1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,279 Speaker 1: All right, everybody right up top here before anything happens. 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: I owe everyone listening a huge thank you. A couple 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: episodes ago, we released an episode called Begging and Pleading 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: re Ducts. In that episode announced the release of our 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: latest book title, The Meat Eater Guide to Wilderness Skills 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: and Survival, in which I had gone on the pot, 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: in which the podcast episode that is, I had implored 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: you to make the purchase not only for your own benefit, 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: but because I have a lifelong dream of having one 10 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: of my titles hit the New York Times bestseller list, 11 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: and you guys knocked it out of the park. The 12 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: mea Eater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival debut as 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: number four on the New York Times Bestseller List. So 14 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: thank you to everyone who went out and bought a book. 15 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: It's still for sale, it's still a good book, but 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: you did it. Thank you. This is Me Eater Podcast 17 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: coming in you shirtless, severely bog bitten, in my case, 18 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: underwear listening podcast. You Can't Predict Anything presented by on X. 19 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: Hunt creators are the most comprehensive digital mapping system for hunters. 20 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: Download the Hunt app from the iTunes or Google Play store. 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: Nor where you stand with on X. All right, we're joined. 22 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: I hate to say this, people, I hate to say it, 23 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: but we're joined remotely. It's like the COVID deah COVID. 24 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: We're joined remotely by Clay Newcomb Newcombe h and Mark 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: back Forty, Kenyon Houdy Clay. How you doing, man, I'm 26 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: doing good, doing very good. Mark? Are you well? Arrested 27 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: right now? Finally, for the first time about a month, 28 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: I do feel arrested. It's been a been a busy 29 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: spell here. So the last two days I got to 30 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: sleep in and that like, uh, you being like, um, 31 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: you know, kind of a like a white tailed rut 32 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: fanatical kind of guy. Um, there's there's still raging around though, 33 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: So why are you resting now? Yeah, So it's kind 34 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: of just I'm not completely resting. I'm gonna start hunting 35 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: again tomorrow. But I needed to take a couple of 36 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: days because the last thirty I've hunted of the last 37 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: thirty days, so starting October that was when it all 38 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,519 Speaker 1: got crazy. So I got to see my wife and 39 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: kids a little bit, get a little sleep, and then uh, 40 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: and then yeah, I'll get back after it. I need 41 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: a good job like a job like you got, Mark, 42 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: I'm work. I'm still getting the regular working too. Don't worry, 43 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: it's just after dark. It's amazing what one day of 44 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: sleeping in will do for you after you've been pounding 45 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: the daylight hunting. I've got an equation. I think one 46 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,239 Speaker 1: morning of sleeping in makes up for ten days of hunting. 47 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: It's amazing what one little break can do. Yeah, I agree, Yeah, 48 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: that's true. You come back pretty reagged and recovered pretty quick, 49 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: and it almost makes you think like you could build 50 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: a system out of it, and it's worth it. I have. 51 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: I used to think that I would feel really guilty 52 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: if I wasn't hunting every single possible moment I could, 53 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: But I think that you get that eventual point of 54 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: diminishing returns where you you go ten days straight and 55 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: you've just lost focus and you've lost some edge. If 56 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: you get that one morning, it's totally worth sacrificing four 57 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: hours of hunting to get the much you know, much 58 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: more effective seven more days after that. I think, Uh. 59 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: The thing that messes with me about it is all there. 60 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: There's a lot of really compelling research um that sleeping 61 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: is real, real good for you. And that there's possible links. 62 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: And I usually hate when people say there's possible links 63 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:24,799 Speaker 1: between you know this and that. But um, early onset 64 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: dimension stuff man from not sleeping enough. M hm, like 65 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: you need to do it. And I used to not 66 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: do it much, and when I did, I was mostly 67 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: kind of like sleeping, like like a lot of times 68 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: they kind of hung over and whatnot. Now I try 69 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: to really prioritize, uh, getting enough sleep. Do you know 70 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: what your magic number is? A lot of people kind 71 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: of feel like they find that sweets about how much 72 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: they need every night. Yeah, but I'm embarrassed to say 73 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: eight hours. Dude, you don't need about that eight hours. 74 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: Did you guys catch this news this news item ott 75 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: of Wyoming? In Wyoming, they have are you Are you 76 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: guys similar with the one shot the one shot Antelope Hunt? Yeah, 77 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: I know that. I'm an alumni, an alum of the 78 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: one shot so for eighty years in Lander, Wyoming, the 79 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: governor of So for eighty years in a row. I 80 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: think it's been like what sixteen governors or something have 81 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: been involved in this. Uh. They host this antelop punt 82 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: and you have these like it's very uh. In describing it. 83 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: It can sound a little compromised, but it's like this. 84 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: You have these teams, right, and the governor hosts it. 85 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: It raises money for some habitat improvement work. UM. The 86 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: governor hostet and all these groups come out and you 87 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: make these little teams, and the teams go out to 88 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: hunt antelope and even get special game commission analope tags. Right, 89 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: the teams come out to hunt antelope and uh, you 90 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: gotta you can only shoot once. Okay, if you shoot 91 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: more than once, you can't, You're you're disqualified. So everybody 92 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 1: has to shoot one time and get an antelope. And 93 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: so if you're group of three people can go out 94 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: and fire three shots one eat, one shot for each 95 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: of you and get an antelope any basically throughout the 96 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: whole day. There's like a timing element to it. But 97 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,160 Speaker 1: basically if you can accomplish that and all three people 98 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: get one with one shot, you have a very good 99 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: chance of of winning. And they do it in conjunction 100 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,359 Speaker 1: with UM a local tribe, and there's all these like 101 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: banquets and everything. I did this a couple of years 102 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: ago where I was invited by UH so, I was 103 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: invited by Colorado's governor, and I went with a former 104 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 1: Special Forces soldier who's on our team. He said he 105 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: likes to get ringers. M So it's me a Special 106 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: Forces guy and him and we went out and did 107 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: this thing. Now, at that time, there was starting to 108 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,239 Speaker 1: be a lot of like heat, a lot of heat 109 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: on the one shot Annelope Hunt Club because it was 110 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: dudes only, bros only, and had been dudes only for 111 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: eighty years. And like usually I do all kinds of 112 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: things with just guys that just happens to be just guys, 113 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: but I usually would shy away from anything meant to 114 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: be just guys. Like the minute someone says it's just guys, 115 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, it gives me a creepy feeling. 116 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,679 Speaker 1: Like anything like just for men or like a men's 117 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: club or a men's group, I'm like, home, why you mean? 118 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: Like if I wanted to bring my super good buddy 119 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: who's a woman, she can't come. It's against the rule. 120 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: It just strikes me as so weird, right, I'm surprised 121 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: that was still the case. Well, with a lot of 122 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: old stuff that's been going on a long time, Like 123 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: I honestly, honestly didn't put too much thought into it 124 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: because there's so much like culturally, there's so many old 125 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: institutions that are dudes only that it's almost like it's 126 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: not like it's stand it's beginning to stand out. But 127 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: for a long time it didn't like stand out because 128 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: my old man, uh like growing up mild man belonged 129 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: to well, he's big at he liked to go to 130 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: drink at the VFW after you ice fished, and that 131 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: wasn't men only, but at that time it was men only. 132 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: And then he belonged to a thing called the Wise Men, 133 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: like a philanthropic group that raised money for the y, 134 00:08:57,679 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: and you had to be a dude to be a 135 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: wise man. And then his church group was for dudes only, 136 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: like his particular group within the church was a dude 137 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: only group. Like if a woman wanted to go, they 138 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: would like not let her go. So it was very 139 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:21,239 Speaker 1: it's like very to me, right or wrong, very normal, appearing, 140 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: normal feeling to have like these gender exclusive things. I 141 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: didn't pay much attention to it, but when I went, 142 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: I was just the buzz. There's buzz around two issues. 143 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: There's buzz around that these people that participated got these 144 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: dedicated tags which chapped the asses of a lot of 145 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: people around town who are like, I have to draw 146 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: the permit, but like if people go to this, they 147 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: like get permits, and that that was irritating to something 148 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:56,839 Speaker 1: And was this like a unit that was tough to 149 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: draw otherwise and it would have been but a good unit, 150 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: a good union, and it would have been invitation only 151 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: sum you have to apply. But I was there like 152 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 1: I was invited. So the governor of Wyoming always has 153 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: a team. The governor Colorado always has a team. This 154 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 1: has always been like the thing. The new governor of 155 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: Colorado apparently the first guy and forever like the new 156 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:28,439 Speaker 1: governor of Colorado his uh I gathered that his husband 157 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: is um big anti hunter. Yeah, so this dude isn't 158 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: going and he broke the whole tradition of it being 159 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: like the governor of Wyoming and the governor of Colorado 160 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: hunting together. I was there like like I had met 161 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: Wyoming's This gets a little complicated. I was at a concert. 162 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: I was at an event one time where Wyoming's governor 163 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,600 Speaker 1: Matt Mead in Colorado, those governor John Hick and Looper 164 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,800 Speaker 1: who are who are friendly and there on the other 165 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: sides of the political spectrum, but they're friendly in respect, 166 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: you know, respectful to one another. I met them both, like, 167 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: we had a cocktail one time at of an event 168 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: where they were being honored for their collaborative work around 169 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: sage grouse habitat Okay. So they were being honored as 170 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: this like Democrat and Republican who set their differences aside 171 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: and came together around sage grouse work and habitat work. 172 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: So I shot the ship with both of them, and 173 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: afterward I was invited to go down and do this deal. 174 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 1: So here I get one of these tags, and I 175 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:49,439 Speaker 1: don't do ship to get it. I just get it, okay. 176 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: So you someone could look and say, oh, that's not fair. 177 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: But then the Wyoming Game Commission um they put like 178 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: apparently they put value on this sort of like collaborative 179 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: conservation thing that has been going on for eighty years 180 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: and fuels a lot of economic activity in the area 181 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: and brings different politicians and figures together to in this 182 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: like collaborative mood of doing habitat work. So right, like everything, 183 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: like everything, there's two sides of the story. But the 184 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: women thing was just becoming an issue, and they started 185 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: like somehow they got other commission tags to start, like 186 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: a woman's antalope hunt. So now you've created Now they 187 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: had like two of these things at this point. Now 188 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: this new story just came out that now for the 189 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: first time since nine women will be allowed to compete 190 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: in the twenty one lander one shot antelope hunt. So 191 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,839 Speaker 1: they combined them, they didn't. I don't know if they 192 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: officially combined them or if they got competitive, you know, 193 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: remember like when I don't know if it's like a 194 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: situation where remember how the UM girl Scouts and boy 195 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: Scouts gotten a little piss and match because the boy 196 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: scouts were gonna let girls into the boy Scouts and 197 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: that piste off the girl scouts. I don't know. I 198 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: don't know enough about what went on, but a lot 199 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: of people are applauding this, even even like people who 200 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: are participating the Another body of mine sent this article 201 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: to me, and he had done the one shot UM 202 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,439 Speaker 1: and had a good time there. He was also a governor. 