May 19, 2025 • 50 mins
Doug joins us today to share an incredible tale about the elusive "Ghost Buck," a deer that has haunted local hunters for years. We dive deep into Doug's experience with this legendary creature, touching on the twists and turns of his chase, including missed shots and the thrill of finally spotting the buck. Along the way, we also chat about the evolving world of hunting technology, like trail cameras and drones, and how these tools can change the game. Whether you're a seasoned hunter or just curious about the outdoors, Doug's story offers a unique perspective on the bond between man and nature, and the camaraderie that comes with the hunt. So grab a seat by the electronic campfire as we unravel this ghostly adventure!
Gather around, folks! We had the pleasure of sitting down with Doug, who shared an incredible tale about his hunt for the infamous "Ghost Buck." This isn't just any deer; it's a legend among hunters, known for its elusive nature and the near-misses that have left many in awe. Doug recounts the suspense of tracking this deer, which has become somewhat of a myth in the hunting community. We dive into the nitty-gritty of the hunt, revealing the twists and turns that led to Doug finally bringing down this majestic creature. Along the way, we discuss the role of trail cameras and drones in modern hunting, showcasing how technology has changed the game. Doug's story reminds us of the thrill of the chase and the camaraderie that comes with hunting. So grab a drink, kick back, and enjoy this engrossing discussion filled with laughs, insights, and a few unexpected surprises!
Takeaways:
- Doug shares an incredible story about the elusive 'Ghost Buck', a deer that multiple hunters have tried to catch but failed.
- We delve into the fascinating world of trail cameras and how they can capture moments, yet sometimes lead to disappointment when a prized deer eludes detection.
- The podcast discusses the recent ban on trail cameras in certain states, sparking debate on fair hunting practices and the ethics of using technology in the field.
- Doug reveals his unexpected encounter with the Ghost Buck, highlighting the importance of being in the right place at the right time during hunting season.
- The conversation takes a humorous turn as we explore the quirks of hunting culture, including the funny dynamics of friendly hazing among fellow hunters.
- We ponder the future of hunting with the integration of drones, weighing the benefits of recovery against potential misuse in the field.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Electronic Campfire
- Outdoor Life
- XOP
- Rec
- Magnus
- Bo
- Scentlock
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the WhitetailAdvantage Podcast with your host
Brett Bovin.
Thank you for tuning in andenjoy the show.
I'm an idiot.
(00:22):
I missed the part that is my fault.
What is up guys?
This is Brett Bovin.
Welcome to Electronic Campfire.
We are not politically correcton this show.
Hunting and brotherhood comehand in hand together in my opinion.
So there's hazing on the show tonight.
We have Squatch, Johnny andDave aren't here tonight.
So we're kind of happy about that.
(00:43):
Not kind of, we are extremelyhappy about that.
No, I'm just kidding.
And our guest tonight is Doug.
So we invite you all alonghaze along with us as well.
It's part of the show Sundaysand Tuesdays.
We do a live show every Sundayand Tuesday at 8pm Eastern time.
We have a saying on the show.
We record in the slot machine.
Strongly believe hunting is adying sport.
(01:03):
It's a dying lifestyle.
So we ask everybody out thereis just to help share the show, help
us grow the show.
Everyone out there that's beendoing it, we love you all.
Just help us continue doing that.
I do also like to take asecond to say thank you to all the
men and women in the military.
Thank you for your service andthank you for your sacrifice.
We greatly appreciate it.
I also want to say thank youto all the men and women and the
(01:24):
police officers, thefirefighters, the nurses, doctors,
care construction workers andcorrections officers.
Basically everyone in inpublic service.
I want to say thank you foryour service as well.
Now today is Sunday May 18,2025 episode 152 and tonight we're
going to sit back and relaxand listen to an amazing story that
(01:46):
Doug's going to share aboutthe Ghost Buck.
I read this article online.
I was like oh I gotta havethis guy on a show and share his
story on it.
Now 10 ring news here.
Do not forget if you want theWhitetail Advantage calendar for
our live shows on your owncalendar, send in send in your email
(02:06):
to us and we can send it setit up to where our calendar will
show up on on your calendar soyou can see what's going on with
the show and when we when wedon't have a show and who's going
to be on future guests andstuff like that.
With that also being said, wedo not have any shows line up next
week.
So if you only listen to theshow on the audio version there won't
(02:28):
be an episode released nextMonday or Wednesday because with
it being Memorial Weekendwe're taking time to spend with our
friends and Family andthanking everyone for their service
in the military.
And so there will be no liveshow on Sunday or Tuesday.
This is going to be our last week.
We won't be back for anothertwo weeks.
And that is it.
So with that being said, I askyou all to pull up a chair, gather
(02:53):
around the electron campfireand let's talk with Doug Squatch.
How's it going, brother?
What's up, brother?
How you doing?
I'm doing good.
At least we have I.
At least I have one goodfriend in you, Squatch.
There too are just bastards,you know.
When the tough gets going, youknow who you can count on.
(03:15):
I can always count on mybrother Squatch right there.
That's for sure.
I think it's just because Idon't have a life.
So you know, if you saw mycalendar, I was texting the group
chat today.
Yeah, my calendar is literallyfilled from 6:00am to 10:00 clock
at night.
I get like one hour a nightwhere it's just myself and I like
(03:39):
to take that moment sometimesand just sit in the bathtub and watch
funny bloopers and justnormalize the heroes I watch in football
and stuff like that.
Yeah, I just have fun.
Doug, what's going on?
Show brother.
Thank you for coming on.
Thanks for having me.
(04:00):
Oh man.
I'm excited to learn moreabout your story with this ghost
buck.
I read it online throughOutdoor Life.
That's the name of.
That's the website.
Yeah.
Yep.
Outdoor Life, that's where Iread it.
And I was like, yep.
I got instantly at.
When I message you, I got donereading that within like five seconds.
I am like, I was.
(04:20):
It was hard to find you for asecond, but I'm like, oh, please
let me find them.
And I found you.
I was like, yes.
Now let's hope he answers.
What's pretty cool is when Iwas a kid growing up, my grandfather
and my dad had a buck calledthe Phantom Buck.
The old Phantom.
So having somebody on the showthat's got a kind of a similar story
(04:41):
about having a ghost buck,it's home.
It's pretty cool.
But yeah, we had a big old tenpointer we used to call the Phantom.
So yeah, I never knew theycall this buck the Ghost Buck until
I got it scored.
And guys like, yeah, this.
This called the Ghost.
Well, why you're like, well,people have on camera.
Cameras are illegal still.
Like he'd have on camera andthen he'd be gone.
(05:05):
Then they'd have them in their sights.
They'd miss or he'd Justdisappear behind a tree, Never be
seen again.
Wow.
Yeah.
I had a.
A deer on my property that Icalled the ghost buck.
Mainly because I saw him onceout in the field, and he was just
a monster of a deer.
But never saw a photo of him.
And I never saw him again that year.
(05:27):
I.
I don't.
I don't think I've ever sawhim again.
And he was just a beautiful,beautiful nine pointer.
And he wasn't, like, tall onthe tine length, but he just had
mass and spread like a.
And I was like, oh, I think Ijust jizzed in my pants a little
bit when I saw him.
(05:49):
Well, Doug, sure give a littlebackground by yourself first before
we get into your story here.
All right.
So I'm originally from upstateNew York up in Boonville.
And then I joined the army andbeen stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas
for the last about five years, so.
Yeah.
You were in the army?
Yeah, I'm in the process ofgetting out.
(06:11):
Oh, okay.
Squat Dave and Johnny were inthe army as well.
And Squatch was.
Was days.
Both sons in the marines orjust one of his sons?
Yeah, both.
I believe both of his sons.
That's why I believe both sons.
Drawing a blank there.
Well, Doug, thank you for yourservice, though.
Hey, man, thank you.
Were you a police officer inthe army or what did you do?
(06:33):
I'm a cav scout.
A cab scout.
What's that?
Yeah, it's basically like a reconnaissance.
Like, what we would do is we'dgo like, say we're in war right now.
We'd go.
Go past the line.
Like, the.
The enemy's line.
I gather information and sendit back up.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Actually kind of fun.
I'd like to do.
I like that sneaky snipe type.
(06:55):
It's like, oh, I get to sneakin there and collect all this intel.
To me, I think that's a lot of fun.
It's almost like ghost recon man.
He's going in behind thelines, going on.
Yeah, yeah, it's.
It's been fun.
Well, Doug, start off what hap.
What's this ghost buck thatpeople that might not know about
(07:17):
it.
So I first saw three yearsago, four years ago on camera.
I only had, like, a blurrypicture of them just passing by the
trail camera, like, probablyabout a mile from where I ended up
shooting them last year.
So I saw him.
I'm like, Jesus.
So I'm like, I'm gonna startcalling you Jesus.
(07:37):
Seemed good.
And I.
I hunted them hard that year,and I Just, I forgot about them.
So I'm like, okay, whatever.
And this year came through.
Can't have trail cameras anymore.
Then I wasn't gonna hunt that morning.
Luckily, the wife's like, hey,we better go.
So I ended up sitting there.
(07:58):
I wasn't gonna sit in the spotI was gonna sit in early in the season.
I missed a big buck on theside of the hill.
Got a couple hundred yards away.
So I was gonna sit there.
Like, no, I'll just sit wheremy tree stand is.
Like, no, I'm gonna move downabout 50 yards and sit in the fallen
tree.
So I'm just sitting there.
I'm like, my binos are in the truck.
(08:19):
I gotta scope on the rifle.
I'm fine.
So I said, I hear thiscrunching, and I just look up and
I just see this brown thingmoving across the.
Coming from the tank trailinto the hardwoods.
I.
Oh, just little dough.
So I didn't think nothing of it.
Just sat back down and startedrelaxing again.
And I saw.
I saw a rack.
(08:40):
Like, oh, I thought I was.
There's been three or foureight points running through there
that I've been watching all season.
So I'm like, you're going toget shot.
It's too late in the season tobe picky right now.
So I pull the rifle up and I'mlike, you're not in a eight point.
And then I couldn't.
I didn't have a clean shot.
So then he started moving awayacross in front of me.
(09:01):
So I had to kind of spin likethis way to shoot him.
And I just touched off therifle and I watched him hunch.
He ran like 15 yards and just dropped.
Got up, ran a few more stepsand just dropped again.
And that was it.
I just sat there shaking forlike 10 minutes.
Yeah.
(09:21):
Wow.
So what was your reaction whenyou realized this was the buck that
everyone has been kind oflooking for and now you have them
pretty much right in your sights?
So I didn't realize it at first.
Like, I knew he was a bigbuck, but I didn't know it was that
buck until I got up there andlaid hands on him.
Oh, really?
(09:41):
Yeah.
So I just thought it was anice, like 12 point, maybe a 14.
Getting up to him.
I just dropped, sat down nextto him like, you gotta be me.
I started counting.
I'm like, I can't count this.
I gotta take my boots off, mysocks off, start counting on my toes.
It was just insane.
And I figured it out.
I'm like, this is Jesus.
(10:03):
And I pulled my phone outthere, some pictures.
I'm like, I called the wife.
I gotta call my buddy.
I'm like, no service, so Idon't want to leave you.
But I left him anyways.
I went out, got my truck,drove to the top of the hill and
called the wife.
And I just shot a buck.
I need to come out here.
Help me drag him.
So is he big?
I'm like, a little bit big.
Not.
Not too big.
(10:23):
I called my other buddy, Yo, Tuttle.
He's like, what's up?
Like, I just killed the buck.
I need you out here.
He's like, all right.
And he dropped what he wasdoing, drove the.
It's like 30, 40 minutes outto the spot we hunt.
He came right out and helpedme drag it out.
Nice.
Wow.
So, yeah.
So what.
How did this nickname Ghostbuck come about with this deer?
(10:45):
So that came later on in the night.
I called the Brad Forbes.
He's.
He works on post.
He's retired, I believe.
