6-23-24 Lance Brantley, National and World Bow Fishing Champion

On tonight's show, Jim and Scott interview Lance Brantley, National and World Bow Fishing Champion about the rapidly growing sport of bow fishing. Lance is also the owner of On Track Deer Recovery. Jim and Scott talked to Lance on the various aspects of deer recovery with tracking dogs.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
News Radio eight forty whas welcomes youto Jim Straighter Outdoors, the area's leading
authority on hunting and fishing. JimStraighter Outdoors is brought to you by Massioak
Property's Heart Realty. For the outdoorhome of your dreams. Call Paul Thomas
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(00:26):
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boat back on the water in notime. To join in on the conversation,
call us at five seven one eightfour eight four inside Louisville and one

(00:49):
eight hundred four four four eight foureight four outside the Metro. Now sit
back and relax and enjoy the nexttwo hours of Jim Straighter Outdoors on news
Radio eight forty whas. Good eveningeveryone, Gym Straighter here with co host
Growing and God of Who you're spareto stay hot time on the old town
tonight, buddy. It has beena bustream runer weather, but it is

(01:12):
indeed summer time. Yeah, it'stime to get the bowls out and start
getting some boat fishing in and hopefullytonight we'll be able to get folks up
the fire that bowfishing isn't just goingaround shooting basic buffalo carp and wading through

(01:33):
water anymore. Bowfishing has taken ona tremendous impact to especially the western section
of the state of Kentucky and surroundingareas with the waters that we have to
give a big push for the economics. And so sometimes all of these different
fish, some are native and summerinvasive. Folks don't have a good understanding

(01:57):
of them and what it means toour ways in the economy. And sometimes
fishermen, well, Jim, theyjust absolutely hate them. But there's a
few folks that have taken a likingto them, and they're shooting a lot
of sticking string at them. Yes, sir, and we're fortunate enough tonight
to have a special guest with us. It's none other than Lance Brandtle.
They want to give a special shoutout to my buddy Larry the Lyons last

(02:21):
for hooking us up, and we'regonna talk about all the aspects of boatfishing
tonight. It as Scott mentioned,it's growing by leaps and bounds, no
doubt, in part a lot ofthese youngsters that are coming out of archery
and the schools have found out howmuch fun it is. And Lance is
gonna fill you folks in on theopportunities that are out there some of the

(02:43):
different species. We're just gonna coverbowfishing eight as e and we're also because
Lance has a legendary tracking dog,Hank. Many of you are probably familiar
with him. Lance has been onthe program with us before, and we're
gonna talk about Hank and Hank Jr. That's coming on right along behind him.

(03:05):
So folks, you stick with usand we'll be right back with Lance
Brantley talking again about summertime boatfishing.It's perfect opportunity for folks to enjoy a
unique sport and one that can actuallyput a lot of meat on the table
as well. So I'm gonna goto break here. The break is presented
by SMI Marine. They're eleven fourhundred Westport Road, just north of the

(03:28):
Snyder. Go see him. TimAddington and his staff will take great care
of you. They just help metroubleshoot a couple of things on my boat.
And I gotta tell you the fivestar. I've said it before and
I'll say it again. You neverget soaked by my friends at SMI.
And again we're talking to Stevening withLance Brantley. Lance is one of those

(03:50):
professional outdoorsmen wears a lot of differenthats. He is the owner of a
dog tracking business. He's into boatfishing in a big way. Incidentally,
folks, he's got a boat fishingstore now in Katawa. It's called Muddy
Flats f L A t Z.And really excited about your new venture there,

(04:14):
Lance. That's just another way tospread the wealth, right buddy,
Yes, sir, yes, sirthat I uh. I want to brag
on you a little bit so folkscan understand who you are, especially in
this bowl fishing feature we're doing tonight, folks. He has a bunch of

(04:38):
big championships under his belt. USOpen, Kentucky State, Cajun eight,
both Fishing Associates of America World Championshipthis year. Knuckles on that big bowl
as strong as it kids, Anduh, yes, sir and your you
and your team just came in thirdin the Big Muzzy Classic, which I

(05:00):
understand was a huge event. Howmany boats were in that event? Lance,
that was a ninety seven boats.If I'm not gonna say one,
that's a huge draw. How manywere in the world the world's I want
to say it was. It's typicallya hundred plus boat tournament. This year
is a little less. I wantto say it was somewhere around the eighties.

(05:24):
I see, Well, you're openabout one hundred and fifty. That
was one of the bigger tournaments solast year, Yes, sir, well
Lance, here's one of those gentlementhat is going to exceed whatever you do.
You work hard, you play smart. We're very proud of our relationship
with you. Tell folks how yougot started in boat fishing and then how

(05:46):
you migrated into the tournament's side,but primarily what we want to do nineties.
Tell folks a lot about what awonderful sport it is and how easy
it is to get involved. Someof the I guess gratification that you've had
in the years going far be whenyou started, Yeah, I started just

(06:08):
shooting off ridges with friends. AndI think a lot of guys kind of
started like that. When when theriver gets out in the backwater flood you
know a lot of your main creeksand stuff that flood out, or the
you know, water comes up anddown, and a lot of times when
they say that river comes out,when it's when it's coming back into its
banks. I mean there's all sortsof fish that you can just shoot right

(06:29):
off bridges, you know, bigheads, buffalo, grass, seas and
gower and all it takes it.I mean, you know a lot of
people just take an old hunting bowland throw a reel and bottle reel or
whatnot on it and errol and goout start shooting. And you can take
a flashlight and shoot right off thebridge. And that's how it all started
for me. And I had somebuddies that were more serious about it and

(06:54):
got to tell me about some ofthe tournaments and stuff, and told me
about one that all that was comingup. And I had actually just purchased
a boat, I think a boatset up for boat fishing, and I
heard about the tournament and I thinkI purchased a boat on a Thursday,
and the tournament was on a Saturday, well it was the state actually put

(07:15):
this tournament on. It was Iwant to say, probably one hundred boats
there or somewhere near it. Ididn't know anything about it, didn't know
what I was doing. It wasall. I was pretty pretty wet underneath
the ear, that's for sure.And anyhow, we go to this thing
and I'm pretty sure we got deadlasts, so that that was. And

(07:36):
they had TVs, you know,crew out there filming everybody going through the
line and the team in front ofme having to win it. So I
think they had probably I don't wantto say it, somewhere around one thousand
plus pounds of fish. It wasan all weight tournament. That's a format
where just the most weight wins andmost time people target silvers in your base

(07:57):
of you know, the silvers andbig head and they had a whole whole
tank full of in the back oftheir truck, and I think we had
a fifty gallon trout and had thirtyeight pounds in it. So we took
a pretty good thinking on that one. And it was pretty pretty motivating in
that kind of what started the holemy fire behind it, I guess well,

(08:20):
I know Scott has some questions foryou about equipment. Scott, you
want to shoot those out here forfolks who are getting started. Yeah,
Lance is in a phenomenal location.What I guess people may or may not
realize is people are traveling all acrossthe United States. I mean, Barkley

