Ep 165 / Bros, Burpees, and Bucks: The CrossFit-Hunting Connection

Craig's journey into the world of CrossFit and hunting takes center stage as we dive into how both passions have shaped his body, mind, and spirit. We chat about the importance of vulnerability in the hunting community and how supporting one another can foster a true brotherhood. As Craig shares his personal stories, we explore the connection between physical fitness and the mental fortitude needed for hunting. It's all about having each other's backs and creating a welcoming space where everyone feels valued, whether you're chasing deer or just trying to lift that extra weight at the gym. So grab a seat by the electronic campfire and get ready for an engaging conversation that might just inspire you to hit the gym or the woods!

Takeaways:

• Craig's journey through CrossFit has significantly improved his mental health and strength, illustrating how fitness can positively impact both body and soul.
• Hunting fosters a unique brotherhood among hunters, emphasizing the importance of support and camaraderie in overcoming personal challenges.
• Being vulnerable is crucial in the hunting community, as it helps build stronger connections and encourages open conversations about struggles and successes.
• The podcast highlights the need for hunters to uplift each other, creating a supportive environment that celebrates both achievements and learning experiences in the outdoors.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome to the WhitetailAdvantage Podcast with your host,
Brett Bovin.
Thank you for tuning in andenjoy the show.

(00:22):
How's it going, everyone?
This is Brett Boven, andwelcome to the Electronic Campfire.
Now, we've been off for a week.
Last week we had a show onTuesday, but some personal things
came up, so we apologize for that.
And Tuesday, we don't do ashow on our last Tuesday of the month,
so that was typical with that one.
So we apologize, though, forthe Sunday show, but we made things

(00:43):
up, we got things squaredaway, and we're back here tonight.
And as always, we're notpolitically correct on this show.
Strong.
I believe hunting andbrotherhood go hand in hand.
So there's going to be hazingon the show.
That's what we do here atWhitetail Advantage.
So we invite you to haze alongwith us, just like we invite you
to grab a chair and sit by theelectronic campfire with us.
And I'm going to say this.
This is brotherhood.

(01:04):
A lot of things are going tobe said, but at the end of the day,
we all support each other.
We should also support each other.
And we're all here in thecommon good of getting deer in the
freezer and having a good timeand sharing stories and having a
good laugh at it.
Now, I'm already going to saythis, though.
I'm already a little pissedbecause how things have been been

(01:25):
reading here and there, backand forth on the online, in the Twitter
spheres and all this.
I want to do my best tocontain myself, but you guys know
that I don't do that.
I speak my.
I invite the guests to speaktheir mind.
And we say whatever the wewant to say.
If your feelings get hurt,there's the door.
Go yourself.
Grow up.
Anyways, put your quarter inthe slot machine.

(01:47):
Help share the show, help growthe show.
We appreciate everyone outthere that's been doing this from
the beginning.
And just the amount of group,the fan base out there, the audience
out there, the brotherhood,everyone that's part of this community
now is amazing.
And we've just been growingand we just feel like we just started.
Anyways, thank you to all themen and women in the military and
the police officers, thank youfor your service.

(02:08):
And the firefighters,everybody in public service, thank
you for your service.
Now I'm done with the long speech.
Now we got a great guest on tonight.
We got Craig from Wisconsin.
So we got a lot of thingswe're gonna be talking about there.
And squash is here with us tonight.
Dave's not with us.
As usual, he's not here on ourSunday show and Johnny's not here
with us tonight, so just, I'mso happy Johnny's not here with us

(02:31):
tonight, so I'm happy about that.
Let's just all get a round ofapplause for that because just, just
Johnny just all we're gonna say.
I hope he listens to this andwatches it back.
So there's just a giant middlefinger right there for you, Johnny.
Love ya.
Anyways, bring everybody in tonight.
Squatch, how's it going?
At least there's one brotherin the family of our this team that
actually wants to show up forus here tonight.

(02:54):
What's going on?
Everyone else just hates me or something.
At least you pretend to likeme still.
I, I, it's, it's just an act really.
But you know, I just show upbecause the money's good.
Yeah, I know, it's great.
It's a penny on the dollarevery time you get.
And we got our guest that goesback with me for quite a ways from

(03:17):
the pursuit days.
We got old Craig James here onthe show.
Welcome to the show, Craig.
What's up, guys?
Tell us a little aboutyourself because I don't know who
the you are.
And let's see if I find cangive a. Yeah, I mean, I'm coming
out hot, man.
I'm already heated.
My blood's been boiling for awhile now.
Yeah, I mean, I said, I don't know.

(03:37):
Born and raised in Wisconsin,never left the state and you know,
grew up in a small town,Seymour, Wisconsin.
I mean, I think populationlike 3,000 people.
Yeah, I mean, like I said, Idon't know.
It's simple like high school,you know, I didn't really do much.
I mean, I played baseball acouple years.
And then I startedpowerlifting in high school.

(03:59):
And you know, I got a lot ofhate, a lot of from myself because
high school I was 109 poundsand I, you know, 109 pounds.
You think a guy's gonna want apower lift, you know, blah, blah.
But obviously I stuck into it,you know.
And I mean, in high school I'mnot eating right, I'm not doing all
the.
I'm just school lunches andMcDonald's and Dairy Queens, but

(04:19):
we had in Seymour.
So that's what I lived on.
But like I said, biggest thingin me growing up, you know, I powerlifted
in high school and my freshmanyear I actually made state.
And I took, took ninth atstate, I think, my freshman year.
And then I just, I Don't know.
I fell in love with it.
So I got into the powerliftingteam and it honestly took off from
there.

(04:39):
I mean, back in the, you know,back in high school days, they had
squat suits, you know, theyhad your knee wrap, stuff like that.
But sophomore year, I ended upwinning all my regionals and at state,
sophomore year, I took second.
And then I got the invite downto Killeen, Texas for nationals in

(05:00):
my weight division at 114, andI ended up winning nationals in my
weight class.
I got best lifter award downthere my sophomore year.
Junior year, I went throughregionals, won regionals, state.
I fell apart at state.
I got no reps on some liftsthat hurt me, so I dropped myself
down there.
But then my senior year, Iregrouped and I went to Alexandria,

(05:23):
Louisiana, and I actually wonnationals again my senior year in
my weight class at 114.
And yeah, I said then afterhigh school, never went to college,
I just went right to the worklife and started making money that
Uncle Sam here takes from meevery day.
So, I mean, I don't know.
Yeah, I just said, I.
Ever since powerlifting, youknow, and I just, I kept working

(05:44):
out, kept working out and, andgrowing up, you know, I got in my
early 20s and I starteddrinking a lot and I kind of fell.
Fell back out of that, youknow, that positive life of mine
of working out, you know,outdoors as well.
But then kind of got my lifetogether in my 30s and met my wife,

(06:05):
got my daughter, and now it'slike I got everything I ever wanted
in life.
And now I'm back into thecross now.
I got into the CrossFit life,and now I'm just enjoying life now,
like I got everything I everwanted and just enjoying every day
of it.
Now, we got a comment herefrom the blind hunter.
One, does his state let blindpeople hunt?

(06:28):
Like Michigan lets me blindpeople hunt?
I'm not blind, so I.
That'd be a good thing to lookup, too.
Yeah, I.
Obviously, you got to havesomebody with you.
I mean, you can't.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I know there is.
I mean, I. I don't see whythey couldn't.
I mean, why they can't just have.
A mentor with you or someoneis here there with you.

