How Sharing Real Hunts Can Save Outdoor Culture And Inspire The Next Generation | Hunter Stanley & Hunt Digest

We sit down with Hunt Digest founder Hunter Stanley to explore why stories matter more than staged photos, what guiding really takes behind the scenes, and how public land ethics, mentorship, and honest media can grow the next generation. From golf pro to guide trucks and 25,000-mile seasons, Hunter shares a path built on grit, gratitude, and community.

• origin of Hunt Digest and focus on story over photos
• guiding realities, miles, scouting and client care
• public land etiquette, safety and ambassador mindset
• small wild moments that anchor memory
• threats to access and why advocacy matters
• mentorship, recruiting new hunters and honest media
• processing the weight of a kill and hunter progression
• turkey goals, multi-state plans and mountain birds
• how to submit a story and what Hunter looks for

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:16

What's up guys? Chris and Tony back with the One Hove Life Outdoor Podcast. Tonight we got Hunter Stanley on. He is the uh owner or founder of Hunt Digest on uh social media. And uh I think it's kind of a neat deal because obviously it's kind of like a taking that sports approach to the outdoors, I think, is kind of the the objective or the um objective there. But Hunter, man, thank you for taking the time to come on tonight. And um, I think it's cool that you're sharing so many stories on social media of or really pictures and stories of folks um doing their thing out in the field.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

Of course, man. That I mean, that's really honestly the goal of Hunt Digest, right? You know, growing up in in Duck and Deer Camp and getting to hear those stories from my dad and my grandpa, and honestly, it's what made me the man I am today. So being able to hear those stories and get them from other people is kind of what I was going for, you know. Um the the idea came from golf digest, obviously. Um I I kind of just made it my own. Um it's it's it's been really fun. I've got to I've got to you know meet some really cool people and talk to some really cool people, and you know, hopefully it's only up from there.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Yeah, dude. So how long has it been since you you started the page?

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Uh so I actually started it in October of 25. So it really hasn't been it really hasn't been that long. It's I think I just hit 1500 followers two weeks ago. Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

So that's really good growth.

Guiding Roots And Industry Connections

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Uh it's it's been good. And you know, it's it's been really nice having some of the connections I have um in the hunting industry. I I used to be a guide for Crash Landing. I don't know if you guys have ever heard of them.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

Um where's what's crash or where are they out of?

SPEAKER_04 1:54

It's out of Ponka City and um in Oklahoma, Ponka City, Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Okay, uh duck outfit.

SPEAKER_04 2:00

Yeah, they're duck, oh duck, duck and deer outfit. Archie Bradley, uh, he's the owner of them.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

And uh I've heard that name.

SPEAKER_04 2:06

Yeah, he he um they work with Drake pretty heavily, but I I guided for them for three years. Um and so I got to meet all kinds of people, which it was it's really helpful, especially growing an outdoor you know, storytelling page, because you can kind of reach out to some people that you know, which I'm very thankful for.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Yeah, no, that's that's super, super unique, man. I I imagine that was probably uh well worth your time, those three years.

From Golf Pro To Ammo Inventory

SPEAKER_04 2:29

Oh, 100%. It's uh killed a lot of ducks and got to, you know. I mean, guiding's guiding, so it's it's it's it's a grind, but it's it's it's worth it, especially when you get some cool clients in there.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Now, now are you from that area, Oklahoma, or where are you out of?

SPEAKER_04 2:44

Yeah, so I'm from Oklahoma, actually originally from Tulsa. Okay. Um, I now live in Russellville, Arkansas. Okay. Um, I work for an ammunition manufacturing company, uh company out of here. Um, so it's it's I just moved to Arkansas last year, so it's been a it's been an interesting transition to uh a new life for me, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Yeah, no. That's uh that's cool, man. And what so what do you do as like your day job with the ammunition company?

SPEAKER_04 3:11

Uh I'm an inventory controller, so I can um I'm kind of just in charge of the of making sure what stuff coming in and out and um reporting pretty much, a lot of analytics stuff.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

So yeah. Well, if you have a plus or minus on how accurate your accounts have to be, um I know a guy.

unknown 3:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

That took me a second. That's funny, man. Well, it's cool that uh even in the day job, I mean, I know like inventory controls probably not like directly feel like you're doing something outdoor related or you know, firearm related all the time, but like it's kind of cool that the day job is also somewhat in the world that you're you know.

SPEAKER_04 3:55

Yeah, a hundred percent. Um, so we we we do we do we do a lot of stuff for a lot of the big ammunition companies. So when they come in and you know, we get to see some of the products they're developing, it's it's it's a pretty cool process to get to watch and kind of experience. It's it's um it's definitely something I didn't think I was gonna get into originally. Um I was in the golf business for a long for for me for a long time. So I I I played um some professional and then I uh I taught a lot of golf as well.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 4:25

For most of my profession, like for most of my you know big boy job career um out of out of high school and college. So yeah, that's that's what I started out with, and then I kind of bridged over to this, which is a big switch up for me.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Dang, man. That's like I mean, you get you can't be, I mean, how old are you?

SPEAKER_04 4:42

I'm 22.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Oh dude, I was gonna guess you're like so. I'm like 28 or 29 now. So I was like, at most you're my age, but I'm like, this guy has lived a lot of life. Like the fact that like to hear the golf thing, to yeah, I've done and the guiding and all that.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

Yeah, I've done I've done a lot of stuff, man. It's it's kind of one of those things where it's like, why not? You know, I I've I got I mean, eventually I'm gonna find something I'm really good at, which I you know, I I don't shy away from trying to try something new and make it work. So it's definitely that's what's made the Hunt Digest stuff also pretty pretty fun to do because it's it's you know it's a new challenge for me. So it's it's always it's always fun to have a new challenge.

Balancing Family, Time, And The Hunt

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Yeah, no, and I I I think it's cool too, like in a similar vein, like with the podcast, you get to hear people's story, you know. Oh, 100%. That's what's what's cool. I mean, just in the five minutes we've been live uh with you tonight, just it's interesting to hear, and we're I got my head spinning questions I want to ask you, but like it's in this is why it's fun to do these kind of things, because you just never know like what people do or their background, you know.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

Yeah, it's uh it's definitely you know, you meet people in the hunting industry that guide in the winter and then have a day job during the summers, and that's a lot of us. It's it's you know, it's super fun to see what people do outside of the hunting industry because you know, most of these guys that you you run into and work with have kids and a family at home. And for me, it's a little different because I don't have kids or a family at home, so it frees up a lot more time for me. So I have a lot of respect for the guys that still go out there and grind that have to go home at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Yeah, I I'm totally I'm square in that like boat of trying to figure that out because I got a baby on the way in July, and like obviously we got day jobs, like the podcast hasn't been got a baby on the way. Yeah, it's it's everybody's baby, it's the first it's the first grand baby, so everyone's excited. That's right. But um, no, it's it's one of those things where it's like trying to figure out like obviously we've got day jobs, and that's a big part of it, but figuring out what that hunting picture is gonna go look like going forward, because one thing's for sure, it's not gonna stop. So, how how am I gonna get strategic about having a son? And you know, while I'm raising the son before he can come with me, how how what that picture is gonna look like?

SPEAKER_04 6:58

I don't know. And that's something like you know, I I talked to my dad the other day, and I was like, I really like I can't wait to do what you got to do with me as a dad. It's like that's really exciting to think about, but at the same time, it's like, man, that's a whole lot of time that's taken up, not in a bad way, but but it's definitely you know, it's something at 22, you're like, oh, that's you know, that's really not that far away.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Yeah, dude. That's how that's how I feel. And it I find myself feeling like it's weird because I want the fulfillment of being a dad, but also like you realize the time that it's gonna take. And self selfishly, you're like, man, but like the flip side of that, I guess, is like that's the that's the trade-off for the fulfillment, you know. And I I think I'm at a good age too at 29 where it's like almost one of those I'm still young enough to not be like, you know, in a being being hurt chasing around my kid, but like I feel like I've had enough time to really kind of do a lot of the stuff I've wanted to do, but I don't know. It's a weird I'm every day I feel different.

What Hunt Digest Publishes And Why

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Oh yeah, 100%. You only get like the first time you get to be a parent, you get one shot at it, right? And it's one of the few things in life that we get faced with where there's there's only so much you can do to prepare, and nothing is gonna set you up for it. I mean, there's a lot of things you can do to try to prepare, and I think that's also the the responsibility of folks that came before you. Of course, we all as parents want to try to you know make better than what we had, you know, and that's always the goal, right? Is to give them that stuff. But but you get one shot at this, and and the biggest thing about it is it's it's so new that you really don't know. Like there's that that piece there floating up, you know, okay, all my life up until this point, I could control like the things that happen. Right. And there's gonna come, you know, with with a child, not only get down too too too far down the spiral, but just to to give you some comfort with that son, is just simply that there's these priorities and they will fall into place. Yeah, those priorities fall into place naturally, and you do the things that you gotta do for your family when you have to do them, and then when those things are right, you get to go spend the time that you that you love, and and as your child gets older, you get to get them involved in the outdoors, and all those things kind of work themselves out, you know. But it's intimidating. It is because you really, especially with like you and Katie are very structured people, extremely structured people, and and your life's getting ready to get unstructured. No, no, I'm I'm just kidding. But no, it's uh it's it's a cool thing to go through, and um, you know, as you guys progress through that, it it'll figure itself out. I mean, your mom's still with me, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

So all right, so enough the baby talk anyway, Hunter. So um, you know, going back to the origin story on Hunt's Digest, man, like do you so what take me through like the process? Like, are you are people just is it like a submission type deal? Are you like trying to find people and write up stories, or what's like what does that look like?

SPEAKER_04 10:10

So, man, I I've racked my brain on a lot of stuff that I want to do, and I think that's where I've gotten myself into some trouble in a bit, is I'm jumping a a little place to place, but I've kind of found my niche now where I have some people send stuff to me uh with a photo submission and a story. Um, I have some people just send me a photo and then I have to reach back out and be like, hey, like this is what I'm trying to get. Like I I told everybody this, like the pictures are cool, like don't get me wrong, every picture I post is so cool um and and great quality, but I'm I'm not really after that. Like it's a great bonus to what it is. Like, how did how did you get that picture? Like what what made that picture? So um that's something I've had to get you know through to some people because a lot of these, a lot of the pages that are now um good example, Hunt Illustrated, so super cool. You know, the guy who runs that, he's awesome, and it's and he's you know, he's a big inspiration for me too. Um, but he, you know, a lot of his stuff, they don't he doesn't do stories. Um so people just send him photos and then he, you know, he can choose. So trying to get through to people like, hey, I I I don't I want the photo, don't get me wrong, but let me hear how you got to that that point of taking that photo, which which what I'm after. And I've reached out some to some guys as well. Like I just did an article on my my first article on my website over Quack Shack.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

I saw that. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

Um, I did it with those guys. Austin dude, Austin's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

He's been we've had him on the podcast here.

