WEBVTT - Ep. 253: This Country Life - Thievery and Miscommunication

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves.

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<v Speaker 1>From coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay a while as I share

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<v Speaker 1>my experiences and life lessons. This country Life is presented

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<v Speaker 1>by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you

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<v Speaker 1>the best outdoor podcast the airwaves had off. All right, friends,

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<v Speaker 1>grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some

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<v Speaker 1>stories to share. Thievery and miscommunication, skullduggery is afoot, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm on the case of a missing game camera and

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<v Speaker 1>a ransacked bar bait barrel. Just when I thought I'd

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<v Speaker 1>retired from investigating crimes, they pulled me back in. I

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<v Speaker 1>cracked this case with the help of a friend, and maybe,

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<v Speaker 1>just maybe I made some who ones too. I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to tell you all about it, but first I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to tell you a story the Church Burglars. I'm dipping

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<v Speaker 1>back into the old law enforcement case files for a

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<v Speaker 1>lesson about thievery and believe it or not technology On

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<v Speaker 1>this week's episode. It involves a couple of ne'er do

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<v Speaker 1>wells that operated in three adjoining counties in southeast Arkansas

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<v Speaker 1>back in the mid nineties. These cats went on a

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<v Speaker 1>Christs free where nothing was all limits. They met in

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<v Speaker 1>a reform school in Saint Louis, Missouri, whereas juveniles they

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<v Speaker 1>served time together, each having been sentenced for stealing, but

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<v Speaker 1>because of their ages, instead of going to prison, they

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<v Speaker 1>were sent us to a few months of what was

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<v Speaker 1>described as refined and supervisious. They were admitted as wards

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<v Speaker 1>of the state of Missouri, and they couldn't leave the

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<v Speaker 1>grounds and had to attend daily classes and such. But

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<v Speaker 1>it was actually only slightly above being grounded and sent

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<v Speaker 1>to your room, now, a punishment I always thought was

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<v Speaker 1>kind of dumb. My room was where all my stuff was,

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<v Speaker 1>all my books, my hunting magazines, my knives, and games.

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<v Speaker 1>A far more legitimate punishment would have been to sent

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<v Speaker 1>me to the utility room. There wasn't anything in there

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<v Speaker 1>I was interested looking at, or place to sit down.

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<v Speaker 1>In my room, there was also a window that I

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<v Speaker 1>could slip out of, and I did on multiple occasions.

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<v Speaker 1>I know y'all are shocked, but you shouldn't be. My

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<v Speaker 1>adolescence was an exercise and feudal attempts to thumb my

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<v Speaker 1>nose at authority, resulting in a litany of consequences. And repercussions,

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<v Speaker 1>all of which I learned valuable lessons from Eventually. Now

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<v Speaker 1>I told you this before, but it bears repeating. Miss

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<v Speaker 1>mary Anne Mobley, my sixth grade teacher, a lady that

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<v Speaker 1>was in her first year as an educator and got

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<v Speaker 1>me and a fellow sophistic get equally determined to stick

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<v Speaker 1>it to the man every chance we got in her

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<v Speaker 1>home room as students, And when she'd heard that I'd

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<v Speaker 1>become a police officer, she always said, I always figure

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<v Speaker 1>Brent would be involved in law enforcement, but I thought

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<v Speaker 1>it would have been from the other side. Well, she

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<v Speaker 1>had plenty of reason to believe that. Anyway. Back to

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<v Speaker 1>the bulls from Saint Louis. They were each released on

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<v Speaker 1>the same day, and as eighteen year olds, they were

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<v Speaker 1>free to go where they wished. The money they were

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<v Speaker 1>released on got them a bus ticket each and they

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<v Speaker 1>wrote it to Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Pine Bluff they

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<v Speaker 1>bummed around for a while, sleeping where they could lay

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<v Speaker 1>their heads and paul in anything they could steal for

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<v Speaker 1>a little, spending cash for essentials like cigarettes and maybe

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<v Speaker 1>a little food. These two were presentable young men and

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<v Speaker 1>were well versed in manners in etiquette, and they could

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<v Speaker 1>put the biggest cynic of all at ease with simple conversation.

