WEBVTT - Ep. 338: This Country Life - The Kansas Coyote Project

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to this country Life.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm your host, Brent Reeves from coon hunting to trot

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<v Speaker 2>lining and just general country living.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay.

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<v Speaker 2>Awhile as I share my experiences in life lessons. This

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<v Speaker 2>Country Life is presented by Case Knives on Meat Eaters

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<v Speaker 2>Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>The airwaves have to offer.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate.

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<v Speaker 2>I've got some stories to share. The Kansas count project.

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<v Speaker 2>Now here's a little insight on how my first solo

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<v Speaker 2>video project went that we just finished filming. Now it'll

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<v Speaker 2>head to the editors who will take the pile of

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<v Speaker 2>footage we assembled over three days and try to tell

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<v Speaker 2>the story visually that we set out to tell during

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<v Speaker 2>the planning of the project. Months from now, after a

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<v Speaker 2>whole bunch of work from the folks you never see

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<v Speaker 2>or hear about, we'll post it for all to see

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<v Speaker 2>and hopefully learn a little something and enjoy it. Only time, Hotel,

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<v Speaker 2>I got a lot to say, so let's get to it.

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<v Speaker 2>My first solo video project for me Eater took place

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<v Speaker 2>a little less than a month ago. Now that project

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<v Speaker 2>immediately followed the South Louisiana Fishing trip and a hog

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<v Speaker 2>hunt in Texas I talked about a few episodes ago.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been a busy boy over the last few weeks,

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<v Speaker 2>and now, after a couple of nights at home from

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<v Speaker 2>the Texas trip, I was making tracks toward Kansas to

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<v Speaker 2>leak up with my friend Jeff Ryder. Jeff's a fellow

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<v Speaker 2>ar Kansas and a longtime friend now. I talked about

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<v Speaker 2>him in episode two twenty nine, dedicated to hunting with

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<v Speaker 2>decoy dogs back in July twenty twenty four. If you're

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<v Speaker 2>not familiar with what a decoy dog is, I highly

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<v Speaker 2>encourage you to give that one a listen. But I'll

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<v Speaker 2>go over briefly here for those that are new, or

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<v Speaker 2>for you folks with bad memories or the select few

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<v Speaker 2>who are too lazy to move your finger about three

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<v Speaker 2>times and listen to it for yourself. But decoy dogs

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<v Speaker 2>have been an effective tool and predator control for a

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<v Speaker 2>long time. As a matter of fact, there are still

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<v Speaker 2>folks who've historically been called government trappers and hunters that

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<v Speaker 2>are still working on predator numbers. Folks who are state

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<v Speaker 2>or federal employees or contractors tasked with reducing the number

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<v Speaker 2>of predators on the landscape with kyotes being one of

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<v Speaker 2>their main targets. Now, you're probably gonna hear me say

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<v Speaker 2>kyote and kyotey interchangeably, and it's just the way I

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<v Speaker 2>was raised. But that's what I'm talking about. Forever, I

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<v Speaker 2>thought the role of coyote number production was to benefit

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<v Speaker 2>cattle ranchers and deer populations. So with that info simmering

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<v Speaker 2>in my back pocket, I set out many moons ago

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<v Speaker 2>to fill my friend Jeff doing the work of the

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<v Speaker 2>people in saving Kansas burghers and booners one code at

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<v Speaker 2>a time. Now, in a way, we were, but just

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<v Speaker 2>not to the extent I was led to believe by

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<v Speaker 2>word of mouth and my very unscientific research and observations.

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<v Speaker 2>All that info would come out with a meeting schedule

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<v Speaker 2>for the final day of shooting with the wildlife biologists

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<v Speaker 2>from Kansas State University. Now, more on that enlightening meeting

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<v Speaker 2>and conversation a little later on.

