November 24, 2025 • 62 mins
A gritty urban whitetail story moves from a painful miss to a clean seven-yard heart shot less than 24 hours later. We share what it takes to ignore social pressure, read suburban habitat, and stay steady when the season tests your patience.
• passing deer on purpose and trusting the plan
• hunting amid construction noise and retention ponds
• adapting to wind in urban edges and funnels
• camera intel, mock scrapes, and timing the drop in temps
• diagnosing a high miss and rebuilding confidence
• Wisconsin tags, gun week strategy, and late-season moves
• food shifts, pressure migrations, and habitat pockets
• social media noise, realistic expectations, and respect for women hunters
• why bowhunting’s grind builds better decisions and better shots
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there who's listening
Don't worry about what other people say on social media. You shoot what makes you happy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Welcome back to Gangstay outdoors and podcasts
present by coming.
SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
Accidentally drifted like the charge hit like the
back of the canoe.
SPEAKER_03 (00:31):
Yeah, on the last trip over, I shot a great cake
off of my bell charging.
SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
And then the whooping.
And then you hear all right,everyone.
We are back.
First of all, I want to sayhappy Thanksgiving to everyone
out there who's listening.
And we got our guy.
He didn't get a chance to makeit last week.
(00:56):
And we're hoping everything was,you know, prayers to everything
and hope everything worked outfor you and the family.
But a redemption story, like noteven a redemption.
I mean, I guess you could say itis a redemption story, but just
pure just grinding it the wholeentire year.
The definition of your of youknow of the background that that
(01:19):
you're trying to create andeverything like that.
And it was so I think I canspeak for all of us.
Like it was incredible seeingyou, you know, getting that
message that, you know, yougotta buck down on the ground
and everything like that.
Um, you know, so we're reallyhappy uh for you and everything
(01:39):
like that.
But Craig, you know, it's and Ifeel like we haven't seen you in
a while, too.
And I'll someone asked, I think,I think it was Connor asked like
two two or three weeks ago.
He goes, Where's Craig been?
I was like, where has Craigbeen?
SPEAKER_01 (01:58):
Life Life is just so crazy.
But it's getting better now,getting a lot better.
SPEAKER_02 (02:05):
Yeah, I mean, it's and you know what?
I I really before we get intothe you know to everything like
that, um, you know, kind of likeyou're you're one of those guys
that you know you you bet it onyourself, you know, and it's
you're you're pass you you passthis deer, you pass this deer,
you know, and I imagine you hadpeople, you know, like well,
(02:25):
well, why are you passing deer?
Like what and I think I think weyou know we did talk about it in
our group chat and everythinglike that.
Yeah, you know, and it's butit's your tag, and if that's
what you want to do, and you'regonna bet on yourself that
something bigger is going tostep out.
Yeah, um, you know, so kind ofgo over like that of just like
(02:47):
you know, betting on yourselfand and just sticking with the
program and not lettingeverything else of social media,
other people, even other hunterswho you know, you're you're
looking at the group chats andthe the hunting tournament,
you're seeing everybody is uhit's just smacking it down and
everything like that, but tocontinue on the mission and it
(03:07):
and it pays out.
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
Yeah, I just you know, I look back at how it all
started, like you know, likethis summer.
Um, you know, like I had thestand in the urban spa this
summer, and I noticed like mybrother-in-law who owns that
property, I know why he boughtthe property, you know, he's
he's doing his business, youknow, he's putting in townhomes,
(03:29):
you know.
That's that's just his that'shis business.
I totally get it.
And when they put that retentionpond in, and they literally
cleared out everything to whereI'm sitting in that hang on
stand, and I look to the right,I can see freaking old lady
Jules probably taking a showerin a third-story apartment
buildings.
Like, that's how clear it is nowin that urban hunting land, like
(03:53):
it's it's wide open.
Um I hesitated, I freaked out.
I'm like, I'm pulling the standout.
There, there ain't gonna be nodeer in here.
Like, I'm done, like, whatever.
Well, then I got wind of theneighbor who I got built a
really good connection with.
And um, once they stoppeddigging all the ground and
putting the foundations in wherethe houses are gonna be going up
(04:14):
way up top, he goes, Craig,dude, those deer coming back.
I'm like, I just you know,whatever.
I'm like, screw it.
I got enough cell cameras, I'mgonna go throw one in there just
to see once what's going on.
And let alone that evening, Iwent down there to throw the
camera up.
I looked to my left on Troy'sproperty, and there was nine
deer standing on there feedingin the CPR field, not even
(04:37):
caring that I was there 70 yardsfrom them, putting a hang-on
stand in there.
I looked to my right and rightin the open, like literally
right by the retention pond,people in the apartment parking
lot doing God knows what,whatever.
Little basket eight comeswalking through them.
I think myself like, huh, okay.
Well, you know what?
I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna doit right now.
So put the hang-on stand back inthe same tree that I had it in
(05:00):
this summer, and I just toldmyself, I'm I'm just gonna stay
out of here, pin that wind, andbelieve it or not, don't be
wrong, boys.
Like, the wind is a factor.
I I I really believe it is, butafter this year, pulling myself
out of Krakow on the family landbecause I was determined to kill
(05:22):
one on this urban piece becauseI knew I was gonna do it.
It just took it was just gonnatake a lot of time, a lot of
grind, and it's a lot of a lotof work, and you know, having
those construction workersliterally banging on freaking
nails 190 yards away from me,running their trucks in, coming
in, and then watching those deerthat deer movement, and it's
(05:45):
just like it didn't matter.
Like, I had there was timeswhere I'd be sitting with wrong
wind, and those deer just didn'tgive a crap because it's like
they're so used to those um, youknow, the those guys up there,
it's like I'm not affectinganything.
Like, I'm not really you know,uh not, I don't know.
It was just it was just weird,like what you know, whatever.
But so then, so yeah, like howit all went down, I guess it's
(06:10):
just you know, starting to getsome good bucks on camera, and
um ended up early uhmid-October.
We got that absolute giant oncamera, and we've only got one
picture of him.
He went MIA.
Um, the neighbor Troy has neverseen him since.
Um, you know, a buck like thatcaliber in the urban area,
knowing social media and knowinga lot of good friends that work
(06:33):
for the Brown County Sheriff'sDepartment, that literally is
the stations literally rightthere.
I would have known if that buckwas killed.
So that buck is somewhere outthere yet.
God knows where he is, hunkereddown a little, probably.
I mean, I don't know.
Um but then um yeah, I startedgetting some good eight pointers
on camera, and then I had thatthis one, this nine-pointer
coming on camera um prettyreally frequently, and I was I
(06:56):
was literally, you guys, uh man.
There it was, there was times,man, I go to my truck and I sit
and just cry.
I would, I would just shedtears.
Like I always would tell myself,I'm pretty hard on myself.
Like, you know, I I set myselfgoals, whether it's the outdoors
or crossfit, you know, and I getI get pretty worked up, I'm not
gonna lie.
Like, I wear my heart on mysleeve, and it's just like I sat
(07:18):
in my truck one night and I'mjust thinking to myself, like,
what in the F am I doing wrong?
And then I'm thinking, like, I'mnot doing anything wrong.
Like, I just I'm literallyeither 10 minutes behind them or
it's just it's just I wasn'tconnecting with them, you know.
And and then that um thatevening I was sitting in the
ground blind.
I literally just put it up theday before, and it's urban.
(07:39):
I'm like, okay, these deer aregonna be a little sketched out.
So I sat in the ground blind,the deer had no care that I was
there.
They came right into the, youknow, they're just feeding about
15, 20 yards from me, whatever,and they might pop up and look
up like a little bit at it, butnot didn't get blown at once,
this and that.
And then, you know, legalshooting light, you know, and
I'm I tell you what, man, thatthe whole thing with legal
(07:59):
shooting light and social media,man, there's some people out
there that are just really somesketchy ass people.
I mean, there was a video Iposted walking out of my stand,
and don't get me wrong, likecell phones can do wonders to
make daylight look reallydaylight, but it's actually
pretty freaking dark out.
I had some people on Instagramblowing me up, like, oh yeah,
you hunt, you don't sit all thetime, you don't sit too late.
(08:21):
You know, I'm like, it's legalshooting light.
Like, literally, I'm out on mystand 10 minutes.
If I don't have any deer by me,I'm out.
Like, I'm I'm out.
I'm not illegally gonna go blowa deer up and then say I shot at
two minutes of legal shootinglight left.
I I just won't I won'tphysically do that.
And there was times in urbanspot where it comes to legal
legal shooting light two minutesafter I'm in a wide open area,
(08:46):
it's still bright out.
Like I'm not in a like a thicketwoods, whatever, and I have some
good bucks come in.
I'm not gonna do it.
Like I just won't do it, youknow.
And anyways, you know, like thatthat night I got out of the
ground line, and then um, youknow, I had that be that buck
came in three minutes after, andthere he is.
And then all of a sudden, it wasthe one that really pissed me
(09:08):
off was I was sitting during myrecation in my hang on stand,
and it was about 8.54 in themorning, like, ah, you know, the
neighbor choice and probably goup by his tower stand.
He wanted to put his chair inthere and whatever, which is
fine, I respect it.
Like, I'm probably gonna see nodeer now, whatever.
So I'm like, okay, I'm gonnapack myself up, I'm gonna hit
the crock on home with mybrother-in-law, Matt.
Literally, get down from my hangon stand, I get to my truck,
(09:31):
turn my truck on, and my cellcamera goes off, and there's a
big nine.
He was literally three minutesout from me just sitting on that
stand where I probably wouldhave shot him that day.
So it's just like I was alwaysjust minutes either behind or um
ahead of them, you know,whatever.
I just like and I got I gotupset.
I got I you know, I started toget like really frustrated
(09:51):
myself, and then I'm like, I'mgonna do this, and then here
comes the weekend, and um thatwarm front comes through, and
it's like, oh my god, like I'msitting in that stand Connor,
you know what I'm talking about.
That last Saturday, dude.
I'm like, I'm sitting Saturday,I'm like, how am I literally
wearing a thin long sleeve andI'm sweating my ass off?
Like, this is so warm out here,and then I'm I'm like, I'm not
(10:14):
gonna get frustrated, it's stillthe rut.
They're still gonna be pushing.
And I I saw a deer.
And so then Saturday morning, Iget in my stand.
I'm like, okay, it's it's reallyquiet.
I knew the wind was supposed topick up around like 9 a.m.
And um I told the neighbor, toldthe neighbor Troy that, hey,
bud, I'm gonna sit till nineo'clock because I respect like
the property that we have.
(10:34):
Like he wanted to shoot his gunto get ready for gun season.
I respect that.
I sit till nine o'clock.
I'm gonna get out, go get somelunch, whatever, and I'll come
back out this afternoon.
Saturday morning, I'm sittingjust on the literally in my hang
on stand.
Bo's hanging up.
I'm on the phone with him,texting him, and just randomly
happened to look up at eightseven, well, 8.20, look up
(10:55):
literally right dab in front ofme at 20 yards.
There's the nine-pointer withhis mouth wide open, walking
across the funnel, and he walksright through my shooting lane.
I'm in my stand, I have nothingprepared, nothing ready.
I'm like, oh my god.
So I'm like, okay, just hold ona second.
So I put my phone in my vestpocket, I stand up, he gets into
the thin part of the woods, alittle like I call it like a
(11:17):
little woods tree line.
I can still see him.
Now he starts to rap.
I'm like, oh, Chris, this is mychance.
So I grab my bowl and I turn allthe way around.
He's walking in.
And where I have him marked onthat pathway that I walk in,
instead of always having to grabmy rangefinder and rangefinder
for less movement.
I literally like a couple nightsago, I walked out and I just
marked, like, you know, I justmarked some mud up, whatever on
(11:40):
the trail, 20, 25 yards.
So then I kind of know.
And that buck comes out at 25yards.
I had everything set and go, andI pulled back, and Matt stopped
him, shot right over his back.
Tell you what, you want to see a37-year-old man cry in a tree
and punching a tree so hard, Ithought I'd snapped my wrist.
(12:00):
Like I was so pissed.
And Frank exactly knows what I'mtalking about because I cuddled
him.
SPEAKER_04 (12:05):
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01 (12:06):
And I I'm sitting, I got down, I read, you know, I
got myself together, you know,shed the tears, whatever, wiped
them away.
And then right away, I thoughtof everything that went wrong,
and I tried to blame everythingbut myself.
So, you know, and that's that'swhen I called, I called Frank in
the truck, you know, and I I Ithink I actually I think I broke
(12:28):
down a little bit too on thephone with you guys.
You know, kind of tearing up alittle bit.
Like I, you know, I look atbusting my ass all year long,
getting the heat and getting thefrom social media, like, oh, I
can't believe you're notshooting all these doors or you
know, you don't.
I just it was just it was it wasjust growing, growing, growing
to where it's like, I'm gonnakill a bit, I'm gonna kill my
(12:50):
personal best buck this year.
I'm I'm gonna do it.
And Saturday morning comes and Ishoot over his back, and I'm
like, what the F happened?
So I called Frank, and oh I'mgoing over everything with them,
you know, this and that.
Like, are my broadhead shootinghigher than you know, this and
whatever?
And then um Frank was tellingme, he goes, no, he goes, dude,
you shoot the broadheads justlike you shoot your field
(13:12):
points, and I put that littlethat little locking thing in my
several broadhead, treated likea field point.
Yep.
Saturday got home after I gotoff the phone with Frank, went
to the backyard asap.
I shot the broadheads 25 yardswith that locking bolt in them,
and I'm shooting freaking 57piece dying.
I get 25 yards.
I'm like, okay, what the hellhappened to me?
(13:32):
Well, I'm starting to figure itout.
So then I actually went, Irelived Saturday morning and
actually put my field point onjust in case I would hit the
garage.
But um I actually shot like Idid on that buck, and what I did
was when I shot, I I just I dideverything I did.
Well, I raised my arm because Iwanted to see where that arrow's
gonna go.
Well, I should know where thatarrow's gonna go.
(13:52):
I'm a good shot, like that.
I'm dead on.
And when I raised that arm, myarrow went high, and that's
exactly what I did Saturdaymorning.
So then got back out Saturdayafternoon.
Um, seen like four or fivedoughs.
