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The Hunting Stories Podcast
Elk. Bear. Hog. Turkey. Deer and More. Hunting Stories that will make you laugh or maybe cry; real life chronicles from the field.
The Hunting Stories Podcast
Ep 148 The Hunting Stories Podcast: Brian Dowling
Ever walked into a hardware store covered in blood, desperately trying to convince the cashier you're not a murderer? That's just one of the hilarious mishaps shared by this week's guest, Brian Dowling.
Brian brings a unique perspective as both a firearms expert with an actual master's degree in guns and a veteran who found healing through hunting. Working at XCAL Shooting in Virginia—a massive 97,000-square-foot facility combining shooting ranges, a gym, and a gun store—he's turned his passion into a career that spans gunsmithing, instruction, and product development.
What makes this episode special is the heartwarming thread running through Brian's hunting stories: his incredibly supportive wife. From helping him drag a freshly harvested doe up a hill in a wheelbarrow while wearing pajamas, to stealing "his" perfect pheasant after missing shots all day (much to his good-natured chagrin), their relationship shines through the narrative. When Brian describes seeing his blood-spattered wife hosing down a deer carcass in their yard without complaint, you can hear the genuine admiration in his voice.
The conversation takes us through the challenges of Eastern whitetail hunting, North Carolina hog hunts in eerie swamps, and the comedy of errors that ensues when a hunter isn't properly prepared to transport his harvest. Brian's self-deprecating humor about showing up at a rural hardware store covered in blood to buy rope and a hatchet—prompting the cashier's skeptical "that's what they all say" response to his innocent explanation—will have you laughing out loud.
Beyond the entertainment, Brian offers valuable insights into how hunting serves as effective PTSD therapy for veterans like himself, creating a deeper understanding of why many former service members find such profound peace in the woods. His technical expertise also shines through when discussing rifle zeroing and equipment selection for different hunting scenarios.
https://xcal.com/
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Welcome to the wild where the adventure awaits Hunting, fishing, filled with tales and great mates.
Speaker 2:Howdy folks and welcome to the Hunting Stories podcast. I've got a new intro for you today. Hope you guys enjoyed that a little bit longer. Tell me what you think, send me some messages, give me some feedback, want me to go to the old thing or, if you're liking, the new thing. It's actually a song I put together using some AI tools. That being said, we have a great episode for you today, guys. We're connecting with Brian Dowling. Brian is a hunter, a veteran, a gun nut gun expert I really should say that reached out saying he had some fun stories to share, and he certainly does. That being said, I don't want to ruin them for you, so we're going to go ahead and let Brian tell you those stories, but for you listeners. Thank you, guys. So much for tuning in. I really do appreciate it. Give me feedback on that song. I really would appreciate that. Also, I have a special surprise coming out on Friday a new, special edition of the podcast I'm going to maybe start doing every Friday.
Speaker 1:Please give me feedback on that as well, when it hits. So that's it, guys. Let's kick this thing off and let Brian tell you some of his stories. Thank you, and I'm not grabbing gears. It's time for the ride.
Speaker 2:All right, brian. Welcome to the Hunting Stories podcast. Brother, how are you?
Speaker 3:I'm very well, thank you, I'm glad to be here, really happy to be here.
Speaker 2:Dude, thank you so much for reaching out once again. I mean, I think it's going to say this last like five episodes or something like that, but I do have a little form to fill out if you want to come on the podcast and tell some stories. And you did that, brian. So thank you very much, man. I appreciate it. I'm super excited to hear your stories. I don't know what we have in store for us today. Know who they're hearing some stories from, all right, so my name is Brian Dowling.
Speaker 3:I work actually for a couple companies I work for. My main job is for XCAL Shooting, sports and Fitness in Ashburn, virginia. We're a 97,000-square-foot shooting facility gym.
Speaker 1:Brazilian jiu-jitsu gun store, you name it.
Speaker 3:Shooting, whatever you name it, shooting, shooting, whatever we do it.
Speaker 2:Are you at your house or at your work right now, cause you have more guns behind you than anyone that's been on the podcast, so that's kind of part of my job. That's kind of part of my job.
Speaker 3:I uh. I have an extensive education in firearms. Uh I actually all the way up to master's degree. Like yeah, I'm like one of the few people in the world that has a master's degree in guns.
Speaker 1:Oh man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I studied procurement and development, so that actually ties into my job. I am kind of like the right hand at XCAL. I do a ton of different stuff. I'm their last living gunsmith, so I do a ton of stuff for them. And all this stuff behind me, this is what I do. I teach gun building classes. All this stuff behind me, this is what I do. Um, I teach, I teach gun building classes. But um, and I also, starting next year, we start our own company called mimic firearms. Uh, it's already started, but now we're going to be rolling live next year and it falls a little bit in the tactical, practical world.
Speaker 3:Um, we were making our own PCC, our own sub gun, and, uh, I'll be working for them. Uh, I'll be, I'll be a manager for them as well and doing development and it's, it's crazy. So the world is my gut, the gun world is my world. I will admit that um. But as part of that job, um, I work a lot of long range shooting and, uh, as part of my own personal development, being a veteran um and a former contractor, uh, hunting is is a big piece of me.
Speaker 3:Uh, it's actually it's my PTSD therapy it is uh, I'm kind of our, our official, non-official outfitter. Uh, I've worked for Cabela's in the past.
Speaker 1:Um so uh.
Speaker 3:I, um I. We have some very high end clients and I provide them, uh, with every bit of hunting knowledge that I have. And I'm very much an at-home guy. I'm a West Virginia, virginia hunter, big whitetail hunter. I travel to North Carolina to hunt hogs. I used to live out in. You're in Colorado, correct? Yes?
Speaker 2:sir Is that right. Yep.
Speaker 3:I was stationed out at Carson for a while. Okay yeah, but hunting is like 90% of my life. It is literally what I live for you got a lot going on.
Speaker 2:So if hunting is 90% of that, then oh my goodness.
Speaker 3:The rest of the stuff. The rest of the stuff comes easy. You know, shooting irons. Shooting irons are, are, are a big, a big piece of me, but um, it's, it's. Uh, you know, I tie them all together. Okay, you know um, crossbow hunting is actually. You know, I'm a average archer, I'm a really good crossbow hunter. So because I think that the two, you know, between firearms and a crossbow, I think there's some philosophies that do mix and I'm sure I'm open to can of worms with that one.
Speaker 3:Somebody's out there probably screaming and yelling at some point, being like no, they're different, you know.
