May 12, 2025 • 36 mins
The whitetail deer gets all the glory across most of America, but here in the Pacific Northwest, we're blessed with the chance to pursue a truly special animal - the blacktail deer. Limited to just three states and dwelling in some of the most challenging rainforest terrain imaginable, these beautiful bucks deserve their time in the spotlight.
After wrapping up our final boot camp of the season, we're reflecting on what's been our busiest and most successful year yet. With nearly 95 hunters trained through our classes, field days, and boot camp experiences, we've built a community of passionate blacktail hunters stretching across Washington state and into Canada.
Moving our boot camp from Father's Day weekend to early May proved to be a brilliant decision - not only were more fathers able to participate without missing family time, but we completely avoided the tick infestation that plagued us last year! The success stories continue to roll in as hunters apply our field-proven system and tag impressive bucks that many wouldn't believe exist in our Pacific Northwest forests.
What truly makes this journey special isn't just the hunting knowledge we share, but the connections formed between like-minded outdoorsmen and women. At every event, we watch as initial hunting-camp bravado quickly transforms into genuine camaraderie, with participants exchanging contact information and making plans to scout together. Veterans, father-son pairs, and hunters of all experience levels find common ground in their pursuit of these elusive deer.
This year brought challenges too, particularly with new regulations prohibiting baiting and urine-based scents. But adaptation is part of hunting, and we've developed effective workarounds while emphasizing ethical, legal practices. The core system works regardless of regulatory changes because it's built on understanding blacktail behavior and habitat.
Ready to join our growing community? Coaching sessions begin May 20th, and we still have a few spots available. Reach out today and make next season your most successful blacktail hunt yet!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Blacktail Coach Podcast.
I'm Aaron and I'm Dave.
This week we just finished bootcamp.
We just got back on Sundayafternoon and just kind of
wanted to wrap up our year.
For the most part, it's done.
We still have one field day,establishing a set field day
which is open to the guys who'vegone through the class, and we
also have our coaching that willbe starting here in about two
(00:25):
weeks from recording day.
So we've survived two shows.
We saved ourselves from a thirdshow.
We've had what was it?
Four total classes, two fielddays and the boot camp all
packed in, probably the lastthree months.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I think we've done more than four classes.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So we did online two in person and cross the divide.
Oh, you're right.
And then we did two field days,which we added an extra field
day.
It just worked out where werealized we needed to add an
extra field day Boot camp, whichis Friday through Sunday, and
then some, because we go set upahead of time and yeah, yeah,
it's been a busy, busy year.
And we moved boot camp up thisyear, which.
(01:07):
What did you think about thatMoving boot camp up to early May
?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I liked it and the response that we had from guys
was really good, so I would saythat they liked it too.
As far as the timing of it,yeah, we held it on Father's Day
last year and thinking that,well, that'd be a great Father's
Day gift, and I just want tocome out and openly state that I
was totally against it, becausefathers want to spend time with
(01:33):
their families.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Lo and behold, dads want to spend time with their
families, although we did havetwo father-son pairs last year
and this year Yep, yep, but Ijust say for the fact that we
didn't have any ticks this year,there's a lot that was awesome
that was that made the wholeweekend.
So we had, from my count, butbetween the boot camp and all of
(01:57):
the classes we had, like Ithink it was 94, but I'll just
say between 90 and 95, guys wentthrough the course this year.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
That is awesome, and I wanted to say thank you to
everybody that did participatein either a class, whether it be
online or in person, or fieldday or boot camp.
Thank you.
Started I was real hesitant.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
uh, and my wife and and uh, of course, you talked me
into doing this and creatingthe black tail coach, and I
gotta tell you it's been ablessing and I've enjoyed
meeting everybody that has comethrough so yeah we just met a
lot of great people so way Ifigure we probably got about 200
guys in in washington o and upinto Canada now who are going to
(02:49):
be possibly using the systemthis coming season, which is
great.
Yeah, four to 500 sets outthere, or more if they're doing
them for their friends.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
There's plenty of deer though.
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah, but that's kind of a neat part of this system
and just talking, because we hada lot of guys up at boot camp
who actually knew of the areaswhen I was telling them where my
sets were, and they're like ohyeah, I know exactly where
you're at and they know that,yeah, there's just tons of areas
up there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
They're going to have a tree stand in the tree next
to yours now.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, didn't give them too many details but yeah,
they know where they're at.
But again, just meeting a lotof really cool guys, a lot of
great guys who are just veryenthusiastic about the season
and about the podcast and justhunting in general.
Great conversations over dinneror over all the meals at boot
(03:49):
camp, but even just over lunchduring the classes and field day
.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, I think what gets me excited is everybody's
enthusiasm about blacktailhunting and knowing that I'm not
the only one that has thispassion to go out and find big
blacktail hunting and andknowing that I'm not the only
one that has this passion to goout and find big blacktail bucks
.
Yeah, you know, and so you know, blacktails kind of sat on the
back burner for for many, many,many, many decades.
(04:15):
Uh, you know, taking back seatto white tail, mule deer and and
and that's okay yeah.
You know, stopping and thinkingabout it.
That's all right because youknow we're blessed and fortunate
enough to be able to have theopportunity to hunt them every
year, such a rare creature, andso in that sense I don't have a
(04:38):
problem with that.
But it's good to get some kindof recognition and you know, as
far as hey, hey, we got thesebucks over here.
Yeah, that are just.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
You know, they're beautiful yeah, and it's just a
completely different species.
Yeah, it's, it's different, yep, and, and a limited area, so
it's not.
You know, whitetail you can bein every state except for maybe
alaska, yeah, yeah, and huntwhitetail.
Well, blacktail it's threestates Right and in a limited
(05:08):
area of those three states.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
And a different habitat than what 95% of the
country gets to hunt.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You know, being in a rainforest on this side, and how
thick everything grows up.
You know I tell the guys we goto Kansas every year deer
hunting and we hunt what theycall timber and it's up.
You know I, I tell the guys wego to kansas every year deer
hunting and and we hunt whatthey call timber and it's.
You know and I get it.
You know you're used to whatyou see or what you grew up with
.
You know that's your norm.
But yeah, it's like a parkcompared to here compared to
(05:38):
here.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So this year I actually joined buck ventures as
part of the Woodsmen, as prostaff, and so I went with you
and Asha down to Oklahoma.
And yeah, same thing, it'scompletely different.
And there are no black tailhunters down there except for us
.
We're it, and whenever we kindof mention that, oh really, oh
(06:01):
yeah, I need to talk to youabout that, because I think
there's a lot of them.
Now, whether they'll followthrough remains right but it's
always that interest, I wouldsay, because oh, you hunt
something that like I don'treally have an opportunity to
right and I wouldn't even knowwhere to begin well and their
(06:23):
limited knowledge on black tailand I'm not talking about deer
behavior or anything like that,I'm just talking about black
tail in general.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
All they know is a lot of them think it's a
subspecies of the muley andthey're very limited on what
they know.
They just know that it's westof the Cascades, it's on the
west coast, and that's about theextent of it.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, and that they're all small.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, in comparison to what they're going after.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
But I think they're all small but they kind of
consider it that there's no bigblack tail, which isn't true,
not at all, and you'vedefinitely proven that in a lot
of the other guys who've gottenbig bucks recently.
