Untamed Pursuits

Episode 9: Wes Hodges VA Pt. 2

• Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Network

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Wes Hodges joins us once again to share his inspiring journey from humble beginnings to owning a luxurious lodge on the James River in Virginia. Discover his innovative glamping concept, featuring four-season canvas tents with solar power, running water, and wood stoves that redefine comfort in the wilderness. Wes's vision has revolutionized the outdoor lodging industry, making his lodge a premier destination for those seeking both adventure and relaxation.

Step back in time with us as we explore the incredible transformation of an 1850s historic house into a magnificent hunting and fishing lodge. Wes recounts the challenges of relocating the home using mules and oxen and the trials faced during the renovation, including a windstorm that tore off the roof. The result is a stunning 3,500-square-foot Appalachian farmhouse adorned with traditional sporting lodge decor and early 1900s artwork. Guests are treated to an unparalleled experience where every detail is meticulously attended to, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in the serene surroundings.

Join us as we delve into the mental and physical demands of Southern grouse hunting and the deep bond between hunters and their dogs. Wes provides insights into the complexities of habitat changes, the impact of avian flu, and the rigorous Appalachian terrain. Hear heartwarming outdoor adventure stories that underscore the respect for nature and the emotional connection shared during hunts. Plus, we offer practical tips to enhance your fishing and hunting adventures while fostering a community united by a passion for the outdoors. Don't miss this captivating episode filled with stories of resilience, innovation, and the beauty of nature.

Speaker 1:

How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to build one of Canada's most iconic fishing lodges? I'm your host, steve Nitzwicky, and you'll find out about that and a whole lot more on the Outdoor Journal Radio Network's newest podcast, diaries of a Lodge Owner. But this podcast will be more than that. Every week on Diaries of a Lodge Owner, I'm going to introduce you to a ton of great people, share their stories of our trials, tribulations and inspirations, learn and have plenty of laughs along the way. Meanwhile, we're sitting there bobbing along trying to figure out how to catch a bass and we both decided one day we were going to be on television doing a fishing show.

Speaker 1:

My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in all those bass in the summertime, but that's might be for more fishing than it was. Punching you so confidently, you said hey Pat, have you ever eaten a drum? Find Diaries of a Lodge Owner now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

Speaker 2:

This is Ryder Knowlton. Welcome to the next episode of the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Network's Untamed Pursuits Podcast. I'm your host, ryder Knowlton, and I have my lovely sidekick Jamie Pistilli from Ottawa. Jamie, how are you doing?

Speaker 3:

Hey, ryder rider. What's going on, man? Another, another week, uh, of fishing and hunting tales and, uh, you know, we had to uh call our guest back from last week. Uh, I just had so many more questions and he was, you know, gracious enough to give us some more of his time. Wesley hges was fantastic, excited to keep dabbling and learning more about Wonderful Virginia.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know we had talked about you know you could do four or five shows with Wes Hodges. Hey, for the folks that might have missed the last show, I'll give a quick little update on our incredible guests coming in for round two of our show. A great friend and one of those unique people that is so respected in the fly fishing and hunting world and also just the outfitting and lodging business. Very good friend and a fly fishing guide and a grouse guide and an outfitter and an owner of a beautiful lodge on the James River. Wes Hodges is joining us from Virginia. Wes, how are you doing?

Speaker 4:

I'm good guys. How are you all doing? Thanks for having me again.

Speaker 3:

Hey, we'd like to have you all the time. It's fantastic. Got me all fired up last week and I was on your website creeping a couple of times, so if you have a little spike in traffic sorry that was me, but you know I got to ask. Before we get into the hunting side of it, you have one beautiful home and lodge for people to stay, but you also have this glamping thing. Now my family, when the kids were younger, we tried camping and I realized I'm more of a cottager. But I think for somebody who is new or likes to glamp, this is an amazing and such a unique way to spend a fishing or hunting vacation.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, it's really cool, man. You know the glamping guys. As I said last time and I'll probably say it again, I, I, I don't, I do not have a business plan. Okay, if I went in front of a bank right now and said, hey, let me have a bunch of money for something, they'd be like, all right, let me see your business plan. It's the same answer that I had 13 years ago. I don't have one, I just have an idea. I know it'll work.

Speaker 4:

And that's how the glamping started. I didn't have enough money to refurbish my entire lodge, so I found these two glamping tents out of Montana and I was like, shoot, I can afford that. And I built some wooden decks and put them on top of there and people will stay in it. And it worked. So then I did it again and it worked again. It keeps working.

