Ep 148 / Brotherhood in the Woods: Hunting Tales Unleashed

This episode is all about sharing our most memorable hunting experiences, and let me tell you, we’ve got some stories that’ll have you laughing and reminiscing in no time. Squatch, Johnny, and I dive into the traditions that make hunting special, the bonds we’ve formed in the great outdoors, and what really defines a hunting memory. We reflect on everything from the thrill of the chase to those moments that solidify our brotherhood in the field. Whether it's a first buck or a hilarious mishap, we’re spilling the beans on what makes those hunts unforgettable. So grab your gear and settle in; you're in for a good time!

Gather 'round, folks, because tonight we’re diving deep into the wild world of hunting memories with Squatch, Johnny, and yours truly. We’re not just swapping stories; we're reminiscing about the heart and soul of our hunting traditions. From the thrill of the chase to the camaraderie built in the woods, this episode is all about what makes those hunting trips unforgettable. I share my own jaw-dropping encounter with a giant buck I affectionately dubbed 'Fish Hook.' It's not just about the size of the deer, but the adventure that led us there. You’ll hear how anticipation turned into sheer disbelief, and the emotional rollercoaster of finally getting that shot. We also tackle the significance of hunting rituals, like the first day of the season and the little superstitions we hold dear, like finding that lucky turkey feather—because hey, it’s all about the little things that make a big difference! It’s a laid-back chat filled with laughter, a few solid lessons, and a dash of heartfelt nostalgia. So, whether you’re a seasoned hunter or just curious about the brotherhood that comes with it, this episode is for you!

Takeaways:

• Hunting is not just about the kill; it's about the memories and experiences shared with friends and family.
• Our best hunting moments often arise from unexpected encounters and the bonds we build in the field.
• Traditions in hunting, like specific rituals or opening day practices, add depth to our experiences and connection to the sport.
• The camaraderie and brotherhood formed through shared hunting trips can create lifelong friendships and unforgettable stories.

Links referenced in this episode:

• [e-mail]
• whitetailadvantage.com
• instagram.com
• youtube.com
• facebook.com
• rackgetter.com
• phelpscalls.com
• northwestspurchasers.com

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome to the WhitetailAdvantage Podcast with.
Your host, Brett Bovin.
Thank you for tuning in andenjoy the show.
Yeah, we're all together onthe intro tonight.

(00:22):
Yeah.
What's going on everyone?
What is up everyone?
It is Sunday.
What's today's date?
April 27th.
Yeah, I'm drawing a blankright there.
Damn.
Episode 148.
Tonight we're just gonna behaving some fun laid back show talk.
Well, every show is laid back fun.

(00:43):
But tonight we're just gonnabe talking about some awesome.
Our best hunting memories thatwe've had throughout our hunting
career.
But first I'd like to say thatwe're not politically correct.
We do shows our 1010 ring news.
Thank you Johnny for that name.
Actually I love that.
10 times better thanhousekeeping notes.

(01:05):
After a few of these.
First things first, as younotice, we switched our time from
our live shows from 8:30 to 8.
Yay.
The reasons why.
You don't need to know why.
We just changed the times.
That's our business, not yours.
Just accept it and move the on.
Okay?
What we want, we do what wewant here.

(01:27):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Geez.
Thank you, Squatch.
Michael's commenting here.
In the questions he said, youjust can't get rid of me.
And I said, you're right.
I don't know what else to do.
I tried switching the timefrom 8:30 to 8 and you still found
us.
Mike.
Mike.
Mike's kind of like a hemorrhoid.
I mean, you know, you justalways know he's there.

(01:50):
You know, you always know he's there.
But look at him.
He's asking right now.
I want to know why.
I don't have to tell you.
Well, he did kill a turkey.
Yeah, I know that I did see that.
He did kill a turkey.
That is awesome.
I.
The rumor has it though, he.
He questioned it to death.
He didn't really shoot it.

(02:11):
Yes, he asked it like 60 times.
Have you ever eaten possum?
Are you sure you won't come on here?
Is it okay if I kill you now.
Flavor?
I see Flavors is here.
Hi Flavors.
How are you?
Flavors?
Justin in here as well.
Let me see the other news thatwe have here.

(02:33):
Oh, also on Instagram, when wedo all of our.
Our Facebook posts, ourInstagram, YouTube and everything.
Grant, I'm not the best ondoing it on Sundays, but Mondays
through whenever, if we make apost it's going to be at 8am or 8pm
we just.
So when everyone thinks ofWhitetail Advantage, something's

(02:53):
being posted roughly around8pm so just keep that in mind.
Also if you want to have ashout out us to shout out your name,
business, whatever the casemay be, send me an email brettboven@whitetail
advantage.com and we can worksomething out there as well.
Also we.
So we've been doing thisCanada trip where we do them, where

(03:16):
we do Canada through the Xmonths or whatever and having one
guest that comes on for theTuesday show.
However some had to cancel dueto some business things.
Anyways, we only have one twomore shows lined up with a Canadian
guest that's representing a province.
We're trying to get one more.

(03:37):
Haven't heard back yet fromthat guest so I don't know if we
will or not.
Other than that, some of ourTuesday show throughout this Canadian
period, we're just going tohave some, some of our good guests
that we know come back on the show.
Also we will be starting ourUSA trip around the clock around
Alaska, Alabama or somethinglike that starting June 17th.

(03:58):
I can't remember which one westart off with.
I think it's Alabama.
Alabama, baby comes before S.
That's right.
Yeah.
I'm not the best when it comesto the Alphabet because I just don't
give a.
Hey man, you got your grade 10.
You're all right.
Yeah, I got that.
And somehow I passed college.
Yeah.

(04:19):
So that's not hard.
I did.
Yeah.
Well, I got the dean's listone year and I, I felt pretty good
about that.
I majored in principal'soffice for like most of them, you
know, not much has changed.
I'm always in trouble doingsomething, so.
Yeah.

(04:39):
Yeah.
Well, how are you guys doing?
You guys have a good weekend?
I know I was busy this weekend.
Yes.
No.
Yeah, doing better over theslight little crappy cold I had and
allergy mixing.
That was with it.
So.
Feeling a little better.
I missed you guys the other,the other day when I didn't get on
the show, but I would havejust been sitting here hacking and

(05:00):
coughing and having to hit themute button every three seconds.
So.
It's okay.
You weren't missed.
Ah, I, I don't blame you.
I mean, I don't even missmyself half the time.
Whack.
Master.
Master.
That's more like it.
Well, you're feeling better though.
You sound better.

(05:21):
At least for the most part.
Got my radio voice back.
You're.
You're doing pretty good.
I got all that, that cruddywhite stuff out of there you said
I had in there.
Yeah.
All that white water.
Yeah, them swimmers, man, theyget stuck down in here sometimes.
But you know, a good hock tuaand it goes away.

(05:42):
Johnny, how about you?
I know you're gonna be goinghunting with your daughter soon.
Yeah, tomorrow after school.
We were.
We were going to go out, butthis weekend then hung out with the
kids.
We did a gymnastics eventSaturday morning, Hung out here Saturday
afternoon today.
We spent a lot of time at theparks and at an old school pinball

(06:04):
arcade in my hometown.
Oh, wow.
It was pretty cool to see my.
My two youngest just tearingit up on an old school pinball machine.
Yeah, that was a lot of fun, dude.
My son just gets into it,beats the out of it.
What was it?
My son, he loves this YouTubecharacter on.

(06:27):
His name's Handyman Hell.
And he'll just sit there andwatch him on YouTube.
And now the point where he'slike, just grabbing my hand where
I'm sitting down, he goes,let's go.
And just like pull me to go do something.
I'm like, listen here, you.
You can't tell me what to doon the Corona.
And next thing I know, I getup and I go do what he wants me to

(06:47):
go do.
Oh, yeah.
Look who really wears thepants in this household.
Sure ain't me.
Yeah, right.
We only asked you for the car keys.
Someday.
Yeah, that.
That's just gonna be the daywhere I just like, I have no idea
what's gonna happen that day.
Yeah.
I wonder what my parents feltlike when I asked to start getting

(07:08):
my license.
Well, I remember your mom waspretty nervous when I was over there
about me taking the car.
She's still nervous to this day.
You know, I hope littleBrett's okay.
He's such a.
He's such a bad driver.
I said, well, he'll be all right.
Don't worry.
Come closer, come closer.
It's all right.
Let me hold you.

(07:28):
Let me.
I'll, I'll.
I'll.
I'll cure those worries.
Don't worry.
It's.
It's gonna be all right.
Well, tonight we're justtalking about like our best hunting
stories.
Kind of like.
Like our best memories outthere in the woods.
Yeah.
We want to start off the show.
Who's got their bet?
Who's wants to share theirbest memory?

(07:49):
Well, which, which memories?
I mean, are we talking certainways of, you know, bow or rifle or
just your most.
Just the most memorable?
Kind of just your most memorable.
Your.
It can be your largest kill,you know, your largest harvest or
whatever it.
You what.

