Episode #48 Good Hunter, Bad Hunter

We draw a bright line between good hunters and bad ones, then test our own choices against it. Laws, fair chase, safety, respect for land, and field etiquette become the true measure, not just how well we shoot.

• defining character over shooting skill
• laws and seasons as stewardship
• fair chase versus shortcuts and road hunting
• safety systems, muzzle control, and clear commands
• respect for game, recovery of downed birds, leave no trace
• space and etiquette around trucks, dogs, and coveys
• owning mistakes, forgiveness, and growth
• gratitude and humility over ego and numbers

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Transcript

Welcome And Purpose

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to Arizona Quail Today, your go-to podcast for all things quail hunting in Arizona. We're dedicated to educating and inspiring the next generation of Quail hunters. A big thanks to our supporters and proud partners. Thanks for tuning in, and now let's dive in today's program.

Framing Good And Bad Hunters

Laws, Seasons, And Poaching

Fair Chase And Road Hunting

Weapon Safety Non‑Negotiables

Respect For Game And Land

Crowding, Spot Etiquette, And Anger

Owning Mistakes And Forgiveness

Six Bad Hunter Traits Recapped

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Alrighty, welcome back to another episode of Arizona Quail Today podcast. Here we go. We are back in the studio, and we are gonna be working on another podcast here today. So if you were listening with us last time, we talked about a season recap. Hopefully you had yourself a decent season, finished it out okay. So I'm gonna share with you some stories, some tips and tricks, and I'm gonna share with you as well some of the good and not so good kind of hunters and so man oh man. So recently I was out on a hunt and I just had some bad experience with some guys out there in the field, and it's really annoying. And so it prompted me, channeled me to share some a message with folks about I'm gonna call the good hunter and the bad hunter. So we'll see where this goes. Okay, so big idea. Good hunters defined by character ethics, safety, and stewardship. This is my definitions, so you can argue with it all you want. They're just not just shooting uh not just shooting skill. So shooting skill is important, but again, I'm defining by character, you know, the the dignity of the individual, not just simply the effectiveness of being able to shoot and kill. Uh character, ethics, including ethics, safety, and stewardship, not just shooting skill. Okay. Bad hunter is marked by selfishness, carelessness, disrespect. Selfishness, carelessness, disrespect. So the so these those are the parameters that I'm gonna be working with. So are you a good hunter or bad hunter? And truth be known, there's a little bad hunter in every one of you. There's a bad hunter in me. It's called sin. And you're like, I don't like sin. Well, fine, okay. Let's just call it selfishness. Like, you know, babies are born, you don't teach them to say, mine, mine. They just come out that way. There's something in us that can be incredibly selfish, self-centered, careless, and disrespectful. But, right, the good hunter is the guy who tries and to not be the bad hunter. And the bad hunter, the real bad hunter, is the guy who doesn't care and just keeps doing it. Okay, so what does a bad hunter really look like? Well, the bad hunter, I would say first and foremost, just ignores the laws and the seasons. These are the rednecks that are poaching and killing, and you know, and I get it. It's not like some of you guys are like, well, that's not me. Well, okay, but I I gotta say it. Like, if you're ignoring all the laws and the seasons, and you treat the regulations as obstacles, and you want to bend and break, and all the rules and the limits and the methods and the access and all that, then you know, you're acting like a bad hunter, whether you are or just acting like, you know. Anyway. So I would say that somebody who ignores the laws and seasons, and you know, uh various states that don't have heavy regulation or good regulation or just a population of idiots uh, you know, that like to drink too much beer and shoot their guns late at night. I mean, this is what all the road signs, like you see all the road signs with bullet holes in them. The same guys that are shooting, I guarantee you, those road signs are shooting game in the middle of the night. I mean, because it's a moving target, and so they want to shoot it. So, anyway, um, don't be that guy. Just don't be that guy because you give us a bad rap, you