(08:45):
Dam is known nationally for the bowfishing opportunity that it has. And so
listening to Lance and hearing you talk, you know, bow fishing prior to
about the year two thousand and itwas really there wasn't a whole lot of
people that were involved with and alot of people are just going around and

(09:07):
shooting from a damn wall or aridge like he was talking about. So
it's things of advance with the especiallythe invasive side of our fish numbers lants
coming up. I get a lotof questions all the time where people would
like to go out and bow fish. So just give us a rough estimate

(09:28):
on cost and what equipment they wouldabsolutely just have to have as far as
entry level to go out and dosome bowfishing if they stopped in to your
shop. No, in this youcan get a set up used from anywhere
from seventy five to one hundred andfifty bucks that gets you, you know,

(09:48):
shooting stuff, and I'll go upto twelve fourteen hundred dollars. Kind
of like anything, there's a widerange of different you know, bows and
reels and whatnot and different prices.But it's pretty it's pretty cheap sport to
get into. You You can graban old boat of yardsel and buy a
fifty dollars reel and an earl andtake out and start doing it. So,

(10:11):
I mean it's kind of all overthe board on price that it's not
very expensive, that's for sure.It don't have to be like for those
youngsters that are starting to do somebowfish in their lance, tell us a
little bit about some of the speciesthat are not legal to shoot versus some
that are legal to shoot. Ithink it's mainly your game fish, you

(10:35):
know, your bass and crappy andand I think you are allowed to shoot
catfish if I'm not mistaken, theremight be a limit on that. And
be honest with you, I nevertarget a catfish. I don't think I'm
lying to you, but I thinkyou can actually shoot catfish. But Spoonville,
there is a limbit on Spoonville.I know a lot of people there
at Barkley target spoonvial. I thinkit's two per person, and that's another

(10:58):
good eating fish. You know thatyou can target to both fish lance.
While we're on that subject a goodeating fish. I want to break through
a barrier here because it's a realpoint of contention with me and I don't
understand it. Because they put theterm carp on the big heads and what

(11:26):
have you. People are under themistaken impression that they're nasty fish and they're
not inevitable species, when in factthe opposite is true, especially in terms
of the big head carp. I'vecaught them by snagging down below the dams.
I've shot them with bows, andwhen you learn how to clean them,

(11:48):
now I will say they're a littlemore difficult to clean than the average
fish. But it's as good afirm white meat as anything out there.
And I think it's a shame thatthey carry that common misconception. Yes,
sir, I mean a lot ofpeople were just well, a good friend
of mine, Dennis Redding, he'sactually a guy both fishing guy there at

(12:11):
Barkley Dam are you, but hiswife will only eat a blue gill a
crappie and a big head carp.You won't even eat a catfish, but
she'll eat a big head. Ifthat tess you anything, Well, you
told me a little story, asad story about an event that you all
attended where they served big he hadkind of as a surprise. Sure that

(12:35):
was the listeners, because I thinkit's very revealing. Yeah, it was
funny there. They got a fishmarket there in Eddieville. Well, they
had some kind of get together anda fry will They had a bunch of
people in from all over and hada big fish fry and they let everybody
eat it till it was gone.And once it was gone, they said,

(12:56):
hey, that was a fish,and everybody was delicious and carrying on.
And they took the great, bigold pan they had and held the
bottom where everybody can see the bottom, and it said bighead carp. And
everybody just couldn't believe it. Theynever would have thought there was a big
head carp they're eating. So theycantled, old trick move on them.
But it's a mental thing, Ibelieve, with the with the big head,

(13:18):
you know, just the carp,you know. And I think they've
even tried to change the name toKentucky tuna, and I think they changed
the name to this day. Iforget what it may be now, just
to take the carp off of it, to get people motivated. The trum
well, they're so different from Europeancarp and they're feeding habits. They're they're
not a bottom feeder, they're asurface feeder. They eat pranked and which

(13:39):
is the shortest lived, cleanest foodin the water. So it's absolutely low
mercury, Yes, sir, they'rejust there's a great opportunity there and I
think some fortunate more people haven't takena badge of it. But that's one
reason we're here. Let people knowthose jokers are good. Yeah, Ryan's

(14:05):
back to Scott's question. It isScott. I'll let you carry it forward.
What are your favorite equipment items?You know, what do you rely
upon in tournament? Uh, Scott, whatever other question you've got there?
Not so much on questions lance areyou seeing where I guess folks or maybe

(14:31):
sometimes timded to come into the sportbecause they do not know about it,
and then once they get into it, they realize that you can start in
a simplistic way and make it asadvanced as as you wanted to do it,
because I think a lot of timesbowfishing in general, folks think that
they've got to have kind of someof the more modern what we know is

(14:54):
you know, bow fishing rig boatsand and uh, you know, buying
new bows that are specific for gettingin gage with bow fishing. But I
think what you touched on was,you know, you can utilize any old
bowl, You can use a youknow, a basic setup. And sometimes
people, I guess they don't reallyunderstand what the concept is is trying to

(15:20):
get to fishing and get it backto the boat. You know, there
is a way to retrieve your arrowit and it comes back. Broadhead design
tip design is just a little bitdifferent. But when they get their bow
set up, where is it thatshooting at a fish with with your bowl

(15:41):
fishing rig Once you get that basicset where is it a little bit different
with with how you're going to aimand what that arrow is gonna do once
it hits the water. Yeah,I mean it's most people. I mean
some people I have seen shooter releaseand a site you know, just like
you would on a deer hunh theresome of that. So we're uh,

(16:02):
I'd say ninety percent or better.Shoot just natural and that's just just like
you would old recurve style or traditionalbowl. Uh, that's the most common
method. And even with the compoundor where they have levering them bows that
they have a little giveaway that thatlook like a traditional bowl basically. But
but yeah, I mean, mostpeople just shoot instinctively, you know.
And it's funny. It's I've seenpeople that's never done this, and don't

(16:26):
get me wrong, you're gonna missit first because you have to shoot to
get that feel where that aaro flight'sgoing. And it's some people catch on
quicker than others, but generally,I mean most of the time. And
I've helped the buddy do some guidingand stuff where people has never done it
at all, be their first timeout and and I tell them, you
know, the real and there's differentstyles, but it is different when you

(16:49):
shoot and you have to you're reallyin on the line and you got to
deal with the earl and renock.I tell them, it's kind of like
chopsticks at first, but it don'ttake long and you got it all figured
out. And usually within if you'resomewhere that you've got quite a bit of
action within an hour or so.I've seen people that's never never done this
at all and look like pro sometimesjust have the natural instinct within an ire

(17:11):
doing it well. The cool thingabout that is, and most of the
damn sites it's a target rich environment. Absolutely, you know, it's really
crazy in a way. Yeah,And I don't know if I told you.
Jim My store is located three milesof Barkley dam So we see a

(17:33):
lot, especially now that school's out. These kids that come in by a
couple of arrows, and when thefish are running good, they'll be gone
an I or two and here theycome back covered in fish line and they
ain't got time to talk. They'rebuying a handful of other arrols that can't
wait you back in the water.That's fantastic that that goes back to your
red neck ingenuity. You're involved instuff you love, you learn how to