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<v Speaker 1>Right.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, here's how decoyed dogs work. We set up in

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<v Speaker 2>a territory that offers cover and terrain suitable for coouts

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<v Speaker 2>to operate in, which is just about anywhere, and start

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<v Speaker 2>blaring cody sounds over a predator call the coute hears

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<v Speaker 2>the sounds, comes to investigate, and while approaching, the dog

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<v Speaker 2>sees the coyoute and gives chase. Now, if the cootie

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<v Speaker 2>is aggressive enough, it will engage the dog by chasing it,

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<v Speaker 2>and the dog will come back to where we're sitting

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<v Speaker 2>and someone will take the shot, reducing the predator population

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<v Speaker 2>by one. It is quite the spectacle, and to those

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<v Speaker 2>who are interested in seeing how two canines and one

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<v Speaker 2>domesticated and one not interact with one another, it's pretty amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>But before we get into that, we've got to get

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<v Speaker 2>to Kansas and link up with the production team and

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<v Speaker 2>our host, the ever clean shaven Jeff Ryder. I've known

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<v Speaker 2>Jeff for quite a while, and he's as good a

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<v Speaker 2>fella as they make. His disdain for anything related to

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<v Speaker 2>onions and a poor choice in music leaves a whole

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<v Speaker 2>lot of room for improvement, but we can't all be perfect.

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<v Speaker 2>I saw him contemplate a felony once in a cafe

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<v Speaker 2>where a waitress brought him a cheeseburger with onions. He

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<v Speaker 2>didn't say anything to her. He's a gentleman above all else.

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<v Speaker 2>But the the rest of us heard his sad tale

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<v Speaker 2>of woe endlessly over that whole trip onions nearly started

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<v Speaker 2>civil unrest on the plains of the Sunflower State. I

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<v Speaker 2>also remember driving home with him late one night, after

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<v Speaker 2>nearly a week of little sleep and lots and lots

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<v Speaker 2>of driving over the vast Kansas Prairie.

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<v Speaker 1>Chasing old wily coyote.

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<v Speaker 2>I was sound asleep in the passenger seat when all

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<v Speaker 2>of a sudden, the Beastie Boys were blaring No Sleep

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<v Speaker 2>Till Brooklyn at full voluble within the confines of the

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<v Speaker 2>cab of that truck, a song and genre of music

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<v Speaker 2>that would have me choosing a dentist apartment.

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<v Speaker 1>Over listening to a complete track.

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<v Speaker 2>I bolted up right in the seat, glared at him

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<v Speaker 2>in his big, dumb, smiling face, and told him, won't

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<v Speaker 2>you ever play that again? And I tried to go

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<v Speaker 2>back to sleep. For those that are wondering, he did

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<v Speaker 2>not listen. But a couple of weeks ago, when I

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<v Speaker 2>pulled into the place where we were all staying, Eyes

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<v Speaker 2>and Dave Gardner, two veteran cameramen who I've worked on

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<v Speaker 2>several projects with during my time at Meat Eater, were

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<v Speaker 2>already there, putting equipment and cameras together. That we'd be

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<v Speaker 2>using for the next three days. Isaac had made the

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<v Speaker 2>drive over from his home in Missouri, and David flown

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<v Speaker 2>down from Montana, rented a car brought the majority of

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<v Speaker 2>the equipment that we'd be using. The amount of stuff

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<v Speaker 2>needed for a professional production may have gotten smaller in

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<v Speaker 2>size as far as cameras and sound gear goes over

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<v Speaker 2>the years, but the number of hard cases and redundancy

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<v Speaker 2>has more or less remained the same.

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<v Speaker 1>It's it's a lot of the stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>Some don't realize the depth of planning of a production

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<v Speaker 2>crew goes to a preparation for a film and a

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<v Speaker 2>hunt like this. I know because I was one of

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<v Speaker 2>them that didn't. Back when I was doing it. I

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<v Speaker 2>bought the best camera in tripod I could afford, couple

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<v Speaker 2>with the best shotgun Mike I could attach to the camera,

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<v Speaker 2>and we headed to the woods and what ever happened happened,

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<v Speaker 2>And whatever happened, I was hopefully paying enough attention to

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<v Speaker 2>have the camera pointing in the right direction to document

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<v Speaker 2>the event. Now that's still basically what we do, except

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<v Speaker 2>everything is planned ahead of time for what we're going

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<v Speaker 2>to try to film to fit a story agreed upon

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<v Speaker 2>that hopefully the cameras will capture and support our narrative.