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<v Speaker 1>Neither one of them was over five seven, they had

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<v Speaker 1>no facial hair, and you could stick both of them

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<v Speaker 1>in a toasac together it wouldn't have weighed two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty pounds. There were a couple of runs, and

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<v Speaker 1>they used it to their advantage. They talked to an

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<v Speaker 1>older fella into letting them test drive a little compact

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<v Speaker 1>car he had for sale in his yard. Several hours later,

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<v Speaker 1>when he called the Sheriff's department in Pine Bluff, it

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't even to report his car stolen. He was worried

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<v Speaker 1>that they broke down somewhere and needed help. That part

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<v Speaker 1>of the store still makes me mad, and it's been

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<v Speaker 1>thirty years ago. They took advantage of him. They headed south,

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<v Speaker 1>and it didn't stop until they found an old deserted

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<v Speaker 1>house in Drew County where they could get in and

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<v Speaker 1>out of the weather and hide their little crime move

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<v Speaker 1>the car house, neither of which were visible from the

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<v Speaker 1>main road. It had been deserted for years and was

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<v Speaker 1>owned by descendants who lived out of state and never

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<v Speaker 1>visited the property. There was no local caretaker, And if

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<v Speaker 1>you didn't know there was a house there, it would

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<v Speaker 1>have been hard to know there was one even standing

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<v Speaker 1>in the front yard. It was that grown up, and

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<v Speaker 1>these clowns were lucky enough to have stumbled upon it.

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<v Speaker 1>They started making round stealing everything they could get their

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<v Speaker 1>hands on, and they specialized in rural churches. Now you

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<v Speaker 1>have to understand that a lot of small rural churches

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<v Speaker 1>don't employ his staff or even have a full time preacher.

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<v Speaker 1>The pastor could be the local fire chief, or a

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<v Speaker 1>school science teacher, a farmer, or a full time preacher

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<v Speaker 1>that works on a circuit holding church services at different

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<v Speaker 1>locations throughout the month. Each Sunday they'd meet at a

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<v Speaker 1>different small community church, leaving some of the church buildings

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<v Speaker 1>unchecked for two to three weeks at a time. They

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<v Speaker 1>also didn't have alarm systems or security devices any kind

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<v Speaker 1>outside of you know, maybe having a night light that

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<v Speaker 1>shined outside at night. Now, these knuckleheads that found the

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<v Speaker 1>absolute easiest way to steal things and not have it

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<v Speaker 1>reported as missing until way after they'd gone. Also, who

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<v Speaker 1>steals from a church? Even though I was in the

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<v Speaker 1>business to witness the terrible things people would do to

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<v Speaker 1>one another. There were some things that folks just didn't do,

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<v Speaker 1>and stealing them from a church was one of them,

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<v Speaker 1>or so I thought. Now, that's a bob sled straight

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<v Speaker 1>to the home of the original eternal flame. As far

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<v Speaker 1>as I'm concerned, they were hitting one rural church after

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<v Speaker 1>another in a three county chrimes free that was driving

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<v Speaker 1>us all nuts. There was no pattern to what they did,

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<v Speaker 1>and they were doing it mostly during the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>the week, when the call volumes were normally slow and

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<v Speaker 1>the fewest deputies were on duty. Now, these counties wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>have had more than one or two cars patrolling to

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<v Speaker 1>cover the whole county. You get one disturbance or an

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<v Speaker 1>accident somewhere, and that left no churches out in the

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<v Speaker 1>county getting checked until the call was cleared. You're bound

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<v Speaker 1>to be asked, well, what in the world could they

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<v Speaker 1>have been stealing from these little old churches out in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of nowhere. PA systems. Nearly all of them

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<v Speaker 1>had some type of public address system or musical instruments,

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<v Speaker 1>or freezers with food that was kept on hands for events,

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<v Speaker 1>the latter being something that the church would have given

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<v Speaker 1>them had they asked for it. But they didn't ask

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<v Speaker 1>anybody for nothing. They took it, and what they didn't

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<v Speaker 1>take they tore up. Nearly every church they broke into.

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<v Speaker 1>They did some kind of damage where there was the

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<v Speaker 1>damage from kicking the door in, knocking out windows, busting

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<v Speaker 1>up sinks, and not to mention the water damage that

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<v Speaker 1>was done because of it. Now, the one thing we

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<v Speaker 1>did have was fingerprints, So did the surround the counties

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<v Speaker 1>on several of the burglaries. But with the state crime

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<v Speaker 1>lab backlog with more serious and crimes that were of

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<v Speaker 1>higher priority than a burglary, getting identified then was more

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<v Speaker 1>of an arduous task than it is today. What they

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<v Speaker 1>did wasn't funny. How we caught them was mcfarlin's Grocery

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<v Speaker 1>in the small community of Banks in Bradley County. My

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<v Speaker 1>county was the only grocery store for about twelve miles

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<v Speaker 1>in either direction, sitting almost exactly between Warren and Hampton, Arkansas.

