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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Podcast, your guide to

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Speaker 1: the White Tail Woods, presented by First Light, creating proven

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Speaker 1: versatile hunting apparel for the stands, saddler Blind, First Light,

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Speaker 1: Go further, stay Longer, and now your host Mark Kenyon.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Podcast. I'm your host,

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Speaker 1: Mark Kenyon, and this week on the show, I'm joined

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Speaker 1: by Ross Houseman to dive into his three year story

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Speaker 1: chasing a deer known as pig Potatoes. All right, welcome

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Speaker 1: to the Wired to Hunt podcast, brought to you by

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Speaker 1: First Light, and we have got a special special episode

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Speaker 1: for you today because we are wrapping up our Big

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Speaker 1: Buck Breakdown month, where we've talked to hunters from across

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Speaker 1: the country about, you know, hunts after one specific deer,

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Speaker 1: like really special hunts for a really special deer where

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Speaker 1: the hunter kind of went mad obsessing over an animal,

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Speaker 1: trying to figure them out, going through all the ups

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Speaker 1: and downs. And we've had some really good stories so far,

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Speaker 1: but Tonight's story is one that I am a particular

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Speaker 1: I'm particularly invested in this story because it's one of

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Speaker 1: one of my good buddies who I've been following along

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Speaker 1: with this story for years now, through all the ups

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Speaker 1: and downs on almost a daily basis. Our guest today

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Speaker 1: is the one and only Ross Houseman, longtime friend and

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Speaker 1: and someone who's been within the wire Dunk community for

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Speaker 1: a long time. Folks, folks, you know Ross, So welcome

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Speaker 1: back to the show, my friend, and thanks for being

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Speaker 1: willing to spill the beans on this story. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: begging me to be on here. Mark and must must

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Speaker 1: have ran out of guests. I guess that's I'm getting desperate.

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Speaker 1: And the one condition you had to come on the

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Speaker 1: show is that you needed your security blanket to help

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Speaker 1: you out. We've got We've got Josh further Hilliard here, buddy,

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Speaker 1: thanks for coming on his co host. Dude, that's really

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Speaker 1: funny because my wife said the same thing, because where

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Speaker 1: you like Ross's security blanket my hand here. I'm happy

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Speaker 1: to be here. Thanks for having me to so so

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Speaker 1: the the idea here. You know, you guys don't listen

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Speaker 1: to my podcast at all, so you don't know what

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Speaker 1: I've been doing this month. But what what I've been

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Speaker 1: doing is is trying to get into the nitty gritty

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Speaker 1: of these stories. You know, talk to folks who have

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Speaker 1: been on the use, you know, multiple years sagas after

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Speaker 1: an animal, learning them, studying them, trying to figure them out,

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Speaker 1: you know, going into that year, really given it all,

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Speaker 1: and and I kind of want to, you know, dig

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Speaker 1: into the mind of that hunter, figure out how they

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Speaker 1: did what they did, what their strategy was, how they

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Speaker 1: were thinking and feeling throughout all of it. So, so

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Speaker 1: Ross basically imagined like you are sitting on a couch

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Speaker 1: at the therapist office, and I'm about to ask you,

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Speaker 1: like all the awkward questions you want to keep inside

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Speaker 1: of your mind, I'm going to ask you to verbalize

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Speaker 1: these things. So that's that's what's in store today. Are you?

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Speaker 1: Are you in your security blanket game for that? We're

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Speaker 1: We're ready, okay. Um, So Josh, before we get Ross

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Speaker 1: talking here, Um, is there anything that the audience should

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Speaker 1: know about Ross and his personality or anything about him

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Speaker 1: in general that we need to know as context for

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Speaker 1: the story we're about to hear, Because you and I

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Speaker 1: know Ross. Um, if anyone's if anyone, I'm not gonna

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Speaker 1: do that. If anyone's seen some of our video episodes

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Speaker 1: way back in the day, you know Ross. But but Josh,

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Speaker 1: what what does everyone need to know about Ross? As

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Speaker 1: we get into this. Uh h Ross is Um, I

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Speaker 1: think about this earlier. He is very much like super analytical,

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Speaker 1: very can very much overthink or like I shouldn't say overthink,

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Speaker 1: just think deeply about what he wants to do. Um

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Speaker 1: when it comes with your hunting. Um. So, I think

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Speaker 1: that's part of the reason why you two are such

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Speaker 1: good friends. I think you guys are very similar in

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Speaker 1: that aspect. You guys just go about it, keeping keeping

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Speaker 1: track and making decisions a little bit differently. You guys

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Speaker 1: eat grown way of doing things. But to get there,

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Speaker 1: it's he's both very analytical. I'll leave it at that. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I thought I thought, Mark, I thought you were setting

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Speaker 1: this up to be a roast there, but Josh was like,

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Speaker 1: actually pretty nice there, So thank you Josh. Security. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: he was way too easy on you there. Um, if

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Speaker 1: only we had Andy on the show of us, things

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Speaker 1: would be a little different. Yeah, there's a reason we

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Speaker 1: didn't ask him to be in. Yeah, okay, So yeah,

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Speaker 1: I would say I'd had a couple of things about

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Speaker 1: you Ross that you're gonna have to just grin and

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Speaker 1: bear as we as we lead this out. Uh So, Yes,

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Speaker 1: Ross is a very analytical hunter. Uh. As Josh said,

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Speaker 1: we've all been buddies for a long time now. We've

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Speaker 1: been able to follow Ross's hunts over the years. And

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Speaker 1: there's a few things I know about Ross um. Number one,

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Speaker 1: Josh just said it. He's going to be thoughtful and

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Speaker 1: careful and strategic with his hunts. He doesn't hunt often.

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Speaker 1: He does a lot of work in the off season,

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Speaker 1: but it seems like when the actual hunting season is here,

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Speaker 1: he's very you know, tact you know, very very tactical

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Speaker 1: with his strikes. There's some years where it's like he

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Speaker 1: doesn't hunt at all and then bam, he hunts once

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Speaker 1: or twice and then his season is done. He killed

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Speaker 1: his buck, Um, and he's consistent in that. Like every year,

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Speaker 1: it seems like he always gets his buck of. Of

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Speaker 1: everyone in my hunting group, Ross is one guy who,

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Speaker 1: like I just count on, he's gonna it's gonna happen.

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Speaker 1: We're also get a deer or two, no question, Like

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Speaker 1: you know, Peter, I don't know, but but Ross he's

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Speaker 1: gonna get it done. Um. This was one year where

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Speaker 1: we were sweating a little bit. The story at least

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Speaker 1: led to us sweat on that assumption. Um. So Ross

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Speaker 1: is is consistent. He's tactical. He is very analytical. But

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Speaker 1: one thing I have noticed about Rosses he can sometimes

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Speaker 1: um his and we all do. I do that sometimes too,

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Speaker 1: But his stress level really skyrockets real quick. Like he

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Speaker 1: frequently is like, oh yeah, he's getting the season going

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Speaker 1: and he's holding off for a buck and everything's all great.

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Speaker 1: And then as soon as we inched closer to November.

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Speaker 1: In past years, Ross all of a sudden is is

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Speaker 1: panicking that he hasn't got his deer yet because it's

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Speaker 1: almost November, and before you know it, he's freaking out.

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Speaker 1: So Ross is a tendency to get really over excited

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Speaker 1: about things too on occasion. Is all of that reasonably

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Speaker 1: fair with a little exaggeration, Ross, It's very exaggerated. Yes, yeah,

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Speaker 1: very much so. No. I I used to get I

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Speaker 1: used to get more stressed out like that. Now, out

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Speaker 1: of the last few years, I think I've been way

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Speaker 1: more chill. I don't I don't get worked up like

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Speaker 1: I used to, you know, like I think this last

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Speaker 1: couple a few years, Um, I just I don't know,

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Speaker 1: you know, It's just a deer at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day. But I do get a little stressed out.

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Speaker 1: But I don't like things bother me anymore. I just

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Speaker 1: try to have fun and enjoy it for what it

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Speaker 1: is and enjoy the time out there. But I do

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Speaker 1: I do still get a little stressed out. Now. You,

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Speaker 1: on the other hand, you have not come come around

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Speaker 1: being more chill. You are the one that is always

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Speaker 1: stressed out and always freaking out. So hey, fun season,

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Speaker 1: Fun season was better exactly. So all right, so let's

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Speaker 1: let's get into this story that I think paints a

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Speaker 1: picture of probably how you've evolved and I think presented

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Speaker 1: some interesting challenges to kind of work through the stuff

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Speaker 1: we're talking about right here. Um. So, this buck that

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about today, you named him big Potatoes,

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Speaker 1: right BP. I don't know who before we did this.

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Speaker 1: I was trying to think of when we came up

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Speaker 1: with that name or how that even happened. Did I

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Speaker 1: name him that or did we all name him that?

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Speaker 1: I can't remember one of the he had like three names,

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Speaker 1: Big potatoes, um, G two was another name. My son

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Speaker 1: named him lighty um. So he's got like three different names,

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Speaker 1: but big Potatoes was was a very popular one. Yes,

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Speaker 1: So so with that name in mind, can you describe

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Speaker 1: for us what this buck looked like. Can you paint

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Speaker 1: a picture for us of this deal, how he got

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Speaker 1: his name or how he stood out to you when

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Speaker 1: you you know, tell us what he looked like. Now,

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Speaker 1: so we're picturing like the end result, but then give

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Speaker 1: me any other context as far as when he first

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Speaker 1: discovered him to so this this year, he's just a

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Speaker 1: just a really giant framed buck. He's a main frame

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Speaker 1: ten pointer. He had a little kicker off his right.

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Speaker 1: G two. Um, so he's got those like decently sized

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Speaker 1: G two is I don't remember it, maybe they're like

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Speaker 1: nine or ten inches, but then they're a little shorter

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Speaker 1: than the G three. So he's got that short G two,

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Speaker 1: longer G three and then good G four kind of

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Speaker 1: looked to him and over wide. Um, just a giant

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Speaker 1: framebuck when you see him. Um, the first year, the

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Speaker 1: first year he got eyes on him or got pictures was.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure he was around before that, but you know

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Speaker 1: how they are when they're like two years older. So

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Speaker 1: it's hard to it's hard to kind of know what

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Speaker 1: DearS what after that unless there's some defining characteristics. But

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Speaker 1: he that first year, I got a picture and Um,

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Speaker 1: it was just one of those deer that you're just like, oh,

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Speaker 1: that's gonna be a really nice buck. Um. You know,

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Speaker 1: years past, I would have I would have loved to

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Speaker 1: shoot him. At that time he was that first year,

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Speaker 1: he was probably a mid one forties ten um and

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Speaker 1: any other year, you know, I would have you know,

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Speaker 1: in the past, I would have loved to shoot him.

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Speaker 1: But it was just one of those bucks when you

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Speaker 1: look at him and he's got these really long G

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Speaker 1: three's and he's super young. I think when he was

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Speaker 1: I'm guessing he was three that year, he had ten

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Speaker 1: inch G three's already, and I think like ten inch

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Speaker 1: twos or something like that. Um. So it's just like, Wow,

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Speaker 1: this buck is gonna be this buck is gonna be special.

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Speaker 1: H And at that point, I don't know what his

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Speaker 1: name was. At that point, I don't even know if

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Speaker 1: he had really a name. My my neighbor buddy, we'll

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Speaker 1: call him Golden boy. He uh two and uh And

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Speaker 1: that kind of stuck with throughout too. Um. But then

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Speaker 1: I think with you guys, you know, we named them

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Speaker 1: big potatoes because sometimes you guys study a huge body, which, um,

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Speaker 1: sometimes when you have big potatoes it makes the meat

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Speaker 1: look small kind of thing. So so I don't know

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Speaker 1: if that's how it came about. I don't remember. But

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Speaker 1: then uh, from there on out, it was that year

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Speaker 1: I was you know, I was like, oh no, that

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Speaker 1: that wasn't that buck wasn't on the radar that was

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Speaker 1: and he was just soft. You know, he's just gonna

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Speaker 1: be one of those awesome comers. And then um, and

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Speaker 1: then yeah, then the next year came and he kind

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Speaker 1: of blew up. So so before you before you go

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Speaker 1: to last year, I have a question for you when

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Speaker 1: it comes to like these really awesome three year olds.

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Speaker 1: This is something that I've been asking some of the

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Speaker 1: other guys about and something you know that I was

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Speaker 1: thinking a lot about this year too. Um, when you

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Speaker 1: get one of these three year olds that shows up

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Speaker 1: like a younger buck that just seems to have a

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Speaker 1: ton of potential, and you know you're at a point

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Speaker 1: in your hunting journey or whatever you wanna call it

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Speaker 1: where that's not a deer you're gonna target right now?

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Speaker 1: Do you do you do anything different when you see

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Speaker 1: a buck like this around? Do you, you know, stay

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Speaker 1: out if you think you know where his core areas

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Speaker 1: just stay out of it more often because you're hoping

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Speaker 1: he'll stick around and survive, Or do you start paying

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Speaker 1: extra attention to him in any kind of way, or

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Speaker 1: or doing anything different with his trail camera photos or anything,

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Speaker 1: you know, knowing that he's a deer that you hope

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Speaker 1: to target someday in the future. UM, just taking note

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Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of notes with like the

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Speaker 1: trail trail campaign, um, and just being observant. And then

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Speaker 1: you know that first that first year, I had some

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Speaker 1: great encoucounters with him. I got to see him get

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Speaker 1: into it like a gigantic buck fight like forty yards,

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Speaker 1: which was just unbelievably awesome. UM. I still like, I

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Speaker 1: still remember when I was sitting there in that tree,

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Speaker 1: you know, and I thought, he's just such a special buck,

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Speaker 1: and I see him fighting in front of me, and

230
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Speaker 1: I always like, it's like it's like your kids and

231
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Speaker 1: he's like playing football and he's just getting his ass

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Speaker 1: speed and you're just watching him as a parent on

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Speaker 1: the sidelines and you're just like, oh my gosh, honey,

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Speaker 1: you know, I hope you're okay, you know, And uh,

235
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Speaker 1: this smaller act eight pointer was just just pummeling him

236
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Speaker 1: and I still remember remember that, and that was just awesome. UM.

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Speaker 1: But just like those encounters where they were at UM

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Speaker 1: what he was doing, UM, had another encounter with them

239
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Speaker 1: in a different stance, I kind of cruising through a

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Speaker 1: bunch of visuals, you know, and you just kind of

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Speaker 1: and that in the in the in the mind for

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Speaker 1: future reference. UM. I don't stay out or anything. Usually

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Speaker 1: sharing something with a buck that, you know, another buck

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Speaker 1: that I would have been targeting. UM, like that year

245
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Speaker 1: there was another buck that was really nice book that

246
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Speaker 1: that I was hunting, and UM, I really just focus

247
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Speaker 1: on them. I don't really think about the other books

248
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Speaker 1: that much, but just taking note with the trail campis

249
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Speaker 1: and uh. And then I usually you know, use all

250
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Speaker 1: that information for the the next year. So UM, big

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Speaker 1: believer in the whole. If they're in this area at

252
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Speaker 1: this time of year, there's a very good chance they're

253
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Speaker 1: gonna be in that same exact spot the next next

254
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Speaker 1: year at the same time. I've seen that over and

255
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Speaker 1: over again. UM. That kind of stuff is why I

256
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Speaker 1: really play off of like where did I see him,

257
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Speaker 1: what time of year, what was he doing, and then

258
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Speaker 1: use that for the next year. And and you know,

259
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Speaker 1: my my decisions, so I can't remember in yeah, you're

260
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,920
Speaker 1: just got to remind me here less. So moving into

261
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Speaker 1: were you did you decide for sure like leading into

262
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Speaker 1: that year, like yeah, absolutely you were going to target

263
00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,680
Speaker 1: him last year? Or were you even thinking about passing

264
00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:16,640
Speaker 1: him last year as well? Oh? Man? That was it

265
00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:21,040
Speaker 1: was like because so last year he was a hundred,

266
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Speaker 1: like a hundred and seventy two buck probably, And and

267
00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,920
Speaker 1: finally to a point where I'm like, I can finally

268
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Speaker 1: let dear go and not care, you know what I mean,

269
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Speaker 1: Like in the past, you just you just want to shoot,

270
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Speaker 1: you know. And and I finally got to the point

271
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Speaker 1: in my life where I'm like, I don't really need

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Speaker 1: to shoot anything. I just like having him around and

273
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Speaker 1: like seeing him growing. I like seeing him get big.

274
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Speaker 1: And so last year I thought, you know, with my

275
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Speaker 1: buddy golden boy, so we thought, you know, he's probably

276
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Speaker 1: four and we should let him go. And he's got

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Speaker 1: a good chance of living because everywhere he has been

278
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Speaker 1: and everywhere you know, where he's at has been in

279
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Speaker 1: an area where he probably can make it through the season.

280
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Speaker 1: He probably can make it through guns season. And so

281
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Speaker 1: we kind of made the decision just let him, let

282
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Speaker 1: him go. Um. But it was still in my mind,

283
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Speaker 1: you know, like if he walks through a twenty yards

284
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Speaker 1: broadside and it's a hundred and seventies in buck, like, man,

285
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Speaker 1: it's gonna be hard to to stay um discipline with that.

286
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Speaker 1: So that first time it went out that that year, uh,

287
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Speaker 1: I was I think it was like the twenty second

288
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Speaker 1: of October had a fantastic hunt. Started out slow, one

289
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Speaker 1: of those like cool mornings. The sun was coming up,

290
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Speaker 1: and the deer kind of started trickling trickling in a

291
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Speaker 1: little late, and I saw two bucks coming through, and

292
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Speaker 1: one was this this mature a pointer that that just

293
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Speaker 1: big bodied a pointer, not gonna be much bigger than

294
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Speaker 1: like a hundred thirty inches. Ever he's at that time,

295
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Speaker 1: I think he was four years old. And then I see, um,

296
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Speaker 1: big potatoes. I see him standing there with this buck,

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Speaker 1: and I see this eight point just bristle up and

298
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Speaker 1: just push him off. And at that time I was like,

299
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Speaker 1: oh no, you didn't, you know, because I was like, Okay,

300
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:17,880
Speaker 1: if this little a pointer can push this buck off,

301
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,400
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I bet you it would probably be

302
00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,720
Speaker 1: a good idea to shoot this a pointer if he

303
00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,400
Speaker 1: gets comes by me, so, uh, this is the first

304
00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,160
Speaker 1: sit that year, and I grunted at him and he

305
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,600
Speaker 1: comes in like he's got a chip on his shoulder.

306
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Speaker 1: I mean, big bodies, all posturing, and he just kind

307
00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,320
Speaker 1: of sidestepping through it like eighteen yards and I shoot

308
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Speaker 1: him and kill him and then that pretty much ended

309
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Speaker 1: my season right there. Ah. So it made it easier

310
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Speaker 1: for the rest of the year because I didn't have

311
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Speaker 1: a bag any but but it was like it was

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Speaker 1: one of those things where I was like, I'm gonna

313
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Speaker 1: pass them, but man, it's gonna be it's gonna be tough. Um.

314
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Speaker 1: But I was happy with my decision to shoot that

315
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Speaker 1: a pointer because I didn't um. I kind of wanted

316
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Speaker 1: him to feel comfortable in that area. Didn't one I'm

317
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:05,040
Speaker 1: being pressured by other like mature a deer that maybe

318
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Speaker 1: we're smaller act you know. I wanted him to hang

319
00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,680
Speaker 1: around there. I wanted him to be kind of comfortable

320
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Speaker 1: kind of thing. Wasn't my thought process. Whether that has

321
00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:14,920
Speaker 1: made a difference or not, I don't know, but that's

322
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Speaker 1: kind of Have you ever found that too, you know,

323
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Speaker 1: in your years hunting this spot in some of the

324
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Speaker 1: other places that you've had, you know, a decent amount

325
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Speaker 1: of time hunting. Have you ever found that to make

326
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,639
Speaker 1: a difference in any kind of way you can notice

327
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Speaker 1: like this isn't a huge property. You don't have some

328
00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,800
Speaker 1: monstrous farm that you know only you have access to

329
00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:39,159
Speaker 1: your hunting relatively small stuff here. Um, you know, I

330
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,480
Speaker 1: guess when I'm getting is is that kind of idea

331
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Speaker 1: trying to take out like a bully buck to keep

332
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,280
Speaker 1: a high potential buck in the area. Does that even

333
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,520
Speaker 1: have a chance of working on a small piece like this?

334
00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,720
Speaker 1: Have you found that to be the case? I don't know.

