Melissa Bachman: Hunting, Mentorship, and the Evolution of Outdoor Media

On this episode of Hunting Matters, we sit down with renowned outdoor television host and hunter Melissa Bachman. From her humble beginnings as an unpaid intern to becoming the executive producer of Winchester Deadly Passion, Melissa shares her journey of perseverance, passion, and dedication to the great outdoors. We discuss the changing landscape of outdoor media, the importance of mentorship, and the challenges of being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Plus, Melissa shares some of her most memorable hunting adventures, her thoughts on bow vs. rifle hunting, and a few “close call” stories you won’t want to miss. Tune in for an inspiring and insightful conversation with one of hunting’s most influential voices.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Joe Bitar, this is Ramona Roebliss, and we
talked to fascinating people about their love of hunting, shooting, sports,
and the outdoors.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
This is Honeting Matters. Awesome.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Welcome to this week's episode of Hunting Matters, brought to
you by the Houston Squire Club Foundation. Joining us this
week as our guest, Melissa Bachman.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Melissa, how are you.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
I'm doing great. Thank you guys for having me. I
sure appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Melissa.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
I know you've met thousands of people over your time
being an outdoor television and ramone.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
She's not only a hunter, she's.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
A producer and host an outdoor television show and a
thousand other things. But Melissa, you and I met years
ago when I was CEO of another outdoor organization.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
We used to run at each other shot show every year.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
I know you don't remember me, but even when you
first got started, I was always amazed. I mean, every
time you went to a different booth, there was a
huge a lot of people waiting to meet you, and
it was so good to see women and children and
families especially lined up. Because we're just gonna be and
jump right into this, but because they they, I think,
and you can tell it speak.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
To this better than we can, but.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
I think they identified with you because listen, I've been
an outdoor television for many, many years too, and you
know the old days of whisper television where somebody there's
a dude hunting and he shoots something and he whispers
and tells you everything you just saw for the last
twenty minutes and stuff it.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
And you brought always.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Brought a fresh new perspective to outdoor television. So I
just want to say thank you for doing that, because
it's always nice to see new and different programming. Tell
us a little bit about yourself. Where'd you grow up
and how did you first get into hunting?

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, I grew up in central Minnesota, and you know,
I've been a big hunter since I was a little kid.
In Minnesota. We had to wait till we were twelve,
so my mom hunted, my dad hunted, and they just
brought my brother and brother and I along all the
time because they joke they didn't want to pay for
a babysitter. But with that said, it's one of those
things where it's what I've always dreamed of doing, is
finding a way to hunt for a living. And in

(02:08):
the beginning, it really was all about trying to find
a way to hunt all over the world and hunt
every single day. And I think for six or maybe
even eight years I hunted four It was like about
three hundred and twenty days a year. So if you
ever wanted to hunt every day, I got pretty close
to it. But now it's really more about trying to
get others involved and using my show to show families,

(02:29):
to show kids, to show women and children that you
can go out and you can have a wonderful time.
And sometimes I always get nervous that some of the
hunting shows just take things too seriously. Hunting is supposed
to be fun. We go out there sometimes, we have
a little Boston Terrier and French bulldog. We bring them along,
We bring our kids. Jacks was a year and a
half and he was out turkey hunting, and I try

(02:50):
to show people that you can be very successful, but
you can also kick back and enjoy that time together
as well.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, and I've looked at all of your photos online
and stuff. The Boston We've had Bostons for many years.
The Boston perched up on top of the turkey is hilarious.
How did that start?

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Well, I actually got pork Chops. So she's nine and
I got her years back for a Christmas present and
the very first time I had a hunt in Texas
right afterwards, and I thought, well, she's coming with me.
And I always wanted to have a little friend on
the road with me because I traveled so much and
I don't have like a big group of people that
travels with me. Usually it's just me and I'll meet
a cameraman somewhere. So I put her in my coat

(03:31):
pocket and her and I left and we went hunting,
and we went for access deer, a hog, and a
white tail that year, and she just popped right up there.
I gave her a treat, and it was just from
there on. Everywhere I went, she was right alongside with me.
She knew I always had special treats when we were hunting,
so she would stand there and pose, give her a treat,

(03:52):
and off we'd go.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Pork Chop never barks of animals.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
Pork Chops only barked one time in her whole life,
and we were turkey hunting, and it wasn't because of
the animal. We were actually out there and the turkey
was attacking our decoy and it was pecking the decoy
and making a really loud noise and pork chot bark
because she didn't know what that was, and that turkey
stuck his head up and Noah our Son was able
to shoot him and so it kind of helped. But

(04:17):
that was the only situation where it was a hindrance.
I have had her in the blind a couple of
times when antelope are coming in close and she'll decide
to like get a drink out of her bowl and
you just hear the slurping sound and my cameraman's like,
oh my gosh, make her be quiet. But really, the
animals they don't seem to care. And it's just fun
to have, you know, a little sidekick along with you.

(04:38):
And you know, I think it's also it makes you
more relatable. You go to these shows, we talk about
you know, kids and people coming up, and I think
even guys they realized that, you know, I really work
hard at it. I hope to be a very good
hunter because I put a lot of time in the field.
But I'm also super approachable. There's no dumb question. You
can ask me anything you're thinking of and you know,

(04:59):
hopefully I can can be of some assistance to answer
questions and get people more involved.

Speaker 4 (05:04):
Yeah, go ahead and remind well, I was just gonna say. Coincidentally,
Joe too keeps me in his pocket when we go
hunting and gives me a little treat. I'll sit there
and give me a little treat and I'll be quiet
for a few minutes.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
It looks for every one of us.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, well, yeah, actually it's not a pocket. It's one
of those giant baby carriers, and the treats or toosy
Pope's fair enough. I'm guessing probably as that relationship with
pork chopping and your your French you developed, probably you're
probably getting more people coming up to you door shows
stuff and talking to you more about the dog than

(05:40):
some of the hunts.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
And that is totally fine. And again, you know it's
it's you know, maybe people don't want to bring their
dogs along, but I guess what it shows is that
you can still be very successful and it doesn't have
to be you know, you don't have to be running
marathons to get ready for the hunt, and you can
bring kids along. We had a hunt with Jack's where
he was a year and a half. We took them
turkey hunting, and as this turkey's coming in and he's gobbling,

(06:03):
Jack starts howling like a coyote. Now we just got
done with coyote season. He's a year and a half.
He thinks it's hilarious and he'd go, oh, and this
turkey just shot gobble. Well, he spooked that turkey off.
But I filmed the whole thing. I was actually trying
to shove tootsy pops in his well, make him be quiet.
And you know, it's one of those things where you

(06:23):
see all that and you're like, oh, my goodness, you know,
what are we doing out here? But looking back on it,
it's some of the best memories. We didn't get a
turkey that morning. We stuck with it, and a different
afternoon we got a turkey, and it's one of my
most cherished memories. So I think sometimes people need to
remember that when you're out there, it really is about
the memories and you know, about making them, and for us,

(06:44):
we like to film it so that way we can
look back on him as well.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, I think that's probably makes some of the best
television anyway, those those mistakes I always enjoyed the bluepar
roles and the family shots and things like that.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
One thing that I have to appreciate. And you know,
the more women we talk to, the more I appreciate
women hunters. Because I'm forty seven years old, I'm very
green at hunting. I love it. I'm just intimidated by
it now because by this age, I have this perception
that I need to be my cheesema. I need to
know everything about hunting. You know, I should have gotten

(07:17):
out there. So when I talk to women hunters or
when I'm hanging out with them at camp, I feel
more comfortable because typically we're both new and they're asking
the questions and I'm the one, you know, benefiting. So
you know, I appreciate that more and more women are
getting into this because it's helping me get into a

(07:37):
comfort zone too. So I appreciate everything you're doing.