(08:09):
Whatever you believe is themost memorable moment for you out
in the woods.
I have mine, so I can.
I can go first if you guys want.
Hey, you go first.
I have to.
I'm gonna remove myself herereal quick.
I don't do something.
Get tear some kids here real fast.
Yeah, okay.
I'll jump right back on, brother.
All right.
Yeah.

(08:30):
Thank God.
Just stay off for the entirenight, I guess.
Maybe.
Thank God for children.
What's your favorite storythat you get?
My favorite story, besides myfirst kill with.
With my bow, was the one thatI got with my largest deer that I

(08:50):
named Fish Hook.
And the reason it means a lotto me, I mean, yes, it was my largest
deer.
He scored 144 and some change.
I can't remember.
Top of my head right now.
But it's the story kind ofwrapped around it, the whole thing,
that makes it like the bestmoment in my opinion.
And so when I get out to gohunting, I start losing my mind.

(09:15):
If I'm not in my tree standready to go by at least 3:45, 4:00.
If it's past 4:00, then Istart losing my freaking mind, man.
And I'm like, I don't like this.
And so we're.
My dad and I were walking outto our area.
We're talking about like,well, I'm gonna hunt here.
He's like, well, I don't wantto hunt there if you're gonna be

(09:36):
hunting over there.
I said it.
I don't give a.
Just go hunt over there.
Because it's November 3rdright now.
So it should tell you that.
So it's prime start of the rutbeginning to happen here and there.
And as we're walking out, wehear this giant deer right next to
the trail get up and just run off.
And we're like, what the was that?

(09:59):
It was huge.
Couldn't tell what if it was abuck or a doe, but I just knew that
that thing was massive.
It's the way it sounded.
Yeah.
So we're getting up into our stand.
It's about 4:15, 4:30 at the latest.
At this point, well, when Ifinally get all situated, so I don't
see much happening till about5 o'clock, 5:15, where the case may

(10:20):
be.
And I see this little fawn runfrom the east to the west.
And she came right underneathmy stand.
And then two little.
Little.
These little four pointerscome chasing after her.
And I'm like, man, I've neverseen a fawn like that or a doe that

(10:40):
young being chased by.
By.
By bucks I was like, that's afirst for me.
So about 15, 30 minutes later,roughly, I text my dad.
I was like, yeah, I had this capping.
This just ran through me.
And as I had my phone, I hearmore coming.
So I put in my pocket.

(11:01):
As I'm putting my.
My phone in my pocket, I hearit vibrate, like, ding, ding, ding,
ding.
Like, I just got a text message.
I'm like, ah, fuck.
I'll get to that later.
And this little.
This eight pointer came in.
I was like, ooh, that'd be anice one to shoot.
Well, let me take this backreal quick.
Back in October 18th orsomething like that.

(11:21):
I shot my biggest deer to dateat that time back in October.
And I had my photos of thisdeer called Fish hook that I really
wanted to get after the most.
So after I shot that.
That deer, I was like, yeah.
I'm like, I'm done.
I'm not shooting anything elseother than fish hook if I get the
chance.
Yeah.
So I already have one buck inthe tent in the freezer.

(11:42):
Now, my goal is after a fish hook.
That nice eight pointer came in.
I would have shot him easily,but I said, nope.
I set it my mind I'm notshooting another deer unless it's
Fish Hook.
And that eight pointer came through.
I look back up, I hearsomething else, and all I see is
an ass and some antlers rightby this tree.

(12:05):
That's all I could see.
And I'm like, oh, that.
That looks like a nice buck.
Yeah.
And it.
It came from the east.
It's facing me.
Then it starts turning southand walks right in front of me.
And sure, it's Fish Hook.
And I'll preface it this way.
I saw a photo of him September 1st.

(12:26):
That was my first time seeing him.
Never saw him again up untilthis point.
So I'm thinking he's gonedead, whatever the case may be.
So I'm bricks.
When I see this deer justright out there in front of me, I'm
like, oh, my God, Yay.
Yeah, it's him.
And then as I'm just more inshock of, like, holy.

(12:46):
I just see this giant deer now.
I went into, like, threedifferent modes, like, all in one.
So went from yay to all right,don't this up.
What do we need to do?
Make sure no screw clear this up.
Yeah, that composure is.
Is a main thing.
Boy, when you've got that buckyou've been watching, you got to
bring all those emotions, everything.

(13:06):
Slow motion.
Think about what you're gonnado, and you know, carry on, man.
Yeah, yeah, it was full game modes.
Went like I switched intothree different game modes.
It seemed like all in one second.
Yeah.
And then after that moment,I'm thinking, all right, after I'm
went through my happy phase tolet's not this up to, all right,

(13:28):
what do I need to do andactually kill this deer?
And so I'm thinking, allright, if he comes this way, when
am I going to get?
At this point, he's eyeing methe entire time.
He won't take his eyes off me,but he's moving across.
He finally gets to this pointbehind a tree that's about 10 yards
right in front of me.
So I instantly grabbed my bowbecause it was right there.

(13:49):
So I instantly grabbed it andI drew back, thinking, all right,
if you take a step that way, Iwant to get you right past that,
that, that tree.
Right.
However he.
The way he angled orsomething, whatever that happened,
I can't exactly remember, butI couldn't get the shot right there.
Then he kept going a littlebit more, and now he's like more

(14:10):
and more west, and he's moreand more turning out of my angling.
And as I'm tracking him, Isaid it, if I don't get him here,
I'm not going to get him at all.
However, when I.
As I'm getting close to mypoint where I'm actually going to
take the shot at him, my.
My bow riser, my limbs, Imean, was hit my bow hanger.

(14:34):
So I had a squat down.
Like, I've never practicedthis before in my life, but something
it just told me, get down and shoot.
I shot.
He went about 5 to 7 yards upin front of me.
After I shot him, I'mthinking, well, did I miss him?
Because I pegged him at 20, 22yards, and I just aimed a little
bit higher to be on the safe side.

(14:55):
And thinking that that was aperfect shot.
I don't think I missed.
And sure as he's standingthere and all of a sudden he's starts
falling down, and then he hitsthe ground.
Well, then I saw his head.
This forever will always beimprinted in my mind of him grasping
for air.

(15:16):
Yeah.
As his head is falling to the ground.
I've seen deer.
Hi, Johnny, I'm back.
I've seen deer die, like outin the field, but I never saw this,
right.
And he's dead.
He's right there in front of me.
After that, I remember when myphone went off, when I put in my

(15:37):
pocket.
Yeah.
I looked at my text message,it was my dad, and he said, monster
deer headed your way.
Yeah.
And I'm like, oh, because mydad's hunting 200 yards to the east
of me.
Yeah.
And I mean to the west of me.
I'm sorry.
And I call him up, and I said,I just shot Fish hook.

(15:57):
That was that monster deerthat you just shot.
And he goes, no, you didn't.
You're with me.
Listen there.
I said, no, I'm not.
He's alive right there infront of me.
And he goes, no, you're not.
I'm like, I'm serious.
And he goes, what do you wantto do?
I'm like, well, usually I liketo wait, but he's dead, so we can
do what we want, basically.
So he said, all right, let'sget down.
Let's meet up at this point.
We'll get there.

(16:18):
So we meet up, and then we'reasking, like, well, what do you want
to do?
You want to go to the houseand drop off our and come back?
Or you want to go see him nowand then come do it however you want?
What do you want to do?
I said, screw it.
Let's just go back there.
I'll see him right there.
Because there's about 15minutes of light left.
It was just getting the dark.
As we're walking back inthere, and we're cresting this hill,

(16:40):
I hear four deer right in hisarea that he was.
He died at.
Just jump up and vanish andrun away.
And I'm.
My heart sank instantly.
Like, did he magically becomea zombie and get back up and live?
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
And I'm like, oh, wait, no,he's still there.

(17:02):
So it was a.
Then we see him, and we'rehugging out.
We're happy.
I can't believe I just shot mybiggest deer ever.
And the fact that I only sawone photo of him going into that
season was amazing.
And then.
So a little bit more backstoryabout this.
Like I said, my dad didn'twant to hunt in his stand because

(17:22):
that deer came right across him.
And when my dad heardsomething snap when he was hunting,
he looked down, and fish wasjust staring at him, and he couldn't
get a shot off.
And then once he could get ashot off, he was still eyeballing
him, but he couldn't movebecause it would jump him and scare
him.

(17:43):
Then he ran off into me, andthen I was able to harvest him.
And then I come to find out Ishot him in November, In December,
we're.
We're hanging out at myparents house and we're looking and
my wife catches.
Because my parents found acouple of pair of sheds the year
before and roughly about thesame area out in the cornfield where

(18:06):
I shot him.
And my wife was like, well,aren't those fish hook sheds?
I said, no, they're not.
And then I look at them like,no way.
These are fish hooks.
Ex.
Matching pair right there.
And we've had them for a year.
Not even knowing.
We just were happy that wefound a pair.
Yeah.

(18:27):
And because you're not goingto find a pair of balls between my
legs.
And so we're just amazed by that.
And then like a week laterafter that.
So I'm going through a twoyear old, two years old of camera
footage that was back in like2018 or something.