335
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:58,400
Speaker 1: I think so, yeah, because there's usually there's usually a

336
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,080
Speaker 1: few bucks. But you know, I'm definitely privileged to live

337
00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:05,600
Speaker 1: in Iowa. I worked really hard to get down here

338
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,240
Speaker 1: and have opportunities to have but man, I mean, it

339
00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,760
Speaker 1: doesn't get much better. But with that said, in my area,

340
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,639
Speaker 1: a vast majority of the books that make mature that

341
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,959
Speaker 1: get to be mature bucks are not big racked like

342
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,720
Speaker 1: a lot of them. There's a tremendous amount of a

343
00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,560
Speaker 1: pointers that probably aren't even poping young. You know, like

344
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:31,720
Speaker 1: there's there's just not that many big bucks. And I

345
00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,479
Speaker 1: talked to my buddies about it a lot, and then

346
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:35,119
Speaker 1: we always wonder, you know, you have always had these

347
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:37,240
Speaker 1: up and comers that are like, man, that's gonna be

348
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,600
Speaker 1: a nice buck, and they just they just disappear. They

349
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:44,520
Speaker 1: just they don't stick around. They leave, and and a

350
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,120
Speaker 1: lot of times I want to stick around. Are these

351
00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,359
Speaker 1: just these big fat a pointers which are nice bucks,

352
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,520
Speaker 1: but they're not really the big big rack bucks. So

353
00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,040
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe maybe, you know, burning some tags

354
00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,440
Speaker 1: on those bucks would help kind of get some of

355
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,560
Speaker 1: those other to stick around. I don't know, but I

356
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,640
Speaker 1: have no idea. If it it, um it will help

357
00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,240
Speaker 1: in the future. But there's usually like one one big

358
00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,679
Speaker 1: rack buck in the area, and it always seems like

359
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,239
Speaker 1: those eight pointers. And there was this ten pointer that

360
00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,720
Speaker 1: was like, well it was Benja Benjamin Buttons, right, so

361
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,000
Speaker 1: the story of Benjamin Buttons. So he was like he's

362
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,359
Speaker 1: always busted up and this year he's busted up again,

363
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:33,320
Speaker 1: and so this year he really do feel like he

364
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:38,359
Speaker 1: pushed um big potatoes out of out of the farm.

365
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:39,800
Speaker 1: I think he kind of had the run of the

366
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,600
Speaker 1: place when the rut came around, and he I think

367
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,960
Speaker 1: he was a fighter. I got pictures of him last year,

368
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,360
Speaker 1: big scar bloody scarred down his back. You know, he's

369
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:50,520
Speaker 1: all busted up. He broke all of his times off

370
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,480
Speaker 1: and this year he busted off his both his G

371
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,320
Speaker 1: four's and he kind of was the buck that I

372
00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,159
Speaker 1: was seeing most of the rut this year, and um,

373
00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,600
Speaker 1: big Potatoes kind of just vanished. So I don't I

374
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,680
Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe there is something to it, but but um,

375
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:09,200
Speaker 1: uh further, can you really quick give us the rundown,

376
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:13,000
Speaker 1: like the honest truth of the Benjamin Buttons saga real

377
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,040
Speaker 1: fast that people know this buck that we're talking about.

378
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,679
Speaker 1: Can you can you share what happened here? Yeah? Okay,

379
00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,040
Speaker 1: so this bu no not you Ross, not you Russ.

380
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:28,480
Speaker 1: I want Josh, the Benjamin Buttons buck. So you gotta

381
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,760
Speaker 1: go way back here. So are the buddy is out

382
00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,400
Speaker 1: there shed hunting? You guys are out there shut hunting

383
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,040
Speaker 1: one year and you found a side of this buck.

384
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,280
Speaker 1: I believe right at least that you think it was.

385
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,360
Speaker 1: Like you guys were convinced that this deer was two

386
00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,040
Speaker 1: and a half and by looking at the shed, you know,

387
00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,800
Speaker 1: it's hard to tell, but by the size of the antler,

388
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,840
Speaker 1: you're probably right. But man, Ross sends this trail camera

389
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:57,159
Speaker 1: photo following year, and this thing looks like he's about

390
00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,240
Speaker 1: to tip over old age. I mean he's all of

391
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:05,359
Speaker 1: five and a half, giant rackum, big fat body, sway

392
00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:07,879
Speaker 1: a butt. I mean, he's like he looks like an

393
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,440
Speaker 1: old buck. And they're trying to say, these guys out

394
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,960
Speaker 1: and the ile were trying to pull all over eyes

395
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,560
Speaker 1: and say it's through and a half. I I just

396
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,639
Speaker 1: didn't believe him, and I don't think any in our

397
00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:22,159
Speaker 1: kind of little group chat budd's believed him. And so

398
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,439
Speaker 1: I can't remember who came up with the name of

399
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,920
Speaker 1: the story of like the movie of Benjamin Buttons, where

400
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 1: the guy gets old and he gets he's born old

401
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,760
Speaker 1: and he looks younger as he gets older. That's that's

402
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,320
Speaker 1: kind of the story of this book, that he looks

403
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:41,280
Speaker 1: super old even though I think he's you know, at

404
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:42,959
Speaker 1: the end of the story, I think he actually was

405
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,640
Speaker 1: young last year. Well he looks he does not look young.

406
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,639
Speaker 1: He didn't look young last year. I don't believe. I

407
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 1: just have a really hard time believe he was through

408
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,160
Speaker 1: and a half. But let me tell the true story here.

409
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,000
Speaker 1: He was three and a half and he was a

410
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:03,399
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty inches and you guys are wrong. Well

411
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,400
Speaker 1: I don't know, but uh he did got he got

412
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,160
Speaker 1: killed this year, right, yeah he did so. So last

413
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:15,520
Speaker 1: year he was awesome, like he had deep splits, uh yeah,

414
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 1: stickers off his basis. Um. Like when you see him,

415
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,200
Speaker 1: you're like, oh my god, this buck is going to

416
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:24,239
Speaker 1: be like a once in a lifetime buck if he

417
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,639
Speaker 1: continues to have all this trash and he's like and

418
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 1: then at the time, yeah, I thought he was three

419
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:31,120
Speaker 1: and a half. Maybe he was older, but I thought

420
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:33,960
Speaker 1: he was three and a half. And um, he was

421
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,560
Speaker 1: one of those bucks that was just busted all up

422
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,440
Speaker 1: by the end of the year. And then this year

423
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: he was on the farm again, but he like got smaller.

424
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,040
Speaker 1: He went from like he went from a hundred and

425
00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: sixty inches to probably at ten pointer, like lost all

426
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:58,000
Speaker 1: of his lost his split times, lost his stickers. Um.

427
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,480
Speaker 1: And I'm positive it was and it's him because he

428
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:06,240
Speaker 1: has a very um, a very specific shaped shaped rack

429
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: that was the same same head, same facial kind of

430
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 1: like he's got that unique look to him. So it's

431
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,360
Speaker 1: almost like when those like six or seven year old

432
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:22,879
Speaker 1: bucks start going downhill. M hm oh man no, but

433
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:24,480
Speaker 1: we all thought you were It was a bad girl.

434
00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:26,760
Speaker 1: It was a bad girling year. There's something to it.

435
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,760
Speaker 1: This It was like a late spring and and uh,

436
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: it just seemed like it seemed like the deer just

437
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 1: didn't really put much antler around this year, at least

438
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:39,639
Speaker 1: around around here. And Ross, if I remember right, he

439
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:41,879
Speaker 1: was not You guys were going to give him the

440
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 1: past last year, right, like you're not going to shoot him?

441
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:46,680
Speaker 1: No last year. Yeah, last year, we weren't going to

442
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:52,159
Speaker 1: shoot him. We all thought you were nuts. Yeah, yeah,

443
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,320
Speaker 1: no he was. He know. I was like the gate

444
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,000
Speaker 1: the goal was like, oh man, can you imagine this

445
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,840
Speaker 1: Buck and big Tatoes make it one more year? You'd

446
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: have to like to Boone and Crockett Bucks running around

447
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,640
Speaker 1: and on the same same farms. Like how often does

448
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,680
Speaker 1: that happen? You know? I remember you floating those pictures

449
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,919
Speaker 1: pictures around throughout the season last year, and we're all

450
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,880
Speaker 1: getting excited and dreaming about two and all that stuff.

451
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,760
Speaker 1: Um and and so that's that's what I really want

452
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:24,040
Speaker 1: to talk about now, is you know, going into last year,

453
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,760
Speaker 1: you were, you know, going to try to pass these bucks.

454
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 1: You end up seeing BP the first night or first morning,

455
00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:32,879
Speaker 1: whatever that was. But you shoot the Bully eight and

456
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,320
Speaker 1: now you're you're basically done, So I'm curious what you

457
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,480
Speaker 1: did from there. But I guess before as I'm saying this,

458
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 1: there's one thing we didn't cover before getting this, which

459
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,359
Speaker 1: is trying to get like a lay of the land.

460
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,879
Speaker 1: So can you describe a little bit for us, like

461
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,800
Speaker 1: what's this kind of area this buck's living in, Like,

462
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 1: like what kind of habitat is it? Um, what's it

463
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,800
Speaker 1: looked like, what's the kind of stuff he was living in?

464
00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:57,800
Speaker 1: That kind of thing would help us kind of, I

465
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,199
Speaker 1: think envision what you'll discuss next. Yeah, so there's um

466
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 1: um in this particular farm, there's like timber CRP. Neighboring

467
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,480
Speaker 1: farm has you know, a lot of edge, a lot

468
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:16,399
Speaker 1: of a lot of timber and CRP as well, there's

469
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,879
Speaker 1: um very it's a very big section, lots of lots

470
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,560
Speaker 1: of cover um, a lot of native grass. It's just

471
00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:31,400
Speaker 1: a rolling hills um Rocky Ridge is kind of really cool,

472
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,399
Speaker 1: cool diversity in that sense. And um the property that

473
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,560
Speaker 1: I'm hunting is kind of long and narrow, hard to

474
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 1: access UM, so it takes a little bit of gotta

475
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,360
Speaker 1: be a little careful getting in and out. Access from

476
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,400
Speaker 1: the north and getting back into the timber, back into

477
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,960
Speaker 1: the cover or where the deer at is kind of

478
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 1: tough in the afternoon. It hunts best in the morning.

479
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 1: The property kind of purges the deer out into the

480
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,000
Speaker 1: crop fields at night, and getting in the mornings a

481
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,520
Speaker 1: lot easier. You can get into as they come back in.

482
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:17,119
Speaker 1: But um, yeah, a lot of diversity, not great access, um,

483
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 1: just a beautiful place. Yeah, yeah, it really is. Okay,

484
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 1: So with that picture in our mind, now we're in.

485
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:30,520
Speaker 1: You shoot the big eight pointer, your your archery tags filled.

486
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,640
Speaker 1: What was your game plan from that point on? Now

487
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,920
Speaker 1: knowing that you know BP was alive as of that day,

488
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: you were really really hoping he'd make it through the year. Um,

489
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 1: and you're thinking, man, I've got the chance for like

490
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,360
Speaker 1: you know, buck of a lifetime next year if he survives.

491
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:51,439
Speaker 1: So did you start scheming, planning doing anything that fall?

492
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 1: Did you? Did you at any point think, man, I

493
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 1: should be scouting and still watching the property or were

494
00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,040
Speaker 1: you doing anything to start preparing yourself already in October

495
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 1: and November for the next year. I just mainly kept

496
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,040
Speaker 1: running cameras, was the main thing. I had a lot

497
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:11,240
Speaker 1: of cameras out just kind of get information for next year. UM.

498
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 1: It's a big, giant like community scrape in the in

499
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,640
Speaker 1: the back of the property that usually gets the most activity.

500
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 1: You can see kind of every single buck in the area,

501
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,679
Speaker 1: but hit it at least once. UM. And then I

502
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,119
Speaker 1: had cameras kind of in and around different kinds of

503
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 1: doe betting areas, keep tractoring the RUTUM. But besides that,

504
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 1: I just I had a great time just hunting with buddies,

505
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:35,800
Speaker 1: UM and being a part of some other hunts that

506
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,359
Speaker 1: were just fantastic. I just was trying to enjoy myself

507
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,680
Speaker 1: and cross my fingers that he made it pretty much UM,

508
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,040
Speaker 1: and start really doing more scouting and stuff. Until after

509
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 1: the season. I kind of stayed out of there quite

510
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 1: a bit. I did drive in a few times. UM.

511
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 1: Josh was with me the one time, and what kind

512
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,080
Speaker 1: of went went in the property. We bumped um. We

513
00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 1: bumped him out of out of one of the best

514
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,639
Speaker 1: areas there, which UM kind of put that in the

515
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:09,280
Speaker 1: memory bank. UM. Other than that, kind of just staying

516
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 1: out and using the trail camp pigs for the next year.

517
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 1: So you mentioned a community scrape, that you put a

518
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,920
Speaker 1: camera on. But can you, uh, like, what are your

519
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,679
Speaker 1: camera setups like? Otherwise are they all on you know,

520
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,400
Speaker 1: these scrapes near betting areas and stuff like that. How

521
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,520
Speaker 1: many do you run? Um? Can you give me any

522
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,959
Speaker 1: more details about what this kind of strategy looks like

523
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 1: for your in season cameras. I'll put uple cameras. UM.

524
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 1: The so like some of the fields, like the crop

525
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 1: or the food sources. UM, definitely different. You know, like

526
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 1: when you're on cameras, it's hard to you don't really get.

527
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,200
Speaker 1: You don't get a lot and a lot of times

528
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:58,760
Speaker 1: they can be kind of deceiving or misleading. UM. But

529
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,000
Speaker 1: I'll put cameras in and around like the food sources.

530
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 1: Just get inventory and just see what deer us want,

531
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,200
Speaker 1: what food sources, and then I'll have cameras I leave

532
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 1: back in the timber. I don't really check or touch

533
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 1: the one in that scrape. UM. It's just a good

534
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: one to know what the heck is going on and

535
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 1: what's kind of around. If I have to check that one,

536
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,720
Speaker 1: I usually drive back. I just drive the truck all

537
00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 1: the way back in there and check it. I feel

538
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 1: like that's probably the UM least invasive just because of

539
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 1: all the farming and stuff that goes on. Um, and

540
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,080
Speaker 1: then some other cameras I'll leave kind of just kind

541
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 1: of in and around doe betting areas just to get

542
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:40,840
Speaker 1: an idea of what's going on every rut and where

543
00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: all the bucks are at let's see. So then there's

544
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 1: some kind of really good in and outs of the

545
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 1: property and pinch points where you can catch a lot

546
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 1: of deer kind of in and around. I have a

547
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:57,120
Speaker 1: food plot in there, um and in the back, you know,

548
00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 1: like I'll have cameras that can check that are easy,

549
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,280
Speaker 1: easy in and out sell cams, and then some of

550
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 1: other cams I'll just leave up and don't bother with

551
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:22,720
Speaker 1: until after the season or later on. Okay, So you

552
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 1: get through you're watching cameras. I remember getting every time

553
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,800
Speaker 1: you get a picture chef cameras and saw he was

554
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,640
Speaker 1: on there. You were giving us the alert that he

555
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:36,160
Speaker 1: was still alive. You were super stoked about it. Um

556
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,680
Speaker 1: when you got into well, I guess before I ask anymore, Josh,

557
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 1: is there anything else you feel like we need to

558
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 1: cover or we should know about BP and this hunt

559
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,040
Speaker 1: before we get to like this year. Is there anything

560
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: I'm forgetting about last year. As we were talking about

561
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 1: this with a Ross and different things, he was talking about,

562
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,800
Speaker 1: do you feel like we have a covered I think

563
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 1: pretty pretty well covered. One thing I'd ask you, Ross is,

564
00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 1: you know you don't have to be too specific here,

565
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,160
Speaker 1: but like, uh, can you talk a little bit about

566
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 1: like neighboring pressure and kind of your overall feelings on

567
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,400
Speaker 1: on getting Bucks to the next age class if you

568
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 1: had some pretty good success with that over the years,

569
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:17,720
Speaker 1: and kind of like what does that look like in

570
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:22,360
Speaker 1: your mind? And and feeling good about letting Bucks go. Um,

571
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 1: it seems like it changes. It seems like it changes

572
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 1: every year. It used to be a tremendous amount of pressure, uh,

573
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,479
Speaker 1: and then it went to pretty much no pressure. So

574
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: this this last year when we when I decided to

575
00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: let him go, there was not much pressure. The gun

576
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:43,280
Speaker 1: pressure was like minimal. There's a there's a few guys

577
00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:47,200
Speaker 1: that hunt um a neighboring property that had a pretty

578
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:51,479
Speaker 1: good chance to get them. Ah, and that was about it.

579
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,720
Speaker 1: They hunted, they hunted. Uh, let's see, they hunted the

580
00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 1: shotgun season and he was coming in and out of

581
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:01,360
Speaker 1: theirs at that time. So for some reason, he kind

582
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:03,840
Speaker 1: of makes a switch. He made a switch. He did

583
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:05,440
Speaker 1: it last year and he did it this year, and

584
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,480
Speaker 1: he and come come around December, he kind of moved

585
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,040
Speaker 1: a little bit and he starts hanging out in the

586
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 1: neighbors and then he comes, uh, comes over to feed.

587
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 1: So they had for a while there. I mean, my

588
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 1: butt was pucker and during shotgun season, I was not

589
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 1: I was not very optimistic. I thought they legitimately had

590
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,719
Speaker 1: a good crack at him and fortunately, m fortunately they

591
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:35,800
Speaker 1: had didn't have any luck. But besides them, and besides

592
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,200
Speaker 1: that one season there, there really was minimal pressure. Now

593
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:45,560
Speaker 1: this year was a different story. But you know, compared

594
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 1: to other places and what other guys go through, I mean,

595
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 1: we had a there's a he had a really good

596
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 1: chance of making it last year and it worked out.

597
00:32:55,920 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 1: So what about sheds? Shed hunting for this bucks and lers?

598
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 1: I can't remember, honestly if you found his antlers or not. Um,

599
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,680
Speaker 1: So what did your shed hunting strategy look like? And

600
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,240
Speaker 1: and I guess more generally, what does it usually look

601
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 1: like when you're after when there's like a buck like

602
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 1: the big one you really after, do you shed hunt

603
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 1: this property or any property? More? When there's a deer

604
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:20,800
Speaker 1: like that, do you have a different take? Do you

605
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,360
Speaker 1: start sooner or later, or or anything different at all.

606
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 1: I guess I'm curious about that general question and then

607
00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 1: what you specifically did with this deer those two three

608
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,800
Speaker 1: years that he knew about him. You know, My my

609
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 1: main goal for the for his sheds was to find

610
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,080
Speaker 1: them while they were like really in good shape still

611
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,280
Speaker 1: like any like my biggest fear when you get a

612
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,320
Speaker 1: big antler, You're trying to find that really nice shed

613
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 1: when they when they shed, the dang squirrels like get

614
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,240
Speaker 1: to him so fast if it's in the timber. So

615
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 1: actually that that last year, I just was had the

616
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 1: cameras going like the whole you know, through January, February

617
00:33:56,480 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 1: or whatever, and so I wanted to try to get

618
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 1: a picture. And then it's soon as I recognized he

619
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,200
Speaker 1: dropped him. Then I was going to go look and

620
00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,200
Speaker 1: he he shed. I got a picture of him actually

621
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,160
Speaker 1: coming into the property, and he had one he was

622
00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:14,640
Speaker 1: lost one side, and I think I had a picture

623
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:19,640
Speaker 1: of him going out that that previous nights. So I knew, okay,

624
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,360
Speaker 1: he's like with in a reasonable distance either dropped it

625
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,680
Speaker 1: where I'm at or or somewhere where I can look

626
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 1: and um. And then of course right after that, I

627
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,279
Speaker 1: never got any pictures of him with antlers. The next

628
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,959
Speaker 1: day he's got like a real identifiable like a couple

629
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 1: of little tiny scars on his muscle, and he has

630
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:40,600
Speaker 1: like a different look to his face. Like so, I mean,

631
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:42,399
Speaker 1: when you see him, you just know it's him, whether

632
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,440
Speaker 1: he has antlers or not. And so, and I was

633
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,600
Speaker 1: running those cameras like crazy. I got those pictures. And

634
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,360
Speaker 1: then once I knew he shed, I didn't care anything else.

635
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:52,279
Speaker 1: I didn't care about any other deer. I just was

636
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,799
Speaker 1: wanted to go look around for those antlers. And so

637
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:57,720
Speaker 1: I walked and walked and walked and walked, and I couldn't.

638
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,839
Speaker 1: I had had a really hard time find them. Um.

639
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 1: And then luckily after I don't know, I spent spent

640
00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,080
Speaker 1: quite a while, put on a lot of miles, and

641
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,719
Speaker 1: I finally found found that antler and in uh in

642
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,680
Speaker 1: some CRP. But usually like shed hunting, I'm just like

643
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,800
Speaker 1: I run cameras like i'll like I do for deer hunting,

644
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,239
Speaker 1: trying to see where do you're at? Uh, and then

645
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,399
Speaker 1: also get an idea when they when they're dropping pretty much.

646
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 1: Do you have any guests or could you give us

647
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:30,680
Speaker 1: like an estimate, like how many days you shed hunt?

