Ep 152 The Hunting Stories Podcast: Jonathan Bottoms

Send us a text Meet Jonathan Bottoms, the self-proclaimed "worst hunter in Southeast Texas," whose three-year journey from complete novice to dedicated sportsman will leave you both entertained and inspired. Jonathan's path began not through family tradition but with a spontaneous invitation to hunt in Mexico armed with nothing but a bow retrieved from beneath someone's porch. That first successful harvest created dangerously unrealistic expectations, setting the stage for the wild adventures that followed.Leaving behind Colorado's mountains for Texas swamplands, Jonathan found himself navigating challenges no YouTube hunting tutorial could prepare him for. Chest-deep water, water moccasins, alligators, and terrain unlike anything in popular hunting media required him to develop a completely different approach. His stories range from heart-stopping (stepping on two venomous snakes back-to-back) to hilarious (pursuing a modest buck he named Dave while repeatedly calling in his "buddy" Larry, a spike with Napoleon syndrome).What truly sets Jonathan's approach apart is his unwavering persistence. Despite an exploding bow at the moment of truth, riding a tree through a hurricane, and confronting poachers on public land, he maintained his enthusiasm, hunting every possible morning and evening throughout the season. This dedication eventually led to his proudest achievement – harvesting a buck that represented not impressive measurements, but the culmination of countless hours learning the woods.For new hunters feeling overwhelmed, Jonathan's message resonates deeply: "Just keep doing it. I might fail, but I learn and do it different next time. What matters is getting out there... if you're lucky, you get something. If not, you still get to spend your day in the woods." This authentic perspective reminds us that hunting's true value lies not in the harvest but in the journey itself. https://www.instagram.com/jonathan_bottoms/ https://www.facebook.com/jbotttoms/ https://www.christianfellowship.church/    Support the show Hunting Stories InstagramHave a story? Click here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Howdy folks and welcome to the hunting stories
podcast.
I'm your host, michael, and wegot another great episode for
you today.
Today we actually connect withJonathan Bottoms.
Jonathan is another listenerwho reached out, said he had
some great stories to tell, andhe did have some great stories
to tell.
He's also got a unique story.
He is a newer hunter, only beendoing it for a few years.
He's a self-proclaimed worsthunter in east texas.

(00:26):
Um, I don't necessarily agreewith that, but he does have some
fun stories for us today.
So, jonathan, thank you so muchfor reaching out.
Really do appreciate it, um, tocoming on and and sharing your
stories and then do listeners.
Thank you guys so much fortuning in.
I, of course, appreciate you.
Uh, make sure you share thepodcast with one person.
Give us a review.
Now let's go ahead and letjonathan tell you some of his
stories.
Thank you all right jonathan,welcome to the hunting stories

(00:53):
podcast.
Man, how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm doing all right, man, how are you?

Speaker 1 (00:56):
I am doing well.
Sir, I'm happy to have you here.
I was running late, so Iapologize for that, but you were
here when I logged in, so let'sdo it.
Man, why don't you introduceyourself to to the folks?
They know who they're hearingsome stories from today.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Hi, my name is Jonathan Bottoms.
I'm a pastor down in SoutheastTexas, Beaumont, Texas area, and
I'm the worst hunter inSoutheast Texas.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Perfect.
I love where we're starting offwith this one.
This is probably going to befun.
Let me ask you this.
I know you started and you saidyou were raised in Colorado,
moved to Texas.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Was it being a pastor that got you down to Texas and
finding your path?
It is Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
I grew up in Strasburg, colorado.
That's about 30 minutes east ofDenver, down the flat area, and
my dad was a pastor there.
It's east of Denver, down theflat area, and my dad was a
pastor there, and so I grew upand at some point I felt like
God was calling me into theministry.
My two siblings did not end upin the ministry, probably for

(01:57):
good reasons.
If you grow up in it, it cansour you on the job pretty
quickly.
So I went to a school rightoutside of Dallas for ministry,
met my wife, got married andended up in Beaumont, texas,
back in 2016.
So almost 10 years ago, gotchaman.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
And I've just been down here in the swamps.
Hell yeah, let me see.
What did I want to ask Hunting.
How long have you been hunting?
Your whole life, or is it thatyou picked up and moved to Texas
?
No, actually.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
So I've been hunting for three years.
Okay, so I grew up.
My dad is a big outdoorsy guy,real big, in fact.
He's actually you may know hisname.
He's running for governor ofColorado.
Oh, I'm voting for him rightnow.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
What's his name?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
His name is Scott Bottoms.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
And he's run for governor of Colorado.
We've always been big outdoorsypeople and so we've always I've
been on a lot of elk hunts, butnever as the hunter.
Um, we were really intobackpacking and camping and
stuff like that.
And um, we would.
We would have people from theSouth that said, hey, we want to
, we want to go elk hunting, doyou have an area?
And we're like, yeah, you know.
So we would backpack in andstay with them and chop wood or
hang out and like camp and stufflike that, and they would go on

(03:02):
elk hunts and then when theycame back we had firewood or
just hanging out backpacking andstuff.
So I grew up doing that.
When I got to I didn't actuallyget into hunting until like
three years ago.
I moved down here to the swampsand a lot of good old boys down
here.
And deer hunting is a it's away of life and so they got me

(03:26):
in and actually the first time Iever hunted.
We can, if you want, we, dropright into the stories, um yeah
let's do it.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
I was gonna, I was gonna talk a little bit about
how carl definitely needs a newgovernor, because the current
governor's I don't knowboyfriend, husband, whatever it
is.
He's an animal rights activist.
He's responsible for the wolveswhich seem to be dying left and
right, but like we need someonea little bit more wildlife.
Yeah, yeah, so yeah and that'stell your dad he's got my vote,
even though I haven't reallylooked into his stuff.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
He'll be very happy to hear it.
Um, yeah, I'm not crazypolitically active.
Uh, I mean, like I have, I'm asingle voter, I'm a single issue
voter.
I care about cervid numbers and.
Um, I live in texas, so we gotdeer everywhere you know.
But uh, my dad is a big.
He's huge on like, uh, wildlife, nature hunting, right, you

(04:14):
know um you've probably seenviral clips of him going off in
the house about wolves, yeah Ibelieve it, I believe it.
So, uh, yeah, uh no, and thisisn't a politics podcast, that
wasn't.
I tricked you so I could getyeah right Either way, okay,
yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Let's get into your stories, because otherwise we
can talk about this and I nowhave like a not a political
podcast, but I don't know if younoticed, on Fridays I now have
that, like the Hunter's Brief,the Hunter's.
Brief.
Yeah, yeah, the hunter's brief.
So it's like hey, check thatstuff out, guys, I'm going to
talk about it.
I'm probably this week going totalk about that herd in Texas
that just got culled from TexasPark and Wildlife.
They've been fighting for yearsto try and keep his private

(04:51):
herd alive and Texas Park andWildlife had no evidence but
killed them all.
But that's not what we're hereto talk about.
Yeah, that's it.
One other thing I'll mentionJonathan, I've been hunting in
three years.
You're not the worst hunter inEast Texas, you're just a new
hunter.
We've all been there.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, let's wait until you hear the stories,
buddy.
Okay.
Okay, let's wait until I tellyou about my journey.
But no, yeah, you know, with mydad he's all that stuff.
I actually was hoping him,being governor, would figure out
a way that I could hunt cheaper.
But he's uncorruptible, whichis a shame.
I've been trying to figure outhow I can leverage that in my

(05:27):
direction.
He ain't going to do it.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
That is the exact thing you want from a politician
which I don't think many areUncorruptible.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
That's a good way to put it.
I want a cheap way to hunt elk.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
Come on, Dad.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Come on, give me that governor's tag, give me that.
But no, he's uncorrect, hewon't even, he won't even fold
for me, which is a real shame.
But um, but yeah, uh, we couldI'll.
I could start you up rightwhere I started hunting, if you
want let's do it.
Let's do it, man, all right um,I started hunting actually the
first year ever.
It was like three years ago.
And there's a guy in my churchum, it's all oil industry down

(06:01):
here, pipeline oil, all thatstuff, and so they.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
That's a pretty big business you know, really big,
and so I think I've heard of it.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know just the single biggest
business in America.
But so he he, he runs all thisand so he has a ranch in Mexico
where he hunts.
And so he invited me one time.
He's like, hey, do you want tocome hunt in mexico on this
ranch?
And um, I'd never hunted.
I mean, I shot some likerabbits and stuff growing up,
but nothing big.
But I was like, yeah, I wouldlove to.