(17:56):
capitalize, which of course is theAmerican d green. All right, folks,
we got to go to break.Here, come back from break.
We'll talk away as a bunch moreabout technique boats and all the dagone innovations
that have come on through the years. So stick with us. This break
is presented about Massy Old Property's heartand real peat. Paul Thomas is the

(18:18):
broker there. He's an outdoor guy, you know what you're looking for.
Check out his listenings at mop hA R T realteat dot com. Hey
Scott, you got a couple ofquestions. Move forward, Yeah, Lancelip,
we got past the basics, solet's go ahead and give folks PhD.
And this bowfishing, let's talk alittle bit about how you're gonna tackle,

(18:45):
whether or not you're on the lakeor below the damn. And what
I'm getting at there is tell uswhat we're going to experience if we're bowfishing
in a lake condition like on Barkleyor Kentucky Lake, versus like if we
go down below the dam kind oftechniques and species that are going to differ

(19:07):
just by passing on one side orthe other of the concrete. Yes,
sir, the lake. The lakefishing is what I call steel water fishing.
So you don't have currents. Yoursilvers and big heads kind of kind
of as a love hate relationship withcurrent. When they have current, they
can you know, say a nettywhere or a current block they can sit

(19:29):
on the side of it and letthat water kind of feed them. They
can they can ciphers out the plankingand food sources, you know, into
setting one spot. So when thathappens, like say on the rivers,
we're having more times than not theremight be a school that and it ain't
hurt, oh for a thousand fishto be in it or better all piled

(19:49):
up in that one little spot,uh the lake. More as the silvers
and big heads they kind of scattermore to steal water. They got to
kind of you know, feed aroundand kind of push around themselves or maybe
find an area that the winds blowingwhere where they're feeding. But the majority
of the people that fish the laketarget like the buffalo car or grassy car

(20:12):
and and they're running close to thebank. A lot of people where you
see the big lighters all the lightson their boats there, they're kind of
running the edge of that shoreline andthe fish would be on the edge and
kind of blow off the bottom orpush off, and that's where they do
they're shooting. And what are youwhat are you seeing with changes with you

(20:33):
sitting there talking about the lights,what are you seeing with changes of the
lights and in both the steel waterand the current water on on how fish
should somewhat adapted to our methods havegone after him, Yes, sir,
the fish have adapted a lot ofthe people, haven't it. I mean
they these fish, you know,say around Berkley. I mean there's people

(20:56):
from all over the world going tothat place to shoot fish. So you
see a lot of big lighters runningyou know, say say below the dam
there on the Cumeland River, andthey still you know, if they're running
to the bank. A lot ofthem fish are under kind of blowout and
they still get decent shooting. Butto shoot an actual feeding fish where they're

(21:19):
they're on that top water just kindof doing what they do, you typically
gotta be a little more stealthy ifyou if you're blacked out, you know,
if you got a little bit ofmoonlight with the reflection, you can
actually see them fish. It lookslike a b being cut across the top
of the water. So your goalis, you know, say you got
a trollers ease into them fish.You typically want to fish with with the

(21:41):
river. If it's going down river, you want to go with it and
the feeder that the fish will nationallyfeed against the current, so you'll look
ahead. They're kind of feeding atyou. You get lined up with them,
you ease the in. When youclick a light on, you get
a shot off. Uh. Andand these fish, now that they had
a lot of pressure, a lotof times you don't. You don't get
much time. So when you clickat light on, you better be ready.

(22:03):
Yes, sir, of the speciesthat you target, which ones do
you spend the most time on?Because I know there's size difference and what
have you. So this is wherewe get into tournament uh strategy. But
it's a big head the top ofyour list most of the time. Or
how do you how do you playthat game with? Yeah, me and

(22:27):
my team we're kind of big emfanatics. We're kind of know for that
in the tournaments, and that that'sthe fish we target. And there's you
know, you have your Ohao riverfish the big is and then we we
chase a lot of fish on lakesand they do act totally different. You
gotta be a whole lot more stealthyon the lakes. But since these fish

(22:49):
don't have as many silvers, youknow, the the Asians uh cart you
know, competing with their food soorsis not really you know, the river
kind of cramp packed with on thelakes aren't so these big edge where they're
say an average on the rivers istwenty five thirty pounds. You know,
we've shot some eighty ninety pound fishoff the lakes. So on. Once

(23:14):
you get this kind of like huntingbooney crocket deer, once you kind of
start seeing a few of them,you want more of them. But like
anything else, they're a whole lotharder to find, and that's where people
know and that's where people know Lance. You know, anybody that has studied
on Lance's success realizes that he isa student of the game. He studies

(23:36):
these fish, he targets fish.He's just not necessarily going out there and
putting fish in his boat. He'she is very strategic about his strategy to
scout before these tournaments and it's bringinghim a lot of success. So on
the hunting side of things, welook at what's happened to public Land and

(24:00):
in the amount of people that havecome over to it, and it's very
controversial, but if you could sharesome stuff Lance with listeners and those folks
that are not just getting started butinvolved with with this bowfishing tournament lifestyle and
and and strategy that they're using.What what do we need to do to

(24:23):
make it easier on all of usto where we're not educating these fish,
uh, and we're not making itto where uh, we're we're creating more
problems than we're fixing with the withthe innovations and the techniques that we're using.
Yeah, I mean there's there's differentstyles of fish, and obviously in
different fish, I mean, Ithink just getting the mindset to anything you're

(24:48):
hunting, if it's deer or anywildlife, you know, fish or animal,
they learn. I mean the greatestpressure a lot of times is human
pressure. So those fish learn adapt. And if you don't give that animal
or fish the credit for being smartenough to do it, then then you're
not smart enough yourself, because that'sthat's kind of usually how it ends up.
But you know, if you gointo the sport, you know and

(25:11):
it don't you know, there's there'sdifferent fish, fish and places of target
where it can be just easy shooting. You know, if you get it
into it and then want to takeit to a competitive level where you're chasing
what we call goals. These biggerfish because we spend so much time looking
for them and we have a lotof eyres to get them to the tournaments
to figure them out. But it'spaying attention to the smallest detail, you

(25:34):
know, when if you're out.You know what helped me a lot of
just watching fish in the daytime.And there's a lot of places you can
do that. You know, Barkley, damn me in one of them,
or any rivers or creeks. Youcan set off a bridge that you got
a little fish trabbit, just kindof watch how they do things, watch
what they're feeding on, and andyou know, work it from the bottom
up, you know, learn aboutthe plankton or the grass that they may

(25:55):
be targeted. You know, itcan go on and on and on,
but I think going into it withthe mindset of that it'll help you gain
quicker and to be better at it. It's uh talk about differences between the
day and night fishing. Day andnight fishing, there's both of them objects,

(26:18):
yes, sir, I mean it'suh uh some I mean depends on
where you're at in the country.I mean there's a lot of places that
people do more just daytime fishing.You know, here in this area.
You know, we we had thebest of everything. You know, it's
not you know, the amount ofsilver and stuff we have. They do
a lot of daytime fishing, andand sometimes especially like what we had now