Speaker 4:

And the whole concept was that I wanted people outside, in a unique setting, to experience my property and see the Appalachian Mountains and get away from their everyday life and let loose, and do it at an affordable rate. That made sense to both me and the clients. And that's where the glamping came from. And people aged it up. They wanted that outdoor experience. They wanted to have the camping experience, but they didn't really want to suffer through the bugs and the mud and the muck. They wanted to just have a great time, a relaxing weekend, and that's where the glamping came from. Now, you know, it's done so well that there's glamping setups kind of all over the place now in this area, so people can come in and rent a tent kind of anywhere on Airbnb. The only difference is they don't get the same food that we cook.

Speaker 2:

I was going to say Wes. Tell us about the whole experience, because when you say glamping you're talking about. When you say tents, these are canvas wall tents like you see at an elk base camp out in Colorado somewhere. I mean these are big two-man tents, these are cots, all the linens provided. Tell us about the setup of your camp. Obviously, it sits on one of my favorite rivers anywhere, the beautiful James River. But tell us about exactly what glamping means when they're talking about your operation.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, so glamping what it actually means is glamorous camping is what it is. And these tents are super heavy, durable, four-season canvas tents that are treated for waterproofness as well as fire retardant and, you know, to withstand the elements if you will. They're built on raised platform decks. They have solar batteries that power the tents themselves, fans lighting, everything. You can even plug in a computer if you have to work there, for you know, multiple days, they, they have running water, they have hot water showers, um, and have wood stoves because people glamp in them all year long.

Speaker 4:

Um, we provide everything, from the beds, their actual beds, with nectar mattresses, um, nectar, give me a little, give me a little hit there, uh, um, but yeah, I mean they're, they're full functioning. It's a home that is. A tent is what it is. But then, coupled with that, you know, we have it's an all-inclusive package. So when people stay there, they do get to eat with us and we have Argentinian-style asado pits that we cook all our food on and open fire, and it's a big communal dining space inside of our outdoor garden with a pavilion, and we can get up to 14 people in the pavilion.

Speaker 4:

You know, alcohol is all included. So it's a truly all-inclusive experience, and I set it up that way because I wanted people to just show up and bring their clothes and we have everything else. You don't need to fly with your shotguns or your fly rods or anything. We have it all for you. We have waders, rain jackets, shotguns, dogs, shells we have it all. Just get to an airport, get to the lodge and then you're taken care of. From that moment forward, I'm starting the van.

Speaker 3:

That's it. You know what you said, Asado. I've been down to Argentina and fished down to Patagonia a couple times and they know how to cook a shoreline. So the fact that you said Asado got me even more excited. I saw some photos of you cooking some delicious meat there on your website that's westleyhodgesflyfishingcom. And yeah, man, oh wow. Fishing and food my favorite things.

Speaker 4:

It's a lot of fun, it's really unique. You know, for example, tonight we have a local butcher that specifically requested a weekly supply of pecan, which is a special cut of beef steak kind of done in Argentina. So we're having grilled pecan skewers with, you know, your chimichurri sauce, and grilled potatoes and cream. I mean it's just, it's incredible. You couple that with a really nice sipping rum, gentlemen, you're in heaven.

Speaker 2:

Guys, what are we doing sitting around here doing this damn podcast? I want to hang out in Wes Hodges' garden and have a barbecue steak and a sip on some wine. Hey, wes, you know one of the things tell us a little bit about. I know the story of how you got this beautiful property, my goodness, but tell us about the old house and what it must have been like. Obviously, you're talking about your glamping camp, which is still on the property down on the banks of the river. But literally also on the property is this gorgeous old house that you have turned into a first class. You know hunting and fishing lodge house that you have turned into a first class. You know hunting and fishing lodge. Tell us about that project, how you took it on and kind of what inspired you to do it the way you did it.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, it was. It was a family. Just well. The history behind it, you know. There's no, there's no really true tax stamp until about 19,. I want to say it was like 1910, but everyone tells me the home has been there since about 1850. And the home was originally set up by a family that had a mine at the base of the mountain. So there's a big mountain system right there behind the lodge. The mine was apparently eminent domain by the government and then from there the guy that owned the mine had the government move that big house down to the valley and that was done by cutting the home in half and they used some kind of mules and ox and log system and got the house moved down to where it currently is sitting at. That's the Appalachian history behind it. I don't know how true that is. It may or may not stand up in court, but that's what they tell me.

