Guiding Tales: From Rookie Hunter To Professional Guide

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Tony Steeves takes us behind the curtain of professional hunting guiding, revealing the deeply personal side of helping others experience the thrill of the hunt. Growing up in rural New Brunswick where hunting wasn't just a sport but a way of life, Tony shares how his childhood days of following his father on trap lines evolved into a passion for guiding that complements his day job as a truck driver.

What makes Tony's perspective particularly valuable is his insight into the emotional component of guiding. He eloquently describes the satisfaction of watching clients experience their first bear sighting or successful harvest, comparing it to the joy of watching a friend succeed. "To watch him go from questioning what he did to the instant extreme smile on his face - that's what the guiding's all about," he explains, highlighting how the true reward often comes from witnessing others' experiences rather than personal achievement.

Working with Long Lake Adventures on 800,000 acres of private timberland, Tony guides primarily for black bear and moose hunts. He offers fascinating details about bear behavior, calling them "ghosts of the woods" for their ability to appear silently despite their size. His stories range from clients forgetting ammunition to his experience guiding for the television show Canada in the Rough, where his emotional reaction to a successful moose hunt reveals the depth of his connection to the craft.

Perhaps most illuminating is Tony's discussion of his recent experience as a client himself during a Newfoundland moose hunt. This role reversal taught him new field dressing techniques and gave him fresh appreciation for the client experience - knowledge he'll bring back to his own guiding. Throughout our conversation, Tony advocates passionately for stronger guide licensing standards and the importance of hunting organizations that preserve outdoor traditions for future generations.

For anyone considering a guided hunt or curious about the human side of professional guiding, this conversation offers rare insight into what separates merely competent guides from those who create truly transformative wilderness experiences.

Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
this is hunts on outfitting podcast.
I'm your host and rookie guide,ken meyer.
I love everything hunting, theoutdoors and all things
associated with it, from storiesto how-tos.
You'll find it here.
Welcome to the podcast.

(00:32):
Over the past year and more onthis podcast we have had guests
on that have talked abouthunting adventures.
On Guided Hunts.
We learn about the outfitter,the guides and the experience
they had exploring a new place.
Well, on this week's episode weswitch things up a bit and get
the guide side.
Tony Steeves, a passionatehunter and general outdoorsman
from New Brunswick, canada,tells us how he took his
excitement and appreciation forhunting by himself and then used

(00:54):
that same dedication andenthusiasm into helping other
hunters achieve their harvestgoals and share great outdoor
experiences.
We go over his start in guidingwhat he guides for and how he
got to guide for a TV huntingshow on a moose hunt.
Being able to represent theoutfitter he works for and help

(01:16):
hunters have the best experiencepossible means a lot to Tony,
as you will hear, and so muchmore.
If you want to reach out to us,you can facebook hunts on
outfitting or email hunts onoutfitting at gmailcom.
Also, if you get a chance toleave a rating review on spotify
or apple.
We appreciate it.

(01:36):
It helps a lot.
So, tony uh, from one truckdriver to another, it's great to
have you on, it's nice to talkto you know, a nice, intelligent
uh person in the uh, bluecollar working world.
No, um, but you are a truckdriver, yes, sir, and but not
only that.
You're on here because you area hunting guide as well.
The truck driving pays thebills.
The hunting guide is the passionand I can understand that, uh,

(01:59):
but, tony, before we get intoyou know the guide side of it
and all that.
Who, uh, uh, who is Tony Steves?
Um, tony.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
Steves, born and raised in Elbert County, lower
Coverdale, Hillsborough area.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
New Brunswick.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yeah, new Brunswick.
Uh, wife and I moved to WheatonSettlement, salisbury, area,
2006.
Uh, made a lot of great friends, got in.
Uh, hunted my whole life withmy dad.
Started out when I was a kid,with my dad, so that's who got
you started.
Yeah, I started.
He used to run trap lines anddeer hunt and, yeah, from six

(02:34):
years old on it was followingalong, making noise and getting
your.
You know the typical your dadlooking back at you like you
just stepped on that branch.
What'd you do that for?
Type deal.
And as soon as I was 14 couldcarry a gun of my own, yeah, I'd
get off the bus and grab a .22and go till dark.
And those were the days when Icould be two miles from home
through the woods and then walkup the side of the Hillsborough

(02:55):
114.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
With a .22 over your shoulder Right alongside and
nobody called the police.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
And you walk back in the yard and then, and then it's
just stemmed from, it's justkept going from there.
It's kind of a it's a passionslash hobby that takes ahold of
you.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
It's like trucking.
Yeah, yeah, uh, I like it.
I wouldn't say I'm passionateabout it but.
I don't hate it.
Um, it just pays for my hobbiesit does, yeah, uh.
So I mean, so that's you getyou started.
So it was your dad.
Your dad got you into the doorsand all that.

Speaker 3 (03:28):
My dad was, there was always half a dozen guns hung
on the wall when we were kidsand you knew that, like you
didn't need a case, you didn'tneed a lock, you didn't need
these, were there, they are.
You don't touch them unlessyou're told to.
Yeah, and yeah.
You just born and raised,brought up in the in the era of
it Right, and his friends werehunters and it was the community
.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, yeah, you just kind of got hooked into it?

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, absolutely, it was the thing.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
So I mean, and then you know, so we're just going to
get right into it with theguiding.
So you know the guides thathave had different people on
here, like I mean, you're on theother end of that where you're
working with the outfitter,employed by them as a guide, but
I got to ask what got you?
Because you do it quite a bit.
Yep, you know, you take timeoff work and go up and do it.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
It was five weeks last year.
Yeah, that's a lot.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
So I mean, what got you from?
You know what?
What was the change?

Speaker 3 (04:25):
So it initially started for me.
You always hunted with yourfriends, and when you seen the
excitement of a friendharvesting something, it didn't
matter to me then whether it wasme or them, like whether we
were out partridge hunting or wewere rabbit hunting or we were
deer hunting yeah, If your buddygot something, it was just as

(04:46):
exciting.
Right, and I was a stage in mylife where I was like you know
what I want to make a livingdoing this?
How can I do it?
And I'm fortunate enough that Ihave family in British Columbia
that run an outfitting business.
Okay, so I contacted them and Iwas going to.
I was like you know what I wantto be a hunting guide?
And so contacted my cousin'shusband.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
You can come out, you start out.
You know you're going to behere for two months.
You have to be in it's NorthernBC, smithers, smithers, british
Columbia.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
So you're going to be here for two months.
You're going to be how oldwould you?

Speaker 3 (05:21):
be?
This would have been probablyso.
I'm 48 right now.
That would probably say 10years ago.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
Oh, okay.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, and it's going to be.
We're going to give this a try,so it was A it was.
I want to be able to experiencewhat I did with my friends, but
I want to be able to do it alot more.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
Is where the guide side of it.

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
So I initially was like this is what I'm going to
do.
And then I talked to my wife.
I was like I'm going to be outwest for two months doing this
stuff.
I'm not really sure.
And I was very fortunate enoughthat my friend, my wife, best
friends with Clay and TanyaHarrison of Long Lake
Adventures- that's up in, wouldyou say Northern, Northwestern
New Brunswick?

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Northern Brunswick.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Northwestern, I call it Yep.
So which I became friends withhim Yep.
So I call him because he's mygo-to guy.
I was like, listen, here's anopportunity that I have.
I drive truck all the time, butI love hunting, I love
experiencing of helping somebody.
I might go give this world.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
He's like, before you take off out there for two
months why don't you get settledin and come up here and try it
six hours away.
Three, three, three, yeah,three or six hours back to home
yeah instead of a plane ride.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
He's like why don't you come up here, try it and a
little less risk been hookedever since.
Yeah I never went west.
Yeah, kind of I'd always stillwould like to go west, but I've
never went west and just beenokay, I was curious how you?
that's how it all started andthen once that was, I forget the
year, which I'm terrible, for Iguided.
My first actual hunt was a fallbear hunt.