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<v Speaker 1>My grandfather delivered chickens and eggs of this old country

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<v Speaker 1>store that had been there for way before I was

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<v Speaker 1>ever a glint in my daddy's eye, and probably before

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<v Speaker 1>he was a glint in my grandpa's. It was an

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<v Speaker 1>old store over, but with the advent of do it

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<v Speaker 1>yourself security cameras, they bought a camera and they hooked

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<v Speaker 1>it up to a VCR, both of which were obvious

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<v Speaker 1>to anyone that walked up to the counter. It came

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<v Speaker 1>with a motion detector, and even in the mid nineties,

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<v Speaker 1>when all that was just getting to be affordable to

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<v Speaker 1>some small store owners, it still looked out of date.

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<v Speaker 1>The store owner discovered that they'd been broken into where

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<v Speaker 1>they were getting ready to open one Saturday morning. The

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<v Speaker 1>store owner was walking around taking the inventory after they

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<v Speaker 1>called us and we got there and he was looking

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<v Speaker 1>and making a list of everything that was missing, and

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<v Speaker 1>I asked him about the security camera. He said they'd

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<v Speaker 1>cut the wires from the camera that led to the VCR.

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<v Speaker 1>I looked on the counter and there laid a pair

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<v Speaker 1>of wire cutters that the burglars had taken off a

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<v Speaker 1>shelf of the store that hung right behind the counter.

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<v Speaker 1>Right in front of the camera. Was the camera in

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<v Speaker 1>the VCR working, I asked him. He said, yeah, as

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<v Speaker 1>far as he knew, but they cut the wires. Well.

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<v Speaker 1>Asking if they'd taking the tape, and he said, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't check with a gloved hand I pushed the

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<v Speaker 1>e jeck button and out popped a VHS tape, and

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<v Speaker 1>we took it back to the Sheriff's office, put it

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<v Speaker 1>in a VCR, and watched as two want to be

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<v Speaker 1>cat burglars walked up to the counter with ski mask on,

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<v Speaker 1>staring at the camera and both of them raising their

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<v Speaker 1>mask revealing their faces to get a better look at

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<v Speaker 1>the security system, before one of them grabbed the wirecutter off.

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<v Speaker 1>The shif smiled at the camera and waved goodbye as

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<v Speaker 1>he clipped the wire to which the video fit stopped.

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<v Speaker 1>Apparently they thought that was all they needed to do.

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<v Speaker 1>It was not. We sent their pictures out to the

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<v Speaker 1>surrounding counties and lo and behold, they were already in

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<v Speaker 1>jail for shoplifting and Drew County, the county just east

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<v Speaker 1>of Hours. Several stores and twenty some odd churches had

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<v Speaker 1>been burglarized by these clowns over three counties, and when

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<v Speaker 1>I interviewed them, I asked them, how do you boys

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<v Speaker 1>sleep at night? One of them looked toward the floor

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<v Speaker 1>or the interview room before he answered. I thought, Yep,

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<v Speaker 1>his conscience was finally catching up with it. I could

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<v Speaker 1>tell he was putting some thought into his answer, and

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<v Speaker 1>then he looked up at me and said, well, if

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<v Speaker 1>it was raining, we slept in the car. That roof

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<v Speaker 1>of the old house we broke into leak like I

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<v Speaker 1>saelv and the only room in there that didn't link

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<v Speaker 1>we had full of the stuff we stole from all

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<v Speaker 1>them churches. Well, at least he was honest. They went

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<v Speaker 1>away for a long time. That trip that they took

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<v Speaker 1>to the penitentiary wouldn't be described as refined supervision. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's just how that happened. So what in the world

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<v Speaker 1>has me talking about thievery and miscommunication? I'll tell you

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<v Speaker 1>someone stole my game camera and wrecked the bear bait.

