May 19, 2025 • 38 mins
Rob Spence, known to many as "Rob in the Outside," shares his profound journey of finding salvation through nature after hitting rock bottom. Following his mother's passing and a difficult divorce, Rob discovered that kayaking, fishing, and wilderness exploration quite literally saved his life – transforming his darkest moments into a passionate outdoor lifestyle that now defines him.
The conversation takes us through Rob's evolution as an outdoorsman, from his early days spending dawn to dusk on the water fishing for bass and pike, to his more recent obsession with fly fishing. "Until you get into it and get into a river and hook a big one and fight – it's hard to explain where the passion comes from," Rob explains, his enthusiasm palpable as he describes the thrill of battling brook trout on a fly rod.
We explore Rob's deeply thoughtful approach to hunting, which stems from a desire for self-sufficiency and ethically-sourced food. Unlike trophy hunting, Rob ensures every part of his harvested animals serves a purpose – from feeding his family and his dog Kiva to using hides for crafting and fly-tying materials. He candidly shares his three-year journey of learning deer behavior before successfully harvesting his first one, showing the depth of respect and knowledge that guides his practice.
Perhaps most compelling is Rob's raw honesty about the psychological impact of wilderness immersion. He describes the almost depressive state he experiences when returning from extended backcountry trips – a testament to nature's profound effect on his wellbeing. "I love coming back to my family, to the dog, everything else. I hate coming back to everything that's outside of this house," he admits, capturing the sentiment many wilderness enthusiasts feel but rarely articulate.
Whether you're an experienced outdoorsperson or someone curious about the healing potential of nature, Rob's story offers both practical knowledge and emotional insight into how the wilderness can transform lives. Follow Rob's adventures on Instagram @Rob_in_the_outside and YouTube as "Rob in the Outside" – and discover how connecting with nature might change your own perspective.
https://www.instagram.com/rob_intheoutside/
https://www.youtube.com/@robintheoutside
https://www.facebook.com/robintheoutside
CONNECT WITH US AT SUPER GOOD CAMPING:
Support the podcast & buy super cool SWAG: https://store.skgroupinc.com/super_good_camping/shop/home
EMAIL: hi@supergoodcamping.com
WEBSITE: www.supergoodcamping.com
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqFDJbFJyJ5Y-NHhFseENsQ
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/super_good_camping/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/SuperGoodCampin
FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuperGoodCamping/
TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@supergoodcamping
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and good day.
Welcome to the Super GoodCamping podcast.
My name is Pamela.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Tim.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
And we are from supergoodcampingcom.
We're here because we're on amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest seems to beoutside all the time.
Whether it's walking the dog,fishing, camping, hunting,
shoveling snow off of a roof,trying out new gear or watching
the stars from a dark skyreserve, he's out there and
often creating content.
(00:25):
Please welcome from Rob in theoutside.
Rob Spence, hey, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
How's it going?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
guys, thanks for coming out.
Man, no problem, thanks forhaving me.
It's been a minute trying toget this one organized right.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Or a few years.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
How do you want to look at that Hilarious?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So, backstory for those of you that don't know uh,
man, it's.
We've got to be coming up onmaybe three years, something
like that, since we first hadthat first chat yeah yeah, I
think so yeah, three years sortof I think.
I think we knew of each otherbut but we got yak and in in the
in the chat in one of Dennis'slike Canoe Hound's shows, one of
(01:08):
his live streams, and then atsome point I think we yakked in
the green room and then we didlike a Zoom meeting to try to
set this up.
We've run into each other atthe Toronto Outdoor Adventure
Show, you know.
We've had all kinds ofconversations.
None of them on the podcast,yeah that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yeah, we have nothing to talk about.
Yeah, no, of course not, we'redone.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Thanks guys, see you later.
Bye.
Shortest episode ever yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, I was going to say I think it has been three
years that we started, that westarted talking, that's what
tiny brain, but that's what itfeels like.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure yeah, andI think two years ago is when
we started talking about tryingprobably three yeah, yeah, and I
think it's been two years sincewe've been trying to hook up to
get our schedules to fall intoplace for an interview.
(02:03):
Well, you're, you're a busy guy.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yes, share some of the busyness.
What have you been up to lately, man?
Other than shoveling snow offroofs so they don't collapse and
stuff yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Actually, I guess this last month and a half I
have been knee-deep planning ahunt for deer.
But what?
What I'm doing is the four ofus that are going.
I'll get into that in a sec.
(02:36):
But the four of us that aregoing, the four deer that we get
, we are going to bring to thebrackenry butcher who's going to
teach a butchering class tokids from the Wata Nation and
from the Moon Creek Reserve.
He's going to give a butcheringclass to those kids and then
(03:00):
we're donating all four deerthat's been butchered back to
the reserves.
So for the people that need it.
The reason why we're doing thereserves is because I tried the
food banks and the SalvationArmy and stuff and once they
found out it was deer, they hadno interest in it whatsoever.
So I've been working with thisplace Landscapes about doing the
(03:23):
hunt there, um, on about 600acres, and andrew, who's part of
our fishing crew, is coming onthe hunt, and wyatt black from
alone.
He was, uh, from alone.
He was the runner up in seasonnine, I think it was nine or ten
um, him and his father arecoming on the hunt as well.
So, yeah, that's that's.
(03:44):
That's what I've been doing forthe last month, month and a
half is trying to organize thatwith um, getting some sponsors
involved and then getting it allarranged.
So cool.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, that's, that's a whack of work to to put
together landscapes, is thatthey do a camping thing where
there are canoes at eachindividual lake and you
literally hike, then you paddleback.
Oh cool, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I was checking them out.
I've checked them out two yearsin a row at the uh, the Toronto
(04:18):
, uh outdoor adventure show.
It looks like a, looks like acool gig, like it looks like
that would be a cool thingEverything that they're trying
to do with that whole I thinkit's 40,000 plus acres.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
What they're trying to do there is absolutely
phenomenal, with the managementof the deer herd there's elk in
there, the moose in there,trying to revitalize the trout
population in a couple of lakes,like everything from the ground
up, including the insects andstuff.
They're trying to rebuild thatwhole ecosystem, which is
absolutely phenomenal,phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
So yeah, and we've been planning our spring trip.
I remember you're planning yourspring trip through there.
Yeah, okay, cool, yeah.
When we saw them at the show,enthusiastic is not even close
to what they were.
They were so.
They're just, they're so behindwhat they're doing.
You know what I mean.
Yes, it was awesome to see thatkind of passion.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, and then our spring trip actually is sorry, I
was going to say we're notplanning it through there.
Our spring trip is actually 10days in Algonquin and then
Andrew and I are pulling out foranother five days and then
we're going back in with Joshagain for another four or five.
(05:35):
So we're going to be gone for,I think, a total of 18 days.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
When you say pulling out for five days?
Are you like bailing, goingback into civilization, or are
you just going to crown land andthen no, we're going, we're
going into, we're going intocrown land.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Andrew and I are going to go fish a couple of
lakes just on the outskirts ofalgonquin.
So yeah, we're not coming homecool.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah, I wouldn't, let's see in 20 days or so.
Yeah, cool does, cool Does.
This year is this yourfull-time job?
Um, you get to camp.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
It's.
I'd like to turn it into that.
I don't know if it will everturn into that revenue wise.
Like I, I make a few bucks hereand there.
I don't make anything off anyof my sponsors financially Um.
It's more of a barter systemwhere I get stuff from them and
I promote the hell out of them.
But I'm still.
I still do side jobs here andthere, but my side jobs happen
(06:32):
when I get back from a trip andthe wife says you've spent too
much money, you need to go towork.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, I used to do some contracting.