(06:50):
A gentleman from Connecticut,yeah, yeah and yeah.
The third day of the guidedhunt he harvested a bear and it
was like I was hooked.
It's like yeah.
To seek to experience hisenthusiasm.

(07:12):
You know it was a, it was agood black bear and it and we
had to do some tracking and Iwas like okay, yeah.
And that was a fall hunt so andit was after moose season.
So then you're you're done forthe year.
Uh, we have moose season, thenwe did the bear hunt, and then I
come back home and deer huntedand then it's like okay, I want
to come up in the spring, likehow do we, how do we make this
work?

Speaker 1 (07:28):
So Cause, yeah, we're .
We're fortunate enough here inNew Brunswick that we not a lot
of places do we have a springbear season Absolutely In a lot
of places.
You're right, I that you know.
Doesn't everyone have a springbear season, but not.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
No.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
Many at all.
No, we're lucky enough that wedo yeah.

Speaker 3 (07:45):
It's, and it's a plus .
Yeah, it's a and it's a bigthing for New Brunswick.
It helps the guides, yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
You know the outfitters.
It helps the guides.
It helps the outfitters.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
It keeps, and if you do it like I spent so many hours
looking after myself.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
And then you can go to an outfitter and do the same
job, like I mean let's, let's bereal.
Harvesting an animal yourselfis fun.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:17):
And it never goes away.
The passion never goes away,but when you can take that
person like my client my firstclient this year had never
hunted black bears before in hislife.
He's a Connecticut boy.
He shows up with hisgrandfather's 444 Maryland.
Oh yeah, lever action, yeah,lever action that he wants to
harvest a bear with, and nevereven like he's never been in the

(08:38):
woods for a black bear hunt.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
So you take that guy out and you put him in position.
And when you go pick him up atnight I was lucky enough the
first night, but you go pick himup that night and he's standing
there and he's like, well, I'mnot sure I did shoot a bear,
it's the first night, yeah, I'mnot sure.
And and you're like, okay, well, let's drive up and show me
where you shot.
And you know clients who staythere.

(09:05):
Do not look, do not drive up,excuse me.
I go into the woods and he'slike I think it was a decent
bear.
And I walk in on it and I waslike man, you just shot a New
Brunswick smasher.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
And that one was like 363 hanging on the pole yeah,
that's big.
First ever bear like abeautiful coat and to watch him
go from questioning what he didto the instant extreme smile on
his face.
That's what the guiding's allabout, Right, that's.
It doesn't matter and it's not.
And I'm making it sound likeit's about the harvest and it's

(09:35):
not, it's the seed, the harvestmakes it part of the whole
experience.
I've guided.
I've guided fellas for fivedays that have had opportunities
to shoot an animal, that didn'tchoose to shoot one of those
animals or harvest one of thoseanimals.
But at the end of the five days, when you sit down and talk to
them before they go home, theyhave the exact same smile that
that guy does.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
And that's a hunter.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
To me, that's the difference between a hunter and
a killer, but that's also theguide and the outfitter helping
with that experience as well.
You're not wrong.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
You're not wrong.
You have to be passionate aboutit yourself.
You have to have communicationskills because you can deal, you
kind of have to be a bit of acounselor.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
You got to be a people person as well, because a
lot of people don't think.
I mean, we know some oldgrizzled guys and this and that
say that you know they can baita bear, they can bring bear.
Come in you ask them to dealwith a person that they don't
know.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
No, it's not, it's not going to go well and you can
watch people go from theirhighest to highest or their
lowest of lows.
Yeah, you can watch somebody,you can see that person at a
spot in their life or that timewhere they're like they're so
depressed they don't like whatdid I do wrong?

(10:51):
Yeah, and it's your job to sayhey, man, that's part of it.
Yeah, it's the experience.
It's not the end of the world.
It's very unfortunate if youhave somebody that wounds an
animal, as any hunter knows ithappens.
Yeah, you don't want it tohappen.
Life cycles are what they are,so you, but you deal with them.

(11:14):
So, like I say, you're kind ofon the counselor side of it too.
It's like you get the guy backin the truck, you give him a
cold drink, you know, bottle ofwater or Gatorade, and it's just
the two of yous.
And you're going back to campand you're like, okay, man, like
just it's you and I let's talkabout it.
Let's and that stuff only comesfrom doing this job.

(11:37):
And it's not a job, I guess,doing this passion for extended
amount of years.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
And being in it from a little kid, like a hunter, can
deal with another hunter, nomatter who you are, from what
side of the world.
When you got, when, when twopeople share that passion, you
can communicate to each other.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
You can talk each other downoff the cliff, you can, and by
the time it's time to go out thenext day, you've got them,

(12:03):
they're gung ho, they're readyto go again it's.
If you can't deal with that,then that part of the job is
it's a.
Again, I say it's a job, butit's not.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
It's a passion, it is , it's a lifestyle.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
It's a lifestyle If you can't as the guide if you
can't deal with that, and as thehunter, if you can't deal with
that, you shouldn't be in thatposition.
You shouldn't go to a guidedhunt.
Guided hunt is not about thekill, it's not about the harvest
, it's about the hunt, it'sabout the camaraderie, it's
about the socialization withyour guide, your outfitter.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
The whole experience.
That's why you know I'm surethat you guys have had people
come in that did not have didnot have they probably I'm
guessing they've been to otheroutfitters say they did not have
the same experience.
And that's where it becomesimportant on.
You know it's the person thatif you're a client booking to do
a little bit of research andlike what are the reviews on
this place and all that Cause?

(12:57):
I mean, like we were talkingearlier, you could have two
people go to go to, you know,two different outfitters for the
exact same animal and justcompletely different experience.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
Working at Long Lake is.
What helped me at work at LongLake Adventures is A the owner,
clay Harrison, and I are bestfriends, but Clay does research.
Clay has multiple phone callswith a client before he even
lets them book, making surethey're the right fit.
He knows the person he knowstheir fit, he knows and he has
no problem to say, hey, thismight not necessarily be the

(13:28):
situation for you, but I knowwho it is, I know where it can
be, I know, like I've workedthere now for going on 10 years
and I've never had a bad client.
I've never had a bad experience.
And if you are fortunate notfortunate enough experience and
if, if you are fortunate and notfortunate enough, it's not the
right word, If you do get into asituation where you're not
necessarily comfortable, the guythat we'll call the boss, but

(13:51):
he's not the boss, he has noproblem to say, hey, you know,
like there's never been anyweird situations where you're
like, oh my gosh, what do we donow?
Yeah, Like he works with you,he works with a client, he works
and he lets you make yourdecisions as well.
Like it's as a guide.
If you're working for anoutfitter, you have to be aware
that this outfitter has his lifedevoted to this operation.

(14:15):
Yeah, so regardless offriendship, regardless of
brotherly, whatever family, it'shis, it's his lifestyle.
So there's still a bossemployee relationship and you
have to be able to differentiatethat in different situations.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
If you if you're the kind of guy your reputation is
on the line with each and everyguide there.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
Absolutely, it's like no different than you If you,
if you guide your hunts, but ifyou all of a sudden hired other
guides and and you had a problemwith them and they got their
feelings hurt like it, this isyour operation you know and all
the guides saw and reflect theoutfitter.
Absolutely yeah.
So it's becoming a guide it's.

