Ep 083: James Visser of Bow Disciples

On this episode, I sit down with James Visser of Bow Disciples. We talk, archery, bowhunting, James' venture into target archery, entrepreneurship, bowhunting South Africa, building a brand, and everything in between.

Check out the Bow Disciples Website:
https://www.bowdisciples.com/

Follow Bow Disciples on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bowdisciples/

Follow James Visser on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jamesvisser/

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:18

All right, welcome back to the Caribou Media Doors Podcast. With me this afternoon is James Visser from Boat Disciples. How's it going?

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Good, man. Excited to be here, and I appreciate you uh giving us the shot to be on here.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Yeah, thank you. We ran into each other at TAC and I reached out afterwards. And yeah, this is great. Awesome. I uh I usually like to um kind of go back in time with people and find out you know how you got started in um in the archery space when you first picked up a bow and what that looked like for you. So how did that uh how'd that all go for you?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Yeah, so I've actually been shooting a bow since I was about three. Uh my dad was a bow hunter in like the 70s and a rifle hunter before that. So basically as soon as I popped into the world, I started shooting a bow and uh shot uh my very first bow was a white long bow, just a piece of plastic with a little string, and I shot that for quite a while, and then uh then I had a black little compound bow with little wheels about that big. And then uh my first like and then I had a bow called a brave. That was from like a Walmart, but that thing was solid, and that was what I got my first animal with when I was five. I shot a cotton tail rabbit at about 20 yards, and then my first big game animal with a bow was with a bow called a PSE spider, and I was probably I don't know, maybe like eight to ten, somewhere in that range, uh, was my first big game animal with the PSE spider. So yeah, I've been doing it my whole life and uh doing 3D shoots and competitions as well. But yeah, that's how that was my start.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Yeah, so it was hunting first before the 3D, or was it kind of hand in hand with each other?

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Hunting first, and then I got into 3D probably in 2005 or something like that. So um, you know, I had had probably uh eight to ten years under my belt before uh getting into doing 3D as a little cub um and shooting, shooting some competitions locally.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Okay, and then when did uh when did Bow Disciples all start and how did that come about?

SPEAKER_00 2:30

2018 actually. So yeah, we're almost 10 years in, which is crazy. Eight years in, and um actually our eighth birthday is coming up here in August. So yeah, I made content for for a long, long time. I put my first video on the internet in 2007 as a bike rider. Um, bike riding is a big part of my life as well, and then um, you know, so made content for five to six years for biking, and then uh got into real estate after that for a handful of years or seven, eight years doing content there as well. Okay, and then uh just doing real estate content wasn't really like super fun. So I was like, okay, I'll do I'll do content about archery and or you know, having fun shooting bows and hunting because I've done that my whole life, and it'll actually be fun content to make, um, with the intention of no one really watching it. I was just doing it for fun, and then uh after after a few years, um started to build a little steam, and then you know, five years in or so it really kind of took off, and then we've done it full time, uh, me and Brianna since uh 2024, so for a couple years now.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Okay. Uh was the um real estate content like the drone shots of the house and walking through like that? Was that kind of where what you were doing, or was it something else?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

I didn't do too much drone stuff. Um basically very similar to our archery content, just pretty raw, pretty, pretty, pretty dialed in, and uh yeah, just a lot of like talking about whatever interest rates or rentals or things like that. So more so just uh trying to connect with people uh via video. And it did work. I mean, yeah, we we built a yeah, built a pretty solid business and then uh and then yeah, got into this full time a couple years ago. So I still do have a real estate license. Um I uh nowadays I um I mostly just refer refer deals, but uh the last deal I did myself, I think maybe was maybe last year or 2024. So it's been a little bit since I've done a deal front to back myself, but uh I have done uh referrals.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Okay. Um and so did you did you start what at what stage did you meet Brianna? Did you start Bo Disciples first and then meet her, or did you start it together?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

No, so I was already started with it. I started in uh 2018 and her and I met in 2021. So I had had it about three years at the time, and then um, you know, now we're at about eight. So and you know, when we met, I probably had about uh 4,000 or so subscribers, I would guess. And now we're at almost 116. So it's most, you know, we've had a substantial amount of growth uh together, which has been really cool for sure.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Uh what do you think is that what what do you think picked up for you to make it go in that direction? Is there anything you can put your finger on, or is it like just constant content, or or what do you uh there's a few things.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

So one, I think that when we started implementing more females into the videos, uh, I think that certainly made a big difference. Uh and then two, I think in the beginning, I don't think that our lane of being fun and a little bit wild and less traditional, maybe, than most people with the angle, um, was sort of looked at in a very negative way by both companies and uh other creators and consumers. And then I think over time what we were doing became the cool thing, and now that's what you see everyone else doing. So I think it sort of had to be accepted. Uh, and then once that happened, it was kind of off to the races, but it took other people buying in um and kind of um not pretending to be too cool uh or whatnot. I think that shift had to happen before it really worked. Um, because for a long time we're I felt like we were like the black sheep of this space, and I still feel like that a little bit, but um a lot less now.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Yeah. What um how long would you say it took before you started getting recognition from companies or having companies want to work with you?

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Oh, I mean, I could have we could have got sponsors sooner than we did. Um we were fully independent for five years, and I think that is wise for smaller creators. I think I would just be, unless, you know, unless for some reason you really need to not be, I would be independent as long as you can. And then um that way you have more leverage when you're having these conversations with companies. You you know, you're at a level where you know you can kind of drive the conversations and the deals rather than when you're you're new. So we intentionally waited a long time. Um, probably didn't bring on the first sponsor until um 2025, really. Yeah, probably 2025, maybe the end of 2024, some smaller ones. And then um, yeah, it was just it, I don't know, it was just like the timing mapped out and the deals mapped out and the companies are right, and yeah, it just kind of happened organically. But that's always a piece of advice I give to up-and-comers is I I would uh I'd push it off as long as you can and build build your brand first, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Right. Had you been shooting Botec uh before you started working with them?