(06:31):
He's like, well, it's anarchery ranch, you need a bow,
oh, and we leave in a monthtrial my fire okay.
Yeah, I was like, okay, fine soum I started asking around for a
bow that I could borrow, and mybuddy uh, his name is dirty
steve.
Uh, good man, tell you what?
It's the south, everybody's gotan adjective as a first name.
But uh he goes I, I got a bowfor you that you can use yeah,

(06:54):
I'm like all right cool.
So, um, I go over to his houseand he crawls underneath his
porch and he's right there, mybows yeah, he's under there for
a while and eventually he comesout with a bow case and he's
like here's a bow for you.
And so I pulled out this bowand, um, it's obviously been
under there a while because,like the rubber is like melted,
all, like the bell are likemelted, you don't need all that

(07:17):
anyway, it's just for vibration.
So he's pulling all this meltedrubber and he hands me this
boat.
He's like have a great.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
And so I didn't even practice with it you just rolled
into Mexico with a bow youfound under a porch.
You need arrows.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
So I went to a bow shop, got some arrows.
They're like yeah, it'llprobably fit you.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
You can tell these guys like he has no idea what
he's doing.
So.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
I threw this bow in the back of my truck.
We drove to Mexico and thefirst time I ever shot a bow was
pointing at a deer.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Oh, my God.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, and so I remember we get it's this huge
ranch, it's like 25,000 acres,this massive ranch and the deer
on there are these monster deer,and my job is I cull bucks, so
I'm shooting trash.
Now what I didn't know is thiswas going to give me a horrible
first impression of hunting,because the trash there is 150

(08:06):
inches, you know, like oh mygosh so we go out and, uh, the
first night there, I sit downand I get in a stand with my
buddy and he goes all right,this is how you shoot a bow.
Because he's like you haven'tshot.
I was like, nah, he's like okay, this is how you shoot it.
You know, he's like, he's likeall of a sudden I said okay, and
so this doe comes out at like20 yards and we're like

(08:28):
whispering, which later youdon't have to whisper.
I threw a Red Bull can at abuck and he just like looked at
me and then kept eating and sohe goes all right, he's like,
there she is, you know like goahead and take your time, and so
I just pulled the bow back, putthe side on and I shot.
It took me like three secondstotal, maybe less a second and a
half, and I just nailed thisdoe just that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
I can.
I was not expecting that.
I'll tell you right now it's.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
You know, I nail her.
She flips over on her back.
She doesn't even run, she justflips on her back and dies and
he goes.
Why did you go so fast?
I was like I didn't.
I didn't know you're supposedto take a while, I just thought
you know.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, it's like, are you supposed to hold it?

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah and so immediately we drag her up and I
get her to the camp and it's inMexico.
So there's all these guys thatare skinning them and I looked
at them and I was like guys,this hunting thing is easy.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
Oh my God, it's easy, oh it's easy, oh my goodness,
oh my goodness yeah, which I did.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Now, if somebody said that to me like you just wait,
buddy, you just wait yeah but Iwas like this is this isn't,
it's not hard like, you justpoint at it and you pull the,
you know, you shoot the bow andum, and so they're like, okay,
we'll see.
And so, uh, for the rest ofthat week, um, I was calling
deer, you know, and, um, I wish,I wish I never would have shot

(09:43):
that first year.
Uh, because that the addictionthat it caused in me, um, has
been crippling uh, my wife, mywife, if she has to hear about
another deer, will lose her mind, but, uh, she just can't handle
it.
Um, but so I, I spent the wholeweek shooting these deer, and
the bow that I shot could onlypull back, like it was like a

(10:04):
youth bow or something I don'tknow.
It was like a 50 pound draw andit was maxed out, okay, you
know.
And so quickly I realized that Ididn't have the ability, the
power, to really kill these hugebucks, um, and also I sucked at
shooting.
So over the course of a week Ispined like six deer and uh, and
I only had five arrows for thewhole week.

(10:25):
So I couldn't afford to likeuse these arrows.
So I have, so for a week, Ijust spent a week like killing
deer with my pocket knife.
You know like just yeah it'llkill you inside.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
That's like, yeah, that's a tough week like
thousand yards there.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
I came back and my wife was like how, how was it?
I was like there's a sadness inme, but so I came out of mexico
being like deer hunting is easydude like yeah they just walk
out to the feeder.
You stand up and you shoot them, and so, um, I have a question
for you about your bow, I gottaask.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
So like you didn't shoot it at all until you got
there and you shot that doe atany point from that point
forward, did you sight it in andsee like?
Because, like you know, you gotsome arrows, yeah, but like
eventually did you and then likehow far off was it when you
eventually did.
Is it gonna be my question?

Speaker 2 (11:16):
um, so I didn't sight that bow in at all that week um
okay, I just shot it and I justfigured chances are.
It need to be sighted in and Ijust figured I was a bad shot,
so I'm hitting these deer justall over, you know just all over
by the end of the week I wasdown to one arrow because I kept
like missing and they wouldshatter on stuff, and so I'm
like reusing this one arrow.
I'm bending my mechanicalbroadhead back into shape, you

(11:38):
know, because and I'm just likefolding them back up and like I
would show them the.
Nah, that's probably fine.
At one point some guy was likeI can give you a broadhead and
I'm like nah, nah, nah, look, itclicks right back in.
We're good, I'm shooting theselittle Rage 2 blades.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
Dental floss around them to keep them tight tight.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, the ones with no collar, so you could just
like you know and yeah and so,like I come home with like all
this deer meat, one arrow leftand um, and the first thing I do
is I told my wife I was likeI'm buying a bow, yeah, and
she's like wow, I was like thisone can't cut it.
You know, like I'm gonna buy it.
And so I went off and I boughta bow.

(12:20):
I bought a matthews vxr like aused one, um, beautiful bow,
like just a great bow.
I got it super cheap, uh, likefor like 600 bucks.
There was a dude who, uh, in mychurch who knew a guy who owned
a bow shop and he cut me a deal,you know and uh and so I'd get
this bow and I sided it back inand um, and then I just waited
till the next season, yeah, yeah, so for a whole off season.

(12:43):
I'm just shooting this bownon-stop side net, shooting it
my front yard.
I live in the middle ofbeaumont, in the city and um,
but my yard is 60 yards long, soI have.
I spray painted lines across myyard in my driveway.
My wife didn't like that.
I would shoot this bow in myfront yard, you know, yeah and
uh, and that was how I got intodeer hunting is like.

(13:05):
I was like this is easy, youknow, they just come out, you
shoot them and then the Mexicanguys skin them for you, no
problem.
And uh and yeah so.
So I started off huntingthinking like I'm the greatest
hunter that's ever lived like,with no practice whatsoever.
I'm just a slayer, you know,just a slayer.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:29):
And I learned very quickly that that's not true.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
I believe that.
Quick question about the Mexicotrip Was it like drive across
the border Mexico, or was itlike jump on a plane fly
somewhere?

Speaker 2 (13:40):
It's about an eight-hour drive it was right
over the border.
So we would drive to the borderand drive across and hunt there
, there's tags there, and thenyou bring it all back.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
And whitetail.
I'm assuming, because I knowthere's mule deer down there too
.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
There's a lot.
Actually, we would mostly shootwhitetail and neal guy.
Okay.
If you're a neal guy, yeah.
They're like evil looking cowsright yeah, just it's like a mix
between an antelope and a moose, you know just the ugliest
looking dude.
Um, but there's a.
There are a lot of meat andneil guy tags in mexico are
cheap like 35 bucks you know Ithink neil guy in austin is a

(14:14):
great restaurant.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
Died duet.
Jesse griffith owns it.
Um, he's been on the podcast.
He's a meat eater guy and I'vehad neil guy there.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's delicious it's not bad.
When you cook it, when you openup and it's raw, it smells a
little off Um, but that's justhow it smells.
Um, and I tell everybody I'mlike, once you cook it, it's
fine Um, but it's a littlegamier than whitetail.
My wife doesn't like it as much, but we use it for spaghetti,
tacos.
You know all that it's.
It's real good for that.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
What was the season also for Mexico?
Can you hunt year-round, andwhat month were you there?

Speaker 2 (14:45):
No, it's during deer season, so I was there probably
around like November, december.
Actually, I think I went likeOctober-ish, but it's real
similar to Texas' deer season.
Okay cool, so I was there duringthat.
You can hunt into January inMexico, which sometimes you

(15:08):
canxas, depending on how theseason falls, um, but so, yeah,
there's that they havewildebeest there.
Um, yeah, of course, I got astory about hanging out of the
side of a truck going like 40miles an hour chasing wildebeest
, trying to shoot him with arifle.
Um, it's, you know, it's a goodyou are from texas aren't you
the problem is I'm I've neverkilled an animal with a rifle.
I'm horrible with a rifle.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
I've only killed a turkey.
Same thing man.
I've gotten like four or fiveanimals down with my bow and a
turkey with my 270, and that isit and we're shooting like 300
Win Mag, these big old rifles.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
I've missed shots 20 feet from a wildebeest, which is
not a small animal, but I justcan't, I don't know.
I'm horrible with a rifle,which is fine, I like bow
hunting, so that's what I do.
But yeah, so we came in and thenext season I was like all
right, I'm going to hunt and I'min this area, I don't have a

(16:03):
lease or anything.
I can't afford a lease.
I don't.
Pastors don't make good money,you know.
So like I can't afford a lease.
But what my job does give me isI pick my own hours.
So with that I was like we'rejust gonna hunt, you know, and
um, so I just decided to starthunting.
I didn't know a thing, uh, andso I just started going into the
woods, yeah, just a Great wayto start.