(14:58):
You can't get in the class oneguide license is the easy part
in New Brunswick especially,which is which is something that
is being looked upon to try tomake it not so, just every day.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
Very simple, yeah, it's too simple, too simple.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
When I wrote my guide test, I was in the New
Brunswick forestry departmentwriting the test.
There was an individual therethat had a translator with him
and he was writing the guidetest for the third time with a
translator with him and he waswriting the guide test for the
third time with the translatorbeside him.
How's that even?
And this guy could potentiallypass that test and take a total

(15:33):
stranger out into the woods.
That's a how do you understandthe laws?
How do you understand?
And I'm not I'm not trying tocall anybody out on it, but we
need, as a guide industry.
We need stricter, morepronounced rules and regulations
.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
Well, it's like hearing you know what's world I
think it is.
Anyways, world renowned is theMaine Master Guide, 100%.
I mean everyone knows.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Anyone I've talked to they know that's like the big
coveted thing yeah, if you getthe Master Guide thing in Maine,
you are yeah, yeah, if you getthe master guide thing in Maine,
you are yeah, yeah, it's aceremony.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
It'd be nice if every state and province kind of had
that standard, you knowAbsolutely, because it's a big
responsibility to take on.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
We are fortunate enough in New Brunswick that we
have got an organization nowthat has stepped up to the plate
, and I didn't come on your showto be to to to push everything.
I'm just telling you what I'mpart of and what it's done.
So United Guides and Outfittersin New Brunswick have joined.
You're talking a bunch ofprofessional outfitters and

(16:36):
guides that have sat down andsaid hey, we need stricter rules
, we need our guides to be moreaccountable for their actions.
We need some like.
I'm speaking off the cuff, butI feel as a class one guide, I
should have a wild outdoorsfirst aid course.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yeah, you know you should be.
I know that should be standard,should be an outdoors first aid
course should be standard.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
It should be mandatory to have firearms and
your PAL.
It should be mandatory to havea hunter safety course.
It should be mandatory that youhave a boater safety course.
You may not be a fishing guide,which I am not but, a boater's
course wouldn't hurt me.
I could stumble across in thewoods.
You know, in a in a moose huntsituation, I could stumble
across somebody that's out onwater and I should have my first

(17:26):
aid to be able to help thatperson.
Because you're out there,you're, you're, you're I can't
even think of the word butyou're the chauffeur of the of
the outdoor, so you should beable to help those people.
So just just spending $25 andgoing right to test and say I'm
a class one guy, that and goingright to test and say I'm a
class one guy, I'm very honoredthat I am and I'm very proud of
what I do.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
But there should be much more strict rules to get
that license and peoplelistening to this around too,
that may not realize.
I mean, when I go to Maine, youknow to tag along on the
bearhound hunts, my friendsthere everyone's strapped ready
to go.
People may not realize thathere in New Brunswick and all of
Canada, we, new Brunswick, andin all of Canada, we, we can't
even carry as a guide, you can'teven carry a rifle when you're

(18:06):
going.
So you're going to track awounded bear that your client
possibly shot, even with a bowor something.
it might be dead.
It might be fully alive andready to tear you up.
We can't carry any weapon, Iknow as a guide.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
When I, when I go into my client and they've shot
a shot at an animal and weusually don't unless our, unless
our client contacts us says,hey, I made a shot and it's
still daylight.
Um, unless you're, we're inthat area, like right there with
them, it's coming on dark, I'lltake my flashlight and I'll go
do a little looking.
But if it's the least bitsketchy at all and depending on

(18:39):
weather situations like ifyou're talking, it's going to
pour rain through the night yeah, you might push your limits a
little further, but we'reallowed to carry an ax.
Yeah, so I grab an ax out of theback of my truck.
I tell my client to leave yourweapons behind and follow me
through the woods with this axbehind and follow me through the
woods with this ax.
Well, if I'm walking through afur thicket and encounter a
wounded bear with an ax, I hope.

(19:02):
I can run faster than my client.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
I figured he'd just Paul Bunyan his ass.

Speaker 3 (19:06):
Well it's yeah, like, and I don't, I'm not.
I'm not that meaning that I'mgoing to run away on the guy,
but but if you had to, if youtrust us, if you trust us as a
professional guide.
We are not there to harvest theanimal for the client.
We are not there to do anythingillegal or crooked.
We are there to make sure theclient is safe.

(19:28):
We are safe and an animal isharvested and Humanely enough
Humanely put out of its miseryas quick and as possible as can
happen.
Everybody has that chance wherethey could make an off
situation.
But tracking an animal throughthe dark with an with an ax is
not comforting.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
No.

Speaker 3 (19:47):
And we're fortunate enough that again United Guides
and Outfitters has brought thisto the attention of of the New
Brunswick being able to carry us.
They're working on it Likethey've.
They've met with the properpeople, so I'm not saying it's
happening, but they've.
Before it was a, it was a talkoff the cuff and nobody ever
knew if it was going to happen.
Now, being part of a, aregistered organized group, it's

(20:10):
like you know what your voiceis heard.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
Your local DNR department, and I believe
they're in RED now, or I forgettheir initials.
It changes quite often, butthey actually sit with our
people.
Yeah, and they'll say, okay,what is?
And our organization will go toall of its members what are
some things you guys want?
And the directors will meetwith these people and they'll
say, okay, let's do this, let'sdo that, and we'll go with

(20:34):
different sections and then theyeverybody listens.
So, as a guide, it makes yourjob so much nicer to know that
you have somebody else.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
You have an organization backing you.
Looking and looking after yourinterests.
Yeah, that's why I encouragelike people listen to this,
whether whatever state orprovince or country.
If there's an organization tojoin like that, that helps give
you a voice.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
Like you know, it's probably worth your while to be
a part of, if we're hunters andwe're outdoors man and we're uh,
you know archery rifle.
If you whatever you can affordto be a member of that can
prolong this way of life, youshould be a member, whether it's
, whether it's a CCFR, whetherit's the NRA, whether it's a

(21:18):
hunting organizations, trapping,trapping yeah, Everything that
can prolong this lifestyle foryour kids and your grandkids,
because there's so many peoplenowadays that don't or I feel
that don't understand it, thatit's almost like they're against
us.
So, if you can, if our groupI'll call it can work towards

(21:39):
sponsoring, paying your dues,supposing you're an unheard
member, membership counts, nomatter what organization is, if
it's to fight towards where weare.
We're, we're age and ageneration that has to keep it.
Our fathers never had to worryabout it.
It wasn't an issue.
No, I, yeah they.
They went and bought a licenseand shot a deer and nobody was

(22:01):
out there knocking on their door.
Like you could, you could trapand you could sell fur, you
could make money, you could do,and now it's like everybody's
trying.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
It's more part of the lifestyle, absolutely Now it's
more People fed it was.

Speaker 3 (22:12):
it wasn't an automatic, like a lot of hunters
back in the day were shooting adeer or a moose or whatever.
It wasn't necessarily for thesport of it, it was to help feed
and there was probably the oddfew that shot more than what
they needed to because they werehelping to feed.
Yeah, it wasn't, and it wasn't.
Everything went to the grocerystore and read the tag, so you

(22:33):
didn't have to worry Hunting wasseen like.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
It was just like a lifestyle where now it's seen.
I hate to say it, but I think alot of people see more like
barbaric because they're just sodisengaged from it and so
removed from it.
You know, and I'm not sayingeveryone, I don't want to see
everyone go out and hunt if theywant to, Great, but I just
don't want to see everyoneagainst it like just get
educated in it.
But I just I think this is sofar removed from it.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
I will say on the hearse side of it, which I don't
want to bring it up, but Idon't want to bring it up than
the negativity side of it.
But we'll go back a few yearsto the COVID side, and everybody
had to stay home and theneverybody automatically the
homesteading thing made the biglaunch the gardens, the, what
are we?

Speaker 2 (23:13):
it was good.
And the gardens, the.
What are we?
It was good.

Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, and it did bring some hunters out.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, Cause it did.

Speaker 3 (23:18):
It's like you know what?
Where can I get my meat from?
And I did.
I've had a lot of people thathave never get into hunting.
Ask me, like, what do you do?
What's the rules, what's?
And it's great that you can sayto them here are the rules.
Yeah, you, your hunter safety.
You can contact me or this guyor Joe Blow that are experienced
in it and they will help you.

(23:38):
Some people are charged, Somepeople will do it for the fun of
it.
So there, there, there is seemsto be a bit of a comeback, but
I'm the same as you.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
I don't want just any random everybody out there
throwing a gun around, but butI'd like everyone to be at least
educated in it so that waythey're not.
Maybe they don't do it, butthey know about it.
They know it's not a bad,absolutely.
But yeah, I know, yeah, somepeople, yeah, be nice if
everyone was vetted a bit more.
But yeah, and then yeah, thepal for those listening in
canada you have to have apossession accusation license to

(24:08):
get guns or ammo yes, yeah,yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
The possession acquisition license.
Yeah to guns or ammunition,yeah so I mean um I have to.
I seem to forget.
I'm thinking we're in a roomhere in.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
Petticoati, New Brunswick, and I forget that
people are listening All overand we appreciate each and every
one of you Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (24:25):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
So with the guiding thing, so tell about.
So who do you work for and whatdo you mainly guide for?