648
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,120
Speaker 1: I used to shed on a lot, a lot, a

649
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:37,920
Speaker 1: lot more Now I'm just kind of I don't know,

650
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 1: I'm a lot more laid back with all this stuff.

651
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 1: I used to go out all the time. Now I'm

652
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,840
Speaker 1: just kind of like, yeah, I'd rather just have a

653
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,520
Speaker 1: good time with bodies and kids and you know, and

654
00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,880
Speaker 1: wait for wait for those couple of weekends altogether, you

655
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,200
Speaker 1: know what I mean. Like I used to go all time.

656
00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: I used to walk the same stuff over and over

657
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:04,279
Speaker 1: and over and over again, um, every weekend. But then

658
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:07,759
Speaker 1: having a son known and all this other stuff makes

659
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 1: it a little different, you know. Yeah, yeah, it changes things.

660
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 1: So what you're trying to say is that now you're

661
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 1: gonna start saving your properties for me and Josh can

662
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 1: walk well, you know, having a shed, having a shed pelus,

663
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:24,920
Speaker 1: it would be it would be a blast. I I honestly, honestly,

664
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 1: God Like, I'm just getting to the point where I

665
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,799
Speaker 1: just I don't I don't care about They're just deer,

666
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,239
Speaker 1: you know, and already got so many antlers. I don't

667
00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:35,279
Speaker 1: really care about them anymore. I'm getting the point where

668
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:39,040
Speaker 1: they just need to go. You know, Mark, he's already

669
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:40,800
Speaker 1: he says all that, and he's already sent us a

670
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,400
Speaker 1: picture of a shed that he's found this year, like

671
00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:45,640
Speaker 1: this passwork. He's already been shed on his in January.

672
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,319
Speaker 1: Oh that that was a group effort. Peter found that one.

673
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 1: But it was it was a good time, all right.

674
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:57,360
Speaker 1: So so you check chair cameras, cameras obsessively till you

675
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,920
Speaker 1: said dropped. You worked, You worked the yields and the timber,

676
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,200
Speaker 1: and did you have any when it came to those

677
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,680
Speaker 1: shed walks when you're looking for his antlers? Were you

678
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:10,320
Speaker 1: like covering specific spots extra hard? Or do you literally

679
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 1: grid search this property, like cover every square inch um,

680
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,120
Speaker 1: regardless of you know what kind of habitat of this?

681
00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:21,120
Speaker 1: How Like what led to finding that that antler? Total

682
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,360
Speaker 1: grid search? Like I knew, I knew where he was

683
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,040
Speaker 1: at during the day, I knew where he was feeding.

684
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 1: And then it's just like I just broke it down,

685
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:35,560
Speaker 1: just walked everything. Um, that's not that's usually for shed hunting,

686
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:37,719
Speaker 1: like I find, you want to find deer and then

687
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:44,319
Speaker 1: you just want to look at everything. You know, like, um,

688
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:48,960
Speaker 1: not wasting your time on stuff that's like, um blow odds.

689
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,760
Speaker 1: You know, just finding the high probability, high traffic stuff

690
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,640
Speaker 1: and then just walking the crap out of it pretty

691
00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:58,600
Speaker 1: much is what I do. Yeah, okay, makes sense. So

692
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,840
Speaker 1: then that leads me to you know, you kind of

693
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:03,759
Speaker 1: you said something right there that's interesting, which is like

694
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,359
Speaker 1: you knew where he's at during the day, you knew

695
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,600
Speaker 1: where he was feeding. You know, you kind of had

696
00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:12,160
Speaker 1: a lot of his pattern dialed in. So now it's two,

697
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:14,520
Speaker 1: you find his antler and you you're saying, you know

698
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:18,319
Speaker 1: all this stuff, So like what did you know? Can

699
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:20,920
Speaker 1: you describe for me what you had learned by that point,

700
00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,440
Speaker 1: having you know, observed him and studied him for two

701
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:25,480
Speaker 1: years now, like keeping tabs on him, him being like

702
00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,960
Speaker 1: a high priority deer. You have two years worth of

703
00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,440
Speaker 1: camera photos, you have two years worth of observations, you

704
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:33,319
Speaker 1: have two years worth of shed hunting for him and

705
00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,840
Speaker 1: scouting your property and all that kind of stuff leading

706
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,279
Speaker 1: into the hunting season. If if you and I were

707
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:41,479
Speaker 1: like sitting, you know, drinking a beer at the table,

708
00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 1: I said, all right, man, tell me everything you think

709
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,360
Speaker 1: you know about this deer, Like show me on a map. Um,

710
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:48,120
Speaker 1: what do you what do you know about him during

711
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:50,200
Speaker 1: the season, What do you think he's doing? And how

712
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 1: do you think you're gonna kill him? What would you

713
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:54,640
Speaker 1: have told me before the season? As far as you

714
00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:57,960
Speaker 1: know you're planning for that stuff and what you knew? Um,

715
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:03,360
Speaker 1: so it vast it vastly changed. Like what he was

716
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:05,839
Speaker 1: doing this year was completely different than last year. But

717
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,400
Speaker 1: what I thought I knew was what I thought he

718
00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:11,160
Speaker 1: was going to be a homebody. I didn't think he

719
00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:15,760
Speaker 1: was going anywhere. Um, pretty much just from running cameras

720
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:19,640
Speaker 1: and seeing him, I knew about as far west as

721
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:22,560
Speaker 1: he went, because my buddy, like he never got has

722
00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:26,160
Speaker 1: never gotten a picture of him except for in summer. Um,

723
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,880
Speaker 1: he has like a really defined home range going to

724
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,919
Speaker 1: the to the west. And then I knew exactly where

725
00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:34,960
Speaker 1: he goes to the east. Um, and he's spending so

726
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,680
Speaker 1: much time where I was at that. I mean, I

727
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:39,759
Speaker 1: thought it was was a done deal as long as

728
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:42,080
Speaker 1: I was patient and waited for the right the right

729
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:48,160
Speaker 1: opportunity to go hunt him. Uh. I I was confident

730
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,840
Speaker 1: he was going to be he was going to be

731
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: in my food plot. And the first week of October.

732
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:56,360
Speaker 1: I think I would have told you, Mark would have

733
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:57,879
Speaker 1: been like, you know, if I get a cold front

734
00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:00,320
Speaker 1: that first week of October and I get the right wind,

735
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:04,760
Speaker 1: I'll have a really good crack at him. And then, um,

736
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,000
Speaker 1: if I didn't get him that early October, towards the

737
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,799
Speaker 1: latter part of October, I knew, I knew I probably

738
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 1: would get a second opportunity before he goes rotten. Which

739
00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:20,960
Speaker 1: that's always you know, that's always hit or miss, that's all.

740
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:23,680
Speaker 1: It gets a lot of luck involved when he when

741
00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 1: it gets to the rut. But but I thought, I

742
00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:29,160
Speaker 1: thought I knew enough about him where Mark, I bet you,

743
00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 1: I could have bet money I was going to kill

744
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:35,120
Speaker 1: him in the beginning of October. Um, and I almost did.

745
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,719
Speaker 1: So was that based off of historical pattern, like what

746
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,879
Speaker 1: he did the year prior or a year before that? Yeah, yeah,

747
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,920
Speaker 1: just you know what I see what I've seen, and

748
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:49,239
Speaker 1: then also cameras, so let's see last year, last year

749
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:52,319
Speaker 1: was in my plot that that beginning of October. First

750
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:57,719
Speaker 1: time he shows up daylight, I think it was like, um,

751
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:01,319
Speaker 1: it was the first or second and he was there

752
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:03,320
Speaker 1: for that first week and then he kind of changed

753
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,080
Speaker 1: it up again. And then he'd be there. He'd be

754
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,120
Speaker 1: there in the in the middle of the night here

755
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 1: and there throughout the middle of October, no daylight stuff. Um.

756
00:41:12,719 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 1: And then he'd turn on again towards the end of

757
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:20,960
Speaker 1: the end of October that last week. So speaking of

758
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,879
Speaker 1: that food plot, then what was the habitat stuff you've done?

759
00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 1: You mentioned you're playing a food plot. I know you've

760
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 1: done some other stuff there too. Um, what what did that? What?

761
00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,000
Speaker 1: What work have you done here on this property? So

762
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:36,239
Speaker 1: the so the access is terrible. So like one of

763
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,239
Speaker 1: the main goals is to be able to hunt up

764
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:43,279
Speaker 1: front more and not have to go deep into the ones.

765
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:47,680
Speaker 1: That way I can I can hunt more with better

766
00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:50,400
Speaker 1: access and you know, kind of be a little more undetected.

767
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:54,760
Speaker 1: And then um, it will hunt a little bigger too.

768
00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,920
Speaker 1: But towards the front, there's a theater sect. There's uh,

769
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,239
Speaker 1: some good cover, there's some good dope in there, and

770
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:03,080
Speaker 1: there's some like kind of way that wasted land, you

771
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,360
Speaker 1: know a lot of the rome grass and all that stuff.

772
00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:10,839
Speaker 1: And and so I don't know, it was a six

773
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:14,920
Speaker 1: years ago I started a starting orchard there and then

774
00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:17,480
Speaker 1: in the last for this year was the first year

775
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:21,280
Speaker 1: I got quite a few apples, and then I also

776
00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:26,320
Speaker 1: put in maybe like a third acre of radishes. Um,

777
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:32,279
Speaker 1: put in some oats rye radishes winter piece, and then

778
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 1: have some clover and then that's my main main hunting

779
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:43,920
Speaker 1: kind of for evening October says early October mainly Okay,

780
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 1: So you've got this high level of confidence that if

781
00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:50,120
Speaker 1: you've got the right conditions, you'll kill him on the

782
00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:53,360
Speaker 1: food early in October. If not that he'll be in

783
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:57,320
Speaker 1: there late October. You have camera scatter on the property,

784
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:01,000
Speaker 1: on scrapes and some different little pinch points and things. Um,

785
00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,799
Speaker 1: you have some some of those are standard cameras, some

786
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:07,279
Speaker 1: of those are cell You've got these historical patterns, You've

787
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:12,520
Speaker 1: got the habitat um you know any you know what

788
00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:14,200
Speaker 1: was what was going on in your mind leading into

789
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:17,040
Speaker 1: opening day and season opens October one, where you're at

790
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:21,240
Speaker 1: where you you know, September, where you're like, I'm hunting tomorrow,

791
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,880
Speaker 1: I'm gonna kill him or you know what was it

792
00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:26,799
Speaker 1: looking like when those early October days we're showing up

793
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:28,759
Speaker 1: on the forecast and you're sitting there thinking about whether

794
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:30,239
Speaker 1: or not you can you can do this the way

795
00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:33,040
Speaker 1: you wanted to what did that strategy end up looking like?

796
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:36,040
Speaker 1: So I think it was the end of September. It

797
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:41,160
Speaker 1: was September. He showed up on the plot and I'm like, oh, perfect,

798
00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:45,200
Speaker 1: like perfect timing, you know, And then um, we got

799
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:47,560
Speaker 1: you look at the forecast and we had I think

800
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:49,759
Speaker 1: maybe you guys got it over in Michigan too, But

801
00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:52,800
Speaker 1: we had an awesome cold front the beginning of October,

802
00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:58,399
Speaker 1: and what we got plugued with east winds and where

803
00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:01,319
Speaker 1: had those Those east winds were like I don't know

804
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:03,840
Speaker 1: if they were like seven days straight and it wasn't

805
00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:06,439
Speaker 1: like there was no very ability. It was the same

806
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:11,160
Speaker 1: crap over and over and over again. And I unfortunately

807
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,720
Speaker 1: wasn't able to hunt that spot that first weekend because

808
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:16,840
Speaker 1: I just cannot make an east wind work there. I

809
00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:18,600
Speaker 1: could have run and gun and picked a tree in

810
00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,880
Speaker 1: and tried to make it work, but just having so

811
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 1: many doughs around coming in there, I just felt like

812
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 1: I would have like it was too big of a gamble,

813
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:34,440
Speaker 1: and I decided to I decided to wait. And of course,

814
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:38,239
Speaker 1: then later that night I get, you know, like I

815
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:41,680
Speaker 1: have my cell cam set up to send me pictures

816
00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:44,120
Speaker 1: at like eight o'clock at night or whatever. And then

817
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,080
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there after I didn't hunt, and here he

818
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:50,400
Speaker 1: is walking right right into the plot at on daylight,

819
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:53,560
Speaker 1: and I'm like, dang it, I just knew, like I

820
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:55,320
Speaker 1: knew he was going to be there, and I could

821
00:44:55,320 --> 00:45:00,440
Speaker 1: have probably taken a crack and and I had to

822
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:04,560
Speaker 1: hanging hunt to make that east wind work. But man,

823
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:07,279
Speaker 1: there's so many does coming I would have been coming

824
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:09,960
Speaker 1: from directly kind of downwind, that just one would have

825
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,920
Speaker 1: just blew it up. So I just, I mean, I

826
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,319
Speaker 1: had to. I had to live with that decision. But man,

827
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,640
Speaker 1: that was kind of hard not hunting that cold front

828
00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:26,359
Speaker 1: on that spot. So he showed up. And then then

829
00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 1: looking at the forecast, I think that next week, that

830
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:32,480
Speaker 1: next next weekend when I would have been able to hunt, um,

831
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:35,200
Speaker 1: there was another kind of a cold front. I think

832
00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:36,600
Speaker 1: it was going to be in the fifties again, which

833
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:39,839
Speaker 1: was pretty good for October if I remember right. And

834
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,960
Speaker 1: I had one of those. I had one of those, Like,

835
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:47,680
Speaker 1: I mean, I was so confident that my heart was

836
00:45:47,719 --> 00:45:50,440
Speaker 1: like racing while I was sitting in that stand. I

837
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:54,120
Speaker 1: think it was like like the seventh October seven, And

838
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:55,680
Speaker 1: I remember I was sitting in the stand. I got

839
00:45:55,719 --> 00:45:59,000
Speaker 1: this awesome seater. Now I have stand hung up in

840
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:04,160
Speaker 1: I can hunt pretty much any westerly wind um, and

841
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:06,160
Speaker 1: then most of you are going to come from my

842
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:11,920
Speaker 1: myself and then straight straight from the west. And I

843
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:15,960
Speaker 1: remember getting up in that stand and it was kind

844
00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:18,879
Speaker 1: of one of these days that I a really good

845
00:46:19,239 --> 00:46:22,160
Speaker 1: friend of mine, you probably could call him a mentor

846
00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:29,000
Speaker 1: passed away um that week several days before, and it

847
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:33,040
Speaker 1: was like a whirlwind of like emotions, like everything you

848
00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:36,520
Speaker 1: could possibly feel, you felt. It was just a horrible

849
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:41,400
Speaker 1: few days. And I was just like, man, I cannot

850
00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:43,920
Speaker 1: wait to get in that tree. And I was like

851
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:47,719
Speaker 1: not to kill that deer, but just to like sit there,

852
00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:50,480
Speaker 1: you know, and just like not think or just to

853
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,120
Speaker 1: think think about everything that happened the last few days.

854
00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:55,600
Speaker 1: But when I got up in that tree, I was

855
00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:58,839
Speaker 1: so confident. I was. I don't know, do you ever

856
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:00,919
Speaker 1: when you ever you like, as you lies your hunt

857
00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:02,640
Speaker 1: or whenever you're going to sit in a spot, do

858
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:05,319
Speaker 1: you ever get like do you ever get like your

859
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:07,480
Speaker 1: heart going? Like can you can you raise your heart

860
00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:09,320
Speaker 1: rate and all that stuff? Mark at all? Are you

861
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:11,799
Speaker 1: able to that when you visualize stuff? Yeah? Yeah, and

862
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:14,840
Speaker 1: like I know those days, Like I love that feeling

863
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,520
Speaker 1: when you have like that absolute kill set where you

864
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,759
Speaker 1: to go in with sky high confidence and like you're

865
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:22,759
Speaker 1: not just going in for a hunt. You're going in

866
00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:26,600
Speaker 1: like knowing that everything is right and and those are

867
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:28,920
Speaker 1: the I mean, those are my absolute favorite hunts. I

868
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,440
Speaker 1: love that feeling. I mean I was, I was so pumped.

869
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:34,680
Speaker 1: I finally had a time to just go decompressed after

870
00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:38,560
Speaker 1: everything that happened. But I mean I felt so confident.

871
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:41,320
Speaker 1: It felt it felt like that Buck was like walking

872
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,360
Speaker 1: in Like that's the feeling. I felt like, I was

873
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:47,960
Speaker 1: so um, I don't know, I'm I was gonna manifest

874
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:50,480
Speaker 1: that stuff. I was like, man, this is gonna it's

875
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:52,799
Speaker 1: gonna happen. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be like

876
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:56,960
Speaker 1: a tribute Buck. Um, it's gonna be fantastic. And I

877
00:47:56,960 --> 00:48:02,800
Speaker 1: remember sitting there, conditions were perfect, um, and all of

878
00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:05,000
Speaker 1: a sudden, I just sitting there, it's quiet and just

879
00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:10,920
Speaker 1: like beautiful out and pow right behind me. I jumped,

880
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:12,759
Speaker 1: you know, like you're like, oh my gosh, that was

881
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:19,000
Speaker 1: so close. Uh he's He's like holy, that was unbelievably close,

882
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:21,399
Speaker 1: Like it just caught me off guard. I jumped out

883
00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:24,880
Speaker 1: of the out of my seat, and I'm looking around,

884
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:26,719
Speaker 1: you know, and You're like duck in your head, like

885
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:30,560
Speaker 1: what in the world? And uh so the neighbor was

886
00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:34,520
Speaker 1: actually target shooting. I didn't even hear him drive in, surprisingly,

887
00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:37,279
Speaker 1: and he was probably like I don't know, he's probably

888
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:40,799
Speaker 1: like a hundred and fifty yard hundred yards behind me,

889
00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:44,920
Speaker 1: and he just um started target shooting right there. I'm like,

890
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:50,960
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, you gotta be kidding me. I was like, oh,

891
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:53,239
Speaker 1: this is a horrible luck. But I mean, I wasn't

892
00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:56,480
Speaker 1: I wasn't mad. I wasn't like this point. I was

893
00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:58,319
Speaker 1: just kind of laughed at it, like he was just

894
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:02,200
Speaker 1: like what the heck, Like all this, all these places

895
00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:04,280
Speaker 1: to shoot, and he chose to come back here and shoot,

896
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:09,480
Speaker 1: you know. And uh so I then at that point,

897
00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:11,600
Speaker 1: I was like, well, you know, I know, dear, are

898
00:49:11,640 --> 00:49:14,239
Speaker 1: gonna come out still, you know. And they hear gunshots

899
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:16,839
Speaker 1: all time because all the everybody had all these farms

900
00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:19,840
Speaker 1: are always shooting guns, you know. But thing that was

901
00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:22,000
Speaker 1: too close to the food. I'm like, there's no way

902
00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:25,520
Speaker 1: he's gonna come out tonight. And I'm like, I just

903
00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:28,279
Speaker 1: gotta get out of here. So I just bailed. So

904
00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:30,120
Speaker 1: my first time I didn't really even do anything. I

905
00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:32,040
Speaker 1: just sat up in the tree, got my heart rate up,

906
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:33,840
Speaker 1: but just thinking about the hunt and then the and

907
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:38,319
Speaker 1: then and then I got it blown out. But the

908
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:41,840
Speaker 1: awesome part is that night then I got a picture

909
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:46,400
Speaker 1: um of big potatoes on the camera there. So I'm like, awesome,

910
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:50,440
Speaker 1: he probably wasn't very close. He's still comfortable coming in.

911
00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:54,120
Speaker 1: He didn't come in that night. Um, we're still good.

912
00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:58,719
Speaker 1: Didn't get burned up or anything like that. Um, So

913
00:49:58,760 --> 00:50:00,279
Speaker 1: that I'm like, you know what I'm going in the say.

914
00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:03,880
Speaker 1: So I tried it the next day one last time,

915
00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:08,839
Speaker 1: and uh I saw two two really awesome three year olds.

916
00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:11,400
Speaker 1: I had a fantastic, fantastic hunt, but he just he

917
00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:18,759
Speaker 1: just uh he just didn't show. Yeah, two days in row,

918
00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:23,520
Speaker 1: October seven, eight. Um. And one of the things I

919
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:26,560
Speaker 1: feel like I always think about when hunting, like a

920
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:29,080
Speaker 1: spot like this, a relatively small property, when you after

921
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:32,719
Speaker 1: one deer, is this like worry of like blowing him

922
00:50:32,719 --> 00:50:34,399
Speaker 1: out of the area because he's the only dear year

923
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:36,520
Speaker 1: really after And so if you screw it up, you know,

924
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:39,400
Speaker 1: then you're really in trouble. So I'm always you know me,

925
00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:41,840
Speaker 1: You've heard me talk about this. I'm pretty paranoid about

926
00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:44,880
Speaker 1: going in ever about hunting too much until it's like

927
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:47,360
Speaker 1: go time. So you've now hunted two days in a

928
00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:50,000
Speaker 1: row in early October. Where you thinking, man, I'm just

929
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:53,120
Speaker 1: gonna keep on hitting him every time the conditions are right,

930
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:55,279
Speaker 1: or at this point did you think, Okay, I gotta

931
00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:58,040
Speaker 1: back out and wait till we get to that second

932
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:00,560
Speaker 1: period that you mentioned being late October, like where's your

933
00:51:00,560 --> 00:51:04,680
Speaker 1: head now? Um, I was gonna burn that. I was

934
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:07,200
Speaker 1: gonna burn that up while it was still good, and

935
00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:12,279
Speaker 1: then um, which I think I'm pretty sure it's hard

936
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:14,719
Speaker 1: to remember back, but I think we got to. I

937
00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:17,760
Speaker 1: think the whole dang month of October was east winds.

