and worked out to chase off the jakes and made a perfect, you know, 11-yard shot, which uh, you know, is always the moment of uh truth, you know, and uh recovered my Tom and it was amazing. And then uh and then I ended up buying another tag and went out with the gun. I was like, well, I haven't I haven't shot one with the gun. You know, the only time the only thing I've ever shot turkey-wise was I shot a Jake when I was 15 years old. And uh then I ended up shooting a Tom with the gun and you know, I had a D and then I had bought another permit and chased around. Did it didn't didn't go for the hat trick with turkeys, but it was, I mean, to I I think at the end of the year they said only 49 people. Um, the state released these stats. 49 people uh shot a turkey with the bow. You know, and I was like, Well, yeah, it's the entire state, the entire state. I was one of 49 people, you know, and then um, and then you know, then and then same thing. I shot him that early season buck. Um, you know, it was the biggest buck on the property. That's always my normally my goal. It was the biggest buck on any of my properties, and he was the biggest buck that I had on camera, you know, more than just a midnight picture. And uh, same thing. He read the script perfectly, came in actually, and I shot him on camera, which I've never shot a deer on camera. So I have it, I have the whole video of me shooting that deer, yeah, which was awesome.
SPEAKER_00How much, how much harder is it actually? Like I always tell people hunting's tough, and then you throw the camera in into it and getting on film and everything like that is a whole other uh aspect of yeah, some I'm a millennial, I've grown up with iPhones and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01So actually, I I uh I bought a painted arrow rest and it clamps onto it. Heard great things, heard great things, and it's magnetic. And uh literally, I was in the tree and I had these does come through. Actually, a doe's like under me, and uh, and I saw and I just caught a glimpse of antler. And with that painted arrow rest, I had it set up perfectly where I could put my my iPhone just magnetically stuck right to it, so it was just off to my left. So I was able to grab my bow, knock, knock an arrow, and then I was able just to you know press the record button, get my hand back on the bow, and and uh you know, I had it zoomed out, and then you know, later, later on, using the iPhone, you know, uh apps, you're able to zoom in. I was able to zoom in. So he was perfectly, and I mean he naturally came in, he stopped on his own, like everything worked out as perfectly as you could ever imagine, you know. And uh I made I made a shot on him and and got that on camera, and it was awesome. And then uh, so that was another first. So I had my first Tom with the bow, first first uh Tom with the shotgun, then my first buck on camera, and then you know, I had nothing to do. My buddy's telling me come up and um, you know, he's in that he lives in Bethlehem Township. Uh yeah, I think that's Huddington County, I believe. Um, he and he was like, dude, we got these bears.
SPEAKER_00I think you were, I think you were one yet again, one of the few. I don't not many bears. I can't remember what zone that specifically is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there was not there's not many bears taken in that zone.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think, yeah, I think I remember going through and it was like, wow, like it's usually like one, two. I think it's like either between one and three, usually, that are are killed, like in in somewhere around that area. I could be a little off, usually during bear season. We have all the stats and everything. Yeah, I'd be able to better tell.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but it was but you're you're 100% right. I was like one of the few people to shoot one in in Huddington County. Um, and I mean I I know you head north, there's a lot the the bear the bear density is a lot higher, but uh you know, I got I got a full-time job, my wife's got a full-time job. We have a three-year-old, you know, we just bought a new house. There was a lot going on, and I was like, I can't commit to driving an hour north, you know, to refresh a bait site. You know, this was yeah, it's a lot this was 25 minutes from my house, which you know is awesome, you know.
SPEAKER_00So uh and also why why leave, you know, what are what our guys always say, you know, when at least they use it for deer, but it it goes for a bear too. Like, why leave a bear to go find find bears? Thousand percent. You know, I mean, like you you're you're you had one, there's no reason for you to go travel an hour, you know, if it was something, you know, that you and the wife were like, hey, you know what, it's something I really want to do, you know, whatever you have to do, or anyone moving forward, like and they're in that situation. Oh, I really want to shoot a bear. If it's something that works out, I completely get it, where you're not already on bears, or you're in a state that doesn't have a great bear population or or something like that completely, but you don't have to leave animals that you're chasing to go chase or go find them, right? Because if you leave them, you gotta go find them. If you're on them, listen, you just you keep you keep at it, you you work at it, you you keep grinding. That's what hunting is it's it's a freaking grind.