(26:41):
is a full moon. A fullmoon the fishing to feed even more during
the day and and when you canput in the rivers or lakes and and
you know, you want to getaway from boat traffic, but you'll find
the fish up in the daytime justlike you would at night, and you
can you have a lot of goodshooting. Sometimes it's easier because you can
actually see them where at night they'relight shine and you're shining that light and

(27:03):
pushing them down. You got towait so long for them to come back
up, where at daytime you canjust see them and keep going to them,
you know, speaking of that pressure, you know, most of my
fishing has been on the Ohio Riverbecause Western Tunty is pretty good ways away.
But I've definitely seen those fish becomevery light shy over the last five

(27:23):
years. I mean, there's abig, big difference, just sir,
I think the amount of I mean, the boat fishing of the sport is
one of the fastest growing sports rightnow. And I think the more you
know people doing it, the morelights they see in, the more eros
they get thrown at on So naturallythey're going to get a little more shy

(27:45):
out of that and get a littlesmarter. Well, I really liked your
statement about if you're not willing toadapt, you're not going to be in
the game because too many people underestimate are quarry. No matter what you're
talking about. That's especially true theupper aide structure of any creator. You
know when they when they get older, you're smart. You know they're not

(28:07):
much different than hopefully most people,or wisdom comes with age. All right,
I'm gonna do a quick break here. Come back from break. I
want to throw a couple more questionsat you about conditions and you know what's
what's the idea for you? Soif you'll hang with us, this break
is presented by s M by Marine. Go see them that take great care

(28:29):
of your boat, help troubleshoot anyproblems you got. Remember you never get
soaked by my friends at s M. I. Hey, Scott, you
talk to Lance a little bit aboutthat. Yeah, Lance. As far
as if a person is gonna tryto start getting into boat fishing. One,

(28:55):
when is the most opportune time forthem to get out and just get
in a lot of a lot ofshooting, even if they're not around the
land between the lakes area, Whenwould you have them start getting geared up
to go out and just get abunch of arrows going through the water?

(29:15):
I say, I mean, typicallya good month is around June. It
seems like our water temperatures starting usuallyheating up by then, and you know
the rivers in the lakes, theyall seem to be you know, everything's
up good and all that good stuff. But I say, June's a good
month just to get into it fromthen on, you know, all through

(29:37):
summer. And what are you saying? As far as you know, you've
been doing this for a while.You get to talk to people, not
locally but also nationally. Where isour fish population when it comes to the
species that are involved with bow fishingon Barkland, Kentucky, Like in the

(30:00):
rivers, are they starting to sustain? Are they still growing? What are
you seeing? Because on the fishingside of things, and I know you
hear it because you live right here, you know, right in the heart
of it. You know, westill go back and forth between you know,
the fishermen and the whole aspect ofthe Asian carps. So what's going

(30:22):
on there? You know, Iactually help a buddy during my slow time.
You know, af their track seasoncommercial fish, and I mean,
isn't you know they've got a biggerboat on as far as the commercial fishing.
I want to say it's thirty sixfoot long or so. But anyhow,
on a good day, we'll pullout fifteen thousand pounds of silver carp

(30:48):
and we're just one boat, andtypically we have another guy that runs with
us where they're not partners, wekind of run together, help each other
out, and and it's a lotof days just our two boats will pull
out thirty thousand plus and it's reallyamazing, Yes, sir, well that

(31:08):
brings us to a good talking point. Lance. You like the bowl fish,
I like the boat fish, andlots of people like the bowfish.
But are are these species of fish? Are they out of control? Or
are we getting a better handle onit? I mean, what do you
say? I mean, is itup? Is it down? Is it

(31:29):
sustainable? Are you still in alot of people compleaning No, it's you
know when I first started bowfishing.Personally, my wife and kids almost need
to wear a helmet to go acrossBarkley Lake. And it's not like that,
no more word. I mean,you don't have the jumpers. You
don't see them near as bad.And I've seen it one way you can

(31:49):
judge it as a boat fisherman.I've seen these fish grow up to ten
pounds a years, So that's tellingme that they're getting them down enough.
Not only are they growing, yourbass are growing, your crappi is growing.
It's all along the food chain withflanks and you know, and towards
you're you know, your bait fishchasing the flinking and on down through the

(32:10):
ecosystem. But one hundred percent isbeing more controllable. And in ways is
when when you help a buddy that'sthat does this for a living, it's
not all bad. I mean,these guys they earn their money, but
they're making a decent living. They'remaking the lakes a lot more controllable.
In ways, there's there's a lotof good things coming out of this too.

(32:31):
Well. I must say I'm infull fledged support of the letters.
We've got to have them. Imean, these fish are so prolific.
Last explained the folks. I mean, you shoot a lot of these fish
are full of row. It's unbelievablehow much how many eggsit carry. I

(32:52):
mean, it's crazy. Yes,it's I forget I have read it before,
but I want to say, it'sthat half of mellion to me in
a year on one fish. Now, I don't know what the success rate
of them all hatching and making itis, but that's a lot of eggs
for one fish, and it shows. I mean our rivers, you know,

(33:13):
the lakes, I mean they onehundred percent have made a good impact
on them. Now the rivers areharder than that. There's less methods that
are successful. Sainting is one ofthem, but I think there's only a
handful of permits, or even onein our area that I know that has
one that can actually sain the river. So like gulinating, you know you

(33:34):
got the hosing that and whatnot thatare with current. You get say you
get several thousand pounds of fish inyour net and you're in current, it
will pull your nets and tag themup and they're about six thousand dollars.
So a lot of guys stay awayfrom the rivers because of that, and
I mean the rivers to me arethe most out of controlled, and even
as a bow fishermen and outdoorsman,you see what they're doing to the whole

(33:59):
system system. And you know,I can take a fish that's fifty inches
on the river that I used tothink was a big fish may weigh twenty
five pounds. A fifty inch fishof the same breed of specie on the
lake may weigh sixty pounds or better. I mean, that shows you the
difference on how they're choking each other'sfood out. They're even hurting themselves,

(34:22):
yes, sir, not to mentioneverything else in the waterways. That's really
interesting. The netters that you knowand that you've worked with. I got
to assume these guys are just worldclass in their work habits and what they
go through to harvest that many fish. I mean, you'd have to be
oh man. I mean we hadto manually pick each one of them fish

(34:45):
out of the net. You know, it's kind of a three step process.
You're picking them out of the net, you're throwing them in the back
of the boat, and they havea crane now that helps them unload.
But when I was doing it.We literally had to pick you know,
fifteen thousand pounds of fish out hisboat and put in a container that they
haul off to the market. Soit's uh, you know, it's twelve

(35:06):
fourteen hour day doing it. That'sjust crazy. Real quick, What did
you learn from that? And thatthat tripled over to the shoot? Just
it keeps your help keep eye onthings and patterns and anything I can gather.
I can't tell it all. Someof the stuff secrets I totally totally

(35:28):
understand. My man. All right, folks, we've got to go to
a break here. This break ispresented by Massiel Properties Heart Realty. Paul
Thomas has got all kind of outdoorlistings. He specializes in lakefront holmes farms,
wildlife management properties, recreational properties,all the above. Check us out

