Early Season Success: Take The Path Less Traveled

What does it take to find consistent success in the challenging deer hunting environment of Eastern North Carolina? Brian reveals how a $1,000 investment in a jon boat completely transformed his hunting strategy and led to early-season success this year.

Accessing areas where other hunters can't or won't go often makes the difference between seeing deer and seeing trophy deer. Brian walks us through his entire journey — from rebuilding a jon boat to navigating swampy terrain to ultimately harvesting a beautiful 9-point buck he nicknamed "Cheeto" because of its uniquely shaped tine. His story culminates in an unexpected encounter with a wedding party while retrieving his deer by boat, creating a memory that will last a lifetime.

The conversation dives deep into practical hunting tactics tailored for early-season conditions. Both hunters share their observations about deer movement patterns in warm weather, explaining why they focus exclusively on evening hunts when temperatures remain high. They discuss the critical importance of wind direction, trail camera placement, and hunting travel corridors versus food sources depending on the time of season.

Technical details abound for serious bowhunters, from saddle hunting benefits to shot execution strategies that help manage adrenaline during critical moments. Brian explains his patient tracking approach, waiting a full 45 minutes after the shot before beginning to follow the blood trail — a discipline learned from past mistakes. The episode wraps with reflections on what makes Eastern North Carolina deer hunting uniquely challenging and rewarding, emphasizing that success here requires more than luck — it demands preparation, adaptability, and a willingness to go where others won't.

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Transcript

Early Season Success

Speaker 1 0:01

All right, we are live back in the game. It's been a little while. What better time than now to get on and do another episode? This is episode 12 with Brian. You've been on here before, love it yeah, me too, so this is a good one. Uh, the season has kicked off. We're like two or three weeks into the season, middle of September, and you've had success right out of the gate.

Speaker 2 0:24

Yes, pretty fortunate. I will call it that.

Speaker 1 0:27

You've nailed it. You had a really, really good buck this year, especially eastern North Carolina. We know hunting's tough. You knocked one down two weeks into the season, right.

Speaker 2 0:38

Yeah, it was two weeks to the day.

Speaker 1 0:40

You FaceTimed me. Unfortunately, I did not answer. It's par for the course that's two years in a row.

Speaker 1 0:45

I did not answer, but I had a very good reason, because I was also in the woods. Early season success, early season success got us both. But so let's talk about it. Man, and that's kind of what we're going to go through in this episode is um, you know how, how did you capitalize what made you successful this year and what was the preparation that went into it? So we'll lead off by you know kind of what were the biggest factors this season that led to your success this year over last year?

Speaker 2 1:14

So huge one is I invested in myself and I bought a John boat. If you guys watch any of my Instagram, you know this thing was like a labor of love. I've hated it and loved it. I bought this thing was like a labor of love. I've hated it and loved it. I bought this thing for a thousand bucks. I had to redo the trailer, redo the whole bottom, redo the whole back end of this thing. I slapped a motor on it and I'm getting into spots now where nobody can get. You know, because on a cherry point they they fenced off a lot of areas. So this is a huge factor. So just scooting that boat around in the little creeks and swamps and I can get to where literally you can't take a vehicle back there. And if you hike back there, you're hiking, for I mean you're hauling it's, you know, two, three miles back.

Speaker 1 1:52

So what time? So before, before we get into that. So, like some of these areas, so you put a lot of effort into this boat, so you have, you know you're accessing by water, so that really eliminates a lot of individuals, one who don't want to put in the time to that don't have the ability to get in by boat or kayak or whatever. Um, so what made you kind of key in to the places that you keyed into?

Speaker 2 2:14

So a lot of it was historical. Okay, so I was able to drive my truck in. You know, two and a half years ago I was able to drive my truck back there, uh, and there was a cut field that was prepared by the game wardens on the base. Obviously, that has been neglected for two years now, but I knew, and that's then. I found a 10 point shed back there. Also, when I was going back post-season to go pull all my cameras, it literally almost impaled me. I was, and I was like I mean, it was huge, five by and it's holding the, it's the door handle on my bow closet now. So, yeah, it's. I was like, well, this is, I know, this is good. Uh, this is a good area that was signed everywhere, but last year it was closed off completely, especially to me. I didn't have a boat. And then I was like you know what, let's time to invest in myself and it's something I'm going to use all the time. You know, fishing, hunting out of it, everything like that. So just go ahead and do it.

Speaker 1 3:04

So that's I mean. So then there's pretty much no one else hunting back. It's uncharted, I mean untouched at this point. So there's no pressure back there. Early season. And two, with you guys. Are you guys, can you, are you? Is anybody using the cameras there, or do they know?

Speaker 2 3:20

Yeah, we can use cameras still.

Speaker 1 3:21

So you guys can use cameras? Yep, okay, so it's just with you and you can't use cameras.

Speaker 2 3:24

Yeah, so they got in kind of a pinch. From what I've been told is somebody had to truck him out early and they took a picture of some piece of gear that they weren't supposed to take a picture of and posted it. So game wardens were like guess what? No more, if we find him, we're going to take him.

Speaker 1 3:40

But you guys can use it over in Cherry Points. Yeah, okay, cool. So do you still have cameras that you're running out there? Oh yeah, yeah, okay. What cameras are you running?

Speaker 2 3:47

So I've got a ton of them. I've got two Bushnells that have the solar panel on the top, I've got two Moultrie Edges that are cellular and then two Muddy Manifest 2.0s that are cellular.

Speaker 2 4:01

They all have their pros and cons I think we talked about a little bit before um, it's just it signals tough to come by out there period for any of them, um, but the bushnells seem to have the hardest time picking up any signal, so I got to put those in my rural areas, as I call them, uh, and then just kind of move things around from there so you're running cameras all season uh, no, so you can't on cherry point, you have to have them. You can only put them out a month before the archery opener.

Speaker 1 4:29

Oh, and then they've got to be pulled.

Speaker 2 4:30

Oh, so you can you can leave them all season, but before that you have no historical. So you can't pattern anything.

Speaker 1 4:38

Okay, that makes sense. So this particular deer were you tracking on this deer?

Speaker 2 4:43

I saw him the night before on my trail camera. Oh, you went out the next morning and so it was kind of it all just kind of worked out. I saw him and I was like, oh my god, this is, he's a monster. He showed up with another one who kind of came from the other direction, um, where I put in this boat spot, and I was like, okay, this is perfect. So I get up. It was sunday morning, I think it was sunday, right, it was saturday. It was saturday. So I get up. Saturday pouring rain. It's just nasty monsoon out. So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting, looking at the weather, because they've been wrong for a long time now here where we are right so you can't base.

Speaker 2 5:20

so I'm looking the radar, I'm doing all my and I was like you know what? I looked at my. She was going over new countertop stuff which is. I was like you're just annoying me, I'm going to leave. So I was like I'd rather just get wet and get in the woods. So I was like I got soaked just launching the boat getting out and I was like, well, this is all going to pay off and B I'm going to get in super quiet. So I went I was probably 25 yards from my camera and set up and the rest is history.

Speaker 1 5:50

How far off. Whenever you're um, you land and you're getting off the boat. How far did you walk in?

Speaker 2 5:57

Um, probably 200 yards. Okay, so you're still a little ways. Yeah Well, so I kind of I snuck the boat in. I mean, I was using a push pole at the very last bit of it to get as close as I could, Cause I then I was still climbing up the bank, you know, to get to somewhat of an opening slash trail, and then it was the old road that went back there before you could access it.

Speaker 2 6:20

So yeah, it was, it was, it was pretty exciting. So yeah, it was, uh, it was, it was pretty exciting.

Speaker 1 6:24

So, yeah, that's so. You're way off the beaten path, way off.

Speaker 2 6:27

Yeah, so I took, I climbed up the bank, I took a little bit of the access road for, I think, the first 40 yards and then I'm just cooking and I just play the wind. Keep it in my face the whole time. It was a little tough cause it was pouring and then if you hit a branch or anything, all of the leaves that are holding that water it's just going to drain that on you.

Speaker 1 6:45

So what time of day did you get in?

Speaker 2 6:55

I actually got. I left the house at like one, 32, something like that, and then I got into the stand. No, I take that back Cause I did the boat. I got into the stand, set done at three, 30. So you were set up by three 30.

Speaker 1 7:04

Yeah, I got in, so that's about the same time. I got in was right around three, 30, four o'clock that day as well. Um, so are you with, with it being early season right now, are you hunting mornings and evenings?