I know how that works.
Yeah, fishing You're a fish nut, like you are.
You tell, tell us howpassionate you are about fishing
.
I've seen a whole bunch of yourvideos, which we'll make sure
(07:02):
we reference your YouTubechannel.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
You're a way better fisherman than me.
You love to do it like as oftenas you possibly can.
Yeah, I, um, I've always been aspin cast kind of guy, like I
love bass and pike, like that'swhat got me started.
Um, and I've been doing thatfor years.
Um, when I first moved up here,probably about five years ago,
I'd be on the water from 4 30 inthe morning till 10 o'clock at
night, and that's it.
(07:27):
The wife would paddle out oncein a while at lunch to come and
have lunch with me on an islandor something out on cooch, and
then she'd head back in and godo what she had to do, but I
would stay on the water and then, um, I kind of pulled away from
fishing a little bit because Igot heavy into um running some
rivers and then doing a lot ofthese back country trips.
(07:49):
Um, and then I met Josh and heput a fly rod in my hand and I
tell you that now that I pickedup fly fishing, I have just I,
am I, just I, and I have just I,am I, just I.
Until you get into it and getinto a river and hook a big one
and fight.
(08:09):
It's hard to explain where thepassion comes from it, like it's
just, it's.
It's just such a thrill.
And the and the trout are justthe brook trout and the splake
and stuff.
They're just absolutelybeautiful, beautiful creatures
Like stunning and pound forpound.
(08:31):
I think they're the best fight.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So yeah, and and yeah , as often as I can.
So did you grow up camping anddoing all the outdoor adventure
things, or is this something youpicked up as an adult?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Um, we had.
My stepfather bought 75 acresin Wilberforce when he was 19.
So I spent a lot of my summerswell, actually all my summers up
until I was about 10 or 11 inin the back 40 there, like the
sec.
The second we were awake, wewere thrown out of the cottage
(09:01):
and we weren't allowed backuntil there was food ready.
Um, and I really got a passionfor it there.
And then, um, once I got intothe electrical trade, I kind of
lost touch of all of that.
There there was no more hobbies, it was work, work, work.
And then the only hobby that Ireally picked up was, um, I got
into uh radio, um, internetradio radio, because I love
(09:25):
music as well.
And then when I moved up here Imoved up here because I fell
into a dark hole.
My mom had passed away.
I got in the middle of a nastydivorce, pretty much lost
everything, climbed into a darkhole and brought a shovel with
(09:48):
me to see how much deeper Icould get.
And then, when I got up here, Igot into the kayak one day and
started fishing.
And then I started going on alittle couple of camping
adventures overnight to fish,and it literally saved my life
and it just, and now I'menthralled with it and I can't
(10:10):
um the wife talks to me about ita lot if I, when I go away,
even if it's for four days, whenI come back, I, for the first
little bit, I'm almost in astate of depression which is and
sometimes I don see it, Inotice it when I go on my really
long trips and I come back Ihave a very, very hard time
(10:30):
adjusting.
Like the wife kind of leaves mealone for a few days.
I won't even, I won't even goget gas, like it's.
It's weird to explain Like I,just I love that, not so much
the isolation, like I love doingit alone.
Like I, I, if my wife hadn'tcome back from Australia, I
would not have come out of thebush, but she did come back, so
(10:54):
I did come out.
But just being out there andjust I don't even know how to
explain it.
It's just listening to nature,it just everything about it,
just it heals my soul and I hatecoming back to.
I love coming back to my family, to the dog, everything else.
(11:17):
I hate coming back toeverything that's outside of
this house.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yep, the world can be a I'm trying trying to, I'm
trying to think of a nice wordto use can be a bit of a bit of
a hot mess, especially.
yes so I totally get whereyou're coming from.
Like you know, I'm not uh I mepersonally, I'm not a solo
camper.
Uh, I can't with either eitherpamela or one or both of our
(11:45):
kids, or however that plays out.
I don't need that space justfor myself, although it's pretty
easy to find that space.
Like you can still be withsomebody else and be totally on
your own.
You know what I mean.
Like you can just do thatnature piece, zen thing.
Right yeah, your story is notnot terribly unusual.
(12:05):
We've heard very similar from anumber of people and it's
usually some kind of a somethingwent sideways.
Things are crappy.
I went and found solace in theforest and it's been my go-to
since, and and that excites me,like I think that's.
That's fabulous, that thatshows just how much getting out
(12:29):
there, the value of getting outthere, regardless of how you do
it or what you choose to do outthere, run around naked, I don't
care Like it's just just getout there, man, like it's good.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yeah, exactly it, it's it, you know.
I I thought To me in my headwhen I would explain to like the
rest of my family, what beingout there has done for me.
I almost felt like I almostfelt like a whack job trying to
explain it.
But then getting into thecommunity, you know, and then
(13:04):
talking to people where Istarted to, you know, meet
people, dennis Canoehound,absolutely Like I love what that
man does, that chat and thepeople in that community.
(13:28):
After getting in, afterclimbing into that and being
accepted into it, realizing thatmy story isn't special, like
there's a lot of us that havefound nature the same way and
found it as healing and it's andit's hard to explain to people
and until you experience it,nothing I say to anybody makes
any sense.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
You know, yeah, agreed.
I mean, I don't know, maybe youknow a city slicker, as they
call us bad names, those of usthat live in Toronto, but some
of us aren't that bad, justsaying yeah, but yeah, as
somebody who's been, you know,extremely urban for their whole
(14:06):
life, that's been their lifeexperience they don't have any I
don't know what the right termis reference, maybe They've got
nothing to compare it againstuntil they actually get out
there and then go holy crap, howwas I missing this my entire
life?
Because that seems to be how itplays.
Like literally not everybody,but it's like oh, I don't like
(14:27):
bugs, okay, well, fine, staylike.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Oh, I don't like bugs , okay, well, fine, stay home, I
don't care yeah, yeah my, myfavorite question every year
around this time of the year iswhat are the bugs like?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
right now they don't exist.
They're going to be very badthen there'll be a different bug
.
That's going to be very bad,and then they'll be slightly
less bad, but they're stillgoing to be a bunch of them.
That's how that goes yeah, yeahand if you go near marshy areas
they're going to be very, verybad, and if you go away from
marsh areas, they'll just bevery bad.
(15:03):
Yeah, welcome, welcome towelcome to spring and early
summer in ontario, man, yeah,exactly, if there isn't ice on
the water, there's bugs, that'sit.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah yeah, there's two seasons and that's bug
season and ice.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Toronto is winter and construction, but, yes, same
idea.
So we're recording this at theend of march.
You guys don't?
You guys don't have open wateryet, do you?
Speaker 3 (15:36):
or at least you're not fully ice out we're not
fully iced out, but there is alot of open water.
Um, I'm not, actually I'mprobably.
I'm a kilometer away from thefalls, um, and I can hear them
raging all night long.
The flooding that's going tohappen up here is crazy.
(15:56):
A week ago, I had six and ahalf feet of snow along the side
of my driveways and we're nowdown to about three feet and
it's, yeah, it's, it's, theflooding's gonna be bad, but
yeah, there is open water herenow, but it's not fully iced out
, but yeah, it's.
Um the the ice fishing seasonis over, so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
No, I knew the ice fishing was over, but I saw um,
just it happened weirdly beenfollowing the weather because
again, we're at the right at theend of of march and we're here
in toronto.
We're likely to get mostly rainover the course of the next
three days.