938
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:22,080
Speaker 1: I mean it was just horrible, like east northeast, the

939
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:25,040
Speaker 1: absolute worst winds for hunting that if I would have

940
00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:29,080
Speaker 1: had better conditions, I would have hunted it until until

941
00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:31,200
Speaker 1: I burned it up pretty good, I think right there,

942
00:51:31,239 --> 00:51:34,120
Speaker 1: and then just wait until until the end of October.

943
00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:36,400
Speaker 1: I mean when it's when it's hot, it's hot, and

944
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:40,200
Speaker 1: I feel like you gotta hunt it. Um, But I

945
00:51:40,239 --> 00:51:43,600
Speaker 1: think those first two hunts were the best, best hunts

946
00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:46,799
Speaker 1: I had, best chance I had and then and then

947
00:51:46,800 --> 00:51:50,440
Speaker 1: I'm I'm pretty sure after that we got plagued with

948
00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:53,200
Speaker 1: more east winds, which didn't didn't work for there, so

949
00:51:53,239 --> 00:51:57,320
Speaker 1: I had to go try some other stuff. Is what happened?

950
00:51:57,800 --> 00:52:00,919
Speaker 1: All right? Josh? What do you want learn about this point?

951
00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:05,160
Speaker 1: Anything you remember during this period of his his texting

952
00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:08,600
Speaker 1: to the group, his questions, is worries, his concerns, or

953
00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:12,960
Speaker 1: anything you're curious about. Yeah, I totally forgot about the

954
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:16,160
Speaker 1: whole target shooting incident. That job, I remember that. That

955
00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:20,960
Speaker 1: was funny. Um have you heard anything in the neighborhood

956
00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:26,080
Speaker 1: about any sightings? Was there any any concern there? Um?

957
00:52:26,280 --> 00:52:28,720
Speaker 1: But what what other people were seeing them at that point?

958
00:52:29,440 --> 00:52:33,040
Speaker 1: M No, I know people knew about him, Um, I

959
00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:36,480
Speaker 1: think neighbor did. There was a buck on the on

960
00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:38,520
Speaker 1: one of the roads that was some you know, people

961
00:52:38,520 --> 00:52:42,160
Speaker 1: were seeing all summer long, and jeez, everybody in the

962
00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:44,920
Speaker 1: Dane County knew about it. It was just insane. It

963
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:47,799
Speaker 1: was like, oh, this is crazy, and I didn't know,

964
00:52:47,920 --> 00:52:49,640
Speaker 1: we didn't know for sure if it was him or not.

965
00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:54,839
Speaker 1: But but um, then in October, I didn't really hear

966
00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:58,799
Speaker 1: anybody talking about about him. And then after after those

967
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:04,239
Speaker 1: early hunts, Uh no, there there was kind of it

968
00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:09,000
Speaker 1: was pretty quiet, all right, So then what what what

969
00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:12,960
Speaker 1: happened next? Walk us through the following days as you're

970
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:15,879
Speaker 1: checking the forecast and trying to decide do I hunt?

971
00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:18,320
Speaker 1: Do I not hunt? Um? Take us through the next

972
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:26,680
Speaker 1: eventful moments. Uh So I don't, man, I don't keep

973
00:53:26,719 --> 00:53:29,640
Speaker 1: spreadsheets like you Marxists. Really hard to recall some this stuff,

974
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:34,480
Speaker 1: so you gotta I gotta get with it. But the

975
00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:37,240
Speaker 1: weather in October was just like the most got awful

976
00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:40,440
Speaker 1: hunting weather I think we've ever had besides that first

977
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:43,600
Speaker 1: first little bit of October. It was, if I recall,

978
00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:46,520
Speaker 1: it was just terrible, and I think I just was patient,

979
00:53:47,440 --> 00:53:55,480
Speaker 1: and I just wanted to wait, wait it out until um,

980
00:53:55,640 --> 00:53:59,600
Speaker 1: until it got it until got a little bit better. Um.

981
00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:04,080
Speaker 1: And I didn't. I didn't really hunt until at the

982
00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:08,000
Speaker 1: end of October. I think it was like the I

983
00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:10,920
Speaker 1: finally tried to go back in there and I actually

984
00:54:10,960 --> 00:54:13,680
Speaker 1: went to that same food plot and I went in

985
00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:20,080
Speaker 1: the morning, and I was hoping it's kind of like

986
00:54:20,120 --> 00:54:22,520
Speaker 1: in a transition area. So if he was out feeding

987
00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:26,919
Speaker 1: in the in the the fields. H as a deer

988
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:29,520
Speaker 1: come back through, they'll kind of stop, they'll do a

989
00:54:29,560 --> 00:54:32,040
Speaker 1: little browsing and they'll keep working their way back through,

990
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:35,319
Speaker 1: is what the kind of the goal of that spot is.

991
00:54:35,680 --> 00:54:37,480
Speaker 1: So it's good in the evening, it's good in the morning.

992
00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:40,600
Speaker 1: So I got up in there really early that morning,

993
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:46,080
Speaker 1: I think it was. It was a like a very

994
00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:51,440
Speaker 1: light northwest wind, so it was north northwest, so it

995
00:54:51,520 --> 00:54:55,720
Speaker 1: was it was kind of like that just off wind um,

996
00:54:56,320 --> 00:54:58,160
Speaker 1: kind of blue, just on the other side of fence,

997
00:54:58,239 --> 00:55:01,640
Speaker 1: down the fence, not really where he should be coming

998
00:55:01,680 --> 00:55:05,880
Speaker 1: from more dear for that matter. That the fence kind

999
00:55:05,880 --> 00:55:07,920
Speaker 1: of acts as like a barrier. I figured I can

1000
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:09,879
Speaker 1: pull that off. So I got set up in there

1001
00:55:09,920 --> 00:55:12,840
Speaker 1: and it was kind of quiet. I had a small

1002
00:55:14,120 --> 00:55:18,160
Speaker 1: I had a small eight point buck come through, and

1003
00:55:18,200 --> 00:55:22,120
Speaker 1: then some does and I don't remember what time it

1004
00:55:22,200 --> 00:55:24,600
Speaker 1: might have been, like about eight thirty Elsedden. I heard

1005
00:55:24,600 --> 00:55:29,880
Speaker 1: that unmistakable clanking of antlers on branches. Like when I

1006
00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:32,759
Speaker 1: heard it, I was like, that's about making a scrape.

1007
00:55:33,360 --> 00:55:36,520
Speaker 1: And I had no idea what bucket was at the time,

1008
00:55:36,920 --> 00:55:39,000
Speaker 1: and it was off in the distance, so there's like

1009
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:41,920
Speaker 1: a big cedar thicket, and he was in that cedar

1010
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:45,480
Speaker 1: thicket scraping a tree, and I see him just step

1011
00:55:45,520 --> 00:55:48,200
Speaker 1: out of that, you know, like you get some thick cedars.

1012
00:55:48,239 --> 00:55:50,480
Speaker 1: It's kind of dark in there, and he like just

1013
00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:55,120
Speaker 1: walks out of that cedar thicket and stands there really tall,

1014
00:55:55,239 --> 00:55:58,480
Speaker 1: like an upright and it was just like super cool.

1015
00:55:58,560 --> 00:56:00,279
Speaker 1: And I pulled up my vinals and I look. I'm like,

1016
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:03,160
Speaker 1: oh my god, there he is. And so he popped out.

1017
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:05,640
Speaker 1: And he's also already on the south side of me.

1018
00:56:05,680 --> 00:56:07,400
Speaker 1: So he's supposed to be coming from the north to

1019
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:11,160
Speaker 1: the south, but he got past. He's already south of me.

1020
00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:16,359
Speaker 1: And so these doughs we're kind of down in this

1021
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:20,360
Speaker 1: little dip in between me and him, and he walks

1022
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:23,360
Speaker 1: out and he's just you can just tell he's like

1023
00:56:23,640 --> 00:56:29,080
Speaker 1: he's like super cautious, and he comes out kind of

1024
00:56:29,120 --> 00:56:32,240
Speaker 1: bumps the doughs a little bit, and when he turns

1025
00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:34,480
Speaker 1: and starts going down that dip, when I lose him,

1026
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:36,680
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh man, he's coming. He's like he's like

1027
00:56:36,920 --> 00:56:38,560
Speaker 1: he's on his way of the food plot right now.

1028
00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:41,400
Speaker 1: And so at that point, I'm like kind of getting

1029
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:46,080
Speaker 1: myself ready, and he walks right up to that fence

1030
00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:50,799
Speaker 1: that is directly south of me, and I have that

1031
00:56:50,840 --> 00:56:53,200
Speaker 1: wind blowing kind of down that fence, just off wind

1032
00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:56,719
Speaker 1: like it's good and it will if it stays consistent.

1033
00:56:56,880 --> 00:57:00,719
Speaker 1: And he walks up to the food plots, stand up there.

1034
00:57:00,760 --> 00:57:03,200
Speaker 1: He stands there for what seems like ten minutes. You

1035
00:57:03,239 --> 00:57:05,319
Speaker 1: know how those big bucks do they They they can

1036
00:57:05,360 --> 00:57:07,400
Speaker 1: just stand like statues for a long time and just

1037
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:14,080
Speaker 1: like assess everything before you any further, for you any further, sorry,

1038
00:57:14,120 --> 00:57:17,720
Speaker 1: but I want to get a quick look inside your mind.

1039
00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:21,600
Speaker 1: In this moment, You've got this giant deer standing just

1040
00:57:21,680 --> 00:57:23,320
Speaker 1: on the edge of the plot about to walk into

1041
00:57:23,320 --> 00:57:25,160
Speaker 1: a spot you can get a shot at him. You've

1042
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:29,200
Speaker 1: been watching this deer for three years. You essentially passed

1043
00:57:29,240 --> 00:57:32,840
Speaker 1: on him the year prior as a booner. I'm assuming

1044
00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:34,880
Speaker 1: that's the biggest deer you've ever passed. So there's like

1045
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:38,600
Speaker 1: tons of pressure and excitement and craziness leading into this moment.

1046
00:57:39,400 --> 00:57:41,680
Speaker 1: You've killed a lot of deer over your life, but

1047
00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:45,400
Speaker 1: I also know that you've had some some some buck

1048
00:57:45,520 --> 00:57:48,480
Speaker 1: fever things over the course of your hunting life, just

1049
00:57:48,520 --> 00:57:52,680
Speaker 1: like me. Um So how are you handling this moment

1050
00:57:52,720 --> 00:57:54,919
Speaker 1: of truth? Like in your mind as this is coming

1051
00:57:54,960 --> 00:57:58,120
Speaker 1: together and you're realizing he's about to step into position,

1052
00:57:58,840 --> 00:58:01,200
Speaker 1: how how are you feeling? Did you feel good in

1053
00:58:01,240 --> 00:58:04,000
Speaker 1: that moment where you were you locked in? What were

1054
00:58:04,040 --> 00:58:07,080
Speaker 1: you telling yourself? What was what was happening in between

1055
00:58:07,080 --> 00:58:11,960
Speaker 1: the years? So when he first stepped out, I think

1056
00:58:11,960 --> 00:58:16,880
Speaker 1: I had that initial like adrenaline rush, you know, and

1057
00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:20,040
Speaker 1: then as he started kind of once he committed, it's

1058
00:58:20,080 --> 00:58:23,040
Speaker 1: like it's really exciting, and then and then I kind

1059
00:58:23,040 --> 00:58:27,560
Speaker 1: of calmed down when I know when I knew he was,

1060
00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:31,160
Speaker 1: when he was knew he was getting closer than I

1061
00:58:31,200 --> 00:58:32,960
Speaker 1: was kind of trying to get into like a mantra,

1062
00:58:33,160 --> 00:58:37,080
Speaker 1: you know, like like pick a spot, slow it down

1063
00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:39,160
Speaker 1: kind of thing, you know, because a lot of times

1064
00:58:39,200 --> 00:58:44,880
Speaker 1: I think I I rushed, I rush, and just trying

1065
00:58:44,880 --> 00:58:48,320
Speaker 1: to keep repeating like slowed down, pick a spot, slowed down.

1066
00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:51,280
Speaker 1: You know. Um, it's kind of what I was trying

1067
00:58:51,320 --> 00:58:57,280
Speaker 1: to trying to get my head um ready for, so

1068
00:58:57,360 --> 00:59:01,840
Speaker 1: trying to get that mantra going. And as he came out,

1069
00:59:03,160 --> 00:59:06,760
Speaker 1: he like he just tucked himself up against that fence

1070
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:10,560
Speaker 1: like tight, like it didn't. I was like, why what

1071
00:59:10,680 --> 00:59:12,760
Speaker 1: is he doing? You know? But he just like, I mean,

1072
00:59:12,840 --> 00:59:15,920
Speaker 1: he his side was like brushing up against that barbed wire.

1073
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:18,080
Speaker 1: It's like he was trying to get every little ounce

1074
00:59:18,120 --> 00:59:21,560
Speaker 1: of like of sent out of that food plot before

1075
00:59:21,560 --> 00:59:24,120
Speaker 1: he committed. And he stood there up tight against that

1076
00:59:24,160 --> 00:59:26,600
Speaker 1: fence at like twenty five yards while I was kind

1077
00:59:26,640 --> 00:59:29,200
Speaker 1: of talking myself through it. And at this point, I'm like, man,

1078
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:33,439
Speaker 1: this thing I'm I knew in my mind. I knew

1079
00:59:34,040 --> 00:59:36,000
Speaker 1: I was going to get an opportunity, that I was

1080
00:59:36,040 --> 00:59:39,240
Speaker 1: going to get a shot. And he stopped out that

1081
00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:41,800
Speaker 1: fence and I was telling myself, you don't like slowed

1082
00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:43,480
Speaker 1: down and pick a spot. And I was trying to

1083
00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:47,560
Speaker 1: stay calm, and then he started making a little scrape

1084
00:59:47,680 --> 00:59:49,360
Speaker 1: like and that wins just an off wind. You know,

1085
00:59:49,400 --> 00:59:51,440
Speaker 1: you don't want him sticking around in one spot for

1086
00:59:51,520 --> 00:59:55,080
Speaker 1: too long. And I was like, oh, man, just hurry up.

1087
00:59:55,120 --> 00:59:58,120
Speaker 1: You know. He was just taking his time talked up

1088
00:59:58,160 --> 01:00:01,440
Speaker 1: against that fence. And then I felt that like unmistakable

1089
01:00:01,560 --> 01:00:03,560
Speaker 1: little gust of wind that you can get on your

1090
01:00:03,600 --> 01:00:06,120
Speaker 1: face sometimes it just makes your like makes your hair

1091
01:00:06,160 --> 01:00:09,160
Speaker 1: stand up when it happens. And I felt that and

1092
01:00:09,240 --> 01:00:12,480
Speaker 1: I knew, like instantly, I knew it was over because

1093
01:00:12,520 --> 01:00:16,760
Speaker 1: I get there was a little tiny gust and he

1094
01:00:16,840 --> 01:00:21,320
Speaker 1: was at twenty five yards. I didn't have a shot

1095
01:00:21,360 --> 01:00:24,959
Speaker 1: at him. It was too thick through his theater. And

1096
01:00:25,120 --> 01:00:26,840
Speaker 1: if he had kept on his path, I would have

1097
01:00:26,840 --> 01:00:29,120
Speaker 1: probably got like a fifteen yard broadside shot. It would

1098
01:00:29,120 --> 01:00:32,840
Speaker 1: have been just perfect. But right when that wind gusted,

1099
01:00:33,000 --> 01:00:36,120
Speaker 1: took literally like one second and he caught my wind

1100
01:00:36,120 --> 01:00:39,120
Speaker 1: and he just bolted out of there and just bounded

1101
01:00:39,160 --> 01:00:43,480
Speaker 1: out of out of sight. So that was my first

1102
01:00:43,560 --> 01:00:47,960
Speaker 1: encounrent with him that are this year. So now, what

1103
01:00:47,120 --> 01:00:50,240
Speaker 1: what were you feeling? Did you feel like you were screwed?

1104
01:00:50,440 --> 01:00:52,640
Speaker 1: Did you feel like not a huge deal, I'll get

1105
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,800
Speaker 1: another shot later. I mean, how did that affect your

1106
01:00:55,840 --> 01:01:00,640
Speaker 1: morale and then your strategy? I just I knew I

1107
01:01:00,680 --> 01:01:03,320
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna be sitting there much more anytime soon. It's

1108
01:01:03,360 --> 01:01:05,080
Speaker 1: kind of what I thought. And when I when I

1109
01:01:05,120 --> 01:01:06,920
Speaker 1: sat down, I just kind of sat down and was just

1110
01:01:06,880 --> 01:01:08,800
Speaker 1: just a kind of just laughed. I was like, oh man,

1111
01:01:08,880 --> 01:01:11,920
Speaker 1: that was awesome. But oh well, you know, there's just

1112
01:01:12,040 --> 01:01:14,200
Speaker 1: so many things have to come together when you deer hunt.

1113
01:01:14,280 --> 01:01:17,080
Speaker 1: You know, like if you didn't make that great, I

1114
01:01:17,080 --> 01:01:19,360
Speaker 1: would have shot him. You know, so many little things

1115
01:01:19,440 --> 01:01:23,040
Speaker 1: have to work out, and um, like the absolute worst

1116
01:01:23,080 --> 01:01:25,280
Speaker 1: time to get augusta wind. It didn't do that all morning,

1117
01:01:25,280 --> 01:01:29,000
Speaker 1: and it was just right at that moment, and I

1118
01:01:29,080 --> 01:01:30,400
Speaker 1: kind of just like I was like, oh, I guess

1119
01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:33,160
Speaker 1: it just wasn't wasn't meant to be. It wasn't wasn't

1120
01:01:33,320 --> 01:01:36,960
Speaker 1: supposed to happen. It's awesome encounter, Like it was great

1121
01:01:36,960 --> 01:01:39,440
Speaker 1: that I got to see him. Um. And but then

1122
01:01:39,440 --> 01:01:43,040
Speaker 1: I was like shooting, Now what am I gonna do? Um?

1123
01:01:43,120 --> 01:01:44,800
Speaker 1: You know, how long is a buck? How long is

1124
01:01:44,840 --> 01:01:49,360
Speaker 1: this buck going to avoid this area specifically for this stand?

1125
01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:52,640
Speaker 1: Is this stand burnt up? Like? Where should I try next?

1126
01:01:52,760 --> 01:01:54,560
Speaker 1: Where is he gonna want to be next? How is

1127
01:01:54,600 --> 01:01:56,600
Speaker 1: he going to skirt this food plot? How is he

1128
01:01:56,640 --> 01:02:00,920
Speaker 1: gonna send check it? Um? That kind of stuff. That's

1129
01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:06,360
Speaker 1: kind of what I was thinking. So what do you do? Oh?

1130
01:02:06,520 --> 01:02:09,320
Speaker 1: And then I hunted the crap out of that place,

1131
01:02:09,520 --> 01:02:15,880
Speaker 1: bouncing around. So for all of November, Uh, I just

1132
01:02:15,880 --> 01:02:20,040
Speaker 1: bounced around dope. So it kind of stung a little

1133
01:02:20,040 --> 01:02:22,320
Speaker 1: bit because that end of October time is like the

1134
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:25,360
Speaker 1: best time in my opinion, and then once November comes,

1135
01:02:25,360 --> 01:02:28,480
Speaker 1: it's just like a crapshoot. And when I had him,

1136
01:02:28,560 --> 01:02:32,200
Speaker 1: when I had him smell me that that that day,

1137
01:02:32,200 --> 01:02:34,600
Speaker 1: it kind of it sucked a little bit. It stung

1138
01:02:34,640 --> 01:02:37,760
Speaker 1: a little bit um. But then I just started bouncing around.