203 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: He was like on a governor team. He had done 204 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: the one shot and thought that this is a step 205 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: in the right direction. So it's like a similar all 206 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:48,559 Speaker 1: women like you can have all women beyond a team 207 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: or you can have you know, men women groups. And 208 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,839 Speaker 1: the way this thing works is you apply. So when 209 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,320 Speaker 1: I was there, like some there was like I think 210 00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:00,839 Speaker 1: some a group of firefighters right had applied to come 211 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: down and they were accepted into it. And like I said, 212 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:09,080 Speaker 1: a lot of banquets and elbow robin, what's the what's 213 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: the prize? What do you get if you win this thing? Oh? 214 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: I think that the Governor's I know, between the two governors, 215 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: there's this statue, this little ship and statue of an antelope, 216 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: and it lives at the governor's mansion and it swaps 217 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: back and forth, and there's a lot of spirited uh, 218 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: there's a lot of spirited you know, rivalry around who 219 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: did it? So when I was on it, it went 220 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: to it flew home with the Colorado governor. M hm, 221 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: so say it again, I says, Colorado is not gonna 222 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: have a team. Then this year I heard that the 223 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: governor of Colorado, hick and Looper always took a lot 224 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: of heat. You know, it could potentially take a lot 225 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: of heat, and took some heat. And after hick and 226 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: Looper had gotten involved in some things that uh, Hicky 227 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: Looper had gotten involved in some gun control measures that 228 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: were very unpopular with hunters and gun owners. And when 229 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: I was there with uh, when I was there with him, 230 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: that was an issue, and I thought it was um 231 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: bold of him to go right, but he went and 232 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: took it and tried to you know, and and like 233 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: that collaborative spirit even though people being on different sides 234 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: of the aisle on such an important issue. Um yeah 235 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: he But yeah, now apparently the Colorado's governor won't go well. 236 00:15:55,280 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: And just I say that some women tend to better 237 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: long range shooters than men when it comes to like 238 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: sitting on a bench. You know, if you were to 239 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: like train man and a woman the same a lot 240 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: of times, that woman would be a better shot. Have 241 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: you heard that? I mean, I don't know why that 242 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't be true, But no, I don't. I don't know that. 243 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: I don't know that I've heard that. You've heard that 244 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't kind of surprise me. I've heard that from a 245 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: guy that that had a long range shooting school. He 246 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: told me that. Yeah, I wanna Danielle Prewitt, who man her? 247 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: Have you guys made Daniell's Um, have you guys made 248 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: Daniell's Uh, whiskey butter sauce heart recipe just looking at it. 249 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: But I haven't tried to ship man anyhow. She did 250 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: though she did the I think she did the woman's 251 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: one shot aloud. I gonna ask Danielle I should have 252 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: I'm gonna see if Danielle and Karin our producer. I 253 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: feel like they should apply and go down apply for 254 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:17,480 Speaker 1: the old boys one get a little team going go 255 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: on down there. Yeah, she'd place up. Can you are 256 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: you allowed to ever go back against Eve or is 257 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: it a once in a lifetime opportunity? No? I was allowed. Weirdly, 258 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: yeah you are, and there's all these stipulations to it, 259 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,439 Speaker 1: but you are. Um, and it's it works in various ways. 260 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: But just for scheduling and other reasons, I was not 261 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:47,880 Speaker 1: able to go um. Someone tried. There was a because 262 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:53,719 Speaker 1: Hick and Looper, Uh, Hick and Loopers U in Colorado. 263 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 1: You know, he's kind of a centrist, so he won 264 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: the he went from he turned out as a governor 265 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: in Colorado and just took a sentence. See he's a 266 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 1: centrist Democrat, right, So he gets a lot of heat 267 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 1: from the left and he gets a lot of heat 268 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:13,879 Speaker 1: from the right. Um, someone had done. Uh. There was 269 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: a little bit of a hit piece out on Hick 270 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: and Looper for have for um, a hit piece out 271 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: on him for having participated in the one shot. Well 272 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: did he do you know if he killed Nlop with 273 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: one shot? I mean that's the main thing I think. Well, 274 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: here's the thing. No, he did not. He did not. 275 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:43,120 Speaker 1: And I heard that back the other direction, if you Yeah, 276 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: I had heard people say there was like grumblings, Um, 277 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: I should ask him about this. There was grumblings some 278 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: people either like I don't the guy doesn't do it, 279 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: Like I don't. Think it's like an avid hunter. There's 280 00:18:55,800 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: grumblings that he throws his shots. Yeah, yeah, that's I 281 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: was going. It's like I went. But so the reason 282 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: but the reason he got to return with the statue, 283 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,359 Speaker 1: with the to bring it back to his I think 284 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:14,879 Speaker 1: he had had the thing in the first place. It 285 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: was like he has it in his office quite a lot, 286 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: or had it in his office quite a lot. I 287 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: think the reason he got to do it is because, 288 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 1: like I said, he brought in some ringers, you know, 289 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: And um, so I did. I got mine very I 290 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: got one early in the morning and this former Green beret. 291 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 1: He got one early in the morning. UM. And then 292 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: Hick and Looper did not get one. UM. But then 293 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 1: Governor mead the way it worked was like he can't 294 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: fill he can't get all ringers. Like he gets a 295 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,679 Speaker 1: signed there's some weird tradition where he could to sign 296 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: someone like and like like some person who's been involved 297 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: for a long time gets as signed to him. And 298 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:13,879 Speaker 1: I think he can only get one ringer. You're tracking me. 299 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: It's a strange institution. Oh, listen, listen, you don't. Yes, 300 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: I had quite a good time. I had quite a 301 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: good time. But yeah, and they you know, they're evolving 302 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: with the times. Do you think is that is? This 303 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,919 Speaker 1: is this thing pretty well received by the people in Colorado? 304 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: And I mean because it kind of it does kind 305 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 1: of make people uncomfortable sometimes these even the governor tags 306 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: and and I understand, Yeah, it's controversial. It's controversial for sure. 307 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: I didn't like. I didn't. I'm guilty of having not 308 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: known what it was until I was until I was invited, 309 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: and I didn't give it. I didn't spend too much 310 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: time on it. Um. When I got invited, I called 311 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: Rourke Denver because Rurk Denver had who's a former Seal 312 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 1: Rourke Denver had been brought down there by Governor Mead 313 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: as as a ringer on that side, and he got you. 314 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: You were recruited as a ringer though, Is that true? Well? 315 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: Are you are you questioning the lot that? Are you 316 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,159 Speaker 1: saying that that wasn't Are you Are you trying to 317 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: consulting to me? No? No, no, no no no. I 318 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,480 Speaker 1: just I mean, you know, you're like making a little 319 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: dig I mean, I guess I'm just kind of like, 320 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: you know, like an NBA draft. You know, it's like 321 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: first round draft picks like that, dude's a ringer. You 322 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: get into the second round and it's like, you know, 323 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,119 Speaker 1: he's good enough to play an NBA, but he's not. 324 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: These references, these NBA references are gonna fall flat on Steve. 325 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: He's not following you. I know, I know, I know 326 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: that's not true because I just watched um the last 327 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:12,200 Speaker 1: dance M fascinating, dude. I now know everything about basketball. 328 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: I know all about the field they play onsten that 329 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 1: was a little dig clay and all I can say. 330 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: All I can say is, let's just take a look 331 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: at the facts. At daybreak at daybreak, I got a buck. Yeah, 332 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: can I argue with that? The cold gray lighted on? Yeah, 333 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,239 Speaker 1: I'm with you. How far was the shot? How far 334 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:49,239 Speaker 1: was the shot? Too? Okay, one seventy six? Maybe if 335 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: I remember digging back in the old memory bank. Mm 336 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: hmm what like what dude, Phil, can you cut him off? Yeah? 337 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: Clay is getting little old. It's like wow, man, for 338 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: he like half quarantined. And then I gotta have like, 339 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: all right, so that's a great that's a great shot. Man. 340 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: Too late, buddy, too late? Uh? Yeah, this is this 341 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: is this is coming from a guy who lives in 342 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: a state you can't see more than fifty yards in 343 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 1: any direction. Yeah, like a long shot for me is 344 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: like a you know, twenty two yard traditional archery shot. 345 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: So I uh, I for the first time in quite 346 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:47,879 Speaker 1: a while missed a big game animal with a rifle 347 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,680 Speaker 1: this year. And now I'm not saying that all my 348 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: hits are great hits, because that's definitely not true. But 349 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: just to like flat out um to flat out miss 350 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: really shook me up. Man. You know, I thought you 351 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: guys did. Uh. Your description of all the factors that 352 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: went into that miss was pretty compelling, though, I mean, 353 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: you know, the the length of the hair, you know, 354 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,440 Speaker 1: the you know, there were a couple there were two 355 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: factors I think that were causing you to maybe shoot 356 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 1: a little bit high. That had to do with the 357 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: with the gun itself. And so anyway, I appreciated the 358 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: in depth look into the miss and I didn't want to. 359 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:32,879 Speaker 1: I didn't really want to bring that up. But you know, 360 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 1: you're Clay's referring to a previous episode called the Miss 361 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 1: and the Return. Um, Clay, what is the name of 362 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: the now like super famous bear that that that has 363 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: roamed into your home state there? Yeah, Bruno. It's a 364 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,160 Speaker 1: bear named Bruno. You're familiar with the legacy of Pedals 365 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: the bear, right, yes, Yeah, in New Jersey was missing 366 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: the front leg, would walk on two legs all over 367 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,320 Speaker 1: all over the place. Yeah, he had a real penchant 368 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: free and bird seed. I'm talking about pedals. Clay is 369 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,920 Speaker 1: going to tell us the saga of Bruno the Bear 370 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:17,800 Speaker 1: in a minute. Here. It was like now and then 371 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: a bear really makes the news, and right now Bruno 372 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: is in the spotlight. But Pedals the bear had some 373 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: sort of deformity um where it would walk around a 374 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: fair bit on its behind legs. Yeah, you know, we 375 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: had a to put a pause on pedals for a minute. 376 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,920 Speaker 1: When we were floating a river up in Alaska this 377 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:52,320 Speaker 1: year looking for moose. We had a sow grizzly who 378 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: was irritated with us, stand up on her back feet 379 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: and just swinging her pause wildly and agitation, but a 380 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: hundred yards away. Have you ever seen that? I never have? Yeah, 381 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: like shadow boxing, like like shadow like swiping her paws, 382 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:18,680 Speaker 1: like just all worked up and stood there for a 383 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: remarkably long time. M hmm. And then later kind of 384 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,639 Speaker 1: around the next bend, kind of like half charged of raft, 385 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: all worked up so pebbles and petals would get around 386 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: on his back feet and he got real famous around 387 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: New Jersey. Um, and it was very popular with like 388 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,919 Speaker 1: New Jersey cat ladies and whatnot. So then some dude 389 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: New Jersey had a bear hunting season and some dude 390 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: knowingly or unknowingly, I don't know what, shoots petals and 391 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: New Jersey has this kind of awful practice, had this 392 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 1: maybe Yeah, the governor New Jersey, if you if you 393 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:03,920 Speaker 1: live there, like, don't vote for that dude ever. Again. 394 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: The Governor New Jersey sort of ran on an anti 395 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: bear hunting platform, like a plank in his platform was 396 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: to be anti bear hunting. Yeah, just a joke of 397 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: a position, and you know, contradicting his own state phishing 398 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: game agency. So he Uh, they had this unsavory practice 399 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 1: which is like where you had to go to these 400 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: check stations when you're bear hunting, and they would allow 401 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 1: like like open to the public, so people could go 402 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: down and like get riled up about. So if a 403 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: hunter goes out legally kills a bear and is trying 404 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 1: to you know, follow the letter of the law and 405 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: bring the bear into a check station, you gotta go 406 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:54,120 Speaker 1: in there and deal with hecklers. You know. It would 407 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: be like if if planned parenthood, Like you could come 408 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 1: into the lobby if you didn't like what they had 409 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:02,719 Speaker 1: going on in there and standing a lot, Like how 410 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,439 Speaker 1: would that go over with people just asking for trouble? 411 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: So yeah, Pedals everybody had a ship fit. There was 412 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: even a newspaper that ran an obituary on Pedals and um, 413 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:25,360 Speaker 1: I read that he was assassinated. Wow, you know there's 414 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: there's some new stuff with that. Steve. You probably you 415 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: may have seen it. We we ran an article in 416 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 1: it about it. But he's so it's the guy's name 417 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: is Phil Murphy, and he is who's the guy named 418 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:44,479 Speaker 1: Phil Murphy? Phil Murphy? Sorry, yeah, Governor of New Jersey's 419 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: name is Phil Murphy, and he has vowed that in 420 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: one there will be no bear season in New Jersey 421 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 1: and on state land. Right, that's right, But you can 422 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: still hunt on private land, which quite a bit of 423 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: bear hunting in New Jersey does take place on private lands. 