I had two big does come in 10yards from me.
Again, yes, I could have smokedsome doughs.
I mean, I could have smoked youguys.
(14:12):
I this urban spot, I could havesmoked 10, 12 doughs this year
if I wanted to.
They're just they're everywherein there, but I just told myself
I'm not gonna do it.
Like, I mean, you know, thepressure, you know, it maybe it
was a little bit of, I shouldn'tsay pressure of the of the
tournament, you know, like ohy'all get all these points.
I knew I was gonna get pointswith a team.
It's just like there might not,you know, be seven doughs or
(14:34):
whatever.
But um, so then Saturday nightcame and I had three three bucks
come in.
Two of them are pretty small.
Then I had one buck way on thedistance, and I just couldn't
really tell what it was.
It was getting kind of that dusklight.
But I'm like, okay, well, thenSaturday night came around.
I got back home, and at 10:30Saturday night, the buck I
(14:55):
missed hits my camera.
And I thought to myself, Iliterally sat down, I'm like,
you, there's no way this is not,this is not happening.
Like he's back, and he came inat 10:30 Saturday night, 1 a.m.
Sunday morning, and 2.19 Sundaymorning, and 4 a.m.
Sunday morning.
He came in and hit my scrape.
(15:15):
I'm like, I got up Sundaymorning early.
I'm like, I'm gonna kill thisdeer.
I'm gonna get my that's why Isaid redemption.
I'm gonna get my I don't care ifthe story is that isn't a summer
story all the way, it's atwo-day story.
Guess what?
That's I'm gonna do it.
Sunday morning comes, thattemperature drops, and I'm like,
okay, these deer are definitelygonna be moving.
You know, from Saturday being 60some degrees to Sunday morning
(15:38):
being thinking it was like 29 inDe Pier.
I'm like, I'm gonna do it.
And this is crazy becauseSaturday morning I missed them
at 8:30.
Sunday morning comes around,7.17 in the morning.
My wife texts me, she goes, shegoes, Oh my god, it is cold all
day.
You're gonna get one thismorning.
I'm like, I text her back, I go,I sure hope so, because right
now I ain't see anything but afreaking fawn.
(15:59):
So I'm sitting there, you know,and all of a sudden, like I
stood up, 8:17 comes around.
I'm literally standing up in mystand, and also I'm looking
around, you know, just lookingpeeking around.
I look over to my right, and Ilook over and oh, there's a deer
coming.
I'm like, no, I turn around andI I I literally just whisper,
I'm like, this is not happeningright now.
(16:19):
That nine pointer I missedSaturday morning starts to come
back towards me.
Now he's coming back in now tothe wide open spot where I
literally if I don't haveanything in my hand and ready to
go, I cannot move because he'sgonna he's gonna pin me.
He walks all the way in, crosseswhere I missed him Saturday
morning.
He's walking right down, putshis head down.
(16:40):
He comes two yards under mystand.
And I still am like he'sliterally right underneath me.
And all of a sudden, he goesabout five yards out.
He's looking now straighttowards Troy's tower stand.
I'm like, I don't even have mybow in hand yet, you guys.
Because I I just I'm just I'mstarting to freak out a little
bit, you know.
I'm like, okay, well, he'slooking now straight out to the
tower stand.
I'm literally 18 feet up behindhim.
(17:02):
He's not gonna see me, so Islowly grab my bowl.
I'm like, you know what?
I'm doing this all natural.
I'm not gonna at him.
I'm just gonna let him do whathe wants to do.
If he's gonna keep walkingstraight with no shot, it wasn't
meant to be.
What's this deer do?
I I pull back, he looked, heturns to the right, looks at my
mock scrape, and what's he do?
He walks right to that mockscrape at seven yards.
(17:22):
I didn't even stop him, hestopped on his own.
I just put it right on his heartand just pulled back.
As soon as I seen that arrowhit, and that sever freaking
opened that deer up, he mealkicks, his head snaps to the
ground, and he literally ran off80 yards.
And I watched him do his littledeath dance, and he literally
tipped over right there from mystand.
And I looked at the time, I'mlike, this is not real life.
(17:45):
Like, I miss him 8 30 Saturdaymorning to kill him at 8 27
Sunday morning.
Like, I I just didn't believe itwas real, and that's like I
watched him die, and it's justlike I couldn't believe it.
So I freaking FaceTime my wifeand daughter, and I just all out
full low, crying my ass off.
(18:05):
My eyes are bloodshot, and I'mlike just hyperventilating and
freaking out, and all of asudden then that's I finished
talking to them.
I FaceTime my cousin Sam.
He was up in his stand up in umup in Beaver, Wisconsin,
whatever, hunting and stuff.
And I just to even to this daytalking about it, I just it
still doesn't I can feel realbecause it's like all the stuff
(18:27):
that's happened, I you know,like you know, getting the
backlash, you know, of all thatdeer's too small, or this deer,
you know, oh you gotta let himgo, let him grow.
And it's just like, oh my god,that that it's that social media
stuff started to give me aheadache.
Like listening to these guysalways say that, it's like
whatever, you know, and thatbuck comes in and he's my
biggest buck today.
Like, I mean, he's is he gonnascore 120 inches?
(18:49):
Probably not, but I I could givetwo shits less, you know.
Like this buck, I was gonna, Iwas determined to go kill him
and kill him only because ofwhat happened Saturday morning,
and I did it, so it's like youknow, it's I took him in to get
um cleaned up by my guy thathere in Seymour, and he actually
weighed it for me.
And feel dressed out, the deeris 186 pounds.
(19:13):
That's nice deer, man.
Yeah, so I have them all capedup, took him to um a buddy of
mine, Brian Schultz in Seymour,and he's gonna mount them up for
me.
And yeah, I'm just yeah, I justtell you what, all that hard
work, and it's just like I'm notdone grinding yet.
Like, I'm I'm gonna late seasonbowl over some bunch, a bunch of
does.
Um, you know, getting it.
Do you still have another bucktag?
(19:34):
Uh yeah, I hate Wisconsin.
Um, yeah, so how that works isConnor knows it too.
How it works because I shot mybuck with my bowl.
In order for me to shoot anotherbuck with my with my bowl, I can
go buy a gun tag and use my bow.
But um, I I just didn't have notime this weekend.
I had so much stuff going on inWisconsin.
(19:54):
You get a seven-day gun season.
Like, it's like, I don't know.
I I want to because after what Isee him come on camera, another
giant nine-pointer is on cameranow.
It's just like uh I I want to,but then at the same time, it's
just like I know what he's gonnabe next year, and I know my
neighbor Troy does not shootanything small, so him and I are
(20:18):
on the same page.
Like, we're if he doesn't seehim, he probably ain't gonna
kill a deer out there.
He wants them to let him keepgrowing and growing.
And I don't know.
I I can go probably go buy atake, you know, if I wanted to,
but then now I'm looking at nowtomorrow's Tuesday.
I got literally five days to gotry to get another buck.
And it's like I I don't know, Igot so much stuff, family stuff
(20:38):
going on for Thanksgiving andstuff like that.
I might just I might just bebust and be happy with what I
got this year and just goprobably go maybe smack a dough
or two for late season.
SPEAKER_03 (20:48):
I tell you what, Craig, this weekend though, and
I I totally hear what you'resaying with the the snow
apparently that's coming.
We all know how that is in theMidwest, and they predict snow
and they're full of shit most ofthe time.
But uh, you know, I just say itmay be worth that 24 bucks
because uh, I mean, I typicallyalways bring during the the
(21:12):
Wisconsin gun week, I alwaysbring my bowl with me.
Yeah, you know, the chances ofsomething coming in close enough
once you know the orange armystarts uh blasting everywhere.
I mean, we know how skittishthey are no matter where you are
in the country, but I do it justin case.
I also have my pistol.
If uh you know a coyote comes upclose to the stand just to have
(21:35):
some fun, but this weekendthough with the temps dropping,
dude.
Yeah, I don't know I meanthey're they're they're gonna be
moving.
So if you got the itch, it maybe worth the 24 bucks just to
give it a try.
SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
And if it doesn't, hey, you know, I mean, so be uh,
like you said, I mean, so be itthen.
But like, yeah, I know thosetemps are supposed to be
plummeting like absolutely crazythis weekend here in Wisconsin.
Yeah, and I got my ground blind,I mean, I got my buddy heater.
I mean, I got everybody thatground blind very, very warm.
Um, yeah, we'll we'll we'll see.
And like I said, I know like asof after we're doing the podcast
(22:10):
right now, my camera right now,my cell camera now in De Pierre
is just blowing up right now, soit's like I can only imagine
what's on camera now.
But like it's just yeah, it doesgive me the itch, it really
does, and it just and now it'slike I I I worried so much about
you know, like those town homesgoing in by where my
brother-in-law is building them.
That has absolutely no effect onthose deer at all down there.
(22:31):
It's just insane.
SPEAKER_03 (22:33):
Yeah, the urban deer they adapt.
I mean, they adapt.
You guys have seen my postsbefore in in uh my neighborhood.
I mean, oh yeah, we have hugetimber all the way around my
neighborhood, and the YaharaRiver runs all the way through.
It's just the most unbelievablehabitat for big white tail.
Yeah, but we had we still have aton of building going on uh with
(22:56):
homes and whatever, and yeah,they just adapt.
They may get moved, but uh it'scrazy how they uh figure it out
and they figure it out quick.
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_02 (23:07):
Yeah, yeah, and that's the thing, white tails
are very adaptable.
Um yeah, you know, it that's onething that has made them I mean,
just especially thrive in thelast, I mean, I don't know how
many years.
I mean, obviously, we know theirnumbers got real low at one
point, but that's when you know,no real hunting regulations or
anything like that, and you canjust slaughter them and
(23:30):
everything like that.
But you know, you you seethey're just only losing more
and more land every single day,you know.
Uh yeah, and you know, I I'veseen giant deer, I've seen tons
of deer like driving on 78 herein Jersey or like these little
tiny like strips or small littlepockets, and there's always deer
(23:51):
in there.
It's like, how the hell does adeer like live there?
Like it doesn't, it doesn't makesense, but they they find a way,
you know, they're yeah, they'rein their backyards, they're you
know, you see them in in citiesand and stuff like that, and
like that small little, yetagain, another small little
pocket, and it they're theythrive, they can really thrive
(24:14):
almost anywhere.
SPEAKER_01 (24:14):
Yeah, um, that's just it too.
Like you were saying, like youlike, you know, that de pier,
you know, if I had an aerialview of like where I hunt, like
there is no and especially nowthat the retention pond went in
and that ditch, that ditchfunnel that they put in, that
was all like tall cactus, so itgot me some good cover and it's
all gone.
Like I the only pieces of woodsthat we have is it runs along
(24:37):
Beaver Creek, and theneverything else is just like
tall CPR fields.
I mean, when I go sit there,there was no buildings out there
at all.
And if I was out in the middleof nowhere with this property,
it'd make me feel like I'mactually out in Kansas hunting.
That I am there is no woods inthis, all this is just strips of
woods following a river.
(24:57):
And I've seen the biggest someof the biggest deer I've ever
hunted in this little stripshere, and I'm not gonna stop
hunting it.
Like, I like I will be shedhunting my ass off down there
this year, and I it's got somebig plans for next year.
I know I do, and it's gonna beeven better.
SPEAKER_02 (25:16):
I'd love to hear.
I mean, and and that's alwaysit's crazy.
Like, I'll be looking at yourpost, and it's like your plans
are already for like 2026.
I'm like, damn, I haven't evenreally started thinking about
2026.
Yeah, but it's it's for us, it'sdifferent here than me neither.
I mean, like for the Wisconsinguys, those Midwest guys, like
the as much as we bitch andcomplain, and listen, I I I
(25:39):
would love to go to two bucksstate any weapon, or even a
three bucks state any weapon.
Um, but like we're we're spoiledbecause like we're that spoiled
child that you know we we getwhat we get, we get unlimited
does, we get seven, I thinkseven bucks right now.
We hunt from the second week ofSeptember to all the way to the
(26:02):
I can fire from my job if I hadthat many tags.
Yeah, do you understand?
Do you understand why now I huntso freaking much?
Yeah, you like my schedule isall built around this time of
the like literally this time ofthe year.
Um, yeah, you know, like it, youknow, for for so for Frank, uh,
and I because he has he he has amuzzle, so I don't have a muzzle
(26:24):
error, so I could still bow huntall throughout this time,
obviously, for for does.
I don't get a next shot at abuck until our six-day firearm,
which it's two bucks for sixdays any weapon.
Um that's the next chance I geta chance if I want to take a
buck with my bow.
But Frank opens up uh muzzlader,I think, right next Monday.
SPEAKER_05 (26:48):
Yeah, yeah, December 1st.
SPEAKER_02 (26:50):
You get two days and then it closes again.
So it's a it's our muzzle isweird.
It opens, closes, or whatever.
So but basically we have ifyou've killed a buck so far,
each you you killed your yourearly season, your fall bow, you
killed your permit season, nextyou have your your muzzle
(27:10):
loader, then six day firearm,which is two.
Then there's I don't knowexactly how it works, but I
think there's a shotgun, there'sa shotgun and permit shotgun,
permit shotgun, and then to capit off permit bow, which I think
leads us to seven.
SPEAKER_03 (27:29):
That's just shows you guys you all have a uh deer
population problem.
SPEAKER_02 (27:34):
So yeah, yeah, I want I want to say more of a
money problem.
Yeah, well, that's true too.
Yes and no, yeah, like yes, wedo have a huge high number of of
does, and I'm not gonna say ourdeer, right?
And I'm not gonna sit here andsay we don't, but also I think a
lot of people will say this onheavily pressured WMAs public
(27:55):
land, your dough number, yourdeer number is not what it used
to be.
Now, a lot of that graphic isfrom they get their information
also too from uh accidents andand everything like that.
So you you look at where a lotof those accidents happen, it's
on places where you cannot hunt,right?
(28:16):
So, of course, yeah, of course,there's so many deer, and there
are uh tons of deer that are onyou you'll see the big farmlands
and stuff like that, and you'llsee 30, and I I get to see that.
I see a lot of deer, don't getme wrong, but it's still a thing
where it's like I'll keepunlimited doughs, whatever.
