Gundog Nation
A show to bring together gundog enthusiasts, trainers, and handlers with discussion focused on all breeds and styles of gundogs.
Gundog Nation
Clayton Stark - What Keeps a Hunting Tradition Alive?
#54 A good hound’s voice in cool October air can carry a lifetime of lessons. We sat down with filmmaker and houndsman Clayton Stark to unpack how he turned backyard pups and pleasure hunts into a thriving outdoor life—without trading joy for scorecards. Clayton grew up in northwest Ohio where mature oak woods meet endless corn and soybeans, and coons grow big on easy calories and low pressure. He shares why he hunts for love of the chase, not arguments in the dark, and how coaching football taught him the same virtues that make great dogs: empathy, care, and patience.
We dive into practical ground truth for gun dog owners. Clayton’s start-to-finish approach puts pups in the home first for socialization and crate training, then graduates them to safe yard freedom and short woods walks to learn logs, water, and navigation before pressure. He times work to conditions—resting young dogs in drought, hunting more when crops come off and the air cools. We compare breeds—walkers, blueticks, black and tans, redbones, and curs—and prioritize loud, houndy voices, steady minds, and zero meanness. On the deer side, we trade tree-stand strategy, longbow humility, and the modern accuracy of muzzleloaders like the Thompson Center Acura V2. Gear talk stays honest: today’s bows—from Bear to Hoyt, Mathews, Elite, and Bowtech—are all killers when tuned to the hunter.
Wildlife trends raise bigger questions. Fox numbers are climbing across Ohio and as far as Texas, while pheasants fade with habitat changes and succession. We explore trapping, access, and the role of community in stewardship. Then the stories kick up: a bead-sight 12-gauge buck from childhood, filming hunts so his dad could still “go along,” and a knife-only hog hunt that redefines adrenaline. Clayton also teases a 50-part video series on raising and starting pups—nutrition, structure, exposure, and the moment a young dog “gets it.”
If you care about working dogs, tradition, and practical training that fits real life, you’ll feel right at home here. Subscribe, share with a hunting buddy, and leave a review to help more dog folks find the show. Then tell us: what are you doing this season to pass the torch?
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I'm Kenneth Witt and welcome to Gun Dog Nation. Gun Dog Nation is much more than a podcast. It's a movement to build a community of people around the world that like to watch a well-trained dog do what it's bred to do. Also, we want to get our youth involved into the sport of gun dogs, whether it be hunting, sport, or competition. We want to build a community of people united to preserve our gun dog heritage and to be better gun dog owners. Tune in to each weekly episode and learn about training, dog health, wellness, and nutrition. We will also offer tips for hunting with dogs and for competition hunt tests, field trials, and other dog sports that involve gun dogs. Please go to our website, gundognation.com and subscribe to our email list. We will keep you informed weekly with podcasts that are coming out. We also will be providing newsletters with training tips and health tips for your dog. You can also go to patreon.com forward slash gun dognation and become a member. There's different levels of membership on there. Just go check that out. Also, I would like to thank Sean Brock for providing the music for this show. The introduction and the outro is John Brock. He played everything on there except the Banjo by Scott West on the Dobro by Jerry Douglas. Sean is a neighbor of mine from over in Harlan, Kentucky. I'm just across the mountain in Hyden, Kentucky, and he's a super talented guy. But most of all, I want you guys to check out the Creakers. They are also from Hyde, Kentucky. This is an up-and-coming bluegrass and country band, and these guys are hot. They're all over TikTok and YouTube. You will hear these guys because in a year or so that they will be on the radio. They are very talented. Their videos are going viral on the net. These boys are family. Two of the lead singers, one dropped with my daughters, and the other one is my cousin's son. So he's family. But check them out. Check out the creakers. Also, last but not least, if you want to buy a hat, koozie, t-shirt, or even gun dog supplies, go to shopgundognation.com and you can purchase any of those items. Thank you so much for listening. It's a privilege to have people that want to put up with me talking about dogs all the time. I actually enjoy what I do, and I'm so glad to have this opportunity. And thank you. Hello, it's Kenneth Whipp with the Gun Dog Nation Podcast, back with a new episode. I'm actually not in Texas today, coming to you from Eagle River, uh, Wisconsin. We're getting ready to grouse up here up here tomorrow. It's my first time. Clayton, you've probably you've probably been up in this country coon hunting or something, ain't you?
SPEAKER_02:I haven't made it over that far, but it's I've seen a lot about it. It looks pretty similar to where I live, um, except I hear their coon are a lot bigger than here.
SPEAKER_00:You know, so let's dig in it. First, I want to make an introduction to a guy on here who is way more well known than I am. So it's a pleasure to have uh this gentleman on here. I've got to meet him in person at the uh Autumoaks Coon Hound competition in Brisbane, Indiana. Anyway, Clayton, I know you don't need an introduction, but introduce yourself, please.
SPEAKER_02:Uh I'm Clayton Stark. Uh, I live in northwest Ohio. Um I'm married and have three kids and have another one on the way that is due in end of March of next year. Um, so I'm gonna be four kids. I got a son and two daughters. Um just was raised coon hunting and squirrel hunting for the most part, but now I do as much as I can outside with dogs and just in general, I just love being outside doing a little bit of everything.
SPEAKER_00:Clayton, you're getting ready to catch me. I have two daughters and two sons. My girl's the oldest, my boy's the youngest, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, you'll love it. Uh, they grow up fast. I got one in college, one in law school, and two out of college.
SPEAKER_02:So geez.
SPEAKER_00:But yeah. So now, Clayton, is that your your native state, Ohio?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yep. Okay. Born and raised. And what what town are you in? Uh Edgerton is the town, but no one's gonna recognize that. It's like 45 minutes from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and about an hour from Toledo, if you know either of those two cities. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes. Uh, you know, I've learned Clayton that you're you're the expert on coon hunting more than me, and I I've been exposed to it some growing up in I'm from Southeast Kentucky. I don't know if you knew that. Uh actually, the town that Casey Maggart's from, I'm from. And just next door to J J.R. Gray there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But but as I started leaving Kentucky working north uh as a landman, I I got to Pennsylvania and I was driving up in northernia, like around Williamsport, and saw what I thought was a bear cub on the shoulder of the road. I thought, dang man, there's a bear, you know, that's pretty cool. And I'd get up and it was a coon. Yeah. So you guys, man, there's some big coons up there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we have some. I got one mounted in there that's he was 28 pounds. That was the biggest one I got. But I got some trail cameras out now for deer this year, but I've got some, I've got at least two that are gotta be close to 30 that are coming in all the time. And the it seems like the last few years, um, just seeing them and treating them, they're just bigger and bigger. It's the bigger ones are getting more common. What what do you think's causing that? Um, well, here there's just thousands of acres of corn to eat, and then a lot of the woods around here have huge oak trees, so there's always acorns for them to eat. There's soybeans to eat. There's just there's food everywhere, and all the deer hunters put out corn, and there's just it's perfect habitat for them as far as they have safe places to go in the wintertime. And we do get pretty good winters here, so they feed up and get pretty fat in preparation for it, and no one really traps, or there's not a lot of coon hunters around here anymore, so they kind of have free ranges to eat and live freely.
