On Tap Podcast
On Tap is the podcast that celebrates the heart and soul of blue-collar working class culture. We'll be hosting some amazing folks from the blue-collar world and beyond. Listen in as we chat with industry legends, unsung heroes, and experts in their fields. Their stories, experiences, and insights will inspire and entertain you. Comedy is our secret sauce. Kody & Sam have a knack for turning everyday work stories into side-splitting anecdotes. Prepare for laughter, hilarious work-related mishaps, and a good dose of humor to brighten your day. Whether you're clocking in for your shift or winding down after a hard day's work, "On Tap" is your go-to podcast for a dose of blue-collar pride, a taste of the finest brews, a good laugh, and a fresh take on the world's current events. Subscribe now and be part of the working-class revolution!
On Tap Podcast
Hunting & Fishing Videographer: Dale Mord
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From aspiring golf pro to seasoned filmmaker, Dale Mord takes us on his journey of unexpected career shifts and creative triumphs. Picture this: a chance encounter at a Montana golf course that led Dale from the green fairways to filming a hunting show.
Join us as Dale shares the highs and lows of his experiences behind the camera, including a failed TV show venture in Kenya, and a documentary film that was 3 years in the making that had unexpected setbacks. Dale opens up about the intricate challenges of filming in diverse environments and the often-overlooked lessons in data management and client expectations. His journey is a testament to the power of perseverance and the importance of staying true to one's creative vision, even when faced with setbacks.
Whether you're an aspiring videographer eager to learn the ropes or just someone who appreciates a remarkable story, Dale's advice on equipment and storytelling will inspire and educate. From mastering the art of self-filming during hunting trips to leveraging the capabilities of modern smartphones, this episode is packed with practical tips.
0:00 From Golf Pro to Videographer
6:24 Journey to Becoming a Videographer
10:46 Failed TV Show Venture in Kenya
15:26 Navigating Challenges in American Media
24:58 Mastering Self-Filming Hunts and Events
29:04 The Alaska Documentary Disaster
39:12 Epic Filmmaking Mishap
48:24 Lessons Learned in Filmmaking
54:09 Outdoor Videography Wisdom and Duck Hunting
1:01:08 Filming Tips and Camera Recommendations
Check out our sticker packs at OnTapWithTheBoiz.com
From Golf Pro to Videographer
Speaker 1Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the ONTAP podcast. Today we have a fellow videographer, a guy who's been through it all, the ringer himself, mr Dale Mord.
Speaker 2Love that.
Speaker 1Dale, we wanted to bring you on because obviously you and I have a lot in common. We do the exact same work, same career. You do a lot of traveling for video shoots and whatnot. You do a lot of hunting stuff, video shoots and whatnot. You do a lot of hunting stuff yeah, so is that what you primarily travel with?
Speaker 2I tried yeah, I do. A lot of the traveling is hunting related um hunting, fishing. But like I first started in the video business, um, I was in college, I went to uw stout um and I was in the golf program. So I went to school to be a golf pro. Because I was a terrible student, you got a golfy look. That's a good thing.
Speaker 3Hey, that's a good thing.
Speaker 1Like golf management or what was the actual degree? Yeah, golf management, okay.
Speaker 2Golf enterprise management, which is actually hilarious because after college I actually ended up working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Speaker 1So it was destined right. So so it was destined right.
Speaker 2So yeah, basically, stout has a thing where, if you're in the program, you have to do internships, and I couldn't stand being at home. I wanted to get away. I wanted to get as far away as I possibly could. So where did I go my first internship? As far west as I possibly could.
Speaker 1I lived a mile off 101 in Oregon. Really, yeah, were you working at a golf course?
Speaker 2yeah, the first golf course, yeah, waldport, oregon um, south of portland, about three hours right on 101 um. And then my second internship was in, uh, deer lodge, montana, which is south of missoula about an an hour, a place called Rock Creek Cattle Company. It was number one residential private club in the US. It was just a sick, sick course. I mean are you guys golfers?
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, okay.
Speaker 3Not serious enough to know about that course, though, to be honest with you, so, you're drinkers.
Speaker 1that like driving a car.
Speaker 2Sure sure hey you gotta have a designated car driver.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm still like an 18 handicap.
Speaker 2Sure, hey, that just means you play bogey golf, whatever. That's what it is, that's right. So just a badass place, right. So we're in the middle of the mountains. There's a river that runs through it Montana inside joke, because it's a fly fishing movie On property.
Speaker 2You could go hunting, you go fishing, trap shooting, golfing. Um and there on the property there was a guy named Zach Sexton. I didn't know who this guy was. It was like a week one of being there and I'm sitting in the pro shop and, uh or no, actually this time I was just driving around getting a little lay of the land and on the radio guy says hey, dale, come to the pro shop. I'm like sure. Well, this zach sexton guy was a guide, fly fishing guide on property. And he was running around like a madman saying does anyone on property know how to run a camera? And they're like, uh, dale does. Okay, I'm 20 years old, no, 21, I don't. I never really touched a professional camera at this point. I just knew that I liked to film, like gopro stuff, like film, snowboarding stuff, of course yeah right, I think that's how the majority of video guys get started in absolutely just like extreme sports usually like but I did like this, like in college I rode motorcycle quite a bit.
Speaker 2So I'd you know, I make all these stupid little videos and nothing professional. And so I show up at the pro shop and this guy's like hey, I'm Zach. And I'm like hey, zach, I'm Dale, nice to meet you. He goes what are you doing tomorrow? And I was like, uh, it's like my first day off, it's like nothing, that's my day off, first day off. What do you do?
Speaker 2here he's like okay, you know how to run a camera I'm like, yeah, he goes all right, you're hired. I'm like, hired for what? And he's like I'm the host of comcast sports northwest fly uh, fish whispering. I'm like it's a cable television show, the pacific northwest fly fishing show and I'm like, okay, I was like you know how to keep something in frame, press a button and maintain audio. And I'm like, yeah, he goes, perfect, that's all I need. I was like why? Because my camera guy quit and I need to film an episode tomorrow. And I was like, okay, I got paid $100 a day.
Speaker 1That's at 21, though that's probably like hell.
Speaker 2Yes, oh yeah, but I'm also at this place, where these guys it's like the members there at Rock Creek are like the 1%. These guys are flying in a G550, roll on out. They'll give you $100 to pick them up at an airport that's 15 minutes away. You're like damn, basically the enemy of John Dutton is what you're saying essentially. Yeah, I mean it is. It's like the, the as far as like montana gatekeeping, rich people from california nah this.
Speaker 2This shit was a hole in the boat already. I mean, this is, and this is back in 2013 or 2012, and so that day we went and filmed, I just loved it. I was in. I mean, I've I've probably fished, filmed, fished um on almost every major river in idaho, wyoming and montana so what from there?
Speaker 1then did you lose your ears? Like fuck this golf thing, like I'm gonna, I'm gonna just do this well I didn't really like.
Speaker 2That's the thing is. If you were to, like you know you think about like college dating profiles, like you would never say like dale, what do you like to do? Oh, I would do camera work, no that was never on my resume.