And he's a official scorer for buckmasters.
So I called him up like, hey,man, can you score this buck for
me tonight after work?
Like, yeah, fine.
Cool.
I brought over to him.
He's like, do you know whatthis buck's name is?
I'm like, big Jesus.
(11:07):
He's like, no, they call itthe Ghost.
I'm like, why?
And that's when he told methat there's two hunters.
Within two weeks prior to meshooting him, that one guy missed
him completely.
That was back when it was still.
It was BO then.
I never saw him.
And so he ended up missing him.
(11:28):
He was like three quartersaway, the drawback.
And his.
His hand hit the release onhis bow and sailed the arrow.
So then I noticed how hisright main beam, there's a chunk
missing, probably like that much.
That's weird.
Come to find out, about a weekbefore I shot him, some guy shot
at him and hit him in the mainbeam with his arrow and broadhead.
(11:50):
Oh, wow.
Yeah, they hit him right inthe main beam.
Oh, yeah.
With the arrow.
Yep.
Oh, yeah.
So that guy actually reachedout to me and told me about him.
Like, oh, no.
I'm like, I kind of want the arrow.
I want that broadhead.
And he's like, just let me.
Just let me hold the deer whenhe's done.
(12:10):
I'm like, too easy.
Let me see if I can get thisup here.
Share this screen right here.
Oh, what caliber rifle did youshoot him with?
Or was it a shotgun?
Using my.301 mag.
Nice.
Wow.
So reading this article.
This was not one of your trailcamera photos.
(12:31):
This was somebody else's trailer.
Trail cam photo.
That's actually a photo thatBrad Forbes gave me.
The guy.
That's nice.
I think that was back in 21:22.
That's when he's at his peak.
It looks like this photo wastaken July 1, 2022.
Yeah.
(12:51):
He estimated his peak like2122 season.
And when they found his sheds,they were saying he's about 230,
240.
Wow.
Here is a close up.
Wow.
I'm not too good of the camera.
No.
Geez.
How many points were legal onthis deer?
(13:11):
21.
21 points on this?
Yeah.
You can actually see right there.
That's where the.
This right here.
Yep.
Yeah, I see it.
Wow.
Yeah.
I was about to say, was thatwhere he got hit, man?
Yep.
And what was the spread on this?
Because he doesn't look likehe's getting always passed out his
ears at all.
No, he.
He wasn't very wide at all.
The spread was.
(13:32):
I actually wrote that down.
12 and 5, 8.
But the greatest spread was n.
19 and 3, 8.
Wow.
I don't know how they.
I don't know how the scoring works.
I said I'm from upstate New York.
I'm happy with 130 inch 8.
Oh, yeah.
So this thing just blew my mind.
It's the first thing I've everhad scored.
He's got a lot going on.
(13:53):
He's got a lot of palmation.
He's got non typical stuff.
I mean, he's just.
Yeah.
Who?
You know what, when it comesto something like that, I just go,
it's a freak.
I call them bucks freaks, man.
They're freaks.
You know what?
I shoot every one of them Icould freaking find, man.
When they come through, theygot something funky.
I got one downstairs.
He's a big mainframe.
(14:14):
Looks like an eight on one side.
But then he just shoots up.
He's got like two points thatcome off.
He was a big old freak.
And I was trying to get hisdad, but his dad finally just died.
Old age.
Yeah.
Yep.
They found him laying dead outin one of the orchards.
And that's the worst.
Ah, it hurt.
It hurt because I was realclose to getting them, but it's okay.
(14:34):
You know what, things happenand whatever, but.
Yeah, that's a.
That's a nice buck, man.
That's.
That's cool.
When they're freaks like that,I like.
I like deer.
I'd shoot.
I'd shoot one of Those deerover 30.
Just normal ones.
Oh, absolutely.
You know, I, I have a deer onthe property from last year.
(14:54):
I think it was both that werepalmated or just one side, but I
released.
I know one distinctly.
It was his left main beam.
Everything was palmated andlike the, like the tines themselves
were just maybe like an inch.
Just based off the photo itself.
Yeah.
And everyone in, in the areaagreed like this deer was probably
two, two and a half years old maybe.
(15:15):
And we're like no one shoot this.
And we're all agreement, likewe just want to see this, the potential
what this deer could get to.
Hopefully he stays in the areaand everything that all the neighbors
are trying to do to make sureto put out good feed and stuff like
that, to make sure he gets upage and gets the proper nutrition
stuff.
But.
Right.
We all just want to see whatthe potential this deer gets.
(15:37):
And obviously whoever getsthis deer is going to be excited
for what he turns out to be.
Hopefully he does.
I wish I had a photo with him,but I don't have it somewhere on
my phone right now.
I'll share it next episode.
But no, it, that's a beautiful deer.
And I was reading this articleand it says Forbes estimated the
deer to be around 7 1/2 yearsof age and gave it a BTR score of
(16:02):
206 and 78 inches.
Yep.
And yeah, like I said, I don'tknow much about scoring, but I got
a lot of, a lot of backlash onthe old Internet about that's not
200 inch deer.
Yada yada yada.
I'm like, just, I don't care.
Shut up.
That's what an official scoregave me.
That's what I'm going with.
I don't know anybody can, cansay that because pictures are so
(16:25):
hard to go by.
Yeah, exactly.
Unless you're absolutelystanding there like looking at a
deer.
I've seen small deer look huge.
I've seen big deer not look big.
You know, and all thesekeyboard warriors getting on there
going, yeah, it's not that big.
You know, it's just, come on.
You know.
I, I to play devil's advocatehere, the only thing that I can think
(16:46):
of that for someone to saythat isn't a 200 inch deer is because
of its spread.
Yeah, that would be the thingwhere people are like, but even that,
the spread, I would just sayestimating it based off of this photo.
20 inches, maybe 18 inchesjust looking at this.
But you look at all thecharacter that goes along with this
(17:09):
deer and how tall these Tinesare on these things, G2s and all
these kickers and stickers, everything.
It's like.
Yeah, I could see 200 inchesjust off of all that put together.
I mean, he was, he was sevenand a half my big guy there.
And he's 21 and a half insidespread with five and a half inch
(17:29):
bases, but he only scored 125,you know what I mean?
Yeah.
So.
But because he's short, kind,but he's just wide and massive.
But when we aged him, he wasseven and a half.
He.
The whole back part of hismolars, they were ground down to
nothing.
That.
That buck was old, man.
He.
He was 225 on the hoof.
Jesus.
(17:49):
New York, New York deer.
I'm in, I'm in the Hudson Valley.
Okay.
Ulster County.
I shot him with the bow in2001, so.
Hell of a good morning though, man.
When I got him, I was happier.
And you know, reading thisarticle, Doug, it seemed like you
were going to be hunting inone area or an area that you've been
(18:09):
hunting, and something madeyou change your mind to go hunt a
different area.
Yeah, I don't know what it was like.
So I was gonna hunt the samearea, just a different part of that
property.
Okay.
So as a hunt, the.
Be the west side of the mountain.
I caught a mountain.
It's just a big hill.
Was this public area.
I'm sorry, was this publicland or private?
(18:30):
It's public.
Okay.
So I was sitting.
I was gonna.
I drove past where I ended upparking to shoot the deer.
I'm like, I'm gonna drivearound and park at the base of the
hill and walk up the corner.
But no, let's just go to mytree stand.
So I end up going to my treestand, got like two feet up on the
stand.
I'm like, nah.
So I just walked 50 yardsdown, deeper into the woods.
(18:51):
And then kind of like themiddle of the.
Between like the.
It's like a valley.
So it's like cedar.
Cedar and like a big draw upthe middle.
So I just kind of sat probablylike 50 yards off the middle of the
draw.
And I.
I don't know.
We found.
Me and my buddy found thatspot last year and we were shooting
does in the late season out of it.
So I'm just like, it's.
(19:11):
It's a nice little spot kindof like tucked in helicop.
It's a falling down treetop.
So you got all the branchesand stuff for like a stabilizer.
Stabilizer to shoot off oflike a longer shot or whatever.
And I just.
Something told me to sit there.
If I was in my stand, I mighthave gotten a shot, But I would have
had it turned around almostcompletely backwards to get a shot.
(19:35):
How far was granted it wastwo, three years later where this
photo was taken from where youshot him.
So that photo, him and Velvetback in July, that was probably 7,
700,000 yards away.
(19:56):
So he kind of stayed roughlyin his home range type area For a
good couple years.
But where I had him on camerathe first time I ever saw him was
about a mile to the east.
So you did get.
Do you get it on camera thatyear you shot him or the year before?
No, because they, they, theybanned trail cameras.
So not this season.
(20:17):
The season before that.
Kansas Public land got rid oftheir cameras.
And then Fort Riley followedsuit this past hunting season.
So I had zero trail camerasout this past year.
That's so lame.
You use truck.
Is it during the huntingseason or is just in general?
So Fort Riley did it.
It was, I think, August.
(20:39):
You had to have your camerasout of there.
So up until like, August, youcould have cameras.
But I don't know if they'rebringing cameras back this year for,
like this, like the wholesummertime Doing the same thing they
did last year or if they'rejust going to completely keep them
banned the entire time.
I hear more and more statesdoing that.
I can't remember which onesare on top of my head, But I've been
(21:00):
trying to wrap my brain about why.
And the only thing that Icould kind of think about Squatch,
maybe you know, is because nowwe're going more towards these cell
cameras out there withtacticams and moultrie with more
cell cams, obviously.
And you're getting live timeaction photos Sent right to your
phone.
(21:20):
And you hear it all the time.
Oh, there's a deer right thereby my camera.
I gotta go out there right now.
And then they go shoot them.
Yeah, or they, or at leastthey go try to.
I think that's one of thereasons why they want to try to get
rid of these cell cams or justcameras in general.
I, I.
Do you have an opinion onthat, Squatch?
Well, I think a lot of it istoo, because he said, Doug, I.
(21:43):
If I heard you correctly, yousaid on state land and the government
land at your hunting.
Now, did they ban them also onprivate land too, or.
No, I don't know about private land.
I don't have it in privateland to hunt.
So I don't really payattention to that part.
I think a lot of it is, youknow, when it comes to like having
public lands, you know, stateland or federal lands and stuff like
(22:03):
that, they're probably tryingto keep it on a level two, because
I'm sure a lot of those gomissing, people grab them, steal
them, then.
Then the, the agencies getcomplaints about, you know, oh, my
camera went missing and blah,blah, blah, blah.
So maybe they're just tryingto regulate, like, look, let's just
do away with the problem rightaway and just not have anybody put
(22:25):
those damn things out.
But I'm sure a lot of it is they're.
They're probably just tryingto enforce some kind of like more
of a fair chase situation.
All the cameras I run are moultrie.
They're all instant time data.
Let me tell you something.
By the time it gets thepicture taken, by the time it goes
to the satellite and maybegets to your phone and some kind
of thing, there's at leastfive or six minutes difference from
(22:48):
the time it actually took the picture.
Because I've actually sat inthe stand, watched a deer come up
the path.
Deers pass me gone by.
I get the notification.
So if they're basing it onsomething like that, like, oh, they're
gonna go get the deer, I mean,good luck.
The deer still may be in thatarea, but it's not that like, super
quick.
But it's, it's probably just.
(23:11):
I think it's probably a thingfor not having, you know, complaints,
having so many complaints.
Maybe something got stolen.
Guys fighting over territory.
Oh, well, that's my spot.
I had my camera there for six months.
You can't go there, you know,so it's, it's probably just stuff
like that.
That's why they, they enforce it.
That's my opinion on it, really.
So.
But even then, I still thinkthat's kind of like a cheap way to
(23:35):
think about going about it.
I'd like to get like a DNRperson that's behind the laws that
says this is why we're doingit, just to get from their, from
their mouth themselves.
Yeah, but like, you said it perfectly.
You can have a cell camera outthere and send it to your phone and
let's say you get it.
