British Columbia Elk Hunt With Josh Mckenzie

This week I'm back with my good friend Josh Mckenzie, Join us as we recap his time in the British Columbia Mountains in pursuit of Rocky Mountain Elk. Josh is an avid bowhunter and creator of Caribou Media on YouTube, where you can find reviews on some of the newest gear to come out in the hunting world along with reviews on all the equipment used on his amazing hunt for Rocky Mountain Elk.    

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Transcript

Planning for Archery Expo Trip

Speaker 1 0:18

What's going on , buddy ? Hey , where are you ? I'll get back on . We got a big , big hunt to talk about . It's been a while now . You've had lots of time to process and work through it . Yeah yeah , but we got a , you know . On a lighter note , we got a killer room for tech .

Speaker 2 0:33

Oh yeah , I think the Airbnb road is definitely the way to go .

Speaker 1 0:39

Yeah , we are in the lap of luxury there , like right on site . Yeah , like two second walk from all the vendors and all that stuff . We're going to have a good time .

Speaker 2 0:49

Yeah , we're definitely stumbling distance , which is good as long as we get tickets , josh .

Speaker 1 0:54

Well , that's the . That's the worrying part , man . It's like we got to find . We got to make sure we get at least five tickets .

Speaker 2 1:03

Yeah . So yeah , it's quite the process , like I remember last year I was , I would say there is it . Last year I don't know if it was the year before I was thinking about going , but then couldn't . And then last year I was like , okay , I'm definitely going to do it . And then I remember they went on sale I think it was the Michigan one I was going to try and go to , yeah , and I didn't have the . I wasn't aware that . You know , you need to be like sitting at the computer , refreshing your screen , like the day of , otherwise you know you're not getting any and that's they sold out .

Speaker 2 1:44

And I was . I went to the website like the next day or something . I'm like , oh yeah , I got to grab tickets to attack and I'm like , whoop yeah .

Speaker 1 1:51

Okay , maybe next year . Same thing happened to us . We were like . We were like okay , well , it opens today . Like when I get home from work today , I'll I'll jump on and grab tickets . That's like that was the plan last year . And same thing that happened to you . We were like oh , I guess , I guess we're not going to attack this year at all . Yeah .

Speaker 2 2:11

So hopefully we , but I think the way that we were talking about doing it is the best . I mean , it just does put a lot of pressure on one person , but having one guy go in , throw everybody's info in , you know , sort it out , get it , get it it all secured , and then we all just yeah , send money or whatever .

Speaker 2 2:29

Yeah , it's like money too but yeah , it's , because then if you're trying to pair it up with everybody logging in at the same time , then somebody doesn't get in or they lose their internet signal or something .

Speaker 1 2:41

Like , yeah , that's going to . That would be a nightmare .

Speaker 1 2:42

You know we're going to have we're going to have a couple guys logged in . We're probably going to be on a video chat so that , like whoever's like , if I'm 600 in the queue and Gary's 150 in the queue , then you know , at least we're , we've got multiple guys in the stream , it's like okay , and then if , as long as we're all on video like this , we can be like okay , I've got everything done , I'm clicking by and then everybody else can pause for a sec . So that's the plan . The more hands we have available to do that on the day of will be the best , or that'll be the best option for us , I think . And then hopefully , it all works out , man , and we're going to tack and we're not just going to spectators , cause that would be terrible . Don't worry , it'll work out . It'll work out . Yeah , I'm confident that it will , cause we've got a plan this year , whereas last year none of us had any plan , josh , we were just like oh , we'll just go buy tickets .

Speaker 2 3:37

Yeah , we're just kind of flying by the seat of our pants kind of thing . Very much so . Yeah , very much so . But that's good , I have to make the decision . Yeah , that's exciting .

Speaker 1 3:45

Now whether I'm going to take that bow tech with me to tack or if I'm going to shoot my PSE attack .

Speaker 2 3:51

Yeah , I was just going to ask you have you had it out yet ?

Speaker 1 3:54

Uh , I just built it today . I filmed the build today , so I'm I'm heading to the shop , probably tomorrow , uh , to paper tune and all that stuff , uh , just cause I don't have the room here , yeah , and then hopefully we'll get all sighted in and everything will be good to go and we'll be shooting a 60 pound bow instead of 70 , which I'm sure will be nicer to pull . Definitely , definitely , yeah .

Speaker 2 4:17

Yeah .

Speaker 1 4:18

Like , especially like , repetitively , and all that stuff .

Speaker 2 4:22

You're shooting 70 , right .

Speaker 1 4:24

Yeah , yeah .

Speaker 2 4:25

Uh , I'm looking to go up to 75 with that elite ethos and trying to get the 75 pound lens because I'm finding , like , as as he thinks , as these things come out . Like , like with the prime I have it's a 70 , the Hoyt I had before that was a 65 . And I found the 2019 Hoyt he looks I had is was harder to pull back than the 70 pound . You know it seems like every year there are every few years is getting . Although the weight's bumping up , they're getting easier and easier to to draw back .

Speaker 1 5:01

Weirdly right , yeah , I don't know which you know , when I think about it , it doesn't make any sense to me , because if it takes 70 pounds to pull it , it takes 70 pounds to pull it . So I guess how it feels throughout the stack of that 70 pounds , I guess makes the difference and like whether or not you like it up front or you like it the stack as it comes back or whatever . It is right yeah .

Speaker 2 5:24

I was noticing that when we were at shooter's choice there and I was trying that older elite and vision and I was drawing it back and I was like it's funny how all the cams kind of look somewhat similar . I know PSC's looks a little bit different shape , but for the most part a lot of them are pretty close Pretty much , but yet they all , they all act differently when you're drawing back , Like weird , right , you know , the Hoyt had a big dump Like I don't I don't think the newer ones do , but the one that I had you came back and then all of a sudden it was like you were going downhill , Like it dumped into the back wall . Right Right had like a huge fall off .

Speaker 2 6:03

Yeah , and then the prime was like stiff at the no it's , it stacks where it's . It's easy at first , and then , as you're getting farther and farther back , it gets harder and harder . And then all of a sudden you're there Like there's no dumping whatsoever .

Speaker 1 6:20

Yeah , Not that big roll over right .

Speaker 2 6:23

Right . And then I found with the elite it was harder at first and then got easier and then all of a sudden you were there Like there's no dump either . So it's kind of interesting how they're all slightly different and then , as you , I guess , depends on what matters to you the most when you're buying a new one . But I think , as you , the more and more you shoot it , you get used to whatever the cycle is , and that's just how it is Right .

Speaker 1 6:52

For sure . Yeah , like I know a lot of guys like everybody , like , if you watch enough YouTube videos , everybody will say , oh well , this draw cycles the best and this draw cycles best with . Well , man , it really depends on the fellow . For starters , like , I prefer a bow . That's a little tough , just get going . But once you break it , it kind of like smooths into the back wall , right ? Whereas some guys like it to like break easy and then stack , stack , stack till it gets to the back wall . I mean it's and , like you say , you'll get used to it , no matter what . It is like you shoot it a hundred arrows through it and then go back to your old bow . You go , oh , this one feels different now because now you're , you're conditioned to that new draw cycle , right ? So Right .

Speaker 1 7:37

Yeah .

Speaker 2 7:38

It's interesting . Yeah , I don't know . They sprinkle magic on them when they make them .

Speaker 1 7:42

I think they do like little elves , sprinkling magic on them . Right , I think uh points got a good bow this year . They got a pretty smooth cam .

Understanding the Archery Industry

Speaker 1 7:51

Uh , matthews was the one I didn't care for that much it was I found very aggressive yeah .

Speaker 2 7:57

You're saying it was . It was harder than the phase four .

Speaker 1 8:00

Yeah , yeah , for sure , a hundred percent . Um , and then the PSEs . Obviously , those cams are all still the same the evolve , the evolve cam , the EC two or whatever , right , um but the new bow tech cams are sweet and the new elite cams are awesome too yeah .

Speaker 2 8:17

PSE didn't make any changes right to their cams .

Speaker 1 8:19

No , no , they're all the same cam , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , you get the more aggressive , like S two and E two cam or whatever . Um , they're the ones that are like Dudley , likes the more oblonged . They look like an egg . Yeah , they're not so round Exactly , yeah , yeah .

Speaker 2 8:36

Yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1 8:37

So , but it's all what you like , go shoot some bows and figure it out , yeah , eventually . Yeah , I think an elite is going to look good on you .

Speaker 2 8:45

Yeah , it's , yeah , it's funny . Like I never , like we talked about this before I never , ever , thought that I'd ever shoot one , like when I I just got the new bow hunter magazine and I thought , oh , this is going to be funny . And I flipped it open and on the back of the cover is Matthews , as they always are , and on the very back is Hoyt , and it's like nobody else is in there . You know what I mean ? It's like you're subconsciously getting messages and then you watch YouTube videos and when the marketing comes out , it's like Matthews always has all of their shooters , all their videos are done the day that they launch , right , and it's like bam , bam , bam , bam , bam , bam bam . Everybody's coming out with stuff .

Speaker 2 9:32

So when I originally went into the store to buy one , it was one or the other . So the first thing the guy said to me was like , oh , I got the new elites here and I'm like I don't even know what that is . And I feel terrible to say that because now that I've you know , I know a lot more about them than I did the first day I walked in . But looking at all the companies , like that's the one I'm kind of gravitating to now that I want to try shooting , so it's just funny how things work out . But yeah , I'm happy to get you .

Speaker 1 10:03

Well , we get a lot of gripe on the full draw podcast and like why we don't talk about elite enough and stuff like that , and it's like , well , man , in all honesty , elite just doesn't get their stuff in front of you like the other companies do . It's not to say that they're a bad bow , they're great . I've shot them , they're fantastic , they're just as good as any other bow . It's just they don't . Whatever it is , they don't put it in front of you . I think Matthews is the only privately owned company left right . I think everybody else is publicly traded now PSE , I think so . I think Evolve is as well , or , sorry , elite is as well , because they're part of whatever archery group . What do they belong to ?

Speaker 2 10:42

again , because they own an outdoor group , Outdoor group right and then the outdoor group .

Speaker 1 10:45

Yeah , bowtech is the same way with peer archery they're all publicly traded , whereas Matt McPherson , I believe , he's the owner of . Matthews , so he's the boss . There's no board or directors for him to answer to . So if he wants to dump all the money into marketing , Guess what he's the boss , Whatever he says goes , Whereas everybody else you got a tiptoe right , and I think that's why that might be a hindrance to the archery world Is corporations coming in and going . You know what I mean .