1139
01:02:37,840 --> 01:02:41,360
Speaker 1: I started hitting different kinds of different dope betting areas,

1140
01:02:42,800 --> 01:02:47,880
Speaker 1: UH focused on, you know, stand stand sites that were

1141
01:02:48,880 --> 01:02:51,440
Speaker 1: based on wind and dope betting areas, and I just

1142
01:02:53,280 --> 01:02:55,960
Speaker 1: never could catch up to him. I just never. I

1143
01:02:56,000 --> 01:02:59,320
Speaker 1: could never. I never saw him. He was around, but

1144
01:02:59,360 --> 01:03:01,120
Speaker 1: he just seemed like he kind of vacated. And I

1145
01:03:01,160 --> 01:03:03,640
Speaker 1: don't think it was because of obviously smelling me, because

1146
01:03:03,680 --> 01:03:06,400
Speaker 1: it smells people all the time, you know, But he

1147
01:03:06,520 --> 01:03:10,560
Speaker 1: just seemed like he rutted somewhere else. He kind of

1148
01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:14,880
Speaker 1: I think I didn't get many pictures of him. They

1149
01:03:14,920 --> 01:03:17,760
Speaker 1: got a couple of pictures right in the beginning of November,

1150
01:03:18,760 --> 01:03:23,400
Speaker 1: and then I had no pictures for two weeks, never

1151
01:03:23,440 --> 01:03:26,120
Speaker 1: saw him for two weeks. I think he showed up

1152
01:03:26,160 --> 01:03:30,120
Speaker 1: at the very north edge of the property like that

1153
01:03:30,200 --> 01:03:33,360
Speaker 1: middle middle of November, like thet or something like that.

1154
01:03:33,480 --> 01:03:35,840
Speaker 1: Just one picture that where he was clearly tending a

1155
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:37,720
Speaker 1: dough kind of to the north. But he seemed like

1156
01:03:37,800 --> 01:03:41,440
Speaker 1: he just vacated the property, which I mean, there were

1157
01:03:41,480 --> 01:03:43,400
Speaker 1: so many questions like, well, what the heck, why does

1158
01:03:43,480 --> 01:03:45,760
Speaker 1: why did he move? Like he's been he rutted here

1159
01:03:46,360 --> 01:03:51,640
Speaker 1: the last four years or whatever five years. Why why

1160
01:03:51,640 --> 01:03:54,200
Speaker 1: did he suddenly make a change. That's always like those

1161
01:03:54,240 --> 01:03:56,560
Speaker 1: crazy questions, yet you never have the answer to. And

1162
01:03:56,600 --> 01:03:59,960
Speaker 1: I didn't know if it was because of that day,

1163
01:04:00,520 --> 01:04:03,760
Speaker 1: because of Benjamin Buttons or what. But he just he

1164
01:04:03,880 --> 01:04:06,680
Speaker 1: kind of just left. He kind of left. He went northeast.

1165
01:04:06,720 --> 01:04:11,640
Speaker 1: I knew had a pretty good idea where he went. Um,

1166
01:04:11,720 --> 01:04:15,400
Speaker 1: and I went and scouted some different stuff. I when

1167
01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:18,080
Speaker 1: hunted a different area to see if I to shake

1168
01:04:18,120 --> 01:04:20,160
Speaker 1: it up and try to change it up. And the

1169
01:04:20,240 --> 01:04:23,400
Speaker 1: sign wasn't that great. I didn't get the vibe that

1170
01:04:23,440 --> 01:04:27,640
Speaker 1: that he was really in there. I didn't really see much. Um.

1171
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:30,760
Speaker 1: I just I think I think I put all my

1172
01:04:30,800 --> 01:04:33,320
Speaker 1: eggs in in the basket that he was going to

1173
01:04:33,440 --> 01:04:36,400
Speaker 1: be there the whole November and he wasn't. So then

1174
01:04:36,840 --> 01:04:41,240
Speaker 1: I think I wasted way too many days thinking like, oh,

1175
01:04:41,320 --> 01:04:42,880
Speaker 1: if I if I just keep it going, if I

1176
01:04:42,920 --> 01:04:45,440
Speaker 1: just keep it going, eventually he's going to show up,

1177
01:04:45,520 --> 01:04:48,760
Speaker 1: you know, and he just never did. And then by that,

1178
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:50,600
Speaker 1: you know, by the but the next thing you know,

1179
01:04:50,680 --> 01:04:55,760
Speaker 1: it's it's like he missed out on that that early November,

1180
01:04:55,760 --> 01:04:57,760
Speaker 1: which is pretty good, and then they're locked down and

1181
01:04:57,800 --> 01:05:02,920
Speaker 1: it just seems like kind of I kind of in

1182
01:05:03,080 --> 01:05:10,760
Speaker 1: play November very well if you hindsight, obviously, but in retrospect,

1183
01:05:10,800 --> 01:05:14,360
Speaker 1: if you were to look back on that month knowing

1184
01:05:14,480 --> 01:05:17,480
Speaker 1: kind of what you know now, would you have made

1185
01:05:17,720 --> 01:05:20,560
Speaker 1: any big change that you think could have could have

1186
01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:23,800
Speaker 1: you know, change your results at all for that month

1187
01:05:24,360 --> 01:05:25,720
Speaker 1: or was it kind of out of your hands just

1188
01:05:25,760 --> 01:05:27,600
Speaker 1: because he just left and he was in places you

1189
01:05:27,600 --> 01:05:31,360
Speaker 1: could hunt. I could, I could hunt a little bit

1190
01:05:31,440 --> 01:05:35,440
Speaker 1: where he went. But I just I don't know that

1191
01:05:35,560 --> 01:05:38,600
Speaker 1: the rut is so random. I just you know, it's

1192
01:05:38,680 --> 01:05:42,920
Speaker 1: it's hard last few years and spend more about like

1193
01:05:42,960 --> 01:05:45,040
Speaker 1: hunting a specific book, and it just seems like once

1194
01:05:45,080 --> 01:05:47,800
Speaker 1: November comes, it's like, oh, it's kind of like it

1195
01:05:47,920 --> 01:05:50,600
Speaker 1: just sucks. Like if if you want to shoot a

1196
01:05:50,720 --> 01:05:54,800
Speaker 1: nice buck gets you excited, not a specific book, then

1197
01:05:54,800 --> 01:05:57,760
Speaker 1: November is awesome. But man, when you when it's when

1198
01:05:57,800 --> 01:06:01,240
Speaker 1: it's a specific buck during November, it gets it gets

1199
01:06:01,240 --> 01:06:04,280
Speaker 1: pretty tough, and I don't know, I don't really know

1200
01:06:04,360 --> 01:06:06,080
Speaker 1: exactly what I would do differently. I think I would

1201
01:06:06,080 --> 01:06:11,400
Speaker 1: have probably um tried to bounce around a little bit more.

1202
01:06:11,440 --> 01:06:16,320
Speaker 1: But but elsewhere, um, maybe on some stuff that I

1203
01:06:16,320 --> 01:06:20,800
Speaker 1: had permission on I tried it, but but um yeah,

1204
01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:25,160
Speaker 1: I just being able to adapt like on the fly

1205
01:06:25,360 --> 01:06:29,360
Speaker 1: and know a little quicker when to change it up

1206
01:06:29,480 --> 01:06:32,000
Speaker 1: is what's the hardest part, I think, or know when

1207
01:06:32,040 --> 01:06:36,919
Speaker 1: to when to bail on what you're doing and make

1208
01:06:36,960 --> 01:06:38,960
Speaker 1: a change is kind of always hard because it seems

1209
01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:42,000
Speaker 1: like if you take too long, then you're too late.

1210
01:06:43,640 --> 01:06:47,760
Speaker 1: So true, Hey, Ross, did you have like any point

1211
01:06:47,840 --> 01:06:49,960
Speaker 1: during that time period where you're after him and just

1212
01:06:50,760 --> 01:06:52,760
Speaker 1: did it like doubts start to creep in or did

1213
01:06:52,760 --> 01:06:55,280
Speaker 1: you have any other encounters with any other deer, Like, man,

1214
01:06:55,800 --> 01:06:58,160
Speaker 1: I should just shoot that buck this one. He's not

1215
01:06:58,200 --> 01:07:00,320
Speaker 1: gonna show up. It's not gonna happen. Well, it was

1216
01:07:00,360 --> 01:07:03,240
Speaker 1: kind of like your mindset, No, I was. It was

1217
01:07:03,280 --> 01:07:05,680
Speaker 1: pretty much I was set on just shooting that deer.

1218
01:07:05,840 --> 01:07:08,240
Speaker 1: There really were. There's a lot of the young gears

1219
01:07:08,280 --> 01:07:12,120
Speaker 1: around that, a lot of young geer that that should

1220
01:07:12,160 --> 01:07:15,200
Speaker 1: be really awesome in the future, and I didn't really

1221
01:07:16,520 --> 01:07:19,480
Speaker 1: I have my heart set on anything else there. The

1222
01:07:19,520 --> 01:07:21,280
Speaker 1: only thing I, you know, that would have changed that

1223
01:07:21,400 --> 01:07:23,520
Speaker 1: is maybe if I was hunting some public or something

1224
01:07:23,560 --> 01:07:27,640
Speaker 1: this year, and um, I would have changed my standards there.

1225
01:07:27,680 --> 01:07:31,320
Speaker 1: But Benjamin, Benjamin Buttons was the one that he was

1226
01:07:31,360 --> 01:07:33,400
Speaker 1: the one that was kind of running the show around

1227
01:07:33,440 --> 01:07:41,120
Speaker 1: the farm, and I had him broadside several times, um,

1228
01:07:41,160 --> 01:07:44,840
Speaker 1: and he was very visible, and um, besides him, it

1229
01:07:44,960 --> 01:07:46,440
Speaker 1: was kind of a ghost it was kind of a

1230
01:07:46,440 --> 01:07:49,080
Speaker 1: ghost town. That's why I kind of had the I

1231
01:07:49,160 --> 01:07:53,080
Speaker 1: kind of got the vibe that that maybe maybe he

1232
01:07:53,160 --> 01:07:57,040
Speaker 1: was actually the boss buck in that area. And I also,

1233
01:07:57,120 --> 01:08:00,360
Speaker 1: I mean there are also some dogs running and deer

1234
01:08:00,400 --> 01:08:05,040
Speaker 1: all November or all fall two, which was pretty pretty tough.

1235
01:08:05,240 --> 01:08:12,600
Speaker 1: I mean I could that have had an played a role? Yeah, probably, Um,

1236
01:08:12,720 --> 01:08:16,800
Speaker 1: they were run deer pretty regularly. One time I wasted

1237
01:08:16,800 --> 01:08:23,439
Speaker 1: in the stand and I had him run through. Um

1238
01:08:23,560 --> 01:08:26,759
Speaker 1: and and yeah that could have changed up too. But besides, besides,

1239
01:08:27,640 --> 01:08:31,000
Speaker 1: besides a big potatoes like, there wasn't really anything else

1240
01:08:31,080 --> 01:08:36,400
Speaker 1: I wanted to shoot. So is guns season the next

1241
01:08:36,520 --> 01:08:41,920
Speaker 1: big event here? Then in the story hunting and never

1242
01:08:42,000 --> 01:08:44,080
Speaker 1: caught up with him never saw him. So then gun

1243
01:08:44,120 --> 01:08:49,360
Speaker 1: season starts, um, and they were a hot mess, very stressed,

1244
01:08:49,640 --> 01:08:52,400
Speaker 1: very word. It was very intense, though, was the first

1245
01:08:52,400 --> 01:08:55,040
Speaker 1: few days. You know, I was like, oh man, you

1246
01:08:55,040 --> 01:08:56,920
Speaker 1: know there's gonna be some guys hunting, but you know what,

1247
01:08:56,920 --> 01:08:58,720
Speaker 1: what are the odds, you know, somebody gets them? Not

1248
01:08:58,800 --> 01:09:01,479
Speaker 1: that good, right, you know, like it's not very good

1249
01:09:01,479 --> 01:09:03,639
Speaker 1: at access. Like by the time these guys get in there,

1250
01:09:03,680 --> 01:09:05,439
Speaker 1: if they do their pushes, or if they do they're sitting,

1251
01:09:05,439 --> 01:09:08,640
Speaker 1: they're already blowing it up and winds out of the

1252
01:09:08,680 --> 01:09:14,360
Speaker 1: north and this and that. But cheez, it was. It was.

1253
01:09:14,960 --> 01:09:17,000
Speaker 1: It was pretty intense the first couple of days. Some

1254
01:09:17,080 --> 01:09:23,519
Speaker 1: people we're hunting next door and they just pretty much

1255
01:09:23,600 --> 01:09:25,599
Speaker 1: just I don't know what was going on. They walked

1256
01:09:25,640 --> 01:09:28,920
Speaker 1: in there and the story goes, that must have jumped

1257
01:09:28,960 --> 01:09:33,240
Speaker 1: him and just just so I don't know, unloaded on

1258
01:09:33,360 --> 01:09:38,439
Speaker 1: him as he's running away. Um, the rumors the guy said, oh,

1259
01:09:38,439 --> 01:09:41,800
Speaker 1: it was you know, a hundred buck and I hit him,

1260
01:09:41,880 --> 01:09:44,519
Speaker 1: but I I followed blood to the fence and then

1261
01:09:44,520 --> 01:09:46,280
Speaker 1: he crossed fence and then I you know, he didn't

1262
01:09:46,280 --> 01:09:50,000
Speaker 1: look anymore. So I was like, well, you know, you

1263
01:09:50,040 --> 01:09:54,720
Speaker 1: hear that it's like, oh, there's only one buck that's

1264
01:09:54,760 --> 01:09:58,760
Speaker 1: running around, there's not two. So it was kind of

1265
01:09:58,760 --> 01:10:03,360
Speaker 1: like the that sucks. First off, it's like how how

1266
01:10:03,360 --> 01:10:05,320
Speaker 1: do you hunt? Hunting? Hunt? Never see the day gear?

1267
01:10:05,360 --> 01:10:06,720
Speaker 1: And then somebody just walks in and then they jump

1268
01:10:06,760 --> 01:10:08,960
Speaker 1: him and started shooting lasting at him. That's gun hunting

1269
01:10:09,120 --> 01:10:11,880
Speaker 1: for you, right, And then of course the deer is

1270
01:10:11,920 --> 01:10:14,800
Speaker 1: running away, and then who who doesn't follow up on

1271
01:10:14,840 --> 01:10:18,360
Speaker 1: a deer that they wound even though they crossed the fence,

1272
01:10:19,360 --> 01:10:22,240
Speaker 1: let alone one eighty It's kind of like why would

1273
01:10:22,400 --> 01:10:24,640
Speaker 1: why wouldn't you actually put a little effort into this?

1274
01:10:25,479 --> 01:10:27,320
Speaker 1: So there was like no closure there for a while,

1275
01:10:28,760 --> 01:10:30,519
Speaker 1: like I don't know did he die? I had no

1276
01:10:30,560 --> 01:10:33,840
Speaker 1: idea do you live? Like what what happened? So there

1277
01:10:33,880 --> 01:10:37,880
Speaker 1: was like, um, yeah, there was like at a lot

1278
01:10:37,960 --> 01:10:40,679
Speaker 1: of unknown. I actually I know. I messaged you guys.

1279
01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:43,320
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, he's dad. I just wrote him off.

1280
01:10:43,360 --> 01:10:46,599
Speaker 1: I was like, oh that's over. Um. And it wasn't

1281
01:10:46,600 --> 01:10:48,120
Speaker 1: like a bummer like oh I didn't get him, as

1282
01:10:48,160 --> 01:10:50,040
Speaker 1: more like a bummer like oh no, you don't don't

1283
01:10:50,040 --> 01:10:51,880
Speaker 1: get to hunt him anymore, or he's not around kind

1284
01:10:51,920 --> 01:11:10,520
Speaker 1: of thing you know, give me a little more like No, Bs,

1285
01:11:11,160 --> 01:11:14,160
Speaker 1: you've been you've been very optimistic, you've been very sunshine

1286
01:11:14,240 --> 01:11:16,639
Speaker 1: Ross in your description so far of how you've handled

1287
01:11:16,640 --> 01:11:20,040
Speaker 1: this season. Ross, I want the real story, like were

1288
01:11:20,080 --> 01:11:23,479
Speaker 1: you were you seriously like, oh well he's he's gone

1289
01:11:23,520 --> 01:11:25,679
Speaker 1: right them off and just like onto the next one.

1290
01:11:26,040 --> 01:11:29,120
Speaker 1: Or were you laying in bed that night like cussing

1291
01:11:29,120 --> 01:11:32,439
Speaker 1: them You're cussing things out and stressing out and all

1292
01:11:32,479 --> 01:11:36,040
Speaker 1: that good usual raw stuff. I was more mad at

1293
01:11:36,080 --> 01:11:39,240
Speaker 1: my wife. She didn't show me. She didn't show me

1294
01:11:39,240 --> 01:11:41,880
Speaker 1: any sympathy. Like even when I say she didn't even care,

1295
01:11:41,920 --> 01:11:43,320
Speaker 1: it's like she didn't want to hear it. I was like,

1296
01:11:43,360 --> 01:11:46,040
Speaker 1: what the heck? You know that stung, that hurt, that

1297
01:11:46,120 --> 01:11:49,320
Speaker 1: hurt me deep inside right there. What you want to

1298
01:11:49,360 --> 01:11:54,400
Speaker 1: hear about this? And I need hugs right now? But

1299
01:11:54,560 --> 01:11:59,320
Speaker 1: she yeah, she uh no, really, I you know what

1300
01:11:59,520 --> 01:12:03,960
Speaker 1: is what it is, that's how it goes. I I yeah,

1301
01:12:04,000 --> 01:12:06,400
Speaker 1: I mean it sucks, especially when you try. Really it's

1302
01:12:06,439 --> 01:12:09,080
Speaker 1: hard to get dear to five or six years old.

1303
01:12:09,120 --> 01:12:11,919
Speaker 1: It's it's tough. It doesn't matter where you are Iowa

1304
01:12:12,040 --> 01:12:17,919
Speaker 1: or Michigan or anywhere. It's it's it's tough on small

1305
01:12:18,520 --> 01:12:22,000
Speaker 1: small acreage is where there's a lot of pressure. But

1306
01:12:22,080 --> 01:12:26,360
Speaker 1: I didn't, I really the passing to my friends stuff

1307
01:12:26,360 --> 01:12:28,400
Speaker 1: like that. I mean that even like you know that

1308
01:12:28,400 --> 01:12:31,599
Speaker 1: that put a whole different perspective on the season. Like

1309
01:12:31,680 --> 01:12:39,760
Speaker 1: my my season was like way more, you know, it was.

1310
01:12:40,080 --> 01:12:43,320
Speaker 1: I kept things in perspective a lot better. And you

1311
01:12:43,320 --> 01:12:45,599
Speaker 1: know when that when I heard that, it's just like,

1312
01:12:45,680 --> 01:12:49,800
Speaker 1: you know, it is what it is and just kind

1313
01:12:49,800 --> 01:12:52,880
Speaker 1: of move on type of thing. Yeah, but I you

1314
01:12:52,880 --> 01:12:54,599
Speaker 1: don't used to let that stuff on me. I just

1315
01:12:55,080 --> 01:12:59,559
Speaker 1: it's not worth it. They're just dear. Yeah, having kids

1316
01:13:00,160 --> 01:13:03,080
Speaker 1: definitely helps with that a lot too. Oh for sure.

1317
01:13:03,560 --> 01:13:08,240
Speaker 1: I get so much more value out of just like uh,

1318
01:13:08,640 --> 01:13:11,400
Speaker 1: hunting with Like I get a awesome group buddies down here.

1319
01:13:11,479 --> 01:13:13,880
Speaker 1: We all like share hunts together and just have a

1320
01:13:13,920 --> 01:13:17,320
Speaker 1: great time together. There's no selfishness or anything like that,

1321
01:13:17,400 --> 01:13:20,639
Speaker 1: you know. And uh and then you know with you guys,

1322
01:13:20,640 --> 01:13:23,960
Speaker 1: sharing sharing stuff with you guys, and it's just it's

1323
01:13:24,000 --> 01:13:26,559
Speaker 1: just way more fun than that that Like hunting camp

1324
01:13:26,680 --> 01:13:29,080
Speaker 1: kind of feel like getting back to that stuff is

1325
01:13:29,120 --> 01:13:34,559
Speaker 1: just that's where it's at. Yeah, So where we're's your

1326
01:13:36,360 --> 01:13:39,320
Speaker 1: where where were things going after this. You you texted us,

1327
01:13:39,360 --> 01:13:41,759
Speaker 1: he said that he's dead. We all kind of mourned

1328
01:13:41,800 --> 01:13:44,680
Speaker 1: for you for a while. We we uh figured the

1329
01:13:44,680 --> 01:13:48,160
Speaker 1: store was over, and we kept on getting reports like

1330
01:13:48,160 --> 01:13:50,760
Speaker 1: oh yeah, there's more guys this day, or there's your

1331
01:13:50,840 --> 01:13:52,840
Speaker 1: more stories and more guys the next week or whatever.

1332
01:13:52,880 --> 01:13:56,200
Speaker 1: It was. So at this point, Mark, I gotta tell you.