SPEAKER_00:Now, Clayton, I know you do all kinds of hunting, but when you were young, what's what was your first type of hunting?
SPEAKER_02:Coon hunting.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Well, coon and squirrel both. I it might have been I don't know. It was during the daytime a lot. I remember that at first, but we always raised and trained our own dogs, so it might have been coon hunting, just training a pup in the daytime, taking it out for walks and stuff, but just mostly coon and squirrel hunting with dogs.
SPEAKER_00:And what kind of dogs did you raise?
SPEAKER_02:Well, dad raised pretty much anything that suited him, mostly walkers. We had some blue ticks and black and tans, and we hunted with my uncles and some of our I call other guys I call my uncles just because they were like a fatherly type figure that I hunted with every weekend. But um, one guy had black and tans, the other guy had red bones, and another friend had blue ticks, and the other friend had walkers, and then dad had a little bit of everything. So I got to see, other than uh English dogs, like red ticks and stuff like that, uh I saw pretty much every breed quite a bit.
SPEAKER_00:So I guess that allowed you to kind of choose which one was your favorite.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And where did I'm sure I know the answer to that, but what what is that?
SPEAKER_02:I I really don't have a favorite. I I just want it to look big and houndy and have a really loud mouth and hunt the way I want. Um most of the time it's walkers or blue ticks, but I do like courage too. So for squirrel and coon, but that's they're not big and loud, but they're just smart, fun dogs. Um, but really I'll hunt any breed as long as it's a hound, looks like a hound, and sounds like a hound, and isn't mean and is smart. Like I'll I like them all, so I'll hunt them all.
SPEAKER_00:You know, I I've I've actually had a little pretty good experience with uh mountain curves. And uh of course, down in Texas you don't see that, you see blackmouth curs, but yeah, they're they're a very greedy dog, very athletic, high drive. That's what I found. Um now, do you breed dogs?
SPEAKER_02:No, I do not. I just I get them as a puppy, or for pretty much my whole life, I would just go get a puppy from someone that I knew, or go somewhere and get a puppy and raise it and train it myself, and then just keep it until it died, really, and then I'd start all over. Um and then here more recently I'd would get like a young dog that was maybe five or six months old, and then kind of start and train it for other people. But I've never I'd like to get into that sometime, but getting a puppy was never been an issue for me. Like there's always puppies out there given to me or that I can get affordable, and it's something that I enjoy. Um I there's dogs that I have that I wish I did breed, but it seems like over the years I just I always get ones that suit me and that I like.
SPEAKER_00:Now, how many dogs you got on the property right now? Eight. I know the feeling. Yeah, it takes one to know one, yeah. What all do you have?
SPEAKER_02:Um well we got a tree incur, a mountain cur, and then a mountain cur puppy. And then we got a we just got another walker puppy, two full-grown walkers, my blue tick, and then oh, my wife's well, it's our dog. We've had him forever, but he's we don't know what he is. He looks kind of like a leopard hound, but she got him out of a box in front of a Walmart when he was a puppy. And they said he was an Australian shepherd with a blue healer, and he he is mostly brown with a little bit of blue on him. He doesn't look like either breed, so we're not 100% sure, but he's a howdy looking dog.
SPEAKER_00:Now, are your mountain currents like Brendel, Fawn?
SPEAKER_02:My uh my oldest mountain cur, he's Brindle. The mountain current is five months old. He's like a is it yellow or red, that color they call him. Um, and then the tree and cur is mostly black with some white trim.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Well, but we got so much to talk about, Clay, but I just gotta know this. You know, I was wandering around Automoaks, you know, just kind of taking everything in. I took a break from my booth. I was sharing a booth with JR uh and I saw this sign, and people were lined up to meet you. And I was like, wow. And I knew your name, and I actually followed you on social media, but I you know, I didn't realize, you know, how big you were, and I was like, wow, then it's so cool. What I reason I'm talking about this on here is because what was so cool was you stopped over by the booth there, and you know, I was a nobody, yeah, no one knew who I was there. It was all JR's group and stuff, and you were a very nice and humble guy, but man, how did you get to to that level of of being known?
SPEAKER_02:Just consistently making and posting stuff, and just I decided one day that I was gonna do this, so it wasn't really a big change for me. I just started filming the stuff that I was already doing and participating in. So it was it wasn't like it was a huge change for my life. It was just kind of letting people see what I do and just showing people the stuff that I do in my daily life, pretty much.
SPEAKER_00:Man, it must work. I mean, uh we were looking at your followers and I was like, holy crap, you know, because the line to see you, I was gonna try to talk to you. I thought, you know, I know this name, I've seen his face. Matter of fact, I've heard JR talk about him. I might get this guy to be on a podcast. So I was looking for you. Then I realized the line was for you. And I was like, holy crap. So I thought, man, I I I'll never get talked to him, and maybe I can it luckily you stop by. But I'm thank you. I appreciate you doing that. I don't know. Uh and I see you wearing a Garmin hat. I uh you're probably sponsored by a couple people, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Garmin and uh Valley Creek and Dog and Hunt Supply and Sunspot Lights. Uh there's a lot of just like small hunting comp like hound hunting companies like that. Uh then Garmin's a bigger one. And then I recently am working with Three Rivers Archery because I'm starting to do some traditional bow hunting. Because I I've always bow hunted with compounds, but I wanted to try something a little more difficult and make myself a little angry.