Speaker 2 11:17

Oh for sure . Just going back , I think elite was a lot more popular in the target world , if I'm thinking right , and I don't think I was super hot on the look of the risers until last year when the Omnia came out .

Speaker 2 11:36

Oh , that's so easy Okay yeah , now that I saw the ethos , I was like , oh yeah , see , this is what's going to happen . I got to get one of those . But yeah , with these bigger companies , I'm fine Even now with what I'm doing , with these review videos and stuff , and I'm talking to some companies here and there like I'm not partnered with anybody but I'm . You know , I talked to some marketing people in the business and it's funny how there's , more often than not , a larger conglomerate company is owning all these other smaller ones .

Speaker 1 12:13

Oh yeah , you don't figure it out until you start digging .

Speaker 2 12:16

Yeah , like I was looking at because I shoot lighted knocks , the nocturnal ones , so I know that they came up with some newer stuff when I was trying to reach out to their guy . But they're owned by Faraday and Hotoris , who owns about 30 other companies . They've got like rage broadheads and , like you know , like different target I think they have block targets . They've got like it's it's crazy , the amount of carbon express arrows you know . All these different , different ones under are all under the same umbrella , right .

Speaker 1 12:53

Oh , it's not .

Speaker 2 12:55

Yeah , it really is . But it's going that way with like same with music companies too , like when you know different . Gone of the days when there's so many different record companies . There's really two or three in there . All they own all the other smaller ones , right ?

Speaker 1 13:11

Yeah , exactly .

Speaker 2 13:13

The way the business goes . But yeah , I think you're right . I think Matthews is one of the only ones left , that's not .

Speaker 1 13:18

I'm pretty sure they're the only holdout that's still privately owned , which I mean may or may not be a good thing , I don't know , but it's certainly . I know like I work for a family , like our family company , and we're privately owned like nobody you know . So my uncle is the end all be all of the boss . So that means for us we have the ability to pivot , like so , for example , if we own some restaurants and some and some cannabis stores and stuff like that , if somebody has better pricing than us or whatever , we have the ability to pick up the phone , let him know . He makes the decision right there on the phone and we change whatever it is . We don't need a board of directors to talk to . We just one phone call , five minutes , we've got the decision made and it's done . Yeah , there's something to be said for that .

Speaker 2 14:09

Oh yeah it's not . Like you know , it has to go through a panel of people and then they have to have a , create a smaller group to research the decision whether they should , and then it takes nine months for them to say , okay , yeah , go ahead .

Speaker 1 14:22

Yeah , go ahead , and by that time the ship has sailed , everything is passed , and it doesn't matter anyway at that point , Right I ? Mean yeah , it is what it is , but I'm sure Matthews will remain a privately owned company . I have a funny feel .

Speaker 2 14:39

Yeah , and it kind of makes me wonder , like , what are the ? What is their marketing budget ? I always wonder that , like you see , all these people that they've got you know between , like Levi Morgan , they must pay him a small fortune right At Krispy they've got to pay him and Krispy .

Speaker 2 14:56

Same right , obviously , I think Levi is getting more than everybody , but oh , probably , yeah . What does that mean ? What does that look like ? I'm just curious . I don't . I'm not trying to be nosy , I just always , always made me wonder . Like when a company has that clearly , they got the marketing game down pat , yeah .

Speaker 1 15:14

What does that look like ?

Speaker 2 15:15

on paper .

Speaker 1 15:17

I'm very curious on what guys like that are paying , like Levi , like what are they paying him ? What is PSC or the Outdoor or Heritage Group pay ? Pay Dudley , because he's on a as a consultant too . He basically helps build , like design the bows , which is I don't think I don't think Levi is that involved in the building of the bows or anything . No , I don't think so .

Speaker 2 15:39

No , I don't think so . I think he's like the face of it right , yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1 15:44

But I mean Dudley has like a full-on hand in how things get developed and R&D and all that stuff .

Speaker 2 15:50

So yeah , he's got his fingers in lots of different things , which is , but who better ?

Speaker 1 15:55

Way to go . Who better to go to and be like , hey man like what would you like to ? See in a bow , like he'd be like come here , let me show you , I'll tell you all about it , you know what I mean .

Speaker 2 16:05

How can you see this ? You can , are you ? It makes you wonder . It makes you wonder , though , when you see guys like that , like who's going to be the next Dudley right ?

Speaker 1 16:14

Yeah , I assume it's Chris B right .

Speaker 2 16:19

I would think so .

Speaker 1 16:20

He's so good , he's a great archer . He's got hunts under his belt that fellas three times his age have never touched yet . Yeah , you know what I mean . Like it's that's insane . But speaking of hunts that most fellas don't get to go on Exactly , yeah , it's pretty good pivot . I'm pretty smooth at that stuff . You know what I mean you are . Yeah , I can swing that stuff pretty quick .

Dream Elk Hunt in British Columbia

Speaker 1 16:47

How was it , man , give us , give me the , the , the like . You know what was it like flying in the whole build up to it and then , once you got in there , like so this is something I've wanted to do ever since I thought about taking up hunting , especially with a bow .

Speaker 2 17:08

Elk has always been , you know , as with many people , the top right . I mean , I think Woodland Caribou has now topped it for me , but Elk is right there at the top , and this is never something that would have happened at this stage of my life if it was happening the way that you know it normally does . This was special circumstances with family and that came together and and made it work out , so that I'm forever grateful , for I think I think I need to live in BC . When I got off the plane and you see the mountains , like for the first time with your own eyes and it's like I've heard of these . But look at them , they're right there , right , and then , and then you get out there and it's like just like even the area where we were camping , where we set up camp , it was like on the , we had a lookout to the water and the mountains and I was just like this is like a painting , like everywhere you look , just looks . You just want to go with a camera and just take pictures or video or whatever . Yeah , like it's just outstanding . So I guess I should go , I don't know . You want me to recap a little bit of how this all took place . Yeah , yeah , absolutely yeah .

Speaker 2 18:33

So I guess five or six years ago , when a family reunion , my wife's cousin came over with his family from BC they're originally from , he's originally from Ontario , but he moved out there years ago to start his own business . And so while he was here , we're talking on the deck , talking hunting and stuff , and I had just gotten into bow hunting at that point and was talking about , oh , you know hell of cuttings right up there for me , and this is something that I really want to try and figure out one time . And he's like , oh , I know one of the outfitters he had a Daniel had a hauling truck , hauling company , so he would haul wood and supplies and all kinds of other things way up north . Yeah , so he ended up meeting one of these outfitters and did some work for him and stuff . And he's like , oh , yeah , I guess we'll . You know , I'm sure we can figure something out .

Speaker 2 19:26

And I'm like , well , yeah , time out , right , like that's a , that's a $10,000 thing , like that's expensive . And he's and he's like , yeah , but yeah , I don't know , we'll figure something out . So then they leave family reunions . Over a few years go by and my wife and I are out shopping , christmas shopping , and she says we pull in the parking lot and she's like I have to tell you something , I have to tell you what your Christmas present is , because you're going to have to change your holidays . So you're going El Conte in BC with Daniel and I was like don't do that , like don't you , don't joke about that .

Speaker 1 20:06

It's not funny , right ? It's not funny yeah .

Speaker 2 20:09

It's not funny , it's Christmas time , you know , don't , don't do that . Don't like no . She's like no , like I'm serious , like that's how I said no , it's not , you can't , because you know he's he's not a hunter for one and he's not like a guide and you need to be guided or you need to be sponsored by a hunter and he's neither of those things . So , yeah , if I'm , if I'm doing this , I need to do it the right way . I don't want to like , you know , half ass , I want to kind of any corners right . So she's like no , he is a hunter , he has his hunting license and he's got his guy's license and he's working for the guy that he was talking about at the reunion

Hunting Trip Preparation and Lively Encounters

Speaker 2 20:52

. Oh , so , yes , you're getting on a plane and you're flying to BC and you're going hunting with him , and it was just like the wheels just started turning right .

Speaker 1 21:02

Like , yeah , oh my God Were you like oh shit , I have so much to do now .

Speaker 2 21:08

Yeah , yeah , that's exactly what it was , and I have so much to buy because I don't have a good backpack , I don't have a good pair of boots , I don't have , you know , freeze dried food , I don't have this , that I'd like to get a better rangefinder . But no , I got us like settle down , you have to buy other things that you don't have yet . Yeah , so I think later that day , when we got home , I sent a text message to Daniel and he's like call me . So I called him and he's like is this like , what do I need to do from here Right In Ontario to make this like 100% a reality ? And he's like well , you get on a plane and then you get on another plane and then you get on a boat and then we hike a lot . And I was like , okay , but like , really , like , what do I need to do ?

Speaker 2 22:01

So there's a whole process of setting up a WFID number through the BC hunting pages . You send them basically copies of your , your hunting license and all of your information and they verify all that . And then , if you're getting sponsored by a hunter , there's paperwork for that . If you're going through an outfitter , the outfitter fills out their side of it . So you're either getting a tag with the application to get approved to be sponsored with your sponsor , or you're going through the outfitter and they're getting your thing , so that all worked out . And then it came to okay . Now , originally it was going to be I'm going to fly out there and it's going to be a solo trip with me . And as things went on , we have family members that fly a lot for work and , like my sister-in-law , she's a she's in a folk band called the Good Lovelies . They travel all over the world and she's talked countless times about losing bags , you know , luggage showing up two weeks later and I'm like , don't put that in the universe .

Speaker 2 23:16

Completely sideline everything that I'm trying to do and it kept weighing on me . And , like I'm not flying Air Canada and I know Air Canada had a lot of problems but I was still worried what if my bow doesn't make it ? What if you know this side and the other side ?

Speaker 1 23:31

What a worry that is to have . Right Like you're , like my bow doesn't make it Like what the now , what do I do ? Right ?

Speaker 2 23:38

So also this just popped in my head when I said that elite has a program where , if you , if you have an issue with your bow and you're on a hunt , you call one of their customer service numbers and they will get one to you in 24 and a replacement to you in 24 hours .

Speaker 1 23:53

Bro , that's listen , that is a service worth its weight in gold . If you're a guy who frequents like back country hunts like you did , man , imagine how invaluable that would be .

