Lone Star Trail
Texas themed hunting and fishing interviews featuring experts and real tales from the field.
Lone Star Trail
Get off your Phone and Head Outdoors
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Carson Hull with Head Outdoors turned his love of hunting and videography into a budding business. He now travels the U.S. in search of the perfect shot - with his camera. He offers tips on late season turkey hunting and how to tame a five year old in the deer stand. Calvin Wells, local varmint soothsayer tells us why he now brings along his dog when calling for grey foxes.
Thanks for stopping by and happy hunting.
Follow us on Facebook
Welcome to Lone Star Trail, a new outdoor show aimed at bringing you hunting and fishing updates and compelling stories from around Texas and right here at home. Get ready to join us down the trail. Now, here's your host, Wilkins.
SPEAKER_03How many times have you wished you had that hunt or fishing trip on video? Or maybe you're glad there were no witnesses. Today, Carson Hall with Head Outdoors joins us to talk about his passion for capturing game with a camera and offers some turkey tips. Our good friend and local varmint expert Calvin Wells shares some insight and gets a little too close for comfort with a gray fox. Pour some more coffee, and I'll see you right back after this break. Whether you're looking to buy your next hunting property or have acres to sell, you need Brian Clark and Ranch Pro Real Estate in your corner. Use the latest of technology to make listings easy for sellers to maximize value. In the market to buy that perfect ranch or hunting getaway, call Ranch Pro Real Estate at 325-642-4630. That's Ranch Pro Real Estate at RanchProReal Estate.com. The land is their life.
SPEAKER_02We are talking to one of the fastest growing invasive species in Texas. I'm Giant Salvania. Oh yeah. That's my phone. Well, that would be why boaters, fishermen, and skiers hate you. Yep, but they do give me rides from lake to lake. Folks, Giant Salvinia clings to both trailers and gear, so remove even the smallest piece and put it in the trash. Don't tell them that! Hello, Giant Salvinia. Goodbye, Texas Lakes. A message from Texas Parks and Wildlife.
SPEAKER_03You're listening to the Lone Star Trail. We're glad you're here. Now let's get back to the show. Welcome back to the show. Glad you're here. We've got a special guest with us today. Uh coming in all the way from great state of Pennsylvania. We've got Carson Hull with Head Outdoors. Carson, thanks for being here, man.
SPEAKER_01Hey, thanks, Nathan. It was uh pretty good hearing from you, and man, I'm excited to be here.
SPEAKER_03Well, I likewise, you know, I've been following your social for a while, and uh you came highly recommended uh a few weeks back. So I've been excited to get the chance to have you on the show and visit. Um first of all, you know, we've got so much that I want to want to discuss with you, and as we have time, we can. But first of all, I'd love to know more about um Head Outdoors. Um and as somebody who's recently dealt with naming uh just naming this podcast, for instance, and just trying to settle on something that that kind of encompasses what you want it to, how did you how did you settle on the name Head Outdoors?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so uh so so let me see here, about four years ago now. It's crazy that it's been that long already. Um, and the growth that we've been able to to have in you know really not that long a time at the same time. Um I started it with with myself and um two other buddies just local around here, um Mike Aketter Henry and Blake Witter. Um Mike is actually in Wisconsin now, and Blake, he's pretty local here to me in Pennsylvania. But um we decided like you know, we have too many awesome non-recorded hunts, memories, and just the banter of deer camp, turkey camp, being in the great outdoors that we want to start capturing. So um from there we said, you know what, let's get a camera. Uh we bought a cheap camcorder and we were kind of off to the races from there. And we kind of wanted to create a name that wasn't about the the trophy hunting aspect of things. And uh, you know, our our message is to head outdoors literally. If you get in the outdoors, anything can happen, and we aren't necessarily about the headgear or the score or the points or the weight. Um, we just want to promote the outdoors and um promote less people being on their phones and being cooped up inside, and we want to promote God's great outdoors.
SPEAKER_03Amen. Well, in that aspect, you know, we are completely aligned here on the show. That's we we we preach that, and I'll say preach accurately. We preach that a lot uh on the on the show. We talk about uh getting kids outside and all the scientific data behind um uh the huge improvements in in brain function and just cognitive ability with with kids who spend more time outside and obviously less time on screen. So that's great. What an awesome purpose, man. That's got to keep you motivated, right? Every day.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, 100%. Um and it's so when we started it, man, we didn't have to change really much about our our everyday lifestyle. I mean, this is this is life for us. We love to be outdoors, whether it's hunting, fishing, maybe it's you know, in the backyard playing catch, whatever it is. Um, we don't like being cooped up in the house, and we're like, man, um the direction that the world seems to be going right now, this is um an awesome thing to promote, and it's it's our life.
SPEAKER_03Now that's you know, we talked a little bit before we got on air about that's every one of our dreams, right? Is to be is to be outside and every day doing something and and actually being able to make a living at it. From the the the business development, the financial piece of this, if you don't mind sharing, where are you guys at in terms of of of making this a I mean, is this your full-time thing? Is this a is this growing into a full-time thing? Where where are you guys at on that?