Speaker 4:

But the home, it was an endeavor. Truth be told, when I bought the property the home was in good shape. By no way was it set up the way that it is now. There were some renovations that had to occur. Matter of fact, the first four months I bought the home the whole roof blew off of it in a big windstorm, so I was cutting the yard and I was getting pelted with shingles as the whole roof got ripped off. So, yeah, so it's been a project. It's been a long project and I'm glad to say that it's pretty much finished.

Speaker 4:

The home itself is about 3, 33 to 3,500 square foot. There's four big bedrooms upstairs, two big bathrooms and then there's the whole downstairs, which is the kitchen, dining room, formal lounge and formal kind of living room, if you will, and that's the focal point of the whole operation. That's where the food is done at Most of the gathering, between that and the outdoor garden or the garden itself. That's where most of the, the communal dining, you know, cocktails and and and apps they all take place right there in that that vicinity.

Speaker 4:

Um, and you know, when I first got the house and it didn't look like it looked now, I mean it was, it looked like a really upscale fraternity house, ok, but it wasn't right, it wasn't, it didn't have the right feel to it, and I brought in a interior designer, decorator to like, and I explained to what I was doing decorator to like, and I explained to her what I was doing and she had zero concept of it because it's unheard of in Virginia. This, this, uh, fishing and hunting lodge it's unheard of. So I worked with her for a couple months and like hey, look, this is the history of this area, this is what the traditional families would do when they hunted and it finally we pieced together kind of the theme. The look of it. It is a is a boutique Appalachian farmhouse. Um, that is the decorations.

Speaker 4:

The interior of it is what you would call a traditional sporting lodge. Um, there's really not any modern photography in it. It's actually early 1900s kind of artwork um of of hunting and fishing. Um, there are some local pieces of of fly fishing artists who did some stuff. Um, but it's it's a really unique, beautiful setup. Um, and again, I I could not have done it myself. I hired the right people to help me do it, but it's a really beautiful spot. It really is.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's a gorgeous setting. You can't replicate the setting and it's such a you know you talk about on our last show you know you talked about you want your client's experience to be. They just show up, they're not having to worry about anything, you guys are taking care of everything and it's just one of those places that you know. I've pulled into that driveway now a couple of times late at night and there's just a great feeling about pulling in, seeing the big old farmhouse and lights on and you just know you can just walk in and and just you know, and relax.

Speaker 2:

And you know you're on the last show, wes, you talked about your relationship with your clients and you know there have been times where I know you know you've had a long day, just like I'm sure Jamie does too. You know you guys do this every day for months and months during the season. But both of you guys, you know you always find that energy and I know I've seen you on days where I know you've had long days on the water and man, you're still there because you want these. You know you want your guests to. They've they've got you for two days, you know, and then that's it until the next season and I know you're there to you want them to be able to make the most of it.

Speaker 4:

Even if you're tired, you're still there having a you know, a drink with them at the end of the hunt with me. That time you got your bird, we go back. You know I'd be doing that anyway. That is what I would do if you were there or not. There is that I would go hunting, I'd come back home, I'd cook dinner, I'd have a cocktail, I'd hang out and I'd go to sleep. And it is. I am literally living a dream, because it's exactly what I would do every single day, with or without clients, with or without millions of dollars. That's exactly what I would do. It's exactly who I am. It's nice. It's nice. So I do get physically tired sometimes, but it's a good exhaustion, it's really good.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's the world's best transition into grouse hunting is physically tired. So let's talk about. You said one time you and I were very lucky and I think got a great grouse on shot number two or three. Sure the hell, I don't think it was the first shot. But I remember one time you saying in your mind the hardest upland bird to get in North America is a southern rough grouse. Now there is world-class grouse hunting up north. Absolutely understand that. But what did you mean by that? When you say the toughest upland bird in your opinion is the southern rough grouse? Tell us why you said that and what do you mean by that.

Speaker 4:

Well, it's kind of two pronged um, because number one, um, the Appalachian rough grouse there there are not. Now for the listeners, when we talk about Appalachian rough grouse, we're talking about grouse, that kind of span from Pennsylvania, uh, all the way down to Georgia. That used to be the world-class grouse hunting 30, 40 years ago. Due to some less than ideal foresting, cutting of timber, habitat management, the numbers have kind of died off, as well as the avian flu, et cetera, et cetera. So it's hard because the sheer volume of birds, concentration of birds, is just not there like it is in New England or in the, you know, wisconsin, michigan, stuff like that. Okay, keep that in mind.