So and I mean that was anotherthing we started off this year
with and we did with the, thepodcast, you know, with the
(07:13):
first year and five guys doingthe success stories, and I've
told everybody who's gonethrough the class if you have a
success story, expect an emailor a call from me wanting you on
the podcast to do anothersuccess story next year and I
you know it'll get to the pointwhere it could just be
year-round success stories,because we're going to have so
(07:35):
many.
Yeah, you know, and at first Ithought, well, I just limited it
to five, but you know peoplelike hearing those stories and
how.
But you know people likehearing those stories.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
They do, they do.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And you say this, I think, all the time during the
classes.
That it's one thing when yousay it, and this is why you put
a lot of the pro staff out infront of people, because it's a
system you've put together thatyou've been doing for almost 20
years now, uh-huh.
But then you're putting prostaff you know the guys Chris or
(08:06):
Alex or Scott or Jimmy, andhaving us or Bud, having us
answer those questions from guyswho are new to the system when
we're new to the system andmaybe new to hunting and not
knowing anything other than justhunting this way, Right right
With a very limited history todraw from and maybe well, in
(08:30):
some cases, a very limitedhunting background in general.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, and I think for me that's my favorite part
of boot camp is when we do havethat pro staff panel and the
guys are you know, thoseattending are able to ask you
all their questions and, likeyou said, it's different when
it's coming from me.
You know, what I mean, andthat's not to puff my chest out
or anything like that.
It's just there's anexpectation, because I've
(08:55):
developed this that well.
Yeah, of course you haveconfidence in it.
You got faith in it.
You've been doing it, like yousaid, for 20 years now and when
they hear from you guys, it justmakes it more real to them that
that, okay, this guy's onlybeen doing it two years, or you
know, like alex, one year.
Yeah, you know he one year hegot his biggest black tail buck
(09:16):
and and it made the books andand yeah, so it was like it.
You can just see the the wallscome down and the confidence in
them that I can do this.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Especially getting out there and seeing exactly
what you're talking about.
It's why we like the boot campand the field days, because it
helps convey that what we'reteaching.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Really getting to see all of that.
But Mark Boone and Dan Bunnelland those guys who did the
success stories of just they didthe system and it worked out
for them, and so it proves thatit's replicable.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Right, right, and they're great guys yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And that's something that and I've said this a lot
that guys who are willing totake a class to learn, there's a
certain humility that comeswith, hey, I don't know
everything and I want to learnthis, and this attracts those
guys and it's a really greatquality, I think, for the
hunting community and especiallywhen we start connecting those
(10:23):
guys.
So we had, you know, just againthis year at the boot camp, and
it's happened every year, whereguys who different parts of the
state or different states startchatting, exchange numbers and
keep in touch through season.
That's a great part of that.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And you know, when it comes time to haul a deer out
of the woods, they'll havesomebody new that could help
them if they need the help.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
It's funny, it's funny.
It's funny you say that becauseI was laughing again this year
because it starts out the sameand I think it's the same with
any hunting genre, I guess it isor any kind of hunting event.
You get there and there's allthe chest puffing and you know,
hey, this is what I got.
I filled my tag, here's mybiggest buck or my biggest bull,
(11:07):
or whatever.
And then by the second day youcan just see that it's all been
left behind and guys are justlike, man, this is great, we're
all here to learn, we're all onthe same level ground, kind of
thing.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And helping each other out.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah, nobody needs to be like that, you know, and by
the end, like you said, I meanthey're exchanging numbers,
they're talking about goingscouting together or doing a
hunt together, and it's justlike, well, no, that's what it's
about.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
So again we got to do the Crossthe Divide class.
Loved doing that class.
Got to interview Mo, theexecutive director of Cross the
Divide, for that episode andreally kind of hear what you
know just how that's blown up.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And how God's done some pretty incredible things
with him helping out veteranswith just doing stuff in the
outdoors.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
And it was interesting that we went to Buck
Ventures and there's a guythere who lives in Tennessee, I
believe.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yes, Mike Young.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yeah, who's working with them too?
Oh, okay, so, and consideringthey're the same age, cross the
Divide is basically the same ageas Blacktail Coach as far as
their incorporation, and theywere doing some stuff before
that, but as a formal group.
But they bring out a greatcrowd and guys are really
(12:25):
enthusiastic who go to that.
You know we had one of the guyswho wanted to come to the class
and none of them were workingout, but that one worked out so
it was great that he was aveteran and so it's just to me
it's an impressive group thatcomes together for these things.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, and that would be probably the driving
factor in all of this.
Yeah, because you know we'vereally met some great people and
it is an honor and a privilegeto help each and every one of
them get their trophy.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And you know, I couldn't get enough of the
Cascades Camp and ConferenceCenter so I decided to leave my
wallet up there and drive backup.
Yesterday I was supposed to gofilm some content for the
Patreon and get a call oh yeah,your wallet's here.
So, okay, I guess I'll drive upthere.
(13:21):
So I'll be doing some contenttomorrow.
But that's kind of how busywe've been, that it's just kind
of been one thing after another,a lot of murphy's law kicking
in with in between this, becausewe always get sick after the
show oh my goodness, graciousyou know it's, it's great
meeting anyone but dave and Iare just completely exhausted.
(13:43):
we have no voice left, and thenwe're good for a week in bed
afterwards, just recovering fromwhatever illness we've caught
that particular year and it'sfunny and we kind of alternate.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
So I'll be sick at one show and you'll be sick at
the other, and it's been thatway every year.
And what's funny is I stilllook forward to the shows.
I still have a good time.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Or I'm sick going into the show, you're sick
coming out.
You're sick going in.
Yeah, it always works out greatGood times.
So Portland and Puyallup.
We almost did the Vancouvershow.
That was a big car wreck.
We had a lot of conversationsabout that Puyallup or the
Vancouver show up at boot camp.
But there was the scammingindividual who did that.
(14:27):
We were actually signed up butwe were able to get out of doing
that show after we found outthat he was a bit of a weasel we
were one of the first to signup?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
yeah, I think we were one of the first and, and, uh,
I think we were one of the firstto drop to realize yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
So thank you to all of the other businesses and
whatnot who gave us a heads upto uh investigate this guy,
because that was, uh boy, thatwas that was an eye-opener, yeah
and we had, I I think, someparticipants who had who knew of
somebody who'd given himthousands of dollars for because
he he used to guide this guy,shane.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
It was.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
It's sad to say, but there are those that are out
there and you really got to doyour homework and you got to be
careful, and if it seems toogood to be true, then it
probably is.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, so had snow at both shows this year, Yep, but
didn't seem to slow both showsthis year Yep, but didn't seem
to slow anybody down.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
No.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
No, most hunters have a nice four-wheel drive rig to
make it out.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
They live for those days.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Hey, I got to do a little forebinding and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So any particular stories that stick out to you,
you know, and I think every yearwe meet some characters.
You know what I mean.
There's the guys that arereally enthusiastic.
Then there are guys that comeup to the booth and you're like,
they seem like they really wantto get involved, but when they
walk away, you're just like, youknow, you can just tell who's
really serious and who's not.
Yeah, you know you can just tellwho's really serious and who's
not.
(16:07):
Yeah, but no, we meet somecharacters and you know we meet
a lot of really great people,and I know I sound like a broken
record keep saying that, butit's true, it's absolutely true.
We just have, really, I thinkour Facebook and our Instagram
get a big boost every time we doa show.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
And this year it just seemed like we had tons of
people coming up and referringto the podcast and that's how
they heard about us and all ofthis.
But man, it was just nice tomeet people that have been
really supportive.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
There's some guys that we see every year at the
shows.
We've been what?