SPEAKER_00:Hello, this is Kenneth Whipp with Gun Dog Nation. Many people quickly become frustrated and confused when training the retriever. Cornerstone Gun Dog Academy's online courses eliminate all the guesswork by giving you a proven training system that will help you train a dog that anyone will be proud to have in their blind. Learn where to start, what to do next, and what to do when problems arise. Visit Cornerstone Gun Dog Academy.com to learn how you can train your retriever. I have used this method myself. I have been through it a couple times with different dogs. I refer back to it lots of times when I'm trying to get dogs freshen back up for hunt test season. I highly recommend them. I have actually been a subscribed member of Cornerstone Gun Dog Academy since 2016, and I would suggest anyone use it. I highly recommend it. They have an app that you can get to on your phone. You can do it from your phone, your laptop. You can't get any more convenient than that. I I've used it, it's proven and tried, and I know literally hundreds of people that have done the same thing that I've talked to. Visit Cornerstone Gun Dog Academy.com and learn how to train your own retriever. Well, I might try to introduce you to a guy in Hyde, Kentucky, where Casey and I are from, named Shannon Crisp. He's a retired teacher. He's he's killed elk with his own arrow that he made. He's a primitive bow shooter and goes shoots all of the US. And he's a really nice guy, and you and him would probably hit it off.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I've I've looked into making like your own bow and arrow and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And the amount of time and work it would take, just for me, like I'm completely new to it. So I thought I'll just I will get something that's already made and then figure it out, and then maybe like when my son's older or something, we can that can be a project for us. But I really when we were coon hunting one night, I found well, uh Charlie Atkins found an arrowhead when we're walking through the field, like a full wasn't damaged or nothing, which around here it's rare because people farmers disc up the fields a bunch, so they usually end up broken or chipped. And we found like a whole perfect arrowhead. It would be so cool to be able to go bow hunting or something like that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, he uh he now I know he shoots you know store-bought bows, custom bows, but he has done his own. But one of this is over, I'll I'll put you in he's on my Facebook. I'll put you two in contact with Joe. Super nice guy and so knowledgeable. Okay, he's passionate about it. I mean, it's his life, and he'll he'll scout a deer for for six weeks. Jeez. You know, and kill he kills trophies in Kentucky. But yeah, anyway, that's interesting. So so you just like you just an outdoor addict, I guess.
SPEAKER_02:Pretty much. That's just if you live where I live, if you don't enjoy being outdoors, there's not gonna be much for you to do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I I I grew up in the same type of place. Uh now that terrain there, now I I know Ohio well, but that part of Ohio you're in, I don't know as well. Is it more of a rolling hills or is it flatter?
SPEAKER_02:It's really flat, and it's right immediately in this area, there's pretty good timber. I mean, for Ohio. There's nowhere in northern Ohio where there's big, huge tracts of land, but it's right here, the places I hunt, it's got pretty good timber. It's a lot of mature, like big oaks and a lot of trees I wish I could deer hunt out of, but they're so big that I'd have to I don't know how I'd get up in them, but constructing a tree house or something. Yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_00:Uh now if you don't mind me asking Clayton, how old are you? 35. So how long have you been at this? I guess I guess it would be professionally, right? I mean, you're you're doing this for a living. How long have you been doing that?
SPEAKER_02:Uh probably about five years or so. Five or six years. When did you quit your day job? I I don't I'm not sure. It would have probably been it would probably have been somewhere around there, five or six years.
SPEAKER_00:And what was that?
SPEAKER_02:I was uh I worked maintenance in a local factory here.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. And and did you learn that in vocational school or did you learn it self-taught?
SPEAKER_02:No, uh I just just growing up in a real uh rural area, I just started doing that. And I worked there while I was I actually went to college to be a teacher. Um so I worked there sometimes part-time, sometimes full-time when I was getting my teaching degree, and then I started hunting dogs for other people just for extra money in college, and then that kind of took over more of my time.
SPEAKER_00:Did you ever teach?
SPEAKER_02:Uh not really. I did my student teaching, like my senior year, but I coached for seven I coached football for like 16 years, I think. And then coached baseball for four years. So pr I started coaching football when I was 18, my first year at high school. And then this last year was the first year I didn't coach. Just because my kids are starting all day school, and the school the school I was coaching at is 45 minutes from home. So I couldn't pick them up from school and be there at practice and at the same time.
SPEAKER_00:So well, you and I have one thing. My undergrad degree is in at teaching. I I and I'm like you, I didn't I never taught as a job, but I did my student teaching, of course, you know, to graduate. But yeah. So what subject were were your your were you would you have been teaching?
SPEAKER_02:Social studies. I started doing social studies and language arts both, but then I switched to just social studies like my junior year. So if I wanted to, I could probably take some classes and get that too, but it was just social studies what I graduated with.
SPEAKER_00:Well, nice. You know, I I just admire somebody, Clayton, that takes something that they love and turns it into uh, you know, a way to make a living. Yeah. And uh you've done that. I admire that really a whole lot. And so tell me, I mean, was it did it just slowly evolve or or did it just grow into, hey man, this is a full-time thing? And and I think I might quit my day job and just do this.
SPEAKER_02:Well, um, I started filming stuff. It was probably this was probably like 10 years ago. My dad's health got to where he couldn't go hunting anymore. But we we still had dogs together, so I would take an old camera hunting and I would just make some. I mean, it was like a Walmart camera phone that was like a hundred bucks. It was just terrible looking back on it, but I'd make little videos for him to watch just so he could still see the dogs hunt and stuff. So that was kind of my first experience making dog hunting videos, and then I guess it would have been seven years ago, because my son just turned seven. Um, I was thinking about getting a nicer camera, and I was deer hunting, and I heard a buck grunting kind of down. I say I was up on a ridge, but in northwest Ohio, a ridge is like a 20-foot hill. It's nothing, but it was just getting daylight, but I could hear a buck chasing a doe down in the field. And then as it got daylight, that buck, I it was probably 150 yards out in the field, it mounted a doe and started breeding her. And I shot him off of her back with my muzzle loader, and he just dropped down off of her and stood there. So I hurried up and reloaded and thinking I missed. And by the time I got my gun reloaded, he just fell over dead right there. And I was telling my wife about it, and I was just was kicking myself that I didn't have a good camera to film that with because I told her no one is gonna hear that story and believe it. And if you could have seen it, it was the craziest thing that I'd seen, deer hunting-wise, that I'd seen. And I'd already been thinking about getting a nicer camera because I said we're we're gonna have kids, we're gonna want to take pictures and record the kids. I said, I'll just I'll just get a camera. And I got a camera, started filming some of my hunts and doing stuff like that, and then I decided I wanted to start going and filming like other people because I'm not a competition hunter. I just like pleasure hunting and going, meeting people and making friends and kind of doing what I did growing up, just getting together with family and friends and going hunting. So I decided to start doing that and filming other people, and from there it just kind of took off and turned into what it is now.
SPEAKER_00:See, I didn't know that about you. I I just assume you were probably because you were that at Automooks that you were a competition hunter too. But it it's probably maybe I can uh uh relate to you because it's probably just too dang stressful, right? I mean, you just like to hunt for fun, man. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's I said I've coached football for at least 16 years. Uh I I'm a very competitive person. Uh I've done powerlifting and strongman stuff, and I played sports, and I'm a very competitive person, and I just the idea of turning something I loved into something where I'm gonna go argue with someone in the dark, I just never never really appealed to me.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, I can relate that. My my cousin uh Todd Horton, actually, his son is one of the singers of the Creekers band.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Him and his friend, another friend of mine named Randy Williams back in Leslie County, got me to go to a fishing tournament in Lake Cumberland. And I had no idea. It and we took off, it looked like the Navy take. I mean, it was just white caps of these Ranger boats, and I had a pro this is back in the day when a 120 horsepower was a decent sized motor. And we took off, and I mean, I thought I was gonna get sunk, no lie. I thought my boat was gonna get sunk, and and we stayed up from seven, we fished from seven in the night to seven in the morning. I'm on these, I'm weak, I got sleep, man.