(16:25):
Look at, I borrowed a climbingstand from some guy one time,
but I got about 30 feet in theair and then the top of it fell
and it's this old, rustyclimbing stand and I was like
I'm going to die up here, and soI quit using a climbing stand
for a while.
The next season I bought asaddle.
I like a little more, but so Ijust I started just like hunting

(16:48):
and figuring out how to huntyou know, Okay, I started
watching a lot of, like you know, hunting YouTube channels,
hunting public meat eater.
You know all those guys.
The problem is that all thoseguys hunt the Midwest and
there's a reason they don't filmhunting videos in the south,
like down where we're at, isbecause it's hard you know yeah,

(17:10):
and so I I would work off thesehunting videos and, uh, I
realize nothing that they'redoing there is working for me.
You know the sign's not quitethe same.
There's water everywhere, likeI'm walking through my chest
deep water you know like theydon't have swamps.
Yeah, you never see them dealingwith water moccasins or
alligators, you know, and, uh,that's stuff that we got down

(17:32):
here and so like, eventually, Iwas just like, okay, well, what
they're doing?
I spent a whole season huntingand um, and I think I got within
shooting range of a doe onetime yeah, like that's it.
Uh, it just it's thick, youcan't see and um, the one time I
got into within shooting rangeof a doe one time, yeah, like
that's it, uh, it just it'sthick, you can't see and, um,
the one time I got into withinshooting range of a doe, my bow
exploded.
Uh, I didn't know what to dowas it?

Speaker 1 (17:56):
where did you have an arrow knocked, or was it some
other?
Yeah, I had an arrow knocked um.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
that's actually.
That's what I'd been huntingthis doe the whole season and at
this point, like I found alittle piece of property that
somebody would let me hunt aslong as I maintained it, so I
would like mow it, so I had thislittle feeder out there and all
I knew is feeder hunting, likethat's what I started on.
So I had this feeder out thereand there's this buck that keeps

(18:22):
showing up, but it's alwayswhen I'm not there.
There and um, there's this buckthat keeps showing up, but it's
always when I'm not there.
You know, now that I know whatI'm doing, I realized he was
betting down behind me and hewas winning me literally every
time I was out there, but Ididn't know that and I'm hunting
every single morning andevening for a whole deer season
because I have I can pick myschedule, yeah.
So I'm hunting every morning andevery evening, but every now

(18:43):
and then this doe would come outand uh, and I won't.
She spotted me one time and Igot scared, but she would come
out every morning.
So finally I was like I'mkilling this doe.
She blows on me every time.
I'm here Like I'm killing thisdoe, and so she walks out one
morning and she walks out andshe's at the feeder and she's 20
yards from me.
I'm in a tree, 20 yards fromthe feeder, like I'm over the

(19:04):
feeder.
I was like you can't miss ifyou're close, yeah, and I pull
back my bow and I guess when Iwent to shoot it's the first
time I'd ever shot I didn't know.
You should practice shootingout of a saddle before you
actually do it.
Everything I do is just.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
I just I buy it.
All right, just go it.
Everything I do is just I justI buy them, all right, just go.
Let's go on.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah, figure it out somehow I guess I twisted my
hand when I went to let go of myrelease or something, but when
I shot the bow I I just heardthis round bang, you know and
like and like, my titty hurt,like it went me.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
I had this nasty bruise, you know, and I was like
what just happened.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
And I look at my bow and it's just like the string
had come off the cams when Ilike when I released.
Like what just happened, and Ilook at my bow and it's just
like the string had come off thecans when I like when I
released it.
And I go and I look down andsomehow I hit this freaking doe.
No way I was aiming at herbread basket and I hit her far
back and up so I spined her likeabove the butt right but I hit
this doe and I'm like it's okay,we've trained for this, we know

(20:06):
how to kill a doe without a bowPocket knife.
Pocket knife.
So immediately like I look atmy bow, I'm like, well, I can't
kill her with this.
Yeah, I climbed down the treeand I go to look for my pocket
knife.
I booked it out of the woodsinto my all the way out to my

(20:31):
truck.
you know, come through, find apocket knife in my truck come
back and I finish her and um andimmediately I'm like well, now
my bow is like in my head it'sruined.
You know like it's done.
Yeah, so I'm just like well, soI skin out this dough, um which
I'm skinning this dough in thefront yard in the middle of the
city, in my in my house.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
You know all my neighbors.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
Neighbors are looking at me, I'm covered in blood.
But we had to get her done andso I take it to the bow shop and
they're like no, actually allwe have to fix is this one
little one of my servos.
They're like we'll fix that,we'll restring it, it should be
fine.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, I got so lucky because I thought my season was
done.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
I awesome.
Yeah, I got so lucky because Ithought my season was done.
I've done the same thing.
So last last season I goshooting with some buddies and
we're just at a 3d course justshooting and we're talking and
messing around and, um, Iarranged this, I got, I put an
arrow in range of turkey, go toshoot and go or like, don't put
the arrow in, I'm holding it andI range it.
And then I put the range finderdown, started it and I'm like
what was, what was that number?
So I put the the, I put thearrow away, range it again and

(21:28):
then pull my bow up and I didn'trealize I put my, my arrow.
So now I'm about to dry firethis thing.
So I pull it up and this isdumb.
The guy's like recording me inslow-mo from like three feet
away, like super close shot ofjust like me looking cool as
could be right.
I fire it and then to the, justlike, the string pops off and

(21:50):
everyone's like whoa, one guygoes dude, your arrow flew off
that way.
And I'm like what?
And then so we're like oh, whatjust happened?
That didn't make any sense.
Um, and all I remember is thatguy just saying your arrow just
flew off this way.
We watched the video and we'rewatching this thing in slow-mo
for like 15, 20 seconds and I'mlike, oh, I know what happened.
And everyone's like what, what?

(22:10):
And I'm like, well, something'smissing.
I didn't knock an arrow and so Iwas like, oh my goodness, like
how stupid am I and I remembereverything I did, and I remember
exactly when I put my arrowback and I'm like, oh, that was
so dumb.
And I'm like, what's yourproblem, man?
Where did my arrow go?
Like what?

Speaker 2 (22:25):
are you talking about ?
I got eyes on it.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
I got eyes on yeah, yeah I took it to the shop, dude
, and they were like no, yourbow's fine, like totally fine,
don't worry about it.
And then I ended up gettingsome strings from summit bow
strings, a texas company out ofnew brunfels, um, and and I'd
actually never replaced mystrings before, so it was
actually a good thing and and mybow shoots so sweet now, now
that I have like new strings onit.
But yeah, man, I got lucky too.

(22:49):
I didn't shoot anything.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
I finally put new strings on it, because I was
like we've been a season, twoseasons on, like this string
that came up.
My cans are bent, you know likeI'm like bending them back, and
so I was like we'll get neweverything.
And I so, uh, I was like we'llget new everything and I'll tell
you what.

Speaker 1 (23:04):
Like it, she's like a dream you know, yeah, it's so
nice, you don't?

Speaker 2 (23:07):
even realize.
But uh, but yeah.
So I got my boat fixed.
I was good to go, you know, andum, that's how my season ended.
I spent the whole season Iprobably hunted.
I I'm not lying, I hunted everysingle day twice.
I have a wonderful wife whojust she's willing to be a
single mother for four monthsout of the year, you know.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
And um I got two kids .
I got a five year old, sevenyear old.
She is wonderful.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, she's wonderful .
Now I've got, now I've beentaking them I I work at this
church and so out in the fieldbehind our church there's like
six bucks that hang out backthere.
So I have a feeder back thereand a little stand and that's
where I take my kids, because wecan just walk 20 feet out
behind the church, get in astand and see deer.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
That's amazing.

Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, you're never going to get within a shooting
range of a deer with afive-year-old and a
seven-year-old, but they're,they like it.
Yeah, we're out there.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
If they see one, they're like, oh, we're hunting.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
That's all there is to.
They're seeing them, they'rehaving a good time, and so I do
that.
So it's a little easier on mywife now.
But, yeah, and so I ended myseason hunting all those hours
for, like this tiny little doethat I killed out of spite, you
know, but it was meat in thefreezer, so my wife couldn't say
I was a failure.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
Yeah, why do all your deer keep coming back with
these tiny little stab wounds.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah.
So like this, then the offseason comes, I'm like, all
right, this time we're like I'mgonna practice shooting.
So now I'm like up in a tree inmy front yard in a saddle, you
know, shooting this bow and myname.
Every season my neighbors thinkI'm more crazy.
I've stood on the roof and Ishoot off my roof, you know,
like whatever I can to get youknow elevation.