Five years into this now and wesee them every year.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I think third year we've had a booth yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Third year we've had a booth.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And four years we've been at the shows where you did
classes the first time.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
But I mean, you know, I get text messages every week
from all these guys andeverything, yeah, yeah.
And you know, on birthdays andholidays I get you know and it's
just like, wow, this is reallycool, you know, just to meet
guys and develop friendships andwhatnot.
I really like, I'm kind of aand it's funny because I'm
(17:21):
somewhat of an introvert and atthe same, time well, yeah, but
you wouldn't know.
I mean all the public speakingand stuff that I do you know?
But I really I mean like I haveto be alone and quiet to
recharge.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
But I'm telling you we have met some great people
and I'm so thankful yeah, andeven other vendors at the show
you know right from the startmeeting rj who did the upland
bird dog training uh episodethat we did a while back great
guy always has a joke can'trepeat any of them, but he
(17:59):
always has a great joke some ofthem are okay, but are uh pg
yeah so, but then, uh, you knowjust the random people and if
you're out there, uh, unknownhunter, we would love to hear
from you.
You know who you are, you knowwho you are.
So there was a a story and thisguy came up to tell us about
(18:21):
bucky and the unknown hunter.
And he was the unknown hunterand the way he told this story,
I'm like we've got to do a anepisode with this absolutely
hysterical yeah, we were.
We were just dying laughinglistening to this episode or
listening to tell this story,and so we wanted to.
I'm like, okay, reach out, Iwant to hear from you.
(18:43):
We got to, yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So if you're here, if anyone knows who we're
referring to, if he's listening,please, please, please.
We want you to reach out to usso that we can get you on the
show.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Yes, the Gig Harbor area.
Yes, that's where he lives, thescene of the incident, so you
know just him.
It was funny, though, walkingaround, because we're always
wearing our black tail coat,hoodies and T-shirts and apparel
.
But walking around and guysstopping us.
(19:20):
Hey're dave and aaron yeah Iwasn't used to that well, and at
first I thought, okay, maybethey just saw us down at the
booth or we'd met them at somepoint, or no, it was they
recognized from the podcast.
Yeah, and yeah, that was.
That was kind of a level Iwasn't prepared for.
Yeah, yeah, it was funny Of youknow the whole I don't want to
(19:50):
say celebrity, but just thewhole like people are excited to
meet you just because you talkinto a microphone for half an
hour a week.
So now that's not to say it wasgreat meeting all of you and
I'm glad we're actually givingyou content that's useful, that
you enjoy listening to that 's.
I mean, if anything, that'll,just that keeps me going yeah,
I'm blown away.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Guys are telling us that, yeah, I've listened to
everything like every podcastfive, six, twelve times.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know I'm like holy cow leaning more and more
information out of it and yeah,so, and that actually led to
leading up to this season,because I know there's certain
ones that are really specificabout that are specifically
helpful with hunting season.
So we're just going to rerunlike the top five, six episodes
(20:34):
that are that we think are mostimportant information towards
hunting blacktail and we'regoing to re-release those
episodes leading up to seasonthis year so that you don't have
to dig through and try tofigure out, okay, which one of
these was going to help me.
If people go back just kind ofre-release them, get a refresher
course right as you're headinginto season, yeah.
(20:55):
And then for everybody who'sgone through the class, we
always tell them reach out to us, send us an email if you need
any help with figuring thingsout.
We like getting those emailsand staying connected with
people, yeah, Year after year.
So one of the things it was abit odd.
So we meet all kinds of peopleand we had someone and this kind
(21:19):
of worried me with the wholebaiting thing, the issue.
And now we can't useurine-based scents or glandular
secretion-based scents and wecan't bait.
And that's okay, we pivot andwe figure it out.
But we had someone and hewalked up and he's talking to me
and I thought it was justsomebody random at the show
(21:42):
talking to me and I'm answeringthis question well, what are you
going to do?
This is all based on baiting.
Well, no, it's not based onbaiting, it's based on synths.
Now, if we weren't able to evenuse synthetics, that would have
been an issue.
That would have been a gamechanger could have been, that
would have been an issue, thatwould have been a game changer.
But it's just the bait.
(22:02):
Okay, that's a minor, you know,it's something that there's
workarounds around that and it'snot, it's it doesn't shut the
door at all.
So but he, it was like he wasprompting me to say, oh yeah, we
don't care what the law says,we're gonna bait anyway.
Well, we're not.
We know what the law says andwe're not gonna bait.
And so I had we're not, we knowwhat the law says and we're not
going to bait.
And so I had this conversation.
I was like, well, you know, andI didn't really think anything
(22:24):
about it while I was having it,but then I leave, because I go
around and try to see whatvendors around and make contacts
and just chat with othervendors.
And I came back and I don'tknow if he was talking to you or
he was talking to one of ourpro staff who were working the
booth that day.
This was at the Portland showand I'm standing off to the side
(22:45):
when I walk back.
Well, he's asking that prostaff member the exact same
questions he was asking me andkind of leading like he was
trying to get whichever prostaff for you.
I can't remember to say, yeah,we're just going to keep baiting
, it doesn't matter what youknow, it doesn't matter what the
law comes out and says, we'rejust going to keep doing this.
And this was well before, whenit was just kind of rumor.
(23:07):
You know they were going to bedebating it or, you know, have a
public hearing on it but he wasasking those exact same
questions from one of our otherstaff.
Okay, now this is getting alittle weird.
So then I'm thinking, okay,this guy's just odd, well, come
to find out.
Like the next day he comes inand he's working the WDFW booth.
(23:31):
So this is part of it.
That why I tried to warn guysat class, the classes and the
boot camp and everything of yougot to be careful.
You know it's, we can't bait,but just be careful, because I
think they're and I don't thinkhe was a game warden, he didn't
strike me as a game warden andmost of those guys are actually
(23:52):
all the game wardens I met seemto be really cool guys.
They seem to be very helpful asfar as like if you had a
question, hey, can I do this orthis.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
They're going to clarify that they want to keep
you, you know, but this justfelt like Like he was fishing,
like he was fishing and like hewas a fed plant here.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Everybody down to the Capitol, yeah, everybody down
to the Capitol, yeah head downto the Capitol.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
We're going to start.
Yeah, it felt like that.
So, guys, just be careful.
If you're talking to someone,first off, don't break the law.
Yeah, just be ethical, don'tbreak the law.
Yeah, now there are probablysome workarounds as far as there
are scents that smell like food, that aren't food, so it's a
(24:44):
scent, so that should as far asI can tell, that should be legal
.
But yeah, you're not dumpingcorn or apples or anything out.
Don't do that.
That's what you're not supposedto be doing.
But just be careful, becausewhile I think there could be
some people out there that workfor these agencies who are
(25:07):
trying to get you toself-incriminate, and yeah, just
if you don't know them, yeah, Iwouldn't be doing too much
talking.
You know, loose lips sink shipsloose lips sink your hunting
season.
So that was the only the onlything that really kind of stuck
(25:29):
out to me.
That was a little weird.
But I mean, we met the guysfrom nilchy and they gave us
product a couple of shows ago.
I used it last year.
I think their wind checks areawesome and they they gave us
product a couple of shows ago.
I used it last year.
I think their wind checks areawesome and they gave us a
little more product.
They're sending me a couplemore because they have some
different designs on things totest out.
But, yeah, great product.
(25:51):
And we're going to be doingsome commercials where the
mid-roll it's called a mid-rollbut it's like a break where we
talk about a particular product.