Speaker 5 (07:41):
Well.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, and you know, and I think too, if we
can show that it's a super welcoming community, you don't
have to know it all. Nobody knows it all. I
go to hunting camps and I'm constantly learning. I'm constantly
learning a new gear to bring along, and you know,
different things along the way. And I think that if
we can show people that you don't I don't have
to know it all to be a welcomed individual into

(08:03):
the hunting community, it kind of takes like a little
bit of pressure off and people kind of can breathe
a sigh of relief. My thing I always tell people is,
if you don't know, just make sure people know you know.
Don't try to pretend you know, because then people just assume, well,
I don't need to explain it, when really maybe they
should be explaining it a little bit more.

Speaker 6 (08:20):
So.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
Try to be open and upfront. But you know, we
want new hunters in this sport.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
We love seeing that absolutely absolutely.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
You know, going back to when you first first got started,
was there somebody obviously you grew up hunting with your family,
was there somebody that you spotted at a show, at
an outdoor show, on a television program, somebody that aspires
you to said, you know, I hear a lot of
stories from comedians and actors and have friends and some
friends and their entertainment businesses does ramone And you know
they'll go, oh, one day it just popped to them,

(08:49):
I can make it. I could possibly make a living
at doing that what was that moment for you?

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Well, it was a little bit more challenging. I got
done with college. I had a double major in television
production and SPA. I went out. I sent seventy four
resume reels up and I literally thought I was going
to have so many job opportunities I wouldn't know what
to pick. And I got seventy four noes. So nothing
like welcome to the community by the whole world telling
me they're not interested. But what I did is I

(09:15):
realized that there was a place called the North American
Hunting Club, and that's where I really wanted to work.
I applied there, they didn't hire me, and I actually
called them back up and I said, this is the
number one place I want to work. Everyone said the
same thing that I need experience. So I'm wondering, can
I come and work for free? And they're like, well, yeah, sure,
when can you start and what can you do? And

(09:35):
I said, I can start tomorrow morning. I can sweet floors,
I can edit, I can film, I can help out.
Just let me get my foot in the door. And
they actually let me come and work for four months
for free. I drove one hundred and fifty miles a
day every day, back and forth, so I could go
to a job for free. But I did get my
foot in the door. And actually, after those four months,

(09:57):
I'm not sure if I guilted them into it or
they really liked me, but they realized how hard I
had worked, they gave me that original position I applied for.
So that was kind of my start into the industry.
And then, you know, once you're doing things, you're always
kind of looking for role models and people that you
can relate to. I actually met Tom Miranda at a show.
It was a Matthews event, and him and I were

(10:18):
talking and he's like, what I do now. He would
produce his own shows, he would sell his own stuff,
He did it all. So I kind of used him
as a mentor for many years, and he helped me
with lots of different things getting into the TV world.
And I think it's just so important whatever you're getting into,
to have some sort of a mentor that you can
look up to.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Yeah, and Tom's a good one.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
I mean, you know, we just he was here at
our convention just last year, and you know, he called
me up. And You've had a relationship with Tom for
a long time. Probably more so than I have called
him up and said, hey, Tom, we want you to
come to convention.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Blah blah blah.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
And we were awarding our mail Hunter of the Year
and I said, you know, we need some footage and
it was actually it was an National bow Hunting Award,
and he goes, what do you need. I got any
I got whatever you can imagine. As far as b
roal footage, I've got it.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
I'm sure.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
I'm sure you've accumulated that now at this point.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, you know, And that's one of the benefits of
having that big library of footage, you know, so you
can help people, and especially for the production side. I
think what Tom taught me more than anyone is how
you can heavily rely on your production side and you're
producing because I mean, let's face it, a lot of
people think you can get real rich doing television shows.
It's more like a black hole for your money to

(11:33):
go down. So I always use the production side to
really help me to go out there and to produce,
you know, video for companies that you may not even
see me in the video. But because I have that
extensive amount of footage, there's a lot I can do
with it and really being an editor is the first
thing I learned. I didn't go to school to learn

(11:53):
how to be in front of the camera. I wanted
to learn every step of it behind the scenes, so
that way I do all the parts. Because I didn't
have someone bankrolling me, I didn't have a bunch of
money when I started. I did every single aspect of
the TV show and now I still do a lot
of them because I don't really want to pay somebody
else to do what I can do.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
Of course, yeah, I mean, and that's you know, while
we're talking about that, I think that's you know, for
for the for our general listening and viewing audience.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
That's something that people don't understand.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
They think everybody who's on outdoor television, you know, walks
in and they're getting a paycheck to do that. And
you know, I don't know what it's like now because
I've been out of it for a while, but you know,
it used to be where you come up with a
great idea for a TV show, you have a great host,
whatever the case may be.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
Then you pitch it.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
You you try to get network time, which you pay for,
you know, most people have to pay for and then
you try to try to break even by getting sponsors,
you know, to cover you.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Has it Has it changed much since then?