know? So don't be an idiot, okay? Don't don't be drinking too much and driving around and shooting a bunch of stuff. Like, I get it. You want to kill and dominate. There's something in you to do that. I get it. Genesis chapter one says, have dominion over the earth, subdue it. It's good stuff. Just don't just you don't you don't you don't gotta break all the laws for us, okay? Romans chapter 12. I'm preaching at you now. Obey the laws of the land, okay? So just deal with it, okay? Arizona Game of Fish has a lot of power in the backcountry. Those guys are like dude, some of those guys carry those rangers, they're game wardens, like they're scoping you out, okay? You it's not worth it. Just obey the law. Read the regs. It's worth it. You know? I've made mistakes before. I've transgressed, I've crossed the line. One time I fished with power bait in a lake that was artificial fly lure only. And artificial fly, like fly fishing, lure only. And I used power bait and it got in big trouble. I mean, it was it was better than worms because I started out with worms. And uh I switched because I read the sign and I thought, oh, power bait will do, but artificial bait doesn't count as artificial fly or lure. So anyway, long story short, I got in a bunch of trouble with those guys. I didn't catch a single fish. I'd literally been there for like five minutes. It was like a fast, simple mistake. Anyway, long story short is dude, pay attention to the laws and the regulations. It's not worth it. Okay. Have some fun out there, but don't be an idiot. Bad hunters just ignore the laws. Some of you do it out of, you know, stupidity, because you just think you you're selfish and you want to do it. Some of you do it out of ignorance, because you just like you don't want to read the regs or slow down, you know, and read all the signs. Like, I've been there. And there is a lot of stuff, you know, to consider. So um Bad Hunter also violates fair chase, you know, seeks an unfair advantage, takes shortcuts. Um where game really doesn't have a chance. So this would be like I think running out and shooting into a big old covey and just maiming a bunch of birds, you know. I mean, that's I don't think there's anything illegal about shooting birds on the ground. That's fine. That's called Arkansasing them. And I think in some cases it's harder to shoot a bird on the ground than it is in the air, because when they get in the air, you at least have a nice open target when they're on the ground, they're dodging around with all sorts of cover. But violating fair chase, it'd be like, I would call that like, I mean, most clearly it would be like road hunting, you know, for if you want to say quail, you know, um, and there's all sorts of like gray areas there. So I'm not gonna get into this huge debate on that because I've got pins marked out everywhere uh in areas that I hunt, and I'll go from A to B, A to B, A to B, A to B all the time. And I know where cubbies are most of the time if I'm hunting in a familiar area. Um, but uh I mean, here's something I used to do, and apparently I got in trouble for it. And I got see, I'm sharing with you all my bad mistakes. I used to put my daughter on top of my truck. She'd hang on to my rack. We'd drive around the desert and we'd be looking for birds, and we'd go in on them and then go find them. I mentioned that one time to some game and fish guys. They did not like it. They were like, uh, I wouldn't do that. And so thankfully they didn't turn me in or anything. Because so I quit doing that. But uh violating fair chase, you know. Um, road hunters like deer. You see these guys buzzing like a hundred miles, you know, back and forth on dirt roads, just driving, driving, driving, jump out and shoot at the deer, shoot at the elk, whatever. Like that's all they're doing. It just ruins, it can ruin the hunt for everybody, creates a lot of dust. You're really not, you're just driving around until you see something and jump out and shoot it. Like, I just I don't know, man. So road hunting. You can read about that yourself and see all the rules about that. And so, pretty much as I understand it, you can't just be driving randomly and then just get out and just jump and shoot game. Like, you can if you had planned to go to that location and then you step off the dirt road X amount of feet, and as long as you're not shoot by, you know, within X amount of yards of an occupied building, and then um, you know, I think it's you have to be away from you know paved roads, you know, a certain amount of distance as well. So you just read all that, but uh typically here's the deal for me I'm not