(28:37):
I'm not gonna I don't know howyou can shoot unlimited doughs.
I I can't even shoot freakingfive in a in a season, right?
Uh it's let's be honest, I don'tneed that much.
I can probably fit like one ortwo, I can probably fit one
more, two more deer in my mainfreezer, and then I still have
my backup freezer, right?
I but uh that's for me for themost part.
(28:59):
I'm the one in my family eating95% of the deer, so I don't need
to shoot five doughs a seasonwith an added uh two to three
three bucks, you know.
Right, right.
That's just crazy.
Um, I I would love, and it'snever gonna happen.
We talk about all the time withthe insurance companies and
everything like that.
It's uh it's just not gonna be athing.
(29:21):
They have a huge pull on on whatwe do here in in New Jersey, um,
and our and our um uh you knowwhat what we can go after and
everything like that.
They want the deer gone.
That's why we can bait, that'swhy we can do this.
Like there's things that don'tmake sense, you know.
You look at our and I'll say itagain, you look at our bear
season.
It's like, well, yeah, you canyou can bait bear, but you
(29:43):
cannot sit right over the bait.
But you could hunt deer and sitright over over the bait.
And it's like what that was thatmakes no damn sense.
Or or six day, like so our sixday firearm, you our second bear
season starts up.
But we can't bow hunt them.
And it's like, what's I can goout for six days and kill two
(30:06):
bucks with my bow, but I cannotgo out for six days and kill a
bear with my bow.
Yet again.
Makes no sense.
We're those we're the spoiledchildren, um, without a doubt.
(30:29):
That that want the laws andeverything changed.
So it, you know, it's it'sfunny, and I love having you
guys on, and I'm so happy thatyou, you know, you guys are part
of the team because we get tosee the other perspective of you
know, Wisconsin and some ofthese other states that they're
they're you know one and done,or or just two and everything
(30:50):
like that, and and that's reallyit.
While us here, we we have ourpickings and we could just keep
shooting deer until I'm runningout of arrows this year.
Like that's how that's how manyshots I've I've taken at deer,
I've killed three so far, shotat a coyote, shot uh uh at a a
buck and hit it low.
So like shot one, you know, usesome arrows with the with my
(31:12):
Matthews and everything likethat.
And it's like I I literally lookat my quiver, I'm like, I was
able to just re-up that I havenow four, I have four more, and
that's it.
Because I didn't re-up on arrowsthis year for for my normal 12
to start the season.
I'm now really, reallyregretting not not doing that.
Um, you know, because uh it's uhit's have it's it's fun.
(31:36):
It is fun shooting deer.
SPEAKER_03 (31:39):
Yeah, yeah, there is a report today um that I saw on
social media that the state ofWisconsin's reporting uh that
the population is uh over threemillion, yeah, and the actual
number of hunters is actuallydecreasing.
You know, that's unfortunate.
Um, you know, it it depends onwhat's start of part of the
(32:02):
state.
I mean, Craig knows.
I mean, there's the areas thefurther you go north, the less
agriculture.
Um, they they just don't havethe the the size of the deer.
Um I mean, I think there's a tonof deer in the state of
Wisconsin, but in my opinion,I've got a couple of good
friends who have worked for theDNR for a long time.
(32:25):
And I don't know if it's inevery state, but I think in
Wisconsin, I think they reallyoverinflate what the population
actually is because you know yougot the wolves in northern
Wisconsin, you've got thecoyotes that are wreaking havoc.
Um, and I'll tell you what, thisopening weekend of gun.
(32:45):
I had buddies, um, good friendsthat have uh family land in
Neilsville.
So Craig would know it's likenorthwest Wisconsin, Toma, uh
northwest too, another big buck,big population.
Opening weekend was crazy slow.
(33:06):
Like, I don't I don't have asingle person that I know um
that was out this openingweekend uh that shot a big buck
with rifle, which is crazysurprising.
SPEAKER_01 (33:20):
Yeah, and I agree with that because you know
obviously I was waiting forthat, you know, Saturday
morning, and you know, seeingeveryone on Instagram or
Facebook or whatever to startposting, and I saw very little
at all.
Like I literally kept refreshingmy app to make sure maybe it was
just my app, but nobody waskilling anything.
I mean, my buddy Tyler Herman heshot a really good buck um
(33:43):
Sunday, but um he goes, he goes,I shot one, but he goes, I
barely seen anything.
He goes, I seen him and anotherdough, and that was it.
I'm like, it's insane becauselike archery season coming
around, like when archery seasonwas here, it's just I mean, it
still is, but I was seeing postsevery day of just people just
(34:04):
you know, and I was thinking gunseason comes, and it's just
almost like it just shuts rightoff.
It's just it's it's it's weird.
Like I just I can't explain it.
SPEAKER_02 (34:11):
Yeah, I mean it it's it makes it it's it's weird, but
it also makes sense at the sametime.
I'm not gonna lie.
Well, right, yeah.
You you look at what we're doingand I mean that this is why I
think like eventually a lot ofstates like and I'm not I know
people like it being easy andeverything like that, but uh why
(34:34):
archery is just so important andwhy so many people do switch to
archery, because your youropportunity is just so much
higher, you know, and by thetime the uh you look at it right
now, like gun season juststarted for you guys, gun
season's about to you know startfor us.
Well, we've gone three monthsalready of the season with with
(34:55):
right, you know, yeah of huntingpressure, you know, and yet
again, you know, maybe thereisn't as many archers as there,
what whatever the case is, butit's there's that's still a
factor on the deer herd.
You know, it's still a factor onpressure that's still gonna move
deer around.
Um the food, you know, there'snot as much food now.
(35:17):
You know, you look at the mainpart of our archery season.
I mean, you just let's just talkabout October.
You have oaks dropping, youstill have you may have some
late beans, maybe somebody putup some late beans, you have
corn stalk still up, or youknow, just getting freshly cut,
you know, the CRP, you thethey're the amount of food that
(35:40):
they have is just abundant.
So, also if if you're in an areafor a gun hunting where maybe
you don't have as much food, andonce it's gone, the deer are
gone.
And I I will tell you firsthand,like I'm seeing a couple pieces
just here.
You look at early season, andthere's just deer all over the
place.
And what happens once the beansdry up, once maybe the all the
(36:03):
corners cut, whatever the case,and then you add the pressure of
deer hunting.
Deer are good, they're justgonna move, they're gonna go to
where they need to go, andthat's gonna go find food.
That may not be on on yourpiece, that may be on somebody
else's piece, you know.
Yeah, it's always changing, butfor gun season, yeah, like, and
(36:25):
I'm not gonna lie, I'm I'mactually pretty thankful that
you know we get to be bowhunters and everything like
that, and we get theopportunities that we get.
And you know what?
I don't want to to be grindingthe whole year and the deer that
I'm going after, someone one dayjust goes out there with a gun
and just and just kills themwithout you know, without
putting the you know, that thatdefinitely sucks.
(36:46):
I'll take I'll take a bow hunterkilling one of my target bucks
over a hard or something.
SPEAKER_03 (36:52):
And and the latter of what you said, Mike, that
happens all too often.
Yes, it does people who havenever and again, a lot of it,
like I'll tell you the stuff Ilove seeing, but us as bow
hunters and just hunting for along time, you're like, what in
God's name is happening here?
But when you see, like, youknow, whether it be youth hunt
(37:13):
or whatever in Wisconsin, andyou see like 14, 15 year olds
shooting the buck of a lifetimeto where you know you tease them
and you're like, Well, I don'tknow that you really need to
hunt anymore because you'reprobably never gonna top that.
Yeah, but it just it happens sooften.
And it does, I'm gonna take mydaughter out this week.
Um, we we plan to sit onWednesday, but um, I think
(37:38):
there's a chance of snowWednesday once it gets cold, but
they're saying wind gusts up to50 miles an hour, and I just
told her this evening, andagain, she's still recovering
from a concussion, but I toldher, I said, Finn, dad's not
going to sit in a blind 50 milean hour wind gust.
I'm just hoping the damn thingdoesn't blow away.
SPEAKER_01 (37:57):
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02 (37:58):
So yeah, no, and that's a thing.
Like, I think Frank has probablydefinitely heard me to talk
about this on other podcasts,and like when I talk to like new
hunters, like my favorite thingabout like I don't want to be
like when I first started, Ididn't want to be the most
successful person.
(38:18):
Like, I didn't want to kill the150 engineer when I have kids or
when I take new people out,like, yes, it would be great.
Don't get me wrong, like itwould, it would be great if that
happened.
But where do you go?
You don't go anywhere.
Yeah, like I'm you don't whenyou start sports or school or do
all these things, you don'tstart at the top, right?
(38:40):
You know what I mean?
You have to go through the suck,and I think for hunting, what
makes hunting, especially bowdeer hunting, bow hunting, deer,
or whatever animal, there's alot more suck than there's a lot
more, you know.
Oh my god, like I just killedthe biggest deer of my life
going out on the first sit.
And I and I love BrandonBartlow, don't get me wrong, and
(39:02):
I love his theory, and thatworks for especially for the
east coast down south, and forthe guys that don't have the
time, you know what I mean?
If you need to capitalize on onyour days of hunting, I I love
that method, but for me, I'm notready for that method yet.
I still like going through thesuck and grind and like sitting
(39:28):
50 times and during bow season,you know.
Uh now and and like uh Craigsaid, like he missed that deer
and he was pissed and hepunched, and like and you you
cry.
I want those emotions.
Oh, yeah.
Like, because you put in allthat time.
If I go out or my first deer, myfirst year, first few sits, and
I kill a freaking Jersey 150 or160.
(39:51):
I'm gonna think it's that easyevery single time.
And but that's not the case.
Hunting is so damn hard.
Bow hunting is even harder.
You know, someone at work, oneof the kids, I go, Oh, well, you
know, kill like killing is likea big thing for hunting.
I go, no, honestly, killing isnot that big of a thing.
If you look at hunters and howmuch they sit and how many
(40:12):
animals you see, what maybe onepercent you're killing or
shooting at maybe one percent ofthe animals that you actually
see.
It's one percent of of what weactually do.
Everything no one gets to seeeverything else, but it's a
grind, it starts from the daythe season ends to the very next
start of of next the nextseason, and then can continues,
(40:36):
and then after you shoot, Ialways tell after you shoot the
real the real work starts afteryou shoot.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (40:43):
You know what I mean?
Yep.
SPEAKER_03 (40:46):
So um yeah, and I and I think that I think that's
a lot of what you know withsocial media, like where it's
gotten to today.
Um, you know, we've all watched,we all are fans of certain
shows.
Like I used to work with a guywho um he's on his own now, but
he actually was with MidwestWhitetail um since the
(41:06):
inception.
What's that?
Jared Mills.
Oh, really?
SPEAKER_02 (41:11):
Yeah, he used to I'm gonna tell you, I love love him,
and I have not been able towatch that show like I used to.
So when he was obviously the manbehind it, and do and nothing
wrong with um nothing um wrongwith uh what the hell's the
(41:31):
other guy's name, but oh BillWinky or and I I do love Bill
too, like it's great, but Jaredis it's like that fresher, new
and same thing.
I love Bill, watched itreligiously, but like I just
think it gave the show a newlike having Jared and seeing it,
and I think he's a I think he'sa nurse too.
So like he he works and he doeseverything, and just seeing that
(41:53):
kind of is like wow, like yeah,that's pretty cool, you know
what I mean?
SPEAKER_03 (41:58):
He puts out some phenomenal content, and then we
just kind of got to I'veactually never met the guy in
person, but we work for the samecompany and connected that way
and talked.
And I honestly, like, I used himbasically like kind of like a
sponge just to soak up hisknowledge because the guy is an
absolute phenomenal hunter, andum, so you know, my point was is
(42:21):
that in terms of like you know,we see these shows, we see the
jewelries and all that.
I mean, yeah, they're managingthousands and thousands of
acres, and you know, they'veinvested a lot, you know,
they've bought these, you know,so it's like a lot of like
people getting into the sportnow, they see that.
And to your point, Mike, likethey expect that that is what
(42:45):
bow hunting, whatever is thatthat's not the norm.
No, and you know, for example,like I I could not agree with
you guys more in that as yousaid, the suck, I mean, it
stinks going and putting, youknow, 50, 80 hours on stand bow
hunting a season, but like youyou learn something from every
(43:06):
sit.
And uh, you know, like like forexample, this past weekend, you
know, on my buddy's farm, I shota big buck there a few years ago
uh during gun season.
But this weekend, it was thecamaraderie, it was all the like
the laughing and the stories andbusting each other's chops.
(43:26):
Like that to me, yeah, we allwant to shoot the buck of a
lifetime, but it again, it goesback to like in in the way I
believe, and the way I wastaught, every deer, it doesn't
matter how big it is, butthey're all a trophy because the
most exciting part about it ishearing the stories of how it
(43:48):
happened.
And as Craig explained tonight,like people who don't put the
time in, and you know, and Iurge people to just pick up a
bow, if somebody ever offers,like once you pick up that that
stick and string, like it's hardto put it down.
And I I just love hearing thestories of people's success.
(44:08):
You hear people's, I don't wantto say failures because it's
just it happens, it's hunting,you know.
Yeah, um, and so and the way Ilook at it is every hunt is a
gift to be able to just be outthere, like my sit tonight.
Man, it was cloudy, little, youknow, upper 40s, but it still
(44:29):
was cool.
And you know, I was takingvideos of fighter jets coming
in.
Yeah, again, yeah, the the sititself was awesome.
You know, I texted my buddybefore I got down, who owns the
farm, and I was like, it was allquiet, but I just I was like,
any second, you know, it justfelt like you know, and the only
(44:49):
thing now later season, if ifthere's those mature bucks who
are still looking for those lastdoughs that may be coming into
estrus later, depending on whenthey were, you know, when they
were born or whatever.
So I I hit the the can a coupleof times and you know what I
struck out, but you know what?
Like I can't wait to get onstand or or be out there with my
(45:13):
daughter this week.
So all right, you know, it'sjust it's it's kind of I don't
know, like social media isawesome, but it's also like
you've got a kind of level setto see the stuff that that we
see all the time of thesemassive companies and shooting
absolute studs.