Speaker 3 (12:47):
No, it's the same thing. And a lot of people
don't understand that you are paying to have your TV
show on. So you may go out and get sponsors,
but really that money is going to paying the airtime first.
The next thing that's going to is trying to get
hunts booked and tipping and cameramen. Because I can do
some of the filming myself, but not all of it,
it's not as good a production. And then at the

(13:09):
end of the day, when everything's finished, anything that's left
for you is what's left. Well. The problem with that
is is many years I went in the red and
I was either going to do this or be an anesthesiologist.
And I remember looking at my bank account numerous times
thinking I should have been an anasty you know. But
I love what I do, and you learn from it
and you learn to be as diversified as possible. And

(13:32):
I think that's always been the key, because now you've
got social media. I've always done writing, you've got television,
you've got production. You try to just be helpful in
a variety of ways. So that way, when you can
help a company, you can say, you know what I
can do more than just host a TV show. There's
a lot of things I can do for people, and
then they know it's kind of a one stop shop,

(13:52):
so it helps people make those decisions. So it's just
learning the ropes as a business model, and every single
person's as different. That's kind of the route I went
with being diversified and just really working hard, tried to
overdo it so they're like, gosh, i'd feel bad cutting her.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
Yeah, that's that was always you know that, It used
to always be that one time a year ago. Sponsorships
are coming due again. I hope, you know, hopefully I've
done my job in representing their brands and they're going
to come back, and you know, and then you walk
to flort shot and I mean it's kind of some
inside baseball stuff here, but you know, you walked to
the flort shot or you have meetings with.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
You know, with your sponsors or prospective sponsors, and it's.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Funny to be you've been in long enough where you know,
but it's funny to be kind of back in the
background watching the newcomers and outdoor television, and it's always
usually the same pitch, We've got the greatest new show concept.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
And you've never seen you've never.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Seen anything like this before, and always laugh. I'm like,
you know, after I got out of outdoor television, and
I applaud you for staying in it as long as
you have.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
When I got out of it, I was like, man,
I'm so glad I don't have.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
To go pitch a TV show this year at shot show,
I can actually probably go walk the door and look
at the cool stuff and not have to do appearance
that are you know, pitch people on the shows and
that sort of thing. So I applaud you for doing that,
But I think it's important that people understand that, you know,
it's you know, in.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
Some cases it's people.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
I think, especially upfront, when you're really young and you're
first getting on television, it's hey, I want to be
on television. I want to be famous whatever whatever that
pool is. But you know, as you get into it further,
and like you said in your own in your own
match race and phase, not only in out or television
but also as a hunter, now you're at that point
where you're really giving back you know, it's it's obviously
you alluded to it before, where it's it's more important

(15:36):
to you now to mentor others and to share those memories.
And that's where they talk a little bit about that
and how that, how that's now taking kind of a
primary role.

Speaker 3 (15:44):
In what you do well, you know, and I think
when you start, it's any job, you know, you're just
so excited. And it's not that I'm not excited about
it anymore, but now I feel I get more excitement
by giving back, by helping someone else out, by watching
my own children hunt and see things through their eyes
the first time. And you know, I do a lot
of shows each year, but I think there's so much

(16:04):
value in going out and meeting all these people face
to face. Because I may meet, you know, two thousand
and three thousand people a show, and I'll do fifty
shows in the past three four years. That's a lot
of people that you've had one on one contact with.
And I think those type of things they make a difference.
You know, I see young girls who came and they
really weren't interested in hunting, and I'll show them some

(16:26):
pictures and tell them, you know, you can go out
there you can put your hairs and hair and curls,
you can do whatever you like, and all of a sudden,
the next year they're coming back and they're showing you
a picture of a turkey they shot, and then the
next year it's a deer, you know, and you just
kind of ignite that fire. And I think sometimes there's
a challenge where, you know, young kids or women even
are a little scared to get into it because it

(16:47):
is primarily a man's world. But with more and more
women hunters out there, I think they're feeling welcomed. And
also I would have to say we probably have one
of the nicest community of people who want to see
more women and kids. You know, maybe they have granddaughters
or daughters, so I think you're seeing a lot of that.
And that's really what I try to use my show
for now, is to get more people involved, to ignite

(17:10):
that fire, because maybe not everyone was raised with a
mom and dad like I did. That make hunting a
normal thing you do. So maybe they go to it
on YouTube or on Sportsman Channel or on my Outdoor TV,
whatever it may be, and they can see that they
can get excited about it and then spend that family
time together, and that's another whole aspect that people forget

(17:31):
about in this day and age. I don't feel like
people have enough connections. They don't spend enough time without
electronics doing things that they can truly remember. And I
think hunting offers that not only from the hunt, but
the preparation of it and then everything that comes after it,
whether it's you know, processing the animal, making it into
burger and then cooking it together. I think you're building

(17:54):
bonds that you don't even realize with your kids, with
your family, or even with your spots.

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Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, I mean I and you. You guys have five kids?

Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yes, wow, Ramona, I don't want to hear you complaining anymore.

Speaker 4 (21:17):
No, I have a seven and a nine year old
and I'm looking to get rid of them.

Speaker 3 (21:23):
Well, they can come here. We usually have about double
the amount of kids of our own. There's no telling
how many are down there. And if a little two
year old comes fne In, don't.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
Hold it against you should call it is that.

Speaker 3 (21:34):
Jack's Well, Bella is too, She's the wildest little girl
you've ever seen. Jacks is six now, and that Frin
is fourteen, Max's sixteen, and Noah's eighteen. So we've got
a wide variety of ages. So you just hope that
it's not complete chaos when you leave your office.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, yeah, we raised three boys and I can't imagine
with five.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
I mean it was.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
I used to ask my friends I didn't have brother
was growing up. I used to ask my friends are
they gonna kill each other?

Speaker 2 (22:03):
Because sometimes they get into it.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
Finally got to the point where I was like, okay,
here's some boxing gloves. You guys go in the yard.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
Got to get it out of their system, whether it's
riding dirt bikes, running outside hunting. There's certain times I'll
tell Jacks, you need to go do six laps around
the house as fast as you can, and then he'll
come in and I'll say, how about a hundred push ups?
And he'll just do push ups and cranking them out.
And You're like, okay, now we've wore you down, so
you can maybe sit still for a minute and listen
to what we're supposed to be doing.

Speaker 4 (22:31):
Very smart now, see. I respect that because you know,
my mother wasn't a hunter. But if I knew my
mom probably was packing heat, I would have been a
little bit more respectful.

Speaker 1 (22:44):
Well, Melissa's affluent at both firearms and archery, so it's
a double threat.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yeah, pull the boat out and goes. You kids need
to be.

Speaker 4 (22:52):
Hey, the neighbors don't have to know what I'm about
to do, rubber.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
Tips on the end.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
And you know, Melissa, I have so many questions for
you today and such a limited amount of time.

Speaker 4 (23:07):
Well, I wanted to jump in, Yeah, please do because
there's something that I wanted to ask and that's your
work with Hoist. Actually we were talking earlier. Well, one
of the things I always worry about is when I'm
out in the field is hydration and food, and you
bring that product to the table, and I had no

(23:28):
idea something like that existed.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
Yeah, you know, it's been really a game changer. So
one thing that I've had a huge challenge with over
the years is I get migraines. I get them terrible,
and I'll be out in the field, I'll be throwing up,
i get super sick from them. And I've always had
a challenge trying to figure out what causes them. And
the number one thing that I've found from research and
trial and error is dehydration causes so many of my migraines.