Speaker 2:But um yeah, I don't know enough about any of that stuff. If you enjoy it, that's all that's important. It's true. It's. It's like I saw a documentary on whiskey. I think the the, the whiskey. Uh, it was called neat. Right, you have your whiskey neat. And there was this big segment about, like, the most important part to enjoying whiskey and in our case, enjoying hunting is doing it the way that you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:And that's what's important and there's no wrong way to do it. You can do it with a splash of water, you can do it with some cubes of ice, you can do it neat. You can do it however you want. So, when it comes to hunting man, do it the way that you do it, enjoy yourself, I mean obviously, be, you know, responsible to nature and the animals, ethical all that stuff. But um, yeah, just do it the way you want to man, there's nothing wrong with that yeah, I'm with you, I'm with you you know um, but yeah, so it is.
Speaker 3:It's a huge part of my life, you know um. I really, I really enjoy, I love being the guy that gives that information to people like I love that's cool like that when they come in and we get, we get people come in.
Speaker 3:Uh, virginia is can be a melting pot, especially northern virginia, right outside the city, right C. And people come in and they're like man, I have never whitetail hunted in my life and I'm like, oh my God, man, you're going to be sick of me in an hour because I'm going to follow you around. You know your bank account is about to be depleted. We're going to buy so many guns and stuff, so it's, yeah, I love it. I love it. It's a big piece of me.
Speaker 2:That's cool. Here's some questions for you. Did you, did you hunt before you went to the military?
Speaker 3:Uh, I did a little bit, uh, not as much as you would think. Uh, it was mostly small game with my buddies. Um, and it was, um, you know, and I would go out on the occasional deer hunt when I could in Virginia.
Speaker 3:Uh, I was a very busy kid when I was younger and uh, yeah, sport, yeah, and so, yeah, and so hunting would be something that in Northern Virginia we were fairly rural, but, like you would be, it would be something you would do like once every couple of weeks until it becomes a lifestyle, and the winter would come around. You'd be like you want to go hunt rabbits, you want to go hunt squirrel, you want to go hunt some imaginary birds that we'll never find, and so, yep, yeah, and go hunt some imaginary birds that we'll never find, you know. And so, uh, yeah, but but it also wasn't uncommon, you know, especially in my day, uh, you know, in the nineties to. Uh, you know this, and this is, uh, pre all the craziness in the world. Uh, you know, you could roll into your high school parking lot, you know, with a 12 gauge in the gun rack, you know and you go hunting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, uh. So I did hunt before I joined the military, but it really, really became a passion when I got out.
Speaker 2:Got it Okay. Next question would be then did you have family that exposed you to it? I know you said you went hunting with your buddies. Or was it more that you became interested in firearms and it was sort of a means to use firearms more Like where exactly did it fit in?
Speaker 3:It was a close 50, 50. Um, I was already a gun guy, I was already an infantryman, Uh, and I, uh, I was a contractor at the time when I really, really ramped it up and, to be honest, I, I found that the the clearing of my mind aspect at that point, like the PTSD therapy, really really became a thing and it really, um, it really really moved me along that path and I, but I already was a gun guy, so it was very easy for me. Um, but it, it, it was, it was a very serious tie-in of my buddies exposing it to me and not so much my family. My family wasn't full of a lot of hunters. You know he's exposing it to me and not so much my family. My family wasn't full of a lot of hunters. You know a fisherman galore, I mean my, my family's actually from.
Speaker 1:Massachusetts, so we had fishermen everywhere.
Speaker 3:But uh, but everybody you know Massachusetts has some very, very restrictive gun or uh, gun laws and hunting laws. You know so that that hampered me, but it was pretty much a little bit before high school.
Speaker 2:Then the military and then, when I got out, I was just I was driven. I knew what I wanted to do. Hell yeah, man. Hell yeah, very cool. Okay, I have a bunch of questions, but I'm going to take us down weird rabbit holes that we don't need to get to. I got you, unless you're hunting rabbit in those holes. So let's do this, man, unless you background and kind of how you became, you know the Brian that we have here today. Let's jump into some stories, brother.
Speaker 3:Let's do it. Let's do it.
Speaker 2:All right, set the stage.
Speaker 3:All right, so, um, I have to. So this is going to be a little bit of a weird start, cause I've heard some of the other episodes you know. Um, I have to give a lot of credit in my hunting world to my wife.
Speaker 2:Oh, um.
Speaker 3:My wife is my ride or die. I mean she supports me in everything that I do, and I mean I'm blessed. And I don't use that word very often, but I'm blessed to have her and she, you know, in our relationship, that's, you know, about half a decade, a little bit more long. She's definitely supported me the entire time and she's shown herself to be a true, supporting hunting wife, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:And so at one time we decided it was actually just post-COVID or just after COVID we decided that we were going to move to Warrington, virginia, and we had a five-acre plot there little rambler house, and we were going to move there. And I told her I said I don't care where we move, uh, as long as I can throw a tree stand up in the backyard.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 3:I don't care what I throw out of that tree stand, I'll throw rocks out of it if I have to. I said let's just move to, let's move out there. And she said I'm down, let's do it. So we had uh, we had it was my first hunting season there and I'd never hunted in front of her. We'd gone shooting together a bunch. We actually our first date was at a shooting range, which was weird for me and so we it was my first hunting season there and it was early rifle.
Speaker 3:Okay, and I said you know what? I'm not going to take my rifle, I'm going to take my crossbow out and that's what I want to do today. So I roll out and I walk down I don't know, maybe it's 75 yards down to my tree stand and I get down there. I got my crossbow and I decided I didn't want to get up in the stand and I just wanted to sit and just enjoy being out there. And I took my crossbow and I knocked it and I put the safety on it. I leaned it up against a tree and I literally um like turned around and I'm like fishing in my pocket for like a can of dip. As I'm doing it, I like looked out at the ground and I look up and there's this big fat doe, maybe, maybe 15 yards in front of me and she's just looking me in the eyes and I'm looking at her and to me it felt like half a century right, you know, I'm sitting there looking at her.
Speaker 3:I'm like, oh, this is taking too long. But the important part here is that my crossbow is not anywhere near my hand. It's leaning up against, kind of like, the ladder in the tree next to me and I stop and I look at it and I'm like in like the longest moments of my life, reaching down and just trying to like wrap my hands around it and bring it to my I'm. I'm super pumped because this has been my first deer on the property. I can, like I can't even control myself.
Speaker 3:And I'm like reaching down, I'm like almost shaking and I get a good grip on this crossbow and I bring it up literally at the slowest speed I possibly can and I'm like raising it to my chest and I'm linking my thumb through the thumb hole and I finally get up to my chest Right. As I kind of get up to my shoulder, the deer just very nonchalantly stops looking at me and turns and gives me like the most perfect broadside shot I possibly could have gotten and it stops, Like it just literally stops.