Speaker 2It was always I hunt fish, golf, that's it. And it wasn't until I went back. Well, let's say this uh, this, the second year I went back to. Well, let's say this uh, this, the second year. I went back to Rock Creek the next year, did the same thing with him. Um, we'll go back. I went back to college and when I got back I was just like you know, I don't want to be in the golf world. I wanted to be the guys that I was working for, like the guys I was, you know, giving lessons to or caddying or whatever we needed to do. There. Everyone wore like 10 hats because, like there, if you had a pulse, you you worked at that golf course, because nobody wanted to work there well, I think that's also just what happens in general, like if you have so much money coming in and there's no shortage of that yeah I mean, I would imagine just finding people is probably the biggest struggle oh, oh yeah.
Speaker 1Especially in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 2Middle of nowhere, and some people that lived in the town that we were in didn't even know that place existed.
Speaker 1It's like cattle ranch.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's insane, like 36,000 acres I digress. But so I went back to school and I was like you know what? I want? To make real money, I want to get in the business world, blah, blah, blah. And so then, of course, I figured out that that was even just as hard, because I ended up with a job at enterprise, rent a car, but like, but I, after I went, you know, finished college and I never really picked up a camera again. Um, never, it was never really a thing until I started working at enterprise and I was like this sucks, I don't want to work for somebody else. Um, but I picked up my first camera in 2015. I bought my first camera in 2015, which and I already had my name on a cable television show stupid, doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1Yeah, like a smart guy would have capitalized on that yes, and just kept it rolling, but of course not that bright yeah, well, that's, that's the beginning, moves that you don't pick up on until later on yeah it's like why did I not say god has to throw a rock at your head like four times sometimes, and then you're like, oh, I should do this yeah
Speaker 3serious, I can never learn anything the easy way like it's. Like I have to just get the shit kicked out of me to get the message yeah, some people just ain't blessed, and that's probably the three of us.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's funny because when you're looking at it from an internal perspective, like you, have no idea what to do, but if it was like an outside, you're telling your friend in the same scenario. It's so easy to be like you idiot, this is exactly how you do that.
Speaker 2You've already made money doing this. This is exactly what you need to do and get better and do you know, and progress um, number one biggest mistake in my life was not continuing that, but I didn't really know that until you know, 10 years later really, um, but then I bought my first camera.
Speaker 2it was a nikon d750, just the workhorse in the nikon line, but uh, started doing like some photo stuff, a little bit of of video. Started a YouTube channel with, um, my old college professor and a buddy of mine. Um, and, as you know, like everyone, if you're a videographer, you know everyone wants to start a YouTube channel.
Speaker 1A hundred percent. Everybody wants to be Peter McKinnon, basically.
Speaker 2Well, and, or they want to ride the train when somebody else is driving and building it. Yeah it, yeah. Yeah. Sorry, sam, I need to throw you under the bus like that. But so then this YouTube channel. I was working full-time, I had left enterprise, I started doing, um, I was doing like fraud, security software to banks and credit unions, making a bowl of money.
Speaker 2It was fun, um, and like, every night I would get home from work and I would have to because our thing was like on youtube, like you got to post, especially when you're starting off yeah we're doing three videos a week and they're like five minute edits that's insane yeah, and like I was going to bed, I was awake or I was going home and I wouldn't go to bed till like two in two in the morning and then get up for work and go to work again and just do it all over again for an entire year yeah I made 125 videos and I just started getting burnout bad and by the end of it I was like you know what I could if I just like made you know I'd make some more content and start selling this to companies or whatever.
Speaker 2I was like I can make a business doing this totally.
Speaker 1I think that's every video guy's thing like, once you get the camera yeah and you're like oh, I can make stuff on my own. You kind of have like a process down yeah that's everybody's mind like what if I could just do what I want to do and make money doing it? It's like it feels like a cheat code unlocked, but I think that's every single person that's taken a camera in their hand seriously, it's like I really like doing this. Everyone thinks like how can I make money off of this?
Speaker 2yeah, it's, there's like a there's. I'm sure there's a movie clip out there.
Speaker 1It's like man, we gotta figure out how to make money with this, I agree. What movie is?
Speaker 2someone needs to correct me on that. But, um, so, while, but while we were doing the youtube channel, um, we got approached. So my business, uh, my business professor had a connection with uh kenya. He had a consulting firm out there so he had some connections and one of his connections was um the governor of kusumu county kenya.
Speaker 1Uh, which is where in kenya somewhere I've never even heard of it.
Failed TV Show Venture in Kenya
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean. A lot of people don't even know where Kenya is on a map.
Speaker 3Yeah, I mean, if he would have told you the south end of Kenya, would that have meant anything different to you? I don't even know how big Kenya is. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1I could give you a rough idea. Do you even know what continent it? Look at a map and roughly put my finger where I think it would be. And I think I'd be within three countries for sure.
Speaker 2I mean on a map. They usually have names.
Speaker 1If it was blank, oh sure, if it was blank.
Speaker 2Well, let me give you hints.
Speaker 1East Africa Okay, I'm getting closer. I could probably put my finger maybe on an edge.
Speaker 2That's right. Well, so what the idea was? We had this concept of having this TV show because the governor of Kusuma County, peter Nyong'o, his daughter is Lapita Nyong'o. She's a, I would consider like a B-list celebrity actress. She played in Black Panther.
Speaker 1Oh damn.
Speaker 2Yeah, like Star Wars. Yeah, she's a big name and so he has this. I think it's a radio station, but he wanted to make a TV station, and so we thought it'd be a really cool idea to make a TV show by Americans about America for Africans.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Brilliant idea right.
Speaker 1Was it.
Speaker 2I don't know, I mean I thought it was great.
Speaker 1It sounds like it could work.
Speaker 2They loved it, they loved the idea, and so they're in the middle of building this um, this TV station, and so they're trying to get content. They're like, okay, so how do we fill this thing? Blah, blah, blah. So then we go into these contracts, uh want, like we priced everything out. Here's the pilot. We like filmed three pilots. Uh, only one of them got edited. Because when we were doing these contracts we're talking like we're gonna make like fifty thousand dollars an episode because it's gonna cost money. And well, I shouldn't say that it was like fifty thousand. I think we bid it out to like a hundred thousand an episode because we're like, oh, kenyan's got money, you know so at this time, is this like mind-blowing to you?
Speaker 3oh yeah, oh, this is I was like this is jumping from nothing to all in.
Speaker 2Now, all of a sudden like we're doing the math on it. We're like oh, we'll do. You know 20 episodes a year. We're getting paid. Like as actors we're getting paid 35 000 a piece because there's three of us and then because I'm gonna be ended up having to build the team to produce it, I was like I'm going to make 50 grand on that. So I'm like I'm sitting here thinking I want to make 75 grand or no. That math is off. But whatever, I was going to make like 50 grand an episode.
Speaker 2Let's just say for easy numbers because this is like five years ago, man, yeah way long ago. I've tried to forget it. Let's just put it that way this is the most embarrassing thing ever. As I go on, because I'm walking around, I'm telling people like, yeah, I'm going to be rich. You know, I'm working on this.