Speaker 2 7:14

I just do evenings now just because it's so hot and all of the the data that I am able to collect on my trail cameras, they're moving um super early evening into late. Yeah, so there, nothing's moving in the morning it's just been. It's just so hot. That's kind of what I've noticed too.

Speaker 1 7:31

Um, are you so? Whenever you shot him, were you in the woods. Are you hunting a field edge? You said there was a cut open a field that was out there. Were you?

Speaker 2 7:38

hunting the edge. Nope, I was in the woods, I mean, I was in the thick of it so did you know where where their bedding was in relation to where you were?

Speaker 1 7:46

like, how did you pinpoint that exact, exactly versus? You know, just like I'm just gonna go hang up in this tree so I know that there's there's bedding on the far side of that okay and then they were using that access road.

Speaker 2 7:59

Once they cut through, they were using that. There was a couple beat down paths, um, and then I just saw a good rub line and you set up right on the line yep, I knew my camera was 25, 30 yards back over this way. Some that had caught him on it.

Speaker 1 8:14

So I was playing in between that access road and my camera okay, so wish I could have a tv to put this up and like, look, do a map and stuff to visualize it. But so whenever you're walking in, you I'm assuming you're walking into a headwind, because so that day we had like a north, northeast wind yep, um, you walked in based off that wind and where you set your stand up and your access there, I'm assuming he would have never crossed your ground. Scent.

Speaker 2 8:43

He actually did. He did. He came in at so say I came in, it was a North Northwest wind coming this way, so I came in this way. He came straight this way.

Speaker 1 8:53

So he was cutting the wind, because cutting right across the wind that's exactly what they were doing with. Where I was at as well, we talked about this with Ruben and you know kind of watching them and and Levi too, and access and wind is the most crucial aspects of if you're going to be successful, um, and you have to be, uh, very aware of the environment that you're going into, because just because it says it's a North wind doesn't mean it's going to be a North wind in that area, based off terrain and so a lot of times it'll change here.

Speaker 2 9:20

It'll swirl, it'll move, it'll do it. It's just it's weird it is.

Speaker 1 9:25

Um, and I noticed too. That week too, the weather was a little bit cooler. Yes, so did you notice more movement like then, versus what you're getting now?

Speaker 2 9:34

a lot more a lot more so I had a doe cruise in 30 minutes before he did, you know, and she was I. She came within 12 yards. I mean I'm just right underneath me, basically, and I looked at her and I was like man, you know, I shot the first. She came within 12 yards. I mean, I'm just right underneath me, basically, and I looked at her and I was like man, you know, I shot the first doe last week.

Speaker 1 9:49

I shot her early, yeah, I mean I was in.

Speaker 2 9:51

I was in the tree by 1 30 because it was cooler that day, shot her at 3 30. I was home by five, wow. So I was like, well, I know they're moving, so I'm just gonna. I've already got a doe freezers stock back, let me just wait and see what else shows up. And then he just rolled in. What time did he come in? I shot him at five 40 and I watched him for about 30 minutes before that.

Speaker 1 10:13

Okay, um, wow, so you shot five o'clock yeah, Wow, Okay.

Speaker 2 10:20

Well, it was when he showed up. He should have five o'clock ten. I shot him at five. I pulled trigger or hit the button at 5 40 did you so?

Speaker 1 10:26

you said he crossed your ground scent. It did not trip him up he.

Speaker 2 10:29

No, he came in um, crossed my ground, scent, hit a tree that he, like he, was rubbing on, he was rubbing. I've never seen a deer rub this aggressive. He was smashing his nose into the ground, rubbing that tree so hard.

Speaker 1 10:43

Had a sinus infection from our crappy weather. See, I don't know what it was, man he was he was hitting hard, was he?

Speaker 2 10:50

yeah, and then, because I thought he was gonna literally come right in front of me and he didn't, he kind of doubled back. I don't know, maybe he could have caught my scent. He doubled back and came to my weak side, as I'm sitting in my saddle so are you wearing when you're walking in?

Speaker 1 11:03

are you wearing rubber boots? Yep, always, you're always in rubber boots. Probably smart, smarter than me.

Speaker 2 11:08

Well, snake boots, I don't mess around with snakes. We've been down this route.

Speaker 1 11:13

Are you using any scent cover that you rub on the bottom of your boots or anything like any kind of cover?

Speaker 2 11:19

scent Nope it's because I'm in and out of the boat. Yeah.

Speaker 1 11:22

It doesn't matter.

Speaker 2 11:22

I'm crawling up the swamp ledge, I mean because once I get the boat to the, I basically just run it aground as hard as I can, yeah, and then I'm in the mud, yeah. So just, I think that's enough. If there's anything on me, it's getting off in that mud, right.

Speaker 1 11:37

Yeah, so you got in, you got set up, you shot him at 540. And you're hunting out of a saddle. Yep, so did that hunting out of that saddle make it a little bit easier for you as far as taking that weak shot?

The Game-Changing Jon Boat

Speaker 2 11:53

That's the only way I could have made that shot the way it. If I was in a, if I was in a traditional hang on or even a climber, you know, facing the direction I was, in the wind, there's no way I could have made an offside, you know, to my right shot. Right Cause I mean he was probably. If you're looking at a clock of dial, he was at four, 35 o'clock. So I mean I was, I was cranked all the way over, kneeled down, had my knees smashed against the tree for that third point of balance and I just let her rip, man Wow man.

Speaker 1 12:20

So everything kind of worked out perfect then. For that I mean as far as one time a day, it was great. So you got it done early uh to. You had a good wind, your access, Um, you said you walked about 200 yards into the woods, uh, and then, obviously, getting to that point, you took a boat in. So I think that makes the one of the biggest things like we always talk about how hard it is to hunt Eastern North Carolina, and because of the pressure right, and because of the dogs that are run, so the deer seemed to, which is you know, three, three, 65 dogs are run year round. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 12:50

They do trials, trials, training, all the different stuff they've got, so these deer are always on high alert. Um, so one of the things we noticed with the guys that are ultimately successful and successful on good deer is they're off the beaten path and that requires a lot of effort on their end and your end in order to get there and figure out how to get there, cause you can't just walk deep in the woods and expect to kill a deer, cause that ain't going to work.

Speaker 1 13:13

Well you know, maybe, but not as likely. But I mean the strategy that goes in behind it and getting where you need to get without disrupting the natural way things work in the woods, right, yeah, so Joe Long.

Speaker 2 13:29

Joe Long is dude, he is a phenomenal source of information.

Speaker 1 13:32

Joe Long is the man I mean. There is not, um, I think, a more well-versed individual that we have access to.

Speaker 2 13:41

Yeah, well, when he said we were all together and he said you're never going to be the deer's nose. Make sure, no matter what you do, always have that wind 100% in your face. And I would skirt the wind a little bit in years past and call it luck, I guess, because I've been pretty successful, I guess. But then I was like man, keep the wind in my face, I've got the boat, I can get in anywhere, so let's make sure I keep it in my face. Boom, and then it just. I mean, even though that deer crossed my scent, it still worked out in my favor. So I mean that just resonated with me.

Speaker 2 14:15

Just okay, I can put the boat anywhere. I'm just going to literally, like I said, run it as shore right and then park it. Hopefully the tide doesn't come in and take it away it. Well, it's where I'm at, it's just the wind. Okay, like last night when I came out I was, I cut through the creeks and everything. The dock that I put in it was underwater because the wind had picked up so high. Yeah, wow.

Speaker 1 14:36

So you know, are you, I mean, is your primary source for getting the woods out of that boat?

Speaker 2 14:44

it is it's a game changer, is it?

Speaker 1 14:47

really yeah it is.

Speaker 2 14:50

It's kind of a pain, right, you know, and initially so the day I shot that buck, I call him cheeto because I got him. He's got like a cheeto, looking one of his antlers and where his tines are I was like screw it, I'm leaving'm leaving.

Speaker 2 15:03

It's raining, loaded the boat, got everything. Got in the truck, like got. Went back in the garage, change into my camouflage so they don't have any scent on me. Got in the truck, had to go back home Cause I forgot my gas can, cause I take the gas can out of the boat, so I'm like dang it. So now it's like ruining everything. Right, I get to the ramp and it's been storming so the water's so high. Right, I could have literally backed up to the ledge, not even the ramp, and put my boat in the water. Really, yeah.