But yeah, you also have we alsohave learned that these people,
(45:36):
their farms and every otherproperty that's around them,
there's an agreement in terms oflike practicing QDM, and most of
us don't have that opportunityor that ability.
So I don't know, it it's kind oflike uh it's hard.
It's you know, you see bothsides of it, but there's just
(45:57):
nothing like archery andwhatever, and you know, the the
bucks that I've shot, the buckthat I shot this year with my
bow, like it's an absoluteblessing.
And it's a memory that like Iwas able to share with you all,
and and something I'll neverforget.
So, like at the end of the day,to me, that's what's most
important.
It's creating the memories anduh being blessed so we have the
(46:19):
ability that our that ourfamilies you know are cool with
us going and being away andspending time doing what we do
doing what we love to do.
And that's the thing thatunfortunately sometimes when we
see the negativity and whatnoton social media, I think gets
forgotten.
SPEAKER_01 (46:36):
So a hundred percent.
I mean, it's just it's it'sridiculous because like you
know, you look at you know, likelook at these big name people on
social media, you know, it'slike I'll put back at they all
started at zero as well.
They all started at zero aswell.
And at starting maybe 10-15years before everyone else,
probably got them in a little,you know, a little bit more of
(46:58):
in the game, whatever.
But like the stuff that I see onsocial media too, like you know,
there's just like comments, youknow, and I'm I'm gonna say
this, I'm gonna say it like someof the comments I see towards
like these female hunters isactually makes me just
absolutely disgusted.
Um, for instance, like DanielHalverson, she is actually from
Wisconsin.
And my dad works for PeloWindows, and my dad actually
(47:24):
knows her father pretty darngood.
And you know, everyone blastsher on social media.
Oh, you guys, you know, becauseyou're you're Indian or blah
blah, you get all the money, youknow, sent to you, blah blah.
Her dad has told my dad I Ihaven't gave her a damn penny.
She did this from the ground up,she opened up her own business,
she's you know, did her ownthing.
(47:45):
I mean, that tell you what,there's a lot of lot of people
out there that just rip on her,blah, blah, blah.
But that girl is actually afucking warrior.
Like, she's done everythingherself.
I mean, for Christ's sake, shesleeps in her truck 90% of the
year, traveling out, you know,to these all these other, you
know, states or whatever, butlike, I don't know.
It's just like it's it's hard.
(48:07):
It's like seeing people bashother people on, you know, it's
just it makes me just disgusted.
It's just like, I don't know.
Like, I mean, I just I don'teven know how to say it anymore.
Because it's like like to me, itjust feels like it gets worse
and worse every day.
It's just like yeah, but like Iknow there's that one comment
I've seen on I dude, I Iactually had to take a
(48:30):
screenshot of it because I justI laughed at it so freaking
hard.
It was um you guys obviously onthe what's her name?
Um Leah, Leah Anderson.
Dude, it was a comment that someguy made, and her dad went on um
the the comments and just laidinto the dude and I'm like, holy
(48:53):
shit, like this is ridiculous.
Like, I mean, some of the shitthat gets sent to Leah, I just I
just freaking laugh my ass off.
SPEAKER_02 (49:02):
Like, she's and she kills, she she kills she is this
is my problem with her.
I have no really and I don'tknow it's because Bianca and my
mom, like I grew up in themakeup industry and everything
like that.
Also, living here in Jersey andNew York and fashion and makeup
(49:25):
is definitely much differentthan it is in a lot of other
places.
SPEAKER_04 (49:30):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (49:31):
My only thing is, and I understand why maybe
someone will yeah, yeah, it toomuch makeup.
I'm not a makeup person.
I even tell Bianca, I'm like,when you that's not that's not
my like I I just that's my onlything about her.
Besides that, girl's a killer,girl's a girl.
She's still bigger there thanme, she's killed bigger bears
than me.
I mean, she grinds, she she doesyou can't take that away from
(49:54):
her, and she is a she's a girlygirl, she might she's a hunter
100, 100, and it's okay for herto be a girly girl and also a a
hunter and outdoorsman.
And honestly, she's probably amuch better hunter than most
most guys out there, right?
Guaranteed, don't like to admitthat, they don't want to admit
(50:15):
that.
I have always said, even Bianca,once Bianca really falls,
hopefully falls in love.
The girl can shoot better than Ican.
You know, once she practicesmore and does, you know, she
will probably a hundred percentbe a better hunter than me.
And I know tons of females outthere that are better hunters
than me and most men, they arealso more patient than we are.
(50:39):
Us men are not patient, we'renot at all peaches, right?
We're we're not, yeah.
And and that's what and that'swhat I'll say.
Like when with Bianca, I thinkwhat when we did the last bo
shoe and Frank can can contestat the Iron Bear, I think she
made it, she did better thanmost of the guys.
(51:00):
And I and I was actuallysurprised, like I knew she was a
good shot, but like once we gotto her range of like now we're
out of her comfort zone, shestill I think held her own for
like I think the next like tworounds and everything like that.
So and it's like me, I I'm agood shot now, but it took so
(51:20):
much practice versus her, shewas kind of like that from once
I kind of taught her, like fromthe very beginning, that she she
was great and spot on.
You know, her her thing is, anduh it's definitely she needs the
focus.
She, you know, if her hands geta little too sweaty, that that
(51:41):
bothers her, you know.
If uh during the summer, like ifa the bugs are obviously flying
around that, and I and I tellher, I go, that's something that
we need to work on because whenyou're hunting, especially early
season, there's going to bethings that are everything is
gonna bother you, right?
You'll have mosquitoes bitingyou, and you literally can't
move, like that's just butthat's something that she knows
(52:02):
she needs to work on.
But outside of that, the girl isa phenomenal shot, and you know,
it took me a long time to bewhere I am, you know.
And and Frank can tell you, andeven like I've had bad years,
I've had like I've had badyears, I've had two thankful
great years, you know.
Three years ago, Frank couldtell you, like, I I freaking I
didn't kill a single deer.
(52:24):
Yep, I shouldered a deer, andthen I kind of did with what uh
Craig did.
And by the time I actually goton does, it was in the rut.
And I was like, you know what?
I've gone this long, I'm gonnahold out and I'm gonna I'm gonna
kill a big buck.
And I played a back and forthchess game with a buck, and he
ended up winning and everythinglike that.
(52:44):
And I I took the tag soup whereI was like, all right, you know,
right uh it is what it is, thisis my decision, and I'm not
gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna killsome.
I'm gonna kill a big buck, orI'm not gonna kill anything at
all.
And and that's where that's howI how it went too.
SPEAKER_03 (52:59):
But that and that, but that like to your point,
Mike, like that's the importantthing to what you said, like the
buck won, but that's like I'msure you and every you know,
most hunters out there, you tooksomething from that that your
next hunt, you're better thanyou were before.
You know, and that and that'swhere I think in I will also say
(53:20):
in defense of the big shows,like you know, Jared, who used
to work for my company, and youknow, the Lakoskies and all
that, yes, they're blessed tohave what they have, but at the
same time, don't kid yourself,these people have they bust
their tails out there, yeah.
You know, they're they're onstand hours and hours and hours
(53:42):
just like we are.
Um, so it's like that's anotherthing where they I think
sometimes those shows they get anegative light because they're
like, oh, you know, they justno, they don't like they're
they're grinding and putting inthe time just like we do.
SPEAKER_02 (53:57):
Yeah, they may have a better better, you know, deer
population, bigger bucks thatthey're able to hold, better
cameras, better equipment, theyhave the time to you know, they
actually get paid to hunt andeverything like that.
Right, yeah, way different.
Yeah, so yeah, and I will andyou know, I don't want to go too
much longer into this, you know,and we'll we'll move on and and
(54:19):
get our goodbyes and everythinglike that, but I think that's
what has generated so well withthe hunting public.
I think that's what has nowgenerated so well with like uh
the latitude guys, they came outwith a new show uh the last
couple years that has sparkedfire and has become my favorite
show uh to watch.
Uh, you know, you really see thegrind, you really see see
(54:40):
everything behind it, and evenediting myself, you know.
I know Frank knows all thisfirsthand because Frank has now
been there with me for the lastcouple years, and I, you know, I
film so much and I go through SDcards on SD cards and look at my
doe video.
I think that was maybe asix-minute video, and I really
(55:01):
didn't have that much in therebecause you you don't need it
all, you know.
Right.
Imagine how much these guys arefilming on the day-to-day when
they also have people there toto film with them and they have
the equipment to set up alldifferent cameras, they have
probably hundreds of hours offilm and just sitting for
(55:22):
hundreds of hours waiting forthat big buck.
But they have, like Connor said,they have the means, they have
the population, and then theyhave the size where to us a 125,
that's a big deer in Jersey.
Yeah, that's that's a deer,especially on public.
You're not passing that freakingdeer.
Correct, right?
(55:43):
No, that is definitely like ayou you don't even think about
shooting that deer for anotherpro maybe two years.
Two years is pushing, maybe eventhree, maybe three years, right?
Where you're talking about six,seven, and eight-year-olds being
shot versus you know your yourtypical two and a half, maybe
(56:04):
three, three-year-old, you knowwhat I mean?
And I think there was a poll acouple years ago that came out
that I think like only like avery small, and I don't want to
butcher it, I'll have to look itup uh another day.
I think like five or ten percentof hunters have tagged 125, 120
(56:25):
or 125 inch whitetail and andabove.
Only like such a small number,and that puts into perspective,
and that's a lot of those guys.
You know, I would pass a 120 ifI was able, if I was able to.
Of course I would, you know whatI mean?
And you know what something thatthat Craig said too earlier when
(56:46):
you have those agreements andstuff like that, it it's a lot
easier to pass a deer like that.
I've learned the hard way.
When you go to pass a deer thatis a good deer, but you want to
see him what he's gonna be, theodds of him getting shot on
public are extremely high, andhe ain't gonna survive, so you
might as well take that shot.
SPEAKER_05 (57:06):
Yeah, yeah, especially here with like during
the sixth day.
You know, you might pass, youknow, everybody might pass him
during bow season, but comesixth day, I think a lot of
people here they go in themindset.
Well, I get another tag.
So if a decent buck walks by,I've even seen people shoot, you
(57:28):
know, a four-pointer can say,Hey, I could shoot two bucks in
one week, so why not shoot thefour-pointer?
At least I got one, I got meatin the freezer, now I can hold
out for the big one orsomething, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (57:39):
So it's just and for us six days is called buck week.
Buck week, yeah.
It's buck week, and not onlythat, you get most, I would say,
majority of your hunters, theseare the meat guys, these are the
guys that probably have not satonce all year and are just
looking forward to literallygetting 20-25 guys and marching
(58:03):
every piece of property anddriving, and that's the one like
I've done it a few times.
It is a different pace, it isfun, but being a bow hunter,
like I wouldn't mind to see itget rid of in the state of New
Jersey.
I know it ain't gonna happen.
I know there's always a debatewhere a lot of people have those
debates.
Um but like uh it's it's it itit's it's a fun thing to do
(58:29):
every once in a while, but man,it is and anything that moves
the littlest thing boom, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (58:38):
I'll tell you what, I've been uh back in 10 years
ago, I was a part of a a few uhdeer drives, and I'll just say
that was the last time I everdid that.
Um, it can be fun, like yousaid, but there's also a lot of
people that were was in thegroup that I was in that had no
business holding a firearm.
(59:03):
And I was like, this is yeah,and like you guys said, we're
bow hunters, and so it's stillfun to do something different,
and you know, but yeah, when Isaw that whole scene, I was
like, nope, I'm good.
SPEAKER_02 (59:18):
Yeah, that that's that's the other thing.
Uh I mean, and it it it's that'swhat I love about bow hunting
too.
Like, if there's other huntersout there, like and you're
walking in, you don't have toworry like about getting shot
like that.
I mean, you gotta be an idiot,and we all know there's idiots
out there, so and it it hashappened, but like you really
gotta be so stupid to shootanother guy while bow hunting,
(59:42):
like yeah, you really do.
You gotta be so trigger happythat whatever.
And we know we've heard thestories that has happened and
everything like that, butoutside of that, like walking in
during gun season, it's like Iwant my orange hat, orange vest,
throwing an orange flag aroundlike.
Like it is it's a whole otheranxiety that you like.
(01:00:04):
I I don't like it.
I really don't.
And I don't mind not spending asmuch time in the woods during
this time of the year justbecause of that.
Like we're going up to PA forrifle season.
And you know, the cool thingabout PA is it's spread out.
Like it's such a big piece ofbig pieces of land.
Here in Jersey, it's like man,you're definitely walking up on
(01:00:27):
people if you're not on five andeverything like that.
Like here, you got peoplewalking around who should not
have weapons, um who just don'tcare.
And like I said, any littlemovement they're shooting at.
And that's the scare.
That's that's the scary part.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, but I mean, guys, we we hitthat hour mark.
(01:00:48):
Craig, it it's we we love whenyou come on, especially, you
know, to hear your your yourstory and everything like that.
You know, it's it's been alittle bit um it's the holidays,
so guys, um happy Thanksgiving,happy Thanksgiving to to all the
listeners out there andeverything like that.
For all those yet again who areparticipating in in the gun
(01:01:09):
season, um, you know, just uh besafe.
Hope you hope you guys knock itdown.
And you know, something reallyimportant.
Don't worry about what otherpeople say on on social media.
You shoot what makes you happy.
Um we did talk about this lastweek where you know the outdoors
in color and stuff like that,where they get a lot of shit for
being black and everything likethat.
(01:01:30):
And you know, uh Craig has facedsome stuff where people are uh
ridiculous, and same with with alot of the women out there and
stuff like that.
Um, you know, do what makes youhappy, you know, stay safe, stay
within the you know, the law andeverything like that, and shoot
as long as it's legal and youshoot it, like that that should
be good enough.
(01:01:50):
And if you're happy, we'rehappy.
Um, you know, so everyone, I Ihope you guys enjoy this
episode.
I hope you guys enjoy all theThanksgiving food.
I am so pumped that it is here.
I do love me some someThanksgiving.
Got a week of leftovers ofnothing but turkey and
everything like that.
So we're all gonna be nice andfatter than than what we were
(01:02:13):
before, except for Craig.
Uh Craig will still have thatthat he's got going on and
everything like that.