Speaker 3Oh dude, I feel for you already. I don't even know where this goes.
Speaker 2I got a six-figure sales job and I'm crushing it. As far as Americans are concerned, what hit me was I didn't think that this could go south. I was like we're in, they're building a TV station. They need content. We provide the content.
Speaker 1Easy.
Speaker 2Yeah, pilot. And so this show is called Exploring America and the idea is we just hit up every small town to big town, big cities, small cities, coast to coast, border to border, and we had all these ideas. We were just ripping around and I'm sitting here doing math in my head like I'm going to be rich dude, and then, when things just started, the can just kept getting kicked down the road and I'm still telling people about how rich I'm going to be and how awesome and my parents were so proud of me and it ended up falling through.
Speaker 1Never you shot three pilots, edited one and never actually did an episode of the show.
Speaker 2We did one episode of the show but it never aired. They never picked it up. Dang and we had contracts signed, so ultimately you never got paid yeah, and we just, and we knew we were never gonna get paid. Oh, most people they're like oh, don't trust the african government con artists. Well, I actually have a legit reason to say that. Most people just say that because of historical reasons so why?
Speaker 1why was that? Why did why did all this all of a sudden fall through then?
Navigating Challenges in American Media
Speaker 2Honestly, I couldn't even tell you, and that's what probably kills me the most is I don't even know why. I don't even know why. I don't know if it's like they're just lying to us the whole time or they just couldn't. But here's what I do know about Africa through this whole thing is to get something done, you have to pay gatekeepers. You're just bribing everyone. Yes, bribes are real. They're 100 real. To make money, you have to spend money, like to get your own paycheck. Like, let's say, you worked for the african 3m. Imagine that you would have to pay hr to cut you a check like. That's how wonky it is.
Speaker 2That's why africa will forever be a third world country that is insane to me, the general public in america who are like oh, save africa, you know, like the free water, like the free water, the water wells and stuff. They can't even drill them because they have to. The people who are drilling have to pay somebody to do something just to be there, you know that's funny that you say that, because I can't remember exactly where it was.
Speaker 3But, mr beast, I think it was jamaica. He built like 20 houses for for these people that really needed it. I think there was some flooding that came through and ruined their houses and like a week later, the whatever the terrorist group is that was in the area just took all the fucking houses from them, kicked, kicked them out and it's like what the fuck yeah, you're never going to get anything done there until you clean up the top.
Speaker 2You got to go top down and clean it up and it's so sad.
Speaker 3Well, and that's one of the problems. I mean, I don't mean to make this a war podcast, but one of the problems that they found too, is you take an African country, that's fucked and you kill the leader, and now it's even more fucked because then there's this power vacuum and it's every all these different organizations trying to take control, and it's fucking nuts man, yeah, five million people, but five of them get all the money.
Speaker 3Dude, I can you imagine if this show would have been picked up for a hundred episodes. You would probably be like the most famous american in 100 that's again.
Speaker 2All that stuff's running through our heads and we're like dude, we're gonna be, we're gonna visit kenya and we're gonna be like the mr beast of kenya. Can you imagine that?
Speaker 1yeah, good point. Yeah, like you're the guy especially on your who every show wants to be involved with yeah you're. Anyone thinks what you think. Youtube I mean mr beast is in the conversation. I don't care what genre it is. Yeah, exactly someone that's getting 200 million views per whatever they're putting out, they're gonna get brought up, yeah yeah, the problem is not everybody there has tvs oh, okay but doesn't matter, you know we're getting paid. As long as someone's paying to advertise, they're making money.
Speaker 2If they pay.
Speaker 1So you were saying you had a problem with the Kenyan government. Where does this fit into the?
Speaker 2whole show thing, the whole guy, the main guy was the governor. He was supposed to be putting this thing on.
Speaker 2And our liaison. I don't want to say this publicly, but he was a fucking weasel. I mean, it's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. And yeah, that was my first and as far as my and I wasn't even like full-time video I was still working at FIS at the time or my sales job and I was just like like I'm telling everybody at work, I'm like yeah, I'm not gonna work in here very long oh no, talk about your all-time backfires.
Speaker 3Oh, dude, I've on a very low level. We've thought we were gonna land specific guests and I'll like tell my friends, like, dude, we're having them on and when it drops it's like one of the most embarrassing things.
Speaker 2Oh yeah it is, and you know, like I feel like as time goes on in my life, like like there's video shoots that I've gotten hired for or gotten hired for, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna go do this, and then last minute they split and it's like I just told everybody I was gonna be doing this yeah so I I made a point to one not get excited. Two don't tell anybody until the check is in hand.
Speaker 1Seriously man.
Speaker 2And those are things you learn, I'm sure. Actually, one of my employees I was texting him about something earlier today One of my old employees they work for Rogue and he's like, hey, man, we're going to be telling our kids old war stories like this is our vietnam. And I'm like dude. I always say live in the dream, one nightmare at a time yeah, right, you know so it's uh, you learn those things and you know it's. Any small business owner or anyone that has a dream, prepare for it, it to be crushed, dude.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, multiple times.
Speaker 2definitely Because either someone's going to screw you over at some point down the line. Yeah, 100%, it's not just one person, it could be multiple, it could be an entire government.
Speaker 1So you say when you're in Kenya, everyone's having to pay off everyone. When you guys are shooting stuff, are you having to pay people just to use the location and things like that well, so the idea of the show.
Speaker 2So we didn't have to go there, because the show is about america oh okay, yeah, so you're filming, here yeah, about america and the idea of the whole thing stemmed from because, like scott was telling me about how kenyans all thought america border, border, coast to coast was seinfeld sure, like you know that, yeah, that was their perception, right so we want to change the perception of what america really was and, granted, you know, thinking back of like the whole, like youtube thing, we could have made that a youtube channel.
Speaker 1Yeah, but at that time that wasn't a thing. I was so pissed off. You weren't doing tv on youtube, right? That was not the format now you could totally do something like that?
Speaker 2yeah, for sure. Um, and I just I find it hilarious because I'm like, why didn't we run with that? I mean because youtube is like and I was telling my buddy, jake polk, this um, he owns a uh, a whitetail management company and he's like, dude, he goes, it's so disappointing seeing the views on youtube compared to tiktok. I'm like, yeah, it's completely different algorithm. He goes it's so disappointing seeing the views on youtube compared to tiktok. I'm like, yeah, it's completely different algorithm totally like it's different format.
Speaker 2I mean like the way people are engaging with each platform is completely different youtube is a lot like watering a plant it is a seed at first, but every video you're adding water right over time it grows and grows and grows. It's a slow process. It or tiktok. Like you can be tiktok famous overnight. It just takes one stupid video totally hawk to a girl yeah, hawk to a girl.
Speaker 1Yeah, honestly, um, I mean, um, I'm looking back to this podcast I listened to with marquez brownlee like really big tech youtuber I don't know if you guys know who no, fuck no anyways, he just, he reviews like new phones, new cameras, new, new cars, whatever.
Speaker 2So is the guy with the Tesla.