Speaker 2:I was just waiting for you to pin this deer to a tree with your crossbow man.
Speaker 3:I was. It almost happened, and so I just sit, uh, almost barely looking through my scope. I just zipper straight through, straight through the vitals, perfect shot. She maybe goes about five yards and just drops Um, I'll say by far with all my hunting, like the most ethical kill I've ever had. It was just so fast, yeah, and so I walked how?
Speaker 2:long from when you walked out there and sat down, maybe even pre setting up your, your your crossbow, like how long were walked out there and sat down, maybe even pre setting up your, your your crossbow, like how long were you out there?
Speaker 3:Maybe 15 minutes, that's maybe maybe it was, it was nuts, it was nuts.
Speaker 2:My best case scenario is like a full day of kicking my ass Hunting mountains is like only once I've ever killed on opening day. Otherwise I'm just, day after day after day, a mile mile, mile, day, a mile mile mile. Just I'm jealous of you guys that get it done like that it's the, uh, it's, it's the, it's the northern virginia.
Speaker 3:You know, uh, typical whitetail hunt, you know I mean either you'll see you'll see nothing for five days or they'll walk up on you in the first three minutes.
Speaker 3:You know okay so I zipper, and then I walk over there and, uh, you know, I start to dress, dress the dough and, uh, get everything out. And many times in my hunting history have I stopped and like in my brain, I'm sitting there going. I'm going to figure that out later. I'll say you know, what am I going to do if I actually hit a deer and I get to get her out of the woods and this actually comes into another story later. But so I, I, I zipper and I get, I, you know, completely cleaned out. I stop and I look and I go I don't have a deer cart, I don't have three feet of rope, I don't have a bungee cord near me, I have nothing.
Speaker 3:I was like I got to get this thing up this hill and the hill is actually kind of annoying. I mean, it almost starts going straight up right when you back up to our house. So I drag her as far as I can and I'm just sitting there and I'm just pooped and I'm just like man. I was like I did not prepare myself for this silliness. I'm trying to get through thick Virginia woods and brambles and weeds and all sorts of stuff. So finally I give up and I go get a wheelchair, or a wheelchair, get a wheelbarrow.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right.
Speaker 3:Roll it down the hill. And at this point I'd knocked on the window and I said all right, this is going to be a test here. And I say I look at my wife and I go hey, you want to come help me? And she goes and she's going to eat this deer too. So she's like, yeah, let's do this. I had no idea, I'd never shown her a dead animal?
Speaker 2:never in my life Did she have any kind of hunting background, or was it just like she got with you and was like, let's do it?
Speaker 3:She didn't have it for herself, but she had.
Speaker 3:Uh, her grandfather was a hunter, so she was very she was used to the the visuals, but I hadn't seen her be used to it, I guess that's the best way to put it so uh, she, we, we, we go down the hill and we get the deer in the in the wheelbarrow and we just start kind of wheeling her up and and of there's legs flying everywhere and every time you move the wheelbarrow a little bit, a head come flopping out with a tongue. And my wife is just a champ. I mean I was amazed she's folding legs in and moving heads over and everything like that, and I was like there's no way that this is going as well as it is going right now.
Speaker 3:Like there should be some sort of squeamish, screaming or something. And I knew she was a tough girl. My wife's a veteran too. I knew she was a tough girl, you know what I mean, but she was proving it. And we finally get all the way to the top of the hill. And by the time we get to the top of the hill, I don't even know. I want to throw this deer in a dumpster. I'm so tired, and so is coffee. And uh, you know, we, we dumped the deer in kind of our front yard. And uh, I start drinking my coffee and walk around the house. I'm getting ready to go do the second part, which is go out there and, you know, finish cleaning the deer and skin it or or get it to my processor. And uh, I, I look outside and my wife is out there in her pajamas.
Speaker 2:No, no less in her pajamas. Uh uh, one leg up, one of the deer's legs up. Oh, I thought, okay, I'm glad it was a deer legs. You had me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, she wasn't peeing on the deer, but you have one one deer leg up and she's got the entire you know body exposed and she's just hosing it, hosing it out, hosing blood out, hosing blood out just sitting there and just get, and it must be spraying all over and I didn't even. I'm sitting there looking at her, I'm going well, holy shit, that's the, that's the woman for me right there, like that that was. She didn't even, she didn't know complaint, know nothing. They didn't even think twice.
Speaker 2:Just knew what to do and got it done.
Speaker 3:Knew what to do, got it done, helped me throw it in the back of the truck and it was off to the processor, uh, so that was kind of our first deer, uh, as a couple together, and it was also when I knew I was like, if this woman ever leaves me, uh, I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself. Like I'm done, I'm finished.
Speaker 2:Good for you, man, good for you. My wife is the one for me, absolutely, but she's not into that stuff. So like we watch a zombie movie, right, like the last of us we're watching these days, and zombies are fine, but as soon as a zombie gets someone she's like, tell me when it's over. And she can't no gore for her so yeah, you got yourself one man, that's cool.
Speaker 3:I did, I did, I took. We took her on a hunt because she hasn't really done it and I wanted to take her on a bird hunt. I figured it would be the easiest one and we went to this place called Rose Hill Farms. It's here in Virginia, a really nice little game preserve and it's a very simple hunt. You can be in and out in three hours.
Speaker 3:You just kind of walk in and as long as you have your hunting license, they, they have birds prepped for you and they and and you pick a certain number of birds, and I'm not a big fan of reserve hunts, but for birds, um, you know, uh, chucker and grouse and pheasant aren't really indigenous to Virginia, you know. I mean they're indigenous to Asian countries, you know and out.
Speaker 3:West. Out West they can flourish, but here in Virginia, uh, they're going to get eaten by anything that lead them. And so, um, we, we went to this hunt and, uh, I was like this will be great and I bought her an old Winchester model 12. Cause I figured, let's make it, let's make it really classic and really enjoy it. And, uh, you never know, you're always real nervous when you take somebody hunting for the first time because you really want them to succeed. You know, at the end of the day, like I could have given you know, you know, two shits if I gotten a bird, um, but I wanted her to at least get a bird and get the hunting experience out of the way. And, uh, we get through the day and the people there have this amazing dog working with us and it was great. And, um, I think I'm on my ninth bird and.
Speaker 3:Andrea has missed her fifth. So we got to this point where this I finally saw this one, this one pheasant, beautiful, beautiful, you know, emerald green head, and I saw it and I was like you know what, now I don't care what else happens today, I just want that bird. It was just, it was a beautiful pheasant. I just want I could see it in my head. You know the picture of me just like holding it up next to me, you know. And so the dog flushes, a bird bird flies. I missed twice and the bird's gone, and so I'm sitting there going this is this is ridiculous Like there's no way I missed that bird, and we just kind of keep going and keep going and keep going and I get a couple more birds and, andrea, you, know, uh, she was trying, but she, you know, she just not a skill she was used to and she just kept missing them.