I have tactic cam, so I get itwithin two minutes, roughly.
(23:57):
Let's say some cameras, youget it within five.
Right.
The odds of you getting fromwhere you're at, let's just say you're.
Let's say you're actuallysitting in your living Room and your
trail camera is 300 yards away.
The odds of you, becauseyou're not just gonna go out in your
blue jeans or your sweatpants,whatever the you're wearing, you're
gonna at least put your camoon, go out there with your stuff.
(24:20):
And this is the tricky part.
Let's say that deermiraculously is still standing in
that area.
You have to sneak in and do it.
Even if you have a gun withyou, Odds of you shooting that deer
just from that photo that gotto you, in my opinion, is 1% or less.
Yeah, I.
I agree, too.
(24:41):
I did have it work in thatsituation with coyotes, because I
had a bait pile out, and I hadthe camera set up by the bait pile.
Got the notification, thecoyotes are out in the field.
I was able to drive up, getout of the truck, sneak up, and they
busted me at the last second,where I was almost to the blind where
they were.
But I didn't throw camo on.
I was in my blue jeans, I wasin a plaid shirt, and I was sitting
(25:03):
on my couch, and I grabbedmy.204 and I beat feet right up the
road to where I hunt.
So I.
I was able to get on them that quick.
But like you said, in deerhunting, in a situation, I mean,
not a lot of people can justgo out in their backyard deer hunting.
A lot of people have to drive45 minutes an hour to get to where
they're hunting.
Yeah.
What.
What the hell is it hurting?
And, you know, I mean, I haveput cameras up on state land here
(25:28):
in New York.
We got a lot of dep Landthat's New York city drinking water,
you know, protected landaround the reservoirs and stuff.
And I have set cameras upthere, and.
And I've had, you know, okay.
Success with it.
But the only thing I was stillrunning an SD card camera.
I had it.
I had put it up higher on the tree.
And I went back after abouttwo weeks, and my son and I, we.
(25:51):
We got to the camera, and I,you know, it was on.
It was working.
Pulled the SD card out, put itin my reader.
There wasn't a damn picture on it.
And I'm like, well, that sucks.
And he's like, oh, you'rekidding me.
For, like, two weeks, there was.
You didn't get any on the camera.
I'm like, no freaking way.
You know?
So what ended up happening waswe went back up.
(26:11):
We had been out of there for alittle while in that spot.
We go back up, and we go in inthe dark.
We hunt Further back fromwhere that spot is on the way back
out.
He's looking, he's like, he'slike, what the hell is that?
I'm like, what?
He goes, I think that's aladder down there.
I'm like, a ladder?
He's like, right where you hadyour camera.
I'm like, no way.
(26:32):
He goes, yeah, come on, let'sgo look.
So we walked down there.
Somebody had some.
Because this is like 25minutes riding in on a side by side
up this log road where we go,somebody had drug a freaking regular
damn aluminum ladder up there,had another ladder, like strapped
in a tree.
And then like some makeshiftshitty platform up there in the tree
where I had the camera.
(26:53):
I'm like, you know what?
I think I know what happened.
He's like, what?
And there was blood.
There was blood and hair.
So they, they shot somethingout of that spot.
And I was like, this son of a.
Just read my card and put itback in the camera.
And I said, that's why theyset that tree stand up.
Must have been a good buckcoming through there.
And he probably killed it.
So I was like, well, we ain'tdoing that no more.
(27:13):
He's like, yeah, we didn't,you know, but it's.
It's pretty far back where we go.
But I mean, you know, you'renot the only one.
People get back there and stuff.
But hey, good for that guy.
I'm glad he got a buck.
I'm not upset or anything.
State land, good for you.
But I don't know, I.
I'd really like to get a DNRperson on here too, and say, you
know, what's, what's the deal?
And that whole stuff with thedrones too.
(27:34):
You know, when you got ananimal down, I get it, somebody can
abuse it and put really strictpolicies on it.
If they abuse it and be donewith it, there's no reason why you
can't use a drone to go get awounded animal.
I don't want that animal tosuffer and die off somewhere and
you lose your animal.
I mean, it's just stupid.
Well, some people out thereare saying using cell cams and let's
(27:57):
just stick to drones with thispoint of it, that is taking away
the woodsmanship part of it,all that.
That's one thing that I'vebeen hearing lately.
Yeah, Doug, I want youropinion on the cell cameras and these
drones, but Dave sent in thiscomment here, and these are the states
that can't use cell cams.
(28:17):
Arizona, Delaware, Kansas,Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Utah,
And Alaska on public lands.
I'm assuming that's during thehunting season, obviously, but that
many.
I knew there was states out there.
I just couldn't remember whichone they were.
And I thought Idaho was onthere would have been on there, too.
(28:38):
I thought they were, too.
I could have swore either they.
They had it and they removedit, or they're getting ready to.
Dave, if you're out there andyou're able to look that up, I thought
I could have swore Idaho wason that list.
I'm a little surprised it's not.
Here's a.
Here's a little fun fact righthere, because I Googled it because
I was just curious about whatthe actual answer was, if I could
(29:00):
find it.
So they said in Kansas, thetheft of cameras, too many cameras
being in the same areas,disturbances to wildlife, privacy
issues, and other problemscoming from the use and overuse of
trail cameras.
That's right from Stuckley,who said multiple issues were brought
forward on the days leading upto the ban in 2023.
That's out of Kansas.
(29:21):
So basically, people stealingother people's cameras.
What I said, it's theft.
It's too many cameras being inthe same areas.
So you're not allowing, youknow, Joe Blow to walk in there.
Hey, that's my spot.
I have my camera there for sixmonths, you know.
You know, state land.
Kick rocks.
But so, okay, I can get behind that.
In the innocent.
I could get behind that.
(29:41):
That's what it is.
It's causing.
You know, people are settingup a hunting boundary because they
had their ca.
You know, and it's just like Isaid, I had a camera there.
The guy came in, read my camera.
Well, guess what?
I'm on state land.
It's fair game, bro.
If the guy wants to read mycamera, he can read my camera.
If I put a tree stand.
But here's the deal.
I was going to get in hiseffing stand if it was safe, because
(30:03):
it wasn't really safe.
And I was going to shoot adeer at stand, too, because it was
already there.
And if he gave me any shit, Iwould have just squashed his ass.
But, you know, I'm justtelling you, it's.
You're near state land.
You know, you got to remember, it's.
It's public land.
It's not private land.
You know, it's a wholedifferent thing.
And that's what it is.
It just causes too manyissues, I think, on state land, and
(30:23):
that's why they got rid of it.
Too many complaints, you Know,oh, this guy said, I can't go in
this acre of woods becausehe's had his cameras there all season
and.
Yeah.
Sucks.
It sucks.
Public land.
Yeah.
It's just.
Yeah.
Basically, who.
Whoever gets there first.
That's what it.
That's what it is.
And, you know, I gotta.
I gotta honestly say,especially for, like, where we go.
(30:47):
I mean, you'll be gettingready, putting your stuff on.
You know, I got the Wheelersthere warming up, you know, so we
can drive up the trail andguys will come in, you know, and
you got.
They got their trucks, maybethey're driving up into.
And it's always, hey, fellas,what's going on?
How's it.
How's it been?
You know?
You've been seeing stuff?
Yeah, you know, a couple hereand there.
Where are you guys headed?
All right, cool.
(31:07):
We're gonna be up on thatother face.
It's like, hey, if you knockone down, you need some help?
I got the Wheeler.
I'll help you drag it out.
I mean, you know, it's.
It's state land.
You can't freaking, you know,go crazy.
If you see somebody whistle,give a wave, go the other way, man.
You know, it's not.
It's not like, you know, it'slike family feud up there or something.
You just do your thing andmove on.
(31:29):
You know, there's plenty of land.
So, Doug, what.
What's your opinion on the drones?
So I've never really beenaround drones at all.
Like, I definitely can seepeople use them to abuse it.
Like, hey, there's a deer onthe other side of this hedgerow.
Let's go get them.
But in aspect like recovery, Ifeel like it'd be beneficial.
(31:51):
Yeah.
Because I shot a buck last year.
It ran across the road in theimpact area.
It goes in the impact area.
You can't go get it.
That's where tank rounds andmortar rounds all impact.
So, like, you're lost.
I shot a buck earlier lastseason that did the same thing.
Went into the impact area.
I called the game wardens up.
Yo, it's.
What's going on?
Put a good shot on him.
(32:12):
He's like, that sucks.
He's Kyle bait now.
Like, well.
But I had a.
I helped a guy earlier in theseason, shot him.
I don't know, buck or a doe.
I didn't pay that muchattention to it, so it wasn't mine,
but I.
I spent probably four hourshelping this guy track his deer.
We couldn't find it, but Ifeel like it was in a CRP field.
(32:36):
Yep.
So it was all like waist highgrass and all that other.
I feel like a drone.
Really beneficial to help thatwhole aspect out.
Yeah.
And Michael, you asked thequestion within minutes.
Don't answer yet.
But he's going to a.
I want to ask you here, Doug,if you've tried possum, don't answer
(32:56):
yet.
I know the answer.
Much like you got to say.
But he said he has to leave ina second.
No, I never had possum.
But I almost shot one lastweekend that I was turkey hunting
and had one attack my bootscared the out of me.
I didn't know what was going on.
I just about shot him pointblank with 3 inch mag.
(33:18):
Nice.
So one of my buddies I hunt onthe property with, they shot a deer,
they couldn't find it.
So that he said, hey, are youable to come track?
And I said, yeah, but I won'tbe there for 30, 35 minutes.
And I said, okay, that's okay.
We want to take a break anyways.
We think we might be jumping them.
I said, all right, give mesome time.
It was rainy, snowy mix.
(33:39):
I said, give me about 40minutes, I'll be there.
And so me and my dad went outthere to go help track.
And my dad, we just got himthe year before a like those thermal,
you can see the heat sensorone and then the.
There's the other version ofthe heat signal.
Anyways, we pulled, we.
(34:00):
We took that out there andwe're scanning the last area that
they were looking at and Iasked him like, well, where have
you gone?
Where's the deer gone?
And stuff like that.
And basically everything wasgoing, it was going into this, into
this giant hill, bottom of the property.
And I said, I guarantee youhe's either down there bedded or
just sitting there waiting to die.
(34:21):
So I took my dad's thermalwhile they're trying to listen and
stuff like that.
And I'm sure, shit, I seesomething big just sitting there,
but I can see like movement,like if it's breathing.
I was like, well is.
I'm gonna guarantee you that'syour deer.
And we start walking up there.
We get right next to this deerand it's not even moving and it's
(34:41):
still breathing.
And like, well, everyone coveryour ears.
So.
And it just, it was amazingbecause they said they were tracking
for.
I think they did an hour worthof tracking.
Yeah.
And then we found him within20 minutes of actually being out
there in the woods starting totrack based with the help of this
(35:04):
because we we were scanningareas just doing 360s, and we couldn't
find anything.
And I was like, well, let mego check.
Check over here.
And sure.
Like I said, I found him and Ijust shaved.
Shaved.
So much time off of tracking,you're able to find the steer.
And we were able to get.
Get him to the deer and ableto officially put him down, harvest
(35:25):
the deer.
Imagine if you don't have that ability.
I think that's the point of drones.
It's to help recover animals,and it's a good thing.
And I think, like you said,Squatch, there's people out there
that could abuse it for thewrong reasons.
And if you're able to putrestrictions down and have people,
I don't know, just off top ofmy head, they had to log certain
(35:46):
shit or training, they have toget qualified.
I don't know.
Well, being that I used to flymodel airplanes and stuff like that,
and I had a drone, you have toregister the drone with the faa and
you have to have what theycall air maps.
It's an app for your phonebecause you can actually interfere
with commercial flight ifthere's airports in your, you know,
(36:08):
area, your specific area whereyou're flying.
Yeah.
And you have to.
Before you take off, you haveto actually, like, say, I'm taking
off.