Speaker 4:

Now you're dealing with the terrain, the rugged, steep terrain of the Appalachian mountains. Um, yes, we don't have the 14,000 foot peaks that you have in Colorado. However, I challenge those in Colorado to come out west and try to run up these mountains too. Okay, it is not that easy. Then you're bushwhacking it.

Speaker 4:

So oftentimes you're not walking on a trail, you're going through these logging cuts and you're just bushwhacking as you go. And it's super, super thick. You're already physically tired, you're trying to keep up with the dogs and then out of nowhere, the wind shifts and the bird just flushes and you're looking down your feet asking yourself why the hell you're doing this in the first place. And the bird flushes right in front of you so you're not even paying attention. So there's the psychological aspect of it, too, that you've got to keep in mind, keeping your head in the game, knowing that you may not see a bird until the last step of the day. And keeping your head in the game knowing that from the moment that I step out of this vehicle to the moment that I get back in the vehicle, I have to be on my game, ready to shoot at any given moment watching the dogs oh, by the way, I have to crest this huge rocky knoll real quick. So it's very complex. There's a lot that goes into it.

Speaker 2:

It's such a mental thing too. I mean, cause you are, you're so tired and and um, you know you, you do this and and and you're also just, you know you stay in good shape and you're used to doing this every day. It's such a mental game where you're dealing with just the physicality of climbing these mountains, real mountains, you know real terrain. And then I think the thing about southern grouse hunting for me and I'm going to get my first flavor of Northern grouse hunting this fall I'm really curious to see how it compares. But I you know for me that with Southern grouse hunting you hit it right on the head, man, you may just get one shot and that shot may happen in the last five minutes of the entire day.

Speaker 2:

It's kind of like you know. It's kind of like you know pulling up on a flap, you know for tarpon, and you get one shot on a weekend and if you blow it you've blown it. Tell us about the mental side. You know how do you handle that with your clients. Obviously you're assessing physical ability, you know, and that makes sense. But I got to think you're dealing with a lot of ups and downs right of your clients as they deal with just the mental side of effectively Southern Grouse Hunt.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, and I do. And you know, I, I, I think I walked somewhere between 790 and 840 miles last year, um, during the grouse season. Um, it's a mental game. It is a mental game and part of my job is not just, you know, being a guide, managing the dogs. Part of being a guide is keeping your clients head in the game by keeping their. You don't, you don't oversell the bird. You, you sell the experience and you sell the dogs because the dogs are just as an important component to it as the shotgun is.

Speaker 4:

And you know, when you get into an area this is where I'm gonna get a little bit spiritual on you guys I can feel it in my gut when a bird is around us. I can feel it and I, I know it because I'm, I'm, I'm sitting there and, ronnie, you saw it I was just like wash the dog, wash the dog, dog. Yeah, because you, just, you know our situation was different, because you physically saw the bird and the dogs were over with me. But we didn't flush it initially, no, but we circled back around and I was like man, this bird has got to be here somewhere. So I send in my little cocker and, sure enough, he gets on the scent. It was like here it comes, here it comes, boom bird blows up yeah no, you absolutely felt it for sure.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, and it's. I have, I don't know, called it sixth sense, but I just feel it when it's about to happen and I can kind of get clients kind of head in the game really quick if necessary. But it also is a lot of me. Is me watching the dogs. I'm so close with my dogs. But it also is a lot of me watching the dogs. I'm so close with my dogs. You know, I know their every single move. I know what they're thinking. You know right now they're all just laying out on the back porch. You know, pissed off at the earth that they can't go run. But I know them. I know, by the way their eyes look, what they're thinking, what they're doing, what they're doing. If they're, if they know there's no bird in there, they can they're kind of show it to me. Um, so it's, it's. It's just honestly, I keep clients focused and in the game because, just based off of my I guess my level of focus, if I'm not feeling it, we're going to walk out. It's not going to happen.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's not something, you know, man, you hit it right on the head and it's. I got to thank both of you guys. Jamie, I'm sure feels this way too when you're muskie fishing. Hell, jamie and I've had you know days before where we've been chasing muskie and you just it ain't happening. Right Right, you know you're just not going to find them. It's like permit fly fishing.

Speaker 2:

You know, I kind of I threw Southern grouse into that same category that you know, it's everything. So many things have to happen, right, right, for that to all come together. And at the end of the day, just because you get a flush, talk about the terrain, or I guess not the terrain, we know it's mountainous terrain, but talk about the understory, the cover, talk about the cover that these grouse are in, because once that grouse, first of all they explode. It's not like you know, it's not a progression, it's an explosion. Half the time when I have a grouse come up in front of me, it scares the shit out of me more than you know, makes me want to shoot. Half the time I just get heart palpitations. But talk about the explosion of that when that grouse takes off. And then what the cover's like, because even swinging a shotgun barrel sometimes in that cover. Obviously you're thinking about other people and the dogs trying to get focused on the birds. But hell, half the time you can't even see the bird because his cover's so thick.