SPEAKER_01So currently uh we we all have day jobs. Um so I'm a freelance uh media producer in the outdoor TV industry. Um I produced um right about half a dozen uh different outdoor television shows, sportsman channel, outdoor channel, pursuit channel, um, and then various uh streaming platforms. Um and then uh Blake, he worked for a fence building company here local in Pennsylvania, and uh Mike is the head owner of a gun shop out in Wisconsin. Um so I mean we're we're all very much involved in the the outdoors and uh the hunting industry, and at the same time, uh we we all are able to make lots of time to still be in the outdoors ourselves and enjoy it and hunt and fish and do what we love to do. And so we bring the camera along with us. And yeah, I mean on the business side of things, uh we we've done nothing but but grow um since day one and we've been pretty consistent with our, you know, whether it's our postings or our um just engaging with followers and and growing followers and uh all the numbers are great, but um I mean at the end of the day, uh we're just doing what we love to do and filming it while we go. And um, yeah, man, we've we've done nothing but grow since day one and we're we're continuing to do so. So um right now it's uh for lack of better words, side hustle. Um, but it's you know, it's work that doesn't feel like work, and um we're in the in the current stages of um making great relationships with various partners um and sponsorships and things like that. And um all that's doing for us is giving us uh some you know more freedom and flexibility with uh the type of hunts we can do and um all the all the more opportunities that we have to get outdoors and film and create the content that we're trying to push for the message that we have to share.
SPEAKER_03You talked about uh when you guys started this, uh there were so many hunts and so many experiences that you did not get on on camera that um are great memories, but they're they're just memories. Um so we talk a lot on this show about predator hunting, and uh, I've got a group of guys um we go frequently with varying stages of success calling predators in, but uh we all are running thermal and all have the capability to record, and so that's really been my first uh experience with with trying to record any experiences, some of which in my younger days probably don't need to record, you know. The statute of limitations. I've got a uh Dayton House house rules, we'll have a segment on the show later today. He um he he can't talk about all the stories from his his youth because the the statute of limitations has not yet run out. But point being though, uh now as I'm mature, more mature and and wiser, of course, uh I would, you know, that's that's something that really appeals to me. And you talk to older guys, especially who maybe uh don't want to carry around a rifle anymore, or maybe they don't want to, maybe the uh experience is more about bringing their son or grandson or granddaughter or whatever it may be. Um a lot of them start carrying a camera, uh a steel camera. Um and and they they that's another level of challenge is trying to get a great photo or some great video of that buck or turkey or whatever it may be. Um you know, in a former life I did some media production for some ag ag side of things uh for some nonprofits, and uh while I wasn't behind the camera much, I know that when you're dealing with people and it's kind of a can situation, you can get as many takes as you need. In the woods, pastures, lakes, rivers, you get one chance, or maybe not even one chance. Talk about how you guys approach whether that's a turkey hunt or uh uh you know, South Texas whitetail, or what do you guys do to prepare for that? I mean, you talk about maybe getting a follow-up shot if you're if you're if you're trying to shoot something, but you know, camera is just as challenging, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, it really is. In a lot of ways, um maybe more challenging even. Um say, uh, you know, you're doing a buddy system uh where you know maybe maybe you're you're in the timber chasing some turkeys and uh you know the shooter's up front and you're you're in the back with the camera. Maybe the shooter can shoot the bird and you know the bird comes in, he's behind a tree from the camera. And you know, do you do you let the shooter you know take the shot off camera or you you know hope the bird don't bust, wait till you have him on camera, you know, and call the shot. So there's different things that can make it more challenging, even um, but I would say communication's a huge thing between, you know, if if you're doing a buddy system, um it it's a huge thing uh communicating with the shooter, with the guy running the camera, um, to really create that quality content rather than just you know the willy-nilly no plan pop-up and shoot type thing. Maybe it's on camera, maybe it's not. Um we we really we're trying to get better and better at it every single year in every hunt, but um we're we're really trying to prioritize footage when we're out there um that at the same time won't take away from you know that living in the moment and and that memory of the hunt in real time.
SPEAKER_03That definitely is a challenge, uh, I'm sure. Now I got familiar with you guys through uh M6 Outfitters uh in central South Texas. They're uh great group of guys down there and uh they've they've partnered with y'all for um a few hunts. Walk me through what happens when uh when an outfitter contacts you and says, Hey Carson, we want to get some footage. What what taught me taught me through the process there?
SPEAKER_01So first and foremost, if you would have told me, you know, if if you would have told me even five years ago, say right before pretty much we started we started filming anything really at all, you know, somebody's gonna offer you, you know, white tail hunt, or more or less just want you to come hunt with them at their outfit or um you know, halfway across the country for me, I I would have laughed at you and said, Yeah, you know, that's you know, I wish, right? Right. But man, we don't take that for granted or take it lightly at all. And um I mean, you know, Gunner with M6, he he reached out and you know, we got in touch and um felt like a matchmade in heaven talking to him and everything. And um we're like, you know, how can we make this work for both of us? You know, he knows that we're in the business of you know filming hunts and producing, you know, you know, quality content. And um at the same time, uh, you know, how can we promote his outfit and his business and what he's doing? So um it was a dream collaboration and hunt. It was uh actually actually a hunt where I harvested my biggest white tail ever. Um so it was uh yeah, man, it was special. But uh yeah, we we got in the camp and um it was it was funny actually. First things first, um I'm shooting my rifle in and I of course we flew uh we flew Spirit Airlines there, which you know that that was my first mistake.
