Surviving the Prison Walls and the Whitetail Woods With Robert Loper (New Jersey)

Some stories don’t start in the woods—they begin in the dark corners of a prison. Robert Loper, a retired correctional officer from South Jersey, opens up about the 20 years he spent working in a maximum-security facility, the mental battles that followed, and how bowhunting quite literally saved his life.

Now 51 and semi-retired, Rob splits time between Delaware and New Jersey, delivering paint by day and chasing public land bucks by season. He doesn’t chase inches—he chases purpose. In this episode, Rob talks about his gritty beginnings hunting over bait, why he walked away from it, and how saddle hunting turned him into a true student of deer behavior.

From PTSD to healing in quiet thickets and thorns, Rob shares how the woods became his church, his therapy, and his reason to keep going. He breaks down the personality of bucks, the mistakes hunters make entering woods too fast, and the misunderstood intelligence of does. There’s no fluff here—just real talk about life, loss, learning, and legacy.

Stick around for lessons on deer patterns, thoughts on New Jersey’s wild hunting regulations, and a few unexpected stories (including emus and milk-lipped deer). A powerful reminder: sometimes, it’s not about what you’re hunting—it’s about what’s hunting you.

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