(23:53):
And if you think about it, you're out there. I
sit in a deer stand from dark to dark all
through the rut. Well, I don't want to be drinking
a ton of water throughout the day, because then you're
getting down having to go to the bathroom. So I
started researching, like what can I do to really stay hydrated,
and I actually found Hoist and one of the things
that I love about them is they had worked with
the US military and they were using them, so I thought, Okay,

(24:15):
to me, they've done the research. Obviously this is pretty good.
Ordered some and they taste amazing. But what I liked
is there's no dyes, there's no syrups in it, there's
no colors. All those different things are so helpful that
they taste delicious. So I take it out in the field.
I started using it and with it hydrating even better
than water. I found one of the amount of migraines

(24:37):
I was getting went way down, but two, it allowed
me to actually stay on stand longer because now I'm
more hydrated, I don't have to get down and go
to the bathroom as much because I maybe can drink,
you know, maybe two bottles of Hoist versus three or
four bottles of water. And then they also make powder sticks,
so like when we go to Canada, we go on
a moose hunt and I can't necessarily bring bottles, and

(25:00):
they already tell me. Well, let's say you got way
too much. So we take these powder sticks and not
only does it help you hydrate, but if you've been
hunting a bunch, there is literally nothing that quenches your
thirst as nice as these do. And we'll just throw
it in a water bottle. And I started handing them
out this year in Moose Camp and then I was like, who, guys,
you can't drink all of them. I need to keep

(25:21):
them for me too. But people love them, and you know,
they just they have so many great things. And this one,
actually this is a five star punch. And they started
partnering with Folds of Honor, and that's a you know,
an organization that I have always been a big part of.
Winchester has donated to them and a proportion of their
proceeds go back to them, so it's like scholarships for

(25:43):
family members of fallen service members. So it's really great
to see, you know, good things happening with the proceeds.
And it's just great to be a part of a
company one that's got it figured out to help you
in the field, but two that tastes so good and
gives back.

Speaker 4 (25:59):
Yeah, America, I mean and they support those that we support,
and so it's always nice to get out there and
support those you know the same values and like minds hoist.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
And it really helps if you're sitting all day. I
don't know if people are like me, but I packed
usually about three sandwiches. I'll bring, you know, different types
of snacks, drinks, And I look down and I've ate
all my sandwiches by ten thirty in the morning. Oh,
this is gonna be a long day. So anybody who's
hunted with me knows, I literally have stashes of food

(26:32):
all over in my backpack. We could probably survive for
like two weeks out there. But I can't tell you
like how helpful it is, because if you are sitting
all day, I mean, even I just did a late
season hunt, We're sitting in that blind. It's freezing cold.
It's so important just to keep your body going. You know,
you got to think of your body like a furnace.
You got to give it fuel, you got to keep

(26:52):
it hydrated so that you can function well in the field.
Because if you're war out, I mean, you're not eating,
you're not drinking, You're not going to feel up up
to par I mean athletes know that I was a
college track athlete. It is so important to stay hydrated.
And you know, with me, just with the migraines, it's
been a game changer for me.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, I never even thought about that. That's that's a
great point.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
I know a lot of people who stuffed from migraines
and I actually reached into my desktroyer get that I
found this. But I've got I keep them hearing the
fridge at the office and keep them my desktroyer as well.
I'm like, I tell the rest of my staff, like,
don't even look at that hoist in the fridge.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
That's mine, and I keep it count too.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Well. You want to talk about going through some hoist.
We've got five kids here. So I've got to keep
the peach mango packets up here in my office because
they're a pretty big hit. And that way there, I
don't go downstairs in the pantry and be like, oh wow,
it just came over and rated everything.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
We have here exactly exactly.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
Well, changing subjects real quick, I asked this of all
of our guests, what do you think is the largest
animal you could take down with your bare hands.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
I believe I could take any animal down with my
bare hands if they were attacking my dog, pork Chop. Now,
I really truly believe that, because pork Chop comes with
me in the field and I we've run into bears
and a big South stood up with her little cubs,
and I thought, there is no question I would go
out and I may die trying. But there's no animal

(28:23):
I would not fight to save my little dog Frum.
So with that said, you know, I think most black
bears I could probably do my best to choke them
out or figure something out to help work Chop, But
I'd say this guy's the limit. There's nothing I would say.

Speaker 4 (28:37):
I wouldn't try the old, rare naked choke of the
black bear.

Speaker 3 (28:42):
Think those years of sitting at Jackson's wrestling tournaments, hopefully
I was paying attention and learned a few moves.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
I think Melissa's the first guest we've ever had that
that didn't back down from any animal.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
Yeah, period, I really wouldn't.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
And people who know me, you call my cameraman, he'd
be like, no, that's a true story.

Speaker 4 (28:59):
I believe it. I believe it.

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Speaker 1 (31:45):
How do you Obviously you do a lot of high
endurance type hunting as well. How do you prepare and
train physically for those hunts? Do you have a normal
like I have a buddy's a former UFC champion. He says,
here's the key to my training. I always stay at
my fighting weight. I never had to cut weight the
day before a fight. What's your training regimen getting ready
for a mountain hunt, for example.

Speaker 3 (32:07):
I'll be honest, I don't do any training for it
other than what I do every single day. So I
believe I'm kind of in a unique position where every day,
like tonight, I'll be going to Alaska for their sci chapter.
I'll be doing different things every weekend. My bags I
pack are very heavy. I threw my bag on the
scale last week and I actually was trying to you
always try to make it seem like it's light so

(32:29):
they don't look. And it weighed ninety seven pounds when
they hit the scale, and the lady's like, and I'm like, oh,
I can take a few things out of there. But
I guess my point is is I'm always doing things.
I'm in the field, I'm packing bags. I don't go
to a gym. I figure that I am in good
enough shape with just my daily lifestyle, and I'm very active.
I'm always doing stuff, but I have quit going to

(32:52):
I was a college athlete. I think I kind of
got burned out on running and some of the lifting
and whatnot. And I'll have to get back into it.
But you'd be amazed at how much you can stay
in shape if you just do what you're going to
be doing, you know, whether that's hiking with heavy backpacks.
I mean, we coyote hunt. I've got all sorts of
stuff in and we're hiking all over the place through
the winner early in the season when the season hits.