(06:50):
I mean, it all comes down to the.
The distinction of is heclassified legally blind where he
still sees good enough tohunt, or are you absolutely like
Ray Charles and Stevie Wonderblind, where you don't know what's
in front of you?
I'm interested in that, too.
And that's.
That's interesting to know.
I'd like to.
I'd like to have that as a show.

(07:10):
Yeah.
To talk to someone.
That'd be interesting.
That would be an interestingshow, you.
Know, and I'm being deadserious with it.
I mean, there's a lot ofpeople with disabilities out there,
and we've had some guys on the show.
T8 outdoorsman.
He.
He suffered a spinal injury.
He hunts and, you know,there's some.
Some other people out there,but I don't know.

(07:31):
I don't even know if New Yorkdoes that.
I. I have no idea.
I. I could have to look.
That's pretty interesting, actually.
Yeah.
I want to look that up alittle bit more myself.
Yeah, there's a lot needs tobe done.
I love his comment here.
He commented again, I'm blind.
Like, Stevie.
Okay.
Love it.
Well, we got it.
We got it.

(07:51):
Summed up.
All right.
Okay.
Yeah.
I would love to have if women,dude, whoever you are, to come on
the actual show.
And let's talk about you beingblind as a blind hunter.
That's an interesting subject.
Very interesting.
Yeah.
Anyways.
Correct.
Also noticed that you joinedthe BD Hunting outdoors, like, their.

(08:13):
Their team and stuff like that.
So how's it feel to join theJV team when you could join the varsity
team or here at Whitetail Advantage?
I mean, I'm just.
I don't know, like.
And they offered me to go onthe team with them, and I was like,
it.
Let's go with it.
That's awesome, man.
I'm happy, you know, it's cool.
Like, you know, I don't knowit, you know, to some other people,

(08:36):
it's like, oh, cool, I'm on a team.
But to me, it had more of a feel.
Like, you know, it made youfeel good, you know, Like, I guess.
I don't know how to say it.
Like, you know, people growingup, you know, you have a.
You know, a rough past.
You know, you're not.
You weren't the jockey, youknow, in high school.
You weren't the prep, whatever.
And it was always, you alwayslike me.
Growing up in a small town,you never felt welcome.

(08:57):
You never felt wanted to be apart of something.
No one wanted you to be a partof something.
And, like, when they offeredfor me to be on the team, I was like,
this is.
This is awesome.
You know, and meeting peoplethroughout the industry that I never
knew, you know, you'rebuilding that friendship, you know,
that brother brotherhood bond.
It just.
I don't Know, it made me feelreally good.
Yeah.
It's weird.

(09:17):
When I first started this, itwas just myself and I had one of
my friends do this.
But his personal life withwork and stuff like that got in the
way because he was a farmer.
And then that just got toomuch for him.
So he got tired doing this.
It was just myself then.
Long story short, I got intoit more and more.
And eventually you meet peoplealong the journey of doing this.

(09:40):
And that was one of the thingslike do I really want to.
And they kind of go down thisrabbit hole of a second of like,
do you want to be a YouTubecontent creator, Instagram content
person, whatever you want tocall it.
You want to take the time awayfrom your family and stuff like that
to do it.
And I was thinking myself, youknow what?
Yeah.
Because I. I can, I can.

(10:00):
I'm very detail oriented withmy schedule very organized.
So I can spend a lot of timeon family and still do this and hunting
all my other stuff on the side.
And throughout doing this, it.
You meet a lot of amazing people.
And next thing you know, I'minviting Johnny on the team and he's
now on the show doing thisshit with me.
And then I invite Dave to dothis with me and he's doing this

(10:23):
stuff with us now.
And then we invite Squatch.
I mean Squatch was just thebest decision ever.
Johnny and Dave, thosequestionable right there, if they
still be on the team.
But no, you're right.
It's amazing that to meeteverybody like basically across the
country and we visit eachother through in person.

(10:44):
But to be able to do thisonline like this.
And that's why I love doingthis because I get to meet you, I
get to meet the guys fromBoondocks and just the community
that we've had just in thissmall group.
And we've kind of expandedmore and more.
I mean, you and I have beentexting more and more lately.
And just what you and I have,you and I have personally said to
each other as given me more ofa hope because like kind of a point

(11:08):
where it's like just kind ofseems like it's too much and stuff
like that.
But just what you said, whichmade me like.
I just want.
I gotta ramp this up even morebecause this is amazing.
If I'm reaching this, how manymore people can I do that to?
Yep.
100.
Yeah.
So to.
So to just get back to what wewere talking about a second ago.
I looked it up.
You can legally hunt if you'reblind in New York, as long as you

(11:29):
have an accomplice with youand they're within an arm's reach
of your weapon.
That's what it says.
And what the heck else theycan use firearms, crossbows, but
only under direct supervisionof the licensed companion.
So there's your answer.
I guess you can hunt if you'relegally blind.
I never knew that.

(11:50):
Never even thought about it.
So that's great.
Congratulations.
That's cool.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah.
So Craig, you were into out CrossFit.
Now the running joke is, youknow how someone's in CrossFit because
they always say I'm in theCrossFit working out.
@ least that's what the jokewas when I was in high in college

(12:10):
and going through a police camp.
He's like, how do you knowthey're in the CrossFit?
Because they'll tell you right away.
Yeah, they'll tell you right away.
Yeah.
But I, I love CrossFit becausewhen we're in a police academy, it,
it forced you to, to work onyour breathing handful compared to
your other workouts.
And you're just doing.
It's less joint pain, a lotmore in that restrictions and more

(12:34):
body stuff.
So how did CrossFit help you?
Just on your mental side.
Just on your mental side.
Okay.
Yeah.
So like, you know, growing up,you know, I battled.
It's crazy to say because, youknow, I look, I look back at what
I have in life now, you know,beautiful wife, beautiful daughter,
you know, and I got, I'mliving a good life like I really

(12:55):
am, you know, and why a guylike that living a good life should
be, why is he battling depression?
Why is he down on himself?
Blah blah.
And you know, it's just a lotof went through my life, you know,
and Squatch knows about it,talked to him, you know, and on about
it, you know, and it, it'sjust, it really, ah, it's just, it's.
It's hard knowing like whenyou feel like you're literally at

(13:18):
rock bottom of your life andyou look like.
And you.
I always told myself not, notgonna change.
Like I'm, I'm never gonna getpast this rut, blah blah.
I'm always gonna have thisperson or that person staring at
me and blah blah.
But the same time when I wasjust working out, like just random
Planet Fitness or a random gymaround here, I was working out, I

(13:41):
was staying somewhat, youknow, in shape, you know, blah blah.
But it wasn't the same.
I was still battling my depression.
I was still Thinking about thepast, you know, like, how, how can
I get myself to feel notwanted, but just feel better about.
Like, I know I can take thatpath and never like, just forget
about entirely.

(14:02):
Am I, am I gonna fuck?
No.
It's always gonna be on mymind, but getting in the CrossFit.
So wife and I were married atthe time.
My sister in law was partowner of the CrossFit gym right up
the road here in Green Bay.
And I, I was like, just, no,I'm not doing this CrossFit.
I, I go to Planet Fitness, I,that's enough for me.

