Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Stories! As hunters and outdoors people that seems to be a common thing we all have lots of. Join your amateur guide and host on this channel Ken as he gets tales from guys and gals. Chasing that trophy buck for years to an entertaining morning on the duck pond, comedian ones, to interesting that's what you are going to hear. Also along with some general hunting discussions from time to time but making sure to leave political talks out of it. Don't take this too serious as we sure don't! If you enjoy this at all or find it fun to listen to, we really appreciate if you would subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for. checking us out! We are also on fb as Hunts on outfitting, and instagram. We are on YouTube as Hunts on outfitting podcast.
Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
From Spray-Painted Sidewalks To Wild TV: Ryan Kohler's Entrepreneurial Journey
From spray painting addresses on sidewalks to building Canada's premier hunting and fishing network, Ryan Kohler's journey reflects the perfect blend of entrepreneurial spirit and outdoor passion. The surprising twist? He didn't grow up in a hunting family.
When Ryan's father pursued television channel licenses, Ryan advocated for a hunting network despite having no family background in the outdoors. This leap of faith transformed into Wild TV, now celebrating nearly two decades of connecting outdoor enthusiasts across Canada and beyond. Learning to hunt from friends whose father was an African professional hunter, Ryan developed a deep appreciation for the challenges of pursuing whitetails and elk in Alberta's diverse landscapes.
What makes Ryan's perspective unique is how he views hunting as more than just pursuit – it's about disconnecting from our technology-saturated lives. "Your whole body changes when you're in the wilderness," he explains, describing how extended trips into the backcountry heighten senses and reconnect us with our primal nature. This philosophy extends to his outfitting business, RK Hunts, which he started simply to spend more time guiding others and sharing those transformative wilderness experiences.
The evolution of Wild TV mirrors the broader transformation in media consumption. Ryan has adapted by developing comprehensive digital platforms while maintaining the network's authentic character. He takes particular pride in how female participation in hunting has grown from roughly 5% when Wild TV began to approximately 30% today – a change the network actively supported by showcasing women hunters.
His advice after years of full-throttle business building? Patience. "I missed opportunities because I was tunnel-visioned straight ahead," he reflects, noting that both in business and hunting, success comes to those who can wait for the right moment and make the most of it when it arrives.
Whether you're an experienced hunter or simply curious about disconnecting in nature, download the Wild TV Plus app to access twenty years of outdoor content organized by species, region, and hunting style.
Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
this is hunts on outfitting podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, ken meyer. I love everything hunting the outdoors and all things associated with it, from stories to how tos. You'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, as always, thanks for tuning into the podcast. You listening and the great guests we have been fortunate to have on from all over are what keeps this podcast going and getting bigger every month. So thanks, guys, we appreciate it.
Speaker 1:This week's guest you may recognize his voice from a certain television network, ryan Kohler. In between his very busy schedule and all that he has going on, he was able to come on and have a chat for this podcast. We talk about his surprising start in being an entrepreneur and how he got involved in the outdoor world. He has some wise advice and knowledge that you won't want to miss.
Speaker 1:Being the guy behind the scenes with Canada's premier hunting, fishing and outdoor network, wild TV, he has helped, along with his great staff, give a voice to so many men and women in the outdoor world that also help to preserve what we do and show why this network, since 2004, has proudly shown the outdoor lifestyle of so many different great TV shows from all around the world. Because you know, at the end of the day, whether from Argentina or Africa or anywhere else, as hunters, we're all connected in some way and I find these TV shows can show how, at the end of the day, how similar we are in our values, in this outdoor passion. Speaking about passion, the Canadian access to firearms and other related items, this is a great newspaper that is going to tell you about firearm shows, hot deals, new gear and so much more, and it's something you can look at and flip through like the simpler days before we just had our phone screen stuck together.