424 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: Hasn't totally shut it down, but you know, obviously all 425 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: the game officials are trying to find ways to manage 426 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: this large population of bears, which is it's a super 427 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: dense population of bears and people. So I mean, it 428 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 1: just you know, I mean we're preaching to the choir 429 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,040 Speaker 1: talking about it here, but I mean it just makes 430 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,959 Speaker 1: common sense. It just makes rational sense from every single 431 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: perspective that that hunters would manage that bear population. But uh, yeah, 432 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: it's a it's a sticky situation. Does new do you 433 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: guys know someone could even look real quick, does New 434 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: Jersey have the have have they gotten the right to 435 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: hunting fish? Uh? Constitutional amendment? I don't know that one. 436 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: We'll find that out in a second, So start telling 437 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,479 Speaker 1: us about Bruno the Bear, who's now like the latest 438 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: Internet Darling. Yeah, so it kind of here here's the timeline, Steve, 439 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: and here here is what we believe has happened. Some 440 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: of some of this is like very documentable, some of 441 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: it is speculation. But so Bruno the bear they believe 442 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: came out of northern Wisconsin. And I've talked to multiple 443 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: people about this that are in the know. I've talked 444 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: to the Arkansas bar biologist, Missouri bar biologist, and another 445 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:25,400 Speaker 1: guy named Darryl Radajack and who's a biologist who's kind 446 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: of covered the whole story of Bruno the Bear. But basically, 447 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: in as I understanding, northern Wisconsin would be where most 448 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: of the bared density, you know, high bared density areas 449 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: are Southern Wisconsin would be like farm ground in in 450 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: southern Wisconsin. They started noticing this bear traveling through urban 451 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 1: areas and agricultural areas, and it was enough of of 452 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 1: oddity that people in southern Wisconsin started saying, Hey, there's 453 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: a bear in an odd place. Okay, that bear gained 454 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: some recognition on he's wearing a collar. The bear to 455 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 1: this day has no tracking collar. The bear he does 456 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: not Okay, the bear. Let me just give you the 457 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,240 Speaker 1: general overview and then we can talk about the details. 458 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: The bear traveled from what they believe northern Wisconsin into 459 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 1: southern Wisconsin, into Iowa, crossed, swam the Mississippi River into 460 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: Illinois state. In Illinois for some time, swam the Mississippi 461 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 1: River again. All this is very I mean, people videoed 462 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,720 Speaker 1: him doing this. Came back into Iowa, and then in 463 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:47,360 Speaker 1: early July ended up in Missouri. Traveled, traveled south in Missouri, 464 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:53,920 Speaker 1: basically got himself cornered into a very populated area north 465 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: of St. Louis, where the bear would had no way 466 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,280 Speaker 1: out other than the across major interstate highways. The Missouri 467 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 1: Department of Conservation sends their bear team in. They capture 468 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: the bear, sedate the bear, and take the bear to 469 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: southern Missouri where they have a a population of bears 470 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:23,800 Speaker 1: and good bear habitat. So they, you know, the Missouri 471 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: Department of Conservation, they handled this bear just like they 472 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: would have any other, you know, nuisance bears. I'm trying 473 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 1: to take the perspective of the listener here, as a 474 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:43,440 Speaker 1: listener to this story, what is it without a distinguishing markings. 475 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 1: I just assumed it had a collar on, because how 476 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: in the hell else would they know? Like, what is 477 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 1: it doing that? People are like, Oh, there he is, 478 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 1: that's him. Okay. I asked the exact same question to 479 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: Darryl Raderjack and he said that the bear has an 480 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 1: uncanny desire to walk down roads, to walk through crop fields, 481 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: and basically to stay extremely visible and to be undeterred 482 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: by humans. Man, I'm serious. There are videos with forty 483 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 1: fifty people standing relatively close to this bear, like following it, 484 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: and it's a four to five year old male. They think, 485 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:26,200 Speaker 1: so it's I mean, it's a good sized male. It's 486 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: not a young male, which is odd because usually a 487 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,120 Speaker 1: dispersing male would be a young one. That's what's so 488 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: odd about this is this is an adult male. The 489 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 1: only time it's been marked was when the Missouri guys 490 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: got it. They put in they put ear tags in 491 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:43,200 Speaker 1: it that are distinguishable. Okay, Can I can I add? 492 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: Can I add another thing in here too? That, um 493 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: the has to do with this, the Wisconsin component of this. 494 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,320 Speaker 1: Real quick. We've had Dr Carl Malcolm on the show 495 00:33:55,400 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 1: many times when Carl is a bear researcher. Came early 496 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 1: in his career, he was a bear researcher and did 497 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 1: a lot of work on looking at these bears that 498 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:14,719 Speaker 1: were coming out of northern Wisconsin um into southern Wisconsin 499 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 1: and how successful they were. He had this thing about 500 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:24,959 Speaker 1: this animal he named the Wisconsin supersow that put off, 501 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: put off and raised to one pounds two litters of 502 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 1: five cubs mhm. In such a mild climate in southern 503 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: Wisconsin that when she went to hibernate, she would just 504 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 1: lay down under a tree mhm. And if you look 505 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:56,359 Speaker 1: at bear, I think it's helping with this story. If 506 00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,360 Speaker 1: you look at like bear populations and clay, you know 507 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:01,080 Speaker 1: this way better me you can speak to this for 508 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 1: people that it's like it's like bear black bear populations 509 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,760 Speaker 1: in the country aren't aren't like intuitive and it's patchy. 510 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:12,680 Speaker 1: You know. If you look at like moose, right, you 511 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:14,279 Speaker 1: look and be like, Okay, there's a bunch of moose 512 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 1: across the north or whatever. Right with bears, there's like 513 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:23,640 Speaker 1: they're here and they're there, there's holes in between, and 514 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,840 Speaker 1: it might not make immediate sense to someone right like 515 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: how could you have why do you have bears in 516 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 1: Arkansas Missouri? But then north there could be holes in 517 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 1: their distribution to the northeast, south, and west right, So 518 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,560 Speaker 1: if you don't mind speaking to that a little bit. So, 519 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:46,359 Speaker 1: the the natural range of the black bear in North 520 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:50,320 Speaker 1: America was would have been from the Atlantic Ocean to 521 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,719 Speaker 1: the Pacific Ocean, from the boreal forest all the way 522 00:35:53,800 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: down into Mexico with a small, a sizeable hole in 523 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,759 Speaker 1: the Great Plains. Okay, but all these populations would have 524 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:08,920 Speaker 1: been connected, you know, pre European settlement. And so now 525 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 1: just with urban urbanization, fragmentation of wilderness just that has 526 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,960 Speaker 1: happened with civilization. We now just have these pockets of 527 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: really quality bear habitat and it's it's relatively big. I mean, 528 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: there there's surprisingly for such a large carnivore. There's a 529 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,080 Speaker 1: lot of black bears, and black bears are thriving. But 530 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:32,320 Speaker 1: what it does create is what they'd call in the 531 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: biology world Alipatrick populations, meaning like isolated populations like for instance, 532 00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:44,200 Speaker 1: like the Arkansas, Oklahoma, Southern Missouri bear population they would 533 00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:47,880 Speaker 1: have said was an Alpatrick population. That population is not 534 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:52,880 Speaker 1: breeding with bears from East Tennessee, that that population is 535 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: not breeding with bears from northern Wisconsin. But That's what's 536 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,800 Speaker 1: so crazy about this is that now we're seeing like 537 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:06,040 Speaker 1: a connection between these really vastly separated populations of bears. 538 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,839 Speaker 1: And so this bear ends up in Arkansas, I mean 539 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:12,040 Speaker 1: to to fit to kind of give the whole macro view. 540 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 1: The bear started in northern Wisconsin and is today in Arkansas. 541 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:22,640 Speaker 1: And the question how many just linear. I think it's 542 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:25,680 Speaker 1: around a thousand miles. And so here here's the most 543 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:29,560 Speaker 1: interesting thing, Steve, is that there's with talking to all 544 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:32,040 Speaker 1: these biologists. I just asked him, like, what do you 545 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 1: why do you think this bear did this? And there 546 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:39,600 Speaker 1: was some interesting responses like a bear disperses for two reasons, 547 00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 1: to find new territory because he's being pushed out of 548 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 1: his territory, or to find mate. To find a mate, 549 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:51,239 Speaker 1: or to find a food source. And essentially, Darryl said, 550 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,160 Speaker 1: if this bear was looking for a mate, he wouldn't 551 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:55,920 Speaker 1: have had to go all the way to Arkansas. He 552 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,480 Speaker 1: could have stopped in southern Missouri. Like he passed through 553 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:03,160 Speaker 1: lots of like pretty good bear areas, so he clearly 554 00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:06,480 Speaker 1: wasn't looking for mate. He wasn't looking for food because 555 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,279 Speaker 1: he passed through all kinds of great food sources, and 556 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:13,000 Speaker 1: he's an older male, so he wasn't dispersing just to 557 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:15,120 Speaker 1: find new territory, or he would have just found new 558 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 1: territory in southern Wisconsin. The only thing that makes any 559 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,239 Speaker 1: sense from a biological perspective is what they call the 560 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:25,000 Speaker 1: homing instinct on these bears, which they relocate these bears 561 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,800 Speaker 1: all the time when they get in nuisance trouble, you know, 562 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:30,759 Speaker 1: so they'll they'll bearrel be getting in trouble, you know, 563 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 1: digging into somebody's trash can. They'll capture that bear. They'll 564 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,800 Speaker 1: drive it thirty forty miles away, turn it loose, and 565 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:38,800 Speaker 1: the next day the barrel be there eating out of 566 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:42,920 Speaker 1: that trash can. Again. There's so many incredible stories up 567 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:45,400 Speaker 1: to you know, guys taking bears a hundred and fifty 568 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 1: miles away and that bear ended up back. This bear 569 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:53,560 Speaker 1: acted like he was coming home. That's that's the only 570 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:57,400 Speaker 1: like biological driver. The way he was just headed due south. 571 00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,200 Speaker 1: There was nothing I'm looking at it now like if 572 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:04,719 Speaker 1: you remove any zigzagging around, he covered between seven and 573 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:09,319 Speaker 1: eight hundred miles as the crow flies. Yeah, yeah, hey. 574 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: In in that whole time, Steve, he never got into 575 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:17,040 Speaker 1: any nuisance trouble, that that that thing walked on roads. 576 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:21,440 Speaker 1: It chose populated areas rather than like walking in like 577 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:27,040 Speaker 1: river drainages. So Tomyron means the Arkansas Bear Coordinator. He 578 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:30,879 Speaker 1: told me that to his knowledge, the bear never got 579 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,440 Speaker 1: a single nuisance call, Like, it didn't go on people's porches. 580 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,960 Speaker 1: It ate natural food. It kept its nose out of 581 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,800 Speaker 1: the out of the you know, out of the bad stuff. 582 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:55,880 Speaker 1: That's incredible. Okay, now here's here's the coolest part. So 583 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:58,680 Speaker 1: if the bear was coming home, why did he like, 584 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:00,919 Speaker 1: how did he get up there? And there's a theory. 