SPEAKER_01:I can't.
SPEAKER_00:And then I lost, kept, and I'm a tight water, I kept losing baits, you know, there's five dollars, ten dollars, you know. I was like, when that got finished, I never turned it and fish again. I thought this is not fun. You know, I want to relax, and I was I was practicing law at the time, which is stressful, right? I I and I hated it. And I want to spend my weekends doing something fun, right? And it just wasn't and and I listen, those guys, I admire them and they're good at it, and I suck, but it's just not me, you know. Right. So I I know how I relate to you there. Yeah, definitely. Clayton, of all the stuff that you do, all the types of hunting, what do you think that you're best at? We all have something that we we feel like this is my strong point.
SPEAKER_02:Um, I would say with just hunting young dogs, probably. Um I I say I don't have patience, but the older I get, especially having kids, um, I've developed a lot more patience and gotten better. And I think raising pups has made me a better father, and I think being a better father is helping me have more patience with pups. So probably that is just getting getting a dog started and getting it to where it's consistently doing something. That's probably I love it and I hate it because it's it's stressful and pups are most of the time, especially if you're raising it from a puppy, you've dealt with craziness and just all the stuff puppies do for six to eight months before they start doing stuff in the woods. So you're already kind of ready for them just to take off, and then then they do take off and then they might start doing something wrong, and then you kind of kind of show them the way. And but I'd say probably just I'm not saying I'm the best pup trainer in the world, but that's something that I I really enjoy and feel like I'm decent at.
SPEAKER_00:Hello, this is Kenneth Witt with Gun Dog Nation, and I've got to tell you guys about something that I've gotten hooked on lately. It's faux. These are gourmet instant faux and ramen bowls that actually taste like the real deal. When I'm out in the field all day, and the last thing I want is to settle for bland camp food. Fo licious is what I go to. It's authentic, the flavor, it's real ingredients, it's ready in just minutes. It's perfect for hunters, fishmen, or anyone on the go. And you can get them over 1900 Walmarts nationwide, your local ATB here in Texas. Or you can just go online at folicious.com. Trust me, once you try it, you'll keep a few stock 10 in your bag, your pack pack, or for your next adventure. I just want to say this, I want to add this to this commercial because I know the owners of this company. They've hunted on my ranch. Uh uh Joseph, uh, he and I who actually met in Colorado on a hunting trip uh that was a real adventure. They are true hunters. They've hunted the ranch, you know, and I've I've hunted with them. And Anna, she is just amazing. She is the one that came up with this idea. They were both on Shark Tank. They are amazing people. So it's I love seeing people like this have a business. And I just had to say that in addition to the commercial because I really believe in the product and I believe in the people that made the product. Be sure to go to folicious.com or go to Walmart or HEB and try their product. I promise you, you will like it. You know, you're you're so right, Clayton. Like, I I feel like, and I actually had a podcast just released Tuesday with a guy that works at a boys' ranch in Texas, and it's troubled kids, and he was talking about how he used what he's learned from training bird dogs national champions all these years to working with unruly kids and stuff and teenagers. There is a psychology that's that overlaps. I think I know it sounds bad, we don't want to compare kids to dogs, but I truly think the psychology of training is it overlaps and helps.
SPEAKER_02:I I don't know how a better way to say that, but well, I mean, if with dogs they can't talk, they don't understand our life. So you have to be able to be so in tune with the other thing you're with that you understand what it's going through, what it's experiencing, and kind of communicate with it without even saying words. And if you can get to where you can understand and be empathetic and have patience and care for that dog, I mean, empathy and care and patience. I mean, how many kids, if they get that, would succeed. I mean, it's just it's the same type of thing.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. I like that. I'm gonna I'm gonna steal that phrase from you empathy, care, and patience. Uh you know, uh I know you probably been had many days like this, but I picked up yesterday morning an eight-week-old lab pup that's gonna be a you know, I've I've trained a lot of dogs just uh for myself and not other people, and I'm definitely not a pro trainer, but this is gonna be a project dog for me that I want to take to the highest level of retriever training. It's a lab. And uh and I'm like you, and I'm a lot older than you, Clayton. I'm 57, just turned 57 last week. So my patience has gotten so much better than when I was younger. Um and it's you know, and I plus I get to do this podcast and listen to guys like you that are pros and and learn. Uh and that's what I'm taking all that and want to put it to use.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But uh, so do you I know you so you you work some dogs for other people, I guess probably run them on coons and stuff. Yeah. Do you have access to a a pen?
SPEAKER_02:No, I don't use pens. I like for me and my like when I get a puppy puppy, I have my backyard is three acres, and I have that fenced in. So like during the daytime, I'll let them run loose and they can explore. And there's I don't live in a woods, but there is woods really, really close all around my property. So there's always squirrels and stuff for them to see and kind of interact with nature, and then my kids are always outside, so they get socialized with me and kids, and then there's a woods right behind my house that has a really big swamp in it. So when they're young, young, I'll take like my son, we'll take a puppy and we'll go back there and just go for a walk. And they get introduced to just being free in my yard, and then they're a little bit older, we'll take them in the woods, and they learn how to run over logs and cross water and just navigate a woods, and that's kind of what I do there. But there's the coon population here is so good that as long as you take them out and just get them in the woods, they're gonna obviously like right now, we're in a horrible drought, so it would be not good for a puppy right now because there's nothing for them to smell on the ground. But if the conditions are right, like they're gonna have plenty of opportunities to get on something to smell or see. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Now, have you ever entered a coon dog competition?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, my when I got my mountain cur, uh, I put him in a handful of them. Uh, he got fourth in the Ohio State hunt when he was a year old. Um, he had like two or three wins in UKC, but cur dogs specifically for Coon, there's not a lot of people that do that. So I would I would travel three or four hours to a hunt, and there'd be like me and one other guy there. And it just got to be it was not not worth me driving eight hours and spending time away from home to go hunt with someone, you know what I mean? So I just yeah, yeah. That was the only thing I did with him, and then um probably two or three other casts, one with a blue tick for a guy I was hunting, uh, beat myself on that cast. Um, we were tied and it was the last tree, and it was in the summertime, and I found the other guy's coon that he couldn't see, and I told him, so then he won. So that's another reason why I'm not the best competition hunter, because I actually want to see the best dog win. I'm not a lot of people, I know for a fact if they were in that position, they're not gonna see that coon up there and inform the cur their competition that there's one there. But um, and then I put a couple cast twins on a female that's hunting for a guy a couple years ago. So it was it's probably been five or six casts total.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's uh, you know, I've never even though I was at Automotes, I didn't get to watch the hunch, you know. I guess it was kind of restricted that you, you know, there are only so many people can go do that. Right. But but I do want to go again and see it. Uh and so d due the fact that you have CERS and you grew up squirrel hunting, do you ever do you run squirrel dogs much?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I I love them. I I do too. Is it usually your current?