But I mean, we talk a lot aboutdifferent products that we use,
but this is a blacktailsolution cracked out um
blacktail drop zone.
Blacktail drop zone, hex andozonics ozonics, yeah, just
(26:12):
stuff that.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And that's the thing I mean.
We want to endorse the stuffthat.
That is quality yeah you know,and if you've ever been to any
of our outings or anything likethat, everything that we do we
want to do quality, and if wecan't do it quality, then I
don't want to do it.
That's kind of been our mottofrom the start.
I want guys to feel like notthat they just got their money's
(26:33):
worth, but that they walk awaygoing.
Man, I'm glad I did that.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
That was not only informative, that was not only
educational, but that was a goodtime.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You know, and then just an opportunity to get out
in the woods and learn somethings.
And so, yeah, we've alwaysstressed quality and whatnot.
But it's funny you talk aboutthat incident with that.
I was at work today and so atthe Portland show I do seminars
and everything.
Well, husband and wife showedup there and then sat through
the seminar and then reached outand contacted us here about a
(27:08):
month after the shows and askedif I would come speak at their
hunting club.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Oh, I forgot about that.
Yeah, even though I went.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
And Aaron and I went.
They bought us dinner.
We had a great time, met somegreat people.
Well then, an apprentice comesout to the job site today and is
talking with me and says, yeah,I did my hunter's ed and there
was these two guys there andthey were talking about you.
And I says what do you meantalking?
You know it's like, oh, did Iwire something for him?
(27:39):
You know, because I'm anelectrician and no, no about the
black tail coach, and that youcame and spoke and everything.
And I mean there's probably boyfrom the time the show happened
.
That was beginning of February,and this just happened today.
You know, and here it is, may,it's just like, wow, you know.
It's just like wow, you knowyou.
Just, you run into people andyou just don't know who's going
to enjoy it, who's going to likeit, who's going to walk away
(28:01):
with something and who's?
You know inspired enough totell somebody else.
You know hey, you know, this isreally good, or avoid this,
that guy is an idiot.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
So and we do like those little one-off, like
one-hour seminars, hour and ahalf.
So if you have a, so if you'repart of a hunting club, archery
club, outdoor club, somethinglike that, and you want, if you
arrange guest speakers, reachout to us Now hopefully,
(28:33):
especially if it's on aweeknight.
It's somewhat close to thePortland Vancouver area.
Driving up to north of Seattlewould be a little tough but yeah
, like doing those or evenclasses like kind of a corporate
type class where, if you havesome sort of business, we'll do
a private class for your group,like the full day class.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Yeah, we do stuff like that.
We're always trying to think oflike, okay, what should we do?
Is there a new way that we canpresent this information?
And we have some things thatare kind of on the back burner
that I think will probably berolling out next year as far as
maybe some one-on-one locatingpotential, where you'll get pro
staff out there doing locatingwith you for a day, working on
(29:16):
that one with you for a day,working on that one, some other,
some other things you knowbranching out with working with
alex cheney, our pro staff guy,who did all the turkey episodes
about getting him involved withteaching guys how to turkey hunt
the same way that you teach uhguys, how to blacktail.
Yeah, you know, he's phenomenalactually what we should be
(29:37):
having him on pretty soon.
But, dan, he's actually more ofa predator hunter than he is a
deer hunter.
Dan Bonnell and we'll have someepisodes with him talking about
, because he's taken out yourson to coyote and bobcat hunt.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
That guy is a predator killing machine.
Yeah, you know, and both thoseguys, I mean Alex.
As far as turkey, dude, theykilled six birds in one weekend
yeah, what was?
it, five of them in the groupyeah, yeah, dj was slaying them
I'm like you gotta be kidding mesix birds in one weekend and,
like you know he, he is ourturkey specialist, and then dan.
(30:13):
You know I I try and line up abunch of hunts for for I don't
get an opportunity to go on alot of different hunts because
I'm busy, you know.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
I got basically two jobs I got the black tail coach
and I'm an electrician and so Iset up.
You know, like my son has beenthe beneficiary of a ton of
great hunts with some greatpeople and so Dan took my boy
out with one of his buddies and,yeah, predator hunting,
teaching them how to predatorcall and all that stuff.
And man, they had what fourdogs come in in the morning.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I think so.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, something like that.
It's like, that's just likeit's crazy.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
You know they're killing coyotes and now they
went out with him one time.
They got the call that herecommended and they're going
out and they know exactly whatto do every time and it's just
like.
Look into that yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I want a bobcat.
That is like the number one.
Number two, because it's blacktail for me.
Number one, but number two isI'd rather have a bobcat than
anything else.
Cougar bear, just there'ssomething.
Their coats are just soincredible looking.
Especially when you get themand they have a lot of that
(31:26):
orange kind of color to them.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, especially when you get them and
they have a lot of that orangekind of color to them.
Uh, yeah, we had one walkingthrough the yard last fall.
Maybe that's last summer, ohthat's why I don't go?
Speaker 1 (31:40):
because I missed that cat twice.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
So that was apparently inside.
Yeah, apparently don't say that.
Yeah, that was a small one youshot at the, the female.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
She was small.
That was the next day.
The day before that, I was justlooking out the back window and
yeah, now, bobcats, are they atom as?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
well, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Big tom.
I thought he was the next doorneighbor's golden retriever, or
lab.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Wow, he was that tall .
Speaker 1 (32:09):
And then he came walking out of the back tree
line and yeah, it was not not asafe shot which is why I didn't
shoot at him, but yeah, someday,yeah, so I don't know.
That's kind of like the summaryof our our season.
It was just.
It was a great year yeah youknow, I think and we doubled the
amount of guys that wentthrough the class and I know
(32:31):
there's a lot of you whocouldn't make it this year.
Life gets in the way at times.
So we'll be seeing you nextyear and looking forward to that
.
Probably we'll have guys comingback to the bootcamp again
who've already gone Dane and Dan.
You know, father son, they cameback again.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Yeah, we've got some guys that are yearly repeaters
and it's like that's okay, youknow.
Yeah, I mean they have a goodtime.
That's what it's about.
You know, it's hunting camp,that, yeah, you don't have to
clean anything and you get goodfood and you get to tell a lot
of stories.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
It's a good it.
We had to sit down for lunch.
I remember Saturday it wasthree meals.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
I was so stuffed.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
We were so full from breakfast.
Nobody wanted to really eat,and I think people kind of ate a
little bit and then dinner.
Everybody was still full frombreakfast.
So that's the level of how wellthey take care of us up at
Cascades.
Yep so another great year,looking forward to next year,
looking forward to the coachingthat we're going to be doing
(33:32):
here, working with those guys,and you know our.
Ask the Coach with the Patreonguys.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
We've still got some spots open.
If you're interested, guys,there's still a chance for
coaching.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
So, yeah, but that starts here in a couple weeks,
the 20th.
Yeah, may 20th is the firstnight of our class.
So reach out if you'reinterested in coach, in coaching
, and you've gone through theclass and uh, we'll, we'll get
you set up, but uh, yeah, thankyou for a great year, for making
this podcast so fun to do,making the classes just great to
(34:03):
be part of absolutely the bootcamp, yeah it, it's fun and,
coming from me, three years agoI was not a hunter and now it's.
Yeah, just sitting there and Ilike seeing those pics that you
know, people are showing me yourbrother, you know, the first
time that he and I really, youknow, we've chatted on occasion,
even though, well, I've knownyou for 30 years now I've, so
(34:25):
I've known him for almost thatlong but never, we never really
chatted hunting.