(33:14):
I mean, my weight doesn't really ever fluctuate. It's always
about the same, so I just get right into it.
And I think, sometimes maybe you're not in as good
as shape as you could be, but being mentally tough
makes the difference. And I truly believe that. I think
most people quit when they mentally get challenged, versus when
their body can't do it anymore. I did a brown

(33:36):
bear hunt years ago, one of the most difficult hunts
I have ever done, both physically and mentally in my life.
And he said, have you been working out or eat
in shape for this? I said no, I showed up,
and I think he thought I was joking and I wasn't.
But being mentally tough, I was right there with everybody
else carrying an extremely heavy pack. But I really think

(33:56):
that mental toughness is probably my best attribute.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
You know, it's great that you bring that up, because
you know, we talked to a lot of people and
kind of my philosophy is, if I'm going to do
a certain kuy, especially now that I'm older, I definitely
have to train for that hint. I mean, I try
to stay in shape, but there are certain hunts that
I just have to put in the extra effort, you know,
thirty twenty five pounds in the backpack and get on
the stair climber or whatever, because it's not something I'm

(34:21):
doing all the time like you are. But the mental aspect,
you know. I actually witnessed this about a year and
a half ago.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
We were doing.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
A sick sick of blacktail out in a fog Neck
island in Alaska, and there was a guy with us
who gave up on the second day and he was tired,
but I think it was more he was like, I can't.
I just can't climb this hill again today. And I
think he could have physically done it, but he mentally,
like you said, he just kind of went, I don't
know if I want to do this.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
And I get it people it's easier to give up sometimes.
But I think through sports, I think that's helped me
along the way is having some very tough coaches, and
I think that it's something that can not only help
you with hunting, but business with every aspect of it
when it gets tough. Believe me, there's many times where
I'm like, oh, I do not want to go do
whatever it is I need to do again, or I
do not want to edit through the whole night so

(35:13):
a show can be finished by morning. But I do
it anyways, even if that's not what you want to do.
And they say over time, the more you do that,
the easier it gets for you. And I really think
that it is true. I don't really give myself an option.
Sometimes it is this is this is the only option.
There's no plan B, this is plan A. We're going
to do it. And I think that helps. And I
think if people go into hunts knowing kind of what

(35:35):
they're getting into and knowing that they physically can do it.
I mean, you don't want to go into a hunt
thirty pounds overweight and not never walking all year, But
if you're close and in the ballpark, that mental toughness
can carry you through.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
Yeah. I can definitely say that. Yeah, I've seen the
mental failure before. We've talked about this two different different
women over the past couple of years. One of the
main things that women tell us is that there are
challenges with getting together either in camp or hunting with

(36:11):
other women.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
Or they're the only.

Speaker 1 (36:12):
Women in camp. Sometimes, how are you overcoming that? And
have you seen that change over the years, I definitely.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Have seen more and more women coming into camps. Sometimes
it's just maybe as an observer, but then all of
a sudden, maybe the next year they're hunting as well.
So I think it's all about easing people into it.
But yeah, I mean I can't count the number of
camps I've been to where I'm the only woman there.
But you find maybe someone's got a daughter who's maybe interested.

(36:39):
You're like, hey, next year, why don't you bring her along?
You know, and by almost because a lot of times
you're hunting with the same people, they come back to
a lot of the camps I go to year and
year out. It's fun to do that, to invite others
and say, hey, why don't you bring your daughter? You know,
even if she doesn't want to hunt this year, I'd
love to meet her and let her come along. And
I think it helps even outfitters. I've had them have

(37:00):
daughters and I said, have them come along. Let's just
let them join us on the hunt and hang out
with us and have fun. And it's amazing how much
that can help kind of again build that community. And
then the next thing, you know, there's three four women
in camps where it used to be just you.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's good to hear.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
I've been in several camps too, when there's you know,
there's six, seven, eight, nine to ten guys or whatever,
and then we have a female hunter. Usually a lot
of times outdoor riders you know, that are there to
cover or hunt themselves and cover hunts.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
And I have seen that change over the years. You
know you have. I'm looking at your website right now.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
I don't know how you keep up your travel schedule
and have a normal life and keep.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
You know, run and manage a household. How do you
do this?

Speaker 3 (37:49):
It can be challenging. I mean people always think travel
is super luxurious and fun and all this. Well, like like,
I'll do it again tonight. I have a five am
flight out of two falls. That means I need to
leave my house at one am. So last time, this
was just last week, I did this whole thing and
I went to bed at twelve thirty. I got all
the kids to bed, I finally got my stuff packed,
my work done, got a half hour sleep, drove all

(38:12):
the way three hours to the airport, flew all day.
I landed in Minneapolis for a layover. I just curled
up in a ball on the floor and there I
am sleeping and people, you know, they think you're like
hitting the fly first class and all this wonderful stuff.
Now I'm laying on the floor by the cold window
and wake up freezing. But you know, you get places,

(38:32):
and I believe the travel is the hardest part. When
I get to places and you're meeting people. I mean,
this last show I was at in Wisconsin, it was
just a wonderful sci chapter that I've known for years.
And it's fun to go back and to meet people,
and I feel like, once you're there, it's like the
easiest thing in the world. But there are challenges, you know,
leaving your kids, packing up again, repacking, unpacking. My little

(38:56):
boy he said to me the other night, We're getting
ready to go to bed, and he said, Mom, do
you think someday you could get like a really good
job like the other moms around here? And I said,
what would that be. He's like, I don't know, maybe
like work at Dollar General. You could come home every night.
We could get cheap toys. Oh, man, but he has,

(39:17):
and he was trying to say it, like in the
kindest way. I think he thought maybe I hadn't thought
of that. But you know, there are challenges, but I
think there's challenges with any job, and I'm just so
fortunate that when I get places, I just I truly
enjoy it. And I think people can see through that too,
that you're really enjoying listening to their stories, asking questions,

(39:38):
being authentic and learning things. You know, I learned stuff
from people all the time. I meet some of the
most amazing people throughout the country, so I always look
at it as a great way to meet wonderful people,
wonderful like minded people across the US.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
That's cool.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
You know, anytime I've ever seen in public, you're always
up and going.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
I mean, it's you know.

Speaker 1 (39:58):
It's it's I'm sure it's hard to do that constantly
when you're supposedly like at a shot show or something.
You're having to do so many appearances and talk to
so many people. And I understand, I get it. I
know that's part of your job. But still, sometimes, especially
if you wake up with a migraine, it's like, oh
my gosh, I've got to get through this twelve hour
day or twelve hour plus day, because when I leave
the show for then I've got to go talk to
do this and go to this banquet or whatever.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
You know.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
I'm looking at your schedule between your March and April schedule.
I was gonna invite you to come down hunt Rios
with us, but it looks like, oh, wait a minute,
you got some openings in March.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
In April, I have one.

Speaker 3 (40:28):
Weekend that's for my son's state basketball tournament, and I've
had like four calls to go places like, hey, you
got this weekend open I'm like that my design, you
should have to state basketball then. So trying to keep
a few things every once in a while for my family,
and that's one of them. Yeah, yeah, I appreciate the
invite very much.

Speaker 2 (40:48):
You're absolutely welcome. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
I just it's like every weekend you're you're somewhere, You're
heading somewhere to speak or make an appearance.

Speaker 2 (40:54):
It's it's crazy. I don't know how you do it.

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Speaker 2 (43:06):
Let's talk about something you don't like to talk about.
You have been.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
Unfairly attacked over the years and I've seen it's happened
that You're not unique.

Speaker 2 (43:15):
It's happened to a lot of people. But I don't know.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
Some of the attacks on you for some of your
hunting has been absolutely ridiculous, and I know at some
point you kind of go, I just I don't even
want to address it anymore. This is I'm gonna do
me and this is my life. And if you don't
like it, turn the channel or turn the page. Whatever
it is. It still an ongoing problem, or is it
periodic or what's.