Speaker 2 15:33

And it was windy and I was like, all right, let's get out there, let's just get it set up. Is it sketchy in that little thing? Depends. If there's two people and, like the guy in the front is is moving a lot, then yes, because then I have to counterbalance it because I mean it's only, it's a 14, 48, so it's only 48 inches wide at the top. Wow, yeah, but if there's so I decked out the front to keep the weight because I got 12 horse on the back because I like to go fast. Well before I had it all weighted out I almost flooded it because when I hit the gas it stood up so high water was coming over the back. So I have to wait it out and balance it. Oh wow. But once I put the battery in there, all the lights and I put the deck storage in the front and all that, it kind of it makes it a lot better yeah, I mean you did a good job.

Speaker 1 16:20

I mean I followed the entire like documentary on this thing, you know.

Speaker 2 16:24

I mean two two guys and a deer in that thing is is a little sketchy when you get into the openish water of the river. So sunday I took my buddy out and he killed on sunday, the day after opening day and we had the boat because I put him in a great spot that no one else can get to, on a field edge, killed that day.

Speaker 1 16:45

I mean it was still sunlight out, so are you using any mapping tools to prior to like? Whenever you're looking at, you're like okay, these are potential points of interest. Are you mapping them out prior to that? Or are you like I just have old intel that I'm utilizing and I'm just going off that from previous hunts?

Speaker 2 17:05

no, I do. Uh, onyx okay and google maps a ton, do you? Because, onyx, the weather for me has not been updated correctly for some reason, so I'll have to use the weather app to look for the you know wind and then I move my onyx around to make sure it's pointed the right direction, and then I use google maps because you know, things change, right, you know, especially sandbars around here. Um, with the boat.

Speaker 1 17:27

Oh, I see, I didn't even think about that, the the water portion of getting there. So my good buddy, justin Morris um, you know, justin, he's he's does a lot of fishing, right, and I'm not. I'm not a fisherman, but we're going, we, we went out on his boat a couple times and I'll never own a boat ever.

Speaker 2 17:45

Not even in John Boat Dude.

Speaker 1 17:46

There's always an issue with it. But that's why I got friends with boats. There you go, take them out. My son loves fishing but we were out there navigating the water and there's just a lot of things that I didn't even account for. Being in the water, one other boaters, it's chaotic and then the tides and stuff like that. You know, I guess obviously if you're a fisherman, you're in the water a lot, you account for that, but someone who's not in the water a lot never even considered it, because he's like man, we'll be out here rolling and you'll see dudes who've just got a boat and dude, they'll hit these sandbars. You know hauling and that comes to. They got to wait it out, yep. So yeah, I didn't even think about that aspect of with the hunting side. So you're continuing considering the water on top of you know.

Speaker 2 18:27

So when I shot the, the big buck, you know calling everybody, you don't answer. So I called my one friend and I I he's like how are you going to be all right? You know that's a huge deer, yeah, cause I was solo Floated out. Well there's, yeah, I didn't call him back. So he's like texting me and I'm cleaning. I'm, you know, elbow deep in his deer cleaning it and he's like bro, are you okay? I don't know if you made it out, cause it was storming. And so he called my wife. He called my wife to make sure. He's like have you heard from him? I don't know if he's made it. Do I have to go to the boat dock and check this out or what?

Speaker 1 19:01

So do you so? Do you have good service where you're at with your phone? It depends, okay. So, um, you know, one of the things that I got this year, too, that I think is important to have, especially for someone like you who's in the water too, is the Garmin inReach. Have you looked at it? So it's a sack communicator, satellite communicator, so you can receive and send messages from anywhere. Really, yeah, dude, it's a good investment, man, for someone like you.

Speaker 2 19:25

Tips about a monthly plan. It is like how am I going to text somebody if I drowned?

Speaker 1 19:30

Well, I'm just saying prior to that you can drop pins and it's easier to get in contact with someone. Yeah, if you drown, you drowned. Whatever it is what it is. I mean, at least I would just hope you would update someone prior to uh, but I mean, I was looking at it too, cause you know we got a lot of buddies that go out West and stuff like that, and who's who's off, truly off grid, um, and a lot of places I hunt, even locally.

Speaker 1 19:51

I mean I don't get, sir, I have no service, it's I mean it's a good form of communication, if you know you're going to be out later, like I mean, they're not cheap.

Speaker 2 20:05

but well, there you go. What is?

Speaker 1 20:07

my boat. You've got a $2,000 bow, so your bows more than your boat.

Speaker 2 20:13

No, the boat is up to about 2,500. Is it?

Speaker 1 20:16

Yeah, okay, well, your boat, your bow, I can assure you, was over that.

Speaker 2 20:19

Oh yeah, with all the stuff on it and stuff.

Speaker 1 20:21

Yeah, so early season, you know you're looking at your places to hunt. What are the areas that you're keying in on now? Is it food, is it water? Is it? You know you're hitting travel corridors. Where are you hanging stands? What are you looking for and why?

Speaker 2 20:37

So I'm not hanging, stands I saddle hunt primarily. Yep, and I'm looking at travel corridors right now. So I've got all my cameras right now set up on travel corridors because I know they're moving from bed to food Later. Just because it's so hot, I don't think I'm going to.

Speaker 2 20:53

They're mainly focusing on food, so late, right now so as it starts to cool down, I'll move cameras to food sources, possibly bedding. It depends on if I'm going to do morning hunts or not. That's kind of my plan as of right now. Like I said, every day it's going to change based on the weather, based on temperature, based on barometric pressure. All of those things are going to take into effect. And then where can I get?

Speaker 1 21:23

that no one else is going to go. You got lots of opportunity now. Yeah, I know you're making me question it.

Speaker 2 21:29

I'm telling you, dude, the John boat, and now it's great, don't get me wrong. But now I want a little bit bigger, of course. Well, just cause I want wider. Okay, you know what I mean Um 14, 15 foot, perfect. But I want a little bit wider because, like I said, if it's loaded down me, another guy and he shot I think it was a 90, 85, 90-pound doe on the front I'm still playing a balancing act, plus all of our gear, my back, his back, both bows, all of these things. It comes into a balancing act and if the water gets a little sketchy, then I'm really working trying to keep that, because I mean it's a tiller. I'm really working trying to keep that thing moving and then not take water on Right, even though I wired up a bilge pump, you know, just in case. But I don't want to have to use it Right.

Speaker 1 22:21

Wow, yeah, that's a lot to consider, man. I mean you know, but you know, no risk, no reward.

Speaker 2 22:26

I guess. But if I had, you know and I'm trying to talk my wife and do it but if I had like a, a duck boat, like one of the fast looking ones that's made for that, then it's just, it's that much easier.

Speaker 1 22:38

Dude. Your price point just jumped dramatically.

Speaker 2 22:41

Uh, yeah, yeah, dramatically. Uh, yeah, yeah, about 10 times my 2500. Yeah, man, I mean, you got a good thing. Yeah, no, I said six times, six times yeah, I can find one 12, 13 still yeah, it's expensive.

Speaker 1 22:54

So let's talk about this deer. So you've only saw him once. That was the one time you saw him and you caught him slipping him. You know you got in on the right time. Yeah, um, uh, give us the details on the deer, because you, you related to me, but I don't remember everything 170, I think two pounds nine points.

Speaker 2 23:14

Um, one of them was just a bonus kicker, the off the off his brow time. And uh, he, like I said, he came in. He was originally at 18 yards and everything was blocked. The only thing I could see was his head raking this small pine tree and I mean, he was, like I said, he was hitting it so hard, his nose was digging the ground and then I don't know if he turned something up that caught a little bit of my scent, but he kind of looked up, he didn't look at me, he had no idea where I was.

Speaker 1 23:50

And I'm holding my bow the entire time, like trying to walk myself through this calming process, Like that's what I do. I start as soon as I see a deer, I start a process. I tell my one buddy about it. I start my breathing process just so that, if the time presents itself and the opportunity presents itself, I'm in the right state of mind. Cause if not, man I'll. I won't look through my peep, Nope, I'll rip that bow back and let her ride.

Speaker 2 24:03

I didn't you know, none of my standard practices will take place Right, absolutely. Yeah, and I shoot all the time, but if once that I mean, and you can't even, you really can't simulate that feeling, you can't even describe it.

Shot Execution and Tracking

Speaker 1 24:17

I can't even, I don't care how much you run jump shoot train. It's a different. It's that adrenaline dump that comes along that you don't, you don't. It's not black, you don't go black, but you know it. It amplifies everything to the point to where you'll overlook a step. And I see it a lot of times with guys that come in here and tell their story and it's like they get in there Like my shot was perfect.