Speaker 3:And so we, uh, we finally got to the end of the day and we're talking to this, this, uh, to our, our guide, and she was awesome, she was just she used to work at what is it? The place from Tombstone, the ranch, the Four, sixes or whatever?
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So she was a character, she was really awesome. And so we're sitting there and I was like at least this girl is making this comfortable for us and making it fun. And we get to the part where we're kind of walking back towards the farmhouse part, where we're kind of walking back towards the farmhouse. And as we're walking back towards the farmhouse, uh, andrew is walking underneath this huge, huge pine tree and she looks up and she goes there's a pheasant up here and the, the lady you know with us, turns and looks at her and she goes, okay, and andrew's like what do I do? And she's like shoot it. And she's like shoot the pheasant. She's like is that fair? And I was like I don't care if it's fair. I was like it. It flew up there, shoot it. And so, um, it just happens to pop off the branch and andrea, I guess, plugs it and it hits the ground and I'm like thank god she got a bird that's all I wanted was for her to get a bird, and she got your bird, didn't she?
Speaker 2:she got the bird, she got my bird. That's all I wanted was for her to get a bird, and she got your bird, didn't she? She got the bird. She got my bird, I go walking up and she's.
Speaker 3:There is no doubt in my mind she's holding my bird in her hand and I'm sitting there looking at her.
Speaker 3:I'm going oh my God, you were such a good luck charm for me. I was like but that's my bird, and I didn't even care about the other nine birds, I was just like they're food now I don't care, I don't care. And so I begrudgingly had to sit there and take a picture of my beautiful wife holding up my bird, um. And, of course, like it's, it's always funny too when you bring somebody hunting like that. Like um, they're wearing the gear that you brought for them or that you bought for me, I mean and yeah and, and I'm kitted out like I'm getting ready to retake fallujah, and you know like I have every
Speaker 2:piece of gear. I can think of on and I'm just sitting like vision goggles for your yeah, yeah, flares going off. You know um?
Speaker 3:so it was just. It was a hilarious, hilarious ending to the day and it was like so bittersweet, I was so happy for that. You got the bird. But, like to this day, I have to tell friends, like you know, I went pheasant hunting like two years ago. My wife shot my bird. I was like I swear to God.
Speaker 2:How dare she, how dare?
Speaker 3:she, how dare she?
Speaker 2:Good on her. Yeah, exactly man. So how did she take it?
Speaker 3:I know that to me she sounds like the kind of lady that was just like. You know, when they kill that first animal, it's a, it's a big moment for them. How did she handle it? She handled it very well. Uh, she is, uh, she's, amazingly resilient. So she I know we're both animal lovers yeah, I mean like, we live our life for our dogs, and you know I mean like and and so we uh, there's, there's, there's nothing lost on us as far as like an animal life. But she's also very pragmatic and so she went, she shot food, Dragging her out there to do it again, to go for a bigger game, Maybe a different story, I don't know. It's up to you. It's very different. When you're sitting, Birds are trying to get away from you every bit. That they can't, they're just taken off. It's almost like a challenge at that point. I mean, they're giving you the bird as they fly away and you're just like oh, I'm going to get you.
Speaker 3:But deer, you know other big game like deer and hogs and stuff like that do have. They have greater personalities, I mean in the animal world. You know, they just do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what does Steven Rinella call him? Like charismatic mega fauna or whatever Like yeah, exactly, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:They're like animals basically they're charismatic they are, and and it's I. I am compassionate to people who are sitting there like it every minute, every day, you know. I mean, you know if, if there was a way to jump out of airplanes, doing it, I'd do it, um, but I, uh, I think that, um, you know, we'll give it a shot one of these days. It's totally on her. If we get, and and honestly I believe this with almost anybody I spent time with or I hung with uh, if you get there and you know you're about halfway through your trigger pull and you change your mind, that's on you.
Speaker 3:That's fine, that's fine with me, uh, now as soon as you get up, I'm gonna take up that trigger pull, and you know it's a job, but uh yeah, so. So we'll see what the future brings.
Speaker 2:I didn't see that coming. I don't know why I didn't see that coming, but that was funny. Um, no, I'm with you. Though when I started hunting man, I was like I'm going. I was going with some my, my wife's family, I had never hunted, had no interest in hunting, and I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to pull the trigger. But it was like this bonding experience of going out, being part of elk camp and I, like full well knew I was like I don't really want to shoot anything. I don't think I'm going to be able to shoot anything Turns out, put something in front of me. I am a cold-blooded killer, but before going I had no idea and I didn't think it would be palatable for me. But everybody's different, everybody's different.
Speaker 3:Once it creates a lifestyle, it can stick. It definitely can. And once it stuck with me, I talked to my mom today. We were talking about what we do to unwind. And I said Ma, I was like you could stick me in the woods for a week on end, and as long as I'm out there and just letting everything kind of flow away and takes all my anxiety away, makes everything very relaxed for me, and so yeah, it definitely is a big once you get to the lifestyle, once you get in there it just becomes part of you.
Speaker 3:Well, that's a good story.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry that your wife stole your bird.
Speaker 3:It happens.
Speaker 2:I hope you remind her every day.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What other stories you got, man.
Speaker 3:I try not to, but so one that actually that people remind me that I always have to tell was actually this past season. Okay, and it's a funny one. I try to have a little bit of humor. I like to make fun of myself, so I try to have a little bit of humor in everything that I talk about. And, um, so, this past year, uh, some of the, some of the uh, the members of our, of our uh shooting club, uh, and our apex members, which are our high end members members, grant me certain pieces of land I can go hunt on.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's cool Because.
Speaker 3:I do a good job for them and it's my reward and they treat me well, I got to admit, and so one of them. It was getting later in the season and we were starting to get a little bit of snow in Virginia, West Virginia and I'd gone to their property. I spent a lot of time on this property and I really love it. It's my happy place and I'm out there and I showed up no snow, and it's one of these pieces of property where I can actually drive my truck from the front to the back of it and if I feel like I'm getting skunked in the back of it, I'll drive to the front again and just hang out there for a little while and I'll drive to the back. So it gives me a lot of free, uh, movement uh, or if I want to yeah, I can.