He'll probably in between meals,he'll probably go outside and do
some burpees and yeah, boys.
I I will see you guys uh nextweek, and uh hope everyone had a
(01:02:35):
a good time listening.
We'll we'll see you guys nexttime.
SPEAKER_03 (01:02:39):
Happy Thanksgiving, fellas.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02:40):
Happy Thanksgiving, all right.
Welcome back to Gangstay outdoors and podcasts
present by coming.
SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
Accidentally drifted like the charge hit like the
back of the canoe.
SPEAKER_03 (00:31):
Yeah, on the last trip over, I shot a great cake
off of my bell charging.
SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
And then the whooping.
And then you hear all right,everyone.
We are back.
First of all, I want to sayhappy Thanksgiving to everyone
out there who's listening.
And we got our guy.
He didn't get a chance to makeit last week.
(00:56):
And we're hoping everything was,you know, prayers to everything
and hope everything worked outfor you and the family.
But a redemption story, like noteven a redemption.
I mean, I guess you could say itis a redemption story, but just
pure just grinding it the wholeentire year.
The definition of your of youknow of the background that that
(01:19):
you're trying to create andeverything like that.
And it was so I think I canspeak for all of us.
Like it was incredible seeingyou, you know, getting that
message that, you know, yougotta buck down on the ground
and everything like that.
Um, you know, so we're reallyhappy uh for you and everything
(01:39):
like that.
But Craig, you know, it's and Ifeel like we haven't seen you in
a while, too.
And I'll someone asked, I think,I think it was Connor asked like
two two or three weeks ago.
He goes, Where's Craig been?
I was like, where has Craigbeen?
SPEAKER_01 (01:58):
Life Life is just so crazy.
But it's getting better now,getting a lot better.
SPEAKER_02 (02:05):
Yeah, I mean, it's and you know what?
I I really before we get intothe you know to everything like
that, um, you know, kind of likeyou're you're one of those guys
that you know you you bet it onyourself, you know, and it's
you're you're pass you you passthis deer, you pass this deer,
you know, and I imagine you hadpeople, you know, like well,
(02:25):
well, why are you passing deer?
Like what and I think I think weyou know we did talk about it in
our group chat and everythinglike that.
Yeah, you know, and it's butit's your tag, and if that's
what you want to do, and you'regonna bet on yourself that
something bigger is going tostep out.
Yeah, um, you know, so kind ofgo over like that of just like
(02:47):
you know, betting on yourselfand and just sticking with the
program and not lettingeverything else of social media,
other people, even other hunterswho you know, you're you're
looking at the group chats andthe the hunting tournament,
you're seeing everybody is uhit's just smacking it down and
everything like that, but tocontinue on the mission and it
(03:07):
and it pays out.
SPEAKER_01 (03:09):
Yeah, I just you know, I look back at how it all
started, like you know, likethis summer.
Um, you know, like I had thestand in the urban spa this
summer, and I noticed like mybrother-in-law who owns that
property, I know why he boughtthe property, you know, he's
he's doing his business, youknow, he's putting in townhomes,
(03:29):
you know.
That's that's just his that'shis business.
I totally get it.
And when they put that retentionpond in, and they literally
cleared out everything to whereI'm sitting in that hang on
stand, and I look to the right,I can see freaking old lady
Jules probably taking a showerin a third-story apartment
buildings.
Like, that's how clear it is nowin that urban hunting land, like
(03:53):
it's it's wide open.
Um I hesitated, I freaked out.
I'm like, I'm pulling the standout.
There, there ain't gonna be nodeer in here.
Like, I'm done, like, whatever.
Well, then I got wind of theneighbor who I got built a
really good connection with.
And um, once they stoppeddigging all the ground and
putting the foundations in wherethe houses are gonna be going up
(04:14):
way up top, he goes, Craig,dude, those deer coming back.
I'm like, I just you know,whatever.
I'm like, screw it.
I got enough cell cameras, I'mgonna go throw one in there just
to see once what's going on.
And let alone that evening, Iwent down there to throw the
camera up.
I looked to my left on Troy'sproperty, and there was nine
deer standing on there feedingin the CPR field, not even
(04:37):
caring that I was there 70 yardsfrom them, putting a hang-on
stand in there.
I looked to my right and rightin the open, like literally
right by the retention pond,people in the apartment parking
lot doing God knows what,whatever.
Little basket eight comeswalking through them.
I think myself like, huh, okay.
Well, you know what?
I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna doit right now.
So put the hang-on stand back inthe same tree that I had it in
(05:00):
this summer, and I just toldmyself, I'm I'm just gonna stay
out of here, pin that wind, andbelieve it or not, don't be
wrong, boys.
Like, the wind is a factor.
I I I really believe it is, butafter this year, pulling myself
out of Krakow on the family landbecause I was determined to kill
(05:22):
one on this urban piece becauseI knew I was gonna do it.
It just took it was just gonnatake a lot of time, a lot of
grind, and it's a lot of a lotof work, and you know, having
those construction workersliterally banging on freaking
nails 190 yards away from me,running their trucks in, coming
in, and then watching those deerthat deer movement, and it's
(05:45):
just like it didn't matter.
Like, I had there was timeswhere I'd be sitting with wrong
wind, and those deer just didn'tgive a crap because it's like
they're so used to those um, youknow, the those guys up there,
it's like I'm not affectinganything.
Like, I'm not really you know,uh not, I don't know.
It was just it was just weird,like what you know, whatever.
But so then, so yeah, like howit all went down, I guess it's
(06:10):
just you know, starting to getsome good bucks on camera, and
um ended up early uhmid-October.
We got that absolute giant oncamera, and we've only got one
picture of him.
He went MIA.
Um, the neighbor Troy has neverseen him since.
Um, you know, a buck like thatcaliber in the urban area,
knowing social media and knowinga lot of good friends that work
(06:33):
for the Brown County Sheriff'sDepartment, that literally is
the stations literally rightthere.
I would have known if that buckwas killed.
So that buck is somewhere outthere yet.
God knows where he is, hunkereddown a little, probably.
I mean, I don't know.
Um but then um yeah, I startedgetting some good eight pointers
on camera, and then I had thatthis one, this nine-pointer
coming on camera um prettyreally frequently, and I was I
(06:56):
was literally, you guys, uh man.
There it was, there was times,man, I go to my truck and I sit
and just cry.
I would, I would just shedtears.
Like I always would tell myself,I'm pretty hard on myself.
Like, you know, I I set myselfgoals, whether it's the outdoors
or crossfit, you know, and I getI get pretty worked up, I'm not
gonna lie.
Like, I wear my heart on mysleeve, and it's just like I sat
(07:18):
in my truck one night and I'mjust thinking to myself, like,
what in the F am I doing wrong?
And then I'm thinking, like, I'mnot doing anything wrong.
Like, I just I'm literallyeither 10 minutes behind them or
it's just it's just I wasn'tconnecting with them, you know.
And and then that um thatevening I was sitting in the
ground blind.
I literally just put it up theday before, and it's urban.
(07:39):
I'm like, okay, these deer aregonna be a little sketched out.
So I sat in the ground blind,the deer had no care that I was
there.
They came right into the, youknow, they're just feeding about
15, 20 yards from me, whatever,and they might pop up and look
up like a little bit at it, butnot didn't get blown at once,
this and that.
And then, you know, legalshooting light, you know, and
I'm I tell you what, man, thatthe whole thing with legal
(07:59):
shooting light and social media,man, there's some people out
there that are just really somesketchy ass people.
I mean, there was a video Iposted walking out of my stand,
and don't get me wrong, likecell phones can do wonders to
make daylight look reallydaylight, but it's actually
pretty freaking dark out.
I had some people on Instagramblowing me up, like, oh yeah,
you hunt, you don't sit all thetime, you don't sit too late.
(08:21):
You know, I'm like, it's legalshooting light.
Like, literally, I'm out on mystand 10 minutes.
If I don't have any deer by me,I'm out.
Like, I'm I'm out.
I'm not illegally gonna go blowa deer up and then say I shot at
two minutes of legal shootinglight left.
I I just won't I won'tphysically do that.
And there was times in urbanspot where it comes to legal
legal shooting light two minutesafter I'm in a wide open area,
(08:46):
it's still bright out.
Like I'm not in a like a thicketwoods, whatever, and I have some
good bucks come in.
I'm not gonna do it.
Like I just won't do it, youknow.
And anyways, you know, like thatthat night I got out of the
ground line, and then um, youknow, I had that be that buck
came in three minutes after, andthere he is.
And then all of a sudden, it wasthe one that really pissed me
(09:08):
off was I was sitting during myrecation in my hang on stand,
and it was about 8.54 in themorning, like, ah, you know, the
neighbor choice and probably goup by his tower stand.
He wanted to put his chair inthere and whatever, which is
fine, I respect it.
Like, I'm probably gonna see nodeer now, whatever.
So I'm like, okay, I'm gonnapack myself up, I'm gonna hit
the crock on home with mybrother-in-law, Matt.
Literally, get down from my hangon stand, I get to my truck,
(09:31):
turn my truck on, and my cellcamera goes off, and there's a
big nine.
He was literally three minutesout from me just sitting on that
stand where I probably wouldhave shot him that day.
So it's just like I was alwaysjust minutes either behind or um
ahead of them, you know,whatever.
I just like and I got I gotupset.
I got I you know, I started toget like really frustrated
(09:51):
myself, and then I'm like, I'mgonna do this, and then here
comes the weekend, and um thatwarm front comes through, and
it's like, oh my god, like I'msitting in that stand Connor,
you know what I'm talking about.
That last Saturday, dude.
I'm like, I'm sitting Saturday,I'm like, how am I literally
wearing a thin long sleeve andI'm sweating my ass off?
Like, this is so warm out here,and then I'm I'm like, I'm not
(10:14):
gonna get frustrated, it's stillthe rut.
They're still gonna be pushing.
And I I saw a deer.
And so then Saturday morning, Iget in my stand.
I'm like, okay, it's it's reallyquiet.
I knew the wind was supposed topick up around like 9 a.m.
And um I told the neighbor, toldthe neighbor Troy that, hey,
bud, I'm gonna sit till nineo'clock because I respect like
the property that we have.
(10:34):
Like he wanted to shoot his gunto get ready for gun season.
I respect that.
I sit till nine o'clock.
I'm gonna get out, go get somelunch, whatever, and I'll come
back out this afternoon.
Saturday morning, I'm sittingjust on the literally in my hang
on stand.
Bo's hanging up.
I'm on the phone with him,texting him, and just randomly
happened to look up at eightseven, well, 8.20, look up
(10:55):
literally right dab in front ofme at 20 yards.
There's the nine-pointer withhis mouth wide open, walking
across the funnel, and he walksright through my shooting lane.
I'm in my stand, I have nothingprepared, nothing ready.
I'm like, oh my god.
So I'm like, okay, just hold ona second.
So I put my phone in my vestpocket, I stand up, he gets into
the thin part of the woods, alittle like I call it like a
(11:17):
little woods tree line.
I can still see him.
Now he starts to rap.
I'm like, oh, Chris, this is mychance.
So I grab my bowl and I turn allthe way around.
He's walking in.
And where I have him marked onthat pathway that I walk in,
instead of always having to grabmy rangefinder and rangefinder
for less movement.
I literally like a couple nightsago, I walked out and I just
marked, like, you know, I justmarked some mud up, whatever on
(11:40):
the trail, 20, 25 yards.
So then I kind of know.
And that buck comes out at 25yards.
I had everything set and go, andI pulled back, and Matt stopped
him, shot right over his back.
Tell you what, you want to see a37-year-old man cry in a tree
and punching a tree so hard, Ithought I'd snapped my wrist.
(12:00):
Like I was so pissed.
And Frank exactly knows what I'mtalking about because I cuddled
him.
SPEAKER_04 (12:05):
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01 (12:06):
And I I'm sitting, I got down, I read, you know, I
got myself together, you know,shed the tears, whatever, wiped
them away.
And then right away, I thoughtof everything that went wrong,
and I tried to blame everythingbut myself.
So, you know, and that's that'swhen I called, I called Frank in
the truck, you know, and I I Ithink I actually I think I broke
(12:28):
down a little bit too on thephone with you guys.
You know, kind of tearing up alittle bit.
Like I, you know, I look atbusting my ass all year long,
getting the heat and getting thefrom social media, like, oh, I
can't believe you're notshooting all these doors or you
know, you don't.
I just it was just it was it wasjust growing, growing, growing
to where it's like, I'm gonnakill a bit, I'm gonna kill my
(12:50):
personal best buck this year.
I'm I'm gonna do it.
And Saturday morning comes and Ishoot over his back, and I'm
like, what the F happened?
So I called Frank, and oh I'mgoing over everything with them,
you know, this and that.
Like, are my broadhead shootinghigher than you know, this and
whatever?
And then um Frank was tellingme, he goes, no, he goes, dude,
you shoot the broadheads justlike you shoot your field
(13:12):
points, and I put that littlethat little locking thing in my
several broadhead, treated likea field point.
Yep.
Saturday got home after I gotoff the phone with Frank, went
to the backyard asap.
I shot the broadheads 25 yardswith that locking bolt in them,
and I'm shooting freaking 57piece dying.
I get 25 yards.
I'm like, okay, what the hellhappened to me?
(13:32):
Well, I'm starting to figure itout.
So then I actually went, Irelived Saturday morning and
actually put my field point onjust in case I would hit the
garage.
But um I actually shot like Idid on that buck, and what I did
was when I shot, I I just I dideverything I did.
Well, I raised my arm because Iwanted to see where that arrow's
gonna go.
Well, I should know where thatarrow's gonna go.
(13:52):
I'm a good shot, like that.
I'm dead on.
And when I raised that arm, myarrow went high, and that's
exactly what I did Saturdaymorning.
So then got back out Saturdayafternoon.
Um, seen like four or fivedoughs.
I had two big does come in 10yards from me.
Again, yes, I could have smokedsome doughs.
I mean, I could have smoked youguys.
(14:12):
I this urban spot, I could havesmoked 10, 12 doughs this year
if I wanted to.
They're just they're everywherein there, but I just told myself
I'm not gonna do it.
Like, I mean, you know, thepressure, you know, it maybe it
was a little bit of, I shouldn'tsay pressure of the of the
tournament, you know, like ohy'all get all these points.