hunting in an area where there's occupied buildings, I'm not gonna hunt in an area where there's a paved road right by me. So if you gotta do that, then you might want to just find a new place to hunt. That's what I would say. So stepping off the dirt road just a couple feet, that's easy. And I do that a lot. So anyway, uh, that's one somebody who's violating fair chase all the time. So that's just a bad hunter. Another one is just unsafe with weapons and people, just these people. Oh, these people, dude. You're like, you can't have mistakes. I take out I take out uh field buddies, the boys that don't have a dad, and their mentor father. And I'm like hardcore. Like, I'm like, they don't ever come hunting with me unless they've they've they've gone through and shot shot hundreds of shells through their gun. They've been through uh, you know, hunter's education, they've done Ben Avery's Clay Targets, and finally they get to me, you know, because now I'm introducing a live dog, people, like I don't want to get shot, you know. So I'm taking my friends. It's I'm not this is not a paid gig, you know, for taking these guys out. But anyway, uh if they're unsafe, you know what I do? I say you're in timeout, we're not we're not gonna do this. So we've had uh quail camp and we've had a couple of times where they're swinging too big and they're just getting near us and shooting. So I just tell them, you know, we're gonna take your gun if you do that again. Like we're not we're not playing around here. So this just is what it is. There's no mistakes. Oh, and you know, there's no second chance. You get shot with a shotgun anywhere on your body, close range, it's just not good. You're probably gonna bleed out. Say your prayers, get ready to meet Jesus or not, you know, so unsafe with weapons, just yeah. If they can't handle their gun, if they can't honor their the gun, then forget about it. So, you know, I mean uh unsafe with people, you know, muzzle controls, big deal. Um, you know, just where they're swinging, swinging that barrel is big deal. Um, especially if they don't have the they're not clarifying a clear target or what the backstop is, you know. So just shooting into the bushes ain't gonna do it, you know, just you know, taking shots where the bird could be close to somebody else, or there's not enough distance between the dog, you know, it's just that's no fun. It's a bad hunter. Uh here's another one. Um just uh disrespects game and and land, you know. So this would be like a guy who's shooting a bunch of birds and downing them and then doesn't even go check on it. Just like he's too obsessed with the cubby flush and shot. So like when you wound animals with bad shots, you're you're wasting meat and you're destroying the habitat. So it's a disrespect. It's like you know, so go pursue whatever you even if you shoot the bird and aren't even certain if you really, really downed the bird, but you took a shot, you might go over there and see that bird actually just laid out and you'd be happy. So that's another one. So um another one is so I'm trying to give you how many do I give you for the bad hunter? One, two, three, four, and here's five. Selfish in the field. So there's five negatives for the bad hunter. He takes your spots. I wanna get the your can't stand. I wasn't really cussing, but it feels good to hit the beat button. Just tell you what, dude. These guys just get under my skin. If I I'm telling you, if I wasn't a Christian, if I wasn't a pastor, I don't know, man. I might I might be peppering trucks and slashing tires in my older days. I would have done that. But what does that do? Then that just creates a like a huge fight. Like it's not worth it when you really think about it. But I had a guy the other day. You speed in, took my spot, you know, just like speeding in, like some Baja thing. Like, whatever. So I slow down and just hunt in a less desirable location, fine. Speedy Gonzalez is gonna take my spot with the silver ram. So if you're driving a silver ram, um that's all I'm gonna say about you. I actually know your license plate, and I know everything about your truck, and I know about your dog too. I was watching you, bruh. But if it was you, if you got a silver ram, that's vague enough, so I don't launch all the haters on the silver ram drivers because I'm not gonna describe any more of the vehicle. But if you drive a silver ram, you should evaluate yourself, dude. You you're you took my spot, which is fine, okay? Because my name's not on its public land, okay. I get it. It's just not ethical to like speed up like speed like you did. Like, okay, I get it, I get