Speaker 1 24:39

I'm like I guarantee if we walked back through it, you missed that deer. That deer was at 15 yards. Why did you miss? You didn't even look through your peep site, you know you pulled it back and let it go, and that happens a lot. So I start my process as soon as I see anything coming in. I'm like all right, work on my breathing. I go through my shot process and stay in the moment so that I work through, cause you have more generally have more time than what people think you know to where you can settle, you can put your pen on them, you can breathe, you can look through your peep site and then execute a good shot, versus jumping in, getting over excited and over overzealous and then just squeezing a shot off and trying to force the issue when you don't need to, you don't have to.

Speaker 2 25:18

There's time, yep, ton of time. Yes, cause I, like I said, I sat and watched him for you know, probably 30 minutes, oh wow.

Speaker 1 25:25

Yeah, so you really were able to sit there and look at and look for that opening that you needed.

Speaker 2 25:30

If he goes here.

Speaker 1 25:30

I've got this let's range this, let's go here.

Speaker 2 25:32

Let's do, let's make sure everything's right. And I didn't move my site. You know I can gap shoot that. Yes, cause he was right at 26 yards. Okay, yeah. But he was between two V of a tree that were about 12 to 15 inches apart and I had to thread it.

Speaker 1 25:52

That makes. That's why I'd see, that's why we do our extreme outfitter shoots the way we do.

Speaker 2 25:56

But I thought base yet is a hundred percent real, that's, there's no open shots in the woods where you think they're going to go there. You know I had a clear, open lane right in front of me, right in front of where that camera was, you know, pointed the direction just a little bit further away in the travel corridor. Let's go. Nothing went the other way. Of course, that's how it always goes, yep. So I just lined them up, calmed everything down and it's like, okay, here's that click from the, the on-E Click, click, click. Now focus, break, shot, bang. And then, completely ill-prepared, my GoPro was on the bow. However, it was not pointed in the right direction because I purposely picked a tree that had good cover, so there was a little bit of cover in front of me. That's what the GoPro was pointed at. So none of my footage is worth anything, minus the audio. So I mean, you can.

Speaker 2 26:49

And then, because I'm trying to follow him now with my bow in my hand and the camera like a jack wagon waving this thing around, I thought in my, in everything that I can recall, he went directly this way. When he didn't, he took about five, six steps to my right and then doubled back, so even initially. So re-knock and arrow everything, set back, settle down. I mean I knew I hit him hard, you could. I mean you could tell, hit him hard, look through my binos, don't see an arrow, don't see anything like okay, everything's soaking wet. So looking for wet leaves was not an option. Um, waited, I waited 45 minutes before I even started climbing down. That's how I knew I shot him at 540. So now I waited 45 minutes. Start my descent slow, smooth, controlled, keep everything as quiet as possible In case he is still kicking somewhere. I don't want to jump him Right. Go over to where I had the shot happen and I don't see anything. And I'm like, oh no, doubt kicks in real quick, so bad.

Speaker 2 27:59

Really bad. I'm not telling anybody. Nope, I'm not messing with this boat anymore. I'm going to sell it tomorrow. Yep, I'm getting into duck hunting.

Speaker 2 28:07

So I start doing you know, just little grid circles and I see, okay, well, here's stirred up leaves, because it's a lot easier to tell when it's wet, right, boom, boom, boom, oh, broken arrow. Oh there, it is dark red all over the shaft, but it was broken, nothing on the fletchings. So I was like, oh no, so I, because I had, where I hit him. It went through one shoulder cavity, hit the top. The heart got caught on the other side shoulder and that's where it broke. Yeah, when he started moving his arms it broke and he was able to kick it.

Speaker 2 28:41

And then, from there, after I found that broken arrow, it was just like, well, there's some, oh well, okay, a lot more Boom, low and slow. I'm not, I'm taking a lot of breaks. I mean there was a lot of just blood everywhere. It's easy to track. Um, until I got super down, like there was something that was close to the ground that I had to pick my hand up and make sure it was red, not just water, right, because it was, I mean, right after that downpour, but uh, I mean he ran 35 yards maybe oh, that's good man.

Speaker 1 29:13

Yeah, that's real good. I um that's one of. Oh, that's good man. Yeah, that's real good.

Speaker 1 29:21

I um that's one of the things that's always kind of make you kind of leery, hunting in the rain and right right after, where the trees are still dripping and stuff. Because you know, when you shoot something it doesn't just fall over and die, right, um, when those hormones dump, there's a lot of will to live, oh yeah, um. And even you know, I've shot a center punch to the heart and they still run 40 yards until they run out. You know, and that's it, um. But here in Eastern North Carolina the thing that makes that difficult is it's so thick and there's so many places to disappear. Oh yeah, that makes it very hard to track a deer's.

Speaker 1 29:56

Why I'm so big on and you know there's an argument goes back and forth mechanical versus fixed blade. I personally like a mechanical here because I need is I, I want as much blood as I can get and I want a very open wound, cat or wound channel that's not going to close back up and that's going to spray blood everywhere. Because you know, every deer I've shot here is I. I've never watched it fall over. It always runs. It's always going to run off into the thickest stuff, and that thick stuff is pretty much everywhere. Yep, um. So yeah, whenever there's rain or any kind of like moisture on the ground. It makes it that much harder and you just really got to consider yeah, I, I definitely don't.

Speaker 2 30:34

I. I lost a deer last year with a fixed blade, did you? Yep? Just because I mean the and the.

Speaker 2 30:40

There was very little blood trail just had the same issues you know, and it's like you said, it's so thick here, I mean, we've got, we've got reeds, we've got vines, that I mean, if there's thorns in the woods I'll find them. You, it's just so thick, you can't get around it, right, and that's where they're going to go. They're going to go to that or to the water. Yes, so I went this year and we went to TAC and the severed booth was right behind us and we talked to what was it? Dylan? Right, I think it was Dylan. I can never remember Good dude. I think it was Dylan. I can never remember Good dude.

Speaker 2 31:15

Yeah, so, engineer, just a brain talking about everything that they do. And then he said, just wait, we're launching something new this year. And then when I saw that 1.5 hybrid, I was like, well, that's the best of both worlds. Yeah, because those bleeders that are on there are there no matter what, right. And then the rear deploying blades are just phenomenal as well, and the way that they put them together. There's a uh, we call it a belleville washer, so it's concave and the way it's, so the blades aren't loose like if you ever grab, like a rage or anything, and the blades feel like they want to rattle in the housing of the ferrule. These are not like that because of that belleville washer. So they're. They're always got a little bit of tension on them and then when they lock, and then they pivot when they're locked.

Speaker 1 31:55

Yeah, it's cool how, once they deploy and they open up, they can't close again. They're just like you said, they just pivot. I do like that about the sever. The only thing that I don't like, that I keep having an issue with, is my dang quiver. I'll put them in there and I'll cut the dang band.

Speaker 2 32:07

So I took because they give you a ton of bands. I put one on the very end of my shaft of my arrow, right in front of my fletchings, in case I do that. Yeah, that makes sense. And then I cut a little. I just took my Dremel and the inside of the foam and I just put a little slit in the quiver.

Speaker 1 32:24

In the quiver. I was thinking about doing that cause I was out in the woods yesterday hanging out in poison Ivy and you know, just considering what I was doing, you know cause it was hot and you know I was like, why am I even here? This is such a burned set, but whatever.

Speaker 2 32:36

I'm here, good time yeah.

Speaker 1 32:38

Covered in poison ivy now, but I was looking at. Yeah, I'm probably going to have to do the same thing with my quiver, just because I can't slide it all the way up in there without it deploying the blades. Yep.

Speaker 2 32:47

The other thing I found is if you take and I mean I've and I've got monster hands, if you hold the blades right by the band and just kind of push it up in there while they're held down, they'll stay. That's a good idea If you don't want to cut the foam, yeah, I don't mind cutting the foam.

Speaker 1 33:02

I don't either. I'd rather have, honestly, two grippers on my quiver and then nothing in the hood. Sure, like yep, that's how I would rather have it. Uh, but whatever, yeah, I shot. So I shot severs this year, I shot severs last year. Um, I shot them when I shot the deer this year, uh, great, um, one of the things and I had a really good shot on the year I killed this year as well, um, and it was from 12 yards.