(24:45):
But uh, and so I got ready, andso then this last season, this
season was the season that I waslike, okay, we're doing it Like
we're going to hit public land,we're going to find deer and
we're going to do our thing.
You know, like I'm going to, Iwant to do public land and and
this was the season where, likemost of my stories come from,

(25:06):
and this was the season where,like most of my stories come
from, I mean this season, like Ihad one morning where I stepped
on two water moccasins, likeback to back.
You know, I ran into poachersthis summer.
You know, I rode a top of atree through a hurricane, like
you name it, like we can go overall the stories.
But uh, yeah, but so with thisseason I decided I was like,

(25:28):
okay, we're gonna do it, we'regonna get, we're gonna get there
.
And so, like I go into thisarea where, like okay, there's
deer moving here, yeah, I theirside, we're good.
And um, I sit up and like I gotmy saddle and everything up
there and, uh, I leave an arrowknocked on my bow all the time
because I don't want to dry fireit, so I just leave an arrow on

(25:49):
there and hang it.
Okay, and throughout this seasonI chase this one buck all
season and he is my proudestbuck to date.
I haven't measured him yetbecause he's probably going to
be 90 inches, Like he's thetiniest little.
He's this goofy little trashbug and he sits in the main

(26:11):
place.
I have all these big deer fromMexico and this is the one, this
goofy little bug and my wife'slike wow, I was like I worked so
hard for this deer.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yeah, like it is, it is my deer.
And so I get into this area and, um, in this area there's a lot
of deer coming by, um, but, uh,I have to get back in there to
get there.
And so when I'm getting up inthere, like I'm I'm hunting like
deep, and I remember the firsttime I saw him, uh, there was
this little spike, that spikebug that came out.

(26:44):
I named him Larry.
We have Larry Larry's probablythe dumbest deer I've ever met
in my life.
Like he.
He just hangs out like.
I spent a lot of time this lastseason with this little spike
bug, just like 20 feet below meBest buddy.
Yeah, just he would, and.
But the problem was he wouldcome and try and eat here, and
every now and then I have a cellcamera.

(27:06):
I would get this slightlybigger buck.
That would bully him and chasehim off.
And this little spike buck islike tearing up the woods.
I'll stand there and just watchhim tear up every tree around
me.
He's stomping, he's grunting.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
He's just like this Napoleon syndrome.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
He's got nothing but he wants everything 100%, and
every now and then this big deerwould come and bully him.
So at some point I'm like Ihave to defend this spike bug,
like he's getting bullied bythis other dude, you know yeah I
just, I was like that's thedeer I'm gonna shoot.
You know is this?
I called him dave.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
I was like I'm shooting dave like larry and
dave, man can't take himanywhere yeah, you know, I give
my dear people names I like thatnormally it's like megatron or
you know, like whatever, but Ilike larry and dave.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah and uh and so eventually I'm sitting out here
and I remember I was sitting inthe woods and the first time I
saw this buck, uh, I hear somewalking and I look over and
about 100 yards away he's justwalking through the woods, yeah,
and so I'm like, all right, I'mgoing to call him.
Yeah, I bought the SouthernOutdoorsman deer, call you know,

(28:17):
I'm so proud of this call.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
I'm like this is where it's at.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
You know, this is what we do.
So I'm over there.
Yeah, I don't know how to call.
I just bought, I got the callwalked out.
I was like it makes a noise andso I call.
I'm calling him and he looks upand my direction and it just
goes back to eating and all of asudden I hear something behind
me and I turn around and Larry'sjust like standing there.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
He just showed up.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
And I, he just showed up and I was like, dang it,
larry, yeah.
So I like wait.
And eventually he, this littlespike, wanders off.
And I'm like, all right, I'mgonna call again.
And I call and this littlespike comes running right back
out, larry man.
And over the course of twohours I called in this spike
buck about seven times like hejust kept.
He would leave and I wouldrattle or grunt and he would
come running back again and I, Iwant to just like in, I'm like
I just want to be like hey, I'mup here.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Like you're going to die.
I love you at this point.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
But this bigger bike.
He never came and I spent liketwo months just like hunting
this area and eventually, afterabout two months, months it
clicked in my head, you know,because, keep in mind, nobody's
ever taught me to do this.
Yeah, I'm just trying to figureit out.
It clicked in my head.
I was like, oh wait, I can goover to where he keeps walking
by, I don't have to stay herehe's right over there yeah, I

(29:42):
just walked over there andthere's just this rub line.
You know very clearly like he'sbeen rubbing these woods.
Yeah, yeah, I just walked overthere and there's just this rub
line.
You know very clearly like he'sbeen rubbing these woods yeah,
yeah I was like, oh, this iswhere he's at.
So I just stuck a cell cameraright there and I was like we'll
see you know yeah whatever.
and then I left and we drove todallas to go to my university
for an alumni day and stuff likethat, and um, and so we're

(30:04):
sitting there at our alumni dayand as we're doing it all of,
and so we're sitting there atour alumni day and as we're
doing it, all of a sudden mysales paying right in the
evening, right around the sametime, about five, 30 to six
o'clock, it's pinging and it'sthis buck walking by every
evening right on this line, samespot, and um, it's these two
rub lines that converge right inthe spot and go out into this
like plane, this open area, yeah, and there's, does that eat out

(30:27):
there?
So he's checking, he saidchecking these, does it's right
in the rut and uh, and so I'msitting here just like stuck
five hours away, watching thisdeer every night, you know, and
my wife's getting upset becauseI'm watching this deer every
night.
Um, so we finish it.
And uh, my wife's like okay,okay, we should.
It's like noon and she's likewe'll just stay and we'll leave

(30:48):
tomorrow morning.
I was like no, we should reallyget back tonight.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
And I told her I was like so I can hunt in the
morning.
She's like okay, fine, I couldalready.
I could feel her rolling hereyes.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
Yes, she's like whatever.
So we get in the car and Istart driving back about noon
and all of a sudden it clicks inmy head.
I was like if I get back therein time tonight I could hunt
tonight.
Yeah, so my wife and kids go tosleep and I drove 110 miles an

(31:19):
hour like all the way back, justcruising, you know and just
watching the clock and I pullinto the driveway at my house at
like 4 30, yeah, and uh, whereI'm hunting is like 30 minutes
away.
I pull in at like 4 30 and Ijust grabbed the suitcase and
set it in the living room andgrabbed my ghillie suit, put it
on.
I was like I'll see you, youknow, and I just took off, yeah,

(31:41):
and when I get out there, it'slike drizzly raining, you know,
and off and on raining, and Iget it's about the water's,
about shin heights, and I'm whenI get out there, it's like
drizzly raining, you know, andoff and on raining, and I get
it's about the water's, aboutshin heights, where I'm hunting,
and I just run, I leg it outthere, I get up in this tree and
I just sit.
I'm like all right, he's gonnashow up in 15 minutes, yeah,
yeah, like we're good, my windis perfect, and so I just start
sitting and just waiting, youknow, and um, and all of a

(32:04):
sudden, as I'm sitting there andwaiting, all these does come
out in the field and they'reeating and my wind's blowing
right at them so they can smellme.
So they're like stopping andlooking, you know, into the
trees where I'm at, yeah, andI'm just like watching them and
all of a sudden I hear this twigsnap and I was like, and I look
down and he's rubbing upagainst my tree.
This little bit, the treeyou're in, yeah, the tree I'm in

(32:26):
.
Like I look down, I can see himthrough the the slots in my
platform yeah, yeah he's downthere and so immediately I'm
just like, yeah, just shake it.
Yeah, I'm like this is it, thisis what we tried for, yeah.
And so he comes, like walkingthrough, and he's about to walk
down this trail that he normallywalks down, and he starts
turning to head towards my windand I was like, nope, we have to

(32:48):
shoot him right now.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, like right now.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
So I pulled my bow back and I didn't even range him
.
But you didn't need to.
He was seven yards from me, Ididn't even range, I just pulled
my bow back.
And I remember I pulled my bowback and right as I go to
release, he turns and looks upin the tree and we meet eye to
eye.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
You're like this is for.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
Larry, there's this look on his face like I messed
up and I'm like, yes, you did.
So, I buried it in his chestand it was a great shot, like a
beautiful shot, and that suckerran like 250 yards.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
Isn't that funny.
You've been spying in all theseanimals, which is not
necessarily a good shot they alljust drop right there, but you
get a perfect shot and it goes200 yards into a swamp.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
I didn't find him till the next morning.
I looked until 11 30 that night, but it's raining and so my
blood's washing away andeventually my flashlight died
and I just was so sad.
You know I'm covered inmosquitoes and I lost this deer,
you know.
But the next morning I walkedout and I just walked where I
thought he'd be and I found him250 years away.
It was an arrow in his heart,like I don't know how he ran