SPEAKER_01Yep, absolutely. And I mean, like I said, it worked out great. I mean, I put some bait out, you know, right after I shot my bear and ran a tacticam, and I had just had deer deer actually eating all the candy that I had put out for a while, and then uh, and then you know, once the bears move in, as everyone tells me, you know, once the bears move in, pushes the deer out, and then it just became these two two good bears coming in. And I was like, I don't care what the bear looks like, I don't need it to be, you know, I'm not looking for my biggest bear, I'm just looking for my first bear. And you know, it ended up being an extraordinary bear, um, just by happenstance, really. Um, and I mean, you know, everyone in the neighborhood seemed pretty happy once they found out that one of the bears was gone. So, and I mean, and plus, like, you know, you go up somewhere up, you know, up north. I don't really know anybody up there, I don't really have a lay of the land. I don't want to mess up other hunters, you know, I don't want to be that guy. It's already hunting season when bear season rolls in, so you don't want to mess up other deer hunters, you know. Whereas my buddies, like, dude, I my back my backyard literally um backs up to state game land. You can park in my driveway, you don't have to come tromping through the woods, and you know, it's the back end of the property, it won't be messing anybody up. And it I mean, I literally was a hundred yards off his property line, you know, into state game land and uh got it done.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, that's that's incredible. I I absolutely love it. Yeah, it's uh it was a year of first for for you, you know, a a really big year. Um, we're we're gonna end this on one one last question I got for you. I ask every new
Dream Elk Hunt And Closing Tips
SPEAKER_00person that I always have on. You have two weeks, money's not an option. Don't worry, you don't have to worry about anything. Dream animal, and where would it be for two weeks?
SPEAKER_01Two weeks, it would be spike camp, Colorado, elk. My brother lives out there, I don't can see him much. Me and my brother in the mountains chasing elk with the bow. I love it. Thousand percent. I love it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it makes it even better that you got family out there and everything like that. It's like, all right, cool, I get to come go do this with my brother and everything like that, and go chase elk up in up in Colorado.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And I will leave your listeners my my my best shed hunting tip, which I tell everyone who gets into it. This is the best shed hunting tip I can give you. When you go shed hunting, go with the mission of shed hunting. You're not just out for a walk, you're shed hunting. That's what you're doing. And act like your friend dropped his keys in the woods. Because you you know what my I you've never seen my keys, right? But you know what a set of keys looks like, right? Every deer antler, it's got the same typical frame to it, you know, so drop times this, that, but you know what a deer ant looks like. That's what you're gonna have to look for. So I just tell people act like you're looking for your keys that you dropped in the woods. You don't remember where you dropped them. And if you go out there with the mission of shed hunting, finding deer antlers, and you're looking for deer antlers, you will find deer antlers.
SPEAKER_00I promise you. Love it, love it. That's a great one. And also, what why don't we see some of the shed that you that you brought up? Uh yeah, I can't.