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Yeah, so I've actually shot Botec since 2005. Um, after that PSE spider, I got a Botec equalizer, uh, which I believe was a 2005 or 2006 model, and I've shot that ever since. I shot a bull elk with it in 2006. Uh, and then I you know, but I had it before that, and then I've shot it uh ever since Botec.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Okay. So what's your current what's your current yeah, when that's that's I mean, it's funny, some people some people stick or brand specific and other people bounce around, and it's uh it's nice when you have some history with uh with a company for sure before you get in with them for sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

For sure, yeah. No, I mean it when when when stuff's organic like that, you know, then I think that's the best case scenario, you know, something you've used a long time and then just fall into working together. I think that's the way to go.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

So, what's your current uh bow hunting setup look like?

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Uh bow hunting setup is the Botec Alliance 33. Uh, and I have it at 70 pounds in performance. I'm shooting a 414 grain uh victory rival X arrow with the boning alpha veins, um, three veins, decent Hilicoil. And then for the heads, right? I'm gonna run the Beast 2.3 inch 100 grains uh out in Hawaii in a couple weeks here. Um, as far as the other components, I'm running the Black Bolt Dual Track Site with the 0.10 pins, micro adjust, um, tight spot five arrow quiver and the ripcord ratchet rest, the mule stabilizer, uh, which has the B on it. And I we do sell those on our site, we get asked all the time, but those are really bitching for hunting um and super uh functional. And then I have the gas bow strings, the accu SOS. I think that's it. I think that's it. So yeah, it's a solid setup, it's shooting right around 300 feet a second and uh super accurate, holds nice. So yeah, I've been liking it.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

Did that um SOS take some time to find the right adjustment?

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Yeah, a little bit. I kind of put them on, so I've ran them on a couple different bows now, and basically I'll put them on and then shoot it and then just kind of continue to turn it about uh um a quarter or about a quarter turn, if not a little bit less, and just keep doing that until um I find the right rotation on it, and then I'll run it like that.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Okay. Yeah, I've seen them a lot and I've never messed around with them, but I heard that they can uh they can really make a difference.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Yeah, they're solid.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Um and then would you say you you recently went all in with Target? Or was that something you've I know you said you've done 3D archery along the way too, but when you started working with Page and stuff, was that did you kind of jump in a little harder with it then?

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Yeah, definitely. So uh the big step was doing Vegas, right? Doing an indoor round, and I had never shot an indoor round prior to that. Not a league, nothing. So my first ever competition indoor was Vegas, and uh just went all in. Yeah, yeah. And uh our prep was only six weeks, so we had six weeks of prep. And then uh after that, we did uh a couple other things. We did Reading, we did um uh triple crown series in Arizona. Those are I was a way more comfortable with because I shot outdoor a lot, so right. Um, but yeah, I mean, really the the Target stuff just was uh six-week prep coming into Vegas, doing Vegas since then. I have not shot an indoor round, but I'm really excited to get back into shooting indoor. We've just been on the road a ton, but um very excited. I love it. Um getting a new target rig here soon in um about three weeks, so I'm really excited about that and just uh adding a few more uh tournaments to the schedule next year, is my goal. So I want to do maybe two or three indoor, and then I want to do a couple of ASA um reading again. I would love to do break the barriers, and then we're doing uh bow hunter games here in about uh two months. About two months. So yeah, we got a bunch of stuff, but yeah, um this is the first year we really took uh competing on a national level uh serious prior to that. It was just you know a lot of tech, a lot of local shoots, stuff like that, which I still do that as well, but it uh I really enjoy competing at a high level. So getting into uh the more national stuff has been a lot of fun, and you certainly um learn a lot about your setup and yourself, and and it's just a much bigger test because when you go to a national level shoot like a reading, you know, you're shooting against when you're in the pro class, you're shooting against the best person at every local, you know, every local spot basically you're shooting against the best person. So it's like it's just much higher, much, much higher um competition level.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Right. So how did that feel as someone that had never done that before? Like going to Vegas for the first time, what was that like?

SPEAKER_00 13:22

So I had a lot of fun at Vegas. I thought it was uh a very, very fun time, and it definitely will um give you nerves like nothing else will shooting. I learned that real quick. Um the Vegas nerves are unlike anything else I've ever had shooting a bow. So uh I encourage everyone to give it a try. I think it's a lot more fun than you think, and it's gonna test your shooting way more than than anything else, just in a different capacity. So one thing I really like about it too is everyone shoots at different times. So, like this year, this upcoming year, we've probably got at least a half dozen of my real close friends doing it. Uh and what's nice is like all of us aren't gonna shoot at the same time. That's just not how it works. You don't know what time you're gonna shoot, but you get scheduled out. So when you're shooting, you shoot for I don't know how long it takes, maybe an hour, hour and a half. And then after that, you you know, go get a tall boy at the casino and go watch your other buddies when it's their time to go. You know what I mean? So it's fun from like a spectator-wise, and you're just talking to so many people that are into the same thing we are, you know, archery and hunting. Um, and yeah, I don't know. It's it's really, really cool. It it does, it's it's very much a tack feel, you know. I tell everyone that, like the big tournaments, you know, have a lot of tack elements to it. They have vendors, they have a fun vibe, they have people hanging out, people shooting, and then the people at tournaments, I tell the same thing. Like, tack really is a lot like this, just in a different way. So I encourage everyone who's maybe only ever done a fun shoot, like a TAC or a local 3D or something, something like that, to go try a national level tournament and give it a rip, and then vice versa, too. I think there's a lot more overlap than maybe the two sides give credit.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

And when you were doing your uh your training working up to heading there with when you were working with Paige, what were some of the things that you you learned along the way that you maybe didn't know going into it?