Speaker 1Yeah, his big thing is. He said he's glad that he never had one video blow up right away, because that would change his whole perception on how everything works.
Speaker 2Yeah, because now you're on a down. Yeah, and you're on a down slope too.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Now you got to come back up from expectation.
Speaker 1Yeah, exactly, you're never competing with yourself, you're just always making new stuff right versus having to think back. And we've definitely fallen in this trap before too, because we'll get uh, you know, an instagram video that'll get 30 million views, instagram real yeah and then right away we're thinking like, oh, we made it like this.
Speaker 1Is it now, all of a sudden, all these people are going to flood to the long form podcast? Nope, not even close. No, the conversion. It like the. The way people interact with short form stuff. They see it, they laugh, they like, they comment and then it's gone.
Speaker 2Yeah, they forget about it it's completely their mindset completely different, like and I and I would. I told my buddy, jake, this. I said that's why, if you want to grow your business on youtube it's funny, I say all this because I don't do this, because I have imposter syndrome is education. Why do we go on YouTube? Youtube University? We're trying to learn something.
Speaker 1Totally Well. They say everything that you watch falls into three buckets entertainment, information and education. And if it doesn't hit one of those three things education and if it doesn't hit one of those three things you're not going to watch it, nope. Or if it bounces between without you, you know you clicking on that video, assuming that it's going to be one of the three, and you get two of the three that could turn someone off and make you click away and click on a different video already. So like if you're making a video that's like how to change oil on a 05 f-150 yeah, you know. And then all of a sudden you start talking about mountain goat hunting or whatever it's like.
Speaker 1Okay, I'm out of this yeah, or you know, you're trying to watch a two-minute video that gets the point and he's trying to be fucking funny yeah, right like dude, come on, don't just need to know the worst is like the uh, like the blogging moms that do like the recipes you know if click on something on like a Facebook link or Reddit link and and it's like, okay, I just want to know how to make these jalapeno poppers. But it's like this whole life story. And then the jalapeno poppers. It's like I'm either going to fast forward to that ingredient list or, if I don't get it fast enough, I'm clicking out.
Speaker 2Yeah, I don't care.
Speaker 1It's like it's an expectation versus reality kind of situation. Correct, yeah, but again it's easier to see from the outside. Yeah, because I myself don't even take that, don't even take that advice.
Speaker 2It's funny. If we would take our advice, I bet you we'd be loaded.
Speaker 1Right, or at least have better videos. 100% 100%.
Speaker 3Yeah. So one thing I really want to get into is talk about you being the videographer for hunting and fishing. Have you been on like whitetail hunts where you're in the stand with them? Oh yeah, okay. So base question about as dumb as it gets. Sure, I have just always wondered what are you looking at for a setup in the tree? Because they always have the perfect angle, usually a little bit above, right next to the guy.
Mastering Self-Filming Hunts and Events
Speaker 2If you could explain that. Just I'm so curious. Yeah, I mean, if I was gonna start a youtube channel, how to film your own hunts. That would be a great series and my first tip would be hire me no, you don't have to.
Speaker 1I'm gonna give you all the information, but this is why you need to.
Speaker 2That's right I mean, I always say it's, you would think, a guy who hunts and fishes. I would film my own stuff. But it's just, it's impossible sometimes. Um, but what I do for, like, if someone's hiring me to do that, um, I'll run, like I have my sony fx3 body or my fx6 body with like a 70 to 200 mil lens, uh, on that and then I would clamp a gopro to like another limb across the, across the stand.
Speaker 2So let's say we're in like a v, somewhere you know, and or there's a neighboring tree, I would clamp the gopro and then I would hook the gopro up to a, um, to a, like a cord in a battery pack. So that thing lasts all day, or at least half a day, and I would just gaff, tape it to the tree or clamp it to a tree and I would run the gopro off my phone. Um, otherwise you don't want to run through all that footage. So, um, and then I have these dji mics that I lab them up. They're connected to my camera, so when, when a deer walks by, I'm like I'm already hitting record.
Speaker 2I'm hitting record on my phone to the GoPro and then I can put all that footage together. Yeah, that's kind of how I do it.
Speaker 1Yeah, you couldn't do that by yourself. No, there's no way.
Speaker 2That's why guys who are self-filming hunts, I give them all the props because I've tried to do it. I've filmed my own duck hunts and stuff. Yeah, I suck at self-filming but I'm getting better at it. But, like you know, what I've noticed too is like I can't do both. So many times I go on these fishing trips or hunting trips with my buddies and they're like dude, pick one. You can't do both, because I'm so into like the filming and I'm trying to like fumble around with cameras and trying to, you know, or I bring too much equipment. Like we went on a steelhead uh fishing trip, me and my buddies, and I brought a bunch of camera gear and half the time I didn't even like fish, half the time.
Speaker 1So I'm just too busy taking photos yeah, filming them, yeah, I mean, that's how it works. We, we do a couple events throughout the year golf tournaments, you know uh, parties, whatever and that's honestly my biggest problem. It's like I know exactly what I want this to look like and I can't just tell someone this is what I want you to film. So I'm filming, but that completely takes me out of whatever we're doing yeah, it's like not fun anymore. You're like a. You all of a sudden are a third person view of whatever you're doing.
Speaker 1Yeah, I couldn't imagine what that's like hunting. You're not the one shooting if you're the one recording.
Speaker 3Yeah, absolutely. And from Cody's perspective, he allows me to live in la-la land because we'll be doing the golf tournament and then I get to be the guy prancing in front of the camera. He's worried about the mics. I don't even know how to turn it on or adjust the volume.
Speaker 2Bless your heart. I wish I was you.
Speaker 3It's something like I didn't understand it for so long how much goes into everything we do, and I've just picked it up over time and it's like, holy fuck man, we'd be fucked if I was, if I was in charge of this right. We wouldn't even have. We wouldn't have made it through episode one it truly is.
Speaker 1Uh, ignorance is bliss kind of thing A hundred percent. Because had a little canon, rebel t3i and no microphone, no flash, I didn't even know that there was different lenses, like I just would only use the kit lens.
Speaker 1I'm just like in a still figured out ways to make it work, yeah, you know. But then now, like, having more equipment, it almost makes it, and it doesn't almost make, it does make it more difficult, because now I'm thinking like not only the camera settings, right right lens, right audio, right lighting, and it's like all these things you're thinking about at the same time, and if one gets fucked up, the whole thing is fucked up all of a sudden you have a banger clip but no audio yeah, well, you can't hear anything.
Speaker 2That sucks, true, and that's why they have on body audio. Like you can have a terrible video, but if you have good audio it's still salvageable yeah, totally but if you have bad audio and good video, see ya yeah, people are out.
Speaker 1Yeah, they're not. They're not. It gets worse, though it gets worse.
Speaker 2Uh, biggest project of my life okay, I got hired to do well, it's kind of a long story, but uh, my stepdad's a police officer, or was. He's a retired police officer, and so I got hired by one of my clients is hometown here outdoors. They're based out of Stillwater, they're a nonprofit for veterans and law enforcement and so they do hunting fishing trips. That's who sends me all over the country.