Speaker 3 (43:35):
It's a NonStop thing. And I've actually, over the years
come to almost get the idea that, you know what,
take it as a badge of honor, because, in my opinion,
what it means is you're really getting to them. I believe,
like when you've got pida. In these anti hunting organizations
and people who just despise hunting, there's nothing that gets
under their skin more than women and families doing it,

(43:58):
because they've always tried to portray this big thing about
all men are these terrible people who are just out
killing everything they don't want people who love dogs, who
have families who are using it. You know, the organic
food push is huge there's nothing more organic than going
out and getting your own meat, coming back and grinding
it into burger. So I think what's happening is they

(44:20):
attack that with everything they have because it truly threatens
their entire message. It goes against everything they've been saying,
and they want to stop it. So I try to
remind people that one, you know, just kind of ignore it,
but to almost take it with a badge of honor, like,
you know what, we're really making progress, and they see that,
and they don't know what else to do other than

(44:42):
just to throw threats and just all sorts of things.
I mean, I've had people show up at my home.
I've had people send me cat litter in the mail,
with cat turds in the mail. I don't know why,
you know, all sorts of things, but you know, you
almost look at it is. I wake up every morning.
I love what I do. My family, We get to
go out and nature enjoy things. You obviously wake up

(45:04):
pretty bitter at the world, and I'd rather be in
my position, So I just try to kind of be
positive about it and think, you know what, they're going
to attack people. I'd rather have them coming after me
than maybe some new girl or new hunter that maybe
wouldn't take it as well. Bring it on. I've got
thick snicks. I've got thick skins.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
Yeah, I'm glad to hear you say that, because we
you know, occasion we have our annual convention, our fundraising convention,
we'll have protesters show up.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
And I remember the first time we had a really
big crowd. It was organized.

Speaker 1 (45:30):
We saw it coming on social media and we hadn't
had protesters before a couple a couple of years ago,
and somebody said, oh my gosh, they're mobilizing so many
protesters outside.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
That's still good. So that's gonna be. That's cool. That'll
just bring more attention.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Maybe they'll drag some local media down there and they'll
come in and give us some coverage, you know, I mean,
you know, I welcome the protests, So ramon.

Speaker 2 (45:50):
You've had people off in protest about your your your.

Speaker 4 (45:55):
Yeah, We've had people. I've been docked, you know, I've
had the FBI literally knocked my door asking you know,
about about things that I've allegedly done. And it's just
from people posting my home address. And look, you could
be it can be anything. Look, I love vanilla. Well,
here come the chocolate people threatening to bird down your house.
I mean, you're not going to please anybody. And that's

(46:16):
just the attitude you have to take. And and good
for you, especially in the hunting world where we need,
we need to grow this industry. And you know, the
loud minority for too long have been getting away with
whatever it is they've been doing. And it's time and
it's good to see more and more people like you
taking a standing going you know what, let's go. You know,

(46:38):
I got more butt than you got teeth.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
I'm ready, Yeah, And you know, and I like to
almost even address it and talk about it because if
new hunters get that, I don't want them to feel
like they've been singled out or like they need to
back out or you know that. I literally have had
thousands and thousands of threats and as a rule, these
are not people who are going to show up at
your door. They're very empty threats. I still don't it

(47:00):
should be allowed, but I want to let people know
that it does happen. Do not let them, you know,
make you go away from hunting because of it.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
You know, I want to ask you this because you've
been in this industry for a while, and I asked
this of a lot of people. It's just a question
that pomps up in my head from time to time.
One of my biggest pet peeves about our world is this.
We seem to be constantly defending what we do and
what we love and our principles regarding hunting and conservation.

(47:30):
How do we need to how do we be more
proactive because we're not.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Typically we find ourselves in a defensive standpoint.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
Do we need to be proactive or do we just
need to push on down the road and just continue
doing what we do because you know, we're constantly under
attacked from television, media campaigns, radio campaigns, anti hunting campaigns.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
That sort of thing and sort of the frustrating for me.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
The thing for me is do we need to mount
an aggressive offensive effort to do this or do we
just what do we do? In your opinion, how do
how do we we need to approach this?

Speaker 3 (47:58):
You know, I thinksive approach would be great idea. I
think the number one thing that we need to do
as a hunting community, in my opinion, though, is really
bond together. I see so many, so many times where
they'll they'll exploit cracks within our community, whether it's public
land versus private, whether it's trophy hunting versus meat, crossbow
versus vertical bull, you know, whatever it may be. And

(48:21):
I feel like as a community, if we can stand
strong together and have one voice, that's a huge help.
Then the next thing is you got to remember that
it's the fringes that are really screaming at the top
of their heads. According to studies, most of Americans are
totally fine with hunting, you know, So I think sometimes
it's about education and making sure we may never get

(48:44):
that ten percent that screams at the top of their lungs,
we may never convince them of anything, but make sure
that the average American understands how hunting helps conservation, understanding
that entire model, and all of us, you know, basically
as hunt knowing that message. So that if something comes
up and maybe someone questions it, maybe just out of curiosity,

(49:06):
that as a hunting community or better verse to almost
explain those things, because I see that often where a
hunter who's maybe been a hunter their entire life, I
don't necessarily know what to say to someone who doesn't hunt,
other than oh, that's dumb. You know or something like that.
I think it's important to teach our own community, and
in turn that kind of turns into an offensive model

(49:28):
and we can go out and spread the word more
and spread it in schools. I mean, I think kids
the best word of mouth, Kid to kid, Get kids out,
take that time and you know, send home a box
of venison with them and to their family that's prepackaged
and ready to go. And all of a sudden you
turn someone who may or may not be interested in
the hunting to a huge believer in the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
Yeah, I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (49:53):
I think it starts at home and home being the
hunting an outdoor community is we like you said, I mean,
I can't say how many four I've been in over
the years where you know, you've got uh archery, archery
hunters pitting pitting themselves against rifle hunters and vice versa.
And like you said, low fans, high fens, public land,
private land. I think that we need to look within

(50:13):
our own ranks to kind of boost our you know,
boost our education and how we deliver that message. I mean,
I was shocked to find out how many license hunters
aren't voting, They're not registered to vote.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
I just I don't understand it.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
And these are people who love this country, love traditions,
love heritage, whatever it is. You know, they're they're they're
just good people, but they're not richter to vote.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
And I don't understand that.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
I just shocking.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Really, I don't get it.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
So folks, if you're watching or listening, please register to vote.
If you're buying a hunting license, register to vote. And
and you know, read up and study online. And I mean,
Melissa is a great source of information. There's other people
you know in the outdoor community, and you can find
stuff online that's you can google. Right now, how do
I tell non hunters about hunting? Because I'm like you,
I don't care about the anti hunters. It's the non

(51:04):
hunters who just aren't you know, they're not opposed to it.
They just need to be educated on the hows and whys.
Whether they ever do it or not, it doesn't really
matter to me. But we need to be able to
We need to be able to deliver the correct message
to people to talk about why we hunt. Other than
you know, it's it's not just about going and sitting
in a stand and killing an animal. It's about the memories,

(51:25):
and it's about the game, the protein sources and all
those things. And I know some people disregard they go, oh,
that's just a standard line, but it's true. I mean,
especially as I've gotten older, I'll go sit in a
blind all day long. I don't care if I shoot anything.
I'm going, Wow, I've never seen that green jay in
this area. I've never seen a cardinal that red or
you know, I'm watching turkeys come by in the off
season and stuff like that. I mean, that's just as

(51:46):
much fun to me as anything else. And I'm sure
you you know you've started to experience that too. It's
and plus now you're seeing it through your kid's eyes, absolutely,
you know, having to digest it a whole different way.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
I've seen you shoot different weapons over the years.