(33:56):
that far with an arrow in hisheart, but isn't?
that crazy he did yeah and uh,so I didn't get to keep the meat
because it's hot where we live,and by the time I found him he
was a balloon, you know yeah,yeah, but that water probably
didn't do too good on his energy, that gross swamp water and so
I call the game warrens and Itell him like hey, there's a
deer, you know I'm keeping thehead, but the body's out here

(34:16):
just say, you know, do all thestuff.
And I take his head home andlike I got him european mounted
and yeah that, to this day, thatis my proudest achievement, is
that a boy, the trashiest buckyou've ever seen I, I posted a
picture on facebook and um and Ieasily outweigh the deer by 60
pounds.
you know, I'm like, behold the,the, the giant of the woods, you

(34:39):
know, and I'm holding and likeI, I work out.
You know, I, I have muscle andthey're like dude, you're bigger
than the deer, like I just drughim out.
But that's my, that's my mostprized deer and, like everything
I did for that deer this seasonwas so hard.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
I'll tell you this, man, for being the worst hunter
in East Texas.
You have harvested a lot ofanimals, so I'm still holding it
.
I'm saying you're not doing itto half bad.
I'm trying to compliment you.

Speaker 2 (35:07):
Well, I don't count the Mexico animals.
Okay, okay, it's not the sameyou know, Okay, I went back
recently and like it's funbecause you get meat, you know,
but it's not.
It's just not hunting you know,yeah, these.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
You know there will be a 180, 80 inch deer out there
and I'm not allowed to shoot it.
So which?
Whatever, I don't care eitherway.
But uh, so I, how do they, howdo they determine what you can
shoot?

Speaker 2 (35:33):
I know you said 150 inch deer but like I don't know
if I can tell 150 inch deer onthe hook versus 180.
So the rule is we're lookingfor mature deer that are on the
smaller side.
So if it's eight points but youcan tell it's five or six years
old, um, he's not going to getany bigger, that's not going to
be a trophy deer.
It's okay to shoot, um, and soyou get real good at aging them
and sizing them and then, whenin doubt, you just snap a
picture of them, send it and belike yes or no.
Yeah, they hang out at thefeeder.

(35:55):
For a while I stood up and peedout of the deer, blind this
last time, and the deer justwatched me my goodness, is it a
high fence or is it just there?
yeah, it's not that preciousokay yeah and, like I said, they
have there's giraffes there.
You know, like I had, I had ayou're like it's got tiny
antlers.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
I should probably take it yeah, I had a.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
Well, you can't shoot them, but they'll ruin your
hunt like they'll.
Yeah, I had a bug get run off.
I was like what's going on?
And then I looked to my left.
I'm in this old windmill andthere's just a giraffe right
next to me, just like eating,you know.
And you're like thanks a lot,dude, I'm trying to do something
here.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
Here's a giraffe trivia.
Do you know what's actually?
Well, it's kind of the reverse.
So what American animal isgenetically similar?
In fact, the giraffe is themost similar genetically to this
animal man, I have no idea.
Pronghorn, real americanpronghorn, yep.

Speaker 2 (36:52):
Its closest genetic relative is the giraffe which,
if you look at them, you're like, okay, they kind of look a
little similar, but minus thefact that the giraffe is like 5
000 pounds or huge or whateverit is, but yeah, that's a little
environment, yeah, exactly butyeah, that's a when I, when I go
hunting for something, Itypically dive deep into the
research of the animal.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
I want to know everything I can about them and,
uh, I struggled with antelopefor a while, so I've been
researching yeah, that's a II've heard a few years.

Speaker 2 (37:20):
I heard you had the worst bow hunting experience
with animal oh my gosh guys doit on youtube.
Like you're just out in thiswide, open plains, like how are
you getting within 40, 50 yardsof an antelope luck?

Speaker 1 (37:33):
luck.
Yeah, I can't imagine it's adream one day.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
Uh, next year I'm hunting an elk is?
I'm going to call it my parentsare call it springs.
I'm going to try to try to getup there and do a hunt.
Um, great man, I've never,never shot an elk with a bow.
But that's the plan, you know.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
And uh, you already have your tag cause they don't
have over the counter anymorefor archery.
Are you going to go rifle?

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Oh no, I did not know .
They changed that.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
I'll have to put him for a draw but when the draw
draws over.
So, yeah, I, I put in for adraw in Colorado this last
offseason and I put in forNevada too.
A buddy that lives in Nevada,he actually he's the one who
showed me this podcast, austin,if you're listening what's up?

(38:17):
But he's there and I'll try toget in, but whenever I guess now
.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
My plan was over the counter.
We'll talk about it offline.
I'll help you out.
I'll give about it offline.
I'll help you out, I'll giveyou some insight.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
I would very much appreciate it.
The course of this deer season.
I'm similar to you.
I fixate on things.
My whole deal is I obsess.
This whole summer I've walkedthis 11,000-acre piece of public
land.
I've walked the whole thing.
Yeah, I'm out there, I'mlooking for a sign, I'm looking

(38:51):
for all this stuff.
So, just being out there allthe time, you tend to make a lot
of mistakes because you don'tknow what you're doing.
You run into stuff.
One morning, my first seasonhunting public land, I get out
there real early and there'sabout three inches of water on
the ground.
And I'm hiking through and thesun's just now starting to come
up and I did not know that watermoccasins were a thing here.

(39:15):
Okay, I'm new.

Speaker 1 (39:17):
Yeah, I don't know.
Off Colorado there's no watermoccasins.

Speaker 2 (39:21):
First time I ran into an alligator I was like oh crap
.
No, that makes sense yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
They live here.
You need to go back with analligator tag.
You can get that in some partsof Texas.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
Yeah, there's guys that do it right out of their
backyards, yeah.
But so I'm walking through andall of a sudden I step on like
the weirdest feeling stick I'veever stepped on in my life and I
look down and it's just thisbig old water, moccasin and um,
and he just like freaks out andtakes off.
He didn't bite me, you knowyeah and I, I remember I paused,
I was like oh man, that wasclose, like I got lucky, you

(39:52):
know.
And then I stepped around thetree and stepped on to a second
one immediately, just right away, and so immediately, like I'm
like, all right, I'm not movingtill the sun comes up right here
.
So I just stood, you know Ijust stood in this swamp for
like an hour until the sun wasup.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
I was like now we can see, yeah I love that I could
see myself doing the same thing,but like nope, I quit.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
I'm son, I need the sun I'm not moving, but
literally the second one was 10seconds later.
I was like, okay, we're gettingyeah, do you wear.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
uh, do you wear snake gaiters?
I know some people in Texas doI don't.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
I've looked them up.
Right after that I looked themup.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
I assume you at least got big rubber boots on right
Because you're in the swamp.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
I wear a pair of Timberlands.
Okay, so probably no, I shouldprobably have.
I hunt pretty deep in a fewmiles in and you're walking
through swamps.
So everything is waist-highwater, chest-high water.
You're in the bayou, and soI've just found I just wear
clothes that dry easy and.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
I just gut it Get up in your tree, take your boots
off or whatever, or do you leavethem on and just soak them?

Speaker 2 (40:59):
Yeah, I leave them on .
I have I cut holes in thebottom so that they drain, okay,
the bottom so that they drain,okay and uh, and then like right
in the side of the leather, um,because I read at one time
dudes and uh, dudes in uh,vietnam would do that, and I was
like, all right, then I'll dothat.
Yeah, um, ruined a good pair of, uh, ruined a good pair of
boots.
But, um, but yeah, I lastseason my soul came off my boot

(41:23):
at one point so I just cocked it.
You know, I just took some cock, some roofing cock, and just
cocked it.
Like we're good you know runningthere you go and so like with
all this stuff, like I'm outhere in these swamps and I'm
just like trying to figure itout.
You know, I rode a tree througha hurricane.
I got up in this I was watchingthe weather weather and it said

(41:45):
it was going to be a littlerainy and I was like, well,
that's no big deal, but it'sright in the middle of hurricane
season.
You know, I'm like that's,that's fine.
So I climb up in the tree and Iget about 30 feet up.
You know I have all thesesticks and I get up there and as
I get up there, all of a suddenlike my phone starts getting
all these storm warnings.
You know, like bad storm.
It's like seek, you know seek,a safe place on stuff.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
And um, I'm a firm believer of it'll buff out, you
know, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
So I'm like, ow, we're fine.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
Yeah, just water, just water.