SPEAKER_02:Um I never had a cur until I was probably 25, 24, 25. But we squirrel hunted my whole life. Dad would like we would just take our coon dogs out in the daytime. And there's a we had a blue tick and a walker we did that with over the years, and they were they were smart enough that once you finished them on coon, if you took them out in the daytime and you killed them a couple squirrels, they would even tighten up on track and wouldn't say much in the woods during the day, like a cur dog would. And we coon and squirrel hunted them both.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. I I did uh like I said, I'm not an experienced coon hunter at at even even at the beginner level, but I did train a mountain cur to train to tree squirrels and coons. Yeah. And uh that that was just a project for me. But uh yeah, so now tell me about your deer hunting.
SPEAKER_02:Um like how like what I do or like what the quality of deer hunting is.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, both. I might come up there and sneak in, but no, don't go.
SPEAKER_02:Um well I dad never deer hunted. Dad was in Vietnam, so the idea of around here, especially when I was younger, when deer gun season especially came in, there was a hundred people all around you just shooting like crazy. So dad never got into deer hunting after that. Um so I just I wanted to go on my own the one day. I was 13 the first time I went deer hunting, and it was the opening day of gun season, and I just took a bucket behind the house and sat on the bucket, and I had a single shot 12 gauge bead sight break action, just old rusty thing that I got that we had slugs for. And I was sitting there and it was probably about nine o'clock. I had to go to the bathroom, so I walked back up the house, went to the bathroom, came back, sat down, and about 9 30. I'm sitting there. Mom gave me some crackers. I'm sitting there eating some crackers and salami. Giant six, I say six point, but I mean it was huge. The biggest six point I've ever seen in my life. Comes running. It was a hundred now. I go back, it's 110 yards. I'm in the woods, it's out in the field 110 yards away. I drop it with that bead site 12 gauge.
SPEAKER_00:Was it a smooth barrel? Yeah. Yeah, those are horrible. Horrible accuracy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I have no idea. Like, I there's no way. I just I just think where I was so young and inexperienced, I would just call him and it was just I just shot, it was just shooting something. It wasn't like, oh my gosh, that's a nice buck. It was just, I'm just shooting something. Um, so I shot it and I called called my dad because he was at work on an old Nokia track phone, I think it was. Uh told him to say, I got a six, I got a six-point, and he couldn't get off work, so his brother uh drove his four-wheeler down. He's like, 'You said that's a six point?' I mean, it was a just a huge deer. So I guess that is just a six-point. It was, I don't know if it was just super old or what, but it was I've seen it.
SPEAKER_00:I've seen old deers, old six points. I've shot a lot of deer. And yeah, I've seen them get old and actually decline but still have a lot of mass and width, you know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he was super wide and tall, but he was just a six-point.
SPEAKER_00:That's I bet that yeah, that's probably a seven-year-old deer or something. You never know. Uh so you were hooked.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. Yeah. But like I said, coaching football and playing football, I mean, you're especially coaching, you are occupied from June until November. So I mean, every can't scout. No. You can't scout, and in the mornings, you're I'm either at that time I'm in school or working. And then the evenings, if I don't get done with practice until 6 30, 7 o'clock at night, I still have a 45-minute drive home. It's almost dark before I get home, so I couldn't, I couldn't deer hunt much. But whenever I could go out, I started bow hunting a lot more just because it was something else I haven't I never did. And I got uh I think it was a it was a nine point. It was nothing huge, but it was a nine point. I was sitting over a screw. I this place does not look like this since, of course. I check every year. It's on the edge of a woods. Um, I went in there scouting, and I'm not kidding, there was just rubs and scrapes as far as the eye could see. It was like any human being that had any common sense at all could sit there and probably get something. So I just I just put up my stand, sat there, and it just all day long, bucks coming in, bucks coming in, bucks coming in, and then clear across it was like a half mile away. I could see it coming across the field. It was a pit corn field, cross the road, come right in front of me, and started working that scrape, and I shot that nine point. And that was my.
SPEAKER_00:Do you have a tree stand or a ground blind?
SPEAKER_02:Tree stand. I have uh I use climbing sticks and the hang-on is what I use because I have a lot of little small patches I can go in. Um, and I don't like sitting in the same place over and over and over again. I like moving around, so I try and stay as mobile as I can. Just it's for me, it's more interesting, and I don't know if it helps me out any, but I feel like it does.
SPEAKER_00:Purina Proplan. Here at Gundog Nation, we use purina proplan for our dogs. We actually use the Sport Performance Edition, which is 30% protein and 20% fat, the beef and bison. It contains glucosamine, omega-3s for their joints. It also contains uh amino acids for muscles and antioxidants. It also has probiotics that's guaranteed to have live probiotics and eat certain. There's no artificial colors or flavors. We see the difference in our dogs, we see the difference in their coat, their performance, their endurance, and also in recovery. Be sure to use Purina Pro Plan Dog Food. The reputation speaks for itself. There's a reason that Purina has been around for such a long time. We suggest that you use it, and we are so proud to be sponsored by Purina Dog Food. You know, and I always felt like a climbing stand was more a climbing stand, you know, the hand climber is more comfortable, the seat. Right. Uh yeah, especially the you know, the newer ones are pretty nice.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah, the newer stuff is that's I've been looking at a lot of the newer stuff because my stand, it's it's old, it's a lone wolf, but it's older and heavier than a lot of the stuff now. The stuff they have now is like there's nothing to it weight wise.
SPEAKER_00:Those lone wolves are high quality stands, though. I like their stuff. What do you are you a Matthews guy or a Hoyt guy? What do you shoot?