SPEAKER_04 11:33

Yeah, yeah, he's good, dude. He's been very helpful and you know, showing me some things. And um so I I'm I'm really interested in the article writing. Um, I'm actually I just got in contact with Big Honker Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

Um, I'm actually gonna do an article over them. I have a phone call with him tomorrow. So that's so I got some really cool stuff in the works that I'm I'm excited for. And I guess my big goal eventually would be to start a podcast like you guys and get somebody on here and just like tell me your story. Like, yeah, what what made you be the person you are in the outdoors or the outdoor industry or what you know? And I it seems cliche because a lot of people want to do that, but I I I've I've really big hopes on the realm of the idea of Hunt Dye Jet. So that's what that's what's exciting to me is I get to hear people's stories.

Storytelling Inspirations And Sponsors Break

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Yeah, dude. No, that's super cool. I think um Ramsey Russell is one that's really just thinking about that has inspired us a lot. Because if you look at his pictures, man, like he'll he'll write everything about that morning. Yeah, and it'll be a picture, but in such a unique way. And that I think it like just hearing you talk about that. What's up, guys? If you want coffee that doesn't suck, you probably can guess what I'm gonna say. Get the duck. Dirty Duck Coffee is the official coffee of the One Hove Life Outdoor Podcast, and they have a great lineup of different coffee blends, everything from Morning Wood and First Flight to Dark Dynasty and Suns Up, Guns Up. You can't go wrong with Dirty Duck Coffee, and they have a great lineup of cold brew cans, mocha, French vanilla, original cold brew, and cinnamon teal snickerdoodle. If you want 15% off your next order, use code One Hell of Life 15 on your next order. Uh, there's nobody I've seen on Instagram that really does it the way he does. So I think you taking that approach, you know, is very unique too, you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

I mean let me tell you, and Ramsey, no disrespect because we've had him on here several times and stuff, and incredible human being. But I am an ADD person. I'm just being honest. And the very first time I had a little bit of trouble because I would be guilty of the oh, that's a lot of stuff, and fantastic. And then I read one sentence, and he captivates you with the things, it's not how what you say, it's how you say it. Yeah, and the way he does it is like nothing else. It really is nothing else.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

The way the the way he talks about like his work is is is really inside. It's like it it puts you into like one, you know, put one of those moments where like you can feel the picture through your phone.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yes. I was sitting there as I heard the ripples of the waves on my left side, yeah, or whatever it might be, yeah. You know, something like that. And and so big shout out to Ramsey on that because this ADD guy can read every word.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

You know, it's it's funny because I always and while we're on the Ramsey like thing, I uh recently I growing up, I always would like have the TV on as like background going to bed or whatever. But recently, um I've been going away from that and I'll turn it off, but like I still like my brain just wanders too much, so I need like something. So I put podcasts on a lot of times, and we we consume so much hunting content through what we do all the time. Like, I'm not the biggest consumer of like other hunting podcasts, but I will tune in from time to time to like Ramsey Russell and folks like that. And his podcast, I woke up in the middle of the night last night and heard his podcast just rolling because it went to his or whatever. And to your point, like I was just sitting there like half asleep, and I was like, God, the way this guy is so descriptive, it's just it he's so good at talking, it's it's unbelievable. I'm like, we gotta up our game a lot.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

It's like he's walking you through like an episode of Lord of the Rings of Waterfowl or something.

SPEAKER_04 15:26

It's like an audiobook for a picture, yes, 100%.

Nature’s Small Moments That Hook Us

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's unbelievable. Isn't that the uh isn't isn't that the uh the goal to strive for? I mean, just but to your point is that you're finding your niche, and you know what makes you different, and and you know, they always say a picture speaks a thousand words. It sure is great that when you can look at a picture and get the thousand words, and but you you don't have the words, you draw your own conclusion, yeah. Of however you see that picture, right? Me and you could look at it to uh the same picture and think two different things, you know. I mean, so to be able to add that story back to it, I think is is awesome.

SPEAKER_04 16:03

100%. And I it a big thing for me is you know, I'm not for for some people that do this, I'm I don't know any specific names off the top of my head, but like you know, some people their goal uh in hunting is to get to take a cool picture. Yeah, you know, that's some people chase the picture, and that that's great. Um that if that's how you like to do it, that's how you like to do it. And it's I could go out and hunt and not kill a thing, but have a cool story, and I'm gonna take more away from that than getting to take a cool picture. And that's for for me, and it and I don't I think it's because you know my dad and grandpa, you know, just kind of imprinted that into me, especially like a deer camp. You know, we put out I don't know when it was stolen, um, but they don't know surely it's statute of limitations is up on it now, but it's a it's an old hunter's check station sign. Um Oklahoma hunters check station sign, it's from forever ago. Um, and we put it up every deer camp. That's the first thing we do when we get there, is put up that hunters check station sign. And so like a story like you know, you don't you don't know what goes on in other people's deer camps. So getting to hear like their traditions and stories is is is so fun to me. And I one of the one of the guys that I talked to, oh what I'm blanking on his name. He took uh I have uh he has a story coming up here in a couple days, and the way he explained his emotion through his story, like I was like, wow. And you you can sometimes when people send you stuff, you're like I can feel that through just him sending that to me. I can't imagine what it would sound like person to person.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Yeah. No, I I think it's cool hearing um the way you know you're talking about your dad and grandpa, you know, and how you were brought up. And we've we talk about a lot, like I talk about a lot personally being a younger person too, like how thankful I am to have influences like my dad that you know taught me those things in the outdoors. But it sounds like you're in the kind of the same headspace hunter, and I think it's really important for folks in you know, 20s, 30s, and younger um to put those messages out because there's so I mean there's less hunters every year because a lot of there's just the demographics change, you know. You know, their their generation, there was more hunters than there is in our generation, and I think the way that we port portray hunting to get other people into the sport is really important, and it's um cool to hear what you're doing, you know, and have that same mindset because it's uh that obviously helps contribute to your message, you know.

SPEAKER_04 18:41

Yeah, that's what that's what you know my goal is. Like I've had people comment on my stuff like, Hey, I can't believe you would post something like this, or and I feel like a lot of the hunting hunting guys have gotten that too. But and I tell them, like, I don't think you realize what I did or like what really went on to be able to accomplish this type of picture. Yeah, like you don't know that I hiked 15 miles into Colorado, you know, into the Colorado Mountains to take take this bull elk, or like you have such a personal experience between you and the outdoors when you're doing it that I think a lot of people that don't even get the chance to go don't understand.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Sure. Yeah, no, I just actually a couple months ago I did a TikTok just real quick when it didn't blow up like I wanted to, like none of them do.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Those the always the ones you don't think will right 100%.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

But but my point was, and it was during um Thanksgiving time, I think, is that I was like, I don't care if you hunt or not, if you hear this, get in the outdoors, just get out there, yeah. And I don't care if it's like go walk through the woods in a field next to your house, it doesn't matter where it is, just get out there, shut your ringer off, and just sit down and listen and pay attention, and you will be amazed by the little things that will blow you away. Like honestly, Tristan, uh this deer hunt season, one of the things that I remember the most is that salamander. Yeah, we thought we had the salamander at the base of our tree, and we had never seen the salamander before. I had never seen it, and I'm an amateur reptile freak. And it was just a cool thing, you know. I mean, it was just but had we not been out there, never would have right.

SPEAKER_04 20:30

I did the same thing. I actually did the same thing this year with a porcupine in Kansas. I was deer hunting in Kansas, and like you don't realize like how creepy looking those things are until you see one up close. Really? Yeah, and and like I saw it up close and then you just watch it climb into the tree and it sits there. Like I get them on my cameras all the time, but like seeing it in person, I was like, wow. But it's almost like like you're saying, like when somebody goes out there and sits down, though, like when you get to go out there, like and you just sit down on the base of a tree or just in a f like, you know, a a cut field or whatever it is, the when you take a deep breath, the air is fresher, your mind's clear, you it almost feels like a weight off your shoulders. And it's it's because you know, our natural you know, how we became humans was being in the outdoors. So it's it's definitely something that is to your point, is uh if it even if you're not hunting, just just be outside, like be outdoors.

Public Land Ethics, Safety, And Respect

SPEAKER_02 21:31

Yeah, and I think there's kind of an art too to like noticing those little things and taking like what's up, guys? Tristan here. If you're like us, you need gear that's gonna stand up to the elements and not break the bank. That's exactly what we love about frog talks. They just dropped their brand new Oxbow waterfile series, and let me tell you, this stuff is built for serious hunters who don't want to quit when the weather turns nasty. It's tough, lightweight, and waterproof. Everything you need when you're out there chasing bugs. If you're looking to upgrade your gear this season, Head over to frogtalks.com and use code OneHealthalife Outdoors at checkout for 15% off your order. Um taking just I don't know, like enjoying those little things, I guess. Because to the older generations, that's just like kind of the way they were. But I feel like there's a lot of younger folks that are so focused on now. Don't get me wrong, if you're in the outdoors, I think that's a net positive, regardless of why you're out there. Because at the end of the day, you're buying hunting equipment and Pittman Robinson and all that stuff. But you know, I think if you're not like, oh man, that's a beautiful sunrise, or you saw a porcupine or a salamander or whatever it might be. And let's say you're you don't have a successful hunt that day, but what you remember is like, dude, that porcupine was kind of crazy. That was cool. But like those little things, um, if you're not just looking for like the success out of it, that's what really um as that's what makes it so awesome, is those little moments, really. I feel like oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Is it look, if you don't relate to what we're talking about, if it was me, I would that would be it would be the the the moment right now, listen to this, that I would go, dude. I'm missing something. I'm missing something. And just challenge yourself to go out and enjoy that that peace, whatever it is, you know what I mean? Um, it's so important. But what I what I wanted to say was when it comes to like you know us giving getting people into the sport and and whatever brings them in, brings them in, right? Whether it be turkey hunting, whether it be hunters digest, whether it be whatever it is that gets you into it, that's the most important piece, right? Is the be the start of that. And you know, fortunate for you and fortunate for me that I had somebody. Yeah, I mean, I that was luck. I just it was luck, you know. I hate to say that my mom and dad having the divorce was a good thing, but for me selfishly, it certainly was.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Well, you wouldn't have gotten to hunting.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

Yeah, God love you, dad, God love Jerry.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

Well, you may have, but it would have been years later, maybe. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

My dad wasn't against it or anything, it just wasn't his thing, you know. But my stepdad, it was everything, you know. So, but but here's the thing that I want to tell you, young people, that you probably haven't even thought about yet. You have the opportunity from people like us, people like Hunter, all of us that are cut from the same cloth, you have the opportunity to at least reach out to us at the bare minimum, if you don't know, to learn and learn what social media can provide for you in a good positive way that you can be that person to set that path for generations to come. 100%. Think about that. That's powerful. Yeah, that's challenge. That's a challenge I'm gonna challenge all you young people with. Clip that. Yeah, no, I'm gonna challenge every young person with that. Is that take your take that oath of responsibility within yourself to just say, you know what? Maybe I didn't have that all my life, but from here on out, everybody will. Yeah, I mean that's yeah, there we go.