(35:49):
f O P H A R TRealty dot com. And we're continuing our
conversation with Lliams. Brantley, BoldFishing Champion, this Open Champion, KENTUCKTIC
State champion, Cajun eight champion,World champion last year. The real deal.
I'll just leave it as that,Uh, we've been blessed well and

(36:15):
you are a worker. That's that'sa big part of it. I know
you apply that and everything you dolance. Uh, what are some of
the best conditions for folks to expectsuccess in this? I know that generally
speaking, the hotter it gets,the more pink than there is, more
pink than there is, the morethe fish tend to gang up on these

(36:37):
current seams and what have you.But uh, on average, for example,
high pressure versus low pressure. Uh, time of day, you know,
give folks to run down on yourthoughts on this. Rising pressure is
always better. Don't necessarily have tobe very high. I mean, typically

(36:58):
around thirty is probably a good butrising is is It seemed to be one
of the most important things that wefound. When it's falling, it seems
like the plankton's falling with it,or that's what I seem to thinks going
on. And once that plankton fallson your water level, the fish are
going to fall with it. Anduh so rising rising brominer is always something

(37:19):
rising or steady. You know,around thirty seems to be good. DEU
point high and humidity high when you'rewhen you don't when you're out in the
boat and it's hot and sweaty andboat's kind of wet it seems to be
some of the best nights for boatfishing. So typically the hotter the better,
and even muggi is the better.It's not always the best for us,
but generally when you're throwing arrows,you don't seem to think about as

(37:43):
bad. Yes, sir, Iwant to return to something we touched based
on earlier. I was down therebelow the day of a Kentucky lake here
recently fishing for white basson whatever wasbiting quite frankly, and uh, a
lot of youngsters down there shooting,and this one young lady came down.
She was probably I don't know,seventeen years sixteen, seventy year old,

(38:07):
her by herself with her bowling outfitand stalking up and down those rocks.
And I got engaged in conversation withher, and she very obviously had come
out of archery into schools, andthe techniques in the form and all the

(38:28):
things that are involved in archery inthe schools really transfer over to this sport
in a big way. Do youhave tips for, you know, kids
involved in it on how easy thisis? They don't want to talk to
you a little bit about refraction inthe water, and how you have to
am low baby am blow, justyou on aim low after hear the deeper

(38:50):
they are, the deeper you onaim low. But yeah, I mean
it's a lot of these kids thatare getting out of that. And I
see it a lot, especially nowhow popular that has gotten, you know,
with the schools. A lot ofthem kids, you know, they
kind of learn the art and getgood at it and then they want to
take it out to the field orof the water. And see I see
a lot of them people that leavethe schools that really take into bowfish and

(39:12):
quick, you know, because youknow some of these little denk goer and
some of these targets are pretty small, and if you like to shoot it,
it's probably something you'd like to getinto, that's for sure. Well,
there's a quite frankly kind of aI don't know what is adrenalin rush,
knowing that you're shooting at a hugefish, uh, and that there's
a lot of them to to actuallyhave an opportunity to harvest. And do

(39:39):
you mentor kids on this through yourshop for example? Absolutely? And I
also have a friend he puts ona tournament where just for the youth.
It's a totally freeze called Jared AshmoreYouth Ternam. It's kind of a memorial
deal. But I mean just lastweek, I think it was there was
one hundred kids and families, onehundred plus I'm going to say probably nearly

(40:01):
one hundred boats from all over thecountry that they go to this annually,
and sometimes it may be there're alot of them first time, even on
a boat fishing boat. And whatthey do is they have a lot of
volunteers there with boats and willing totake these kids and they get them all
rounded up and organize and throw themon a boat and take them out and

(40:22):
let them get a taste of it, which is all, you know,
supervised to the safe as it canpossibly be. And so far as things
been going on, I think tenfifteen years or rather fifteen years actually,
and everything's run smooth and it's puta lot of kids in the sport.
I mean, how exactly is thatoperated as far as the h it's all

(40:46):
volunteer type stuff. I see boatsand I mean they do a lot of
giveaways. It's a friend of mine, Andy Carter will puts it on.
He he works for Muzzy Boatfish andpardoem with so a lot of boat fishing
products and they kind of stock thehouse with everything you can imagine, and
they put the tournament on and Ithink it's a lot of different age bracket

(41:10):
as far as the actual format ofthe tournament. They separate between the girls
and boys, and I think eachkid, you know, their best five
heaviest fishes, how they settle upwho wins their age bracket and tell them
the name of that Again, inthe time of year that normally occurs with
you or a website that folks canvisit, maybe it's usually Followers Day weekend

(41:35):
is when they typically do that,and it's Jared Ashmore Youth Tournament. I'm
sure you can find it on Facebookquick as any place these days that have
either a forum or there'll be somethingthat I'm sure if you type that in
and to be brought up. Thecool thing about that to me is if

(41:55):
those kind of youth tournaments catch firestate by state, region by region,
it caused this sport that's already explodingto go on natral glycering. I mean,
it's it's I know that's a majorevent. Scott. You've had some

(42:16):
uh interested a relationship with that tournament. Haven't you. I've just had a
lot of relationships with with youth andbowfishing period. It's just a it's a
way for kids to get to shoota lot of arrows. It's a pretty
easy way to get kids out onthe water. And I'm sure Lance will

(42:42):
agree. There's there's a lot offolks that have really fancy rigs, but
you know there's a whole lot offolks too that got a bass tracker,
you know, a basic John boator what have you, and you know
you can get out there and getthose kids up on the front of the
boat and you know, good thingas you start getting into a few hundred
fish and arrows start cutting through thewater there. You know, it's there's

(43:07):
times and I'm sure Lance will agreethat you're not gonna miss when the conditions
are right. And that's that's reallywhat you try to try to get into.
The Other part of it is withyouth, is it hits during summer
break, which is a fantastic opportunityto capitalize on the window. It's it's

(43:28):
fairly long that that kids can getinvolved with it, and then it just
goes back to grassroots to Jim andand that is you know, they can
walk in a shop like Lances,or go over and see the some of
the archery shops in and around theyou know, their hometown, and and
kids can kind of go up anddown crink banks, and you know,

(43:50):
they can go around farm ponds andand find something to legally shoot at.
And you know, my take onit is as an educator is most of
these fish need to be known byour young people, whether or not their
native fish or their invasive fish.Because we're advocating for bowfishing tonight and to

(44:14):
get people out there. But youknow, it's got to figure out a
way whether it's commercial fishing or usingorganized tournaments, or talking to our youth
about how much of an impact thishas had on our waters. Not just
in Kentucky, this is Illinois,Tennessee. Is this is everywhere And it

(44:34):
goes back to where we're at thebeginning of the show. Lance is in
a phenomenal location in comparison to allof the river and lakes that are really
popular for these tournaments. So youknow, there's not going to be any
problem. Like Lance said, todo a little research on social media and

(44:57):
find a place where you can takea kid and I don't know anybody in
the bow fishing world that won't allowtime and nurse schedule to throw three or
four kids up on the boat.And and even as far as that goes
adults, most most people are goingto be willing to put you in their
boat for two or three hours andand get your bloody and slimy because it