SPEAKER_03So did you have to co-pilot that flight? Or did they actually?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I felt like it felt like I should have. But and we get there and we got all of our luggage out, and he's like, Yeah, you know, let's shoot these guns in. And I said, Well, you know, absolutely, yes, need to do that after, you know, just being on the plane for however many hours. So we get the guns out, and I was like, you know, this is this is my trusty, you know, 30 aught six. I use, you know, hand me down for my dad. I've killed so many deer with it, so you know, let's get it shot in. And first one don't hit the paper, second one don't hit the paper, and I'm like, you know what? That's okay. That's why you bring a backup gun, right? You always bring a backup gun when you're traveling. So get out uh my dad's 7mm, and I'm like, yep, you know, this is why you bring the backup, it's gonna work. Second, second gun, first shot, don't hit the paper. So needless to say, we sit out, uh, we sit out the what should have been our first morning hunt. Uh, we sit out and we're shooting guns back in. So we get a shot back in. But anyways, it was just like, you know, that kind of sums up not the trip really, because it's smoothing way out, you know, after that. But uh it it just kind of sums up like in life and you know, when you're filming and everything else, like you're not always gonna have things go to plan and you're gonna have the curveballs thrown at you, but it's you know, it's how you handle it, and um we weren't gonna let you know missing our first hunt on a trip we've been waiting for for months bum us out, and we got shot back in and ended up killing a great deer with Gunner at M6. So, I mean it was it was a dream trip and um man, creating that relationship with Gunner and M6, um, you know, with myself and head outdoors, and you know, Micah was able to come and film it. I mean, it was it was really special.
SPEAKER_03Well, that sounds like just about every time I leave the house, something like that happens. So I'm glad to hear somebody else has some of those some of those issues. Yeah. I I'm always, you know, I ask a lot of people this now, uh, give me your best tips, and we're gonna go back to some other things, but give me your best tips for uh for hunting with a five-year-old boy.
SPEAKER_01A five-year-old boy, man.
SPEAKER_03I don't know, do you have kids?
SPEAKER_01I don't yet. I don't have any kids. So I I have filmed and hunted with some youth. Okay. Uh so let's say I would say for deer and for turkey, the the first things first, I would say you gotta put them in some sort of blind, whether it's uh like a tech pop-up blind, or maybe it's like a maybe you got a redneck, you know, shoot house style blind. Um something where, you know, they make them now, some of the really nice ones where the sound on the inside's enclosed, and you know, that that makes it for a really good experience for a five-year-old because they can be loud and they can open up the crackers or the Oreos, you know.
SPEAKER_03So I would say must-have snacks.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right? I would say an enclosed blind, um, the must-have snacks, and I would say a tripod for whatever it is, weapon that they have on them. Um crossbows are awesome, you know, depending on you know, time of year, situation, whatever. Crossbows are just awesome for youth, little to no recoil at all. They're quiet, not gonna ring their ears. Um, but man, just honestly, the the best thing I've learned about filming youth and and hunting with youth is like you just can't take it too seriously. And chances are you want it worse for them than they want for themselves. And there's nothing wrong with that. Um, because you know, it's it's how you introduce anything to anybody, right? Um, you you know, you don't you don't just toss them out in the water and and tell them how to swim, you know, you you dip their feet in first and let them splash around a little bit. So um it's it's all about how you introduce them to the outdoors. And I know it means so much to me, and I cherish, you know, each and every time I get to be out and and do this, you know, because I love it so much, and you know, we're so blessed with the resources we have that the last thing I would want to do is either push it on somebody maybe too early or come on too strong and you know ruin it for them. So um I would say uh a subtle introduction um will will pay off in the long run. And um, you know, the you know, the other thing you hear it with with athletes all the time, like um you know, maybe say say Michael George, for example, or say Derek Jeter, you know, with baseball, whoever, um, you know, they they would say, you know, before they had any children, they would they would say, uh, you know, well, you know, basically I'm not gonna force the sport, you know, on my offspring. Like they have to fall in love with it on their own, and I'm I'm totally there with it, you know. Uh you can't make them love it, and you know, there's no reason for that. Um, you know, I got introduced to it at a young age, but I I really fell in love with it. Um going with my dad and just learning, and um it was you know, it's it's something you're either gonna latch on to a little bit on your own, or you know, maybe it's not for you, and you know that's fine too.