SPEAKER_04 25:14

That's such a that's that's such a huge thing. And you know, it's it's a it's a it's a point of coming into like we're all of us are lucky to have somebody in our life that you know put us put us in the outdoors. Um, and it and a lot of it sometimes is what what's scary to me too, is the people that are not in the outdoors that don't understand some of the resources that we're available to, like the public, the public hunting across our country that's being threatened daily. Um and when you think about that, like we're the only advocates for ourselves, is is is being able to go out there and just put our word out, like, hey, this means more to us than you really know. It's not it's not just property you can build houses on, it's somewhere where I can get away and somewhere where I can have peace in my life, where sometimes that's the only place some people can find it, is in the outdoors. Yeah, and so that's it's it's scary to see that there's chances of of those kind of opportunities getting taken away from some people that don't have access to private land or or things like that. Especially, you know, in you know, Oklahoma and Arkansas, there's a plethora of public land, but places like Utah, where their public land is threatened on a yearly basis, um, is it's something that I really hope that sticks around for a very long time.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Well, yeah, that's part of the whole thing that makes um America unique and great, you know, is the the fact that they set that up from the very get-go, you know. And yeah, um it you just all the other countries around the world, there's nothing like this when it comes to being able to go out into the outdoors and experience it on on public land we all own, you know.

SPEAKER_04 26:56

Yeah, it's it's it's it's it's a blessing and a curse sometimes.

Ambassadors, Mentors, And Access Threats

SPEAKER_01 27:00

It is. And and here's the thing, you know, when it comes to when it comes to hunting, uh when it comes to anything in life, right? I I'll show you guys where I'm going with this, but let's just say, for example, you take a hundred people and you say to a hundred people, I'm gonna time you to run 20 feet, rub two sticks together, and run back. Something as simple as that, right? Sounds like an episode of Survivor. You're gonna have some people that are gonna go to the starting line of those hundred people, and they are gonna give it every damn thing they got to be first. Yeah. They are, because that's just the way they're built, right? You're gonna have some people that are impeded by a physical or mental disability, whatever it might be, okay? You're gonna have some people that just don't have the drive, right? They just, you know what? As long as I finish the race, I don't give a shit. Yeah, you know, and but here's the thing you have all these different types of people in life. We're all built different, we're all made different. One thing that we do here as part of showing the reality of what we do, at least my goal internally, is that especially for young people that maybe had a silver spoon a little bit, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. What I mean is is that maybe you didn't have you didn't have the things in place along the way to learn how hard you gotta hunt to shoot a trophy buck, how hard you might have to hunt to shoot that one beautiful redhead, or whatever it is, the work that it takes to actually do that. We bridge that gap by what we do here. My biggest fear is that we get that we that we don't do that, and that the other folks around us don't continue to spread what it really takes to do these things. Because what happens over time is that you start to lose your people that want to win the race, and you start to have more folks that are willing to put in the effort to win the race. And it's kind of like the whole, you know, we all know about the the uh participation trophy, right? Yeah, participation trophy, give your kid a participation trophy. Oh my god, but there's something to be said, and Joe Rogan talks about all the time about the gratification of hard work, no matter what. 100%, you know what I'm saying? And it's very difficult to teach somebody all of those things where we feel what we feel to do what we do and and put all the energy into what we do. And I'm just super excited about continuing to spread that word, continue to get the message out to people that people get they they they feel these things and they touch these things and they smell these things, or they see this otter, or they almost get bit by a gator or whatever it is, all these things that happen that these start to raise that passion to win that race.

SPEAKER_04 30:14

Yeah. Oh yeah, it's it's almost a thing, and a lot of the times I feel like people some people, um, just in general nowadays, are so scared of embarrassment.

SPEAKER_03 30:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:25

Um, and I I I read a quote the other day that it stuck with me really hard. It said it said it embarrassment is an underexplored emotion. Go out there and embarrass yourself. And and that and that and that to me was like, wow, like just go, it's one of those things like just go out there and do it. Even if okay, yeah, like it's you could like you are never if you see somebody out there and you embarrass yourself, you are 99% likely you're never gonna see that person again. Like you know, and and if they judge you, that's on them. Like you're getting out there and doing it too. Um, like it it especially going, you know, public hunting, you're gonna get your butt kicked a lot. And I think that's where the where you know those people that want to win that race, that's where they excel, is places that people get that you know, they go to places where everyone else gets their butt kicked and they know how to push through it. And I think a lot of people push away from public land, especially nowadays, because so many people utilize it, especially in Arkansas and Oklahoma for like duck hunting, is you know, they have three bad hunts and they're like this year sucks. Yeah, okay. Well, you know, the guy that killed 20 birds this morning drove 60 miles yesterday trying to find these birds. So it's like, you know, what and especially on public land too. Like if you kill four birds on public land anywhere, yeah, that's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Just because you see, you know, people together shot four birds, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:52

Like, like putting if you go see people on see people on Instagram hunting like private private stuff, they're shooting 60 stacks, like you get it so like such a per uh like a skewed view of hunting. So that's what sometimes I get a little nervous of when people see like these big piles of ducks and stuff, is that they think it's easy. It's not, you're gonna get your buck kicked, and it's a matter of time before it happens.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Oh, 100%, man. That's like one of the biggest reasons why we do what we do is because like my dad has his like quoted thing that he's said a hundred times on this podcast, but still is true, is like you know, you always see young folks that are selling their nice stuff on Facebook Marketplace, and it's like because they're like, Oh man, that looks fun, I want to do that, and then they get into it, get their butt kicked, and then they're selling everything. And that's we try to always promote like the reality of hunting, is what we our kind of like coin thing, and yeah, that's like dude, our YouTube, like you know, we'll post full-length YouTube videos of me shooting a doe, or like the times we got there, like we have a video of Arkansas Public Land where we shot three ducks, and nobody does that. Who who goes out there and posts three ducks on Arkansas Public Land? But to your point, that's the reality, like, and to us that was a cool hunt, but you know, I mean, it that it's just trying to shoot paint it in a a real light so people don't get discouraged.

Inside The Guide Grind And Client Care

SPEAKER_04 33:11

You have to you have to you have to you have to learn to love the idea of hunting before you actually love hunting. Like there's there's a lot like loving the idea of hunting before actually, you know, getting you know killing a duck or killing a deer is so important because like you see these guys that you know good for them, like I'm very you know, I'm glad that they grew up that way, but like they're they're you know, they grew up on a family duck farm or they grew up on and and I'm I'm very blessed. Like I I have a place I can hunt in Arkansas that's private. I have a place I can hunt in Kansas that's private. Like I'm very blessed, but I still I still public hunted, like I still wanted the experience of it being hard because I I love it. Like I could go out there and just sit there and I could I could watch I could just watch a a coot swim across the water for a lot. I really don't care. Yeah, you know, and it's I I really hope people can understand, like it's not just about killing things, it's about it's about like spending time with family, spending time with friends, getting new people out there. Like uh I I was so stunned this year. Uh one of the craziest things happened to me in my life this year. I got I was at a boat ramp, I won't say where, um, but it was the day before opening day, and a guy was put in his boat. And you know, I was going, I was going to help him. I was like, hey man, you need any help. He looked like you're struggling, out of state guy was struggling to get his boat off the trailer. I went over there, and I got from about five feet from this, like I was on the other side of his boat, and he was on this other side. So like I'm this is him, this is me, and the boat's in the middle of us. And I was like, hey, need me help. And before I could say help, he jumped, he's like, What the are you doing over here? What like like gets and then jumps over the hitch, gets in my face, gets in my face and starts yelling at me, like, what are you doing? Like, I was like, I'm the least confrontational person I know. Like, I have I hate hard like it's the worst. So I'm like, dude, I'm so sorry. Like, I would just literally just come over to help you. Like, I was just I was coming to help. Oh my god. And before I could say I was sorry one more time, like I was like, I would like to throw up my hands one more time, and he just sucker punches me right in the face.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_04 35:18

Sucker punches me, dude. What? And obviously I wear glasses, right? So like my glasses go flying, and I'm like Velma looking for these things. Like, I'm like Oh my god, dude. And by the time I get my glasses back on, he's in his truck and he's he's drove off. Like, I don't know what was in his Cheerios that morning or what made him so upset. But that's some of the things that like when I like that's that'll that'll what if I was a first-time hunter? Oh my god. And I just and I just know a lot about boats, and that like I'm never gonna want to go hunt again. So I think some people get so worked up about it, man.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

Like, well, and and I just told Tristan I've talked about this before, you know, but but all of us, even if you don't run a business and you're posting on social media, we're all ambassadors of the sport.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

Yes, we are yeah, and that that right there, that guy is a poor ambassador of the sport.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

He's not an ambassador at all, he's a piece of shit.

SPEAKER_02 36:09

Yeah, like at that time.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

I would be his ass. I just met too and I got like vibes like somebody messed with my son vibes.

SPEAKER_04 36:16

I was I was so shocked. Like I got I got back in my truck, and like the first thing I did, I I I called my girlfriend. I was like, someone just hit me in the face, and she was like, What are you talking about? I was like, I just got sucker punched. Like I don't know what happened. And I'm a like I'm a very non, I'm not a very negative person, so I love it. And it's like whatever that guy had going on to the point of he had to jump over his like hitch of his boat and come get in my face, like what it's a day before opening day. Shouldn't we all be happy? Like, I get it, okay, I get it. It's 75 degrees. Go shoot some teal. Like, I get over it. I don't know what to tell you.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

You just never know. Like, like honestly, you never know because there's some weird crazy ass people out there, dude. I mean, the guy oh yeah, a bunch of coke right before you saw him. I remember that. 100%. I mean, who knows, right?