You guys are going to getwhacked with all kinds of stuff
freezing rain, ice pellets,maybe snow, who knows?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
you got a bunch of crap coming out, so I was
looking at satellite imagery oh,yeah it's gonna, yeah, it's
what are you well welcome?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
welcome to spring in ontario.
Yeah, um, but I noticed thatlake simcoe still had an awful
lot of ice, so I figured,because you guys are north of
that, right I?
Figured you guys were stillstill looking at the hardwaters
type deal.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yeah, it's weird because some of the lakes right
now you'd figure, with this warmweather that we've had, like we
had like three, four days in arow that were 15, 17 degrees and
you'd figure like the edgeswould start to go first, but
some of these lakes it's stillaround the edge but the center
started to come out and it's so,yeah, a few people have lost
(17:29):
their huts.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
That's creepy.
Well, that's the Lake Simcoe,because because it's the closest
sorry, lake Ontario is theclosest big body of water, but
Lake Simcoe is the next one,like like heading North, and
that's, that's what you hear.
That's usually the.
The spring cry is oh, you know,john lost his truck because he
was parked on the ice or thesnowmobile went through the ice?
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yeah, yeah, Like I went down to Barrie the other
day, I drove by Georgian Bay andit's surprisingly it has opened
up huge.
I thought Georgian Bay usuallytakes a little bit longer but
it's already coming down the 400400.
There you can see like it'sjust open water as far as you
can see right now.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
so wow, cool.
Well, you'll be out in thecanoe doing some fishing soon.
Um, very hunting, what so?
Well, talk to me about what youhunt and how, because I can see
I'm going to use the wrong term, but I can see yes, exactly the
(18:37):
thing that shoots arrows,crossbow.
What styles like what do youuse when you hunt and what
animals do you harvest?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So I've got a crossbow here, the Excalibur and
a recurve.
I haven't hunted any big gamewith the recurve yet.
I know it's an easier targetthan small game.
I just haven't felt comfortableenough to take it with big game
because the last thing I wantto do is wound an animal.
But all small game I hunt.
(19:14):
I haven't hunted for coyote orwolf.
I will never hunt wolf.
I know there has to be amanagement program for it and I
understand that.
Just me personally, I wouldnever take one.
Just me personally, I wouldnever take one Um.
With the access of, with theexcess of coyotes that we've had
(19:35):
this year, I may start doingthat Um, but basically I'm
hunting small game um, rabbit,squirrel, um, porcupine, raccoon
, um and deer.
I put in, I put in for my mooseand I put in for my elk.
I've yet to get one um,hopefully this year, um.
But deer, deer has been my, mybiggest pull um so far and I, I,
(20:00):
just I absolutely love it andit's, you know, none of it's a
trophy.
I know I've got, you know, I'vegot it on the wall.
And when people see thatthey're like, oh, it's a trophy,
well, for me that's not atrophy, it's when I come into
the house and I see that my mindgoes back to everything that
(20:22):
happened in that moment and forme that's an appreciation of
that animal that just fed myentire family.
So and it's, and it's, it's anargument that'll never be one.
With animal activists and stufflike that.
They all think trophy hunting.
For me, trophy hunting is whenyou go fly overseas and you go
(20:44):
shoot some big animal and takeits tusks and brag about it and
leave everything else there raw.
That's, that's not what I'm inthis for this.
Um, I started hunting becausemy wife and I decided that we
wanted to start growing our ownstuff.
Start and forage Prices areridiculous.
(21:05):
The treatment that commercialanimal gets, I think, is
absolutely disgusting.
The stuff that they put in itonce they've harvested, it is
absolutely disgusting.
And I mean you can't get anymore organic than harvesting an
animal that's been eating acornsand tree buds all year round.
(21:29):
So, yeah, oh, and bear, I forgotbear.
I took my first bear last yearand that was on my birthday.
I have never in my life tasteda meat and I any more delicious
than a bear heart.
Um, with all, with all theanimals that I take, the big
(21:50):
game, the first thing we eat iswith the wife.
The first thing we eat is the,the um, uh, the tenderloins from
inside Um.
But the first thing I eat isthe heart, and bear heart is
absolutely phenomenal.
I am probably the only man inCanada right now who has can
(22:12):
will tell you that raw bear meattastes absolutely phenomenal.
I got trigonosis and was veryclose to not making it.
I cooked a tenderloin from thebear the same way I cook my
venison, and within four hours Iwas not doing well, but I'll
(22:32):
tell you it tasted really good.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Okay, what's trigonosis?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Trigonosis are an easy way, layman's way, I guess
the easiest way to explain itwould be worms kind of.
But they're parasites.
It's a parasite and first itgets in, comes out through your
stomach, gets into your muscles.
(23:02):
Once it's what's the term I'mlooking for Once it's laid once
it's laid its eggs and it startsto grow and everything else, it
gets into your bloodstream.
Once it's into your bloodstream, it instantly goes to your
heart and to your brain and onceit's done, that you're done.
(23:24):
There's no coming back fromthat.
So, yeah, they figured they.
When, um, yeah, when I, when Igot diagnosed with it, they had
already, um, gotten out of mydigestive tract and had already
started to get into my muscles.
The pain was excruciating.
(23:45):
I've never, ever in my life, Iwoke up at 1.30 in the morning
and felt like somebody had putboth of their hands on my
esophagus and were wringing itout like a towel.
Yeah, absolutely, and that wasprobably one of the nicest pains
that I went through in thefirst few days.
(24:06):
So, yeah, and I waited a weekand a half.
Yeah, I waited a week and a halfbefore I even went to the
doctor to get diagnosed becauseI still had three deer tagged to
fill.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Okay, yeah, that's what the wife said.
Yeah, I learned my lesson.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I'm glad you're on the other side of that, jesus
man?
Yeah, yeah, I was still.
It was stupidity on my partnote that pamela's looking at me
giving me some side eye hereyeah, stupidity
Speaker 2 (24:43):
oh, I know a guy like that okay, well, off that sad
note, back back to the.
So harvesting.
So what for for you?
So this is you.
You mentioned it, it's all itwould always be.
You know, a fight you couldnever win with a, with a, an
animal activist.
But I wouldn't say that we are.
(25:06):
I've done hunting myself when Iwas considerably younger.
I've hunted moose,unsuccessfully hunted deer.
We, we did, we did full hearst,like, like the entirety of the
moose.
We took it to a butcher.
We, we sucked at at doing allthose things, um, but we, we
took the entirety, like, likeman, we lived off that venison
(25:29):
for for ages.
Like it's, that's a, it's a biganimal, right, so not my gig
anymore.
Just, it's just a personal sameas you do it, it's a personal
choice, right, like that's whatyou choose to do.
I choose not to um, but I havenothing.
(25:50):
I'm not adverse to it in a, nota don jr, rip the tusks off, go
home with this, with the.
You know the souvenir I'mexactly that sucks that.
There's no place for that in myworld.
Yeah, but as far as you know,providing sustenance, et cetera,
or providing sustenance forother people with the same thing
(26:13):
.
I'm totally behind that.
So how do you do you do ityourself?
Do you do you have a butcherthat does it?
How does that?
How does that work out?
Speaker 3 (26:25):
that you get everything out of the end.
So after I've taken it, I willclean it out in the field, then
I'll bring it home and I'll pullthe cape off the hide, I'll
take the tenderloins from theinside, I'll take those off and
then I'll bring the rest to Reedthe bracken rig butcher.
(26:46):
He is going to teach me how tobutcher it, but I like bringing
it to him because it gives memore opportunity to get back out
, because I pull my whole sixtags every year.
So now I should learn how to doit myself.
(27:07):
You know my wife wants to do it.