Speaker 2 24:08

Crazy . I remember reading that and I was like that's , wow , hopefully nobody ever has to do that . But wow , yeah , no kidding . So that kept weighing on me and then , as it got closer to , my wife was like , well , why don't we make it like a like a family trip , cause I always wanted to at least drive there or back , like go across the country , right ? So she said , well , why don't we ? Why don't we do it where her , um , our daughter and her will drive out there with the truck , with all of our stuff and everything . They'll have their own little mini road trip adventure out to BC . Oh , that's a good idea . They'll get there ahead of us , cause my son and I were going to fly out , but I had to work up until a certain point . So we would fly out , they'd pick us up and they would have already been there for a couple of days , and then they will fly home , we'll go hunting and then we'll drive back .

Speaker 1 25:08

Oh that's a beauty idea . It's definitely not the cheaper way to do it ?

Speaker 2 25:13

Oh , definitely not . If you're looking at it but , wow , like , what an experience that was like for everybody right .

Speaker 2 25:20

Because that's , those are memories made that you know will last forever . So that's what we did , and so it was weird like going to the airport with no bag . That's straight , that's straight . Yeah , I got nothing . I brought a cooler . I had a cooler I wanted to bring , so I checked it as a bag , but yeah , so we flew in to about a five hour flight , toronto to Vancouver , and then you , we had a layover for about 45 minutes and then we got on a smaller plane which took us to Prince George , which was literally like hour and a half .

Speaker 2 26:00

Like plane goes up in the air and then you're making your descent , you know , coming back down , but if you were to drive it , it would be about 17 hours , right . So we land in and we meet them at the airport and then we drive a couple hours to Daniel's house and he's got like his whole garage , just got everything in it that we're going to be taking . So we unload all of our stuff and he kept saying we need to find , we need to go out and get a couple more spare tires . I was like more spare tires . I'm like how many do you have ? He goes , well , I've got two , but we should really have like three .

Speaker 2 26:39

I was like really , yeah , like , because the road that you're going on from the minute you leave his house , the road north to where we were going was about a full day's drive and it's treacherous , like it's not paved , it's , it's rocky , it's , it's it's like , yeah , it's nasty .

Speaker 2 27:02

So he's like I've been stranded on it for hours before and there's no cell phone service from the minute you get on the road . So so we had I had a Zolio satellite communicator so I could text and stuff and he had a Garmin in reach so we could still send messages out if we needed to . But while we were going , like it's one of those roads that I've never experienced it's a logging road , so huge trucks are barreling down in the middle of the road with like triple stacked wood oh my God Right . And you have to call out on your CB radio that's in your truck there's signs that mark what kilometer you're at and you have to call out pick up truck north , we're at 58 kilometer , or whatever , so that they know there's truck coming up . I should probably move over .

Speaker 2 28:00

Yeah , a couple of times where we almost you probably have them in any newfoundland at all .

Speaker 1 28:05

Yeah , a lot of the woods roads . We hunt for moose that you got to call your . There's a sign that says call your kilometers because you can come around a corner and ooh , not good .

Speaker 2 28:13

Yeah , we had two times before . We almost got completely smoked by trucks .

Speaker 2 28:19

Risky right , yeah , so we do the full days drive up there . We ended up going into Finley River outfitters , where Daniel does his guiding from . We picked up a boat like a just like a tin boat , continued up the way to where we were going to camp and the idea was we were going to cross this body of water to the base of a mountain and camp there and then hike up the mountain from there and be able to like basically spike out if we needed to , we could stay , like if we found elk up the mountain , we'd probably stay out there instead of coming back to the base camp kind of thing . Right , we wanted to be flexible that way . So we get up there every spot to launch a boat . There was so much the water level had dropped so much , oh shit , Through the drought and the fires and everything , you couldn't get a trailer down , Like the drop off was so high it was . You would have had to probably roll it on logs or something just to get it down to the water .

Speaker 1 29:29

Oh , that low way .

Speaker 2 29:31

Yeah , it was really low and he's like shit , I've never seen it like this before . It was crazy . So we thought , okay , we'll park the boat . We got plenty of area where we are and we'll just we'll stick to that . So we set up camp and as we're setting up the tents , like a black bear walks into the camp .

Speaker 2 29:54

There's so many there too . It's ridiculous . The grizzly and black bear numbers are through the roof . I've been hunting black bears first like six years and I saw more in 18 hours , like my first day there , than I've ever seen here . And that crazy Overbeat like ever . That's so crazy . But they're like raccoons there , Like they're in garbage bins . They're on your roof . They're trying to get into your garage . They're eating on your front lawn . Like the parents don't let their kids outside to play , Like you have to go out and look and go out with them . You can't just say I'm going to Johnny's house down the road , Right , Like it's you got check for bears .

Speaker 2 30:39

You got check for bears . You got check for bears . Yeah , like the night before we left one of Daniel's friends , boomer . He was coming with us because he's done a lot of I'll call him too so he was tagging along . So it was the four of us my son Logan , danny and Boomer . And so we're talking in the garage before we get ready to go the night before and he's like okay , I'm going to go home .

Speaker 2 31:03

And he literally lived like around the corner , like he was you turn left , you go to the end of the road , you turn right , and then at the end of that road is his house . Yeah , and Daniel's like , don't go , get in the truck , we'll drive you home . He's like , ah , fuck . He's like , get in the truck , we'll drive you home . And we turned down the road and there was a bear sitting at the end of his road , like just sitting on someone's lawn next to their mailbox . I'm like this is insane . And then we went out to get one of the spare tires . There was another one walking around trying to get into a garbage bin and they're all like shooters , like they're all big bears , yeah , big bears . Like he would play , like if we were in , if I had a tag , I'd shoot that bear right there .

Speaker 1 31:43

Yeah , you'd be more than happy to take that bear right . You'd be like yes . You'd be like great .

Speaker 2 31:47

And I remember it was funny because when I was talking to the lady who was when I was getting the tag , she's like sure , you just want an elk tag , Like you don't want anything else . I'm like , listen , I have a select section of time . Yeah , I need to devote every minute to trying to get an elk focused . Focused , Like , because if I get a bear tag and I shoot a bear , then we got to deal with the bear and that's time taken away from elk hunting . That was my . Yeah , she's like we got wolves here . Like you know what wolf tag I'm like .

Speaker 1 32:22

I get it .

Speaker 2 32:23

I'd love to have a pocket of all of them . Right , but I need to focus here .

Speaker 1 32:27

It'd be okay if you had a couple buddies with you , Like if Next time , hopefully maybe , like if we could go with you or something like that you could take that tag and then if you shot a bear , you could just keep hunting and we'd process the bear .

Speaker 2 32:42

I mean like if you had a buddy there that could do that , you'd be laughing .

Speaker 2 32:52

So we set up camp , we shoot the bear away . It comes back a couple more times , but they were just curious , right ? Yeah , it wasn't anything too crazy . So we set up camp , I checked the bow , everything was fine . It made the trip okay , and then we basically had dinner and talked for a bit and then went to bed and got up . We basically stayed hiking around the base of the mountain that we were camped at at the beginning and we're coming around one of the corners and there's buffalo or sorry , not buffalo . There's bison wild bison like just roaming around and it's just like a nature show Like this is incredible , holy cow . But we actually saw them on the way in , when we were driving into where we were going to camp . We came across the herd and I was like whoa and we stopped and Danny was like you see that big one that's staring at us . Don't look at him for too long because they'll ram your truck . They don't care , because they view it as a challenge right .

Speaker 2 34:00

Because there's little ones there . We ran into them later on in the week and they huddled up thinking that we were going to come after them . Right , and that was . We'll get to that . So they just roam . That's so crazy . They just go wherever they want . No one's stopping them , no , no , so the way they go , we let some bugles go . And then I heard one calling back and it was up the mountain bend . I was like this is crazy . This is day one of hunting and we're getting a call back . This is crazy . So you're fired up at this point , fired up right , and I'm like Logan , turn the camera on yeah .

Speaker 2 34:44

Let's go to work . Let's go to work .

Hunting Adventures in Northern BC

Speaker 2 34:47

We set out a couple more bugles and then all of a sudden I hear yipping like coyotes , right , like a lot . And Boomer turns around and he's like they were just mimicking your sound , the elk sound . I was like what ? I know that they do that around my house . They sound like a dog , to get the dog to come outside , yeah , but they're mimicking the elk now and he says , yeah , we need to get out of here , like there's no elk here . Those are the coyotes , right . So I was like , wow , that's something . You learn something new every day , right , y'all for sure . We moved on and there was a . We knew before we got up there that there was an area that so up this area well , I guess Northern BC is kind of all is very there's a lot of areas that were forestry , came in , did their thing and their decommissioned . They've moved on now . So a lot of the cut blocks are still there , but they're regrowth , like regrowth and stuff .

Speaker 1 35:52

Oh , cause you didn't like move growth , forest and stuff .

Speaker 2 35:54

Yeah , but there's some areas that are a perfect landing strip for , like , a plane to drop off supplies , right . So we found an area like that and one of the pilots had told us that he's had to do three or four loops around this particular stretch of patch of land . It's not , it's not an organized like airport , it's just a straight strip right in between two areas of woods , and he said he's had to do three or four cycles around it to kind of shoot the elk off of this area . So we're like , oh , we'll go there . Yeah , no , kidding , right , because there was a guy who went out and shot one right off the strip there .

Speaker 2 36:41

You know , we also heard a story of a guy who once the the mountain we were trying to get to with the boat . When they got there this is like the year before when they got there , they got out of the boat , they let out one bugle one of the guys bugled while they're unpacking the boat and this six by seven comes out of , comes down out onto the beach and they shot it on the beach and it died next to the boat . And I was like , if that happened that would be okay . You want the grand adventure too , but yeah , like that's , that's crazy . So and it's not like those videos you watch where people are in Montana and you come over like these big , huge , vast , you know saddles of land and there's like 200 out grazing . That feels not like that here , right there's , it's so thick You're following like game trails . There's no organized , cut like trails , like hiking trails . You're going where the animals are going or you're making your own trail .

Speaker 1 37:48

Right your bushwhacking , or you're walking a game trail and that's it .