Speaker 1Yeah, they come hunt at my dad's place.
Speaker 2Yes, yeah, and that's where I filmed.
Speaker 1That's how we met.
Speaker 2That's right, not until a year later. But the and this is funny because, like I met him, I met Chris he's the president of HHO June of 2020. And it wasn't until I think I did a bunch of free videos for him just because, like, hey, if you like my stuff, you know we can continue. You know whatever? The first paid conversation we ever had was a video. He said, hey, do you want to film a duck hunt in Alaska? And I'm like duh sure.
Speaker 2I want to travel. I haven't really traveled much. Yet again, this is almost. This is almost five years ago, and I was okay, why are we going to alaska? He's like do you know who eric mattson is? I was like his name sounds so familiar. It was the officer from wasika, minnesota, that was shot in the head. He survived oh, that's right, oh jesus, yeah, and because he's a police officer, um backstory, my stepdad's best friend, you ever go up, uh, through forest lake. The officers silvera memorial highway yeah yeah.
Speaker 2So that was my stepdad's best friend and I remember because I was in eighth grade. He was hit on the side of the road, died on impact. He was doing a spike strip and um guy swerved and hit him on purpose, flew like 100 feet, oh my god done, and that wrecked our family, I and my stepdad's marine cop. You never really see emotion out of this guy, but I you know he was balling because he was his best friend.
Speaker 1I mean, you just imagine your best friend dying In that way, that's insane too, just brutal. Wow, I'll never forget it.
Speaker 2And so when Chris from HHO called me about this, I was like, yeah, sure, count me in, blah, blah, blah. I went home and I was like mom, I'm going to be filming Eric Mattson, officer Mattson, up in Alaska. She's like the cop from wasika. And I was like, yeah, she's like, oh, you know she goes. But do you know what, though? At least he's alive to tell his story I was like that's what a light bulb clicked on.
Speaker 2I called chris back. I said hey, I'm 100 in on this, but under one condition. He says what's? I said this needs to be a documentary. He's like what is a documentary?
Speaker 1You know what's the difference?
Speaker 2Yeah, and I'm like it's a really long video, but it'd be a lot of view, a lot of a lot of interviews, a lot of following them around, and it's like it's a long project because we weren't going to go to Alaska for like another year. So I was like, yeah, this is probably like a two-year project really. And so he's like so, yeah, I gave him a bid on it, totally underbid it, as you know how that goes 100%.
Speaker 1Also, it's tough with a passion project where it's like it's also, you're equipped to do it and you really want to do it. It fully aligns with your life.
Speaker 2I'm fully guilty of doing that. Oh yeah, wait, undervaluing, you just want to do it. Yeah, totally, it's more for the experience rather than anything. But documentaries now that I know are a ton of work and I will never do one again for less than six figures no way, not one that's feature length I can only imagine dude, because it's the editing process alone.
Speaker 2It's fucking insane, don't even get me started there, um, but so what happened? You know, fast forward, uh, a year. We're like getting ready to go to alaska. I've got, I've been following his family every month, um, spent a lot of time with them, getting to know them, and then this is like covid, like this is kind of like the end of COVID, right. Well, we're going to this island in Alaska, st Paul Island. It's like one of the last islands on the Aleutian chain and it's a reservation, and so they run by their own laws, their own rules. And they said they shut down the King Iter season or they shut down people coming to the island because of COVID and I'm sitting here going. Nah, they just don't want people on their island shooting their birds. And so it got kicked a year.
Speaker 2I'm like, oh my God, we have to wait a whole, nother year to go on this trip. So of course, I'm like trying to fill. You know, I'm trying to film some more, some more doctor visits and all this stuff. And so then, fast forwarding, we finally get to go. I had bought my FX6. I bought two FX3s.
Speaker 1And for people that don't know, these are nice cinema cameras.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's a Netflix grade cinema camera Like the. Fx6 body is six grand brand new. Fx3 is four grand brand new. Fx6 body is six grand brand new. Fx3 is four grand brand new. I mean I dumped probably like 30 grand in equipment in between saying yes to this project and finally going. I mean I'm in deep and we get on the. You know I'm fast forwarding this whole thing. People can watch the documentary if they want. It's a touching thing, but we get there and it's just beautiful and we're filming our freaking asses off. We're abc-ing what abc-ing is no in the camera world no
Speaker 2always be cameraing and we that those buttons were never turned off, we just rolled and rolled and rolled. I mean we got like terabytes of footage, tons and tons and tons of footage, like enough to kill a horse. We. So we hunted day one, or the first day we were there, we went on a grand tour of the island, super sick I mean, I was filming seal or uh yeah, like sea lions and seals, um, ducks on the water, just the sweetest stuff. And then, um we, day one, we went out hunting. It was brutal.
Speaker 2I mean I'm got a I got fifteen thousand dollars on my shoulder and it's the bering sea crashing to the side of the. You know, the boat there's like uh, salt water will destroy a camera in seconds, like because it rusts out yeah and they destroy like saltwater, and cameras do not mix and so I got like a bag over my camera and it's gnarly.
Speaker 1I'm like oh, my god that was a freaking.
Speaker 2So then day two happens, um, which was I'm not gonna spoil for anybody, but which was the best day, right. And then the third day, I got to hunt. It was my first time duck hunting and I shot like the number one duck in the north america. It was my first ducks I ever shot in my life. It's coolest, coolest thing ever. And, uh, we jump on the puddle. So we're about to leave. Jump on the, the jumper plane or whatever. It's like a three-hour flight to anchorage and we get to the hotel. We're partying, having a great old time. We're like, so excited we get home, back to Minnesota. All right, see you later. The next morning, my second shooter, jeff, one of my best friends. He calls me. He says Dale, I've been trying to build up the courage to call you with this, with this news, I'm like what? Like we just had the best time of our life. What he was, the hard drive crashed with everything on it everything on it like terabytes and terabytes of footage.
Speaker 1Yeah, from the entire trip, correct? Was this only the the actual trip itself?
Speaker 2or was this like everything, just the trip? Yeah, so I had backed up. I had like two 16 terabyte raid drives that I back like all my client work. It's like that stuff like the three years prior or two years prior I had everything backed up, uh. But yeah, all the alaska footage was gone and uh, you know, and you sit there and you think you're like you have one job, I and I was like okay. I was like okay because I just, I mean I hadn't been home for 24 hours yet.
Speaker 2So I he's like you need to go to your cameras because I have this like ocd thing, like I don't get really anxiety, but formatting memory cards is a huge anxiety, which is erasing the footage off your heart or off your camera memory cards. I go to my cameras. I have two slots in each. I have footage the last half of the trip still on my cameras. Oh, my god, I have day two, and that was the thing that jeff was calling me about. He's like you need to see if you have what we actually went there for on your cameras, because if we don't, we are royally, screwed royally, and I I'm just like all right, all right, all right, I'm looking, I'm like I'm on my FX six. I don't even pull it out of the thing to look at it on the computer. I don't even care, I'm just like rolling through. Like what do I have? If you were to put a gun to my head and say delete all the footage except for one shot, what?