She's already talked to read.
He's going to get us astainless steel table and you
know I'm going to be part ofthat class where he teaches.
You know the butchering of itand stuff, and so yeah it's.
It's something I do need tolearn how to do properly.
Um, but I nothing, nothing thatI bring home goes to waste.
(27:28):
I like, right down to the bones, every single bone, except for
the ribs.
Um, actually, no, even the ribs.
Um, the dog gets.
You know like we take absoluteanything on that animal that I
can't eat.
My dog will eat.
So with my we we feed, we feedKiva a raw diet anyways.
(27:51):
So, um, if I, if I get threedeer, she's got a whole one to
herself.
She gets half the bear as well.
Um, we cook it for though.
So, but yeah, we use.
We'll read saves the bones forus.
I bring them home, I take a,take a saws, all to them, cut
them all up into little piecesfor them.
Um, sometimes the wife willboil some of them, like, get the
(28:15):
marrow all soft and punch allthe marrow up for her, and
sometimes we just throw her thebone and let her go to town.
So, but yeah, absolutely nothing.
Nothing goes to waste, eveneven the hides.
Um, I saved a couple of hides.
The first, the, the first hideI did by myself didn't turn out
that well, um, um, but I didluck out, cause a buddy of mine
(28:37):
said I can still take it and cutsome of those, some of the
hairs off and use it in my flies.
So that worked out.
So I've kept a little piece formyself and I've done a few
practice runs at getting thehide to a workable thing for us.
But the thing about deer hidesis that it is so thin that if
(29:00):
you do work it too much, there'snot much you can really use it
for, because the leather's notas durable as other animals, so,
but you can still make somenice stuff out of it around the
house.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
So I, how much time do you spend hunting?
I don't mean, I don't mean,like you know, you spend three
months out hunting, whateverthat, whatever that window is, I
mean, like for an average deer,like, do you spend from start
to finish?
I make the assumption you arescouting trails, potentially
trail cameras, looking forfeeding spots, you know that
(29:36):
sort of deal and then you go outand you're whatever, you're in
a blinds, you're how?
How does that all play out?
What is that length of thattimeline from the time?
you start prepping to the timethat you're bringing one home.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I start usually prepping around probably about
the second week of August it'safter my oldest son's birthday,
after August 15th and then whatI'll do is I'll look for certain
areas for where I see some likeheavy traffic, and then I'll
look for a couple of rubs andthen what I'll do is I'll set a
trail cam up and if there issome traffic in that area decent
(30:13):
traffic, maybe a decent sizebuck or stuff then I'll start
laying some bait and stuff tosee if I can keep them in and
around.
And then, if that works andthere are some decent bucks in
there and when I say decent I'mnot talking about the rack, I'm
talking body size Like I yeah, Iwould, I'd love a nice rack to
put on my wall, but my priorityis the meat.
(30:36):
So I'm looking for for a biganimal I don't care how big its
horn is and then and then I'lllay bait to keep them around.
And then come the season, um,which is October 1st for Bo and
it's two and a half months long.
Um, sometimes, sometimes Icould tag out right on the first
(30:58):
day.
Um, but my other five tags Ihave to do a lot of traveling
for because I, when you getadditional tags in Ontario.
Um, you get assigned, you can,you can pick the WMUs but you
have to travel Like you won'tget two, two, three tags in a
(31:19):
specific area, like you mightyou know, for, like, say, I'm in
um, wmu 57.
Um, so I might be able to pullmy two additional tags in 60.
I might get two tags there, butthere might only be one
available one for me.
So sometimes with my first tag,which is good for anywhere in
(31:42):
Ontario, you know, and I've saidit in a couple of my videos,
like man, I hope I don't regretpassing that thing up.
And it's not because I'mlooking for a bigger buck or
anything, it's because I don'twant to come out of the bush.
What that interaction, beingable to call them in, having
(32:03):
them come in.
You know that, that whole andthat adrenaline rush when you do
make a call and it works and itcomes in, looking to see what's
around, like I don't know howmany times I've had my crossbow
and I've had them dead in mysights and I've just gone.
Yeah, I want to do this againtomorrow.
Yeah, so it.
(32:26):
I, I spent.
I spent probably a good monthand a half prepping um,
researching my first three yearsof hunting when I didn't tag
out at all, and I think this iswhere I learned to love hunting
so much.
My first three years I didn'tget one deer.
I couldn't even get closeenough for a shot.
Two of those years I was doingspot and stocks.
(32:50):
But in those three years Ilearned so much about the deer,
about the flora and the fauna,all in this area the deer's
habits, their eating habits,their sleeping habits, their
travel habits.
It was like going to school andI haven't learned everything.
(33:14):
There's still a whole bunchI've got to learn.
But the amount of informationthat I gathered walking through
that forest and then stopping,like taking three or four steps,
stopping looking around to seeif there's anything there, to
see if I hear anything, andstuff like that, and then trying
(33:35):
to figure out what they'reeating and where they're bedding
and that kind of stuff that haspaid off for me now.
So I'm very glad for thosefirst three years that the wife
and I decided that this is whatwe were going to do, that I
didn't tag out, because if Ijust went into the bush popped
one, I wouldn't have learnedanything.
(33:56):
You know.
So to me it's every time I goout.
I'm learning something newabout them and I'm learning
something new about theenvironment and everything.
It's crazy when you try to tellpeople that even the bees in
this area will affect what thedeer do.
It's a butterfly effect and Idon't think people understand
(34:18):
that.
And I love what I'm learningwhile I'm out there and it's the
, it's the, the.
The wife likes to see the smileon my face and she loves my
passion about it and I tell youI couldn't do any of this
without her.
She is a patient woman becausecome August 16th I'm gone and
(34:42):
I'm like for hours every day.
I'm up at 2.30, 3 o'clock everymorning and I'm not back until
well after dark, and that goeson right up until December 15th.
And God love her, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
So I happen to see that you wrote a book.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
I did.
And you know what?
It's funny, I was going to editit and have it all proper
grammar and proper English andpunctuation and all that other
stuff.
And my son said to me becauseit's my trip, it was my trip
from Algonquin when I blew outmy shoulder and my knee and my
son said, why would you do that?
(35:23):
And I go to make it like properbook.
And my kid says to me he goes,that's not you, you're not all
prim and proper, nice, smoothedges, like you were like bleep,
bleep, bleep.
You know, like that's, you'restraight up, you're a raw,
you're a raw exposed nerve allthe time.
(35:45):
Why would you change that?
Why don't you just go throughit for spelling mistakes and
just throw it up and if peoplelike it, they like it, and if
they don't, they don't.
And I went you know what, maybeI'll do that.
So that's basically what it was.
It was my diary from that tripand you know some of the
punctuation I fixed.
Some of it I didn't, I justleft it as raw as I wrote it
(36:08):
Like I literally took my diary,put it in front of me and just
went verbatim, everything Likethere's periods missing, comms
missing, but that's, that was myexperience, and my son said
that.
And that's what my son said.
He goes that's your experience,don't change it, just do it
Okay.
(36:29):
So yeah, kids can be smartsometimes, yeah yeah, and it's
really not an easy read becauseit's you know it's scattered and
you know I think there's acouple of pages in there that I
wrote while I was in the middleof an emotional breakdown on
like day five or six, so it'slike gibberish.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
What's the name of the book and where can people
get it?
Speaker 3 (36:56):
It's on Amazon.
Kindle is what it is, so it'son Amazon and it's, I believe,
the title.
I haven't looked at it for solong.
I've still got the actual diary.