(14:23):
And she drove me in by the earone in the morning.
She goes, all right, come on,come here and do it.
We're going with us.
I'm like, it.
You're not, you're not gonnalet me say no.
So it's like, whatever.
Saturday morning, went to theCrossFit gym.
Absolutely hated it.
I threw up twice.
And I'm like, I, there's noway, I can't do this.
Like, this is not for me.
Well, then again though, it'slike I went back again and I went

(14:44):
back again.
Then next thing I know, I,okay, I'm gonna get a membership.
I'm gonna try this out.
And I got a membership, fellin love with CrossFit.
I, I just don't, I don't get it.
And I don't know if it wasjust like my mindset of like, okay.
And I think what it was, waslike when I joined CrossFit, it's,
it brought me back positivememories of my high school days,

(15:04):
of powerlifting, like at akid, 114 pounds.
And yes, I had a squad suiton, I had, you know, knee wraps on.
So it helped you with springloading, basically, you know what
I'm saying?
Like, being able to put moreweight up than you physically could
if you did it raw.
And I think that brought backthat positive vibe, knowing, like
how much I lifted in highschool at my body weight to what

(15:26):
I want to see what my body cando now, you know.
So then do I eat healthy allthe time?
No, but I do take my creatine.
I do, you know, build thatmuscle that way in some shape or
form.
Oh, you're a creatine.
I want to get off the show now.
Now I'm a creatine, God damn it.
But short bastard, you so.

(15:47):
And.
No, I, I got, I got into the lifting.
I'm like, okay.
So then, you know, obviously Iknew simple like back squat, bench
press and deadlift.
Okay?
Standard movements.
I did those in high school.
Those are the three lifts inhigh school that we would always
have to do at the competitions.
But now in CrossFit now you'reinvolving squat cleans, power snatches,

(16:09):
overhead squats, and like that.
So I'm like, I'm gonna, I'mgonna go with it.
I'm gonna see once what I canphysically do with the body that
I have.
And it, you know, then Ibecame, then I went online, got my
L1 license to be a coach, andnow I'm a coach now at Red Door.
We'll call Red Door Fitnessnow, not Red Door CrossFit.
Because CrossFit you gotta payaffiliate fee every year.

(16:33):
And I think it's like five,five grand now just to have a CrossFit
name, which is absolutely ridiculous.
What?
Yeah, it's to be, to be anaffiliate that have like to be Red
Door CrossFit, it was like$3,000, I think, like years ago,
but now it's up to five grandyou got to pay to be a CrossFit.
A trademark name.
Yeah.
So it's, it's stupid.

(16:54):
But we're Red Door Fitness now.
We still do everythingCrossFit does.
It's just if you do have towork out stuff like that, the emoms
amramps like that.
So I went, got my L1 license,became a coach.
I do personal training on theside now, and I just love it, dude.
I, I honestly not even my.
Myself seeing the weights Ican put up at my body size now, but

(17:18):
like, just seeing other peoplelike break down, struggle, like shed
some tears in the gym, like, Ican't do this.
I can't.
But you can do it.
Like, you physically can do itif you put your mind to it.
Like, you can't.
If you walk up, like, you walkup to that bar and if you think to
yourself for one split second,oh, this is going to be too heavy,

(17:38):
back the up, re regroup, gothere and pick the bar up.
Like, you have to be incontrol of that bar.
And I seeing these athletesand where, when I first met them
day one, when they got theirmembership to where they are now
one, two, three years intotheir membership, and the lifts in
the weights that they'repulling is just a blessing because
it makes me feel good knowingthat one, I'm, I'm a positive influence

(18:02):
on somebody's life.
Two, I'm not giving up onthem, and I'm not letting them give
up on themselves.
And it's just every day I walkin that gym, you know, And I love
it.
I do.
I mean, it's just.
It's just, it's a blessingknowing that you're helping somebody
change their life for thebetter, I guess, you know?
I mean.
Yeah.
Do you relate a lot of that with.

(18:23):
As it translates into hunting too?
With, with guys in the outdoors?
Like, maybe you, maybe yougive somebody some knowledge like
how to do your setup or maybea food plot or.
Oh, yeah, a tactic.
I mean, it's kind of likeyou're saying, you know, you don't
let the weights get in your head.
You try to teach people, youknow, just step up to the bar and
see through it and lift.

(18:45):
You know, back, Back when Iwas younger, I was hitting the gym
twice a day when I was about20, 21, and my arms grew 3 inches
in a month.
That's how hard I was hitting stuff.
Didn't, didn't take anything.
Just, you know, ate well andthat was it.
And just worked out really hard.
Plus, I was working on a farmdoing stuff like that.

(19:05):
But one thing that used toramp me up was metal.
I would throw on like Slayeror Metallica or something.
I would go in, they would havelike this hip hop stuff on.
I'm like, you'd hear that goright off.
The tape would go on and Iwould be freaking rocking out.
And if I put on somethingheavy, I could boost my.
My max to like another 15, 20pounds on a lift.

(19:27):
And it was funny how youradrenaline just works like that,
you know, when you're.
It's insane.
Like, honestly, it is very.
It's insane.
Like I, like I said, like youwere saying about the music choice.
That.
And so I get so much at thegym from people.
Like, how can you listen tothis and put.
Listen.
I'm like, hey, I'm here, I'm.

(19:48):
It's not class time.
I'm putting my music on.
I'm gonna go left and that's it.
My, My buddy, well, the oldfounder of Red Door, Joel, he.
He looks and then he goes,that one day I finished my workout,
I finished my, my powersnatches and stuff and goes, hey,
are you done working out right now?
I'm like, yeah.
He goes, good, I'm turningthis music off.
I gotta put something else on.

(20:08):
I'm like, what the man?
Like, come on, you gotta beable to do it.
But I just, I love it, youknow, every day.
Like, and that's the thingtoo, about like giving up, you know,
like, the old Craig would havetried pulling, you know, like what
I did was a couple Weeks ago, I.
It took me.
I failed 11 times.
And you would think, you know,failing 11 times, straining your

(20:30):
body, you're just gonnafatigue yourself more and more and
more.
But like, I might know I cando this way and why am I failing
this?
And then I.
It was crazy.
Like squash, what you're saying.
I like, oh, I'm gonna throwone song on that I know is gonna
get me jacked up.
I threw that song on, Istrapped my belt on and I went to
that barbell, that squatsnatch, and I, I hit 165 over my

(20:52):
head and I failed 11 timesbefore I actually hit that.
Yeah, I've seen you, I've seenyou list some pretty serious stuff,
man.
Yeah, I was happy to see you succeeded.
I was like, man, you know,because it's, it's an accomplishment,
man.
When you hit something likethat, you, you know, you're not only
proven to somebody else thatyou're, you're physically fit, you're
strong, but you're proven toyourself that you accomplished it,

(21:15):
that you got over that hurdle.
Yep.
100.
It was weird.
When I'm in the gym, I needlike five finger death punch to like
really get up and going and moving.
Stuff like that.
When I'm out.
When I'm out running and likedoing that type of thing, I can use
like, I usually listen to likeEminem type music.

(21:35):
I can't listen to like thatrap stuff like that hard, like, which
not even rap anymore.
That's just stupid.
It's just more like.
No, like I can't listen to that.
I need like Eminem music whereit's like, it was like sports based
stuff like till I collapsetype songs.

(21:56):
Yep.
It was weird how like my brainwould work differently and different
modes of workouts.
Instead I was doing it in PSCmobile here, which is Dave.
He said Brett works out toCeline Dion.
Freaking Dave.
Geez.
But no, I, I do think workingout and hunting go hand in hand together.