Speaker 3:If I want to, I can just throw my rifle over my shoulder and I can just walk the whole thing, you know, for hours. And so I, um, I, I felt like every time I found a deer they knew I was there five minutes before I was even in the woods and, uh, they were gone and so, uh, I was, I was starting to get a little frustrated, but as frustrated, you know, it was kind of like a bad day of hunting was better than a good day at work. But I, um, I definitely wanted a deer and, and I was, I was I kind of wanted last, last year for the season, and I was at this point where I was coming in between two pieces of property and they're kind of these large cow fields, if you will, or grazing fields. I was coming in between two tree lines and I turned around and like three yearlings came walking out and then in what was looked like the closest to the biggest deer herd I'd seen in a while, like like four doe walked out and one buck, and the buck like literally had like shown his head and then just turned away. And so I was like, all right, I'm not even going to if I even walk into the woods right now, he's gone. So I looked up at the doe and I was like you know what, I'm gonna take the biggest one. And uh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna smoke her and and I uh this.
Speaker 3:This past year I kind of made a pledge to myself uh, as far as equipment was concerned, uh, I was going to, uh, I I hunted with a Sig MCX 300 Blackout the entire time. Mine has a 16-inch barrel, so it's kind of like the AK for America in a way. It's kind of crazy how the gun works out. But I told myself I was going to hunt with it all season long and I ended up taking like five deer with it. And so I took my mcx off my shoulder and I was hunting with a battle site on purpose. Uh, just because the the typical distances that we have here I mean generally in virginia, you're not shooting it over 60 yards you know, so okay yeah, and this was about a 45 yard shot, and so let me real quick.
Speaker 2:Those cattle pastures were. There's no way you're getting a shot over 60 yards in those little pastures.
Speaker 3:Not really. They're about 100 yards in length and then separated by tree line, and so you can see through the tree line, but it's a dicey shot.
Speaker 2:Okay, got it.
Speaker 3:If you had a 5 to 25 and you cranked her all the way in um, you might be able to get one through those trees. But I still wouldn't.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't chance it you know, Um, so this one was just about 40 yards, uh, that's a kind of a guesstimate. But, um, I, I did the same thing I'd done all season long, you know all four other deer and, uh, you know, I dropped my reticle right on the same point, uh, right on the right on the vitals, and squeezed the trigger and for the first time, uh, this season, uh, it didn't drop and it ran and I didn't even know if I'd hit it. And I'm sitting there and like I had and there's like zero recoil on this gun. So, you know, I mean I was like there, there's no way unless, like, I sneeze through my trigger pole, like there's no way I missed. And so I'm kind of like you know, it's kind of like that feeling, you know what I mean Like, you know, you feel your neck burning and you're like man, I got to go.
Speaker 3:I got to truck over there, so I go running over there and I get down.
Speaker 3:I get down to the tree line she was up against and I looked down at the ground blood, good blood, and uh, but I noticed it running all the way into the woods and around all these these cattle fields. Uh, is all these ravines that lead back to a Creek, to a pretty stout Creek, and those ravines are a pain and I didn't realize it as much as I did this day. Um, and I can just see the blood, like going downhill and over logs and everything, and I'm following and following and there's snow on the ground at this point and, um, I'm just like all right, well, at least I, I know where she went. And I get to like the deepest part of the ravine and I look down and there she is at stone, dead, and I'm like I'm like great. And then I go look up the ravine and I'm like, son a, there's no way I was like this is going to kill me, but I'm going to do it anyway All right and so once again, the I'm going to figure it out thing came into effect.
Speaker 2:But no wheelbarrow this time, right no wheelbarrow, no wheelbarrow. Or wheelchairs.
Speaker 3:No wheelchairs. Yeah, I might have needed one afterwards. So I get her. I kind of skirt the edge of this hill and I'm going down I'm actually going down game trails, you know using their tool against them.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 3:I'm dragging her and dragging her, and dragging her and dragging her and finally I get her to the bottom of this ATV track. And when I get to the bottom of the ATV track I look up and it's like straight up, and I'm like man, I'm like all right, I'm gonna go get my deer cart, I'm gonna come down here and I'm gonna drag her up.
Speaker 3:And so I get down there, I get her on the deer cart and I start to try to drag her up and the wheels won't move, and they won't move at all. And every time, uh, I was trying to figure out what was wrong and it turned out that like one of the one of the screws was coming loose and one of the bearings had come loose, and so one of them wasn't moving, the other one was just sliding in the snow. So I'm like, all right, here we go, and and I don't know if you can tell on camera, but I'm like 145 pounds.
Speaker 1:Um, I'm like, I'm like.
Speaker 2:I'm like barely bigger than the doe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm like 20 pounds heavier than this deer. So, uh, so I, I, I get underneath her and and I pick her up and I'm I'm like five feet up the hill and I put her back down, and I'm five feet up again, put her back down, and I'm just like man, I got, like I got, I got a ways to go. I got like another 200, 300 yards to go up this hill and so finally I put her down, I go. You know what? I was like I'm an idiot. I'm like I have a pickup truck that's right over the edge of that hill. I was like I'm going to go get my truck, I'm going to back it up to the hill and I put her on the deer cart and I drag the deer cart up, you know. So I being the illy prepared Brian Dowling, I go to the truck, I don't have a rope.
Speaker 3:I don't have anything. I have like a knife and a combat rifle. So I'm just sitting there looking at myself. I'm like I'm an idiot. But I'm in an area, I'm near Middleburg, virginia, and I just decide you know what I was like. I'm making this harder than it needs to be. I was like there's no time limit where I am. I was like I'm just going to go get a rope.
Speaker 3:So I drive to a, uh, a hardware store in the middle of Middleburg, having no sense of self whatsoever. Uh, I stroll into this hardware store, um, not really paying attention to anything, and I go. When I walk around and I go, you know what I'm going to grab this and this and this and this and this and I walk up to the counter. It's a little town hardware store, like nice little kind of mom and pop shop. I walk up to the cash register and I hadn't looked at myself yet and I hadn't looked at myself yet but, having put a deer on my shoulders that I had shot, I had blood all over me, all over my shoulder, all over the front of my jacket, all over my pants, and it wasn't like it was a lot, but it was enough where, like you could tell, I had blood on me.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And as I walk up I lay down a hatchet and two spools of rope and two bungee cords and I stop and I look at the nice lady behind the counter and she looks at me and I lit the first words out of my mouth where I didn't murder anybody.
Speaker 2:And she goes yeah, that's what they all say, yeah, yeah. And she stops and she goes.
Speaker 3:I'm not sure I believe you. I said listen, lady, I was goes. I'm not sure I believe you. I said listen, lady. I was like I have not committed a crime here. I was like it's the end of the season, shot a deer, I'm just trying to get it out of the woods and she goes. Whatever. She just raised me Were you in camo at least.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I was in, I was in.
Speaker 3:I had my of Carhartts Um.