Speaker 4:

That's correct. Yeah, time you can't even see the bird because his cover's so thick. That's correct, yeah. So you know, on average and this is not set in stone, but on average we're hunting anywhere from 10 to 15-year-old clear cuts. That age class in timber yields a almost impenetrable, I guess, vision path at about head height. Almost impenetrable, meaning you can't see much past six, seven feet in front of you, okay. Now mix in that with mountain laurel and mountain rhododendron, okay, which makes the bottom story almost impassable most of the time Not always, but most of the time.

Speaker 4:

And so you're weaving and bobbing through this cut trying to find a lane to walk while trying to keep up with the dogs. And then you're doing and bobbing through this cut trying to find a lane to walk while trying to keep up with the dogs, and then you're doing it on a 10, 12 degree slope sometimes and then the collar stops or beeps dogs on point. You move, you can't even see the dog half the time, so you're kind of walking looking up, and then a bird flushes and it goes from a dog on point, silence in the wood, to a flush and the bird is out of shooting range within about three seconds. From nothing standstill to 50, 60 yards in about a matter of maybe less than three seconds. To be honest with you, it is almost an instantaneous explosion. And then out of range to shoot it.

Speaker 2:

Well, and it's a sound too. I mean I flush grouse walking to the deer stand in the morning and I mean you talk about something that'll wake your ass up first thing in the morning. It's pitch black and you're half asleep and you're groggy and you're kind of walking across the field on the way to the deer stand and a grouse explodes. Right, you know there's a sound, you know it's a sound.

Speaker 4:

You hear it's like a really deep, hollow helicopter takeoff is what it is. Just this. Exactly what it is. Yeah, and it is. It scares the hell out of you because you really don't know where that bird's at. Um, it could be behind you, to the right, front, left. It could be in a tree above your head and the dogs are still pointing it because they can smell it from the ground. So you don't really know where that bird's at and the birds will run on you, they'll creep, which is a whole nother story about a grouse dog, because everyone wants a grouse dog, that just.

Speaker 4:

They want a pointing dog that stays put and doesn't move when it goes on point. Well, we want a dog that will move with a bird. So we don't have beautiful pointing dogs. My dogs would never pass a field trial. They would kick me out of the first one Because my dogs they aren't. They're not pretty, they're not trimmed up and they'll move with a bird because we're trying to pin that bird to keep it from running away from us. We want it to flush, not run. So the dogs are trying to pin that bird. You know, and I've had people before be like, hey man, your dog's not pointing. I said just stay put. Stay put and let the dog work, or you can get down there and point the bird.

Speaker 3:

Wes what kind of what kind of dog breed do you have, um I?

Speaker 4:

got a little Motley crew. I have Llewellyn Setters, gsps and English Cocker Spaniels, field bred, field cockers. There we go A little bit of everything. That's awesome, yep. And I do it that way for a reason because I can. I can hunt my GSPs. If I need them to run really big, like a big cover, I can put my GSPs down. If it's more of a tight, really thick cover, I'll put my my, my Llewellyns, down, because they hunt closer and they're a little slower to hunt. And my cockers cockers are just cockers, man, they're freaking crazy.

Speaker 2:

When you say GSP, you're talking about German short-haired pointer just for the listeners, that's correct.

Speaker 4:

A German short-haired pointer Yep, that's correct.

Speaker 3:

So I guess, like your dogs are, like you're fishing and you're hunting, there's always something to do in Virginia, right, always. I can always adapt and it's crazy that, like, I'm not a hunter, but I think it's pretty cool that you have different breeds of dogs for different conditions. That's amazing.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, it's. You know, that's at least what I say. I've also got a problem with buying gun dogs and fly rods, so I at least try to justify it by trying to say there's a reason behind it.

Speaker 2:

You know it's funny that there's parts of the sporting world and that the connection between the hunter and the dog is so much more important than the hunting. You know, if you get a bird, great. If you get a. You know if you get the game you're pursuing great. But you know, talk about that for a sec great If you get a. You know if you get the game you're pursuing great. But you know, talk about that for a sec, wes.