(45:20):
lunch. You would, you agree, it's a lot of work when you
really get into fish. So wekind of do the baiting, do the
bait and switch with them too,tell them they can go bow fish next
thing. You know, We gotthem, got them doing work too.
So it's it's just a it's agood feeder program, Jim. As far
as converting kids over from the archeryin the schools to bowfishing, it's a

(45:43):
win win situation. Would actually liketo see more states working a little bit
harder and promoting bowfishing with some ofthe youth archery sports that are up and
organized and well running at this time. And I think it's a big thing
too that these kids once they getinto and there's gonna be a lot to
take on to it like I did, and you learn a lot about the

(46:05):
ecosystem, and it's not just akill sport. People think we're just out
killing them for fun. It isa fun sport, but what these fish
are doing is devastating and they gotto be controlled. And I think,
you know, like myself, ifyou get into the tournament side of it,
where you had to research more andlearn more about things, it's kind
of a life lesson and altogether onjust how everything works. I mean,

(46:29):
you kind of learned that small detailand you learn, you know, the
reasoning behind what we do and thegood cause as it is, it's not
just to go out and kill thingsby no means where you know, some
people that hadn't been introduced to us, right, you know, kind of
get the wrong idea on what we'reall about. That's very well said,
man, it's very well said.Let me go to break here real quick,

(46:52):
folks, and we'll be back afterthis break. It's presented by asking
by Marine eleven four hundred Westport Road. Go see them to take great care
you remember you never get soaked atSMI All right, Lance, We're gonna
change gears here a little bit becauseI'm always fascinated with folks that have learned
to make a living out of outdoors. And you kind of wear several different

(47:15):
hats. You got the bowfish andshop, you do the bowl fishing tournaments,
but you also have a fantastic andI can say legendary tracking dog for
deer named Hank. And uh,you know at a young age. Hell
did you last I'm forty years old. That's what I thought. I had

(47:37):
you paid right at forty. Uh. It's fascinating that someone that puts their
mind to it can make a livingout of doors. Talk a little bit
about how you got into that andthe dog and how you divide your time
because you obviously you're real busy duringdeer season. Then you're you're having fun
on the water in summer. That'sonly a lot. It can be a

(48:06):
dreaming tonight, Mary. Like anything, we definitely got to earn her money.
Sometimes it can be a lot ofwork. But I'm not setting in
an office, so I'm not complaining. That's not my style. And I've
been blessed to figure out ways todo what I like to do and make
a little money along the way.So but anyhow, far getting into the
track and it it started with mewith a bad shot and a good deer

(48:28):
and and and I had to hirea guy myself, and I've been you
know, I grew up around dogsand hunting with my dad and grandpa and
and and so I knew a littlebit about track dogs and how dogs worked,
and I thought, man, Ithink I'm going to train them for
myself. And long story short,ain't come around. And he he had

(48:49):
a lot of natural talent, andI trained him. But with years to
come after that, he kind oftrained me. He had just had to
learn how I had to learn hislanguage. I wanted to learn his language
kind of communicate, and he madea heck of nach or. So we
found. I think we're knocking onright at five hundred here now, five
hundred recovery, if I'm not mistaken. That's unbelievable. Scott, I know

(49:13):
you've got a lot of thoughts aboutthis on several regards. Go ahead and
fire on. Well, it's goodthat we have a person on here that
uses a tracking dog because one ofthe things that I think every hunter should

(49:34):
have white tail hunter, is agood knife and gear, and we should
put all the time, energy andeffort into it. But it's so important,
no matter if you're hungting on publicor private ground with some of the
more successful dogs and trackers that haveproven themselves. No matter if you're hunting

(49:57):
in state, out of state,going to a couple counties over, it's
so important every person should know thelocal game warden's phone number for the area
that they're hunting in. And inthis day and age, everybody should have
at least a good website or agood tracker that they can put into their

(50:19):
phone and have program for a waythat they can reach out to them because
you never know when you or afriend are going to need a track and
dog. And that brings us toa point where what do you do during
the off season of being a deerhunter? And I cannot stress to people
enough how important it is to goand shake the hands of all of your

(50:45):
neighbors around you, because there couldbe a day that you do not need
to wake them up or make aphone call in the wee hours of the
morning to figure out whether or notyou can have legal permission to access to
go on to their property. It'sprobably a more important time now to know

(51:07):
who your neighbors are than ever before, too, with how farms are getting
smaller and cut up and divided.So Lance tell us how important it is
prior to opening day to have permissionto go across someone's land, whether you're
using a tracking dog or not,to recover your deer. Oh absolutely,

(51:30):
I mean it's just common sense andrespect. I mean, no hunter wants
to be in the stand and huntingcauselely a big deer, just hunting in
general, and as they look open, their deer is running off and here
comes a guy through the woods.Don't mean nobody wants to experienced that.
So you know, if you're ahunter, then you understand why you shouldn't
do it to your neighbor. Imean it's pretty simple. But having that

(51:52):
permission definitely goes a long way,because I mean it's not if it's when
there's gonna be a scenario you mayneat somebody like us, and you know,
if you already got the okay oryou got the contact that throw a
text or whatever it may be thatthat not demlinging us can help someone else
find a deer because we're not wastingtoo much time with you, but the

(52:14):
whole process for everyone, that's thequicker we can get to the deer we
recovered, maybe saved, save itfrom the coldies or whatever. It may
be, you know, so wewant to get to that meet before it's
full. So there's multiple reasons thatthat we should have that beforehand, no
doubt. Uh. Last, whendoes a hunter need to call any of

(52:35):
the dog? I mean, onaverage, what do you see? I
would suspect honestly, on average peoplewait a little bit too long. But
yeah, I mean I've been blessed. I mean we tracked so many deer
that that people see how we dothings. They typically are a lot quicker
about we're getting that call the nexttime they need us. And I don't.

(53:00):
I don't think nobody necessarily ever,just wants to have to have us.
And when I first started this deal, it was almost the ego thing.
They wanted to to grid, searcheand do everything. It was like,
you know, they had to swallowtheir pride to call the track though
again, and it's it's really changedover the years. I mean people,
okay, I got people just wantto find them. They they want me

(53:22):
to be there and find their deer. They get a picture of my dog.
I mean, it's it's different howall that changed with time. But
I mean, or is you knowthe wind to call and make that call?
You know, one thing we tellpeople don't grid search and stuff of
that sort, because you can messthings up for that track dog. Okay,

(53:44):
all right, we'll pursue that conversationhere coming back from news break.
The break is presented by most ofyour properties are Realty Paul Thomas as your
broker. Check all his listings outat m O P H A R T
realp dot com. Hey, Lance, a couple of questions here in Scott
I want you to power here withme. How should a hunter known when

(54:10):
they need a tracking dog exactly?What are the you know, ethical ramifications
of that, because quite frankly,anymore, I see people relying more on
tracking dog than making a good killshot. I mean it's almost like putting
there in the deer require the dogto clean up the mess. I hate

(54:30):
to be that brutal about it,but I see evidence of that anymore.
I want to jump in before Lancesteps into a big puddle of mud on
this one, Jim, how longyou been bow hunting fifty plus years?