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<v Speaker 1>I had been counting on that spot to give me

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<v Speaker 1>an opportunity to poke a hole and let all the

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<v Speaker 1>air out of a big old Arkansas black bear. But

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<v Speaker 1>it won't happen in that spot, not this year anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>And it was all one big misunderstanding. I spent the

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<v Speaker 1>last two weeks traveling for work, going back and forth

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<v Speaker 1>to Montana to host the Media Radio Live show, and

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<v Speaker 1>to Northwest Arkansas for the World Championship Squirrel Cookoff. Now

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<v Speaker 1>all of that left little time for me messing with

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<v Speaker 1>the bear bait I had going in the north central

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<v Speaker 1>part of the state. I was relying on my cell

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<v Speaker 1>camera to keep up with my bait, and I had

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<v Speaker 1>just enough time to get it set up in the

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<v Speaker 1>barrel out right before I left for the meat eater

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<v Speaker 1>office and bonesmen started getting pictures of the day I left

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<v Speaker 1>and had a small bear coming in. No worries. Small bears,

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<v Speaker 1>just like big bears, get the set of bait on

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<v Speaker 1>their feet and when they walk away, they leave a

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<v Speaker 1>cent trail that leads right back to the barrel for

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<v Speaker 1>all the other bears in the area to investigate. I

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<v Speaker 1>was getting coon picks at night, and after the second

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<v Speaker 1>return to the small bear of the day after his

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<v Speaker 1>first pictures, all the pictures stopped. Now no bears coming in,

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<v Speaker 1>isn't that unusual? But no coon's coming in night after night?

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<v Speaker 1>That is I figured something had happened to my camera

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<v Speaker 1>since I didn't have it in a bearproof cage. I

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<v Speaker 1>assumed a curious little bear or maybe a different one,

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<v Speaker 1>and knocked it off the tree. The signal was weak

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<v Speaker 1>at best in that hollow where my bait was, and

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<v Speaker 1>it wouldn't take much at off to lose it, especially

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<v Speaker 1>if a bear knocked it to the ground or chewed

0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.839
<v Speaker 1>it up. It's happened to me before in that same

0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.800
<v Speaker 1>area a few years ago. Now, this was my first

0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.240
<v Speaker 1>time coming back, and I had high hosts for a

0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:10.200
<v Speaker 1>good bear, since it was an area no one else

0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.200
<v Speaker 1>hunted and I was the only one with permissioned the

0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:17.720
<v Speaker 1>bear hunt there. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one with

0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:22.280
<v Speaker 1>permission to be there. I got home from the nine

0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.360
<v Speaker 1>days away and as fast as I could, I made

0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.120
<v Speaker 1>the two hour drive up through the mountains, check the

0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.120
<v Speaker 1>camera and see what caliber bear I had coming into

0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.200
<v Speaker 1>the bait, I didn't think i'd ever get there. When

0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:35.920
<v Speaker 1>I finally did and unloaded my side beside, the last

0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.960
<v Speaker 1>couple of miles into the base seemed to take the longest.

0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.280
<v Speaker 1>The old cable that was stretched across the lane where

0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:46.560
<v Speaker 1>I'd gone in with my host had been moved before.

0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.240
<v Speaker 1>When we were in there, it was barely above the ground.

0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.760
<v Speaker 1>I had driven over it easily at the urging of

0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.680
<v Speaker 1>my host, who had permission to hunt there. You'd been

0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.400
<v Speaker 1>hunting there for several years and got permission from absentee

0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:04.640
<v Speaker 1>land On. Now this was different, but there was no

0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:08.440
<v Speaker 1>phone service to contact my friend unless I drove back

0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:12.320
<v Speaker 1>two miles of my truck, or if I crossed the

0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.880
<v Speaker 1>cable and walked on up the mountain to my bait

0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.440
<v Speaker 1>where I had sent a text out to my brother

0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.680
<v Speaker 1>Tim today. I set the bait out almost two weeks ago.

0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:25.280
<v Speaker 1>From there I could get an answer. But now, had

0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:28.960
<v Speaker 1>I known what I was about to find, I absolutely

0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:30.640
<v Speaker 1>would have went back to my truck, but at that

0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.920
<v Speaker 1>time I was still under the impression I could be there.

0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.000
<v Speaker 1>I stepped over the cable and up the mountain. I

0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.360
<v Speaker 1>went every step I took, reminding me why I love

0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:45.320
<v Speaker 1>the river bottoms and flat ground so much, but also

0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:48.560
<v Speaker 1>knowing I was getting closer to checking my bait and

0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:53.440
<v Speaker 1>see what happened to my camera. Finally, to the top

0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.040
<v Speaker 1>and over the other side, I walked down the trail

0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:00.600
<v Speaker 1>to my bait, and my barrel was what I saw first.