Speaker 2:

You know, just talk about your relationship with your dogs because, yeah, and in a perfect world, you have clients with you that are there for the experience, the experience of being in those mountains, that the feeling of accomplishment when you get to one of the tops of those mountains and you look out and you realize, heck, birds or no birds, look what I've done and look where I am. But for people that really do understand it, it's about a day in the woods with the dogs. That is way more about what this upland hunting is, more so than shooting a bird. Talk about that and talk about your relationship with your dogs, just because they're such a, they're the driving part of the whole thing.

Speaker 4:

Yeah. So my relationship with the dogs is is a lot like, I would say, father son a relationship. Okay, it's. I'm not going to praise you all day long and tell you how great you are, but when you, when you do a good job, you're going to know it. If that makes any sense, I don't you know. But when you, when you do a good job, you're going to know it. If that makes any sense, I don't, you know. I don't. I'm not a big physical like. I don't touch my dogs a lot just because they don't like being dogs really don't like being touched that much. They like doing their job and they like getting rewarded for doing their job, which is the bird. But they don't need a whole lot of praise. It's a very professional relationship at the surface level How's that sound? But at a deeper level, my dogs and I are very close. Again, as you guys heard me say, I know their every single move. I know when they are sick, I know when they don't feel well, I know when they don't feel like hunting that day, just by looking at them, by the way they're moving. It's a very, very intimate relationship that is just really known between my dogs and myself.

Speaker 4:

My dogs are wild bird dogs. They're trained on wild birds. They hunt wild birds. Wild bird dogs, they're trained on wild birds, they hunt wild birds. They may be on a preserve maybe maybe 5% out of the season, but I don't want them on preserves. I want them chasing wild birds because they get a far better education doing that than they ever would on a preserve doing that than they ever would on a preserve.

Speaker 4:

And as far as the question on, you know what the hunt is about. It is about the dogs. It's about if you go into the woods and you're bloodthirsty and you're wanting to harvest a bird, chances are you're probably not going to get one anyway. Yeah, but if you're there and you're focused on the experience and you're watching the dogs work and watching what a truly wild bird dog does in the wild, based off of instincts, you know that's mesmerizing in itself how they use the wind, how they use the team, each other, how they spin and turn off of the hunters and turn off of the hunters. You can go from hunting by yourself and the dog will range a certain distance to go, and hunting with four people, and that dog will expand his distance even further. So they just know, they understand and they are truly a fine-tuned machine and the only thing they really care about is hunting. That's it, period, and it's so cool watching them.

Speaker 2:

I think it's hard. I think you hit it on the head where you say it's hard to explain. You know cause? It's the um, the, the dynamic that the relationship between a bird hunter and their dog is so much deeper than the hunting, as we've been talking about Um and and, and you push your dogs hard. You know it's funny, you know you're you, you are kind of like a coach. You know what I mean, or maybe it's you're obviously you're like a parent, um, and you're pushing them hard. You're pushing them hard but at the same time, you know you won't find a more caring, nurturing, um, uh uh, attentive caregiver to their dogs than a sports person. You know who works dogs, I don't care if you're, you know, a big game hunter that works with dogs, or a wing shooter, upland waterfowl, I don't care what it is. That relationship is so special, you know. I know that. You know.

Speaker 2:

I remember that one day you and I were out there Wes and your dogs are working so hard and they're just getting torn up by some of these thorns. And you made the call one day where you said you know what? We're bringing this one back to the truck, you know? Because he had cut up his ears so bad, you know, the dog was just covered in, covered in blood, not from being injured so much as just having the ears cut by thorns. And your point was, through the dog's cooling mechanisms, panting ears, that that can be dangerous for a dog because there's so much going on blood flow-wise in their ears.

Speaker 2:

And it was amazing watching you set up almost like a mobile little medical unit know, mobile, you know, medical unit for your dog, right there in the middle of the woods on the side of that mountain. And you were, you know, you were helping the dog, you were taking care of it, you were wrapping it up, bandaging it. You know that became the entire focus. And then, of course, we took the dog back to the truck and and then kept hunting with some other dogs and got her grouse and, and I mean, but it was with some other dogs and got her grouse and and I mean, but it was, there's nothing, it's hard to explain, but it's, uh, there's nothing to me, uh, more, um, more of a spiritual connection than between a sports person and their dog, if they're in, you know, one of those sporting events that involves that relationship.

Speaker 4:

That's. I mean you're exactly right. You're exactly right. My dogs are very special to me and I love dogs.