Speaker 1 33:24

He came in, it was, it was, it was absolutely you couldn't get any better man I was about, I was about eight to 10 feet up off the ground. I cut myself into this tree so I had really good back cover. I'd covered to the front of me. I had one window of opportunity to shoot this deer and he did exactly like I had watched him. I'd watched him the end of this last season and then me and my son went out and sat and we're glass and got on him again and knew exactly where they're traveling. So this final scent. I went and sat in. Uh, I moved 40 yards towards him, which was still about 12 years yards off the trail that they had been utilizing using to get from bedding to the actual um food and it worked out perfect. Man, 12 yard shot. Um, it came through from the. He was cause kind of quartered away through the back rib. Um angled all the way through and broke through the front shoulder with that sever. It was a good shot. Lots of blood initially, arrow buried in the ground, but he still ran a good distance. He ran up. I want to say when I, when I retracted it, he ran like I don't know, it was like 60 to 80 yards still.

Speaker 1 34:28

Um, and I waited, man, because I had one. I had done it twice where I got down prematurely and I bumped a deer and I was like I'll never do it again, so I give him a minimum of 45 minutes before I even get out of the tree and go look at my arrow. So I got down and looked and it was phenomenal. So I pulled back again and I got all my stuff together and then I started the tracking process. Um, but, and I didn't start tracking till till it was dark. So I shot him at 7 11.

Speaker 1 34:52

I started tracking him about eight o'clock. Oh, wow, yeah, I waited and what? I had my headlamp on and I was using a rechargeable headlamp and it was down to three bars on it and I was like oh lord. So from there I went and got a. I've got a battery operated headlamp now too, but the other thing that I was having issues with is in the dark. I was getting turned around tracking blood, yep. So one of the things that I've done now and I got with one of my buddies is I I was having to go back and lay my sticks in my phone with a light on so I could go back to that area Right, cause I was on my hands and knees when I got about 50 yards away to start tracking or getting.

Speaker 1 35:32

When I, the blood wasn't as heavy and it was dark, um, so I would set a stick and I would set my phone on it so I could retract and come back to it. Well, that became a pain. So I got Kim lights now, so I'm going to drop them on the blood like cookie crumbs. Yeah, so if I've got a return, cause I get lost or something get turned around, I can go back to where I was going. But, um, yeah, it was a good, really good shot. And, uh, he still went like 60 or 80 yards, something like that, and then he, he ran until he couldn't. Yeah, um, and that's why I waited so long, cause I bumped the deer in Kentucky a couple of years back and I was like I'm never doing that again.

Speaker 2 36:05

Yeah, it's the worst.

Speaker 1 36:06

I will just be patient, cause I know a lot of guys to your um. They'll get down to start trying to get on them right away. Yeah, things don't die that fast, nope, unless you see it fall. Unless you see it fall, dude, I saw that in kentucky then? She got back up and went another 15 yards and bedded back down yep.

Speaker 2 36:23

So because that's a lot of times. What they'll do is they'll find that tall cover and they'll just bed down and you think it's over, it's not. Nope, they're just regrouping and saying, okay, how far? How much more do I have to get away from this? Yes, very resilient with the will to live so for tracking, and I haven't done it. A buddy of mine told me about it. He always has toilet paper on him and he uses a square of toilet paper. He'll put it on the blood. It'll stick to the blood and it's all biodegradable. It's all-.

Speaker 1 36:48

The problem with that is I can't see that at night to go back. So that's why that was my issue, because I was like man, I could use a marker tape or anything like that, but at night, because I was, I would kept getting turned around. Um, I was like this isn't working. So I started setting my phone and leaving my phone with the light on and using my head to see him and then I would, you know, kind of piggyback, bump it forward and do that and keep moving it on top of each other. But I thought about that and I was like, yeah, that's, that's great, but for me it wouldn't have worked at night.

Speaker 1 37:17

So I was like I'm going to drop Kim land or Kim lights and it's easy for me to go back and grab those out of the woods, cause all I need is like two and I can just piggyback them off of each other. But yeah, the I think Joe long talked about the toilet paper too, a long time ago, it ago. It's great if you're tracking during the day. You don't got to go back and get it.

Speaker 2 37:33

yep, you can leave it yeah, my buddy who's like, I put it literally on the blood so it'll stick. Yep, especially if it's like a reed. You know he'll wrap it around that and it'll stick to that blood yeah, that's smart yeah dual purpose too, yeah, exactly because if you don't have it, you need it, that's right, every time every time?

Speaker 2 37:50

yeah, mine didn't. Um, he ran about 35 yards but, like I said, it was low and slow and very methodical, because I have jumped and bumped before I'm like okay, let's go, and then you know, by the time I recovered him. Should I have to look back at the film footage? I mean it was, I took a while yeah you know I it was getting close to dark, it was probably seven o'clock. Well, I called you at like seven.

Speaker 1 38:16

Yeah, yeah, cause you called me literally right before I shot that deer. Yeah, I was like dude, I'm in the woods, I can't.

Speaker 2 38:22

Yeah. So and then like getting him out of there, you know, with 72 pounds and his legs and as thick as I was into it, I had to get him back to the boat. Yeah, and it was like he grabbed a vine, like a 12 year old trying to grab a seatbelt man. They were not getting, he wasn't getting out of there. Yeah, I try, had a drag rope Wasn't working. I had to put half of his rack in my hip and hold onto the other one in my arm, like the armpit of my elbow and just start trucking.

Speaker 1 38:56

Yeah, I had a little bit of a struggle to get mine out as well, cause I was about I had to drag him about 300, some yards. Oh yeah, cause I was back there as well and of course, like we talked about, it's very, very thick, but I got. I finally got him to a field edge and I was using my tether, cause I because at first I was dragging them I wrapped my tether around them, I was dragging them that way, wrapped around my waist, to drag them out, and I had to go through a very, very deep like I was like a ditch. I don't even like man-made, it was huge, it's over my head.

Speaker 2 39:31

There was no water in it.

Speaker 1 39:32

No, there, never is. I think it's an old drainage ditch or something along these fields. Um, that's just been there forever, I don't know, but it's, it's in the woods, but it's deep, it's over my head, um, and I had to get him through there and I'm, I'm laying, and you know, dragging him, sitting with my feet digging them in, trying to get it through. But yeah there's. I was at that point I was almost considering just quartering, you know, him up out there and be just being done with it I.

Speaker 2 40:00

I knew that this, this was a good one, yeah, and I wasn't going to do that. I didn't want to gut him, I didn't want to do anything, I was just gonna. I was gonna I, because I've been working out trying to get, you know, in shape. I haven't drank since the end of july, so there's, I feel great, yeah. And I was like, well, let's go, you know I'm, this isn't gonna beat me, I promise. Yep. And then every time I fell, I'm yelling pimp down, you know, because it grabs on something you know. And then you're like, oh, that's a tiny vine and you're gonna pull and it's more, yeah. And then it breaks the entire woods. Yep, oh, my gosh. But then I got him.

Speaker 2 40:31

So best part of the story for me, anyways got them to the boat pouring sweat. It's hot Now, the 170 pounds on the very, very front of this boat and I'm on the back. I had to put one foot on the transom, like George Washington, to balance his boat out. And I have to like cruise. I pull up to the dock and it's, uh, on the marine corps base. Uh, it's a place called hancock lodge. It was a wedding going on, dude. I swear to god, there were people on the patio deck. They had like cowbells ringing as I'm pulling up celebrating you, man.

Hunting Strategy and Setup

Speaker 2 41:10

I thought I was like you guys see what I got here. And then it all kind of like, as I pull in, like you, you I mean, cause the water was so high again and you could see me pull up and they're like what, and uh, kind of quieted down, they're like that is a look at that deer standing on the back of the boat. Like George Washington, I was like sorry, Uh, congratulations yeah.

Speaker 1 41:37

Congratulate me, though I'll be out of here.

Speaker 2 41:37

Impressive. That's not going to last just a minute. I'll be out of here, I promise.

Speaker 1 41:40

Oh dude, that is awesome so yeah, it was.

Speaker 2 41:42

It was ridiculous, oh man Wow.

Speaker 1 41:44

What a good story, though those people are going to have that memory forever. You're probably in some pictures.

Speaker 2 41:48

Uh, probably, yeah, yeah, I mean cause, tell me, tag you was. You see me Like. I did a little bit of video of me riding out because I could only do like 12 seconds Cause it was just so sketchy on this little boat. And then of course, I get as a dog and they're ringing bells and stuff. It's like, oh well, I'm here.

Speaker 1 42:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2 42:08

Hey guys.

Speaker 1 42:11

Oh, that's funny man, so, oh, that's funny man, so, um, how high up are you hunting right now?

Speaker 2 42:17

uh, so I'm using the trophy line, the new sticks, the hyper lights, and I use all four of them. Okay, uh, but I got right up into the canopy. I was probably 15 feet, okay, so nothing crazy nothing crazy.