SPEAKER_04 37:07

Well, that and that's the thing is is like that's the thing is is I carry, so I had my pistol on me. So if I would have like had the reaction time enough or even thought about something like that, I could have drawn on it, and that could have been a scenario of like to think of you know, in the in the moment, like you never think you're ever gonna actually have to use a pistol. So like I didn't it was it wasn't my first instinct, and especially getting sucker punched, like that's and you're trying to be nice, yeah. Like what what is what what if what if he goes what if he goes and does that to somebody who's been a cop for the past 15 years and you know and knows what he's doing, and all of a sudden it's a bigger, a bigger situation than it is. So I think that's I think people are so so like just get so worked up over stuff for no reason. And like I said, like you know, he could have had a rough day, but still at the same time, it's like you gotta find something in this world to make like to brighten up your day, and or don't do it, or don't do it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:10

Yeah, like what do you what are you coming out here angry for? Right. I th I think like and it could have very well been like something like you said, something crazy, but you know, I think a lot of times too, like there's so much like for whatever reason the duck is so freaking polarizing, and there's so much like buildup of like oh my god, like oh we gotta get this hole in the boat race, and all there's so much like and no sleep. And I like not that I'm giving this dude uh out for his behavior, that's not what I'm doing. I'm I'm actually doing the opposite, but like the the stress or the um the all of that, like if it puts you in that head space, you shouldn't be out there because you're you're missing the entire point where if it stresses you out that bad to where you feel like you have to go punch somebody, like you're missing the you're missing the whole point, man, because you're never gonna see what it's what the beauty of it is.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

100%, especially like especially like public and Arkansas hole running out here, man. It's wild. Like you you see you see one or two kids die every single year doing that stuff. Yeah, and why? Like, you know, and I get like you want to kill a bunch of ducks, like you want to kill a greenhead. It's it's like it's so it's so captivating in the soul of like I want that done. Yeah, but like is it worth losing your best friend or losing, you know, or your like your dad or like yeah, like the things like if you gotta think about that stuff, and I think a lot of people kind of brush that off. Um, and a lot of that's the competitive mindset some people have of like I'm gonna win. And I I think they need to back up a little bit and just understand the beauty of what they're getting to do on the land they're getting to do it on.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

Yeah, what the dude about anybody that hunts public land, whether it be waterfowl or deer or anything like that, you know, Chuck Adams continues to do it. Solo hunts, incredible, setting world, you know, setting freaking popping young records. And here's the deal I and I love to use it, especially in the in the waterfowl side of it, is Dennis and Billy. They have the results that they have. There's so many ass chickens they take that you don't see.

SPEAKER_04 40:26

Oh, yeah. So many. They're awesome, man. They're they're they're from where I'm from.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Oh, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_04 40:32

Yeah, so yeah, chickens.

SPEAKER_01 40:33

But guess what? They bust their butt to to to get the results that they get, and so there's a certain bit of admiration that I think just a mutual respect for that we all have for that public land hunter. If you've done it, then you know. Oh, yeah. You know, you know, and you're like, damn, how do they do it? I remember me and Tristan just be like, when we first got in a duck hunting, be like, How do you find where wood duck is? Yeah, all we saw was right for three minutes and it was over. Yeah, you're like, where the hell did they go? And it it blew my mind that like if there's anything about Florida duck hunters in South Georgia, the Carolinas. That's where we that's where we cut our teeth hunter and duck hunt is in Florida. And gals, y'all can go out and find them wood ducks on a feed or whatever, dude. That's some impressive shit. Like yeah, 100% of work that or years that it could take sometimes to to learn that great fishing hole, that deer run that a big buck always walks down, that wood duck hole where there's always gonna be full in November or whatever it is. And um, it takes hard work, yeah. It takes a lot of work, and oh yeah, admirable. I I'm always admired by people like that.

SPEAKER_04 41:53

Dennis and Billy have kicked my ass to the hole many a times. Oh man, I've I so they they hunt uh well, they used to, they don't hunt there much anymore, but Lake U Fall in Oklahoma, um, it's a big place they'd hunted. And and I've been into it, I've been a few foot races with them and I've lost. So they're they're so good, they're such good guys about it, though.

Lodge Life, Celebrities, And Community

SPEAKER_02 42:14

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SPEAKER_04 43:06

Or you know, joining up with groups if they got the whole first. And that's it's something that you especially cherished for a lot of guys in Oklahoma that get into hunting, duck hunting, especially for the first time. Like Ufala is that place, like that public hunting place. If you don't have a boat, like you can still find flooded timber or you can still get that spot. And you know, they'll go out there the day, you know, and stay the night, and they'll do a cookout for people, and people come up and they'll explain, you know, this is what you should do, this is where you should go look. Like they're so into the those guys, man. They that they're they've done more for hunting in in their era than I've seen a lot of people do. And another guy's 100%, man.

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Well, I I always love like the comments, like in Billy and Dez on the backside, you guys will be laughing about this, but I always love some of the comments that I see on their posts, they'll be like, Oh yeah, they paid some 12 year old to run and and Oh, stay all night in the hole and all this stuff. And I just I laugh my butt off because we, you know, we've been fortunate enough to know these guys a a little bit closer than most, I guess. We're not like best friends with them or nothing, but we've shared a lot of time with them.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

And and those are we've had Billy on the podcast, I think three three times.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

That's awesome. And we have Dennis and Billy at Ducks this year at the Prop Talk Booth. And and those guys are as you as as um, what's the word I'm looking for? They are they are 100% what they practice what they preach, and there is what's the word I'm looking for there.

SPEAKER_02 44:40

Authentic. Authentic. And everybody I've ever seen. And the cool thing about those guys, too, and there's other people too, like uh Rusty Creasy this year, first time meeting him at the Ducks Expo. Like he's awesome. There's other like there's these people that like you look at them from like our perspective, right? And we're like, dude, these guys are so cool. Like, you know, it's like Bill Jordan when we were growing up, you know. It's when you finally meet some of these guys, you're like, and it's still so cool to just shake their hand, but like they're so like take the time to like talk with you as a boy and all that. 100% that it's just it for some reason, I feel like we get this like persona of like not from them, but just anybody that you see on TV or YouTube or whatever, that like I don't know, it's like it feels like you're meeting a celebrity, and it's yeah, and really honestly, in our world, they kind of are like you yes, a hundred percent. There's people that are coming up and shaking their hand all day long, and all I see when we're at ducks is them taking the time to be nice and talk to people.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

That's why they are where they are.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

Oh, yeah. I still remember when I met I still remember when I met Michael Waddell for the first time. He signed, I was I was like 11 years old, and he was at a Bass Pro doing an autograph signing, and he took he he took the you know the five, 10 minutes to sit there and talk to me, and that meant the world to me. Yeah, you know, and that those guys like that, and another guy that has been super influential to me in the hunting industry is Ed Ed Wall.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

Um, the videographer guy.

SPEAKER_04 46:06

Yes, he man, he has been such an inspiration to me on how I look at hunting and how I enjoy hunting. Like that guy would rather have a camera and his and then a gun in his hands. Like he it's in like he's a wizard with a camera, but the type of guy he is is is unmatched. Um, like this year we had up at Crash Landing, we had Dylan Marlowe, the country singer. Oh, yeah. Um he came and played for we did a wings and strings event. So we did a dove hunt and then we did a concert after that Dylan Marlowe played for us.

SPEAKER_02 46:36

Very cool. And I love Dylan Marlowe.

SPEAKER_04 46:39

Oh he's so funny. His him and his manager are awesome. Him and Screech, his whole band, they're all great guys, but um they uh they came and we, you know, Ed was there and we had there's probably 250 people at this event, probably. And just to see like the community aspect of like all the stuff coming together, because we had Shields out there, we had Drake out there, we had Ducks Unlimited out there. So like when you when you see, and we're in rural Oklahoma, so like we have we have people from Tulsa, Oklahoma City, but then we have farmers that you know we lease from or whatever that are coming to the event. So it's such such a big mingle of people that have one that are there for one thing, and that's the hunting community. And that's and that's something Ed captures in a lot of his videos that is unbelievable. And he's been a huge inspiration to me when it comes to being a person or even in the hunting industry.

SPEAKER_01 47:30

That's awesome. That's you know, um, I'm I'm kind of going back with something we were talking about earlier, and that was gonna talk about, you know, we got off on something else, but you know, every time when we have this podcast, and we ask people, you know, hey, what do you do? You know, that's been a goal of mine this whole past year is that and I I want to push this on every person that we talk to and every person that listens to this. Most of us, the ginormous part of us that do this have a day job. Yeah. We need to be networking folks. We need to be talking because guess what? Man, that it's the most tightest trusted community of people that I've ever met in my life. Like, there's so many people that I know we can all say this, whether no matter what you hunt, that you're like, gosh, man, I've only known them two years, but I felt like I know them all my life. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What else could you ask for in somebody that you could network with that is vetted, that you know they're a good person, you can trust what they say, you know, that I think that we're leaving a lot of money on the table professionally by not just not just through social media, but sitting in the blind at a hunting camp, whatever. Man, take the time to do what we do with every guest and say, what do you do for a living?

Networking Through Hunting Camps

SPEAKER_04 48:57

It's like yeah, it's like it's like golf. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the the the the the you know the networking of golf. Like it's the same thing in hunting, especially when you're at a hunting lodge with guys you don't know. Like I can't tell you how many times when I was guiding, like that I could have maybe had a job opportunity if I would have pursued it. Like just you just gotta talk. Yeah, like just it didn't and just be yourself, man. Like you you have a common interest in hunting. What do you do? That's all you need. Yeah, that's all you gotta do.

SPEAKER_01 49:26

What do you do for a living? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:28

I'm kind of interested, Hunter, like of of your time guiding out there. And you know, I one of the things that we say a lot and talk about with guides is like, you know, in the slow days, you kind of have gotta be a good talker to kind of entertain the blind, right? Oh yeah, and I'm interested to hear about your time out there.

SPEAKER_04 49:44

Man, it was it was uh craft training is one of the premier duck hunting places to go shoot ducks. Um, and it's it's why like it's been slow the past couple years, but that's not their fault, like it's not anyone's fault. It's just there's not been a ton of birds.

SPEAKER_01 49:58

But must mean the whole Oklahoma people think all the ducks went to Arkansas, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:02

And it's it's it's vice, you know, vice versa. All the ducks in Arkansas and Oklahoma or Mississippi, right? But you know, guiding there, you meet so many people, like you learn to make it more of an experience if it's a slow day. Yeah, like you learn for to let them cherish more of the hunt, like, but also at the same time, like they're gonna enjoy a 10 bird hunt more than I'm going, or like more than like I would if like I was like grinding and scouting, like I do. Like if we had a rough day, like four guys are gonna enjoy 10 birds way more than like four guides are gonna enjoy 10 birds, just because in our in our brains, like we want the best, right? More than your clients want. Yeah, exactly. Like, we know, and I don't think some people realize that when they come hunting, like we want to kill, like we love to kill ducks so much, like we want you to kill ducks.

SPEAKER_01 50:47

Like, we're out here busting ass like on every single week.

SPEAKER_04 50:51

Yeah, we wouldn't be doing it if we didn't.

SPEAKER_01 50:54

Yeah, they don't realize they don't know.

SPEAKER_04 50:56

There's a reason why there's two of us hunting and there's six of us on the road. Like, like, not all of us, you know, guides guiding is not just hunting, you know, there's so many hours on the road, and there's uh ahead of time. Relationship, you know, another thing is relationships with farmers. Yeah, you know, it's like getting to know the farmers in your area can only benefit you. What they're gonna plant the year after that, like getting that imprint in the area is so important. And it's my time out there was unbelievable, man. Like we a funny story. We went to uh we used to we used to go to the there's a cass, it's called the hub. It's a it's a bowling alley, movie theater, casino, all in one arcade, all in one place.