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Um I guess how important building forgiveness into your your setup is uh when you're shooting at a Vegas face specifically, because you know you're you you need to hit a spot this big every time. So building in to where those shots that don't feel great, and you're like, oh shoot, that's gonna be a miss, they don't miss by nearly as much when you implement and and they may even still hit the 10. You know what I mean? So building in forgiveness to me was the main thing I picked up from Greg and Paige and and everyone else who helped. Um, you can still do great with a bow that's unforgiving, but it you're gonna do a lot better with a bow that is forgiving, and those shots that aren't good still land.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Okay. Uh, did you change your release at all when you were when you went from hunting to target? Did you go to a hinge or anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 16:15

No, so I've always shot the same release, the Carter BK Target. Um, shot it for at least 20 years now. Uh I do shoot a different one right now than the one I used to shoot, uh color-wise, but it's the exact same release platform. Um, so um for me, I always just keep it the same with a thumb button BK target.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've kind of gone back and forth with different thumb buttons and uh got onto the art ultra view hinges a little bit and yeah, come back to come back to the button, I flip-flop all over the place. I'm just a sucker for the marketing, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:48

So yeah, yeah. I got a lot, but I got yeah. We we got a guy in our group, Joey, who uh I mean, every time we go out and shoot, it's basically a grab bag of releases, so you just never know what he's gonna pull out.

SPEAKER_02 17:04

Yeah, yeah. I you know, my friends will say, Hey, did you see UltraView just released another hinge? I'm like, I'm not even gonna look at it. Oh, are you sure? Are you sure? And then a couple weeks later, it's like, yeah, I bought one.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

So classic.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Yeah, that's I'm a sucker. Anyway, so what was your target setup then for for the tournaments that you did?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Uh well, for indoor, I use the Botec Reckoning 39 Gen 2, um, gas system X strings, the Bomar nose button, uh, the UV, uh, I think just the hunting scope, but with an 8x lens. Um, I had the B Plus clarifier, and I was shooting Victory, VTAC 27s, boning Bronco, four-inch veins, uh, the ripcord ratchet rest. That's something I'm changing this year. Get a target rest. Uh, the accu SOS light. And I think that's about it. I was running the gas slash marsupial collab uh hip quiver. I did not run a Binos or Range Finder, um, nothing on my chest. And I think that's it. Um, so yeah, it was a good setup. Um, ended up, you know, getting it. Oh, and then for bars, I had B Stinger bars um on there with the V bars out the back. I am gonna switch the bars on my new setup so and the rest. Actually, everything. I'm gonna have a new site, new bars, new rest, new bow. So my target setup will look a lot different. Um you know, when when we start filming indoor again than it was last year. And I'm shooting a 36-inch bow this time as well, at least to start. So um, yeah, it'll be it'll be quite a bit different. But I like the setup I had a lot. I mean, it was good rig. And um, you know, being that it's a bow tech, you're able to pitch that grip in and out all right on the bow. So that was an adjustment that I found myself um using a fair amount. And then um, you know, eventually I got the bars to a place where I felt like it was good enough. And and I after that, I was like, I'm not gonna change it at all through the event. I'm just gonna shoot a ton. So I shot it, and um, now that I'm done with it and have you know till March of next year to do Vegas again, um, you know, I'll be a little more aggressive with my tinkering in the beginning, and then once I get it to a spot where I'm like, all right, this is good, I'll just basically shoot that, you know, through the event.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

All right, gotcha. Do what are your uh tuning practices like? Like when you get a new bow, how would how do you go about setting everything up? Are you you strict with certain things that you do, or do you just kind of get a rough setup and then kind of tweak as you go? What's your what's your kind of practice for that?

SPEAKER_00 20:00

I usually have a shop or um a shop or someone like Paige or Greg or you know, this in this case, I have the new president of BoTex gonna build my new bow. Um, so usually I'll have them do it, set it up, tune it, get it dialed, and then from there I'll just shoot it and make small changes if I need to. But I prefer to let people that are way better at working on bows build it than me. And then from there I'll just shoot it and make little little uh adjustments if needed.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

Um, when it comes to the talk events, how long have you been going to those for?

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Our first one was 2019, actually. Yeah, Park City.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah. Do you have a favorite uh location? I know you've been to a few.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Yeah, we've been fortunate to be been to a lot. I think I've been at like four or five just in Utah because there's been quite a few little different locations over the years, but my favorite would be uh probably Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Yeah, yeah, that's uh what stands out with Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

Well, I think there's a couple things. One, it's like one of the it's either the first or second stop of the year, so everyone's energy is really high. You know, you're it's brand new back to back to tax season. Um, also the cost of the Airbnbs and the quality of them is super low for a very high quality of Airbnb. So you're staying in a really big, super nice new place. Um, and if you get a bunch of buddies, you're staying there for super cheap, too. So that is really cool. Uh and then just the venue, being right on a lake, having a bunch of different courses. The town is really neat of Broken Bow. I mean, there's restaurants, bars, petting zoos, like there's all sorts of different activities. You could uh casinos, all sorts of stuff you could do right in town. So to me, it just hits every everything I sort of look for while being probably one of the more inexpensive tack stops that you can go to.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Did you have a uh favorite course this year? Um, I know I think when I ran into you, you were going on your third or Fourth one of the day.

unknown 22:01

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

In Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

In Pennsylvania, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yeah, shoot Pennsylvania. So me and Joey shot seven courses out of nine. Um, so we all yeah, we almost shot everything. I would have loved to shoot everything. I didn't think it wasn't a goal initially, you know. And then towards the end of the trip, we're like, dude, we're gonna get freaking seven of these done. And had we have known, we would have just found a way to do two more and freaking, but it was the end of the time. So anyway, but of what we shot, I only shot a couple courses in Oklahoma. We did seven in um Penn. We did all five in Boyne, and then we did all five in uh Montana as well. So we've shot a lot. Um, my favorite honestly is probably um, I think Sitka or Montana knife in uh in Montana were pretty tough to beat. I think their views, the terrain, the shots, really, really good. Um felt like the whole thing was well thought out trail-wise, especially Montana Knives. That might be my favorite, but I mean, we shot a lot of good courses, you know, um, and and had a really good time. I mean, we still probably have I mean we probably have 15 more tack videos coming out from this year.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