(22:19):
Go.
They correlate together.
Because there's been a lot oftimes where I've been in the gym
and it's just like, man, I can't.
Can't do this.
Or like I'm trying to get anew PR on my bench press and I can't.
I'm not gonna lie though, thatwas back in college.
I'm at the point now where I,I'm not doing stuff like that like
I used to.
Now I'm doing different typeof workouts.
But I'd be list I'd be tryingto Get a new PR bench on my.

(22:42):
On my bench press.
And I just like, I can't do it.
I've been trying for a weekand I can't get there.
And then eventually like, youdo it and you take it into hunting
where we sell the time.
Going to have a lot of ups anddowns in hunting.
And you got to figure out howto push through those moments where
you're thinking, man, you suckas a hunter.
Or I can't do this right or Ican't do that.

(23:03):
And what's going wrong?
You shot a deer and you neverfound it, or you shot a deer and
you missed it, or you're justnot seeing deer completely.
You're going to have a lot ofmore of those moments you're going
to see on.
On Craig's channel, Squatch channel.
Any.
Any channel out there, peopleshooting deer.
And we're gonna make it look easy.

(23:23):
Yep.
But the back side of the storyis just like Craig and Squatch can
agree with me too.
You're gonna see 5% of thesuccess, but 95 of it was hard work.
And it just pure.
Sometimes it's luck and mostof the time it's like, I'm doing
this wrong.
You're gonna see a.
You're not gonna see all thatstuff that led up to it because all

(23:45):
the other stuff is just pure failure.
Yep.
I'm sure you guys can agreewith me too, that you don't.
And that's not shown enough.
Yep.
Yep.
Definitely.
And I think that's.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it needs to beshown more of like, look at everything
that I just failed through.
And I. I'm actually trying todo that this year through hunting,
through filming.
Of like, look how many days of.

(24:06):
In a row that I've gonewithout only seeing does.
And like, this is what itcomes down to sometimes is we're
not going out.
I have a private property.
I don't see deer like you seeon you on.
Yeah.
On some of those biggerchannels and stuff like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll go two weeks and I onlysee a little small eight point buck.
That's what the reality ofhunting is, though.

(24:28):
It is.
I mean, I.
And it's funny that you bringthat up because like on cockle.
Yeah.
Cell cam showers, there's alot of deer and there are a lot of
different bucks, which is great.
It's good that they're there.
But I've been out there.
Two years ago it was.
I took a week off of the rutand I. I sat sun up, sundown, like
I do all day sets, like, Iwill sit in that stand.

(24:49):
And I was on my fourth day,and I seen a total of three deer.
And it.
And I didn't get discouragedbecause I know they're there, but
I'm still enjoying everyminute of it.
And then on day five thatmorning, I seen 24 deer.
So it's just like, what the.
Where do they all go?
How.
Why are they all here now?
You know, and just.
Yeah, I don't know.

(25:10):
I just.
I don't get, you know, a lotof people that I talk to, a lot of
people, they only get pissed off.
They only.
They don't see deer.
They're not having the size ofbucks on camera that they want, you
know, but at the same time,it's like just me personally being
out there and just enjoying itis more than seeing 30, 40, 50 deer
or seeing a 150 class or, youknow, I. I just.

(25:31):
I enjoy it, you know, and I.
Have to cut you off.
But I think the new day andage that we live in now, where if
you are an Instagram creatoror YouTube channel creator or online
creator, whatever, however youwant to phrase it.
Yeah, content creator,whatever we get.

(25:52):
I see two sides of it.
You get so caught up on tryingto create content for everyone to
watch and stuff like that, butat the end of the day, this is what
hunting is.
And even though you could be acontent creator, at the end of the
day, though, we love being outin the woods and just sitting there
in pure silence and bliss.
I don't give a.

(26:12):
If I go the entire month ofOctober and all I see is two black
squirrels.
Excuse my language, but Idon't care.
It's just happy enough to beout there in the woods.
It's a different feeling thatyou get.
And as a guy, as coming from ahusband, a father, a man that doesn't.

(26:32):
That doesn't identify as achick or any.
It doesn't identify as a man.
I'm a legit man.
You need that to decompressfrom your bills from.
You need that time away fromfamily to kind of come back to them
as sanity.
As a husband and a father, youneed to go take that step away, but
on the same time, you're alsodoing it for yourself because you
just love being out there inthe woods.

(26:53):
It's our instinct of as guysto be out there in the woods to provide
for our families and foranyone that goes out.
I know I'm going long.
I'll shorten this up.
Here soon.
But that's been in our DNAsince the beginning of time that
we need to go out there andprovide food for our families.
Yep.
I can go on and on about that,but that's.
I'll just say leave it there.

(27:14):
You guys can comment on that, too.
I'm just.
Yeah, no, I mean, I agree 110with that.
I mean, you know, like, wewere discussing a little bit before
the show.
Bunch of friends are having acontest, and I did it last year.
I don't usually get in contests.
I. I feel they're a jinx.
And I even said that on the same.

(27:36):
Yep.
Platform.
Who was holding the contestlast year.
But being I was new to thegroup, I didn't want to be a party
pooper.
And I. I got into it.
I had two failures on deer.
And I really felt like God waspunishing me for not taking it as
I.
As seriously as I always do.

(27:57):
More putting it on a level as,oh, I gotta look good to so and so
and so and so and so and soand be in competition.
Okay.
So when I'm in the woods, thefirst piece of stress I have is who
else is on the same deer I'mon within a couple square miles of
where I am.
That stresses me out.
Second is the weather.

(28:20):
Third is how am I going tolook being that I'm on social media,
content.
I have my own YouTube channel.
I need to make movies.
Let me tell you something, okay?
If I can't get that camera on,I'm still shooting what I'm after.
If I don't get the footage,too damn bad.

(28:41):
I'm a hunter first, okay?
I am letting you guys, whoeverit is, have the privilege of being
in the same place that I am.
I do the damn best I can tomake good content and put it on there
and do the best I can.
I don't have the hundreds andthousands of dollars in these farms
that these guys hunt and.

(29:02):
And a professional cameramanalongside of me.
I'm in real life, okay?
You may see the deer come in.
Maybe something happens, andthen the deer's laying there dead
as I walk up to it.
It happened with me duringturkey season, but I am a hunter,
okay?
I want everybody to see what I do.
If people have questions, I'mthere to help them.

(29:23):
But with a contest, I justfelt like last year I was severely
punished for having any partin that because I took my eyes off
of the real deal.
I. I actually shot a deer.
It was the last day of bowseason so I could get on the board

(29:43):
and not hear grief from other people.
And it really isn't even adeer of my caliber that I like to
shoot.
I'm grateful for the animal.
It did not go to waste.
But you know what?
That conscious.
That little.
That little guy in your earwho's God, and he's telling me, you
know, you.
You didn't have to do that.
You know, you're a good hunter.

(30:03):
You don't have to proveyourself to anything.
So fast forward, because I'mgetting off on a long spiel here.
Here's this year.
And, you know, it wasstarting, like, you know, back and
forth, team leaders.
And I said, yeah, I don't wantto have another year like last year.
You know, I just.
It's.
It's too much.
It's too much pressure.