Speaker 2 (42:16):
Yeah, and so I'm sitting there, and pretty soon
it starts raining and downpouryou know, and I'm like, oh, I'm
going to be really wet, but I'vecommitted, yeah, I will fail
all day if it means there's achance I can succeed, I just
don't get deterred.
So I'm like, riding this, andpretty soon my wife's texting me

(42:38):
like are you OK?
I'm like, I'm fine, you knowlike it's going to blow over.
And then pretty soon the windstarts blowing.
And pretty soon the wind startsblowing and pretty soon my
whole tree, my tree's like thisbig around you know, probably
four inches in width and I'm upat the top and pretty soon.
it's like leaning, you know.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
So I'm like riding this tree and it's just like
blowing.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
And common sense would tell you a deer's not
going to wander around in that.
But in my head I'm like like.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
But what if?
Yeah, yeah, this is the dayhe's on camera I'm gonna be.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
So yeah, I gotta defend larry, I can't leave and
so like I'm just riding thistree and pretty soon the wind's
blowing bad, like it's hard tohang on and like twice I fell
off my platform, but I'm tied inyou know.
So I followed my platform, myhanging, and I kind of like
scramble up on my platform and Ijust rode.
It was the longest hour of mylife just riding this tree

(43:28):
through this hurricane and thewhole time like lightning's
going like should I get down?
But can I get down with thewind blowing like this?
I was like yeah, I just stay,and finally the storm ends and
it's right.
It's like January, december,january, you know, end of the
season, and the storm ends andit gets right.
It's like january, decemberjanuary, you know, end of the
season.
And the storm ends and it getsso cold and I'm just soaked.

(43:52):
Yeah, so I'm up in this treelike freezing and I made it all
the way to night.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
I made it all the way to nighttime, but when I got
home I had to sit in the showerfor like two hours and just run
hot water on my feet, you know,and obviously a deer never came
by here's a question I havecould the water level in the
swamp rise like I'd be worriedabout?
Like you're saying, you'rewaist, high chest, high water,
like if you're going throughthat and then a storm rolls in,

(44:20):
can you even get out?

Speaker 2 (44:22):
uh, yeah, you, you can.

Speaker 1 (44:25):
Yeah, you're like, I know how to swim.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
Yeah, it's not ideal uh, so where I hunt when the
water's high, it's about chesthigh, okay.
When the water's low, it'sabout waist high, um, and I
don't hunt in that.
But I have to cross through thebayou, you know, to get to
where I'm going.
Where I'm going if the water'shigh, there's about seven inches
of water on the ground, yeah,but I found that the deer don't
care, okay, like they justwander around in the water, like

(44:50):
they're used to being in theswamps anyway, they're really
quiet in the water somehow, likeI hear them on dry leaves way
better than I do in the water,like all of a sudden you'll look
up and they'll just be there,um, but the deer don't care.
And so if the deer don't care,then I don't care.
Yeah, like I'll, I'll get outthere, but yeah, I've.
I've been there where, like astorm comes in and then you get
back in the bayou is a lothigher and it's a lot colder.

(45:12):
But you just you hold your bowabove your head, you know and
you just get through.
I know areas where, likethere's trees that are falling,
that you can walk across higherpoints okay, yeah, make sure
you're not anywhere where likegators are actively at you, just
cross and you head on.

Speaker 1 (45:28):
You know, yeah, interesting man, how many how
many other hunters you run into,how many people are as
dedicated?
Uh slash crazy.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
You know, as you um not a lot I imagine so public
hunting is not a it's not thebig thing here in the south you
know yeah the majority of tentsis private.
Uh, the standard hunting is sitover a feeder, you know, for
you know you sit until 9 am andthen you get back at five and
you sit until dark, you know,and that's how you hunt, um, but

(45:56):
it just doesn't do it for meyou know, like I get bored and
uh, and I like the adventure.
You know, I like going out thereand being like what can I do?
How can I find these things?
So I, especially during the offseason nobody scouts in the

(46:18):
summer here, because it's 104degrees and 80 percent humidity,
but all I see is that means I'mthe only one that's out there.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Yeah, so I'm cool with that, yeah, there you go.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
That's a great attitude, man, that'll get you
some deer for sure.
Maybe We'll see this summer.
I'm, but also I like being inthe woods.
Yeah, I like being out in thewoods, I like finding sheds and
I like seeing.
Like I just take pictures ofthe swamps.
My Instagram has a bunch ofpictures of swampland and like I
just like it out there.

(46:50):
I like seeing a piece of landI've never seen before.
That's awesome, and so I, theonly people I've run out to.
I actually I ran this summer.
I ran into some poachers, um,and it was kind of a tense
situation.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
How do you know the poachers?

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Well, okay.
So the first time I I'm lookingon my map, I'm like if I was a
deer I would be right here, likeright there.
So I hike in.
It's about two miles in and thewater's high then, so it's real
high, so I'm really crossing.
And when I get out therethere's this deer sign
everywhere, Like rubs.
They're tearing up the woodsright here, and I'm like, okay,

(47:16):
I'm on the money, you know.
And so as I'm walking, all of asudden I come across this bag
of corn on the ground, like anempty bag of corn.
I was like, well, that's notlike somebody's corning out here
, Like that's not cool.
And then I look up and there'sa feeder hanging in the tree.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
Right at where I wanted to put my stand, which
says one thing I read the mapreally well because somebody
agrees, and so I'm like okay, soI start taking pictures of this
feeder.
Okay, and it's clearly onpublic land, so that's poaching,
oh.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
I didn't even put a feeder on public land.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
We cannot feed on public land, you can feed on
private.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
You cannot feed on public.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
Is that always been the case?
I've been doing it three yearsand it has since I've been yeah,
okay, the public land.
There's no feeding.
They don't like you to leaveyour stuff out there.
You need to bring it out withyou.
Cameras, you can leave, but inthe off season they'll come by
and clean them up.
So it's kind of they're like ifyou lose it it's up to you.
But yeah, so we're not feedingon public land.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
Okay, I didn't know that.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
Well, poaching is also a very popular thing down
here.
So, as you're walking throughpublic land, you'll see peanut
butter jar lids screwed into thetree where they're coming by
later and screwed on peanutbutter jars, so the deer will
come and lick them.
And, like you know, it's alwaysthis game of dudes trying to
get around the law and poachingjust gets on my nerves, yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:38):
That makes sense.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
What's the point of winning if you didn't play by
the rules?
That's?
That's, that's how you know youwon.
You know if you did it by therules and still won.
But, um, so I start takingpictures of all those feeders
and all this stuff and um, andthen I'll, and I'm sending it to
the game warden.
Um, I text these game wardensand so I'm, I'm sending it to
the game wardens and I'm sendingthem gps coordinates.
And also I look to my left andthere's a camera right here next
to my head just taking picturesof me, yeah, yeah, so I just

(49:07):
took a picture of the camera,you know and send it all.
Yeah, you know and like andthey're like don't cut it down,
leave it up, we'll come and doit.
I'm like, all right, cool, andum.
So I didn't see them, then Ijust left.
You know, I I've been hikingall day.
I hiked back out and like twoweeks later I I'm hiking back in
there and I was like, you know,I'm going to go see if they did
something about the feeder.

(49:29):
Yeah, but I'm going to come infrom the back route.
I'm going to come in adifferent direction because I
haven't seen this area yet and Iwant to.
So I go in and I get up to thisbayou and I have to cross.
It's about four and a half feetof water deep, but a long value
to cross over to where I am.
And when I go to cross overthere, that where this feeder is
supposed to be is around theother side.

(49:50):
And I go to cross over and Ilook up and there's a dude
standing there.
And so right away I'm like,okay, it's weird that there's
somebody else out here, becausenobody else is ever out here
when I'm out here.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
And he's standing there.
And he's standing in the middleof the trail that leads up to
this feeder and he's in betweenme and the feeder and he's just
standing there and he doesn'tsay a word.
And I'm like, hey, dude, what'sup?
And he's just like, doesn't sayanything, he's just standing
there.
Yeah, I was like what you doing, what do you say?

(50:24):
Yeah, howdy.
Yeah, the whole time I'm doingthis, I'm like, okay, obviously
this guy is not happy.
I'm here, but I haven't quiteput together what's going on,
but I didn't bring my gun.
I don't have a handgun.
I going on, um, but it's, Ididn't bring my gun.
You know, I don't have ahandgun.
I'm like I'm just here, um,yeah, and I can see behind him.
He's got a four-wheeler with atrailer and a bunch of corn on
this trailer wow, all the wayout in.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
This is the swampy stuff too yeah, but they'd come
in through.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
There's this bit of marsh that's private land right
next to this.
And um, later he said the firstthing he does I'm like what are
you doing?
Goes, we have permission tohunt on this marsh.
And I said we're not in themarsh, the marsh is 300 yards.
That way he goes yeah, I know,but we have permission to hunt
over here.
We're hunting hogs.
So immediately I'm like okay,they came in through the marsh,

(51:10):
yeah that makes sense.
There's feeders up over there onprivate land.
I I've wandered over there andseen it and I'm like, oh, I'm on
private land and I get off, soI know where he's at.
And immediately in my head Iclick and I go oh, these guys
are the ones who hung thisfeeder here.
They've just edged into thepublic land and they're about
300, 400 yards in the publicland.
They're feeding on the publicland and so I'm talking to him.