(54:50):
That probably is the same for yourgun hunting too, right, Yes,
sir, So I'm just going tothrow this out there. I'm going to
guess that Lance likes fried baloney eachage, whether they're scrambled or over easy.
I mean, he's this old countryboy, right, and that makes
three of us on here. Iffolks will listen for just a second,
it's important when you have a highpowered rifle, across bow, a compound

(55:15):
bow, a recurve, when youmake an ethical shot on a deer,
it's automatically known, in my opinion, a good ethical shot. Now,
we can all disagree on this,but a lot of deer, let's just
focus on archery first. A lotof deer will fall within sight or make

(55:36):
a sound so loud that you knowthat that deer is down, whether it's
a big buck, a dough,whatever it is. But when folks start
getting in on these tracking jobs threefour or five hours, a thousand yards
into it, they should have caughta tracking dog long before that process started,
right or wrong lens? Yes,sir, all right, And so

(55:59):
said, we don't kill it deer. For you, A lethal shot,
a lethal shot or unlethal shot isstill non lethal. So it isn't min
or what a dog or not.All we can do is track it.
So, so what's happening is people, I think people are shooting too much
paper I think people are taking toolong of shots because they can hit that

(56:22):
starfoam deer, they can hit thatlittle dot at the archery range in their
backyard at fifty and sixty yards.They think that they can do that in
gim We've been buddies a while now, and I would share the woods or
the water with Lance. I dobelieve people are expecting too much out of
a broadhead sometimes. Now gun hunterscan use tracking dogs just as much,

(56:46):
but it is where there's too manypost online and the track and community will
agree, there's only so many ofthem to go around. Opening day of
archery sheet season shouldn't require content Uckyor Indiana or Tennessee or whatever state need
a thousand dollar tractors available to startworking on opening an evening of archery season.

(57:07):
It's it's it's crazy, Lance,all's shut up now you can get
mud all over you. And Iwill say, you know, I've seen
several situations that there's there's times wherethere's been good shots taking and we've been
needed and and I mean there's scenarios, rain, snow, some areas are

(57:30):
harder tracking than others, and sometimeseven ethical shots don't bleed. And I
and I and I it's not afact. It's what we kind of based
our research on a lot of alot of it has to do with the
moon phase. There's times they bleedmore than than times they bleed less.
And I mean, anyone the oldfarmers that used to cast straight hogs,

(57:51):
they can tell you the same,and it's it relates over the deer.
So I mean, it's not alwaysthe broadhead, it's not always the caliper.
There's other factors that we can't change. And there's sometimes that even that
ethical hunter is going to need us. But don't think you can just go
and start slinging leg and call thetrack dog and everything's gonna be okay,
Because if it's a non lethal shot, then all we're doing is chasing a

(58:15):
wounded deer and nobody wins. Well. And that is exactly why I brought
this point up, because there isa mentality that has developed the last several
years with the proliferation of tracking dogs, where a lot of folks are like,
well, you know, if Ican put it there in there,

(58:37):
that dog will help me get mydeer. It doesn't work that way,
people. That's not that's not ethical, it's not really fair to the dog.
To your point, that's bad thingshappen. I mean, dear move
you know, guy flinches a bitat the shot. There's a lot of
things that go on, and thoseare legitimate reasons. But about I'll just

(59:00):
flood your air or or take alonger the average shot with a gun,
or whatever the taste may be.And I've got a little blood and I
expect it. Really it puts youin a bad light. It's at the
end of the day. And thisis something else for the listeners to think
about. We're not cheap. Imean there's other people that's all over the
board on price on what we do. I'm five hundred dollars locally to show

(59:22):
up. That's not chump change.But the reason i'm that eye is because
I earn my money. We trackedthis one, I want to say,
when a game of statistics, andit's not that we're bad trackers. That
we aver tonight ercent the time weget to your deer. But if that
deer is not dead, he's notrecovered. So you're going to pay me
five hundred dollars And I don't evenlike you because I got to work twice

(59:44):
as hard to prove that deer isalive, and we take your money and
nobody wins. I mean, wedon't even like doing it. But you
know, we're typically on the averageon a live deer walking three to five
miles, so we're ironing that andwe don't even We try to evaluate or
calls the best we can where weknow if it's a straight probably a no

(01:00:07):
go with the boak you they saya high no man's land and we see
the earl and there's nothing but fat. We try to avoid just taking your
money, but it takes that ethicalshot shot to put that deer in the
truck. All right, let's pullthat shot back just to it lance real
quick. You're communicating with people that, hey, if I come out here,

(01:00:30):
you know there's going to be anexchange of money, no matter if
the deer is found or not.What are you seeing from the tracker side
that people are doing wrong. We'veall been there where we've had a shot
that's gone a little high, alittle low, little left, a little
right. But in general, whatare people doing wrong? Let's start with

(01:00:52):
the archery equipment, uh and inbroadheads, crossbow and compound recarve altogether.
What can people do to help increasetheir recovery on their game before they even
have to call you. I mean, one of the biggest things we all
have accidents and when emotions are evolvedand say bigger deer, people are going

(01:01:15):
to make mistakes. And I understandthat because I've been one of them.
But one thing that can be avoidedthat happens a lot is shooting in low
light. You know, they maystill with that deer with a bow or
low light with a gun and scopeand there's tree or to breathe in that
way that we never knew was there. To me, that's the most you

(01:01:35):
know, that's just straight human error. We know better to do that.
And I see that a lot.Yeah, I bet that's especially true in
the very early season when you gotall their vegetation. Some of these expandable
broad heads. Once they hit weedson the way that the deer, you
know, there's hell to pay.How mean, it's it's a little different

(01:02:00):
thing. Lance. Do you seea difference since we're talking archer here for
a second, in types of broadheads that are more lethal than another on
average. That's your game, andI know how meticulous you are about keeping
track of these things. What doyou see there. I mean a lot

(01:02:21):
of people like expandables, and there'spros and cons of boat. If you
don't tune your arrows, take thetime to do it. If you're the
guy that just wants to grab yourselfand go, that may be the best
thing for you. But to me, a cut on contact it don't have
to be the biggest, you know, diameter or head because a lot of
these three inch played on the expandable. If you're losing penetration the water that

(01:02:43):
is, Yeah, it sounds greaton the cut, but that typically the
deer never bleeds to this. Youknow, yeah it looks good and you
got that blood roll because of abig cut, but if you're not busting
through both lungs, you know you'reyou're not getting over that way either.
So I like a good cut oncontact, typically one hundred grain or heavy
or whatever dream Mail like. Butyou know I want and I do prefer
a heavy or hero because you knowyou're gonna have a little more impact and

(01:03:06):
it may get you through that ifyou hanging too much of that shoulder,
you may get lucky and get onthrough it. And that's something else I
tell people. Get off that shoulder. That's where when that deer bends his
his shoulder rolling back, and that'sthat's the it's like a broken record to
a tracker, and that that youhate when someone calls you and said,

(01:03:27):
I shoulder shot one. I gotfour inch of penetration. You got about
a ten ten percent sussesserrate of thatrecovery and typically a three mile chase to
make sure that he's not hurt worsethan a thing. And before we go
into break lance, you all havedone a great job as trackers trying to
bring back the basic foundations to archery, especially to make sure that people understand