Speaker 2:but you know, I'm also in, you know, rural Virginia, where anybody, whether they were a murderer or not would be wearing a camo jacket and a pair of Carhartts. It wasn't like I stuck out from a crowd.
Speaker 3:So I eventually went back, got all the way back and I was finished with the day and I just I literally spooled that rope from the back of my my tailgate, uh, wrapped it around the cart and just drug that deer out. And when I drug that deer out, I mean you would have thought I just won the Olympics, like I. Somebody was putting a gold medal around my neck Um, I was most excited person ever. Threw in the back back of my truck and then told my wife the entire story. Uh, and then she was just like you know she's like maybe next time you'll be prepared. Now the back of my car looks like an REI. I mean literally you could find any piece of equipment. I think there's a generator back there and maybe some MREs. I'm not positive.
Speaker 2:That's funny, man. I've said this before on the podcast. But the best lessons are self-taught. You make those mistakes You're like not going to happen again. I don't want to be a murderer at the hardware store again. I'm going to make sure I'm prepared next time around.
Speaker 3:But that's a great story, 100%, 100%.
Speaker 2:Let me ask you did you manage to get a photo of yourself with the deer or without the deer, but covered in blood? Because I'd love to see actually what you look like going into the hardware store.
Speaker 3:So I didn't take a picture of that one that day. I did take another picture. It was the week before when I got my one buck of the season. I got all does, all season and I got one buck. It was a four point and I wanted to keep the skull and I very rarely like when it's does, I just drop them off of the process and I get all my deer processed because I believe it just builds commerce in our shooting sports. You know what?
Speaker 3:I mean Like these people got to pay the bills too, but I just dump them off. And then this one I was like, oh, I got a four point and I was just like I want to keep that skull. And, uh, I cut the head off and I got this picture. My wife took the picture cause I'd I'd cut the head off and I and she's got a couple of them actually. Uh, they're actually funny pictures of me with deer heads and of her from her office window at home and me in the front yard just staying there holding this deer head, like I'm expecting a reward, like she should have thrown a treat out the window or something like that.
Speaker 3:But yeah, she does have a host of psychotic looking pictures after I've come home from hunting trips.
Speaker 2:That's amazing, man. That's amazing. I have a photo of a buddy of mine. We were hog hunting and he shot like a 300-pound hog and he's holding we got the head off whole with just this massive head. It's like the size of his chest, like their necks are as big as their heads. It's just this huge thing. He's holding it up by the ears. It's just this epic photo of just this gnarly pig head and this guy just covered in blood. So um.
Speaker 2:I could probably not quite like your deer head, but still I bet that I'd still like to see that photo that your wife said, oh yeah definitely, definitely.
Speaker 3:I'll definitely send that to you guys.
Speaker 3:Um yeah, so, uh, so yeah, so yeah, deer hunting, like you know my self-taught, you know what I mean. They, they were, um, and they generally they come out fairly humorously and uh, you know, we, we, we really kind of believe in subsistence hunting, you know, I mean, we, we eat everything we shoot and so, um, you know my, I try to keep my freezer as full as possible, which, um, which I found, like I said, you know, my wife being a champion you know of of, of dealing with my lifestyle, um, she, she has tons, of tons of moments where she's just like she has to stop and be like I can't believe I married.
Speaker 2:this, you know this is you know this yeah, here I have a question for you, going back to the 45 yards, knowing that you are an outright gun expert, is that? Is that fair statement, right?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:So I I recently got a new rifle, put on a new scope and I was like where should? Was like where should I zero at? And so in your situation I'm curious, where would you sight in where you are? Where do you sight in? And then, if you were to go Western big game, what would you zero at? And then what do you think is the perfect? If you're just not going to switch between the two, like where would you land?
Speaker 3:And I don't want dare, no, I just, I just want an answer, because you know, I'm just curious so, um, to not be technical, and because we do so much, uh, long range with us, now for western big game and even I've even seen ranella do this uh, now he's, he's moving into modern sighting, sighting systems, um, I would say, for western big game, you want to just like. If you were, uh, an sf sniper or, you know, a marine corps sniper, I would, I would put your zero at 100 to be as long as you understand your holds. You know, if you, you, if you understand the flight path of your bullet, then your hundred is going to be where you want to start. And the reason for that is when we do our long range uh out here, and we, we teach our students to go out to a thousand. And if you started a hundred and you're using a and this is where it does get a little technical using, like a, um, an MRAD system, right, an MRAD reticle, uh, and that just means that the reticle is in mil radians, um, you are starting to get yourself into truly accurate shooting. One of my guys can get you into, you know, uh, our, our main instructor, gets you out to a thousand. And then, when we do a refresher after that course, uh, the next guy gets you into a five inch plate at 600 um. So I mean so. So I would start your zero at a hundred.
Speaker 3:Now, if you want to find a middle ground between the two, it just depends on what kind of scope you're using. You know if you're using, if you're using a five to 25, you know what I mean Something that you need to see the moon with um, then then a hundred is what is going to do you justice, uh, if you're using something smaller, like I tend to use, uh, when I'm here in Virginia, like I'll use a battle site, um, or I'll use a I've even hunted with an ACOG before. I know that's a technical term, but you know a U S military ACOG, um. You know I do my zero at 25, but I understand where my holds are on that. On that scope.
Speaker 3:So it it takes some, take some knowledge, some optics knowledge, but if you, if you feel like nerding out one night, just sit down and learn how an MRAD scope works. Okay, interesting.
Speaker 2:And if you really want to learn Sounds like I need to recite because I'm at 200.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I have heard of that Out west a lot of guys will zero at 200 to 300 because they know they're taking that shot.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It just depends on the reticle you're using. Okay, two to 300, because they know they're taking that shot. It just depends on the reticle you're using. If you know you're shooting at, if you know you're going to be shooting long distance, and you start that crosshair at a hundred, then when you're reaching out, everything else will fall in line. Your holds will fall in line as as you start to move down that reticle. It does take a little bit of science and, yes, out here we use a laser range, finders and Kestrels and, uh, we are very technical. You know, my, my instructor at work is a is a SIFSIC instructor. I mean, he's amazing. Um, and these guys have forgotten more about shooting than I'll ever know, and I'm a gun expert, so so they uh, so there, there's skills to it and if you ever want to learn, head out to, if you're ever in Virginia, we'll teach you. We don't care, we love it. This is what we live for.
Speaker 2:Cool, cool. I want to get into shooting. I want to get into long-range shooting. I just haven't gotten there yet. But yeah, I got this new rifle and I love it. But I was like, where should? I sight in and I knew where my holes should be at 200, but it's good to hear your opinion. So sorry for the listeners that are going technical when we're supposed to just be doing stories, but it is what it is. I was curious, man, what else you got, brian man.