(51:34):
I was like, okay, that's cool.
I was like, okay, that's cool.
I was like, but this isn't themarsh and he goes.
I know, but we're hunting hogsand he's got one of the dog
collar clickers, you know andI'd heard his dogs running all
over when I was around, um.
So I'm like all right thenthat's what?
probably why he has the rifle,you know, and his buddies around
the corner, because he keepsleaning back and saying
something to his buddy, um, butI can't hear what his buddy's

(51:55):
saying yeah and, and so I'mstanding on the other side of
the sink and the area I want toscout after this feeder is
across this bayou by him andthen to the right down this path
.
And so I told him.
I was like well, andimmediately I'm like OK, I'm in
trouble.
And he's looking at me and Iremember he has pictures of me
from a week ago taking picturesof all his stuff, yeah, and I'm

(52:20):
like this is a tense situation,yeah, I'm in trouble, and uh.
So I was like well, I was gonnacross right here and he goes
it's too deep for you to cross.
And I said, no, it's not.
I, I've crossed here before.
Um, I said, but I'm gonna gothe other way, away from you
guys.
Yeah, you cool with that.

(52:40):
He's like sure, I was like okay, then I'm going to cross now.
So I start wandering into thisby you and it's like up to my
waist, you know, and I finally Iget across the by you and I'm
standing right next to him and Iwas like so I'm going to go the
other way, is that cool?
And he goes, that's fine.
I said okay, and I turnedaround and I started walking

(53:03):
through the trees and for likethe next 45 minutes.
I'm like God, please don't letthem come shoot me.
My family will never find me.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Feed you to the gators and the hogs.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
Yeah, I would just disappear.
And I finally got far enough.
Down there's all this deermovement, you know, and I'm
looking at all this stuff and Iloop all the way around Like I
added an extra two hours to myhike all the way around them and
got out and immediately Itexted my wife.
I was like I'm going todownload a tracker on my phone.
So, you know, there's no reasonto be afraid.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
Yeah, no reason, just an idea I had but uh, but it
was.

Speaker 2 (53:42):
that's the one moment that I was in the woods I was
like I'm not safe, right now.
You know, like it's, uh, Idon't know it's.
You just don't ever want to runinto somebody breaking the law
in an area where there's nowitnesses.
You know.

Speaker 1 (53:56):
And like.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
But I've been back there since then and they cut
the feet, the game wardens thatcome and cut the feeder down on
stuff I planted on Hutton rightthere this season Nice.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
It's a great spot.
Yeah, there's deer everywhere.
I've been in bed for a while,so it would be a shame to waste
it.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
But yeah, so it's.
You know it's.
If you're in the off season andyou run into people in the
woods where I'm at, chances areyou don't want to.
Yeah.
Yeah, and I believe that it'sprobably not a group of people
that you want to meet.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
I've never run into any poachers, but I have been in
a group when I hunted Hawaii,which was actually a year ago,
like this week you can see myaccess to your hide right there,
yeah, week, you see my accessto your hide right there.
Um, the uh, one of thegentlemen, the guy who organized
the whole thing, was sittingthere and is blind, and three
guys walked by barefoot and likewe're on private land, like
everything.
There's private land, there'sno public land, everything's.
So we're on private and we knowthat we're the only ones hunting

(54:51):
this land, and so, and then hesees three guys walk by with
rifles.
He was just like like I'm goingto hide.
He just ducked down.
It's a funny visual for me,because this guy would go out
into the Hawaiian brush with agallon of milk and just sit
there in his blind and drinkmilk.
I imagine him just hiding withhis milk, isn't it?

(55:12):
I don't know, man, he justdrinks it quick enough, I don't
know, but he would just drinkmilk all day and he would send
photos to.
Well, no, there's.
I mean, it's not a real blind,it's like a brush blind right so
it's just just open, basicallywith a couple branches.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
I just imagine the farts coming out of that brush.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Blind have got to be horrible with the amount of milk
that man's drinking maybe,maybe, either way we, we texted
the guy who, like, was managingthe property.
We hey, three guys just walkedby with guns.
And the question that he askedwe still don't know but why he
asked it he's like were theywearing shoes?
And we're like we weren'tlooking.
I guess maybe, but that was thefirst thing that the land

(55:50):
manager asked was did they haveshoes on?

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Yeah, that means it's got to be a reoccurring problem
he's having you know.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
Yeah, yeah, it's got to be a reoccurring problem he's
having.
Yeah, either way.
But yeah, fortunately for me,I've never had to deal with
poachers, but I imagine it beinga pretty uncomfortable
situation.
I'm trying to get this one guyI think his name is Charles
Beatty, he calls himself.
He's like the self-proclaimedking of poaching Texas guy.
Oh, he's got a book.
Yeah, he's got, I think, twobooks at this point.

(56:19):
Um, older gentlemen, I've hadhim scheduled several times but
then his AC goes out and he, Ithink he lives in a trailer and
so he's like I can't do it, orhis computer dies.
That's Southern living buddy,yep, so I'm trying to get him on
, not that I encourage poachingby any means, but I I just
imagine that guy has to have themost interesting story.

Speaker 2 (56:33):
Have you read any of his books?

Speaker 1 (56:34):
I have not no no I try and come into these
interviews like not knowing whatI'm getting into, so it's like
fun every time.
I'm trying not to dive into toomuch of that, but I'll get him
on at some point, yeah he's ahe'll be a fascinating guest um
yeah, but no yeah in the south.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
here poaching is a a thing you know.
Uh, it drives me nuts, but it'salmost like a way of life for a
certain group of people aroundhere and it's just common and so
it's a regular thing you runonto is people hunting land that
they shouldn't be hunting orpeople breaking the rules, and
the game wardens are always ontop of it.
And they should start paying mea salary, because the amount of

(57:11):
times I find stuff out there andI just text them like here it
is, I'm the only dude wanderingaround in the summer, so I just
like here it is.
I'm the only dude wanderingaround in the summer, so I just
find stuff.
But no, it's a thing.

Speaker 1 (57:22):
I believe it, man.
I know a couple of folks inTexas that they have these giant
properties.
Game board is never going toshow up, so they'll sometimes
harvest outside of season, whichis also perching.
So I understand it is a I don'tknow.
I don't want to call it alifestyle, but it's a thing.
It's a I don't know I don'twant to call it a lifestyle, but
it's a thing, it's a thing downthere.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
It's a cultural thing and it depends because it's a
hard divide.
There's a group of guys thatare poachers and then the rest
of us are like the reason wedon't have big deer down here is
because people are hunting themyear-round.
The reason we don't have bigdeer is because we're not
following the, not following thelimits you know and like, and
so that's why, like, a trophydeer down here is like 140

(58:01):
inches, 150 inches.
It's because, like, we justdon't.
And there's, the limits arethere.
For a reason you know and don'tget me wrong.
I would love to hunt you aroundbut but that's not hogs.

Speaker 1 (58:13):
You can technically, you got hogs hogs or something.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
We hunt you around, uh, and we do, and it's a good
time, it keeps you up, it keepsyou up on your bow, you know it
gives you something to shoot at,keeps you sharp.
Yeah, they make good Italiansausage.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
They do Good chorizo too.
But, Jonathan, you got any morestories for us?

Speaker 2 (58:28):
I know we've actually gotten a lot for three years so
I'm kind of impressed I do itso in the last three years I've
hunted apparently way more thanmost, but it's because my
schedule works and my churchknows like, in the mornings, in
the evenings, this is where I'mat.
On my days off, this is whereI'm at.

(58:48):
I mean, I got a few.
I got chased by a group of hogsin the woods the first season I
was hunting.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
Let's do that one and then.
I might have to wrap it up,because I've got to get to some
other stuff, but let's do thathog one and then tell the people
where they can find you, so goahead.

Speaker 2 (59:00):
Yeah, not a problem.
So the first season I'm hunting, I'm wandering in the woods and
I'm looking for something,anything.
I don't know what sign lookslike and I find what looks like
deer tracks.
Now I know the differencebetween hog tracks and deer
tracks, but I was like, oh mygosh, the biggest group of deer
I've ever seen just walksthrough here and they're digging

(59:22):
for something.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
Yeah, what are all these deer digging?