It's a little tiny green bookand I think I just called it 15
(37:16):
Days Alone in the AlgonquinBackcountry.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Okay, we'll double check that.
We'll make sure it ends up inthe show notes and stuff.
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Yeah, cause I think, I think that's, I think that's
what it was called.
15 days alone in the Algonquinback country.
Sweet yeah, well, that wasquite the trip we, we, we know.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
a published author.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Well too, you know Kevin Callen as well.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
That's true.
That's true.
That's true.
All he does is write books,though like 18 of them or
something crazy.
They actually must be more.
Now, I think it was 18 lasttime we talked to him that's it
for us for today.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Thank you so much for listening.
Thank you so much to rob in theoutside for joining us today
and please do check him out.
He's on Instagram it's Robunderscore in the outside, and
on YouTube he's Rob in theoutside, so please do check him
out.
Check us out while you're there.
We'd love it if you subscribeto us and if you would like to
talk to us or you have anysuggestions, any ideas, any
(38:18):
future topics you'd like us tocover, people you'd like to talk
to, please do email us.
We're at hi atsupergoodcampingcom.
That's hi atsupergoodcampingcom, and we'll
talk to you again soon.
Bye, bye.
Hello and good day.
Welcome to the Super GoodCamping podcast.
My name is Pamela.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Tim.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
And we are from supergoodcampingcom.
We're here because we're on amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest seems to beoutside all the time.
Whether it's walking the dog,fishing, camping, hunting,
shoveling snow off of a roof,trying out new gear or watching
the stars from a dark skyreserve, he's out there and
often creating content.
(00:25):
Please welcome from Rob in theoutside.
Rob Spence, hey, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
How's it going?
Speaker 3 (00:31):
guys, thanks for coming out.
Man, no problem, thanks forhaving me.
It's been a minute trying toget this one organized right.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Or a few years.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
How do you want to look at that Hilarious?
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So, backstory for those of you that don't know uh,
man, it's.
We've got to be coming up onmaybe three years, something
like that, since we first hadthat first chat yeah yeah, I
think so yeah, three years sortof I think.
I think we knew of each otherbut but we got yak and in in the
in the chat in one of Dennis'slike Canoe Hound's shows, one of
(01:08):
his live streams, and then atsome point I think we yakked in
the green room and then we didlike a Zoom meeting to try to
set this up.
We've run into each other atthe Toronto Outdoor Adventure
Show, you know.
We've had all kinds ofconversations.
None of them on the podcast,yeah that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yeah, we have nothing to talk about.
Yeah, no, of course not, we'redone.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Thanks guys, see you later.
Bye.
Shortest episode ever yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah, I was going to say I think it has been three
years that we started, that westarted talking, that's what
tiny brain, but that's what itfeels like.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure yeah, andI think two years ago is when
we started talking about tryingprobably three yeah, yeah, and I
think it's been two years sincewe've been trying to hook up to
get our schedules to fall intoplace for an interview.
(02:03):
Well, you're, you're a busy guy.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yes, share some of the busyness.
What have you been up to lately, man?
Other than shoveling snow offroofs so they don't collapse and
stuff yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Actually, I guess this last month and a half I
have been knee-deep planning ahunt for deer.
But what?
What I'm doing is the four ofus that are going.
I'll get into that in a sec.
(02:36):
But the four of us that aregoing, the four deer that we get
, we are going to bring to thebrackenry butcher who's going to
teach a butchering class tokids from the Wata Nation and
from the Moon Creek Reserve.
He's going to give a butcheringclass to those kids and then
(03:00):
we're donating all four deerthat's been butchered back to
the reserves.
So for the people that need it.
The reason why we're doing thereserves is because I tried the
food banks and the SalvationArmy and stuff and once they
found out it was deer, they hadno interest in it whatsoever.
So I've been working with thisplace Landscapes about doing the
(03:23):
hunt there, um, on about 600acres, and andrew, who's part of
our fishing crew, is coming onthe hunt, and wyatt black from
alone.
He was, uh, from alone.
He was the runner up in seasonnine, I think it was nine or ten
um, him and his father arecoming on the hunt as well.
So, yeah, that's that's.
(03:44):
That's what I've been doing forthe last month, month and a
half is trying to organize thatwith um, getting some sponsors
involved and then getting it allarranged.
So cool.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, that's, that's a whack of work to to put
together landscapes, is thatthey do a camping thing where
there are canoes at eachindividual lake and you
literally hike, then you paddleback.
Oh cool, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I was checking them out.
I've checked them out two yearsin a row at the uh, the Toronto
(04:18):
, uh outdoor adventure show.
It looks like a, looks like acool gig, like it looks like
that would be a cool thingEverything that they're trying
to do with that whole I thinkit's 40,000 plus acres.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
What they're trying to do there is absolutely
phenomenal, with the managementof the deer herd there's elk in
there, the moose in there,trying to revitalize the trout
population in a couple of lakes,like everything from the ground
up, including the insects andstuff.
They're trying to rebuild thatwhole ecosystem, which is
absolutely phenomenal,phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
So yeah, and we've been planning our spring trip.
I remember you're planning yourspring trip through there.
Yeah, okay, cool, yeah.
When we saw them at the show,enthusiastic is not even close
to what they were.
They were so.
They're just, they're so behindwhat they're doing.
You know what I mean.
Yes, it was awesome to see thatkind of passion.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, and then our spring trip actually is sorry, I
was going to say we're notplanning it through there.
Our spring trip is actually 10days in Algonquin and then
Andrew and I are pulling out foranother five days and then
we're going back in with Joshagain for another four or five.
(05:35):
So we're going to be gone for,I think, a total of 18 days.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
When you say pulling out for five days?
Are you like bailing, goingback into civilization, or are
you just going to crown land andthen no, we're going, we're
going into, we're going intocrown land.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Andrew and I are going to go fish a couple of
lakes just on the outskirts ofalgonquin.
So yeah, we're not coming homecool.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah, I wouldn't, let's see in 20 days or so.
Yeah, cool does, cool Does.
This year is this yourfull-time job?
Um, you get to camp.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
It's.
I'd like to turn it into that.
I don't know if it will everturn into that revenue wise.
Like I, I make a few bucks hereand there.
I don't make anything off anyof my sponsors financially Um.
It's more of a barter systemwhere I get stuff from them and
I promote the hell out of them.
But I'm still.
I still do side jobs here andthere, but my side jobs happen
(06:32):
when I get back from a trip andthe wife says you've spent too
much money, you need to go towork.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, I used to do some contracting.
I know how that works.
Yeah, fishing You're a fish nut, like you are.
You tell, tell us howpassionate you are about fishing
.
I've seen a whole bunch of yourvideos, which we'll make sure
(07:02):
we reference your YouTubechannel.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
You're a way better fisherman than me.
You love to do it like as oftenas you possibly can.
Yeah, I, um, I've always been aspin cast kind of guy, like I
love bass and pike, like that'swhat got me started.
Um, and I've been doing thatfor years.
Um, when I first moved up here,probably about five years ago,
I'd be on the water from 4 30 inthe morning till 10 o'clock at
night, and that's it.
(07:27):
The wife would paddle out oncein a while at lunch to come and
have lunch with me on an islandor something out on cooch, and
then she'd head back in and godo what she had to do, but I
would stay on the water and then, um, I kind of pulled away from
fishing a little bit because Igot heavy into um running some
rivers and then doing a lot ofthese back country trips.
(07:49):
Um, and then I met Josh and heput a fly rod in my hand and I
tell you that now that I pickedup fly fishing, I have just I,
am I, just I, and I have just I,am I, just I.