I knew I was gonna get pointswith a team.
It's just like there might not,you know, be seven doughs or
(14:34):
whatever.
But um, so then Saturday nightcame and I had three three bucks
come in.
Two of them are pretty small.
Then I had one buck way on thedistance, and I just couldn't
really tell what it was.
It was getting kind of that dusklight.
But I'm like, okay, well, thenSaturday night came around.
I got back home, and at 10:30Saturday night, the buck I
(14:55):
missed hits my camera.
And I thought to myself, Iliterally sat down, I'm like,
you, there's no way this is not,this is not happening.
Like he's back, and he came inat 10:30 Saturday night, 1 a.m.
Sunday morning, and 2.19 Sundaymorning, and 4 a.m.
Sunday morning.
He came in and hit my scrape.
(15:15):
I'm like, I got up Sundaymorning early.
I'm like, I'm gonna kill thisdeer.
I'm gonna get my that's why Isaid redemption.
I'm gonna get my I don't care ifthe story is that isn't a summer
story all the way, it's atwo-day story.
Guess what?
That's I'm gonna do it.
Sunday morning comes, thattemperature drops, and I'm like,
okay, these deer are definitelygonna be moving.
You know, from Saturday being 60some degrees to Sunday morning
(15:38):
being thinking it was like 29 inDe Pier.
I'm like, I'm gonna do it.
And this is crazy becauseSaturday morning I missed them
at 8:30.
Sunday morning comes around,7.17 in the morning.
My wife texts me, she goes, shegoes, Oh my god, it is cold all
day.
You're gonna get one thismorning.
I'm like, I text her back, I go,I sure hope so, because right
now I ain't see anything but afreaking fawn.
(15:59):
So I'm sitting there, you know,and all of a sudden, like I
stood up, 8:17 comes around.
I'm literally standing up in mystand, and also I'm looking
around, you know, just lookingpeeking around.
I look over to my right, and Ilook over and oh, there's a deer
coming.
I'm like, no, I turn around andI I I literally just whisper,
I'm like, this is not happeningright now.
(16:19):
That nine pointer I missedSaturday morning starts to come
back towards me.
Now he's coming back in now tothe wide open spot where I
literally if I don't haveanything in my hand and ready to
go, I cannot move because he'sgonna he's gonna pin me.
He walks all the way in, crosseswhere I missed him Saturday
morning.
He's walking right down, putshis head down.
(16:40):
He comes two yards under mystand.
And I still am like he'sliterally right underneath me.
And all of a sudden, he goesabout five yards out.
He's looking now straighttowards Troy's tower stand.
I'm like, I don't even have mybow in hand yet, you guys.
Because I I just I'm just I'mstarting to freak out a little
bit, you know.
I'm like, okay, well, he'slooking now straight out to the
tower stand.
I'm literally 18 feet up behindhim.
(17:02):
He's not gonna see me, so Islowly grab my bowl.
I'm like, you know what?
I'm doing this all natural.
I'm not gonna at him.
I'm just gonna let him do whathe wants to do.
If he's gonna keep walkingstraight with no shot, it wasn't
meant to be.
What's this deer do?
I I pull back, he looked, heturns to the right, looks at my
mock scrape, and what's he do?
He walks right to that mockscrape at seven yards.
(17:22):
I didn't even stop him, hestopped on his own.
I just put it right on his heartand just pulled back.
As soon as I seen that arrowhit, and that sever freaking
opened that deer up, he mealkicks, his head snaps to the
ground, and he literally ran off80 yards.
And I watched him do his littledeath dance, and he literally
tipped over right there from mystand.
And I looked at the time, I'mlike, this is not real life.
(17:45):
Like, I miss him 8 30 Saturdaymorning to kill him at 8 27
Sunday morning.
Like, I I just didn't believe itwas real, and that's like I
watched him die, and it's justlike I couldn't believe it.
So I freaking FaceTime my wifeand daughter, and I just all out
full low, crying my ass off.
(18:05):
My eyes are bloodshot, and I'mlike just hyperventilating and
freaking out, and all of asudden then that's I finished
talking to them.
I FaceTime my cousin Sam.
He was up in his stand up in umup in Beaver, Wisconsin,
whatever, hunting and stuff.
And I just to even to this daytalking about it, I just it
still doesn't I can feel realbecause it's like all the stuff
(18:27):
that's happened, I you know,like you know, getting the
backlash, you know, of all thatdeer's too small, or this deer,
you know, oh you gotta let himgo, let him grow.
And it's just like, oh my god,that that it's that social media
stuff started to give me aheadache.
Like listening to these guysalways say that, it's like
whatever, you know, and thatbuck comes in and he's my
biggest buck today.
Like, I mean, he's is he gonnascore 120 inches?
(18:49):
Probably not, but I I could givetwo shits less, you know.
Like this buck, I was gonna, Iwas determined to go kill him
and kill him only because ofwhat happened Saturday morning,
and I did it, so it's like youknow, it's I took him in to get
um cleaned up by my guy thathere in Seymour, and he actually
weighed it for me.
And feel dressed out, the deeris 186 pounds.
(19:13):
That's nice deer, man.
Yeah, so I have them all capedup, took him to um a buddy of
mine, Brian Schultz in Seymour,and he's gonna mount them up for
me.
And yeah, I'm just yeah, I justtell you what, all that hard
work, and it's just like I'm notdone grinding yet.
Like, I'm I'm gonna late seasonbowl over some bunch, a bunch of
does.
Um, you know, getting it.
Do you still have another bucktag?
(19:34):
Uh yeah, I hate Wisconsin.
Um, yeah, so how that works isConnor knows it too.
How it works because I shot mybuck with my bowl.
In order for me to shoot anotherbuck with my with my bowl, I can
go buy a gun tag and use my bow.
But um, I I just didn't have notime this weekend.
I had so much stuff going on inWisconsin.
(19:54):
You get a seven-day gun season.
Like, it's like, I don't know.
I I want to because after what Isee him come on camera, another
giant nine-pointer is on cameranow.
It's just like uh I I want to,but then at the same time, it's
just like I know what he's gonnabe next year, and I know my
neighbor Troy does not shootanything small, so him and I are
(20:18):
on the same page.
Like, we're if he doesn't seehim, he probably ain't gonna
kill a deer out there.
He wants them to let him keepgrowing and growing.
And I don't know.
I I can go probably go buy atake, you know, if I wanted to,
but then now I'm looking at nowtomorrow's Tuesday.
I got literally five days to gotry to get another buck.
And it's like I I don't know, Igot so much stuff, family stuff
(20:38):
going on for Thanksgiving andstuff like that.
I might just I might just bebust and be happy with what I
got this year and just goprobably go maybe smack a dough
or two for late season.
SPEAKER_03 (20:48):
I tell you what, Craig, this weekend though, and
I I totally hear what you'resaying with the the snow
apparently that's coming.
We all know how that is in theMidwest, and they predict snow
and they're full of shit most ofthe time.
But uh, you know, I just say itmay be worth that 24 bucks
because uh, I mean, I typicallyalways bring during the the
(21:12):
Wisconsin gun week, I alwaysbring my bowl with me.
Yeah, you know, the chances ofsomething coming in close enough
once you know the orange armystarts uh blasting everywhere.
I mean, we know how skittishthey are no matter where you are
in the country, but I do it justin case.
I also have my pistol.
If uh you know a coyote comes upclose to the stand just to have
(21:35):
some fun, but this weekendthough with the temps dropping,
dude.
Yeah, I don't know I meanthey're they're they're gonna be
moving.
So if you got the itch, it maybe worth the 24 bucks just to
give it a try.
SPEAKER_01 (21:47):
And if it doesn't, hey, you know, I mean, so be uh,
like you said, I mean, so be itthen.
But like, yeah, I know thosetemps are supposed to be
plummeting like absolutely crazythis weekend here in Wisconsin.
Yeah, and I got my ground blind,I mean, I got my buddy heater.
I mean, I got everybody thatground blind very, very warm.
Um, yeah, we'll we'll we'll see.
And like I said, I know like asof after we're doing the podcast
(22:10):
right now, my camera right now,my cell camera now in De Pierre
is just blowing up right now, soit's like I can only imagine
what's on camera now.
But like it's just yeah, it doesgive me the itch, it really
does, and it just and now it'slike I I I worried so much about
you know, like those town homesgoing in by where my
brother-in-law is building them.
That has absolutely no effect onthose deer at all down there.
(22:31):
It's just insane.
SPEAKER_03 (22:33):
Yeah, the urban deer they adapt.
I mean, they adapt.
You guys have seen my postsbefore in in uh my neighborhood.
I mean, oh yeah, we have hugetimber all the way around my
neighborhood, and the YaharaRiver runs all the way through.
It's just the most unbelievablehabitat for big white tail.
Yeah, but we had we still have aton of building going on uh with
(22:56):
homes and whatever, and yeah,they just adapt.
They may get moved, but uh it'scrazy how they uh figure it out
and they figure it out quick.
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_02 (23:07):
Yeah, yeah, and that's the thing, white tails
are very adaptable.
Um yeah, you know, it that's onething that has made them I mean,
just especially thrive in thelast, I mean, I don't know how
many years.
I mean, obviously, we know theirnumbers got real low at one
point, but that's when you know,no real hunting regulations or
anything like that, and you canjust slaughter them and
(23:30):
everything like that.
But you know, you you seethey're just only losing more
and more land every single day,you know.
Uh yeah, and you know, I I'veseen giant deer, I've seen tons
of deer like driving on 78 herein Jersey or like these little
tiny like strips or small littlepockets, and there's always deer
(23:51):
in there.
It's like, how the hell does adeer like live there?
Like it doesn't, it doesn't makesense, but they they find a way,
you know, they're yeah, they'rein their backyards, they're you
know, you see them in in citiesand and stuff like that, and
like that small little, yetagain, another small little
pocket, and it they're theythrive, they can really thrive
(24:14):
almost anywhere.
SPEAKER_01 (24:14):
Yeah, um, that's just it too.
Like you were saying, like youlike, you know, that de pier,
you know, if I had an aerialview of like where I hunt, like
there is no and especially nowthat the retention pond went in
and that ditch, that ditchfunnel that they put in, that
was all like tall cactus, so itgot me some good cover and it's
all gone.
Like I the only pieces of woodsthat we have is it runs along
(24:37):
Beaver Creek, and theneverything else is just like
tall CPR fields.
I mean, when I go sit there,there was no buildings out there
at all.
And if I was out in the middleof nowhere with this property,
it'd make me feel like I'mactually out in Kansas hunting.
That I am there is no woods inthis, all this is just strips of
woods following a river.
(24:57):
And I've seen the biggest someof the biggest deer I've ever
hunted in this little stripshere, and I'm not gonna stop
hunting it.
Like, I like I will be shedhunting my ass off down there
this year, and I it's got somebig plans for next year.
I know I do, and it's gonna beeven better.
SPEAKER_02 (25:16):
I'd love to hear.
I mean, and and that's alwaysit's crazy.
Like, I'll be looking at yourpost, and it's like your plans
are already for like 2026.
I'm like, damn, I haven't evenreally started thinking about
2026.
Yeah, but it's it's for us, it'sdifferent here than me neither.
I mean, like for the Wisconsinguys, those Midwest guys, like
the as much as we bitch andcomplain, and listen, I I I
(25:39):
would love to go to two bucksstate any weapon, or even a
three bucks state any weapon.
Um, but like we're we're spoiledbecause like we're that spoiled
child that you know we we getwhat we get, we get unlimited
does, we get seven, I thinkseven bucks right now.
We hunt from the second week ofSeptember to all the way to the
(26:02):
I can fire from my job if I hadthat many tags.
Yeah, do you understand?
Do you understand why now I huntso freaking much?
Yeah, you like my schedule isall built around this time of
the like literally this time ofthe year.
Um, yeah, you know, like it, youknow, for for so for Frank, uh,
and I because he has he he has amuzzle, so I don't have a muzzle
(26:24):
error, so I could still bow huntall throughout this time,
obviously, for for does.
I don't get a next shot at abuck until our six-day firearm,
which it's two bucks for sixdays any weapon.
Um that's the next chance I geta chance if I want to take a
buck with my bow.
But Frank opens up uh muzzlader,I think, right next Monday.
SPEAKER_05 (26:48):
Yeah, yeah, December 1st.
SPEAKER_02 (26:50):
You get two days and then it closes again.
So it's a it's our muzzle isweird.
It opens, closes, or whatever.
So but basically we have ifyou've killed a buck so far,
each you you killed your yourearly season, your fall bow, you
killed your permit season, nextyou have your your muzzle
(27:10):
loader, then six day firearm,which is two.
Then there's I don't knowexactly how it works, but I
think there's a shotgun, there'sa shotgun and permit shotgun,
permit shotgun, and then to capit off permit bow, which I think
leads us to seven.
SPEAKER_03 (27:29):
That's just shows you guys you all have a uh deer
population problem.
SPEAKER_02 (27:34):
So yeah, yeah, I want I want to say more of a
money problem.
Yeah, well, that's true too.
Yes and no, yeah, like yes, wedo have a huge high number of of
does, and I'm not gonna say ourdeer, right?
And I'm not gonna sit here andsay we don't, but also I think a
lot of people will say this onheavily pressured WMAs public
(27:55):
land, your dough number, yourdeer number is not what it used
to be.
Now, a lot of that graphic isfrom they get their information
also too from uh accidents andand everything like that.
So you you look at where a lotof those accidents happen, it's
on places where you cannot hunt,right?
(28:16):
So, of course, yeah, of course,there's so many deer, and there
are uh tons of deer that are onyou you'll see the big farmlands
and stuff like that, and you'llsee 30, and I I get to see that.
I see a lot of deer, don't getme wrong, but it's still a thing
where it's like I'll keepunlimited doughs, whatever.
(28:37):
I'm not gonna I don't know howyou can shoot unlimited doughs.
I I can't even shoot freakingfive in a in a season, right?
Uh it's let's be honest, I don'tneed that much.
I can probably fit like one ortwo, I can probably fit one
more, two more deer in my mainfreezer, and then I still have
my backup freezer, right?
I but uh that's for me for themost part.