Speaker 2 (59:26):
yeah, I just following this trail, yeah, yeah
.
And as I'm following it, all ofa sudden, like I start hearing
stuff moving around in the woodsaround me, you know.
And so in my head I'm likewe're right on them.
Yeah, yeah, we're in it, dude.
Like this is what the videoslook like.
And so as I'm walking, like I'mhearing it, and they're moving,
and pretty soon it's more andmore, and pretty soon I realized

(59:47):
this isn't deer, yeah, it's a.
They're too loud, you know, andthey're everywhere Like they're
surrounding me.
And so once my head starts toclick into place, I'm like, oh,
I think I've run into a group ofhogs, you know, right about
that time I realize I'msurrounded by them and they're
moving.
They're like going through thewoods.

(01:00:07):
I can hear them on my left andmy right and they're running
around what time of day is this?

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
Midday morning evening?
It's probably about 10 am.

Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
Okay, but when the water rises, the hogs push to
different areas, you know.
So they can root, and so thewater is high and they've pushed
in, and so rises is going on.
I start to realize like, oh,I'm in trouble, yeah, like I'm
way out here and there's hogsall over, and like I don't know
what to do.
And at this point I didn'tcarry a handgun on me, I didn't
know you were supposed to.

(01:00:34):
Yeah, all I have is my bow, andso I was like, well, we're gonna
figure it out and so, uh, allof a sudden they start coming
through and I can hear themrunning up in front of me.
They're like grouping andcoming down this trail that's in
front of me, and so I knock anarrow on my bow and I draw and

(01:00:55):
I'm just waiting.
Yeah, I'm like the first hogthat comes out, I'm taking one
of them with me.
Yeah, so I'm just waiting, andpretty soon, all these hogs just
come running around the sceneand they're just running at me
and, um, and immediately I shotmy bow and ran at the same time.
Um, so I never you know, I'mreal brave until it's happening.

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
And then I'm like this is a mistake.

Speaker 2 (01:01:20):
I fired my arrow just somewhere, just into the sky,
for all I know, and I just tookoff running dude and I could
hear him running behind me andI'm just booking it and I don't
know how far I ran.
In my head it was a mile.

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
It was probably 70 yards.
You know it was a mile.

Speaker 2 (01:01:37):
It was probably 70 yards, you know, but I just run
and I run up to this tree and Ijust start kind of like
shimmying up this tree and theyran right underneath me and just
kept on running and I shimmydown and just went and finished
my hunt.
You know, that's crazy.
But it was this wild moment.
That's the first time Irealized like I used to make fun
of people when they'd be likethey show up in packs of 30, you

(01:01:59):
know, and I'm like whateverdude, and no, they straight up
do.

Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
Yeah, and I've been chased by hogs.
One time it wasn't reallychased, but it's a funny story.
So I'm hunting riverbeds inTexas and I park my truck on the
side, empty our shotguns,because we've got to kind of
like scramble up these rocks toget out of this river.
So our shotguns we're huntingwith double out buckshot are

(01:02:23):
empty.
And we get up and we look at mytruck and there's 20 hogs, like
basically on this highway, onthe side of the road, just
surrounding my truck.
And so I'm like I don't knowwhat to do, and my buddy's like
me either, and so we kind oftake a step forward.
They notice us and they startbluff charging, like two or
three of them at a time.
We'll just charge in.
I'm like, oh god, what do welike?
What like we're thinking aboutusing our shotguns as, like you

(01:02:43):
know, beat, beat down sticks, um.
So I'm like I don't know whatto do, like we can't shoot on
the highway.
So I call the game warden andI'm like, sir, uh, there's a
bunch of hogs, um, uh, can weshoot them?
And he's like, well, yeah, mean, shoot a hog.
And I'm like, okay, well,they're next to our truck, which
is right off the highway.
He's like, no, you can't shooton the highway.
I'm like, well, they'recharging us.
And he's like, oh, shoot them,son, shoot them.

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
And so he's like you can defend yourself.
That's fine.
Down here nobody would hold itIf a game war showed up.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
you'd be like we shoot them a little bit and got
in the back of the truck andthey hung around for a minute or
two and eventually scurried off.
But no hogs were harmed on thatparticular day, but it was a
pretty scary moment because theywere charging and there was
like 20 of them.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Well, and they're mean, they'll gore you I find
dogs all the time Hog dogswander up while you're in the
woods and they're just bleedingand you just kind like take them
somewhere and patch them up oryou try and find who owns them.

Speaker 1 (01:03:39):
Like they're mean yeah but they're crazy species,
man.
It's crazy that, like they'rebasically domestic pigs right,
there's nothing geneticallyevery now that you'll find one
with an ear tag.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
Yeah, and it'll be a little like somebody's pig got
out and they turn feral withinlike two weeks yeah, it's like
three months, they start growingtusks yeah they don't have them
on farms, but for somethingabout getting out there where
they're.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
Like I gotta defend myself like I'm just gonna grow
some teeth they grow tusks, theygrow hair thing.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
Yeah, it's crazy.
They can have like 10 babies ata time and they can do it like
every six months.
Yeah, yeah, like it's wild yeah, I've the.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
I've said this before on the podcast, but like I
remember hunting, rememberhunting Texas one time, turning
a corner and just being likewhat the hell happened here and
it just it looked like two feetof earth had been flipped upside
down for like a football field.

Speaker 2 (01:04:25):
Yeah, and I was like somebody irrigated a field.
You know the plant.

Speaker 1 (01:04:29):
And it's just hogs just rooting it up and that's
like this guy was like and I waslike deal, and then I didn't
see another hog.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
That's how it works.
Wait till two in the morning,they'll be there.
Yeah, we always take afive-gallon bucket full of deer
corn and you pour a whole bunchof water and Kool-Aid mix in
there and then you leave it inthe sun for a week and it'll
just sour.
It gets so gross and then we godump that in the woods and
they'll just show up, you know.
And then you shoot them off,the sour corn.

(01:04:58):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (01:04:59):
There you go.
There's a little recipe foreverybody.
We don't normally do recipes,but we got one today there you
go.

Speaker 2 (01:05:03):
Yeah, put it in your book.
It tastes horrible.
There you go All right,jonathan.

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
Well, man, this was fun.
This is a lot of fun, and I betthere's a lot of new hunters
that are really going to enjoyyour stories.
So thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:05:22):
Yeah, for new hunters out there.
Like just keep doing it.
You know like I might fail, Ijust learn and I do it different
next time.
But like what matters isgetting out there.
Like we're hunting we're havinga good time and if you're lucky
, you get something.
If not, you still get to spendyour day in the woods.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
Best lessons are self-taught man.
I was like why don't I justmove over there?
The deer's right over there.

Speaker 2 (01:05:43):
I mean, it's really difficult to figure it out, but
we did yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:05:47):
Well, let's do this, man.

Speaker 2 (01:05:57):
Why don't you share?
Um, my Instagram is Jonathanunderscore bottoms.
If you want to follow me, uh,it's always something.
You know, I have a millionhobbies so I do stuff like that.
Say, jonathan bottoms onFacebook.
If you're in the SoutheastTexas area, look up our church,
christian fellowshipchurch.
Uh, we're just good people.

Speaker 1 (01:06:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:15):
Living life serving God and if you're interested,
come and check us out.
We'd love to have you, you knowwe'll go hunt together.

Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
There we go, man.
I'll put links to everything inthe show notes.
Guys, if you're interested in anew church, if you're in the
area, I'd have you as my pastorman.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
That'd be fun.
Deer stories I tell because thechurch makes fun of me.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36):
but I saw uh, it was like a social media post a
preacher like in church, uh,preaching about something and
using his bow as the exampleyeah, I don't want to.

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
I try.
I get afraid of being corny.
If I'm not, you know if I'mdoing too many things, but like
we're here, you know and I'lltalk about hunting all day.
Show up at the church.
We'll do it, dude, there we goman.

Speaker 1 (01:06:58):
All man, all right, jonathan.
Well, this was fun, man.
I appreciate you.
Thanks again for reaching outand really thank you for sharing
the stories.
Those were great.

Speaker 2 (01:07:05):
Yeah, no problem man.

Speaker 1 (01:07:12):
All right, guys.
That's it.
Another couple stories in thebooks.
Again, I want to thank Jonathanfor coming on the podcast
sharing his stories, sharing hisfollies, sharing his fun.
It was super cool to hear thestories of the poachers and the
swamp, and it's just somethingthat I really have no experience
with, so it's super fun to hearthose stories.
So, jonathan, thank you againfor being brave enough to reach
out and say, hey, I've got somestories to tell, and then, of

(01:07:34):
course, for sharing your storieswith us.
As for you listeners, thank you, guys.
Again, I really do appreciateit.
I would love it if you couldreview the podcast on whatever
you're listening to.
I would really appreciate that.
Beyond that, if you could shareit with one person and, most
importantly, if you have somefun hunting stories, reach out
to me.
I'd love to hear them.
But that's it, guys.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Get out there and