585 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:04,839 Speaker 1: And you're gonna like this theory, Steve, it's it's it's 586 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 1: it's crazy. There is a theory that this bear got 587 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:14,279 Speaker 1: trapped in a grain barge on the Mississippi River in 588 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:20,640 Speaker 1: Arkansas and he was transported up the Mississippi River, got 589 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:25,479 Speaker 1: out into Wisconsin and has been on a journey back home. 590 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:30,320 Speaker 1: I love that's well, you know what, there's a story 591 00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:34,480 Speaker 1: you guys grew up reading about Paul Revere, right yeah, 592 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,200 Speaker 1: one by land too, by sea. You know the British 593 00:40:38,239 --> 00:40:45,759 Speaker 1: are coming. Yeah. Later historians really started, uh poke some 594 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:50,160 Speaker 1: holes into the story of Paul Revere and I don't 595 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:52,839 Speaker 1: know the details of it, but it seems like there's 596 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 1: this this idea that it was a little more a 597 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:01,200 Speaker 1: little more fiction than fact, right, or like an embellished legend, 598 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,720 Speaker 1: and some politicians I can't remember who it was, said 599 00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:10,839 Speaker 1: I love Paul Revere, whether he wrote or not. Yeah, 600 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:15,719 Speaker 1: so that I like that theory true or not, I'm 601 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:20,000 Speaker 1: sticking with that ship. That's that's what I'm buying. That's 602 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:24,640 Speaker 1: what I'm buying. Story. Hey this uh so here, here's 603 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:31,080 Speaker 1: the the social odd thing about this is that this 604 00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:32,920 Speaker 1: is the first time that something like this has been 605 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,640 Speaker 1: documented on social media. There's a Facebook page with two 606 00:41:35,719 --> 00:41:40,400 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty thousand followers that's called keep Bruno Safe. 607 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that's the name of Yeah, I Keep 608 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:47,080 Speaker 1: Bruno Safe. And so Mayron means Arkansas Bear Coordinator Large 609 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:51,759 Speaker 1: carnivore coordinator received the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission when 610 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,160 Speaker 1: they found that bear was here, received an incredible amount 611 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:57,439 Speaker 1: of pressure to collar that bear so that he would 612 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,680 Speaker 1: then be protected by law in Arkansas because you cannot 613 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:05,239 Speaker 1: shoot a collared bear in Arkansas the world. But back 614 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:10,719 Speaker 1: back up hold on a secondary Bruno is coming from 615 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:16,560 Speaker 1: a state that has bear seasons. Yes, his journey began 616 00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:21,440 Speaker 1: in a bear season state, right, Yeah, but then he 617 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:26,120 Speaker 1: spent some time in a couple of states with no 618 00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 1: bear season and got famous. Correct, that's right, people start 619 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:36,200 Speaker 1: falling in love with him. And then now in his 620 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:42,319 Speaker 1: southern journey, he has now re entered a bear hunting state, 621 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:46,719 Speaker 1: that's right. And now people are like, I don't care 622 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:50,440 Speaker 1: about all the bears that live where he used to live, 623 00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:54,319 Speaker 1: and I didn't care about him when he lived there, 624 00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:57,759 Speaker 1: and I don't care about the bears that live in 625 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:03,080 Speaker 1: Arkansas normally anyway, I don't want anyone to hurt that 626 00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:08,320 Speaker 1: bear because I know about that one. That's right, Okay, 627 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:12,319 Speaker 1: so go on, Well, I was proud of the Game 628 00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:17,560 Speaker 1: and Fishes response here is Myron. Myron said that bear 629 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:20,759 Speaker 1: is no different than any other bear that we have 630 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:24,359 Speaker 1: in this state, and we're not going to call her him. 631 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:25,920 Speaker 1: I mean, they just they just said we're not going 632 00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:27,440 Speaker 1: to call her that bear because they don't call her 633 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:29,360 Speaker 1: male bears. The only reason they call her bears and 634 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:34,040 Speaker 1: expend resources to do salve studies, den studies and whatnot, 635 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,880 Speaker 1: and so the bear right now, they think they know 636 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,759 Speaker 1: where it's at supposedly a hunter took a photo of 637 00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,080 Speaker 1: this bear in a den cavity tree and it is 638 00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:49,320 Speaker 1: just outside of one of the bear zones um in Arkansas. 639 00:43:49,719 --> 00:43:55,359 Speaker 1: But but it's a deer hunter. Yeah, deer hunters. Yeah, yeah, 640 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:57,160 Speaker 1: so it's not it's not even in a bear zone 641 00:43:57,920 --> 00:43:59,680 Speaker 1: right now where the bears out. It is not in 642 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,359 Speaker 1: a ari zone as I understand it. But hey, you'll 643 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:05,040 Speaker 1: like this, Steve. So all this happened in the summer, 644 00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:09,360 Speaker 1: and then the bear came into Arkansas and September, okay, 645 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:13,320 Speaker 1: the Arkansas bear season opens in September. My mother, my 646 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:16,560 Speaker 1: sweet mother, calls me on the phone and says, Clay, 647 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:24,200 Speaker 1: don't kill Bruno. My mom's like my pr manager, and 648 00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:29,680 Speaker 1: she's like, whatever you do, don't kill Bruno. And I said, okay, mom, 649 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:32,040 Speaker 1: got it. I won't do it because she doesn't want 650 00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:34,960 Speaker 1: you to take the heat or she doesn't want oh yeah, yeah, 651 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:39,320 Speaker 1: yeah yeah. She she she could foresee you know, me 652 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:44,120 Speaker 1: killing this famous bear. Which there is a thing though, man, 653 00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:49,799 Speaker 1: where there are dudes out there, like like for there 654 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:52,399 Speaker 1: are dudes out there who would be like I want 655 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:57,319 Speaker 1: that bear, And there are dudes out there which would 656 00:44:57,320 --> 00:44:59,480 Speaker 1: imagine most people I hang out with will be like, 657 00:44:59,719 --> 00:45:02,800 Speaker 1: I want anything to do with that bear. That seems 658 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:08,279 Speaker 1: like trouble. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Well, here's what happened to 659 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:12,040 Speaker 1: is that, so they were posting all over social media, 660 00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:14,719 Speaker 1: like these daily updates on this bear, like you could 661 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:16,800 Speaker 1: have tracked, you could have known where this bear was 662 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:21,040 Speaker 1: any given day of the year. Some day, like when 663 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:25,560 Speaker 1: the bear came into Arkansas, somebody got online, a hunter 664 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:30,120 Speaker 1: and made a comment and said, wow, I've got two 665 00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:33,719 Speaker 1: hundred thousand guides telling me exactly where a bear is, 666 00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:39,240 Speaker 1: you see. And so after that the thing shut down 667 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:44,320 Speaker 1: on the daily updates exactly where. That's that. That's what 668 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:47,680 Speaker 1: I heard. That's what that's what. That's what one of 669 00:45:47,719 --> 00:45:49,320 Speaker 1: the biologists told me. I mean, like they kind of 670 00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:51,879 Speaker 1: went quiet. They were like, oh wow, we're giving out 671 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:56,920 Speaker 1: too much information. There is a there is a bird 672 00:45:57,080 --> 00:45:59,200 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna name. I'm not gonna name the species. 673 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:04,920 Speaker 1: There is a non native There is a very small 674 00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:12,919 Speaker 1: population of a non native bird that lives in one 675 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:20,560 Speaker 1: state in America. Um and they live in one specific 676 00:46:20,719 --> 00:46:23,560 Speaker 1: mountain range in one state in America. And you're allowed 677 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:29,680 Speaker 1: to hunt for this bird non native. It is exceedingly 678 00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:35,319 Speaker 1: difficult to get one. They live in very inhospitable, very 679 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:40,160 Speaker 1: high elevation, cliffy terrain, and they're hard to find. And 680 00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:45,760 Speaker 1: we took an interest in seen about going and checking 681 00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:51,000 Speaker 1: this whole situation out. And I realized that when birders 682 00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:59,239 Speaker 1: see the bird, they they log it's where they saw it. 683 00:47:00,239 --> 00:47:04,439 Speaker 1: And I remember thinking that that was not that great 684 00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:08,880 Speaker 1: of an idea to do that over the line. In 685 00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:11,800 Speaker 1: a similar situation, something we've covered in the past is 686 00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:17,400 Speaker 1: in the state of Montana, the state has gotten I 687 00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:21,920 Speaker 1: can't remember in the in what timeline twenty four requests 688 00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:28,080 Speaker 1: for radio collar data off game animals, and they have 689 00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:33,720 Speaker 1: a little choice about to comply what's coming from who hunters? 690 00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:39,719 Speaker 1: You can just get that information. Apparently they don't. It 691 00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:45,799 Speaker 1: has through through whatever legal structure they work under. It's 692 00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:49,960 Speaker 1: public information because it's a state project. So if the 693 00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,279 Speaker 1: state puts a collar on a elk, a bull elk, 694 00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:56,480 Speaker 1: apparently someone can come and say, I would like to 695 00:47:56,600 --> 00:48:03,359 Speaker 1: see the collar data off that elk, and they don't 696 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:05,480 Speaker 1: have I think they don't have a way in which 697 00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:11,640 Speaker 1: they can say screw you. M hm. That's surprising. Yeah, 698 00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:15,680 Speaker 1: I was in Fairbanks one time during moose season, and 699 00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:18,360 Speaker 1: I was talking to a biologist and she was telling 700 00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:25,600 Speaker 1: me she's got collars on a handful of bulls that 701 00:48:25,719 --> 00:48:27,839 Speaker 1: live right around the edges of Fairbanks and she could 702 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:29,920 Speaker 1: have any minute tell you where those bulls are standing. 703 00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:34,879 Speaker 1: M hm, and doesn't want to do that. And maybe 704 00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:36,400 Speaker 1: they have different rules up there. But it was an 705 00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:42,120 Speaker 1: interesting conundrum. You gotta be pretty like, you gotta be 706 00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:46,320 Speaker 1: pretty pathetic if that's your hunt plan. Hey, this was 707 00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:49,680 Speaker 1: this was public knowledge, so I'm not like divulging a secret. 708 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:52,120 Speaker 1: I saw it on social media. But our buddy Mike Chamberlain, 709 00:48:52,239 --> 00:48:56,319 Speaker 1: the Turkey dock, he uh you know, he's radio collar 710 00:48:56,400 --> 00:49:00,000 Speaker 1: and all these uh gobblers and places I think in Alabama. 711 00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:09,440 Speaker 1: He at one time gave information to um. Well he 712 00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:12,959 Speaker 1: tells the story on this podcast. Okay, okay, Well there's 713 00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:14,560 Speaker 1: no okay, got it, No need for me to like, 714 00:49:14,640 --> 00:49:17,440 Speaker 1: they couldn't kill it even when they had the information. 715 00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:21,320 Speaker 1: They were studying how he was I can't remember the 716 00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:24,480 Speaker 1: name of that episode, U Mike, guess Mike Chamberlain. They 717 00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:27,839 Speaker 1: were studying how turkeys respond to various stimuli and how 718 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,759 Speaker 1: turkeys respond to hunting pressure. They had his bird no 719 00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:34,520 Speaker 1: one could kill, and he would tell people where it is, 720 00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:38,880 Speaker 1: just to watch what it would do. And then but 721 00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:41,160 Speaker 1: here's they had this one bird no one could get 722 00:49:42,920 --> 00:49:44,640 Speaker 1: and some dude gets in a fight with his wife 723 00:49:47,560 --> 00:49:51,680 Speaker 1: and storms off, gets in his car and drives down. 724 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:54,520 Speaker 1: And the second he enters the um, the second he 725 00:49:54,719 --> 00:49:58,480 Speaker 1: enters like the game management area, wildlife management area of 726 00:49:58,560 --> 00:50:01,600 Speaker 1: some sort, pull is over like at the entrance gate, 727 00:50:03,040 --> 00:50:06,799 Speaker 1: walks over a hill, sits down against a tree, does 728 00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:10,160 Speaker 1: a hand clock, and kills the turkey. The name of 729 00:50:10,239 --> 00:50:12,520 Speaker 1: that episode was Gobble your ass off. If anyone wants 730 00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:15,320 Speaker 1: to listen to it, Gobble your ass off. Yeah, so 731 00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:19,120 Speaker 1: he sent all these stone cold killers after this turkey. 732 00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:20,719 Speaker 1: You couldn't get him. And then some guy gets in 733 00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:23,040 Speaker 1: a fight with his wife and storms off and a 734 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:26,160 Speaker 1: huff and gets it. I remember you asked, Mike if 735 00:50:26,200 --> 00:50:28,400 Speaker 1: you knew what the fight was about between the husband 736 00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:33,239 Speaker 1: and wife. So, so where does it stand right now 737 00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:37,360 Speaker 1: with Bruno. He's alive, he's alive, he's he's denning in Arkansas, 738 00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:42,760 Speaker 1: and uh, he's he's all okay. So that we had hoped, 739 00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:46,239 Speaker 1: I'd hope that they had pulled a hair sample off 740 00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:48,640 Speaker 1: the spar. If they had a hair sample, they could 741 00:50:48,719 --> 00:50:52,040 Speaker 1: tell from d NA where the spare came from. And 742 00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:56,200 Speaker 1: they didn't do it, and I'm it was unclear. It 743 00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:58,800 Speaker 1: just wasn't protocol to pull a hair sample off a 744 00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:01,640 Speaker 1: nuisance spare. And so they don't want to do anything 745 00:51:01,719 --> 00:51:05,479 Speaker 1: out of the They don't want to do anything special. Yeah, 746 00:51:06,239 --> 00:51:08,919 Speaker 1: and and so, but that would have told us because 747 00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:12,200 Speaker 1: we have all this DNA data here in Arkansas. They 748 00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:15,520 Speaker 1: got it in Wisconsin. But here's the kind of my 749 00:51:15,640 --> 00:51:18,440 Speaker 1: last thought on this, Steve, is that you know, all 750 00:51:18,480 --> 00:51:23,600 Speaker 1: the biologists said, like, this is really unusual, but bears 751 00:51:23,640 --> 00:51:28,120 Speaker 1: are notorious, and large carnivores are notorious, notorious for these 752 00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:32,480 Speaker 1: wild like travels. I mean, there's there's stories of mountain 753 00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:34,840 Speaker 1: lions that started in the Dakota is getting hit by 754 00:51:34,840 --> 00:51:37,799 Speaker 1: a car in Connecticut. Uh, there have been there've been 755 00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:41,160 Speaker 1: gray wolves in northern Missouri. There's there was a linx 756 00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:45,480 Speaker 1: that was seen or killed in Missouri. Like these these 757 00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:48,959 Speaker 1: animals do these big wild migrations. And and the question 758 00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:51,640 Speaker 1: I asked all the biologists was do you think this 759 00:51:51,800 --> 00:51:56,160 Speaker 1: is more normal than we think? And because you know 760 00:51:56,320 --> 00:51:58,480 Speaker 1: how many bears you know, there's eight hundred thousands of 761 00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:01,800 Speaker 1: million bears in North America right now, probably you know, 762 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:05,560 Speaker 1: probably less than five hundred or radio collared that we 763 00:52:05,640 --> 00:52:08,280 Speaker 1: can actually track, and we never would attract this except 764 00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:11,160 Speaker 1: for social media. If this bear had just been a 765 00:52:11,280 --> 00:52:13,759 Speaker 1: little bit different, we would know nothing about this bear. 766 00:52:13,920 --> 00:52:18,040 Speaker 1: There just be a bear in northern Arkansas that it 767 00:52:18,200 --> 00:52:20,400 Speaker 1: just we just thought was an Arkansas bear, you know, 768 00:52:20,520 --> 00:52:23,520 Speaker 1: like this was just such an the bear. The reason 769 00:52:23,560 --> 00:52:26,320 Speaker 1: the bear we know this is because of how visible 770 00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:29,520 Speaker 1: he was. But maybe this happens more often than not 771 00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:35,479 Speaker 1: and we don't know it. I'd put my money on that. Yeah. 772 00:52:36,600 --> 00:52:40,640 Speaker 1: I think biologically, and in doing quite a bit of 773 00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:46,600 Speaker 1: just looking at research projects and stuff, I think there's 774 00:52:46,960 --> 00:52:51,240 Speaker 1: biology favors the odd bear that does something crazy, because 775 00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:53,239 Speaker 1: you have these populations that pretty much all do the 776 00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:56,560 Speaker 1: same thing, but there's always these outliers. And I think 777 00:52:56,640 --> 00:53:02,960 Speaker 1: over like long long periods of time, sometimes that outlier 778 00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:07,760 Speaker 1: is the one that survives because of maybe some catastrophe 779 00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:09,560 Speaker 1: in the home range. Do you understand what I'm saying. 