(18:49):
Like that fish hook I found.
The very first photo I saw ofhim again was in 2018, two years
before I shot him.
Yeah.
Right there in front of mystand in the exact same spot.
So it's just more of likeeverything that's running and everything
that I put the pieces togetherafter the fact of shooting him.
I was like, wow, I didn't knowthis or I didn't think, I didn't

(19:12):
see this happening.
Or I come to think that likeit's just all these things that happened
after the fact was just like, holy.
I had more experience withthis deer than I freaking thought.
Like he was always there and Ijust never really knew about it.
I'm thinking this was my firstyear seeing him and he's been here
for two to three years.
And then I text my name, I'mlike, do you have any photos of this

(19:33):
deer?
And the guy said, yeah, let me look.
And two days later he sends mea couple pictures of him and he goes,
yeah, here he is right therein front of our, one of our fields.
And I was just, man, I wasjust like holy, man.
That's to think that he wasthere and I wasn't even aware about
it.
That's kind of like how many, you.
Wonder how many times he waslike so close to you that you just

(19:55):
never knew it, never seen it.
Yeah, that's always wonderinglike, man, like I almost hunted that
day that I took that when Isaw that photo of him on Halloween.
I almost hunted that Halloween.
But I went to go do somethingelse with like the girlfriend, like
my wife girlfriend at the time.
We went to go do somethingbetter by that one.
Yeah.

(20:15):
So.
So we went to go do something,I think that Halloween, that's Why
I couldn't go and.
But I wanted to hunt at theHalloween because I knew it would
be a special night for it.
And sure it was, but I'm gladI didn't because it made fish look
a little bit bigger.
Well, that deer was definitelya homeboy because he hung around
there for a while for you.
So, you know, it's good.

(20:35):
You got an area that eventhough you do get some pressure,
that, that, that that buckstill hung out there.
So.
And you got a crack at him,which was good.
So.
Yeah.
And like, I.
The fact that, like, I neverpracticed that type of shop or like,
I always practice as manydifferent variations of shooting
positions, but I never thoughtto think to myself, let's squat and

(20:57):
shoot like this, because when the.
Am I ever going to need to do this?
Yeah.
And then that's when I startedthinking, all right, you gotta think
of more scenarios.
You got.
You can't just sit around, think.
You gotta think of all thesetype of different things.
Yep.
Now, do you.
Fuck you, Dave.
What'd you say?
Do you practice shooting like that?
So, like this weekend,shooting my bow.

(21:17):
I shoot from the kneeling.
Sitting down, sitting down,Indian style.
There's like all sorts ofdifferent sitting positions.
Shooting my bow, you guys, I just.
For that one scenario.
Yeah.
So I, I do train like, Ipractice a bunch of different scenarios
when I'm shooting, but nowthat I got a saddle, so I'm gonna
start shooting more out ofthat in different.

(21:38):
Different positions out ofthat now.
Yeah.
So practice primarily.
I.
I shoot standing.
I practice shooting my bow standing.
However, when I'm in my treestand, I sit.
I feel more comfortablesitting down, though, the entire
time.
Yeah, well, you.
You sit when you pee, so Imean, you know, it makes you feel
comfortable.

(22:00):
And that goes along with Psy Mobile's.
Dave's.
Here is coming.
His pronouns are fish hook andbutt plug.
Yeah.
That was the guy that you metat the Blue Oyster.
That was the fish hook.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Dave is ripping him at me whenI am.
He says, lol.
Practiced on his backposition, doggy style, missionary.

(22:22):
Dave's going ham right now.
He talks a lot of.
Talks a lot of when he's offthe show.
Right.
I didn't see this one.
Fish is actually a dude he metat the Blue Oyster.
Yeah.
Yep.
Freaking Dave.
Oh, we got.
I have not seen this one before.
This is a new one.
Minecraft from Minecraft time.

(22:43):
Hi.
Hi.
What is up?
Minecraft time.
Minecraft.
Yeah.
I haven't seen that.
That name sounds freaky.
Minecraft Time.
Did you see my messages beforein this thread?
Oh, about turkey hunting?
Yeah.
There's a reason why I'm notgoing to get into it on the show.
Who's that?
Michael again?

(23:03):
Yeah, Michael is making a jokethat I bailed on hunting this morning.
Yeah, yeah, it's okay.
And hey, actually I was gonnashoot the freaking gun to because
I didn't get the bow set up intime for turkey hunting because that
came around on me quick.
So Dave's gonna be letting meborrow his gun and I'm looking forward

(23:25):
to that.
Hopefully we can make it workeither this weekend or next weekend,
if not both.
Yeah.
And I don't know what it is,but like all last week, I swear I
got something like dirt in myeye, in my whole bottom of my eye.
It's already screwed up, butit made it worse.
Even with that extra lid.
Yeah, I know.
Yeah.
How the hell do you get dirtin that eye with that extra lid?

(23:47):
There's.
I got dirt.
I got dirt on the under part,so it was swollen on the bottom of
it.
So my.
So my eyelid on the topalready sags down.
So imagine with this swollenbottom lid I basically couldn't see
on my eye worth of.
Have you ever thought aboutmaybe just getting skin added to
the other eye to make them equal?

(24:09):
No.
My plan is to do like aforeskin operation and chop someone's
skin up on the eye.
You think they'll let you keep it?
Do you think they'll let youkeep it?
I.
I hope.
That'd be kind of sick.
That'd be awesome, man.
Like your kids, friends comeover, you're like, hey, you want
to see his skin off my eye?
Here, you show it to him, It'll.
Be like, ah, I don't run outof the house.

(24:30):
No.
When my daughter's boyfriendcomes home, you're like, hey, you
want to know something?
This is why I stole from my exboyfriend because he pissed me off.
Now try and test me this time.
Minecraft commented a loading.
Yeah, that's actually myoldest who's watching the show right
now.
Yeah.
Oh, really?

(24:51):
Yeah.
Okay.
Wow.
You've got like children allover the place.
No kidding.
Piercing with extra foreskinwill help keep them off the side.
It also doubles as a rain.
Rain Parker.
This is cool.
I haven't seen this name before.
Nighthawk John.

(25:11):
Let's see the hand.
That hand tattoo.
I've got that one right there.
And that's my newest one right there.
The warhead.
Warhead Arrow company.
So yeah, I hope Jason's payingyour royalties.
And something just walked there.
You just had, like, ghosts gopast him.
I seen ghosts.

(25:32):
Yeah.
Yeah.
All right, so who.
Who wants to go next with theold hunting stories here?
I might as well hear.
So, yeah, my favorite huntingstory doesn't involve anything that
I.
I killed the deer with or Ididn't kill the deer.
My daughter Hannah, my oldest,she actually has the show on right

(25:56):
now.
She.
When she was four years old, Itook her out for the liberty hunt
or the youth hunt.
And we had just moved back from.
I just retired from army.
I just got up back up toMichigan, and I took her out for
a hunt.
And Nighthawk John has a kidin water.
Nope.

(26:16):
But no.
So I take her out hunting.
It's her first year.
She's 4 years old.
And I had an 870 Magnum, andthat's what I was going to use.
And I had her sitting in the chair.
We had a little ground blindset up, and this giant dough came
out of nowhere.
And I was like, I'm like,tapping her.
I'm like, hannah, Hannah.

(26:37):
But there's.
There's a deer right there.
She's like, yep.
I'm like, do you want to shoot it?
She's like, no.
And I'm like, are you sure?
Because that's a really nicesized dough.
She's like, no.
Like, not even phase.
Like, yeah, that's a deer.
Cool.
So, nope.
And then it.
That dough, like, just runs off.
And I'm looking.
I'm looking in this nice sevenpoint comes out, and she's like,

(26:57):
I want that one.
I'm like, that's my girl.
All right.
Four years old, dude.
I have the 870 and a lead sled.
All right, Just.
All you gotta do is put thecrosshairs right behind the shoulder,
just like I showed you, dude.
One shot, she hits that butt.
That butt, front end justdrops and dozes, right?
That deer's not even, like, onthe ground yet.

(27:20):
And she's already out the backof the blind, like, running up to
it.
I'm like.
All the chaos.
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
Like, hold on.
I'm like, grabbing her,watching the deer, see where it goes.
Man, that thing made it likemaybe 12, 13 yards and just dead,
dude.
She was out there on top ofit, just so excited.

(27:40):
Get it to bed now.
Yeah, Morgan, bed.
There she is, the ghost.
Go to bed.
Go to bed, Morgan.
Go to bed.
Kids.
You know, my daughter, not tocut you off, but my daughter, I tell
her it's bedtime, and she's Swell, the sun is still out.