Speaker 1:It's great to sit back and read through at the camp or wherever you have the time, and it's nice just having some paper in your hand and going through that instead of the screen glaring at you. It's a good little break. Also, if you want to reach out or come on the show or suggest somebody for the show, you can find us on Facebook Hunts on Outfitting and by email, huntsonoutfitting at gmailcom, or find me on Facebook, ken Meyer. All right, let's talk to Ryan. Uh, you know, ryan, thanks for uh for taking the time from your busy and uh, I'm guessing hectic uh sort of controlled chaos schedule to talk to me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's always a busy schedule, I guess. But you know, I think you make it that way, right? Yeah, if you're not busy, then you're not doing much, I suppose.
Speaker 1:I keep pretty busy and on purpose. Yeah, I wouldn't say you never seem bored. I mean you wear many hats father hunter, businessman, outfitter. But I got to ask what was your first entrepreneurial endeavor?
Speaker 2:Wow, actually that's a fun question, because the first entrepreneurial endeavor was probably when I used to spray paint sidewalks. I'd get a stencil from Canadian Tire and I would go to your door and I would ask you if you wanted your address spray painted on the sidewalks. The peak delivery man could see it easier.
Speaker 1:Really Wow.
Speaker 2:That was one. And then we, we, we also used to go to white Ave and sell balloons on like Valentine's day. That was a good one. What else did I used to do when I was younger? I think those were kind of the top two or I. We actually, you know, made some pretty good money. And then, when I was about 19, I went to Greece and I ran pub crawls in Greece. That was. That was pretty entrepreneurial.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I, uh, I never would have guessed those. Um, I guess, ryan, if we should probably back up a little bit. Um, where do you live?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I was born in Edmonton and then when I was a young guy, we went to Hawaii and my dad had some businesses there that they were trying to run and then moved to Vancouver and and I was in Calgary I'm I'm now landed in Calahoo. I have a farm out here in Calahoo and you know we're about 45 minutes northwest of Edmonton where it's pretty quiet and when you can kind of get away from um. You know the office is on the west end, so you come home and it's real nice and quiet and yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay cool. So I don't know if a lot of people know this. I never found out until later. I mean, growing up, you know, wild TV was, I guess you could say, a huge staple in mine and my friend's childhood. We couldn't get enough of it. Even when my wife and I bought our house, we were getting our satellite TV hooked up and she knew already to subscribe to Wild TV. Did you grow up hunting and thought it would be cool for people to watch this 24-7 instead of just buying, like the Jim Shockey DVDs at Walmart? Or I mean, how did you get into this?
Speaker 2:So I had a TV show called Outdoors Alive when I was 21, maybe on the outdoor channel in the US. So we learned how they did the model there. And my dad, he had a infomercial company and back then he sold infomercials to local businesses in Edmonton and he went to go get licenses for four channels, so the armed forces channel, the cult movie network and a speed channel. And then I told him, please, please, please. So my parents didn't hunt, nobody in my family hunted at all. They had nothing to do with hunting and fishing. So I kind of begged for the license to the CRTC, begged for him to get it. And then, you know, he did get it. And then, you know, pass me a piece of paper and and just the way things went, the hunting and fishing channel like really took off compared to the other three. So then we, um, you know, just kept chasing that business. But no, I never, I, never.
Speaker 2:I learned from a couple of friends of mine that were born in Africa and then moved here, and they were, their dad was a PH. So we got special, some special, we learned some special tactics from him and just started cutting my teeth, yamton bozo, and hunting whitetails, which is, you know, I still think, one of the hardest animals in the world to hunt and and started from there. But we had a show on the outdoor channel and it was a fly fishing and bow hunting show and I think I was the youngest, for sure the youngest Canadian on the Outdoor Channel and we figured out the model, the way they were doing it, and then just brought that model to Canada.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's incredible. I mean so Wild TV. It is Canada's largest hunting and fishing network. I can't believe you didn't grow up hunting or fishing, wow yeah when I was 16, I worked at the fishing hole.