Speaker 2 37:52

There's no right , yeah , so when you're calling out to them , you're not getting like you might get one or two replies and then they'll go quiet , like they're not . They weren't super vocal at this particular time . It was early September , so that could very well have been a reason , but it could also be the bears right , there's so many bears up there and different predators , they're just not very vocal . But so it wasn't like oh , we're just gonna call six or seven times , they're gonna respond , and then they're just gonna come in and we're just gonna shoot one , like that . Although that has happened in the past , that wasn't the case at this , you know , at this stage of the game .

Speaker 2 38:33

So , we'd call out , we might hear one or two , or we'd call , call , we'd get a couple chirps back and then you'd go dark right , you wouldn't hear anything . So there were times where we would sit and try and draw them out and then there were times where we'd get aggressive and go in after them . So we kind of played different scenarios and tried to do a little bit of everything we did . We would drive places , get out , hike around for the whole day . So it's not like we were driving to a couple out getting out , getting back in , driving to the next one getting out . There were people we did run into , a couple people that were doing that , but we would normally go to an area , spend a few hours there moving around and then either come back or , do you know , take another spot .

Speaker 1 39:21

But yeah , how many days do you have to get the job done ? Like what was your window ? I had eight days , yeah , so that's a good amount of time . Like that's a solid number . Yeah .

Speaker 2 39:34

Yeah , it was . It was , I mean , two weeks would have been better , but eight days was fine , right . Like we had a couple of opportunities , like we did run into a guy who worked up there and we basically came across maybe five people in total over those eight days . So one guy he was a forestry guy that was up there scouting looking for other spots for the company to come in and start cutting . And then there was another guy that was positioned up there to watch over a certain section and he was saying he's that mountain up there , like nobody's going up there . But there's a big bull up there , I've seen it but no one , no one's driving up there . Like the people who were hunting that spot were driving block to block to block to block , getting a bugle , trying to draw them out , shooting them , putting them in the truck , that sort of thing he's like , but no one's going up that mountain . I'm like this sounds like a story .

Speaker 1 40:39

Like is this like ? Is this legit ?

Speaker 2 40:41

He goes no , it's legit and , like I said , how many people have you told of this ? And he's like you're the only ones that I've seen .

Speaker 1 40:51

So it's hard to go off those tips you can relieve it right , Because you're kind of like , you're like if he's bullshitting , yeah if he's bullshitting me . That's going to suck . But if there's a giant bull up there like , I'll run up that mountain if I have to . But it's a coin toss , right . I don't whether you're going to buy into it or not , right ?

Speaker 2 41:10

So we went , we packed up the camp and we drove up part of the way parked , got out and then hiked up the rest of the way . And , sure enough , that's the part of the video that I put out where we found all that sign . There were trees that were completely annihilated , just rubbed to death , and rubbed to death by antlers . There was , you know , there was , you know . We found poop everywhere , we found tracks everywhere we bugle and he bugled back but he was way off in another spot . So we hiked up to the top , top of this one part of the mountain , and we had a really good overlook of the area and we bugled again and he was still way out there , but he'd kind of moved a little bit more towards where we were initially .

Speaker 1 42:04

Yeah , what day ? What day is this ?

Speaker 2 42:06

right now , this is day two , but it's the first day of hunting .

Speaker 1 42:10

Okay , it's first day of hunting , okay .

Speaker 2 42:14

So I'm like we need to camp here , Like obviously . So we unpack everything and we're going over what the game plan is and then we're looking at the map again and we were really dangerously close to so there was an area that we had to stay in . Okay , If you're being , let's say , sponsored , not sponsored , but if you're being hosted by another hunter , you have to indicate the areas that you're going to stay in .

Speaker 1 42:47

So you have to give them a map .

Speaker 2 42:49

I'm going to be in management units . You know five dash whatever or seven dash whatever , so you can . You can pick like 50 of them if you wanted to Right . But or if you're with an outfitter , you have to stay within their guide territory . So we were dangerously close to the border of where we couldn't be Right and it was . So we're either going to play it careful and try to get him into the area we can be or we need to leave Right and as hard as it was to say I just said we need to get out here .

Speaker 2 43:28

Yeah , it was because I knew I didn't want to put us into a situation where I'm at full draw . Is it far enough into where we need it to be , is it not ? I don't want to shoot something that's now . Oh , you're that close , eh , yeah , I don't want to be shooting one that might be over the line . I don't want to put my future coming back here in jeopardy . I don't want to put my family member and guide his jeopardy , him in jeopardy or the outfitter that he's working for . Like there's a number of steps here right . Like I didn't want to be anywhere near that as hard as it was because of all the it was perfect , like the setup and everything was perfect . It would have been . We would have spent a couple of days up there and hopefully had an opportunity . But I was like I don't want to risk it .

Speaker 1 44:24

It was .

Speaker 2 44:24

It's not worth the risk , right , it wasn't worth it for me . I just thought there's so much other land up here and there's literally us and a couple other people that we ran into once , like there's plenty of room to wander around .

Speaker 1 44:39

Yeah , it's not like you were constantly stepping on people , no , no , no not at all .

Speaker 2 44:45

No , so we camped up there . We were still fine where we were , but it was just if we were to move on and then get chasing after something . I didn't want to get stuck . So we camped there for the night and we go to bed and for some reason I didn't . Now the temperature changes , obviously as you go up the mountain . So I wasn't thinking and when I went to sleep I wasn't wearing . I had sick of gear . I had layers of sick of gear . I wasn't wearing what I should have been wearing when I went to sleep and the temperature dropped from 17 to I think it was minus one overnight . It gets cold , man , I was . I think it was 1.30 in the morning . I woke up . I was shivering . I was like what's going on here ? Yeah , and I look over and Logan , my 16 year old son , is bundled all the fuck . He's got every single layer of clothing on , he's got a hat , he's got gloves . And I'm thinking how did he know to do that ? And I didn't . Why did ? Why did I not put that together ?

Speaker 1 45:48

Dad's taking a lesson from the young fella . Right , you're like man . What's going on here ?

Speaker 2 45:52

What's going on here ? And then I'm like I'm in my sleeping bag and I kind of had like a not to sound like a nerd , but you know , in Star Wars , when they have like a forced ghost moment , one of the dead Jedi's shows up , yeah .

Speaker 2 46:06

So John Barklow that works for Sika . I watched a few videos of him where he jumped in a . He was in Alaska and in the frigid cold he jumps in a river , gets himself soaked and then goes over like a rewarming drill of how to get yourself Heated back up , to build your temperature back up , yeah , and how the clothing works for that and all that stuff . So I have him over here being like put your shit back on .

Speaker 1 46:31

Put your clothes back on , bro . Yeah , I taught you this before you left .

Speaker 2 46:37

So I get everything back on and like , bundle all up and it was amazing , like within a few minutes I was , I was feeling all right and I fell back to sleep .

Speaker 1 46:45

I lived by one rule when I back pack on out of a tent , I go to bed with basically everything on except , like , maybe , my jacket I might not wear , and then , if I get too hot , I'll slowly take shit off , right , because I know for sure it's going to get cold quick . Yeah , and I'm going to wake up cold .

Speaker 2 47:08

Yeah , like it was colder obviously up there than it was at the bottom where we were before .

Speaker 1 47:14

I think what is it ? Every 20 feet you go up , it could potentially go down one degree in temperature .

Speaker 2 47:23

That's one thing I wish I will do next time is try and figure out how high the elevation was where we were .

Speaker 1 47:29

Yeah , because that I don't know , but that was definitely a , and that's why you get such a temperature swing right , like you're saying , like the 17 degrees all the way down to like minus one .

Speaker 2 47:42

Yeah , that almost never happens right ?

Speaker 1 47:44

No , Because you're so high up you're . Yeah , Fuck , it's cold .

Hunting Adventure in the Wild

Speaker 2 47:51

So the morning .

Speaker 1 47:51

We Sorry People don't understand how cold like it is to try and sleep in like negative one , negative two . But it's not an easy thing to do . No , it's pretty , especially if you don't have like . If you got one of those wood stoves in your tent , you're laughing , but if you're just trying to stay warm with your own heat , it's fucking as hard to do , yeah , so we wake up , we pack everything up and we move back down .

Speaker 2 48:14

We basically went back down to the spot we were up before because it was great . There was nothing wrong with it where we were before . And we went back to a couple of areas but then we found one that was relatively close to us and it was another cup block that had been abandoned and was regrowth and everything . And we come in there and it looked like a great feeding spot . So we kind of hunkered down . They had a bunch of like big root systems that had come up out of the ground and trees that have fallen down . So there were some spots where you could kind of hide yourself Right . So we kind of got situated and made a couple calls . We got a couple of answers we heard . So we had like one off to the like , just to the left of us that was sounding off . We had one straight ahead but far back , and then we had another one to the right that was off in the distance . So I'm like , wow , we could have like three coming in .

Speaker 2 49:14

You're feeling good at this point , so now I'm like hey , so here we go , and then you don't hear anything and we're like , okay , and it was funny , because , well , it wasn't funny , but I was trying to preserve batteries for the camera , right , like I had four , I think I had four of them and I had a few power banks to charge things in a solar panel , but I was still trying to , didn't have it running all the time . So I would like hand it to Logan and I'd be like , okay , turn it on hit record , we'd film a bit , we bugle , we wouldn't hear anything . So I'd be like , okay , turn it off . And then he'd switch it off and then they would reply Like it wasn't like bang , bang , bang , bang . It's not like a constant communication , right , it was be delayed because the message was being sent and they were really far away .

Speaker 2 49:58

So then we sat for a little bit and then we heard some rustling straight ahead and Daniel's like , get ready , I think one's coming out of the trees and it's a black bear . He comes barreling down . He was like don't give a fuck , like pushing trees , dead trees , over , don't care , he didn't care , like he owned that spot , right , like he was just . I was like , oh , and Daniel's looking through the binoculars . He's like that's a fucking bear . I was just like what ? Oh , damn . So okay , well , this is a good spot anyway . We'll come back in the morning . So we come back in the morning . Now it's rained overnight .

Speaker 2 50:39

That was the only day of rain we ever had , it's like day three yeah , rained overnight we got up super early , hiked over there in the dark , got in there and we're walking and boomer was in the front and he stops everybody and he turns around and he's like do you see them ? I was like , where is he looking ? I couldn't see him . He's like there's a cow and a calf and they were like the last two of the herd that were in the cup box till feeding . Oh shit , I was like . Oh , I was like turn the camera .

Speaker 1 51:18

Turn it on now .