(28:01):
It's light time.
I said, yes, but this isn'tthe fall anymore.
It's 8:00, 9:00 at night.
It's time for bed.
She hates then she always say,well daddy, the, the sun is still
out.
Oh absolutely, yeah.
And with, with it being solight out, it's just like, all right,

(28:22):
you know, 7:30 bedtime.
Are we actually getting readyfor bed?
It's like, man, there's stilllike four hours of daylight left.
But yeah, it sucks so bad.
Nice.
But yeah, that, that's gettingout there and watching my 4 year
old daughter drop a buck.
And more importantly, shepassed up a doe to drop a buck.
And then we, we've gone outhunting pretty much every year at

(28:44):
least a couple times since then.
And last year she was like,dad, can I hunt on my own?
And she was 12 and I was like,well, yeah, I guess so.
I was teaching her how to usea climber.
She got like six feet off theground and she's like, this is good.
I'm like, all right, cool.
She had her crossbow up thereand everything and dude, I couldn't

(29:07):
do it.
I had to.
Like, I was hunting likeprobably like 20 yards away.
Just like watching her andshe's sitting there, it's like perfect
hunter.
I just quiet little movements,just watching everything like, man,
that is awesome.
And of course I'm just awreck, like watching her, I'm like,
what is she doing?
What is she doing?
But no, it's really cool to beable to raise, you know, a daughter

(29:31):
who's really into hunting and fishing.
And I'm fortunate enough tohave two daughters who are both huge
into hunting and fishing.
My oldest is going to be 13,my youngest daughter's just turned
8.
So it's a lot of fun, man.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm looking forward to the daywhere however, my daughter right
now, she doesn't eat anything.

(29:54):
So she'll only eat like cerealand toast and like Mac and cheese
maybe.
So getting her to eat food ishard, but yet my parents can make
her try Guatemala and all thisother that I don't even want to eat.
And she'll.
So she'll try new shit forthem, but not for me.
Anyways, every time I get thedeer or I see deer out in the yard,

(30:16):
like, oh, you got like sixmore months, you got five more months,
you got four more months left.
And then it's game on.
And she goes, no, you can'tshoot my deer.
They're my Friends.
Yeah.
And then I'll bring the deerup and like from the hunting woods.
Because I'm not going to huntthe deer here in my backyard.
That's just cheating.
But I'm hoping I get here inthe woods.
I think I will.

(30:36):
If not, I see her more as afisherman if anything.
And I hope she gets in the bowhunting or crossbow hunting, don't
get me wrong.
But I'm not going to push anything.
I don't think I wouldn't dothat anybody.
But I'm going to force them to.
At least they got to try itmore than once to see if they really
like it or don't like it.
Because that one time you do,you're not really gonna try know

(30:56):
if you really like it or notlike it after the first try.
In my opinion, you gotta atleast try it for like a couple times.
But I'm looking forward to.
I know.
I have a feeling my son willdo it because that dude, I can't
get him outside.
Like, I mean, I can't get himto come inside when we're time to
get ready for dinner and stufflike that.
He will just die outside.

(31:17):
Like he needs to be outsideall the time like me.
So he's gonna be anoutdoorsman like me.
I can see it, dude.
My son will dig a hole and layin it and be just as content as can
be and just loves it.
Michael wants me to dosomething for him, so I'm gonna do
it.
So I'm gonna want it.
But I'm a nice guy, I'm asmart ass guy, but I'll do it.

(31:40):
So Michael got his.
I think this was his first year.
Right Michael?
I think this was his first.
I think it was buck.
His first buck, I think.
Yeah.
I knew it was first something, but.
He got it back.
Yeah, it's sent to ataxidermist and it's.
Yep, his first buck.
I knew his first something andI can't load up on here, but let

(32:02):
me show it from my phone here.
Very nice.
Yep.
Yeah, that's the one he got mounted.
Yep.
Cool.
When I saw it first, I wasthinking, thinking Rudolph, red nose
reindeer.
I thought it was a talkingdeer from.
From Walmart.
You know the one you put topush the button.
Yeah, I was thinking aboutthat just because the photo, the
way it was positioned.

(32:22):
Yeah, no, that's amazing.
Yeah, that's.
I got mine my first deer.
We did a European one on myfirst deer.
What'd you guys do for yours?
Oh, first buck.
My first year wasn't Buck.
I just.
I did a cap on mine.
Oh, yeah.

(32:43):
Skull cap.
And did that.
And then I did that for thefirst few.
I don't have any Euro mounts.
And then, I mean, I got skullcaps all over the place.
And then my bid buck I got.
Two years ago, I got fullshoulder mount.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I.
I love European mounts.

(33:05):
So the only time that I willdo, like, a shoulder mount is if
it, like, scores a certainpoint over.
Like, I won't.
I might do.
I don't know if I'll ever doit, like, for a button buck or a
spike buck, I might do it.
But I just.
I love European ones.
I love the look of them.
I just think they're freaking badass.

(33:26):
That's just my opinion on itand at least on how I'm gonna operate,
mainly for the most part.
They're not as big a dustcollector in the house either.
I mean, I got the big boy overthere and got the other big guy downstairs,
and I got another small eightover on the wall over here.
But you can.
I'll get out of the way.
You can see the two European.
Those were two mountain bucksthat I shot.

(33:48):
That's the ones that are inthat picture from the intro.
They were in the back of mytruck with my dogs.
Is that a basketball?
No, this is a hat.
It's just two hats sitting on it.
Oh.
Because the way it was positioned.
Ah, it's.
It's two hats on top of eachother on my reload bench.

(34:08):
But just like you.
Like two guys on top of you.
Hey, listen, three's even better.
You know, the older I get, youknow, it is what it is anymore.
So, you know, you'll find outwhen we go camping soon enough.
Now, are you.
Are you coming down for theIndiana trip, Squatch?
I'm gonna try, brother.
I hope I can, right?
Get all this together and getout there.

(34:29):
I really want to go.
We leave the 10th.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm gonna try.
I'm hoping everything fallsinto place.
I can get everything together.
I mean, it's.
It's a little bit of a drive,but, you know, we'll see.
I gotta get.
Get out with the camper yet.
The.
The places that I want to goaren't open yet.

(34:49):
They don't open till themiddle of May, so, you know, trying,
but.
Yeah, you know, I want to beused to having that thing and how
everything works and all that.
But I'll figure it out quick.
I figure out stuff fastanyway, so.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
But.
So what's your story?
There's so many man.
I mean, it's hard to pick.

(35:10):
It really is becauseeverything's memorable about hunting.
I've told a few.
I think it wasn't too long agoI told you to the miracle buck that
came back, that was.
Yeah, he told us that story.
That was a great story.
That story with the, with thebuck coming back and you know how
God works miracles with that.
I mean, I'm an old man.
There's.

(35:30):
There's a lot that's happenedto me in my life as far as super
memorable hunts.
There's just so many, I mean,incredible things that I've seen
and done.
I mean, it's hard to pick oneman, but.
Okay, I have a question foryou then.
Scratch.
Yeah, what is that one hunt orthat one event where you, you could

(35:53):
never live down?
So, for instance, right, Istarted bow hunting and I'm.
I'm practicing with my bow andeverything like that.
I'm feeling pretty confident.
My very first hunt, like, Ihave a spot where I hunt.
It's like a no skill kill.
It's a horse pasture.
There's always deer.
It was like, oh, it's gonna bea great spot for me just to go out
and shoot a deer, right?

(36:15):
Yeah.
And I get out there and thelady's like, you can shoot all the
does you want, just no bucks.
I'm like, okay, no problem.
Now this.
I'm at this point, I wasprobably 31.
I'd never killed a deer withmy bow, right?
So I go out there and I'mwalking on the side of this woods

(36:36):
along this mowed path.
I mean, there's houses all around.
And this beautiful eight pointjust comes walking right out, right?
I'm like, oh, oh, I know.
She said not to shoot a botba.
This is a gorgeous deer.
So, dude, I had my quiver fullof arrows.
I think I had six arrows.
First drawback, first arrowright over the top.

(36:57):
Not even right over, likethree feet over.
Oh, man.
I dropped down another arrowright over another arrow, right over
my fourth arrow under, fiftharrow under.
I'm like, oh, my.
And the deer is just standingthere, like he may have been 25,
maybe 30 yards max.
Dude, I'm using every singlepin on my site.

(37:19):
I'm just like shaking and nervous.
Every single arrow I shotmissed it completely.
Like, not even close to it.
And I'm sitting under the.
Like I'm standing underneaththe tree, like using that for cover.
And I'm like, I have no arrowsand I have to walk out There, dude.
I walk out to probably, like,maybe 15 yards from the steer, and

(37:40):
it just walks off.
Like, I.
I was laughing to myself.
I'm like, this deer wasprobably suicidal.
He just, like, saw a hunterand wanted to end it.
But, yeah, every single shot Itook was either they're way over
or way under.
And I was just like, oh, my God.
Like, I was so.
I was laughing at myself formissing because I knew, like, I would

(38:03):
never miss again.
Or if I'm gonna miss, I'm gonna.
There's going to be a reasonbehind it.
It's not going to be because Iwent all season or all preseason
without picking up a bow andshooting it.
So, I mean, I draw out there.
I shoot now constantly,Whether it's traditional longbow
reach or whatever.
I'm gonna go out there andshoot my bow.

(38:24):
Yeah.
Because I don't want that tohappen again.
That was like, one of mymemorable, like, funny.
Oh.
Moments right there.
Yeah, I think.
Oh, go ahead, Go ahead.
I just.
It's just kind of a quickquestion because something he said
reminded me.
I wanted to ask this.
Do you guys have a.
Like a tradition that you do?