Speaker 2:So I think my first job was working um with the Johnsons over there and catalog yeah, great, great company, great guys and um. And so then I was a fishing guide. You know, I went and guided for three years and then I got onto the hunting side and guided a bunch of hunting stuff and really just kind of fell in love with being outside. So it didn't really matter if I was hunting and fishing was just the reason to get outside. So it got me outside, it got me outside a ton, and then the broadcasting portion of it was really fun, right Cause when you're making production and you're doing production, then it's a fun thing to do. So when you put the two together you just had a. You know it was easy to work on. You can work 16 hours a day because it was a passion of ours mine and we had a couple of guys that started at the very beginning and you could work your ass off all day on this thing and it was just super fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean you're, you're a part of, and have been in several of the shows on your network. I mean, was that the ultimate goal was to be have yourself on there Cause I remember when I first started watching it, you weren't on a whole lot, but I imagine you were incredibly busy, uh, behind the scenes but was that part of the goal was not just to have the network but to have yourself, you know, on the camera?
Speaker 2:You know, at the beginning I thought you know, let's definitely have a show on, so we had a show on and then you can see, just, you can kind of grow or scale the shows. And then you, I put more energy into other people and their shows and to try to make as many shows as we could, so our sales team could sell more content, right, and it kind of forgot about myself a little bit. And then, as the years went by, I wanted to get more into just getting outside, right, just getting back out and doing some of these cool trips and getting an opportunity. You know you won't have that opportunity forever, so why not jump on it a little bit?
Speaker 2:So then we started to make some different productions that suited me a little better, like Bos live is is a live show for two weeks in november that we we go live to tape every single night and that's a real fun one and I can do it at home here, right. And then, um, the how to hunt tv show that I host. That one we do, you know, hunts from all over the place and that that's really fun. So I don't think it was a goal per se. I think the goal would always be to try to you make a good business and have a strong running business and be able to employ you know people where they can have a great time and make some money as well, and I think that's always the goal right Is to have a good running business.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I'd say you've done that. I mean, it's, it's, uh, it's kind of surreal for me talking to you right now because I said my friends and I we've watched wild tv since it started, like all the time. Um, so it's, yeah, it's really cool talking to you. Uh, you know, getting this network started, do you? Do you find you had more of an uphill battle, simply because it is hunting, like, is it harder to get sponsors? And all that because some people that aren't in it may have more of a negative view on it at the beginning for sure.
Speaker 2:I mean, when you call a uh shaw or rogers or bell or you know videotron right across the nation, you're trying to sell a hunting fish and a hunting and fishing channel. You know, at the very beginning it was, it was really tough right to get picked up by those big companies and it took, you know, a couple, two, couple, two, three, four, five years to to get them all and then to just you know, you had to explain the business case of it and there was a business that was pretty strong behind it. So especially back in the cable and sat days when that's all there was, when there was no social, you know, it was really really strong and it's always a challenge, right, nothing is, nothing's easy or given free. So we grinded it out pretty hard and and then you've got a few different revenue streams. So we had we could sell commercials and you'd get money for subscriptions.
Speaker 2:And then we also changed the way tv was done and you would actually charge for programming, which is the opposite of what you would think. Right, you, normally you would have to pay for programming. So we we just kind of flipped the switch there. Outdoor channel was doing the same thing. So it was really their model that we just took over.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, no, um, I mean, do you find that the view now on hunting has changed, with some of these networks seeing like, okay, there is a lot of people into it, maybe there's some money in advertising here, they're more open to it? Or I mean, how do you think that? Has it changed for the better or for the worse?
Speaker 2:Well, I think that there's always money there and it depends on what you offer the manufacturer. So the manufacturers drive all of that business Like they'll drive, they'll put money into good TV shows and then those shows go to networks or those shows go to online platforms or that content goes to social. So it's, it's constantly transforming, Like our industry, like the industry I'm in, which is TV. It's, you know, it's always different. So you kind of have to, you have to always be, you have to have your finger on the pulse at all times and you have to be able to change.