I'll be at this altitude.
I'll be in this quadrant.
Because if there is acollision or something like that,
they know who to go look for.
And they see it on their.
Their, you know, on theirstuff, their sonar and stuff the
(36:28):
radar.
But, you know, it's like Isaid, if.
If you're gonna be somethingwith drone recovery, just like a
deer tracker has dogs, youknow, go make the person have to
go get special training, makethem have a license, make them follow
all the rules of the ffa.
Make them call it in whenthey're starting to search.
Make them call it in whenthey're done with the search.
(36:50):
And you know what, if you gota drone and you're flying around
and you're using it, like forbeing a shithead and trying to, you
know, just get up on deer andfool them, then you know what?
That's it.
Instant reveal.
You know, revocation oflicense for 10 years.
You know, put a.
Put a, you know, 12,something, $15,000 fine on it.
And I guarantee you, firstcouple few idiots that do it, they
(37:13):
won't do it no more.
So.
Okay, Michael's back.
Oh, hi, Michael.
Welcome to the show.
Yeah, yeah.
Doug, have you ever.
You ask it again, Michael.
I See your question before,Doug, have you tried possum?
No, he tried it.
Maybe he tried it in themeantime, since you asked him the
(37:34):
last time.
No, five minutes, nothing changed.
Okay.
Okay, that's fair.
Never know when you got apossum strangling down through your
freaking hallway.
And yeah, you know, he's onyour lap.
He could be the flash and justwent outside, killed one and came
back in.
He could have gone and done that.
We would have known.
(37:54):
He's so fast.
You know, we've had gueststhat are so dedicated on the show,
they'll just go outside andget one and actually try it right
on the show.
Yeah, I guess Doug's notdedicated guests then.
Better man than me.
Well, he said in the.
In the comments, his WI fi isnot that strong for him to go out
and find a possum.
So we lose them.
(38:15):
That's fair.
We lose him on the show.
Yeah, there's actually a stormrolling in, so I lost power.
We just had a storm Thursdayand Friday and it knocked people's
power out forever.
It's.
I think people still don'thave power.
There's a tornado in Battle Creek.
I know you guys don't knowthat, but for people that know, I'm
(38:35):
in the Kalamazoo region andBattle Creek's about 45 minutes to
an hour away from us.
And yeah, I've heard of Battle Creek.
Yeah, that's where the fort.
Not Fort, but for.
I kept drawing a blank whatthe actual name is.
Zimbabwe Creek Military there.
(38:55):
Anyways, Doug, I just want tosay thank you for coming on the show,
man.
We greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for sharing yourstory, man, that.
To read the article about itand have you come on and share it's
amazing story and to you.
It's hard to hear a lot ofstories where a lot of people are
actually looking out for thesame deer and it just turned out
to be like.
Like you said, it's a ghostand no one's seen it and they want
(39:18):
to get out there and get it and.
But it's all.
I haven't.
I've yet to hear someoneactually shoot at a deer and it hit
its antler.
Yeah, that's the first for methat blew my.
I thought it was like fromfighting or something.
Gouged by another brow tiner.
It's like a G2 or something.
But he's like, no, I hit himin the head with an arrow.
I knew a guy.
Quick story.
I knew a guy that grazed onein the head deer.
(39:41):
The deer went Down.
He's all happy as runs overthere, rolls it over, sticks the
knife in his freaking rib cage.
Deer jumps up, kicks the everloving out of him and takes him off
running.
And he's holding it by therack, getting drugged through the
freaking woods.
What the.
He just realized he only thebullet grazed it knocked it out for
a second, you know.
(40:02):
Jesus.
True story.
My book.
My freaking guy I grew upwith, I work with him every day.
His uncle had that happen.
You ever see those memes wherea guy is actually fighting one of
those deers?
Yeah.
I don't know why, but I wantthat to happen to me.
Lee.
I'm just one day.
(40:22):
Absolutely.
I just.
I want me to say I've.
I lived that I wanted.
Exactly.
They're like, yeah, I bought adeer and I won.
All right, cool.
As Doug, I got a couple rapidfire questions for you before we
let you go.
Okay, brother?
All right.
Besides hunting, do you haveany other hobbies or interests?
(40:46):
Like to turn wrenches?
I used to like fishing, but Ikind of got out of fishing.
Yeah, I grew up fishing and Ijust haven't had time to go out there
and do fishing.
I know Squash loves to fish.
I'm an outdoorsman.
But Squatch makes me look likea though.
Come on, man.
Yeah, I tell you the guyshonest truth.
(41:06):
I got out fishing once so far.
And every chance I get towhere I want to go, something either
happens.
It's been windy and freaking.
Nothing but rain here.
If it's not raining, it's 30mile an hour winds.
I haven't got the chance toget out yet.
And I've been turkey hunting so.
But I was glad I got a bird.
So I'm happy, you know, with that.
So hopefully now in the nextweek or two I can get out, do some
(41:27):
fishing.
I think we've had whoop my ass.
Oh really?
They're tough.
This year I got.
I got two or three my buddiesa bird and I can't get myself a bird.
So like I just suck apparently.
Well, it happens.
So later I tell everybody, gotto get on the birds.
You got to get them into thefirst day, the second day, maybe
the third.
You're lucky after that.
(41:47):
Good luck.
It's.
It's tough after that.
Real tough.
What animal is on your bucketlist to hunt?
Probably a moose.
I think the second person eversay moose on the show.
Yeah, second or third.
No elk or mule deer.
Those are the top three.
But moose has been the top one.
I've always wanted to shoot.
(42:08):
They're just so majestic.
Yeah.
God, they're like amazing.
What is an animal you want totry eating?
I hope not legit.
No, no, no, no.
It's definitely not going tobe possum.
(42:30):
Probably, probably moose.
I've never had moose.
Yeah, I'd like to try mooseone day actually.
What has been your favoritestate you've hunted if you want to.
Kansas.
Kansas.
Straight up Kansas now Ibelieve Kansas, that's not over the
draw.
You had to get points though.
Correct.
So I think it's through likepreference points, like a whole draw
(42:53):
process.
But since I'm here with thearmy, I'm technically a resident,
so I just have to take myorders to like Walmart or wherever
the hell you get your license from.
I just give them my orders.
Like, cool, you're a resident now.
Here's your tags.
Oh, dead.
Okay.
But for a mule deer, likerifle mule deer you do have, even
if you're resident, you gottado a draw.
(43:14):
Okay.
Yeah.
What is the top state you wantto hunt?
Alaska.
Alaska.
Yeah.
That's a big one.
We get, we get that answerquite a bit.
And I'm right there with you.
Or Montana.
They're kind of side by side.
Yeah.
Last frontier.
The big sky mountain.
(43:35):
Two questions last for you.
If you could pick anybody, youcan get a non family member and a
family member either living ornon living to go on a hunting trip
with or share a campfire withone time.
Who would that be?
Probably my one grandpa whogot me into hunting.
He passed away.
Shit.
10, 15 years ago.
(43:56):
And then probably my bestfriend Matt who passed away five,
six years ago.
Sorry for last question here.
What do you think we as fellowhunters could or should do to improve
the hunting community?
Probably be more respectful ofthe people you're hunting around.
Stop dogging on people'sharvests like Joe Schmo shot this
(44:19):
nice spike horn.
Don't talk about it.
Or Jack over here shot 220inch deer.
Don't talk about it.
Don't say, oh, he spotlightedit, he baited it, yada, yada, whatever.
Just be happy for someone fortheir harvest.
Well, Doug, I have to sayyour, your deer does not look like
a 200 inch deer.
So just going to throw thatout there.
(44:42):
Everybody's I agree, man.
So we get that answer a lot.
Like I, I agree with you completely.
I think there's a differencebetween what we do on the show with
hazing each other and we hazewith the guests and we haze with
the audience out there as well.
But they know it's all in good fun.
But there's also a point whereyou, you haze on people's harvest
(45:09):
like you said, and it casts abass bad light on, on the hunting
community as a whole.
And I think that needs to stop.
When we haze each other, we're.
That's just what brotherhood'sall about.
Oh, absolutely.
And obviously, you know,because being in the military, I'm
sure you know that this iswhat you do.
And in my opinion, that's howyou bond with, with your.
(45:31):
Your brothers and sisters.
That's how I bonded with myfriends in the military, in the,
in the law enforcement world.
And that's how you get to knoweach other.
But you all know I have yourback no matter what.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like me and my buddy, he sayswhen I shot Jesus there, he's like,
oh, that's a 20 inch deer onyour eight points.
A baby.
(45:51):
It's just straight up.
Hazen.
Yeah.
What's going on with thecamera angles here?
I don't know, buddy.
I just saw that myself.
I thought.
I thought I broke it.
That's so ugly.
No, no, the Internet justsaid, hey, let's, let's do this view.
It's the ghost buck.
He's podcast haunting the show.
(46:13):
He turned into an actual.
Well, Doug, thank you so muchfor coming on the show.
Squatch.
First, how can people reachout to you and follow along your
journey as.
Always, you guys know you canfind me here on Sundays and Tuesday
nights at 8pm on the whitetail Advantage.
You can also find me on theboondocks outdoors and with the Garden
(46:34):
State Outdoorsman podcast.
Frank Bistika, Mike Nitra andall the guys with that crew.
You can hit me up on InstagramOutdoors and More with the Squatch.
You can find me on my YouTube channel.
Outdoors and more with the Squatch.
Check it out.
We released a turkey hunting video.
It's pretty cool.
The editing didn't come outtoo shabby for me and I appreciate
everybody always tuning in andlistening to us.
(46:55):
And thanks for watching, guys.
Doug, how can people followalong your journey?
Facebook, I guess.
All right, I like it.
Well done too.
Internet savvy, so it's all right.
Hey, don't.
You don't have to be.
You shoot big deer.
That's all that matters.
Exactly.
You just enjoy being out inthe woods, man.
(47:16):
Facts.
Squatch, thank you for beingthe one teammate to actually come
on the show.
You're the only one thattexted Square Dave and Johnny.
They don't like texting.
You and I are always textingin the group Chat.
So I don't know what the going on.
They say that I don't text andnow my ghost.
So I gotta say Johnny, Johnnydid say earlier on in the day and
(47:39):
I only caught it between whatI was doing that he got called into
work so he wasn't sure if hewas going to make it.
And Dave had let you know awhile back, but maybe you forgot
that he had to take care ofsome family stuff.
Oh, I'm just giving you guystext more than I do.
I'm constantly busier than.
Well, you always look at myGrindr account or my only fans account
for gay dudes.
I'm telling you.
(48:00):
I'm telling you.
Ginger spice on Grindr.
Look bread up.
It's.
It's badass.
I mean you'll see on there.
You never thought could.
You could imagine.
I got all the moves, man.
I got all the moves.
You want to see some nice feet pick?
We got some nice feet pick upthere too, my brother.
I've been trying to get thewife to do the whole feet pick things.
They're like toes and.
And yeah.
Make some extra money.
She won't do it.
(48:21):
People have that weird kink.
Exactly.
And I'm like, people pay$5,000 for a photo of a feet.
Yeah.
I could fund a hunting trip byselling feet picks.
But she won't do it.
Yep, yep, yep.
Selfish.
Come on now.
Selfish.
I know you think about.
She's in another room watching this.
(48:41):
I might get beat.
Doug's wife.
Come on.
Let's think about your husband first.
Okay?
It helps him get a hunting trip.
We go get another ghost buckout of another state.
Go, go.
Just all it takes is onelittle photo.
Click, click.
There you go.
Exactly.
And your trip's funded there,there and back and everything included.
(49:02):
So.
But Doug, you know what?
How about this?
I'll take a feed picture and I'll.
I'll create an account andI'll send you the funds for it.
How about that?
Sold.
Squatch Dog, thank you forcoming on for tonight's show.
I greatly appreciate it.
I hope you have a great restof your night, guys.
You too.
Thank you.
See you guys.