780 00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:13,719 Speaker 1: So like, inside the mechanism of bear populations, there's the 781 00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:18,400 Speaker 1: crazy uncle, wild hair, you know, bear that just leaves 782 00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:22,560 Speaker 1: and does something crazy. Maybe he's not biologically successful, but 783 00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:26,960 Speaker 1: maybe he is, and he is what passes on jeans 784 00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:29,279 Speaker 1: to the next generation when all those back home got 785 00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:33,160 Speaker 1: killed in some catastrophe, you know. So anyway, it's kind 786 00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:37,280 Speaker 1: of like a broad view of bar biology. There seems 787 00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:40,360 Speaker 1: to be a reward for doing crazy stuff. Sometimes not 788 00:53:40,520 --> 00:53:44,000 Speaker 1: all the time. I think about that often. Um. An 789 00:53:44,080 --> 00:53:49,279 Speaker 1: interesting example is how we love the fact that and 790 00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:53,160 Speaker 1: celebrate the fact that sam and have fidelity to their 791 00:53:53,520 --> 00:53:56,520 Speaker 1: natal spawning stream. Right, it's kind of amazing that, like 792 00:53:56,600 --> 00:54:01,320 Speaker 1: a salmon could be born in some little stream and 793 00:54:01,480 --> 00:54:04,440 Speaker 1: go out as a little fish to the length of 794 00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:10,640 Speaker 1: your finger length to your pinky spent a few years 795 00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:15,560 Speaker 1: out on the ocean traveling around, probably leave us international 796 00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:22,520 Speaker 1: waters right and come back twenty pounds and go up 797 00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:27,400 Speaker 1: and lay an egg right right where that sun bitches 798 00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:34,600 Speaker 1: was born. But some don't, Some like screw up and 799 00:54:34,680 --> 00:54:38,600 Speaker 1: go to the wrong stream and think about the ramifications 800 00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:43,320 Speaker 1: of that like you always have. If everybody was spot on, 801 00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:46,960 Speaker 1: you would never be able to as climates change and 802 00:54:47,080 --> 00:54:51,680 Speaker 1: habitat changes, and forest fires burn and phill rivers full 803 00:54:51,719 --> 00:54:55,640 Speaker 1: of soot, right, you'd never have the possibility of like 804 00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:59,800 Speaker 1: expanding your range, but here you always have these freak 805 00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:07,560 Speaker 1: outliers probing new spots to see, right, and that's got 806 00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:11,640 Speaker 1: to be how things shift around. Another example, I think 807 00:55:11,640 --> 00:55:16,960 Speaker 1: about the way the Polynesians, seafaring Polynesians were able to 808 00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:22,200 Speaker 1: colonize these insane places, Like to find the Hawaiian Islands, 809 00:55:24,320 --> 00:55:27,160 Speaker 1: people had to have just gone off and died and 810 00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:29,879 Speaker 1: gone off and died. But for whatever reason, people would 811 00:55:29,880 --> 00:55:33,560 Speaker 1: like make a boat and head off towards ship that 812 00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:39,440 Speaker 1: you had no concrete idea, maybe from birds or cloud 813 00:55:39,520 --> 00:55:42,239 Speaker 1: formations or whatever. Maybe you had a suspicion there his land, 814 00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:48,240 Speaker 1: but all of a sudden, bam, like you just found Hawaii. Mhmm. 815 00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:55,800 Speaker 1: Your family is loving so yeah, that ability to strike 816 00:55:55,880 --> 00:56:02,920 Speaker 1: off is um, it's probably richly rewarded, yeah, or it's 817 00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:05,360 Speaker 1: quickly cut off or you or you're just like one 818 00:56:05,400 --> 00:56:08,200 Speaker 1: of the ones that get screwed. How many Polynesians didn't 819 00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:10,880 Speaker 1: make it to Hawaii? I would you know? That's one 820 00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:12,840 Speaker 1: of the questions I would most like to know is 821 00:56:14,360 --> 00:56:18,680 Speaker 1: just probably just the awful heartbreaking stories of people that 822 00:56:18,880 --> 00:56:25,120 Speaker 1: just didn't find land. Man. Mm hmm. Yeah, all right, Mark, 823 00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:30,160 Speaker 1: We think about that whole bear story, Mark, I love it, 824 00:56:30,520 --> 00:56:33,799 Speaker 1: and it's actually I've been following a somewhat similar bear 825 00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:37,200 Speaker 1: story over there in Wyoming and the Teatimes. You know 826 00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:42,479 Speaker 1: about Bear three, that whole thing that's that's a saw 827 00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:45,040 Speaker 1: with four cubs that's been there for twenty four years, 828 00:56:45,120 --> 00:56:49,600 Speaker 1: photographed all the time, and just recently she's been leaving 829 00:56:49,640 --> 00:56:51,840 Speaker 1: the park and going into the suburbs around Jackson, and 830 00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:54,040 Speaker 1: so there's all sorts of news around that worrying that 831 00:56:54,120 --> 00:56:56,879 Speaker 1: she's going to get into trouble and this famous bear 832 00:56:57,080 --> 00:57:02,040 Speaker 1: is gonna have issues. So yeah, she's just struggling with age. Maybe. 833 00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:05,200 Speaker 1: I don't know. It's a weird thing. From everything I've 834 00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:07,520 Speaker 1: seen and read like she's healthy, she's been happily in 835 00:57:07,600 --> 00:57:10,759 Speaker 1: the park, and then just recently she's she's got into 836 00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:14,239 Speaker 1: some human food sources for the first time. So I 837 00:57:14,280 --> 00:57:19,680 Speaker 1: don't know. Mm hmm, Mark, update, everybody give give people 838 00:57:19,680 --> 00:57:23,480 Speaker 1: a quick crash course in the Back forty project. Yeah, 839 00:57:23,840 --> 00:57:26,760 Speaker 1: so the Back forty is the complete opposite of a 840 00:57:26,840 --> 00:57:31,200 Speaker 1: thousand mile roaming bear, and that instead of large stretches 841 00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:35,320 Speaker 1: of land, we're talking about one tiny postage stamp piece 842 00:57:35,360 --> 00:57:37,960 Speaker 1: of ground in Michigan. The Back forty is a the 843 00:57:38,080 --> 00:57:41,000 Speaker 1: little piece of property that we picked up about a 844 00:57:41,160 --> 00:57:44,520 Speaker 1: year and a half ago, and the idea was to 845 00:57:44,680 --> 00:57:49,200 Speaker 1: try to find a representative piece of private land that 846 00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:52,280 Speaker 1: has been farmed and worked over the years and to 847 00:57:52,360 --> 00:57:55,680 Speaker 1: see if we could take that and transform it into 848 00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:58,400 Speaker 1: a wildlife paradise. Can we bring this thing back to 849 00:57:58,480 --> 00:58:02,200 Speaker 1: life for all sorts of creditors and out of it 850 00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:07,720 Speaker 1: not farm the guts it had been Oh yeah, historically 851 00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:10,680 Speaker 1: it had been yes. So can we take something like 852 00:58:10,720 --> 00:58:14,960 Speaker 1: that that kind of been burned to the ground and 853 00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:18,720 Speaker 1: turn into a wildlife paradise for not just deer which 854 00:58:18,840 --> 00:58:21,240 Speaker 1: sometimes folks like me or tempted to focus on just 855 00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:24,520 Speaker 1: the big bucks. But could we do something that's that's 856 00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:27,120 Speaker 1: that's good for dear good for turkeys and and everything 857 00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:30,600 Speaker 1: else though too, birds and bees and squirrels and and 858 00:58:30,680 --> 00:58:32,840 Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff and still have the good hunting. 859 00:58:33,360 --> 00:58:37,200 Speaker 1: So that was the the question we set off to 860 00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:39,280 Speaker 1: to try to at least get the beginnings of an 861 00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:42,680 Speaker 1: answer in two years. So yeah, we started last last 862 00:58:42,720 --> 00:58:45,960 Speaker 1: summer and we're wrapping it up this winter. So that's 863 00:58:46,080 --> 00:58:49,880 Speaker 1: that's what we've been doing in the back forty acres. Yes, 864 00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:52,960 Speaker 1: I can get a lot of comments about that. Why 865 00:58:53,000 --> 00:58:56,480 Speaker 1: didn't y'all name at the back because it just sounds 866 00:58:56,560 --> 00:58:59,600 Speaker 1: like like something sexual or something man. But like the 867 00:58:59,680 --> 00:59:04,280 Speaker 1: back forty, it just it feels landish. It feels landish, 868 00:59:05,120 --> 00:59:07,120 Speaker 1: like the back ford is that kind of ubiquitous term 869 00:59:07,160 --> 00:59:09,160 Speaker 1: that people used for for like, yeah, that's my piece, 870 00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:13,720 Speaker 1: you got twenty four bonus acres man. Yeah, yeah, you'd 871 00:59:13,720 --> 00:59:15,440 Speaker 1: be like, I don't know, shot it out on the 872 00:59:15,520 --> 00:59:19,400 Speaker 1: back forty there whatever. Yeah, So this is supposed to 873 00:59:19,400 --> 00:59:21,320 Speaker 1: be kind of that stand in for everyone's a little 874 00:59:21,360 --> 00:59:26,680 Speaker 1: back forty. People can follow like the we we chronicle. 875 00:59:27,160 --> 00:59:32,200 Speaker 1: We chronicle the back forty story through a series ye 876 00:59:32,360 --> 00:59:38,400 Speaker 1: available on YouTube called Back and Mark does a phenomenal 877 00:59:38,520 --> 00:59:43,400 Speaker 1: job of of bringing viewers along, bringing viewers along on 878 00:59:43,480 --> 00:59:49,080 Speaker 1: the journey of trying to do this. It's a really 879 00:59:49,120 --> 00:59:54,360 Speaker 1: compelling story about like land management, because I mean people 880 00:59:54,440 --> 00:59:59,400 Speaker 1: that like to hunting fish and you know, it's everybody's 881 00:59:59,480 --> 01:00:01,600 Speaker 1: dream that you're gonna buy this little chunk of land 882 01:00:01,680 --> 01:00:05,280 Speaker 1: and have your own you know, this little paradise. Like 883 01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:08,640 Speaker 1: I think about it all the time. Uh, And so 884 01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:11,560 Speaker 1: it's like what goes into that? What are the heartbreaks 885 01:00:11,640 --> 01:00:15,040 Speaker 1: and work that goes into that, and you know, and 886 01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:19,320 Speaker 1: eventually we're gonna hand uh hand off the keys of 887 01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:21,960 Speaker 1: the gate. This isn't something that you know here at 888 01:00:22,000 --> 01:00:24,160 Speaker 1: meat Eat here, We're not gonna like keep it, We're 889 01:00:24,160 --> 01:00:28,920 Speaker 1: gonna give it away. But um, when Mark first started out, 890 01:00:29,320 --> 01:00:32,360 Speaker 1: when I came out there, the first summer, Mark was 891 01:00:32,440 --> 01:00:37,880 Speaker 1: like kind of depressed because you thought like like how 892 01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:41,760 Speaker 1: daunting it was going to be because you couldn't find 893 01:00:42,200 --> 01:00:45,480 Speaker 1: like you couldn't find you like, mature bucks on it. 894 01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:48,439 Speaker 1: But then you got like a sweet buck the first year, 895 01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:54,400 Speaker 1: and in this year it's like even better. Yeah, yeah, 896 01:00:54,400 --> 01:00:57,560 Speaker 1: I mean, how much do you think is a freak? Like, like, 897 01:00:58,480 --> 01:01:02,840 Speaker 1: how many so here's the place? How many big bucks 898 01:01:02,880 --> 01:01:06,040 Speaker 1: did you have? Like big like big like mature, Dear, 899 01:01:06,240 --> 01:01:08,320 Speaker 1: how many mature here do you see running around there? Now, 900 01:01:09,920 --> 01:01:15,720 Speaker 1: we've had pictures of relatively consistent pictures of probably eight 901 01:01:15,800 --> 01:01:17,880 Speaker 1: or nine different bucks that are you know, three four 902 01:01:18,280 --> 01:01:23,680 Speaker 1: or older than that? Up from zero we had like 903 01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:26,000 Speaker 1: there was one that was there a lot last year? 904 01:01:26,200 --> 01:01:28,439 Speaker 1: Is that the one shot? The one I shot? Yeah? 905 01:01:30,040 --> 01:01:31,600 Speaker 1: What do you think the age was that, dear? You 906 01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:34,760 Speaker 1: shot Mark? That deer I shot last year was definitely 907 01:01:34,880 --> 01:01:38,240 Speaker 1: four or older. He was fully mature. Yeah, he's yeah, 908 01:01:38,480 --> 01:01:42,240 Speaker 1: crazy looking old buck. Yeah. Uh. Do you think it's 909 01:01:42,280 --> 01:01:46,320 Speaker 1: a freak. Is it a freak that it worked, or 910 01:01:46,400 --> 01:01:50,080 Speaker 1: do you think something happened that. Do you think something 911 01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:51,960 Speaker 1: happened that made it that all of a sudden these 912 01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:55,600 Speaker 1: deers start showing up? You know, I think it's a 913 01:01:55,720 --> 01:02:00,400 Speaker 1: combination of factors. I think. I I'm calm that the 914 01:02:00,560 --> 01:02:04,240 Speaker 1: changes we have made have absolutely helped, no doubt about it. 915 01:02:04,280 --> 01:02:06,560 Speaker 1: They've helped. But I don't want to claim that it's 916 01:02:06,600 --> 01:02:10,280 Speaker 1: on me, right, because there could have been these random 917 01:02:10,320 --> 01:02:11,880 Speaker 1: things going on. We only have a two year sample 918 01:02:11,920 --> 01:02:14,600 Speaker 1: size to look at, so it's just not it's not 919 01:02:14,800 --> 01:02:18,000 Speaker 1: enough to draw really really hard conclusions. But you know, 920 01:02:18,120 --> 01:02:21,040 Speaker 1: last year could have been an outlier potentially, right, maybe 921 01:02:21,160 --> 01:02:23,400 Speaker 1: for some reason that I can't put a finger on. 922 01:02:23,760 --> 01:02:26,800 Speaker 1: Last year's just really bad, But the previous five years 923 01:02:26,840 --> 01:02:28,520 Speaker 1: before that maybe had been pretty good, and we just 924 01:02:28,600 --> 01:02:31,880 Speaker 1: happened to start on the worst year or the flip side. 925 01:02:32,360 --> 01:02:35,640 Speaker 1: Maybe last year is normal and this year our stuff helped, 926 01:02:35,840 --> 01:02:38,720 Speaker 1: but then there was some randomness outside of our control 927 01:02:38,760 --> 01:02:40,880 Speaker 1: that helped. You know, it's some combination of that. I 928 01:02:41,720 --> 01:02:44,280 Speaker 1: still believe though, that the things we have done have 929 01:02:44,600 --> 01:02:49,080 Speaker 1: made noticeable positive differences. Um you can't deny that. Just 930 01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:51,560 Speaker 1: the way that we're seeing these deer use the property 931 01:02:51,640 --> 01:02:54,400 Speaker 1: and and all sorts of wildlife use the property. Um, 932 01:02:55,200 --> 01:02:58,040 Speaker 1: so that has been really encouraging. I probably couldn't have 933 01:02:58,120 --> 01:03:00,400 Speaker 1: written it any better if I had control the world 934 01:03:00,440 --> 01:03:01,680 Speaker 1: and I could say, all right, this is how it's 935 01:03:01,680 --> 01:03:04,360 Speaker 1: going to pan out. I probably would have told it 936 01:03:04,400 --> 01:03:07,680 Speaker 1: would be great if year one was pretty tough and 937 01:03:07,840 --> 01:03:11,000 Speaker 1: then we see this wonderful transformation in year two it 938 01:03:11,080 --> 01:03:13,760 Speaker 1: looks dramatically different and deer popping out all over the 939 01:03:13,840 --> 01:03:16,520 Speaker 1: place and we kill a bunch. That's how I would 940 01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:19,000 Speaker 1: have written it, and maybe we got a little lucky 941 01:03:19,160 --> 01:03:23,200 Speaker 1: it turned out kind of close to that. Like, explain 942 01:03:23,280 --> 01:03:25,600 Speaker 1: to people what kind of what are the main things 943 01:03:26,640 --> 01:03:32,520 Speaker 1: that you did? Yeah, so, like here's a chunk of land, 944 01:03:33,720 --> 01:03:36,920 Speaker 1: you want to fix it up? Yeah, walk people through 945 01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:40,080 Speaker 1: like you know, the sort of X, Y and Z 946 01:03:40,320 --> 01:03:45,760 Speaker 1: of how to sort of rehabilitate a chunk of ground. Yeah. 947 01:03:45,840 --> 01:03:48,680 Speaker 1: So there's a lot of ways to go about something 948 01:03:48,760 --> 01:03:53,480 Speaker 1: like this, but we had the somewhat unique circumstances of 949 01:03:53,520 --> 01:03:55,320 Speaker 1: of just having a couple of years to try to 950 01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:58,800 Speaker 1: do something, So we did have a shorter time frame 951 01:03:58,840 --> 01:04:01,040 Speaker 1: in which we were looking at, how can we identify 952 01:04:01,760 --> 01:04:04,760 Speaker 1: kind of quick turnaround possible projects that can make a 953 01:04:04,800 --> 01:04:09,920 Speaker 1: noticeable difference quickly, um knowing though that they're still right 954 01:04:10,040 --> 01:04:12,720 Speaker 1: the long term gain that that could and should and 955 01:04:12,800 --> 01:04:16,960 Speaker 1: hopefully will be worked on by whomever takes it on next. Um. 956 01:04:17,440 --> 01:04:19,040 Speaker 1: So that said, the way I would look at this, 957 01:04:19,080 --> 01:04:21,640 Speaker 1: and the way we did look at this is try 958 01:04:21,680 --> 01:04:24,240 Speaker 1: to identify, like, what are the missing pieces of the puzzle. 959 01:04:24,600 --> 01:04:26,880 Speaker 1: And on any piece of ground, whether it's public land 960 01:04:26,960 --> 01:04:29,640 Speaker 1: somewhere or your own piece that you're buying, you can 961 01:04:29,720 --> 01:04:31,440 Speaker 1: look and see, like, what are the basic things that 962 01:04:31,640 --> 01:04:35,320 Speaker 1: wildlife need to thrive here? And you know, for for 963 01:04:35,480 --> 01:04:39,160 Speaker 1: most species dear especially right, they need high quality food. 964 01:04:39,920 --> 01:04:42,320 Speaker 1: They need high quality cover so they feel secure and 965 01:04:42,360 --> 01:04:46,000 Speaker 1: they can bed and and live safely. Uh. And then 966 01:04:46,280 --> 01:04:49,240 Speaker 1: you know they need water. And if you look at 967 01:04:49,280 --> 01:04:51,600 Speaker 1: any piece of property and look at how your piece 968 01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:55,160 Speaker 1: fits into the larger picture, you can start to identify, Look, 969 01:04:55,200 --> 01:04:57,800 Speaker 1: what's the missing piece here, what's the where's the water 970 01:04:57,880 --> 01:04:59,800 Speaker 1: seeping out of the bucket and then try to plug 971 01:04:59,880 --> 01:05:03,240 Speaker 1: that whole. That's a great place to start. So in 972 01:05:03,320 --> 01:05:05,959 Speaker 1: the case of the back forty, you know, we had 973 01:05:07,360 --> 01:05:12,160 Speaker 1: essentially the property has a big Uh what am I 974 01:05:12,160 --> 01:05:14,240 Speaker 1: trying to say here? There's two very different habitat types 975 01:05:14,280 --> 01:05:17,480 Speaker 1: in the property. There's these old fields that are old 976 01:05:17,560 --> 01:05:20,560 Speaker 1: farm fields that have now kind of been left for 977 01:05:20,680 --> 01:05:23,240 Speaker 1: two years to grow into whatever was there. So you 978 01:05:23,280 --> 01:05:25,200 Speaker 1: have these old open fields and then you have this 979 01:05:25,280 --> 01:05:28,720 Speaker 1: big swamp and some timber in the middle. And what 980 01:05:28,880 --> 01:05:32,360 Speaker 1: we quickly identified was that deer and critters love that swamp. 981 01:05:32,480 --> 01:05:35,440 Speaker 1: There's tons of security cover. Um, there's a lot of 982 01:05:35,480 --> 01:05:38,440 Speaker 1: places they feel safe. There's natural browsing there. But these 983 01:05:38,480 --> 01:05:42,320 Speaker 1: old fields, which are fifty the farm, left a lot 984 01:05:42,360 --> 01:05:45,520 Speaker 1: to be desired. So fifty of our farm was hardly 985 01:05:45,600 --> 01:05:48,640 Speaker 1: being used by deer, hardly being used by turkeys except 986 01:05:48,680 --> 01:05:51,200 Speaker 1: for you know a little bit of starting around first 987 01:05:51,200 --> 01:05:53,440 Speaker 1: thing in the morning, that kind of deal. Uh. There 988 01:05:53,520 --> 01:05:55,560 Speaker 1: wasn't a lot going on for birds and and all 989 01:05:55,600 --> 01:05:58,240 Speaker 1: these other things because it was mostly just an invasive 990 01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:01,600 Speaker 1: monoculture of something called mayor's tail. See a thirty two 991 01:06:01,640 --> 01:06:05,320 Speaker 1: acres of like a bean pole. Like if you were 992 01:06:05,360 --> 01:06:09,480 Speaker 1: to look at a soybean field after the soybeans dried down. 993 01:06:09,560 --> 01:06:11,600 Speaker 1: Anyone you know that lives in farm country, I think 994 01:06:11,600 --> 01:06:14,600 Speaker 1: you can follow me here. Imagine a bean field that's 995 01:06:14,640 --> 01:06:16,720 Speaker 1: dried down with no leaves and no beans on it, 996 01:06:16,840 --> 01:06:19,080 Speaker 1: just as bean stalks. That's kind of what all these 997 01:06:19,120 --> 01:06:22,400 Speaker 1: fields looked like. There was no reason that birds or 998 01:06:22,440 --> 01:06:24,360 Speaker 1: bugs who want to hang out in there. Deer didn't 999 01:06:24,400 --> 01:06:27,960 Speaker 1: feel safe in there, um, squirrels didn't want to be 1000 01:06:28,040 --> 01:06:30,320 Speaker 1: in there. So a lot of what we tried to 1001 01:06:30,360 --> 01:06:33,840 Speaker 1: do was transform those old fields. Uh. We did that 1002 01:06:33,880 --> 01:06:35,880 Speaker 1: in a couple of different ways, Steve. We did that 1003 01:06:37,400 --> 01:06:40,520 Speaker 1: by one trying to improve the cover out there and 1004 01:06:40,640 --> 01:06:43,080 Speaker 1: the diversity out there. So I didn't want this great, big, 1005 01:06:43,160 --> 01:06:45,439 Speaker 1: dry down bean field of of no food, no cover. 