Speaker 3:So there was one funny day. This one goes back to my wife and she insists.
Speaker 3:I always tell people this story, Uh so there was the day that she didn't want me to get a deer. Uh and uh, this was at the same piece of property and it was one year and it was the best year I'd gotten. All year it was, it was, and uh, I'm not a trophy hunter. I don't care how many points they have. If, if a 10 point comes walking out, yes, I'm going to lose my mind, but if they're a four or a six-point, it's food in the fridge.
Speaker 2:Brown is down meat.
Speaker 3:Yep. So I was out at that property and I had taken my truck I think was in the shop, but that wasn't going to stop me from going hunting and I grabbed my wife's CRV. Uh and uh, it's, it's this cute little red CRV, it's perfect for her. She loves that car and uh and my, my dumb ass goes and drives out to to go hunting. And of course, uh, the day that she doesn't want me to get a deer, cause she knows, I'm going to throw it in the back of her carpeted CRV.
Speaker 3:I am out there at the property. I'd just given up. I'd been walking the trails all day long and I hadn't seen anything. And I'd seen this buck a couple times when I'd been out there, but I hadn't been able to really pin him down and I knew where he hung out. But every time I would go out there I would scare up a bunch of deer and I couldn't tell if he was there.
Speaker 3:And I decided to pack up the car and, just like I was going to call it quits for the day, and I got in my truck, or I got in her car and I I started driving, you know, kind of down the field towards the trail. And as I'm driving now I turn, I look at the corner of my eye and there he is and he's like, literally, staring at me once again. And I'm looking at him. He's looking at me once again. Um and I, I'm looking at him, he's looking at me and I'm sitting here. I'm going, son of a.
Speaker 3:I was like I'm in the car. I was like I got to find a way out of the car. I was like otherwise, this is illegal. I was like, but I'm getting that deer. So everything that could go wrong in five minutes goes wrong, like, literally. Like. Like I bang my gun against the door, I look over, he's still there. I go to open the door so I can walk down the fields and feel pretty ethical. And so I go to open the door and the keys are in the ignition Seatbelt bell goes off.
Speaker 1:I'm just like son.
Speaker 3:I was like and this guy won't move, he's just sitting there staring at me and I'm just like hey, I. I was like now he's too dumb to live, so I have to, I have to do something yeah, you got it better for the herd to get him out of the gene pool so I uh, it ended up kind of being a funny story in two ways.
Speaker 3:I I get out and I walk down the hill and I turn on him and as I turn on he still doesn't move and he's sitting there and he's looking at me and then he it's almost like he wanted to die. He kind of like scoots his butt a little bit and once again gives me a perfect broadside.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sounds like you're hunting a zoo, brian.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm sure you weren't in a zoo, yeah I know it's most animals, I don't know, for some reason they don't fear me. It's probably my size. Uh, I'm little, so he, he like kind of he, he scoots his butt a little bit. And uh, this year I was hunting with an AR 10 and that was my whole deal. I was like I'm gonna hunt with this AR 10. I love it. And, um, so I I hit him and he runs about 30 yards and he falls down.
Speaker 3:He tried to get into the woods to bed down so I couldn't find him and he got like into this little little thicket and he falls down and I'm I'm kind of over the moon at this point because he's the best deer, I've gotten in a while and I'm just, I'm just pumped and and I go running over to him and uh, and I, I, I start, I start field dressing right away after about 15 phone calls to my wife and of course she gets this phone call that she didn't want, which was I got deer.
Speaker 3:And then she finds out it's a buck, and and she goes, I can tell, I, I know, just in her brain she's like crap, he's gonna put that in the back of the car. So it kind of gets a little funnier just because I start cleaning them up and the guy who is uh, who's, who's, very one of my very near dear friends, who owns the property, uh, he shows up over the hill and he shows up for the hill. I'm, I'm armed deep like in a deer. You know I blood up the elbows and you know I'm pulling guts out and everything like that, and he's a hundred two. So he understood what was going on.
Speaker 3:But, of course he's dressed like a normal human being and I'm dressed, you know, uh, like Cabello's threw up on me and uh he's. He's just looking at me and he's like where's your truck? And I go, I don't have my truck. I was like I got Andrea's CRV. And he's like you have your wife's car and you're going to throw that deer in the back of it. And I'm just like, yeah, yeah, I am.
Speaker 3:I was like this one's not staying here and he literally gives me this look and he's just like good luck with that.
Speaker 1:He's like you you.
Speaker 3:You have fun when you get home.
Speaker 2:Did you have a tarp or anything?
Speaker 3:I did have a tarp back there I had I had a. I had a small tarp and I only got a little bit of blood that I think I cleaned up before anybody noticed. But then then I had to hear it for the week. I mean she told me she was like she's like, you know, my car has smelled for the past uh, for past, you know five days and I was like I don't know what to do about that and I was like it's going to be a good deer, though, you know.
Speaker 3:So, uh, so she once again she's very forgiving, but it was the one day that she didn't want me to get it there.
Speaker 2:That's too funny, man. Yeah, I can imagine my wife would be pretty pissed if I took her vehicle. We have an Explorer and then we have a Silverado. So if we took the Explorer and I brought that thing back with a deer in it, she'd lose her shit at me.
Speaker 3:So I don't care where you're coming from. I got to find a better plan to Dexter up the back of her CRV, so I can make sure I get deer out of there, but yeah. So once again amazingly supportive. I got to learn the rules, I think somewhere in the next 10 years of our marriage.
Speaker 2:What you got to do is get her out there with you, yeah, and then she's making the same mistakes and can't blame you If you're doing it together. It's an event, right? It's not a mistake.
Speaker 3:This'll. This'll be the first year I'm hoping I can do it. This'll be the first year that my stepson's going to hunt with me and he's only been my stepson for a short period of time, obviously, but he's going to go out and hunt with me this year. We built him a rifle last year. That's one of my things at my job I build rifles for people so we built one together and he's all pumped about it, and so we'll finally get him out there. I think that that will be a good way to at least get mom out there for, like the middle to the aftermath, I don't know if we can get her out there at 5 am but maybe we can get out there to the center part.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess I got to ask what? Why hasn't she gone out?
Speaker 3:Is it because she doesn't want the early mornings and stuff like that, or we are extremely I don't like to say we're workaholics, but I live my life at XCAL, but I live my life at XCAL and she works for as a contractor for the government, and she is just as dedicated to her job as I am mine. It's when it's just us, uh, it's let's cook a big meal, let's get on the couch and, you know, let's watch like an entire season of of whatever you know whatever yeah.
Speaker 3:And that's um, that's our time together and uh, and we've earned it. You know what I mean. Like we work so hard and um, like I said, we're both veterans, so we have no problem being like.