Yeah, I bet.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yeah, and we and we've already put out like 10, you know what I mean? So we got a we got a lot more coming. In fact, I'm editing one today um that uh is from uh Montana, and I'm 23 minutes in, and I probably got another 20 minutes to go on her.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Yeah, but they're a lot of work, people don't realize how much effort going into us.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Yeah, oh dude, for sure, yeah. So and we film and shoot a lot too. Like, we're not shooting like five targets and filming a 20-minute video, like we're shooting the whole course, you know what I mean, and then cutting it down to a video. So this one's pretty cool. We're all wearing like frozen attire, so it's it's pretty fun. It's got like a theme to it, yeah. Yeah, I'm excited.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

That's awesome. Yeah, I've only been to the Pennsylvania one uh three times. So when you go when you've been to these other ones, is is Pennsylvania? I know Pennsylvania I think brings in the most people. Is the vendor village similar or does it shrink as you go, depending on the location?

SPEAKER_00 24:22

Pennsylvania is definitely the biggest vendor village and and and stuff of that. I've only been twice, and I know I met you guys last year when it was super muddy, yeah. Um, and then this year again. Uh yeah, as far as vendors and stuff, you're not gonna find something like Pennsylvania. I mean, it's crazy, like just the amount of people, the vendors. I love the foggy goggle. Like Pennsylvania is great stuff, it really is. I love the foggy goggle, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 24:47

It's such a great name for a bar.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

It really is. And uh yeah, I don't think we're actually gonna go to Penn next year. I think we're we've been twice, and I think we're gonna hit some other stops we haven't hit instead. But that one is definitely the Super Bowl. Like, I tell people all the time, if if if you if you haven't been to Pennsylvania, you should go at least once, even if like people and being around tons and tons of people is not your thing. It's like you should go one time just for the experience at least. Um, and then if you want stops that are a little more mellow, like I mean, dude, Montana, again, really good bar right there in the area, like sort of like the foggy goggle, but it's way more mellow, you know what I mean? Like, way less people, way less traffic. Um, you know, it's just different, it's a different vibe. Um, so yeah, I think people should should try different ones. Like, I always encourage people, like if you have one that's right down the road from your house and go every year, like I get that, but I think it's good to mix it up, you know. Like for you guys, you've done pen three times. I would say next year do a different one.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

You know, I think we're going to. We're gonna do a couple. I'm gonna do Michigan. I think Michigan will be the same distance and maybe Montana or something else. That'll be a bit of a hike, but yeah, I think it'll be worth it for sure.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

I loved Michigan. Like, I thought Boeing was great. So that was our first time at Boeing. That was the the one stop we did this year that we have not been to was Michigan. And I'm really glad we went. I thought it was a uh a very solid tack.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Nice. Uh so going back to the editing there, do you do all of that yourself or do you outsource it to anybody?

SPEAKER_00 26:22

I do all of the editing, yeah. So all the video editing. Brianna does all the photo editing, she does uh a lot of you know, or graphics, shirt graphics, website work, email campaigns, um, stuff like that. And then um, you know, my job is mostly like lining out conversations with sponsors, doing the videos, doing the meetings, doing the podcasts, you know, different stuff like that. So yeah, we have a really good uh balance between between the two of us. Um, and she also uh she works for a few other creators as well.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

Oh wow, that's great. Yeah, so when it comes to these having these meetings, obviously Bo Disciples is both of you. Is it are they always considering both of you when you're going into a deal, or is it are are people trying to pull you away from the duo, or how does that for the most part we always you don't have to tell me any of this stuff either, don't we? No, no, no, it's fine. Yeah, so I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

So for the most part, we we do stuff together, like as a as a pair, you know what I mean? And then my buddies too, like if my buddies need something, I'll I'll get it for them who are in a lot of the videos. But uh uh unless it's a brand like that doesn't make stuff for both of us, like for example, Badlands. I I have a deal with Badlands and they don't make women's gear, so right. Okay, if in that case, like she, you know, she's kind of looking around for a sponsor for uh a personal sponsor for her camo uh with a brand that makes women's gear, you know, and then she'll probably still wear Badlands backpacks or whatever. But uh yeah, sometimes it just doesn't work, you know. A company doesn't make the right type of gear for something, like for example, she hasn't been running Beast because she felt she was shooting too low a poundage to shoot an expandable, so she'd been shooting um Trifecta Fix Blades. But now that Beast came out with the Beast cut on contact, the Beast cock, she's going to uh try that in Hawaii um for the Axis deer. So and I think it'll do really well for her. But yeah, it it's always I would say about 80, 80 to 90 percent of the time, you know, the deals work for both of us, but then when they don't, we just get a little creative.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

Sure. Have you played with the new beasts brought it? The cut-on contact one yet?

SPEAKER_00 28:38

I have not shot one yet. We we have some um and we'll bring them to Hawaii, but I have not yet shot them. I I usually just shoot the uh standard aluminum two-inch, to be honest with you, is what I like. But in Hawaii, I'll probably shoot the uh 2.3 axis deer aren't that big, so I figure I'll run the 2.3 um aluminum.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Yeah, I had uh try I had Travis Sloan on here from South Africa. I think you went down to hunt with him just after that. How did you find the trip?

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Oh, I loved it. Yeah, I loved it. I really enjoyed hunting with Travis, and um he's a very good hunter and obviously a very good filmer. So um for me to lock in with him, I mean the two of us hunt, you know, at a at a relevant we we hunt well together, so it was a lot of fun to uh hunt with someone like that, for me at least.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

And uh just the target rich environment down there. How many how many animals did you get to uh get stalking on down there?