Speaker 3 (24:33):
So I work for Long Lake Adventures, Blaster Rock,
New Brunswick.
We're on 800,000 acres ofprivate timberland.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
Wow, it's gated too, right Gated private timberland.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
yeah, we're the only bear hunter outfitter that is on
that land.
We lease different sections ofthe land for our bear hunts.
We are on a lake.
It's called Long Lake,obviously.
It's 11 miles long, 2252 squareacres of water, 170 feet deep
in the deepest spot.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
Really it's that deep .

Speaker 3 (25:04):
Yeah, in the deepest spot it is World-class lake
trout fishing Like there's 25,30 pound fish in that lake.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
Might have a tricky time catching them.
My record is 18 pounds, that'sbig, yeah, beautiful Big lake
trout.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
I can't believe it gets that deep.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
Wow, yeah, it is Um.
So I'm a I I don't do any ofthe fishing guiding I guide.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
You partake in it, I partake in it.

Speaker 3 (25:25):
I'll go out with the fishing guides.
That's their job.
I'll go with them and I'm not afisherman.
I enjoy fishing.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
I like catching.
Yeah, that's me too.

Speaker 3 (25:36):
I don't like fishing, so I primarily guide black bear
, spring, black bear, fall,black bear and moose hunts and
uh so help out wherever I can Do.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
You have people.
I mean, how many people haveyou had?
A lot of people out that havenever shot anything before, or
most people coming they'vethey've hunted.

Speaker 3 (25:59):
Most of your clients have been, have hunted.
The people that I'veexperienced that haven't shot
anything would be a fatherthat's finally child, is old
enough to come.

Speaker 2 (26:04):
Okay, yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:05):
In the New Brunswick age era of when it was 16.
Yeah, and could harvest.
You know we're fortunate enoughnow that that's dropped down to
12.
Yeah, so any of the nonshooters or hunters that I've
experienced as a as a child butthey've most people have come
that I've dealt with have beenlike huge whitetail hunters.
Okay.
A lot of archery hunters.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
I mean it must be amazing.
I'm sure you've had people outthat have probably never seen a
moose before.
Yes, we have.
And the first time that you'relike all right, this moose, like
they must, it must be awesome.
I have clients that when you're, when you're, leaving the stand
.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
So we leave our clients till till dark unless
they let us know otherwise.
You pick them up at dark andyou're driving back and they're
so excited to see that moose inthe middle of the road in the
spring or be sitting at a bearstand.
And you come in and they'relike man, there was moose just
walked right under my ladder and, like, show you a video of
their phone.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
And they've never seen one, never.
That's so cool.

Speaker 3 (26:59):
I had a young fellow two years ago that was sitting
in a bear stand three daysarchery hunter, and of course
I'm not an archery hunter myself, so I'm ignorant to the sport
I've.
I'd love to get into it.
I'm a little old, I feel, toget into it, but it it's a, it's
a whole different ballgame, youcould do it.
It's a lot of practice.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
It's a whole different ballgame.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
So as our as a guide, like I know how to hunt with a
rifle, I'm back a hundred yardsand you know I can basically
chew a piece of gum if I'm quietenough and that bear's coming
out.
As an archery hunter we try toput our guys no farther than
like 17 yards.
20 yards we're close, yeah, butwe're.
We're also learning.
Archery has changed and that'swhere I was ignorant of the

(27:39):
sport, Like a good archeryhunter and the equipment, like
they can be back 20, 25 yardsnow 50.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Yeah, I will probably never be involved in an archery
hunt of a bear for 50 yardsGuys who are competent, though
it's very doable.
We have shooters there, thatcan you know.
I've seen guys at the lake settheir target out at 80, 85 yards
to show us what they can do,which is awesome.
Yeah, I always say it's a lotdifferent shooting a 3D target
than it is an animal in the air,like when you're in the air.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:07):
Anyway, I had this young fella and he was hunting
Three days in no bears.
And are the bears just on thatcycle where they're not
traveling that bait, or are yousitting in the stand making a
whole bunch of noise, are you?
So I pick him up that night.
I was like any bears, he's likeno.
I was like okay, I said how'dyou make out?
He said man.
He said I seen this really coolthing and he brings out his

(28:32):
phone and instantly as he bringsout the phone as a and I get it
, yeah, Cause I, I play with myphone, yeah, when I'm hunting,
but you, you put somebody inthere and their goal is to
harvest.
You think, like you're, you'reon your phone.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:43):
And he shows me a 10 minute video of a lynx oh cool,
yeah, walks underneath hisladder.
Yeah, has no idea.
He's in the stand, he's got hisphone, never moves.
And he pans from that lynxwalking completely underneath
the ladder, out of the ladder,over top of the bait, and
instantly as a guide, you'relike, well, that guy's being

(29:03):
perfect.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah.
If a lynx has no idea he's inthe woods, hasn't detected him.

Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yeah, exactly, and he's doing everything right, so
fortunate enough, he did get abear.
Yeah, but yeah it's cool toexperience situations like that.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah.
Just people like said like,yeah, people have only hunted
deer and never seen the size ofa moose before, and to see one
in person like wow, yeah, I'vehad multiple people.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:24):
They're so excited to see a moose and they get back
to camp and they're like theboys would be like seen a bear.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
No, I didn't no-transcript like how did he?

Speaker 3 (29:45):
I've told many a client like that because they're
used to white tail yeah and ifyou're a white tail hunter a you
do not shoot a bear where youshoot a white tail and b it's
like yeah, well, you know, we'rehere, the white tail coming.
It's like, man, there could bea time that you like you'll,
you'll look down at your phoneor I have a lot of clients
that'll take a book and readyour book and I said you'll be

(30:05):
looking and all of a sudden youlook up and it was like where
did that bear come from?

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
I said if they want to be heard, you will not.
No, I call them the ghosts ofthe woods.
Like I've heard, many bearstake off to the woods like a
freight train or a bulldozer andI've seen the some of the
biggest bears come into a baitand you didn't know until they
showed up at that barrel.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
It's amazing, something thatsize that you think you don't
even need to just appear.

Speaker 3 (30:33):
Yeah, instantly.
Yeah, yeah, it's, that's uh.
When I started bear hunting, Istarted bear hunting because I
had deer season.
Deer season If you werefortunate enough to be part of a
moose hunt you got your moosehunt in.
Then you had your month of deerseason and then you were done
and you were like, what am Igoing to do now?
I made a few friends that wereinto the bear hunting and then I
realized like I have all spring.

(30:54):
I have two months in the springthat I can do this and I get to
watch multiple animals.
It's not about the harvest.
I've seen so many things in thebear stand and I hunt bear now
more as a guide to watch.
So when a client asks me hey, Iseen a bear do this.
Have you ever seen that before?
Yeah, as a matter of fact, Ihave.
I heard this noise.