You know, because it was fourthof july and you know kind of
casual coming but it was likehe's gotten some incredible
bucks he's got some great bucks.
Yeah, he really, and so he andmy cousin both have, yeah,
really nice box, and so it'sjust kind of it was cool seeing
(34:45):
those pictures and hearing abouthis hunts and and just all the
hunts of the other guys andtalking about.
You know them going out ofstate and you know the hunting
that they do and yeah, it's agood time.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
It's a good time, it is.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
And I almost wish we just did boot camps and
everybody came to those.
But understand, some people canonly do a day and we get that,
so we have the classes for you.
Anyway, thanks for listening inAgain.
Unknown Hunter, if you're outthere, reach out to us and we
will see you all next week.
Welcome back to the Blacktail Coach Podcast.
I'm Aaron and I'm Dave.
This week we just finished bootcamp.
We just got back on Sundayafternoon and just kind of
wanted to wrap up our year.
For the most part, it's done.
We still have one field day,establishing a set field day
which is open to the guys who'vegone through the class, and we
also have our coaching that willbe starting here in about two
(00:25):
weeks from recording day.
So we've survived two shows.
We saved ourselves from a thirdshow.
We've had what was it?
Four total classes, two fielddays and the boot camp all
packed in, probably the lastthree months.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I think we've done more than four classes.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So we did online two in person and cross the divide.
Oh, you're right.
And then we did two field days,which we added an extra field
day.
It just worked out where werealized we needed to add an
extra field day Boot camp, whichis Friday through Sunday, and
then some, because we go set upahead of time and yeah, yeah,
it's been a busy, busy year.
And we moved boot camp up thisyear, which.
(01:07):
What did you think about thatMoving boot camp up to early May
?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I liked it and the response that we had from guys
was really good, so I would saythat they liked it too.
As far as the timing of it,yeah, we held it on Father's Day
last year and thinking that,well, that'd be a great Father's
Day gift, and I just want tocome out and openly state that I
was totally against it, becausefathers want to spend time with
(01:33):
their families.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Lo and behold, dads want to spend time with their
families, although we did havetwo father-son pairs last year
and this year Yep, yep, but Ijust say for the fact that we
didn't have any ticks this year,there's a lot that was awesome
that was that made the wholeweekend.
So we had, from my count, butbetween the boot camp and all of
(01:57):
the classes we had, like Ithink it was 94, but I'll just
say between 90 and 95, guys wentthrough the course this year.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
That is awesome, and I wanted to say thank you to
everybody that did participatein either a class, whether it be
online or in person, or fieldday or boot camp.
Thank you.
Started I was real hesitant.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
uh, and my wife and and uh, of course, you talked me
into doing this and creatingthe black tail coach, and I
gotta tell you it's been ablessing and I've enjoyed
meeting everybody that has comethrough so yeah we just met a
lot of great people so way Ifigure we probably got about 200
guys in in washington o and upinto Canada now who are going to
(02:49):
be possibly using the systemthis coming season, which is
great.
Yeah, four to 500 sets outthere, or more if they're doing
them for their friends.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
There's plenty of deer though.
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Yeah, but that's kind of a neat part of this system
and just talking, because we hada lot of guys up at boot camp
who actually knew of the areaswhen I was telling them where my
sets were, and they're like ohyeah, I know exactly where
you're at and they know that,yeah, there's just tons of areas
up there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
They're going to have a tree stand in the tree next
to yours now.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah, didn't give them too many details but yeah,
they know where they're at.
But again, just meeting a lotof really cool guys, a lot of
great guys who are just veryenthusiastic about the season
and about the podcast and justhunting in general.
Great conversations over dinneror over all the meals at boot
(03:49):
camp, but even just over lunchduring the classes and field day
.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah, I think what gets me excited is everybody's
enthusiasm about blacktailhunting and knowing that I'm not
the only one that has thispassion to go out and find big
blacktail hunting and andknowing that I'm not the only
one that has this passion to goout and find big blacktail bucks
.
Yeah, you know, and so you know, blacktails kind of sat on the
back burner for for many, many,many, many decades.
(04:15):
Uh, you know, taking back seatto white tail, mule deer and and
and that's okay yeah.
You know, stopping and thinkingabout it.
That's all right because youknow we're blessed and fortunate
enough to be able to have theopportunity to hunt them every
year, such a rare creature, andso in that sense I don't have a
(04:38):
problem with that.
But it's good to get some kindof recognition and you know, as
far as hey, hey, we got thesebucks over here.
Yeah, that are just.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
You know, they're beautiful yeah, and it's just a
completely different species.
Yeah, it's, it's different, yep, and, and a limited area, so
it's not.
You know, whitetail you can bein every state except for maybe
alaska, yeah, yeah, and huntwhitetail.
Well, blacktail it's threestates Right and in a limited
(05:08):
area of those three states.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
And a different habitat than what 95% of the
country gets to hunt.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You know, being in a rainforest on this side, and how
thick everything grows up.
You know I tell the guys we goto Kansas every year deer
hunting and we hunt what theycall timber and it's up.
You know I, I tell the guys wego to kansas every year deer
hunting and and we hunt whatthey call timber and it's.
You know and I get it.
You know you're used to whatyou see or what you grew up with
.
You know that's your norm.
But yeah, it's like a parkcompared to here compared to
(05:38):
here.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So this year I actually joined buck ventures as
part of the Woodsmen, as prostaff, and so I went with you
and Asha down to Oklahoma.
And yeah, same thing, it'scompletely different.
And there are no black tailhunters down there except for us
.
We're it, and whenever we kindof mention that, oh really, oh
(06:01):
yeah, I need to talk to youabout that, because I think
there's a lot of them.
Now, whether they'll followthrough remains right but it's
always that interest, I wouldsay, because oh, you hunt
something that like I don'treally have an opportunity to
right and I wouldn't even knowwhere to begin well and their
(06:23):
limited knowledge on black tailand I'm not talking about deer
behavior or anything like that,I'm just talking about black
tail in general.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
All they know is a lot of them think it's a
subspecies of the muley andthey're very limited on what
they know.
They just know that it's westof the Cascades, it's on the
west coast, and that's about theextent of it.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah, and that they're all small.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, in comparison to what they're going after.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
But I think they're all small but they kind of
consider it that there's no bigblack tail, which isn't true,
not at all, and you'vedefinitely proven that in a lot
of the other guys who've gottenbig bucks recently.
So and I mean that was anotherthing we started off this year
with and we did with the, thepodcast, you know, with the
(07:13):
first year and five guys doingthe success stories, and I've
told everybody who's gonethrough the class if you have a
success story, expect an emailor a call from me wanting you on
the podcast to do anothersuccess story next year and I
you know it'll get to the pointwhere it could just be
year-round success stories,because we're going to have so
(07:35):
many.
Yeah, you know, and at first Ithought, well, I just limited it
to five, but you know peoplelike hearing those stories and
how.
But you know people likehearing those stories.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
They do, they do.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
And you say this, I think, all the time during the
classes.
That it's one thing when yousay it, and this is why you put
a lot of the pro staff out infront of people, because it's a
system you've put together thatyou've been doing for almost 20
years now, uh-huh.