SPEAKER_03You know, that's so true. And um as a as a dad of four, uh all four of which are interested in outdoor uh hunting or fishing or both, um man, when they do fall in love with it, hang on, because it's a lot of fun, it gets a lot more expensive, but um, but man, it is and you know it's been a it's been a um a learning process for me, just patience and letting go of um the necessity of being quiet. And you know, I've I've kind of had to catch myself even recently with my oldest, and we we like to hunt varmits, and he has really just gotten bit by the varmint bug. I mean, every day he wants to go out and call cats, and you know, like, ah man, we can't go. It's blowing the wind's blowing 40 miles an hour, like they're not gonna be out there. But um I've noticed just in the last year with him how when we have gone, we've gone more frequently. He's starting to get it on his own. He understands that why he has to be quiet, why he's got to be still. Uh because we want because we've had some success. We called some cats in, we called a bobcat in, and I didn't shoot it, I missed, and he was disappointed in me. It was a dad fail. Anyway, point being is that he's gotten a little taste of what it what it can be like, and so he's uh he's getting it on his own, which is great, you know, to see.
unknownSo awesome.
SPEAKER_03And of course, that you know parallels with like you know, our faith. And my wife and I talk about this all the time, is that we want uh obviously to to do our best to demonstrate our faith to our kids, but um we want them to to to take a hold of it on their own at some point as they come of age, as they understand, as they're able to understand. Um, you know, we want their faith to be uh owned wholly by them, not just well, this is mom and dad's faith, or this is mom and dad's interests or hobbies or you know, whatever. So there's a lot of lessons, you know, we talk a little bit off off air, a lot of lessons in uh when we're out outdoors, when we're hunting, we're fishing. I know I've I've talked to guys that say I feel the closest to God when I'm out hunting. And I when I first heard that I kind of raised an eyebrow like, well, that's you know, that's very superficial, but it's really truly not. I mean when you're out in in his creation, uh especially when it's quiet in the evening, in the morning, man, you've got time on your hands to think. There is that's some of the best meditation time for me, is uh whether I see animals or not, whether I'm successful with the hunt, that's huge, just spending time, quiet time with the Lord in his in his creation.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. One hundred percent. And I I know you've experienced the same, you know, with any type of critter, but it it also feels From time to time, I mean you'll you might really have this where, you know, say say that buck comes in just perfect, or maybe maybe that turkey struts and gobbles the whole way in, and you know, you you know, maybe you shoot it and you know you're excited about it and it kind of you know things slow back down then after and I you know lately I've been having the feeling like like man, I I don't even hardly feel worthy of the experience you know God just gave me out here. Like it's it's it feels bigger than yourself, and it's it's hard to put that into words, you know, without being out there and experiencing it, which is why we want to promote it like we do to you know go try it on your own. You know, don't don't take our word for it, you know, go go try it on your own.
SPEAKER_03Watch the video, but then go experience it for yourself.
SPEAKER_01100%.
SPEAKER_03You have uh a qu a scripture on your one of your Facebook pages recently. The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of his hands. That's Psalms 19.1. What uh I mean I I love that scripture because it it it kind of personifies a little bit of what you're saying in that moment, you know, feeling not worthy. Um and that that that feeling when you're out. Um I don't know, there there's times on on land I've been on my whole life, and and and there's there's things certain times things just hit right or or differently, and it's that that um that scripture just I mean it is made obviously and and clearly it's an eye-opening experience that we all need more of, you know, less screen time, more of those kind of moments in our life.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, absolutely agree.
SPEAKER_03And you guys do such a great job of bringing that home for people and um uh letting people experience that through your talents with video and the way you guys edit the the products. Um it makes every I I think it should make everybody want to get out and and try it and do it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So that's I keep yeah, keep doing what you guys are doing. That's that's uh that's so awesome. I want to talk before we before we leave, and I know that we're we are running out of time, but I I do want to talk briefly. Uh we're in full-blown turkey season all over, and you guys are um busy with turkey hunts, I know. And uh thanks again for working time in here in between hunts to visit with us. But I wondered if you might could give us a little sneak preview on uh your next turkey tip Tuesday. I know we're not on Tuesday yet, but uh you guys have been doing a cool uh cool kind of weekly thing and and giving some cool tips about turkey hunting. Can you give us a a sneak preview on a on a good tip?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I can. Um, you know, whether this airs, you know, soon or or whether you, you know, save it in the vault for a little bit, you know, a couple weeks here in advance. A big one that we're trying to um help people on this spring is not to give up in the late season. Um so so many times, uh, you know, it it gets later in the season. You know, here in Pennsylvania, we only have a four-week season, and until just this year you couldn't even hunt on Sundays. So, I mean, you're talking now, you know, you're down to 20 couple days that you can even hunt. Um, and you know, maybe it's you know, maybe it's you know the 22nd of May and you know you haven't killed a turkey yet. Uh it's easy to get down and get discouraged and you know stay home when it's you know maybe a little foggy or you know, maybe it's missing out or something. But trying to not let people give up on the late season and at the same time um give them any sort of tips or tactics that we have that can help them. But uh I think late season, late season turkey hunting is heavily slept on, and I think we gotta we gotta revive that a little bit and uh you'll kill more turkeys because of it.