Speaker 2 42:28

So you're going to canopy height yep, I can stretch them out if I have to, but I like to have, like we talked about, good cover concealment. I want a little bit of front, a little bit of side, and if I can get in the top of it, where it's, like you know, when my extended arm with my bow is like right at it, that's what I want.

Speaker 1 42:45

Yeah, I think what? Um, one of the things too, is people get greedy with shot opportunity, right, instead of like having an idea how deer moving, they're looking for 360 degrees of ability to shoot, which is great, sure, but at the same time, I think you're more likely to get busted whenever you start to get greedy yeah, utilizing a saddle or something like that because of the amount of movement and stuff.

Speaker 2 43:10

Well, if you have 360 degrees of movement right With zero cover, zero cover, you're in a tree by itself. You may as well be on a telephone pole, right? I mean, at that point it's it's like oh hey, we stick out. Yeah, it's, it's blatantly obvious. But any movement, you're not getting away with anything.

Speaker 1 43:29

But I don't think people consider that, though they're like I'm going to climb up high enough, you know, but if something's like a hundred yards coming in and it's got visibility and it's looking up, you're still.

Speaker 2 43:38

I mean, even though you're 20, 25 feet up, you're shooting through, possibly spine backstrap at least, and you're hoping to clip a lung, maybe heart?

Speaker 1 43:56

yeah, and if you hit one lung, I assure you that animal is going to go a long ways, or you're going to have to wait a long time. Yep, uh. So that's, those are all things to consider too, because you got there's pros and cons to everything right, you hunt low, um, you, you, you can't get away with as much movement. Sure, you hunt high. I think you kind of stand out one. Um, maybe you can get away with a little bit more movement. I don't know, but your shot angle is something that you really got to consider. Um, that's, I think, bigger than anything, you know, because a lot of opportunity you're not, you don't have a lot of long distance opportunity shooting in the woods. Here, you know you're, you're typically within 25 yards, yeah, I would say for the most part, uh, if you're hunting, the farthest I've shot is 37, yeah, okay, farthest, yes, and if you're, if you're, way up, like you said, that angle, it's going to be crazy, especially if they come in within 15, 10 yards. That's a very, a very, very difficult angle to shoot.

Speaker 2 44:50

Not only that, but if you go, if you're in the canopy right If you're, so I go right up to it. So if you're in the canopy and then you're running a heavier arrow, you have to worry about other tree branches, other things that are in the way of that trajectory of the arrow itself.

Speaker 1 45:05

Yeah so, and a lot of the trees. You know I'm not climbing a lot of. I mean there's a lot of pine trees, but a lot of the trees, like where I'm hunting at I mean the canopy is like super low right now.

Speaker 2 45:17

I hunted at 12 feet last night.

Speaker 1 45:18

Yes, okay, yeah, so you get it. I mean it's, you're not. You're not able to get up that high unless you're hunting like a, an open pine area or something like that, and I, I'll be honest, I don't have a lot of those where I'm at.

Speaker 2 45:27

And I hate a pine, I do too. If I can avoid them at all costs, I will, cause I'm going to have sap everywhere.

Speaker 1 45:32

Yes, Covered in it and yeah, I mean, it's just hard to stay quiet in those things too, when you're hanging a stand or you know a sat, or you're in a saddle or your tethers are around it.

Speaker 1 45:49

That's one thing I look at now is the tree that I'm climbing. I want cover because I've been busted more times than not because I don't have enough cover. Or you know I don't have cover in the right area. You know I don't have any kind of back cover. You know I got cover and you know in front of me, but you know, if something's looking at an awkward angle, it's like oh there's, that's what I that's why I I gravitate so much towards the saddle hunting.

Speaker 2 46:13

Yeah, right, so I can set my sticks anywhere on the tree, right, and I say at the base of it. I look up and I say, okay, I need my sticks to go on this side and I'm going to put my stand, my platform, on the left, right or the right, it's whatever is going to benefit me the most, and also keep in mind the wind.

Speaker 2 46:29

But that's how I'm going to set it up and I can it doesn't matter if there's branches in that tree, if there's any, I get around it, you know, and then I'm set up and it's just it. That's the. That's the big one of the huge things for me.

Speaker 1 46:41

With saddle hunting is I just versatile, versatile yeah, I think there's a lot of people that's gravitated towards that because of the opportunity that provides the trees that allows you to climb. But I'm I've been more so the hybrid option. So I still use the saddle, but I've been hunting in like an XOP retrograde or XOP I think it's called a cold world or something in their hangouts, just so I can, because I noticed I do move a little bit more in the saddle and this kind of eliminates that. So if I want to use it as a like a platform and stand and face the tree, I can, but I can also sit down for a strong shot.

Speaker 2 47:17

So I've been kind of mixing it up a little bit. Yeah, I mean, you get the best of both worlds. You do it's, and that's. That's the beauty of what we do, is it's whatever you like, right? I'm not? I'm not here to tell you you have to do it a certain way. There's no wrong way. No, I mean, if you want to drag a 100-pound ladder, stand in and use that as mobile hunting, that's your prerogative. I mean, you're strong enough to do it. So, right on, bro, carry that ladder, stand with you and put it up every time.

Speaker 1 47:41

I agree. I think that's one of the biggest issues within the archery or the bow hunting world is the people that think that there's an absolute answer, and there's not. There's a lot of ways to do this and there's a lot of uh, different approaches that you can take, and that's from the, the draw weight that you choose to shoot, the arrow weight you choose to shoot, the type of hunting, whether it's, you know, ground hunting. It's saddle, it's a hang on, it's a ladder. There's a lot of ways to do it.

Speaker 2 48:04

None of them are wrong, wrong no, and we are our own worst enemy absolutely you know, I mean, if you shoot a crossbow, good on you, bro dude, I'll be honest man, I mean there I know a lot of good dudes that do it.

Speaker 1 48:14

I mean, for whatever reason, whether there's a lot of dudes I know that have shoulder issues, sure, um, back issues that are still out there getting after it, and you know, I mean I could care less, man, because we got guys shooting rifles.

Speaker 2 48:25

We got guys, I mean running dogs doing whatever you want, man it's. It's like I said, there's no wrong way to do it. There's not, as long as it's, you know, clean, ethical.

Speaker 1 48:33

That's it have respect for your fellow hunters in the woods.

Speaker 2 48:36

Yeah, that's a big one that's a big one, that's man. I'm tell you what this year. So I set up cameras early and I got it. I have my bush nails, which are it's local. It's in like a. I'm literally behind behind the MCX on cherry point, in the woods there between there and river.

Speaker 2 48:53

This guy set up a. I got him on camera cruising through and I hang my cameras high. You see any of my Instagram posts I do. This is for this reason. He had a pole saw. He hung up a ladder stand. He put a trail camera in the tree directly next to mine. He knew trail camera in the tree directly next to mine. He knew you were onto something good, he had no idea.

Speaker 2 49:12

So on the base, you have to put your name if you have a stand that stays out there. So I call him. I'm like hey, man, this is me, do you have a spot in this area? He goes yeah, yeah, I was out there. I was like, yeah, you were out here yesterday between 11, 50 and about 320. He goes what I go? Yeah, I got you on my trail camera. You, matter of fact, put your camera on the tree right next to mine and I took a picture of him and circled mine. He goes oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't even see it there, nice guy. Yeah, you know, I was like look man, it's basically it's public land. Do what you want. Um, just let's please. So that way I'm not, we're not messing each other's stuff up, right, that's cool.

Speaker 1 49:49

You know, cause.

Speaker 2 49:49

otherwise he would have been like all right man, good luck, find your stuff in the river.

Speaker 1 49:54

You know, don't be that guy. No, so that's funny. So successful season right out of the gate. You're focusing on food travel corridors right now. Yep, you're hunting evenings. That's, that's, that's my game plan now until it really starts to cool off, which is going to be a minute.

Speaker 2 50:17

It looks like yeah, well, I don't know, man um, I think it's going to be a cold winter. Call it now that deer. That deer that I skinned out had so much fat so did mine.

Speaker 1 50:21

That's funny. I told my buddy. I said my the deer, this is the fattest deer I've ever shot north carolina just tell, tell, sign of a cold winter. Well, we'll, we'll see.

Speaker 2 50:28

Man, I don't ever believe it, it never is the dough, both the dough and that buck I shot, riddled with.