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<v Speaker 2>Several online meetings of me pitching the idea to the

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<v Speaker 2>office last year had this project ending up being about

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<v Speaker 2>a hunter's relationship with his dog. A lot of my

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<v Speaker 2>content is about hundred dogs, and that relationship is a

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<v Speaker 2>solid narrative throughout them, all different environments being the stage

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<v Speaker 2>on which the same story is told again and again.

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<v Speaker 2>Nuances of the relationship being described on how the human

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<v Speaker 2>dog interaction plays out in the hunt is what I

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<v Speaker 2>find entertaining in education. I never grow tired of seeing

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<v Speaker 2>a working dog work in conjunction with the goal, whether

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<v Speaker 2>it's fighting a squirrel or a coon and a tree

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<v Speaker 2>and the dog is telling you I promise he's right

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<v Speaker 2>up there, just keep looking, or a shepherd moving cows

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<v Speaker 2>from one place to another at the direction of a handler.

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<v Speaker 2>I dig it, and I love witnessing the correlation between

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<v Speaker 2>the man and the dog as much as the interaction

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<v Speaker 2>of the dog and whatevery game is being pursued.

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<v Speaker 1>In this case is colotes and I just gave.

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<v Speaker 2>You a brief on how it works, with a more

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<v Speaker 2>detailed version of that to be depicted in the footage

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<v Speaker 2>we were fixing.

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<v Speaker 1>To try and capture.

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<v Speaker 2>I couldn't think of a better hunter to be with

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<v Speaker 2>than Jeff and his dogs to showcase in this project.

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<v Speaker 2>Countless hunts from him years ago still played vividly in

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<v Speaker 2>my brain as I drove toward where we'd all meet,

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<v Speaker 2>and I couldn't think of a better place to do

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<v Speaker 2>it than Kansas, even though Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri have

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<v Speaker 2>been great locations as well from back in the day.

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<v Speaker 2>Just something about the Kansas Prairie that speaks to me

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<v Speaker 2>on a level like no other when it comes to

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<v Speaker 2>this kind of honeing.

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<v Speaker 1>Now, maybe it's.

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<v Speaker 2>Because it was the first place that I witnessed the

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<v Speaker 2>decoy dog work for jail. If I had to bet, though,

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<v Speaker 2>I'd say it's because the sunsets in Kansas they're as

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<v Speaker 2>good as they get anywhere. And when I think about them,

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<v Speaker 2>I always see the horizon and in the frame of

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<v Speaker 2>windmills and missing a couple of blades, and it sets

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<v Speaker 2>motionless as the sky fades from blue to orange, and

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<v Speaker 2>you can seemingly see forever. I was in the right place,

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<v Speaker 2>with the right people. There was only one problem. It

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<v Speaker 2>was raining like a Cowpeean on a flat rock. It

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<v Speaker 2>had been raining off and on all spring, deluges of

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<v Speaker 2>rain and storms. It seemed to be on a tighter

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<v Speaker 2>schedule than we were. Almost a year of planning had

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<v Speaker 2>come down to go time, and it was raining buckets.

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<v Speaker 2>Day one was an absolute wash, literally and figuratively. We'd

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<v Speaker 2>be in Kansas for five days. Day one and day

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<v Speaker 2>five would be travel days getting there and then getting

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<v Speaker 2>back home. That left us the middle three days for

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<v Speaker 2>hunting and for getting the required shots outside of the

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<v Speaker 2>hunting location, like sunsets and sunrises, birds and creeks, landscapes,

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<v Speaker 2>drone shots, interviews, and the multitude of other film and

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<v Speaker 2>photographs required to complete such a project. It's a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of stuff, but we were ready. We were well prepared.