it. But then what you did was really bad. You you move back towards me, and then when you see me, you're hunting by me. I could have peppered you with my shotgun. If if I can shoot you with my shotgun, you are way too close. Okay? And you didn't stop. This is crazy, dude. Like, I don't know if if you didn't learn from your dad like hunting ethics, or like maybe you never went fishing and a guy came in on your hole. Like, you just don't do that. Like, if I can shoot you with my shotgun, you're way too close. I mean, even pepper you. So you came in with your dog, just crowded me. Just you know. So yeah, was I angry? Yeah, I was angry. Was I frustrated? Yeah, I was frustrated. Did you shoot into my birds that I had located actually the day before? Yeah, you did. And it's just annoying. It is selfish, dude. So it's like you should have gone the opposite direction to where you knew I parked my truck. But no, you come in on me, dude. Shh, I don't know, man. So either you know, maybe you didn't have good training growing up, maybe maybe, maybe you're like ignorant, you didn't know that you actually have ethics like that, but it just seems like common sense. So that's all I'm gonna say. But you know, I thought about posting this guy's um license plate on Arizona Coiler Day, and just be like, don't be this guy and tell the story. But I'm like, nah, I mean, here's what's gonna happen. It's like a bunch of people would launch in and just badmouth this guy, harass him guy way too much. It'd get out of control. And then the other thing is like, you know, Bible's pretty clear, like, don't repay evil for evil. So here's what I say to you. If you're listening and you are the Dodge Ram guy, bro, I forgive you. I forgive you. I mean, and I'll tell you why. I'm not gonna, I'm not joking. I forgive you. Here's why I made the same mistake, man. I I did the same mistake, it wasn't quite as overt as yours was, but I came in, I'm gonna tell you the story. I came in on the last day of the season a couple years ago, and a spot I knew I wanted to hunt. I had it all planned out. Uh I was the last part of the day. I cruise in there, I see a truck parked in an area that's kind of close to mine, and I think to myself, like, I don't know what that guy's hunting. I wonder what he's hunting. But I thought to myself, what if he's hunting deer and I ruin it? But it's just like a passing thought. And so then I go in and I actually hunt and get my dog out again happy, just keeps getting all these awesome hunts. I get on a quail hunt of the year, and I'm probably I don't know, probably quarter to three quarters of a mile away, maybe a quarter of a mile away from this guy's truck. And again, I didn't ever see a hunter. I didn't, you know, I wasn't convinced it was like like with you, you you knew I was a dog man. I mean, my truck is very clear. I knew you were a dogman. This guy I wasn't sure. I didn't know what he was hunting. I didn't know, I just saw a truck. So, but I go in and I hunt, and I hunt good, and we shoot up birds. We bagged birds, a huge cubby. It was a cubby of 50 quail, 50 gambles, boom, spread out, and I pop 10 of them suckers. Maybe I had maybe I had two already or one already. But I anyway, I finished the day with 10 and bagged like nine birds, eight birds, something like that, in that session. And anyway, I'm shooting it up like crazy, and I see about halfway through the frenzy. Um no, I think I'm leaving. I can't remember exactly when or how, but I see I see a guy, and it was a bow hunter. I'm pretty sure it was a bow hunter. Hey, quit. And I just ruined the guy's hunt. And it was quite the bummer. And so, hang on, we got something going on. I got my dog barking in the background here. So we're gonna have to just pause it real quick. Alright, so we're back. So, anyway, somehow I see him in there and realize like I screwed up this guy's hunt. I don't really remember, like I said, it was a couple years ago, so I don't I don't remember. But again, the passing thought crossed my mind, and as hard as it is for me to say this, it's like I think if I would have slowed down and really thought about it, I uh I shouldn't have hunted there, you know. I just should have let it go. You know, yes, I would have passed up on one of my best hunts. And I know I know if you're listening and you're in that silver ram, I know you shot some birds because I heard you shooting all morning. So I'm I'm glad you got some, you know. But you kind of dominated the area, man, and then you hunted right towards me. And then even when you saw me, you like didn't let up. So I don't know, dude. Anyway, I forgive you. Um And just I would not be a bad hunter, you know. Coming in on people's spots, that's like fishing right beside somebody. It's very selfish and it's not good to do. So spread out, dude. Go the opposite direction. Like, and I get what I get because I hunted on a Sunday and I get it. It's it's just because it's lawful, like the Apostle Paul says it like this just because it's permissible doesn't mean it's profitable. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should. Okay. You know? So yeah, you nobody's gonna get you arrested for that, but I will tell you, there's plenty, like there's plenty of guys that would go slash your tires or pepper your truck. Like, just it's not worth it, dude. So anyway. So that's a bad hunter. Selfish in the field, just very selfish, just crowds in on people, cuts in on people. The other thing I'd say is a bad hunter does is marks all the spots that maybe a friend takes them and doesn't ever tell his friend he'd like to go back to that spot and just hunts those cubbies. Just cut just just cuts them down, or just over hunts a cubby where you're like literally wiping it out. Like don't you're not exploring enough. I see that. No offense, but to out-of-state hunters a lot. I see them come in, I see him set up shop, and I see them slaughter, dude. I've seen them slaughter cubbies, just go in and wipe them out. Like I came back to a Mern's cubby, several Murns Covey in an area, and they did these guys set up shop and went after them for days in an area that weren't just a lot of Murns. That's that's bad. That's selfish. Um, don't do that. Don't be a bad hunter. Come on, man. It's just not good. The other bad hunters, number six, because six should have done, you know, maybe I'll come up with six hundred and sixty-six, six, six, six uh bad hunter ideas one day. But uh the other bad hunter idea is uh the sixth one is hunts with the ego, brags about all those numbers and killings and hunts just for social media, more than just provision and gratitude and shared experience. So yeah. I mean, I've been I've been guilty of this. How many tailgate shots do I have? I've done that, you know. I mean, I love I'll tell you, I love looking at birds. I mean, I love hey, shut it. I got my bird dogs barking in the background. Anyway, that's that. Just hunting with ego and just over-glorifying it. And just be humble. Anyway, that's something to consider. So all right, so where were we? We're talking about just be humble. You know, don't don't go out there bragging about everything. I mean, there's no there's no You're gonna have to eat you some humble pie too. So, I mean, I hope that's part of what you get out of Arizona Quail today. It's like these aren't perfect people hunting, you know. We don't I I make plenty of mistakes. I just posted a top, you know, my my ten mistakes or something like that. This is the number one downloaded video or downloaded podcast in a while. People love to hear the story and glory of your failures. I don't think it was failure, I think it's a loss. I don't see myself as failing. I see myself as losing and learning. Like I might lose a little bit, but I'm gonna learn. I'm losing and learning. I'm not failing. Failing is too final, my friend. So anyway. So um back at it. So you know, more about the hunter though. So six bad, you know, characteristics of a bad hunter is ignores the laws, number one. Number two, violates fair chase, number three, unsafe with weapons and people, you know. Acting like a fool with your gun or drinking while you're hunting, all that stuff. No, no cool. No deal. Uh so one, two, three, unsafe. No, number four disrespects game and land, just kind of like throws trash out, litters, you know, um, leaves gates open, maimes animals, doesn't go look for their down birds or whatever. Uh want and waste, just doesn't clean the birds. Um number five, selfish in the field. Just you hunt without asking if it's private land. You hunt too close to other people, um, you shoot when others or dogs are too close, you know. You you choose the bird over the safety, and and you choose yourself over others. So that's number five and number six would be a hunt with the ego. Brag, brag, brag. Pride, my friend. It comes before the fall. You want to fall hard, keep bragging. Sooner or later, God's gonna cut you down. That's a good song. Um, have you heard of that? I'm gonna I'm gonna play just a little portion of that. Uh cut you down. It's really good. Johnny Cash song right here. This is for the bad hunter out there. You should listen to this song.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Run on for a long time, run on for a long time.