SPEAKER_01 51:40

I'm going.

SPEAKER_04 51:41

It's all in one place. Well, obviously, there's really nothing to do around there, so we'd go a lot. Um, and we would take the clients sometimes, and I oh we had these clients in one time, and we're sitting at the bike, and they would open up a black chick table for us. We knew all the dealers and stuff, and we're sitting there, and I you know, I'm I'm playing with my tip money from that week, and I got I got a$25 chip out there, and I'm playing, and they and the client comes behind me, and his his accent, he's like, Brooke money, don't make money, honna. And I was like, Wait, I was like, What are you talking about? Louisiana guy? Yeah, and he he he threw he throws a he throws a hundred dollar bill at me, he goes, put a black chip out there. I was like, I'm not I'm not playing a hundred dollars a hand in blackjack, you're crazy. And he goes, Each time you lose, I'll cover your bet. I rattle off, I rattle off eight in a row that I lost. Oh no. Every time I lose, he's throwing a hundred dollar bill on me. Every time I lose. And I get to the point where and then I rattled off ten in a in a row winning, like winning. I won ten in a row, and now I'm up a thousand dollars. You know, I'm I'm grinning ear to ear. I'm like, here man, take your money. And he like, and they're like, no, you guys have it, like enjoy your night. And then they go home, like stuff like that. Like you didn't a lot of people don't see like people come out there, they're so happy just to be there, be away. And it's it's also like corporate court if it's if it's a corporate, you know, sponsored event, if it's a family uh coming every year. Like we had uh if you guys have um Harold Varner the third, he's a golfer, used to play on the PJ tour, he's on he's on a live tour now. Um, he came and hunt with us every year.

SPEAKER_02 53:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 53:14

Um, so and uh we got to know his group, and we had the same routine every time he came in. And he flew in, you know, we'd have a big dinner, go shoot hogs at night. Next morning we're waking up to go hunt, then then he's taking a nap, then we're gonna go shoot stuff and some geese in the evening. And then like, but he brought his best friends, he didn't bring like celebrities and stuff with him. He just brought his best friends and his best friend dad. And it was a yearly trip for them. And he was and he and he would tell us, like, this is my one getaway. Yeah, like this is my time to get away from the craziness. And a lot of like when celebrities would come home with us, that's what it was like. Like, I my goal when celebrities came to town is treat them like humans. Like, don't like, yes, you can tell them like, hey, I love your stuff, or like you can compliment them, but don't put them on a pedestal to the point of like where you can't have a normal interaction with them.

SPEAKER_01 54:02

Exactly. They don't they they're getting trying to be there to get away from you. Yeah, like some of the like like Cindy paparazzi.

SPEAKER_04 54:08

Yeah, like Cindy Wells came and hunted with us. She was she was super cool. Um, Brentley Gilbert was one of the guys that was super fun to hunt with, him and the first form guys, like some of the like and they come in and they're just they just have fun.

unknown 54:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 54:22

And you know, and they put on a full experience there at Crash. They have a chef, um, their lodge is insane. They got a wetland behind the lodge where you can watch ducks go into it. Um, it's it's a it's a special place that a lot of people um should get to see, and they they've done a great, great, you know, great job with that place.

Workload, Miles, And What Clients Don’t See

SPEAKER_02 54:39

That's awesome, man. How'd you end up uh end up getting a getting a gig there? Uh that's actually I DM'd them on Instagram. No kidding.

SPEAKER_04 54:48

I yeah, so I saw they had a job posting and um and I saw that the guy who the the part the co-owners Mac Moncton. It's Mac Moncton and Archie Bradley who co-own it together. And I saw me and Mac Mac had you know mutuals on Instagram, so I DM him, and it turns out like my best friend, his older brother was Mac's best friend. So then like our lives just kind of got jumbled together, and then we went out to lunch. And I honestly I didn't get the job at first. Like I didn't get it. He called me right before the split ended and was like, Hey, do you want the job for the rest of the year? And I was like, I'll be there, I'll be there the first day after split. So I I literally quit my job. I drove I just drove straight up there right after split, and then it was history after that. Like I was up there the pretty much the whole time after that. It's it's a like it's a you know, it's a funny story, like you DM somebody on Instagram for a job, but like it's one of those things I was like, well, might as well. What's the worst game? What's he gonna tell me no?

SPEAKER_02 55:53

Close my club's masks don't get fed, dude. Yeah, like what are you gonna close down to?

SPEAKER_01 55:56

Yeah, I always respect people like that when I was in management, is that like anybody that reaches out like an alternative way or something like that? I think there's a lot of managers just go like that. But to me, being that I've sat there and and bit the belt on sales myself, you know, no different than when a young person comes to my door and knocks on the door to sell me siding or roofing or something like that. I always, of course, I'm like, gosh dang it. I'm like, I'm gonna let them, I'm gonna let them tell me their pitch. Yeah, that's how I tell you.

SPEAKER_04 56:33

It's funny. I mean, I almost got roped into solar one time. They almost got me.

SPEAKER_02 56:38

Um shoot. Okay, hold on. All right, I got it back now. All right, so we always like to, you know, talk with guides and outfitters, or people have done it before, you know. It's it's one of those things that obviously when you do, there's a trade-off because you're doing it because you love it, but at the same time, then you're taking what you love and making it work. And there's a lot that goes into it. And I think there's a lot of young, young folks that rightfully so. I think if you want to be a guide, I think that's an awesome experience. You should go do it. But also, there's also folks that do it and they're like, oh my god, I did not realize how much work this is. So I would love to just have you, Hunter, just tell kind of like the behind the scenes of like what goes into it, man, and what what you what kind of effort it takes to be successful.

SPEAKER_04 57:22

Right. So at Crash, we use we typically got there um a couple weeks before season. Um, you know, we're brushing in A-frames. We primarily hunt out of A-frames in Oklahoma. We primarily hunt cattle ponds and fields when it's cold. And if it's hunting the river, we're just hunting the trees. But um, you know, we're we're brushing in blinds, um, we're scouting two weeks before, we're locking up leases. Um, and then like it's pretty much routine after that. Like, if you're not hunting, you're scouting. So like if if you're not taking a group, a group of clients out, like you're on the road. Um, like I averaged like 25,000 miles of duck season when I was when I was working there. Um and that's and that's just you know, even morning and evening scout every day. Yeah. Um and what you know, what a lot of people don't see is like we like we we love hunting. And you know, guiding you're not really hunting, right? You you get to take other people hunting. So a lot of us miss hunting. So we want you to kill as many ducks as possible. It's like when when you go on a bad hunt and like you, you let's just, for example, if anyone out there is kind of you know griped at their guides, like it, they're I promise you, they're doing their best. Like they they want you to succeed more than you do. I think that they and some people don't realize that. And behind the scenes, man, it's it's a lot of it's a lot of guys that just love hunting. And I think you, you know, when you're guiding, I can promise you this, you're gonna miss hunting with your friends. Like you're gonna miss being able to go out with your buddies on a random Saturday to hunt. And that's not because that's anything bad, but that it's your job now. Like you're there, like I was there from let's just say, you know, the last week of October to the first week of February. So that's that's duck season, that's deer season, that's you know, and and we're I'm taking one day off for holiday um for Christmas, and then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. And we'll go on maybe, you know, we'll we'll go on three or four buddy buddy hunts a year. We call buddy hunts, which are just guide hunts where it's just the guides, and those are super fun. Yeah, but it's it's more work than people think, man. It's those guys grind. Um the any outfitter, they grind for what they have. And you know, you see those guys, like I said, I I was putting 25,000 miles on average on my truck when I was working there every season. So that's crazy. It's not it's not for the faint of heart. Like you gotta you gotta be like, you know, you gotta like you gotta like work because it's not I mean don't get me wrong, it's hunting, man. Like yeah, I would do it all the time. But I I can't tell you how many times I've stabbed my hands with with brush without gloves on, and I wanted to MF everyone in the county. Like I I or or you know, vice versa. If like I still remember the first my first ever first time I ever took clients out, my first like actual guided hunt, I shut my thumb in my truck door before leaving on the hunt, and it locked.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:16

Oh so you had to unlock it.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:18

Oh, oh my and my thumb, the whole hunt.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:21

I was just like, bro, that happened to your hand when you were a kid.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:24

Yeah, just get like just get I was like, just man, I was like, just get me home, just get me home, just get me home. I remember we were hunting a place called Square Pond, and we were just beating them. Like, I think I think we shot 34 by 745 or something like that, and we were packing up and getting out of there. And you know, a lot of people don't realize too, like when the clients come in, we have stuff ready for them, man. They're pulling in, getting in the blind, and pulling away. And then when they leave, they get in their trucks and leave, we take everything, unload them off the trailers and go. So I mean, uh, it's a premier experience. Like, like you get what you pay for, like you see all these prices for guiding, like for the food, the lodging, you know, for what you're really getting to do, it the price it makes sense. The experience is unlike any other because you're not gonna be able to and the realistic because you're not gonna be able to do it on public land.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:13

That's just the reality. What does it run out there? Just curious.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:15

Man, it's it's changed. Um, I I I don't know off the top of my head. Uh, probably roughly 1400. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:22

So you're looking like something like comparable to like a honeybreak experience.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:26

Yeah, a hundred a hundred percent. Okay, I mean they have their their lodge is trying to think here, one, two, it can sleep one uh bedwise, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, sixteen. There's sixteen beds in the main lodge. Wow. I'm pretty sure. And then it has a giant living room, a giant back patio. I mean, the kitchen is their Instagram has a whole drone video of it, but it's it's it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:51

And then the guide shack is you got a chef and oh yeah.