Speaker 2:So, as far as whether they spend more now than they used to, um, you know, there was a heyday 10 years ago when, while TV was the king of the world, and that's where the money went, because that's where the audience was only in one place. So now the audience will be segmented. Same amount of money, though I think it's just splintered into different places and that's, you know, what social media has done. And, yeah, hopefully that answers the question. It's, it's just, it's just a little different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was just wondering, like you know how, um, I guess you could use the word some of the world's gone.
Speaker 2:uh woke, you could say, uh if oh, yeah, sure, yeah, no, our world not that woke. Yeah, no, no, we've got like our manufacturers aren't woke. And, um, the people that watch our station, you know like we know you, you know who you are, like you could be doing surgery in an operating room and then going home and watching wild TV. So we have everything from every you know different type of um group of people, from you know zero to 10, it doesn't matter where you're from, it doesn't matter what you do for a job, or you know, if you like hunting and fishing, you kind of if you like hunting and fishing, you kind of you like hunting and fishing and that's it. That's, that's the uh, that's the story, um, so yeah, yeah, yeah, just wasn't sure.
Speaker 1:If you know, like some uh power sports companies and stuff would be like oh, I don't know if we want to do hunting, but you know I don't, I don't, I don't think we really saw that, we didn't really see that.
Speaker 2:I think, um, you know they know their customer right. So if, if you're looking to sell a quad or you know a truck or anything for a you know a dude that's not woke, then you know you probably have a pretty good demographic. If you're looking at wild tv because that's what we have right like, but the, the, the women in the sport is growing quite a bit. I think it's at 30 percent now and when I first started it was at like five and, uh, I like kudos to them. They've done such a great job getting into the sport hunting and fishing. There's so many great women that do it now.
Speaker 1:So we've got a pretty good male demographic and but the women's side is really growing, so it's really interesting do you find that maybe your network has a bit to do with that at be able to showcase the shows with women on it and other ones see that and like, oh, okay, you know it is more acceptable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. We've always been really proactive, trying to get women into the sport the whole time, right Since day one, like why can't they be like? And now you've got so many great anglers and so many great hunters. And as soon as we saw that a woman was getting engaged into that content, then we're like let's get them right away, right?
Speaker 1:so, um, yeah, no, for sure, for sure. I know one that really sticks out is amanda lynn mayhew, and just I know she does. Um, so they filmed one. They went to africa and it's just women only and stuff, and it was uh, it was pretty neat to watch yeah, there's a handful of gals like her that do a great job, and yeah, for sure. You know, if someone's at home and they do, you know they do some self-filming and editing and thinks like you know.
Speaker 2:I could do it.
Speaker 1:I can make quality for Wild TV. What would your advice be to them? I mean, how does someone get on the network?
Speaker 2:I guess you could say Well, the first thing you got to understand is everything's driven by manufacturers. So you've got to be a salesperson, so you've got to be able to sell your brand or whatever brand you're going to get behind, and if you can't do that, then you're going to fall short pretty quick, mind you. You know there's a lot of different ways to do it today, right? So if you wanted to get on TV, then you got to be selling stuff. If you want to get on YouTube, then you just got to be able to, you know, learn how to manipulate YouTube to your advantage so you can grow quick enough where you can gain subscription or get some, some, some sponsors. So it's a totally different game now.
Speaker 2:So for us, we, we want media everywhere, right? Like, we want to have our YouTube page super powered, our Insta super powered, facebook, the channel itself. We have fast channels that are going all over the place. We have major launches on some major satellite systems right across the world, and so it's more like TV everywhere or content everywhere for us, and get those numbers as high as we can so we can get the attention of the manufacturers. So if you're starting from scratch, then you want to have for sure to get on that social media because that's where you can at least gain some traction on your own without having to get a sponsor. Now you got to be, you know, really into it. It's just like anything else you got to put a ton of time and energy into something and it might take two or three or four years before you get some you know, some traction coming back to you yeah, yeah absolutely the manufacturers.
Speaker 2:It's all driven by impressions, like they want to sell their products right. So they need as many impressions as they can get, for you know the best they can get for their buck.