SPEAKER_02:I have a bear just because it was it was nice and affordable and it killed deer for me.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, all the companies, and it's the thing, all of them make really nice bows. Right. Uh yeah. I I I got up in uh bear, I went on a bow hunt with a for bear in Canada and got up there and I had a Matthews no cam, which is probably the only bad bow they've ever made, in my opinion. Pulled it back because they they make you zero in before they allow you to hunt there, real strict, you know, about their laws. So you have to show that you can hit the the sites, flew off of it, couldn't find screws stripped out. And here I was in Canada, flew up there four hours from a town, no sales service, no bow. And a guy loaned me a bow. He said, Oh, you can use mine. It was a guide.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And uh it was an elite. Okay. And I thought, what's the odds that bow fits me, right? I mean, there's he looked taller than me, but anyway, long story short, it was perfect fit. Oh, geez. And I shot a bow opening day with that. I shot a bear with that bow. And I realized, man, this I don't I was with Matthews guy, like die hard, religious, kind of like Coon Hound or Redbone Blue Tick guy, you know. And then I realized, man, these elites are nice. And then I shot a bow tech a buddy of mine had. There's so many good bows, and Bear makes really good bows. Back, that was my first bow was a bear back in the 80s.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I it's probably like now I feel like it's a lot more even across all the companies as far as their there's like a baseline of quality where there it's none of them are going to be like complete junk. Some of them might be quieter, but compared to what things were 15, 20 years ago, like they're all still perfect. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I uh I think Hoyt, you know, it's funny when you're in the east, east the Mississippi River of the United States. This is just my experience. I'm not no no proven facts here. Everybody's Matthews person. In the West, in West Texas where I live, it it's Hoyt, they're Hoyt people.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And uh, and I think it's just the bow shops, right? I mean, there's Matthews bow shops all up and down the eastern United States, and but both are excellent. Uh but yeah. So um have you ever used one of these new very, very expensive crossbows? These new crossbows cost more than a high-pred rifle.
SPEAKER_02:No, I haven't. I I have used a crossbow before when I was young, and it was I got it for I think a hundred bucks. I just wanted to just to get one to try it, and I saw someone I knew local here had one for sale, and it was like uh it was a barnet, I think.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I've got no barnet, but it's not that's not shooting tight groups at 100 yards like some of these ones are nowadays.
SPEAKER_00:Man, these new ones, you know, used to you get a good crossbow for I don't know,$250, a good one. Now you can't even buy the sights for a crossbow for$250. Yeah, and and these new ones are super fast and lightweight. Uh I've not I'd like to try one one day, but uh anyway. So now deer hunting, arch you do archery muzzle, rifle, obviously. Now, are you allowed to use a rifle in Ohio? Used to you couldn't.
SPEAKER_02:Straight wall cartridges. So I have a 4570, uh, but I don't use that very much. I have a muzzle loader that is basically like a rifle. That's what I use pretty much when I gun hunt.
SPEAKER_00:But yes. And that's another thing. It came a long way when I started muzzle loading. We had flint lock, you know. You'd pull the trigger and you'd count five before it went off. Yeah. You just pull the trigger and you'd try you have to hold it steady, right? Which I could not easy to do. And now, you know, shoot us like shoot at 150 yards are like a rifle.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like that's what with mine. I I'd like to use some of my other guns I have, but like if I don't have my buck tag filled and I have that thing dialed in with a scope on it, it's like I'm I'm not going out there without this thing. If I can see it, I can probably hit it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. No, uh, what kind of muzzler do you use? Thompson Center, Acura V2. That's my favorite.
SPEAKER_02:It's I forget the length of barrel, it's like the longest barrel they have. I got it. It's nice.
SPEAKER_00:They're nice, and they have a rifle barrel, but they're they're accurate too. I even for a long time, Clayton, I hunted, I deer hunted with a single shot Thompson Center 270.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that was an accurate dude, man. I mean, yeah, it it I shot a lot of deer with that. Um what what's the schedule like? What's a normal schedule like in hunting season for Clayton Star?
SPEAKER_02:Uh in hunting season, that's different now, just because I'm not coaching football and I have more kids now. So um before I had kids, it was a lot more hunting, especially in the morning. But um uh in the fall, I will squirrel hunt some, but not as much just because there's deer hunters everywhere and I don't don't want to make anyone mad. But um, so I will squirrel hunt some like later in the fall. Like right now, it it would be terrible because there's so much leaf cover and it's still 90 degrees and dry season's in. It comes in September 1st, but it's just it's not worth going until mid to late October. I enjoy squirrel hunting more in the winter time when the leaves are off. Um deer hunting. I this year I will go as soon as it comes in on the 27th. I just I really want I don't care what what it is, I'm not gonna shoot a small buck, but I want to get a deer with that longbow I have. I just I I've been wanting to get something with that thing for a while now. Um so I'll do that, and I won't I probably won't go crazy deer hunting wise until it cools off sometime, maybe in mid-October. Then I'll start going a lot more. Um, my wife right now she only has to work three days a week. So I'll be able to go between that and not coaching football, I'll be able to go a lot more often. And then coon hunting, that's one good thing about coon hunting. You can go anytime you want. If you're not killing anything, like if you're just running your dogs, you can go literally every single day of the year if you wanted. So I go pretty much three to five times a week, less in the summertime, specifically August. August, I'm usually not going up bunch just because the weather is what it is, and I'm burnt out, and it's just it doesn't get dark until after 10 o'clock at night. And like this year, we have I think the weather report I saw said we we had like three-fourths of an inch of rain since June or something. Like it is just it is a desert out there. So I mean you can still tree coon, but it's just it's it's hard for me to breathe with pollen and dust and stuff. Like, it's just it's not gonna be easy on the dogs, and so I still go, but once once October comes, I coon hunt a lot just because the weather is it's perfect, it's usually 50s, maybe 40s, some nights, and clear, and they're starting to take the crops off, which makes it nicer. Because like this time year, we have a lot of soy bean fields. So if the dogs get out in that, that can that can be rough on them. And some dogs it takes them a long time to get them out of the bean field. So once the crops really start coming off, I go a lot more. And then our season comes in November 10th. So then I usually go a lot in the f in November, but then it doesn't usually take much time, and the weather turns for the worst, and then it's you can still tree them, but around here there's so much mature timber that you're it's gonna be a den tree every time you tree it for the most part. Luckily, a lot of the places like the trees are so big you can see up in them, so you know if your dog has one or not, but it's just I wish season came in here like the second week of October or something, just because it without fail, season comes in November 10th, and usually it's snowing the next week.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and and how long is your all season last there? Till the end of January.
SPEAKER_02:So November 10th, like I I it's like the 31st or something, I can't remember, of January.
SPEAKER_00:And that's firearm.
SPEAKER_02:For were you talking Coon or deer? Oh, you're talking about Coon. I was talking about Coon. For deer, archery season comes in the 22nd or 27th and goes out the end of January, too. So I mean I can bow hunt a lot if I wanted to, but that that's that's uh bow hunting that's never hard to do. That's you can go pretty much anytime you want. If you don't mind being cold, you can go a lot in the wintertime.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that you know, uh, I always like going in in January before season end because you know they're starting to get scarce for stuff to eat and the big bucks a moving, but man, it's it's so cold. Right. You know, it's tough. Um and so I guess you don't really have you ever upwind hunted. Hello, this is Kenneth Witt, and Gun Dog Nation is proud to have one of their sponsors as Retriever Training Supply based in Alabama. Retriever Training Supply offers fast shipping on quality gear. Your dog will love it. Visit Retriever Training Supply.com to purchase gear to help you train your retriever. Listen, they have some of the best leeches I've ever found. It's that's made in America. Their leeches are and they source them locally. They have anything you want, fast, friendly service, fast shipping, just good people. Retriever training supply.