Speaker 1 (52:01):
What's your If you had if Ramon called you up
today and said you can only have one weapon to
use for the next year, is it going to be
a bow or a rifle?

Speaker 4 (52:09):
It would probably be how did you get my number?
What are you doing? Creep?

Speaker 3 (52:14):
I would probably take a six to eight Western. And
the reason why is I could be very if I
needed to get food or I needed to be the
most effective hunter I could possibly be. That's going to
get it done at any range, any size animal where
I live, that would be my go to. I absolutely
love bow hunting as well, and would always have a
bow stash somewhere. So if you gave me one weapon,

(52:36):
that's what I get. I'm going to take that gun,
but I probably got a bow stash somewhere else that
I might be able to pull out to.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
So and be honest with me, I got to ask
you this question.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
So you're let's say you're going on a hunt to
some area, Let's say you're going to Canada hunt, and
you can take that animal that you're going to.

Speaker 2 (52:53):
Be hunting with a boat with a bow or a rifle.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Are you going to Are you going to pick the
bow just so you don't have to deal with a
trans of a firearm.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
Not necessarily. I've actually got to the point I crossed
through Canada I think four or five times a year now,
so I've actually got to the point where it's actually
pretty easy. As long as you you know, have your
paperwork filled out, you have enough locks on it, it's
actually a pretty simple procedure with a bow. I always
worry too about traveling. You know, every country is different.

(53:22):
Sometimes they want to open it up and look those
time wise, it's about the same. But really for me,
what I look at is, you know, have I done
that animal before? If I have, maybe I'll hunted with
the rifle the first time I've been, take a bowl
of the second time. I like to always change things
up and learn from you know, whatever I'm hunting. And then,
of course, depending on the seasons, like we go to Canada,
we go to Alberta early season and we hunt these

(53:45):
big mulei's out in the Canola fields I absolutely love
and all that's with a bow. And then I come
back around Thanksgiving and do a white tail hunt with
my rifle. So then you're sitting in like forty below
in a blind, totally different hunt. But I like to
kind of switch it up between them. So you know,
it's really hard for me to say if I would
always pick one or the other. It really depends on

(54:06):
the situation. I love them both.

Speaker 2 (54:08):
Yeah, m what's your what you have really gotten into
bout hunting?

Speaker 4 (54:13):
No? Not Yeah, But what's fascinating is I'm going to
uh Alberta in a couple of weeks to bamp and
I can't. I can't comprehend the number negative twenty.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
Yeah you will.

Speaker 4 (54:28):
Soon, Yeah, yeah, I guess I will.

Speaker 3 (54:32):
I think the funniest come here and stop in South
Dakota first and then go. You'd get it today as well.

Speaker 4 (54:36):
Well, it's thirty six degrees today here in Houston, and
everybody's freaking out. They don't know how to act.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
Bring some warm clothes.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Yeah yeah, tonight, you know, it was eighty last week,
and tonight tomorrow morning it is supposed to be twenty six.
And I'm getting all these alerts on my phone extreme
winter weather conditions, like give it a rest please.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
You does have no clue?

Speaker 4 (54:55):
You know what it's relative When it's one hundred and
ten here, you know it is?

Speaker 2 (55:00):
It is? Melissa? Do you obviously you know over the years,
I've seen you.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
Boat fishing and like I said, archery hunting and rifle hunting,
that sort of thing.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
Do you have a favorite animal?

Speaker 1 (55:12):
Is it to hunt or is it kind of a
fair game across all of them as far as birds
big game?

Speaker 2 (55:18):
Is there a certain species or type of animal you
like to hunt?

Speaker 3 (55:21):
I like, you know, I grew up with white tails,
so white tails will always have a place in my heart.
If someone told me, you get one boon and crocod animal,
what would it be. I would take a white tail
every time because I spent so many years just thinking
about deer and and trying to get bucks. I just
love it. But you know, I like social hunts as well,
so that's where like the gator hunting with the bow

(55:42):
and the boat fishing. I did stingrays last year. They're
just fun because it's not necessarily about oh that's a
four and a half year old, five and a half
year old, you've got to shoot that one. You just
out there shooting, you're gonna miss some. You can talk,
you can have snacks. It's fun on the boat. But
I also like interact so like when we do moose hunts,
they might be my favorite next to whitetails, because it's

(56:06):
bringing those animals to you. You know, you're up there,
you're calling them and they're coming out of the brush
fifteen eighteen yards from you, and it's just an incredible
experience on any hunt to know you brought them to you.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
Yeah, what's on.

Speaker 4 (56:22):
The bucket list? Melissa? Somebody like you who's done everything,
what's on the bucket list?

Speaker 3 (56:27):
Still I would still like to predator call in a
brown bear with my bow and arrow. So I've done it,
i think three four times with black bears where I'll
sit on the beach and I'll hit a predator call,
which kind of is the idea is it's like a
Sitka fawn in distress and a black bear is always
going to try to smell you. First. Well, I'm hunting
by the ocean, like I Prince of Wales Island, so

(56:49):
my wind is blowing out into the water, so they
can't get down wind to me, so they'll come and
they just come straight on at you. And I've got
three four videos online where I'm sitting there with a
boat with this little hand and they're just coming into me.
And I've shot them right through the throat as they're
coming in close, because that's really your only shot. As
long as it's close enough, it's totally fine. They go

(57:09):
down right on the beach. But I'd love to try
that with a brown bear. My last one I used
a gun. My husband shot of brown bear at four
yards with his bow. That was quite an experience for
us to be there together and to do that. So
on a bucket list, that's probably my number one hunt.

Speaker 4 (57:26):
Wow. Wow, yeah, if you're not dreaming big enough. Wow,
that's that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (57:33):
You know what they call a four yard shot on
a brown bear rune second pair of underwear.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
It was really pretty odd.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
I think you have some close encounters.

Speaker 1 (57:44):
I can't believe he could even draw it back with
the animals at four yards.