(30:24):
You know, it's just like, I goin the woods to detune, not to get
ramped up.
Yeah.
Oh, it's hard enough if.
If somebody encroaches on youor somebody got a deer, which, you
know, I don't begrudge anybody.
They're not my deer.
But you know how you comeaccustomed to seeing a certain deer
on camera and then two farmsover, a guy gets it, and you're like,
ah, darn it.
But, you know, they're goodguys, so you feel happy for them,

(30:46):
and the vice versa, you know,they're good people.
So I just told myself, I said,you know, I'm following what the
book says.
Be true to thyself.
And if I don't do that, I'mdoing myself a disjustice.
And you know what?
It ain't about the money.
I'll give them the $30.
I put it in the pool.
Somebody wins it, they win it.
I don't care.

(31:06):
But it's just not me.
It's not.
It's not the squatch.
I don't want to be that guy.
I want to be the guy who'swith good buddies, My.
My pals, my brothers.
And we share a moment in camp,and we're.
We're having a meal, and thenmaybe a couple cocktails afterwards.
And then the next morning, weget up, and one of the guys in the

(31:27):
party Shoots a nice buck.
And we're genuinely happy foreach other.
And.
And then we celebrate that together.
And that's on video.
And those are the memories weget to make.
It ain't about.
I got 25 points over you, andJack got 30.
And you know you're a dickbecause you can't keep up with, you
know, I Don't.
No, I don't want to do that stuff.
It's just not.
It's not me and I don't.

(31:48):
You know what if the guys aredoing it good, man, I'm happy for
you.
Do good.
I hope you win.
Knock each other out, dude, do.
Do your best, you know, have agreat season.
I hope everybody's productive.
But not this guy.
Man.
I'm just too old.
I ain't got nothing to prove.
I got.
I got nice.
That's only a couple of them.
I mean I got nice deer on thewalls in my house.
I mean, God's blessed me overand over and over with an abundance

(32:11):
of trophies over the years.
And that's all that matters isthe time sitting out there.
I'm getting older.
I got 20 years, maybe 25 atthe best.
God willing that I get to getout there and enjoy myself.
I ain't going to be wrapped upin some bull crap.
I'm just going to do my.
I agree.

(32:31):
That was a moment of Squatchand I's rant.
Yeah, I don't even know whereto go from there.
I'm not gonna lie.
But it's those good points.
Those are valid points.
I do want to had a questionhere, Craig, if I can remember it

(32:52):
now, I'm drawing blank now.
Well, let me ask you this.
How long have you been hunting now?
I have been.
Well, I've been hunting like Istarted hunting when I was back in.
I mean high school.
But then, I mean theseriousness of it, like really putting
my head into the game andactually trying to learn and get
more into it and then justpick up a bow and shoot an arrow.

(33:14):
Like I would say when Iactually started.
When my wife and I starteddating probably my 20, 28.
28 years old.
And I really.
I've hunted, you know, mywhole life.
But like seriousness of it isprobably when I started dating my
wife and knowing that I hadproperty now on the family land to

(33:36):
go walk, scout, stuff like that.
That's when I really startedreally getting more serious in hunting.
And then I think when I shotmy first buck on the family land
that year is when I reallytold myself like, okay, this is something
I want to really get big into doing.
And that's basically when Ijust took off with it there.
I mean your wife's family landor like your family land?

(34:00):
No, so my wife's mom, my inlaws, my mother and father in law,
that's.
It's their land all in crocothat I'm on.
Yeah.
Did you have any.
I've been asking this questionalong with people, but I think it's
something that needs to beaddressed in some fashion.
Did you have a mentor growingup into hunting, or did you kind
of just pick it up along asyou went?
Yeah, so growing up, it.

(34:23):
It was.
I'm just gonna fly.
I'll say that.
The childhood growing up, it was.
It was rough.
It was a very rough childhoodgrowing up.
Mom and dad split, you know,and I didn't really.
I.
At that time, I really didn'thave a mentor, you know, I.
That showed me the rules inthe outdoors, whether it was fishing
or pheasant hunting, whatever.

(34:43):
But then my Uncle Nick at thetime took me under his wing, and
he's like, no, I know you likethe outdoors.
You.
You always want to go campingand stuff.
We're gonna do this.
He got me big into pheasanthunting and that.
Tell you, I don't do it no more.
I'll admit it.
But just being out there withhim and his dog and pheasant hunting
was probably the most peacefultime I have the.

(35:06):
And the most memories I'veever had with a family member.
He showed me a lot.
He took me fishing, like Isaid, pheasant hunting.
I mean, everything like that.
And he was the one that got meinto the outdoor life, you know,
and.
And then he ended up.
Ended up passing away.
Cancer and that law, you know.

(35:28):
Yep.
To this.
To this day, it's.
Yep.
You know, being 36 years old,you know, you would think him passing
away, I mean, this is.
He's been over.
He's been gone for.
He's been gone for some timenow, but you would think that it
wouldn't hit me as hard, but,man, that.
It's tough, you know?

(35:49):
And I. I truly will say, like,if it wasn't from Uncle Nick, I don't
think I would be Even be.
I would even know.
I wouldn't be anywhere where Iam right now in the outdoor industry,
I should say, you know, like,the knowledge I have, you know, and
stuff like that.
But if it wasn't for him, Iwouldn't be.
Yeah.
I wouldn't be on social media, probably.
I wouldn't be doing what I'mdoing now.

(36:10):
Where did.
Where did whitetail huntingthen come into play at this point
in your life?
Whitetail hunting came intoplay, I will have to say.
Well, yeah, well, when it cameinto play, it was my Uncle Nick.
They owned the.
They owned some land, a littlestrip of land in Seymour.
This is a little.
It Was mainly, like, I don'tknow, 85 was all fields.

(36:31):
It's just.
All it was is just a riverrunning through and it was following
it.
And then they own just a bigchunk of that.
And I think when that cameinto play is knowing I was sitting
in the woods, Uncle Nick is upat the house having dinner, and I
ended up shooting a buck.
And it was an absolute.
It was the biggest buck of mylife I've ever shot.

(36:53):
And unfortunately, we're all human.
At that time, I didn't, youknow, I didn't know the, you know,
the standard rules of, youknow, like, okay, hey, you know,
lung shot this many hours,liver this way.
And I think I was just caughtup in the moment, so freaking jacked
up that I just literally shotthe biggest deer I've ever seen walk
this funnel line.

(37:14):
And when I seen that deer runoff and he disappeared.
But then I wait, I waited anhour and I went down there.
I mean, there was just bloodsplattered everywhere.
It was just.
I mean, this deer's dead.
Oh, what did I do?
I went in by myself.
Never asked for help.
And I lost him.
I jumped on and he just.
He's gone.
But it's just.

(37:35):
I went back up to the housecrying my ass off, you know, Uncle
Nick.
I gave him a hug, you know, and.
And I. I looked at him and Isaid, I'm sorry that I screwed up.
And he goes, what are yousorry for?
And I looked like I failed.
And he goes, you didn't fail, dude.
You're learning.
He goes, if someone tells youthat they've never done this, they're
lying.
Yeah.
He goes, lesson learned.
Now he's gotta.

(37:55):
He goes, go home, get somesleep, regroup.
Get back out there in the woods.
And he was just always therefor me, Whether it was just a.
Just a call and talk abouthunting, you know, and just show
me some stuff that he.
I don't know.
Just.
It's hard to miss him everyday, you know, And.
Yeah.
But I can say.
I can truly say, if it wasn'tfor him, I wouldn't be.
I wouldn't be.
As the knowledge I have now.