SPEAKER_00 29:42

Oh man, we did a lot of stocks, but I think I shot six. If I remember five or six, yeah, yeah, and it was bitching. I I had a great time, and um, I'm sure within the next couple of years we'll we'll get out there again and this time be able to bring Brianna along and and she'll she'll love it, she'll have an absolute ball, so we'll get a chance to do it again.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

Yeah, it's a great way to test out new broadheads, I guess, too.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

Some pretty some pretty cool shots on uh on the videos there.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

Just want to take a quick break to talk to you about a couple of things that I've been using that I think might benefit you. Uh, one is this Numa Outdoors gear. Uh, this is in their Kaza OV pattern, which is great whitetail pattern when you're up in a tree in the fall and late season. They also have a Kaza pattern which has more green in it, which is good for spring through to the fall. Numa has given me a code to give to you of Caribou Media 20, which will save you 20% at checkout. Another product here that I've been using for years now is the Bulldog Targets. This is a Canadian-made Target. They're made in Manitoba. They have a lifetime warranty. I've used that warranty twice now on a couple of my larger targets that are outside. It's very simple, very easy. Uh, these targets are two-finger removal every single time, which is incredible. Uh, field point only target. Bulldog's been gracious enough to give me a 20% discount code to give to you. At checkout, use code BD20, media. That'll save you 20% on these awesome targets. Now back to the show.

SPEAKER_02 31:24

Uh, what kind of hunts do you have planned for this year?

SPEAKER_00 31:28

You know, we don't have a ton uh left on the schedule. We have done some earlier this year, a couple turkeys, javelina, stuff like that. But um all we have left is a two two-week axis hunting trip in Hawaii that Brianna and I are both going on. So we can shoot a lot of deer on that. So we should get uh uh quite a bit of broadhead testing and fun, you know, hunting in. And then we have a deer hunt um the end of August into September for that's like a two, I think a two-week hunt. Um, so we got that as well. And that's honestly about it. Um, didn't draw any tags this year. I think we may add on a whitetail hunt, um, e maybe just for dough patrol or something like that in uh November as well. Um, so we'll have a handful of hunts um left, but um, we weren't super fortunate with drawing anything this year. So just kind of taking what we can get, you know.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

Oh, for sure. Yeah, yeah. Um I remember uh when I was actually attacked, oh boy was going around asking people about uh something that they felt they needed that they thought uh needs to change in the archery industry. Um and I said um uh they need to let some of these flagships breathe a little bit and stop replacing them every single year. Um what what what do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_00 32:52

I agree. I think that a one-year cycle is just a bit much, you know. I think it would be better to you know at least do a two-year cycle. But then from a brand perspective, I guess I understand it. Like Apple still puts out an iPhone every year, you know, and they don't need to, they could do every couple of years, but they know it'll sell a boatload of them, and then Samsung, same thing. But I think that technology, both in like I think smartphones actually a pretty good comparison, like a phone technology and a bow technology is to the point now where they're so good where you easily could spend two years on something, and it's not gonna be like the last version won't be also obsolete by any means by the time the next one comes out. So I I think it makes sense. Um, they do it with target bows somewhat. I mean, the bow tech uh reckoning gen 2. I think it's been out like at least three years, and the new bow, you know, it's not even out yet. It's close, it's gonna be out soon. But yeah, like that, that that I think is maybe a better cycle. Like if you make something really good, let it breathe a while and then make something else.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Yeah, I have a couple of friends that shoot that the reckoning gen 2, and they're like, Oh, I wonder if it's gonna be the Gen 3 or if they're gonna change the name altogether. I don't know, I don't know. You know, it would be nice if they kind of put out a hunting bow and then the next year maybe do a budget bow or or a target bow and then come back, you know. Yeah, that's yeah, something like that's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

Like you could do, you know, I didn't even think about that. You could do like a couple, like two hunting flagship versions, like maybe a short, a shorter ATA, a longer ATA, the next year do a budget bow, and then the next year do a target bow and then redo the cycle.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

Cycle back, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

That's not bad. I like that idea.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

You just gotta get them all on board.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

Good luck. Good luck, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Good luck. Um, has your uh going back to the your um bow disciples, is there has it evolved over the over the years? Has it changed has your vision of it changed to what you started out as or what you thought it was going to become?

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Oh, yeah, I mean a lot from the beginning. I mean, initially I thought we were just making videos to watch ourselves in the future and enjoy them in the future, and we do do that occasionally, like our old hunts and and old shoots and stuff. Um nice for nostalgia, reminiscing for for me and my friends and Brianna and my my dad, and um that's really cool aspect. And then eventually it sort of grew into like, you know, okay, maybe we could sell some merch or maybe make some ad revenue, and then um then it turned into like, oh, maybe we can get you know sponsorships and do an event, and you know, every year it's like always adding to what we got and and tweaking it. We've been working on another project for a long time, and um you know, we got we're always just trying to sort of expand now and grow, involve people. But as far as the videos themselves go, it's like they've gotten better. I mean, I think, but our videos haven't really changed a whole lot. If you go watch our videos from attack five years ago, they're not gonna look all that much different than the ones now, other than the fact we're five years older. But like, you know what I mean? Like the the concept, they're all just pretty raw, pretty fun. And uh yeah, I mean, like I said, the only difference now is that I think people embrace, I think it's like the cool thing to do to have fun and be a little wild now. Whereas that wasn't the case five years ago. We're we people didn't really like it, you know. But but as far as like moving into the future, I mean, I always kind of have a different plan for each year for content, right? Like 2025, the goal was to well, actually, no, I'm sorry, I guess it would be 2026. The goal was to do the competition stuff, you know, national level contests and film it. Um, that was like the main focus. And then, of course, we film when we do two videos a week, right? In short form every day. So like we have a ton of stuff, but like threaded through all that, a consistent theme was these national competitions, right? And next year, probably do another year like that, you know, another year doubling down on competitions. And then, you know, after that, who knows, we may do a very, you know, go do a year of high budget hunting films or something. Um, and so we'll see. I always kind of have a different little plan each each each year, but um this year and next year will probably be um threaded pretty heavy through the target stuff.