(38:45):
I mean, we all have traditionsthat we generally do when it comes
to hunting, but when it comesto October 1st, is there something
that you have to do on thatday or something you do, like, as
a ritual type of deal?
Like, for instance, for me,October 1st, I always had to take
that completely day offbecause I want to hunt sun up to
sundown, or this year I can'tbecause I spent all my time into

(39:06):
our Indiana trip.
So this g be my first yearwhere I don't do that.
If I can find another daywhere I can cancel and do it on that
day, I'm going to do it.
So that's the first one I do.
The second one is I have tofind a turkey feather.
Turkey feather.
Either at one point, walkingin or out.
Yeah, I remember you saying that.

(39:27):
I just have a bad feeling.
I'm just not going to have thebest season.
Yeah.
But I have to hunt in that stand.
There's one stand inparticular that I'll do.
I don't give a whatever,because it's going to be 80 degrees,
most likely.
But every.
Every first day of the huntingseason, I'm going to sit in that
particular stand on thatparticular area of the.
Of the.
The.

(39:47):
The woods.
I don't give a if I seeanything or not.
That's just what I do.
And I have fun because it'sopening day and it's the best feeling.
I'm just happy I'm in my, inmy stand, being able to hunt.
If I don't get anything, don'tget me wrong, I'd love to shoot and
be done on the first day.
That's one of my dreams to do.
But I also love to enjoy thehunting season as it comes.

(40:08):
That's just, that's just whatI do.
That's just one of my things.
I, I always, when it's anopening day, whether it's bow or
rifle, all everybody who I'min contact with.
So like, you know, myInstagram people, you guys, my family,
close friends, I usually sayan opening day prayer.

(40:30):
Bless everybody first off, tobe safe and you know, to get their
trophies, what they're after.
It's just something I feelobligated to do because it just kind
of, I think when somebodyreads that maybe you're just sitting
there out in the dark and thattext pops up, it just grounds you,
you know, it just, it justmakes you sit and think for a second,

(40:50):
go, huh.
That's pretty cool.
Somebody's thinking about meand hoping for my good fortune, you
know, not just, you know, hey,you know, good luck, you know, it's
more personal, I think.
I think, you know, it's, it'sa good thing to do and I try to always
make it a habit.
I mean, when we had our tightknit hunting group, you know, his

(41:11):
uncle and my good buddy nextdoor and my cousin and my brother
and everybody and my dad, ifwe went out, I mean we just did that
group circle prayer and then,you know, we hit the woods.
That was like a, it's an oldtradition and now that that circle's
opened up a little bit andpeople aren't that close by anymore
or we don't hunt togetheranymore as much, you know, I still

(41:32):
make that circle, but it's a,it's a huge circle now.
It's, it's everybody that Icome in contact with and, and you
know, it's just one of those things.
I, I, I just feel like I gotto do it, you know, It's, I think
if I, if I pray for people andI, I treat people with respect in
the way that, you know,you're, you're hoping that they do

(41:52):
well, I think everything, youknow, will come back on you too,
you know, so.
Thanks.
I like that a lot.
I really like that a lot.
Thanks man.
I am, I'm an all day guy.
I usually hit the woodsopening morning at like 4, so like
way, way earlier than is needed.

(42:12):
So I'll get to the stand, youknow, I'll saddle it to the tree.
And I sit from sun up to sundown.
I have a backpack with me.
I have a.
Actually a folded flag with methat I always carry on all my hunts.
Doesn't matter if it's myfirst, last, or middle of the season
hunt.
And then I usually have aboutseven or eight rip its the energy

(42:36):
drinks and that's about it.
Maybe some trail mix.
Other than that, that is.
That's all I do.
And I will sit there and allday, like knock it out from the tree.
Last year I took out two of mybuddies that have never really hunted
like that before.
On opening day, I remember youdoing that at noon.

(42:58):
They're like, can we go eat?
You didn't bring anything?
Oh, no.
I'm like, you didn't know about.
My keys are in my truck.
You can go take it.
Well, we don't know how to getout of here.
I don't care.
I'm sitting in the tree andyeah, like, that's my deal.
I'll sit all day.
And like you said, Brett, itwill be 85, 90 degrees here, humid.

(43:21):
And you know, like if you puta shot on a deer, you now have like
an hour to get it before itstarts floating because it's so damn
hot.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's so thick at that time.
But I mean, you're better offnot shooting a deer opening day just
because it's so damn hot.
But I'm out there from sun upto sundown and usually the first

(43:44):
couple days I am.
Yeah, I do my best where I'mat pto, I do it at least on that
one.
And you can shoot a deer onthat first day unless you got.
You have ice prepared andthrow ice in them.
And I know that's a big topic.
I know we're going to talkabout that on a later show where
watering down your deer rightaway is a good or a bad thing.

(44:05):
Shoving ice in them and thisand that.
I know people talk about that.
However, that's just one thingthat I do and.
But Yeah, I think October 1stmeans a lot and I'm just looking
forward to.
I mean, we're.
I have a countdown.
It recycles every year on myphone and let me see if I can find

(44:26):
it real quick because I liketo know exactly where is it?
I can't find it, John.
I can't find it on my phone.
I mean, there it is.
How many days we at?
That's where we at huntingseason here?
It is five months, three days,10 hours, 12 minutes, 48 seconds,

(44:50):
47 seconds, 46 seconds.
So yeah, we're basically atfive months away.
And the hunting season startsat least October 1st for us here
in Michigan.
You start October 1st though,right, Squatch?
Yeah, October 1st.
We start bow season out here.
But we do start hunting before that.

(45:11):
They have September earlyseason for bear here.
And you know, I do get out,try to go after the early bear stuff
and yeah, it's a lot of fun.
I, I, I do have a story.
Oh yeah?
What's your story?
Oh, no, I mean, I, I wastrying, you know, it's like you got
to go through the data banksand, you know, it's my, my RAM capacities

(45:34):
like, you know, full.
So can I.
Looks like.
Michael, can we ask thisAnswers this question.
I don't know it.
Real quick, he's asking, isthere a place you guys recommend
to buy turkey cows from?
Turkey calls from?
Yeah.
At your mom's house?
No, that's just the Double D.
Well.
Mike, Mike, I mean, I don'tknow what's going on with Lewis.

(45:55):
I mean, I, I don't know whathappened with his deal with his calls,
his high.
No, calls were really good.
I love them.
I'm going to use them againthis year.
Some good manufacturers tocheck out is Phelps.
They're helping that young manout with the disability.
Jagger there, he's hooked upwith Northwest Spur Chasers and Phelps

(46:18):
calls are a good made call.
Also a local guy out by you.
I'm on their pro staff withthem is Rat Getter Sense.
Fantastic diaphragm calls and stuff.
You can hit him up, but that'sjust a few, you know, to try out,
check out.
It's not so much how theysound, it's.

(46:38):
Or how you make them sound, Ishould say.
It's more or less the cadenceof what they're used to hearing in
a certain signal, the way it'sbroke down.
And it also has to do with thefrequency of that call, what that
Tom wants to hear.
Rack Getter.
You can find him right on Instagram.
Rack Getter Sense and lures.

(46:59):
For the audio version, Michaelasked, what is the one by me.
That's why Squatch said, racketter.
Yeah, so, yeah, but what'syour story?
So I'll take you back a bunchof years.
My good buddy Brian, his name,real name is Brian, but I have a
cousin Brian too.

(47:20):
So we all came up withnicknames for each other.
My Buddy Brian's like 6, 3.
About, I don't know, probably2, 25, 230.
He's a big old boy, Big Pollock.
And we call him the Silverbackbecause his knuckles dragged around,
you know.
So, guys, Air force, decoratedveteran, E8 master sergeant.

(47:45):
I think he's even, he mighteven be an E9 now.
He's getting ready to retire.
But I met him, he moved intothe house next door to us at my father's
house when I was 16.
And right away he said he wasfrom Buffalo, New York.
So he had moved down here.
He says, wow, there's a lot ofnice land down here.
You guys hunt?
I said, no, we don't hunt.
And I, I hunted.

(48:06):
I was like, not, I don't evenknow this guy.
I'm not taking him out with me.
So just to give you a littlebrief background, I don't want to
bore you to death, but longstory short, we became brothers,
you know, really good friends.
Hell of a nice guy.
We had each other's back, youknow, with everything that we did.
We started hunting together.
My family's property and acouple other places we used to go

(48:28):
to.
And being that I have NativeAmerican blood in me, he used to
call me the Indian outlaw.
And, you know, for reasons Ican't divulge too much on, on the
air, but, you know, I was theIndian outlaw.
And I was always very luckyout in the woods.
I, I, I'll still say to thisday I'm more lucky than I am good.

(48:48):
But we, we, we would come infrom hunting and we got into some,
some segers and sevens andwhatever the hell else we were drinking
the one night, and he says,that's it, damn it.
I want some of that Indian blood.
So he says, let's become blood brothers.
And his wife goes, are youguys serious?
You're gonna cut your fingersopen right now.