1006 01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:49,800 Speaker 1: So we we did a few things. We planted switch grass, 1007 01:06:50,080 --> 01:06:52,680 Speaker 1: which is a warm season grass. It provides a lot 1008 01:06:52,760 --> 01:06:57,200 Speaker 1: of cover for deer, great polting habitat for turkeys, great 1009 01:06:57,240 --> 01:07:00,640 Speaker 1: for all sorts of different game birds. Um, a grassy 1010 01:07:00,760 --> 01:07:05,800 Speaker 1: cover provides a year round visible, high cover. Animals are 1011 01:07:05,800 --> 01:07:09,120 Speaker 1: gonna feel safe out there. Now. We planted a blend 1012 01:07:09,200 --> 01:07:13,200 Speaker 1: of different pollinators, so wild flowers, certain grasses, and forbes 1013 01:07:13,320 --> 01:07:17,000 Speaker 1: that our bees are gonna like that, our butterflies are 1014 01:07:17,000 --> 01:07:19,080 Speaker 1: gonna like We planted them some milkweed out there, and 1015 01:07:19,080 --> 01:07:21,840 Speaker 1: they're great stuff for for butterflies and all these different 1016 01:07:22,120 --> 01:07:26,080 Speaker 1: bugs and small birds help pollinate everything else. That's important 1017 01:07:26,160 --> 01:07:28,760 Speaker 1: for everything, all the plant life. So we wanted to 1018 01:07:28,800 --> 01:07:31,600 Speaker 1: help out there. Uh. Something else we did was plant 1019 01:07:32,520 --> 01:07:37,840 Speaker 1: strips of sorghum, which is essentially a tall grass, really 1020 01:07:37,920 --> 01:07:40,520 Speaker 1: tall grass that looks kind of like corn. But it 1021 01:07:40,600 --> 01:07:42,880 Speaker 1: was just a way too quickly. This this goes back 1022 01:07:42,880 --> 01:07:45,120 Speaker 1: to the quick turnaround in our case. I needed to 1023 01:07:45,240 --> 01:07:47,320 Speaker 1: quickly find a way to take these big, wide open 1024 01:07:47,360 --> 01:07:51,920 Speaker 1: ten acre fields and make them feel much smaller, more compartmentalized. Again, 1025 01:07:52,720 --> 01:07:54,840 Speaker 1: most critters don't like to walk out into why don't 1026 01:07:55,040 --> 01:07:58,720 Speaker 1: you know, wide open spaces. They'd much rather be feeling 1027 01:07:58,880 --> 01:08:02,600 Speaker 1: tight to cover, tight to edge deer and turkeys and 1028 01:08:02,840 --> 01:08:05,120 Speaker 1: most of these animals really like to be near edges 1029 01:08:05,160 --> 01:08:07,360 Speaker 1: where they can go from a place where they can 1030 01:08:07,440 --> 01:08:09,880 Speaker 1: feed to quickly feeling like they're safe again. We didn't 1031 01:08:09,920 --> 01:08:11,760 Speaker 1: have a lot of that to start, so by planting 1032 01:08:11,800 --> 01:08:14,960 Speaker 1: these big strips and half circles of this thick cover, 1033 01:08:15,520 --> 01:08:19,000 Speaker 1: all of a sudden you had that We planted trees 1034 01:08:19,479 --> 01:08:22,680 Speaker 1: is another thing we did, doug Old Doug Durren came 1035 01:08:22,680 --> 01:08:25,720 Speaker 1: out to help me out and we put fifty some 1036 01:08:26,040 --> 01:08:29,479 Speaker 1: trees in the ground this summer. Um, that's more of 1037 01:08:29,520 --> 01:08:31,519 Speaker 1: a long term play. It's gonna be a while till 1038 01:08:31,560 --> 01:08:34,800 Speaker 1: those are, you know, as as big and as substantial 1039 01:08:35,280 --> 01:08:37,760 Speaker 1: as they could be, of course, but right there were 1040 01:08:37,760 --> 01:08:42,679 Speaker 1: again adding these different pockets of structure. Um. So really 1041 01:08:42,720 --> 01:08:45,160 Speaker 1: we're just trying to take this big, wide open sameness 1042 01:08:45,439 --> 01:08:49,080 Speaker 1: in turn into in a bunch of secure differentness. That's 1043 01:08:49,120 --> 01:08:51,560 Speaker 1: what animals want. And so that was a lot of 1044 01:08:51,640 --> 01:08:55,800 Speaker 1: what we did with the fields. Um. And you could 1045 01:08:55,840 --> 01:08:59,439 Speaker 1: right away see this fall, how much more comfortable, you know, 1046 01:08:59,520 --> 01:09:01,360 Speaker 1: in the case a deer season, we're focusing on deer. 1047 01:09:01,920 --> 01:09:03,840 Speaker 1: How much more comfortable these deer were coming out and 1048 01:09:03,960 --> 01:09:06,280 Speaker 1: moving and feeding in these pockets where they where they 1049 01:09:06,400 --> 01:09:10,800 Speaker 1: never would have last year. Um. So that was step one, UM, 1050 01:09:11,479 --> 01:09:14,920 Speaker 1: going to keep rolling through them. Yeah. Hey, can I 1051 01:09:15,040 --> 01:09:16,960 Speaker 1: say my favorite part of the back forty so far, 1052 01:09:17,200 --> 01:09:20,640 Speaker 1: just real quick, because when Doug dur and you were 1053 01:09:20,680 --> 01:09:23,200 Speaker 1: planting trees and the new guy came to help you, 1054 01:09:23,960 --> 01:09:29,280 Speaker 1: Doug during tells the guy to turn his hat around forward. Yeah. 1055 01:09:29,400 --> 01:09:32,680 Speaker 1: I was like, that was a good scene and it 1056 01:09:32,800 --> 01:09:37,000 Speaker 1: really um he did it a very surprisingly forceful yet 1057 01:09:37,080 --> 01:09:40,640 Speaker 1: loving way. And then the next scribes Doug well the 1058 01:09:40,960 --> 01:09:43,920 Speaker 1: very the very next scene the dude has his hat 1059 01:09:44,000 --> 01:09:47,680 Speaker 1: on backwards again, told him he couldn't work with his 1060 01:09:47,760 --> 01:09:50,400 Speaker 1: hat on backwards, and he fixed it. But then later 1061 01:09:50,520 --> 01:09:54,280 Speaker 1: there he used with his hat backwards hard? Do you 1062 01:09:54,400 --> 01:09:57,439 Speaker 1: believe I know this is true, so I don't really 1063 01:09:57,439 --> 01:10:00,639 Speaker 1: care what you say, But do you believe that dogs 1064 01:10:00,880 --> 01:10:07,160 Speaker 1: urine really is especially it's called buck Man juice, that 1065 01:10:07,320 --> 01:10:10,400 Speaker 1: it really is especially attractive to dear that there's something 1066 01:10:10,479 --> 01:10:14,200 Speaker 1: about dogs urine? You know? I used to I actually 1067 01:10:14,200 --> 01:10:16,200 Speaker 1: I'm going to contradict you here, Steve, because I used 1068 01:10:16,240 --> 01:10:18,240 Speaker 1: to believe that, and then I had him out last 1069 01:10:18,320 --> 01:10:21,360 Speaker 1: October and we had him split some around force and 1070 01:10:21,439 --> 01:10:25,840 Speaker 1: it did not help for ship. So really, yeah, because 1071 01:10:25,880 --> 01:10:30,120 Speaker 1: he's too far from home, that could be it. Maybe 1072 01:10:30,160 --> 01:10:32,639 Speaker 1: the Michigan deers aren't trained up on it like Wisconsin deer. 1073 01:10:33,280 --> 01:10:36,360 Speaker 1: Probably food source, different food source was he was eating 1074 01:10:36,439 --> 01:10:38,880 Speaker 1: different stuff and everything. So did he leave you the 1075 01:10:38,920 --> 01:10:42,200 Speaker 1: bottle of buck Man juice? No? I should ask for 1076 01:10:42,320 --> 01:10:47,120 Speaker 1: some you've seen the evidence, all right, the trail camp evidence. 1077 01:10:47,760 --> 01:10:49,960 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah. And I and you know, I 1078 01:10:50,000 --> 01:10:52,160 Speaker 1: can't real if we talked about it here somewhere before. 1079 01:10:52,240 --> 01:10:55,599 Speaker 1: But studies have shown that human urine is just as 1080 01:10:55,680 --> 01:10:59,360 Speaker 1: effective as an attracting in scrapes as actual deer urine. 1081 01:11:00,920 --> 01:11:03,560 Speaker 1: That's proven. We've had a lot of guys right in 1082 01:11:03,680 --> 01:11:07,760 Speaker 1: that deer coming inspect their chew spit piles. When they're 1083 01:11:07,760 --> 01:11:11,040 Speaker 1: spitting chew off the tree stand. That stresses me out 1084 01:11:11,240 --> 01:11:15,679 Speaker 1: that they come in and they like that. Yeah, that's funny. 1085 01:11:15,840 --> 01:11:18,120 Speaker 1: One of our one of our cameraman does a little 1086 01:11:18,160 --> 01:11:20,880 Speaker 1: chewing and I kind of gave him the talking to 1087 01:11:20,960 --> 01:11:22,280 Speaker 1: and said, hey, man, I don't think we should be 1088 01:11:22,360 --> 01:11:24,280 Speaker 1: chewing in the tree stands spitting this all over the place. 1089 01:11:24,360 --> 01:11:27,600 Speaker 1: So if he had, if he's seen this research you 1090 01:11:27,640 --> 01:11:29,240 Speaker 1: found her or whatever these stories where he might have 1091 01:11:29,280 --> 01:11:31,000 Speaker 1: been able to prove me wrong, it was okay. You 1092 01:11:31,040 --> 01:11:34,479 Speaker 1: know the dear biologists, uh well general biologist but does 1093 01:11:34,520 --> 01:11:37,639 Speaker 1: does a lot of deer work. Jim Heffelfinger, he used 1094 01:11:37,640 --> 01:11:41,599 Speaker 1: to chew Levi Garrett and named his kids Levin Garrett. 1095 01:11:44,320 --> 01:11:46,599 Speaker 1: Dear like I have it on good authority that dear 1096 01:11:46,720 --> 01:11:50,920 Speaker 1: love Levi Garrett. All right, so continue on. The trees 1097 01:11:51,160 --> 01:11:56,080 Speaker 1: came from Doug During. He brought some pines. He brought 1098 01:11:56,160 --> 01:11:58,760 Speaker 1: some pines, and yes, that was cool. There's a little 1099 01:11:58,760 --> 01:12:01,519 Speaker 1: bit of the dug During legacy on the back forty, 1100 01:12:02,320 --> 01:12:07,439 Speaker 1: which you know is a nice is a nice little 1101 01:12:07,479 --> 01:12:09,840 Speaker 1: bit of of history to put in the place. There's 1102 01:12:09,840 --> 01:12:12,320 Speaker 1: so there's so many little memories and stories now attached 1103 01:12:12,360 --> 01:12:14,600 Speaker 1: to this piece of ground that it's nice to have 1104 01:12:14,720 --> 01:12:16,479 Speaker 1: Dug add his to that. So, yeah, we we put 1105 01:12:16,560 --> 01:12:19,320 Speaker 1: some white pines in. We put some cedars, We put 1106 01:12:19,439 --> 01:12:24,000 Speaker 1: some spruce again, different kinds of you know, coniferous trees 1107 01:12:24,240 --> 01:12:28,320 Speaker 1: that are going to provide structure and cover out there, right, 1108 01:12:28,400 --> 01:12:32,439 Speaker 1: deer gonna eventually bet around, These turkeys are gonna hang 1109 01:12:32,479 --> 01:12:34,920 Speaker 1: out around, their birds are gonna nest in them. And 1110 01:12:35,160 --> 01:12:37,679 Speaker 1: in the way the trees and the way we looked 1111 01:12:37,720 --> 01:12:40,639 Speaker 1: at it was that by playing these pockets the trees 1112 01:12:40,720 --> 01:12:43,080 Speaker 1: out in the wide open, you're gonna have kind of 1113 01:12:43,160 --> 01:12:45,920 Speaker 1: the effect like you might see in a lake where 1114 01:12:46,120 --> 01:12:47,600 Speaker 1: you drop a Christmas tree in the middle of a 1115 01:12:47,680 --> 01:12:49,719 Speaker 1: lake or sunk tree and all of a sudden fish 1116 01:12:50,280 --> 01:12:53,960 Speaker 1: congregate around it. Large mouth bass love that structure or 1117 01:12:54,040 --> 01:12:56,479 Speaker 1: cover inside of a water source. That's the same deal 1118 01:12:56,560 --> 01:13:01,879 Speaker 1: with deer. Another what do you guys call croppets clay man, crappy? 1119 01:13:03,320 --> 01:13:06,040 Speaker 1: You guys had some stupid word for it. No, man, 1120 01:13:06,560 --> 01:13:09,640 Speaker 1: that's when I yeah, I heard that about that. Go on. 1121 01:13:10,760 --> 01:13:13,920 Speaker 1: So anyways, Christmas tree out in the lake. Yes, we 1122 01:13:14,040 --> 01:13:17,080 Speaker 1: we've planted these pockets of Christmas trees or evergreen trees 1123 01:13:17,560 --> 01:13:20,760 Speaker 1: all around these old fields to again give animals a 1124 01:13:20,840 --> 01:13:23,600 Speaker 1: reason to come out into these fields, travel around and 1125 01:13:23,880 --> 01:13:28,640 Speaker 1: and you know, if you could imagine if you ever 1126 01:13:28,680 --> 01:13:31,879 Speaker 1: seen you ever been an urban flying across the country 1127 01:13:32,120 --> 01:13:33,720 Speaker 1: and they have the TV screen in the back of 1128 01:13:33,880 --> 01:13:36,920 Speaker 1: the um chair in front of you, and you can 1129 01:13:37,080 --> 01:13:39,599 Speaker 1: hit that and it will show a map of all 1130 01:13:39,720 --> 01:13:44,640 Speaker 1: the different flight paths from the various cities. That's the 1131 01:13:44,680 --> 01:13:47,760 Speaker 1: effect we wanted to create on a property like this. 1132 01:13:48,040 --> 01:13:54,480 Speaker 1: So instead of having just you know, Detroit, Texas and Washington, 1133 01:13:54,640 --> 01:13:59,599 Speaker 1: d C. I would rather have you know, eighteen different 1134 01:13:59,720 --> 01:14:02,160 Speaker 1: air ports on our property that these deer want to 1135 01:14:02,200 --> 01:14:05,559 Speaker 1: travel in between and across from. Super interesting. Man, that's 1136 01:14:05,600 --> 01:14:08,880 Speaker 1: an interesting way of looking at it. You make a 1137 01:14:08,960 --> 01:14:12,280 Speaker 1: little ship that he needs to go look at exactly. 1138 01:14:12,600 --> 01:14:16,479 Speaker 1: So we're gonna see that every year, as these pockets 1139 01:14:16,600 --> 01:14:20,719 Speaker 1: mature and the fields mature, you're gonna see that happen 1140 01:14:20,800 --> 01:14:23,880 Speaker 1: more and more often. Already this year we've we've seen 1141 01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:27,000 Speaker 1: deer hitting visiting those trees and and rubbing on them, 1142 01:14:27,080 --> 01:14:29,800 Speaker 1: scrape underneath them, so they're already starting to use it 1143 01:14:29,840 --> 01:14:32,599 Speaker 1: in that way. Once those trees fell out, we're gonna 1144 01:14:32,640 --> 01:14:35,880 Speaker 1: start to see does bedding in these pockets and then 1145 01:14:35,920 --> 01:14:37,599 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, bucks are need to check these 1146 01:14:37,640 --> 01:14:40,400 Speaker 1: pockets for doughs that may be ready to breed. So 1147 01:14:40,680 --> 01:14:42,680 Speaker 1: in a few years, it's it's going to be that 1148 01:14:42,800 --> 01:14:45,880 Speaker 1: airport effect for sure. This year we just started to 1149 01:14:45,960 --> 01:14:49,200 Speaker 1: see a little of it. I like that, I like that, 1150 01:14:49,280 --> 01:14:51,760 Speaker 1: look do you cover that? And uh, you cover that? 1151 01:14:51,840 --> 01:14:54,600 Speaker 1: And back forty Yeah, we we talked about it. I 1152 01:14:54,640 --> 01:14:57,679 Speaker 1: don't think I used that airport analogy in the actual video, 1153 01:14:58,240 --> 01:15:00,880 Speaker 1: but I don't necessarily need that exactly analogy. But it's 1154 01:15:00,960 --> 01:15:03,280 Speaker 1: it's a it's like when you already go away for 1155 01:15:03,320 --> 01:15:05,920 Speaker 1: a week and you come home, you kind of make 1156 01:15:06,000 --> 01:15:10,000 Speaker 1: the rounds to see, like who did annoying stuff to 1157 01:15:10,040 --> 01:15:13,080 Speaker 1: your stuff while you were gone? Like before I walk 1158 01:15:13,120 --> 01:15:15,120 Speaker 1: if it's summertime. Before I even go near my house, 1159 01:15:15,200 --> 01:15:19,000 Speaker 1: I go into my garden right and you look and 1160 01:15:19,080 --> 01:15:21,200 Speaker 1: you go look, and then eventually, like an hour later, 1161 01:15:21,240 --> 01:15:22,960 Speaker 1: I'm seeing if they put the pans back where I 1162 01:15:23,000 --> 01:15:27,400 Speaker 1: like the pans, and that my my my tongs are 1163 01:15:27,400 --> 01:15:29,600 Speaker 1: in the top drawer next to the stove, you know, 1164 01:15:30,360 --> 01:15:33,120 Speaker 1: like I just check everything. I got my little circuit. 1165 01:15:33,880 --> 01:15:36,240 Speaker 1: I love that idea with like habitat that a buck 1166 01:15:36,280 --> 01:15:37,760 Speaker 1: He's like, I'm gonna go see what's going on with 1167 01:15:37,840 --> 01:15:40,759 Speaker 1: the ladies. He's just got a lot of little spots. 1168 01:15:40,840 --> 01:15:45,040 Speaker 1: He's got them check out just one little brush patch 1169 01:15:45,080 --> 01:15:59,800 Speaker 1: and then he's off on the neighbor's property exactly. Hey, Mark, 1170 01:16:00,000 --> 01:16:02,320 Speaker 1: and I can I ask you a question, just an observation. 1171 01:16:02,600 --> 01:16:07,160 Speaker 1: So the aerial video, like the drone shots of the 1172 01:16:07,360 --> 01:16:10,800 Speaker 1: of the back forty, I was struck by how it's 1173 01:16:11,479 --> 01:16:13,720 Speaker 1: there didn't seem to be any real big blocks of 1174 01:16:13,840 --> 01:16:17,840 Speaker 1: timber that the sixty four acres was connected to. Did 1175 01:16:17,920 --> 01:16:21,719 Speaker 1: I miss some of that or or is that common? 1176 01:16:21,840 --> 01:16:24,800 Speaker 1: I mean it's kind of like being from the kind 1177 01:16:24,800 --> 01:16:27,880 Speaker 1: of whitetail habitat I'm used to, like Central Kansas, seems 1178 01:16:27,880 --> 01:16:29,800 Speaker 1: like it would be void of deer, but you know 1179 01:16:29,880 --> 01:16:32,240 Speaker 1: they're bedding in grass and there's hardly any trees there, 1180 01:16:32,479 --> 01:16:36,439 Speaker 1: so maybe that effect happening on me. But it seems 1181 01:16:36,479 --> 01:16:40,719 Speaker 1: like there's not any big timber close to that property, 1182 01:16:41,200 --> 01:16:43,920 Speaker 1: so I guess it's all relative when you say big um. 1183 01:16:44,120 --> 01:16:47,240 Speaker 1: There are some substantial blocks of timber that our property 1184 01:16:47,520 --> 01:16:52,120 Speaker 1: connects into north and south of us Um. So basically 1185 01:16:52,200 --> 01:16:54,400 Speaker 1: we're in the middle of a little bit of a watershed, 1186 01:16:55,000 --> 01:16:56,640 Speaker 1: and there's that swamp that runs through the middle of 1187 01:16:56,680 --> 01:17:00,639 Speaker 1: our property and then farm fields on the east and west, 1188 01:17:00,960 --> 01:17:03,800 Speaker 1: and that same pattern follows as you go north or 1189 01:17:03,840 --> 01:17:06,000 Speaker 1: south to the neighbors. But they still have those big 1190 01:17:06,080 --> 01:17:08,400 Speaker 1: chunks of timber in the middle that kind of coincide 1191 01:17:08,439 --> 01:17:10,240 Speaker 1: with that wet with those wet spots, and you see 1192 01:17:10,280 --> 01:17:12,720 Speaker 1: that a lot down here in egg Land where if 1193 01:17:12,760 --> 01:17:16,519 Speaker 1: it's good dry, relatively flat land, it's going to be farmed. 1194 01:17:17,080 --> 01:17:19,479 Speaker 1: But the plot the spots you do still have timber 1195 01:17:19,560 --> 01:17:21,840 Speaker 1: and good cover. That's because it couldn't farm it, and 1196 01:17:22,280 --> 01:17:23,840 Speaker 1: and so there's a there's a pretty good amount of 1197 01:17:23,880 --> 01:17:26,000 Speaker 1: that around here. So that's not a limiting factor though, 1198 01:17:26,040 --> 01:17:27,839 Speaker 1: because I mean a lot of with a small property. 1199 01:17:27,960 --> 01:17:30,599 Speaker 1: You know, you're always trying to evaluate the properties around 1200 01:17:30,680 --> 01:17:33,560 Speaker 1: it because those properties are like for sure going to 1201 01:17:33,680 --> 01:17:37,720 Speaker 1: affect your property. So on the back forty you're not 1202 01:17:38,000 --> 01:17:41,120 Speaker 1: you feel pretty good about the surrounding habitat. Yeah, so 1203 01:17:41,320 --> 01:17:43,320 Speaker 1: it's it's relative to a lot of places around here, 1204 01:17:43,320 --> 01:17:45,680 Speaker 1: it's really good. We have a lot more cover than 1205 01:17:45,720 --> 01:17:48,479 Speaker 1: most people do, um a lot more timber than most 1206 01:17:48,520 --> 01:17:50,280 Speaker 1: other places around here do. And that was a big 1207 01:17:50,320 --> 01:17:52,360 Speaker 1: part of why I picked this spot. I was really 1208 01:17:52,439 --> 01:17:55,640 Speaker 1: careful to think about exactly what you describe the neighborhood, 1209 01:17:55,800 --> 01:17:58,920 Speaker 1: because when you have a small piece you you don't 1210 01:17:58,960 --> 01:18:02,280 Speaker 1: control everything. You don't don't influence everything. These animals are 1211 01:18:02,320 --> 01:18:04,599 Speaker 1: all over the place, so you really want to pick 1212 01:18:05,360 --> 01:18:09,280 Speaker 1: a spot within a high quality general area because you're 1213 01:18:09,280 --> 01:18:12,840 Speaker 1: gonna be sharing. You know, those wildlife are gonna be 1214 01:18:12,840 --> 01:18:14,720 Speaker 1: passing through all your places. So it's great to be 1215 01:18:14,760 --> 01:18:17,519 Speaker 1: in the middle of really good stuff. And so that's 1216 01:18:17,600 --> 01:18:20,839 Speaker 1: that's what we have. We have a good neighborhood, high quality, 1217 01:18:20,880 --> 01:18:24,439 Speaker 1: relatively high quality habitat around us, and we're just able 1218 01:18:24,479 --> 01:18:26,519 Speaker 1: to kind of plug a gap in it and make 1219 01:18:26,560 --> 01:18:28,280 Speaker 1: it extra good in this in this part of it. 1220 01:18:29,200 --> 01:18:32,160 Speaker 1: So talk about the buck you found this year. You um, 1221 01:18:35,160 --> 01:18:39,160 Speaker 1: the way you hunt deer where are you hunt them? 1222 01:18:39,200 --> 01:18:40,720 Speaker 1: Which is kind of like a little bit different than 1223 01:18:40,800 --> 01:18:47,320 Speaker 1: wilderness type hunting is you often are very specific in 1224 01:18:47,439 --> 01:18:52,320 Speaker 1: particular where you're not hunting like deer, you're hunting a 1225 01:18:52,439 --> 01:18:59,200 Speaker 1: deer yep. And that's usually out of necessity now because 1226 01:19:00,000 --> 01:19:02,040 Speaker 1: well sessy, because you got you gotta you'll have a 1227 01:19:02,080 --> 01:19:04,519 Speaker 1: bunch of deer round, but you got one on your mind, 1228 01:19:04,720 --> 01:19:08,040 Speaker 1: and you tailor your activities for that one. Yeah. But 1229 01:19:08,200 --> 01:19:11,120 Speaker 1: but usually that's because I'm hunting in this case one 1230 01:19:11,160 --> 01:19:13,519 Speaker 1: small property. In the other places that hunt in Michigan, 1231 01:19:13,840 --> 01:19:16,600 Speaker 1: they're also pretty small properties, and I usually only have 1232 01:19:16,840 --> 01:19:21,439 Speaker 1: like one mature buck. So he ends up being the 1233 01:19:21,560 --> 01:19:24,120 Speaker 1: one deer I really want to take because he's the 1234 01:19:24,160 --> 01:19:26,360 Speaker 1: only one that meets that age criteria. That for me 1235 01:19:26,520 --> 01:19:27,760 Speaker 1: is what I want with you. So you know, you 1236 01:19:27,800 --> 01:19:29,519 Speaker 1: don't have like you're not you don't have ten to 1237 01:19:29,600 --> 01:19:32,439 Speaker 1: choose from. Yeah, So it was a little different on 1238 01:19:32,479 --> 01:19:34,000 Speaker 1: the back forty this year and that we had a 1239 01:19:34,080 --> 01:19:38,120 Speaker 1: bunch of relatively mature deer. So we had, like I said, 1240 01:19:38,160 --> 01:19:40,560 Speaker 1: eight or nine different bucks that are probably three and 1241 01:19:40,600 --> 01:19:42,560 Speaker 1: a half or older and your name. You always like 1242 01:19:42,640 --> 01:19:48,400 Speaker 1: to name them all. We have a buck we named 1243 01:19:48,439 --> 01:19:52,680 Speaker 1: here at my house called old Limpy. Olymp We got 1244 01:19:53,000 --> 01:19:58,519 Speaker 1: and uh, old Limpy last year had a bad front 1245 01:19:58,640 --> 01:20:02,920 Speaker 1: leg and oh, Olympi this year has a bad back leg. 1246 01:20:05,280 --> 01:20:12,759 Speaker 1: But no, no, my kids, it's Olympian. It's just Olympi. 