SPEAKER_02 37:33

So doing uh two videos a week and then daily short stuff. Yeah. How do you manage that? Like are you always a couple weeks ahead of schedule or what's your or is it I mean everybody's different, but uh how do you keep uh do you keep like a backlog and then just slowly let things fall where they they may, or do you are you finding yourself having closer windows to we just finished this, we have to get this out, kind of thing?

SPEAKER_00 38:05

So I like to have a back catalog of videos that are scheduled or unlisted, ideally, but for example, when we were in um uh Montana, right? Somehow I went out there with only one video scheduled. It was scheduled for Wednesday. Um so we upload Wednesdays and Sundays, we do Sundays year-round, and we do Wednesdays and Wednesdays most year when we have plenty of content. So this year we've done twice a week since uh February. And just coming out there, the Wednesday upload came out, and we have nothing for Sunday. And for me, it's more personal accountability. Like, I don't I don't think I'm special and like people care if we miss an upload, but I care it's for personal accountability, right? And I'm like, well, we don't have anything uploaded for Sunday while we're out there. So um we went and filmed like a little segment at Botec and a segment at Bushnell, two of the companies we work with about a couple of the new products. And in bed that night after we got home from the after party, I friggin' you know, put my headphones on, bang the video out, and uploaded it at like midnight, and then got up at uh five the next day to shoot. You know what I mean? And but the video came out. Um, so this Wednesday we missed, right? But I'm okay with missing a Wednesday because I don't have anything. So I'm editing right now. This video will come out Sunday, and I'm gonna do a video every single day we're home for 10, uh, 12 days. I'm gonna attempt to do a video every single day we're home and get them um uploaded and scheduled so that way for the next month and a half we'll have content. And then to your point, if we film something that's a little more time specific, like if we film um, you know, I don't know, an arrow review or uh something from the hunt, I'll just simply bump it forward in the schedule and bump stuff like a tack video that doesn't need to come out at any specific time. I'll just bump those back in the line. So usually usually I have a handful of videos uploaded and ready to go. Um, but times sometimes it's just like we're traveling so much or whatever, I don't have a ton, and then you got to make it work. So um, but for me, missing a Sunday upload is just not ever an option. So it's like, I don't care, we gotta make something, something happen. And um, and then yeah, we'll go right back to Wednesday, Sunday uploads for probably the rest of the year. Um, and this year we'll put out over a hundred full-length um videos on the channel and probably 400 shorts. It's a lot of work, yeah. Yeah, a lot of clicking. Yeah, I enjoy it though. You know, I mean I do too.

SPEAKER_02 40:50

Yeah, I do too.

SPEAKER_00 40:50

It's uh I love making stuff, and uh you know, I always say too, it's it's I don't I didn't get it from myself. I heard someone else say it. I'm trying to see how many videos we have so I can give you the right number. Let's see here. Um hundred and six eight shorts so far this year, and 50 video uploads, and then 56 posts on the post tab. That's only on YouTube and all those shorts, so 168 shorts we post across um Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube as well. So a lot of output.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Yeah, but um what I was saying is a lot of YouTube brands, uh whether it's in our space or others, they'll get like start small and they bang out a bunch of content, and that's what builds their brand to the point where they're making money on business stuff and sponsors or whatever. And then what happens is they'll start doing less and less content because they're spending more time paying attention to this stuff over here. But they the only set reason they have the stuff over here is because of the content. So for me, it is always super important um to make content my number one priority. Pumping out content is number one because all this other stuff that I have that we're super blessed to have that you know, Brianna and I have worked our way up to, we don't have any of that if the content is not there. So, if anything, we actually have gone harder on the content since we've gotten bigger and have more time to put into it. Um, whenever people ask who don't know like what I do for work, I always say I'm a YouTuber. I don't say that I have sponsorships or have a website or do an event or anything. I say I'm a YouTuber because to me, that is first and foremost is the content.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

Yeah, that's remembering your roots. That's good. Yeah, yeah, that's it's uh it's very true. You know, you didn't get there without that, and that's what's gonna keep you going and get you in front of more eyeballs, right?

SPEAKER_00 42:56

So that's it, yeah. That's it. We just hit a hundred million views on the YouTube a couple days ago.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

So yeah, I saw that. It was like, yeah, I had to look at the number a couple times.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Yeah, it's it's unbelievable. It's yeah, it's it's pretty unbelievable. So I mean, you know, that that thank you, yeah. And that's only on YouTube, you know, and not including the podcast or you know, our other platforms. So um, but yeah, content I think is you you gotta um you gotta prioritize it because without the content, you're not gonna have any sponsors and you're not gonna have anyone show up to your event, and you're not gonna have anyone buy your merch, you know what I mean? Yeah, so to build the community, the content's gotta be first. So um, regardless of how busy we get or how much we got going on, there's gonna be stuff coming out on the channels, you know.

SPEAKER_02 43:47

How do you avoid burnout? Like, are you setting a schedule for yourself? And like by this time of the day, I'm gonna I mean, about aside from what you mentioned before and you know, editing till midnight and putting something out, I've been there a day.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

No, but yeah, I used to do that a lot more when I was a young buck, but no.

SPEAKER_02 44:04

Try to set a try to set a schedule or uh no, not really.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

I mean, but my schedule is pretty cons like um set, especially when we're home. Like it's not super like the weekends might be a little different, but like for example, most days we're literally probably in bed by like 8 30 p.m., like pretty early. And then I always wake up at about 6 45. Brianna sleeps a little longer, so I'll come in here, edit till she gets up and gets turned, then we'll go hit the gym, come back from the gym, um, maybe walk the dog, and then get back on whatever edit I was working on. She starts working on her stuff, and then I mean, to be honest with you, when I when we're home, a lot of times I'm done with stuff by like I'm much better and much more productive in the morning. So like I tend to get kind of bogged down a little tired by like 12 or 1. Um, so I try to get most of my tasks that like really need to get done, um, done by like noon or one. And then the remainder of the day I'll just do, you know, whatever, whatever else, like some more editing or some arrow building or shipping, like we're shipping every day. Um, so schedule's pretty rigid, but I don't have anything like set in stone. But usually I'm like full steam from about 6:30 to about one, and then the rest of the day is you know, a little bit more go with the flow. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:35

What's uh one of the biggest lessons you've learned with this entrepreneurship taking it on full time?