Veterans, Youth Hunts, And Meaning

SPEAKER_04 1:01:55

I mean, the guide shack's just as nice, it's the same thing as the lodge, just smaller. It's on the same piece of property, it's like probably half a mile away on the same piece of property. And we just so we I mean we we stayed there and then we'd go up to the house for dinner sometimes, and then or if we're not, we would just we went to Chili's. I don't know. We went to I'd love to go to Chili's, but yeah, it's yeah, we like that's the thing too, is like we still had to like find time to have a life too. Like, because you get so caught up in hunting, sometimes you need just a break. That's why I would go gamble, or like the one or the one time it's not 32 degrees outside, we go play the municipal nine-hole golf course in black Oklahoma. You know, it's it's it's fun. And uh a lot of the guides there, like I worked with a guide, he was a professional baseball player, so you know, towards the end of season, I'd start playing catch with him because he was getting ready for you know to go back to spring training, you know, stuff like that. So like you get to meet so many people doing so many different things. It's it's it's pretty it's pretty wild.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:55

Yeah, I I will say this, you know, I I got the opportunity to our buddy Kay that runs Delta Thunder Outfair is an artheus, Arkansas, you know, I got the ability to to go out and while I was in between jobs and to learn how to snow goose guide. And I've never been afraid of work, you know. I I'm a pretty active person and stuff like that, but um, and I've got a determination, I feel like, a lot of times that that is pretty tough and pretty good and all that kind of stuff. And self-reflecting on that, that situation to me, and compared to I I've I've professionally guided deer hunts in Illinois, you know, and I knew going into it that I'm not gonna sleep. Yeah, I knew it or what you better get used to it, yeah. And but you know what? I definitely it was one of those things looking back on that I look, especially like as as a 50, I think I was 52 at the time. The endurance that I had to put in to make that happen tested me. Yeah, it really tested me. Oh and when I see like guys that are like Tristan's age, your age, that kind of thing, and it's testing them. I gotta tell you guys, I felt like kind of stubbed. Honestly, I'll be I kind of did. I felt like I lost a lot of weight. I will tell you that. Like, we used to joke around and be like, any, any, anytime, like Cave to have a new guide sign up or something like that, we'd be like, Yep, that belly you got right there, it'll be gone in 60 days. I promise you that. If you're doing what you're supposed to do, it will be gone. You lose your you can eat the shittiest gas. Oh, yeah, and McDonald's, yeah, and monsters and all that stuff. And next thing you know, you know, your doctor's like, that's the healthiest you've ever been.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:45

You're like, we would we would buy 20 cases of Red Bull before season, and and we like it's and like the amount of caffeine, like the amount of caffeine that we would go through is unfathomable to some people. Like, I think he was not wrong, though. Like you losing weight, like you're if you're you're always doing stuff, but like I like you're about to learn how to lose weight and you're about to learn how to drink a lot of beer, is about two things you're about to learn how to do, and you're about to get really good at both. So and like it's it's there's a lot of stuff that you get to experience as a guide that you don't get to experience as a hunter, and there's a lot of stuff you could do you don't know that you'll ever get to experience if you never guided. So it's you learn how to deal with people, you learn how to deal with people's emotions, and it's because you know they're not always happy. Like we we've done deer hunts too, like they do deer hunts up there. Um, every well, actually, this year, every single deer hunter that came left with a deer. Um and I think their biggest deer was I think it I think it was 178 or something like that this year. It was it was incredible. Those deer up there, man, are like I would come not to blow up their spot, but like up there is comparable to Kansas, man. It's it's pretty wild.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:54

Wow. Well, you know, and here's the other thing I think that at least that that touched me as a guy. that I didn't know going in. Like he I think I'm I think I know, but I don't know. And that is each people each group that I guided, or each person, I'll even say that, each person that I guided what I felt was a right that they gave me was to let me be part of an experience for them. 100%. I I felt like I was humbled by that. You know, I was like, man, these people, this might be the only time they ever go. Or there might be a hunt that is dedicated to a person that passed away, you know, or their dog or whatever it might be, man. And that's to me was like the A plus part.

Memory, Media, And The Power Of Stories

SPEAKER_04 1:06:48

Oh yeah. One of my favorite hunts was that the guide was the Veterans Hunt. That was one of my the Veterans and Youths hunt. That was one of my favorite ones because a lot of the times we c we comp you know we would do giveaways and comp a lot of them and stuff. So it was fun because they'd just come up for the day. They wouldn't stay the weekend because it's just a you know a one-day deal. But could change the 100% like we've had guys come up there like that don't even they don't even hunt. They just come to the like the little after party we do after that feed them and just come and hang out. It's you know you don't realize how much like the hunting community can do for like your soul. Everyone's nice to everyone you're gonna get your outliers but that's with any community ever. Like you got your outliers that are the assholes you got your out you know the outliers that like don't want other people to succeed but in my opinion the hunting industry is one of those places that like most people want us everyone to succeed. Like everyone wants to do well. And that's what's so that's what's so fun about it. Like you get to meet people like you get to root on guys that you've never met before in in you know Canada going up there in August to shoot ducks you know or you get to root for guys in Utah that you know they haven't seen a mallard in three years but they kill one like you're like oh you know and like stuff like stuff like that like you know it's it's it's so cool to get to share these experiences people especially now with social media like I couldn't imagine what it was like that's why I love the stories because before social media and before pictures that's all you had was your word of mouth. Yeah so that's what's so cool to me and I think that's something that I shouldn't be lost in translation of social media is I think that's why podcasts are so big. At the end of the day people love hearing people talk yeah it's whether it's political whether it's storytelling whether it's murder mystery like whatever it is like people just love to hear people talk and I'm I just happen to be one of the people I'm really good at talking. So I I like it's it's it's pretty it's it's fun to me it makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:47

Yeah dude I I think um I was just gonna say I think it's just it's it's incredibly cool to to like circle this with the fact that you're taking all these and that you're putting them into what you're doing. Yeah because at the end of the day it is about like I'm thinking back I say I say this all the time but there's so many memories that I have that I just shared a couple pictures with Tristan last night only because my mom just happened to have them. Yeah all right if she didn't happen to have that dude I would have never even that wouldn't I I just I would never had that picture to think back on or that memory or whatever it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:32

And you all are so awesome to have this technology to share all this stuff and to be able to share these experiences and and and to put all this stuff down and man it's just it's an incredible place to be from a memory standpoint and and I mean that's one of the greatest things about social media that's yeah that's what I was gonna say like tier tier point hunter is just uh you know social media gets a bad rap in a lot of ways but one of the great things about it is to be able to capture you know those memories you know that right me and me and him have always said like worst case scenario like obviously why does anybody do anything in the outdoor industry because we all love it and it'd be cool if that was our day job one day uh but for the reality of most of us that's not ever going to be the case but but we always said from the very beginning like worst case scenario we're gonna have these conversations and have these YouTube videos that we can watch 20 years from now of us and those memories would have been gone you know yeah 100% and like that's why I said like the pictures the pictures are so cool to me and and it'll never those will never go away especially now that we're digital um you know seeing those pictures but I'm actually working on something um right now to give a little sneak peek I'm doing um a Polaroid collection so I'm gonna come out with a a series of stories that are are Polaroids only.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:02

I've kind of I kind of reached out to guys before duck season started and told them hey if you have a Polaroid camera take it with you and find me the best photo and we're gonna do a contest and this and we're gonna do a Polaroid contest which will be pretty cool. I'm excited to do that like stuff like that's so fun because you can get like the feel you can still like like you can feel how it was like back in the day for some people that aren't like I'm not old enough to know what it was like when Polaroids first came out and so like my first phone was an iPhone 4. It's like to think about like some of the stuff that I didn't get to experience before me it is exciting to me. And I know that's that's weird for some people to hear like oh young person wants to know what it was like back then. Like yeah I I wish sometimes I didn't have a phone to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:51

So like that's that stuff is so exciting to me to to well you're getting to the community and it's gonna be some old school stuff or whatever it might be. And that's the great thing man I mean I I'm envious of what you're doing because um yeah I'm gonna be following it left and right because I that just it just speaks to my blood to be quite honest with you.

Polaroids, Nostalgia, And Curation

SPEAKER_04 1:12:17

Yeah I appreciate that is just the people that have the passion to share that um thank you for people yeah for the right reasons yeah I appreciate like I never you know when I first started hunt hunt digest like I had no idea I was like man's a kind of cool idea you know let me what what do I like about hunting that not a lot of people do tell stories okay well you know some people tell stories over you know podcaster but no one posts their stories every time they go hunting so let me let me capture let me let me capture that and like people are so excited to do that. Like when I say hey like if I ever reach out to somebody like hey like I love your stuff love your pictures like what what happened on this like send me your story. They're oh man I'd love to um like that's because like they're so excited they get you know everyone gets to see their their story. Yeah you know like I had a picture uh when was it um it it would have been quite a while ago and and it was a story she killed an albino buck wow um which is crazy first of all but she had wrote the story about how she had a family member pass away and the neck like and the next day she just needed to get out there and so you know her uncle took her hunting and comes out an albino buck. Wow come on like that no one would have you know not she posted on her Instagram yeah but like just that I get to hear that like that that's all I care about like that's not fair like everybody needs to hear this. Yeah like yeah like like some of the like there's some of the stories like I wish I could sit down and interview guys like Jim Shockey or you know Michael Jim Ronquest I'd love to sit down with them like the wisdom that those guys have is unreal and one of the people that's really popular that I think does a phenomenal job of storytelling is meat eater obviously they're bigger than he's I could ever dream of being he's Steve Ronella is the very best advocate for for being a woodsman that yes there is I I mean Woodman says it right he's a he's a another huge inspiration to me because like you know I love the Joe Rogan podcast he's one of the guys that got Joe Rogan into hunting and then Joe Rogan realizes how peaceful and enjoyable hunting really is and then Joe Rogan gets people into hunting like you can tell how fast it can impact people in a in a world like in a world like even there it's like Cam Haynes is another guy is like he's made a huge impact.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:55

I just watched all of the the beginning of like the very first hunt honestly cam haynes is part of the inspiration on the tattoo I have I got arrow right there Cam's got a similar tattoo.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:07

Yeah but no he I watched the Rogan hunt on Meater here recently that's all I wanted to watch was like the progression of Joe Rogan just to watch him read his body language how he was experienced and honestly when him and the other comedian I can't think of Brian Callan. Yeah they showed up for their first hunt dude funny shit like they were prepared with their gear no no no no all this ritzy stuff all this everything and and dude he ground zeroed them and got them into the sport loving it and but I watched Joe progress and I've watched him talk and listened to him talk and it's it's it's been very cool because he's so um he's just so pure about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:56

Yeah the experience you know from an innocent standpoint well where he was and and that's what I think is great about um people that get into hunting at a older age because they look like I see it in my wife all the time like my wife never hunted anything before we got together and she's been on several duck hunts with us and um several turkey hunts and stuff like that and just her innocent takes an innocent like why does that do that? Why does that do that? Or what is this? You know and it's hilarious but at the same time it it really makes you stop and think like you're saying about Joe it's such a refreshing um perspective on it because us that do it all the time some of these things you know I was talking about earlier how it's so cool to see that sunrise or whatever and we take you know we take uh like that's what makes it for us or whatever. But like the mundane things like you know hey why'd you hang hang your uh tree stand up like that or why are you blowing your duck call like that that other people observe that are so commonplace to us it it's really refreshing to hear that like to your point.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:02

Yeah yeah no it really is it it is man and so that's why I watched that with him was just I just wanted to like in one night like feel what he was going through because now I I hear him talk about it all the time.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:19

Yeah he shoots like he shoots like 50 arrows a day 50 to 100 arrows a day.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:23

He's obsessed like and I'll tell you what that's amazing really well the other thing that was so cool is it's the only second time I ever heard it and I've taught so many people how to shoot a bow in my life and you know the first time I taught Drew Drew he just wanted to do it because we were doing it and true truly was coming from a world of yeah his family did it and stuff but he never got really into it that much you know more gun hunting than anything like that. But the first day that I had him over and we were pulling the bows back and shooting he shot like one or two arrows and he looked at me like real serious and he goes it's one of the few times in my entire life that when I pulled that bow back I couldn't think about nothing else. Nothing else was there. And Rogan said the same thing.