1333
01:13:56,240 --> 01:13:58,120
Speaker 1: So then I got to say this too, because so

1334
01:13:58,200 --> 01:14:00,080
Speaker 1: he gets shot, and then there's this other bu u

1335
01:14:01,240 --> 01:14:04,840
Speaker 1: uh google buck awesome dear that I'm really hoping that

1336
01:14:04,960 --> 01:14:06,280
Speaker 1: can make it through. And then all of a sudden,

1337
01:14:06,320 --> 01:14:09,000
Speaker 1: I get I get a text from the other neighbor.

1338
01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:10,800
Speaker 1: He's like, I just shot. I just shot a buck.

1339
01:14:10,840 --> 01:14:14,479
Speaker 1: He's staying standing down there and I'm like, well, did

1340
01:14:14,479 --> 01:14:16,200
Speaker 1: you hit him? He's like I don't know. And he's

1341
01:14:16,240 --> 01:14:18,960
Speaker 1: like I'm like, well, you're gonna go check. He's like, well,

1342
01:14:19,000 --> 01:14:21,200
Speaker 1: I'll go check after chores. And I'm like, oh my gosh.

1343
01:14:21,280 --> 01:14:24,720
Speaker 1: I thought I thought both my but both I hate

1344
01:14:24,720 --> 01:14:26,880
Speaker 1: say it's not what I mean, but both. I thought

1345
01:14:26,920 --> 01:14:30,439
Speaker 1: both bucks were like done, you know, So then that

1346
01:14:31,520 --> 01:14:33,839
Speaker 1: I'll be honest. Then I started getting a little pouty.

1347
01:14:33,880 --> 01:14:37,920
Speaker 1: After that. It was like the pressure was insane. This

1348
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:44,280
Speaker 1: year there it was like guys everywhere. But like but

1349
01:14:44,400 --> 01:14:51,599
Speaker 1: after that, um, I put up some cameras. So last

1350
01:14:51,680 --> 01:14:55,759
Speaker 1: year he kind of shifted. He like I said before,

1351
01:14:55,840 --> 01:14:59,599
Speaker 1: he shifts, like in December, he shifted to a different area.

1352
01:14:59,640 --> 01:15:02,519
Speaker 1: And then he would he would bed bed on this

1353
01:15:04,360 --> 01:15:07,479
Speaker 1: one ridge and then where I can't hunt, and then

1354
01:15:07,479 --> 01:15:12,320
Speaker 1: he would cross a different field into and then feed

1355
01:15:12,320 --> 01:15:15,120
Speaker 1: into a bean and cornfield and whatnot. So last year

1356
01:15:15,120 --> 01:15:17,920
Speaker 1: you did that. So then I'm like, well, I better

1357
01:15:17,960 --> 01:15:20,600
Speaker 1: put some cameras up. He crosses a road, so I

1358
01:15:20,680 --> 01:15:23,679
Speaker 1: put I lined the road up with some cameras to see,

1359
01:15:23,720 --> 01:15:27,120
Speaker 1: you know, let's see if something happens and you were

1360
01:15:27,160 --> 01:15:30,400
Speaker 1: clinging to a little hope, then I guess maybe, yeah,

1361
01:15:30,439 --> 01:15:35,360
Speaker 1: you don't. You don't. There's so many rumors. Um the

1362
01:15:35,439 --> 01:15:38,559
Speaker 1: one one guy says he shot the shot the buck,

1363
01:15:38,800 --> 01:15:41,559
Speaker 1: and then my other buddy says he saw the book

1364
01:15:43,240 --> 01:15:46,680
Speaker 1: that same night. It's like you just don't know, you know,

1365
01:15:47,560 --> 01:15:50,400
Speaker 1: And there was no there's no way of knowing. So

1366
01:15:50,479 --> 01:15:52,720
Speaker 1: I put cameras up along the road and try to

1367
01:15:52,720 --> 01:15:54,960
Speaker 1: see if like, okay, if this he did this last year,

1368
01:15:54,960 --> 01:15:56,240
Speaker 1: I'm going to see if I can get him at

1369
01:15:56,280 --> 01:15:58,320
Speaker 1: these fence crossing, crossing the road to come in this

1370
01:15:58,479 --> 01:16:04,280
Speaker 1: field to to feed. And sure enough I got a

1371
01:16:04,280 --> 01:16:08,160
Speaker 1: picture of that dear, just like one of those hazy

1372
01:16:09,880 --> 01:16:13,800
Speaker 1: um those pictures where they're like that they're weigh in

1373
01:16:13,800 --> 01:16:15,439
Speaker 1: the background, you can barely see him. He guts zoom

1374
01:16:15,479 --> 01:16:17,040
Speaker 1: weigh in and you can just make him out, you

1375
01:16:17,040 --> 01:16:21,280
Speaker 1: know kind of picture. And I'm like wow, Like, I

1376
01:16:21,360 --> 01:16:23,920
Speaker 1: was like, oh my god, he's alive. I think I

1377
01:16:24,000 --> 01:16:26,760
Speaker 1: messaged you guys and other buddies right away. I'm like,

1378
01:16:26,800 --> 01:16:29,080
Speaker 1: holy kind I can't believe this, dear, he is alive. Like,

1379
01:16:29,439 --> 01:16:33,200
Speaker 1: and how long? How long after that when you thought

1380
01:16:33,240 --> 01:16:35,559
Speaker 1: he got shot? How how much time passed between these

1381
01:16:35,600 --> 01:16:40,519
Speaker 1: two things? Two weeks? Wow? Yeah? So he was gone

1382
01:16:40,760 --> 01:16:44,360
Speaker 1: for two weeks, no sign, no nothing, and then he

1383
01:16:44,479 --> 01:16:51,200
Speaker 1: showed up. Ah close to the end of shotguns season. Um,

1384
01:16:51,240 --> 01:16:53,839
Speaker 1: I think he showed up. It was like right before,

1385
01:16:54,120 --> 01:16:56,840
Speaker 1: right those last couple of days of shotguns season, he

1386
01:16:56,920 --> 01:17:02,960
Speaker 1: showed up, crossing the road in the dark. Did you

1387
01:17:02,960 --> 01:17:05,559
Speaker 1: have a tag during this gun season or no? No?

1388
01:17:05,560 --> 01:17:08,360
Speaker 1: No buck tag? Okay, so I got a late muzzle

1389
01:17:08,439 --> 01:17:17,040
Speaker 1: order tag for uh for the gun seasons? Gotcha? They're

1390
01:17:17,040 --> 01:17:20,439
Speaker 1: just sitting on the sideline watching all this happen. Yeah, yeah,

1391
01:17:20,520 --> 01:17:22,679
Speaker 1: thinking why why the heck didn't I get a shotgun?

1392
01:17:23,320 --> 01:17:25,840
Speaker 1: Everybody else is having they're having a great time. Let

1393
01:17:25,840 --> 01:17:30,760
Speaker 1: me tell you. So he's back, He's alive. You confirmed

1394
01:17:30,760 --> 01:17:35,680
Speaker 1: he survived. Um now it was time for you know,

1395
01:17:36,439 --> 01:17:39,840
Speaker 1: retool of the system, re rejigger the game plan. What

1396
01:17:39,920 --> 01:17:43,519
Speaker 1: was your new plan of attack? Uh? What was? What

1397
01:17:43,520 --> 01:17:48,320
Speaker 1: did you do? So? Right when I got that picture,

1398
01:17:48,680 --> 01:17:51,360
Speaker 1: I think I don't remember too too long after that,

1399
01:17:51,439 --> 01:17:53,280
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, now I gotta prepared for a muzzle order.

1400
01:17:54,360 --> 01:17:58,320
Speaker 1: Um so I when I'm like a scouting mission. Right away,

1401
01:17:59,760 --> 01:18:03,320
Speaker 1: I did a big loop check some stuff out. Actually,

1402
01:18:03,360 --> 01:18:05,320
Speaker 1: you know what, I maybe pick maybe I did this

1403
01:18:05,439 --> 01:18:08,920
Speaker 1: before I got the picture. I think I did this

1404
01:18:08,960 --> 01:18:10,439
Speaker 1: before I got the picture. But I did like a

1405
01:18:11,320 --> 01:18:13,240
Speaker 1: maybe there was a little bit of hope left. But

1406
01:18:13,320 --> 01:18:16,280
Speaker 1: I did a I did a scout scout about and

1407
01:18:16,280 --> 01:18:17,720
Speaker 1: tried to figure out, Okay, what am I gonna do

1408
01:18:17,760 --> 01:18:20,680
Speaker 1: for muzzleloader. I knew he was coming out of there.

1409
01:18:20,720 --> 01:18:23,080
Speaker 1: I had a pretty good idea how he exited the timber.

1410
01:18:23,200 --> 01:18:25,360
Speaker 1: And then I found like a pretty good set up

1411
01:18:25,960 --> 01:18:28,679
Speaker 1: on a terrorist and I could shoot. I could shoot

1412
01:18:28,680 --> 01:18:32,559
Speaker 1: this bowl where he would come out and cross and

1413
01:18:32,800 --> 01:18:36,160
Speaker 1: be you know, within twenty yards or something like that.

1414
01:18:36,200 --> 01:18:38,120
Speaker 1: And I'm like, and I found a really awesome set up.

1415
01:18:38,120 --> 01:18:40,200
Speaker 1: And I was pretty much I sent you that picture.

1416
01:18:40,200 --> 01:18:41,840
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember that picture because you're

1417
01:18:41,880 --> 01:18:46,519
Speaker 1: asking asking me about it, and it was a it

1418
01:18:46,560 --> 01:18:48,680
Speaker 1: would have been. That was the setup. I think. I

1419
01:18:48,720 --> 01:18:50,679
Speaker 1: was really confident and I thought if he was alive,

1420
01:18:50,680 --> 01:18:52,000
Speaker 1: that's where I was gonna get him. And then when

1421
01:18:52,000 --> 01:18:54,040
Speaker 1: I got this picture of him, like, Okay, this is

1422
01:18:54,920 --> 01:18:59,559
Speaker 1: this is gonna this is gonna maybe happen again. And

1423
01:18:59,600 --> 01:19:03,679
Speaker 1: then you're sure enough. Right where I was gonna sit,

1424
01:19:04,040 --> 01:19:07,120
Speaker 1: somebody put up a pop up line right there, and

1425
01:19:07,120 --> 01:19:10,360
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, somebody else see what

1426
01:19:10,400 --> 01:19:13,000
Speaker 1: I was thinking, Like was gonna happen or you know,

1427
01:19:13,040 --> 01:19:15,640
Speaker 1: like I was like, wow, somebody else knows maybe what

1428
01:19:15,720 --> 01:19:18,880
Speaker 1: I what I was thinking or what I knew or whatever,

1429
01:19:18,920 --> 01:19:21,439
Speaker 1: And yeah, there was a blind right there. I was like,

1430
01:19:21,479 --> 01:19:24,040
Speaker 1: oh jeez, what now what am I gonna do? You know?

1431
01:19:25,160 --> 01:19:31,519
Speaker 1: So uh yeah. Then I still I kind of kept

1432
01:19:31,560 --> 01:19:33,920
Speaker 1: track of like the traffic going in there. It didn't

1433
01:19:33,960 --> 01:19:36,080
Speaker 1: seem like anybody was hunting it. So I'm like, well,

1434
01:19:36,120 --> 01:19:37,760
Speaker 1: you know what if now he's hunted, I'm still gonna

1435
01:19:37,800 --> 01:19:43,519
Speaker 1: go for it. Um. But never never really never really

1436
01:19:43,560 --> 01:19:50,040
Speaker 1: came about. Um did anything? Then? Did did he show

1437
01:19:50,120 --> 01:19:53,880
Speaker 1: up on camera anymore before we get to like that

1438
01:19:53,960 --> 01:19:56,840
Speaker 1: Christmas time period? Or was he he got the ghost

1439
01:19:56,920 --> 01:20:00,720
Speaker 1: picture of him you found on the spot you thought

1440
01:20:00,720 --> 01:20:04,360
Speaker 1: he could kill him? And then and then what so?

1441
01:20:04,439 --> 01:20:08,400
Speaker 1: I think I had that picture at the road there.

1442
01:20:08,840 --> 01:20:11,120
Speaker 1: I don't remember. I think it was so is Christmas

1443
01:20:11,160 --> 01:20:14,559
Speaker 1: time we got we got that awesome cold front and

1444
01:20:14,840 --> 01:20:17,519
Speaker 1: you guys got that too, didn't you. Yeah, mega mega

1445
01:20:17,600 --> 01:20:21,320
Speaker 1: storm cold front came through lots of snow. It was

1446
01:20:21,360 --> 01:20:23,880
Speaker 1: one of those one of those like and it was like,

1447
01:20:24,320 --> 01:20:27,760
Speaker 1: oh man, it's following, it's falling, falling on Christmas. And

1448
01:20:27,760 --> 01:20:30,320
Speaker 1: I'm like, dang it, you know, because I'm not like

1449
01:20:31,120 --> 01:20:33,840
Speaker 1: at that time Christmas we were going back to Wisconsin

1450
01:20:34,280 --> 01:20:37,439
Speaker 1: where I'm from, I'm not gonna be able to hunt

1451
01:20:37,800 --> 01:20:42,000
Speaker 1: you know, this cold front and a buddy of mine,

1452
01:20:42,000 --> 01:20:47,360
Speaker 1: shatter Box, during that, um, we had that like crazy wind.

1453
01:20:47,760 --> 01:20:52,800
Speaker 1: Deer were feeding like crazy. It was. It was it

1454
01:20:52,880 --> 01:20:55,439
Speaker 1: was an awesome cold front. Oh you know what Mark,

1455
01:20:55,479 --> 01:20:57,600
Speaker 1: I just thought of something because I don't have my spreadsheets,

1456
01:20:57,600 --> 01:21:00,360
Speaker 1: so I can't come up with this stuff. Um. Next

1457
01:21:00,400 --> 01:21:03,679
Speaker 1: time that we got that hazy picture of him across

1458
01:21:03,720 --> 01:21:07,880
Speaker 1: the road and then uh, the guys that I did

1459
01:21:07,920 --> 01:21:10,280
Speaker 1: like a loop around the property around the section, just

1460
01:21:10,360 --> 01:21:11,960
Speaker 1: kind of seeing what was going on, and as we

1461
01:21:12,000 --> 01:21:16,880
Speaker 1: came back down the road, we saw him, um, just

1462
01:21:17,120 --> 01:21:19,400
Speaker 1: after he crossed the road going into that field. So

1463
01:21:19,439 --> 01:21:22,799
Speaker 1: that was the second time, and he was just standing

1464
01:21:22,880 --> 01:21:26,400
Speaker 1: right off the road. So that was probably like fifteen

1465
01:21:26,400 --> 01:21:31,000
Speaker 1: minutes after dark, and that was right before Christmas. I

1466
01:21:31,040 --> 01:21:34,360
Speaker 1: don't think I remember here about that one. Yeah, so

1467
01:21:34,400 --> 01:21:36,960
Speaker 1: that was like the that was the last day of

1468
01:21:36,960 --> 01:21:38,960
Speaker 1: Guns season, I think. So he pretty much walked right

1469
01:21:39,000 --> 01:21:42,599
Speaker 1: past that pop up line and thank and thankfully nobody

1470
01:21:42,640 --> 01:21:44,600
Speaker 1: was in it, and then he crossed the road that

1471
01:21:44,680 --> 01:21:48,080
Speaker 1: last fifteen minutes and we saw him there and like, oh,

1472
01:21:48,120 --> 01:21:51,280
Speaker 1: this perfect, like you know exactly what he's doing, and

1473
01:21:51,320 --> 01:21:53,800
Speaker 1: he's here at a reasonable time, like I can catch

1474
01:21:53,880 --> 01:21:59,360
Speaker 1: him before dark in that spot. And then Christmas came

1475
01:21:59,479 --> 01:22:01,519
Speaker 1: that cold on game but I couldn't hunt it, which

1476
01:22:01,600 --> 01:22:04,519
Speaker 1: was like, oh man, I'm thinking might miss out on this.

1477
01:22:05,520 --> 01:22:09,080
Speaker 1: So I went back to Wisconsin. And then of course

1478
01:22:09,080 --> 01:22:11,479
Speaker 1: you're sitting there. I'm sitting there. Was I'm sitting there

1479
01:22:11,479 --> 01:22:15,840
Speaker 1: in Wisconsin and at night, you know, like eight o'clock

1480
01:22:15,840 --> 01:22:17,240
Speaker 1: to get my pictures, you know, and then all of

1481
01:22:17,240 --> 01:22:18,840
Speaker 1: a sudden, I see, oh my god, he showed up.

1482
01:22:19,720 --> 01:22:22,920
Speaker 1: And now he's he's in the property where I I

1483
01:22:22,960 --> 01:22:24,880
Speaker 1: want him to be the whole time. He finally showed

1484
01:22:24,960 --> 01:22:29,880
Speaker 1: back up, and I think the I think it was

1485
01:22:29,920 --> 01:22:36,759
Speaker 1: the fourth and I got pictures of him, so Christmas,

1486
01:22:36,800 --> 01:22:41,559
Speaker 1: even Christmas Day and a couple of daylight pictures, and

1487
01:22:41,680 --> 01:22:43,800
Speaker 1: I'm stuck in Wiscott. Yea, none of us, none of

1488
01:22:43,880 --> 01:22:46,599
Speaker 1: us understood why you didn't just hop in the truck

1489
01:22:47,040 --> 01:22:52,600
Speaker 1: head they and see a family. I mean, I was

1490
01:22:52,680 --> 01:22:55,280
Speaker 1: like I was. I was excited to get the pictures,

1491
01:22:55,280 --> 01:22:58,880
Speaker 1: but it was also like, oh man, if it was

1492
01:22:59,120 --> 01:23:01,800
Speaker 1: if I was like, man, I can't wait to get back,

1493
01:23:02,040 --> 01:23:08,400
Speaker 1: you know. Um, I think it what did Christmas? I

1494
01:23:08,400 --> 01:23:12,600
Speaker 1: don't know if he came back on the or whatever. Um,

1495
01:23:12,640 --> 01:23:15,719
Speaker 1: but we had that we had like a blizzard come through.

1496
01:23:15,880 --> 01:23:21,599
Speaker 1: It was like the fifty wind or whatever. And so

1497
01:23:21,680 --> 01:23:24,599
Speaker 1: we get back and I drive down the road and

1498
01:23:25,520 --> 01:23:28,240
Speaker 1: to hunt that first night, and I think it was

1499
01:23:28,320 --> 01:23:31,840
Speaker 1: the twent so was the night of I think, and

1500
01:23:31,920 --> 01:23:34,599
Speaker 1: I drive and driving down, I got all anticipation. I'm

1501
01:23:34,640 --> 01:23:36,360
Speaker 1: driving down the road and I was going to make

1502
01:23:36,400 --> 01:23:39,160
Speaker 1: a game plan of what to do based on kind

1503
01:23:39,160 --> 01:23:42,519
Speaker 1: of the tracks that I saw. So I was driving

1504
01:23:42,560 --> 01:23:44,679
Speaker 1: real slowed down the road, kind of checking for big tracks,

1505
01:23:44,800 --> 01:23:46,880
Speaker 1: checking for the traffic. And there were no tracks down

1506
01:23:46,880 --> 01:23:50,400
Speaker 1: the road at all. So where he was coming out

1507
01:23:50,400 --> 01:23:54,160
Speaker 1: of he wasn't coming out of anymore. And I totally

1508
01:23:54,240 --> 01:24:00,520
Speaker 1: locked out because that blizzard drifted in that hole for outside,

1509
01:24:01,360 --> 01:24:05,519
Speaker 1: so now where he was crossing, he he couldn't cross anymore.