(49:08):
We're like, yup.
And she took pictures.
She's got pictures to document it.
And we shook hands on it.
And he says, now maybe I'll belucky like you because I got that
Indian blood in me too.
So I said, I hope so, man.
You know?
And still to this day, eventhough we don't see each other as
much as you know we did, we'restill really close, you know, it's,
you could pick up aconversation like we just saw each

(49:29):
other the day before.
So going back a bunch ofyears, I got in this one favorite
stand I called Squeaky.
It was in the swamp.
He went up further towards theorchard, and it was rifle season,
and I hit the rattle bag.
I did some grunt calls and Ihad this nine pointer come in on
a dead run.

(49:50):
And as he went by, I juststarted rattling shots off with my.35.
And I seen him stumble, heflipped over, he got up, he took
off.
I shot again, shot again.
And I was like, damn it, whydid I shoot at a running deer?
I should have stopped him, youknow, but you get in the moment and
I was young, you know, it'slike, well, this gun don't let me

(50:10):
down.
I'm sure I hit him pretty good.
So we didn't have cell phonesback then, so we were using this
cheap Radio Shack walkietalkies, you know, and it's like,
hey, what'd you get?
I'm like, dude, that buck cameand it was nine pointer.
He's like, oh, wow, cool.
Did you get him?
I said, I don't know, man.
Come down here.
He comes down and I see femurbone all over the ground and there's

(50:32):
just blood everywhere.
I'm like, oh my gosh, I had tokill him, you know?
So we start walking around theproperty and the deer jumps up, takes
off.
I'm like, oh no, here we go.
He's heading over.
Where I live, they have theadjoining property to my grandparents
is a paintball game place.
So they got like 300 acreswhere they play paintball war games

(50:55):
over there.
Well, they didn't get goingusually until about 9, 10 o'clock
in the morning because a lotof people drive up from the city
and, you know, they come tothis place to play war and take some
guys a while to get up hereand get going and then get them all
organized in the teams andwhatever and whatnot.
We helped them get into the town.
We used to store their stuffat our place.

(51:15):
So we were good friends whenthey were our neighbors.
They didn't have a problemwith me going in on the property.
Just they didn't want youthere when they were playing.
Well, where does Mr.
Nine Pointer decide to go?
Over there.
So I'm like, well, I'm goingto get my deer.
And he's like, yeah, I don'tblame you, man.
I said, well, they ain'tplaying yet.
So we walk up through thisthicket and that buck stands up and

(51:35):
I rattled two more shots outof him, out of my.35.
I see him list over.
He crashes.
He gets up and he's running.
I looked at my neighbor, I'mlike, dude, are these things made
of Kevlar or something?
Because I don't.
I Don't know how this deer'seven going.
There's blood everywhere.
You know, I'm killing them.
Well, all of a sudden, herecomes a guy on a quad flying over

(51:56):
the hill.
Hey, you guys can't be in here.
You were playing a thing.
I said, you know who I am?
And he looks.
He goes, oh, are you after adeer or something, man?
I'm like, yeah.
He's like, all right, man.
We'll keep the guys out of thefield for now.
I'm like, all right, thanks.
You know.
So my buddy looks at me.
He's like, jesus, doeseverybody know you?
I'm like, yeah, pretty much,you know?
I'm like, well, you know, they know.

(52:16):
They know us from helping him out.
So I said, we got a problem, man.
He goes, what?
I said, I ain't got no more bullets.
I only had five in the gun,and my backpack's up in the tree.
He goes, Well, I got my.270.
I'm like, well, you're gonnahave to shoot it.
So the deer is going southfrom where we were.

(52:38):
And it's funny, because theproperty that I take care of now,
that's where this buck is going.
And there's a lake right there.
So I hear a set of brakes slamon the.
On this.
On the road.
You know, you can hear thetires squealing.
And we just get out to the.
To the road, and this guy'sjust sitting there, and he's like,
hey, you guys chasing a big buck?

(52:58):
I'm like, yeah.
He goes, oh, he went down bythe lake.
I said, here, man, hold my gun.
I hand the guy my third.
I don't even know him.
Hold my gun.
I said, you're not going todrive off with it, are you?
He's like, no, I want to seehow this goes down.
I'm like, hold my gun.
I got to go in this thick.
So I told my buddy Brian, Isays, listen, I said, you go up through

(53:19):
the edge of the thicket.
I said, he's going to bed downin there.
I said, I'll work my way in there.
It's thick as hell and allthorny, but I'll get in and go in
there.
I said, if he comes out, Isaid, shoot him till he's dead.
All right, man.
Give me a couple minutes toget over there.
I was like, all right.
So we still had the walkie talkies.
So he goes, I'm here.

(53:40):
I'm here.
I said, all right, man.
I'm gonna start pushing.
Well, I got in there and Iheard all helly holy hell broke break
loose in the thicket.
And I saw the bed where thisbucket laid down.
It was full of blood.
So I said, he's coming.
He's coming.
I'm yelling to him.
I hear, boom.
Yeah, boom.
I'm like, boom.
Yeah, boom.

(54:00):
I'm like, what?
I'm calling Brian.
Did you get him?
Holy crap.
Holy crap.
He's going.
I said, what happened?
He goes, you ain't gonnabelieve this.
He said, he came out of thatthicket in front of you.
He said, he came up to me, andall I could see was the white patch
of his throat.
So he said, I shot him, and hewent right to the ground.
I said, oh.
And he goes, that's when Isaid, yeah.

(54:21):
Because he went down.
He stood back up.
I'm like, how?
It's a 270 at, like 50 yards.
He shot this deer.
And he shot him again.
And for the last time, he went down.
Dude, we walked over to that deer.
I blew his rear leg off with the.35.
I hit him two times up throughthe backside of the rib cage when

(54:42):
he was running away from me.
Blew out his liver, blew outhis stomach.
I blew out some of his lungs.
He shot him twice in the neckand finally killed him.
So.
Oh, man.
I'm like, we just.
We gave each other this bigbear hug.
I mean, we were just like, oh,my God.
And we had lost deer before,you know, over the years, him and

(55:03):
I hunting together, juststrange stuff just happened.
And we were like, finally,man, we didn't let this one get away.
We got him.
And he's like, I'm tellingyou, man.
See, you gave me that Indian blood.
We're lucky now.
We're lucky.
I'm like, yeah, man, you know,it must be.
Must be what the hell it is.
I said, you know, we just gotreally lucky on this one.
So, like, I always do.

(55:23):
I got down and I.
I did my Indian ritual over todeer, which I hold their face up,
I breathe in their spirit, andthen I blow their spirit back out.
And then I take the blood andI go underneath my eyes with it,
just like the Indians did.
And he's like, that's incredible.
I said, well, you knowsomething, man?
I said, that's your deer.
Oh, no, man.

(55:44):
I wouldn't do that to you.
I wouldn't do that to you.
I said, you're not doinganything to me.
I said, you finished them off.
You got the two last killshots in him.
I said, that buck is yours,and he's like, oh, man, are you sure?
Are you sure?
And I'm like, please.
You know it.
We worked on this together.
You're like a brother to me.
It'll be something for us toremember for the rest of our life

(56:04):
that when you look at thatdeer on the wall.
We got that deer together.
He's like, yeah, you're right.
He goes, I agree with you.
And he goes, besides, you gotthat buck over there.
He says, it's too small to putup next to that one.
I said.
I said, yeah.
He goes, it'll look better onmy wall anyway.
I said, yeah, I thought you'd.
I thought you'd see it my way,you know?

(56:25):
So he took it over.
We took it over to the taxidermist.
And, you know, the guy's like,jesus, man, you hit it twice in the
neck, I'm gonna have to stitchthis up.
I can fix it, though.
And he's like, all right.
And we told him the story, andhe's like, man, you guys got some
tough deer over there.
I said, yeah.
I said, I.
You know, you can't make thisstuff up.
Sometimes you just do the bestyou can.

(56:46):
And these guys go on, man.
They're incredible animals,but gives you just that more respect
for an animal that can endureso much pain.
I mean, there's nobody.
I don't care.
You could get the biggest,dude, you can find.
One shot, they're laying therekicking and screaming like a little
bitch.
They're not going to get up.
These deer endure.

(57:08):
I don't.
I don't know how they do it.
I really don't.
I mean, they're just.
They're strong animals.
It makes me want to pursuethem even more.
And, you know, you just.
It's things like that, youknow, when you.
You hesitate and you think,well, no, I'm not going to take that
shot, because I know howstrong they are.
I know what they can endure.
I want a quick, clean kill.

(57:28):
I mean, it's things.
From the time you're, youknow, 23, 24 years old, you know,
and you get up in your 50s,like me now, and you sit there and
you go.
You think about stuff harder,you know, you remember how things
went down in the past.
And don't get me wrong, thingsstill happen.
I mean, it's never not goingto happen, but just a cool, cool
story with good people.