Oh, man.
(49:23):
Yeah.
Great guys, right there.
Well, everyone, that's goingto conclude an episode of the Whitetail
Advantage podcast.
I want to say thank you toeveryone that's gathered around the
electronic campfire fortonight's show.
Now, if this show made youlaugh, made you think, giving you
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If you're listening this onthe audio version, please get to
this that five star rating.
Also give us your feedbackwhat you like more, what you want
(49:45):
less from the show.
We also have a lot of thingslined up so make sure to check out
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Audio versions of our podcastgets released every Monday and Wednesday
(50:06):
at 5am Eastern Time.
Also like to take a second tosay thank you to all companies that
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Excited for that now.
Last but not least, put thatcore in the slot machine.
(50:28):
We'll see everyone next time.
Thank you for tuning in toanother episode of the Whitetail
Advantage podcast.
We hope you enjoyed the showand we will see you next time.
Welcome to the WhitetailAdvantage Podcast with your host
Brett Bovin.
Thank you for tuning in andenjoy the show.
I'm an idiot.
(00:22):
I missed the part that is my fault.
What is up guys?
This is Brett Bovin.
Welcome to Electronic Campfire.
We are not politically correcton this show.
Hunting and brotherhood comehand in hand together in my opinion.
So there's hazing on the show tonight.
We have Squatch, Johnny andDave aren't here tonight.
So we're kind of happy about that.
(00:43):
Not kind of, we are extremelyhappy about that.
No, I'm just kidding.
And our guest tonight is Doug.
So we invite you all alonghaze along with us as well.
It's part of the show Sundaysand Tuesdays.
We do a live show every Sundayand Tuesday at 8pm Eastern time.
We have a saying on the show.
We record in the slot machine.
Strongly believe hunting is adying sport.
(01:03):
It's a dying lifestyle.
So we ask everybody out thereis just to help share the show, help
us grow the show.
Everyone out there that's beendoing it, we love you all.
Just help us continue doing that.
I do also like to take asecond to say thank you to all the
men and women in the military.
Thank you for your service andthank you for your sacrifice.
We greatly appreciate it.
I also want to say thank youto all the men and women and the
(01:24):
police officers, thefirefighters, the nurses, doctors,
care construction workers andcorrections officers.
Basically everyone in inpublic service.
I want to say thank you foryour service as well.
Now today is Sunday May 18,2025 episode 152 and tonight we're
going to sit back and relaxand listen to an amazing story that
(01:46):
Doug's going to share aboutthe Ghost Buck.
I read this article online.
I was like oh I gotta havethis guy on a show and share his
story on it.
Now 10 ring news here.
Do not forget if you want theWhitetail Advantage calendar for
our live shows on your owncalendar, send in send in your email
(02:06):
to us and we can send it setit up to where our calendar will
show up on on your calendar soyou can see what's going on with
the show and when we when wedon't have a show and who's going
to be on future guests andstuff like that.
With that also being said, wedo not have any shows line up next
week.
So if you only listen to theshow on the audio version there won't
(02:28):
be an episode released nextMonday or Wednesday because with
it being Memorial Weekendwe're taking time to spend with our
friends and Family andthanking everyone for their service
in the military.
And so there will be no liveshow on Sunday or Tuesday.
This is going to be our last week.
We won't be back for anothertwo weeks.
And that is it.
So with that being said, I askyou all to pull up a chair, gather
(02:53):
around the electron campfireand let's talk with Doug Squatch.
How's it going, brother?
What's up, brother?
How you doing?
I'm doing good.
At least we have I.
At least I have one goodfriend in you, Squatch.
There too are just bastards,you know.
When the tough gets going, youknow who you can count on.
(03:15):
I can always count on mybrother Squatch right there.
That's for sure.
I think it's just because Idon't have a life.
So you know, if you saw mycalendar, I was texting the group
chat today.
Yeah, my calendar is literallyfilled from 6:00am to 10:00 clock
at night.
I get like one hour a nightwhere it's just myself and I like
(03:39):
to take that moment sometimesand just sit in the bathtub and watch
funny bloopers and justnormalize the heroes I watch in football
and stuff like that.
Yeah, I just have fun.
Doug, what's going on?
Show brother.
Thank you for coming on.
Thanks for having me.
(04:00):
Oh man.
I'm excited to learn moreabout your story with this ghost
buck.
I read it online throughOutdoor Life.
That's the name of.
That's the website.
Yeah.
Yep.
Outdoor Life, that's where Iread it.
And I was like, yep.
I got instantly at.
When I message you, I got donereading that within like five seconds.
I am like, I was.
(04:20):
It was hard to find you for asecond, but I'm like, oh, please
let me find them.
And I found you.
I was like, yes.
Now let's hope he answers.
What's pretty cool is when Iwas a kid growing up, my grandfather
and my dad had a buck calledthe Phantom Buck.
The old Phantom.
So having somebody on the showthat's got a kind of a similar story
(04:41):
about having a ghost buck,it's home.
It's pretty cool.
But yeah, we had a big old tenpointer we used to call the Phantom.
So yeah, I never knew theycall this buck the Ghost Buck until
I got it scored.
And guys like, yeah, this.
This called the Ghost.
Well, why you're like, well,people have on camera.
Cameras are illegal still.
Like he'd have on camera andthen he'd be gone.
(05:05):
Then they'd have them in their sights.
They'd miss or he'd Justdisappear behind a tree, Never be
seen again.
Wow.
Yeah.
I had a.
A deer on my property that Icalled the ghost buck.
Mainly because I saw him onceout in the field, and he was just
a monster of a deer.
But never saw a photo of him.
And I never saw him again that year.
(05:27):
I.
I don't.
I don't think I've ever sawhim again.
And he was just a beautiful,beautiful nine pointer.
And he wasn't, like, tall onthe tine length, but he just had
mass and spread like a.
And I was like, oh, I think Ijust jizzed in my pants a little
bit when I saw him.
(05:49):
Well, Doug, sure give a littlebackground by yourself first before
we get into your story here.
All right.
So I'm originally from upstateNew York up in Boonville.
And then I joined the army andbeen stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas
for the last about five years, so.
Yeah.
You were in the army?
Yeah, I'm in the process ofgetting out.
(06:11):
Oh, okay.
Squat Dave and Johnny were inthe army as well.
And Squatch was.
Was days.
Both sons in the marines orjust one of his sons?
Yeah, both.
I believe both of his sons.
That's why I believe both sons.
Drawing a blank there.
Well, Doug, thank you for yourservice, though.
Hey, man, thank you.
Were you a police officer inthe army or what did you do?
(06:33):
I'm a cav scout.
A cab scout.
What's that?
Yeah, it's basically like a reconnaissance.
Like, what we would do is we'dgo like, say we're in war right now.
We'd go.
Go past the line.
Like, the.
The enemy's line.
I gather information and sendit back up.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Actually kind of fun.
I'd like to do.
I like that sneaky snipe type.
(06:55):
It's like, oh, I get to sneakin there and collect all this intel.
To me, I think that's a lot of fun.
It's almost like ghost recon man.
He's going in behind thelines, going on.
Yeah, yeah, it's.
It's been fun.
Well, Doug, start off what hap.
What's this ghost buck thatpeople that might not know about
(07:17):
it.
So I first saw three yearsago, four years ago on camera.
I only had, like, a blurrypicture of them just passing by the
trail camera, like, probablyabout a mile from where I ended up
shooting them last year.
So I saw him.
I'm like, Jesus.
So I'm like, I'm gonna startcalling you Jesus.
(07:37):
Seemed good.
And I.
I hunted them hard that year,and I Just, I forgot about them.
So I'm like, okay, whatever.
And this year came through.
Can't have trail cameras anymore.
Then I wasn't gonna hunt that morning.
Luckily, the wife's like, hey,we better go.
So I ended up sitting there.
(07:58):
I wasn't gonna sit in the spotI was gonna sit in early in the season.
I missed a big buck on theside of the hill.
Got a couple hundred yards away.
So I was gonna sit there.
Like, no, I'll just sit wheremy tree stand is.
Like, no, I'm gonna move downabout 50 yards and sit in the fallen
tree.
So I'm just sitting there.
I'm like, my binos are in the truck.
(08:19):
I gotta scope on the rifle.
I'm fine.
So I said, I hear thiscrunching, and I just look up and
I just see this brown thingmoving across the.
Coming from the tank trailinto the hardwoods.
I.
Oh, just little dough.
So I didn't think nothing of it.
Just sat back down and startedrelaxing again.
And I saw.
I saw a rack.
(08:40):
Like, oh, I thought I was.
There's been three or foureight points running through there
that I've been watching all season.
So I'm like, you're going toget shot.
It's too late in the season tobe picky right now.
So I pull the rifle up and I'mlike, you're not in a eight point.
And then I couldn't.
I didn't have a clean shot.
So then he started moving awayacross in front of me.
(09:01):
So I had to kind of spin likethis way to shoot him.
And I just touched off therifle and I watched him hunch.
He ran like 15 yards and just dropped.
Got up, ran a few more stepsand just dropped again.
And that was it.
I just sat there shaking forlike 10 minutes.
Yeah.
(09:21):
Wow.
So what was your reaction whenyou realized this was the buck that
everyone has been kind oflooking for and now you have them
pretty much right in your sights?
So I didn't realize it at first.
Like, I knew he was a bigbuck, but I didn't know it was that
buck until I got up there andlaid hands on him.
Oh, really?
(09:41):
Yeah.
So I just thought it was anice, like 12 point, maybe a 14.
Getting up to him.
I just dropped, sat down nextto him like, you gotta be me.
I started counting.
I'm like, I can't count this.
I gotta take my boots off, mysocks off, start counting on my toes.
It was just insane.
And I figured it out.
I'm like, this is Jesus.
(10:03):
And I pulled my phone outthere, some pictures.
I'm like, I called the wife.
I gotta call my buddy.
I'm like, no service, so Idon't want to leave you.
But I left him anyways.
I went out, got my truck,drove to the top of the hill and
called the wife.
And I just shot a buck.
I need to come out here.
Help me drag him.
So is he big?
I'm like, a little bit big.
Not.
Not too big.
(10:23):
I called my other buddy, Yo, Tuttle.
He's like, what's up?
Like, I just killed the buck.
I need you out here.
He's like, all right.
And he dropped what he wasdoing, drove the.
It's like 30, 40 minutes outto the spot we hunt.
He came right out and helpedme drag it out.
Nice.
Wow.
So, yeah.
So what.
How did this nickname Ghostbuck come about with this deer?
(10:45):
So that came later on in the night.
I called the Brad Forbes.
He's.
He works on post.
He's retired, I believe.
And he's a official scorer for buckmasters.
So I called him up like, hey,man, can you score this buck for
me tonight after work?
Like, yeah, fine.
Cool.
I brought over to him.
He's like, do you know whatthis buck's name is?
I'm like, big Jesus.
(11:07):
He's like, no, they call itthe Ghost.
I'm like, why?
And that's when he told methat there's two hunters.
Within two weeks prior to meshooting him, that one guy missed
him completely.
That was back when it was still.
It was BO then.
I never saw him.
And so he ended up missing him.
(11:28):
He was like three quartersaway, the drawback.
And his.
His hand hit the release onhis bow and sailed the arrow.
So then I noticed how hisright main beam, there's a chunk
missing, probably like that much.
That's weird.
Come to find out, about a weekbefore I shot him, some guy shot
at him and hit him in the mainbeam with his arrow and broadhead.
(11:50):
Oh, wow.
Yeah, they hit him right inthe main beam.
Oh, yeah.
With the arrow.
Yep.
Oh, yeah.
So that guy actually reachedout to me and told me about him.
Like, oh, no.
I'm like, I kind of want the arrow.
I want that broadhead.
And he's like, just let me.
Just let me hold the deer whenhe's done.
(12:10):
I'm like, too easy.
Let me see if I can get thisup here.
Share this screen right here.