Speaker 1 50:33

That is funny. You say that Cause I texted my buddy the same exact thing. I said dude, this is the fattest deer that I've shot North. Normally they're lean and mean man and he had a lot of fat on him. I mean, not compared to some of the other shots, like Kentucky, but for here he was fat, Full layer.

Speaker 2 50:52

Yes, that's how this guy was. That's funny. Okay, around the backside of him, I mean, it was as thick as my thumb. Yeah, I was like goodness and it was sticking in my knife and all I was like oh, my gosh Yep Okay. Yeah, just like I said, telltale sign of a cold winter?

Speaker 1 51:07

We'll see. Dude, it's never cold here, I know. So what are your plans for the rest of the season? Are you just hunting? Are you having any out of state stuff, or is it all here Local? So you have a goal.

Speaker 2 51:17

Yeah, we'll fill the freezer. Um now I've got so that deer that I shot old Cheeto. He's the biggest deer of shots a date. So he's already at Alison's place getting texted.

Speaker 1 51:29

She doing it for you? Yeah, she is. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, allie does. Alison does a fantastic job.

Speaker 2 51:33

Yeah, I took it to her the next day. Wow, I messaged her.

Speaker 1 51:37

She must've been the one that you were. That was she did a post. It was like one of my buddies.

Speaker 2 51:46

As soon as I knew I had him in my hands, I messaged her. I said hey, don't know what your schedule looks like. If you have any openings, this is where I'm at she goes. Absolutely bring him here. Yeah, she does a fantastic job too. She's very talented Video. Do whatever you want with this. This is your canvas. This is how I want them set and facing you do the rest. That's cool.

Speaker 1 52:09

Yeah, that's gonna turn out good then. Yeah, I'm excited.

Speaker 2 52:11

Yeah, what's the turnaround time you're looking at Um she said it was only gonna be a couple of months oh it's not bad.

Speaker 2 52:16

Yeah, so well, I mean I was the first white tail intake she had. Um, she still had a couple of things that she was messing with, um from previous, you know stuff in the freezer. But like she already did a video and it was already caped out completely, yeah, so I don't know, we'll see. I mean she did not have a mold so she had to get a mold. Uh, and then all of I mean I know it takes a while, so I'm not in any rush.

Speaker 1 52:37

Yeah, so mine is um. I just, you know, I just pulled the skull off.

Speaker 2 52:45

You know, this is awesome.

Speaker 1 52:46

Yeah, so he's sitting on top of a Connex box at my house, man, yeah, I just got my wife's hair room.

Speaker 2 52:53

Yep, yeah Well, I'm the mine's going to go right next to my other one. So it's man. I was just so excited.

Speaker 1 53:00

Yeah, you know congratulations, but uh the rest of the year.

Speaker 2 53:03

So I've got the one guy I've been taken out for he actually I told him to come here. He bought the RX seven. Yep, I've been trying to teach him. Like you know he's I want to get in that open tree. I want three, 60. I want this, I want. I'm like you're greedy man, you're too greedy. He wants that easy shot. He wants you, oh they anything. So, working on that, I'd like to film him, if I can really focus in on my filming because self-filming such a chore man it's so hard.

Speaker 1 53:37

Yeah, you guys that do that. I have respect for you, Cause when I get in the woods I have no desire and maybe it's cause we do it here all the time be in front of a camera and stuff, and I hate it.

Speaker 2 53:45

Yeah, I don't want to be in, I just want to be able to like, like you see those?

Speaker 1 53:51

perfect shots like this you do, man perfect, but I for me, I getting in the woods is an opportunity to completely disconnect from any type of electronic and social yeah that we have that I'm in immersed in every day here. So as it would. I think when I shot that deer I was like man, how cool would it have been if my son was with me and we recorded this. And then I was like it's a memory for me. That'll do, yeah.

Speaker 2 54:10

Yeah, I don't like it. I man, I would, just because it was. I don't think I could have put a better shot on that deer.

Speaker 1 54:16

That's how I felt, man.

Speaker 2 54:18

It was literally probably the best shot I've ever made in my life.

Speaker 1 54:21

That's awesome yeah.

Boat Recovery and Wedding Crasher

Speaker 2 54:22

And if I could have, I mean GoPro field footage. Footage is horrible, but if I could have had, like, my camera running, yeah, but would it have been enough zoom? Would it have been enough light?

Speaker 1 54:33

Would have there, but you know, gotta have a secondary dude that runs a camera. For that, for what you're looking for, yeah, for that I'm not willing to give up that quality of deer, that shot for film?

Speaker 2 54:45

I'm not gonna. I didn't think twice. Yep, no, I'm with you on that. Yeah, there's, there's no way. But if I can get him on so I've still got a couple bucks there's only one target buck left that I would go after Um, and I'm waiting until the rut, cause I know where he's going to be, cause I've I've know where his does are stockpiled and there's two more this year, so I know exactly where he's going to be. Yeah, cause I missed him last year, you know, I just I didn't, I didn't miss a shot at him, but I missed him. Yeah, the opportunity wasn't there. So, other than that, it's just I'll, I'll put one more in the freezer and then I'll be tapped out and then I'll just you, I'll give her one.

Speaker 2 55:31

You know, go from there, cause we get so many tags. Yeah, four dough and two buck tags. So fill them up Now, be selective. Yeah, but that's that's it, man. Just try and try and get. Try and get him on a trophy because he wants a buck. He has never shot a buck. He's been hunting for two years to maybe three, never shot a buck. So I want to get them on. If I can get them on a buck, anything's going to be a prize for him, right, which is I mean, and anything is a prize for me. That's how.

Speaker 1 55:52

I feel about it here in North Carolina. Um, I mean, I mean, we don't have I personally don't have a lot of time Um, and I don't have a lot of places to go. Right, it's like, well, if I'm hunting, it's like, man, I've got, I've got a cup, I've got a little window, I'm going to sneak out over here. Uh, just cause we're in full like parent mode right now.

Speaker 1 56:13

Kids are in high school sports and stuff, um, but yeah, and then hunting. North Carolina man, I'll say it every time it's hard, it's, it's, it's hard. What's it's hot, cold winter here is going to be like 50s.

Speaker 2 56:28

Well, I don't know, man Dude, all that fat has got me leery.

Speaker 1 56:32

Let's see he just got lucky this year. There's a bunch of acorns that have fallen and they've just been eaten.

Speaker 2 56:37

They were heavy last year, yeah yeah. So I mean we'll see. But it's just like you said, Life gets in the way. But anytime I have an opportunity to harvest an animal.

Speaker 1 56:45

Yeah.

Speaker 2 56:46

Proud of it.

Speaker 1 56:47

It doesn't matter. That's how it should be to put the effort into it and work for it.

Speaker 2 56:52

Everything I've done up to that point has come to fruition.

Speaker 1 56:54

It's all, because it's more than just actually. When you look at it too and what's gone into it in the season, like, for example, you like all the amount of effort you've put into the boat I mean, that's the. You don't even equate that to to that portion of the hunt, but all the effort you put into there. And then you know, yeah, hanging your cameras, the years of you know just being out on the ground with old Intel that you've been able to put it all together and it all finally comes together. And you know, and it works out.

Speaker 2 57:22

Yeah, that's, that's. That's a pride thing for me, though. Yeah, you know cause I've seen guys like literally will get off of work, go sit on a tree line and shoot a nice buck.

Speaker 1 57:33

It doesn't happen to me.

Speaker 2 57:35

No me neither.

Speaker 1 57:40

I think I tried too hard for that to ever happen to me. I think so too. That might be a part of it is, uh, maybe the expectations are a little bit higher or maybe you just overthink things. Yeah, you know I, I find myself doing that versus just going out and just just commit Yep, well P and people are mad at this guy.

Speaker 2 57:54

You know, like for doing, I'm like no good for him. He had a window of opportunity. He got awful work and went and sat on a tree line and made it happen. Dude, good for him, don't be mad.

Speaker 1 58:08

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2 58:08

I mean, you never know what he's got going on in the background. He can have four kids at home and he's just angry this is all the time he's got and he was able to just make it happen that's his one day out of the season, dude. That's it, yeah, yeah now his wife's gonna be like all right, are you done deer hunting?

Speaker 1 58:19

I guess yeah now he's got something to talk about and there's no more hunting, so it could be good or bad, right?

Speaker 2 58:24

yeah, that's what my wife said. Well, you, you done. Yeah, are you done.

Speaker 1 58:28

You shot a nice buck, uh no, yeah, no, we're just getting started.

Speaker 2 58:31

Yeah, we got a long season baby.

Speaker 1 58:33

We got a long season, so rest of the season you're hunting all locally here.