SPEAKER_01So uh this yeah, real quick, this was uh this was the set that really uh pushed me into uh into into uh starting the Instagram page. This is a local Somerset County buck, split G2s, big inside tie in there, you know, in the match, you know, not a not a giant here, you know, it probably goes 130, you know, but just a very cool set. And then when I found this, this was like, all right, we're gonna uh we're gonna start an Instagram page. So this was the uh that was the first set. Um this set was uh my biggest for a while. I found this one as a as a kid, actually right behind my parents' house. Um, just real heavy. I mean, big bass on them. Wow, yeah, split brow, little kicker off there off the bottom. Just a real heavy, heavy antler. Um, my current biggest single is actually off the same deer the year after. And I mean, that thing thing it weighs four and a half pounds. It is heavy, it is heavy, big old, big old bass on it. And I mean, just a and then the next and then then the year after, he ended up getting shot by uh by by a paid hunting service that comes in to do deer population reduction. That deer ended up getting shot on the first day. And then my uh my my my current favorite shed um is this one here. Pretty cool with the with the uh main beef that sweeps up, little kicker off there. Because this was actually off. This is the uh three and a half-year-old shed off the gun buck that I shot this year as well. That wasn't on that collage. Yeah, um, but I ended up shooting this buck um, you know, this year with the gun. Um, and the only reason I know that he ever existed was a brand new piece of property I had never hunted on before. And the only reason I knew he existed was because I found this shed in the area. So this is my current favorite shed, not my not my biggest, but uh, you know, and then you compare him to this year, he's he's exactly the same. He's got a big bladed G2 this year. He lost he didn't the kicker didn't grow out, but I mean it it's cool to, you know, it's like it's like it adds a little more meaning to to shooting the deer because now I'm like, you know, I I found the deer, I found this antler in in April of 2025, and then December of 2025, I was standing over this deer. So that's my current current at the moment favorite shed that I have.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. History just you know, and that's the one cool thing I've like I would like to do is you know, add more into you saying add more, and it's our already we we already all do so much, is is get into that of on some of the properties I'm hunting, is to find a a shed, get the history and then kill that deer during the next year or two years later. Or, you know, obviously, like if in the Midwest, especially in the Midwest, or you have your own private property and everything like that, you you get the guys that have years of experience and years of sheds of of that one deer. That would be like a big ultimate dream, you know what I mean. I probably, you know, same thing for you and mostly all the the the hunters out there and everything like that. But I mean that the history is what makes like when you have history with the deer too, no matter how long the history, you know, it's it's it makes the story just so much better.
SPEAKER_01Oh, absolutely. It makes it better than just oh, this big buck walked by and I shot him, you know, which happens. I mean, especially during the run and stuff. But one of my goals is to actually find a set of antlers and then use those antlers to rattle in that buck. Oh that would be that would be an awesome story.
SPEAKER_00So that's one of my goals. What um you you did say that the shed that you showed was your biggest single. What's your biggest double that you that you found?
SPEAKER_01Um, actually, I found a big set this year. Um, I haven't taped them out yet. Um, he's still in the he's still in the back of my truck. Um, but it's it's it's almost this size. Actually, I haven't even posted on Instagram. Um, it's just about this size. Um, but I have I have I have both of them. I have both of them. And he was just a a big uh just a big clean eight-pointer. Um that uh you know, heavy and got good time length. And uh I found him actually um uh at the end of March, my brother came out from Colorado and we put on 12 miles in a day and we picked up 16 sheds. It was a it was a good it was a good day out uh out on out in the woods, and we felt we picked up this big, big, just typical eight set. And that seems to be the genetics in my area, just clean eights. Yeah, um so that that that is uh that's my that's my biggest set at the moment.
SPEAKER_00I I absolutely love it. And you know, why don't we end it here? I mean, Paul, we'll we'll definitely have to get you back on. Like I I I I love love this conversation, get you on for a couple episodes. Listen, wait, if if whatever works out and you ever find any time and you want to come hunt bears with us, you you have an open invitation, doesn't matter if it's this year, couple, three years from now, when the kids are you know the kids are older and everything like that, like hey, listen, you you said this, let's let's make it happen. Would would would love to have you up at uh up at uh bear camp and and stuff like that. And you know, it it was a phenomenal conversation, really, really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01All right, man. Yeah, thank you very much for having me having me on. I'll definitely take you up on that bear hunting one day, and uh looking forward to come back on another time.
SPEAKER_00No, definitely. And everyone, we hope you guys enjoyed this episode. The link to his Instagram will be down in the description below. Make sure you check him out. Paul, any last words for for the listeners?
SPEAKER_01Get outside, it's beautiful. There's no reason to be stuck inside watching TV. Get outside as much as possible. Everyone thinks Jersey is just a big city. There's lots of woods. Go explore, go pick up some sheds. Good luck this hunting season.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. And we'll see you guys next time.