(31:15):
Have you ever heard that before?
Yes, yeah, as a matter of fact,I have.
I heard this noise.
Have you ever heard that before?
Yes, as a matter of fact, Ihave.
Yeah, I've had bear license,two bear licenses every year
since they were available forthe last 10 years.
I've probably harvested fivebears in that.
But I go religiously, I keep mybaits baited and it's more of a
watching and learning than itis Just observation, observation
.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
It just observation observation.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
It's to know your craft, it's to know, so you can
have that guy that says, hey man, I heard sounded like two bears
huffing and puffing in thewoods and you don't go.
Oh well, I'm not sure You'relike yeah, absolutely, I'm
seeing it, it's yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
Well, speaking about you know you're in the anything
as a guide, the clientscommunity, like I wish they
thought of this or that.
Is there anything like petpeeves, I guess, with clients
that they do that you might,they might not think about that
they do.
I mean obviously no, would yousay, know your weapon that

(32:09):
absolutely right if you'reshooting a bow, shooting a rifle
.
You can tell, have a sighted inlike so our, our clients show
up to camp sunday afternoon.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
Uh, they get a big full meal Sunday.
You know, camaraderie is firstthing.
When they get there Sunday,everybody meets everybody.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Meet and greet.
Meet and greet.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
We have a big supper.
Show us the event in theevening.
If the boys are going to have afew pops, they have their pops.
The morning we get up, we havea big breakfast and then
everybody that's there to shoot,everybody that, whether rifle
or bow like if you're doing arifle, we have a.
We have a licensed area.
That's arranged.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
You guys, you guys get them to shoot.

Speaker 3 (32:41):
Yeah, Everybody shoots, you do not leave Long
Lake Adventures without shooting.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
So we set up the table, the stand, the sticks,
whatever you're comfortabledoing, we're.
We set up at 65 yards, causethat's basically where most of
our stands are set up for riflehunters.
Make sure they're where theyneed to be.
Everything's good, Put it back.
Bow hunters sometimes a lot, alot of them.
Like if I have clients that arebow hunters, I'll go over to
where they are.
If they're staying in whatevercabin, I'll come over to them in

(33:06):
the morning and say boys, youbeen doing some shooting, yet
you mind if I watch, Watch themdo a little shooting.
Yep, You're perfect.
Yeah, I want to see whatthey're doing.
I don't know their weapon, likeI know a rifle.
Yeah, I know they know theirweapon.
You can tell a guy that knowshis weapon.
You can tell a guy that doesn'tKnowing their weapon's.
One thing as a guide big things, because I've been caught in it
.
When you leave camp, make surethat your client A has his

(33:30):
license, he has his tag, he hashis ammunition Right, he has.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
Have you guys left before?
And, oh yes, got their ammo.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Oh, yes, yeah, you'd be halfway, and some of our
baits are half an hour drive.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
Well, if you're in 800,000 acres, you could be,
yeah, 40 minutes from camp.

Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yeah, and you're halfway there and you're like
he's like ah, I forgot my ammo.
So then radios, company radios,so you'll call on the radio.
Hopefully somebody's stillthere.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
If not, you get your other hunters out, cause there's
, I can legally guide up tothree people, yeah, so if we
have a busy week, I could havethree hunters and be like man,
you forgot your ammo we got.
Nobody can bring it to us.
I got to get these two guys out, we'll go back get your ammo, I
yeah.
And I'll take the.
You know we'll take you backLike it's.
It's.
You might be the guy that's,the late guy out, but that's and

(34:18):
I've never had a hunter saywell man, this is terrible.
Yeah, like, why, why are wedoing that?
We've all been there.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
Yeah, so they're all like yeah, totally get it.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
I've never had any real huge pet peeves that I can
say no, but the big thing is,like I said, coming in, know
your weapon, yep.

Speaker 1 (34:35):
And then also, do you have anyone that like say you
know spring bear hunt?
Do they underestimate?

Speaker 3 (34:42):
the bugs, oh, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
Like bring the proper clothing, absolutely, you know.
Yeah, bring short, like youknow, because the mosquitoes are
bad.
Yeah, they are bad.

Speaker 3 (34:49):
If you've heard of a thermosel bring it and bring
lots of cartridges, lots of.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Bug netting.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
Anybody that.
So when they cross over theycan bring all that stuff At camp
at the end of the year, theamount of half use gas for a
thermosel and the packages oftabs.
Yeah, because the boys nevertake them home.
Yeah, because they don't wantto deal with it crossing the
border, yeah.
So in the guides camp we have alittle bucket that's like we

(35:17):
all burn like half, like so whenwe're out guiding.
So when we take our clients out, let's say I have three clients
we're leave.
They have a big lunch in the,in the in the afternoon one
o'clock ish.
We give them all a great biglunch, throw everybody in the
truck, say two ish, take themout to their, their sites and
then the rest of us guides likewe're.
Last year we were runningupwards of 90 baits.

(35:40):
So we're running four at, say,let's say we have a week that
there's four of us working, yeah, this guy's got this many baits
, this guy's got that many baits, that guy.
So we get our hunters out, wego check our like everybody's
got radios, we go check ourbaits.
We is, we go check our baits,we do our baiting, then we come
back and we're all within rangeof our hunters.
So when you're doing that, it'sa process of where are we going

(36:08):
to go with this and who's goingto be first.
I kind of lost my train ofthought there for a second.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
Yeah, we're just setting the baits out and all
that.

Speaker 3 (36:17):
It's a process of how are we going to make sure that
everybody's happy Yep, and how?
How are you going to make surethat you've got?
You got to find out from aclient who's first thing?
I ask, if I have three,especially, who's the?
Who hates the dark the most?

Speaker 1 (36:33):
Oh yeah, oh yeah yeah .

Speaker 2 (36:33):
You'll ask that Because it's going to be dark
when I get you, you know what.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
I mean, it's going to be dark, so who do you who?
And you'll have guys like man.
I don't care about the dark, Idon't.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
And we have set spots where we pick our guys up and
you know we leave our.
They make sure that they havetheir gun cases, or everybody's
got a sock.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
Like and bow guys.
You know you got their casesstashed somewhere, so you've got
like everything's got to be,yeah, everything's got to be up
to snuff.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, okay.
So I wondered that.
So everyone's been pretty good,like so when we're there's
where I was.

Speaker 3 (37:15):
Yeah, see, when we're out baiting.
Yeah, we keep.
I just keep thermosol going tomy truck, yeah, cause I'm in and
out of the truck a hundredtimes, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
And you don't.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
And we're burning that.
We're burning the half cubes,the half tubes, Right Cause
we're.
I could have after I've checkedmy baits, I could have three
hours till dark.
So I'm sitting in my truck in ageneral area where I can hear
my shots, or, if I have a bowhunter, that's like, depending
on the situation or the areathey're in, we might have a
ribbon hung somewhere.

(37:47):
It's like hey, if you shoot abear, if you shot a bear, walk
out, tear the ribbon off or hanga ribbon up.
I'll drive by.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
Like where I can access them without bothering
them with the vehicle yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
If I see the ribbons down or something's off like,
okay, I know to come in andcheck on you because the last
thing, you want to do is go inin your hunter and say yeah you
walk in and say, hey man, he'slike oh, it's just bear.
You just scared a bear off, soyou have to make.
So, yeah, we, we'll do whateverwe can with our thermostats,
like we're sitting there forthree hours in the truck.
Yeah, but we also do.

(38:18):
You know you're, you're duringyour.
That's the other nice thingabout guiding, especially spring
bear.
You can look for sheds whileyou're doing all your baiting.
You can look for moose sign youcan and you see so much stuff.
You're sitting on a wood roadsomewhere in the middle of
nowhere, so all of a sudden acow and a calf walk out and
they're feeding.
They don't even notice yourtruck.

Speaker 1 (38:39):
Yeah, it's, and the woods is so nice in the spring
too, because you just gotthrough the winter and all that.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
It's coming to life.
It's just nice to be out.
You know it's coming to life.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
The birds are going the animals got their, their
young and stuff, you know,switching things up, going into
the fall.
So you guys do, you guys doquite a bit of moose hunting.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
And then this past year you guys were lucky enough
to have a TV show Yep Come inCanada in the rough Yep.
That was your first time beingon TV, I'm guessing.

Speaker 3 (39:06):
That was my first.
So we do we do an isolated hunt.
We'll call it an isolated hunt.
Long Lake Adventures has acabin on an island nine miles up
our lake.
The lake is 11 miles long.
Nine miles up the lake theybuilt a cabin.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
I've seen pictures of that and it looks.
It looks really cool, it'sReally cool, it's a place like
no other.