Oh, what caliber rifle did youshoot him with?
Or was it a shotgun?
Using my.301 mag.
Nice.
Wow.
So reading this article.
This was not one of your trailcamera photos.
(12:31):
This was somebody else's trailer.
Trail cam photo.
That's actually a photo thatBrad Forbes gave me.
The guy.
That's nice.
I think that was back in 21:22.
That's when he's at his peak.
It looks like this photo wastaken July 1, 2022.
Yeah.
(12:51):
He estimated his peak like2122 season.
And when they found his sheds,they were saying he's about 230,
240.
Wow.
Here is a close up.
Wow.
I'm not too good of the camera.
No.
Geez.
How many points were legal onthis deer?
(13:11):
21.
21 points on this?
Yeah.
You can actually see right there.
That's where the.
This right here.
Yep.
Yeah, I see it.
Wow.
Yeah.
I was about to say, was thatwhere he got hit, man?
Yep.
And what was the spread on this?
Because he doesn't look likehe's getting always passed out his
ears at all.
No, he.
He wasn't very wide at all.
The spread was.
(13:32):
I actually wrote that down.
12 and 5, 8.
But the greatest spread was n.
19 and 3, 8.
Wow.
I don't know how they.
I don't know how the scoring works.
I said I'm from upstate New York.
I'm happy with 130 inch 8.
Oh, yeah.
So this thing just blew my mind.
It's the first thing I've everhad scored.
He's got a lot going on.
(13:53):
He's got a lot of palmation.
He's got non typical stuff.
I mean, he's just.
Yeah.
Who?
You know what, when it comesto something like that, I just go,
it's a freak.
I call them bucks freaks, man.
They're freaks.
You know what?
I shoot every one of them Icould freaking find, man.
When they come through, theygot something funky.
I got one downstairs.
He's a big mainframe.
(14:14):
Looks like an eight on one side.
But then he just shoots up.
He's got like two points thatcome off.
He was a big old freak.
And I was trying to get hisdad, but his dad finally just died.
Old age.
Yeah.
Yep.
They found him laying dead outin one of the orchards.
And that's the worst.
Ah, it hurt.
It hurt because I was realclose to getting them, but it's okay.
(14:34):
You know what, things happenand whatever, but.
Yeah, that's a.
That's a nice buck, man.
That's.
That's cool.
When they're freaks like that,I like.
I like deer.
I'd shoot.
I'd shoot one of Those deerover 30.
Just normal ones.
Oh, absolutely.
You know, I, I have a deer onthe property from last year.
(14:54):
I think it was both that werepalmated or just one side, but I
released.
I know one distinctly.
It was his left main beam.
Everything was palmated andlike the, like the tines themselves
were just maybe like an inch.
Just based off the photo itself.
Yeah.
And everyone in, in the areaagreed like this deer was probably
two, two and a half years old maybe.
(15:15):
And we're like no one shoot this.
And we're all agreement, likewe just want to see this, the potential
what this deer could get to.
Hopefully he stays in the areaand everything that all the neighbors
are trying to do to make sureto put out good feed and stuff like
that, to make sure he gets upage and gets the proper nutrition
stuff.
But.
Right.
We all just want to see whatthe potential this deer gets.
(15:37):
And obviously whoever getsthis deer is going to be excited
for what he turns out to be.
Hopefully he does.
I wish I had a photo with him,but I don't have it somewhere on
my phone right now.
I'll share it next episode.
But no, it, that's a beautiful deer.
And I was reading this articleand it says Forbes estimated the
deer to be around 7 1/2 yearsof age and gave it a BTR score of
(16:02):
206 and 78 inches.
Yep.
And yeah, like I said, I don'tknow much about scoring, but I got
a lot of, a lot of backlash onthe old Internet about that's not
200 inch deer.
Yada yada yada.
I'm like, just, I don't care.
Shut up.
That's what an official scoregave me.
That's what I'm going with.
I don't know anybody can, cansay that because pictures are so
(16:25):
hard to go by.
Yeah, exactly.
Unless you're absolutelystanding there like looking at a
deer.
I've seen small deer look huge.
I've seen big deer not look big.
You know, and all thesekeyboard warriors getting on there
going, yeah, it's not that big.
You know, it's just, come on.
You know.
I, I to play devil's advocatehere, the only thing that I can think
(16:46):
of that for someone to saythat isn't a 200 inch deer is because
of its spread.
Yeah, that would be the thingwhere people are like, but even that,
the spread, I would just sayestimating it based off of this photo.
20 inches, maybe 18 inchesjust looking at this.
But you look at all thecharacter that goes along with this
(17:09):
deer and how tall these Tinesare on these things, G2s and all
these kickers and stickers, everything.
It's like.
Yeah, I could see 200 inchesjust off of all that put together.
I mean, he was, he was sevenand a half my big guy there.
And he's 21 and a half insidespread with five and a half inch
(17:29):
bases, but he only scored 125,you know what I mean?
Yeah.
So.
But because he's short, kind,but he's just wide and massive.
But when we aged him, he wasseven and a half.
He.
The whole back part of hismolars, they were ground down to
nothing.
That.
That buck was old, man.
He.
He was 225 on the hoof.
Jesus.
(17:49):
New York, New York deer.
I'm in, I'm in the Hudson Valley.
Okay.
Ulster County.
I shot him with the bow in2001, so.
Hell of a good morning though, man.
When I got him, I was happier.
And you know, reading thisarticle, Doug, it seemed like you
were going to be hunting inone area or an area that you've been
(18:09):
hunting, and something madeyou change your mind to go hunt a
different area.
Yeah, I don't know what it was like.
So I was gonna hunt the samearea, just a different part of that
property.
Okay.
So as a hunt, the.
Be the west side of the mountain.
I caught a mountain.
It's just a big hill.
Was this public area.
I'm sorry, was this publicland or private?
(18:30):
It's public.
Okay.
So I was sitting.
I was gonna.
I drove past where I ended upparking to shoot the deer.
I'm like, I'm gonna drivearound and park at the base of the
hill and walk up the corner.
But no, let's just go to mytree stand.
So I end up going to my treestand, got like two feet up on the
stand.
I'm like, nah.
So I just walked 50 yardsdown, deeper into the woods.
(18:51):
And then kind of like themiddle of the.
Between like the.
It's like a valley.
So it's like cedar.
Cedar and like a big draw upthe middle.
So I just kind of sat probablylike 50 yards off the middle of the
draw.
And I.
I don't know.
We found.
Me and my buddy found thatspot last year and we were shooting
does in the late season out of it.
So I'm just like, it's.
(19:11):
It's a nice little spot kindof like tucked in helicop.
It's a falling down treetop.
So you got all the branchesand stuff for like a stabilizer.
Stabilizer to shoot off oflike a longer shot or whatever.
And I just.
Something told me to sit there.
If I was in my stand, I mighthave gotten a shot, But I would have
had it turned around almostcompletely backwards to get a shot.
(19:35):
How far was granted it wastwo, three years later where this
photo was taken from where youshot him.
So that photo, him and Velvetback in July, that was probably 7,
700,000 yards away.
(19:56):
So he kind of stayed roughlyin his home range type area For a
good couple years.
But where I had him on camerathe first time I ever saw him was
about a mile to the east.
So you did get.
Do you get it on camera thatyear you shot him or the year before?
No, because they, they, theybanned trail cameras.
So not this season.
(20:17):
The season before that.
Kansas Public land got rid oftheir cameras.
And then Fort Riley followedsuit this past hunting season.
So I had zero trail camerasout this past year.
That's so lame.
You use truck.
Is it during the huntingseason or is just in general?
So Fort Riley did it.
It was, I think, August.
(20:39):
You had to have your camerasout of there.
So up until like, August, youcould have cameras.
But I don't know if they'rebringing cameras back this year for,
like this, like the wholesummertime Doing the same thing they
did last year or if they'rejust going to completely keep them
banned the entire time.
I hear more and more statesdoing that.
I can't remember which onesare on top of my head, But I've been
(21:00):
trying to wrap my brain about why.
And the only thing that Icould kind of think about Squatch,
maybe you know, is because nowwe're going more towards these cell
cameras out there withtacticams and moultrie with more
cell cams, obviously.
And you're getting live timeaction photos Sent right to your
phone.
(21:20):
And you hear it all the time.
Oh, there's a deer right thereby my camera.
I gotta go out there right now.
And then they go shoot them.
Yeah, or they, or at leastthey go try to.
I think that's one of thereasons why they want to try to get
rid of these cell cams or justcameras in general.
I, I.
Do you have an opinion onthat, Squatch?
Well, I think a lot of it istoo, because he said, Doug, I.
(21:43):
If I heard you correctly, yousaid on state land and the government
land at your hunting.
Now, did they ban them also onprivate land too, or.
No, I don't know about private land.
I don't have it in privateland to hunt.
So I don't really payattention to that part.
I think a lot of it is, youknow, when it comes to like having
public lands, you know, stateland or federal lands and stuff like
(22:03):
that, they're probably tryingto keep it on a level two, because
I'm sure a lot of those gomissing, people grab them, steal
them, then.
Then the, the agencies getcomplaints about, you know, oh, my
camera went missing and blah,blah, blah, blah.
So maybe they're just tryingto regulate, like, look, let's just
do away with the problem rightaway and just not have anybody put
(22:25):
those damn things out.
But I'm sure a lot of it is they're.
They're probably just tryingto enforce some kind of like more
of a fair chase situation.
All the cameras I run are moultrie.
They're all instant time data.
Let me tell you something.
By the time it gets thepicture taken, by the time it goes
to the satellite and maybegets to your phone and some kind
of thing, there's at leastfive or six minutes difference from
(22:48):
the time it actually took the picture.
Because I've actually sat inthe stand, watched a deer come up
the path.
Deers pass me gone by.
I get the notification.
So if they're basing it onsomething like that, like, oh, they're
gonna go get the deer, I mean,good luck.
The deer still may be in thatarea, but it's not that like, super
quick.
But it's, it's probably just.
(23:11):
I think it's probably a thingfor not having, you know, complaints,
having so many complaints.
Maybe something got stolen.
Guys fighting over territory.
Oh, well, that's my spot.
I had my camera there for six months.
You can't go there, you know,so it's, it's probably just stuff
like that.
That's why they, they enforce it.
That's my opinion on it, really.
So.
But even then, I still thinkthat's kind of like a cheap way to
(23:35):
think about going about it.
I'd like to get like a DNRperson that's behind the laws that
says this is why we're doingit, just to get from their, from
their mouth themselves.
Yeah, but like, you said it perfectly.
You can have a cell camera outthere and send it to your phone and
let's say you get it.
I have tactic cam, so I get itwithin two minutes, roughly.
(23:57):
Let's say some cameras, youget it within five.
Right.
The odds of you getting fromwhere you're at, let's just say you're.
Let's say you're actuallysitting in your living Room and your
trail camera is 300 yards away.
The odds of you, becauseyou're not just gonna go out in your
blue jeans or your sweatpants,whatever the you're wearing, you're
gonna at least put your camoon, go out there with your stuff.
(24:20):
And this is the tricky part.
Let's say that deermiraculously is still standing in
that area.
You have to sneak in and do it.
Even if you have a gun withyou, Odds of you shooting that deer
just from that photo that gotto you, in my opinion, is 1% or less.
Yeah, I.
I agree, too.
(24:41):
I did have it work in thatsituation with coyotes, because I
had a bait pile out, and I hadthe camera set up by the bait pile.
Got the notification, thecoyotes are out in the field.
I was able to drive up, getout of the truck, sneak up, and they
busted me at the last second,where I was almost to the blind where
they were.
But I didn't throw camo on.
I was in my blue jeans, I wasin a plaid shirt, and I was sitting
(25:03):
on my couch, and I grabbedmy.204 and I beat feet right up the
road to where I hunt.
So I.
I was able to get on them that quick.
But like you said, in deerhunting, in a situation, I mean,
not a lot of people can justgo out in their backyard deer hunting.