SPEAKER_02:No, I haven't. The only other thing I really have done is like I've in the past, I did a little bit last too on trap, just mostly for like coyotes and fox. When I was younger, I did coon too, but I coon hunt so much that I don't even want to worry about that. So I mostly set my sets for coyote and fox. And this year I need to really focus on Fox because they're I'm I'm not kidding. Usually never see Fox around here. This this week I saw one hit on the road, and I've got multiple on my trail cameras, like they're just everywhere.
SPEAKER_00:You know what's interesting, you know, my ranch is in Texas, it's probably uh 1800 to 2,000 miles from you. Same problem. I've seen more fox than I've ever seen. Uh when I first bought that ranch, you'd only see grays. Now we see reds, and the reds are more they tell me the reds are more aggressive at killing my livestock, you know, or I have I have a high fence hunting ranch. And I don't know what it is, but they're everywhere. Uh I let some guys come in, you know, predator competitions are real big in Texas, and they have big purses of fifty thousand dollars, whatever. I let some friends go there for that competition and they killed seven fox one night. Sheesh. It's and they probably you know, but it's it it's it's funny that you say that too in Ohio, that far away from us that you're having the seeing the same thing.
SPEAKER_02:Because I mean, growing up, like it was something special to see a fox. Like they've always been around, but like now, like if you're seeing them hit on the road, like that's there's a lot of them around here. If I'm getting them on trail camera, I mean I've seen them just in my like in my yard, seeing them coming in and out of the woods sometimes. And just growing up, it was never like that. We did when I was a kid, we did used to have a lot of uh pheasant around here. Yes, but you'd always like going to school in the morning, you'd always hear them taking off and flying. But I couldn't tell you the last time it's been 20 years or so since I've seen or heard a pheasant around here.
SPEAKER_00:So you haven't seen any.
SPEAKER_02:Uh-uh.
SPEAKER_00:Well, do you all have grass there? Not not that I'm aware of.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's it's it's you know, those places are few, you know, in in eastern Kentucky, where we're from, you know, grass was real prevalent in the 80s. Yeah. And I don't think that unless someone tells me different, I don't think there's there are any left.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's kind of sad. Yeah, and you know, I hear that about pheasant. I had some friends that were maybe in Illinois that said they grew up with pheasant, now they don't have pheasant anymore. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I know around here they're the habitat is just so different. Like like for example, at mom and dad's, like I said, growing up, the field next to their house that was a pasture for livestock, and they got rid of livestock, so it started growing up and getting real thick with grass and stuff, and they were in there. But now that's basically like a small woods, it's so grown up. And there was a few like CRP fields and stuff around where you'd see them in, but it just I don't know if it's the coyote and fox or what, but there's just there's not much of them around anymore.
SPEAKER_00:What's a type of hunting that you've never done that you would like to do?
SPEAKER_02:Uh probably bear hunting with dogs. I'd I'd like to see a bear treat, and I've always wanted to get a bear mounted or a bear skin rug. So that that would probably be up there on my list.
SPEAKER_00:I'd like to do that too. I was with uh, oh, what's that guy's name? Uh sitting with us at the at the booth from West Virginia by my blank. Uh I talk to so many people a day. Yeah. But he was there with JR and those guys, kind of a tall boy from West Virginia, about 6'2. Oh shoot. Is the last name Alan? You would know him. Anyway, that those guys are big into that.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And they've invited me. I think they've took J taken JR on one, but I I want to do that. I've known that's uh, you know, I bear hunted with a bow, I bear hunted with the firearm. I but I won't see them with hounds. That that would be something. Heck, you probably got dogs can do it.
SPEAKER_02:Maybe. I'd have to take them somewhere to do it first. There's there's bear about two and a half hours north of me, and there's bear about three hours south of me. So there's nothing right here, but it's getting closer.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, if this if they're that close to you, it won't be long. Yeah. That's another thing. In Leslie County, Kentucky, like we you never heard of a bear when I was young, uh, ever. I mean, you just did it, and they were in the smokies. You do you hear about them in Harlan, which is only a county south. Right. But you know, now it's common. They're everywhere.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, one uh do you have hogs down there?
SPEAKER_00:In Texas we do. Yep. Uh it's like it's it's weird. So seems like my experience of being, you know, I'm in wet I'm in West Texas, so it's a dry desert. My ranch is kind of not so much dry desert. So we have hogs, but if you have a lot of water, like East Texas and Central Texas and North Texas, the more water that seems like the bigger the hogs. That's what I've seen. Like big. But around my ranch, I think probably a you know, you're you're talking 150-pound boars on average, but you go anywhere else and they could be, yeah, they could get way bigger than that. But yeah, it's something. I tell you what, that's something you should try. I I got to do that when I first moved to Texas is hog hunt with dogs. Man, you know, you use a knife, there's no gun. And I'll I'll have to tell you this, Clayton. I I got down there, we'd run cornfields all night, and it was I was killed. It was daylight.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man.
SPEAKER_00:Finally, uh dogs, they took, they tore up, they, you know, it's just in a rig in a back of the truck, like you'd have. And uh all of a sudden they he he turns them out and he said, they got a hog, they got a hog, you know, let's go. And I and I grabbed a 40 caliber Glock. He was like, With what are you doing? I was like, You you said I got to kill it. He said, Man, you're not taking, don't take a gun, you'll kill my dogs. Put the gun up. I went, What do you mean put the gun up? That thing, because we were going in cornfield, Clayton, and this corn was like you start here, you can hear them squealing and growling and that thing hollering. It was offest commotion you ever heard. I was sitting there, you mean you only mean to go in there? And it you can't even hardly see, it's so thick. With a knife, he gave me a knife. Jeez. And he said, You gotta stab it, you know, right under the arm. He showed me where to stab. And uh I did it. And I'm telling you, you talk about an adrenaline rush.
SPEAKER_02:I bet.