Speaker 2 51:21

So he actually had it on already and we feel he got a bit of that and we tried to zoom in on them a little bit and then they took off running into the area of the . You know that we had heard them from the day before .

Speaker 2 51:34

So I'm like , okay , so they're in there , right . So then it came to like well , did we chase them ? Did we stay here and try and get them out ? What's the best player here ? Right , it's like hard call , hard call , hard call . Did we just get busted and now they're gone for a couple of days , or are they ? Are these just the last two that are trying to catch up with everybody else ? A couple stragglers , right , right . So we ended up . We hung out there for a bit , we tried to call a bit . They never came back .

Speaker 2 52:06

So we went to another spot where we had heard some from the day before . Didn't find any there , and then it started rain again . So we went back to Finley River Outfitters . We went back to the outfit . Now , while I wasn't staying there , we were obviously camping right in the bush , but there were people there that were like full package , I'm here for 14 days , 10 days or whatever I'm here for . Like there was a guy there I think he was like a surgeon from California . He was there for a goat and an elk , that guy's got some work to do .

Speaker 2 52:40

Those were his two animals . They were taking him on horseback , they were going up the mountain , like he had the full thing . So he he had a room there and he had a bed there . He was eating three meals there . He had the whole thing . So we went back just for lunch and it was like it was like coming home for lunch when you're in like elementary school right , like having a soup and a sandwich after you've been out slugging it in the bush . It's like this best sandwich I've ever had in my life .

Speaker 1 53:04

This is the greatest thing ever that's ever happened to me this sandwich is great . Even though it's terrible sandwich , it's fantastic .

Speaker 2 53:12

And no , it was good , but you know it's still feel it probably tastes better than anything .

Speaker 2 53:17

Anyway , so you're looking around the the main room of the outfit and there's like this huge elk , like Euro , mount on the wall and you're just like , oh , we got to go , let's get out of here . There's no elk in here , we need to go out there . So we went back out and there were some spots that we found on the map where there should have been water , like a wallow or somewhere where they might be going to get like a stream , dried up everything . And we're going down there and we're like there's no water here . There would have . I can see where there was , but there's no water here now . Just like , just getting pounded right Was like one thing after the other , but it was still . We're still having a great time .

Speaker 2 54:04

And then we hike up back up towards where we had walked in and we come across the bison group again . But it's like , literally , you come up over the hill and you're exhausted because you just walked up this 45 degree angle of the hill and you take your last step , you're out of breath and you get up there and you're like , oh , stop , nobody moved . Like 20 feet in front of you , 20 , 20 bison and again one of them staring us down . They all circle up and I remember a boomer was like what do you want to do ? And I'm like I just want to stay , just like this . Let's just let them figure out that we're not here to do anything and maybe they'll move along . So they ended up moving on and I was like man every turn , like you never know what you're going to come across .

Speaker 2 54:58

And that same area there was a bear that we saw , a black bear that we saw every day , and he saw us and he's like kind of down and kind of check us out from a distance , and then he'd screw off . And then one day we came in there and he wasn't there anymore and we heard later on that the guy came up there with his kid doing the same thing that we were doing and shot him . Oh yeah , but yeah , just like unbelievable , unbelievable experience . So we go back to that area again where we had kind of got busted , and we go in there early again . We're bugling , we're getting a response , we get ourselves situated , we're kind of going over . Okay , if they come out from this side , what are we going to do ? If they come out from over here , what are we going to do ? They come over right through which kind of play , all the angles and boomer bugles again . Now it's getting louder , so he's coming out right .

Speaker 1 56:01

Oh , so it's making a move . It's like it's on the way it's moving Like this is it's go time .

Speaker 2 56:05

now , right , like he's coming out . So I arrows knocked . I got Logan sitting behind me . I'm like okay , so just when I'm trying to give him like we talked about this with the camera before- we let you try your best .

Speaker 2 56:18

If you don't get it , it's fine . But , like , if you see him come out , just make sure you touch the screen so that it's in focus , like we can do wonders with it . As long as it's in focus , I could work with it , if you know . Yeah , okay , okay , okay , okay . So it's getting louder , it's getting louder , it's getting louder . So we now know that he's coming out to the right of us . Everybody's hunkered down .

Speaker 2 56:43

We found a place to get ourselves situated and then we hear this radio playing and this SUV comes barreling through the cut block that we're in . No , yeah , and there's a dog in the passenger seat and it's barking . And I'm like I look back and I'm like this isn't happening , there's no way this is happening . And this guy pulls up and gets out His dog , jumps out and starts just barking , barking , barking , barking , barking , barking . And I'm just kind of like trying to , this isn't what's supposed to be happening right now . There's supposed to be an elk coming out of the woods over there , like that's what . That's what was just happening a minute ago . Now we're not hearing him at all , obviously . No , he's gone .

Speaker 2 57:34

And I turn around and I look at Daniel . He's like I know that guy , I'll go talk to him . So they go over and have a conversation . And we had heard earlier in the week from somebody that this guy had been hunting an elk with two of his friends . He was part of the native group up there and they were trying to get this particular elk and it just so happened to be the one that was coming out and he kept saying that's , that's . I've been going after that for two days now I have . I have two guys in there that are trying to get them , that are trying to push him out here , and I'm like okay . And then we heard his two friends bugle and I'm like that's a person , okay , I , I get it .

Speaker 1 58:33

I bro , I'd be , so mad I'd be , so I'd be . I get the fuck out of here , buddy . I'm from Ontario and part of me was like I know ? Oh right , like I get it .

Speaker 2 58:43

I get it . We're sharing , like we're sharing the area . I'm totally for that . I got no issues with that . But I'm thinking in my head . I'm thinking I got like three more days and then I have to disappear . Yeah , take a hike . I like all you guys , whether like the people that are residents there , you guys can come here the whole season . I got so like a select , but again we we understood it was one of those things I know , but I'm heartbroken for you right now .

Speaker 1 59:18

It's killing me inside right now , cause I've been there , I know I like it's just you just want to tell that guy you're like get , just go away from it , like just you know can you just give me this one ?

Speaker 2 59:33

So , funny enough , I given Dave from Hellcat outdoors my Zolio number , yep , so he had text me . He's like dude , I'm fired up for you . I hope this is all working out . I'm like I'm sitting here right now and there's one coming out . I'll get back to you , right . And then that's when the that's when the car came , the truck , the SUV came burling down . I was like so I'm trying to stay positive , right . I'm like okay , we knew this guy was actively hunting in this area . We'll give it to him and we'll go like there's 1.8 million acres of area that we could be in . There's another spot . It was frustrating because it's like we got screwed out of the first spot .

Speaker 1 1:00:18

Josh is so nice dude .

Speaker 2 1:00:20

By nobody's fault , right .

Speaker 1 1:00:21

Like I'm trying to stay positive . Yeah , it's just the circumstances . It's just the circumstances . Yeah , it's the game right .

Speaker 2 1:00:30

Yeah , so . So then then what happened ? Then we , yeah , we went , we went to a couple other spots and it was , we weren't turning up anything . And then it was like okay , tomorrow we have to start making the trip back . So we thought , if we pack up now , we can go back to the outfitter . They had room for us to sleep for the night . They said why don't you just come back and kind of have a shower and get yourself ready , since you're going to be driving home , and then on the way home you can still stop at a couple spots along the way , right Cause it's you know , it's not over yet . And we , like it was such a crazy trip , like we saw spawning coconut . We were like we were in areas that I never imagined ever seeing .

Speaker 2 1:01:23

Just stuff you don't see right Stuff you never see , and it was just like I need to live here , like I need to come back and I need to figure out a way to like you feel like this is where you belong as outdoorsmen .

Speaker 1 1:01:38

I am telling you right now , coming from a province . You lived in Ontario your whole life .

Speaker 2 1:01:43

Yeah .

Wildlife and Hunting Stories

Speaker 1 1:01:45

Coming from a province of like , very outdoors hunting , like it's very accepted where I'm from , we are in the wrong place . You , me , all the boys . If you're a hunter in Ontario , it just isn't conducive for us men . Like it's a don't get me wrong , there's good whitetail here , there's good black , black black bear and all that stuff , but like it's just everywhere else is almost better . You know what I mean . Yeah , and BC is probably the best of it all . I personally never hunted in BC , so I'm living vicariously through you and it sounds like tops .

Speaker 2 1:02:24

Oh yeah , you go on the eye hunter app for what's in season and you're like scrolling . Yeah , you're like , oh , what , what , what am I ? Four different types of deer , different types of sheep , goats , da , da , da , da , da , da , da , da , da , da , da , like just crazy . And then we abandoned where we gave . We let that guy do his thing . We came back to camp . It was getting late , it's getting dark . We hadn't heard a gunshot and I was the only crazy one with a bow . Up there , everybody's got guns .

Speaker 2 1:02:55

Oh , you're the only you're the only bow hunter hey , I was the only one that had a bow and , like we haven't heard a gunshot , maybe he's still in there . Maybe we should go back , like we knew that that guy . That was the last day we were talking to that guy , that was the last day that he could be in there and he had to go back to work the next day . So he's like give me today If I don't get him , he's all yours tomorrow , kind of thing . Like we were talking about . Didn't hear a gunshot , maybe . So we're sitting around talking , we got our headlamps on and we start hearing chirps in the woods directly behind where our tents are , like cow , cow and calf chirps . Yeah , cow and the calf was chirping closer to where the water was , almost like it was lost Right , and I was trying to get it to come back and I was thinking are they this far apart , separated , because the bull got killed , or is he still alive ? And they're just now behind her camp ?

Speaker 1 1:04:01

Yeah , I just kind of figured it out .

Speaker 2 1:04:03

And then we're like or is somebody back there screwed around with us with a Hoochie Mom call you know what I mean ? Yeah , what is it ? I'm like no , it's not that , because that takes way too much effort .

Speaker 1 1:04:14

and there's people just wouldn't do that .

Speaker 2 1:04:17

Yeah , People wouldn't do that . There was only like we only ran into three or four people and they had no business messing around with us . So we go to bed , we wake up in the morning and there's , like elk tracks directly through the camp in between the two tents . Our tent was on one side , their tent was on the other directly through in between .

Speaker 1 1:04:39

I'm like they're just rubbing salt in the wound .

Speaker 2 1:04:44

Yes .

Speaker 1 1:04:46

Whatever they can do to fuck with you , Josh .