Speaker 1:Right, I mean, so do you guys ever get? I'm sure you guys get a lot of videos sent into you and all that, and is there any that you know?
Speaker 2:sometimes like wow that really sticks out if they have their ducks in a row with you know sponsors and everything that you know that could work. Yeah, we get videos that are pretty awesome, for sure. You know we get really good stuff that's sent in and um, it's pretty easy to do a deal with someone that's got a great production and then you know, you know they buy some time off of us and away they go. It's up to them to kind of keep their business running on their side. We're basically just, you know, a place for someone to get more numbers. It's another place for you to put your content up to get more numbers so you can sell your manufacturer. We're just one piece of the puzzle, right right.
Speaker 2:We used to be the piece of the puzzle but, like I said, media has totally changed right, so now we have other pieces to that puzzle that you'd have to be part of, like our app. Our wild tv plus app has 20 years of our content all in one app and, uh, and that, that thing's amazing, that thing's super powered, so that that's really a fun thing now that we're doing yeah, yeah, I see that it's.
Speaker 1:Uh, it is pretty cool. I mean, like you said, having your finger on the pulse. I mean that's definitely a way that you guys are and staying up to date with you know being relevant with what's going on yeah, you got to do it right, you got to change yeah, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1:Um, ryan, I don't know how you do it all. You're so driven and everything I want to talk a little bit about. Uh, you started rk hunts because apparently you didn't have enough on your plate, so you're on TV hunting, got the network, and then can you tell me a little bit about what got you starting your, your outfitter?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the outfitting company is another. I guess it's a way for me to kind of unplug from the broadcasting side, so it's just another way to get outside. You know what I mean. Like I can, I've done the shows and I've I've gone out and I've hunted lots of animals. I'm an archery hunter, so shot you know a bunch of animals with my bow.
Speaker 2:But now it's, I feel like it's a little more fun for me to take other people, and so it was. It just made sense to just get an outfitting company. And then I've just made a lot of great relationships with, you know, a lot of high level guys, a lot of athletes, um, and so to take those guys for their first, whatever it might be, you know that's, that's, uh, something I kick out of and gets me again out of the office and back into the field. So I'm just a, you know, a hunting and fishing redneck at the end of the day that wants to be out there just as bad as everybody else. So, um, you know, you can go out there and take someone else and make a little bit of money, and it's perfect for everybody, everybody's happy. That's why that business was started, just literally because I wanted to get back outside again.
Speaker 1:No, that's a great answer. I mean, that's perfect to me. That's what I hear from guys that are so passionate about it and doing it is just taking someone out and helping them experience the thrill of the hunt and the harvest. If you're lucky enough and yeah, imagine so you just kind of turn off your phone, you're unplugged and you're out there, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's right, turn off my phone and chuck it in the truck and hopefully it melts, and then that's two weeks, two weeks. It's usually melting in my hand on a daily basis when I'm not in the woods, right, so it's ringing just about every 20 seconds. But, um, no, it's my free time. It's just kind of like if guys go to play golf or whatever, right, I'm really kind of weird, like I don't even I don't really play golf at all, because for me it like I I just try to get outside and hunt or fish and then that's my golf. So it's just getting into what you love as much as you can. Like.
Speaker 2:That's probably why we've been successful is because the people that work around Wild TV's brand, like we all love what we do, we all love to just get outside and or media or the production part of it, or the opening side of it or whatever it might be, and that's kind of the whole thing, right, if you love it enough, then you know you should do pretty good. You just got to work, work hard and love it and you should be fine yeah, well, I mean, uh, yeah, you guys do an excellent job.
Speaker 1:Like I said it, even though you love it and all that, you do need that reset just away from electronics and stuff, and that, uh, this obviously is a is a great way for it. I mean, whereabouts are you guys roughly uh with your, your outfitting and how many hunters do you take a year?