SPEAKER_00:And he and he sent that pit in there, and uh that those dogs are just ruthless. It has it had a vest on. Those dogs, he'd had some dogs he'd sewn up, you know, from he had plots and blackmouth curves were his baying dogs, and then his catch dog was a pit. Jeez, it was a biggest pit bull I've seen in my life. But man, it's uh it's intense. I mean, that's intense. The boy I killed, I've there's a picture of it somewhere on my old Facebook stuff, but it's it wasn't huge. It was to me, you know, but it was probably 150 pound, you know. Uh, them guys kill, but he's killed some big stuff. And he was he did it hardcore, my friend. He was from Seguin, Texas. Uh I don't know if he still does it, but yeah. That's a trip. That I've never got the helicopter hunt for the hogs. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that was a good thing. That's on my list.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You know, it's funny, the ranch beside me, I see them do that. I've watched while yeah, but I wish they'd invite me. I'm gonna put a sign up one. They wouldn't take me with you, you know. But no, maybe uh if you ever want to do this sometime, I might hook you up. I've got a lot of buddies in Texas and we might take you out hog hunting. Yeah, that'd be cool. It's true. That's it's that's uh there's no other hunting like it, I don't think. I mean, yeah, well, there's no hunt where you kill an animal with a knife in your hand.
SPEAKER_02:A pretty primal experience. You don't get to do that very often.
SPEAKER_00:It's up close and personal, and uh it I think honestly God, I believe it took me two hours to settle down when it's over. I was just, you know, I was wired up even in the pictures, you know. I'm wired up and uh yeah, but yeah, it's it's that's something. And those dogs, man, are ruthless. Uh I've seen people, I know you've seen them in your line of business, but those jag terriers, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Uh I had a buddy down in Arizona, Texas, and he he couldn't take those jags are so fearless that they'd get killed. They'd go into a hog, just get cut up, you know, with tusk. And they're just, they have no fear. I've never seen a I've never seen a dog as gritty and gamey in my life as those little jag traitors. When you're getting ready to go on your next hunting trip, make sure you pack the most efficient and reliable ammunition on the market. Migra ammunition brings you the most diverse loads on the market. Migra's patented stacked load technology is the epitome of efficiency. Two shot sizes stack together to create the most diverse and efficient line of shot shells in the industry. It doesn't matter what flyaway, what state, or what the weather, the standard remains the same. At Migra, reliable loads that perform in any condition every single time. We're proud to have Migra Ammunition as a sponsor for Gun Dog Nation.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's with I've never had one, but I've seen them, and it's to a point, like you said, where it's it's dangerous because it doesn't matter what's in front of them, they're gonna just go after it.
SPEAKER_00:No fear. Uh I've had I've had a couple to ranch the blood track, and they they're they're just natural. You don't have to train them to do anything. They're a hunter. They're born to hunt, and there's no training involved. They'll hunt whatever. I I would think that they'd make an awesome squirrel dog. Uh yeah. Because they got a nose, you know. Right. But nice. Um, so what's next? What's the next announcements for Clayton Stark? What what we got coming up that you've not told anybody yet?
SPEAKER_02:Uh not a ton, really. Uh just still doing all the stuff I normally do. Uh I am gonna start doing uh a video series where I've got it all laid out to where it's gonna be like 50 episodes long. It's gonna be like from start to finish what I do with pups, like how I raise them. Like, because I do I raise them for other people, especially. I'll raise them outside in a kennel, but like, especially lately for me, I raise my dogs inside the house. So like I'll potty train them, crate train them, like all that stuff. Go over nutrition and the different methods I use at different ages, just all that stuff. So I haven't started filming that yet, but I have like all the plans, the stuff laid out for it. So that's probably.
SPEAKER_00:You have someone to help you do that, to help you film. No, I wish. No, it's all me. That's impressive. So you do your own filming and editing and everything. Absolutely everything is just me. Well, promise me, when you get that finished, man, we'll put that on here and talk about it. That's a great subject for us to cover on the show. I'll help promote it for you any way I can. Not the heck, man. What am I saying to you? You you've got more exposure than me, but but I've got all my guys are hardcore dog people that listen to that. Right. So I I'd love to let you, when that's uh when that's a finished product, be sure and look me up and we'll go over that. Yeah, because I think that's neat. That's what this is all about. Listen, you know, Clayton, everybody's got their own way of training dogs, and and I I'm doing a little video. I just started, I'm gonna go do a few minutes tonight with a puppy that I'm gonna train, and I'm gonna document it, kind of like you're gonna do, but this will not be so structured. And I don't want anyone to think, oh, uh this is Kenneth Witt trying to be a pro dog trainer. I'm not. And everything that I teach, I've learned from somebody else. You know, I didn't invent this stuff, and I don't want to come across that I'm that way. You know, I I may learn stuff from you, I may learn stuff from you know all the people I have, but but that's I just want to show that, you know, hey, you can train your own dog. Right. It just takes patience and time.
SPEAKER_02:Right. Yeah, that's it. I'm I'm the same way. I don't claim that my way is the only way or I know everything. I just know that what I do produces a dog and a product in a dog that I enjoy and is a fan good family-oriented dog that is intelligent, but is still capable of hunting just as good as you would raising anything else.
SPEAKER_00:That's that's right, and that's that's what it's all for. I mean, everybody's got their own, you know, likes. Maybe you want to be a competition guy, whether that's retrievers, coondogs, or maybe you just want a meat dog or something to hunt with. Right. But you know, Clayton, you're the type of person that that I try to bring into this community of of Gun Dog Nation podcast people. You know, I want we got to preserve our heritage. We we gotta make this at least appealing to young people so they get involved or it's gonna die off, you know. Uh and it's up to me and you and and our kids to pass this on. Right. So very true. Any way that I can help help promote you or what you're doing, let me know. This is we're all we're all in the same family here.
SPEAKER_02:All right. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00:Uh well, hey, I know you got kids. I know you got stuff to do, and you got dogs, so I know you're a busy man. Uh how can people find Clayton Stark on social media?
SPEAKER_02:Uh, just type in Clayton Stark or Stark Outdoors. And I'm on that's the same handle for all social media, so you'll be able to find me on that. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And you're on I know you're on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Patreon, and YouTube. Okay. So tell people how to find your Patreon.
SPEAKER_02:Uh you can either download the Patreon app or just get on the computer on Patreon and just type in Clayton Stark, Stark Outdoors, and that's how you find me on there too. Okay. Good to know.
SPEAKER_00:And then you you have a YouTube channel with the same name.
SPEAKER_02:Right. I have two YouTube channels, but they're both titled similar to where you'll be able to find them. Okay, good deal.
SPEAKER_00:Clayton, it's been a pleasure, man. Let's not make this our last time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_00:All right. And uh we'll have to try to hunt together. That'd be fun. Thanks for having me on here. Thank you very much. You have a great evening. You too. Hello, this is Kenneth Witt with Gundog Nation. I'd like to encourage all you listeners and viewers on our YouTube channel to check out patreon.com forward slash gundognation. For$10 a month, you can become a member of our community and we'll have access to lots of stuff. Mainly we'll do a monthly forum, an open forum where you can ask me anything gun dog related and we'll learn from each other in the community. Should be a lot of fun each month. We will do that. So check it out. Patreon.com forward slash gun dognation.