0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:03.680
<v Speaker 1>It was on its side, with the lid removed and

0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:07.320
<v Speaker 1>nearly all the bait gone. I left it strapped with

0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.760
<v Speaker 1>ratchet straps topping bottom to a gum tree. It's not

0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.800
<v Speaker 1>unusual for bear to pull a barrel off a tree,

0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.400
<v Speaker 1>but they don't usually toat the straps off when they do,

0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:23.920
<v Speaker 1>and the straps were nowhere to be seen. Oh, I

0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.640
<v Speaker 1>immediately smelled a rat and I looked over to where

0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.560
<v Speaker 1>I'd hung my moultree. I saw that it was gone,

0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.240
<v Speaker 1>something else bears don't usually do. I've had them chew

0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.720
<v Speaker 1>on cameras and absolutely destroy them, but seizing them for

0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.840
<v Speaker 1>evidence and taking them back to their bear office, well,

0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:44.160
<v Speaker 1>that ain't ever happened, not to me anyway. So what

0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.680
<v Speaker 1>do you do in a case like that. Well, Brent

0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:49.640
<v Speaker 1>from back in the day would have been mad as

0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:53.160
<v Speaker 1>a mashed cat and declaring war on any and everything

0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:55.680
<v Speaker 1>I could kick, punch or cuss at until I found

0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:59.560
<v Speaker 1>what was going on, and maybe even more so afterwards.

0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.440
<v Speaker 1>But that wouldn't have done any good. It would have

0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.360
<v Speaker 1>been different if it had been on public land. Anything

0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.000
<v Speaker 1>you leave laying around, hung up, parked, or even locked

0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:13.200
<v Speaker 1>on public land as subject to disappear. Like my dad

0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.320
<v Speaker 1>always told me and I repeat to my kids, a

0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.119
<v Speaker 1>lock keeps an honest man honest. It doesn't matter to

0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.359
<v Speaker 1>a thief like the two I talked about in the

0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.280
<v Speaker 1>story at the beginning of this episode. A lot to

0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.720
<v Speaker 1>those folks is merely a hurdle to get across to

0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.600
<v Speaker 1>get what they're after, which is anything of value the

0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:35.680
<v Speaker 1>lock is supposed to protect. But this wasn't public land.

0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:38.879
<v Speaker 1>It also wasn't in a place where a lot of

0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:42.119
<v Speaker 1>folks had permission to be, so the suspect list was

0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.439
<v Speaker 1>going to be pretty small to begin with. Now you

0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.800
<v Speaker 1>add the fact that someone had raised the cable to

0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.760
<v Speaker 1>keep me out, had my spider sense tingling from the

0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:56.760
<v Speaker 1>get go. Maybe I was the one trespassing. I called

0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.600
<v Speaker 1>my host to granted me his past to bait the

0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.080
<v Speaker 1>spot and explained what had happened, and he was floored, embarrassed,

0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.720
<v Speaker 1>and like me, he lived more than an hour away.

0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:09.560
<v Speaker 1>He vowed to find out what was happening in the

0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.600
<v Speaker 1>following day, and I drove the two hours back to

0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:15.080
<v Speaker 1>the house more disappointed than mad. I was hoping I

0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.399
<v Speaker 1>hadn't done anything wrong, and I also felt bad for

0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.840
<v Speaker 1>my friend who so graciously invited me to hunt there.

0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.000
<v Speaker 1>He's an absolute pillar of his community, in a well

0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:30.040
<v Speaker 1>respected career professional who retired from education with an exemplary record.