Speaker 4:

You bring up a good point, too, about you know a guide. You know this can be carried on into a conservation discussion too. There is, there is no one that cares as much about their targeted species as the guide. It's their livelihood, it's what they do. I mean, you know, listen to Jamie talk about the muskie, like, if something happens to that system, his business is done. So he is the number one advocate for that system, which then carries over into all fishing. You know aquatic systems, if you will.

Speaker 4:

Same thing for me in my area in the mountains here, which is why, you know, I get so fed up with littering. I get fed up with people abusing the system itself, poaching, because we, you know, as sportsmen, we truly respect and appreciate and love you know our pursuits and we want them to continue so. And the same thing goes with our dogs. You know we love our dogs. We work them hard, we do, but we spend so much time and effort getting them honed in so they can do their, you know their job. I mean, hell, I don't know. My dogs probably eat better food than I do, to be honest with you.

Speaker 6:

As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.

Speaker 6:

After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people. That will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2:

Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman.

Speaker 1:

Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right Every Thursday.

Speaker 3:

Ang and I will be right here in your ears, bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio.

Speaker 1:

Hmm, Now what are we going to talk about for two hours every week?

Speaker 3:

Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.

Speaker 7:

I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes, all the other guys would go golfing Me and Garton.

Speaker 5:

Turk and all the Russians would go fishing To scientists, but now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe, it's the perfect transmission environment for life.

Speaker 7:

To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.

Speaker 1:

And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are.

Speaker 2:

Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside, find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 3:

I gotta ask you, as a guide, you spend a lot of time down floating the rivers and searching for a variety of birds. Tell us your your greatest guide story, cause you know, ryder Ryder wrote a fantastic book. I'm going to put the link up to that if you want to hear some stories. But most guides have stories and that's kind of the premise of how this show kind of came together West. So, if you got, tell us your greatest either hunting or fishing story together Wes.

Speaker 4:

So if you got, uh, tell us your greatest either hunting or fishing story. Um, well, the fishing one. I got a really good fishing story, um, it was more of a a kind of a motivational fishing story. Last year, um, I got a phone call from a guy who wanted to take his um. He was retired, had a really good career path and he wanted to take his nephew and the nephew's father and some other family members on a trip. The nephew had a lot of mobility issues due to a birth defect.

Speaker 4:

The young boy really, really, really wanted to catch a fish on a fly rod. The kid loved fishing, loved it, uh, but he really wanted to catch a fish on a fly rod, um, but his physical impairments were not impossible because he proved that he was willing and able to do it, but it was seriously limiting to him. I have never in my life seen someone so driven to the very, very last cast of the day to catch something, and he didn't. He didn't catch anything. To catch something and he didn't. He didn't catch anything.

Speaker 4:

But just seeing his, he didn't catch a single fish, but what he caught was he now knows that he can freaking fly fish, he knows how to do it and he was more excited about that than, I think, any fish that we could have put him on. Um, so that was probably the highlight of my guiding was to see this guy that didn't didn't even obtain this, this speed, this fish that he wanted to hold, but instead he he obtained this whole vast knowledge that you know, in confidence that he could do this on his own. So I thought that was really, really, really cool kind of guide story. On the hunting side, it happened in the same year actually, rod, do you know a guy named Douglas Deer he owns Rose River Farms Trying to think Douglas Deer.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the name's familiar Wes, but I don't think I know him.

Speaker 4:

Well, you guys last year both harvested your first Virginia grouse, yeah. And Douglas Deer is a very close friend of mine and we've hunted all over the country together and he's always wanted to harvest one and he got one on his first day and you got yours all in the same season and both of y'all's reactions to the bird, the harvesting of the bird was the exact same. It was excitement when you found the bird and you know that you actually hit it. But this overwhelming sense of respect, yes, when you held the bird you had the exact same look and the exact same kind of emotional state, which I thought was a really good representation on what I'm trying to accomplish Is sure, we can harvest the animal, we can catch the fish, whatever it is, but if you don't really respect what it is, you're going after the fish, the deer, whatever the hell that animal is.

Speaker 4:

What are you doing it for anyway? Because it's just a bloodthirsty person. But seeing y'all's reaction to that, it validated what I'm trying to do here by pay homage and respect to these animals that are out here and respect and homage to the pursuit of truly wild game. You know, you could easily say beating mother nature or at least getting in balance with mother nature. How's that? That's about sound a little better, and that's kind of what I'm really after here.

Speaker 2:

Man, you're so right, it's um, and, and I think there's species. You're spot on with everything you say. You know across the board, across the sporting world, right, that's what you, how you want to approach hunting, fishing, whatever. It is just a deep found respect for where you are, what you're able to do. And you know landing a fish, shooting a bird, that's kind of just a, you know, that's an add on at the end, I do think there are species that are more of a journey. You know as much as than just going out. And you know shooting a bird.