New Hunters, Meateater, And Rogan’s Arc

SPEAKER_04 1:18:13

Yeah he said the same thing about that and that's the only two times I've ever heard it in my life that's that's why so many veterans that get into the outdoors find so much peace and a gathering there's a few things in my life where I can feel like I have full control of how like of my you know of what's going on and when you pull back a bow is one of them like you're so in tune with your body of okay well I need to be here okay I need to watch my breaths okay let's you know and that's a thing that not a lot of people get to experience you know some people especially like not to knock LA but like you live in LA like you are not able to think like you are going going going like there's no there's no yeah there's no stopping so they don't know like they don't know what it's like to drive down a dirt road and be like wow that's a really I'm gonna you know I'm gonna stop in the middle of the road right here. No one's probably gonna come down the strode I'm just gonna sit here and look at this field for a second. Yeah you know that oh that you know that that cedar tree in the middle of a wide open field why is it there? Yeah that's a really pretty like they don't they don't understand that.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:20

And that's so true dude. I love I mean those just like to uh on your point real quick is just those moments that um you you can get away to actually think like the amount of like they're not I hate hate to call them good ideas because they're really not a lot of them are bad ideas but the fact that you get to a place where you can have ideas that to me is like when I know I'm in like a relaxation like I can think.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:48

Yeah it's therapeutic. Yeah sorry it is it is no um I was just gonna say that you know when you talk about people from LA and that kind of thing you know I won't ever forget and it's funny you know there's so many things I have forgotten and I can't tell you the 70 plus deer I've shot every single one of them because I didn't have social media and all those things and pictures and all that stuff to record them all. But here's the thing that I do remember and I was hunting public land in Illinois one time and I shot a doe it was a pretty big doe. But you know to us all hunting in Illinois and the golden triangle is like eh it's a doe you know whatever these three guys the Hispanic guys came all the way from New York because they heard about Illinois had big deer and I was thinking gosh damn New York's got big deer way too far. You know Pennsylvania's got big deer there's a lot of big deer states along the way but they came out there and I'll never forget that this guy came up to me never hunted before in his life and he was going to go hunting for the first time the next morning and he had never seen number one a dead animal and number two an Illinois deer. And he we talked around that deer for three hours. I ain't kidding you and today I look back on that you know that was ninety late nineties sometime but why do I remember that and it was that person that I got to be a part of his life for a moment that shoot who knows man that dude might be smoking record books now you know that kind of thing but man that meant so much to me I didn't even realize it I'm gonna admit at the time I just was thought it was cool that this person lived on pavement and I didn't yeah and I'm teaching them my side of the life you know what I mean so intrigued and just blown away by it. So I don't know man I guess I guess um I guess that just goes in full circle with uh us all being ambassadors of the sport and just man you never know you know I guess from a selfish standpoint you run into somebody in New York and you teach them how to hunt and they're a multimillionaire they might buy you some shit.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:04

Yeah man uh to touch on the point of like not seeing a dead animal for the first time like when you kill your first animal and you walk up to it whether it be a duck or a deer but I'll use a deer example like you have a different appreciation of life because when you walk up to it like yes you did take an animal's life but when you get out in there and get down close to it and you can feel that you know you can feel its coat um and you you have a different appreciation for what you have it's it's it's very you know euphoric in in an aspect of like and I I say this like in in my head like this is this is not like I it's me versus you like like hunting is it's it's not a it's a it's a game but at the same time it's like it's a it's the chase and like you know when you win that chase you have that moment like oh my gosh I just I I just killed a massive buck oh my gosh and then you walk up to it and you're like man that that was a life yeah and and that's a moment I think a lot of people I have to process in different ways but I it's it's a it's a moment in a in a person's hunting career that's important because I feel like if you don't do it the right way or don't think of it the right way it can ruin hunting for you too.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:23

Yeah no I I gotta I mean me personally I struggle a lot with people that like you know I mean again back to the net positive hunting thing like if you're in hunting it's good but I I have a hard time with people that don't really have that same like value because there's been certain things that have happened to me throughout my like and it's primarily deer hunting which I hate to say because for whatever reason ducks don't have the same effect on me as a big game animal.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:50

No oh no it it not to me either it's it's it's it's it's really different especially when you're walking up to a a uh you know a 200 pound Kansas buck comparative to walking up to a you know a greenhead it it is it's a different feeling because it's a it's a lot closer to you.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:05

Yeah you know it's it's it's very it feels a little more real in the in the aspect of that 100% it's it's just like there's this uh emotion attached to it that you know that like you said you gotta kinda gotta process and when I was young I didn't really understand that and as I've got older it's got it's gotten harder and I you know that's why they say like in your hunter safety class right like the progression of a hunter and when you become that trophy hunter and then after that you become just you want to watch everyone else have success and just like the progression of it all it it really makes sense because you you get the full picture of it.

City Pace vs Outdoor Stillness

SPEAKER_04 1:24:40

Yeah like I I honestly I'm to the point like I've killed I've killed a lot of ducks. I'm 22 and I've killed a lot of ducks but like I enjoy going out there and like sometimes I don't even shoot my gun. Yeah like I like watching birds work or something like that is more fun to me than like actually pulling the trigger half the time and or or running the dog. Like I love running a dog. Like that's something you know it's and watch because other people you know really enjoy shooting but it's it's it's it's something that a lot of people like like we've talked about this whole podcast though like people don't some people don't understand some of the benefits that being outdoors has for for you whether you're fishing or hunting and just being being outside I it's it's a lost it's a lost art in a lot of places. And like um I thought like there's many many things that you can do like to get people back into hunting and fishing like you know classes and stuff. But I think now more than ever people are starting to realize how important the out outdoors is like you know climate course correcting yeah it's it's and it's nice to see you know it's it's never been it's never been as big as it is now. Like I didn't go to the NWTF. I wish I did but me too many I want to go next year but like I went to the Delta Waterfall expo in Oklahoma City last year and I met people I met people there that have never even don't even know what hunting are but saw there was a cool expo in town and coming in. So like those expos have such an impact on a lot of people that I think that's another huge thing that you know us as as as hunters can be involved in is like go up to that person that doesn't really look like they know what's going on and talk to them. Like and then and then because like that one good interaction turns into oh you know maybe I'll go to Best Pro and buy a fishing pole or maybe whatever those things like maybe what is you know what do I do how do I do this and they YouTube a video and all of a sudden you know they're hunting all the time. Like I know one guy that I watch a ridiculous amount is the outdoor boys.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:54

I freaking quit making videos race yeah I freaking love that guy because he has such an appreciation just for the outdoors and sometimes when he hunts he has no idea what he is talking about.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:09

Yeah like but I've seen him duck hunting it's it's hilarious. Yeah it's because it's the innocence of it yeah it's coming about yeah it's com like when he when he switched to he started videos he would post every Saturday and then he switched to every other Saturday before he quit overall and he switched from every Saturday to every other Saturday people were outraged because people were like that was my Saturday routine man like I watched you camp for three days wow you know who I'm on a big kick with is that's Xander Butnick.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:45

Yeah he's good too and his brother put some stuff out too and I'm really trying to get Tristan on him and he'll he'll be so innocent some things like like a goose might fly by and be like look at that Canada goose and I'm Like, dude, that's Snacklebelly. But but what the reason why I love watching him is it's truly somebody that was not engaged in the outdoors at all, had a an addiction, beat the addiction, and found outdoors as the outlet for that, and now he's blowing up. He's a good looking guy, he's a badass, he goes out there and lives in the Amazon for a week or whatever it is. And you know, he I I wouldn't classify him as a hunter, but boy, is he impacting a lot of people getting the outdoors. Yeah, I think you know what I mean. A lot of people.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:37

I think outdoorsmen, I think outdoorsmen are just important as hunters, though, too.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:42

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 1:28:42

And and and that's like because like people that love to go camping, okay, you might not like hunting. Like, I uh I can understand, I truly can understand if you don't like hunting. Yeah, like if you don't like taking life of an animal, I can understand that. It's something that's and but being outside is completely different. Like starting a fire. Like, I can't tell you the first fire of the fall deer season, let's go, that smell is like I would I could bathe in that smell. Like I like I I love that shit.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:15

Like, yes, I used to like drink beers being completely uh honest. I drink beers down here in the studio, you know, and then I when I smoked, I would be like, I would have the occasional late night. I'm not going outside, I'm gonna drink down here. Well, anyway, it got smell like smoke in here. So then so what I started to do is grab some oak leaves. I burned them in here, and I was like, Well, that smells good. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, so anyway, but but no, um man, it's it's it's one hell of a life.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:48

Yeah, we got hey, we got turkey season right around the corner. I'm excited, I'm about to eat it up, man. I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna try to kill Miriam this year. We'll see how it goes.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:57

Good luck out there, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:00

I just put it so uh my family's place up in Kansas. We have roughly uh we have a lot of land that we can we have access to hunting.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:08

Oh, sweet.

SPEAKER_04 1:30:09

And so I put in for my draw up there for turt for turkeys, and I hopefully my goal is to kill one in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma this year. That's my goal is to kill the four do the four states there. And then I'm going um my buddy actually has property up in Colorado. And I hope hopefully can get up there and kill a Miriam. It's I've heard it's pretty tough, but yeah, them mountain birds, I hear it's a whole different game. Yeah, it's it's unbelievable. Like I Rios are stupid. Like I could shoot a Rio wearing all orange, probably, but I think the best turkey hunters are the guys in the south that have to hunt the easters and the hardwoods. They they take the cake every single time. Like, I you go up, you go up and like a guy that hunts easters his whole life, and then you take him on a Rio hunt in western Oklahoma, he's he's gonna feel like he's playing on a seven-foot basketball goal.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:07

That's Caden, our buddy.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:09

Yeah, I mean, I I'd put I I I'd put Osceolas up there too, because just yeah, the lack of vocalization with those that makes it tough, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:18

Yeah, the dream. I just pulled a uh lottery hunt up here that a place that we we deer hunt that um I've been putting in for for this. Is I had four preference points, so I guess this was the fifth year I put in for it, and uh it's a week and it's before you know they open it up to everybody else, and there's definitely turkeys on it, and there's only 10 people, it's 2200 acres, which I'm like, uh don't I mean odds are people are gonna find where the turkeys are, probably gonna run into each other. But I'm I'm super like this is the most excited I've ever been about turkey hunting because it's in my backyard basically.