Speaker 5 (57:47):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (57:48):
And he actually said he's looking through his peep and
it was just all solid for he didn't even know
where he was at on the animal. He actually had
to lift his head. And I'm up filming it and
I was panicking because when we first saw the bear
he was on the other side of the creek. Then
he was in the water, and they set up down below,
and I wanted to film it from above so I
could watch it all come down. And all of a sudden,

(58:09):
the bear's on their side, and I'm like, oh my gosh,
did they tell me to give them a signal like
the bear's like gonna step on you. Well, it's too
late now, and I see him draw and I'm thinking,
oh my goodness. But it all worked out perfect, and
the bear actually ran up right by where I was
and tipped over about fifteen yards from me, so I
was actually probably the one in the closest to danger.

(58:31):
But it all worked out great.

Speaker 2 (58:32):
So what was that conversation like when you guys reconnected?

Speaker 3 (58:36):
Well, I was filming. Watch it. They shoot the bear
and it runs up and I don't see where it goes,
and they're screaming at me, and I thought they wanted
me to like see where the bear went because I
thought maybe they lost track. So I went closer to
it and they said run, and I take off with
my camera down and it was no big deal. The
bear just tipped right over, but they didn't know for sure,

(58:58):
and he was pretty close to me. And of course,
of all times, I did not have my rifle on
me because I was sick of carrying so many things.
I'm like, oh, that's all I need. See, I had
to bite a brown bare hands. I was up for
the challenge.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
It sounds to me like you're trying to put yourself
in those situations, right Ramote, Yeah, but you're cut out
for it.

Speaker 3 (59:19):
I enjoy it. It's fun.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
So I get OCD when I'm packing for a big hunt.
Do you start packing for a big hunt like three
weeks ahead of time or is it you just years now?
You're just throwing stuff together at this point.

Speaker 5 (59:30):
No.

Speaker 3 (59:30):
I the one thing I do. I'm a list person.
So I will start a list of things that I
cannot forget that maybe I wouldn't think of. So in
my phone there'll be like a thousand different notes, and
I'll go to one of those notes and I'll start
kind of planning mentally for what I'm going to bring
on that trip. But no, the night before I leave
is when I pack everything, and I just I'm not

(59:52):
a folder. I could care less. Everything gets dumped in
the bag and then I get on my scale, weigh myself,
then hold the bag and make sure all my bags
are inside seventy pounds so I don't have a ninety
seven pound bag at the airport. It works better, But no,
I just do it, I guess mentally preparing a little
bit first, and then the actual packing happens hours before departure.

Speaker 1 (01:00:16):
Right right, Yeah, I have to lay everything out and
look at it, because, especially if you're going on a floatplane,
it's like, Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
Do I really need that? Do I really need that?

Speaker 1 (01:00:25):
Because if it trusts me, if you don't really need it,
and you're overweight and you show up with the floatplane terminal.

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
It's coming out anyway, so might as well leave it
at home.

Speaker 3 (01:00:32):
Yeah, they don't like that. So you know, over the years,
you learn, and I do try to. Actually, when I
come home from a trip, I look at what I
never touched and I try to learn from that. So
every trip I come home from, I'll look like now,
I usually don't bring any jeans other than maybe what
I'm wearing the day of, because I never wear them.
I don't need them. I hunt all day, I go
to dinner, eat something. If I need one pair of

(01:00:53):
jeans along the way, I'll put the ones I wore
back on. But it's things like that that you can
kind of learn from your own mistakes along the way.

Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
Yeah, yeah, that's a very good point to take inventory
of what you don't use when you get back.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
I never even thought about that, but it definitely makes sense.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
Ramon, you have any other questions before we jump into
our lightning round, which Melissa didn't know about.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
You're gonna need something stronger than that, Melissa. But that's
all right, No, no, my next question was going to
be lightning round, ask So go ahead and fire it up.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
You can start up the lightning round.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
Melissa, We'd like to ask a few questions as we
wrap up our conversation totally off the cuffs, so Ramon,
I'll let you kick it off.

Speaker 4 (01:01:36):
All right. What is the one meal you would prepare
for a VIP coming into your home?

Speaker 3 (01:01:41):
Steak?

Speaker 4 (01:01:42):
Oh, a beef steak or is this like.

Speaker 3 (01:01:44):
Elkers medicon backstraps? And then we have this mushroom sauce
that we make. In fact, my husband and I were
just talking about how good it was. We have to
make it again. It's a morel mushroom sauce over venison
backstraps and you just cut them up almost as butterfly
steaks and serve them.

Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
That's fine, awesome, awesome. One hunter and or conservationists.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
They're basically both from the past that you've in history
that you would love to spend time with in camp.

Speaker 3 (01:02:14):
Actually, probably be my grandfather. He was a huge just
loved Winchester and he's someone I was never able to
hunt with. So when I think of a hunter that
I could hunt with, that'd be my number one choice.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
Awesome, awesome, favorite sports movie sports movie. Yeah, I know
you don't watch a lot of television.

Speaker 3 (01:02:36):
I'm not even sure I can think of one, so
I don't. I think I'm gonna have to go blank
on that one. I don't have a favorite sports movie.

Speaker 4 (01:02:41):
There you go, all right, you're at camp. Whether summer
or winter doesn't matter. And if wade is no issue,
if size is an issue, what is one luxury item
you wish you could bring with you?

Speaker 3 (01:02:52):
I have a portable winch, and I think is the
best thing ever. So if you need to get animals
out of deep bottoms, if you're l kind of if
you've got a moose in the water, it's like the
best thing you can take. But it's like thirty five pounds,
so it's a little bit too much for most flow
playing trips. But that is one luxury item that really
saves on my back.

Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
Awesome, So people can still see you on Winchester Deadly
Passion And what network is that airing on and when?

Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
On Sportsman's Channel, It's on five days a week. The
main airing is on Sunday mornings at eleven thirty am
Eastern Time.

Speaker 2 (01:03:26):
Awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:03:26):
Awesome and check out Melissa's website and socials Melissa Backman
dot com. Go to her appearances page, there's you can
find out where she's going to be in your area.
I don't think there's a part of the country you're
not covering this year, So be sure to go out
and say hello, and don't be afraid just come to
say hi, soy hey, I saw you in Hunting Matters podcast,

(01:03:46):
not Winchester's Deadly Passion.

Speaker 2 (01:03:49):
I'm sure they're going to.

Speaker 3 (01:03:51):
Come on out and join.

Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
Melissa. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for
spending time with us.

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
Well, thank you guys for having me. I sure do
appreciate it, you bet.

Speaker 4 (01:04:04):
Hunting Matters is a Houston Safari Club Foundation production hosted
by HSCF Executive director Joe Beetar and Ramone Robless, produced
by Ramone Roeblas. Please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you
listen to podcasts. For questions or more information, email us
at info at we huntwee give dot org