SPEAKER_03Don't sleep on the late season. Good good thoughts, good advice. Carson, uh, as you look across the calendar, uh, you know, next six months, six, eight months through the end of the year, we get you know hard and heavy back into into into hunting season in the fall. What what's on the horizon for you and for head outdoors the next six, eight months?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so the next six, eight months, um, you know, say for the next really two, we have a lot down the pipe on the turkey front. Um so uh Micah was actually successful this morning in Wisconsin, um, put together some really good video from that hunt. Um we've already been to Florida, harvested an Osceola. Um we have uh Northeastern Swing coming up here where we're gonna go um even further to the northeast than where we are already here in PA. We're gonna go to Maine, um, potentially New York along the way, and then we're also planning on hitting Vermont. Um, and then uh we also are gonna do some more here in Wisconsin here in just a couple weeks, and then uh right around the middle of May, uh, we're gonna do our kind of yearly western swing. We're gonna do Washington and then Idaho out there. Um we're gonna turkey hunt out there a little bit. Um and then from there we got a bunch of deer stuff coming up. Um so you'll be seeing us back again with with uh M6 in Texas. Um Mike is gonna be on the gun this go around and I'll be on the camera. So super, super excited for that. Um September we're gonna have uh Kentucky Velvet again. Um I was successful last year for that hunt. Super, super awesome hunt and a good good time. Um and then yeah, we got um we got something that uh a lot of people don't know about yet, so this is this is getting really top secret, but um we're doing a nine-day hunt in Ohio this year, peak rut with a bow. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be stuff that people's never seen before, and you're gonna have to go to our socials to kind of see more about that. But keeping a little bit of that still under wraps, but you're gonna want to hear all about it when you see it.
SPEAKER_03Speaking of social, give everybody a location to go uh find you guys.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so head outdoors on Facebook, and then you'll do at Head Outdoors TV on Instagram and YouTube, and then we're underscore head outdoors on TikTok. Go follow us on all of those. Um, we post daily on everything, and we're doing a long form YouTube video every single week um from now for the rest of forever. So um Turkey Tip Tuesday, every Tuesday at 5 p.m. And then we're also doing um a hunt video every week as well. So keep up with us on there for sure. So much new stuff coming down the pipe.
SPEAKER_03You guys are busy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, we stay busy. We don't let much much grass grow under our feet, Nathan.
SPEAKER_03I'm already thinking about two things. We need to get you guys down here for uh like a 300 blackout uh running hog, run and gun hog hunt. And then uh we need to call a bobcat in in West Texas sometime soon. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, I think we can handle that. I think that'll be pretty fun.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, it would be fun. We'll have to try to coordinate that with uh with the hunt sometime soon. So Carson Hall, head outdoors. Uh man, thank you so much for your time. We'll be in touch soon. Uh again, we'll have you back on the show and and and stay up with you. But uh again, thanks for your time and and best of luck with the rest of Turkey season.
SPEAKER_01Man, it's been a pleasure. Nathan, thank you very much for having us. And God bless you, God bless the viewers, and we we appreciate it, man.
SPEAKER_03Stay tuned right here. Lone Star Trail will return after these messages. Whether you're looking to buy your next hunting property or have acreage to sell, you need Brian Clark and Ranch Pro Real Estate in your corner. Use the latest in technology to make listings easy for sellers to maximize value. In the market to buy that perfect ranch or hunting getaway. Call Ranch Pro Real Estate at 325-642-3630. That's Ranch Pro Real Estate at RanchPro Real Estate.com. The land is their life. We're back on the show with Calvin Wells. Calvin, thanks for being here, man. Yes, sir. You and I uh we hadn't known each other but a few years, but uh I feel like every conversation we have, uh more and more conversation we have, the deeper we get into the weeds on stuff. Yes, sir. You um and I forget who it was now that told me about your your calls, and we will we'll get into that a little bit, but you've been you've been a pretty effective uh varmant hunter, predator caller for a couple dozen years. All your life.
SPEAKER_05All my life. I that was one of my well, one of my youngest memories was dad we didn't have a lot of money growing up, but granddad had 200 acres leased there where the Havens unit sits now. And uh dad get a wild hair and go, hey, you want to go crit run? And it was old Wien's mouth call and uh what well the company's not even in business now, though Q Bean Barney Special. Yeah, and off we go. You know uh go no go ahead. We uh we'd make our own light mounts and all that stuff. This is golly, I I bet it was thirty thirty-five years ago at least.
SPEAKER_03Back back before everything got uh bougie.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we we didn't have quite the technology that has appeared in the last ten, fifteen years anyway. It's uh it's pretty nice now when you don't have to carry a backpack for the battery for your spotlight and you know trade off hands so you can have some feeling and still run a gun and something comes in.
SPEAKER_03Spotlights weighed like 15-20 pounds, seemed like it got heavier all the time.
SPEAKER_05Oh yeah, it they were designed after a cinder block.
SPEAKER_03And the cord was never long enough either.