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<v Speaker 2>We all knew what our individual rolls were, and the

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<v Speaker 2>shooting schedule was our playbook. Everything that we could control

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<v Speaker 2>was accounted for. The only two things we had no

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<v Speaker 2>control over was the weather and the kyotes.

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<v Speaker 1>On this trip, they were going to be hard to

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<v Speaker 1>work with.

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<v Speaker 2>Three hours before dark, the rain tapered off and we

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<v Speaker 2>hit the ground running guns, cameras and dogs. My old

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<v Speaker 2>high school agrid teacher always said, boys, you got to

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<v Speaker 2>make hay while the sun shines. It sounded cool, and

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<v Speaker 2>I was probably a lot older when I figured out

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<v Speaker 2>what he meant by that. You have to take advantage

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<v Speaker 2>of an opportunity when it presents itself well. The break

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<v Speaker 2>in the weather was our first opportunity, and we were

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<v Speaker 2>chomping at the bit to get started. Coats like tickets

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<v Speaker 2>to den in and hang out during the day, and

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<v Speaker 2>during this time of year, the mating pair will have

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<v Speaker 2>a litter of pupps in a den. Naturally they'll be

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<v Speaker 2>more protective and aggressive than other times because.

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<v Speaker 1>Of that fact alone.

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<v Speaker 2>Before we go any farther and I get accused of

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<v Speaker 2>separating mommies and daddies from babies.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not how nature works. They ain't people.

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<v Speaker 2>Their will to survive is what makes them protective, as

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<v Speaker 2>any parents should be. That same wheell is also what

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<v Speaker 2>makes them slip into your farm and snatch a calf,

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<v Speaker 2>a lamb of gold, a piglet, or your pet out

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<v Speaker 2>of the backyard. The ones that do that, I would

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<v Speaker 2>come to find out two days later, are the very

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<v Speaker 2>ones we normally encounter on such a hunt. I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>purposely bearing the hook to keep it from you. I

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<v Speaker 2>just want you to learn about it like I did

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<v Speaker 2>from a more trusted source than me. So back to

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<v Speaker 2>that first setup. We walked north through an old barn

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<v Speaker 2>lot and stopped at the edge of uncut pasture that

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<v Speaker 2>was more prairie grass than hey.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't imagine it looking much different from when.

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<v Speaker 2>The first European settlers started making wagon tracks in that

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<v Speaker 2>part of the country. Jeff walked out about thirty yards

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<v Speaker 2>to set that pradator call out. There was a fence

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<v Speaker 2>line to our left, also about thirty yards that ran

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<v Speaker 2>north the direction we were facing straight up that fence.

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<v Speaker 1>On the west side of it was a thicket you could.

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<v Speaker 2>See on all necks that was pretty substantial, about five

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<v Speaker 2>acres worth of boat arc trees and briars and thick

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<v Speaker 2>fever that looked like a coat had designed it himself.

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<v Speaker 2>We sat there facing the north, and there was a

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<v Speaker 2>gap in the fence at about ten o'clock on.

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<v Speaker 1>Our left, about fifty yards away.

0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.200
<v Speaker 2>The wind was blown from the front right to the

0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:26.160
<v Speaker 2>back left. According to Jeff, the colts had more than

0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.319
<v Speaker 2>likely come from the north out in front of us,

0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.400
<v Speaker 2>or from the left, which was west, and entered that

0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.080
<v Speaker 2>gap where they could see the prairie and see what

0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:38.200
<v Speaker 2>was making all the racket called Jeff at echoing across

0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.680
<v Speaker 2>Kansas was a cody hal and a challenge to the

0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:45.040
<v Speaker 2>local inhabitants, and then a simulated fight between two adult couts,

0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.319
<v Speaker 2>and rounded it out with the artificial sounds that mimicked

0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:52.599
<v Speaker 2>cody puppies in distress, all of which would make the

0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.840
<v Speaker 2>hair stand up on the back of your neck and

0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.040
<v Speaker 2>give you the creeps, but were a hundred times more