Speaker 1what was that, what was that feeling like when you got that phone call. Did you just did?
Speaker 2your heart just sink yeah, I mean, I thought my heart went through my asshole now there's multiple things.
Speaker 1Obviously this is a big, big project, so this is like a big fumble biggest project of my life but on top of that, it's like if I don't complete this, I also don't get paid. Well, and I'm deep into this.
Speaker 2Yeah, I mean I got paid, but honestly, getting the paid part wasn't even my thing. I was in my head instantly. I was relaying like how disappointed would everybody be.
Speaker 1Because we were on the news.
Epic Filmmaking Mishap
Speaker 2We were hyping this thing up. This was on news. This was on national television.
Speaker 1And then for it to potentially never come out, that's probably.
Speaker 3That's probably the worst thing that could have happened to you, especially if you didn't have the footage in your cameras.
Speaker 2Oh, dude, if we didn't have the footage in the cameras, the documentary would have never been done. It would have never finished. Because what are you filming?
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 2You can't fake that. Yeah, in interview talking about what happened.
Speaker 1Oh, because everyone's gonna want to watch that, yeah, not only are you not using stock footage, they just don't have that stock footage.
Speaker 2That's just not a thing benelli made a really cool, and here's the thing that pisses me off. Well, there's a lot of things that piss me off about this whole scenario because it could have been avoided. Obviously, we all know back up a with two hard drives I mean, I've never had a hard drive crash in my life. Why did it have to happen on the biggest project of my life? Didn't have to happen, but it did. But the thing that bothered me the most was like yeah, what if I didn't have that? What would people say? I for an entire week.
Speaker 2So I didn't call the president of the organization until like a week later, Because you know, we're just decompressing yet, right. And so we were trying to figure out ways Like, okay, let's send the hard drive to an IT place that can maybe recover it. We waited four days for this place to finally respond to us and say we can't recover it. So that's when the next day, the Saturday following, so a week later, I was like crying myself to sleep every night I'm not even kidding Because I thought about quitting. I thought about selling all my stuff.
Speaker 1Why am I doing this, yeah?
Speaker 2like you're, you're supposed to be some professional yeah it's like rookie moves yeah, bro, stick to golf.
Speaker 2Yeah, this I couldn't do that, uh, the um, and I think when I called him and chris chris is a very pretty, even keeled person, like he doesn't really get a whole, I mean, unless you really piss him off, which is like anybody. But I called him, I said Chris, I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I said we lost all the footage from Alaska except for day two and day three, and he's like silence for like 30 seconds and I was like just doing it.
Speaker 1Yeah, and.
Speaker 2I'm just because he's processing this, because he just spent a ton of money. I mean, this is a hundred thousand dollar ordeal, like this whole thing, cause that trip is not expensive or not cheap. It's $10,000 a gun. It's $10,000 a guy, oh my a gun. Like it's ten thousand dollars a guy, oh my god.
Speaker 2And we've been prepping for this for three years and, um, I the last person I want to let down is eric. He's now like a really good friend of mine. Like you know, I invited my wedding, like we. I hunt with him still, I still take him out hunting and and the. It's just like you have one job, man, why couldn't you do it? But yeah, we used what we had and you know people still give us props. But I think what pisses me off the most is Benelli has a documentary doing that same thing, but not with a vet or not with a cop. You know the backstory. But it's like about Stul island and hunting king eiders. Um, they were like promoting the, the black, uh, super black, eagle three, and I know what we had. We could have had a way better documentary on the island, like the beauty shots we had just dude that's.
Speaker 1That makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about that.
Speaker 2What haunts me today is what could have been, Because every videographer they go through their whole career and it's like baseball you hit a couple singles. Every couple weeks you get a couple singles, you might hit a double. A big project comes along Money-wise, you hit a triple, but I haven't had that home run and I was like this is my home run totally and I robbed myself by not double backing up or having a good hard drive or whatever.
Speaker 1You know well. What a lot of people don't realize too is that, like, for every three seconds of footage, there's a hundred ways that you can edit it, and so when you add it up and have that much, let's say hours and hours, days worth of stuff, we're talking millions of different possibilities that you can portray this story yeah, and I think that's almost the hardest part of the whole thing is making the finished product after going through it, especially if it's different than the plan was originally.
Speaker 1And then on top of that, throwing a variable like losing half of the assets that you need to use. That would be insane, brutal.
Speaker 2I mean, I could not imagine, and just like the whole directing this thing, the story could have been filmed or said in so many different ways. In so many different ways. How do you put? We planned it, but things change and people don't come through, or whatever.
Speaker 1It's real life or you get the big moment. There's no reaction, right, that's almost worse.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Than not going according to plan. Right, you know.
Speaker 2But one thing I'll hang my hat on is I don't pat myself. I'll tell people I'm probably the worst videographer out there. I'm like I'm the worst photographer videographer out there. But the one thing I'll hang my hat on is that 99.9% of people who are in the profession that we're in can't say for one they can't say they have a feature length documentary.
Speaker 1No, and that's becoming less and less.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1It was already a small pool, but people just don't do that anymore.
Speaker 2Right, it's an hour and six minutes. You know how hard it is to keep someone's attention for an hour and six minutes Like it's a full-blown movie. But the second thing I'll hang my hat on is when we came to releasing the project this was a little over a year ago they were like hey, we want to rent out the owatonna movie theater and play it for the whole city like a bosica. We want to invite all these people and like play it. And I had to re-edit the entire thing to fit the screen. So I had to go to owatonna like three times to test it in the movie theater.
Speaker 3Oh, dude and but like.
Speaker 2But what was so cool was I had a film in a movie theater that people paid to see.
Speaker 1That's pretty crazy.
Speaker 3That's awesome, dude, that's pretty cool, honestly. Yeah.
Speaker 1One thing that I've learned doing freelance work recently it's like I've done a couple of TV commercial spots, sure. It's like I've done a couple of TV commercial spots, sure. And the way, even just the way that you would export a video like that versus a YouTube video is so drastically different that that was a massive learning curve for me. So people don't understand, like, where you're viewing this video, whether it be on TV, on a streaming platform, in a movie theater or on YouTube. It's all different versions of that same video. Whether or not the edit changes is whatever, up to whoever's making it, but it's totally different versions of the movie. I didn't even know what a DCP was.
Speaker 2It's a digital cinema package. I didn't even know what that was and you would go on YouTube as videographers. These guys that we follow on, like Dunna, these guys aren't teaching people how to make DCPs.
Speaker 1Because they're not.
Speaker 2Because they're not? Because they're not doing it? No, they're not making those.
Speaker 2But what I didn't realize was when the movie plays in a movie theater and it says this film was modified to fit this screen, yeah, they ain't shitting you. I mean, I re-edited an entire hour and look we just we're done with this edit. We're like oh, thank god, we're done with this nightmare project, because there's more things that happen on this island that were basically signed ndas that we cannot repeat. Um like for legal reasons and so like it was a nightmare being on that island, we could not wait to get off that thing.
Speaker 1Oh dude, I feel for you. This sounds like a frigging nightmare.