But then you're putting prostaff you know the guys Chris or
(08:06):
Alex or Scott or Jimmy, andhaving us or Bud, having us
answer those questions from guyswho are new to the system when
we're new to the system andmaybe new to hunting and not
knowing anything other than justhunting this way, Right right
With a very limited history todraw from and maybe well, in
(08:30):
some cases, a very limitedhunting background in general.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, and I think for me that's my favorite part
of boot camp is when we do havethat pro staff panel and the
guys are you know, thoseattending are able to ask you
all their questions and, likeyou said, it's different when
it's coming from me.
You know, what I mean, andthat's not to puff my chest out
or anything like that.
It's just there's anexpectation, because I've
(08:55):
developed this that well.
Yeah, of course you haveconfidence in it.
You got faith in it.
You've been doing it, like yousaid, for 20 years now and when
they hear from you guys, it justmakes it more real to them that
that, okay, this guy's onlybeen doing it two years, or you
know, like alex, one year.
Yeah, you know he one year hegot his biggest black tail buck
(09:16):
and and it made the books andand yeah, so it was like it.
You can just see the the wallscome down and the confidence in
them that I can do this.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Especially getting out there and seeing exactly
what you're talking about.
It's why we like the boot campand the field days, because it
helps convey that what we'reteaching.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Really getting to see all of that.
But Mark Boone and Dan Bunnelland those guys who did the
success stories of just they didthe system and it worked out
for them, and so it proves thatit's replicable.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Right, right, and they're great guys yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And that's something that and I've said this a lot
that guys who are willing totake a class to learn, there's a
certain humility that comeswith, hey, I don't know
everything and I want to learnthis, and this attracts those
guys and it's a really greatquality, I think, for the
hunting community and especiallywhen we start connecting those
(10:23):
guys.
So we had, you know, just againthis year at the boot camp, and
it's happened every year, whereguys who different parts of the
state or different states startchatting, exchange numbers and
keep in touch through season.
That's a great part of that.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And you know, when it comes time to haul a deer out
of the woods, they'll havesomebody new that could help
them if they need the help.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
It's funny, it's funny.
It's funny you say that becauseI was laughing again this year
because it starts out the sameand I think it's the same with
any hunting genre, I guess it isor any kind of hunting event.
You get there and there's allthe chest puffing and you know,
hey, this is what I got.
I filled my tag, here's mybiggest buck or my biggest bull,
(11:07):
or whatever.
And then by the second day youcan just see that it's all been
left behind and guys are justlike, man, this is great, we're
all here to learn, we're all onthe same level ground, kind of
thing.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And helping each other out.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah, nobody needs to be like that, you know, and by
the end, like you said, I meanthey're exchanging numbers,
they're talking about goingscouting together or doing a
hunt together, and it's justlike, well, no, that's what it's
about.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
So again we got to do the Crossthe Divide class.
Loved doing that class.
Got to interview Mo, theexecutive director of Cross the
Divide, for that episode andreally kind of hear what you
know just how that's blown up.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And how God's done some pretty incredible things
with him helping out veteranswith just doing stuff in the
outdoors.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
And it was interesting that we went to Buck
Ventures and there's a guythere who lives in Tennessee, I
believe.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yes, Mike Young.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yeah, who's working with them too?
Oh, okay, so, and consideringthey're the same age, cross the
Divide is basically the same ageas Blacktail Coach as far as
their incorporation, and theywere doing some stuff before
that, but as a formal group.
But they bring out a greatcrowd and guys are really
(12:25):
enthusiastic who go to that.
You know we had one of the guyswho wanted to come to the class
and none of them were workingout, but that one worked out so
it was great that he was aveteran and so it's just to me
it's an impressive group thatcomes together for these things.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, and that would be probably the driving
factor in all of this.
Yeah, because you know we'vereally met some great people and
it is an honor and a privilegeto help each and every one of
them get their trophy.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And you know, I couldn't get enough of the
Cascades Camp and ConferenceCenter so I decided to leave my
wallet up there and drive backup.
Yesterday I was supposed to gofilm some content for the
Patreon and get a call oh yeah,your wallet's here.
So, okay, I guess I'll drive upthere.
(13:21):
So I'll be doing some contenttomorrow.
But that's kind of how busywe've been, that it's just kind
of been one thing after another,a lot of murphy's law kicking
in with in between this, becausewe always get sick after the
show oh my goodness, graciousyou know it's, it's great
meeting anyone but dave and Iare just completely exhausted.
(13:43):
we have no voice left, and thenwe're good for a week in bed
afterwards, just recovering fromwhatever illness we've caught
that particular year and it'sfunny and we kind of alternate.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
So I'll be sick at one show and you'll be sick at
the other, and it's been thatway every year.
And what's funny is I stilllook forward to the shows.
I still have a good time.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Or I'm sick going into the show, you're sick
coming out.
You're sick going in.
Yeah, it always works out greatGood times.
So Portland and Puyallup.
We almost did the Vancouvershow.
That was a big car wreck.
We had a lot of conversationsabout that Puyallup or the
Vancouver show up at boot camp.
But there was the scammingindividual who did that.
(14:27):
We were actually signed up butwe were able to get out of doing
that show after we found outthat he was a bit of a weasel we
were one of the first to signup?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
yeah, I think we were one of the first and, and, uh,
I think we were one of the firstto drop to realize yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
So thank you to all of the other businesses and
whatnot who gave us a heads upto uh investigate this guy,
because that was, uh boy, thatwas that was an eye-opener, yeah
and we had, I I think, someparticipants who had who knew of
somebody who'd given himthousands of dollars for because
he he used to guide this guy,shane.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
It was.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
It's sad to say, but there are those that are out
there and you really got to doyour homework and you got to be
careful, and if it seems toogood to be true, then it
probably is.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, so had snow at both shows this year, Yep, but
didn't seem to slow both showsthis year Yep, but didn't seem
to slow anybody down.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
No.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
No, most hunters have a nice four-wheel drive rig to
make it out.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
They live for those days.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Hey, I got to do a little forebinding and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So any particular stories that stick out to you,
you know, and I think every yearwe meet some characters.
You know what I mean.
There's the guys that arereally enthusiastic.
Then there are guys that comeup to the booth and you're like,
they seem like they really wantto get involved, but when they
walk away, you're just like, youknow, you can just tell who's
really serious and who's not.
Yeah, you know you can just tellwho's really serious and who's
not.
(16:07):
Yeah, but no, we meet somecharacters and you know we meet
a lot of really great people,and I know I sound like a broken
record keep saying that, butit's true, it's absolutely true.
We just have, really, I thinkour Facebook and our Instagram
get a big boost every time we doa show.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
And this year it just seemed like we had tons of
people coming up and referringto the podcast and that's how
they heard about us and all ofthis.
But man, it was just nice tomeet people that have been
really supportive.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
There's some guys that we see every year at the
shows.
We've been what?
Five years into this now and wesee them every year.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I think third year we've had a booth yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Third year we've had a booth.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And four years we've been at the shows where you did
classes the first time.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
But I mean, you know, I get text messages every week
from all these guys andeverything, yeah, yeah.
And you know, on birthdays andholidays I get you know and it's
just like, wow, this is reallycool, you know, just to meet
guys and develop friendships andwhatnot.
I really like, I'm kind of aand it's funny because I'm
(17:21):
somewhat of an introvert and atthe same, time well, yeah, but
you wouldn't know.
I mean all the public speakingand stuff that I do you know?