Speaker 3 (39:26):
Yeah, when they shut, when the lights are shut out,
like we, we run generally onsolar.
We do have generators there forbackup, for charging devices or
whatever, but we also our solarwill charge.
But we keep a generator on sitefor and during the during the
rental season, for we'll call itthe couples times.
Yeah, we, we have a generatorthere and there's a inflatable
hot tub and it's like so you goup to you and your spouse can go

(39:48):
up the lake and take this cabinnine miles up and there's
nobody around.
Nobody comes to you, nobody canto you, nobody can see you.
You know you can access throughus through an in-reach yeah,
but it's like a getaway and whenit gets dark it's dark, yeah,
when you think you can, when youthink you've seen the sky or
the stars somewhere, you haven'tuntil you've been on that
island.
So I've been fortunate enoughto hunt moose off that island

(40:10):
now for one, two, three, fouryears or five.
I'm terrible with my memory.
Ryan jr, uh, gw, yeah, okay,four years, and it's an

(40:31):
experience that you don't evenyou can't even put to put to
words.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
Really, it's more of the you'd have to be there.
Absolutely Right yeah.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
So you're, you're, you're, you're experiencing a
remote hunt in a in NewBrunswick.
So when I had the opportunityto it's the first those hunts
are filmed.
We have a cameraman that goeswith us, nathan Robinson
photography.
I think you've had him on thepodcast before, so normally
those hunts he films.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
I've seen the one that he filmed when you guys
went out there and all that.

Speaker 3 (41:05):
So he'll come with that hunt.
Nathan comes and he films itand it's a memory for those
hunters, that book, that hunt,it's like their own little TV
show.
Yeah, so I've been on thosethings that Nathan, those those
hunts that Nathan has filmed.
Fortunate enough this year that, as a young fella growing up
watching Canada in the rough,I'm sitting there with Long Lake

(41:25):
and Clay and we're discussingthis falls moose hunt and he's
like, yeah, you're going to, youknow.
And he said it's going to beCanada in the rough and I was
like, well, this is youroperation.
I think that this should be yourlike this is yeah, this is for
united guides and outfitters ofnew brunswick, because what this
hunt for it was, it's torepresent united guides and

(41:46):
outfitters.
It's to represent a media tagwhich the province has so
generously given to the, to theoutfitters, that should have
been given a long time ago thateverybody worked for.
And I said it's at your lodge,like this is.
And he's like no, that's that,that island cabin's your deal.
You're going with Canada rough.
So as a hunter, it's I.

(42:06):
I've never been nervous hunting, hunting with a new client.
I've never been in thesituation where I was like, oh
my gosh, how you know, how am Igoing to be judged?
Yeah, and I wasn't with withCanada on the Rough either.
It's like I know my job, Idon't know what I'm supposed to
do, but they have hunted a lotmore than I ever have.

(42:26):
So and I've never actually metI had never actually met Paul
Beasley at the time.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
So those listening.
So what it is, it's this TVshow.
Probably a lot have heard ofthis, Some haven't.
It's called Canada and theRough.
It's run by three brothersKevin, Keith and Paul Beasley.
Yes, and they hunt all overCanada and it's on Wild TV and I
don't know if they're on thesports machine.
City TV, City TV.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Are they?

Speaker 1 (42:53):
on the sportsman channel.

Speaker 3 (42:54):
I'm not sure, maybe are they on the sportsman?
I'm not sure.
Maybe not.
I'd have to go back and check.
I forget, and then they're on.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
I mean growing up when I was younger, back when,
before we didn't have cable, wehad three channels on TV.
But if you get up early Sundaymornings you can see Canada, and
they're off on there too, youknow.
So yeah, it's been around for along time.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
It's hunting in Canada, the way that it should
be, I feel.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
Well, it's not even just Canada in the way, just
hunting that.
It's not flashy or anything.
What you see is what you get.
They're real humble about itand it's more.

Speaker 3 (43:27):
The most genuine.
It's genuine, I'm fortunateenough that I've met Keith and
I've met Paul.
I'm fortunate enough that Ifeel I can call them friends now
.
I haven't met Kevin yet.
I'm hoping to someday.
But those two particular guysand the cameraman that I was
with Mike please forgive me, ifyou listen to Mike, I can't
remember your last name, butsuper like Mike, the cameraman.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Mike the cameraman.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Humble, humble people .
It's like sitting here talkingto you and I about trucking it's
, I mean, and they've been allover the world and done dream
hunts that you guys havediscussed on previous podcasts
and they've done them, yeah.
And then when they talk to youabout them, it's not of, oh yeah
, look at us, look what we did.
It's no different.

Speaker 1 (44:07):
They're humble about it.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
Yeah, so hunters that think too when, when.

Speaker 1 (44:17):
Clay told you you're going to, you know, take this TV
show out and stuff.
Were you thinking?
I mean the camera guys, there'ssome extra people there and all
that, like it's just that.

Speaker 3 (44:34):
It's a?
Yeah, it's.
It was a four person hunt, yeah.
So the way I'm terrible, Iforget the air dates of the show
.
You can Google, it'll come up.
You can watch the show when you.
We started on the lake, I meanwe have 22, 152 acres of water

(44:55):
that we can travel shorelines,and you know, early mornings
they're coming out to drink andfeed.
Late evenings are coming out todrink and drink and feed.
But then we have hundreds ofthousands of acres of the woods
around that lake that they'retraveling bogs, swamps hardwood
ridges, like it.
So yeah, and you're in asituation where how are we going
to make this work?

(45:15):
And when you sit with them andsay, okay, guys, this is what we
look at doing, what do you guysthink about doing?
And you work together.
So at first you're nervous, asyou want me on a TV show, how am
I going to be?
And when you communicate withthem and say this is what we're
going to do, and yes, we have acameraman and yes, there's four

(45:36):
of us and we're we're sentcontrol and noise control, but
that cameraman has huntedtechnically more than most other
people.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:47):
Cause he goes with every brother on hunts.
Yeah, he's almost quieter inthe woods carrying a camera and
camera gear than the hunter isLike.
You don't even hardly know he'sthere.
It's a whole, it's.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
Was he a hunter?
Did you talk to him Like whenhe's not filming?
Yes, he does, he does, okay.
Yeah, he hunts, yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
Yeah, stand up, guy, good chef, good cook, oh really,
on their YouTube channel he'sgot some cooking.
He's got some cooking on therewhat they call the shorts and
stuff.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Okay, yeah, he's right on, that's neat.

Speaker 3 (46:16):
But it's a, it was an experience, I guess if you
would call it a bucket list.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Yeah, it was a bucket list for me, but were you under
?
I mean, you know, like you said, hunting, it's all.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
To be 100% honest, and I've said this to them and I
said it to my wife and I saidit to Clay if you believe in
somebody, a higher power, Idon't judge anybody for where
they stand on a religious sideof things.
I'll just put it this wayWhoever I could speak to, I said

(46:51):
just this once I don't care ifit ever happens again.
Can we make it happen?
And that was my whoever waslistening, whoever was just this
once in my life can we make ithappen.
And we were fortunate enoughthat it did it did.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
We were fortunate enough, somebody was listening.