Speaker 2No, the whole thing, the whole thing Start to finish nightmare.
Speaker 1I have a similar story. It's not even close in magnitude, but I did a friend's wedding.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, Love those.
Speaker 1And this is the only time that I've ever had a hard drive crash. It was I was halfway through editing video and photos. Halfway through editing my hard drive crashes.
Speaker 2Sandisk yes, the orange one or no, it's a black with the red it has two terabyte yeah, yeah, was that exactly, yeah no, no, no, mine was a lacy rugged but these are known for crashing all the time I got and I did not know that I had a dozen after the fact I had found out, um, because there's a thousand youtube videos on how to try to recover what's on it.
Speaker 1Yeah, and I'm like oh shit this is the one. Don't get this specific hard drive um. Anyways, crash is halfway through and I granted I did it for free yeah but they did tip me a couple hundred bucks you know so I felt extremely guilty also, like this is one of the biggest days of their life oh my god, dude.
Lessons Learned in Filmmaking
Speaker 1Yeah, you can't reproduce that and it would almost have been easier if I was friends with the groom. But I'm friends with the bride who there's. It means a lot more to her than it does to him already, right off the bat, and I'd make a similar phone call yeah, dude, that's how.
Speaker 3That's what. How did you put that call? Did you dwell on it for a while or did you oh?
Speaker 1yeah, definitely. I spent at least two to three weeks trying to figure out a way to recover. I tried downloading programs on my own computer, taking it to camera people down in the cities camera guy in Lindstrom trying to figure out ways that I could get this back, and I just wasn't ever able to recover anything off of it. Could get this back and I just wasn't ever able to recover anything off of it. So you know, meanwhile she's messaging me every you know couple days like, hey, any update, any update. Oh yeah, she's freaking out, oh yeah, oh, I'm like, hey, uh, at this point I I was like there's nothing I can do about it. I'm obviously not okay with it, but there's nothing that I can do or say that will change this. So there was a little bit of peace in that that. I'm like you just have to tell it how it is.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1So that phone call was so hard to make, but it was like hey, I have half of everything and it's not like the first half, the last half completely random, like it was just random files that were destroyed. It wasn't there, was, I don't as far as I know, no rhyme or reason. It wasn't in order, it was nothing like that. So I have some of the getting ready, I have some of the ceremony, I have some of the afternoon shots. I have some of this, but I lost all of the family photos you know where, like the bride and groom take photos, like with the grandparents, with the bridesmaids, with the groomsmen, all those Completely gone. And luckily the majority of the photos with the bride and groom just together themselves and all the ceremony photos were for the most part all there.
Speaker 1So that was kind of like my saving grace. At least you had a little bit of something. But that, dude, that is my only experience. And now it's like any big projects. It's on two, three, four hard drives. Everything is constantly being backed up Auto saving, like all these things that you just learned.
Speaker 2That just really you just have to kind of experience some of these like fucked up moments to understand the weight of what's going on at any point, you could just lose it bet your sweet little ass if I go on another trip like that I'm bringing like some, like a lot of my projects, like if it happens it's like okay, whatever, just I'll refund, I'll refund you the money or reshoot it yeah whatever, or like, like in a couple weeks I'm gonna be going to um south dakota to film a snow goose hunt.
Speaker 2Like if I go there and I lose all the footage, like and I'm I'm saying this very lightheartedly like obviously it would suck, but if it happened I'd be like hey, dude, sorry, like here's your refund, um, better luck next time you know, but the uh.
Speaker 2But the reality of it is, you know there's nothing you can do right and uh, you just know now, like I know now that like, if it's a big project that I know I can't reshoot, or I know like it's, it's gonna like cause a major issue, then yeah, it needs to be on two hard drives. No ifs, ands or buts. No ifs, ands or buts. No ifs, ands or buts.
Speaker 1Yeah, 100%. Yeah, other than, obviously, the whole storage situation and figuring out that some hard drives just aren't reliable. Right, what are some of the things throughout your time that you've just learned through experiences like that? Is there anything as far as equipment or the way that you do things, the way that you shoot a project? Like what are some of the things that are crossing your mind?
Speaker 2that's like this is a must um, like storytelling in any project is always like you think, like, okay, how, being very intentional with your shots, uh, wides, mediums, tights, you know, trying to get in close, I I mean, I don't know, I've learned so much. It's kind of a loaded question. But, like you know, the realistic, like the real thing is like how do I save my ass? Like how do I save in the end? Like how do I save my ass without getting? How do I not get fired? Right, like you know, backing up hard drives. But like I think, to answer the question, there really isn't, really isn't one thing that I can say that needs to happen other than backing your stuff up. I mean realistically.
Speaker 3Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there, but I was just curious. Do you especially when it comes to the outdoor videos, where you know the reshoots are basically impossible? Do you ever have problems with with different clients where they just like don't like the video and it's like dude, I don't know what the fuck to tell you, man. I've re-edited it six times yeah, cody's dad actually and he knows he's got a little camera boy.
Speaker 2Yeah that's right. Yeah, he's a blessed man, you know. No, um, yeah, I've had that. Um, I'm trying to think of when that happened or when that could have happened. Actually, no, I did have a pretty big client. I did a bunch of construction stuff for them and they paid a boatload of money. I was there for an entire week and there's like six different edits and they just kind of like not impressed. That's got to hurt. Yeah, it does hurt.
Speaker 3Especially because I see it with Cody sometimes, where he's working on a project that he's really happy about it's, it's cool, cool project and they're like, ah, this just isn't isn't working for us, and then it kind of ruins the moment. Yeah, it's like I wish I didn't even take the fucking job now right?
Speaker 2well, one of the big things is like expectations, like sometimes, like some people, they don't know what they really want, so they're hoping for you to just nail it and read their mind.
Speaker 3But like the dreamers, you know, yeah, oh yeah. I deal with this on the masonry side all the time, where they're like I want this crazy concrete patio, and then you give them the bid and they're like Jesus Christ man.
Speaker 2What the fuck? Don't want that anymore, christ man, what the fuck? Just kidding that's like my.
Speaker 3Well, thanks for your time, but yeah, we're not doing that.
Speaker 2Right, like I have those ducks from Alaska. I shot six of them and they've been at the taxidermist for over two years now. But I know like what. And this guy's like slow. I mean he's supposedly the best, he won best in the world three times and and I had this like idea and I've told like a bunch of like other duck hunters like what I want to do, and they're like, dude, that's a ten thousand dollar amount and I'm like, uh, okay, but like this is what I want. Like I owe it to this trip. I got paid to go on this trip. These are the first ducks I ever shot. Like this is what I want, but I know like when it comes time to like the tax returns to give me that bid, oh boy, I'm not gonna like it maybe you want some videos, yeah, right, yeah, would you want to trade off, like maybe 100 videos for this thing?
Speaker 2but yeah, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm excited for that, but yeah, I'm, I'm gonna be really disappointed that I'm not gonna get what I wanted, because my expectation was set in my head. I'm like this is what I want, but I know when it comes down to paying the bill I'm like I can't do it.