Speaker 2:um, well, it depends, right, we, we take hunters for different species. So, uh, you know, we could take up to 20 hunters pretty easily in the year and that's not that many, right? So we've got some whitetail stuff, some bear stuff, got into some elk stuff here just recently, and some moose and everything else. So we kind of we've got it, we've got it covered and, um, yeah, it's just a fun time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, You've been able to. You've been, you know, had the opportunity to hunt lots of different animals. Is there one that really sticks out? That is your favorite, if you had to choose. My favorite hunt or the hunt that sticks out the most. I know that's too quick. Well, if you have time, let's do both your favorite species to hunt and then your hunt that sticks out the most after all these years.
Speaker 2:So my favorite species to hunt is probably going to be it's either whitetails, nametong, bozone or elk in the deep timber in Alberta. Here they're both just a very hard thing to do and I like the challenge. I like to be challenged. So those are really challenging hunts and I have access to them here in alberta. In alberta you have such an array of animals, from the like the antelope down in the prairies in southern alberta to the big horn sheep the top of our mountains in the wilmore. So I mean, like you've got so many beautiful animals that you can go after. We've got an abundance of animals in alber. It's the best place in the world to hunt by miles, but there are some specific animals that you can hunt with a bow and arrow. It's a real challenge and and that the, the elk and the white killer. For me they're tied and then the hunt that I probably will never forget will be I went to Russia, in Kamchatka, and I hunted a snow sheep in the top of their mountains and that was. That was a big story, wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, uh, that's. That's something to be able to tell people that you, uh, you have done that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was a neat one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did you. Was there any uh, sketchy moments? I guess you could say going through Russia.
Speaker 2:Yeah, filled with sketchy moments. Yeah, between our guides, our guides carrying Uzis and helicopters that I didn't think would even get off the ground. It was a major adventure, right, probably a pretty dangerous one, but for me personally, I kind of thrive off it and I, like I really enjoy it. I don't, I love getting out and I love I love going further than you should. You know what I mean. Like there's a lot of times when let's just go a little further, let's just see what's around this corner, and people are looking at me like why, well, right, you punch the envelope and then you've got an awesome story at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure. I think I've got myself into trouble quite a few times pushing the envelope, but um, at least it's uh, you know it's, it's fun so it's part of your character. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Uh, I'm going actually to Alberta in September. I'm taking along with a friend on a bighorn sheep hunt up there in the Rockies. Uh, any advice for something that you like would definitely say, to pack.
Speaker 2:Oh geez, it's probably a lot, but um, you know what? Actually, I'm really the opposite of a lot. I just take what's necessary and I don't really pack much anymore. I mean, if I'm on a bighorn sheep hunt something that I wouldn't want to forget to pack a good pair of Zeiss binos, I would say that for sure. Yeah, you know, you need a spotting scope.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:You know you're going to need a real good spotting scope. And then just probably the biggest thing for bighorns is the understanding that you know there's not a lot of rams out there and if you can find a legal ram then you're 90% of the way there. So and then just bring a whole lot of patience and a little bag and carry that around with you and a really good attitude.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, that sounds good. The guy I'm going with this will be his fifth year hunting them. Seen some, but no legal rams yet, so I'm excited. I told him he's like you should come out with me. He's been bugging me too because he said this is my year. I think I'm like, yeah, maybe I should, just in case. And the experience.
Speaker 2:No, definitely, it's definitely worth the trip and I I would recommend that trip to to anyone. Um, you know you can. You can get a horse, you can get guys with horses, get some wranglers, some outfitters to take you out into the mountains, even if they, even if you're not a hunter and you want to experience something new for the first time, that's, that's absolutely amazing. You know, you get a good crew to take you out to just whatever. Say it's 10 hour ride out to the back of whatever somewhere in Alberta in the mountains and you experience that experience traveling across country on a horse and then experience wall tent living and then go for hikes around the mountains when you're there, like basically that's a sheep hunt.
Speaker 2:So like I would really recommend that to people that don't hunt even, or even some fishermen that find some lakes and streams that you can go and do.