1247 01:20:13,400 --> 01:20:19,880 Speaker 1: The limp moved, the limp moved, but it's him. Yes, 1248 01:20:19,960 --> 01:20:22,400 Speaker 1: we've got an old one eye. We got a one 1249 01:20:22,479 --> 01:20:26,120 Speaker 1: eyed buck out there. Um, he's a buck that was 1250 01:20:26,200 --> 01:20:28,720 Speaker 1: around last year too. He's the only one that for 1251 01:20:28,880 --> 01:20:31,200 Speaker 1: sure I can identify from last year to this year. 1252 01:20:31,280 --> 01:20:33,720 Speaker 1: So that was cool to see a hold over. Um 1253 01:20:34,560 --> 01:20:37,880 Speaker 1: there was a little droppy, just a little he's got 1254 01:20:37,920 --> 01:20:40,200 Speaker 1: a little drop time And when I first saw him, 1255 01:20:40,200 --> 01:20:41,880 Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, he's got a little drop he time. 1256 01:20:42,120 --> 01:20:46,160 Speaker 1: And so that just nat his name stuck. Um there 1257 01:20:46,439 --> 01:20:50,599 Speaker 1: was Usually these names are just kind of just labying, 1258 01:20:50,640 --> 01:20:53,200 Speaker 1: a labeling, a characteristic. So there's the sticker eight. There's 1259 01:20:53,200 --> 01:20:55,040 Speaker 1: a tight eight point. It has some stickers off of 1260 01:20:55,120 --> 01:20:58,599 Speaker 1: his base on one side. Um, there's a heavy eight, 1261 01:20:58,840 --> 01:21:03,240 Speaker 1: just a really heavy solid eight point. Sometimes you're very clever, 1262 01:21:04,560 --> 01:21:07,439 Speaker 1: right like last year. Last year there was a buck 1263 01:21:07,479 --> 01:21:12,280 Speaker 1: called the wide eight and guess what that buck looked like. Man, 1264 01:21:12,360 --> 01:21:15,560 Speaker 1: it's it's I used to I used to do the 1265 01:21:15,600 --> 01:21:20,360 Speaker 1: whole naming thing. It used to be a thing like 1266 01:21:20,479 --> 01:21:22,479 Speaker 1: I think when I when I was getting into hunting 1267 01:21:22,920 --> 01:21:25,160 Speaker 1: to this degree, I saw these other people doing it 1268 01:21:25,240 --> 01:21:27,479 Speaker 1: and I was like, Oh, that's like, that's the cool 1269 01:21:27,560 --> 01:21:29,760 Speaker 1: thing to do. And I started doing it from that perspective, 1270 01:21:29,800 --> 01:21:32,160 Speaker 1: and that kind of faded for me, and now it's 1271 01:21:32,200 --> 01:21:36,120 Speaker 1: simply just it's a practical thing to do. Because I 1272 01:21:36,200 --> 01:21:38,280 Speaker 1: see these deer over and over and over, and I 1273 01:21:38,360 --> 01:21:40,200 Speaker 1: have to talk about these deer over and over and over. 1274 01:21:40,320 --> 01:21:42,400 Speaker 1: It's really difficult. It would be very difficult for me 1275 01:21:42,439 --> 01:21:44,120 Speaker 1: to be on a podcast and say I saw that 1276 01:21:44,280 --> 01:21:47,040 Speaker 1: one eight pointer that's on the six acre property has 1277 01:21:47,040 --> 01:21:49,760 Speaker 1: got a patch on his neck. Man, G four, that's 1278 01:21:49,800 --> 01:21:54,160 Speaker 1: not quite this tall. So some keep it pretty simple. Um, 1279 01:21:54,439 --> 01:21:57,320 Speaker 1: so yeah, there's the stick or eate the good Uh 1280 01:21:58,000 --> 01:22:00,400 Speaker 1: oh god, I need to ask you why you can't 1281 01:22:00,479 --> 01:22:05,720 Speaker 1: get that one tron buck. But don't don't bring that up. 1282 01:22:09,720 --> 01:22:13,040 Speaker 1: What other names? Uh? Yes, I'm trying to think. What 1283 01:22:13,080 --> 01:22:15,080 Speaker 1: haven't I covered yet? There was a heavy eight, there 1284 01:22:15,240 --> 01:22:18,680 Speaker 1: was the sticker, ay there was droppy, there was all 1285 01:22:18,800 --> 01:22:22,920 Speaker 1: one eye, there was there's a funky side of buck 1286 01:22:23,040 --> 01:22:25,760 Speaker 1: that Tony Peterson, one of our mediator contributors, he was 1287 01:22:25,840 --> 01:22:28,800 Speaker 1: out there with me the summer and we're looking at 1288 01:22:28,800 --> 01:22:31,040 Speaker 1: trail camera pictures and there was a buck that has 1289 01:22:31,320 --> 01:22:33,280 Speaker 1: one really nice four point side and then the other 1290 01:22:33,360 --> 01:22:36,439 Speaker 1: side is that really funky, strange couple of forks and 1291 01:22:36,520 --> 01:22:39,920 Speaker 1: daggers coming off. So if you look at him from 1292 01:22:40,000 --> 01:22:42,640 Speaker 1: one side, he's real straight and normal. But if you 1293 01:22:42,680 --> 01:22:44,000 Speaker 1: were to get to know him a little bit more, 1294 01:22:44,080 --> 01:22:46,519 Speaker 1: you see he's very strange and a little bit unique. 1295 01:22:46,560 --> 01:22:48,479 Speaker 1: And so Tony thought that was it would be fitting 1296 01:22:48,520 --> 01:22:54,200 Speaker 1: to call him Spencer, after our mutual friend Spencer. So 1297 01:22:55,000 --> 01:23:00,639 Speaker 1: so there's Spencer, um, and I'm to thin who I'm 1298 01:23:00,640 --> 01:23:03,040 Speaker 1: forgetting here? Those are Those are the bucks I can 1299 01:23:03,080 --> 01:23:05,400 Speaker 1: remember off the top of my head. And when you 1300 01:23:06,200 --> 01:23:08,960 Speaker 1: but when you're hunting and you know, you know, you 1301 01:23:09,040 --> 01:23:11,080 Speaker 1: had a crew with you, so you're filming the hunt 1302 01:23:11,280 --> 01:23:13,439 Speaker 1: when you're hunting, and you can see the hunt on 1303 01:23:13,479 --> 01:23:15,760 Speaker 1: the back because it's like a cool, successful hunt. But 1304 01:23:16,840 --> 01:23:20,200 Speaker 1: were you tailoring it? Were you like trying to generalize it, 1305 01:23:20,640 --> 01:23:24,360 Speaker 1: or are you tailoring your activities for one of these 1306 01:23:24,680 --> 01:23:28,640 Speaker 1: or for all of these m HM. So in some 1307 01:23:28,800 --> 01:23:31,000 Speaker 1: places it would be for one of these. In this case, 1308 01:23:31,160 --> 01:23:33,720 Speaker 1: it was kind of for any one of these. We 1309 01:23:33,800 --> 01:23:36,400 Speaker 1: had to see which one of these deer or which 1310 01:23:36,520 --> 01:23:39,439 Speaker 1: which of these deer would spend the most time during 1311 01:23:39,520 --> 01:23:41,680 Speaker 1: hunting season, during the period we would actually hunting there. 1312 01:23:41,920 --> 01:23:44,519 Speaker 1: So as you know, coming into the season, I saw 1313 01:23:44,600 --> 01:23:46,519 Speaker 1: all these deer were there. I was looking at pictures 1314 01:23:46,760 --> 01:23:50,400 Speaker 1: of all these different deer using the property, and we 1315 01:23:50,439 --> 01:23:53,479 Speaker 1: can only hunt certain windows, right because that's when we're 1316 01:23:53,520 --> 01:23:55,479 Speaker 1: gonna be there hunting it and filming and everything like that. 1317 01:23:55,760 --> 01:23:57,599 Speaker 1: So it was a little bit of a waiting game 1318 01:23:57,640 --> 01:24:00,320 Speaker 1: and saying, Okay, these bucks are there right now, which 1319 01:24:00,360 --> 01:24:02,280 Speaker 1: of these bucks will be around here when we can 1320 01:24:02,320 --> 01:24:04,960 Speaker 1: start hunting them, and what can I learn about that? 1321 01:24:05,120 --> 01:24:07,720 Speaker 1: And so as the season started progressing, you would see 1322 01:24:07,760 --> 01:24:09,880 Speaker 1: there was you know, this buck is spending a lot 1323 01:24:09,920 --> 01:24:12,760 Speaker 1: of time in this corner, and these two bucks are 1324 01:24:12,800 --> 01:24:15,960 Speaker 1: hanging out in this bottom section, and so you start 1325 01:24:16,040 --> 01:24:18,160 Speaker 1: to have a little bit of a pattern related to 1326 01:24:18,320 --> 01:24:21,719 Speaker 1: one or two of these bucks. But once we started hunting, 1327 01:24:22,160 --> 01:24:25,280 Speaker 1: you had to kind of given the fact is so small, 1328 01:24:25,360 --> 01:24:27,840 Speaker 1: you simply don't have a lot of options. There's a 1329 01:24:27,920 --> 01:24:30,439 Speaker 1: few good spots that are probably gonna be where it's 1330 01:24:30,439 --> 01:24:32,559 Speaker 1: gonna happen. Yeah, it's not like you're like driving off 1331 01:24:32,640 --> 01:24:35,080 Speaker 1: to this end of the place. It's just like you 1332 01:24:35,120 --> 01:24:37,760 Speaker 1: can walk it off. Mark, how many truck cameras do 1333 01:24:37,840 --> 01:24:40,200 Speaker 1: you have up on that six acres? You know, I 1334 01:24:40,280 --> 01:24:47,800 Speaker 1: think we had ten. It's like a convenience store. It's 1335 01:24:47,960 --> 01:24:49,880 Speaker 1: it seems to me like on a property that small, 1336 01:24:49,960 --> 01:24:51,800 Speaker 1: it would be hard to I mean, to answer or 1337 01:24:51,840 --> 01:24:55,479 Speaker 1: to add to the question Steve's asking. It's like on 1338 01:24:55,640 --> 01:24:59,320 Speaker 1: that sixty acres. So there wasn't like a section that 1339 01:24:59,439 --> 01:25:02,680 Speaker 1: you were like, Okay, that buck is always there, that 1340 01:25:02,880 --> 01:25:06,679 Speaker 1: buck is always there. It was there you were hunting 1341 01:25:06,800 --> 01:25:09,639 Speaker 1: travel areas that any one of those bucks could come through. 1342 01:25:09,640 --> 01:25:11,920 Speaker 1: Now at any given time, it might have been a 1343 01:25:12,080 --> 01:25:15,000 Speaker 1: trend for one of those bucks to be showing up there. Yeah, 1344 01:25:15,640 --> 01:25:19,160 Speaker 1: that's that's exactly right. And so you know what happened 1345 01:25:19,240 --> 01:25:23,759 Speaker 1: is that eventually, um, as we started hunting, I noticed 1346 01:25:23,800 --> 01:25:27,000 Speaker 1: that that droptime buck was our most frequent visitor to 1347 01:25:27,720 --> 01:25:30,640 Speaker 1: the southern half of the farm. That's where he was 1348 01:25:30,680 --> 01:25:34,599 Speaker 1: spending a lot more time based on pictures and sightings 1349 01:25:35,000 --> 01:25:37,599 Speaker 1: of any deer that we saw. I saw him the most, 1350 01:25:38,080 --> 01:25:39,920 Speaker 1: and he was spending a lot of time down there, 1351 01:25:39,960 --> 01:25:41,840 Speaker 1: so he became the deer I thought was most likely 1352 01:25:42,120 --> 01:25:45,760 Speaker 1: that we'd have a chance at um. And I saw 1353 01:25:45,920 --> 01:25:48,040 Speaker 1: him the first time we hunted the farm all year, 1354 01:25:48,240 --> 01:25:51,400 Speaker 1: I saw him come out down there. And then the 1355 01:25:51,840 --> 01:25:55,320 Speaker 1: first night of my rut hunt out there in early November, 1356 01:25:55,840 --> 01:25:58,280 Speaker 1: I saw him and almost got a shot. Had him 1357 01:25:58,320 --> 01:26:00,760 Speaker 1: come in chasing a dough and in those fields, one 1358 01:26:00,760 --> 01:26:03,840 Speaker 1: of our little food plots there, and he came running 1359 01:26:03,880 --> 01:26:06,880 Speaker 1: around and several times stopped at about fifty five yards. 1360 01:26:07,360 --> 01:26:08,960 Speaker 1: I just didn't want I wasnt gonna take that kind 1361 01:26:09,000 --> 01:26:12,920 Speaker 1: of shot. And uh so after that, I said, Okay, 1362 01:26:13,520 --> 01:26:15,640 Speaker 1: this buck, the draftime buck, is hanging out in and 1363 01:26:15,720 --> 01:26:17,760 Speaker 1: around this betting area. We call it the honey hole. 1364 01:26:17,840 --> 01:26:21,439 Speaker 1: He's in here a lot. And if I spend enough 1365 01:26:21,560 --> 01:26:24,920 Speaker 1: time around this betting area and make sure that the 1366 01:26:24,920 --> 01:26:27,200 Speaker 1: wind's right so I'm not spooking dear. If I if 1367 01:26:27,240 --> 01:26:29,479 Speaker 1: I'm in this area with the right winds for enough 1368 01:26:29,600 --> 01:26:32,880 Speaker 1: days during the rut, He's gonna come through and and 1369 01:26:32,960 --> 01:26:36,479 Speaker 1: I'll be in the game at least so to oversimplify things. 1370 01:26:36,600 --> 01:26:39,439 Speaker 1: That was was my strategy when I actually started hunting, 1371 01:26:39,600 --> 01:26:43,560 Speaker 1: which was during the rut um, and you know, and 1372 01:26:43,600 --> 01:26:45,280 Speaker 1: eventually it kind of came together. I don't know, if 1373 01:26:45,280 --> 01:26:48,800 Speaker 1: we want to get into that pan out. Yeah. So 1374 01:26:49,680 --> 01:26:51,720 Speaker 1: two days after that encounter with him, this was in 1375 01:26:51,800 --> 01:26:55,400 Speaker 1: November nine, I think or eight um ninth I guess, 1376 01:26:56,200 --> 01:26:58,519 Speaker 1: I went and sat in that honey hole spot. So 1377 01:26:58,600 --> 01:27:01,400 Speaker 1: this is this patch of native prairie that we found 1378 01:27:01,560 --> 01:27:04,360 Speaker 1: last year. It's really unique. It's rare. There are not 1379 01:27:04,600 --> 01:27:08,920 Speaker 1: many spots that native prairie ecosystems still exists in southern Michigan. 1380 01:27:10,400 --> 01:27:13,120 Speaker 1: You recognize it right off and knew that it was 1381 01:27:13,160 --> 01:27:16,280 Speaker 1: gonna be like a producer. Yeah. That was what sold 1382 01:27:16,320 --> 01:27:17,800 Speaker 1: me on the farm. When I walked at the very 1383 01:27:17,880 --> 01:27:21,600 Speaker 1: first time. That was I walked it from a clockwise 1384 01:27:21,760 --> 01:27:23,800 Speaker 1: in a clockwise direction. So I started up in the 1385 01:27:23,880 --> 01:27:26,320 Speaker 1: panhandle at kind of eleven o'clock and then walked the 1386 01:27:26,400 --> 01:27:30,000 Speaker 1: outside edge all the way down to about eight o'clock. 1387 01:27:30,600 --> 01:27:32,320 Speaker 1: Eight or nine o'clock is when you get to the 1388 01:27:32,400 --> 01:27:34,120 Speaker 1: honey hole. And when I got there, I said, oh, 1389 01:27:35,040 --> 01:27:38,680 Speaker 1: this this has something special going on here with the 1390 01:27:38,760 --> 01:27:42,519 Speaker 1: grasses and the cedars just tremendous betting habitat for all 1391 01:27:42,920 --> 01:27:46,240 Speaker 1: all types of animals, but deer especially. UM. So this 1392 01:27:46,400 --> 01:27:49,320 Speaker 1: is actually the spot the first tree I prepped to 1393 01:27:49,479 --> 01:27:52,479 Speaker 1: hunt last summer ended up being the tree we killed 1394 01:27:52,520 --> 01:27:55,360 Speaker 1: that buck from this year. And we did a prescribed 1395 01:27:55,439 --> 01:27:57,439 Speaker 1: fire in there this summer to improve it in that 1396 01:27:57,560 --> 01:27:59,760 Speaker 1: starting summer in the spring, so we actually went in 1397 01:27:59,800 --> 01:28:02,120 Speaker 1: there and lit the place on fire, which is a 1398 01:28:02,160 --> 01:28:05,959 Speaker 1: cool thing. I'd never done that before. Um, It's amazing 1399 01:28:06,400 --> 01:28:10,639 Speaker 1: the power that fire has to naturally revive and restore 1400 01:28:10,640 --> 01:28:15,439 Speaker 1: an ecosystem. Basically, it burns all the extra detritus and 1401 01:28:15,640 --> 01:28:17,960 Speaker 1: and leaf cover and and dead material on top of 1402 01:28:18,040 --> 01:28:20,320 Speaker 1: the soil and and opens it all up for new growth, 1403 01:28:20,479 --> 01:28:24,040 Speaker 1: adds new nutrients to the soil. Um. Right, that that's 1404 01:28:24,080 --> 01:28:26,240 Speaker 1: what happens out on public lands out west when a 1405 01:28:26,320 --> 01:28:31,320 Speaker 1: fire comes through. It restores a lovitality to that to 1406 01:28:31,439 --> 01:28:33,120 Speaker 1: that area. And so that's what we try to do here. 1407 01:28:33,160 --> 01:28:35,640 Speaker 1: We had a special little rare prairie. Let's let's boost it, 1408 01:28:35,720 --> 01:28:38,120 Speaker 1: let's help it along, let's help it grow. So we 1409 01:28:38,200 --> 01:28:42,160 Speaker 1: remove some of these invasive autumolives and buckthorn trees in 1410 01:28:42,200 --> 01:28:44,640 Speaker 1: there too. So all that to say is that we 1411 01:28:44,840 --> 01:28:47,880 Speaker 1: we it was neat to make some change to this 1412 01:28:48,000 --> 01:28:51,600 Speaker 1: already pretty neat spot. See that come together hunt the 1413 01:28:51,680 --> 01:28:54,160 Speaker 1: first trey I ever thought we should hunt from on 1414 01:28:54,320 --> 01:28:56,519 Speaker 1: my last hunting trip on the back forty and have 1415 01:28:56,680 --> 01:28:59,720 Speaker 1: it come together where you know. That morning I got 1416 01:28:59,800 --> 01:29:03,400 Speaker 1: in around the edge of this and oh, an hour 1417 01:29:03,439 --> 01:29:07,120 Speaker 1: after daylight, spotted a buck way down the swamp beneath me, 1418 01:29:07,479 --> 01:29:09,920 Speaker 1: and pulled up my binos and it was that spencer 1419 01:29:10,000 --> 01:29:12,120 Speaker 1: buck was the funky side of deer, and you could 1420 01:29:12,160 --> 01:29:14,120 Speaker 1: just see he was cruising across the swamp. He wasn't 1421 01:29:14,120 --> 01:29:15,600 Speaker 1: with the doughe but he was. He was searching for 1422 01:29:15,680 --> 01:29:17,080 Speaker 1: a doll. Just you could see the way he was 1423 01:29:17,120 --> 01:29:19,840 Speaker 1: moving on a mission across the swamp. So that got 1424 01:29:19,880 --> 01:29:21,880 Speaker 1: me excited. And maybe ten minutes later I saw another 1425 01:29:21,920 --> 01:29:23,840 Speaker 1: flash of white down there. I pulled up my binoculars 1426 01:29:23,840 --> 01:29:26,040 Speaker 1: and I see a doll running across and then a 1427 01:29:26,080 --> 01:29:29,040 Speaker 1: big set of white times behind her and run. Soon 1428 01:29:29,120 --> 01:29:30,639 Speaker 1: after I could see the drop time, so I could 1429 01:29:30,640 --> 01:29:32,720 Speaker 1: see it was not was the drop buck that I've 1430 01:29:32,720 --> 01:29:35,479 Speaker 1: seen a few days before. So I'm watching watching, I 1431 01:29:35,520 --> 01:29:37,840 Speaker 1: see the dough squired out and maybe fifteen minutes later, 1432 01:29:37,880 --> 01:29:40,080 Speaker 1: here she comes again, and here comes the droptime buck again. 1433 01:29:40,680 --> 01:29:43,360 Speaker 1: So I was excited by that, but it was pretty 1434 01:29:43,400 --> 01:29:47,120 Speaker 1: far away. This is five yards away maybe, and on 1435 01:29:47,280 --> 01:29:50,200 Speaker 1: the neighbors, you know, off in the distance. I could there, 1436 01:29:50,439 --> 01:29:52,240 Speaker 1: You could just see him through the binoculars, so that 1437 01:29:52,320 --> 01:29:54,479 Speaker 1: I knew they were in my world, but I did 1438 01:29:54,560 --> 01:29:58,080 Speaker 1: not necessarily think they'd be on top of me anytime soon. Um, 1439 01:29:59,000 --> 01:30:02,680 Speaker 1: So fast forward forty five minutes when I saw a 1440 01:30:02,720 --> 01:30:06,240 Speaker 1: flashing movement right underneath me, about sixty seventy yards away, 1441 01:30:06,280 --> 01:30:09,320 Speaker 1: passing through the cedars. I wasn't expecting it necessarily to 1442 01:30:09,360 --> 01:30:11,840 Speaker 1: be one of those bucks, but I saw a nice set, 1443 01:30:12,479 --> 01:30:15,080 Speaker 1: a nice kind of profile view of of of antlers 1444 01:30:15,120 --> 01:30:17,720 Speaker 1: passing through the cedars, just like a flash. Really quick, 1445 01:30:18,600 --> 01:30:19,720 Speaker 1: I knew it was a buck that I wanted to 1446 01:30:19,720 --> 01:30:21,559 Speaker 1: get another look at at least though, So I grabbed 1447 01:30:21,600 --> 01:30:25,559 Speaker 1: my grunt tube, let out a couple of just deep grunts, 1448 01:30:27,160 --> 01:30:30,920 Speaker 1: and five seconds later, this deer comes popping back out 1449 01:30:30,960 --> 01:30:34,160 Speaker 1: from behind the seedar and instantly saw it was the 1450 01:30:34,240 --> 01:30:36,760 Speaker 1: draftime buck. And it's it's beautiful. It's so neat that 1451 01:30:36,840 --> 01:30:38,679 Speaker 1: we have a captured on film and I can relive 1452 01:30:38,760 --> 01:30:42,880 Speaker 1: that moment because just a really cool deer, and he 1453 01:30:42,960 --> 01:30:45,599 Speaker 1: came into the grunt, walked underneath one of these seeds, 1454 01:30:46,280 --> 01:30:49,759 Speaker 1: just ripped up a scrape dirt and leaves, like kicking 1455 01:30:49,800 --> 01:30:51,920 Speaker 1: twenty behind him. You can just see it thrown way 1456 01:30:51,960 --> 01:30:57,720 Speaker 1: back there. Yeah, he was fired up and made that 1457 01:30:57,800 --> 01:31:01,160 Speaker 1: scrape and then kind of walked across behind a big 1458 01:31:01,200 --> 01:31:03,080 Speaker 1: oak tree that's in there, and I couldn't get a shot, 1459 01:31:03,600 --> 01:31:07,679 Speaker 1: And it was there was a moment of significant tension 1460 01:31:07,960 --> 01:31:11,840 Speaker 1: where he was. If he continued on that route, he 1461 01:31:12,080 --> 01:31:13,880 Speaker 1: was going to hit where my wind was blowing. It 1462 01:31:13,960 --> 01:31:16,000 Speaker 1: was blowing r the edge and he was headed right 1463 01:31:16,080 --> 01:31:17,720 Speaker 1: for it. And so in my head, I'm thinking, all right, 1464 01:31:18,160 --> 01:31:20,439 Speaker 1: if he steps out from behind that oak tree, he's 1465 01:31:20,479 --> 01:31:22,240 Speaker 1: gonna be right. He's gonna be right in my wind, 1466 01:31:22,280 --> 01:31:24,479 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be either I'm gonna have a quick 1467 01:31:24,560 --> 01:31:26,519 Speaker 1: moment to get that shot or he's gonna blow out 1468 01:31:26,560 --> 01:31:29,200 Speaker 1: of there. So I was mentally preparing myself for that, 1469 01:31:29,360 --> 01:31:32,639 Speaker 1: and then just out of pure luck, he stopped, turned 1470 01:31:32,680 --> 01:31:35,479 Speaker 1: around and started to go back the way he came, 1471 01:31:35,600 --> 01:31:38,320 Speaker 1: but angled even closer to me. So he came back, 1472 01:31:38,520 --> 01:31:41,320 Speaker 1: came around the oak tree and walked right to the 1473 01:31:41,400 --> 01:31:47,639 Speaker 1: most perfect place for a shot something like that. Perfect. 1474 01:31:50,520 --> 01:31:52,920 Speaker 1: I stopped him with it a little map, it's a 1475 01:31:52,960 --> 01:31:56,360 Speaker 1: little sound, stopped him and uh, it's a pretty good grunt. 1476 01:31:57,240 --> 01:31:59,599 Speaker 1: When you went, when he went? When he went? Man? 1477 01:32:00,040 --> 01:32:03,600 Speaker 1: Did he? Um? Did he peg you? Or did he 1478 01:32:03,680 --> 01:32:07,280 Speaker 1: just stop? He stopped and looked right in our direction yet? 1479 01:32:07,360 --> 01:32:11,639 Speaker 1: But you know, I don't I guess I don't remember 1480 01:32:11,680 --> 01:32:13,640 Speaker 1: if he looked up or towards us. I'd have to 1481 01:32:13,680 --> 01:32:16,120 Speaker 1: go look at the video again, I don't remember, but 1482 01:32:16,560 --> 01:32:20,040 Speaker 1: either way, whatever, along. Yeah, I was a full draw 1483 01:32:20,080 --> 01:32:22,720 Speaker 1: and he had an air on him seconds later, so 1484 01:32:23,600 --> 01:32:25,840 Speaker 1: and he ran like he ran maybe fifty sixty yards 1485 01:32:26,040 --> 01:32:30,160 Speaker 1: and was down. Um, So that was it was super cool, 1486 01:32:31,000 --> 01:32:34,599 Speaker 1: like between that wide eight which is so cool lash. Yeah, 1487 01:32:34,720 --> 01:32:39,080 Speaker 1: that's great man, It was, it was. It was awesome. 1488 01:32:39,240 --> 01:32:40,920 Speaker 1: I mean, it's been a project that's been a ton 1489 01:32:41,000 --> 01:32:44,240 Speaker 1: of work and a lot of a lot of Last 1490 01:32:44,320 --> 01:32:46,479 Speaker 1: year felt like we were just beating her head against 1491 01:32:46,479 --> 01:32:48,120 Speaker 1: the wall, and I was I was surprised by how 1492 01:32:48,240 --> 01:32:52,120 Speaker 1: little um progress we were seeing. To see it change 1493 01:32:52,360 --> 01:32:56,200 Speaker 1: this year in pretty dramatic fashion. Just this really encouraging 1494 01:32:56,400 --> 01:32:59,240 Speaker 1: to me. And uh, and what you can do. And 1495 01:32:59,320 --> 01:33:02,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't like we did anything really crazy with with 1496 01:33:02,560 --> 01:33:05,360 Speaker 1: an insane budget. We we went. We didn't sink tons 1497 01:33:05,400 --> 01:33:07,400 Speaker 1: and tons and tons of money into the changes we made. 1498 01:33:07,439 --> 01:33:11,400 Speaker 1: We we use small equipment. We rented something for a 1499 01:33:11,479 --> 01:33:13,960 Speaker 1: day to plant the trees. Um, you know this is 1500 01:33:14,000 --> 01:33:16,280 Speaker 1: something that that I could have done, you know on 1501 01:33:16,400 --> 01:33:20,800 Speaker 1: my own. Maybe. Um, what I'm trying to say here 1502 01:33:20,880 --> 01:33:23,720 Speaker 1: is is not outside of the possibility for anyone else 1503 01:33:23,800 --> 01:33:27,920 Speaker 1: to do something similar. Um m hm. How how bad 1504 01:33:27,960 --> 01:33:31,719 Speaker 1: do you wish? Like like if you had that place, 1505 01:33:32,439 --> 01:33:34,800 Speaker 1: if all of a sudden we said, like, I know 1506 01:33:34,840 --> 01:33:36,479 Speaker 1: you wouldn't want to back out onto plan, But if 1507 01:33:36,479 --> 01:33:39,360 Speaker 1: also it was just yours for whatever reason, would that 1508 01:33:39,439 --> 01:33:44,040 Speaker 1: be like a favorite hunting spotty yours? Last week while 1509 01:33:44,080 --> 01:33:46,400 Speaker 1: we were hunting, I thought about this a lot, and 1510 01:33:46,560 --> 01:33:48,880 Speaker 1: even one of the cameraman I joked that maybe we 1511 01:33:48,920 --> 01:33:51,400 Speaker 1: should save up some money and whenever the new owners 1512 01:33:51,479 --> 01:33:52,880 Speaker 1: want to get rid of it, will buy it from 1513 01:33:54,960 --> 01:33:58,760 Speaker 1: Because yeah, is this place pretty far from where you live. Mark, 1514 01:33:59,120 --> 01:34:01,680 Speaker 1: It's clote relative the close it's within. You know, I 1515 01:34:01,720 --> 01:34:05,120 Speaker 1: could hunt it if I wanted, um on a frequent basis. 