1510
01:24:05,560 --> 01:24:09,519
Speaker 1: It was big, giant drifts. So once that blizzard came through,

1511
01:24:09,560 --> 01:24:11,360
Speaker 1: he started switching what he was doing. He wasn't coming

1512
01:24:11,360 --> 01:24:14,840
Speaker 1: out of that property anymore. He was coming out of ah,

1513
01:24:14,960 --> 01:24:20,400
Speaker 1: the cedar thicket um where I was at, So he

1514
01:24:20,400 --> 01:24:22,640
Speaker 1: had to kind of change it up. And so when

1515
01:24:22,680 --> 01:24:24,320
Speaker 1: I drove down that road, I'm like, Okay, this is

1516
01:24:24,360 --> 01:24:28,559
Speaker 1: gonna be perfect. I'm gonna set up um. Right before Christmas,

1517
01:24:28,560 --> 01:24:31,599
Speaker 1: I pulled out like one of those wagon blinds and

1518
01:24:31,880 --> 01:24:34,920
Speaker 1: got it set up, and I like that night I

1519
01:24:34,960 --> 01:24:37,960
Speaker 1: was gonna sit on the ground tucked into a cedar

1520
01:24:38,000 --> 01:24:41,840
Speaker 1: in the CRP and there's one trail that comes out

1521
01:24:41,840 --> 01:24:44,880
Speaker 1: of those cedars where generally late season, that's kind of

1522
01:24:44,920 --> 01:24:46,840
Speaker 1: how they'll act sit And I was gonna sit on

1523
01:24:46,840 --> 01:24:48,240
Speaker 1: the ground. I was gonna sit there, but it was

1524
01:24:48,720 --> 01:24:50,559
Speaker 1: it was just too dank cold. I'm like, I could

1525
01:24:50,640 --> 01:24:55,840
Speaker 1: do it, but being still and all that stuff, man,

1526
01:24:55,880 --> 01:24:57,240
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't know if I can pull

1527
01:24:57,280 --> 01:25:01,040
Speaker 1: that off. Um, So I ended up going into that

1528
01:25:01,080 --> 01:25:05,400
Speaker 1: blind and I sat there and I watched probably like

1529
01:25:05,760 --> 01:25:08,639
Speaker 1: forty pile out of where he where he had been,

1530
01:25:09,080 --> 01:25:15,240
Speaker 1: and he no showed. So then for then then you

1531
01:25:15,280 --> 01:25:16,800
Speaker 1: go through that like a little bit of a moment,

1532
01:25:16,840 --> 01:25:18,240
Speaker 1: you know, at the end of it gets dark and

1533
01:25:18,280 --> 01:25:20,920
Speaker 1: you're in that stupid blind and you're like, oh my gosh,

1534
01:25:20,920 --> 01:25:23,040
Speaker 1: should I get out now? Like when should I get out?

1535
01:25:23,120 --> 01:25:25,720
Speaker 1: Is he coming out like poking up of that take

1536
01:25:25,760 --> 01:25:29,800
Speaker 1: it right now? Like what do I do? And but

1537
01:25:30,000 --> 01:25:32,599
Speaker 1: I just pretty much just made a run for it,

1538
01:25:32,640 --> 01:25:36,000
Speaker 1: you know, as quick as I could get out of there. Um,

1539
01:25:36,040 --> 01:25:39,400
Speaker 1: I know, I blew up a few deer, but um,

1540
01:25:39,520 --> 01:25:46,960
Speaker 1: luckily I did not bump him. So then any questions, no,

1541
01:25:47,120 --> 01:25:50,720
Speaker 1: I think I feel like we're approaching the climax here.

1542
01:25:50,800 --> 01:25:54,719
Speaker 1: So work worked me through the final the final moments.

1543
01:25:56,120 --> 01:25:59,960
Speaker 1: So that cold front ended that that Tuesday. I think

1544
01:26:00,000 --> 01:26:03,200
Speaker 1: it was Tuesday, I'm pretty sure. And um, I still

1545
01:26:03,240 --> 01:26:08,320
Speaker 1: had that morning off, so I was going to make

1546
01:26:08,360 --> 01:26:10,200
Speaker 1: one last go at it. It was like that last

1547
01:26:12,200 --> 01:26:14,320
Speaker 1: I think it was maybe too below that morning or

1548
01:26:14,320 --> 01:26:16,759
Speaker 1: something like that. It was that last really cold morning,

1549
01:26:17,000 --> 01:26:19,679
Speaker 1: cold night before we got the big warm up then

1550
01:26:20,000 --> 01:26:22,800
Speaker 1: and then you know, looking at that extended forecast, I'm like, oh,

1551
01:26:22,840 --> 01:26:24,960
Speaker 1: this is gonna be this is gonna be terrible. It's

1552
01:26:24,960 --> 01:26:26,800
Speaker 1: gonna be an the forties and it's gonna be warm

1553
01:26:26,840 --> 01:26:28,960
Speaker 1: and just not great late season stuff. So I'm like,

1554
01:26:29,560 --> 01:26:32,439
Speaker 1: this is my last go at it. Um, you know,

1555
01:26:33,200 --> 01:26:36,400
Speaker 1: and mornings, like I actually love late season mornings and

1556
01:26:36,439 --> 01:26:40,479
Speaker 1: a lot of people don't don't, but I've had a

1557
01:26:40,479 --> 01:26:46,720
Speaker 1: lot of luck mornings late season. And that property in particular,

1558
01:26:47,360 --> 01:26:49,439
Speaker 1: you can hunt, you can hunt late, you can hunt

1559
01:26:49,439 --> 01:26:51,679
Speaker 1: in the afternoon and you'll see a ton of doze,

1560
01:26:51,720 --> 01:26:53,599
Speaker 1: but you won't see any bucks. But if you hunt

1561
01:26:53,640 --> 01:26:56,519
Speaker 1: the morning, you'll see all the box. There's something to it.

1562
01:26:56,640 --> 01:26:58,920
Speaker 1: I don't know why that property is like that. I

1563
01:26:58,920 --> 01:27:02,480
Speaker 1: don't know if it's a layout or what. But um,

1564
01:27:02,520 --> 01:27:04,240
Speaker 1: in the past, I've had a ton of luck that

1565
01:27:04,320 --> 01:27:07,640
Speaker 1: first fifteen minutes as they kind of come through, So

1566
01:27:07,680 --> 01:27:12,240
Speaker 1: I thought, Okay, this is gonna work. Um. I had

1567
01:27:12,240 --> 01:27:14,400
Speaker 1: a little bit of internal debate on where to sit.

1568
01:27:14,560 --> 01:27:16,000
Speaker 1: I was going to sit on the ground, if I

1569
01:27:16,000 --> 01:27:20,280
Speaker 1: should sit on the ground again, Um, there was a

1570
01:27:20,320 --> 01:27:23,160
Speaker 1: south wind, so the wind was not great. It was

1571
01:27:23,200 --> 01:27:25,800
Speaker 1: blowing straight to the deer where they would be coming from.

1572
01:27:25,960 --> 01:27:27,439
Speaker 1: So like, how am I gonna pull this off? I

1573
01:27:27,479 --> 01:27:29,960
Speaker 1: gotta get tucked in this fence. I was gonna go

1574
01:27:30,080 --> 01:27:33,880
Speaker 1: kind of brushing along the fence and get that south

1575
01:27:33,920 --> 01:27:37,840
Speaker 1: wind kind of like blowing as far off of the

1576
01:27:37,880 --> 01:27:41,800
Speaker 1: deer as traffic as possible. But it was so damn cold,

1577
01:27:41,840 --> 01:27:43,559
Speaker 1: And then I had to get in there so early

1578
01:27:44,040 --> 01:27:46,240
Speaker 1: so I didn't bump any deer. I got there. I

1579
01:27:46,280 --> 01:27:48,080
Speaker 1: don't know if I got there like an hour and

1580
01:27:48,080 --> 01:27:51,360
Speaker 1: a half before light or whatever. And I'm like, there's

1581
01:27:51,400 --> 01:27:54,280
Speaker 1: no way I'm gonna sit to blow for an hour

1582
01:27:54,320 --> 01:27:58,559
Speaker 1: and a half on the ground and then and then

1583
01:27:58,680 --> 01:28:01,280
Speaker 1: um all so you know, as the sun comes up

1584
01:28:01,320 --> 01:28:03,800
Speaker 1: and whatever, and then be still enough to work to

1585
01:28:03,800 --> 01:28:06,120
Speaker 1: the point where I'm gonna be able to pull this off.

1586
01:28:06,160 --> 01:28:10,280
Speaker 1: So I'm like, screw it, I'm going to the blind, um,

1587
01:28:10,320 --> 01:28:13,080
Speaker 1: and I'm just gonna button it up and cross my

1588
01:28:13,120 --> 01:28:18,880
Speaker 1: fingers that this south wind like won't uh won't ruin

1589
01:28:19,080 --> 01:28:22,759
Speaker 1: ruin this opportunity. And so I was sitting in the blind,

1590
01:28:23,120 --> 01:28:25,120
Speaker 1: So hold on deep, detail this blind a little bit

1591
01:28:25,120 --> 01:28:27,680
Speaker 1: more when when you say, like the blind, is this

1592
01:28:27,800 --> 01:28:30,599
Speaker 1: like a sealed up box blind? Is gonna keep your

1593
01:28:30,600 --> 01:28:33,559
Speaker 1: wind in? Is this, you know, detail that a little

1594
01:28:33,560 --> 01:28:36,720
Speaker 1: bit more for me. And then also just again I

1595
01:28:36,760 --> 01:28:38,400
Speaker 1: want to make sure you understand the set up here.

1596
01:28:38,680 --> 01:28:41,200
Speaker 1: This is like it's correct me if I'm wrong here.

1597
01:28:41,240 --> 01:28:44,559
Speaker 1: But we're on like a crp field that's in between

1598
01:28:44,560 --> 01:28:46,559
Speaker 1: the cedar thicket where you think you're bedded, and then

1599
01:28:46,560 --> 01:28:49,599
Speaker 1: there's like a cut corn field on the other side

1600
01:28:49,600 --> 01:28:51,280
Speaker 1: of it. Is that right that they're feeding in or

1601
01:28:51,320 --> 01:28:53,760
Speaker 1: is it the beans over on the other side. So

1602
01:28:54,280 --> 01:28:57,080
Speaker 1: the I think actually in the neighbors they have like

1603
01:28:59,320 --> 01:29:02,080
Speaker 1: by there, like their farmyard, they actually have like a

1604
01:29:02,120 --> 01:29:05,200
Speaker 1: lot of corn laying rounds like feed and stuff like that.

1605
01:29:05,240 --> 01:29:09,080
Speaker 1: I think the deer actually go right up in there, um,

1606
01:29:09,160 --> 01:29:13,479
Speaker 1: right up into like the the yard right there, and

1607
01:29:13,520 --> 01:29:15,120
Speaker 1: that's the north of me, and then to the south

1608
01:29:15,960 --> 01:29:19,200
Speaker 1: is the cedars and I'm like right in between. So

1609
01:29:19,560 --> 01:29:23,479
Speaker 1: where I put that blind was to set me up

1610
01:29:23,479 --> 01:29:28,840
Speaker 1: for um, you know, a reasonable you know, like within

1611
01:29:28,880 --> 01:29:31,400
Speaker 1: a hundred yards shot of any deer that is going

1612
01:29:31,439 --> 01:29:34,840
Speaker 1: to those seaters has to come through there pretty much.

1613
01:29:35,280 --> 01:29:38,600
Speaker 1: And that blinds like it's not an old wagon, you know,

1614
01:29:38,720 --> 01:29:41,519
Speaker 1: built out of pretty much scrap would it looks like

1615
01:29:41,560 --> 01:29:46,360
Speaker 1: a gingerbread house pretty much. It's nothing fancy, and uh,

1616
01:29:47,200 --> 01:29:49,559
Speaker 1: it's set up just right in between. But it's kind

1617
01:29:49,560 --> 01:29:52,799
Speaker 1: of sketchy because I mean getting in there in the morning,

1618
01:29:52,880 --> 01:29:56,880
Speaker 1: like you you're risking bumping deer. But if I just

1619
01:29:56,880 --> 01:29:58,760
Speaker 1: thought if I got in that thing early enough I

1620
01:29:58,760 --> 01:30:01,960
Speaker 1: could I could maybe pull it off. And cool thing

1621
01:30:02,120 --> 01:30:06,000
Speaker 1: was I built that with my friend of mine that

1622
01:30:06,000 --> 01:30:08,559
Speaker 1: that died too. And you know, I was sitting there

1623
01:30:09,720 --> 01:30:12,240
Speaker 1: and I was kind of going through that like those

1624
01:30:12,240 --> 01:30:16,040
Speaker 1: early morning minutes where it's dark yet and you're just

1625
01:30:16,080 --> 01:30:17,840
Speaker 1: kind of thinking about stuff, and I was like, man,

1626
01:30:18,600 --> 01:30:20,360
Speaker 1: maybe this is where I was supposed to shoot this

1627
01:30:20,479 --> 01:30:24,320
Speaker 1: deers out of this blind because I'm like, we built

1628
01:30:24,320 --> 01:30:26,680
Speaker 1: this blind together, you know, I was thinking about that.

1629
01:30:26,760 --> 01:30:33,320
Speaker 1: We spent a whole summer building that blind, um and uh,

1630
01:30:33,439 --> 01:30:35,760
Speaker 1: and he knew about the deer, you know, And and

1631
01:30:35,760 --> 01:30:38,080
Speaker 1: then I was hunting him and stuff like that, and

1632
01:30:38,120 --> 01:30:40,320
Speaker 1: I was like, man, this this is where I was

1633
01:30:40,320 --> 01:30:42,560
Speaker 1: supposed to shoot that deer. I was like, I was

1634
01:30:42,560 --> 01:30:44,400
Speaker 1: supposed to shoot that deer out of this blind And

1635
01:30:44,520 --> 01:30:47,960
Speaker 1: I kid you not. Like a couple of minutes after that,

1636
01:30:47,960 --> 01:30:51,680
Speaker 1: that deer pops up over the over the hill just

1637
01:30:51,720 --> 01:30:53,679
Speaker 1: to the north of me and that in the beans

1638
01:30:53,720 --> 01:30:56,400
Speaker 1: as and starts coming down towards me. I was like,

1639
01:30:57,439 --> 01:31:00,120
Speaker 1: it was like that initial like plump binoculars and like,

1640
01:31:00,520 --> 01:31:04,200
Speaker 1: oh man, it's gonna happen kind of thing. And so

1641
01:31:04,280 --> 01:31:10,360
Speaker 1: he so he he's coming towards me. And and then

1642
01:31:10,360 --> 01:31:11,920
Speaker 1: of course at the same time, you know, you got

1643
01:31:11,960 --> 01:31:14,519
Speaker 1: dolls coming out, and it's like, oh man, they're right

1644
01:31:14,560 --> 01:31:16,360
Speaker 1: down wind to me. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me.

1645
01:31:16,640 --> 01:31:18,720
Speaker 1: These those those dolls are gonna bust me. It's gonna

1646
01:31:18,760 --> 01:31:22,719
Speaker 1: blow it because he's coming just off wind. He'll be fine.

1647
01:31:22,760 --> 01:31:25,400
Speaker 1: These dolls are right but right right behind me. But

1648
01:31:25,479 --> 01:31:27,639
Speaker 1: for some reason, the wind currents or whatever the wind

1649
01:31:27,720 --> 01:31:30,960
Speaker 1: was doing, it was they weren't catching me. He comes

1650
01:31:31,040 --> 01:31:33,400
Speaker 1: up over the hill and he's heading straight for me.

1651
01:31:33,439 --> 01:31:35,760
Speaker 1: He's gonna cross the fence, but for some reason, you know,

1652
01:31:35,800 --> 01:31:38,120
Speaker 1: he turns and does a ninety He does a ninety

1653
01:31:38,120 --> 01:31:40,840
Speaker 1: degree turn and starts heading parallel to me, and I'm like,

1654
01:31:40,920 --> 01:31:43,200
Speaker 1: what is it like? And then you start freaking out.

1655
01:31:43,240 --> 01:31:45,880
Speaker 1: You're like, don't do that, you know, And he hits

1656
01:31:45,920 --> 01:31:49,840
Speaker 1: one of those drifts, and so he stops, and then

1657
01:31:49,880 --> 01:31:51,320
Speaker 1: you can tell he's kind of thinking it through, and

1658
01:31:51,400 --> 01:31:53,280
Speaker 1: he turns around and he heads back to where he

1659
01:31:53,400 --> 01:31:56,080
Speaker 1: was and then he finally finds a spot at the fence.

1660
01:31:56,120 --> 01:31:57,639
Speaker 1: And when he gets to that fence, I'm just he's

1661
01:31:57,680 --> 01:32:00,479
Speaker 1: just waiting. I know, we've all end to that point

1662
01:32:00,520 --> 01:32:03,080
Speaker 1: where a deer hits the fence and you're just waiting

1663
01:32:03,120 --> 01:32:04,800
Speaker 1: for him to cross. And once they crossed and make

1664
01:32:04,840 --> 01:32:07,120
Speaker 1: that commitment, and there it's like it's go time kind

1665
01:32:07,120 --> 01:32:10,360
Speaker 1: of thing, that feeling you get with that he's standing

1666
01:32:10,439 --> 01:32:13,080
Speaker 1: right at that fence, taking a while, and when he

1667
01:32:13,120 --> 01:32:16,880
Speaker 1: makes that commitment to jump and trots down, I'm like,

1668
01:32:17,000 --> 01:32:22,360
Speaker 1: it's happening. So at that time, I buttoned everything up,

1669
01:32:22,960 --> 01:32:25,920
Speaker 1: I opened up the one window. I gotta there's like

1670
01:32:25,960 --> 01:32:32,320
Speaker 1: a two track from the utv UM and there's a

1671
01:32:32,360 --> 01:32:37,040
Speaker 1: trail that comes up up to that that lane, and

1672
01:32:37,080 --> 01:32:39,360
Speaker 1: that's what I anticipated him coming up. So I got

1673
01:32:39,360 --> 01:32:44,200
Speaker 1: the gun set up right there, open that window, ah,

1674
01:32:44,320 --> 01:32:47,679
Speaker 1: and just waited pretty much, and I'm watching and watching.

1675
01:32:47,760 --> 01:32:50,000
Speaker 1: He comes down that hill and he goes down in

1676
01:32:50,080 --> 01:32:52,280
Speaker 1: this little dip and then he disappears. So at that

1677
01:32:52,320 --> 01:32:54,080
Speaker 1: point you're like, well, you don't know exactly what he's

1678
01:32:54,080 --> 01:32:56,960
Speaker 1: gonna do. Is he gonna change direction? Is he going

1679
01:32:57,000 --> 01:32:59,080
Speaker 1: to still come up this way? And it seemed like

1680
01:32:59,080 --> 01:33:01,479
Speaker 1: it was like fift minutes. It was like it seemed

1681
01:33:01,479 --> 01:33:03,200
Speaker 1: like an eternity. It was probably like five minutes, but

1682
01:33:03,280 --> 01:33:08,000
Speaker 1: it seemed seemed like fifteen minutes. And Uh. Then I thought,

1683
01:33:08,040 --> 01:33:10,360
Speaker 1: oh my god, he's he's scared in me. He went

1684
01:33:10,400 --> 01:33:13,960
Speaker 1: around me or maybe maybe smelled me. I wasn't sure.

1685
01:33:15,240 --> 01:33:17,200
Speaker 1: Then all of a sudden, you know, you look through

1686
01:33:17,240 --> 01:33:20,000
Speaker 1: like crp grass or native grass and stuff like that,

1687
01:33:20,200 --> 01:33:23,320
Speaker 1: when you see those like shadowy figures of deer coming

1688
01:33:23,320 --> 01:33:26,920
Speaker 1: through it, it's really cool. Um. I get the first

1689
01:33:26,960 --> 01:33:29,679
Speaker 1: glimpse and I'm like, oh, dope, okay, there's doughs coming.

1690
01:33:29,680 --> 01:33:32,400
Speaker 1: He's gonna be right behind these doors. And another one

1691
01:33:32,439 --> 01:33:34,360
Speaker 1: you see the shadow coming. You're looking for rack, and

1692
01:33:34,400 --> 01:33:37,720
Speaker 1: it's just a dope, then a fawn, then another dough

1693
01:33:37,760 --> 01:33:39,720
Speaker 1: and I'm like, okay, this many deer coming up this trail.

1694
01:33:39,760 --> 01:33:43,439
Speaker 1: He's gonna be right behind him. And then shortly after that,

1695
01:33:44,040 --> 01:33:46,400
Speaker 1: I get this other shadowy figure that you can just

1696
01:33:46,400 --> 01:33:49,000
Speaker 1: see the body kind of moving through those through all

1697
01:33:49,000 --> 01:33:53,679
Speaker 1: the grass. And then you just slowly see those times

1698
01:33:53,800 --> 01:33:56,679
Speaker 1: kind of just pop up out of the grass walking

1699
01:33:56,760 --> 01:33:58,760
Speaker 1: up the hill and kind of doing that bound says

1700
01:33:58,760 --> 01:34:02,920
Speaker 1: he's walking, and I was. It was just like unbelievable

1701
01:34:03,000 --> 01:34:06,240
Speaker 1: side It was just so amazing. And he walked up

1702
01:34:07,479 --> 01:34:10,120
Speaker 1: and at this point he's at like thirty eight yards

1703
01:34:10,680 --> 01:34:12,680
Speaker 1: and he quit, kind of did a little bumped the

1704
01:34:12,720 --> 01:34:18,000
Speaker 1: does off a little bit and and I'm merked him.

1705
01:34:18,040 --> 01:34:22,639
Speaker 1: Of course I gotta do that. And then and that's

1706
01:34:22,680 --> 01:34:25,679
Speaker 1: when I shot, and I just dumped him right right

1707
01:34:25,680 --> 01:34:29,840
Speaker 1: there and uh, at like thirty eight yards with the

1708
01:34:29,920 --> 01:34:35,160
Speaker 1: muzzle or so. It was pretty amazing. I think I

1709
01:34:35,160 --> 01:34:38,240
Speaker 1: would always prefer to shoot a buck the last day

1710
01:34:38,240 --> 01:34:40,799
Speaker 1: of towards the end of every season. You know, everybody

1711
01:34:40,840 --> 01:34:44,880
Speaker 1: likes the hunt more than the most and uh, it's

1712
01:34:44,920 --> 01:34:51,519
Speaker 1: pretty happy that the way it ended, and probably the

1713
01:34:51,520 --> 01:34:54,840
Speaker 1: most meaningful book I think I've ever shot, for sure,

1714
01:34:55,320 --> 01:35:01,720
Speaker 1: and pretty pretty awesome tribute to my friend of mine.