Until you get into it and getinto a river and hook a big one
and fight.
(08:09):
It's hard to explain where thepassion comes from it, like it's
just, it's.
It's just such a thrill.
And the and the trout are justthe brook trout and the splake
and stuff.
They're just absolutelybeautiful, beautiful creatures
Like stunning and pound forpound.
(08:31):
I think they're the best fight.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
So yeah, and and yeah , as often as I can.
So did you grow up camping anddoing all the outdoor adventure
things, or is this something youpicked up as an adult?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Um, we had.
My stepfather bought 75 acresin Wilberforce when he was 19.
So I spent a lot of my summerswell, actually all my summers up
until I was about 10 or 11 inin the back 40 there, like the
sec.
The second we were awake, wewere thrown out of the cottage
(09:01):
and we weren't allowed backuntil there was food ready.
Um, and I really got a passionfor it there.
And then, um, once I got intothe electrical trade, I kind of
lost touch of all of that.
There there was no more hobbies, it was work, work, work.
And then the only hobby that Ireally picked up was, um, I got
into uh radio, um, internetradio radio, because I love
(09:25):
music as well.
And then when I moved up here Imoved up here because I fell
into a dark hole.
My mom had passed away.
I got in the middle of a nastydivorce, pretty much lost
everything, climbed into a darkhole and brought a shovel with
(09:48):
me to see how much deeper Icould get.
And then, when I got up here, Igot into the kayak one day and
started fishing.
And then I started going on alittle couple of camping
adventures overnight to fish,and it literally saved my life
and it just, and now I'menthralled with it and I can't
(10:10):
um the wife talks to me about ita lot if I, when I go away,
even if it's for four days, whenI come back, I, for the first
little bit, I'm almost in astate of depression which is and
sometimes I don see it, Inotice it when I go on my really
long trips and I come back Ihave a very, very hard time
(10:30):
adjusting.
Like the wife kind of leaves mealone for a few days.
I won't even, I won't even goget gas, like it's.
It's weird to explain Like I,just I love that, not so much
the isolation, like I love doingit alone.
Like I, I, if my wife hadn'tcome back from Australia, I
would not have come out of thebush, but she did come back, so
(10:54):
I did come out.
But just being out there andjust I don't even know how to
explain it.
It's just listening to nature,it just everything about it,
just it heals my soul and I hatecoming back to.
I love coming back to my family, to the dog, everything else.
(11:17):
I hate coming back toeverything that's outside of
this house.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yep, the world can be a I'm trying trying to, I'm
trying to think of a nice wordto use can be a bit of a bit of
a hot mess, especially.
yes so I totally get whereyou're coming from.
Like you know, I'm not uh I mepersonally, I'm not a solo
camper.
Uh, I can't with either eitherpamela or one or both of our
(11:45):
kids, or however that plays out.
I don't need that space justfor myself, although it's pretty
easy to find that space.
Like you can still be withsomebody else and be totally on
your own.
You know what I mean.
Like you can just do thatnature piece, zen thing.
Right yeah, your story is notnot terribly unusual.
(12:05):
We've heard very similar from anumber of people and it's
usually some kind of a somethingwent sideways.
Things are crappy.
I went and found solace in theforest and it's been my go-to
since, and and that excites me,like I think that's.
That's fabulous, that thatshows just how much getting out
(12:29):
there, the value of getting outthere, regardless of how you do
it or what you choose to do outthere, run around naked, I don't
care Like it's just just getout there, man, like it's good.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yeah, exactly it, it's it, you know.
I I thought To me in my headwhen I would explain to like the
rest of my family, what beingout there has done for me.
I almost felt like I almostfelt like a whack job trying to
explain it.
But then getting into thecommunity, you know, and then
(13:04):
talking to people where Istarted to, you know, meet
people, dennis Canoehound,absolutely Like I love what that
man does, that chat and thepeople in that community.
(13:28):
After getting in, afterclimbing into that and being
accepted into it, realizing thatmy story isn't special, like
there's a lot of us that havefound nature the same way and
found it as healing and it's andit's hard to explain to people
and until you experience it,nothing I say to anybody makes
any sense.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
You know, yeah, agreed.
I mean, I don't know, maybe youknow a city slicker, as they
call us bad names, those of usthat live in Toronto, but some
of us aren't that bad, justsaying yeah, but yeah, as
somebody who's been, you know,extremely urban for their whole
(14:06):
life, that's been their lifeexperience they don't have any I
don't know what the right termis reference, maybe They've got
nothing to compare it againstuntil they actually get out
there and then go holy crap, howwas I missing this my entire
life?
Because that seems to be how itplays.
Like literally not everybody,but it's like oh, I don't like
(14:27):
bugs, okay, well, fine, staylike.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Oh, I don't like bugs , okay, well, fine, stay home, I
don't care yeah, yeah my, myfavorite question every year
around this time of the year iswhat are the bugs like?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
right now they don't exist.
They're going to be very badthen there'll be a different bug
.
That's going to be very bad,and then they'll be slightly
less bad, but they're stillgoing to be a bunch of them.
That's how that goes yeah, yeahand if you go near marshy areas
they're going to be very, verybad, and if you go away from
marsh areas, they'll just bevery bad.
(15:03):
Yeah, welcome, welcome towelcome to spring and early
summer in ontario, man, yeah,exactly, if there isn't ice on
the water, there's bugs, that'sit.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah yeah, there's two seasons and that's bug
season and ice.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Toronto is winter and construction, but, yes, same
idea.
So we're recording this at theend of march.
You guys don't?
You guys don't have open wateryet, do you?
Speaker 3 (15:36):
or at least you're not fully ice out we're not
fully iced out, but there is alot of open water.
Um, I'm not, actually I'mprobably.
I'm a kilometer away from thefalls, um, and I can hear them
raging all night long.
The flooding that's going tohappen up here is crazy.
(15:56):
A week ago, I had six and ahalf feet of snow along the side
of my driveways and we're nowdown to about three feet and
it's, yeah, it's, it's, theflooding's gonna be bad, but
yeah, there is open water herenow, but it's not fully iced out
, but yeah, it's.
Um the the ice fishing seasonis over, so yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
No, I knew the ice fishing was over, but I saw um,
just it happened weirdly beenfollowing the weather because
again, we're at the right at theend of of march and we're here
in toronto.
We're likely to get mostly rainover the course of the next
three days.
You guys are going to getwhacked with all kinds of stuff
freezing rain, ice pellets,maybe snow, who knows?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
you got a bunch of crap coming out, so I was
looking at satellite imagery oh,yeah it's gonna, yeah, it's
what are you well welcome?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
welcome to spring in ontario.
Yeah, um, but I noticed thatlake simcoe still had an awful
lot of ice, so I figured,because you guys are north of
that, right I?
Figured you guys were stillstill looking at the hardwaters
type deal.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yeah, it's weird because some of the lakes right
now you'd figure, with this warmweather that we've had, like we
had like three, four days in arow that were 15, 17 degrees and
you'd figure like the edgeswould start to go first, but
some of these lakes it's stillaround the edge but the center
started to come out and it's so,yeah, a few people have lost
(17:29):
their huts.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
That's creepy.
Well, that's the Lake Simcoe,because because it's the closest
sorry, lake Ontario is theclosest big body of water, but
Lake Simcoe is the next one,like like heading North, and
that's, that's what you hear.
That's usually the.
The spring cry is oh, you know,john lost his truck because he
was parked on the ice or thesnowmobile went through the ice?
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yeah, yeah, Like I went down to Barrie the other
day, I drove by Georgian Bay andit's surprisingly it has opened
up huge.