Speaker 2 1:04:49

And I get it . People say you never get one your first year . It's very rarely . It usually takes a few years before you get one . I get it . But the amount of things that I feel lucky to have , the experience that we had we heard them , we saw them , we heard them coming in that's more than what you could really expect . On .

Speaker 1 1:05:14

It's better than getting skunked and hearing or seeing nothing . Right , yeah , at least you got experience , plus the bison , the black bear , that's all wonderful .

Speaker 2 1:05:23

We found a moose shed that we picked up . Yeah , we brought that back . That was pretty cool . But yeah , it was just . It was like , yeah , like rubbing the salt . It was like , is that legit ? Like those are ? Yeah , we take a look . Yeah , those are elk tracks . Oh my God , they were walking right by you .

Speaker 1 1:05:46

But you know that's like , that's how it goes , man , a lot of the time like you . Just you know you put so much effort in and then you know they might walk within 20 feet and you never know the difference . Yeah , it really is the way the game goes right . It's tough .

Speaker 2 1:06:04

It's tough and a lot of the areas , like I said , it's so thick in there , like some of the spots we went in , even when we were on our way back , I kind of looked , I was looking , I was thinking , is this a good idea ? You know when you're kind of like , hmm , is this a good idea , is this a bad idea , is this something ? I'm going to look back and think you shouldn't go in there because that looks like a grizzly bear lives in there .

Speaker 1 1:06:26

Yeah , what were you thinking there ?

Speaker 2 1:06:28

Some of the spots were like you could see where the brush had been pushed back so many times that a tunnel had been made for a bear to walk through , right , right . You're like , are we going to stumble on them in here ? And you know , we're looking at the tracks and the guys were saying , do you know the difference between a black bear and a grizzly bear track ? And I'm like , well , I've never . This is my first encounter with grizzly bears . So they're like , okay , take a look at this one . So they show the black bear one . Now look at this one and you can see where the pad stops .

Speaker 2 1:07:01

And then , way up here , the claws start the claws touch and it's like whoa , okay , you're like oh , that's easy to decipher . And we did run into , you know , we saw a sow grizzly with three cubs , oh man , and we were driving along the road . They came out and then turned around and went back in One of the mountains that we drove up and got out and walked , kept walking up . We kept calling and calling and calling and one of the calls we had was it was like a cow elk call , but it kind of sounded a little bit like a predator call too sometimes .

Speaker 1 1:07:38

Yeah , like a lot , like a rabbit squealing or whatever .

Speaker 2 1:07:41

Yeah , and I remember making that comment , like that one sounds a little like we might be calling and we might have some bears coming down . And we did have a grizzly start bumping down the trail a bit and , thank God , at that point we were literally at the truck to get back in it . And I remember looking at it and I looked and I was like , okay , everybody get back in the truck and then we'll take a look at it . Yeah , like he looked just 400 plus pounds , like just big , big , big , big old bear .

Speaker 1 1:08:10

And that's your first time like live in person , seeing a grizzly .

Speaker 2 1:08:14

Yeah .

Speaker 1 1:08:15

I mean I did it crazy Like , because you see all these animals on all the hunt shows , you watch and all that stuff , but it's something different when you see them in person . Yeah , I always remember the first time I ever saw a timber wolf in person and I was in Alberta , I was working in the oil fields at the time and there was this timber wolf who was stood in the middle of the road and he was jet black and he had these yellow , yellow eyes , yeah , and he was just like what and like it's such a different feel because you get a real reference for how big they actually are and you go , oh , that's not a .

Speaker 1 1:08:55

Labrador retriever sized animal . Like that's a , like they're huge animals . Man and grizzlies are so big Like yeah , it's , yeah , it's crazy .

Speaker 2 1:09:07

I really hope that they get that turned around and they can start hunting them again , because I think I think they have to right yeah .

Speaker 1 1:09:14

I think that's going to end up decimating so many populations . It's going to cause so many problems with communities and stuff like that , like bears , overpopulate and everything . I don't think they have a choice . Eventually their hand will be forced right .

Speaker 2 1:09:31

I hope they do that instead of hiring somebody to come in with a helicopter , like they've done here before .

Speaker 1 1:09:37

That is the saddest thing in the world that any government entity can do is hire people to come in to just shoot things for the sake of shooting them . Yeah , that's , we could get any little weeds on that . We won't try to . That upsets me so much that I get super vexed about it . But yeah , I feel you . I know what you're saying .

Speaker 2 1:10:01

Yeah , I remember I think it was 2016 hearing it on the radio that it was being proposed that they were going to cancel the grizzly bear hunt . I just laughed to myself .

Speaker 1 1:10:13

So dumb .

Speaker 2 1:10:14

Yeah , that's not going to happen .

Speaker 1 1:10:16

Yeah .

Speaker 2 1:10:16

There's no way . Oh yeah , and now they're going after other things . Right , it's the same with down in the States , Like it's , we need to come together .

Speaker 1 1:10:28

We have to stop being separate individual groups .

Speaker 2 1:10:30

I'm only . I'll come to you . I'm only a deer . I don't hunt bears , so I don't care . We all have to support each group's thing right , 100% .

Speaker 1 1:10:40

It's . You know . It worries me because I talk to like I know a lot of people , especially living here in Guelph , that it's a very like I don't want to say hippie , but they're not like hunters . It's not the same people that mean you are right , you have discussions about hunting and what you should and shouldn't do and whatever , and it's it saddens me that if you're somebody who doesn't hunt and you feel like killing animals is cruel or hunting bears is terrible or whatever it is , I can assure you to anybody out there listening to me and Josh right now talking on this podcast , I promise you right now there's no two people that care more about the longevity of animals and the species we hunt than we do , because if they go away or they dwindle in population , then we agree we probably shouldn't hunt them to extinction . We don't want any of that to happen . We want them to be flourished in population .

Speaker 2 1:11:49

Oh , of course . Right , I mean , if they said oh , you're going to only get a deer tag once every three years now . Okay , no problem , you know what I mean . Like , if that's what it takes to help bring the numbers back , sure ?

Speaker 1 1:12:03

Then that's fine , absolutely . But if you're a non-hunter , we challenge you to at least do this . Just sit down with a hunter and I'm not talking about them hillbilly yokos that just they've got gun racks in the back of their truck . Just sit down with a real , reasonable human who bow hunts or rifle hunts or whatever it is crossbow doesn't matter and just talk to them and you'll understand why we do it , why we love doing it . And we don't want the animals to go away either . No , but none of us want the deer populations or elf populations or bear plumb it . We want them to be healthy and strong so that we can take a very specific amount every year where we keep all the other populations in check and everything is thriving .

Speaker 2 1:12:54

And that's what I think . I think a lot of these decisions that get made are votes or are done with emotion and for sure , and a lot of

Management and Conservation in Hunting

Speaker 2 1:13:05

. But what a lot of people might not understand is that you know the tags that get released are released based off of numbers that are data that's come up from the biologists that are out there that are doing counts all the time . And then you know , like even with us , we have to say how many animals we saw . Did you see how many bears did you see this year ? How many , whatever ? So we're helping too . And then the grand scheme of things if you look in the regulations above , the numbers that were shot last year and the amount of tags that were released , you're around 1% of the total population . So we're not even making a dent .

Speaker 2 1:13:43

It's not like it's called management for a reason .

Speaker 2 1:13:48

Like it's not . We're not impacting the community of animals as a whole . That's going to cause them to go into extinction or to get to the point where we're going to have to stop Like it's . That's why they're always checking the numbers to make sure that you know like with Ontario there's 400 things , just like 400,000 white-tailed deer . Last year 3700 of them were shot . Yeah , like I'm sorry that's not making it . You're not affecting the community of deer , not at all , between any factor in all the accidents and everything else . But for a hunting standpoint they're not . We're not causing you know that much of an impact .

Speaker 1 1:14:34

They decline .

Speaker 2 1:14:36

Right that it's going to affect the decline of that disease .

Speaker 1 1:14:39

But people , the people who are so hard against hunting . I think the things they don't understand is like , for example , of those 35 , how many did you say ? It was like 3500 or something like that .

Speaker 2 1:14:51

Yeah , it was like 37 or something 3700 .

Speaker 1 1:14:54

Of those 3700 deer that were shot last year in Ontario , let's say the majority of those deer were bucks , right , because you usually get buck tags . Doe tags are harder to get , harder to apply for them , they're controlled tags . So what I want everybody to know , and the unfortunate thing is this podcast really kind of only reaches hunters . I wish we could figure out a way to reach people that don't hunt . But when you kill a buck , you kill one deer , that's it . You don't kill anymore .

Speaker 1 1:15:26

The reason we kill bucks is because you're only killing one deer and you're usually taking an older deer if you can , which keeps the gene pool strong and all that stuff . The reason you don't hunt does as much is because when you kill a doe , you don't kill one deer , you kill every deer she'll ever have as a fawn . That's why you only kill does when it's a controlled hunt , when the what do you call it ? The wildlife agency here says we have an overpopulation of deer and we need to thin them out , and then they issue so many doe tags . But yeah , that's .

Speaker 2 1:16:07

There's a second release of tags later on in this thing because they're like okay , we've got more because they got the numbers coming in , we got more that we can put out up here . Yeah , who wants them ? That sort of thing .

Speaker 1 1:16:19

So it's managed very well . We've done a great job of figuring out how to manage our wildlife populations and all those things . So , just again , I urge everybody who isn't a hunter , who is against it , just sit down and talk to a guy who's reasonable and he'll explain it to you and you might come away with a different light . Right , you might think of it in a different manner . We're not saying that you're going to go hunting or anything like that . We're not saying that . But don't you know , nobody wants to take your wheat grass I'm not making fun , I'm just using this example but nobody wants to take your wheat grass away from you or whatever you're doing . We're very much mind our own business . We'd appreciate if everybody did the same on our end .

Speaker 2 1:17:00

Right .

Speaker 1 1:17:01

And that makes any sense to people .

Speaker 2 1:17:03

Yeah , it's like I always try to have conversations with people whenever it comes about Like I've brought .

The Power of Hunting Bonds

Speaker 2 1:17:09

I think we had some bear sausage made up one year . Yeah , I brought some to work and I thought you know what ? I'm going to walk around the office and see if anybody wants to try this . And initially people were like what , the hesitant , like bear ? I'm like yeah , yeah , yeah , Fuck , bear , yeah . And I was like okay , and explained how we got it , how we dragged it out . You know , there was a funny part where the wagon fell over and I fell out and the bear fell on top of me and it was funny , but it was dark and my head lamp fell off and it wasn't funny at the time . But they laugh and they it's almost like once they get the context of it and they know that it came from you and they're a little bit more , they feel a little bit more comfortable trying it as opposed to somebody trying to give them a sample at a store or something . You know what I mean , Guard comes down a little right .