SPEAKER_05Well, that was one of the first things back then. I I've still got one set up that way. We'd cut the cord off of one and take an old lamp cord or a used up extension cord and make that thing however long we wanted it to be if we wanted to run off a battery or run it through the beer window on a truck and plug in that way. Right. Then you had to roll it up, it was about like a welding lead time you got it done.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You know, I I was talking to somebody the other day about uh these e-collars. You know, everybody and their dog has a electronic collar now, and they're there's a hundred different kinds on the market. And I mean, Fox Pro, don't get me wrong, Fox Pro makes a good one.
SPEAKER_05Um Lucky Duck, a lot of people have success with that one, but even the what is it now, Hunter specialties used to be Johnny Stewart back in my day. And convergent, old Byron South's got a good one in that bullet.
SPEAKER_03Somebody else talking to the other day was talking about uh having a record. And they'd haul that record out there.
SPEAKER_05And I mean that you talk about one of those old machines sitting here about 15 feet over there in the closet. Yeah. It uh belonged to a friend of mine. I I don't have it's missing a couple of pieces, but we found it they own the Shaw TV there off of uh Austin. They were the last owners before it dissolved and they sold the building. And in some of their audio stuff, we found an old uh Johnny Stewart with the what size are those? It's the smaller smaller ones, yeah. It's about I'll probably about as big around as a folders can, you know.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's it's in a what reminds me of my mother's overnight case. Right. Well we still have the hardcase suitcases. Weighs a ton. Got about 500 yards worth of speaker wire tied to a speaker for it. Right. But they're I've never used it, but I've one of these days I'm gonna get wild hair and find parts for it.
SPEAKER_03Well, you need to call me whenever you find the parts and you get it up and running. I'd love to I'd love to try it out with you sometime because that you know, and that kind of plays into the point I was making is that these e-callers, um so much of it is there's so many variables when you get out in the field and you're trying to call something in, as we all know. But it does seem to degree, like coyotes, especially in our immediate area, uh, there's so much pressure now everywhere that they they're just cagier. They are tougher to call in. And I'll use the example of when I go further west, much further west, um, and I know areas that are not, there there's no hunting on them anywhere around for a couple of thousand acres, those coyotes, I use the same tactics and I have much better success. So I don't know if our density I I know our density is still here. I mean, we still have lots of coyotes around, but uh getting them called in is it it's taken some different tactics than it used to.
SPEAKER_05Well, and it's I I've noticed that in my lifetime. I've my dad, which he's the one that started me out with barmin hunting, prayer hunting, he learned over well, on the Mexico border out of uh Miranda City, Texas, down around Laredo, and he swears up and down in the 50s you could pretty well lip squeak one from my great granddad's backyard and get them to come up to the fence, they'd shoot him with 22.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Because they didn't know what people were, didn't know to be scared. Of course, if you kill the one that shows up, he doesn't go tell his buddies what happened.
SPEAKER_03Well, and that's another part of it too, is that I think as a group, as a whole, we're not putting we're not putting the coyotes that we get called in uh down enough. And and um we may be calling in areas where they're coming up and we're not seeing them.
SPEAKER_05Oh, for sure. I know in this country, especially of South Brownwood here, Brooksmith area where I am, there's places you can't see 50 yards. Oh yeah. The Kansas varmint hunters and the planes guys, they're gonna shoot 500. I'm I just like to see a hundred and use some more than a three-power scope. Right.
SPEAKER_03Right. Well, what about that brings up another question because I've and I haven't really got serious about it yet. I've done a little bit of experimenting, but what what luck have you had with the shotgun calling in close uh in brush or something like that, calling in close quarters?
SPEAKER_05For coats, I hadn't had a whole lot of luck with it, personally. Um now there was a time I was doing prairie control down in Mills County several years back, and this place was plum covered up with gray fox. He was losing a couple of three lands a day, and in the first six months to a year, we killed over 30 gray fox. On one stand, somewhere in there, I was by myself, always carried an ARN a pump shotgun back then, and uh five grays came in on one stand, and shotgun was the only way to go because things were moving way too fast, and I I got to where I I love shotgun and gray fox. That's that's fun to me, you know. Yeah, they're they they love to just barrel in there. Now I I have learned not to be sitting just right on the ground doing that by yourself. I uh I've called a couple up in my lap. Have you really? I I had one down here on the ranch nearly to the Colorado that uh he came in behind me, coming off a ridge up above me. Nathan, I thought it was a 300-pound hog barrel. I mean, it sounded like a herd of elephants coming through the cedar break. Uh-huh. And I I kept telling myself, no, you it it's just it's probably just a gray. You're playing that screaming gray, and that's the way they come in fast. You know, it it's just a little old 10, 15-pound gray fox. You don't have to turn around. And when I finally lost my nerve, when I turned, he screamed, I screamed, and I poked him right in the head with a Henry Youth model 22, and never even thought about pulling the trigger. I was just I was proud that I had not messed my drawers and or had a heart attack right then and there. And neither one of us really knew the other one was there until all of a sudden we were occupying the same five foot of space. And that's when I started carrying my Catahoula cross with me more. Right. She'd watch the back door.