0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:03.679
<v Speaker 2>pleasing to my ears than anything beastly boys ever released. Normally,

0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.679
<v Speaker 2>we'd sit in a spot no more than fifteen or

0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:09.319
<v Speaker 2>twenty minutes trying various calls, with Jeff working a pattern

0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.920
<v Speaker 2>of gradual intensity, hoping to ramp up the predatory and

0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.800
<v Speaker 2>territorial instincts of the couts, drawed them out of the open,

0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:21.320
<v Speaker 2>building layers of curiosity and anger upon layer until they

0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:24.320
<v Speaker 2>finally broke out and they opened. I'd watched him do

0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.680
<v Speaker 2>it a million times, and I'd safely bet that more

0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:30.840
<v Speaker 2>times than not it worked. This was the first time

0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.240
<v Speaker 2>in over a decade that I would be sitting side

0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.000
<v Speaker 2>by side with my friend Jeff on the plains of Kansas,

0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.240
<v Speaker 2>waiting on a cow toy to show up.

0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.520
<v Speaker 1>And this time it would be no different.

0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:43.800
<v Speaker 2>I was getting itchy to leave to make another stand

0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:47.000
<v Speaker 2>before dark when Jeff said, I think I saw something

0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.520
<v Speaker 2>across from the prairie over into that thicket by two hundred.

0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.640
<v Speaker 1>And fifty yards up the fence. I didn't see nothing.

0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:56.680
<v Speaker 2>I kept a watchful eye of that fence row for

0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.120
<v Speaker 2>what seemed like forever, and I remembered what he he

0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.520
<v Speaker 2>said about the gap, and as I shifted my gaze

0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:06.840
<v Speaker 2>to the left, Jeff said, there he is three o'clock.

0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.520
<v Speaker 2>A joker had done just what Jeff said he was

0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:13.960
<v Speaker 2>going to do. He crossed in front of us where

0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.240
<v Speaker 2>he saw him. Then he followed that fence line south

0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:20.320
<v Speaker 2>and walked into our set up, exactly where he figured

0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:22.960
<v Speaker 2>he would. He was right on top of us, and

0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.600
<v Speaker 2>had we been there just to whack and stack coats,

0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.960
<v Speaker 2>that hunt would have ended right there. I swung to

0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.840
<v Speaker 2>the left and had him in my sights. Dave and

0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:36.320
<v Speaker 2>Isaac started rolling their cameras and Jeff seek the dogs

0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.200
<v Speaker 2>to engage the coat who was staring at us from

0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:43.440
<v Speaker 2>an easy fly cast away, But the dogs didn't see

0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.040
<v Speaker 2>him immediately. They were looking straight forward. He was on

0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:49.960
<v Speaker 2>the left, and the coat faded further to our south,

0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.200
<v Speaker 2>trying to figure out which one of us was making

0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:54.560
<v Speaker 2>the sounds that had.

0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.040
<v Speaker 1>Brought him out in the first place.

0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.440
<v Speaker 2>Now this is all happening at the same time, a

0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:03.280
<v Speaker 2>mirror matter of seconds, and he got down wind enough,

0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.400
<v Speaker 2>just enough to catch a bit of human sit And

0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.560
<v Speaker 2>when he got a snow full of that, he little

0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:12.760
<v Speaker 2>shuck and bamoosed back into that thicket, with Jeff's dog

0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:14.080
<v Speaker 2>right behind him.

0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:16.200
<v Speaker 1>Finally he saw it.

0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:20.560
<v Speaker 2>Now, you think that that would be the end of it,

0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.160
<v Speaker 2>with the coyote beating feet out of the country, But

0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:25.760
<v Speaker 2>like most things in nature, it's not always what it

0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:29.440
<v Speaker 2>appears to be. Spook deer don't run near as far

0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:33.720
<v Speaker 2>as you think, and needed the coyotes less than one

0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.160
<v Speaker 2>hundred yards away. We heard some fisticuffs break out between

0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.760
<v Speaker 2>Jeff's dog and the coyote. Nothing vicious, mind you, or

0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:44.120
<v Speaker 2>that lasted very long, more of a meaningful exchange of

0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.880
<v Speaker 2>ideas from two folks who are never going to get along.