(57:50):
He still got that buck up onhis wall, and, you know, like I said,
we're really tight.
He's.
He's a great guy.
He had bought a 223 from menew England firearm Break action.
It was one of the firstPredator guns that I had bought.
And then I had bought that 204that I still carry to this day.
And he just asked me a coupleof weeks back, he said, hey, do you

(58:12):
want to buy that gun back?
And I'm like, yeah.
I was like, I'll buy it back.
He goes, well, I'm using myson's.243 that he don't use.
So he goes, I really don'tneed the.223.
And I said, well, hey, man,you know, I don't even remember what
I charge you for that gun withthe scope.
I said, do you remember?
He goes, ah.
He goes, you're my brother.
He goes, just buy me a goodbottle of whiskey.

(58:34):
I was like, you sure?
He said, yeah.
So I go to the liquor place.
I get the biggest bottle of,you know, Knob Creek nine year I
can find there.
And, you know, I brought itover, and he handed me the gun, this
box of bullets, and he's like,you know, I said, you sure this is
enough?
And he's like, come on, bro,we're brothers.
You know.
He's like, I don't wantnothing from you.

(58:54):
And I'm like, oh, geez.
But that's, you know, when youtalk about a hunting story.
Hunting stories are hunting stories.
Yeah.
I killed an animal.
I stood over the animal, Icleaned the animal up, I got them
mounted, and I moved on to thenext season.
It's usually what people'sstories are.
When you've got a family,you've got the brotherhood of all
these people who you've donethis stuff with and the memories

(59:17):
about it.
That's.
That's a hunting story.
It's not, you know, it's not the.
It's not the what the trophythat you brought home.
It's the trophy and thememories and the adventures and the.
That you go through endoringus, and there's ups and downs.
It's.
It's never just a happy ending.
There's a lot of stuff that happens.

(59:37):
I mean, I sit there, I look at that.
35, and I go, God, I've beencarrying this gun a long time.
You know, my father bought itfor me when I was, like, 15 years
old, and I think of every inchof ground, the adventures that I've
had and what I've done and what.
What I've killed with thatgun, and I can't even put.

(59:58):
I can't put a number on theamount of deer I'VE killed over the
years with it.
But they're little things thatyou got to take in life, you know,
and you.
You guys.
I mean, the younger guys outthere, you can't grasp it right now.
But as you.
You start seeing the end ofthe rainbow when you get up in your
age and stuff, and you startseeing things happen and people that
you.

(01:00:18):
You knew pass away that were,you know, like your age now, and
you start seeing things close in.
Those things really make a lotof sense, and it really makes you
think about, you know, yourown mortality and how much time you
got left.
I mean, guys, I'm 50.
What am I gonna hunt?
Tom?
Maybe 75, 80 at the best, right?

(01:00:39):
I've already done my goodstuff, you.
Know, so that's like, not good enough.
But like, for Johnny, at leastfor me, having the kids now, yeah,
growing up, it was just.
I don't want to use the wordselfish, but it was like, yeah, it's
me now.
Now I focus on deer hunting and.
And getting the biggest deer possible.

(01:01:02):
Not seeing what my dad wasdoing for me of helping me get to
that spot where I'm at.
I mean, I saw what he wasdoing to help me get my bow around
and all those things comeabout it.
But now, as you mentioned, yousee things differently in a different
lens as you get older and progress.
Progress through hunting andhunting career.
Oh, yeah.
When I have my two kids now,I'm basically just biting my time

(01:01:25):
like, all right, I'm gonna getwhatever I can now.
Because when they get to theirage to where they can start hunting,
I'm gonna do what I can to notshoot a big deer.
Because I guarantee you this,that deer, that fish hook deer, my
dad wouldn't have shot him ifhe had the opportunity because he
knew that he would be stealingit from me because he knew I was

(01:01:46):
just 200 yards to away from him.
And he knew deep down thatthat deer was going to be coming
towards me.
I would do the exact samething to my son or my daughter.
Your dad would have droppedthat deer quicker than a bad habit.
I just know that I.
I would have most like, itwould have been.
It would have been hard not todo it, don't get me wrong.

(01:02:06):
But to know that we're now having.
Once they get to their age,like I said, my whole mentality when
it comes to hunting is goingto alter in its own way.
I don't know if it does thesame thing with Johnny.
I just know that him and Ihave the kids and it.
That Mentality changed for meonce I had my kids.

(01:02:26):
So taking my daughter outhunting for the first time.
Well, the first, probably fouryears during the youth hunt, we would
see deer.
You might not get a shot atit, but at least we saw him.
Right?
Right.
The first year that we wentout that weekend and she didn't see
a deer, she's like, oh, myGod, this is so boring.
I'm like, the first four yearshave been a complete fluke.

(01:02:49):
Like, your first year you shota deer, the second year you shot
a deer, the third year you sawa deer that you almost shot.
Like, it doesn't happen allthe time.
Like, I've.
It took me forever, so.
But now.
I mean, now she still goes outand she doesn't.
She realizes now that I'm notgoing to see something every single
time.
But, yeah, if I can get mydaughter onto a deer, I'm gna let

(01:03:13):
her take to every single chance.
Yeah.
Well, you know, I.
I don't have kids, but I got a.
A boy that I call my son.
His name's Corey.
And I've had some good, youknow, hunts with him.
I mean, those.
Those the bucks off themountain there.
And he's.
Then I went back the next yearinto a spot I never even stepped

(01:03:36):
foot into except for the yearbefore, and I killed that black bear.
And he looked at me and he'slike, how do you do it, man?
And I said, you see me kneel down?
Yeah.
I said, well, I pray.
And he looked at me and he waslike, you're serious, dad?
And I said, yeah.
And I brought him to God.
So, you know, it's.

(01:03:56):
It's.
You don't have to have fleshand blood, you know, it's.
It's.
If somebody.
You're mentoring somebody, it's.
It's a.
It's a good thing.
And like I said, you know,everybody's got a story.
I walked in the woods, I shota tear, I drug it out.
I did this, I did that.
But it's what.
It's what the whole circle is,the full circle of.
Of how things come around andcome about, and you start realizing

(01:04:19):
that it's not all just about that.
It's.
It's the fun part, you know,but it's the memories.
It's all the memories of whatyou did, you know, and, you know,
stuff like that, that reallymakes it worthwhile.
Like, for me, with a huntingstory, yay, I shot a deer.
But it's like 1% of that or 5%of that story.

(01:04:41):
And then the whole 95% rest ofit is everything that happened to
it from where I woke up.
Yeah.
Selling my kids, whatever.
And then I was talking to mydad and then how we celebrated after
the harvest.
That's all 95 of it.
Afterwards.
It makes that 5% of actuallyshooting that deer amazing.
And shooting that deer is.

(01:05:01):
Don't get me wrong, I said, weall know as hunters, it's an amazing
feeling to have, but youwouldn't have that feeling if you
didn't have the other 95% ofthe feeling around it.
If that makes sense.
If you did walk out there,kill a deer, and then walk back just
that easy every single time,it wouldn't be worth it.
Not be boring as.

(01:05:22):
Because that's horrible picture.
Let me try to get in focus.
It's a fate.
It's off a picture.
Oh, yeah, that's me.
You see how tall he is?
He's.
He's a real squash, that guy.
But that's.
Sure.
Yeah.
Well, I'm.
I'm freaking as wide as he is tall.

(01:05:42):
But, you know, that was the nine.
That was the nine that we got together.
That's how many years back.
That's actually a Polaroid photo.
That's not even a.
Yeah, I figured.
It's.
It's so old.
It's a Polaroid photo.
I think my grandfatheractually took that picture of us.
But, yeah, you know, it's.
It's.
It's cool.
There's.
There's so much more to.

(01:06:03):
To.
To be done.
There's.
There's hundreds and hundredswith me.
There's hundreds of stories.
I mean, you know, this Buck,the big guy back there, he was.
He was a blessing, too.
I mean, we were.
We had a little bit of familyfighting going on, and I was like,
I brought him down to show mygrandfather, and I was actually,
like, for like one time in mylife, upset with my grandfather a

(01:06:25):
little bit, and that broke the ice.
And, you know, he couldn'tbelieve the size of that buck when
I.
I brought it out of the woods.
So it was kind of like a.
A blessing that I got him too,you know, so it's, it's cool, but
it's.
It's like I said, man, youknow, it's just.
There's just so much not just hunting.
It's.
It's.
It's a spirituality thing.

(01:06:46):
And, you know, you get to knowpeople and you get to have a lot
of adventures together with people.
And, you know, it's.
It's.
It's cool.
The deer, the.
The deer the trophy, but the,the real trophy and the value is
what you take, take out of itwith people you're around.
So that's what makes this year with.
With our Whitetail Advantagehunting trip coming up like that.