Speaker 2 58:38

Yeah, unless I get an opportunity crazy that pops up. Um buddy of mine just moved from Illinois to Mississippi and he doesn't really know the area yet. I was going to try and get out to Illinois but it just timing wise. It's hard, man, it's difficult with you know, like you said, work, kids, life, it's just not. And then out of state, just spending the money just to get there, yeah that's that's it, man.

Speaker 1 59:01

It all adds up. Life's not cheap right now either. No, you know it's funny. You made a post this is the most expensive deer to date. Deer to date? Yeah. Well, it's like how many dollars a pound? Yeah?

Speaker 2 59:13

Well, that's and my wife's like well, how much does the boat cost you, how much does that boat cost you, how much of this?

Speaker 1 59:17

And I'm like calm down, calm down.

Speaker 2 59:20

It's okay, you're eating for free.

Speaker 1 59:24

You don't even like deer meat. Yeah, you're going to eat it. Oh yeah it. Oh yeah. Well, whatever it's good man, I enjoy it. Yeah, I'm glad you've started off strong this year, so ahead of the curve yeah, I feel like I needed it because of last year you know I was grinding bro dude, I know and uh, he got it done early and now you can kind of so a buddy of mine and he's colorful right's like you're being too selective.

Speaker 2 59:50

You need to get out there and pop a couple of hood rats and then you start trophy hunting.

Speaker 1 59:55

So I was like all right, man, I believe in that too. Man, you got to knock the dog, knock, knock the dust off, you know, to get those nerves out of the way. Yeah, that's like my son, you know he's 14. He's like dad I want a buck, buck. I said you have not earned a buck. Buddy, this is your first year bow hunting. Let's make sure that you can draw that bow on a deer yeah, no, yeah, that's the other thing, man.

Speaker 2 1:00:16

It's just because you know the guy I'm helping out teaching, he's like how long before you shot a buck, I was like like a good one yeah, you know, I mean every buck to me is it's, it's I've got them all right but the first.

Speaker 2 1:00:30

I think I shot 140 pound five pointer and I've been on for four or five years, yep Bow hunting specifically. Yeah, it takes time, yeah, and especially if you're doing due diligence, and this was, you know what I mean. This was a spot my buddy he had. It was behind his house, crow tan backed up to it, and it was like okay go here, set here, do this, do that, learn the wind.

Saddle Hunting Benefits

Speaker 1 1:00:52

And it was he just showed up yeah, there, and that was what was cool about the hunt this year for me, when I shot that deer was it felt like from seeing him last year, getting an idea what he was doing, and then going sitting early this year hunting the fringes, glassing, getting back on him and then making a plan to move in and knowing, when I was there, that it was going to happen. Yeah, that was what was cool. It's because it wasn't didn't feel like there was any luck involved. It felt like I, I created this opportunity and made it happen, yep, uh, and ultimately came out on top and beat him at his own game. Yep, that same thing. That was cool. That's why that was why this hunt for me was was more of a big deal, because it, you know, I was here in north carolina and everyone says that though I say that all the time you're, like my state's, the hardest hunting.

Speaker 1 1:01:40

Everybody says that dude, I don't care what anybody says. You ask anybody that's everyone that's in jacksonville, north county is not from here. Yeah, everyone's from all over the country, cause we're at a military, we're a military town and anyone that comes here and is like the hunting just isn't. I'm like, yeah, it's hard, it's hard. These are. The deer aren't big. No, they're high pressure deer all the time because dogs are always run. It's just a different type of hunting. Man, no one's traveling to Onslow County to come hunt deer. I assure you that no there's no out of state.

Speaker 1 1:02:10

There's no out of state North.

Speaker 2 1:02:11

Carolina and shoot a.

Speaker 1 1:02:12

German shepherd. No, sir, it's good though, man, I think it helps a lot of guys, you know. Cut your teeth, learn, learn to hunt, learn the skills that are involved. And then when you go somewhere else, you can put those into play even more so, because when you go somewhere that has terrain, that you can use terrain to your advantage. Yep, uh, it's.

Speaker 2 1:02:32

It makes a big difference yeah, it's, uh, it's definitely a different style here it is. It's fun though man, I love it, I do too love it.

Speaker 1 1:02:38

I absolutely love it, even though you know half the time I'm out there questioning what I'm doing yeah, well, you get into poison ivy dude, I don't know well I knew going climbing this tree. I was like I. I climbed this tree because it had the vantage point to glass and cause I was I'm in a new spot and I'm like trying to see where there's is there no other trees?

Speaker 1 1:02:57

They were. It's the entire area that it was is grown up. It's disgusting and, uh, I'm like this is probably poison ivy or poison oak, but I'm not a hundred percent. And I'm hugging this tree. I got my face in it, so it's around my eyes, you know my eyelids and everything. I'm like I'll be fine. And then, yeah, I feel it. I'm like, oh yeah, that was, that's definitely got something.

Speaker 2 1:03:19

It's got a little bit of a little bit of a sting, yeah, anything, just because I'm so allergic to it.

Speaker 1 1:03:26

Oh, are you? Yeah, I don't get it bad man, I could just I mean kind of splotchy.

Speaker 2 1:03:31

Yeah, no, I'll, I will look like I just had like Deadpool man. Oh, that's bad.

Speaker 1 1:03:35

Yeah, no, you gotta be careful around here. There's a lot.

Speaker 2 1:03:44

I mean we got else if there's thorns in the woods. We walk through an open field, I will find a bushel of thorns and get stuck in them.

Speaker 1 1:03:51

Yep, yeah this is what it is. Just my luck, man. It's how we roll. Yep, well, cool man. What else we got? Anything else?

Speaker 2 1:03:57

nothing just really trying to focus on man. I'm probably gonna take up duck hunt now. Yeah, there you got that sweet boat you're about to have a nice big boat.

Speaker 1 1:04:07

Your wife's gonna be angry. Yeah, just get her those granite countertops done. Oh well, see onto the next thing.

Speaker 2 1:04:12

Oh, now it's a ripple effect. Oh, I need backsplash. We need the cabinets painted. Oh, the kitchen needs to be painted. We need like, yeah, what I don't paint, absolutely refuse. You just got to hire somebody.

Speaker 1 1:04:34

I going to. I told her. I said fine, so I'm not doing it. So if anybody of you know painters that are in eastern north carolina, drop a comment. Yeah, hit me up, because I refuse to. I put my foot down. Yeah, no, I don't blame you. Majority of that stuff I am not, uh, very good at it, nor do I have the patience or time, so that's my excuse. I don't have the time.

Speaker 2 1:04:41

Well, my, the patience is thin with that, and then I get frustrated it's just not, and then it doesn, then it doesn't look good, and then I get even more mad and I just hired somebody.

Speaker 1 1:04:52

Yep, I feel you, there's professionals for a reason Correct. Well, good deal man. Well, congratulations again on this year. Congratulations to you. Thank you, yours was, yours was a good one, man. I'm glad it was uh worked out and I'm sorry I did not answer the phone again, but for good reasons this time yes.

Speaker 2 1:05:10

Yes, you didn't think I was hurt, like last time.

Speaker 1 1:05:11

No, I didn't, I assumed. Whenever you called me, I said the dude shot a good deer. Yeah, and you know, or he's drowning and I'm his last, last hope.

Speaker 2 1:05:21

But if I wait for you an hour to get to where I'm at?

Speaker 1 1:05:24

at least, oh dude, at a minimum. No, it's more than that, yeah.

Speaker 2 1:05:27

Well, it takes me an hour to get here.

Speaker 1 1:05:29

Yeah, and I'm another 30 minutes out.

Speaker 2 1:05:30

Yeah.

Speaker 1 1:05:31

So an hour and a half you're done. Yep, sorry, man Should have had the Garmin inReach. Could have hit an SOS Dude, they would have had oh.

Speaker 2 1:05:39

Search and rescue doesn't work here anymore, though.

Speaker 1 1:05:53

Well, disregard, cool man Again. Congrats man. Awesome deer. If people want to check it out, they can follow you on Instagram. You've got a great page with all you update from how to do countertops, to building your boat, to deer hunting. It's all on there and documented. Um yeah, it's good.

Speaker 1 1:05:59

So, I'll drop a link. You can follow all of Brian's stuff down below If you're interested in checking them out. If you've got questions for him um, you know on his styles of hunting the deer that he shot anything I'm sure he'll be happy to help you out. Absolutely Cool. Well, again, I appreciate everybody from watching, and this was episode 12 of the show. There we go. See you guys next episode.