0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.080
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes this will lead the coyote back into the game,

0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:54.320
<v Speaker 2>but it's only a remote chance if they get awhiff

0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.960
<v Speaker 2>of human sent before they engage with the dog, and

0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.160
<v Speaker 2>right along with what the law of averages would say,

0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:04.320
<v Speaker 2>he didn't come back out, but we had done what

0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.119
<v Speaker 2>we had set out to do. We made a stand

0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.600
<v Speaker 2>we called in a colt that we could have taken

0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.480
<v Speaker 2>at any point. We just didn't get the dog action

0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.800
<v Speaker 2>we were looking for for our project. It wasn't a

0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:17.719
<v Speaker 2>colt shooting show. It was supposed to be a colt

0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:23.199
<v Speaker 2>decoy dog show and we were just getting started. We

0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.640
<v Speaker 2>deal with rain off and on for the next three days,

0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:28.719
<v Speaker 2>so our hunting time got limited by the weather. In

0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.159
<v Speaker 2>that time, we made about half of the stands that

0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:35.320
<v Speaker 2>we wouldn't normally have done. By hunting from daylight until

0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.000
<v Speaker 2>around noon before it gets too hot, you can feasibly

0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.320
<v Speaker 2>make three stands an hour, which comes to about fifteen.

0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:44.800
<v Speaker 2>Another five hours in the evening will put you at

0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:48.320
<v Speaker 2>thirty stands a day. Not that hard to do when

0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.879
<v Speaker 2>you're not having to drive very far, and we didn't

0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.280
<v Speaker 2>because Jeff had easily half a million acres of private

0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:57.560
<v Speaker 2>land that he had permission to hunt on, access gained

0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:02.000
<v Speaker 2>over thirty years of helping farmers with the code issues.

0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:05.800
<v Speaker 2>I'm not going to reveal how the filming ended because

0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:07.600
<v Speaker 2>i want you to watch it when it comes out

0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.040
<v Speaker 2>next year. I will tell you this that we had

0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.399
<v Speaker 2>some crazy cool hunts, and I missed some shots I

0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.760
<v Speaker 2>shouldn't have, and I made the shot of my life.

0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.040
<v Speaker 1>On the final hunt for the final day.

0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.200
<v Speaker 2>But I also want to share with you the name

0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.360
<v Speaker 2>of a new friend Jeff and I made on this

0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:28.720
<v Speaker 2>reunion hunt of ours, Doctor Drew Ricketts, a professor at

0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:33.960
<v Speaker 2>Kansas State University. Drew's specialty is wildlife biology, and he

0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:38.080
<v Speaker 2>is the extension specialist for wildlife Management and predator Control,

0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.240
<v Speaker 2>which means, if you have problems with predators on your land,

0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.600
<v Speaker 2>Drew is the guy you called who can teach you

0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:47.640
<v Speaker 2>how to deal with issues like that.

0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:48.560
<v Speaker 1>Now, I like that.

0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:51.720
<v Speaker 2>I like the idea of passing the knowledge down for

0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.240
<v Speaker 2>someone else to do it instead of doing it for him.

0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.560
<v Speaker 2>It's like that old shampoo commercial of how the good

0:18:57.600 --> 0:18:58.440
<v Speaker 2>word gets out.

0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.600
<v Speaker 1>You tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and.

0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.880
<v Speaker 2>After a few of those, everybody knows how to deal

0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.840
<v Speaker 2>with the problem. Before you know it, it ain't a problem.

0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:12.720
<v Speaker 2>No more on theory outside of how it works anyway,

0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.520
<v Speaker 2>Drew was invited to be a part of the production to.

0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:17.639
<v Speaker 1>Bring some learned knowledge into the mix.