1715
01:35:01,720 --> 01:35:04,360
Speaker 1: And then also just all the memories behind it. It's

1716
01:35:04,400 --> 01:35:08,160
Speaker 1: gonna it's gonna be a pretty awesome thing to look

1717
01:35:08,160 --> 01:35:11,360
Speaker 1: at on the wall for the rest of my life. Yeah,

1718
01:35:11,560 --> 01:35:14,880
Speaker 1: that's a that's for sure. And we all got to

1719
01:35:14,960 --> 01:35:18,519
Speaker 1: even uh we tried to do a group video chat

1720
01:35:18,520 --> 01:35:21,479
Speaker 1: to see you walk up on him, even got the

1721
01:35:21,560 --> 01:35:23,320
Speaker 1: video of the recovery and all that stuff. It was

1722
01:35:23,320 --> 01:35:26,479
Speaker 1: pretty cool to get to see it. Um, heck of

1723
01:35:26,520 --> 01:35:32,040
Speaker 1: a deer? What Josh, what what are your final questions

1724
01:35:32,120 --> 01:35:34,640
Speaker 1: on this on this hunt or this deer any and

1725
01:35:34,720 --> 01:35:40,040
Speaker 1: the final things in your mind? Uh? Well, it's kind

1726
01:35:40,080 --> 01:35:42,840
Speaker 1: of interesting, like thinking about you talking about the previous year,

1727
01:35:43,120 --> 01:35:47,800
Speaker 1: what you had one hunt the previous year, one hunted

1728
01:35:47,880 --> 01:35:51,200
Speaker 1: one day and then this had to been probably one

1729
01:35:51,200 --> 01:35:54,240
Speaker 1: of your longest hunting seasons, right, I mean you probably

1730
01:35:54,400 --> 01:35:57,000
Speaker 1: had too many seasons. You've gone all year just grinding

1731
01:35:57,040 --> 01:36:01,960
Speaker 1: out like you did. Um, I guess, yeah, what did

1732
01:36:02,000 --> 01:36:05,439
Speaker 1: you learn in that one set and the subsequent kind

1733
01:36:05,439 --> 01:36:08,719
Speaker 1: of scouting that he did last year. Was there anything

1734
01:36:08,800 --> 01:36:16,760
Speaker 1: that that played into how you attacked this buck late season? Um,

1735
01:36:16,840 --> 01:36:19,840
Speaker 1: the biggest, biggest thing was just knowing where he was

1736
01:36:19,880 --> 01:36:24,040
Speaker 1: coming out of along that road and then kind of

1737
01:36:24,080 --> 01:36:27,880
Speaker 1: planning accordingly. I think I think the historical stuff is

1738
01:36:27,920 --> 01:36:31,880
Speaker 1: what what I learned the most that that helped me,

1739
01:36:32,360 --> 01:36:37,760
Speaker 1: you know, be successful. I I don't know. I mean

1740
01:36:37,760 --> 01:36:39,439
Speaker 1: I would have hunted, maybe I would have saw him,

1741
01:36:39,439 --> 01:36:41,880
Speaker 1: but I don't know if I wouldn't have had those

1742
01:36:41,920 --> 01:36:44,120
Speaker 1: cameras in those areas to give me that confirmation. I

1743
01:36:44,120 --> 01:36:47,440
Speaker 1: don't know if I would have maybe made the same decisions,

1744
01:36:48,800 --> 01:36:51,519
Speaker 1: you know, putting those cameras in those locations based on

1745
01:36:51,680 --> 01:36:57,120
Speaker 1: like the historical stuff. So then to kind of piggyback

1746
01:36:57,160 --> 01:36:59,400
Speaker 1: off of the Josh's question there just in general, then

1747
01:36:59,560 --> 01:37:02,519
Speaker 1: a sudden not necessarily what did you learn from you know,

1748
01:37:03,080 --> 01:37:05,360
Speaker 1: your intel that lad you killing him? But if you

1749
01:37:05,400 --> 01:37:07,599
Speaker 1: were to zoom out even further and just look at

1750
01:37:07,600 --> 01:37:12,920
Speaker 1: this whole multi year saga, is there any greater lesson

1751
01:37:12,960 --> 01:37:15,920
Speaker 1: about hunting that you've learned from this deer? Did this,

1752
01:37:16,000 --> 01:37:18,240
Speaker 1: dear teach you anything that's going to help you kill

1753
01:37:18,280 --> 01:37:20,519
Speaker 1: the next one or one ten years from now or

1754
01:37:20,560 --> 01:37:26,479
Speaker 1: anything like that. Um, yeah, I think the main thing

1755
01:37:26,760 --> 01:37:30,280
Speaker 1: you can now, I know it like the historical stuff

1756
01:37:30,320 --> 01:37:32,400
Speaker 1: like I know that plays a big role. But I

1757
01:37:32,439 --> 01:37:38,800
Speaker 1: think you just have to always expect change or you know,

1758
01:37:38,840 --> 01:37:42,479
Speaker 1: you have to always adapt obviously. Um. I don't know

1759
01:37:42,520 --> 01:37:44,799
Speaker 1: how many times, you know, you prepare for a season

1760
01:37:44,840 --> 01:37:47,800
Speaker 1: and nothing ever works out how you imagine, and it

1761
01:37:47,920 --> 01:37:51,160
Speaker 1: always it's always changing. And I think with this, dear,

1762
01:37:51,200 --> 01:37:56,479
Speaker 1: it's kind of like a you know, um, good example

1763
01:37:56,520 --> 01:37:58,960
Speaker 1: of how things can change pretty quickly. I had those

1764
01:37:58,960 --> 01:38:03,040
Speaker 1: early opportunities and the and then the rut was completely

1765
01:38:03,080 --> 01:38:07,120
Speaker 1: different than it had been. And you know with mature, dear,

1766
01:38:07,520 --> 01:38:11,880
Speaker 1: they they kind of they'll change change their routine very often.

1767
01:38:11,880 --> 01:38:13,479
Speaker 1: And you've got to be able to do that too,

1768
01:38:13,520 --> 01:38:16,240
Speaker 1: on the fly, um, and be on the go and

1769
01:38:16,320 --> 01:38:21,280
Speaker 1: not not put all your eggs in one basket. Yeah,

1770
01:38:21,520 --> 01:38:23,840
Speaker 1: that is the truth. Hard to do. Hard to do

1771
01:38:23,880 --> 01:38:25,640
Speaker 1: when you get a plan in your mind and you

1772
01:38:26,320 --> 01:38:28,160
Speaker 1: you think you've got to figure it out and then

1773
01:38:28,200 --> 01:38:30,280
Speaker 1: at all you know, the card table gets slipped over

1774
01:38:30,720 --> 01:38:32,400
Speaker 1: and you've got to figure it all out in the moment.

1775
01:38:32,439 --> 01:38:34,920
Speaker 1: That is uh, that is the fun of it. I

1776
01:38:34,920 --> 01:38:36,599
Speaker 1: guess every year when you have to pick them all

1777
01:38:36,640 --> 01:38:42,320
Speaker 1: back together and piece it piece in place. Um. Here,

1778
01:38:42,400 --> 01:38:44,920
Speaker 1: here's something I don't know if I don't know if

1779
01:38:44,960 --> 01:38:48,200
Speaker 1: anything comes to mind, but but you've you've mention a

1780
01:38:48,240 --> 01:38:53,040
Speaker 1: few times how meaningful this whole experience was given, you know,

1781
01:38:53,160 --> 01:39:00,280
Speaker 1: your your friends, involvement within it, and losing him. Um. Yeah,

1782
01:39:00,640 --> 01:39:05,679
Speaker 1: is there anything that you learned from your mentor over

1783
01:39:05,720 --> 01:39:07,360
Speaker 1: the years you guys got to know each other, and

1784
01:39:07,360 --> 01:39:10,040
Speaker 1: I know you guys spent a lot of quality time

1785
01:39:10,120 --> 01:39:12,320
Speaker 1: and and and I think he was someone he looked

1786
01:39:12,360 --> 01:39:15,719
Speaker 1: up to. Did you learn anything from him that sticks

1787
01:39:15,760 --> 01:39:17,240
Speaker 1: with you now that when you look up on that

1788
01:39:17,280 --> 01:39:20,320
Speaker 1: wall and see that dear next year or ten years

1789
01:39:20,320 --> 01:39:22,559
Speaker 1: from now or twenty years from now, and your kids

1790
01:39:22,640 --> 01:39:25,679
Speaker 1: or your your son comes back and you look at that, dear,

1791
01:39:25,760 --> 01:39:28,599
Speaker 1: and will you look up there and see your friend

1792
01:39:28,640 --> 01:39:31,200
Speaker 1: and think of any lessons or stories or or or

1793
01:39:31,320 --> 01:39:36,400
Speaker 1: things he told you that that will come to mind? Again? Yeah,

1794
01:39:36,439 --> 01:39:42,800
Speaker 1: I think that's an easy one. I think just being generous, um,

1795
01:39:43,040 --> 01:39:50,519
Speaker 1: most um generous person I've ever met. Um. I think

1796
01:39:50,520 --> 01:39:52,439
Speaker 1: I had changed my perspective on the hunting in the

1797
01:39:52,520 --> 01:39:55,400
Speaker 1: last few years, you know, going from being like a

1798
01:39:55,439 --> 01:39:58,960
Speaker 1: solo kind of thing and like secretive and I wanted

1799
01:39:59,000 --> 01:40:02,240
Speaker 1: to let anybody, do you know what you know about

1800
01:40:02,240 --> 01:40:05,920
Speaker 1: your deer or whatever, what your hunt? Uh, just embracing

1801
01:40:06,040 --> 01:40:10,240
Speaker 1: just like the friendships and the camaraderie and the people

1802
01:40:10,360 --> 01:40:13,479
Speaker 1: of it. I think is I think he helped me

1803
01:40:13,600 --> 01:40:20,960
Speaker 1: change that. I went, Um, there's a lot of there's

1804
01:40:20,960 --> 01:40:22,840
Speaker 1: a lot of Yeah, there's a lot of awesome people

1805
01:40:22,880 --> 01:40:27,360
Speaker 1: out there. He was one of them. And I learned

1806
01:40:27,400 --> 01:40:30,519
Speaker 1: so much, so much in the last I don't know,

1807
01:40:30,800 --> 01:40:35,720
Speaker 1: fifteen years from him. He was like a mentor, um,

1808
01:40:35,760 --> 01:40:40,840
Speaker 1: and he kind of he kind of did so much

1809
01:40:40,840 --> 01:40:42,599
Speaker 1: for me that like he got me to the point

1810
01:40:42,640 --> 01:40:45,280
Speaker 1: where like hunting and stuff like that, I just want

1811
01:40:45,280 --> 01:40:49,559
Speaker 1: to be able to give back, you know, in that

1812
01:40:49,680 --> 01:40:54,600
Speaker 1: respect someday. Um. You know, Um, I think that's a

1813
01:40:54,600 --> 01:40:57,479
Speaker 1: big thing. Keeping keeping it in perspective. He never really

1814
01:40:57,560 --> 01:41:00,680
Speaker 1: wanted to carry care about deer, you know. Um, you

1815
01:41:00,760 --> 01:41:05,560
Speaker 1: thought I was always stupid for wanting to wanting to

1816
01:41:05,600 --> 01:41:08,120
Speaker 1: get big, big deer antlers you know, and that kind

1817
01:41:08,120 --> 01:41:14,120
Speaker 1: of stuff. But but um, yeah, I mean I I

1818
01:41:14,439 --> 01:41:16,080
Speaker 1: he gave me so much. I just want to be

1819
01:41:16,080 --> 01:41:18,719
Speaker 1: able to give back. Now. I guess that's where I'm at.

1820
01:41:19,320 --> 01:41:23,439
Speaker 1: You know, well, that's a pretty special relationship. You guys

1821
01:41:23,439 --> 01:41:29,080
Speaker 1: had an an incredible like story that you couldn't you

1822
01:41:29,120 --> 01:41:33,479
Speaker 1: couldn't write a story more kind of spot on for

1823
01:41:33,479 --> 01:41:36,439
Speaker 1: for for a storybook ending than than this one ending

1824
01:41:36,439 --> 01:41:38,640
Speaker 1: the way it did. And uh, I know me and

1825
01:41:38,720 --> 01:41:41,160
Speaker 1: Josh and and all the guys have been very very

1826
01:41:41,240 --> 01:41:43,320
Speaker 1: excited for that this end of the way it did.

1827
01:41:43,439 --> 01:41:46,120
Speaker 1: And uh, it was an up and down roller coaster

1828
01:41:46,120 --> 01:41:48,280
Speaker 1: a year for you, and uh to have it end

1829
01:41:48,280 --> 01:41:50,360
Speaker 1: this way, it was pretty wild right down in the

1830
01:41:50,439 --> 01:41:56,800
Speaker 1: ninth inning. And somehow you you made it happen. So congratulations,

1831
01:41:56,840 --> 01:42:00,639
Speaker 1: my friend, thank you very much. It was it was definitely,

1832
01:42:01,200 --> 01:42:06,759
Speaker 1: it was definitely awesome, Sason. I won't forget yeah further

1833
01:42:07,200 --> 01:42:11,640
Speaker 1: any last thoughts now, Just like Mark said, happy for you,

1834
01:42:11,720 --> 01:42:14,519
Speaker 1: proud of you how you handled the whole situation. It was.

1835
01:42:14,960 --> 01:42:18,479
Speaker 1: It was not an easy one, um, and I think

1836
01:42:18,520 --> 01:42:22,320
Speaker 1: you handled it much better than maybe a Ross from

1837
01:42:22,560 --> 01:42:24,679
Speaker 1: five or six years ago would have handled it. So

1838
01:42:25,960 --> 01:42:30,439
Speaker 1: kudos to you for everything you've gone through this this year.

1839
01:42:30,479 --> 01:42:32,880
Speaker 1: And and the perspective thing is a big one and

1840
01:42:33,120 --> 01:42:36,160
Speaker 1: something I need to work on too, So I'm happy

1841
01:42:36,160 --> 01:42:39,160
Speaker 1: for it man heck of about heck of a season. Yeah,

1842
01:42:39,200 --> 01:42:41,400
Speaker 1: well we'll have to get you down here, Josh, since

1843
01:42:41,400 --> 01:42:45,680
Speaker 1: you'll be drawing a tag and Mark won't be to

1844
01:42:45,720 --> 01:42:47,960
Speaker 1: get to get you on a big one down here.

1845
01:42:48,720 --> 01:42:51,320
Speaker 1: I needed I needed to. I needed to shift my

1846
01:42:51,520 --> 01:42:54,160
Speaker 1: years away from the years that Josh hunts there because

1847
01:42:54,160 --> 01:42:56,080
Speaker 1: he he shoots the big deer before I ever get

1848
01:42:56,080 --> 01:42:59,120
Speaker 1: a chance at him. So I gotta make sure I'm

1849
01:42:59,200 --> 01:43:02,400
Speaker 1: just totally You're separated by full twelve months up there.

1850
01:43:02,439 --> 01:43:04,160
Speaker 1: He he kills in the second day of the hunt

1851
01:43:04,160 --> 01:43:07,479
Speaker 1: when he shows up. Um. Now now the end of

1852
01:43:07,479 --> 01:43:09,400
Speaker 1: the story here, though? Is that ross? The big thing,

1853
01:43:09,479 --> 01:43:12,840
Speaker 1: the big pressure that you didn't mention here, The thing

1854
01:43:12,880 --> 01:43:15,439
Speaker 1: that was probably weighing on any more than anything, was

1855
01:43:15,479 --> 01:43:18,240
Speaker 1: that with our group of buddies, whoever doesn't kill a

1856
01:43:18,280 --> 01:43:21,880
Speaker 1: buck or and given season is entered into buckless mania,

1857
01:43:22,920 --> 01:43:25,840
Speaker 1: which is uh uh, you know, a free for all

1858
01:43:26,520 --> 01:43:29,680
Speaker 1: cage fight the next year during our Turkey camp. And

1859
01:43:30,080 --> 01:43:32,280
Speaker 1: you and I managed to kill deer this past season,

1860
01:43:32,360 --> 01:43:35,200
Speaker 1: so we are immune from buckless mania. But there's one

1861
01:43:35,240 --> 01:43:38,280
Speaker 1: person on this phone call who has to enter the

1862
01:43:38,360 --> 01:43:46,000
Speaker 1: viper pit. Uh. Further, how you feeling coming to this man. I, Uh, yeah,

1863
01:43:46,160 --> 01:43:49,400
Speaker 1: I better start training up. I've got some stiff competition. Uh.

1864
01:43:49,479 --> 01:43:50,720
Speaker 1: There's a lot of us that will be in it

1865
01:43:50,760 --> 01:43:53,680
Speaker 1: this year, so it's gonna be a it's gonna be

1866
01:43:53,760 --> 01:43:56,120
Speaker 1: a big cage fight for sure. We kind of had.

1867
01:43:56,360 --> 01:43:58,320
Speaker 1: We went from maybe the best season we've ever had

1868
01:43:58,360 --> 01:44:01,160
Speaker 1: as a group. I think we all killed last year, Uh,

1869
01:44:01,280 --> 01:44:03,680
Speaker 1: to what just three of the three of us now

1870
01:44:03,760 --> 01:44:06,559
Speaker 1: killing this year. So less than half the group or

1871
01:44:06,560 --> 01:44:08,560
Speaker 1: more than half the group will be in Buckleasmania this

1872
01:44:08,680 --> 01:44:11,880
Speaker 1: year with me so fun times I had at Turkey Camp. Ross,

1873
01:44:11,920 --> 01:44:13,320
Speaker 1: if you had to put your money on who's going

1874
01:44:13,360 --> 01:44:17,719
Speaker 1: to survive the cage fight, who's gonna win it? H Josh,

1875
01:44:17,760 --> 01:44:21,240
Speaker 1: don't take this personally. It's got to be a b

1876
01:44:22,000 --> 01:44:26,679
Speaker 1: Andy Bradley can a whoop everybody. He's got those mates

1877
01:44:26,760 --> 01:44:32,880
Speaker 1: and forearms just huge. H. The other way, I'll take

1878
01:44:32,920 --> 01:44:35,200
Speaker 1: whatever whatever fate comes my way. And I don't think

1879
01:44:35,240 --> 01:44:37,559
Speaker 1: I want to deal with Andy. He's got a bad right,

1880
01:44:38,000 --> 01:44:40,720
Speaker 1: bad right hip. We'll just stay on that side. There

1881
01:44:40,760 --> 01:44:44,960
Speaker 1: You good tip, Good tip. Alright, guys, Well let's let's

1882
01:44:45,000 --> 01:44:47,679
Speaker 1: wrap this one up. Appreciate you're sharing the story. Ross,

1883
01:44:47,800 --> 01:44:50,720
Speaker 1: I Uh, I'm glad we have to do this. Thanks buddy,

1884
01:44:51,479 --> 01:44:54,040
Speaker 1: and that is a rap. Thanks all for joining me

1885
01:44:54,080 --> 01:44:57,040
Speaker 1: for this one. Appreciate you following along. Hope you enjoyed

1886
01:44:57,120 --> 01:45:00,000
Speaker 1: this one month series of big buck stories as which

1887
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:05,320
Speaker 1: trying to learn from these specific deer, these very focused

1888
01:45:05,400 --> 01:45:08,960
Speaker 1: hunts of sorts. I certainly enjoyed the stories. Different kind

1889
01:45:08,960 --> 01:45:10,800
Speaker 1: of flavor for us to kick off the new year,

1890
01:45:11,240 --> 01:45:14,040
Speaker 1: and from here we're gonna dive into a new line

1891
01:45:14,040 --> 01:45:21,720
Speaker 1: of thinking. Stay tuned for a month of habitat, management, ideas, projects, tactics,

1892
01:45:22,160 --> 01:45:24,000
Speaker 1: and uh and a whole lot more on that front.

1893
01:45:24,040 --> 01:45:26,479
Speaker 1: So if you ever wanted to improve land for deer

1894
01:45:26,840 --> 01:45:29,400
Speaker 1: and deer hunting another wildlife, you are going to want

1895
01:45:29,439 --> 01:45:31,559
Speaker 1: to stay tuned throughout the month of February. We got

1896
01:45:31,560 --> 01:45:33,720
Speaker 1: a lot of good stuff coming up. So until then,

1897
01:45:34,200 --> 01:45:38,000
Speaker 1: thanks for listening and stay wired to hunt.