I thought Georgian Bay usuallytakes a little bit longer but
it's already coming down the 400400.
There you can see like it'sjust open water as far as you
can see right now.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
so wow, cool.
Well, you'll be out in thecanoe doing some fishing soon.
Um, very hunting, what so?
Well, talk to me about what youhunt and how, because I can see
I'm going to use the wrong term, but I can see yes, exactly the
(18:37):
thing that shoots arrows,crossbow.
What styles like what do youuse when you hunt and what
animals do you harvest?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So I've got a crossbow here, the Excalibur and
a recurve.
I haven't hunted any big gamewith the recurve yet.
I know it's an easier targetthan small game.
I just haven't felt comfortableenough to take it with big game
because the last thing I wantto do is wound an animal.
But all small game I hunt.
(19:14):
I haven't hunted for coyote orwolf.
I will never hunt wolf.
I know there has to be amanagement program for it and I
understand that.
Just me personally, I wouldnever take one.
Just me personally, I wouldnever take one Um.
With the access of, with theexcess of coyotes that we've had
(19:35):
this year, I may start doingthat Um, but basically I'm
hunting small game um, rabbit,squirrel, um, porcupine, raccoon
, um and deer.
I put in, I put in for my mooseand I put in for my elk.
I've yet to get one um,hopefully this year, um.
But deer, deer has been my, mybiggest pull um so far and I, I,
(20:00):
just I absolutely love it andit's, you know, none of it's a
trophy.
I know I've got, you know, I'vegot it on the wall.
And when people see thatthey're like, oh, it's a trophy,
well, for me that's not atrophy, it's when I come into
the house and I see that my mindgoes back to everything that
(20:22):
happened in that moment and forme that's an appreciation of
that animal that just fed myentire family.
So and it's, and it's, it's anargument that'll never be one.
With animal activists and stufflike that.
They all think trophy hunting.
For me, trophy hunting is whenyou go fly overseas and you go
(20:44):
shoot some big animal and takeits tusks and brag about it and
leave everything else there raw.
That's, that's not what I'm inthis for this.
Um, I started hunting becausemy wife and I decided that we
wanted to start growing our ownstuff.
Start and forage Prices areridiculous.
(21:05):
The treatment that commercialanimal gets, I think, is
absolutely disgusting.
The stuff that they put in itonce they've harvested, it is
absolutely disgusting.
And I mean you can't get anymore organic than harvesting an
animal that's been eating acornsand tree buds all year round.
(21:29):
So, yeah, oh, and bear, I forgotbear.
I took my first bear last yearand that was on my birthday.
I have never in my life tasteda meat and I any more delicious
than a bear heart.
Um, with all, with all theanimals that I take, the big
(21:50):
game, the first thing we eat iswith the wife.
The first thing we eat is the,the um, uh, the tenderloins from
inside Um.
But the first thing I eat isthe heart, and bear heart is
absolutely phenomenal.
I am probably the only man inCanada right now who has can
(22:12):
will tell you that raw bear meattastes absolutely phenomenal.
I got trigonosis and was veryclose to not making it.
I cooked a tenderloin from thebear the same way I cook my
venison, and within four hours Iwas not doing well, but I'll
(22:32):
tell you it tasted really good.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Okay, what's trigonosis?
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Trigonosis are an easy way, layman's way, I guess
the easiest way to explain itwould be worms kind of.
But they're parasites.
It's a parasite and first itgets in, comes out through your
stomach, gets into your muscles.
(23:02):
Once it's what's the term I'mlooking for Once it's laid once
it's laid its eggs and it startsto grow and everything else, it
gets into your bloodstream.
Once it's into your bloodstream, it instantly goes to your
heart and to your brain and onceit's done, that you're done.
(23:24):
There's no coming back fromthat.
So, yeah, they figured they.
When, um, yeah, when I, when Igot diagnosed with it, they had
already, um, gotten out of mydigestive tract and had already
started to get into my muscles.
The pain was excruciating.
(23:45):
I've never, ever in my life, Iwoke up at 1.30 in the morning
and felt like somebody had putboth of their hands on my
esophagus and were wringing itout like a towel.
Yeah, absolutely, and that wasprobably one of the nicest pains
that I went through in thefirst few days.
(24:06):
So, yeah, and I waited a weekand a half.
Yeah, I waited a week and a halfbefore I even went to the
doctor to get diagnosed becauseI still had three deer tagged to
fill.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Okay, yeah, that's what the wife said.
Yeah, I learned my lesson.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I'm glad you're on the other side of that, jesus
man?
Yeah, yeah, I was still.
It was stupidity on my partnote that pamela's looking at me
giving me some side eye hereyeah, stupidity
Speaker 2 (24:43):
oh, I know a guy like that okay, well, off that sad
note, back back to the.
So harvesting.
So what for for you?
So this is you.
You mentioned it, it's all itwould always be.
You know, a fight you couldnever win with a, with a, an
animal activist.
But I wouldn't say that we are.
(25:06):
I've done hunting myself when Iwas considerably younger.
I've hunted moose,unsuccessfully hunted deer.
We, we did, we did full hearst,like, like the entirety of the
moose.
We took it to a butcher.
We, we sucked at at doing allthose things, um, but we, we
took the entirety, like, likeman, we lived off that venison
(25:29):
for for ages.
Like it's, that's a, it's a biganimal, right, so not my gig
anymore.
Just, it's just a personal sameas you do it, it's a personal
choice, right, like that's whatyou choose to do.
I choose not to um, but I havenothing.
(25:50):
I'm not adverse to it in a, nota don jr, rip the tusks off, go
home with this, with the.
You know the souvenir I'mexactly that sucks that.
There's no place for that in myworld.
Yeah, but as far as you know,providing sustenance, et cetera,
or providing sustenance forother people with the same thing
(26:13):
.
I'm totally behind that.
So how do you do you do ityourself?
Do you do you have a butcherthat does it?
How does that?
How does that work out?
Speaker 3 (26:25):
that you get everything out of the end.
So after I've taken it, I willclean it out in the field, then
I'll bring it home and I'll pullthe cape off the hide, I'll
take the tenderloins from theinside, I'll take those off and
then I'll bring the rest to Reedthe bracken rig butcher.
(26:46):
He is going to teach me how tobutcher it, but I like bringing
it to him because it gives memore opportunity to get back out
, because I pull my whole sixtags every year.
So now I should learn how to doit myself.
(27:07):
You know my wife wants to do it.
She's already talked to read.
He's going to get us astainless steel table and you
know I'm going to be part ofthat class where he teaches.
You know the butchering of itand stuff, and so yeah it's.
It's something I do need tolearn how to do properly.
Um, but I nothing, nothing thatI bring home goes to waste.
(27:28):
I like, right down to the bones, every single bone, except for
the ribs.
Um, actually, no, even the ribs.
Um, the dog gets.
You know like we take absoluteanything on that animal that I
can't eat.
My dog will eat.
So with my we we feed, we feedKiva a raw diet anyways.
(27:51):
So, um, if I, if I get threedeer, she's got a whole one to
herself.
She gets half the bear as well.
Um, we cook it for though.
So, but yeah, we use.
We'll read saves the bones forus.
I bring them home, I take a,take a saws, all to them, cut
them all up into little piecesfor them.
Um, sometimes the wife willboil some of them, like, get the
(28:15):
marrow all soft and punch allthe marrow up for her, and
sometimes we just throw her thebone and let her go to town.
So, but yeah, absolutely nothing.
Nothing goes to waste, eveneven the hides.
Um, I saved a couple of hides.