Speaker 2 1:18:03

Right . So I just think we need to have more conversations with people who might be on the fence , who might not necessarily hate the idea of hunting , but they don't understand or grasp the whole concept of it .

Speaker 1 1:18:17

Right . Well , it's , you know I like Jess is my , my significant other . She would never dream of shooting an animal . That's beyond her comprehension , of doing something like that . However , since meeting me and being around , you know she's tried Black Bear , she's tried deer and she likes , she enjoys it , right , and we had a long discussion about it before she did try it .

Speaker 1 1:18:44

I've never really told this story , but we had a long discussion about it before she tried it . You know , I come from a family of hunters and I come from a long line of just like that was a way of life for us and where not for her . And I explained it to her . She was kind of like it makes more sense when it comes from you and the way you say it and the way you talk about it and it's , you know , for me it was bringing that deer home , it's feeding me and her and I know every step that that deer took and to get to that slow cooker , onto the plate or whatever , and it's it's a different thought for her . Now , again , she'll never , ever go hunting and that's okay . I'm not trying to make a hunter out of her , I'm just trying to not have an enemy of hunting , right , and that's all we're looking for .

Speaker 2 1:19:37

Yeah .

Speaker 1 1:19:37

None of us want you guys to go out , pick up a bow or a rifle and go shoot anything . We just want you to trust us in the fact that we're doing the right thing and we're not fucking Hillbilly Yoko's going out in the back country just being dickheads .

Speaker 2 1:19:52

Yeah , like I . I'll never forget her in the story that Josh told from Indoor Adores about how he went hunting deer hunting last year on a property that was in his family that his grandfather had passed down to his father and he shot this huge deer the biggest one he's ever shot and the first stop before going home he drove to his grandpa's house to make sure that he showed him . And that was like such an awesome story , right , the tradition is getting passed down and it's awesome . Right , that's cool , man . We need more stories like that being told , right .

Speaker 1 1:20:30

And you know , the other thing is too , like the the side that people don't see is like you just take you and me and Dave and all those guys , for example , we didn't know each other from Tom . We all met through Instagram , through through talking and talking , hunting and stuff . And now we've we've formed to this point what's going to end up being a lifelong friendship . By the time we get out , we do some hunting and stuff like that . Like we've got such a good clique of fellas , that kind of . We're all in the same mentality , we do things correctly , we're very ethical , we don't fuck around , it's all legit . People don't understand the bond that comes with all of those things . Right , like when you came down , when we did that shoot at Shooters Choice , that was one of the coolest thing , you know what I mean . Like we had a great weekend , man , we had some food , we shot some bows , we had made some laughs and all that stuff . Like people don't see that stuff , man . The camaraderie that comes with it is super cool .

Speaker 2 1:21:31

Right , yeah , it was awesome .

Speaker 1 1:21:32

Yeah , man , yeah , it's so good and we're . There's going to be so many more things to come down the road . Thank you , thank you , 100% you .

Speaker 2 1:21:42

Yeah , I walked into the store and I heard you guys first , because I recognize your voices from the podcast . Yeah , now I first heard about both of you .

Speaker 1 1:21:51

Yeah .

Speaker 2 1:21:51

And I was like , oh , I hear them . Oh there , they are Right , and it's just . Yeah , it's amazing the power of Instagram , what it can do . You know , social media can be pain in the ass sometimes and have some negative effects , but that also brings people together that would never have the opportunity of meeting each other so 100% man and like we , when we like this was the first time .

Speaker 1 1:22:13

There was only a couple of weekends ago , this is the first time we actually all met in person , but it we felt like it was for me , like we had known you forever . Yeah , it was so easy to hang out and do our thing and relax and have some food and have a few drinks and stuff like that man .

Speaker 2 1:22:30

Talk for hours about archery .

Speaker 1 1:22:32

Yeah , man , it was so smooth dude it was . Yeah , people don't realize , man , that the bond you can build with outdoor sports and hunting and all that stuff , it's now we're going to well , hopefully .

Speaker 2 1:22:45

oh , we're going to attack , we're going to figure it out , Josh . Well , if we don't get it , if we don't get Pennsylvania , we'll go for the Michigan one .

Speaker 1 1:22:51

We'll go to Michigan . We'll figure it out somehow .

Speaker 2 1:22:55

Yeah .

Speaker 1 1:22:57

So at the end of the hunt , you know you it's , you're packing up and how are you feeling at this point ?

Speaker 2 1:23:06

So it was . Obviously it was a trip I'll never forget . I love the fact that my son was there . He experienced the whole thing with us . That's cool , yeah , and that was really important , and obviously nobody likes coming home empty handed , but it is a definite thing that needs to be told more within the hunting space , like that's how it works . There's a lot of videos you can watch on YouTube that are four minutes long , and you fly in or drive in somewhere you set up , you go out , you shoot something you take home .

Speaker 2 1:23:43

Yeah , that is not the reality ever ever and I kept saying , like the whole way , like you know , I just I kept thanking the guys for , you know , they took all this time out , away from their families , taking me up here , and I'm like , you know , no matter what the outcome is , I appreciate what you and they're like , I don't worry , we're gonna find what we're gonna find . When they were crushed , like when we were driving home , like this is like I think it hurt even more for them because they knew that I had to leave , whereas they could continue right next week , right , and they sent me pictures like the following week . They're like look , you know it was . Yeah , it's . It all comes down to , you know , timing being in the right place at the right time , a little bit of luck , right ? Yeah , it's . It's not even these guys , you see , who are shooting massive things every year . Like it's just a glimpse .

Speaker 1 1:24:46

Josh , yeah , it's , it's it when you , when you go to YouTube and you watch a guy shoot elk , like when you watch cam and I'm not shitting on cam , because cam works hard as a devil like yep , he probably hunted for 30 days , you know , before he put arrow in that big six point , that six by six elk , you know what I mean . Like and nobody puts that out , and not he's not put . Not putting it out on purpose is because nobody would watch that shit .

Speaker 2 1:25:16

Nobody will watch it .

Speaker 1 1:25:17

Right , but that guy puts in work everybody , who , who does all the , all the hunt , like Sivranila and Remy Warren and all those guys , man , that the amount of time they spend in the woods trying to hunt versus the amount of times they're successful is . You just don't see it , man .

Speaker 2 1:25:36

Yeah , that's part of the thing that I'm trying to do , like , obviously I don't want to keep producing videos where I'm unsuccessful , but I am trying to show . You got to show the truth , though . You're right , you have to show the truth .

Speaker 2 1:25:48

So so I did , you know , edit a video for that whole trip and it is up on my YouTube page . But , but it's like people need to know that this is a reality , like you know . Even some people say that it can take . You know , sometimes 1% of the people who have elk tags are successful . So it can sometimes take , you know , six , seven , eight , nine , 10 , sometimes years , for a sense . Yeah , three , four , five , like it's . It's not a guarantee , just because you have one in your pocket , that you're going to be , you know no , 100% .

Speaker 2 1:26:19

But it's successful .

Speaker 1 1:26:20

It . We're not . So I shot in 2023 , november 3rd . I shot that doe up by Walkerton and I know a few guys around here that have been bow hunting deer for the last three or four years and they've been unsuccessful . And some of my , my girlfriend's friends and stuff like that , and you know I had one of them text me and say , like you know , like this is your only your second year hunting deer Like you managed to get the job done . I didn't get a buck , I only got a doe . I didn't feel my buck tag , but you know he's like I've been hunting for four years and I haven't shot anything . I'm like now .

Speaker 1 1:26:57

I'm gonna be honest with you . There's two things that allowed me to get that deer . Number one is a huge amount of luck . I just happened to be there at the right time when they were coming through , because hunting is a pile of luck it really is . There's a lot of knowledge involved to to get you in the position to have the luck Right , but there's a lot of luck involved as well . The second thing I will say that allows me to be able to do those things is I have a high tolerance for shitty situations . If it's raining , if it's snowing , if it's cold , I can muster through it .

Speaker 2 1:27:39

Yeah , no problem .

Speaker 1 1:27:41

Yeah , most guys are fair weather hunters . The only reason I've ever been successful in all the hunting I've ever done is because if I get up in the morning and me and Gary said we were going hunting at 4am and it's raining , we're still going .

Speaker 2 1:27:54

Yep .

Speaker 1 1:27:56

Where most guys would go . Ah , it's pouring rain . Fuck , I'll call them and I'm not going .

Speaker 2 1:28:00

It's probably better opportunity in the rain , because it's going to keep your scent down and they're going to be booing yeah .

Speaker 1 1:28:06

Time to go to work . That's it . That's what we're doing . Put the rain gear on , we'll get after it . So I'm not a good hunter . I just have a tolerance for shitty situations . That's all it comes down to .

Speaker 2 1:28:17

You're able to leave yourself out there longer to get more of an opportunity .

Speaker 1 1:28:21

Yeah , and if you want to figure out how to hunt and be successful , the truth of the matter is , the longer you're in the woods , the better chance you have .

Speaker 2 1:28:30

That's right , that's it . You're not focusing on buying gear and just get yourself out there .

Speaker 1 1:28:34

Yeah , you can be a professional caller . All you want you can . Whatever it is that you're doing , I don't care , it doesn't matter . But if you sit in a tree stand for two hours and I sit for 10 , I've got a better shot by far . Yeah , and that's . I think that's what it comes down to at the end of the day . Just , you got to be able to put up with shit , man .

Speaker 2 1:28:56

And the idea of like that's another thing that a lot of new hunters might not think about is have you ever sat alone for four or five , six hours straight ? Yeah , like no one to talk , to try to be quiet , nothing Don't move either . Oh yeah .

Speaker 1 1:29:17

Yeah , don't move . Yeah , you got to try not to move too much , you know .

Speaker 2 1:29:21

Yeah , and like it can , it can play on your mind , right . And then it's like what am I doing out here ? I've been here for four days and I haven't seen anything . Yeah , but that might be the time when something walks out . That's it , man .