Speaker 2:I'm going to park my ass on the couch for a little while.
Speaker 3:Uh, because I didn't before so here's a question for you shoot show recommendation. Give me one, and you can't say last of us, uh, no it wouldn't be the last of us. Uh, dark winds.
Speaker 2:I'm actually a big fan of that one yeah I'm not familiar.
Speaker 3:I'll have to check it out yeah, so I believe it's amc and it's a uh, it's a, it's kind of set in the 60s.
Speaker 3:It's set right after vietnam and um on an indian reservation and uh and it is a uh, it's just such a, it's such a good show it and it's just enjoyable. But it's also it's got its creepy fun elements to it, that kind of make you know, kind of make you wonder. And I I listened to all the books too, uh you know on my commute and uh, so I, I really was, I really was all about that show when I found out it was coming out oh very cool, yeah, and then and this year.
Speaker 3:Uh, so I'm a big aliens fan. The movie aliens, I'm obsessed with it. Our dogs are named after characters from aliens, like everything uh and aliens earth is supposed to come out this summer and that's going to be uh, that's the like, the one show that I'm just anticipating hardcore. Whether it's good or not, it could completely be terrible, and I'm still you never know, you never know.
Speaker 2:But that franchise historically has got some pretty great films oh it does cool. Well, brian, you got any other ones for us? I know we're about out of time here for what we scheduled. I want to make sure we get them all in, if we can.
Speaker 3:No, I think you know the only the most recent hunt, just real quick one, and this is really just a shout out to people in North Carolina. There's these guys I go hunt with in North Carolina, called Carolina Razorbacks, Carolina called Carolina Razorbacks, and this is some down home hunting Like they will drop. They've dropped me off in the middle of the swamp for like 17 hours before uh and me being an 11.
Speaker 1:Bravo, I'm like oh, this is home for me.
Speaker 3:It's very easy Um and uh. You know I've been skunked years and years in a row not being able to get a hog. In this past year I finally got one Uh, but it was funny, my wife being my luck charm. I just texted her and I said I'm not going to get a hog during the day, I'm going to be here all night. And as I hit send, I look up and there's 10 of them in front of me.
Speaker 3:And so I finally had a success this year, and it's kind of that's just moral of that story is like just keep trying. Like you know, like I said, a bad day of hunting is better than a good day at work.
Speaker 2:Hell yeah, man, hell yeah. Well, I don't know if you've listened to this episode, jim Huntsman, have you listened to that episode?
Speaker 3:yet I believe so yeah.
Speaker 2:He goes to the swamp in North Carolina. If you guys are interested in a hilarious story about someone hunting a swamp in North Carolina, check out the Jim Huntsman episode. I don't know what number it is. There's that area. It intrigues me the hunting in that area. So oh it's it's terrifying.
Speaker 3:You go out there. I heard things in those woods. The worst part is I heard things in those woods and then afterwards, uh, these are and these are great guys, but I mean they're good old boys and I turned to him. I'd be like man. I heard some shit in the woods like I heard some like like screeching and weird stuff and like, instead of them like assuaging my anguish and being like, oh yeah, that was a raccoon or that was this.
Speaker 3:They were like yeah I'd be like no yup is not the answer I was like you know but uh, but yeah, no, north carolina great hunting, definitely, without a doubt, I believe it, man, I believe it huge black bears out in north carolina.
Speaker 2:I think they hold the uh, the continental united states record comes from north carolina yeah, I, I think it does. Yeah, yeah. Well, brian, thank you man, this was a lot of fun. Why don't we share? You've obviously got a lot going on why don't you share some of your information where people can find you, what you do, et cetera? And I'll put links to all of it in the show notes.
Speaker 3:Sure, sure. So biggest one for my life is going to be wwwxcalcom, or at xcal loudon, uh, on instagram. Xcal is my home. My bosses are, uh, are saving graces for me. They, they, they gave me my sense of purpose, without a doubt. Um, so xcal is my house. Look it up on instagram. It is a? Uh, it is like nothing we've ever seen before. Um, and then Mimic Firearms, which will be coming out next year. That's at Mimic Firearms on Instagram. And if you're interested in getting in touch with me, for whatever reason, just for fun, send me a message, show me some hunting stories, show me some pictures. My own little small company is Gunfisher Weapon Earring made up, word, by the way, and Gunfisher Weapon Earring is G-U-N-N-F-I-S-H-E-R, underscore W-P-N-G, and that's on Instagram. But that's just like to communicate with me. See all my cool gun stories. There's a lot of full auto shooting on there.
Speaker 1:And there's all sorts of stuff I do at work.
Speaker 3:But yeah, feel free to spread the word and we'd love to see anybody who's interested in this community, shooting sports or the outdoor community. Uh, come to X-Cal, I mean, we are, we are a home, hell yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Hell yeah, man, cool Brian. Thank you again, man. This was a lot of fun. I actually hear all the time that like, obviously it's easy for me in the west to get western hunters on, but they're like, I want to hear more east coast, more whitetail stories, and so I love hearing them and I've got lots of people clamoring for them, so thank you sir, I really do appreciate it pleasure tell your wife that, uh, you're lucky because you you are. I will. But thanks again, man, I appreciate you you got it brother.
Speaker 2:All right, guys. That's it. Another couple stories in the books. Again, I want to thank Brian for coming on the podcast. I really do appreciate it. Couldn't have done it without him, obviously, and he was brave enough to go out there and fill out my form, helping me find more guests who have great stories for you guys to hear. So thank you, brian. I do appreciate you Listeners again, share the story with one person. Give us a rating if you haven't already. I really would appreciate that. And then I'm going to go ahead and actually start this song over here. I'll let you listen to the full thing if you want to hang on, and I'll start putting it at the end of the show. After recording the intro, I was like maybe I'll just keep the beginning intro but then add the song at the end.
Speaker 2:So enjoy, guys. Beyond that, again, I would love feedback on the song. I would love feedback in regards to the episode that's going to be coming out this Friday. So stay tuned for that. That's it. Go out there and make some stories of your own guys. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the wild where adventure awaits Hunting, fishing, filled with tales and great mates. Out in nature's beauty, we find the right track. Join us each week for a story's in there. So put on your boots, grab your gear and your rod. We're diving into the news, taking a step toward the wild card. We're in the woods, where the rivers run clear, gather round the fire, the cold rain in. Thank you, grab your gear. It's time for the ride In this wildlife. We take it all in stride. I've landed, I've come. No, I've been down the knob. Grab your gear. It's time for the ride. I've landed, I've come. No, or I plan down. I grab a gear. It's time for a ride. Guitar solo.
