Cold Sores, Lost Arrows, and Hunting Lessons With Corey Hillebo (Iowa)

He used to live for the rut and sunrise over a flooded cornfield. These days, he’s building a media brand, raising a family, and still keeping one foot in the woods. In this episode, Corey Hillebo of Slater, Iowa, opens up about the shift from hardcore hunting to real-life balance—why he stepped back from waterfowl, how bowhunting still calls his name, and how fatherhood and farming redefined what matters.

Corey shares how it all started: a .410 shotgun, mushroom hunts with his mom, and that first deer with a hand-me-down Hoyt. Then came college, camera crews, party hunts up in Decorah, and trailer-loads of decoys. He talks about the disease that is waterfowl hunting, the lessons from missing a chance at a 170-class buck, and how farming, podcasting, and sleep edged out the early mornings and long sits.

Now co-hosting the Farm4Profit podcast, Corey dives into how ag media needs a reality check—just like hunting media. Most folks ain’t living off hunting or farming; they’re scraping by, raising kids, and chasing a little peace in the chaos. And that’s where the good stories live.

Listen in for laughs, hard truths, and why he just might come out of retirement for a pintail in California.

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