A lot of people have to drive45 minutes an hour to get to where
they're hunting.
Yeah.
What.
What the hell is it hurting?
And, you know, I mean, I haveput cameras up on state land here
(25:28):
in New York.
We got a lot of dep Landthat's New York city drinking water,
you know, protected landaround the reservoirs and stuff.
And I have set cameras upthere, and.
And I've had, you know, okay.
Success with it.
But the only thing I was stillrunning an SD card camera.
I had it.
I had put it up higher on the tree.
And I went back after abouttwo weeks, and my son and I, we.
(25:51):
We got to the camera, and I,you know, it was on.
It was working.
Pulled the SD card out, put itin my reader.
There wasn't a damn picture on it.
And I'm like, well, that sucks.
And he's like, oh, you'rekidding me.
For, like, two weeks, there was.
You didn't get any on the camera.
I'm like, no freaking way.
You know?
So what ended up happening waswe went back up.
(26:11):
We had been out of there for alittle while in that spot.
We go back up, and we go in inthe dark.
We hunt Further back fromwhere that spot is on the way back
out.
He's looking, he's like, he'slike, what the hell is that?
I'm like, what?
He goes, I think that's aladder down there.
I'm like, a ladder?
He's like, right where you hadyour camera.
I'm like, no way.
(26:32):
He goes, yeah, come on, let'sgo look.
So we walked down there.
Somebody had some.
Because this is like 25minutes riding in on a side by side
up this log road where we go,somebody had drug a freaking regular
damn aluminum ladder up there,had another ladder, like strapped
in a tree.
And then like some makeshiftshitty platform up there in the tree
where I had the camera.
(26:53):
I'm like, you know what?
I think I know what happened.
He's like, what?
And there was blood.
There was blood and hair.
So they, they shot somethingout of that spot.
And I was like, this son of a.
Just read my card and put itback in the camera.
And I said, that's why theyset that tree stand up.
Must have been a good buckcoming through there.
And he probably killed it.
So I was like, well, we ain'tdoing that no more.
(27:13):
He's like, yeah, we didn't,you know, but it's.
It's pretty far back where we go.
But I mean, you know, you'renot the only one.
People get back there and stuff.
But hey, good for that guy.
I'm glad he got a buck.
I'm not upset or anything.
State land, good for you.
But I don't know, I.
I'd really like to get a DNRperson on here too, and say, you
know, what's, what's the deal?
And that whole stuff with thedrones too.
(27:34):
You know, when you got ananimal down, I get it, somebody can
abuse it and put really strictpolicies on it.
If they abuse it and be donewith it, there's no reason why you
can't use a drone to go get awounded animal.
I don't want that animal tosuffer and die off somewhere and
you lose your animal.
I mean, it's just stupid.
Well, some people out thereare saying using cell cams and let's
(27:57):
just stick to drones with thispoint of it, that is taking away
the woodsmanship part of it,all that.
That's one thing that I'vebeen hearing lately.
Yeah, Doug, I want youropinion on the cell cameras and these
drones, but Dave sent in thiscomment here, and these are the states
that can't use cell cams.
(28:17):
Arizona, Delaware, Kansas,Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Utah,
And Alaska on public lands.
I'm assuming that's during thehunting season, obviously, but that
many.
I knew there was states out there.
I just couldn't remember whichone they were.
And I thought Idaho was onthere would have been on there, too.
(28:38):
I thought they were, too.
I could have swore either they.
They had it and they removedit, or they're getting ready to.
Dave, if you're out there andyou're able to look that up, I thought
I could have swore Idaho wason that list.
I'm a little surprised it's not.
Here's a.
Here's a little fun fact righthere, because I Googled it because
I was just curious about whatthe actual answer was, if I could
(29:00):
find it.
So they said in Kansas, thetheft of cameras, too many cameras
being in the same areas,disturbances to wildlife, privacy
issues, and other problemscoming from the use and overuse of
trail cameras.
That's right from Stuckley,who said multiple issues were brought
forward on the days leading upto the ban in 2023.
That's out of Kansas.
(29:21):
So basically, people stealingother people's cameras.
What I said, it's theft.
It's too many cameras being inthe same areas.
So you're not allowing, youknow, Joe Blow to walk in there.
Hey, that's my spot.
I have my camera there for sixmonths, you know.
You know, state land.
Kick rocks.
But so, okay, I can get behind that.
In the innocent.
I could get behind that.
(29:41):
That's what it is.
It's causing.
You know, people are settingup a hunting boundary because they
had their ca.
You know, and it's just like Isaid, I had a camera there.
The guy came in, read my camera.
Well, guess what?
I'm on state land.
It's fair game, bro.
If the guy wants to read mycamera, he can read my camera.
If I put a tree stand.
But here's the deal.
I was going to get in hiseffing stand if it was safe, because
(30:03):
it wasn't really safe.
And I was going to shoot adeer at stand, too, because it was
already there.
And if he gave me any shit, Iwould have just squashed his ass.
But, you know, I'm justtelling you, it's.
You're near state land.
You know, you got to remember, it's.
It's public land.
It's not private land.
You know, it's a wholedifferent thing.
And that's what it is.
It just causes too manyissues, I think, on state land, and
(30:23):
that's why they got rid of it.
Too many complaints, you Know,oh, this guy said, I can't go in
this acre of woods becausehe's had his cameras there all season
and.
Yeah.
Sucks.
It sucks.
Public land.
Yeah.
It's just.
Yeah.
Basically, who.
Whoever gets there first.
That's what it.
That's what it is.
And, you know, I gotta.
I gotta honestly say,especially for, like, where we go.
(30:47):
I mean, you'll be gettingready, putting your stuff on.
You know, I got the Wheelersthere warming up, you know, so we
can drive up the trail andguys will come in, you know, and
you got.
They got their trucks, maybethey're driving up into.
And it's always, hey, fellas,what's going on?
How's it.
How's it been?
You know?
You've been seeing stuff?
Yeah, you know, a couple hereand there.
Where are you guys headed?
All right, cool.
(31:07):
We're gonna be up on thatother face.
It's like, hey, if you knockone down, you need some help?
I got the Wheeler.
I'll help you drag it out.
I mean, you know, it's.
It's state land.
You can't freaking, you know,go crazy.
If you see somebody whistle,give a wave, go the other way, man.
You know, it's not.
It's not like, you know, it'slike family feud up there or something.
You just do your thing andmove on.
(31:29):
You know, there's plenty of land.
So, Doug, what.
What's your opinion on the drones?
So I've never really beenaround drones at all.
Like, I definitely can seepeople use them to abuse it.
Like, hey, there's a deer onthe other side of this hedgerow.
Let's go get them.
But in aspect like recovery, Ifeel like it'd be beneficial.
(31:51):
Yeah.
Because I shot a buck last year.
It ran across the road in theimpact area.
It goes in the impact area.
You can't go get it.
That's where tank rounds andmortar rounds all impact.
So, like, you're lost.
I shot a buck earlier lastseason that did the same thing.
Went into the impact area.
I called the game wardens up.
Yo, it's.
What's going on?
Put a good shot on him.
(32:12):
He's like, that sucks.
He's Kyle bait now.
Like, well.
But I had a.
I helped a guy earlier in theseason, shot him.
I don't know, buck or a doe.
I didn't pay that muchattention to it, so it wasn't mine,
but I.
I spent probably four hourshelping this guy track his deer.
We couldn't find it, but Ifeel like it was in a CRP field.
(32:36):
Yep.
So it was all like waist highgrass and all that other.
I feel like a drone.
Really beneficial to help thatwhole aspect out.
Yeah.
And Michael, you asked thequestion within minutes.
Don't answer yet.
But he's going to a.
I want to ask you here, Doug,if you've tried possum, don't answer
(32:56):
yet.
I know the answer.
Much like you got to say.
But he said he has to leave ina second.
No, I never had possum.
But I almost shot one lastweekend that I was turkey hunting
and had one attack my bootscared the out of me.
I didn't know what was going on.
I just about shot him pointblank with 3 inch mag.
(33:18):
Nice.
So one of my buddies I hunt onthe property with, they shot a deer,
they couldn't find it.
So that he said, hey, are youable to come track?
And I said, yeah, but I won'tbe there for 30, 35 minutes.
And I said, okay, that's okay.
We want to take a break anyways.
We think we might be jumping them.
I said, all right, give mesome time.
It was rainy, snowy mix.
(33:39):
I said, give me about 40minutes, I'll be there.
And so me and my dad went outthere to go help track.
And my dad, we just got himthe year before a like those thermal,
you can see the heat sensorone and then the.
There's the other version ofthe heat signal.
Anyways, we pulled, we.
(34:00):
We took that out there andwe're scanning the last area that
they were looking at and Iasked him like, well, where have
you gone?
Where's the deer gone?
And stuff like that.
And basically everything wasgoing, it was going into this, into
this giant hill, bottom of the property.
And I said, I guarantee youhe's either down there bedded or
just sitting there waiting to die.
(34:21):
So I took my dad's thermalwhile they're trying to listen and
stuff like that.
And I'm sure, shit, I seesomething big just sitting there,
but I can see like movement,like if it's breathing.
I was like, well is.
I'm gonna guarantee you that'syour deer.
And we start walking up there.
We get right next to this deerand it's not even moving and it's
(34:41):
still breathing.
And like, well, everyone coveryour ears.
So.
And it just, it was amazingbecause they said they were tracking
for.
I think they did an hour worthof tracking.
Yeah.
And then we found him within20 minutes of actually being out
there in the woods starting totrack based with the help of this
(35:04):
because we we were scanningareas just doing 360s, and we couldn't
find anything.
And I was like, well, let mego check.
Check over here.
And sure.
Like I said, I found him and Ijust shaved.
Shaved.
So much time off of tracking,you're able to find the steer.
And we were able to get.
Get him to the deer and ableto officially put him down, harvest
(35:25):
the deer.
Imagine if you don't have that ability.
I think that's the point of drones.
It's to help recover animals,and it's a good thing.
And I think, like you said,Squatch, there's people out there
that could abuse it for thewrong reasons.
And if you're able to putrestrictions down and have people,
I don't know, just off top ofmy head, they had to log certain
(35:46):
shit or training, they have toget qualified.
I don't know.
Well, being that I used to flymodel airplanes and stuff like that,
and I had a drone, you have toregister the drone with the faa and
you have to have what theycall air maps.
It's an app for your phonebecause you can actually interfere
with commercial flight ifthere's airports in your, you know,
(36:08):
area, your specific area whereyou're flying.
Yeah.
And you have to.
Before you take off, you haveto actually, like, say, I'm taking
off.
I'll be at this altitude.
I'll be in this quadrant.
Because if there is acollision or something like that,
they know who to go look for.
And they see it on their.
Their, you know, on theirstuff, their sonar and stuff the
(36:28):
radar.
But, you know, it's like Isaid, if.
If you're gonna be somethingwith drone recovery, just like a
deer tracker has dogs, youknow, go make the person have to
go get special training, makethem have a license, make them follow
all the rules of the ffa.
Make them call it in whenthey're starting to search.
Make them call it in whenthey're done with the search.
(36:50):
And you know what, if you gota drone and you're flying around
and you're using it, like forbeing a shithead and trying to, you
know, just get up on deer andfool them, then you know what?
That's it.
Instant reveal.
You know, revocation oflicense for 10 years.
You know, put a.
Put a, you know, 12,something, $15,000 fine on it.
And I guarantee you, firstcouple few idiots that do it, they
(37:13):
won't do it no more.
So.
Okay, Michael's back.
Oh, hi, Michael.
Welcome to the show.
Yeah, yeah.
Doug, have you ever.
You ask it again, Michael.
I See your question before,Doug, have you tried possum?
No, he tried it.
Maybe he tried it in themeantime, since you asked him the
(37:34):
last time.
No, five minutes, nothing changed.
Okay.
Okay, that's fair.