Speaker 3 (47:10):
We had an 18.50-inch bowl and day two epic experience
.
Like I say, watch the show.
It was.
Yeah, it all worked out.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:21):
And you can say I would never be the guy that says
well, it's because the guy knewwhat he was doing, or hunting.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
It's a combination, combination.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
It's part of it.
So, yeah, somebody waslistening and it worked out and
it I'm good now.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:38):
I want to.
I'd like I want to hunt moosefor the rest of my life, yeah,
and I'd love to continue to getgood moose for clients I really
do, yeah, but for United Guidesand Outfitters, new Brunswick
for Long Lake Adventures, formyself, for Canada in the Rough,
for the sport, the industrythat New Brunswick we're
promoting, it's like can weplease make this be what we're
trying to do, to better thisindustry, to better this sport

(48:03):
and and show what we're about,whether it's a black bear hunt,
whether it's a Turkey hunt,whether it's a rabbit hunt, uh,
upland game, birds, waterfowl,like our province has so many
opportunities that so littlepeople know about.
And if this show can help that,me as a guide and everybody

(48:23):
else around and I know thatsounds corny, but that's, that's
where it is for me, that's whatI work for- it's the passion of
it.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
So I mean, yeah, especially well for any client
you have, but especially whereyou have that TV show and
everything like when you guysgot that moose, you probably
couldn't have been any happier,whether you know if you shot it
yourself.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
I'm a 48 year old man that was in tears, like it's
when it, when it all come tofruition and that animal hit the
ground and you're standingthere and knowing what you did,
like, what you, how you work forit, like you know, we left the
lake and we traveled like akilometer through the thickest
of buckle brush you could everimagine, and I'm fortunate
enough to have my best friendfrom Virginia who was along to

(49:05):
help out.
Like he just he just come alongto tag along.
He's like he's my, he's my righthand man, yeah, and we work
together like brothers and tohave him there and to have
Canada the rough there.
And when it all done, likewe're, there's four grown men
standing there, like I can'tspeak for the other two, but I
know myself and my, my bestfriend, ryan, we're like, we're
in tears, so like this is.

(49:26):
This is what it's all about asa guide, this is what it's all
about as a hunter.
That's like the day that thosefeelings stop, or the day that
you should stop hunting.
Like if, if you have a clientout and harvest a rabbit and
they're not super excitedbecause they only got one rabbit
, then they shouldn't be doingthat.
Yeah, it's, it's the experience, it's the fun of it, it's the,

(49:48):
it's the emotion of it, it's the, it's the it's the, the, it's,
it's.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
I find it it's the sharing of it too.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
Sharing it between, between people that you know
appreciate the outdoors andeverything, which which a lot of
people don't.
But you know, just having thatappreciation for the outdoors
and the animal, whether it's amoose, even even the rabbits and
stuff, do anything it's uh Imean when it comes to, like you
say, it's the appreciation mywife and I both had doe tags for

(50:17):
our zone 22.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
You're familiar with zone 22.
New brunswick is set off intodifferent zones wildlife
management zones, yeah, so mywife and I both had deer and we
both were fortunate enough toget drawn for doe tags and zone
in zone 22, and you know whatdoes are like in zone 22.
We both came home this yearwith no deer and it's because we
looked for the mature deer thatdidn't have a yearling fawn,

(50:41):
the mature deer that didn't havenew fawns, and never once did
we sit in our stands and seethat deer that was, that was not
a mature fawn, that was not,didn't have a mature fawn with
it.
It's like you know what?
I'm not going to harvest justany old doe.
I'm not going to harvest anyanimal.
I'm here to.
I want the population tocontinue.

(51:03):
It wasn't about meat in thefreezer.
I was fortunate enough thatthis year I went to Newfoundland
first ever time on a moose huntyeah, and I was guided for the
first time in my life.
Yeah Well, I want to talk aboutthat too after so we, I didn't
have to just harvest a deer forthe meat.
Yeah, so as a conservationistand about the appreciation of
the sport, it's like you knowwhat we're just we don't need

(51:24):
deer in the freezer this year.
We love it but we don't need it.
So we, we went home with twoempty, like two empty tags and
I'm fine with that.
That's.
I had as much fun hunting thisyear as I've had any other year,
whether I've harvested or notharvested.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
That's as long as you keep having fun doing it
Absolutely yeah, yeah,absolutely yeah.
So yeah, it's funny you broughtthat up.
I was going to bring that uptoo about you went on a guided
hunt this year in Newfoundland.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
Canada.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Yeah, what was it like?
Just kind of switching seats.
You know you've been guidingmoose hunts and everything and
then you're getting guided.
I mean, what was that like?

Speaker 3 (52:03):
It was awesome.
Yeah, I had a wicked guide, anolder gentleman, you know.
Side by side.
Get into an amazing camp, mooseCreek Lodge in Newfoundland,
just off the boat around the CodRoy Valley.
Okay, you know, fully servicedoperation.
Great, great location.

(52:24):
Side-by-sides are Argos.
So you leave camp andside-by-sides are Argos, in the
morning to get up into thebarren ground.
It's a totally differentballgame than home.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
Yeah, I mean everything's.
There's not a lot of maturewoods there.

Speaker 3 (52:34):
Not a lot.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
No.

Speaker 3 (52:38):
In that particular area that we were in some of the
most mature trees, and I'vetraveled, I've trucked, across
Newfoundland as a truck drivermultiple times, from one end to
the other, from one coast to thecoast, from one shore to the
shore, and watch people cuthundreds of cords of softwood
pine trees to feed the house allwinter.
Yeah, when we were, there was alot of hardwoods which I was
totally I hadn't seen muchhardwoods in Newfoundland A lot

(53:00):
of hardwoods where we wereReally.
Until we left camp and get upinto the high country.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
So your moose hunting Spruce trees and stuff, yeah,
just the small spruce the wind.
Okay, yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:11):
So it's the nastiest of nastiest stuff you could ever
walk through.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
And your moose hunt.
We were there in late Octoberso you're kind of post-rut.
So you're doing a lot of spotand stalk See the calling's not
working or not really.
Not to.
It's not rut time.
Yeah, we did call.
We did get answers.
Some people even harvested amoose by calling, but it's not.
It's not the hey, we're comingto fight.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
It's more of a we've.
They're not coming in allslobbering.

Speaker 3 (53:44):
No, okay, they're coming in because they heard the
noise and there might be a cowaround that nobody actually
tended to.
Let's see what's going on.
So I was there, ied on day twoor day three, young bull, eight
point wicked animal.
We had some bad weather and Iwas the guy that I was not going
home without an animal.
I was the hunter.

(54:05):
That was the killer.
Yeah, I'm going to Newfoundlandfor the first time ever
Newfoundland moose hunting.

Speaker 1 (54:10):
The first day.
You wanted the harvest with theexperience.
I wanted the harvest, I wantedmeat.
I wanted the harvest with theexperience.

Speaker 3 (54:14):
I wanted the harvest, I wanted meat, I wanted meat in
the freezer.
I was fortunate enough that Ihad a cow or bull bull tag.
In Newfoundland you can get athere's.
There's different tags.
You get cow and bull, bull only, cow only.
So I had a dual sex tag so Icould harvest either animal and
I.
I knew I wanted to go home withan animal.
Yeah, I wanted moose in thefreezer.
So we had some weather comingand it was.

(54:37):
I believe it was Tuesday.
I think it was my second day,because the first day it rained
hard, but I seen 29 animals.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (54:45):
In the first two days and then the guides take you
out, like your guide was donewith you, but you could jump on
a side-by-side area, go up andcheck different lookouts and I
forget how many animals I'veseen.
Total like 35 or 40 animals,yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:59):
That's good, yeah, some good smasher bulls.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
Yeah, I mean it's it's they're different moose
than they are here.
Right, they're.
They're not like there's.
There's not necessarily thehuge giant bulls.
If you go on the website, theyhave harvested a lot of nice
bulls and good big bulls.
Yeah, but it's a differentexperience and your guide knows

(55:22):
that you're a guide.
Yeah, so, you guys sit down andtalk as guides.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
Working a game plan?
Yeah, and they don't?

Speaker 3 (55:29):
it's the first time that I've ever been guided on a
hunt, and it was like huntingwith a friend Did you find
yourself doing more than hisaverage client would kind of do,
maybe Because you're used tobeing a guide and taking charge
naturally I tried.
The group that I went over withwere all.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
They were all guides, right Outfitters and guides.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
Yeah, and I believe that we were we.
I would say I don't think I'mwrong in saying that we all
tried our best to make theguide's job as easy as possible.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
You guys are probably not to knock on anybody else
the most helpful group.

Speaker 3 (56:04):
I wouldn't argue with that.
Yeah, Because yeah.

Speaker 1 (56:06):
Just because you guys ?
So you guys are used to beingthe person in charge, right, you
know, yeah, so it's hard toturn that off.