(01:03:52):
the anatomy and the physiology of NorthAmerica's number one pursued game, and that's
that's the white tailed deer. Thatwhat he just said is so important because
folks want to get in tight tothat shoulder and I think a lot of
times they're thinking about that heart.But we've got to remember and Jim,

(01:04:12):
you're a legend when it comes tothis. When you go to set your
blind or your stand or you're huntfrom the ground, that shot angle is
so important, especially when it comesto archery equipment. Well, I'm a
big believer you've heard me say ita thousand times. Get them close and
stick them good. And you knowwhat I mean by that. The closer

(01:04:33):
they are, the less they jumpthe string, the better your shot placement
can be. You're more accurate atlower the yardages. And it's just to
me the rules of the road toyour point, Scott, Like you said,
when you make the right shot,when you put it in the bread
basket time that deer will either fallin sight or you're here crash. And

(01:04:58):
that's what we're all about. Anduh, thank goodness, Lance has got
a business where he can help withsome of these things go wrong. Let's
go to break here right quick.Coming back from break, I want to
ask about Hank Junior, a newgeneration of tracking dog coming on, and
then we'll be back right after this. The break is presented by asking by
marine go see them that take greatcare of you. Remember you never get

(01:05:21):
soaked at SMI. Hey, Lance, we've had conversations before about something before
we move on to the puffy andthat is be amount of non resident hunters
here and what you've seen there.And then I've got a comment because leave

(01:05:41):
it to me, but I alwaysgot to ask the tough questions because that's
the hat I wear. Yes,sir, I mean I've noticed, you
know, is this just all onour call vogume? I want to say
we probably tracked nine percent out ofstators And I'm not calling them bad shot,
it's but I mean, these daysthere's more out of favors hunting the

(01:06:02):
state of Kentucky. I think theresidents are close to it well, and
that's something that's very troublesome to me. And I tell you why, this
land leasing situation by non residents iskilling, and I do mean killing our
resident hunters, especially the youngsters comingon. The prices are too steep,

(01:06:27):
the best lands are scarfed up,and I don't do not understand why the
powers that be at Fisherwidlife do notsee the wisdom of going to a draw
system the way they've got in Iowa, Kansas and these other states, because
you got to take care of yourresident hunters first, or you're gonna lose
the game. You know, inthe long run, you're gonna lose.

(01:06:50):
And I just I don't know,do you have any thoughts about that?
You know, it's just kind ofsometimes the money game, like unfortunately,
everything gets to be you know,they're out of state, tags are a
little higher, and you know,I think they welcome them, and it
just in return, you know,I know in my area alone, and

(01:07:15):
I don't blame the landowners, butyou know, when you got out of
stater ors that are looking for thatquality deer. You know, let's say
if I gave thirty an acre,then it went from thirty to they offered
to land owner fifty. Then itwent from fifty until now. I mean
there's some places there down my roadthat's getting one hundred dollars an acre,
and some farmers are just plumb hawkingthem all because they never know what somebody's

(01:07:38):
going to give. Yeah, andit's just just kind of turned into one
of those things. Well, unfortunately, I think that's a bubble that will
eventually burst, and when it does, it ain't gonna be good for the
long run because you need your residenthunters. They're what floats. You both.
Tell us a little bit about thepuppy and what you're doing to trade

(01:07:59):
it. Well, he's he I'veactually already trained this one. He's I
call him a puppy is Hank Junior. But uh, this dog is about
two years old. But what's happenedwas I had a litter of pups and
I had them all so before training, and we done like a package deal.
Well, this one pope that waspicked out end up man, he
wants he mature. He looks justlike Hank Hank Senior. He just a

(01:08:24):
spitting image of him. And andin the training process, I've seen a
lot of the same charoristics. AndI told the guy that that purchased him,
I said, hey, if thisthis all comes up where you know,
you don't have the time he thoughtfor him or whatever it may be,
I want him back. And heheld the deal and got the opportunity
to buy him back, and hejust made it home here a couple of

(01:08:44):
weeks ago, and I'm looking lookingforward now, I think he's already,
you know, after we've done atraining with him. I think he actually
found right at fifty deer with him, so he's he's ready to go play.
Well, for folks that aren't familiar, tell about the breed uh back
in ten bloodhounds. That's that's whatI mainly Well, I run that in
a Bavarian hound, but Bavarian's littlesmaller breed of a hound. And got

(01:09:10):
pretty close to the same nose fireas a bloodhound, just a little bit
smaller figure. So like Hank,he's one hundred pound dog and he's like
hooking up to a bulldozer. Itfeels like he's powerful. Yeah, I
hear you. Well, what's theyounger dogs showing you? Is he got
the same kind of drive and mentalities? Yeah? I mean he's you know,

(01:09:32):
you're a round a dog in upor you learn to kind of study
him there. He's got a lotof common sense I kind of call it.
He figures things out and pays attention. Some dogs are moorshed ober than
others. I mean, kind oflike humans. They all have different personalities.
But he seems to be pretty sharpand has He's very driven, and
that's what I like. I likea dog. I don't want to give
up, and typically with enough experiencethere, they're going to make something.

(01:09:58):
Uh, we got about three minutesleft. How did you start the dog?
What's your training regimen there that seemsto work. We typically start on
deer blood or hoof or sometimes amixture, but mainly I'm more believer in
in liver or blood, and you'rebasically you can't mimic nature to what it
is, so you're just kind ofteaching on the basics and then once you

(01:10:20):
put them on the real thing,then they kind of convert over and learn
it themselves. Well, it's amazingto me how they have that drive to
do that tracking. Then they youknow, the reward really is just the
end of the trail. It's justkind of an amazing process, it is,
you know, And and a determineddog in many deer is Hanks found.

(01:10:44):
The more he wants to do,it's amazing. They don't ever really
or him especially he just never I'venever seen him get burnt out. You
know. It's once we get there, he might look on it and chew
on a little bit and then he'sready for the next one. It's just
they're just driven, you know,naturally to get to the end of that
trill. Yes, sir, Lance, had a folks contact you both for

(01:11:04):
your tracking dog business, indoor yourbow shot. Uh probably, I mean
I've got multiple things. So theeasiest way to contact maybe be you know
Lance Brantley on Facebook, Muddy Flats. You can google that to get the
number Muddy Flats at Katallwa, Kentucky, or you know, if you look

(01:11:24):
up clean tech services, powerwashing.That's all one one line, so you
get that. That's my personal numberand anything I can help someone with,
just give me a ring. Andmuddy Flats is spelled with a Z instead
of it is correct, Yes,sir, okay, very good. Well
as always, I really enjoy talkingwith you. You're a outdoor professional.

(01:11:46):
The more folks I meet that arelike that, the more impressed I become.
This is a crazy world we're livingin. We need more folks like
you, Lance Branley, So Iappreciate that. Buddy. Hey, let
me tell you you hear that thatsong that begins my show, Country Boy
can survive. You're a perfect jamp, my friend. Thank you, thank

(01:12:11):
you. It's always great visit withyou, folks. That's a wrap.
We'll be back here next week,same place, same time. Please be
careful out there. God bless everybody.