0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.040
<v Speaker 1>It wasn't like I had met some random guy at

0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:34.920
<v Speaker 1>a gas station and he offered to take me into

0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:37.880
<v Speaker 1>a place that had no history with and said go

0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:41.400
<v Speaker 1>get him. He was also a landowner in that vicinity

0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:44.840
<v Speaker 1>and had been hunting those hills for years. And the

0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.000
<v Speaker 1>next day, after he drove up there and talked to

0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:53.159
<v Speaker 1>some locals made a few calls, he in turn called me, Now,

0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.240
<v Speaker 1>y'all want to guess who was trespassing? Go ahead, I'll

0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.600
<v Speaker 1>give you a second to the side. Times up. No

0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:05.399
<v Speaker 1>one one was trespassing, and he had my camera. Now,

0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:07.600
<v Speaker 1>I didn't see it the day before when I was there,

0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.520
<v Speaker 1>but the person who removed it from where I'd hung

0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.320
<v Speaker 1>it at the bait side hung it on the opposite

0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:15.919
<v Speaker 1>end of the cable from where I'd driven across it

0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.400
<v Speaker 1>when I first established that bait. It was there when

0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.880
<v Speaker 1>I tried to go in, I just didn't see it.

0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:25.879
<v Speaker 1>The person that dumped my barrel and moved my camera

0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:31.320
<v Speaker 1>leased the land from the landowner they had hunted it before,

0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:35.639
<v Speaker 1>and quit, moving off to another property. Afterwards. My friend

0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:39.200
<v Speaker 1>was given ridden permission. The landowner didn't tell the least

0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:41.720
<v Speaker 1>folks about my friend, and my friend didn't know the

0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:45.920
<v Speaker 1>old crew had moved back and just leased it again.

0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:49.359
<v Speaker 1>They came up to the property the scout for deer

0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:53.240
<v Speaker 1>season found a fresh bear bait and camera that wasn't theirs.

0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:57.280
<v Speaker 1>Now I'd had probably done the same thing. My friend

0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:01.040
<v Speaker 1>explained our side of the story. They invited me to

0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:05.000
<v Speaker 1>bear hunt there. Now I thought it was very gracious

0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:06.600
<v Speaker 1>of it, and I'm gonna take them up on it

0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:10.359
<v Speaker 1>next year. Now, some may call this hunt a bust

0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.919
<v Speaker 1>if you score it by the bear, I'm not gonna

0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:16.040
<v Speaker 1>have an opportunity to hunt this year, and I'd have

0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:18.520
<v Speaker 1>to agree if that was the criteria. But I ain't

0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:22.520
<v Speaker 1>looking at it like that. I was granted an opportunity

0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.280
<v Speaker 1>to make a decision on how I reacted to something

0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:28.280
<v Speaker 1>that went against what I had set out to do.

0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:32.920
<v Speaker 1>Even cost me some money. Very bait ain't exactly cheap.

0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:36.080
<v Speaker 1>And I may not live to see another bear season

0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:38.400
<v Speaker 1>to use what I'm gonna have to store up from

0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:41.800
<v Speaker 1>this hunt. I may not live to see Breakfast. You

0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.480
<v Speaker 1>may not have lived here this podcast. Nothing is guaranteed.

0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:48.640
<v Speaker 1>But I've come to the part of my life that

0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.840
<v Speaker 1>smart folks arrive at sooner. But it's come upon me

0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:56.000
<v Speaker 1>in the last few years that everything is a test

0:20:56.960 --> 0:21:00.320
<v Speaker 1>and you have the capacity to pass it. For film

0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:04.080
<v Speaker 1>and any opportunity to pursue the things I would like

0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.960
<v Speaker 1>to do and make new friends in the process. That's

0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.880
<v Speaker 1>a win for everybody. They invited me to come back

0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:14.320
<v Speaker 1>and hunt, and I'm going to. I'm going to get

0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:26.560
<v Speaker 1>to know those guys a little bit better. Thank y'all

0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:29.840
<v Speaker 1>so much for listening to this country life and bear Grease.

0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:32.880
<v Speaker 1>It is truly a blessing to hear from so many

0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:35.800
<v Speaker 1>who enjoy the content, and I do my very best

0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:39.199
<v Speaker 1>to respond to all the messages. Keep sending those stories

0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.480
<v Speaker 1>into my tcl story at the meat eater dot com,

0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:46.640
<v Speaker 1>and remember they can be about anything related to your

0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:51.400
<v Speaker 1>country life, even if it happened in the city limits.

0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:54.520
<v Speaker 1>The Meat Eater Radio live show I hosted the last

0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.840
<v Speaker 1>two weeks are available on the YouTube podcast channel, and

0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:01.080
<v Speaker 1>there's a new one coming out every Thursday the twelve

0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:06.240
<v Speaker 1>pm Central Time, with different hosts each week until next week.

0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:09.880
<v Speaker 1>This is Brent Reeves sign it off. Y'all be careful