Speaker 1 1:29:31

And these young catch josh like the boredom that sets in with those guys when they're sitting on the couch and they have to scroll their phone . Imagine what it's like when you don't have cell phone service so you can't scroll Instagram .

Speaker 2 1:29:43

Yeah .

Speaker 1 1:29:43

You're kind of hooped . You just got to kind of sit there and kind of think about shit . You know what I mean ? Yeah .

Speaker 2 1:29:48

I sat Decisions you've made in your life Exactly

Deep Connection to Hunting and Nature

Speaker 2 1:29:51

.

Speaker 1 1:29:51

Like , how did I get here ? And I'm not going to joke or lie about it , but when I shot that doe , I spent six days in the same fucking tree because I knew those dough has come through there at some point , as well as the buck , the two bucks that were chasing them . And I just stayed there , man , and I took a full week off of work . I took a rutcation you know what I mean Like right in the rut and I said I'm going to sit this tree for full seven days . Well , well , I guess it would have been nine days because , plus the weekend , day six was when I shot that don't . So I spent 10 hours up to day six in that tree , stand full day sits 60 hours in a tree that week before I ever shot that don't . Oh yeah , most guys don't do that . No , most guys like they'll sit two hours in the morning , sit two hours in the evening and then they're out of there .

Speaker 1 1:30:44

It's like well , I and I spooked those dough . I spooked those doughs when I walked in , did you ? Yeah , man , and then they came back and I was like , all right , well , this is golden , you know , we go , I guess don't get to work .

Speaker 2 1:30:59

Yeah , like I remember going bare hunting . One year it was on my my brother and sister in law bought 75 acres and it was like a farm field that they were turning back into a wet part of it , back into a wet land , and there was one section that was really tightly wooded and just at the entrance there he had set up a camera and he had some some pictures , and so I set up a camera and I put a ground blind in there and I said we can both use it , like whenever you're up here , just jump in it , you know , I'll tell you what's coming , kind of thing . So I go up there for , you know , four days or so , and first day don't say anything . Second day I'm sitting in there .

Speaker 2 1:31:44

And now this is an area where I did have cell phone reception . And I remember I was on , you know , instagram commenting on something Aaron Snyder had posted from Gaffaru , yeah , and I sent it and I looked up and there were four bears in front of me that were like 16 yards away and I'm like , oh , I've just gone like four years of not seeing anything and now I got four in front of me and I can hear one sniffing right next to the blind yeah , the one is looking for me and there's three or four others right there , right in front of me , and I was looking at my goddamn phone .

Speaker 1 1:32:25

So dodgy man , have that thing with you , right .

Speaker 2 1:32:28

Right this away . Yeah , like you don't know when things are going to happen . And that just happened to be like a highway , like there was coyotes coming through there . I saw about 30 turkeys came in . There was . It was just . That was the spot where everything was crossing over , cruising through the field . So you never know . Like you could go days of seeing nothing and then you could look up and there could be four of whatever .

Speaker 1 1:32:52

Yeah , I'm telling you , man , luck is one of those things . I got a cousin who that fucking guy , I'm telling you , his hunting strategy is . He goes in , he sits in one of our blinds , which is pretty rare in Newfoundland . We don't hunt moose out of a blind very often , but sometimes we do and he goes in , he takes a nap , he wakes up , he shoots a moose three times . He's done it , oh my God . Three times he's called me and been like hey bro , I just saw us taking a nap and I woke up and this fucking moose was just out in front of me and I shot him . And now I need a hand getting him out of here . And I'm like how the fuck do you fall asleep and then wake up at the exact time that this moose happens to be strolling through ? Yeah , and you just put a bullet in them and call it a day .

Speaker 2 1:33:39

I don't know what everybody's complaining about this is easy .

Speaker 1 1:33:42

Yeah , it makes it look easy , right , but I really want to . We're still trying to figure out . I'm hoping that I can switch my address or something back to Newfoundland . I really want to do a caribou hunt . I think you should come to do it and I think you should shoot it .

Speaker 2 1:33:59

That's my dream , right there .

Speaker 1 1:34:00

That would be the king of everything for you , man .

Speaker 2 1:34:02

Yeah , I remember the first time I saw Don Evenson on his who we Are video that he put out , yeah , and after I saw that I connected , like everybody else did , with that , so much that I needed to find everything that he's done . And so I go to YouTube and I . There was a trailer for Terra Nova three days on the island .

Speaker 1 1:34:25

So , good .

Speaker 2 1:34:27

I'm like , oh my God , so good . And I went on his website and I bought all three of his movies , or two or whatever it was at the time . And then it comes in the mail and I throw it in and I'm watching it and he's at the very beginning . He's like I can't believe it took me this long to get to Newfoundland . I'm like he's in Canada Like this is amazing , this is even better .

Speaker 1 1:34:45

It's the greatest man .

Speaker 2 1:34:47

I can't wait to take you there . They're so beautiful there . It's just the landscape is just stunning .

Speaker 1 1:34:54

I'm telling you , man , I can . I hope to God that those those moose tags work out , man , because when we go there , you're just going to be like , like it's not . Bc is a different story because it's got the Rockies and stuff like that , so it's a different type of beauty . Yeah , yeah , but just the ruggedness and what you're going to see there and the vastness of the fact that there's not , there's 500,000 people that live in the whole province and you just go , it's crazy . Yeah , man , this is where you belong , like regardless of everything else , like this is where you should be and this is how you should be living .

Speaker 2 1:35:29

Yeah , like we've got what 3 million people in Toronto Too many .

Speaker 1 1:35:33

You know what I mean .

Speaker 2 1:35:34

It's like yeah , go to a place that's so vast that has a small population , like that would be incredible .

Speaker 1 1:35:42

Yeah , it's a different world man .

Planning for Future Hunting Adventures

Speaker 2 1:35:45

Even like driving through on the way back , driving through Northern Ontario , like it was . It was pretty sweet , like coming out of oh yeah , it was amazing . Yeah , coming into Alberta spectacular yeah , I'd love to go there like mule deer hunting or something . Saskatchewan , yeah .

Speaker 1 1:36:01

A little flat . Watch your dog run away for three days .

Speaker 2 1:36:04

Little flat yeah Like lots of farming .

Speaker 1 1:36:08

But savage mule deer hunting .

Speaker 2 1:36:10

Still cool . Oh , they got the biggest whitetail and the biggest mule deer going , yeah . But then you get into Northern Ontario and you're like , wow , how come I have never driven up here Like this is where I live , because everybody only thinks of that little spot .

Speaker 1 1:36:23

I know .

Speaker 2 1:36:23

Pro no , no , you go up by Lake Superior , holy cow , like you're a beautiful province man . We're driving past spots and I'm like I said , logan , pull out your map , mark that . Yeah , we need to come back here . Look at that , look how beautiful that is . Holy cow , this is amazing .

Speaker 1 1:36:40

Yeah , no , it's , so I think it's a cool .

Speaker 2 1:36:42

I think when it comes to applying for tags next year , I think I'm going to try and maybe do some that are way up north that we can go venture up to . I think that'd be cool .

Speaker 1 1:36:51

I'm going way north . Yeah , I'll sleep in the truck if I have to . I'm good to go . Absolutely , I'm down . Cool , just tell me when you want to leave , let's do it , brother . All right , man , josh , I appreciate you sharing your story with us . That's cool , thanks , but we're going to get to do some hunting this year . Hopefully one of us draws some moose tags this year for Ontario , that'd be or even elk tags , man , even if we can get a set of elk tags that'd be cool .

Speaker 2 1:37:19

Yeah , if that happens , that's going to be probably a once in a lifetime thing and we're going to have to really look , because I think there's five areas , five harvest areas , and really have to dissect that and find out where you want to go .

Speaker 1 1:37:34

That's such a once in a lifetime thing for Ontario . If any of us draw a tag , like if you draw a tag , you call me right away . I'm booking the holidays off and I'm coming with you and we're getting an elk . We're going hard in the paint for as long as we can and we'll get the job done .

Speaker 2 1:37:52

Yeah , 100% . I think that's an unspoken thing with the group of us . I think we're all in the same boat .

Speaker 1 1:37:58

Oh yeah , anybody draws a tag ?

Speaker 2 1:38:01

Everybody rings the bell that they got a tag . Yeah , when are we going ?

Speaker 1 1:38:04

Yeah , we're all in the help man . Give me the camera , give me a pack . Let's go to work . I'm good , it doesn't matter .

Speaker 2 1:38:11

It's funny though it's . You know we're all doesn't matter if we're shooting it or not . We just like the idea of being there and helping too .

Speaker 1 1:38:18

Oh yeah , man , I don't care . I hope any of you draw a tag .

Speaker 2 1:38:23

You're almost happier for your friend to get it than you yourself .

Speaker 1 1:38:26

Yeah , man . Well , because I think it's , I think we understand that like it's a community thing anyway . Right , it's not about just us , right ? Like , if you draw a tag , we got to go in there , we got to film that , we got to cut it up , we got to . You know what I mean ? We got so much work to do , we got , we . Just it doesn't matter whose tag it is , we just need to get that animal .

Speaker 2 1:38:49

now , that's it .

Speaker 1 1:38:50

Yeah , that's the only mission , yeah .

Speaker 2 1:38:53

We're like Mike .

Speaker 1 1:38:53

Tyson . You know what I mean . There's only one objective , that's to get the elk . For him it was Lennox Lewis , but for us as well . You know what I mean .

Speaker 2 1:39:04

Big things coming this year yeah absolutely 100% .

Speaker 1 1:39:07

So , if you all don't know , josh runs Caribou Media Outdoors . Go over , check out his YouTube channel , check out his Instagram , follow him and subscribe . Great review videos , awesome content . You have to check it out and subscribe . Don't be afraid . Everybody doesn't subscribe for some reason .

Speaker 2 1:39:25

Just yeah it's something across the board . I think there's like I think a lot of other channels say the same thing . When you look at the analytics , there's like 97% of the people that keep coming back watching are not subscribed , so yeah , just subscribe , it doesn't cost anything . Yeah , hit the button , it's all good .

Speaker 1 1:39:42

Don't worry about it . And if you want to follow us , we'll be on Behind the Hunt and Full Drop podcast and I'm CJ and you can follow me on Instagram as well . All right folks , Josh , thank you for coming on . That was an awesome story . Thank you , Super pump , that we did that shoot together and we're going to do some hunt together in the future . So , yeah , more stories to come . Absolutely All right folks . Thank you for watching and good night .