0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:22.040
<v Speaker 2>The best part about the whole thing, Drew is a

0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:26.480
<v Speaker 2>decoy dog hunter himself. Drew added a lot of great

0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.400
<v Speaker 2>information to the project, and we're already planning a more

0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:33.400
<v Speaker 2>in depth interview podcast about what I'm fixing the lightly

0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:34.200
<v Speaker 2>touch on here.

0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:36.760
<v Speaker 1>I found it fascinating, and I hope you do too.

0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:39.159
<v Speaker 1>Give me a.

0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:41.639
<v Speaker 2>Show of hands out there as to how many of

0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:45.159
<v Speaker 2>you have seen the meme on social media that shows

0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.320
<v Speaker 2>a coute on top of a pyramid of deer fons

0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:53.600
<v Speaker 2>that says during dinning season, studies show the female codes

0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:59.480
<v Speaker 2>average killing nineteen phones each to feed their offspring. And

0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:04.159
<v Speaker 2>then it ends with keep doing the workfellas, which is

0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:07.040
<v Speaker 2>an encouragement to keep the coltes and check. Now that's

0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:12.200
<v Speaker 2>an activity I fully support, but not for those reasons now,

0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:17.400
<v Speaker 2>because those aren't facts, not even close, and I always

0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:21.359
<v Speaker 2>thought they were. Doctor Ricketts, Jeff and I talked at

0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.879
<v Speaker 2>length about how he came to the conclusion that that

0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:30.560
<v Speaker 2>meme was bogus. Guess what he showed his math, He

0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:33.439
<v Speaker 2>showed the work he did, how he got there, And

0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:35.600
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to sneak peek it here for the folks

0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:39.360
<v Speaker 2>that are curious and make the non believers mad with facts.

0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:41.600
<v Speaker 1>It's one of my favorite things to do.

0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:47.800
<v Speaker 2>Simply put, there there aren't enough deer in Kansas to

0:20:47.880 --> 0:20:52.200
<v Speaker 2>make that math work. The actual figure of farm loss

0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:57.800
<v Speaker 2>to colts isn't nineteen falls per year. It's zero zero

0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:03.040
<v Speaker 2>point six y five falls deaths per could. That's like

0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:08.200
<v Speaker 2>a half a deer a ratio. If anyone out there

0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:10.440
<v Speaker 2>is old enough to remember that Andy Griffith show. Now

0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:17.840
<v Speaker 2>is when you say poor ratio any anyway, zero point

0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:20.399
<v Speaker 2>six y five is a long way from nineteen as

0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:22.080
<v Speaker 2>a matter of fact, which is what I like to

0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:24.960
<v Speaker 2>deal in when I can. It's eighteen point three to

0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.920
<v Speaker 2>five deer away from facts. The deal is that couches

0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:32.200
<v Speaker 2>do cause a problem, and the couts that respond to

0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:36.320
<v Speaker 2>cause during dinners season are the ones most likely to

0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:41.040
<v Speaker 2>cause their problems on farms, ranches, backyards.

0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:40.960
<v Speaker 1>And deer leases.

0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:44.679
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to wait neck deep into that subject and

0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:48.199
<v Speaker 2>a lot of others pertaining too, these interesting creatures and

0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:50.879
<v Speaker 2>how they affect the landscape. When doctor Ricketts and I

0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:55.159
<v Speaker 2>sat down and discuss it in detail very soon, I

0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:59.160
<v Speaker 2>think you'll be surprised at how the numbers really shake

0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:01.199
<v Speaker 2>out on these curious animals.

0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:02.000
<v Speaker 1>I know I was.

0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:04.600
<v Speaker 2>They're very interesting and I learned a lot and I

0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:05.400
<v Speaker 2>think you will too.

0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:07.600
<v Speaker 1>But that's a wrap for this one.

0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:10.399
<v Speaker 2>I appreciate y'all so much for listening to all of

0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:13.160
<v Speaker 2>us on the Bear Grease Channel until next week.

0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:16.800
<v Speaker 1>This is Brent Reed signing off. Y'all be careful.