Speaker 2:But that right there will unplug you from you know, like the everyday world that you live in, where you've got a ceiling over your head and you've got a computer in front of you or a phone in your hand. Like I really highly recommend that people do like a two week trip doing just that, where they can just get back to nature, get back to basics, just ground themselves and it really changes you, like you'll find that your senses will heighten your eyesight, you'll hear better, smell better. Uh, you probably get a little bit stronger, a little bit tougher, because you're you're surviving in the wilderness a little bit and you know your whole body just changes, like everything just changes, and it just makes you feel so alive. Yeah, so if anybody was looking for a trip just to do something different, like that, you can go with you and your wife and your kids or whatever it is, and just get out in the mountains and experience them and go for a walk, and it really is something else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, he sent me videos and pictures and uh, yeah, it looks amazing and, like you said, to alberta, I mean, the amount of hunting opportunities there in game is just, it's incredible. Like you said, yeah, it's probably the best hunting in the world really yeah, I think it is.
Speaker 2:I think alberta is the best place.
Speaker 1:It's definitely the best place, in my opinion yeah, no, I'd, uh, I've been there before, not hunting, but uh, worked out there and yeah it's, it's incredible what it has to offer. And, like you said, it's true, like I believe, what you're saying about, um, you know your, your senses are heightened and you're stronger and you know all that being out there because, yeah, we kind of go back to our uh I guess you could say primitive, uh state how, because humans now you know we're so're so soft, more or less.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, we're definitely soft. Like I always say to guys, if I go to bear camp or I go to elk camp or moose camp, I usually do two weeks. I try to do two weeks and then, you know, if I had to fight myself before the guy at the end of the camp would be a lot tougher.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, that's a good way to put it. You know, Ryan, if you could give advice to a younger self yourself, what would it be? Kind of knowing what you know now and how you've got so much on the go and just going full throttle.
Speaker 2:Oh, just patient. Okay, I think for me, like I was really full throttle when I was younger, I was always trying to just, you know, run straight ahead as fast as I could, as hard as I could at everything. Um, you know, I played I still play hockey, and I played hockey like that and my body's suffering for it, and I think that I missed a lot of opportunity because, you know, you're, you're just kind of just like tunnel vision, straight ahead like an arrow, and um, now, you know, I'm almost 50 now. So it's, it's, you learn patience as you get older and you realize that you take a little bit of time to pay attention a little more and listen a little more and find pockets of opportunity that are really good, instead of just charging forward. And, um, on the hunting side, patience is the biggest thing there is right, like you gotta have real good confidence in what you're doing and then be patient for the moment, and then it's what you do with that moment that makes a difference.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, no, that's well put. You know, Ryan, like I said, Canada Wild TV it's such a great network and so many good shows on it and people on there. You know I can't thank you enough for coming on doing this podcast. I know you've been incredibly busy and you've always got something on the go, so this does mean a lot. I don't want to take up too much more of your time. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Speaker 2:No, I think maybe just quickly talk about the app, if you don't mind. We've got a brand new app. That's that's on. You know you can download on your phone, it's available on all the smart tvs, it's available basically anywhere wild tv plus and 20 years of content. All the shows you've seen for the last 20 years are all loaded in there. And we've we've built some awesome swim lanes where you can like pick your animal that you like and pick your province that you like to hunt that animal in, and really broken it down and aggregate all the content for everyone that's going to. So it's a really sweet app and so we're we're pushing that now and trying to get everybody onto the app and, and it really is a great service, we've got channels in there, so if you love bears, you can hit the bear channel. We'll play bear shows for 20 years and white tails, elk, whatever you like.
Speaker 1:So it's pretty special yeah, yeah, I've been on there and it's well put together and it's very easy to uh to navigate through yeah, that's about it. That's our, that's what we're working on now, so that's that's what's fun today yeah, yes, actually, you'll have your finger on the pulse for the next thing around the corner, I'm sure I hope so yeah, that's the plan, uh, well, uh, yeah, thanks again, ryan well, thank you, I appreciate that.
Speaker 2:Uh, you're thinking of me to come on the podcast and anytime, call me anytime.