(28:59):
I'm the one in my family eating95% of the deer, so I don't need
to shoot five doughs a seasonwith an added uh two to three
three bucks, you know.
Right, right.
That's just crazy.
Um, I I would love, and it'snever gonna happen.
We talk about all the time withthe insurance companies and
everything like that.
It's uh it's just not gonna be athing.
(29:21):
They have a huge pull on on whatwe do here in in New Jersey, um,
and our and our um uh you knowwhat what we can go after and
everything like that.
They want the deer gone.
That's why we can bait, that'swhy we can do this.
Like there's things that don'tmake sense, you know.
You look at our and I'll say itagain, you look at our bear
season.
It's like, well, yeah, you canyou can bait bear, but you
(29:43):
cannot sit right over the bait.
But you could hunt deer and sitright over over the bait.
And it's like what that was thatmakes no damn sense.
Or or six day, like so our sixday firearm, you our second bear
season starts up.
But we can't bow hunt them.
And it's like, what's I can goout for six days and kill two
(30:06):
bucks with my bow, but I cannotgo out for six days and kill a
bear with my bow.
Yet again.
Makes no sense.
We're those we're the spoiledchildren, um, without a doubt.
(30:29):
That that want the laws andeverything changed.
So it, you know, it's it'sfunny, and I love having you
guys on, and I'm so happy thatyou, you know, you guys are part
of the team because we get tosee the other perspective of you
know, Wisconsin and some ofthese other states that they're
they're you know one and done,or or just two and everything
(30:50):
like that, and and that's reallyit.
While us here, we we have ourpickings and we could just keep
shooting deer until I'm runningout of arrows this year.
Like that's how that's how manyshots I've I've taken at deer,
I've killed three so far, shotat a coyote, shot uh uh at a a
buck and hit it low.
So like shot one, you know, usesome arrows with the with my
(31:12):
Matthews and everything likethat.
And it's like I I literally lookat my quiver, I'm like, I was
able to just re-up that I havenow four, I have four more, and
that's it.
Because I didn't re-up on arrowsthis year for for my normal 12
to start the season.
I'm now really, reallyregretting not not doing that.
Um, you know, because uh it's uhit's have it's it's fun.
(31:36):
It is fun shooting deer.
SPEAKER_03 (31:39):
Yeah, yeah, there is a report today um that I saw on
social media that the state ofWisconsin's reporting uh that
the population is uh over threemillion, yeah, and the actual
number of hunters is actuallydecreasing.
You know, that's unfortunate.
Um, you know, it it depends onwhat's start of part of the
(32:02):
state.
I mean, Craig knows.
I mean, there's the areas thefurther you go north, the less
agriculture.
Um, they they just don't havethe the the size of the deer.
Um I mean, I think there's a tonof deer in the state of
Wisconsin, but in my opinion,I've got a couple of good
friends who have worked for theDNR for a long time.
(32:25):
And I don't know if it's inevery state, but I think in
Wisconsin, I think they reallyoverinflate what the population
actually is because you know yougot the wolves in northern
Wisconsin, you've got thecoyotes that are wreaking havoc.
Um, and I'll tell you what, thisopening weekend of gun.
(32:45):
I had buddies, um, good friendsthat have uh family land in
Neilsville.
So Craig would know it's likenorthwest Wisconsin, Toma, uh
northwest too, another big buck,big population.
Opening weekend was crazy slow.
(33:06):
Like, I don't I don't have asingle person that I know um
that was out this openingweekend uh that shot a big buck
with rifle, which is crazysurprising.
SPEAKER_01 (33:20):
Yeah, and I agree with that because you know
obviously I was waiting forthat, you know, Saturday
morning, and you know, seeingeveryone on Instagram or
Facebook or whatever to startposting, and I saw very little
at all.
Like I literally kept refreshingmy app to make sure maybe it was
just my app, but nobody waskilling anything.
I mean, my buddy Tyler Herman heshot a really good buck um
(33:43):
Sunday, but um he goes, he goes,I shot one, but he goes, I
barely seen anything.
He goes, I seen him and anotherdough, and that was it.
I'm like, it's insane becauselike archery season coming
around, like when archery seasonwas here, it's just I mean, it
still is, but I was seeing postsevery day of just people just
(34:04):
you know, and I was thinking gunseason comes, and it's just
almost like it just shuts rightoff.
It's just it's it's it's weird.
Like I just I can't explain it.
SPEAKER_02 (34:11):
Yeah, I mean it it's it makes it it's it's weird, but
it also makes sense at the sametime.
I'm not gonna lie.
Well, right, yeah.
You you look at what we're doingand I mean that this is why I
think like eventually a lot ofstates like and I'm not I know
people like it being easy andeverything like that, but uh why
(34:34):
archery is just so important andwhy so many people do switch to
archery, because your youropportunity is just so much
higher, you know, and by thetime the uh you look at it right
now, like gun season juststarted for you guys, gun
season's about to you know startfor us.
Well, we've gone three monthsalready of the season with with
(34:55):
right, you know, yeah of huntingpressure, you know, and yet
again, you know, maybe thereisn't as many archers as there,
what whatever the case is, butit's there's that's still a
factor on the deer herd.
You know, it's still a factor onpressure that's still gonna move
deer around.
Um the food, you know, there'snot as much food now.
(35:17):
You know, you look at the mainpart of our archery season.
I mean, you just let's just talkabout October.
You have oaks dropping, youstill have you may have some
late beans, maybe somebody putup some late beans, you have
corn stalk still up, or youknow, just getting freshly cut,
you know, the CRP, you thethey're the amount of food that
(35:40):
they have is just abundant.
So, also if if you're in an areafor a gun hunting where maybe
you don't have as much food, andonce it's gone, the deer are
gone.
And I I will tell you firsthand,like I'm seeing a couple pieces
just here.
You look at early season, andthere's just deer all over the
place.
And what happens once the beansdry up, once maybe the all the
(36:03):
corners cut, whatever the case,and then you add the pressure of
deer hunting.
Deer are good, they're justgonna move, they're gonna go to
where they need to go, andthat's gonna go find food.
That may not be on on yourpiece, that may be on somebody
else's piece, you know.
Yeah, it's always changing, butfor gun season, yeah, like, and
(36:25):
I'm not gonna lie, I'm I'mactually pretty thankful that
you know we get to be bowhunters and everything like
that, and we get theopportunities that we get.
And you know what?
I don't want to to be grindingthe whole year and the deer that
I'm going after, someone one dayjust goes out there with a gun
and just and just kills themwithout you know, without
putting the you know, that thatdefinitely sucks.
(36:46):
I'll take I'll take a bow hunterkilling one of my target bucks
over a hard or something.
SPEAKER_03 (36:52):
And and the latter of what you said, Mike, that
happens all too often.
Yes, it does people who havenever and again, a lot of it,
like I'll tell you the stuff Ilove seeing, but us as bow
hunters and just hunting for along time, you're like, what in
God's name is happening here?
But when you see, like, youknow, whether it be youth hunt
(37:13):
or whatever in Wisconsin, andyou see like 14, 15 year olds
shooting the buck of a lifetimeto where you know you tease them
and you're like, Well, I don'tknow that you really need to
hunt anymore because you'reprobably never gonna top that.
Yeah, but it just it happens sooften.
And it does, I'm gonna take mydaughter out this week.
Um, we we plan to sit onWednesday, but um, I think
(37:38):
there's a chance of snowWednesday once it gets cold, but
they're saying wind gusts up to50 miles an hour, and I just
told her this evening, andagain, she's still recovering
from a concussion, but I toldher, I said, Finn, dad's not
going to sit in a blind 50 milean hour wind gust.
I'm just hoping the damn thingdoesn't blow away.
SPEAKER_01 (37:57):
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02 (37:58):
So yeah, no, and that's a thing.
Like, I think Frank has probablydefinitely heard me to talk
about this on other podcasts,and like when I talk to like new
hunters, like my favorite thingabout like I don't want to be
like when I first started, Ididn't want to be the most
successful person.
(38:18):
Like, I didn't want to kill the150 engineer when I have kids or
when I take new people out,like, yes, it would be great.
Don't get me wrong, like itwould, it would be great if that
happened.
But where do you go?
You don't go anywhere.
Yeah, like I'm you don't whenyou start sports or school or do
all these things, you don'tstart at the top, right?
(38:40):
You know what I mean?
You have to go through the suck,and I think for hunting, what
makes hunting, especially bowdeer hunting, bow hunting, deer,
or whatever animal, there's alot more suck than there's a lot
more, you know.
Oh my god, like I just killedthe biggest deer of my life
going out on the first sit.
And I and I love BrandonBartlow, don't get me wrong, and
(39:02):
I love his theory, and thatworks for especially for the
east coast down south, and forthe guys that don't have the
time, you know what I mean?
If you need to capitalize on onyour days of hunting, I I love
that method, but for me, I'm notready for that method yet.
I still like going through thesuck and grind and like sitting
(39:28):
50 times and during bow season,you know.
Uh now and and like uh Craigsaid, like he missed that deer
and he was pissed and hepunched, and like and you you
cry.
I want those emotions.
Oh, yeah.
Like, because you put in allthat time.
If I go out or my first deer, myfirst year, first few sits, and
I kill a freaking Jersey 150 or160.
(39:51):
I'm gonna think it's that easyevery single time.
And but that's not the case.
Hunting is so damn hard.
Bow hunting is even harder.
You know, someone at work, oneof the kids, I go, Oh, well, you
know, kill like killing is likea big thing for hunting.
I go, no, honestly, killing isnot that big of a thing.
If you look at hunters and howmuch they sit and how many
(40:12):
animals you see, what maybe onepercent you're killing or
shooting at maybe one percent ofthe animals that you actually
see.
It's one percent of of what weactually do.
Everything no one gets to seeeverything else, but it's a
grind, it starts from the daythe season ends to the very next
start of of next the nextseason, and then can continues,
(40:36):
and then after you shoot, Ialways tell after you shoot the
real the real work starts afteryou shoot.
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (40:43):
You know what I mean?
Yep.
SPEAKER_03 (40:46):
So um yeah, and I and I think that I think that's
a lot of what you know withsocial media, like where it's
gotten to today.
Um, you know, we've all watched,we all are fans of certain
shows.
Like I used to work with a guywho um he's on his own now, but
he actually was with MidwestWhitetail um since the
(41:06):
inception.
What's that?
Jared Mills.
Oh, really?
SPEAKER_02 (41:11):
Yeah, he used to I'm gonna tell you, I love love him,
and I have not been able towatch that show like I used to.
So when he was obviously the manbehind it, and do and nothing
wrong with um nothing um wrongwith uh what the hell's the
(41:31):
other guy's name, but oh BillWinky or and I I do love Bill
too, like it's great, but Jaredis it's like that fresher, new
and same thing.
I love Bill, watched itreligiously, but like I just
think it gave the show a newlike having Jared and seeing it,
and I think he's a I think he'sa nurse too.
So like he he works and he doeseverything, and just seeing that
(41:53):
kind of is like wow, like yeah,that's pretty cool, you know
what I mean?
SPEAKER_03 (41:58):
He puts out some phenomenal content, and then we
just kind of got to I'veactually never met the guy in
person, but we work for the samecompany and connected that way
and talked.
And I honestly, like, I used himbasically like kind of like a
sponge just to soak up hisknowledge because the guy is an
absolute phenomenal hunter, andum, so you know, my point was is
(42:21):
that in terms of like you know,we see these shows, we see the
jewelries and all that.
I mean, yeah, they're managingthousands and thousands of
acres, and you know, they'veinvested a lot, you know,
they've bought these, you know,so it's like a lot of like
people getting into the sportnow, they see that.
And to your point, Mike, likethey expect that that is what
(42:45):
bow hunting, whatever is thatthat's not the norm.
No, and you know, for example,like I I could not agree with
you guys more in that as yousaid, the suck, I mean, it
stinks going and putting, youknow, 50, 80 hours on stand bow
hunting a season, but like youyou learn something from every
(43:06):
sit.
And uh, you know, like like forexample, this past weekend, you
know, on my buddy's farm, I shota big buck there a few years ago
uh during gun season.
But this weekend, it was thecamaraderie, it was all the like
the laughing and the stories andbusting each other's chops.
(43:26):
Like that to me, yeah, we allwant to shoot the buck of a
lifetime, but it again, it goesback to like in in the way I
believe, and the way I wastaught, every deer, it doesn't
matter how big it is, butthey're all a trophy because the
most exciting part about it ishearing the stories of how it
(43:48):
happened.
And as Craig explained tonight,like people who don't put the
time in, and you know, and Iurge people to just pick up a
bow, if somebody ever offers,like once you pick up that that
stick and string, like it's hardto put it down.
And I I just love hearing thestories of people's success.
(44:08):
You hear people's, I don't wantto say failures because it's
just it happens, it's hunting,you know.
Yeah, um, and so and the way Ilook at it is every hunt is a
gift to be able to just be outthere, like my sit tonight.
Man, it was cloudy, little, youknow, upper 40s, but it still
(44:29):
was cool.
And you know, I was takingvideos of fighter jets coming
in.
Yeah, again, yeah, the the sititself was awesome.
You know, I texted my buddybefore I got down, who owns the
farm, and I was like, it was allquiet, but I just I was like,
any second, you know, it justfelt like you know, and the only
(44:49):
thing now later season, if ifthere's those mature bucks who
are still looking for those lastdoughs that may be coming into
estrus later, depending on whenthey were, you know, when they
were born or whatever.
So I I hit the the can a coupleof times and you know what I
struck out, but you know what?
Like I can't wait to get onstand or or be out there with my
(45:13):
daughter this week.
So all right, you know, it'sjust it's it's kind of I don't
know, like social media isawesome, but it's also like
you've got a kind of level setto see the stuff that that we
see all the time of thesemassive companies and shooting
absolute studs.
But yeah, you also have we alsohave learned that these people,
(45:36):
their farms and every otherproperty that's around them,
there's an agreement in terms oflike practicing QDM, and most of
us don't have that opportunityor that ability.
So I don't know, it it's kind oflike uh it's hard.
It's you know, you see bothsides of it, but there's just
(45:57):
nothing like archery andwhatever, and you know, the the
bucks that I've shot, the buckthat I shot this year with my
bow, like it's an absoluteblessing.