Speaker 2:

And you keep talking about wild birds. You know, versus preserved birds, you know real wild birds and on top of that, just the challenge of those grouse. I think the expression you probably saw on my face was 50%, holy cow, I can't believe I survived. You know climbing all these mountains today, but it was 50% going. I can't. You know I'm amazed at what we did, just the entire experience of it Dogs, terrain, habitat, you know you and I trudging up and down those mountains and just the you know incredible moment where you realize, gosh, we actually got a shot off, let alone hit one. But I think there's species, and I think grouse fall right into the middle of that, where it really is almost more of a journey than the sport in itself.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, I mean that's a good point too, because I remember when I shot my first Virginia grouse I had hunted for almost four years and had never, never, gotten one, never. And I remember when I finally got my first one over my lab my chocolate lab Cooper it was it was there was actually a timestamp in my life lifeline. At that point Like holy shit, this is doable and it's cool to see. And you know the seasons. You know the more and more I do it, the more and more I refine. You know what's going on and you know what I more understand about them and the food sources. You know it's doesn't get any easier, but it gets more consistent.

Speaker 3:

Well, wes, I got to say man, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on and I forgot to mention but thank you so much for your service to the United States of America and also thanks for being such a great steward to both the fish and the birds out there and educating people on the journey and all things. It's all about the pursuit, right. So if the good listener out there wants to get ahold of you, what's your website and maybe Instagram, and how can people join you on one of these great adventures?

Speaker 4:

Yeah, you can go to the website. It's wesleyhodgesflyfishingcom. On the website is my email. There is my phone number. You can call me directly. I answer every single phone call that comes in my Instagram. You know, you can go on Instagram and search Wesley Hodges. It should pop right up. Same thing on Google. It'll all link you right back to the website. Or you can go on the website. If you have a specific date you want to book, you can go in there and pre-book it on the website too. Um, and then I'll reach out to you and get that lined up.

Speaker 3:

That's amazing. Well, man, thank you so much. I'd really appreciate it. I'm going to go make some chimichurri sauce for my my lunch today. That's it.

Speaker 4:

I'm going to go buy a new steak.

Speaker 3:

I'm going. You know you get me excited about hunting and fishing and good old food and eating and eating always. Well, thank you everybody out there for listening to Untamed Pursuits on the Outdoor Journal radio podcast. I was thinking about food there. I just had a total brain fart. But thank you everybody On behalf of myself, Jamie Pistilli and my co-host, Ryder Knowllton, and our wonderful guests this week at Wesley Hodges. Thank you so much for listening. Cheers.

Speaker 7:

What brings people together more than fishing and hunting? How about food? I'm Chef Antonio Muleka, and I have spent years catering to the stars. Now, on Outdoor Journal Radio's Eat and Wild podcast, luis Hookset and I are bringing our expertise and Rolodex to our real passion the outdoors.

Speaker 8:

Each week we're bringing you inside the boat tree stand or duck blind and giving you real advice that you can use to make the most out of your fish and game.

Speaker 7:

You're going to flip that duck breast over. Once you get a nice hard sear on that breast, you don't want to sear the actual meat. And it's not just us chatting here. If you can name a celebrity, we've probably worked with them and I think you might be surprised who likes to hunt and fish. When Kit Harington asks me to prepare him sashimi with his bass, I couldn't say no. Whatever Taylor Sheridan wanted, I made sure I had it. Burgers, steak, anything off the barbecue. That's a true cowboy. All Jeremy Renner wanted to have was lemon ginger shots all day.

Speaker 5:

Find Eating Wild now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts. Back in 2016, frank and I had a vision To amass the single largest database of muskie angling education material anywhere in the world.

Speaker 8:

Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this amazing community and share it with passionate anglers just like you.

Speaker 5:

Thus the Ugly Pike podcast was born and quickly grew to become one of the top fishing podcasts in North America.

Speaker 8:

Step into the world of angling adventures and embrace the thrill of the catch with the Ugly Pike podcast. Join us on our quest to understand what makes us different as anglers and to uncover what it takes to go after the infamous fish of 10,000 casts.

Speaker 5:

The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about fishing. It's about creating a tight-knit community of passionate anglers who share the same love for the sport. Through laughter, through camaraderie and an unwavering spirit of adventure, this podcast will bring people together.

Speaker 8:

Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our angling adventures. Tight lines everyone.

Speaker 5:

Find Ugly Pike now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.