But I really I mean like I haveto be alone and quiet to
recharge.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
But I'm telling you we have met some great people
and I'm so thankful yeah, andeven other vendors at the show
you know right from the startmeeting rj who did the upland
bird dog training uh episodethat we did a while back great
guy always has a joke can'trepeat any of them, but he
(17:59):
always has a great joke some ofthem are okay, but are uh pg
yeah so, but then, uh, you knowjust the random people and if
you're out there, uh, unknownhunter, we would love to hear
from you.
You know who you are, you knowwho you are.
So there was a a story and thisguy came up to tell us about
(18:21):
bucky and the unknown hunter.
And he was the unknown hunterand the way he told this story,
I'm like we've got to do a anepisode with this absolutely
hysterical yeah, we were.
We were just dying laughinglistening to this episode or
listening to tell this story,and so we wanted to.
I'm like, okay, reach out, Iwant to hear from you.
(18:43):
We got to, yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So if you're here, if anyone knows who we're
referring to, if he's listening,please, please, please.
We want you to reach out to usso that we can get you on the
show.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Yes, the Gig Harbor area.
Yes, that's where he lives, thescene of the incident, so you
know just him.
It was funny, though, walkingaround, because we're always
wearing our black tail coat,hoodies and T-shirts and apparel
.
But walking around and guysstopping us.
(19:20):
Hey're dave and aaron yeah Iwasn't used to that well, and at
first I thought, okay, maybethey just saw us down at the
booth or we'd met them at somepoint, or no, it was they
recognized from the podcast.
Yeah, and yeah, that was.
That was kind of a level Iwasn't prepared for.
Yeah, yeah, it was funny Of youknow the whole I don't want to
(19:50):
say celebrity, but just thewhole like people are excited to
meet you just because you talkinto a microphone for half an
hour a week.
So now that's not to say it wasgreat meeting all of you and
I'm glad we're actually givingyou content that's useful, that
you enjoy listening to that 's.
I mean, if anything, that'll,just that keeps me going yeah,
I'm blown away.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Guys are telling us that, yeah, I've listened to
everything like every podcastfive, six, twelve times.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know I'm like holy cow leaning more and more
information out of it and yeah,so, and that actually led to
leading up to this season,because I know there's certain
ones that are really specificabout that are specifically
helpful with hunting season.
So we're just going to rerunlike the top five, six episodes
(20:34):
that are that we think are mostimportant information towards
hunting blacktail and we'regoing to re-release those
episodes leading up to seasonthis year so that you don't have
to dig through and try tofigure out, okay, which one of
these was going to help me.
If people go back just kind ofre-release them, get a refresher
course right as you're headinginto season, yeah.
(20:55):
And then for everybody who'sgone through the class, we
always tell them reach out to us, send us an email if you need
any help with figuring thingsout.
We like getting those emailsand staying connected with
people, yeah, Year after year.
So one of the things it was abit odd.
So we meet all kinds of peopleand we had someone and this kind
(21:19):
of worried me with the wholebaiting thing, the issue.
And now we can't useurine-based scents or glandular
secretion-based scents and wecan't bait.
And that's okay, we pivot andwe figure it out.
But we had someone and hewalked up and he's talking to me
and I thought it was justsomebody random at the show
(21:42):
talking to me and I'm answeringthis question well, what are you
going to do?
This is all based on baiting.
Well, no, it's not based onbaiting, it's based on synths.
Now, if we weren't able to evenuse synthetics, that would have
been an issue.
That would have been a gamechanger could have been, that
would have been an issue, thatwould have been a game changer.
But it's just the bait.
(22:02):
Okay, that's a minor, you know,it's something that there's
workarounds around that and it'snot, it's it doesn't shut the
door at all.
So but he, it was like he wasprompting me to say, oh yeah, we
don't care what the law says,we're gonna bait anyway.
Well, we're not.
We know what the law says andwe're not gonna bait.
And so I had we're not, we knowwhat the law says and we're not
going to bait.
And so I had this conversation.
I was like, well, you know, andI didn't really think anything
(22:24):
about it while I was having it,but then I leave, because I go
around and try to see whatvendors around and make contacts
and just chat with othervendors.
And I came back and I don'tknow if he was talking to you or
he was talking to one of ourpro staff who were working the
booth that day.
This was at the Portland showand I'm standing off to the side
(22:45):
when I walk back.
Well, he's asking that prostaff member the exact same
questions he was asking me andkind of leading like he was
trying to get whichever prostaff for you.
I can't remember to say, yeah,we're just going to keep baiting
, it doesn't matter what youknow, it doesn't matter what the
law comes out and says, we'rejust going to keep doing this.
And this was well before, whenit was just kind of rumor.
(23:07):
You know they were going to bedebating it or, you know, have a
public hearing on it but he wasasking those exact same
questions from one of our otherstaff.
Okay, now this is getting alittle weird.
So then I'm thinking, okay,this guy's just odd, well, come
to find out.
Like the next day he comes inand he's working the WDFW booth.
(23:31):
So this is part of it.
That why I tried to warn guysat class, the classes and the
boot camp and everything of yougot to be careful.
You know it's, we can't bait,but just be careful, because I
think they're and I don't thinkhe was a game warden, he didn't
strike me as a game warden andmost of those guys are actually
(23:52):
all the game wardens I met seemto be really cool guys.
They seem to be very helpful asfar as like if you had a
question, hey, can I do this orthis.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
They're going to clarify that they want to keep
you, you know, but this justfelt like Like he was fishing,
like he was fishing and like hewas a fed plant here.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Everybody down to the Capitol, yeah, everybody down
to the Capitol, yeah head downto the Capitol.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
We're going to start.
Yeah, it felt like that.
So, guys, just be careful.
If you're talking to someone,first off, don't break the law.
Yeah, just be ethical, don'tbreak the law.
Yeah, now there are probablysome workarounds as far as there
are scents that smell like food, that aren't food, so it's a
(24:44):
scent, so that should as far asI can tell, that should be legal
.
But yeah, you're not dumpingcorn or apples or anything out.
Don't do that.
That's what you're not supposedto be doing.
But just be careful, becausewhile I think there could be
some people out there that workfor these agencies who are
(25:07):
trying to get you toself-incriminate, and yeah, just
if you don't know them, yeah, Iwouldn't be doing too much
talking.
You know, loose lips sink shipsloose lips sink your hunting
season.
So that was the only the onlything that really kind of stuck
(25:29):
out to me.
That was a little weird.
But I mean, we met the guysfrom nilchy and they gave us
product a couple of shows ago.
I used it last year.
I think their wind checks areawesome and they they gave us
product a couple of shows ago.
I used it last year.
I think their wind checks areawesome and they gave us a
little more product.
They're sending me a couplemore because they have some
different designs on things totest out.
But, yeah, great product.
(25:51):
And we're going to be doingsome commercials where the
mid-roll it's called a mid-rollbut it's like a break where we
talk about a particular product.
But I mean, we talk a lot aboutdifferent products that we use,
but this is a blacktailsolution cracked out um
blacktail drop zone.
Blacktail drop zone, hex andozonics ozonics, yeah, just
(26:12):
stuff that.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And that's the thing I mean.
We want to endorse the stuffthat.
That is quality yeah you know,and if you've ever been to any
of our outings or anything likethat, everything that we do we
want to do quality, and if wecan't do it quality, then I
don't want to do it.
That's kind of been our mottofrom the start.
I want guys to feel like notthat they just got their money's
(26:33):
worth, but that they walk awaygoing.
Man, I'm glad I did that.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
That was not only informative, that was not only
educational, but that was a goodtime.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You know, and then just an opportunity to get out
in the woods and learn somethings.