And it's a memory that like Iwas able to share with you all,
and and something I'll neverforget.
So, like at the end of the day,to me, that's what's most
important.
It's creating the memories anduh being blessed so we have the
(46:19):
ability that our that ourfamilies you know are cool with
us going and being away andspending time doing what we do
doing what we love to do.
And that's the thing thatunfortunately sometimes when we
see the negativity and whatnoton social media, I think gets
forgotten.
SPEAKER_01 (46:36):
So a hundred percent.
I mean, it's just it's it'sridiculous because like you
know, you look at you know, likelook at these big name people on
social media, you know, it'slike I'll put back at they all
started at zero as well.
They all started at zero aswell.
And at starting maybe 10-15years before everyone else,
probably got them in a little,you know, a little bit more of
(46:58):
in the game, whatever.
But like the stuff that I see onsocial media too, like you know,
there's just like comments, youknow, and I'm I'm gonna say
this, I'm gonna say it like someof the comments I see towards
like these female hunters isactually makes me just
absolutely disgusted.
Um, for instance, like DanielHalverson, she is actually from
Wisconsin.
And my dad works for PeloWindows, and my dad actually
(47:24):
knows her father pretty darngood.
And you know, everyone blastsher on social media.
Oh, you guys, you know, becauseyou're you're Indian or blah
blah, you get all the money, youknow, sent to you, blah blah.
Her dad has told my dad I Ihaven't gave her a damn penny.
She did this from the ground up,she opened up her own business,
she's you know, did her ownthing.
(47:45):
I mean, that tell you what,there's a lot of lot of people
out there that just rip on her,blah, blah, blah.
But that girl is actually afucking warrior.
Like, she's done everythingherself.
I mean, for Christ's sake, shesleeps in her truck 90% of the
year, traveling out, you know,to these all these other, you
know, states or whatever, butlike, I don't know.
It's just like it's it's hard.
(48:07):
It's like seeing people bashother people on, you know, it's
just it makes me just disgusted.
It's just like, I don't know.
Like, I mean, I just I don'teven know how to say it anymore.
Because it's like like to me, itjust feels like it gets worse
and worse every day.
It's just like yeah, but like Iknow there's that one comment
I've seen on I dude, I Iactually had to take a
(48:30):
screenshot of it because I justI laughed at it so freaking
hard.
It was um you guys obviously onthe what's her name?
Um Leah, Leah Anderson.
Dude, it was a comment that someguy made, and her dad went on um
the the comments and just laidinto the dude and I'm like, holy
(48:53):
shit, like this is ridiculous.
Like, I mean, some of the shitthat gets sent to Leah, I just I
just freaking laugh my ass off.
SPEAKER_02 (49:02):
Like, she's and she kills, she she kills she is this
is my problem with her.
I have no really and I don'tknow it's because Bianca and my
mom, like I grew up in themakeup industry and everything
like that.
Also, living here in Jersey andNew York and fashion and makeup
(49:25):
is definitely much differentthan it is in a lot of other
places.
SPEAKER_04 (49:30):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (49:31):
My only thing is, and I understand why maybe
someone will yeah, yeah, it toomuch makeup.
I'm not a makeup person.
I even tell Bianca, I'm like,when you that's not that's not
my like I I just that's my onlything about her.
Besides that, girl's a killer,girl's a girl.
She's still bigger there thanme, she's killed bigger bears
than me.
I mean, she grinds, she she doesyou can't take that away from
(49:54):
her, and she is a she's a girlygirl, she might she's a hunter
100, 100, and it's okay for herto be a girly girl and also a a
hunter and outdoorsman.
And honestly, she's probably amuch better hunter than most
most guys out there, right?
Guaranteed, don't like to admitthat, they don't want to admit
(50:15):
that.
I have always said, even Bianca,once Bianca really falls,
hopefully falls in love.
The girl can shoot better than Ican.
You know, once she practicesmore and does, you know, she
will probably a hundred percentbe a better hunter than me.
And I know tons of females outthere that are better hunters
than me and most men, they arealso more patient than we are.
(50:39):
Us men are not patient, we'renot at all peaches, right?
We're we're not, yeah.
And and that's what and that'swhat I'll say.
Like when with Bianca, I thinkwhat when we did the last bo
shoe and Frank can can contestat the Iron Bear, I think she
made it, she did better thanmost of the guys.
(51:00):
And I and I was actuallysurprised, like I knew she was a
good shot, but like once we gotto her range of like now we're
out of her comfort zone, shestill I think held her own for
like I think the next like tworounds and everything like that.
So and it's like me, I I'm agood shot now, but it took so
(51:20):
much practice versus her, shewas kind of like that from once
I kind of taught her, like fromthe very beginning, that she she
was great and spot on.
You know, her her thing is, anduh it's definitely she needs the
focus.
She, you know, if her hands geta little too sweaty, that that
(51:41):
bothers her, you know.
If uh during the summer, like ifa the bugs are obviously flying
around that, and I and I tellher, I go, that's something that
we need to work on because whenyou're hunting, especially early
season, there's going to bethings that are everything is
gonna bother you, right?
You'll have mosquitoes bitingyou, and you literally can't
move, like that's just butthat's something that she knows
(52:02):
she needs to work on.
But outside of that, the girl isa phenomenal shot, and you know,
it took me a long time to bewhere I am, you know.
And and Frank can tell you, andeven like I've had bad years,
I've had like I've had badyears, I've had two thankful
great years, you know.
Three years ago, Frank couldtell you, like, I I freaking I
didn't kill a single deer.
(52:24):
Yep, I shouldered a deer, andthen I kind of did with what uh
Craig did.
And by the time I actually goton does, it was in the rut.
And I was like, you know what?
I've gone this long, I'm gonnahold out and I'm gonna I'm gonna
kill a big buck.
And I played a back and forthchess game with a buck, and he
ended up winning and everythinglike that.
(52:44):
And I I took the tag soup whereI was like, all right, you know,
right uh it is what it is, thisis my decision, and I'm not
gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna killsome.
I'm gonna kill a big buck, orI'm not gonna kill anything at
all.
And and that's where that's howI how it went too.
SPEAKER_03 (52:59):
But that and that, but that like to your point,
Mike, like that's the importantthing to what you said, like the
buck won, but that's like I'msure you and every you know,
most hunters out there, you tooksomething from that that your
next hunt, you're better thanyou were before.
You know, and that and that'swhere I think in I will also say
(53:20):
in defense of the big shows,like you know, Jared, who used
to work for my company, and youknow, the Lakoskies and all
that, yes, they're blessed tohave what they have, but at the
same time, don't kid yourself,these people have they bust
their tails out there, yeah.
You know, they're they're onstand hours and hours and hours
(53:42):
just like we are.
Um, so it's like that's anotherthing where they I think
sometimes those shows they get anegative light because they're
like, oh, you know, they justno, they don't like they're
they're grinding and putting inthe time just like we do.
SPEAKER_02 (53:57):
Yeah, they may have a better better, you know, deer
population, bigger bucks thatthey're able to hold, better
cameras, better equipment, theyhave the time to you know, they
actually get paid to hunt andeverything like that.
Right, yeah, way different.
Yeah, so yeah, and I will andyou know, I don't want to go too
much longer into this, you know,and we'll we'll move on and and
(54:19):
get our goodbyes and everythinglike that, but I think that's
what has generated so well withthe hunting public.
I think that's what has nowgenerated so well with like uh
the latitude guys, they came outwith a new show uh the last
couple years that has sparkedfire and has become my favorite
show uh to watch.
Uh, you know, you really see thegrind, you really see see
(54:40):
everything behind it, and evenediting myself, you know.
I know Frank knows all thisfirsthand because Frank has now
been there with me for the lastcouple years, and I, you know, I
film so much and I go through SDcards on SD cards and look at my
doe video.
I think that was maybe asix-minute video, and I really
(55:01):
didn't have that much in therebecause you you don't need it
all, you know.
Right.
Imagine how much these guys arefilming on the day-to-day when
they also have people there toto film with them and they have
the equipment to set up alldifferent cameras, they have
probably hundreds of hours offilm and just sitting for
(55:22):
hundreds of hours waiting forthat big buck.
But they have, like Connor said,they have the means, they have
the population, and then theyhave the size where to us a 125,
that's a big deer in Jersey.
Yeah, that's that's a deer,especially on public.
You're not passing that freakingdeer.
Correct, right?
(55:43):
No, that is definitely like ayou you don't even think about
shooting that deer for anotherpro maybe two years.
Two years is pushing, maybe eventhree, maybe three years, right?
Where you're talking about six,seven, and eight-year-olds being
shot versus you know your yourtypical two and a half, maybe
(56:04):
three, three-year-old, you knowwhat I mean?
And I think there was a poll acouple years ago that came out
that I think like only like avery small, and I don't want to
butcher it, I'll have to look itup uh another day.
I think like five or ten percentof hunters have tagged 125, 120
(56:25):
or 125 inch whitetail and andabove.
Only like such a small number,and that puts into perspective,
and that's a lot of those guys.
You know, I would pass a 120 ifI was able, if I was able to.
Of course I would, you know whatI mean?
And you know what something thatthat Craig said too earlier when
(56:46):
you have those agreements andstuff like that, it it's a lot
easier to pass a deer like that.
I've learned the hard way.
When you go to pass a deer thatis a good deer, but you want to
see him what he's gonna be, theodds of him getting shot on
public are extremely high, andhe ain't gonna survive, so you
might as well take that shot.
SPEAKER_05 (57:06):
Yeah, yeah, especially here with like during
the sixth day.
You know, you might pass, youknow, everybody might pass him
during bow season, but comesixth day, I think a lot of
people here they go in themindset.
Well, I get another tag.
So if a decent buck walks by,I've even seen people shoot, you
(57:28):
know, a four-pointer can say,Hey, I could shoot two bucks in
one week, so why not shoot thefour-pointer?
At least I got one, I got meatin the freezer, now I can hold
out for the big one orsomething, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (57:39):
So it's just and for us six days is called buck week.
Buck week, yeah.
It's buck week, and not onlythat, you get most, I would say,
majority of your hunters, theseare the meat guys, these are the
guys that probably have not satonce all year and are just
looking forward to literallygetting 20-25 guys and marching
(58:03):
every piece of property anddriving, and that's the one like
I've done it a few times.
It is a different pace, it isfun, but being a bow hunter,
like I wouldn't mind to see itget rid of in the state of New
Jersey.
I know it ain't gonna happen.
I know there's always a debatewhere a lot of people have those
debates.
Um but like uh it's it's it itit's it's a fun thing to do
(58:29):
every once in a while, but man,it is and anything that moves
the littlest thing boom, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (58:38):
I'll tell you what, I've been uh back in 10 years
ago, I was a part of a a few uhdeer drives, and I'll just say
that was the last time I everdid that.
Um, it can be fun, like yousaid, but there's also a lot of
people that were was in thegroup that I was in that had no
business holding a firearm.
(59:03):
And I was like, this is yeah,and like you guys said, we're
bow hunters, and so it's stillfun to do something different,
and you know, but yeah, when Isaw that whole scene, I was
like, nope, I'm good.
SPEAKER_02 (59:18):
Yeah, that that's that's the other thing.
Uh I mean, and it it it's that'swhat I love about bow hunting
too.
Like, if there's other huntersout there, like and you're
walking in, you don't have toworry like about getting shot
like that.
I mean, you gotta be an idiot,and we all know there's idiots
out there, so and it it hashappened, but like you really
gotta be so stupid to shootanother guy while bow hunting,
(59:42):
like yeah, you really do.
You gotta be so trigger happythat whatever.
And we know we've heard thestories that has happened and
everything like that, butoutside of that, like walking in
during gun season, it's like Iwant my orange hat, orange vest,
throwing an orange flag aroundlike.
Like it is it's a whole otheranxiety that you like.
(01:00:04):
I I don't like it.
I really don't.
And I don't mind not spending asmuch time in the woods during
this time of the year justbecause of that.
Like we're going up to PA forrifle season.
And you know, the cool thingabout PA is it's spread out.
Like it's such a big piece ofbig pieces of land.
Here in Jersey, it's like man,you're definitely walking up on
(01:00:27):
people if you're not on five andeverything like that.
Like here, you got peoplewalking around who should not
have weapons, um who just don'tcare.
And like I said, any littlemovement they're shooting at.
And that's the scare.
That's that's the scary part.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, but I mean, guys, we we hitthat hour mark.
(01:00:48):
Craig, it it's we we love whenyou come on, especially, you
know, to hear your your yourstory and everything like that.
You know, it's it's been alittle bit um it's the holidays,
so guys, um happy Thanksgiving,happy Thanksgiving to to all the
listeners out there andeverything like that.
For all those yet again who areparticipating in in the gun
(01:01:09):
season, um, you know, just uh besafe.
Hope you hope you guys knock itdown.
And you know, something reallyimportant.
Don't worry about what otherpeople say on on social media.
You shoot what makes you happy.
Um we did talk about this lastweek where you know the outdoors
in color and stuff like that,where they get a lot of shit for
being black and everything likethat.
(01:01:30):
And you know, uh Craig has facedsome stuff where people are uh
ridiculous, and same with with alot of the women out there and
stuff like that.
Um, you know, do what makes youhappy, you know, stay safe, stay
within the you know, the law andeverything like that, and shoot
as long as it's legal and youshoot it, like that that should
be good enough.
(01:01:50):
And if you're happy, we'rehappy.
Um, you know, so everyone, I Ihope you guys enjoy this
episode.
I hope you guys enjoy all theThanksgiving food.
I am so pumped that it is here.
I do love me some someThanksgiving.
Got a week of leftovers ofnothing but turkey and
everything like that.
So we're all gonna be nice andfatter than than what we were
(01:02:13):
before, except for Craig.
Uh Craig will still have thatthat he's got going on and
everything like that.
He'll probably in between meals,he'll probably go outside and do
some burpees and yeah, boys.
I I will see you guys uh nextweek, and uh hope everyone had a
(01:02:35):
a good time listening.
We'll we'll see you guys nexttime.
SPEAKER_03 (01:02:39):
Happy Thanksgiving, fellas.
SPEAKER_02 (01:02:40):
Happy Thanksgiving, all right.
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