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Oh, that's a good question. So I've actually been an entrepreneur now. Someone asked me that question the other day since uh full time. I have I've only done entrepreneurship since um uh 2015. So since over 10 years, that's 11 years, and then prior to that, I was um self-employed from 2010 to 2013. So I only really was an employee for like 2013, 14, and then 15 portions of. So I've spent way more of my life being an entrepreneur than not, but I would say the main thing that I have learned is that persistence will go take you a lot further than anything else. You know, um, the only reason we have what we have is because we just our output laps pretty much everybody else. Um, the output's crazy high and we never stop. Do you know what I mean? It doesn't matter if we're tired or what a sick or whatever it's like. We never stop and just always keep going and always getting better, and and um that's it. So I think persistence really is the biggest number one key uh to any sort of business growth because obviously talent can take you somewhere, looks can take you somewhere, social skills can take you somewhere. But if you have the most talent and the best looks and and you know, the best social skills, but you have zero persistence and work ethic, it's not gonna make a difference. So all that stuff is just a bonus, and then the persistence is gonna be what takes you to the moon, and anyone can have persistence. So that's what really levels the playing field in life, you know. Um, whether you're a baseball player or a fireman or a cop or whatever, the people that are most persistent and just go to the post always, regardless of their circumstance, tend to be the ones that uh go the furthest.

SPEAKER_02 47:40

Yep. That's 100% true. I agree. Yeah, yeah, that's very well put. Um do you have a hunting story you can share with us? Ooh. Well, I'm sure you do, but I got a bunch.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

I got a bunch. Trying to think of one. Okay, yeah, I got a good one. I don't think I told this one. I don't think I told this one, so I'll try to give you a fresh one.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

All right.

SPEAKER_00 48:04

So there's this is from this year, too, January. So um there's this animal out in uh South America, Mexico, uh maybe some of Texas, Arizona, maybe New Mexico, but lives in, you know, down in that sun belt, only a couple states, and then South America, Mexico. It's called a Quatamonde, right? A quadi, and it looks a bit like a monkey, right? It looks like a cross between a monkey and a raccoon. And they're very, very rare to see um where I hunt in Arizona, and really in the whole state. There's not too many spots you'll see them. Um, but you can shoot one a year. In my time, I've hunted in Arizona for uh about 28 years, and I've seen the one, I have seen them up to this point. I had seen them twice. So I seen a group about a mile and a half away through the glasses on top of this ridge. I didn't even know what they were at first. I just saw these big tails in the grass, like it looked like a bunch of serpents. It was so far, I finally I had never seen one, I figured out what it was. It was a Quatemande, and that was all their tails. They have huge tails that they actually use to wrap around trees and things like that. Then another time, um, I'm it might have even been the same trip, I can't, or very close to it is a very similar spot. I um was talking in on this javelina, ended up being the biggest one I ever shot. He was a huge solo bore. Um, but on the way to him, to my left, within shooting distance was a Quatemonde, you know, and I was like, holy cow, but uh so hard to get to see this javelina. It was a tough year for Avalina. I just turned and went and stuck in, shot the Havelina. And I didn't know at the time you could shoot one, I figured they were endangered or something. So he runs off. I never saw him again. Or I don't know, maybe he ran off. I just never saw him again because I went after the javelina. And then uh after that, my buddy was like, Why didn't you shoot the Quadi? Like, you know, that's way crazier than the Havelina. And I was like, I didn't know you could, you know, I had no idea. And sure enough, I look it up in the regs and you shoot one a year. It's very strict, one a year though. So this year um we get into some javelina, and I'm filming my dad. And I'm trying to think, I must have I think I must have shot one. I must have had already shot one, I think. Uh Havelina, because I think I was just filming for my dad, but I have my bow in case we saw a deer, and Brianna had hers. So we stalk in and these javelina, and my dad um gets a couple shots at one, it runs off, doesn't really hit it. Uh and then it might have grazed like some hair or something, but doesn't hit it. It runs off, and we kind of go track it to make sure and it's real thick, and we're tracking them, and we get back up to the top of this huge ridge that we were on, and we're like, okay, well, he's good to go. Like, we didn't hit him. And I'm we're up there and we spot another javelina down in the bottom, and we're like, you know, hey, maybe we'll go down there. There was two of them, so we're tracking them with the minos, and they kind of go in this real thick stuff, and we're like, I'm pretty sure he's right. They went in those bushes. So maybe we'll go down there and put in a stalk. And Brianna had seen one, she stayed on the ridge the whole time. She had seen a big javelina, and I caught the tail end of it, go across this other hill out in front of us, and he went up into this um this juniper tree. So we're like, okay, we could either go after that one in that juniper tree, which is a much bigger hike, or we could go try to get these ones down in the thick. And we're talking about it, kind of figuring out what we want to do. It's hot. They're clearly bedded, so we're like trying to figure out what to do. As we're thinking this, I see something out the left of my eye where that other javelina had gone into the juniper tree. And I look and I'm figuring it's that other javelina coming back. But lo and behold, it's a god dang Quatemonde, right? And I'm like, holy cow, there's a Quatemonde, you know, and he's coming down. I haven't seen one in probably six years, eight years at this point. You know, probably I think the last one I saw was 2018. It's it was 2026. So it'd been eight years since I seen one. He's coming down the hill, and I'm like, dude, now I know you can shoot one, right? But it's pretty wide open. The wind is good, and I don't know how hard they are to stalk. Like, I have no idea, you know. So they're like, oh, dude, you should go shoot it. I'm like, I'll try, you know. So I bomb off the side of the hill, like over the backside. So he's coming on. There's like a we're up here, there's a huge ravine, and he's up here on this other hill. So I'm like, I'll bomb down this way so he can't see me. I'm covered by the hill, and then I'll come around and try to get, I'll see if we can both funnel into this drainage at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 52:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 52:51