And so, yeah, we've alwaysstressed quality and whatnot.
But it's funny you talk aboutthat incident with that.
I was at work today and so atthe Portland show I do seminars
and everything.
Well, husband and wife showedup there and then sat through
the seminar and then reached outand contacted us here about a
(27:08):
month after the shows and askedif I would come speak at their
hunting club.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Oh, I forgot about that.
Yeah, even though I went.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
And Aaron and I went.
They bought us dinner.
We had a great time, met somegreat people.
Well then, an apprentice comesout to the job site today and is
talking with me and says, yeah,I did my hunter's ed and there
was these two guys there andthey were talking about you.
And I says what do you meantalking?
You know it's like, oh, did Iwire something for him?
(27:39):
You know, because I'm anelectrician and no, no about the
black tail coach, and that youcame and spoke and everything.
And I mean there's probably boyfrom the time the show happened
.
That was beginning of February,and this just happened today.
You know, and here it is, may,it's just like, wow, you know.
It's just like wow, you knowyou.
Just, you run into people andyou just don't know who's going
to enjoy it, who's going to likeit, who's going to walk away
(28:01):
with something and who's?
You know inspired enough totell somebody else.
You know hey, you know, this isreally good, or avoid this,
that guy is an idiot.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
So and we do like those little one-off, like
one-hour seminars, hour and ahalf.
So if you have a, so if you'repart of a hunting club, archery
club, outdoor club, somethinglike that, and you want, if you
arrange guest speakers, reachout to us Now hopefully,
(28:33):
especially if it's on aweeknight.
It's somewhat close to thePortland Vancouver area.
Driving up to north of Seattlewould be a little tough but yeah
, like doing those or evenclasses like kind of a corporate
type class where, if you havesome sort of business, we'll do
a private class for your group,like the full day class.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Yeah, we do stuff like that.
We're always trying to think oflike, okay, what should we do?
Is there a new way that we canpresent this information?
And we have some things thatare kind of on the back burner
that I think will probably berolling out next year as far as
maybe some one-on-one locatingpotential, where you'll get pro
staff out there doing locatingwith you for a day, working on
(29:16):
that one with you for a day,working on that one, some other,
some other things you knowbranching out with working with
alex cheney, our pro staff guy,who did all the turkey episodes
about getting him involved withteaching guys how to turkey hunt
the same way that you teach uhguys, how to blacktail.
Yeah, you know, he's phenomenalactually what we should be
(29:37):
having him on pretty soon.
But, dan, he's actually more ofa predator hunter than he is a
deer hunter.
Dan Bonnell and we'll have someepisodes with him talking about
, because he's taken out yourson to coyote and bobcat hunt.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
That guy is a predator killing machine.
Yeah, you know, and both thoseguys, I mean Alex.
As far as turkey, dude, theykilled six birds in one weekend
yeah, what was?
it, five of them in the groupyeah, yeah, dj was slaying them
I'm like you gotta be kidding mesix birds in one weekend and,
like you know he, he is ourturkey specialist, and then dan.
(30:13):
You know I I try and line up abunch of hunts for for I don't
get an opportunity to go on alot of different hunts because
I'm busy, you know.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
I got basically two jobs I got the black tail coach
and I'm an electrician and so Iset up.
You know, like my son has beenthe beneficiary of a ton of
great hunts with some greatpeople and so Dan took my boy
out with one of his buddies and,yeah, predator hunting,
teaching them how to predatorcall and all that stuff.
And man, they had what fourdogs come in in the morning.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I think so.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, something like that.
It's like, that's just likeit's crazy.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
You know they're killing coyotes and now they
went out with him one time.
They got the call that herecommended and they're going
out and they know exactly whatto do every time and it's just
like.
Look into that yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I want a bobcat.
That is like the number one.
Number two, because it's blacktail for me.
Number one, but number two isI'd rather have a bobcat than
anything else.
Cougar bear, just there'ssomething.
Their coats are just soincredible looking.
Especially when you get themand they have a lot of that
(31:26):
orange kind of color to them.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, especially when you get them and
they have a lot of that orangekind of color to them.
Uh, yeah, we had one walkingthrough the yard last fall.
Maybe that's last summer, ohthat's why I don't go?
Speaker 1 (31:40):
because I missed that cat twice.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
So that was apparently inside.
Yeah, apparently don't say that.
Yeah, that was a small one youshot at the, the female.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
She was small.
That was the next day.
The day before that, I was justlooking out the back window and
yeah, now, bobcats, are they atom as?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
well, yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Big tom.
I thought he was the next doorneighbor's golden retriever, or
lab.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Wow, he was that tall .
Speaker 1 (32:09):
And then he came walking out of the back tree
line and yeah, it was not not asafe shot which is why I didn't
shoot at him, but yeah, someday,yeah, so I don't know.
That's kind of like the summaryof our our season.
It was just.
It was a great year yeah youknow, I think and we doubled the
amount of guys that wentthrough the class and I know
(32:31):
there's a lot of you whocouldn't make it this year.
Life gets in the way at times.
So we'll be seeing you nextyear and looking forward to that
.
Probably we'll have guys comingback to the bootcamp again
who've already gone Dane and Dan.
You know, father son, they cameback again.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Yeah, we've got some guys that are yearly repeaters
and it's like that's okay, youknow.
Yeah, I mean they have a goodtime.
That's what it's about.
You know, it's hunting camp,that, yeah, you don't have to
clean anything and you get goodfood and you get to tell a lot
of stories.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
It's a good it.
We had to sit down for lunch.
I remember Saturday it wasthree meals.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
I was so stuffed.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
We were so full from breakfast.
Nobody wanted to really eat,and I think people kind of ate a
little bit and then dinner.
Everybody was still full frombreakfast.
So that's the level of how wellthey take care of us up at
Cascades.
Yep so another great year,looking forward to next year,
looking forward to the coachingthat we're going to be doing
(33:32):
here, working with those guys,and you know our.
Ask the Coach with the Patreonguys.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
We've still got some spots open.
If you're interested, guys,there's still a chance for
coaching.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
So, yeah, but that starts here in a couple weeks,
the 20th.
Yeah, may 20th is the firstnight of our class.
So reach out if you'reinterested in coach, in coaching
, and you've gone through theclass and uh, we'll, we'll get
you set up, but uh, yeah, thankyou for a great year, for making
this podcast so fun to do,making the classes just great to
(34:03):
be part of absolutely the bootcamp, yeah it, it's fun and,
coming from me, three years agoI was not a hunter and now it's.
Yeah, just sitting there and Ilike seeing those pics that you
know, people are showing me yourbrother, you know, the first
time that he and I really, youknow, we've chatted on occasion,
even though, well, I've knownyou for 30 years now I've, so
(34:25):
I've known him for almost thatlong but never, we never really
chatted hunting.
You know, because it was fourthof july and you know kind of
casual coming but it was likehe's gotten some incredible
bucks he's got some great bucks.
Yeah, he really, and so he andmy cousin both have, yeah,
really nice box, and so it'sjust kind of it was cool seeing
(34:45):
those pictures and hearing abouthis hunts and and just all the
hunts of the other guys andtalking about.
You know them going out ofstate and you know the hunting
that they do and yeah, it's agood time.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
It's a good time, it is.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
And I almost wish we just did boot camps and
everybody came to those.
But understand, some people canonly do a day and we get that,
so we have the classes for you.
Anyway, thanks for listening inAgain.
Unknown Hunter, if you're outthere, reach out to us and we
will see you all next week.
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