Hallmarks Of A Good Hunter

Safety Culture And Field Protocols

Leave No Trace And Recovery

Honoring Space And Local Knowledge

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Bam, I'll tell you what, you can run on for a long time. Run on for a long time. You can run on for a long time, but sooner or later, God is gonna cut you down. Ah we got a judge. He is the judge, the final judge. I mean, you think even the words good and bad implies some level of moral consciousness. So I think it's hard harder to be an unbeliever than a believer. But anyway. All right, here we go. Let's talk about a good hunter, the opposite spirit. This is a guy who's gonna honor the law and the seasons. He sees the regulations as part of stewardship, understanding, like, hey, you know, game and fish, generally speaking, I would say. It's not like we have a I don't think we have a corrupt just cause like a corrupt organization that there's a just cause for rebellion. So I think that they're acting to help steward wildlife on behalf of Arizona taxpayers, so and license holders, whatever. So there you go. Um, we see we should see regulations as part of stewardship and and and part of uh uh you know the importance of managing wildlife and habitat. So there you go. You honor the law, you honor your season. That means read about them. Uh so I do that. And then you practice fair chase. So you you you restrain yourself from just being the the guy who's driving around everywhere instead of walking, you're just driving everywhere and jumping out of your truck and shooting every running cuffy you can possibly find. Like, I mean, I get it, you know, and there's some gray territory there. I'll let you read in between the lines, but uh practice fair chase. Get get you know, hunt the birds, bro. Get your dog out, burn up some ground, burn that boot leather. So anyway. Anyway, uh practice fair chase. Um, I'd say a good hunter is obsessed with safety, and I would say demands it. I don't dude, I demand it, but I I'm not probably like you. Well, maybe I am, but I'm hunting with people that just might shoot me sometimes. You know, like I told you, I'll bring out from time to time somebody that's new. And if I bring them out that's new, I I'm telling you, I've put I've made sure they've gone through the checks and the balances, but still everybody's human, dude. How many times have you checked, and then all of a sudden you're like, oh, snap, my safety was not on. So I call safety checks all the time. Safety check, safety check, muzzle control, muzzle control. Like, I mean, I say that all the time when I'm with people, and I tell them on the front end before they we even hunt, hey, I'm gonna talk to you about like gun safety and just make sure we're cool. And if it offends you, I'm sorry. But I just I hunt with a lot of different people and I just want to be clear as crystal, you know. We I don't want to mistake. And 99%, as long as I'm respectful and clear, then they're they're they're very compliant. So generally, you tell people what you want, they'll do what you want. So just don't be a jerk about it. So anyway, I'm obsessed with safety. Unload the guns, you know, before I, you know, I'm crossing a fence or uh unload the guns before I get to the truck. Um, you know, um be careful, don't drive around. I'm not driving around with a gun loaded in the chamber, a bullet loaded in the chamber, unless it's my pistol or something like that. I I do have it locked, cocked, ready to rock, baby. I mean, that's the way it rolls. So that's a that's a self-defense thing. But like with my shotguns, you know, I mean, I'll have one. If I have one in the chamber in the front seat of the truck or whatever, then it's uh like a short little pump shotgun, and I'll keep the chamber opened a little bit, so it's just not like sitting there. And I like I encourage people to hunt with over and unders that are new because then I can actually see what's going on a little bit better and it's a little more safe. So I I do like that a lot. Um, and I won't hunt with people that refuse to be safe. If they've refused to be safe, they're they're in my bad hunter category. So anyway, uh you know, a good hunter is gonna be obsessed with safety, making sure that he's taking shots to protect the dogs, protect people first, you know, knows what the target is, and uh just safe person. That's what you want. I mean, like here's what you got. You have safe people, you know, and you have unsafe people. So uh be a safe person. You know, if you're a safe person out in the field, you're probably a safe person in life. A lot of lessons here. Pastor Ryan's talking to you. If you're an unsafe person out in the field, you're probably unsafe in life. I wouldn't trust you. I I'm being dead serious. I wouldn't trust you. If you can't figure out how to honor the gun, then I don't know, man. I wouldn't trust you. So alright, moving on. Respecting game and land. Here's another one for the good hunter. Respects game and land, makes ethical shots, only tracks down wounded animals, uses the meat well, leaves the place better than they found it. It's called LNT, my friend. Not BLT, bacon, lettuce, tomato, but uh LNT, and that is leave no trace. And