Speaker 3 (56:11):
We made that very clear.
Like, our guides are in charge,it's their operation, it's
their outfit.
But you know, whatever you needus to do, we're not, but that's
the first time we've ever or Ishouldn't say we first time I
was ever involved in quarteringan animal.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (56:25):
Like New Brunswick.
As you well know, 99% of thetime New Brunswick, you drag an
animal out whole one way oranother.
You bring it out to the truck,and then you take it to the
butcher.

Speaker 2 (56:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:34):
Newfoundland.
Most of the time, you quarterthem up and throw them in the
back of the bike.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
In the bush?
Yeah, okay, right, wherever youhave them.
I mean, some guys do that here.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
Not many.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
Not many no.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
But it was great because, as a guide, I learned
that it's not that hard of a job.
Yeah, and what you or I mightpride herself on as skinning and
cleaning an animal when it'shanging on the pole, you can't
do that when you're in the bush.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
No.

Speaker 3 (57:01):
And it's not the end of the world.
Like when you're hanging on thepole, your whole concept is
it's I got to look like I'm somekind of meat company.
When this goes to the butcher,it's got to be perfect.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
Yeah, when you're in the bush.

Speaker 3 (57:16):
The job is to get the animal out of the bush, out of
the woods, whatever you want tocall it as quick as you can.
So it's.
You're not to have any meatdamage depending on the weather,
so you get the job done.
It's done very professionally.
There might be hair where youthink that there shouldn't be
hair.
But it's done, it's done, andwhen you get the quarters back
to camp, you hang them up on therail, you skin your quarters

(57:38):
off and clean your hair off.
So it was awesome, as a guidethat has never experienced that,
to experience it and go.
You know what this is.
I could do this if I had to.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
I could have a client in themiddle of nowhere.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
So you picked up some skills.
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (57:55):
I would not be nervous now to harvest an animal
in a tough situation orlocation I mean not situation
and say you know what, we've gota quarter of this up to get it
out.
I wouldn't be concerned Likewhere?
My whole life as a moose hunter, from the time I was a kid with
my dad till the last fall.

Speaker 1 (58:13):
You just got it and bring it out.

Speaker 3 (58:14):
You got it and bring it out.
Yeah, Whether you had to cut atrail to get a four-wheeler in,
whether you had to, you knowside-by-side.
Or bring a trail like yeah,yeah, Come alongs, parasol
wenches.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
Lucky some guy had a skidder, maybe or something.

Speaker 3 (58:26):
Yeah a porter or something?
Yeah, where, after doing youknow we could do this.
Yeah, you know, enough followsaround.
The great thing aboutNewfoundland is you can pretty
much get an Argo to wherever youare.

Speaker 2 (58:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (58:37):
So you get the four quarters, throw them in the Argo
and the guide can take themback out of.
Out of.
If you're in a bog and fivemiles off a road, it's not a big
deal, yeah.
With the Argo when us, we mighthave to carry, but so, yeah,
you learn skills, yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
You learn good skills .
That's neat, yeah, no, I wascurious about that, just you
being on the other end and itwas awesome.
It probably was hard to sitback and let them do like you
said.
You guys were probably the mostthe helpful hunters they'd had
that year.

Speaker 3 (59:03):
Like you, you take us like we don't.
Like they had their own cabinand at the end of hunting you
know what do you guys do?
And some of them actuallytraveled to Nova Scotia or New
Brunswick for a whitetail hunt,because there's no whitetail
deer in Newfoundland.
Yeah, so they would travel andyou know they knew that, they
knew our country, they knew whatunderstood and they're like oh

(59:24):
yeah, no, you're not doing amoose like we do a moose, or
they're.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
I love that comparing , whether it's province,
province or state to state or orwherever, just comparing how
other people deal with the sameanimal, but in, you know, a
different area of the world andall that.
It's just, it's interesting.

Speaker 3 (59:40):
Yeah, that was a great part of it.
Yeah, yeah, I can't, can't waitto do it again.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
Yeah, I mean whether you're talking about how you're
dealing or baiting, or huntingor packing out white tail deer
in Saskatchewan versus you knowNew Brunswick or things like
that, or like with Moose,whether you're New Brunswick or
Newfoundland, and yeah, it's,it's interesting.
And then, yeah, especially withyou guys, you know guides,
talking with guides andeverything.

Speaker 3 (01:00:03):
It was a.
It was a, it was a thought onmy mind on the trip over.
So anybody that's listeningfrom not around here, you drive,
I leave home.
Uh, clay and I left home andthe other guys the other uh,
outfitters and guys followed usin their vehicles.
We get to North Sydney, novaScotia, where there's a ferry.
It's a seven hour ferry ride.

Speaker 1 (01:00:25):
Seven hour ferry ride , depending on the weather.

Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
Depending on the weather across.

Speaker 3 (01:00:29):
So we get on the boat that night and during this
whole trip you're like we'regoing to an outfitter.
There's a bunch of guides Likewhat are they going to expect?
They know, you know, they knowwe're guides and hunters, what
is so?
It's something that plays onyou the whole trip.
Yeah, sure, you get off theferry, you travel across this
province and then you get tocamp and you're still like, hey

(01:00:53):
and it's all.
It's no different than, I guess, probably how a client feels
when they come to Long Lake.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:00:59):
They're not sure what to expect of the guide.
Well, once I get done, you knowthat.
So that's a Sunday evening.
I left and I come over to thecamp where Clay and I were
staying.
I was like man, this is justlike home.

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
It's there Like it's, it's not.
It's like.
A fella doesn't have to benervous, he doesn't have to be
concerned.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
It's yeah, but until you got there, though you
weren't, absolutely You're.
You're asking the questionsthat I was thinking about.
Asking you was, you know, yeah,what was it?
Yeah, like, yeah, it'sinteresting.
Yeah, absolutely.
And you work together Like thatgoes a long ways too, cause I

(01:01:34):
have a friend that that doesguiding here in New Brunswick
and he was saying I mean someclients come in, not that
they're obviously not expectedto at all, but once the harvest
is done, that's it.
They're cracking a beer sittingback, you're on your own, not
that they have to help but, Imean you definitely have.
You have a difference in.

Speaker 3 (01:01:53):
You have a difference in clients.
So, clients are, are there fortheir, for their hunt, and then
it's a vacation, totallyrespectful.
Yeah, hunters understand likethat.
That's what they did.
They came to hunt, they werefortunate enough to harvest an
animal or chose whatever animalthey wanted to harvest, and then
they're there on vacation afterthat, especially at a place
like Long Lake, where you knowthey can go trout fishing.
They like Long Lake, where youknow they can go trout fishing,

(01:02:13):
they can enjoy.
There's a beach they can, youknow they can.
There's a lake across the roadthat you can fly fish in.

Speaker 1 (01:02:19):
But with you guys in Newfoundland.
Yeah, you know you guys arestill stepping up.
Yeah, Everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:02:24):
if somebody harvested , then the next person's longing
to help, but that's what we'reused to, right?
Yeah, it's, I think.
As outfitters and guides thatwent on this hunt, not only was
it we'll call it a vacation, butit was a learning experience,
an adventure.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
So when?

Speaker 3 (01:02:36):
we were fortunate enough to harvest.
It's like, okay, let's go help.
What can we do to help theseguys?
What can we?
Let's see how you guys do this,whether it's fixing a wheel,
bearing on the, you know,because they don't.
We were 11 miles in the woods,run on generators and hand tools
and you know no vice and twoblocks of woods, you know.

(01:02:58):
So you're like oh yeah, there'sa track we can use in the, you
know, in the in the woods, oryou take.
You take a different experienceout of it than, say, like a, an
actual client would.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:03:08):
Yeah exactly.
Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, so no,yeah, it's interesting.
Tony, can't thank you enoughfor coming on here.
It's been great chatting withyou and I hope to have you on
again.

Speaker 3 (01:03:18):
Yeah, sure it's great .
I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:20):
We're I mean speaking of, which.
When this comes out, we areright around the corner to
spring bear season.
Yes, it is so there'll be somemore stories.

Speaker 3 (01:03:27):
Absolutely.
I'm looking forward to gettinga few bait sites up and going.