SPEAKER_03Right, another set of eyes and a better nose. Yes, for sure. Well, was the so you if you had your back, then that's that wind was you were uh the fox had to wind you, right?
SPEAKER_05Well, I would have thought all I can figure is because it I was right at the base of a pretty steep uh incline and it was kind of getting to the cooler part of the day. So I'm I don't know, maybe the thermal climb had the wind where it were swirling and he couldn't get a nose full coming in that fast. Or maybe I just got lucky. I'll be honest, there I've been lucky more times over the years than good.
SPEAKER_03Well, and that's what I keep talking about on this show and others is that uh I think luck plays a huge part into it. Yeah, there's definitely some skill, you gotta be where they're at, but you know, there's there's a a huge component of that that's that's about luck.
SPEAKER_05Well, yeah, if if they're not hungry or they're not wanting to move. Yeah. I I've called coyotes in. I I guess the closest I killed a coyote was fifteen yards. Um had to lay down and shoot left-handed to get him killed. All you could see in the scope was fur. I just kept pulling until he quit moving. But it was 97 degrees. I just found a tank on Google Earth back in the day, and I walked back up in there and thought, you know what, it's hot, we're in the middle of a drought. Everything's gotta come to water. And sure enough, he came to water. Now I've hunted that same place umpteen times and never had a cow come in since.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05It it's odd. I think ours are a little more educated, partly because you've got smaller parcels of land versus out west, you you know I've I've trapped and stuffed some. I've gone to a lot of rendezvous. Them boys out west, their their trap lines run hundreds of miles sometimes, and they never leave that ranch.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Speaking of the rendezvous, are you headed up to uh children's this month?
SPEAKER_05I I will not make it this year. Usually my oldest daughter and I have made those rendezvous. We went to the one in Jakesville last fall. Back in the fall.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And uh always catch up with I've got a lot of old friends I met back in the Texas prairie pose days before Facebook when we were all on web forums. And uh we used to have a rendezvous down at Menard and a bunch of us kind of drifted over to the fur trapper association rendezvous just to have an excuse to get together.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_05Right. We're we're gonna be stuck at prom with my oldest that weekend, so gotcha. Her senior year I figure we better I better do the dad thing. Right.
SPEAKER_03I understand. I understand. Well, uh as it You know, we y you talk about those close encounters. Um What's been your experience trying to call hogs in? Have you re have you have you done much of that? I've been interested in that because of some accidental uh encounters I've had in the last few months, but I have given it a try a couple of years ago.
SPEAKER_05Um matter of fact, I've got a couple of good friends. He's a Brown County boy. Moved off and he and I have hunted together some. He's had some great success with calling hogs. He does I these days I think he's doing more hog hunting than predator hunting. But uh I've I've tried it. It it is a rush, I'll say that. The the one time I had Greek, I guess success would be the word for it, because I did call up two hogs. Uh we'd had an ice storm a couple of no three, maybe four years ago, I guess.
SPEAKER_03That was was that the big one in February of 21?
SPEAKER_05Uh yes, I think it was. Okay. And uh I I'm sitting here, can't go anywhere. And after a while, you're kind of getting stir crazy. Well, I'm I can't go hunt with buddies. I'll so I called a neighbor across the road and I said, hey, you mind if I go in your place? Yeah, be careful, them hogs are pretty horsey. They've been coming pretty close for some reason. You know, not too worried about it. All of them around here know my pickup anyway. I mean, it they've been shot at shot at from that truck in the pasture more times than probably any other vehicle around. So they usually they see that little truck and they cut and run. That was not the case. Uh I was standing out in the middle of probably a 25-30 acre pasture, and everything around me is just you know covered nice white. I was about 25-30 yards from the truck. Okay, I'll I'm gonna hit the call, just see what happens. I had a bolt-action rifle slung on my shoulder and a revolver for a sidearm. And all of a sudden it dawned on me that the sound of the pig squealing and grunting was not coming from the direction I thought it should be anymore. And that's about the time I saw a black and a blonde just clear the brush barreling right for me. And here I am, my poor little short-legged self. I wasn't going to outrun them if we didn't have ice, I sure wasn't gonna make it on thick ice. Right. So I I cranked off around in that blonde one. As soon as it caught pig in the scope, I just squeezed it off. Jacked another shell in, that made that one spin, the other one broke off. And since they changed directions, I went heading for the truck to grab a lever gun that I could handle faster, and uh never did see them again. They took off, but it was an adrenaline rush like nothing I've ever had. And I've been fighting fire for 22 years. Right. Yeah, okay, now I know what he means. These hogs are mad about something. And I I've been a little leery. I've tried a time or two, but I won't do it by myself anymore. Right. I'd just rather not get treed out there or have one roll me up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah, they can they can definitely tear you tear you up for sure. I want to I want to talk a little bit before we have to go uh this morning about the calls that you make. You um Tim Shane is the guy, I remember Tim. Tim was the one that that uh talked to me a little bit about your your calls. You've we talked to the first of the show about you um when we when we we started off the predator call and it was all mouth calls or some variation of those. Tell me a little bit about the about the call that you make.