so just you know, pick up some extra shells or um spent shells that you find in the backcountry of trash, just fill up that little bag, pick it up, take your shots, track down the wounded animals, go double check on things, you know, some really good. You know, uh Dan Priest taught me the idea of take some RV toilet paper, kind of mark it in a tree down by a spot where maybe like if you've downed a bird and you can't find it, and then you want to come back to it, just put some little RV toilet paper in a tree limb right there so you come back and you can actually see exactly where you thought it was, and then come back by sometimes you'll see that bird just laying on in right there by a bush that you didn't even look before, or maybe it crawled out and died. I don't know, but respect the game, respect the land, respect the cattle ranchers, respect their you know, fences. Don't cut their fences, you know, little padlock situations when they lock too many gates and they shouldn't lock. I'm sorry, my friend. I I think uh that's one where you might get to just cut that padlock. You're on your own on that one, though. I'll let you figure that out. Ranchers that lock too many gates they shouldn't lock. I'm sorry, that's another that's another issue right there. And uh typically where I'm hunting, I'm not dealing with that, so that's good. Um but I might know a guy or two who's got bolt cutters in his truck. So yeah, I think he's obeying the law, but somebody kind of went beyond the law and locked a gate. So fair enough. That's all I gotta say. Um, honorable in the field. Here's another one. Good hunter not only respects game in the land, but also is honorable in the field. Ask about long time spots, you know, respects the first come kind of knowledge and uh local knowledge and private land, andor you know, covey spots that somebody gives out to you. You you would honor that, you wouldn't try to come in on their spots, and um and there's plenty of times it's appropriate never to ask. If they didn't offer that you could go in there, then you shouldn't probably shouldn't ask to even go in there. I mean, each situation's different, relationship's different, so you'd have to take that into context. But you always give uh others space. So if you ever saw, you know, a truck or decoys or you know, people, you you just adjust your your location. And like I told you, I've screwed up before that. I think I screwed up, I just think I screwed up that guy's deer hunt, you know. And I the story I told about the guy coming in on me, that wasn't just the only time that's happened, that's the second time. The other time that happened, that was earlier in the season, and and the guy parked literally probably 20 yards from me. And I got that guy's license plate too. Um I'll leave it alone. So I forgive you too. You were a nice little like uh GX or something like that. You look like a hoity toity hunter, you know, nice and fancy. My brother's got a GX, so yeah, I don't I'm not down on that. It just looked like you had plenty of money and didn't even care. And you hunted in my spot on right when you saw my truck and it was Thanksgiving morning. I was not thankful for you, my friend. So the good hunter is honorable in the field, not dishonorable. You were dishonorable, Mr. GX guy. Anyway, uh honorable in the field, give space to hunters, you know, would ask about if they're gonna try to visit back a spot. They wouldn't shoot if anyone was in danger or safety zones were jeopardized, you know. They're gonna choose safety over, you know, success. Um so they want safety. Safety first. That's honorable in the field. The last one is just hunts as a steward and uh with stewardship and gratitude, just seeing hunting as uh a great provision, you know, a great opportunity, a great time to spend time with uh other family and friends and the outdoors, and just take it all in and be grateful, you know, and harvest some birds, get some good dog work. I mean, that's a way to do it, man. So a bad hunter thinks my spot, my limit, my shot. A good hunter thinks safety, space, and opportunity. Just just just grateful for for another opportunity to get out in the field and get outside. So anyway, that is that. Um the good hunter versus the bad hunter. Which one are you? Well, let's say most of the time, because I think all of us could be a bad hunter from time to time. Something of selfishness pops up. And uh but you'll tender trend definitely towards one area or the other. And if you're just a bad hunter, do it a lot, dude. I'll tell you what. Like I said at the beginning earlier.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

Run on for a long time, they forgot to put you down.

Stewardship, Gratitude, And Mindset

SPEAKER_02 41:19

There you go, ladies and gentlemen. You heard it from you heard it from the man, Johnny Cash. Alright, fellas, that makes another episode. Join us again. We'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

Thanks for listening in. To help further our work, please consider making a tax-deductible gift. Visit us online at azquailtoday.com and be sure to follow us on social media for the latest information and updates. Till then, remember to get outside.