1516 01:34:05,880 --> 01:34:08,600 Speaker 1: There's so much potential. Like to see the difference we 1517 01:34:08,680 --> 01:34:11,600 Speaker 1: were able to make in one year. I could I 1518 01:34:11,680 --> 01:34:13,760 Speaker 1: could sit here for two hours talking to you about 1519 01:34:13,800 --> 01:34:15,720 Speaker 1: all the other projects I'd like to do if we 1520 01:34:15,800 --> 01:34:18,960 Speaker 1: had this for ten years, and how how much, how 1521 01:34:20,479 --> 01:34:23,320 Speaker 1: just how awesome it could be. It's it's I think 1522 01:34:23,360 --> 01:34:25,719 Speaker 1: what we've proved here was that you can make progress 1523 01:34:25,760 --> 01:34:28,439 Speaker 1: towards a goal like we had, and I think you can. 1524 01:34:29,439 --> 01:34:33,040 Speaker 1: I can confidently say like we made positive steps in 1525 01:34:33,080 --> 01:34:35,519 Speaker 1: the right direction in two years basically a year and 1526 01:34:35,520 --> 01:34:40,200 Speaker 1: a half. Um. But there's a lot lots more we 1527 01:34:40,320 --> 01:34:43,720 Speaker 1: could tackle if we had the time. And hopefully, you know, 1528 01:34:43,960 --> 01:34:46,919 Speaker 1: some days somebody will yeah. Well. One of the beautiful 1529 01:34:46,960 --> 01:34:50,560 Speaker 1: things about the project is it you're starting to, you know, 1530 01:34:50,800 --> 01:34:56,160 Speaker 1: helping create a blueprint. Not that you're you know, like 1531 01:34:56,400 --> 01:34:59,040 Speaker 1: like we're inventing anything here. It's like a thing that 1532 01:34:59,120 --> 01:35:02,920 Speaker 1: people do. We're just doing a version of it. We're 1533 01:35:03,000 --> 01:35:06,439 Speaker 1: creating a blueprint for how to come in and and 1534 01:35:07,400 --> 01:35:12,200 Speaker 1: maximize wildlife habitat, like you know, restore piece of property 1535 01:35:12,320 --> 01:35:17,439 Speaker 1: that has been You know that that the priority for 1536 01:35:17,560 --> 01:35:19,960 Speaker 1: that land was different. The priority for that land wasn't 1537 01:35:20,000 --> 01:35:23,680 Speaker 1: wildlife habitat. The priority that land was making food for 1538 01:35:23,760 --> 01:35:26,559 Speaker 1: people to eat, which is like noble and been great. 1539 01:35:27,200 --> 01:35:28,960 Speaker 1: But what can be done when you can take a 1540 01:35:29,040 --> 01:35:35,200 Speaker 1: little piece of ground and bring some you know, environmental 1541 01:35:35,240 --> 01:35:40,599 Speaker 1: stewardship and good conservation practices and and kind of watch 1542 01:35:40,680 --> 01:35:44,120 Speaker 1: that impact. And if you could do that, or people 1543 01:35:44,960 --> 01:35:47,559 Speaker 1: can do that in a lot of places all across 1544 01:35:47,600 --> 01:35:52,479 Speaker 1: the country and create like this extensive patchwork of pieces 1545 01:35:52,520 --> 01:35:55,360 Speaker 1: of ground like that with some protections on them into 1546 01:35:55,400 --> 01:36:01,040 Speaker 1: the future, it's good for everybody. Yeah, yeah, that's the truth. 1547 01:36:01,120 --> 01:36:02,880 Speaker 1: Are you are you want to talk about what's gonna 1548 01:36:02,880 --> 01:36:05,800 Speaker 1: happen with that place or should we hold off? Yeah? Yeah, 1549 01:36:05,800 --> 01:36:08,479 Speaker 1: I can talk about that, but I want to give 1550 01:36:08,520 --> 01:36:11,880 Speaker 1: a little prelude to that in in and that this 1551 01:36:12,040 --> 01:36:15,880 Speaker 1: project not only open my eyes from a habitat perspective, 1552 01:36:16,439 --> 01:36:18,960 Speaker 1: but it also opened my eyes from the perspective of 1553 01:36:19,120 --> 01:36:23,519 Speaker 1: how you can use and enjoy a place like this. Um, 1554 01:36:24,640 --> 01:36:29,800 Speaker 1: there's definitely a tendency, especially within like the hardcore white 1555 01:36:29,840 --> 01:36:34,320 Speaker 1: tail hunting world. Two look at a property. If you 1556 01:36:34,400 --> 01:36:36,240 Speaker 1: were to have access to a property, whether you own 1557 01:36:36,320 --> 01:36:39,280 Speaker 1: it or have lease or it's a hunt club or whatever. UM, 1558 01:36:39,920 --> 01:36:44,200 Speaker 1: there's there's often a tendency to be hyper sensitive to 1559 01:36:44,560 --> 01:36:46,840 Speaker 1: keeping it all to yourself or keeping it all to 1560 01:36:47,080 --> 01:36:51,240 Speaker 1: just you know, no extra impact, no extra people, because 1561 01:36:51,840 --> 01:36:54,479 Speaker 1: especially if you're trying to target mature deer or big 1562 01:36:54,560 --> 01:37:00,120 Speaker 1: deer or whatever. Um. One of the overarching principles for 1563 01:37:00,200 --> 01:37:02,439 Speaker 1: being able to have deer like that around and to 1564 01:37:02,520 --> 01:37:04,040 Speaker 1: be able to get a shot at deer like that 1565 01:37:04,200 --> 01:37:06,920 Speaker 1: is to keep those deer unaware of the fact that 1566 01:37:06,960 --> 01:37:08,800 Speaker 1: there's a bunch of hunters trying to kill him, so 1567 01:37:09,120 --> 01:37:11,640 Speaker 1: keep pressure low. So for a lot of years I 1568 01:37:11,760 --> 01:37:15,080 Speaker 1: have obsessed over the idea of you know, nobody else 1569 01:37:15,120 --> 01:37:16,960 Speaker 1: out in these property if you can control it, you 1570 01:37:17,000 --> 01:37:18,600 Speaker 1: know nobody else out there. I'm only going to go 1571 01:37:18,680 --> 01:37:20,680 Speaker 1: in there a few times and everything's just right, and 1572 01:37:20,720 --> 01:37:22,200 Speaker 1: I don't want to mess it up because if I 1573 01:37:22,280 --> 01:37:24,519 Speaker 1: do that, Buck is gonna be out of here. Um. 1574 01:37:25,760 --> 01:37:27,680 Speaker 1: And and so that was a little bit of a 1575 01:37:29,080 --> 01:37:32,920 Speaker 1: h that was like a lens that I looked at 1576 01:37:33,120 --> 01:37:36,439 Speaker 1: habitat management in hunting through for for many of my 1577 01:37:36,560 --> 01:37:39,880 Speaker 1: years leading up to this. But taking on this project, 1578 01:37:39,960 --> 01:37:41,479 Speaker 1: we decided that, hey, this isn't going to be a 1579 01:37:41,520 --> 01:37:43,720 Speaker 1: place that just Mark hunts, and this isn't gonna be 1580 01:37:43,720 --> 01:37:45,840 Speaker 1: about just Mark trying to kill a big buck. This 1581 01:37:46,040 --> 01:37:48,040 Speaker 1: is also going to be about sharing it with other people. 1582 01:37:48,640 --> 01:37:52,920 Speaker 1: So last year we invited um Uh, we invite a 1583 01:37:53,000 --> 01:37:55,160 Speaker 1: researcher out. We invite Doug during a come out and hunt. 1584 01:37:55,160 --> 01:37:56,720 Speaker 1: We invited my dad to come out and hunt. We 1585 01:37:56,800 --> 01:37:59,640 Speaker 1: invited uh Cal and a new hunter last winter to 1586 01:37:59,640 --> 01:38:01,880 Speaker 1: come out in hunt. This year, we brought my dad 1587 01:38:01,960 --> 01:38:05,639 Speaker 1: back again. UH. We brought the hunt winner out last 1588 01:38:05,720 --> 01:38:07,960 Speaker 1: week to come and spend some time out there. We 1589 01:38:08,080 --> 01:38:13,400 Speaker 1: brought another new hunter out there, and what I learned 1590 01:38:14,000 --> 01:38:18,920 Speaker 1: was two full number one. I learned that even on 1591 01:38:18,960 --> 01:38:21,680 Speaker 1: a small property like this, even in a state like 1592 01:38:21,800 --> 01:38:23,880 Speaker 1: Michigan where there are a lot of other hunters there's 1593 01:38:23,880 --> 01:38:27,360 Speaker 1: a lot of pressure on these deer, um, you can 1594 01:38:27,520 --> 01:38:30,800 Speaker 1: still share and have other people out there doing this 1595 01:38:31,040 --> 01:38:32,880 Speaker 1: these kinds of things and having a good time and 1596 01:38:33,000 --> 01:38:36,200 Speaker 1: still have quality hunting. We had way more people hunting 1597 01:38:36,240 --> 01:38:38,360 Speaker 1: this property than I ever would have thought we could 1598 01:38:38,400 --> 01:38:41,880 Speaker 1: have got away with and still killed some nice bucks. Um. So, 1599 01:38:42,040 --> 01:38:46,160 Speaker 1: from from that standpoint, that was eye opening and encouraging 1600 01:38:46,240 --> 01:38:49,760 Speaker 1: to me. But most importantly, I also was just reminded 1601 01:38:51,439 --> 01:38:56,840 Speaker 1: of how much more enjoyable hunting can be when you 1602 01:38:56,920 --> 01:39:00,519 Speaker 1: share it with people. A lot of my white tail 1603 01:39:00,600 --> 01:39:02,720 Speaker 1: hunting and a lot of other like really serious white 1604 01:39:02,720 --> 01:39:05,640 Speaker 1: tail hunters, you sometimes can get stuck in the solitary 1605 01:39:05,760 --> 01:39:08,280 Speaker 1: nature of it, and it's just like me trying to 1606 01:39:08,360 --> 01:39:11,479 Speaker 1: achieve my goal in my spot, in my way, and 1607 01:39:11,560 --> 01:39:13,120 Speaker 1: it's it's me waking up at three thirty in the 1608 01:39:13,200 --> 01:39:14,960 Speaker 1: morning and going out and hunting all day and I'm 1609 01:39:15,439 --> 01:39:18,320 Speaker 1: very mission focused or whatever you want to say. Um, 1610 01:39:18,720 --> 01:39:21,800 Speaker 1: there's a lot of folks like that, and it was 1611 01:39:21,880 --> 01:39:24,800 Speaker 1: a great reminder to me. And getting to share this 1612 01:39:24,920 --> 01:39:26,920 Speaker 1: place with other people and hunt with other people and 1613 01:39:27,120 --> 01:39:30,720 Speaker 1: and see them enjoy this place of just and this 1614 01:39:30,840 --> 01:39:33,800 Speaker 1: is a simple thing and it's obvious, but sometimes you 1615 01:39:33,840 --> 01:39:35,720 Speaker 1: gotta get smacked over the head with it, like how 1616 01:39:35,800 --> 01:39:38,080 Speaker 1: great that is. It was great to be able to 1617 01:39:38,080 --> 01:39:40,400 Speaker 1: take a new hunter out there and see him get 1618 01:39:40,439 --> 01:39:42,720 Speaker 1: a shot at his first buck, and the highs and 1619 01:39:42,840 --> 01:39:45,160 Speaker 1: lows and the excitement it was. It was amazing to 1620 01:39:45,240 --> 01:39:46,920 Speaker 1: get to take my dad out there, and I got 1621 01:39:47,360 --> 01:39:49,680 Speaker 1: the opportunity to spend time with my dad on the 1622 01:39:49,720 --> 01:39:52,720 Speaker 1: property last fall and this year come back again. We 1623 01:39:52,920 --> 01:39:55,439 Speaker 1: changed a bunch of things to try to make it, uh, 1624 01:39:55,920 --> 01:39:58,280 Speaker 1: you know, a better situation for him, and he actually 1625 01:39:58,320 --> 01:40:00,559 Speaker 1: got to kill his first deer with arch equipment ever, 1626 01:40:00,680 --> 01:40:03,840 Speaker 1: his biggest buck ever. Um, getting to see all that, 1627 01:40:04,000 --> 01:40:06,320 Speaker 1: the the joy I got out of spending time in 1628 01:40:06,360 --> 01:40:08,479 Speaker 1: the property with my dad and with Dan and with 1629 01:40:08,640 --> 01:40:11,320 Speaker 1: Dane hunt winter and last year, or those of the people, 1630 01:40:12,320 --> 01:40:15,320 Speaker 1: that is what I will probably remember even more than 1631 01:40:15,400 --> 01:40:18,479 Speaker 1: those nice bucks I shot. And And so I think, 1632 01:40:19,400 --> 01:40:22,800 Speaker 1: if I take anything away from this personally, that is 1633 01:40:22,840 --> 01:40:27,439 Speaker 1: actually been my greatest lesson from the back forty. Um, 1634 01:40:27,600 --> 01:40:31,000 Speaker 1: you can transform a property not only in habitat and 1635 01:40:31,080 --> 01:40:33,639 Speaker 1: wildlife use, but also in how we as humans enjoy 1636 01:40:33,720 --> 01:40:37,120 Speaker 1: it and enjoy it together. And that was that. That 1637 01:40:37,200 --> 01:40:40,400 Speaker 1: was the moral of the story for me. That's good, 1638 01:40:41,680 --> 01:40:43,920 Speaker 1: super good. So tell us real quick, what's gonna happen? 1639 01:40:44,040 --> 01:40:46,840 Speaker 1: Les's unless you don't want to get into it. Oh no, yeah, 1640 01:40:47,120 --> 01:40:49,720 Speaker 1: So that was that was my long wind up to 1641 01:40:49,800 --> 01:40:55,040 Speaker 1: answering your question. Um, So, as I just described, I 1642 01:40:55,160 --> 01:40:58,280 Speaker 1: think that we have both I personally and we as 1643 01:40:58,320 --> 01:41:01,840 Speaker 1: a company obviously see the value and sharing places like 1644 01:41:01,960 --> 01:41:05,000 Speaker 1: this and and using it as a tool as a 1645 01:41:05,240 --> 01:41:08,000 Speaker 1: as a as a as a place where we can't 1646 01:41:08,000 --> 01:41:11,280 Speaker 1: help others experience something like that. UM. One of the 1647 01:41:11,400 --> 01:41:13,519 Speaker 1: things that came about this year is that I invited 1648 01:41:13,520 --> 01:41:15,799 Speaker 1: a new hunter, Dan j Jo, out to the property 1649 01:41:15,840 --> 01:41:18,240 Speaker 1: to hunt with us. And I had met him last 1650 01:41:18,360 --> 01:41:22,519 Speaker 1: year at a q d M a field to fork event. Steve, 1651 01:41:22,600 --> 01:41:24,680 Speaker 1: I know you had those guys on the podcast. I 1652 01:41:24,720 --> 01:41:27,839 Speaker 1: think it was last summer. We're all out here together. UM. Basically, 1653 01:41:27,880 --> 01:41:32,680 Speaker 1: it's a mentorship program that that is is kind of 1654 01:41:32,760 --> 01:41:36,040 Speaker 1: been scaled across the country to help bring new hunters 1655 01:41:36,080 --> 01:41:38,080 Speaker 1: out there into the field, partner them with a mentor 1656 01:41:38,760 --> 01:41:41,240 Speaker 1: and spend a weekend teaching them how to do everything 1657 01:41:41,320 --> 01:41:44,679 Speaker 1: from shoot across bow to find deer and find deer 1658 01:41:44,760 --> 01:41:47,320 Speaker 1: sign and then actually how to gut a deer, process 1659 01:41:47,360 --> 01:41:50,479 Speaker 1: a deer, cook a deer, all these different things. So 1660 01:41:50,640 --> 01:41:53,040 Speaker 1: I met Dan at a program like that last year 1661 01:41:53,200 --> 01:41:55,840 Speaker 1: that I was mentoring at and I noticed in him 1662 01:41:55,920 --> 01:41:58,920 Speaker 1: that he, you know, I was really passionate, was excited 1663 01:41:58,920 --> 01:42:02,720 Speaker 1: about learning, but really struggled without a mentor. And we 1664 01:42:02,800 --> 01:42:04,960 Speaker 1: invited him back out this here. We had him come 1665 01:42:05,040 --> 01:42:06,800 Speaker 1: join us on the farm with Doug and helped plant 1666 01:42:06,840 --> 01:42:09,880 Speaker 1: trees and plant food plots and help to teach him 1667 01:42:09,920 --> 01:42:12,880 Speaker 1: along with all these different things and coming out of that. 1668 01:42:13,040 --> 01:42:16,439 Speaker 1: We just saw that man. This place, the Back forty, 1669 01:42:17,160 --> 01:42:21,320 Speaker 1: it it's a perfect place to facilitate that kind of 1670 01:42:21,520 --> 01:42:25,000 Speaker 1: learning experience, both in the off season and then actually 1671 01:42:25,080 --> 01:42:27,640 Speaker 1: in the season. He came out and hunted and and 1672 01:42:27,760 --> 01:42:30,880 Speaker 1: had a really awesome experience. And so we've been looking 1673 01:42:30,920 --> 01:42:34,439 Speaker 1: at ways to find, um, how can we scale that, 1674 01:42:34,520 --> 01:42:36,840 Speaker 1: How can we keep that kind of learning experience happening here. 1675 01:42:36,920 --> 01:42:39,360 Speaker 1: How can the back forty not just be a terrific 1676 01:42:39,479 --> 01:42:42,280 Speaker 1: launching pad for Dan, but could it be something like 1677 01:42:42,400 --> 01:42:45,400 Speaker 1: that for other people too? And what we have settled 1678 01:42:45,479 --> 01:42:47,960 Speaker 1: on and what we're gonna do is we are going 1679 01:42:48,040 --> 01:42:52,240 Speaker 1: to give away the Back forty to the organization formerly 1680 01:42:52,320 --> 01:42:54,840 Speaker 1: known as the Quality Deer Management Association, now it is 1681 01:42:54,920 --> 01:42:58,760 Speaker 1: the National Deer Association. We're gonna donate it to the 1682 01:42:58,840 --> 01:43:02,240 Speaker 1: National Deer Associate and so that they can continue using 1683 01:43:02,280 --> 01:43:06,519 Speaker 1: this place as a um as a as a learning tool, 1684 01:43:06,600 --> 01:43:09,120 Speaker 1: a place that they can bring folks out and show 1685 01:43:09,240 --> 01:43:12,760 Speaker 1: them um things like have the habitat management we've done, 1686 01:43:12,840 --> 01:43:16,240 Speaker 1: and show them how to set up a tree stand 1687 01:43:16,320 --> 01:43:18,719 Speaker 1: and how to find deer sign and how to improve 1688 01:43:18,960 --> 01:43:23,000 Speaker 1: native grasses and why deer like to use these pockets 1689 01:43:23,040 --> 01:43:25,439 Speaker 1: of evergreens and then eventually take them out there for 1690 01:43:25,640 --> 01:43:28,719 Speaker 1: these hunts and and have a great, high quality place 1691 01:43:29,240 --> 01:43:32,280 Speaker 1: to have a first deer hunt. I know from working 1692 01:43:32,360 --> 01:43:34,880 Speaker 1: with some friends that have that worked for the Quality 1693 01:43:34,880 --> 01:43:37,920 Speaker 1: Deer Management Association and set up these mentored hunts that 1694 01:43:38,040 --> 01:43:41,840 Speaker 1: oftentimes finding a place to bring these new hunters is 1695 01:43:41,880 --> 01:43:45,000 Speaker 1: your greatest challenge. A lot of times private landowners, um, 1696 01:43:45,560 --> 01:43:47,519 Speaker 1: they don't necessarily want to open up their ground to 1697 01:43:47,560 --> 01:43:49,559 Speaker 1: a bunch of new hunters in the middle of October. 1698 01:43:50,000 --> 01:43:52,280 Speaker 1: So that has been a struggle, and we thought, hey, 1699 01:43:52,360 --> 01:43:55,200 Speaker 1: let's let's help as much as we can there by 1700 01:43:55,280 --> 01:43:57,920 Speaker 1: providing a great place to do that in a great 1701 01:43:58,160 --> 01:44:03,680 Speaker 1: um essentially a living museum of of of learning opportunities here. 1702 01:44:03,720 --> 01:44:05,200 Speaker 1: That's what the back Ford it can be, and we're 1703 01:44:05,240 --> 01:44:08,240 Speaker 1: what we're hoping it will be. So the NDA will 1704 01:44:08,240 --> 01:44:10,720 Speaker 1: be taking on the property and using it to help 1705 01:44:10,760 --> 01:44:13,479 Speaker 1: other folks and teach other folks and and hopefully mentor 1706 01:44:13,520 --> 01:44:15,800 Speaker 1: a lot of people into the future. And that's at 1707 01:44:15,880 --> 01:44:18,720 Speaker 1: high level, that's our plan. Okay, tell people uh to 1708 01:44:18,800 --> 01:44:22,080 Speaker 1: close out, tell people how to go check out, and 1709 01:44:22,320 --> 01:44:27,759 Speaker 1: UH engage with back forty. Yes, So the best places 1710 01:44:27,840 --> 01:44:30,880 Speaker 1: go to the meat either YouTube channel and watched the 1711 01:44:31,000 --> 01:44:34,599 Speaker 1: show there. Season one came out last fall. Season two 1712 01:44:34,840 --> 01:44:38,720 Speaker 1: is being released right now every Sunday, I believe, Um, 1713 01:44:38,800 --> 01:44:40,760 Speaker 1: I can't run with time, but every Sunday a new 1714 01:44:40,800 --> 01:44:44,519 Speaker 1: episode is dropping through December. Um, so check that out. 1715 01:44:44,560 --> 01:44:47,320 Speaker 1: You're gonna get to see all the preseason work I've 1716 01:44:47,360 --> 01:44:49,720 Speaker 1: been talking about. You'll get to see my Dad's hunt, 1717 01:44:49,840 --> 01:44:51,760 Speaker 1: You'll get to see my hunt for the Droptime Buck. 1718 01:44:52,360 --> 01:44:54,320 Speaker 1: You'll even get to see the hunt where we take 1719 01:44:54,400 --> 01:44:58,080 Speaker 1: Dan the new hunter out and Dane the sweepstakes winner. Um. 1720 01:44:58,720 --> 01:45:00,719 Speaker 1: And then we're we're gonna be putting the some content 1721 01:45:00,840 --> 01:45:05,800 Speaker 1: also documenting what's gonna happen next year, these mentorship opportunities. 1722 01:45:05,840 --> 01:45:07,880 Speaker 1: We're gonna we're gonna create some stuff around that as well, 1723 01:45:07,960 --> 01:45:09,439 Speaker 1: so you'll be able to see all that at the 1724 01:45:09,640 --> 01:45:12,760 Speaker 1: meat eater dot com. We'll be sharing articles and podcasts 1725 01:45:12,760 --> 01:45:15,240 Speaker 1: about it as well. Mark. How many episodes of the 1726 01:45:15,280 --> 01:45:17,200 Speaker 1: back forty and season two are there going to be? 1727 01:45:17,840 --> 01:45:21,800 Speaker 1: There's six regular episodes, so there's there's two up. Well, 1728 01:45:22,040 --> 01:45:25,000 Speaker 1: by the time this comes out, there will be more, yeah, 1729 01:45:25,200 --> 01:45:27,640 Speaker 1: but yees. Six six episodes of the regular series and 1730 01:45:27,640 --> 01:45:31,320 Speaker 1: then some bonus content to come next year. All right, 1731 01:45:31,400 --> 01:45:38,719 Speaker 1: thanks a lot, Mark, Thank you again, Clay Newcomb Newcomb, 1732 01:45:39,560 --> 01:45:42,360 Speaker 1: thanks for joining them, Thanks for the X and Clay that. 1733 01:45:42,439 --> 01:45:47,200 Speaker 1: Thanks for the excellent um book report you did on 1734 01:45:47,400 --> 01:45:51,560 Speaker 1: Bruno the Bear. Bruno, I'm gonna be giving you fascinating 1735 01:45:51,600 --> 01:45:53,799 Speaker 1: Still give you a lot more assignments in the near future. 1736 01:45:54,560 --> 01:45:57,120 Speaker 1: You did original research. Sounds good, like like a like 1737 01:45:57,200 --> 01:46:00,680 Speaker 1: a like a like a hard hitting journalist. It's like 1738 01:46:00,760 --> 01:46:04,000 Speaker 1: watching sixty minutes watching you work. Man. You should have 1739 01:46:04,080 --> 01:46:05,840 Speaker 1: seen me on the phone. Man, I was giving them 1740 01:46:06,040 --> 01:46:09,439 Speaker 1: left and rights bam bam at those biologies back in 1741 01:46:09,479 --> 01:46:11,960 Speaker 1: the corner. Good stuff, man, nice a lot. All right, guys, 1742 01:46:12,080 --> 01:46:15,000 Speaker 1: thank you. Everybody. Go check out back forty. It's a 1743 01:46:15,080 --> 01:46:17,479 Speaker 1: great story. We're super proud of it. Enjoy