(38:16):
Well, I'm sorry for your loss, brother.
Yeah, I do want to take a second.
We can all do.
We can all just give Michael abig, giant.
Fuck you, Michael.
So I'm going to start off.
He's here.
He wants us all to acknowledge that.
He wants me to acknowledge.
To tell everyone that he ishere with us tonight.
And I basically just said, youneedy bag, we don't care.

(38:40):
Yeah, when I saw him in thecomments, you guys might be a little
too young to remember, butthere was a show called Romper Room
with a bunch of toddlers.
And I said romper Room got out.
Michael's on the show.
So I don't, that's, that's,that's way.
Before your time, bro.
Yeah, yeah, I'm young.
I'm 31 years old.
I'm 31 years young or howeveryou want to look at it.

(39:03):
I want to, I'd like to go.
Back and know what I know nowat 31.
That would be fun to go backin time with the knowledge that you
have.
Can you imagine?
Like, you know, now you goback and it's like, you'd be like
in a 30 year old body.
I mean, you'd be like, yeah, Icould do this now.

(39:23):
Just do.
If I did this there and if Idid that, then, oh man, it'd be awesome.
Craig, how old are you?
I don't even know how old you are.
He's 36.
He said it earlier.
Oh, he did say it.
I was, I was probably hearing it.
Up, you old bag.
Yeah, no, I, I turned 37 onthe 15th.

(39:44):
Okay.
Oh, your birthday's around thecorner coming up.
God, you're an old fuck too.
How old are you, Brett?
I'm 31.
I just said it.
That's amazing.
You know what?
That's amazing because retardsusually don't live that long.
No, I know they don't make it.
They usually feel off aroundlike 22, 23 years old.

(40:04):
I, I, I haven't been full art.
I've been half our tard.
There we go.
Yeah.
No, one thing I think thereason I've been asking these type
of questions, Craig, isbecause I think we've had a lot of
shows where we get very technical.
We ask a lot of guests like,well, how do you look for deer in

(40:26):
this way?
And how do you look for andfunnels and pinch points and stuff
like that.
Don't get me wrong.
But I think we need to havemore of these conversations with
average Joe hunters likeyourself and myself and Squatch of
how you got into hunting, whywe got into hunting and the emotional
side of hunting, whether it'sgood, bad and different.

(40:47):
How are you feel about it?
It's, it doesn't get talked alot about it because I think we need
to be more vulnerable and wetalk about how.
One thing big on this showthat I strongly believe in though,
is anybody out there that hasanything Negative to say to a hunter
or about hunters.

(41:08):
I'm gonna say this, you gotsomething to say and I find out about
it, then you're gonna have medown your throat.
I'm just gonna say that rightthen and there.
If there's anybody out therelistening or watches the show on
YouTube, you're scared ofposting a photo of your deer on your
own social media.
However you want to say it,send it to us, I'll post it.

(41:30):
And if anybody has anything tosay, I'm gonna stick up for you.
Because at the end of the daythis is a community.
I'm gonna give Craig for beinga short, I'm gonna give CR squash
to being a little rollmongling and I expect them to give
me crap for being a ginger andeverything else.
I don't care.
It's all in good fun.

(41:51):
We around with each other,it's a brotherhood.
We're all having fun.
But at the end, end of the daythough, I got their backs no matter
what and we all should supporteach other.
And I just lost my train of thought.
We just need to be there witheach other more.
And I'm tired of seeing thisnegativity going around in the hunting
community.

(42:11):
And I think we need to havemore of these conversations where
we expose ourselves as beingmore vulnerable because we seem to
be like oh, I'm this big badhunter and I look at all these deer
this and that.
I'm going to tell you this,I've shot one deer that was 140 plus
inches.
Everything else has probablybeen around the hundreds.

(42:32):
I haven't been shootinganything magnificent.
They're deer that I love.
Now that I've been gettingolder, I've had more knowledge base
in my own brain.
Picking brains from peoplelike Craig and Squatch.
You learn stuff.
And like I said, there's beena lot ups and downs in my career
in hunting and I think we needto have more of these conversations.

(42:54):
And that's why I kind ofwanted to go more of these conversations
with Craig and more in depthabout his personal life that he's
willing to share.
And we need to have these morethese conversations more often because
I think it just allows peopleto be more involved with us as hunters
and show that we aren't justout there killing to kill and to

(43:15):
put these deer on social medialike and be relevant whatever the
case may be.
Because I don't give a if Ishot a four pointer.
I post on Instagram and Isharing with my kids happy as about
that.
That's What I care about the most.
Don't get me wrong.
I think everyone, every hunterout there would love to have a deer

(43:37):
that shoots 200 inches.
But if I get to share it withmy friends, my family and stuff like
that, we're all gonna.
I guarantee you this, if we're.
Because we're going down toIndiana to hunt and Squatch might
be coming down there with us.
Say anyone comes down there,it's gonna be my first time shooting
a deer out of state andtraveling out of state.
If a four point comes, I'mmost likely going to shoot it and

(44:01):
they're going to be hyping meup like I just shot the world record
deer.
No, because that's thecommunity that we built here.
That's how it should be like.
But it, I don't know, it's just.
We're all doing, we're alldoing the same.
Like, okay, if you're out inthe woods in a tree stand at 4 o'
clock in the morning, and I'mout in a tree stand at 4 o' clock

(44:22):
in the morning, aren't wedoing the same thing?
We're there for the same purpose.
We're trying to get in on the,on the animal we're trying to sneak
up on and kill.
Okay.
So there's two things rightthere we got in common that we do.
The, the second one is we lovethe outdoors.
We're out there.
We're not out there just tolike, you know, do our thing, shoot
a deer and go home.
We're out there because weenjoyed a peaceful time and stuff.

(44:44):
And there's two types of hunters.
There's the ones that are likeus, and then you got the ones that
just want to be in the spotlight.
And the ones in the spotlightruin it for all the good, genuine
people out there.
And you know, it's a shame.
And you know, it's easy to getwrapped up.
It's easy to get, you know, inthe, in the, in the moment with stuff.

(45:06):
And you know, we haze each other.
We, we joke around or, youknow, we kid about Brett not getting
out of bed to go hunting andeverything and that.
But you know, I mean, youknow, and it's not.
I mean, it's just a runningjoke that we got going on.
Yeah, he puts his time in andstuff too.
But you know, some of us putmore time in, some of us don't.

(45:27):
But the nice thing that we cando is in a good community of people
is we, we.
We have that other person'shelp or Knowledge, you know, hey,
the rut starting, you may wantto really start getting serious and
knuckle them down.
I've been out, you know, forthe last week and I'm watching it
progress where, you know,maybe somebody's working, you know,
maybe they don't have the timeto be out in the woods.
But by you reaching out onsocial media and maybe posting something

(45:49):
about that, hey, you know,it's getting fired up, you're helping
out your fellow hunter.
The thing that freaking killsme is the backstabbing, the, the,
the of being a two facedperson, you know, and it's like there's
just no room for that, man.
There's, there's no room for that.
There's no need for that.
You're out there enjoying nature.