So I bomb down and I get like around the hill, and um I can see him eventually. I pick him up, and he's coming down the hill, and I'm like, oh, this should work pretty good. But they're they're not big, you know. I mean, like the vitals on them are like probably like this new brand new bow. Like, I have no time behind this alliance at all. So I'm like, I really don't want to shoot far if I can avoid it, but I'm gonna try if that's all we get, right? So I'm like ranging them, and he's like 60. I'm like, okay, I mean, move the site to 60. I'm like, I'll do it if I have to. So I'm waiting for him to get in a window, and he's just kind of like meandering around, like poking around on the ground. And as soon as he would like go behind a cactus or a bush, I would stalk in more and um stalking in, stalking in, and now I'm at like 40 or maybe 45. So move the site to 45. Same thing. I think I even drew on him and he went behind a bush, like and he's just kept going behind bushes. So every time he do that, I'd get closer. And now I'm like right on the edge of the steep part to go into the ditch. And I mean it's really steep and probably like 20 feet deep at least. And he's on the other side. So I'm like, I think I have him at 33-ish. And I draw back on him again, and um he goes behind like some bushes. So I'm like, okay, I'll just hold this draw, and it looks like he's gonna pop back out. So he pops out broadside, and I like, I don't know how to stop one of these things, you know. Like I've never been. So I'm like, I'm like, I think I whistled at him and he just didn't even react at all. He just like kept moving. And then uh he went behind a bush. So I let down. I can see he's gonna go like through the ditch to my side. So I'm like ranging the top of the ditch straight uphill from me, and I range it, and I think it was still 33. So drew back again. He steps out full broadside. I I think I whistled at him again. No stop. He just keeps trucking. And I now I need to stop him because he's about to be on like my side and I won't be able to see him. So I hit him with a little varmit squeal, and right then he just like perked up and looked at me. And I mean, dude, I freaking smoked him, pinwheel them like perfect 12. And he runs up the hill and goes down. And I was like, Holy shit, I actually got one. Like it's so crazy. I walk up there and I've never seen one on the ground, you know. And it was a big, big, dark-colored male, big old like bare paws, huge tusks, like they just look crazy. And what's wild is I hit him, you know, his whole torso is about that big, top to bottom. Um, and I hit him with a beast 2.3 inch, and it hit him like pretty vertical. And I mean, dude, I put a giant hole through him, it's like this big, and I don't really mount a ton of stuff. I think I have like I don't know, like seven shoulder mounts uh and a bunch of Europeans. But I was like, I'm gonna I'm I'm full body mounting them right now, so I'm like, hopefully they got good stitching. Luckily, they have long hair. So so uh I shipped it off to a guy in Utah, and um yeah, we're gonna get them mounted. Super excited. We're gonna put them here in the podcast studio. It'll look pretty bitching. So I don't know when I'll get them back, but uh it'll look cool. I mean, you shoot an animal like that, especially a big, nice male, like that's a probably a once-in-a-lifetime animal, so it was pretty neat.

SPEAKER_02 56:20

Yeah, I was gonna say you might never see another one. Yeah, yeah, literally.

SPEAKER_00 56:24

Yeah, exactly. And you know, they come in all different sizes and colors, too. So the one I got, like I said, he was he was by himself, which is pretty rare. Usually they're in big groups. So the fact he was by himself, and then you know, I I don't know a ton about them, but like I'm almost positive it was like a I know it was a male, and I'm pretty sure it was like an older mature one. So I can't wait to get them back.

SPEAKER_02 56:47

That's awesome. Yeah, that's quite the story. Um, do you do a lot of tree stand hunting, or is it mainly spot and suck?

SPEAKER_00 56:55

Yeah, I I have, yeah. I've hunted tree stands a lot. Um I've actually shot five bull elk out of tree stands. Um, I think that's a very underrated way to hunt them, especially in high pressure areas. Um, and then of course I've shot mule deer, whitetails, you know, out of tree stands.

SPEAKER_02 57:14

Okay, so this question will apply. Uh, I've been asking a few people because there is a division here. Um when you're in the tree stand, do you take off your quiver?

SPEAKER_00 57:26

I never do. No, I I always just leave it on. All right.

SPEAKER_02 57:30

Team quiver. That's good. Yeah, that's me too.

SPEAKER_00 57:32

Oh, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 57:33

There's so many people that that say that they take it off, they hang it, they put it in a backpack, they do this, they do that. Why would you do that? It's already exactly where you need it to be.

SPEAKER_00 57:43

Yeah. And I mean now all tax and local shoots, like I always shoot with a quiver on, anyways. Like, I think that reloading quickly is actually a very, very good hunting skill to have. So yeah, um, for me in a tree stand, like if I shoot something and it runs off and I have a chance to shoot it again, even if I pipe it, I'm gonna shoot it again. So I always reload immediately and am ready to go. And if your quiver is off your bow, your reload time is gonna be at least five seconds, ten seconds more, and I don't want that.

SPEAKER_02 58:12

There you go. I agree. Yeah, awesome. That's great. Thank you very much for coming on today. I appreciate it. Um, if there are people listening to this that don't know who you are, can you let them know how to find you guys?

SPEAKER_00 58:27

Yeah, for sure. Um, we're bow disciples on everything, doesn't matter what your platform is, Bo Disciples on there, and then bowdisciples.com. And yeah, that's it. Hopefully, we'll see you guys at a tournament or at a TAC or maybe even out on a hunt this year. But uh appreciate you having me on, and it was uh a great time.

SPEAKER_02 58:45

Awesome. Thanks. All right, we'll talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_00 58:48

Appreciate you.