SPEAKER_05The call I make is one that's there's there's other guys make them. I an old timer nearly 20 years ago showed me some. I kind of forgot about them for a while, and then a uh hunting buddy mentioned them again. I thought, you know, I can I could make those. I was working for Tim at the time there at Gringo Feeders, and uh of course, you know, product testing was great fun when you got two shop dogs, and you know, it's a deer feeder company, so everybody's game.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And uh we went down, I I made some up there, a 38 special casing, and what I figured out is you can take the replacement reeds for the squeaky toy that your dog has, and you can buy them on online in bulk, and I take that thing, it's a dual-directional and uh well 38 special casing. Just I had a bunch of them. Dad used to reload years ago and had a bunch of nickel-plated casings. Oh, well, that'll look kind of neat. Well, we got figuring out that you could change the pitch depending on if you used which end of that shell casing from the primer end or the slug end. You blew, you either had a something with no chamber after the reed, or you could have a little short chamber, and then I played with cow horn and stuff to make a you know amplifier horn. But uh the best thing I've found and Tim and I both we we carry one in our pocket deer hunting. Matter of fact, I've usually I've got one in my pocket any time, just because they're handy. But uh you can trill it, you know. If you if you've ever spent any time in South Texas, West Texas, there's a lot of Spanish speakers. When you roll your Rs, use that same technique when you're blowing through that call, and it'll change the cadence, which is one of the reasons I've always liked mouth call. Right. So much you can personalize it. Yeah, I've got a couple of dozen buddies that we we've had competitions against each other and stuff over the years, blowing mouth calls. Everybody I know, and I've had guys sit there with me trying to teach me how to make that noise. But I can't do it the way they do it, and vice versa. You know, those little 38 special calls we made, you know, I still make some. Pim carries them on a lot of those kid hunts for guides and whatnot. The uh the first time we handed them out to anybody, we were down there out of Insow on a ranch for a hog environment hunt that some guys had won there at the banquet, and we were down there guiding them kind of. Nathan, these were a bunch of boys out of Dallas that one of them that was the first time he picked up a rifle. Oh wow. And a couple of them had never been hunting. There were some others, but they were they'd been on more heavily guided hunts. You know, they they weren't real experienced, rather novice type. I just told them, you know, gave them quick basic, took about five minutes and showed them kind of what I did. I'm sitting in blind later that evening looking for pigs, and I get a message from Tim. He goes, somebody already killed something with your call. That gummy, I was really hoping it was going to be me that killed the first thing with it, you know. And lo and behold, I get back to camp that evening, and this old boy that's never hunted in his life just picked up a rifle five hours before we gave him the rundown. He'd shot a handgun, some shotgun, but he'd never picked up a hunting rifle of any kind. He was sitting there with that thing and got bored and was just chirping it, playing on his phone, and he said he'd probably been doing it five, ten minutes. And he looks up, and at about 15, 20 yards, there's this beautiful spotted South Texas bobcat.
SPEAKER_03Golly, he's ruining it.
SPEAKER_05I mean, just he might as well have been on a caliche yard. There wasn't a bug for at least a hundred yards around him where he's sitting. And he just he said, he just twitching there looking at me. I said, How long do you sit there and look at him? He said, I don't know, ten seconds? Now, oh crap, I've got a gun, I better shoot him. He said, Nobody's gonna believe me if I don't. And I'm like, Yeah, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that happened. Right. Ain't nobody exactly. But that that's when Tim he kind of goes, I you might ought to keep making those, buddy. Yeah. And so I I do I I make oh a couple or three dozen a year. And I I sell them different places, and uh then always send some with him when he starts running low for the guides and stuff for the hunts, because it's always neat to have a new toy in the deer stands, you know. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, one that will fit in your pocket, like you said. We're gonna I'm gonna get a uh video later of you with uh one of these calls and a couple of pictures we're gonna post it on our social media so people can see what we're talking about because you gotta see it uh in person. I've uh you showed me one time in the store, I think. You showed me uh what it is.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna say I have a TikTok reel of me demonstrating. Uh if I can't figure out how to send it to you, I'll get that 18-year-old and she can do it.
SPEAKER_03Okay. All right. Well, we'll uh we'll get it up on our social and so uh people can see it. And who knows, you might have a uh second second career launched. Uh people calling needing one of these. Never know. Never know. Calvin Wells. Uh we got lots more stories. We're gonna we're gonna touch back with you later on and uh and hear some more of uh the crazy encounters of the third kind with uh with Calvin Wells. But yeah, sir, I appreciate your time today and uh always great to visit with you, catch up, and uh we'll we'll do it again real soon.
SPEAKER_05Sounds good, Nathan. Y'all have a good one.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's all the time we have for this week's episode. Thanks for stopping by. Me and old Hank the Guardog will catch you next week at the same time, same place. If you can't join us on a local station, find the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find podcasts. Also, you can connect with us on Facebook and share your hunting and outdoor photos and stories with us at Lone Star Trail Radio at gmail.com. Until next time for all of us here at the show, so long.
unknownUm