(46:10):
You're supposed to be anyway.
You're supposed to be outthere, first off, enjoying nature
what God created for you to enjoy.
Second, you're doing the samedamn thing I am.
Can we have a little respectfor each other?
Can we stay friends?
Can we be happy for each otherno matter what we shot?
If it's a trophy in my eyes,it shouldn't matter what the other

(46:30):
person shot, okay?
And it's, it's these guys,they all think they're Michael Waddell
and freaking, you know, the,the Beast guy and all these, you
know, that.
You don't understand what goeson behind the scenes in these places,
man.
These guys are paying lots ofmoney to go on a land that's been
groomed.
You're listen, New York Statehas a ton, a ton of state record

(46:57):
anywhere, big bucks.
And I know, I grew up here andI see them.
Don't let anybody kid you thatNew York's a shit show.
It's not.
There's some really good bucksin New York and it's getting better.
It's getting better.
And from what I hear, New YorkState is actually, they're talking
about now a four point rule.
So it has to have four pointson one side versus three, which is

(47:19):
fine with me because I'm goingto shoot an eight pointer anyway.
I don't really give a.
But it's this, this stuff,this cattiness.
We're grown, we're grown assmen, aren't we?
You're a man, I'm a man.
We all do our stuff.
We're all out there andenjoying it.
Be respectful.
You know, it's.
It's one thing to haze, youknow, the person, bust their balls,

(47:41):
I don't care, you know, havefun with each other.
When it comes down to a phone call.
Hey, man, I need you to comeout and help me drag a deer.
I, I can't find the deer.
You know, we're gonna drop our.
Come out and find that deer.
You know, it's, it's, it'sjust so stupid, man.
And, and you know what?
It's in anything.
It's not just the outdoors.
It's.
If you're in auto racing, ifyou're a weightlifting competition,

(48:04):
you know, we could go on andon and on about it, you know, and
it's even in 3D shooting, it'slike, it makes you sick, you know,
it's like, oh, I shot at 300.
You only shot at 280. Who cares?
You know, I'm enjoying it.
I think we got to get back tothe basics of going back, enjoying
the camaraderie and abrotherhood of people you're with

(48:26):
or your family that you're with.
Like, you, you had your uncle.
I had my grandfather.
And you know, just appreciate that.
Be, be that dude, you know,that you're, you're out there and
if somebody's got a question,by God, help them out.
Don't, don't sit there andsay, well, you know, just because
I got this many years anddon't mean, you know, I'm not going
to tell you something.
Help the person out.

(48:47):
I've, I've had people had noidea about stuff, and they're like,
that's cool.
How did you know that?
Because I listen.
Yep.
You know, and Craig, you know,like I said, you've been through
the mill.
We, we, we, we've all hadstuff happen to us, you know, over
the years.
And, you know, the biggestthing is that you, you.
Iron sharpens iron.

(49:07):
That's.
That's a good saying right there.
You know it.
Yeah.
Diamonds don't get to bepristine and, and, you know, glossy
and perfect because they'renot under pressure.
We're all under pressure.
We gotta, we gotta be that,you know, we gotta get through it.
Yeah.
And that's, that's what itkind of comes down to.
You know, like I said, youknow, the whole so, you know, industry
or all this together, youknow, someone throws a comment, you

(49:29):
know, on your post, positivecomment back.
Like, there's, there's somepeople on Instagram that I follow
because they're, they're hugeinspirations to me, you know, and
it's just a couple weeks ago,they posted a picture of a buck and
velvet and this deer.
It was.
Yeah.
Had stickers all over.
Yeah.
And dude, this buck was massive.

(49:49):
And all of a sudden I comment,comment on there saying, dude, bro,
I hope you smack this whitetail this year.
Dude, this is an absolute mega giant.
Oh, no comment that getreposted back says, I don't know
if he's gonna make the listthis year.
Like, like, don't be that person.
Like, dude, like, don't tellme, okay?
There's no way that this deerdoes not make anybody's list.
I don't care who you are.

(50:11):
Like, and this whole thingwith making the list, like just,
you know, it's.
All the cliches of it is all.
I was doing was just giving anice positive like, oh, I hope you
have a great fall.
And that's the comment I get.
I'm like, you know, I swipe away.
I whatever, you know, hatersare gonna hate.
Like they always say, man,that's all it is.

(50:32):
It's ridiculous.
It makes sense.
This new day and age whereit's like, well, they gotta be X
amount of years or they gottalook like X amount of inches.
And like that.
That came from a scientistfrom Pennsylvania years ago.
I can't remember his nameright now.
I'm drawing a blanket.
And don't get wrong.
It's a great ideology behind it.
Awesome.

(50:52):
We gotta let them grow.
I mean.
Yes.
Don't get me wrong.
Yeah.
By the day, I have to burn myown personal PTO time throughout
October and November.
Yeah.
Where I hunt.
I can't hunt during the gunseason unless I know nobody's out
there hunting, which is rare.
So I had to burn my PTO timein October and do it correctly.

(51:15):
Otherwise, if I don't see thedeer that I'm after and I only see
something, I gotta take itbecause I gotta get meat the freeze.
I have like half a deer leftin my freezer right now.
No.
Yeah.
So I, I'm.
Just leave it there.
We're getting late.
There's one question, though,Craig, I want to ask you before we
get to the rapid firequestions is throughout your lifetime,

(51:37):
what is a question that you would.
I mean, a piece of advice thatyou would give to like hunters and
just everybody that you feelyou've learned over your time now
in life.
Yeah.
The piece of advice I wouldget was don't.
Don't ever.
When someone gives you like some.
Someone give me advice.

(51:57):
Don't ever take any piece of advice.
Unknown.
Always listen and always.
Because that advice obviouslymeans something and it's going to
help you out along the way,whether you believe it.
Or not.
Like, there's a lot of stuff,like in the years that I would just,
you know, brush off myshoulders, like, okay, whatever.
I know this and I.
Whatever.
But actually, I.

(52:17):
Take your time and sit downand actually listen to people's advice.
They're giving it to you for a reason.
If it's a positive advice.
They're doing it to you for.
To help you out because they care.
They're doing it to you tohelp you succeed and get better in
the outdoor living school.
Now, we moved on to Dave'scomment here.
Bro, I can't wait for you topop your dough cherry.

(52:38):
What he's referencing, if youdidn't listen a couple episodes ago.
I've said before, though, Ihave yet to shoot a deer, a doe,
my.
Yet to put my tag on a dough.
I've been going, I think thisis my 19th, 20th year hunting.
I believe it's my 19th, and Ihave yet to put it on a dough.
I've shot two does, but I'venever found them.

(53:01):
And I just, Yep.
I have yet to put my tag on a dough.
I have strict rules, though.
I have family, family lawsthat we kind of created where it
makes it hard to do that.
I'm not going to get into itright now, but I'm just, yeah.
Just going to say, yeah, I'veyet to pop my dough chair yet.
I'm going on 31 years old.
I've been hunting since I was12, basically.

(53:23):
So, yeah, last year.
Rap fire.
Question here for you, Craig.
About four of them.
What animals on your bucketlist to hunt?
Animal.
My bucket list to hunt.
I tell you what, I, I will goout with my bow all west for antelope.
I really want to do it.
Spawn stock antelope.
What is the top state you wantto hunt?