Deer, Ducks, And Processing The Kill

SPEAKER_04 1:31:53

Yeah, I killed I killed my first Kansas turkey last year, and it was like it's it's uh turkey hunting's hard to beat, especially when they come like if you've never done it and you and you like hunting and that that bird comes in full strut and you you can't move a muscle, like it's those things are so pretty. It's it's so awesome. I I I I eat it up. I I turkey hunting, it's almost number one. It's hard, it's hard to beat. I I eat it up.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:25

Well, if you if you need a uh turkey post, uh another filler turkey post in your rotation. Um I'm about to drop a YouTube video, but I got pictures of it too, obviously. We um long story short, um, if you anybody who's listening to this heard Colton Bailey on the podcast, we talked about it. But I went out there and filmed this turkey hunt last year for my buddies, and long story short, we see these turkeys in the uh field 700 yards away, crawl down this freaking ditch, get to this, like get to like 250 yards away, call him. Sure enough, he starts coming, and then he shoots this this bird comes in, and you know when like they know something's up and they start doing that, like yeah, you know, that's what this bird starts doing is like KR buddies like shoot him, and uh he shoots him and the bird goes straight up in the air and takes off flying, and he's like he gets up and he's washing him and he's like, Oh, he's going down, and it was like watching a goose go down, you know. And these guys take off sprinting, dude.

SPEAKER_04 1:33:23

Oh, the fast I think I think my 40 time if I shoot a turkey is probably better than any other time.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:28

That's exactly what it was.

SPEAKER_04 1:33:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:30

And they got it, thank God.

SPEAKER_04 1:33:32

It's it's it's unreal. Like I uh running after it, didn't you? That's so yeah, yeah. Any any videos or like shoot them, like shoot them over. I'll always I'll always take a look at them. But the awesome man yeah, turk chasing after a turkey after you just shot it, it's is like I'm not like don't get me wrong, I I don't I'm not in the the best shape, but I turn into a premier athlete when it comes to chasing all the dopamine kicks in, but oh it takes it it takes over. Like I you I mean that's really the only thing you besides like a I mean you don't chase after a deer, like you know you let it you let it run off, but like I've had turkeys like I mean I've I've been in circle chases with turkeys that I've I've shot like like you know when you're chasing that goose across the field and you're trying to you're swiping at it like that's so true.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:26

You're about to have a heart attack.

SPEAKER_04 1:34:27

Oh yeah, like you're like you you shot all your shells already, you got no shells. It's 200 yards back to the the layout blind. You have to get this goose. Oh yeah, and your buddy's back there with his phone looking at the video, and you're like an idiot. Oh, it's and then and you you have to make a decision. Do I dive on this? Do I dive on this goose right now?

SPEAKER_01 1:34:46

Yeah, hey, you ever you ever get I tried to kick one one time, you have to mouth freaking threw my leg out of something, bro?

SPEAKER_02 1:34:52

You ever you ever get a cripple where you're like you we all know better than this when you go out there take six shells, okay? But you never do, you never do, and then you just take your three. And do you ever I'm sure you've had this guiding where you get it on the last shot and you're like, thank god. Oh yes.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:10

So actually, we when we when we had Brantley Gilbert in town, we split up our groups and we did a they had like 10 guys, so we did we did five versus five on the their last hunt, and we were we were slowing down bird like bird-wise, but I think it was like 9:30, probably we were about to call it. They had to catch a plane, you know, they had to get back on their bus and go catch a plane. Yeah. Well, we said, all right, 30 more minutes of hunting, and we're obviously both groups are lying to each other about how many ducks we have. And but at we didn't know we were tied at the time. Yeah. And this teal I you know, I the guides most of the time set on the uh the edges, the ends. And I'm sitting on the right end, and we're having this thing we call the teal pond, and it's kind of split into two different ponds, and there's and this duck lanes about 50 yards, this teal lane's about 50 yards away to my right. And they're like, I wanna shoot it. And I'm like, I don't, I'm not gonna be able to kill that thing. Like, it's 50 yards away. They're like, shit, that could make us win. And I you know, and I'm I'm sneaking up. I probably get 30 yards away from this thing, and I miss all three, just I've never been so embarrassed as a guide. Like, I just whiffed a water swat. Are you kidding me? Like, and we get back to the lodge, and they're like, How many birds you kill? You're like, eight, we shot 18. Like, that sucks, man. We shot 19.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:39

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 1:36:42

So uh I had to I had to take the shame of being the guy that made us lose the the 5v5 hunting challenge. That was that was a tough one to swallow.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:51

We actually we had a I had a snow goose that did that to me, and I went out with three shells, and I went out there and I put it right on him, dude. Nothing. All three shots pisses me out of it. Unfortunately, then my anger got it got a little aggressive when I went and got him. You know, when I not to be too graphic, but when I went to do the whole neck twist thing, I guess I had a little bit more adrenaline than I thought, and I was holding something in my hand in the body.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:19

I mean, I've done that.

SPEAKER_04 1:37:21

Like, I still remember the first time I cage and crunched one. What's a cage and crunch? You don't know what that is? Oh no. Oh, it's when you say you know what like a finisher thing, yeah. You do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:37:35

Oh, oh the cage and crunch.

SPEAKER_04 1:37:38

The Louisiana guys are like, You've never cage and crunched a duck? And I was like, dude, what are you talking? Like, what are you talking about? That is something they would do though. And and oh yeah, they they they tried to tell me that ringneck tastes the best too. Like, come on. Oh like what are we doing? No, no hate on how like no, no, no, no. They they think ringnecks taste the best eating them too.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:59

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:37:59

Yeah, but the lighting thing, I finally did it, and it was never again.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:05

I don't know who did it, but yeah, I've seen that too.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:07

Those Louisiana people, no hate on how you guys cook, love your guys' food. Yeah, they're built different. Anything is going to taste good when you cook it in gravy for 12 hours. I like anything's gonna like, yeah, ringneck's gonna be tender when it's been in gravy for 12 hours. Like, I don't know what else to tell you.

SPEAKER_05 1:38:24

Like they call it uh uh poodo.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:28

Yeah, or no, no, no, no. That's not ringneck.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:30

It's you're close. You're ringneck and coot, they call it the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:33

Oh, poo. Yeah, or poo poodu, or poodu.

SPEAKER_04 1:38:38

They were like, it's honour, honour, it's the best, honana. Get back in the blind.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:45

Well, man, well, tell everybody, Hunter, you know, if they're wanting to get you know a submission in with you or wanting to uh work with you on something, how can they get in touch and what's that process like?

Turkey Season Goals And Tactics

SPEAKER_04 1:38:56

Yeah, so if you guys reach out, you can DM me on Instagram at the Hunt Digest. Um, you can DM me or you can shoot me an email at huntdigestmedia.com or at gmail.com. It's all listed in my bio how you can submit things. Um all I ask is you guys submit a photo, um, it preferably camera or photo, you know, photography quality with a story. Um I I'm not requirement on the photography thing, um, but it is nice to have the luxury of having those kind of pictures. Um, I know not everyone has that, and I I don't always post them with it, but uh that's that's the main thing I ask um is that you guys send me a story. That's all I really care about is hearing your guys' story. So um if anyone ever wants to work with me, I'm I always take phone calls with people all the time. Um because it's it's nice to hear it from them personally before they send it to me. Um I never I don't change your guys' story at all. I don't summarize. The only time I ever summarize is if they send me a 12-page book and it can't fit an Instagram caption, I just send it to them. I'm like, hey, if you could shorten this to this amount of word count, it'd be it'd be great because it helps me out to keep it on Instagram. But um that's that's really how you get to me. Um I'm I'm I'm pretty good at responding. Um, so I usually typically get back to everybody within a day. Um I have like 400 unread messages right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:20

Oh cow.

SPEAKER_04 1:40:21

Um, but a lot of it's just because I haven't gone through and read all the stories. But I I have a ton of submissions. Um, but I always I can I kind of wean through the ones that are like I can tell the story is just he wants to be on my Instagram kind of a thing. Um so I try to wean through those. Not saying that it's not a cool hunt, but I I like to hear the meaning some of the meaningful ones. Um I used to post twice a day. Now I typically post three or four times a week. Um I it's kind of hard sometimes when I when I work full time posting two times a day and editing the photos and stuff. But yeah, that's really it, guys. Um I'm really I'm pretty easy to deal with. I'm an easygoing guy. So I if you have any questions about what kind of stuff I'm looking for, and people ask all the time, like, hey, what stories are you looking for right now? I don't I don't care. I I have been really into the thermal hunting recently, just because I'm getting into it, but that other than that, everybody wants to hear it, man. Yeah, that's I don't it uh I'm like I even I've posted camaraderie stuff, like picture of a guy sitting around the table at hunting. It doesn't have to be of a kill, it just has to be a cool picture of the ad. I do a lot of dog stuff. Um like I had a one of my favorite stories about a guy and his dog that was fit 115 years and then it passed away. And like I've done stories like stuff like that is awesome to me. So that's that's kind of what hunt digest is about, just getting your story out there. Um, everyone deserves to be heard, in my opinion. You know, no matter your beliefs, no matter what you think, you know, how you think. If you have a cool story in the outdoors, I want to hear it. Um, I think that's what all brings us together in the end of the day. Um, I feel like we get divided for sometimes reasons that we don't need to be divided when we always have a common divider is something that has been created for us. So that's right.

Closing Thanks And Future Plans

SPEAKER_02 1:42:03

That's good stuff, man. Well, dude, it's crazy, like an hour and 40 minutes have gone by because this is one of those that like it doesn't feel like that. Yeah, 100%. But you know, we'd love to definitely keep in touch. The uh do this again someday.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:17

Oh, yeah, I would love to have come back on with you guys and talk. And then if you guys ever get out towards the the Midwest, let me know. I'm gonna see if you guys can get on some birds.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:25

Right on, man.

SPEAKER_05 1:42:26

Well, thank thank you so much, Hunter. I've really appreciated it, man. Do you guys you guys care if I take a picture real quick of us on here? Go ahead, man. I'm just gonna take a quick picture. Thank you. Appreciate it, guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:35

Have a good one. And I'm going to uh just so you know, I'm gonna basically this stream yard cuts up all these like clips or whatever, and I'll just post them on all of our stuff, tag you, invite you as collaborated. Don't feel obligated to like have to do anything. I mean, I'll do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:42:50

I'll of course I'll do it. Yeah, I'll have to, yeah. It's no big deal.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:54

I just tell people because like especially when you're like trying to like have your page look a certain way, like if I tag you in five clips, like don't get don't get annoyed.

SPEAKER_04 1:43:03

Yeah, no, I no, I I get it. I I'm the same way. I anytime any gear that's in my pictures, I always invite them. Okay. I always I always tell them, like, hey, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to. Yeah, but your stuff's in this, so you have a chance, you know, a free chance for advertising. I don't because I don't try like I don't I'm not making any money off of Undigest. So I think I know.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:33

Too fast now, thing off so damn, standing in the forum.