The first, the, the first hideI did by myself didn't turn out
that well, um, um, but I didluck out, cause a buddy of mine
(28:37):
said I can still take it and cutsome of those, some of the
hairs off and use it in my flies.
So that worked out.
So I've kept a little piece formyself and I've done a few
practice runs at getting thehide to a workable thing for us.
But the thing about deer hidesis that it is so thin that if
(29:00):
you do work it too much, there'snot much you can really use it
for, because the leather's notas durable as other animals, so,
but you can still make somenice stuff out of it around the
house.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
So I, how much time do you spend hunting?
I don't mean, I don't mean,like you know, you spend three
months out hunting, whateverthat, whatever that window is, I
mean, like for an average deer,like, do you spend from start
to finish?
I make the assumption you arescouting trails, potentially
trail cameras, looking forfeeding spots, you know that
(29:36):
sort of deal and then you go outand you're whatever, you're in
a blinds, you're how?
How does that all play out?
What is that length of thattimeline from the time?
you start prepping to the timethat you're bringing one home.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I start usually prepping around probably about
the second week of August it'safter my oldest son's birthday,
after August 15th and then whatI'll do is I'll look for certain
areas for where I see some likeheavy traffic, and then I'll
look for a couple of rubs andthen what I'll do is I'll set a
trail cam up and if there issome traffic in that area decent
(30:13):
traffic, maybe a decent sizebuck or stuff then I'll start
laying some bait and stuff tosee if I can keep them in and
around.
And then, if that works andthere are some decent bucks in
there and when I say decent I'mnot talking about the rack, I'm
talking body size Like I yeah, Iwould, I'd love a nice rack to
put on my wall, but my priorityis the meat.
(30:36):
So I'm looking for for a biganimal I don't care how big its
horn is and then and then I'lllay bait to keep them around.
And then come the season, um,which is October 1st for Bo and
it's two and a half months long.
Um, sometimes, sometimes Icould tag out right on the first
(30:58):
day.
Um, but my other five tags Ihave to do a lot of traveling
for because I, when you getadditional tags in Ontario.
Um, you get assigned, you can,you can pick the WMUs but you
have to travel Like you won'tget two, two, three tags in a
(31:19):
specific area, like you mightyou know, for, like, say, I'm in
um, wmu 57.
Um, so I might be able to pullmy two additional tags in 60.
I might get two tags there, butthere might only be one
available one for me.
So sometimes with my first tag,which is good for anywhere in
(31:42):
Ontario, you know, and I've saidit in a couple of my videos,
like man, I hope I don't regretpassing that thing up.
And it's not because I'mlooking for a bigger buck or
anything, it's because I don'twant to come out of the bush.
What that interaction, beingable to call them in, having
(32:03):
them come in.
You know that, that whole andthat adrenaline rush when you do
make a call and it works and itcomes in, looking to see what's
around, like I don't know howmany times I've had my crossbow
and I've had them dead in mysights and I've just gone.
Yeah, I want to do this againtomorrow.
Yeah, so it.
(32:26):
I, I spent.
I spent probably a good monthand a half prepping um,
researching my first three yearsof hunting when I didn't tag
out at all, and I think this iswhere I learned to love hunting
so much.
My first three years I didn'tget one deer.
I couldn't even get closeenough for a shot.
Two of those years I was doingspot and stocks.
(32:50):
But in those three years Ilearned so much about the deer,
about the flora and the fauna,all in this area the deer's
habits, their eating habits,their sleeping habits, their
travel habits.
It was like going to school andI haven't learned everything.
(33:14):
There's still a whole bunchI've got to learn.
But the amount of informationthat I gathered walking through
that forest and then stopping,like taking three or four steps,
stopping looking around to seeif there's anything there, to
see if I hear anything, andstuff like that, and then trying
(33:35):
to figure out what they'reeating and where they're bedding
and that kind of stuff that haspaid off for me now.
So I'm very glad for thosefirst three years that the wife
and I decided that this is whatwe were going to do, that I
didn't tag out, because if Ijust went into the bush popped
one, I wouldn't have learnedanything.
(33:56):
You know.
So to me it's every time I goout.
I'm learning something newabout them and I'm learning
something new about theenvironment and everything.
It's crazy when you try to tellpeople that even the bees in
this area will affect what thedeer do.
It's a butterfly effect and Idon't think people understand
(34:18):
that.
And I love what I'm learningwhile I'm out there and it's the
, it's the, the.
The wife likes to see the smileon my face and she loves my
passion about it and I tell youI couldn't do any of this
without her.
She is a patient woman becausecome August 16th I'm gone and
(34:42):
I'm like for hours every day.
I'm up at 2.30, 3 o'clock everymorning and I'm not back until
well after dark, and that goeson right up until December 15th.
And God love her, yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
So I happen to see that you wrote a book.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
I did.
And you know what?
It's funny, I was going to editit and have it all proper
grammar and proper English andpunctuation and all that other
stuff.
And my son said to me becauseit's my trip, it was my trip
from Algonquin when I blew outmy shoulder and my knee and my
son said, why would you do that?
(35:23):
And I go to make it like properbook.
And my kid says to me he goes,that's not you, you're not all
prim and proper, nice, smoothedges, like you were like bleep,
bleep, bleep.
You know, like that's, you'restraight up, you're a raw,
you're a raw exposed nerve allthe time.
(35:45):
Why would you change that?
Why don't you just go throughit for spelling mistakes and
just throw it up and if peoplelike it, they like it, and if
they don't, they don't.
And I went you know what, maybeI'll do that.
So that's basically what it was.
It was my diary from that tripand you know some of the
punctuation I fixed.
Some of it I didn't, I justleft it as raw as I wrote it
(36:08):
Like I literally took my diary,put it in front of me and just
went verbatim, everything Likethere's periods missing, comms
missing, but that's, that was myexperience, and my son said
that.
And that's what my son said.
He goes that's your experience,don't change it, just do it
Okay.
(36:29):
So yeah, kids can be smartsometimes, yeah yeah, and it's
really not an easy read becauseit's you know it's scattered and
you know I think there's acouple of pages in there that I
wrote while I was in the middleof an emotional breakdown on
like day five or six, so it'slike gibberish.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
What's the name of the book and where can people
get it?
Speaker 3 (36:56):
It's on Amazon.
Kindle is what it is, so it'son Amazon and it's, I believe,
the title.
I haven't looked at it for solong.
I've still got the actual diary.
It's a little tiny green bookand I think I just called it 15
(37:16):
Days Alone in the AlgonquinBackcountry.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Okay, we'll double check that.
We'll make sure it ends up inthe show notes and stuff.
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Yeah, cause I think, I think that's, I think that's
what it was called.
15 days alone in the Algonquinback country.
Sweet yeah, well, that wasquite the trip we, we, we know.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
a published author.
Speaker 3 (37:41):
Well too, you know Kevin Callen as well.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
That's true.
That's true.
That's true.
All he does is write books,though like 18 of them or
something crazy.
They actually must be more.
Now, I think it was 18 lasttime we talked to him that's it
for us for today.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Thank you so much for listening.
Thank you so much to rob in theoutside for joining us today
and please do check him out.
He's on Instagram it's Robunderscore in the outside, and
on YouTube he's Rob in theoutside, so please do check him
out.
Check us out while you're there.
We'd love it if you subscribeto us and if you would like to
talk to us or you have anysuggestions, any ideas, any
(38:18):
future topics you'd like us tocover, people you'd like to talk
to, please do email us.
We're at hi atsupergoodcampingcom.
That's hi atsupergoodcampingcom, and we'll
talk to you again soon.
Bye, bye.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.