(53:43):
Top state.
I want to hunt.
Yep.
I would have to say top state.
Oh, I would actually have to stay.
I like, I like to go down toMissouri to do it because my cousin
Sean is a huge bow hunter.
They go every year down to Missouri.
I just don't have the timeright now.
But Missouri, with the family,that was.
One of my states.
I have a buddy that goes downthere every year, if not every other

(54:05):
year.
And he loves it down there.
Yep.
If you could pick anybody togo on a hunting trip with or share
a campfire with one time, whowould that be?
I tell you what, it's crazy,but I, you know, I actually do talk
to these guys once in a while.
Dean and Dave from Team Takinga break.
Those Guys are.
Those guys are just hilarious.
I, I would honestly, I wouldlove to meet those guys in person

(54:26):
and share the.
And stories with them.
No doubt.
Last question here.
What do you.
What do we need to do toimprove the hunting community?
What we, what do we need to do?
I tell you what, people justneed respect is the biggest thing
and just be a positiveinfluence and role model because

(54:50):
of the fact is you don't knowwho's watching you or who's.
Or whose kid is watching you.
And you know, you don't want,you don't want negative.
I mean, I don't know respectand a positive outlook in the industry
needs to happen because it'sjust, it's to me personally for what
I see, it's not there.

(55:10):
It's.
It's not.
Yeah, I agree with you.
There's a lot of things outthere, A lot of people out there
doing their own thing.
And I think people need to seta better example.
I mean, I'm saying we do our best.
I'm not going to get into.
We basically say we're notpolitically correct on the show at
all.
We speak our minds, but thatthere's a reason to it.

(55:32):
I don't think there's a lot ofchannels out there that do what we
do when we speak our minds,we're going to say what we want.
If you, like I said at thebeginning, feelings get hurt.
I don't give a.
No, I'm not here to cater toyour feelings like the new world
that we live in now.
But at the same time, I sayall the time I'm here to defend every
hunter that's doing everythingthe right way, the legal way, the

(55:53):
ethical way.
And you want.
You need a new friend, youneed a new brother in your life.
Send me a message.
I got myself and I got threeother ones here that I know for a
fact that at least message youon a daily basis if you need anything.
Yeah.
Craig here if he wants.
If you need anything, Craig.
I know Craig will be there foryou guys.
Absolutely.
Building something here that'sgoing to be different.
And.

(56:13):
Yeah, I just, I'm going on.
On.
No, I agree.
Craig, though, I do want tosay thank you so much for coming
on the show, man.
We greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you.
Congratulations though,joining the Boondocks hunting outdoors
team.
That's amazing.
If you want to upgrade andjoin the varsity team, we're here.
We're taking applications.

(56:34):
We're going to have a submitform here starting next year most
likely.
So looking Forward to that.
We.
We do.
Actually.
I'll say this though.
We do have.
It's the last December 14th.
I believe it is.
It's going to be our biggesttrivia night the entire year.
And there's going to bequestions on there.

(56:55):
Boondocks hunting.
Laughing face.
Brett, you are too funny.
Love you guys at Boondockshere, Brooklyn Brothers, their show,
it's going to be epic.
It's going to be big.
We're not sure how we want todo this yet, but I'm.
It's going to be like a 50, 50question type thing here.

(57:19):
They said boondocks, we arethe trivia champs.
It's tied.
We came on your show and beat you.
You came on our show and youbeat me single handedly.
Okay, well, he's talking.
He's talking about the latest time.
Yeah, I know, I know, I know.
You got bragging rights tillnext time either way.
We have one more trivia nightcoming up in September.
But we have a big grand finale.

(57:40):
50 to 70 type question.
And it's going to be epicallyhard that I'm coming up with.
It's going to be challenging.
Everyone's going to probablybe invited to come on the show and
be a part of it.
So if you want to possibly bea part of it, let us know.
We aren't for sure yet, butbecause you are part of the team
brother of Boondocks.

(58:00):
They're a brother affiliate ofhere at Whitetail Advantage, basically.
So we're going to stand in by now.
I'm excited for it.
All right.
More details with that to come.
We also do have three openslots left in our Whitetail Advantage
fantasy football league thatwe have coming up.
The draft for that will be thelast Sunday of August.
Last Sunday.

(58:21):
August.
All right.
And we also do have a couplethings I'm doing 10 ring news now.
If you want the WhitetailAdvantage live show schedule on your
actual phone, send us youremail and we can get everything set
up for you.
And we'll just plug your emailin and the Whitetail Advantage calendar
of who we've got coming onwhen we're not doing shows and stuff

(58:41):
like that will be on your phone.
There you go.
All right.
Anyways, enough of that stuff.
Squatch, how can people reachout to you, man?
Well, you guys all know thesocial media stuff outdoors and more
with the Squatch.
But if I could just take asecond, my.
The boy I call, my son CoreyKane, he has type 1 diabetes and

(59:02):
he plays the wiffle ballleagues up here and they're trying
to raise money.
It's an organization calledSLAM T1D.
And they're trying to raisesome money to beat this, you know,
horrible disease.
He suffers with it.
He's a type 1 diabetic.
I worry about him every day.
Every.

(59:23):
Every.
Every waking hour.
I'm wondering if that pump'sworking for him or not.
If you guys, anybody watchingwant to donate, it's under slam S
L A M T1D.
It's a fundraiser, and hisname is Corey Kane.
K A I N. And you'll see thereit says, you know, raise money for

(59:45):
the tournament for thediabetes that he's going to be in.
He's up at 1330.
They're trying to reach 6000.
So if you guys could, youknow, a little something.
Even if it's five bucks, man, throw.
Throw it out there.
It's for a good cause.
And when you see a kid sufferthrough this, it's.
It's horrible.
I've had to basically rushthem back here to the house a couple

(01:00:07):
times, get sugar into him.
And it's a scary thing.
You know, he was born with it.
So if you guys got a big heartand you want to donate a couple bucks
to that, I'd sure as hellappreciate it.
And so would he.
And like, like always, you canfind me here Sundays and Tuesdays.
And with the Boondocks guys,Craig, also on the boondock stuff

(01:00:27):
and the social media outdoorsand more to squatch at my YouTube
channel.
Craig, how can people reachout to you, brother?
Yeah, behind the grind on.
On YouTube and then myInstagram are my two main handles
that I focus on.
That's awesome, man.
We have each other's phone now.
Phone numbers now.
So we're gonna be texting.

(01:00:47):
Exactly.
Excited to have you part ofthe brother.
Excited to have you part ofthe team, basically.
And in a way, you join thedark side.
I'm just gonna just throw thatout there.
I love them there.
But Mike is.
Mike is very dark.
But he gave me privilege tosay that I'm black.

(01:01:09):
I'm a certified black guy nowbecause I'm.
I'm ginger.
And that's what he said.
Got cancelled.
Like, it's.
It's the truth.
Mike did.
He freaking told him flat outon the show, the gingers are been

(01:01:29):
traced back to black roots.
So he says right there, Big facts.
See, you wrote it.
Big fact.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Love Mikey.
We love him.
Love you guys at Boondocks,like I said, their brother affiliate
of Whitetail Advantage, basically.
Craig Squatch.
I hope you guys have a great,amazing rest of your night.

(01:01:50):
Thank you so much for joincoming on the show for tonight.
Craig.
Squatch.
Squatch, you basically had toshow up because I pay you.
Yeah, you do.
Yeah.
I pay you with my friend my smiles.
But you guys have a great restof your night.
I want to say good night to everybody.
All right, later guys.
Out later.
Amazing group guys right there.

(01:02:10):
Thank you, Craig, for comingon the show.
I greatly appreciate it.
And Squatch, we gave eachother crap, but we love you too.
Well everyone, that's going toconclude an episode of the Whitetail
Advantage podcast.
I want to say thank you toeveryone that's gathered around the
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(01:02:52):
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(01:03:18):
Thank you for tuning in toanother episode of the Whitetail
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