Never know when you got apossum strangling down through your
freaking hallway.
And yeah, you know, he's onyour lap.
He could be the flash and justwent outside, killed one and came
back in.
He could have gone and done that.
We would have known.
(37:54):
He's so fast.
You know, we've had gueststhat are so dedicated on the show,
they'll just go outside andget one and actually try it right
on the show.
Yeah, I guess Doug's notdedicated guests then.
Better man than me.
Well, he said in the.
In the comments, his WI fi isnot that strong for him to go out
and find a possum.
So we lose them.
(38:15):
That's fair.
We lose him on the show.
Yeah, there's actually a stormrolling in, so I lost power.
We just had a storm Thursdayand Friday and it knocked people's
power out forever.
It's.
I think people still don'thave power.
There's a tornado in Battle Creek.
I know you guys don't knowthat, but for people that know, I'm
(38:35):
in the Kalamazoo region andBattle Creek's about 45 minutes to
an hour away from us.
And yeah, I've heard of Battle Creek.
Yeah, that's where the fort.
Not Fort, but for.
I kept drawing a blank whatthe actual name is.
Zimbabwe Creek Military there.
(38:55):
Anyways, Doug, I just want tosay thank you for coming on the show,
man.
We greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for sharing yourstory, man, that.
To read the article about itand have you come on and share it's
amazing story and to you.
It's hard to hear a lot ofstories where a lot of people are
actually looking out for thesame deer and it just turned out
to be like.
Like you said, it's a ghostand no one's seen it and they want
(39:18):
to get out there and get it and.
But it's all.
I haven't.
I've yet to hear someoneactually shoot at a deer and it hit
its antler.
Yeah, that's the first for methat blew my.
I thought it was like fromfighting or something.
Gouged by another brow tiner.
It's like a G2 or something.
But he's like, no, I hit himin the head with an arrow.
I knew a guy.
Quick story.
I knew a guy that grazed onein the head deer.
(39:41):
The deer went Down.
He's all happy as runs overthere, rolls it over, sticks the
knife in his freaking rib cage.
Deer jumps up, kicks the everloving out of him and takes him off
running.
And he's holding it by therack, getting drugged through the
freaking woods.
What the.
He just realized he only thebullet grazed it knocked it out for
a second, you know.
(40:02):
Jesus.
True story.
My book.
My freaking guy I grew upwith, I work with him every day.
His uncle had that happen.
You ever see those memes wherea guy is actually fighting one of
those deers?
Yeah.
I don't know why, but I wantthat to happen to me.
Lee.
I'm just one day.
(40:22):
Absolutely.
I just.
I want me to say I've.
I lived that I wanted.
Exactly.
They're like, yeah, I bought adeer and I won.
All right, cool.
As Doug, I got a couple rapidfire questions for you before we
let you go.
Okay, brother?
All right.
Besides hunting, do you haveany other hobbies or interests?
(40:46):
Like to turn wrenches?
I used to like fishing, but Ikind of got out of fishing.
Yeah, I grew up fishing and Ijust haven't had time to go out there
and do fishing.
I know Squash loves to fish.
I'm an outdoorsman.
But Squatch makes me look likea though.
Come on, man.
Yeah, I tell you the guyshonest truth.
(41:06):
I got out fishing once so far.
And every chance I get towhere I want to go, something either
happens.
It's been windy and freaking.
Nothing but rain here.
If it's not raining, it's 30mile an hour winds.
I haven't got the chance toget out yet.
And I've been turkey hunting so.
But I was glad I got a bird.
So I'm happy, you know, with that.
So hopefully now in the nextweek or two I can get out, do some
(41:27):
fishing.
I think we've had whoop my ass.
Oh really?
They're tough.
This year I got.
I got two or three my buddiesa bird and I can't get myself a bird.
So like I just suck apparently.
Well, it happens.
So later I tell everybody, gotto get on the birds.
You got to get them into thefirst day, the second day, maybe
the third.
You're lucky after that.
(41:47):
Good luck.
It's.
It's tough after that.
Real tough.
What animal is on your bucketlist to hunt?
Probably a moose.
I think the second person eversay moose on the show.
Yeah, second or third.
No elk or mule deer.
Those are the top three.
But moose has been the top one.
I've always wanted to shoot.
(42:08):
They're just so majestic.
Yeah.
God, they're like amazing.
What is an animal you want totry eating?
I hope not legit.
No, no, no, no.
It's definitely not going tobe possum.
(42:30):
Probably, probably moose.
I've never had moose.
Yeah, I'd like to try mooseone day actually.
What has been your favoritestate you've hunted if you want to.
Kansas.
Kansas.
Straight up Kansas now Ibelieve Kansas, that's not over the
draw.
You had to get points though.
Correct.
So I think it's through likepreference points, like a whole draw
(42:53):
process.
But since I'm here with thearmy, I'm technically a resident,
so I just have to take myorders to like Walmart or wherever
the hell you get your license from.
I just give them my orders.
Like, cool, you're a resident now.
Here's your tags.
Oh, dead.
Okay.
But for a mule deer, likerifle mule deer you do have, even
if you're resident, you gottado a draw.
(43:14):
Okay.
Yeah.
What is the top state you wantto hunt?
Alaska.
Alaska.
Yeah.
That's a big one.
We get, we get that answerquite a bit.
And I'm right there with you.
Or Montana.
They're kind of side by side.
Yeah.
Last frontier.
The big sky mountain.
(43:35):
Two questions last for you.
If you could pick anybody, youcan get a non family member and a
family member either living ornon living to go on a hunting trip
with or share a campfire withone time.
Who would that be?
Probably my one grandpa whogot me into hunting.
He passed away.
Shit.
10, 15 years ago.
(43:56):
And then probably my bestfriend Matt who passed away five,
six years ago.
Sorry for last question here.
What do you think we as fellowhunters could or should do to improve
the hunting community?
Probably be more respectful ofthe people you're hunting around.
Stop dogging on people'sharvests like Joe Schmo shot this
(44:19):
nice spike horn.
Don't talk about it.
Or Jack over here shot 220inch deer.
Don't talk about it.
Don't say, oh, he spotlightedit, he baited it, yada, yada, whatever.
Just be happy for someone fortheir harvest.
Well, Doug, I have to sayyour, your deer does not look like
a 200 inch deer.
So just going to throw thatout there.
(44:42):
Everybody's I agree, man.
So we get that answer a lot.
Like I, I agree with you completely.
I think there's a differencebetween what we do on the show with
hazing each other and we hazewith the guests and we haze with
the audience out there as well.
But they know it's all in good fun.
But there's also a point whereyou, you haze on people's harvest
(45:09):
like you said, and it casts abass bad light on, on the hunting
community as a whole.
And I think that needs to stop.
When we haze each other, we're.
That's just what brotherhood'sall about.
Oh, absolutely.
And obviously, you know,because being in the military, I'm
sure you know that this iswhat you do.
And in my opinion, that's howyou bond with, with your.
(45:31):
Your brothers and sisters.
That's how I bonded with myfriends in the military, in the,
in the law enforcement world.
And that's how you get to knoweach other.
But you all know I have yourback no matter what.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like me and my buddy, he sayswhen I shot Jesus there, he's like,
oh, that's a 20 inch deer onyour eight points.
A baby.
(45:51):
It's just straight up.
Hazen.
Yeah.
What's going on with thecamera angles here?
I don't know, buddy.
I just saw that myself.
I thought.
I thought I broke it.
That's so ugly.
No, no, the Internet justsaid, hey, let's, let's do this view.
It's the ghost buck.
He's podcast haunting the show.
(46:13):
He turned into an actual.
Well, Doug, thank you so muchfor coming on the show.
Squatch.
First, how can people reachout to you and follow along your
journey as.
Always, you guys know you canfind me here on Sundays and Tuesday
nights at 8pm on the whitetail Advantage.
You can also find me on theboondocks outdoors and with the Garden
(46:34):
State Outdoorsman podcast.
Frank Bistika, Mike Nitra andall the guys with that crew.
You can hit me up on InstagramOutdoors and More with the Squatch.
You can find me on my YouTube channel.
Outdoors and more with the Squatch.
Check it out.
We released a turkey hunting video.
It's pretty cool.
The editing didn't come outtoo shabby for me and I appreciate
everybody always tuning in andlistening to us.
(46:55):
And thanks for watching, guys.
Doug, how can people followalong your journey?
Facebook, I guess.
All right, I like it.
Well done too.
Internet savvy, so it's all right.
Hey, don't.
You don't have to be.
You shoot big deer.
That's all that matters.
Exactly.
You just enjoy being out inthe woods, man.
(47:16):
Facts.
Squatch, thank you for beingthe one teammate to actually come
on the show.
You're the only one thattexted Square Dave and Johnny.
They don't like texting.
You and I are always textingin the group Chat.
So I don't know what the going on.
They say that I don't text andnow my ghost.
So I gotta say Johnny, Johnnydid say earlier on in the day and
(47:39):
I only caught it between whatI was doing that he got called into
work so he wasn't sure if hewas going to make it.
And Dave had let you know awhile back, but maybe you forgot
that he had to take care ofsome family stuff.
Oh, I'm just giving you guystext more than I do.
I'm constantly busier than.
Well, you always look at myGrindr account or my only fans account
for gay dudes.
I'm telling you.
(48:00):
I'm telling you.
Ginger spice on Grindr.
Look bread up.
It's.
It's badass.
I mean you'll see on there.
You never thought could.
You could imagine.
I got all the moves, man.
I got all the moves.
You want to see some nice feet pick?
We got some nice feet pick upthere too, my brother.
I've been trying to get thewife to do the whole feet pick things.
They're like toes and.
And yeah.
Make some extra money.
She won't do it.
(48:21):
People have that weird kink.
Exactly.
And I'm like, people pay$5,000 for a photo of a feet.
Yeah.
I could fund a hunting trip byselling feet picks.
But she won't do it.
Yep, yep, yep.
Selfish.
Come on now.
Selfish.
I know you think about.
She's in another room watching this.
(48:41):
I might get beat.
Doug's wife.
Come on.
Let's think about your husband first.
Okay?
It helps him get a hunting trip.
We go get another ghost buckout of another state.
Go, go.
Just all it takes is onelittle photo.
Click, click.
There you go.
Exactly.
And your trip's funded there,there and back and everything included.
(49:02):
So.
But Doug, you know what?
How about this?
I'll take a feed picture and I'll.
I'll create an account andI'll send you the funds for it.
How about that?
Sold.
Squatch Dog, thank you forcoming on for tonight's show.
I greatly appreciate it.
I hope you have a great restof your night, guys.
You too.
Thank you.
See you guys.
Oh, man.
(49:23):
Yeah.
Great guys, right there.
Well, everyone, that's goingto conclude an episode of the Whitetail
Advantage podcast.
I want to say thank you toeveryone that's gathered around the
electronic campfire fortonight's show.
Now, if this show made youlaugh, made you think, giving you
perspective, please hit thatlike and subscribe button.
If you're listening this onthe audio version, please get to
this that five star rating.
Also give us your feedbackwhat you like more, what you want
(49:45):
less from the show.
We also have a lot of thingslined up so make sure to check out
our website whitetailadvantage.com if you want to be a
guest on our live show or youwant someone from the Whitetail Advantage
team to be a guest on yournext episode, send us requests through
our social media or you canset up a request through our website
as well.
Audio versions of our podcastgets released every Monday and Wednesday
(50:06):
at 5am Eastern Time.
Also like to take a second tosay thank you to all companies that
have partnered up here with usat Whitetail Advantage.
XOP Rec Magnus Bo addictsgreatly appreciate.
We also just teamed up withscentlock, so I'm getting ready to
set up that deal right nowwith them.
Excited for that now.
Last but not least, put thatcore in the slot machine.
(50:28):
We'll see everyone next time.
Thank you for tuning in toanother episode of the Whitetail
Advantage podcast.
We hope you enjoyed the showand we will see you next time.
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