(01:07:07):
The whole planning and everything.
It's gonna be wild.
It's gonna be fun.
Yeah.
And before that, I'm going outto Oregon and hunting with Nelson
and Matt from Flavors of theForest and a couple other guys and
like, yeah, that's gonna be super.
You know, I'm super stoked andexcited for that one.
Oh yeah.
And just those two tripsalone, I'm like, I've never done

(01:07:28):
that many hunting trips inthe, in a year, in five years.
So I'm, I'm just going out andmaking memories now and I can't wait
because it's going to be, eachtrip is going to be remote base camp
and walk out in public andhunt and it's gonna be so awesome,

(01:07:49):
man.
For sure.
So many stories.
What's the nice thing, that'sa nice thing too about, you know,
doing these podcasts, these shows.
You know, you get your Educatefor one.
You're educating people.
Sometimes not so much on herebecause we're a bunch of cut ups,
but I mean, you're, you're.
Pete.
There's a lot of people outthere that wonder if, oh, I wonder

(01:08:12):
if this only happens to me orI wonder if, you know, am I the only
one that's experiencing thiskind of stuff or, you know, what
should I do?
How should I do this?
And you know, I'm the furthestthing from being a professional.
I, I'm lucky.
I'm just lucky, man.
God has blessed me with someamount of luck to be able to do what

(01:08:34):
I do and love doing what I do.
And you know, I, I was puthere for a reason and I'm starting
to realize it's, it's helping,helping people, educating people,
you know, and, and just beingone of the guys to a lot of different
people out there who, who needthat mentorism of, of, you know,
just, even if it's just talking.

(01:08:55):
So.
Right.
It's, it's a cool thing.
It's a real cool thing.
Yeah.
It's amazing to be able tomeet everyone that's fans of the
show.
I mean, we have the best fansout there, the best audience out
there.
And we've met a lot of people.
Yeah.
And just the memories, justeven just the memories itself, doing
this itself, just the podcastalone is amazing, like to lump this

(01:09:19):
all into hunting with itself too.
It.
It's memories to me in its owncategory in my brain, at least for
me.
And I, like Johnny said, nowI'm just out there.
I have two goals.
I'm out there shoot thebiggest buck, and I want to create
the most memories as Ipossibly can and make sure I remember
every detail that I possiblycan out there.

(01:09:40):
And like this trip that we'replanning to Indiana, I.
I love the planning of theprocess of it all.
I'm looking forward to.
I.
I used to.
Used to be a guy where it'slike, we'll end on this note where
if I had a vacation coming up,I just.
I just need to detaileverything, I need itinerary, everything
into it, just because that'sthe way I am.
But as soon as that day wouldcome and then it would leave, I was

(01:10:04):
like, well, man, I didn'tenjoy the time leading up to the
actual first day of leaving.
Yeah.
So I'm taking my time to sit back.
All right.
Yeah.
And relax and enjoy the timeleading up to it because I know once
it's here, it's gone.
Yeah.
We're gonna have more huntingtrips, don't get me wrong.
Well, hopefully.
But this first trip for me,it's my first out of state hunt.

(01:10:26):
To be able to do it with mybrothers is going to be an amazing
thing.
And so I'm trying to cherishthis moment in the planning process
of it before it actually happens.
Yeah, dude, I am so the opposite.
Because, like, we leaveOctober 10th.
I will pack my stuff October 10th.
Like, oh, crap, we're leavingin the morning.

(01:10:47):
Or whatever.
I'll just throw everythingtogether, go in it and just like,
grab my rock and head to the truck.
That's how I was when we wentto every single spring break.
Kids were all packed up, readyto go.
I'm like, I'll do it in the.
Morning as you time.
Like, I need to leave in an hour.
Yeah, yeah.

(01:11:07):
But like, I just, I have zero plans.
And that would drive my exjust crazy, dude.
She's like, well, what do youwant to do?
I don't know.
We'll figure it out on the road.
Let's just go.
Like, so this trip out, thislast trip I took to Oregon for scouting,
they were driving down.
I'm like, all right, well,where do I scout?

(01:11:28):
Where do I scout?
And Nelson, the dial is ridingwith from flavors of the forest.
But, oh, look, there's an elkshell right there.
I'm like, stop the car.
I'll get out here.
He's like, are you serious?
I'm like, yeah, dude, I haveno idea where I'm at.
I have my phone.
I'm not on X, but there's noservice out there.
He's like, what do you want?
I'm like, I'm just gonnafollow this trail up and see what

(01:11:48):
I can find.
It's like, well, when do youwant me to pick you up?
But I know where you live.
I'll walk.
Yeah.
He's like, what?
Yeah, dude.
You get out, shut the door andjust walk into the mountains.
And dude, I did up to the topof the first one and I'm like, dude,
I am smoked.
Like, this is no joke.
And I got back from that tripand I'm like, all right.

(01:12:11):
Have to get into shape, dude.
I'm in, I'm in decent shape,but man, it's gonna kick my ass out
there.
I know it.
I just picked up a new badge,new rock.
I was talking to Alen Ritter.
Yeah.
And we were talking back andforth and he got me hooked up with
a rock.
So I'm going to try that outand we're gonna start walking around

(01:12:33):
with some weight on myshoulders and figure it out.
Yeah.
That's awesome, man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, guys, I.
I enjoyed tonight's convo.
Convo.
Like the young kids say.
I'm sure they say somethingdifferent now, but I had fun.
I like talking about this type of.
Like I said I wanted after wetalked about our, our.

(01:12:54):
What was it on last week'sshow where we talked about our first
memory or something like that.
Yeah, do more type of showslike this and I haven't guessed planned
for today.
I think I do want to talk moreabout these type of things.
I like these conversations.
I think we need to have more.
Oh, absolutely.
It's not all about killingthose 190, 200 class deer.

(01:13:14):
It's about the planning, thebrotherhood, the fun times, the bullshitting
around campfire, the shootingof the spikes.
It's kind of like a bio nighton the guys on Whitetail, you know,
I mean, learn a little bit more.
About us a little behind the scenes.
And then I'm sure one nightwe'll have a show where we talk about

(01:13:35):
just the mistakes that we made.
I mean, that's how you growfrom that.
Yeah, I know.
We could take like 10,000shows just from one.
They could do a whole season.
Yeah, we talked about every,all of our mistakes.
Tune in every night.
We learned that we up so youdon't have to maybe mistakes of the.

(01:13:56):
White till advantage guys thenew miniseries on YouTube.
Well, Johnny, how could peoplefind you?
You can check me out hereevery Sunday and Tuesday.
We're here.
8:00 is our new time.
Or go find me on Instagram.
Johnny Nitro Night or Nitro Outdoors.

(01:14:18):
I'm there.
Squatch.
You guys know the deal.
8pm Sundays and Tuesdays onthe Whitetail Advantage.
You can also catch me on theBoondocks Garden State Outdoorsman
podcast with Frankie Mastica,Mike Nitray.
Great bunch of guys puttingout some good content too.

(01:14:39):
And you can find me onInstagram under the title Outdoors
More Squatch.
And you can find me on YouTubedoing stupid like shooting woodchucks.
And you know, we got someturkey season starting up, so hopefully
we'll get some videos of that.
But try to make the channelgrow a little more and you know,
support the old Squatch out there.
I love, love seeing thecomments and stuff.

(01:15:01):
So thanks everybody.
Well everyone, that's going toconclude an episode of the Whitetail
Advantage podcast.
I want to say thank you toeveryone that's gathered around the
Electron campfire with us tonight.
Now, the show made you laugh,made you think, gave you a new perspective.
Please hit that like andsubscribe button.
If you listen to this on theaudio version, please give us that
five star rating and give usfeedback on the show.

(01:15:22):
Give us feedback in general.
That's what we like to do here.
We like to improve.
We don't like to just settle.
So we're constantly talkingwith each other.
How can we improve in any capacity?
Now the audio versions of ourpodcast do get released every Monday
and Wednesday at 5am if youwant to be a guest on our live show
or you want someone from theteam to be a guest on your next episode,
feel free to head to ourwebsite whitetail advantage.com and

(01:15:46):
submit your request through there.
You can do everything on ourwebsite or you can just kind of reach
out to us on our social media platforms.
If you're messaging WhitetailAdvantage itself, you're messaging
me.
That controls it all.
However, if you email messageJohnny, Squatch, Dave, everything
set up for them on the page onthe website as well.

(01:16:07):
Don't forget about that.
Now, last but not least, makesure to put your quarter in the slot
machine.
You see this thing right there?
That.
That's what that thing is.
We all know what saying ishelp share show of grow the show.
So say, I'll say this one more time.
Put your quarter in the slot machine.

(01:16:29):
I want to say thank you to allthe OGs that have been doing it you
guys rock.
But we have people that aren'twatch the show, that aren't subscribers
and don't like on the show anddon't share the show.
So I'm kind of calling you out.
Help share the show, grow theshow, put your quarter in the slot
machine.
Don't make me say the F wordeven more.

(01:16:51):
Jeez.
If you guys help us out andfollow the show, DM us and I'll send
you Brett's personal phonenumber, I'll.
I'll take that.
Deal it.
I don't care.
Watch next morning, I'mgetting like 20,000 text mess.
Hey, what's up?
Hey, what's up?

(01:17:11):
I'm gonna be Shador Sanders.
Shador Sanders.
Yeah.
Well, good night, everyone.
We'll see everyone on Tuesdaywith our guest, Eddie.
Thank you for tuning in toanother episode of the Whitetail

(01:17:31):
Advantage podcast.
We hope you enjoyed the show, and.
We will see you next time.