Speaker 3He's gonna say it looks like that's not what you're getting, because that's what, like a logical person would say right dude I I'm glad you brought up the taxidermist taking a while, because that's a gripe that I've had for a long time and that I don't understand and a lot of it's ignorance. But like, why the fuck does everybody have to wait a year plus for anything? Like how, how does what am I missing on this process? Like, is it a side gig for all the taxidermists?
Speaker 2like what is going on. I mean you gotta think there's the two types. I mean there's the types of people that go in a taxidermy. Are the same types of people who work at, like, a morgue?
Speaker 1that's a great point our funeral home well, that is one thing that I've noticed. I've met a lot of guys in taxidermy.
Speaker 2They're wild.
Speaker 1A lot of them. I mean, I'm just gonna say it they're, they're just weird. Yeah, there's just something off. They deal with dead shit every day or or often.
Speaker 2I mean how often?
Speaker 1oh, I didn't just numb to it. What if they're pretty little bird? What if?
Speaker 2they're kissing them oh, that's awesome yeah, there's like I'm not gonna go.
Speaker 1He keeps the taxidermist the people that he taxidermied right in the back room the only way that I could ever get into taxidermy myself is doing like the funny mounts oh yeah squirrels riding alligators and shit like that dude.
Speaker 2I got a picture of a guy who mounted a coot and he had a bunch of bands on it, like gold chain.
Speaker 3I'm like, yeah, baby I got it, I, when I was in high school. Me and my buddies were just tooling out and he had a a little pond at his house. We were tooling in the canoe and and we we saw a coot and we fucking just blasted the fucker row up to it. We didn't know what it was and we see this weird looking bird and if you've never shot a coot you wouldn't understand. But we were like oh my god, is this a baby loon?
Speaker 1and we were if you didn't know what they look like. Also, they they fly weird, like they don't really get out of the water.
Speaker 3Yeah, and we brought it we brought it back to his stepdad and he's like you dumb motherfuckers, that's a coot.
Speaker 1And then he's like you're eating that thing gross like they're gross poop green legs on them like they just look gross.
Speaker 2Yeah, they're nasty, they're mud ducks, boy yeah they got like claws.
Speaker 2Yeah, never shot one again, that's for sure so one of the first hunts I did with mattson. So like, uh, before his shooting, he I don't know what called the shooting his incident, um, because it definitely wasn't an accident that he I don't know what to call the shooting he is that his incident Um, cause it definitely wasn't an accident. That's why you don't do drugs, kids. Uh, the um, watch the documentary, you'll understand. But, uh, he bought this boat, um, and it was just like a 14 foot 48 inch John boat and uh, I'm like trying to like figure out how to get him hunting. And he's like, oh, we could just use my boat. And I'm like, you're what, you've had a boat this entire time. And I just I I had just gotten into duck hunting because of the documentary and knowing him, so I didn't know nothing, I never even owned a boat before and so I like got it pimped out, like God bless all the the companies and sponsors we had to help him pimp this boat out.
Speaker 2So this year was the main voyage. Like, we finished this boat over the summer and he went, uh, we went hunting an opening weekend and uh, well, he was shot in the head, mind you Right. So like you can't really see out of his left eye and, uh, I see all these birds come in and it's like opening morning first light. And I'm like, dude, what are they? He's like because I don't know, jack right. He's like, oh, they're teal, 100% teal, and they're coming in by the hundreds and I'm like, oh, my God, this is going to be insane. I'm like, all right, boy, you call it saying I'm like all right, boy you call it.
Speaker 2He's like all right, let's kill him. We just light them all up. These things start scooting away. I was like eric, those are coots he's like man he goes. We got him though I was like dude. They're coots. He's like you.
Speaker 1Had fun, though, right and I was like there's a reason why there's no limit on them. In certain places it's like 20, yeah, there's 20.
Speaker 2It's an insane amount, you know 20 what I don't even want one yeah, no, yes, we busted them out, man, they make some good dog treats.
Speaker 3I'll tell you what dogs love them coots definitely not worth breasting up and throwing on the girl, that's, they stink.
Speaker 1They stink too, they smell weird yeah I'm an outdoorsman through and through, boy.
Speaker 2I, if I shoot it, I'm gonna eat it. Well, at least somebody's gonna eat it, and it's my dogs.
Speaker 1So yeah, that's who's kind of like you're using it.
Speaker 3You're using it right that's one thing I think about getting older is I used to think I tried to convince myself like I like goose, yeah, I like to just grill it, pan fried, I like it. And I was like this shit fucking sucks.
Speaker 2I'm not gonna pretend you gotta do it the right way. That's the key. You gotta smoke it. I, I had some goose I smoked and it was.
Speaker 1It was bomb you got some powerful lungs. I ain't smoking nothing out of that thing I. I saw this uh goose recipe on um, I think it was instagram. It was like the best way to cook a goose is you wrap it in bacon, smother it with barbecue sauce, throw it on the grill for three hours and then you throw away the goose and eat the bacon.
Speaker 3Yeah, that's right, throw it in the trash, that's right, I mean, I'll never shit on goose jerky, though that's something.
Speaker 2Yeah, my buddy Trav made some good goose jerky, but it was, like you know, straight salt.
Speaker 1And that's what makes it good.
Speaker 2Yeah, my lips are like the kardashian you need to chase it with a gallon of water. Yeah, that is the best goose that I've ever had. Is very salty yeah, and iv.
Speaker 1You need iv after you're 100. Yeah, you're getting dehydrated for sure. Well, dale dude, thank you for coming on. Is there any last words of wisdom for kids that want to get into specifically outdoor videography stuff? Any outdoor recreation videography stuff, any outdoor recreation videography, photography, anything like that? Drop us a little knowledge bomb here before we end this thing.
Speaker 2Sure, don't buy everything that everyone tells you to buy, because you could go so overboard, and then you're going to have a room full of stuff that you're not going to even use.
Speaker 1That you don't know how to work also. That too, yeah.
Speaker 2Master the thing that's in your hand, and if it's just your phone, you need to zoom in. Go buy a mag view. Go buy something that you can attach to a spotting scope. Just use your phone. The power of your phone these days is sometimes better than some of the smaller DSLRs or the mirrorless cameras, like it's so much multifaceted. Your phone can really save you. So don't go buy all the equipment. Get a decent microphone and if you are upgrading to an actual camera, go Sony. The low light Kings baby, absolutely. And yeah, just have fun with it. Don't, don't set yourself expectations. Um, you're not going to shoot everything every time you have a camera out. It's, it's a grind, so prepare for it that's fucking good man, it's really good.
Speaker 1I wish I would have heard that before I bought anything, me too but hey, like we said, you gotta live through it to learn gotta learn yeah, not to get kicked in the dick.
Speaker 2This is our version of the Vietnam stories, because there's no Vietnam for us.
Speaker 1A lot less hard-o.
Speaker 3Mitch going to lineman school. Man, All right, Well.
Speaker 1Dale, thank you for coming on.
Speaker 3Thanks guys, we appreciate it.
Speaker 1Thanks for the beers.
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